We Are The Littles

Yesterday, I did not answer my cell phone. I did not care where it was or if it was on. I also did not care about my emails or snail mail.  All I really cared about was mine and Gabe’s Anniversary Date Night and summoning up some energy to make sure I did not fall asleep in my appetizer! I think we have been looking forward to date night since before Gabby was born. Of course when we imagined date night on the special day, I do not think we imagined our beautiful baby daughter tagging along, but she did. We got her all bathed and purtied up for the special occasion, while Justin and Savannah could not wait to kick us out of the house! I think they are sick of seeing us and hearing us hush them or nagging at them. So out we went, with all of us smelling good, dressed for our night out, and hopefully prepared for any postnatal disaster! Gabriela did great. All she did was cry for a bit to let me know she was hungry during the movie, and thanks to the Hooter Hider that Weezer gave me, that was not a problem for us.
We had a great time! I think when I look back on this anniversary I will laugh at the memory of Gabe using his iPhone in the theater as a flashlight, so we could see how Gabby was doing in her snuggly. Also, waking up to see that Gabe had washed the dishes from the night before. That would have been present enough!
I will also remember making Gabe an ice cream cake for our anniversary. It was my first time ever making one and I hoped it would come out nice for him. Now, he ranks it up there with my Tres Leches, so I guessed he liked it!
Ms. Savannah is also displaying her artistic culinary talents. I have included her awesome Red Velvet Masterpiece she made for this past Saturday’s Potluck held in Ms. Gabriela’s honor. Savannah is really coming into her own with her baking.
So here are the pics of the culinary delights, I hope you enjoy!

I could go on and on about how great everything was the day we got married, one year ago today, but I won’t. It was perfect. Life has been beautiful since I have met Gabe. Our story is definitely for the romantics at heart. How two people transformed each other and their lives just to be together.

To my husband, I love you forever, more and more each day. My life was not complete until I met you. Now, I am so happy to walk or run into the future, as long as I have you.

Here is a link to a song that reminds me of my feelings that I still have until this day. Only Frankie says it best.

I would have posted it, but the artist won’t allow it, just the link!

Gabe, I love you. I love waking up and knowing this is all not just a dream.

Happy One Year Anniversary!

Love,

YBM

Who needs Snakes on the Plane when you have snakes at the library?

The pictures, found here, and the video below were taken at the Harris County Public Library when we went to see a real-live snake wrangler. Justin was sure he would be from Australia, but it turns out he was from Texas and sounded a lot like Jeff Foxworthy and not Steve Irwin.

So, check out the pics and video below to see MBM and Justin playing interacting with the slithery creatures.

I can not believe how much things can change around the house simply by bringing a new wee one home. Things have totally been turned upside down at the Little house by none other than Ms. Gabriela Little. She has totally taken over and has made her presence known. You can not walk anywhere in the house without seeing baby stuff all over the place. We let her get away with it simply because she is adorable. Not much is going on here. We are still trying to adjust to her majesty’s schedule and keep the household running between feedings, diaper changes, sleep deprivation, soothing walks and rocking, and baths. Justin seems to need a little more of adjustment period. He actually thinks it would be okay to put some tape on her mouth so we do not have to hear her crying so much. Of course, we have talked to him about that. So this is where we are right now, somewhere in between chaos and bliss. Hard to imagine such a place.

Thanks to everyone for all your well wishes and gifts! You do not know how much they mean to us. I will leave you now with some pics taken this week. Some of them are just absolutely adorable.

The videos I’m uploading on this site and on Gabby’s are in High Definition. That means if you have a fast enough connection (cable, DSL, or T1) you can watch them in HD and in full screen. Want to know how?

Look at the picture below. See the two orange boxes? When you see a video, click the box that says “HD is off” & then click “Watch This Video in High Definition.” The video page will load then click the second box that is outlined below in orange to view it full screen.

There is a new video of Gabby up on her site. Give the HD full screen video a try and let me know what you think!

We were finally able to leave the hospital this evening around 5:30 or 6:00. MBM and MB had the option of staying another night but they opted to come home instead. It was pretty much impossible for her to get any sleep while she was there. If MB wasn’t squallerin’ for some food there was a nursery attendant in there for something, or our attending nurse, or some other woman who’s title escapes me. It was pretty much a revolving door.

MB’s going home attire resembled an outfit out of the Star Wars universe. When you see the pictures you’ll understand if you paid attention during the films.

So, now we’re home and all is well so far. Omega and the kids put together our year one nursery in the sitting area of our bedroom. It looks great. Pictures will follow tomorrow. Thanks Omega! We’re glad you were here for the big event.

As for more pictures, Gabriela has her very own site now to keep your picture needs fulfilled. Remember the Virtual Baby Book teaser? It’s now live and ready to roll. However, I’m not going to make the link public because we don’t want a bunch of loonies, creeps, and people we don’t like eye-balling our masterpiece. Therefore, if you want to see the site, send me an email (gabelittle at gmail dot com) and I’ll send you the link. I’m going to send the link out to all of my peeps and MBM’s peeps that I have email addresses for. But if your one of MBM’s peeps and I don’t have your email addy and you want the link you’ll need to let me know. There are all ready two new videos up on her new site and I’m sure there will be millions more. I can’t put them all up on this site or there wouldn’t be room for anything else. I think I’ve taken a picture or video just about everytime she moves!

Anyway, that’s all I have for now. We’re going to attempt to watch a movie and then get some sleep.

Later folks.

Yes, she has arrived. She came into the world kicking and screaming, but not very much and not very loud. Just enough to let us know that all was well.

We made it to the hospital this morning around 8:30am and by 1:30pm MBM & Gabriela had completed their task for the day. I wanted to make a stop at Best Buy or Circuit City on the way to the hospital but MBM didn’t want any part of that for some reason. She said something about finding an attorney if I stopped anywhere. I’m not quite sure what that was about.

Anyway, I stayed in the room for the entire thing. I didn’t get sick or pass out as many people expected. Sorry to let you all down. Gabriela Sophia Little weighed in at 7lbs 2oz and is 20in long.

So, that’s all I have for now. You can see a few more pictures over here. Full-screen slideshow is here.

*EDIT* Got one of the videos up. You can see it in glorious high definition here.

This past Monday, Justin and I attended a special demonstration given by the owner and founder of GKR International, the Karate organization the boys belong to. This was a big deal to the students and parents. Kancho Sullivan is a highly decorated and accomplished 7th dan black belt. He has been involved in martial arts since he was 17 years old. He is now in his 60’s and still very much an adrenaline junkie. Kancho Sullivan is a cancer survivor and highly regarded in the Karate world. What is even more impressive is how humble and down-to-earth he is. He is a genuine guy and a great teacher. He really paid a lot of attention to all who attended the demo. Justin was very excited to meet him, not just because he is a big deal, but he also heard Kancho has no stomach (lost from his battle with cancer). This fascinated Justin to no end.

Here are some pictures of Justin with Kancho Sullivan who recognized Justin’s front kicking talents! You can imagine how happy Justin was to be honored in front of the whole class by the BMOC. Every little kid’s dream.

On another very bright note, two of the clan are returning home! Gabe and Savannah are en route to Houston. We are so excited, especially Justin who is getting tired of me taking so many pictures of him. Now, Gabe and Savannah can take some of the pressure off.

I take a lot of pictures when Gabe is away. These are just a select few of  81 pics!  I want to keep him in the know. I have great videos of fireworks and Justin finally shedding his fears and learning to ride his bike with his Aunt Omega by his side. Gabe will have to post those later, but for now I will post these pictures for everyone to enjoy, especially my hubby.

Baby, I can hardly wait until you come home. There will be more fireworks

Love you!

Or less. I hope. Pregnancy is not something I find particularly beautiful. I think it is o.k. to feel this way. I have talked to many pregnant women and views differ. I do not hold it against any of them however they think of pregnancy, unless of course they try to say everyone is wrong who thinks it is NOT beautiful. I am ready to meet my little daughter and be able to breathe and feel relatively normal at the same time.
I try to ponder life and people as often as I can. It amazes me this club you find yourself in once you give birth. It becomes “clique”-ier if you are married. Once you have a child, you are thrown almost against your will into the coffee table conversation of “who-earned-the-biggest-badge-of-honor” as an expectant mom or better yet, during labor. Never mind, this badge is always imaginary and never accomplishes what the woman wants which is, “OMG, you are the most supreme of all women!”, response. I find it ridiculous, on several occasions, sad. I mean, why are women so wrapped up in it? Imagine men. On top of the food chain, discussing their reproductive issues, hailing a Supreme court decision regarding such an issue as their biggest accomplishment in the history of men, and telling “the-who-had-the-biggest-baby?” story, instead of “who-caught-the-biggest-fish?” That imaginary scenario is just as ridiculous as we must sound in reality.
What I have learned from all four pregnancies is I indeed do not enjoy being pregnant, labor sucks, but the baby is awesome! I could care less to have the biggest baby, smallest baby, shortest labor, longest labor, weirdest labor experience, easy-breezy-I- just sneezed- and- the-baby-came-out labor story, or the “I-was-Sheera-Queen-of-the-World” -or “Mrs. Betty Bed rest” expectant mother. I want my story to be like this; I had four babies and we raised them successfully to be responsible, kind, healthy, happy citizens and people, while experiencing the highs and lows of life.
Yesterday, I watched a segment of Tyra where she had women on discussing breastfeeding and homemaking vs. career woman. Of course, there were no winners, although the women who think breastfeeding in a non third world country until four years of age and older is disturbing!. To me, everyone wins if and only if people just let people be. I have been a career woman and now a homemaker. I just try to make the best of my life. To each their own. Just be happy. For me, breastfeeding is economical. If I find it a beautiful experience that makes the world seem to be flowing with milk an honey, then I am sure I will tell it like that, as quickly as I will tell everyone that it saves me so much money a month. If I hate it, then I will just move on and start bottle feeding my baby girl just as I did her siblings, who against all Breast Feeders Unite claims, were and are VERY healthy and happy, rarely ever sick, and bright. If breast fed kids really have super powers than the rest of us bottle fed kids, then I would not know hordes, families, generations of people who are sickly and idiotic. To me, it is all in the gene with some help of the dysfunctional.
Moving on, I am really upset that in this world, people would let a woman die on a hospital floor and keep walking by as if she was just a bug or something. Of course, I am talking of the Jamaican woman who was waiting for over 24 hours in a NY hospital for a bed to open up. She died on a cold floor with several people, including guards, around. This happened in our western civilization. Not one person stopped to try to help her up and place her back in a chair. I will not ask, what has this world come to? People have always been this way. It just amazes me that they still continue on this way. Where is the compassion? I told my hubby, Gabe, if it had been a dog, the dog would still be alive. Really, people need to remember that people come first. That life is a gift. We only walk this world once. And it means nothing if we do not help each other, not causes.

This is me exercising my privilege to write my opinions in this free country. I DO love this country as imperfect as She is. G~d bless our troops and remember our soldiers and ex pats, like my awesome hubby, who can not be home to celebrate our wonderful independence that we take for granted.

Happy Fourth of July!