Summer is coming

Summer is coming and we at the Serrano house are finding all sorts of new ways to view summer activities.  Jason, now 3 1/2, will be continuing at his preschool, Vista Christian Pre School, but I might take him out one week for vacation bible school (aka VBS).  I have never done VBS, and have no idea what it is like yet, but judging by the flurry of activity from my Christian mom friends, it's apparently very popular.  I am learning more about it now.

Congratulations on becoming a licensed contractor!

Alberto is knee deep in work with his new business, J3 Services.  He passed the state exam to become a California licensed contractor earlier this year, and we have now begun efforts to get in touch with his old customers, collect testimonials, and get started on new projects.   He is also networking with a few general contractors in the San Diego area that are also beginning to send work his way.  Take a look at the J3 website when you can:  http://www.j3contractorservices.com

I am busy learning how to be a stay-at-home mom, even though I am still doing some contract consulting work.  More often than not, though, I find myself trying to remember what my routine should be.  Between laundry, housework, cooking and taking care of Elliott, it is a full-time job! 

And speaking of Elliott, he is (as always) AWESOME! :)  We had his 4 month check-up today, and I learned the following stats:


Such a happy boy!  Elliott on May 28, 2012

Age - 4 months, 3 days
Height - 26 inches (75-90 th percentile)
Weight - 16 lbs 6 oz (75 th percentile)
Head circumference - 41.5 cm (just below 50 th percentile)

Everyone remarks on how big he is, which is ironic since he was so little when he was born.  It has literally been in the last month that he has grown out of 3 month clothing and is now in 6 to 9 month clothing!!

His pediatrician says he is excellent in every way and couldn't be better.  He also recommended I start him on eating solids (starting with cereal of course).  What do you think?  I know that it's normal to start between 4 & 6 months, but I don't know if I am ready yet!  :)

Here are some lovely photos of our beautiful boys.  Some are better than others, as we had to buy a new and improved camera after I accidentally dropped ours on the pier in Oceanside.  I only went without a camera for a week and was still about to go stircrazy!  I guess I really am a technology junkie.



The Serrano Family - May 6, 2012

I believe this is the first full family photo we have taken. We are at the Carlsbad Street Fair in May.

Me and my boys on Mother's Day



Our friend Mimi turned us on to Dream Dinners - this is one of the meals: "Family Pizza Night".  The boys had so much fun making their own pizzas! April 21, 2012

What a big boy!  We are still amazed at how fast Jason is growing.  May 27, 2012

And speaking of technology, here is my new hobby - Pinterest!   Have you been on Pinterest yet?  It took me about a day to figure it out, but it is really fun to see all the cool ideas and images from people, and I have already benefitted from it by finding some amazing blogs on being a great housewife and mom, easy quilting tips and ideas and recipes to try for the family. 

We are enjoying our new home immensely, and have the friendliest and most considerate neighbors possible.  The multiple playgrounds around the neighborhood are going to be great for Elliott as he starts to be mobile.  I am looking forward to an awesome summertime with him!

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!

Happy Fall!

Greetings to everyone!

Just wanted to post an update on what's beem going on with the Serranos -

We just passed Halloween and Jason was an adorable Musketeer.  Here are a couple of pics:

We had a great time, but that is not all the fun we had in October.  We had a fabulous visit from our dear friends the Lawson family, and we played tourist in our own town.  Highlights were the San Diego Zoo and Disney Land! 

Such a great time and we were thrilled to get our kids together again!

Jason loved Mickey and now he sleeps with his new stuffed Mickey doll every night.  He has also asked us to go back to Mickey's house several times.

 

We have also been enjoying attending Alberto's soccer games.

He is now Captain for the top team of his league, and won a trophy in the spring for making the most goals out all the league's players.

I have been working on my own as an independent consultant for CRM since June 1.  I am really enjoying the freedom it allows me, and the opportunity for rest when I need it. 

I am 25 weeks pregnant now, and can feel little Baby Serrano moving many times every day.  He is quite active and never kicks in the same place twice.  I think he is going to be just like his big brother, which means another several years of non-stop running around for me and Alberto!

This weekend, Alberto attends a 2 day prep course for taking his California licensing exam.  This is for him to finally launch his own business as a tile contractor.  We've been preparing marketing materials and planning for business growth for a few months.  Once we get past the exam, we'll be ready to get everything published and reaching out to the community.

Finally, once we get Alberto up and running I'll have the time to start focusing on completing my Montessori internship and observation requirements.  This will be a big accomplishment for me and will finally clear the path for me to start planning on opening a school.

Happy Fall to you and have an awesome holiday season!

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

 

2011 is going to be full of activity!

Greetings all -

We hope that everyone had a fabulous holiday at the end of the year and that you are still resolutely sticking to your resolutions! :)

We expect 2011 to be a big year for us both personally and professionally.

Alberto is studying hard to prepare for his contractor license for the awesome tile work he does.
I am working to expand my skillset into SRS Reporting, javascrpting, and becoming the resident expert of all things CRM 2011 (which, by the way, releases one week from today in case anyone is waiting...)

Jason is making leaps and bounds at his wonderful school, Montessori School of Oceanside.
He is 2 now, and has started potty training in earnest.  He is entering the last stage of the unconscious absorbent mind, and often treads briefly into the world of self-awareness and expression.  It is awesome to witness this transformation, and I am grateful for my extracurricular classes in the Montessori Method to help me identify these milestones.

I made my new commitment to Christ known on December 5 and have now been baptized, or "born again".  I don't particularly like that term since I associate many negative connotations to it.  But it is true that I feel like a new person and I know that the Holy Spirit is at work inside of me.  It's a wonderful feeling to be embraced and loved and I am making efforts to reach out to the church I am now attending so that I can have a support network in this still very new journey.

Alberto is hard at work finding new ways to damage his mountain bike and loves to be outdoors and riding through the trails on the nature preserve behind our home.  Jason still occasionally rides with him, but at 34 1/2 pounds, Alberto isn't as eager to cart him around as he once was!

I am also working on learning to sew and quilt, and am having a great time with it, even if I move slower than a snail's pace.  :)  And of course, I am beginning to plan my new season of gardening and hope to have an even more fruitful bounty of veggies in the back yard this year.

And, in our spare time, we are hard at work trying to stay in contact with our beloved friends and family all over the U.S. and Mexico and make sure we do a better job at keeping in touch.

So, we are busy and loving every minute of it. 

What are your plans for 2011?

Christmas Spirit

Hello all!
It has been a long year. A fabulous year. A challenging year. All in all I am ready for 2011!

Today is Jason's birthday - he is now officially a "terrible two-year old"! We have already started saying around the house that "T" is for "troublemaker" or "travieso" (depending on who is saying it ;) )
But one thing is still certain, he is the most awesome kid imaginable. He loves his Montessori school. He loves to learn and sing and dance....and work! Seriously, if you try to take his broom from him it does not go well!

My birthday was last week and went relatively well too. I enjoyed taking the day off and having a "me" day of just whatever I wanted to do.

And now the Christmas season is in full swing and we have our lights hung and our christmas tree up. Christmas feels different to me now than before - partially because I am a mom and partially because I have traveled a great personal journey with my faith this year. I am so thankful for the wonderful life that I have and just wanted to tell all of you that I am thankful to you for being a part of it.

Merry Christmas to everyone and may the spirit of the season remain in your heart all year long!

XOXO,
Natasha

Lock up your valuables!

...Because Jason is on the loose!

We, as the very proud parents of Mr. Jason, are pleased to share a special day with you - Jason crawled for the first time today!

He has been rocking back and forth for a couple of weeks, but never quite figured out what to do with himself after that. But today, he had an epiphany and put one hand forward - a leg forward followed and within a matter of seconds he was on the other side of the couch!

I captured this special occasion with the following video:




Now what am I going to do with all the stuff in this house??

We loved NOLA! We love DayCare less...

We had so much fun in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago! We even got to stop and see Jason's Great-Grandmother in Lafayette on the way. She says Jason is a "fat little bugger". I have to agree, but he is adorable! However, Liz (who saw him on Saturday) says that he has actually grown since two weeks ago, so his fat is redistributing already :)

Microsoft's WPC conference was a lot of fun, especially the closing party JazzFest. I learned a lot about stuff related to my job and how I will be expanding into new areas. The Convention Center was a great venue except it took *forever* to get from one side to the other. My feet really hurt by the end of the week.

Alberto and I went to Mulate's and Harrah's the Sunday before the conference and then went home to a fabulous dinner at Stephanie's house that night. It was a whole family dinner too, with 2 of 3 of Steph's kids joining us, along with their significant others. I also found out my oldest nephew is engaged! Congratulations Travis and Andrea!

Jason had a fabulous time with his Aunt Stephanie all week. She made some homemade toys for him (which he has been unable to part with to this day), and they had a great time playing together. She was determined to get him crawling by the time we went home - he didn't make it, but he has made leaps and bounds toward the goal! Now he rolls himself right up onto all fours and then just rocks back and forth - a lot - hoping to get somewhere. When he does move, it's in reverse, so he's going to have to work on that! :)

When we got back from New Orleans, Jason's Tia Meyda came for a visit for a few days. Once again, our house was transformed into a homestyle Mexican restaurant, with tons of different meals coming out of the kitchen, courtesy of Meyda's delicious cooking. MMM-MMM it was fabulous!

DayCare hasn't been so fun - Jason got sick the first day he was there, and after having a runny nose for a week it has now transformed into a full blown ear infection - in BOTH ears! Our poor little boy is having a lot of trouble swallowing and breathing through his nose, which just makes life tough for a kid his age. We've been trying to give him extra love and snuggles to make him feel better.

Jason still cries every day when I leave him at DayCare - I am hoping this will taper off in the next few days, as he starts to realize all the fun things he can do there. Every day they do story time, singing time, rhyme time, and they'll also do other fun activities like finger painting and playing with water and bubbles.

Summer here is Houston is as hot as ever, and we are spending 99% of our time indoors and out of the vicious heat. Can't wait for fall!

Whew, what a month!

Today, Jason is 7 months old! He is such a big boy now - at his 6 month checkup a few weeks ago he measured 27 inches and 19 1/2 pounds. His hair is getting really long, and he now has both bottom teeth sprouting up fast.






We have had a fabulous month since his 6 month birthday!










Jason got to play in his cool new splish splash pool with his buddies Dylan and Sasha -

On Father's Day Jason gave Alberto a cool personalized coffee mug with their photo on it, then we took some photos of our own!

After that, he got to be a model in a fashion show for Sama Baby luxury organic clothes (http://www.samababy.com/)

And finally, we got to spend the 4th of July at Mickey and Donna's house, where we got to swim and see horses! The water was dreamy and warm, having been baking in the sun during our heat wave. Jason loved it!

We are also starting to get summer rains here. I love a good Texas rain shower. I have started to take Jason out onto the porch with me every time it rains so he'll like it too. He reaches his hand out to touch the water falling from above, then peers down below to see it collecting in puddles on the ground.

We took a small video to show you how much he likes it -

Tomorrow we go to New Orleans for a week to see Steph and the family. I will also be attending Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference while there. It's going to be busy!

Happy Six-Month Birthday!

Jason turned 6 months old on June 9th!

He has been a joy and a challenge and a teacher to us! Even though it has only been six short months, I can't even imagine what life was like without him before. He has taught us what it means to be a kid again and has given us the warmth and incredible satisfaction of being our own family.

We are incredibly lucky to have such a happy and good-natured little boy who lights up like a Christmas tree and laughs hysterically while playing with us. He loves to play with colorful objects and anything that lights up or makes noises back at him. He is also learning to be sweet and loving to his softer toys, like his best friend Matteo the Monkey.

His newest thing is to alternate between cooing "oooh-oooh-oooh" nonstop, shrieking in delight at his friends and family and babbling all sorts of sounds. He is definitely making his voice heard!

This week Jason has started to put two similar sounds together (he has said "ga-ga", "goo-goo" and the aforementioned "ooh-ooh-ooh"). This morning, the second he woke up he was already off to the races and happily babbled "ga-ga, ga-ga, ga-ga" for 20 minutes in his crib while he let Mom and Dad take their time waking up.

We can't wait to see what the next six months bring!

Time to find a dentist!

I found a little something extra in Jason's mouth this morning - his first tooth is starting to come in! I was feeding him some mashed banana with my finger when my fingertip scraped up against the little tooth on the bottom of his mouth.

This was a surprise! Jason hasn't really shown many external signs of teething, though he has been a bit more fussy while nursing and when going to sleep. I hope all of his teeth come in as well!

We've had a really busy few weeks with Jason. After first introducing him to solids he rewarded us that night by doing his first roll from tummy to back. Then, the next day he upped the ante by rolling from back to tummy. Then he just showed off by doing it again and again for the next ten minutes. Within a day he'd learned to put the two together and now he is just a roly poly all over the place!

We went to the Aquarium over Memorial Day weekend and despite the crowds Jason did great. He really loved looking at and reaching for the little rays with his Daddy:

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Jason has now tasted Pears, Peaches and Peas. He loves the Pears, absolutely hates the Peaches and tolerates the Peas. That's progress!

First Food experience

We had a great time with Jason this past Sunday May 17, 2009 when we gave him his very first taste of food!

I mixed up some rice cereal for him and the fun commenced at breakfast time. He didn't know what to make of it and.....well, see for yourself!




As the days go on, I am thickening the cereal a little each day. By day 3, Jason was over his inital reticence and now he *loves* it! Wants more of it and actually fusses at me if I don't shovel it into his mouth fast enough! What a big boy!

Some photos of Jason in action

Over the last few months, I've relied on my trusty Blackberry to take spur of the moment photos of Jason when needed. Here are a few from the past few months:

Me 'n' Jason in the hospital - Day one of his life! (Dec 10 2008) Boy was I tired!

January 2009 - Jason all dressed up for his Passport photo! (the actual photo didn't turn out well at all - he kind of looks like a squished up raisin!)


Valentine's Day 2009 - Peace and love, man!

March 2009 - The very first time Jason slept without his swaddle blanket!

March 14, 2009 - Jason's very first time he sucked his thumb

St Patty's Day 2009 - Our Little O'Cutie Pie

March 2009 - Hanging with mom 'n' dad on a lazy Sunday

March 2009 - Jason and his favorite friend, Matteo the Monkey

April 2009 - Jason discovers Dudley!

I'll keep taking candids and posting them periodically so you can see the kid in action!