It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Having fun dressing up Max in his various Christmas suits.

Ah, the leaves...

We have this fairly big tree in our front yard. Every year it drops all its leaves in the span of one week, this is the week. So I took Max outside to experience....










He's such a ham in front of the camera. Some how he already knows he's supposed to smile and does so on cue. I set him on the ground, held my camera up and he was already smiling for me.

Funny thing happened though, Roxy came over and wanted to see what was going on.










The next thing I knew, Max lost his balance and was on his back. Hahahaha. Don't worry, he's fine.

New Skills

Max is learning so much, so quickly right now. Just in the past 2 weeks he went from sorta sitting up folded in half (see below)










To sitting up almost completely unassisted for minutes at a time. He loves to play with his blocks.










Beto has taught him to clap to a song. He claps in time, but only with his left hand. Lefty?

He is also eating real baby foods. He loves bananas and carrots. Here he is in his high chair.









He's teething, I can feel a tooth right under the surface, it'll break through any day now. Lots of slobber and chewing. If he can grab it, it's in his mouth. One especially fussy evening, we discovered a cold Pepsi helps alleviate some pain.









He's really just the sweetest, cutest thing ever!

It's the Great Pumpkin !

We visited our 1st Pumpkin Patch this past Sunday. As you can see, Max was very excited about the whole thing. As with all things, he tried to eat the pumpkin.

I also went back to work this week. I was very anxiety ridden about the whole thing but so far....it's gone very smoothly. I am losing some precious hours of sleep, but who needs sleep anyway? I am only working part time, Mon - Thur 8am-1pm. Aunt Nancy has graciously agreed to watch Max on Mondays and Tuesdays, which went off without a hitch. Wednesdays and Thursdays are Daddy time! I miss him, but the time at work goes by fast.

Next major life event

Sorry for my absenteeism, I've been busy in babylandia. Max is 3 1/2 months and our days are getting a bit more predictable which allows me some bits of free time. For those of you that have kept up with my blog, you'll remember Beto and I got engaged last November. With all the baby prep, the wedding idea was pushed to the back burner. I still very much wanted to do it but, how was I going to plan a wedding? I can't even get 10 minutes to myself to take a shower?!
We had always had a September date in mind, initially it was Sept 16th. That was the day last year when I found out I was pregnant. But it falls on a Wednesday, so we chose September 19th, the next closest Saturday and the numbers are cool 9/19/09. Since I began looking in July, most places laughed at me and smugly told me that all of their Saturdays for the year have been booked for some time. Hmmf. OK, need to change the date.
The place I really wanted is called the Palm Event Center, it's connected to the Mitchell-Katz winery here in Livermore. We had a meeting there for work awhile back and I knew then that's the place I want to get married in. I had called them last year, when we first got engaged and even then all their Saturdays were booked. But Beto told me to just call and check, maybe a day opened up. I called and the stars must have been aligned because she told me they did have a cancellation on Friday Sept. 25th. I wasn't thrilled with a Friday, but it's the place I wanted and they agreed to work within our budget. So we booked it.
Needless to say we had some quick plans and decisions to make. Pam and I planned the wedding on the computer. I would sneak in online time while Max napped, as I'm doing now. We did everything within weeks and we're good to go! Ha- who needs a year to plan a wedding?!

Been a long time....

Our beautiful boy at 12 weeks. I knew this was a great pic the second I snapped the picture...it choked me up. How'd I get so lucky? He is so handsome. I can't help myself. And it's not just me, everyone says so. Even the cashiers at Safeway :)

Shower-free zone...

Beto had to go back to work this week. Max and I are learning to do stuff on our own. I haven't tried to leave the house yet, but I couldn't anyway because I can't seem to figure out a good time to take a shower. I can't leave the baby by himself! I'm lucky if I can make myself a sandwich, let alone worry about such trivial things as smelling shower fresh. Hy hair is a rat's nest because the last time I did manage a shower, I had no time to blow dry my hair.

I guess I could put Max down and let him fuss a bit as he is now as I am on the computer, but I choose to not make him fuss if I can at all help it. He's a good baby. The routine starts with a fresh diaper, feeding 'til slumber sets in (more about that later), burping and holding while sleeping. I know, I know...you're going to say put him down when he falls asleep. I've tried that and he wakes up and then messes up the whole routine. The only time that works is at night. Somehow he knows it's night time and allows me to put him in bassinet once he falls asleep. During the day he wants to be held and cuddled. Which I gladly oblige, but I'm glued to the couch or the rocker all day. Oh and about the feeding, he's a monster. We at first thought he had gas problems because right after eating he would cry bloody murder and could not be consoled. Turns out he was still hungry. He takes breaks while feeding and I didn't know that he was taking a break, I thought he was done and closed up shop. Beto mentioned maybe he's still hungry so I put him back and off to town he went. I have to let him feed until he quits, which usually means falling asleep. That has all but alleviated his crying. So we do this routine every 2 hours or so, at night he stretches it to every 3-4 hours. Oh how I love the 4 hour nap he gives me!!

Here's yet another precious picture...

Lakers in 4 !

Gee, my hair smells terrific !

Grandma and Mom gave me my first bath (Dad took pictures), aren't I the cutest thing you've ever seen?

Introducing Maximus Tapia Jimenez....

...born Saturday May 23rd, 2009 at 11:21pm by cersarian. Weighing in at 8 lb. 6 oz., measuring 21 1/4 in. long (now upgraded to 21 3/4 in. long).

I can't begin to explain the joy Beto and I feel. We also can't contain it, cliches are cliches for a reason. I've never known love for anything like I do for this baby. He's absolutely beautiful.

We are home from the hospital, as of yesterday (Wednesday) at noon. We are trying to stay strict on our feeding schedule and rest in between. Beto and I are also taking naps whenver possible to try and relieve the exhaustion and sleep deprivation of our hospital stay.

He is already very alert and his eyes are constantly scanning what's going on. He is also surprisingly strong, he'll grasp a finger and not let go for anything. He's eating good and gaining weight.

I know everyone wants pics, so I will post a few for now...

Overdue....

May 19th...today was supposed to be the day. The finish line, the light at the end of the tunnel, the day I've had my sights on for 35 weeks / 245 days. Ahhhhhh! I did everything I was supposed to do. I followed all the rules. I'm done, I can't do no mo'!
Saw the Dr. today, told her as much and (drum roll please) we have a date !!! If nothing happens naturally the next 3 days...we have an appointment on Friday 9pm to induce. Birthdate will be Saturday May 23rd.
The anxiety level has been lowered from DEFCON 5, to DEFCON 2. I feel better knowing I have a definitive date. So tired of all the not knowing. Especially because I've been off work for a month now which sounds like heaven, right? Well, it's not! It's purgatory. Just waiting. Waiting for the unknown.
I know how I sound, poor Beto, he's had to live with me, no wonder he golfs so much.
OK, my rant is over...like I said, I can see the finish line and I feel better.

Date Predictions

As Ron stated, everyone except him predicted the baby would come before the due date.
There are only a handful of predictions still in the running. Out of the 18 I collected from various baby showers, here's who's still standing:

Pam 5/17
Cindy & Nancy 5/18
Dad 5/19
Ron 5/22

That's it, looks like Ron just may be the winner.

Prego Pizza?

Went to the Dr. yesterday morning. Found out a couple new facts....I am dialated, 1 cm. The cervix is soft, which is good. The baby is "sunnyside up", means his face is face up. He'll either flip over on his own or they will have to turn him, he should be face down. Although the Midwife said it was not a big deal. I actually lost a pound this week. Still no concrete answers on when. Could be today, could be 2 weeks. We've scheduled another Dr. appt for Tuesday, the actual due date. If nothing happens by then, we will discuss inducing.

So, my previous post mentioned my aversion to old wives remedies? Well, Beto got a suggestion from one of our work friends to try this pizza that has been known to send prego ladies into labor after eating it. We didn't have any plans and I was feeling hungry after the Dr. appt. so we decided it couldn't hurt. We made the trek to lovely downtown Walnut Creek for some Prego Pizza at Skipilini's. See the stories on their website....http://www.skipolinispizza.com/prego.php

The pizza has seven different kinds of meat, veggies and a ton of onions and garlic. It was very tasty and everyone knew why I was there. Lots of friendly folks wishing me good luck.

Wow! I really should have put on some make-up, oh well. I'm nine months pregnant Dammit! I can look hideous for a few weeks.
But alas, no pizza induced labor. It's been just about 24 hours and I'm the same.

Finish Line ?

I made it, started week 40 yesterday. Still no pre-labor symptoms. Damn kid already not listening to me! I can still walk and get around with minimal effort. I have outgrown even my maternity clothes. Seems silly to buy new clothes for the last week, but I did buy a pair of shorts yesterday while walking the mall. It's supposed to be 98 degrees by Sunday, I need something cool to wear.
I keep walking hoping it will help the process along, but nothin' so far. I'm not into the old wives tales of eating spicy food, drinking tea, gulping castor oil. But at least walking and staying active can only help in my recovery, I do that one because it has other benefits, Tess enjoys it too. Speaking of Tess, she has been a great companion while I've been home. I feel she senses something going on. She sleeps most of the day away on the bed, as she is now. But she'll come check on me from time to time. She'll hop on the couch next to me and throw her head into my neck and give me a nudge, like "hang in there."
Dr. appointment tomorrow morning, we'll see what they have to say...

Tick..tock..counting the minutes

OK, so the waiting is officially the worst part of being pregnant. 13 days and anxiously counting.

Will he come on time? Early? Late?
Has he dropped? Not dropped?
Am I having contractions? Not having contractions?
WHO KNOWS?!
You don't know if you've never been through it. It's all just a series of unanswered questions. A form of torure, I say. The doctors don't know, they say it's all a very complex system we still don't fully understand. I can see now why so many ladies are scheduling c-sections these days. At least they know when.


I figured out a main culprit of my heartburn though, it's chocolate. It's not like I eat a lot of it but it's enough to upset my delicate hormonal state of imbalance. I've been able to sleep in bed the past 2 nights. I still wake up but that's just from being uncomfortable, at least the burning has stopped. Wow, makes a huge difference in my days. I can actually stay up all day, no napping needed. So, I've been constucting things. Yesteday, I put together the baby swing that my co-worker bought for us. It swings and vibrates, plays 6 songs or nature sounds. Babies are supposed to love it.















Today, was the stroller Pam and Dan bought us. It's a jogger type stroller with what's called a "Travel System." The travel system part refers to the hand held carrier that can come right out of the stroller and into a base in the car for traveling. Just fold up the stroller and go.















That's it for now, I'll try to write more often. Not like I don't have the time, just nothing new is happening...

Awhhhh.....The belly picture

Start of Week 37

Today is the first day of week 37, four weeks to go. However my most recent ultrasound measures the baby at 8 days further along than expected, he could come a week early. That would put the new estimated due date on May 11th, which happens to be Beto's birthday! The estimated weight at birth is 6 pounds, 10 ounces. I have another Dr. appointment today, I'll let you know if anything new comes up.

I am officially on maternity leave from work, started yesterday. We have some record-breaking , bizarre heat wave going on right now. It was 94 here yesterday. I went out to lunch yesterday for my birthday, with my bosses and co-worker. Then quickly went back home to the comfort of central air. Supposed to just as hot today. I'm meeting my Dad for lunch.

I attended my last baby shower on Saturday at Cathy's house. Yummy food - caesar salad, Aunt Leannie makes a mean macaroni salad and Aunt Nancy made some delicious, fancy sandwiches. I had the turkey/cranberry on raisin bread and a piece of the pesto-mozarella-tomato sandwich, both great. We played a couple games. Like this evil one below where everyone cuts a piece of string to the size that they think I am around. Mom and Aunt Ana cut almost identical pieces, Mom won. Some others would have wrapped around me three times!!! Geesch.


Sunday was my birthday and Beto, Ron and I went to the Giants game. What a beautiful day, due to the previously mentioned heat wave, it was 88 in the City. We had perfect seats, the last row of the view box so the wall directly behind us cast a welcome bit of shade. Giants won!

Peek-a-Boo

I had an ultrasound yesterday and I got a shot of Max's face. Definitely has the Tapia side big forehead and I think he has my nose! You can't tell in this shot but
the tech lady said he already has hair too. 5 weeks left.....come out already!

"I can't see it" How to view.....the picture is head on. At the top of the pic, left of middle is the white egg shape of his forehead. Then under that, to the left is the shaded area of his eye, to the right of that his nose and directly below his lips. He looks like his lips are puckered. Can you see it now ?

The Orange Family

Here's some of our Home Depot family from Baby Shower #2. I don't know where I was for either of these pictures but apparently I wasn't invited. Just kidding. My co-worker and cubemate, Kristin (not pictured) set up and arranged everything for this shin-dig.

We played a game where a team of 3 had to make a diaper on one of the team members with rolls of toilet paper.



Beto and I won, I can make a mean toilet paper diaper.


Complete with doodie (it was mustard).



The cake was made of individual cupcakes, very cute.

And of course, presents for the baby.

Week 34 & a Wedding

Beto and I went to a wedding today of one of our co-workers. The wedding was on a HornBlower Yacht on the Bay, we departed out of the Berkeley Marina.

As you can see, my belly is getting HUGE! Finding a dress was not fun, everything looked like a tent. Beto was part of the wedding party, hence the hot pink, Playboy Bunny tie. It was a small wedding, maybe 40 people, 10 of those being the wedding party, hahahaha! We spent about 4 hours on the Bay and I couldn't help myself when we got near the GG Bridge. I took a lot of pictures. Here are a couple....

I like the one on the right, we were just about to go under the bridge.

I took more scenery pictures than I did of the wedding, oops.

So....how's things? I'm doing good, my belly is getting heavy and sleeping is become increasingly more difficult. There's just NO comfortable position. I still have to sleep inclined to attempt to reduce the heartburn, on my side with a pillow under my belly because the weight of it makes me roll forward and tweak my back. Due to the growing size of my belly, I can't eat as much, it's harder to breathe and I pee a lot. There's only so much room in there and everyone tells me these last weeks are when I'm going to grow the most. I don't know where it's all gonna go!



One more pic...Beto looks nice. I look seasick, but I'm not.

The number of the month is 8, mawah-ah-ahhhh !

So begins month 8, only 8 weeks left. Wait a minute....8 WEEKS, so much still to do !!

In the span of the next 8 weeks:

• Spring will start
• Baby shower #2 will have come and gone
• I'll go to at least 6 Dr. appointments
• The Easter Bunny will have visited
• I will go on LOA :)
• Baby shower #3 will have come and gone
• I'll celebrate my birthday
• Mom's birthday
• Beto's 40th birthday
• Mother's Day

You ever get that overwhelmed feeling when you have so much to do that you don't know where to start, so you don't do anything at all? I'm there. And he's not even here yet, I'm in trouble.

Jimenez Baby Shower - 3/7/09

Beto's family threw us our first baby shower this past Saturday in Los Angeles. We drove down on Friday...

Here's a pic from lovely I-5, the cherry trees are in bloom. The drive wasn't too bad, got to Magic Mountain in just over 4 hours. But then true to it's form, the LA traffic snarled us for the next 2 1/2 hours. We finally made it to our turn off in West Covina just before 9 o'clock. We were hungry and the lakers were playing so we set out to find sumfin' to eat and watch the 2nd half of the game. Little did we know that it was "National Dine Out Day" in West Covina. I've never seen lines to eat out like this. The sushi place we initially had intended on going had such a long wait, that the hostess couldn't even estimate how long it would take to be seated beyond saying "a long time". We left there and tried Red Lobster across the way. It too was packed to it's fishy gills. WTF?! It's 9 o'clock, why are there so many people out? So, we walked next door to Black Angus, sat at the bar and had dinner there. Absolutely ridiculous, apparently people in West Covina don't cook at home. We were both tired from the drive and retired early.

Saturday was the day of the Baby shower...we went out to breakfast to satisfy one of my new pregnancy cravings....IHOP pancakes. Yumm. Did some last minute running around for the party and it started at 1pm. Beto's sister, Liz and his Aunt Vicky planned everything. It was held at Liz's Community Center room where she lives. It was a big room, adjacent to the swimming pool and a pretty view of the valley.

Here's a shapshot of the room with the familia. We were entertained by Aunt Vicky and her never-ending list of baby shower games. She was the life of the party. The games included wearing a doodie diaper which Beto so graciously inaugurated.

We also played baby name bingo, had a baby food eating contest, which I won by the way. I always did like baby food :) Aunt Vicky kept the day flowing and never was there a dull moment. I can't thank her enough.

Of course there was cake and cupcakes. Beto wore a fake belly all day, take a look....

And , oh the gifts!! Everyone was so generous, Max is going to the best dressed baby EVER!

We all had a great time. Thanks to everyone who came and helped us celebrate!

Week 30 !!

Just started week 30, only 10 more weeks to go. I'm convinced he's coming early. Don't know why, maybe wishful thinking, maybe because he's running out of growing room. So I'm putting it to blog right now, I say May 12th (original due date May 19th).



He has been very active this week, lots of movement. Which is a very bizarre feeling let me tell you. Monday evening was especially uncomfortable. He had one of his limbs wrapped around the right side of my body, under my rib cage. You could feel it from the outside. And you can feel when something pokes out. I don't know if it's his feet, or his head, or his bootie, but I get this strange, hard lump that protrudes from my mis-shapen belly, usually just to the left of my belly button. It's the weirdest thing ever. I feel like Sigorney Weaver in Aliens.

So send me your due date predictions, we'll see who comes closest.

This is a picture I found on the web, it's NOT me, but this is what it feels like.

Taking Shape...

Not me, although that's coming along too...I mean the room. We picked up and assembled the dresser/changing table and the crib.

Here's Beto battling with the mounds of cardboard and styrofoam that the furntiture came in. It took longer to break down the cardboard than it did to assemble the crib! No kidding, it was a bit ridiculous.

The dresser came assembled but it was heavily packed, wrapped, taped and strofoam protected. But I guess it did it's job because it was dent and scratch free when I finally got it out of it's carboard cocoon. All we had to do for that piece was attach the drawer pulls, easy.


So, see how it's two tiered? The lower, longer tier gets a changing pad thing on it and it becomes the diaper changing area, that is until he outgrows it, then it's just a dresser.

The crib wasn't too difficult to put together, Beto and I did it in about an hour. It's pretty.


So, we're gettin' there, little by little. This was as much of the whole room that I could get in one picture ...

Valentine's Day

We've had some dark, rainy, gloomy weather so Beto and I decided to stay in for Valentine's Day. He had to work early in the day, so that gave me time to shop and prep. I first went to Blockbuster's to rent movies. I got one guy movie and one girl movie. For him, I got Appaloosa, some western thing with Ed Harris. I got Vicky Christina Barcelona, for I had seen several nominations for it on the awards shows. I enjoyed mine and feel asleep right on cue for his.

I decided to make a recipe that Pam had given me some time ago. It was shrimp penne pasta with a tomato cream sauce. I added scallops and clams to make it more of a seafood pasta, than just shrimps. I also made bruschetta, which I had never made before but were quite tasty. Add that one to my arsenal of h'or d'oeurves. Tess got a new bag of bones which she devoured.

We did exchange gifts, I decided to get Beto a Camcorder for the baby. I made him promise that it would not come into the delivery room. I did some comparisons online and found that I liked the Sony Handycam. I knew very little about them and learned there are several different types. I got the kind that records to mini-dvd's that you can view on your regualr DVD player. It also takes still pictures. It is quite fancy and was pleased with my purchase.

Beto got home and ushered me and Tess into the bedroom so he could bring in my gift. I excitedly went into the room to anxiously await my present. He called me back out and made me close my eyes, when I opened them I found this in my kitchen.

The picture doesn't really do it justice, it's huge! It's as tall as I am. It's a cymbidium orchid plant. Now let me warn you that he bought me a mini rose bush one year and I killed it. I do not have a green thumb, but he says this one is "hardy". It's really pretty, I hope I can keep it alive.
It's name is Simon. I also got a DVD trilogy of John Hughes: Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club and Weird Science. And a cute stuffed monkey that he named Preggo, it's for the baby.