Who the Heck is this Santa Guy?!?!

Rianna was not super thrilled to be on Santa's lap, but I think he's already forgiven her. (=

Getting Ready for Christmas

8 Months!

Rianna....what BEAUTIFUL teeth you have!

That's right...our little baby has her first two teeth. So cute!

7 Months Old

Time goes by so fast.

Play Time

Happy Halloween

Isn't she the cutest Minnie Mouse?

Rianna's 1st Meal

So cool! On Rianna's 6 month birthday, we celebrated by intoducing her to the world of solid foods. She really loved it! Sal and I did too. We could hardly wait to give her something other than a bottle. It was a little messy, but not terrible. I'm sure the big mess will come when she'll insist on holding the spoon herself. I hope you enjoy the pics.

Rianna's Baptism

Okay, I'm finally posting Rianna's Baptism photos...3 months later. The day went well, minus one small hiccup....Father Ben was a "no show". Luckily for us, there was another priest on hand and he did the ceremony for us. After church we went back to the house for a little fun.

Bath Time

She loves her baths!!

5 Months Old

Video Clip

Enjoy short video of our little Munchkin.

4 Months old

Our little princess is four months old. We just had her checkup and she weighed in at 16 lbs. 14.5 oz. Might as well call it an even 17 lbs., which puts her in the 97th percentile. She is 25.5" long. She is a big girl.

She is doing well and is very healthy, however we have discovered that she is allergic to dairy. Poor baby. As a result, I have cut all forms of dairy and soy out of my diet. This has been a challenge for sure. I can't even have food that has been prepared with butter. The hope is that she will outgrow this allergy within the next 6 months. I sure hope she does. The doctor told me that her ethnicity works in her favor..interesting.

Miss Rianna has mastered a plethora of new tricks. She now giggles, coos, grabs her toes and puts anything and everything in her mouth. She is on the verge of rolling over. I'm sure that will happen within the next few days. She'll stand and take baby steps with a little help from Mom and Dad.

Happy 3rd Month Birthday Rianna!!!

Such an angel! ;)

12 weeks and already the boss (=

So our little one will be 12 weeks old on the 5th. How can 12 weeks have gone by already? I can hardly believe it.

She has changed so much in such a small amount of time. Her little personality is really starting to show itself. She knows what she likes and what she doesn't like. She loves to be talked to, she likes her baths and most of all she likes to be held...ALL of the time. She doesn't care to be alone when she is awake and isn't too keen on car rides. Go figure...I thought all babies love the car. I guess I was wrong.

I went back to work yesterday. Not the greatest feeling to leave her, but she is in great hands with her Grandma Yolanda. We are very fortunate not to have to place her in a daycare facility.

Her last doctor appointment was about a week ago and she weighed 14lbs. 9oz. I'm sure she'll be over 16 pounds by her 4 month checkup. She eats like a champ.

Here are a few more pics.

Miss Rianna is Now 7.5 Weeks Old

Hello,

I can't believe how quickly our little one has grown. She has changed in so many ways. She is now much more alert. She tracks people and things with her eyes. She recognizes our voices and greets us with the biggest smiles. The smiles are so rewarding. She's even sleeping much better now. On average she's going down for bed by 11:00pm, wakes up around 3:00am and again at 6:00am. A few nights back she even slept from 11:00 to 7:00. 8 hours....so nice!!

Her big brother Jeff is here for the summer and was very excited to meet his little sister. He's been a huge help and is so good with her.

Here are a few recent pics... (click for a larger view)

5 Weeks Old

My how the past 5 weeks have flown by. I can't believe it. It's true what they say...parenthood is the toughest job you'll ever love. Sal and I have enjoyed every minute with Rianna. She's so cute, even when she crys.

She still wakes up about four times a night, so sleep is a thing of the past for us. I'm breastfeeding her and she's eating very well. She now weighs 11lbs. 10 oz. and is 22.75" long. This puts her in the 97th and 95th percentiles.

She loves to be held. If she's awake, she expects to be in someones arms. Her coloring has lightened up a bit since birth. Looks like she'll be fair just like me. I think her eyes will be brown, but can't say for sure yet.

I'll write more soon.

Finally She Has Arrived!

Rianna Ysabel Tejada was welcomed into this world on Thursday, April 12, 2007 at 10:53pm. She weighed 9 lbs. 3 oz. and was 21.25" in length.

Contractions started at 8:00pm Wednesday evening. Sal and I went the the hospital at 4:00am Thursday morning. At that point I was only 1 centimeter dilated and they sent me back home. By 10:00am the contractions were very painful and we were off to the hospital again. I'd planned to have a drug free birth, but after 14 hours of contractions, I opted for an epidural which was the best decision I could have made. I rested comfortably in the hospital until I began pushing at about 10:00pm. Less than an hour later she was here. So beautiful and the most precious gift. I'm told that less than an hour of pushing is a pretty impressive feat for a first time mom with an epidural especially when delivering such a big baby.

We've been home now for a week and a half. I wish we could say that we settled into some sort of schedule, but not yet. Soon I'm sure. The biggest challenge to date has been the breastfeeding. How can something so natural be so difficult? I wasn't producing enough for Rianna and she lost a pound. That was heartbreaking news.....I wanted so badly to provide her everything she needs. I'm glad to say that after seeing a lactation specialist, we are doing great now. In fact Rianna is up to 9 lbs. 8 oz. as of today. She has surpassed her birth weight. The pediatrician told us today that babies of her age average a 1oz. per day weight gain. Our little Rianna has gained 11oz. in the past 5 days. That's more than double the average. I think it's safe to assume that she's getting all the nutrition she needs.

Sal has been home with us and is up every minute that we are. I don't know what I would have done if he had not been able to take two weeks off of work. He's a great dad and Rianna will soon realize how lucky she is to have him.

Keep checking the blog. I will post more pictures soon.

36 1/2 weeks

Hello,

As you can see from the pics, my "baby bump" continues to grow.

The doctor told me today that my cervix is still hard and closed...guess that means Rianna is not quite ready to make her grand appearance yet. I asked her if she could give me any idea of how big Rianna is now. I wasn't totally prepared for her answer. She says we are having a BIG baby. OH MAN!!!!! I wanna know how big! I weighed 8 lbs when I was born, Sal weighed 10lbs. Can you believe that? And Sal was worried that the clothes I packed to bring Rianna home in would be too big....they just may be too small! I guess we will have to wait until April 21st to find out for sure.

I'm feeling pretty good. At this point I'm being seen by my doctor once a week. Maybe next week she'll tell me that I'm starting to dilate. I'll let you all know.

Thanks to all of you that have been calling and e-mailing to find out how I'm feeling. It's so nice to have such a great support group. I hope you all will come to visit Rianna once she arrives.

Check back next week. (=

34 Weeks Down and only 6 More to Go!!!

Rianna now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is probably almost 18 inches long from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. Her central nervous system is still maturing, but her lungs are well developed now. That's great news in case she decides to come early.....hopefully she doesn't. Thanks to her recent weight gain, she's losing that wrinkled alien look. Most of Rianna's bones are hardening now, but her skull is still quite pliable. She already has finger nails, toe nails and even eye lashes!

Should Rianna decide to come early, we are all ready. Thanks to friends, family and some very special co-workers that were more than generous at the two baby showers that were thrown in little Rianna’s honor. Attached are a few shower pictures. Unfortunately I don’t have many as there were at least 5 different cameras snapping away. I will post some as I collect them. A very special thanks to Sandy, my sister-in-law. She threw the best baby shower for us. She had great helpers...Roxy, Maureen and Jennifer. They did a great job at making us feel very spoiled. My team at work threw the other shower for us...Liz, Jolene, Irma, Felicia, Melanie and Janet. A special thanks to you guys for giving Sal and I such a special party. I miss you gals!

Sal is still the only person to feel Rianna move. She does most of her dancing at night. And anytime someone places their hand on my tummy she stops moving. I think she’s gonna have her dad’s rascally habits! We all figured as much. We can’t wait to meet our little one. The anticipation of her arrival is killing us. Hopefully the next 6 weeks fly by.

My new favorite daytime television show is TLC’s “Bringing Home Baby”. It features new parents in the first 3 days of being home from the hospital with a brand new baby. It’s given me a pretty good idea of what we may experience. The biggest complaint parents seem to have is the lack of sleep, but that’s a given. No big deal. That’s why God invented Starbuck’s….right?

Jeffrey, my stepson just welcomed a new little sister into the world. His mother just gave birth to her fourth child. Soon he will be big brother to another little sister. Jeff’s mother was told by doctors that she was having a boy. So needless to say, they were quite shocked when a little girl popped out. Jeff has wisely advised us to have a boy’s name picked out…just in case. We are taking his advice. If you have any suggestions let us know.

Jeff won’t be here for the birth of his little sister, but will be home from college for the summer the following month. It will be so nice to have him around. He is a great big brother and I know he will be a big help to Sal and I. Heck, Jeff has WAY MORE baby experience than I do. He may teach me a thing or two. (=