...Sayin' Goodbye to 2010...

CHRISTMAS
We have been so incredibly busy this past holiday season, but we have been having tons of fun. We celebrated our very first Christmas as a family of 3, and it was absolutely perfect. As a child, I recall Christmas as a "magical" time. It was the one time during the year when all of the evils of the world ceased to exist, and the anticipation of hope and the love of Jesus was all that remained. While Christ's love has always been there, the "magic" of Christmas seemed to fade with each aging year. However, having Judah brought back all of that childhood excitement, and I was amazed at the level of alertness our 7 weeks old baby exhibited. He even tried to eat the wrapping paper - seriously, SO CUTE!! I can not wait for all of the Christmases to come.

Judah was quite spoiled this year (Although, Richard and I didn't do too badly ourselves); he received clothes, toys, teethers, books, the "Fisher Price Step 'n' Play Piano" - you name it, and he probably got it, but most importantly, he was showered with love by so many of our friends and family. As for us, my dad and Deb gave us an amazing digital camera, and Richard's parents gave us $$ which we used to buy a limited edition Red Wii - SO fun! Plus, Richard bought me the most beautiful pearl bracelets (I've always wanted real pearls), and we took our first family portraits.

JUDAH UPDATE
My baby is going to be two months old on Tuesday (it really does not seem like it has been that long), and he is growing so much. He no longer fits in ANY newborn sizes, and he has outgrown three of his 0-3 months size sleep & plays. He is extremely strong for his age (even the nurses at our pediatrician's office couldn't believe how strong he is). He now rolls himself over, sits himself up (though he can not stay completely upright without assistance), pushes himself across the floor with his legs, and stands with assistance. He is smiling frequently, cooing often, and he loves to play "The Face Game." He makes a face, and we copy it. Then we make a face, and he
copies it. OH, how I love my little boy!

NEW YEARS EVE
We had a great time saying goodbye to 2010 with some of our great friends. We ate some yummy food, played Extreme Mafia and Just Dance Now 2 for Wii, wrote and performed (and competed against each other) our own 2011 raps, had a dance off, and shared our goals for the new year. It was a great night, and even though we didn't win, I think that my rap group did a great job :) With that, I leave you with this:


Happy New Year
There aint no beer here

So hold up your Mt. Dew
'Cause we be praisin' the true Jew

Sayin' goodbye to 2010
We'll never see you again

So let's welcome 2011
The year we keep our eyes on heaven

TWO YEARS

Yesterday was my husband's and my 2 year wedding anniversary - wow, how the time flies. A lot has changed over this past year (with the birth of our son and all), but I'm so glad to say that my husband and I are just as much (if not more) in love today as we were six years ago. I really hit the jack-pot with Richard, and I am so blessed by my little growing family.

To celebrate this milestone in our lives, we wanted to do something special, but with our new baby, neither of us were up for doing anything big and fancy (or that required energy). Since Saturdays are Vertical Worship nights, we decided to go out Thursday while my mother-in-law watched Judah for us; while I know that he was in the most capable of hands, it was so hard for me to leave him for those few hours. It was the first time I had been away from him. Before Thursday, I hadn't even gone to the store without my precious baby boy, and as embarrassing as it is for me to admit, I cried once I got back out to the car. I did have a wonderful night, though, and my mother-in-law told me that he was on his very best behavior (not that he really ever has a bad behavior - we've been blessed with a terrific baby).



Anyway, our cousin, Natasha, was able to get us discounted tickets to see "White Christmas" at Pioneer Theatre Company, and I absolutely LOVED the show. I grew up watching the movie every Christmas Eve, and to see it live was spectacular - I was so excited. We also ate dinner at Sizzler (it's my favorite), and we watched the lights at Valley Fair Mall. Even though we missed our boy very much, and we kept imitating him all night, it was nice to get out together - just the two of us. :)

My Baby's A Month Old!

Judah turned 1 month old on Saturday - WOW, it does not seem like it has been that long already. He is such an awesome baby, and Richard and I are having so much fun getting to know him.

Here are a few of the updates:

1. Breastfeeding has become much easier. He is now nursing with or without the nipple shield and easily switching among bottle, Binky, and breast with no hesitations. My only complaint here is that he bites. My nipples are seriously ready to fall off from all of his biting. And for those of you saying, "just wait 'til he has teeth..." he's got them! YES, I know how incredibly young he is, but I guess this is just one are in which he takes after his momma - I was born with 4 teeth. He has 3 of them. They haven't come through completely yet, but they are in enough that you can clearly see their little white nubs, and they are quite sharp.

2. Judah is SO very strong for his age. Not only has he been holding his head up since birth (yes, since BIRTH), but he locks his legs and stands on them. Of course, he doesn't exactly have his balance down enough yet, so his standing is assisted, but he's been doing this assisted standing for about 3 weeks now. The other night, Richard was holding him, and he started making walking motions. My mother-in-law said that Daniel was walking at 7 months, so perhaps he will be an early walker like Uncle Dan. We've also had to stop swaddling him because he always punches his way out of the swaddle regardless of how tight we make it (he HATES his arms covered). My little man definitely has a mind of his own.



3. His circumcision is fully healed now - such a relief.

4. We started trying to sleep him in his bassinet this week (attempting to prepare him for his crib). He was not having it, though. Last night he cried for thirty-plus minutes before I finally brought him to bed with me, where of course, he fell immediately to sleep. I'm thinking we're just going to have to put him in his crib and let him cry himself to sleep until he learns to be comfortable with it. I just can't listen to him do it - he breaks my heart, and I cave in.

5. I've learned to angle his penis down in his diapers. Since this discovery, we have had zero "pee all over everything except my diaper" episodes. YEAH!! Now, if we could just figure out how to keep him from peeing DURING diaper changes, we'd have a lot less laundry.

6. He spits up a lot. I suppose that's normal, but it's really A LOT. I'm hoping he grows out of that soon. Oh, and he get the hiccups ALL the time - poor guy.

7. We set up the Christmas tree, and Judah LOVES the lights. We laid him under the tree, and he started to cry when we tried to take him away. He's so funny that way. So, we laid him back, and he just stared and stared. He also reached for a couple of the bulbs, but they were too high for his grasp. :) I can't wait until Christmas. I know that he will not remember it, but I will.



To close, here are a few of his (and mine) favorite things:

Binky
Cuddle U Pillow

Play Yard changing table
Diaper Genie Swing/infant seat
Moby Wrap
Breast Pump

Mommy Challenge #1

It's amazing the things you DON'T care about when you're in love. I'm not talking about that euphoric, romantic love, either; I'm talking about the most indescribable, miraculous, unconditional love of a mother for her child. Yes, it has only been 3 weeks (tomorrow), but it only took 1 second to feel the most deeply bonding love for my baby boy. Already I have been peed on, pooped on, puked on... normally, bodily fluids (among other things) would completely gross me out, and while it's not like I WANT to be covered in my son's nasty's, it doesn't bother me. In fact, in the moment, I don't really even think about it; my only concern is making sure Judah is safe, cared for, and loved.

Last night, however, I faced my most difficult mommy challenge thus far. After Judah's circumcision, he had a gauze bandage around his treated area. The doctor told us that it would fall off on its own within 24 hours. As of yesterday, the bandage still hadn't come off, so we were instructed to soak him in a tub of warm water and gently guide the gauze off. I know this probably doesn't sound like a difficult task, but every second of it, I was so scared that I was going to hurt him, or pull off some sort of scabbing that would cause him to bleed. Of course, his crying didn't exactly help matters along. I couldn't tell if he was crying because he was cold (being naked and only half his body in water), or hungry (it was about time for him to eat again), or scared (it was his first "bath" experience that wasn't a sponge bath), or in pain. I absolutely hated every minute of it.

Now, though, things seem to be healing up quite nicely, and that is all behind us. Pheeww, bring on mommy challenge number 2! ;)

My Favorite Things Judah

I love all the little sounds my baby makes; He makes all sorts of cute little snorts, squeaks, whimpers, sighs, and coos, but there is one in particular that makes me laugh. When he gets really hungry, he starts frantically punching the air (right, left, right, left...), and as he punches, he makes these cute little grunting noises, "uh, uh, uh-uh-uh...". Perhaps he will become a boxer, though, I'm praying that he does not. Call me crazy, but I don't think I could watch my son take several punches to the head.

I love the way he lifts his hands and shakes. In my belly, I would frequently feel this fast paced beating that would quickly alternate between my left and right sides, and I would always wonder what he was doing in there. Now that he's here, I think I know what he was doing. He does this thing sometimes where he will lift both of his arms with open hands, and he quickly shakes them. I honestly have no idea as to why he does this, but it is quite funny.

I love Judah's big beautiful eyes; There are times when my baby boy will open those wonderful blue eyes of his (I think it would awesome if they stayed blue, but I know that most babies are born with blue eyes and gradually turn over the first few months), and instead of closing them immediately after, he will look around as if he's discovering a new world (which, he is).

I even love his little cries. While it completely breaks my heart when my baby cries, I am so glad that he has such a cute cry. You know how some babies have that high pitched, ear-piercing, screaming cry? Yes, well, I am so thankful that Judah's cry is nothing like that.

I love all his little faces; My favorite is when he lifts his eyebrows as high as he can without opening his eyes and stretches his head up toward the sky. His little neck gets all skinny supporting his little bobble head, and he starts to resemble a little turtle. He seriously, melts my heart.

I love all his warm embraces. When his little hand grabs hold of my finger, I can't help but fall even more in love with my Judah baby, but when he lays his head on my chest while holding that finger, it is the best! I have never experienced a better feeling in all my life.

I love it when he stares at me; His eyes meet my eyes, and we connect in ways I cannot explain. It's like we're communicating with each other, and we don't even need words.

I am just in love with my baby!
Already, I could not imagine my life without Judah...

Four Generations

Richard E. Rivera, Richard M. Rivera, Richard J. Rivera, J. Richard Rivera

My husband comes from an amazing family. They are not perfect, but they're even better than the Brady Bunch! They are big (in number not in physique), and they love and support and pray for each other; they are God-fearing, strong, and genuine. Even before Richard and I were married, they opened their hearts and made me part of the family, and I love all them so much. Since, I never met the great-grandparents, I have to say that this wonderful family legacy has stemmed out from Grandpa Richard and Grandma Lillian. Those two have the biggest most beautiful hearts, and they have definitely been an inspiration to me.

So when my husband and I heard we were having a son, it seemed only fitting to follow tradition and name him after greatness. Our only concern with this decision was one of confusion. As we have learned over the years, having the same name as your father has a tendency to create a bit of chaos. For instance, when we purchased our car (from the same dealership that Richard's parents purchased one of their vehicles), they processed all of the loan information and paper work under the correct Richard Rivera with the correct social security number, but when we picked up our registration plates, the car was registered to a Mr. Richard M. Rivera - that's Richard's dad. Also, when Richard moved out of his parents' home, he was unable to forward his mail. Had he attempted that change, it would have forwarded ALL Richard Rivera mail which would not have been good for my father-in-law... :/ Anyway, that's when we decided that a middle name would be the perfect solution. Our son would carry on on the Richard name but leave behind the confusion.

Judah's Big Day

On Sunday, November 14, 2010, at only 10 days old, Judah had his first big day out. Since my dad is in town, we decided to have Judah dedicated early, and I must say that I have the best baby in the world. He seriously did so good, and I am so proud of him. He didn't even cry once all day - even when everyone was passing him around and snapping about a million pictures of him, he remained perfectly calm.

As for the dedication itself, it took everything that was in me not to cry.
I was seriously holding back tears to the point where I had that weird knot thing in the back of my throat... It was an absolutely beautiful service, and I am extremely happy that so many of our family could be there to stand in agreement with us. I am thankful for everyone of them, and I am truly blessed that my son gets to grow up around so much love.