Welcome Elliott Theodore!

A quiet baby, right from the start

We have been blessed and honored with a new baby boy!  Born February 1, 2012, Elliott Theodore Serrano came into the world with no complications, and is a sweet angel of a baby. 

We are thrilled to have this new addition to our family.  Jason is a wonderful big brother and showers him with gentle kisses and head rubs.  He sleeps very well and has not shown any signs of the GERD that plagued his big brother so much.

Elliott loves to be in the arms of his family, and has begun to smile and vocalize with us.  He is a great communicator who seems to instinctively understand what Mommy needs to see or hear to know what he needs.  He and I have been getting along famously!


Elliott came a bit early for us - He was due on February 14.  When I went to my weekly doctor visit on Monday, January 30, the report was that I was not dilated at all, and so we would be waiting a bit longer.

Much to everyone's surprise, I began having contractions the very next morning, at around 3:15 am.  At least, this is when they started waking me up!  The contractions did not increase in intensity, and tapered off around 7 am.  Convinced that I still had a long labor process ahead of me, I went ahead and drove to Fallbrook (30 miles away) to visit a client for the day.  Instead, Elliott decided to start contractions again around 9 am and they continued throughout the morning. 

Brothers!

At lunchtime, I called the doctor's office to let them know that things had started, and asked if they wanted to check me again.  We agreed for me to be back at the doctor's office at 2:30 to see how far I had dilated.  Still anticipating a long process, I was not overly concerned and was looking forward to see what the dilation was! 

So, it was quite a shock when, after the exam, the nurse-practicioner urged me to go home and get my bag and then go straight to the hospital!  I had dilated almost 4 centimeters in 24 hours, and she was concerned I'd miss my opportunity to deliver at the hospital if I waited any longer.

The first time Elliott saw his Daddy

Left with few options (my parents weren't due to arrive for several more days!  We hadn't packed a bag yet!  We had no plans for how to get Jason to and from school!), we scrambled to come up with a game plan.  Enter our wonderful friends! We are eternally grateful to  Denise and Connor Cook and Bonnie and Mark Regalado who jumped into the adventure with us! They embraced our situation with love and grace and did anything we asked to make sure the family was taken care of.  

Mommy and Elliott in our recovery room

Elliott's delivery was easy and fun.  Our labor nurse, Liz, was awesome and really made the delivery a beautiful and fulfilling experience.  Our wonderful doctor, Dr. Murillo, was a joy to be with and she was very excited to be able to deliver our son.  Even Tri-City Hospital and its employees surpassed our expectations with their professionalism, efficiency, and nurturing bedside manner.

Overall, we are thrilled with how everything happened and are thankful to God for providing us with such wonderful people and resources throughout the experience.

Elliott is now home with us and is a joy to us all each and every day.  We look forward to you meeting him one day!

Ready to go home!

Baby Update and More

Greetings all!

Baby Serrano 2

We have made it through the holidays and are looking forward to a very exciting next 30-45 days.  Baby Serrano #2, aka Our Little Watermelon, is coming soon and we have been busy getting ready!  Due on February 14, he is definitely growing and taking up as much space as possible in Natasha's tummy.  It is very difficult to do things like.....well, just about everything actually.  I have continued to have a very light workload, so my daily naps and restful work in front of the sewing machine have made the days reasonably easy. 

At Daddy's soccer game

Jason is starting to ask if and when the baby is coming out of Mommy's tummy now, and we are trying to find situations where he can see very small babies so he is prepared for his tiny little brother.  He is a natural caretaker and loves to nurture people, so we know he is going to do a fabulous job as big brother.

Jason is 3 now and is fully developed person, walking, talking, and not afraid to express his opinions to anyone who in his general proximity.  He loves trains and cars now, and insists on carrying his TWO Lightning McQueen matchbox cars with him wherever he goes.

He is continuing at Vista Christian Preschool, a Montessori school near our home, and he is really excelling.  He has also begun to show that he can easily and quickly memorize song lyrics and is always singing his favorite songs under his breath as he goes about his day.

At his school's Thanksgiving Lunch

Alberto is doing well, and work is starting to pick up again after the holidays.  He has also made a nice network of friends in the area and he and Jason are constantly off to baby showers and birthday parties and the like.  Jason will go anywhere there is a pinata!

We are looking forward to seeing family and friends over the next few months and introducing our youngest son to everyone!



Cookies, cookies for everyone!



29 weeks pregnant on my birthday

Rain, rain, doesn't keep us away!

And now for a Serrano family announcement......

The Serrano family is excited to share with you that we are expecting Baby #2!  Baby Serrano is due on February 14, 2012, and promises to be the sweetest Valentine's Day gift imaginable.

We are doing well!  Jason is excited about the baby in Mommy's tummy and has recently started to say he has a baby in his tummy too.  Natasha is getting as much sleep as possible and enjoying a bit of downtime from work to get caught up on projects and stay grounded.  Alberto is ramping up for a busy fall and we are hoping to launch his own business for tile and stone work in the coming months.

We have had a great year so far, and have a few photos to share with you -




You can take the boy out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the boy! March 2011

 




Jason is a great helper in the garden. April 2011

 


I've got Easter candy in my pocket! Easter 2011

 



Jason and his first Chuck E Cheese experience (or as he call it, "the giant mouse") May 2011



 




All finished with Montessori training! July 2011





An awesome visit from his Houston friend, Sasha! August 2011

  


Goofing around with our neighbors Alyson and Case August 2011

 

Little angel - Izaiah Wallis

Anyone who sees me tweeting or posting on Facebook has probably come across messages I have been posting recently about a sweet little boy named Izaiah who lives here in San Diego. He is just 3 months younger than Jason, and his maternal grandparents live in my neighborhood.

I have been posting about him for the last few weeks to help raise awareness of his desperate situation. This is not a joke, nor is it some kind of internet hoax. Please read on....

Four Months Old and pics from our trip to Mazatlan!

**EDITED April 22 to include photos from our trip!**

I can't believe how fast time flies!
In our last post, Jason had just turned 3 months old.
He is now 4 months old and is continuing to develop at an amazing rate!

He had his four month checkup on Tuesday this week, and we learned that he is now 26 inches long (putting him in the 90th percentile for height) and 16 lbs 3 ozs (putting him in the 75th percentile for weight)! Dr. Rossell kept remarking on how handsome he is and what a good natured baby he is turning out to be. He in turned kept charming her with his winning smile and crinkled up nose every time she talked to him. If it weren't for the shots, we would have thoroughly enjoyed the whole visit!

Speaking of shots, he has reacted more negatively to the shots this time around. Our sweet boy had his heart broken when he got those 4 needles in his legs and was difficult to console for several minutes after the vaccinations were administered. Now, two days later, each of his legs have big red welts on them and he favors his left leg very strongly. We've spent the majority of the last two days holding and consoling him. He also does not have an appetite at all - so we are now really out of whack with his eating routine. I just keep feeding him whenever he shows any interest, hoping that we'll get back to normal in the next few days. I know this will pass soon enough, it just makes me sad to see our happy little boy so uncomfortable.

On to other more upbeat news -

We have now taken our first family vacation! Alberto, Jason and I spent 6 days in beautiful Mazatlan last week introducing Jason to all of his Mexican relatives.

It was a whirlwind of activity from start to finish which was only made more intense by the fact that we had gone during Semana Santa. The craziness outside of our hotel for the holiday was almost nonstop from sundown to sunrise every night. Fortunately, we got a room higher up (on the 7th floor) and the a/c unit drowned out most of the chaos happening below.

Jason was wonderful the whole trip.

He handled the plane well, he handled the constant barrage of attention from adoring family members well, he even handled the nonstop on-the-go lifestyle we had! The family was also very helpful in respecting when he needed to be left alone for his naps. But when he was awake he was always basking in the attention of his grandmother, his aunts and uncles, and all of his little cousins.

He also was able to spend a lot of time with his sister, Jenny, and they took to each other very well. Jenny would play with him and tickle him and he would laugh hilariously and caress her face.

My favorite part of the trip was when I took Jason in the swimming pool at the hotel.


This pool was really cool - it was beautiful with its sparkling blue water and waterfall in the center. The steps into the pool were fashioned like rocks you'd use to walk into a stream. The water was crystal clear but cold!




Jason didn't know what to think at first, but clearly ended up enjoying it!

We got to take some video of our time there, as well as photos on our 35mm camera. I now have 4 rolls of film to develop, so once these are ready I will edit this post with photos from the trip!

In the meantime, we are still working on rolling over (he's very very close to rolling over from back to front!), sleeping through the night (average 50% success rate!) and motor skill coordination (he is now grabbing things with his hands and is very good at depth perception).

Jason is now able to track movement with both his eyes and his head and he is really quick to notice what is going on around him. Yesterday, he noticed Dudley for the very first time and even petted his doggie gently. Dudley was, as always, very patient with him.

And our biggest milestone so far this month -
Jason is now sleeping in his crib in his own room! We started this the night after we got back from Mazatlan, and so far we have had very little problem. Jason is a very happy boy and wakes up in a good mood even though he isn't next to us anymore. Such a big boy!

Holiday Season 2008 begins and baby updates

I guess we've officially entered the holiday season - the mall traffic definitely indicates as much! Alberto and I took a long 3 hour stroll around the Galleria last night, trying to see if we could kickstart the baby's arrival. I am 39 weeks today and my due date is 6 days away!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year in Houston. I was really happy to be able to spend time with friends and my sister too, and grateful that Alberto enjoyed himself as well.

We had a small Thanksgiving dinner at home with Elizabeth and our friend Erik. I cooked Cornish game hens again, and this time I did it Cajun injector style. I had no idea what I would end up with, but everyone agreed that the birds were juicy and delicious. Erik was also sweet enough to send flowers after the weekend to thank us for having him over. Thank you Erik for spending the day with us! We really enjoyed your company.

That night, Alberto and I went to see Bartek and Edyta for their Italian-themed Thanksgiving party.

We met some really fabulous people as well, and hope to be able to hang out with them some more.

They were friendly, gracious, and fun-loving, and we had a super time!











We also celebrated Edyta's birthday which is just around the corner, since she won't be able to celebrate here in Houston.
















A week later, it was my 33rd birthday on December 3.

Quite different from last year, I firmly stayed put at home! I am way too pregnant to be going anywhere fast, even on my birthday! :)

My sisters were so cool to commemorate the day too! Stephanie sent a lovely bouquet of flowers and Elizabeth showed up after work with a decadent chocolate cake. Thank you ladies!




Also on my birthday, Andrea's baby finally made his big appearance! Dylan is adorable, and takes after Andrea with his dark hair, dark eyes and dark skin. He is going to be a ladykiller.

In between and after all of this, Liz has tried her hand at some photography with me. I asked her to take some maternity photos before the baby comes and I must say she has done really well! A few of the unedited photos are below. We'll be choosing our most favorites to touch up and print. Thank you Liz for your hard work! Everything is beautiful.












So, where does that leave us? Waiting for the baby!

Like I said at the beginning of this post, we are looking for ways to encourage Baby Serrano to make his debut. I have been working on the exercise ball and finding ways to squat down for things (thanks to a timely tip from Andrea! :) ). We also did our 3 hour walk around the Galleria last night.

By all indications, it's beginning to work! But since this period of time is totally unpredictable, I'll have to leave it at that.

The next post you see from us should be post-delivery!

Operation Prep Nursery

We've been focusing heavily on getting the baby's room ready for a few weeks now.
We have:

*painted the walls

*gotten the crib set up

*set up the playard/changing table

*prepped the nursing station

*gotten the cd player and baby music ready

*and washed every single thread of clothing the baby owns

And what a wardrobe he has!

Check out at all the cool stuff our kid is going to wear, thanks to all the gifts our friends and family have given! He is definitely going to be the coolest kid on the block.

He has sports themed outfits, monkey themed outfits, teddy bear sleepers, doggie nightgowns and lots of sea turtle and froggie towels.

I can't wait for him to wear one of his home-made beanie and bootie sets too. They are beautiful and handmade!

And don't get me started on the hats - beanies, caps, hats with tassles....what a cutie-pie we will have.

Here's his crib all put together!

Isn't the bedding great? And the rich cherry of the crib is a beautiful contrast.

Our adorable plush monkey toy sits in the corner, patiently waiting for his new friend to arrive!









Liz and Alberto were kind enough to tackle the matching wall border a couple of weekends ago.



It was a lot more work than one would think! But they managed to have a good time getting the task done, even though they got a little wet and gooey.






Here's me on November 16 - when I officially reached 36 weeks.

I'm nine months pregnant now!

What a journey it has been.


We can't wait to meet our little boy.

Why Sea Turtles?

I have chosen to theme much of the Baby's world around the Hawaiian Sea Turtle, called Honu by native Hawaiians. His room is sea turtle themed, and much of what we asked for in clothing and accessories is turtle related.

People have been asking me why I chose this. Maybe it seems unusual to center a baby's world around such ancient or odd creatures. I thought I'd spend a few minutes talking about why I made this decision.

Alberto and I were lucky to be able to spend a fabulous week together in Maui earlier this year. This trip was a way to rejuvenate ourselves and renew our commitment to starting a family. It's no coincidence that we got pregnant around the same time! It's still up for debate whether we got pregnant on this trip or in the few days after our return, but one thing is certain - the vacation was the catalyst to making it possible!

While we were there, I got to witness these amazing creatures up close and personal. To be frank, it was impossible to avoid them! They are very social creatures and enjoyed swimming near where snorkelers and scuba divers gravitated. I had the personal privilege to swim with two of them (one on each side of me) during one of my snorkel trips to the place dubbed "Secret Cove" in South Maui.

I was completely enchanted with them from the moment I first laid eyes on them. They are graceful and elegant in all that they do, and their beautiful fluid motion carries a sense of high dignity and wisdom. Honu grow to be very old, sometimes as much as 80 years! I believe that their species carry a sense of old word wisdom that is only gained from millenia in close contact with the earth.

For Hawaiians, the honu is a symbol of longevity, peace, humility and the spirit within. I have read that the Hawaiian word for peace comes from the word Honu because of the embodiment of peace that is represented by the Hawaiian Sea Turtle.

In short, I developed a deep sense of respect and wonder for them.

We also learned on the trip that the Hawaiians also consider Honu to be good luck. If you have spent any time with me during the last 8 months, you have probably seen my most cherished momento from our Maui trip - my necklace that has a Honu pendant with a plumeria flower on his shell. I believe it does bring me luck, as my days always seem to go a little better when I am wearing my Honu necklace than when I'm not!

I decided that I wanted our new baby to be surrounded by these characteristics, in the hopes of cultivating them within himself. If my baby becomes a wise and dignified man, surrounded by luck and known for his peaceful ways, then my goal will have been accomplished!

Here's a little more information I found about the honu. I hope you love them as much as I do!

Info links:
http://www.turtles.org/hawgrnd.htm

http://www.hanauma-bay-hawaii.com/marinelife.html

A short video from YouTube:



Photo Gallery:

http://gohawaii.about.com/od/oahuphotos/ig/Hawaiian-Green-Sea-Turtles/

Houston Baby Shower - Oct 26, 2008

We had the great pleasure of spending an afternoon with dear friends and family is welcoming the impending arrival of little Baby Serrano. Jennifer was awesome to host the party, and everyone had a fabulous time.

I loved being able to share this with Alberto and tried to make the day not about me and the baby, but us and the baby. We had a great time talking and joking and laughing with people and taking photos that will help us remember such a good time.

Along with Jennifer, Alberto and me, the following people were also there:
my Mom and Dad, Mark and Stephanie, Elizabeth, Jeff and Joelle, Debbie and Alan and Tracy, Desirae, Marcus and Geneva, Alex, Meha, Hiro and his friend Luz, and Rob and Caroline and Zoe.

The food was quite yummy, and the cake, brought by Brent and Andrea, was fabulous. We also made a video of the day and everyone giving advice to the baby for him to watch when he gets older.

Thank you all for sharing the day with us!

Here are a few photos from the party: