On top of things

That would be the phrase that best describes me in relation to posting on our blog. It's been more than a year...how sad! Well I guess that goes to show you how little time I spend on the computer. And, being honest, the little time I do have I spend reading about other people on facebook or their blogs. One thing I have managed to keep up on is adding pictures to our Picasa Web Albums, so if you're interested in looking at tons of pictures of Marco's first year, visit www.marcofajardo.com!

Neither Galel or I can believe that Marco is already a year old. He is walking/running around like a crazy man! Which makes us run around like crazy people after him. :) He is absolutely precious and is developing quite the personality. We think that the funniest thing about him is all of his expressions. His most recent favorite is the scowl, which he uses when you get in his way, take away something that he wants, or our personal favorite, when you put on his shoes. He is not a fan of shoes...at all. In fact, one of his very first temper tantrums was thrown in Stride Rite when we tried some shoes on him. I am afraid that we are experiencing a taste of the terrible twos already.

Last weekend Galel and I got away to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. We went to Rancho Mirage. It was a great, relaxing time for us to reconnect and spend some time just the two of us. With all of the busyness we find it hard to remember to pay enough attention to each other!

We are having an absolute blast with our little family, and very much just enjoying life right now. Hope to post again soon!

Baby Marco arrives!

At 12:26 am on Thursday, August 7th, our little Marco was born! Three days after my due date had passed, we went to the hospital and they induced me. Labor was relatively quick, as they started me on the oxytocin at about 4 pm. At about 7 pm I got an epidural (amazing) and the rest was a breeze! At about 11:45 pm the nurse told me I was 10cm dilated and that it was time to push. I gave one good push and she could see the head! Considering they hadn't even called our doctor (and it was going to take him about 20 minutes to get there) she had me lay on my side and stop pushing. So once our doctor arrived, I pushed 1 and a half times and he was out! He certainly made his appearance, because right out of the womb he decided to pee all over the place! Pretty hilarious.

The whole experience was amazing, a thousand times better than we had imagined. They put him on the scale and he was a whopping 8 lb 10 oz, and 20 1/2 inches long. After cleaning him off and doing what they needed to do, they laid him on my chest. The first hour after he was born was spent just the three of us, enjoying our time together. I wouldn't trade that for the world. Then our families came back in and were able to hold him. Our stay at Hoag Hospital was excellent. All of the nurses were so sweet and helpful, and the rooms are so great! The labor and delivery room had an ocean view, it was like we were staying at a hotel! We got to go home Saturday. We were anxious to be at home, and to sleep (yeah right) in our own bed.

He is 10 days old today, and we think he is just the cutest thing on the earth. We may be a little biased. :) We have been so blessed with help from friends and family. My mom came for a week, and took over all of the household duties that we were unable to attend to. She made us delicious meals, and in her spare time, managed to spend some time holding her grandson. We for sure miss her now that she isn't here! The Fajardo's have been able to spend quite a bit of time here as well, which has been wonderful. They always manage to find more stuff at Target that we need. For the next weeks we have dinners being brought over for us from friends, for which we are so grateful. There is no way we would have time to even think about making dinner!

Being parents is definitely hard work...full of sleepless nights, many many poopy diapers, feeding him 8-12 times a day, and trying to figure out what is wrong when he is upset. But let me tell you, this precious boy is worth every second of it.

And praise the Lord, his stinky umbilical cord stump fell off this morning! All of you parents will understand. :) Check back soon, we are sure to have some disgusting amount of photos posted of our little guy.

The countdown begins!

So we are about two weeks away from our due date....pretty crazy! My anxiety (and excitement) level increases every time I hear about someone who has a due date AFTER mine that has already had their baby. :) We are SO excited that we will finally get to meet our little Marco and see what his sweet face looks like! We have realized lately how INCREDIBLY blessed we are to have family and friends who continue to support us in the many ways we have been preparing to add a new member to our family. On another note, we want to thank you for your continued prayers and support for us during this difficult time in the industry! It really means a lot to us.

This weekend my mom and I are throwing a baby shower for Sara, we are looking forward to it! We have decided that we need to go into business, because we have so much fun throwing parties together! So if you need help with any party planning, let us know!

If you need anything else to pray for....you can pray for a speedy labor and delivery for me :)

Until next time!
Em

P.S. it is obvious that Galel picked that picture to post of me, I would have definitely chosen one that I felt was a bit more flattering! (Sorry Galel, I know you hate it when I do that).

Pregnant Picture of Emily

Hey everyone, it's Galel here... Several people have been asking me lately to see how big Emily is right now. Well, wait no further!

Here's a pic from the AWESOME Father's Day that Emily gave me - breakfast at the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach. Great food, and I had a smokin' hot date! :)

Oh Baby!

Well, for the last several weeks our days have been spent preparing for baby Marco to come join us. We anticipate that these next 4 or so weeks will be much of the same! We love it though. I have been blessed by family and friends who threw me two awesome baby showers...we got so much amazing stuff, his room is FULL of clothes and baby goods. Now we just need a place to put it all. We spent this last weekend painting the IKEA furniture (Galel was really excited about this idea :)) that was the wrong color finish. "But it was such a good deal!" We are anxious to get this done so that we can put all of the baby stuff away instead of just piling it inside of his crib. Last week we had our OB check-up and everything looks great! In fact, the Dr. said that I am already 1.5 cm dilated. This could mean absolutely nothing, and I could remain this way for the next five weeks :) I am hoping that it means that I will slowly dilate over the next several weeks and have an easy labor! Wishful thinking I guess...

Now we get to go see the doctor once a week for check-ups and pelvic exams...fun. It is going to be here before we know it, and we are overwhelmed with excitement, anxiety, and so many other feelings. I am sure that the blog will be nothing besides baby photos and videos come August, so we hope you are ready. :) Until next time!

Our "baby-moon"

Galel and I had the chance to get away last weekend for some time to ourselves. We stayed at the new Sheraton Resort in Carlsbad...it was nice! We arrived Friday evening and went out to dinner in Leucadia. Later in the evening we enjoyed putting our feet in the spa...since I am not supposed to go in :(

On Saturday we went to the beach, which was beautiful! I have to say though, the beach isn't the same when you can't lay on your stomach! Okay enough complaining about what I can't do while pregnant. We had lots of fun talking, people watching, and going in the ocean (it was so cold that the only time we went in was when we had to pee :) Saturday night we ate at a very yummy italian restaurant in the Gaslamp District called Trattoria La Strada. After we stuffed ourselves there, we went to a place called Extraordinary Desserts. If you have never been here, you for sure should. It is absolutely amazing. They have excellent coffees, teas, and of course, desserts. It is a very popular place and there is ALWAYS a line. But it goes by pretty fast.

Sunday we layed out by the pool and just relaxed. After checking out of the hotel room, we went to our friend Eddie's sons 1st birthday party in La Jolla. It worked out great that the party was there when we were because we hadn't seen Eddie and his family in a long time. After that we headed home! We really enjoyed our weekend of relaxation, especially knowing that it might be a long while before we get to do that again!

3D Ultrasound - Amazing!

So last weekend we had the opportunity to get one of those 3D ultrasounds of Marco, who is 30 weeks today! It was so incredible. To be able to see his face and his cute little body was really amazing. Both of our families were there and it was a very special experience. It made everything feel VERY REAL. We can't wait to meet him!