A few more photos...

 I'm busy, here.

 Playing with daddy before a bath

 Just your typical night in Elena's room...Pulls all books out of the shelf and decorative flowers off the front.

 Using my "big girl chair"

 Listening to a good "gook"

Finally got her to stand still for a 12 month picture...a few weeks late :)

 So Big!

 Oatmeal cookies...and still trying that sippy cup...

 Wait...is she really taking a drink?

Yes, a small one, but it's a start!!

Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas to Everyone...a few days late!! :) We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a fabulous 2013 ahead. It is hard to believe we are on our way to saying good bye to 2012...it has been such a fast year. I guess when you spend most of your days trying to figure out how to take care of a child for the first time, the hours of each day seem to pass by faster and faster! Juan, Elena, and I got to spend Christmas Eve together in California, MO with Juan's parents and sister. We had a wonderful day eating great food, opening presents, and making stockings. Elena was not feeling that great as she was coming down with a cold and cough, so by the time evening rolled around, it was time to bring her home to get some rest. Santa was coming and we wanted her to feel well for Christmas Day. When Elena woke up on Christmas Day, she appeared to be feeling a bit better, so we made our way to St. Louis to visit my parents and sisters. Again, we opened presents, had great food, and watched our regular Christmas cartoons...Charlie Brown Christmas and Garfield Christmas. It was wonderful to spend time with everyone. By the end of the day, Elena was getting crabby again, so we tried to get her down to sleep, but she had a hard time falling asleep, so we needed to do some "old school" rocking and laying in bed together in order to get her asleep...it worked! :) I must admit, it was nice laying in bed with our girl...she is a good snuggler and is SO warm!! Other than our Christmas traveling, we have been just spending as much time as possible at home. We spend most of our days playing with Elena and cleaning up after her. We read TONS of books everyday and are TRYING to get her to drink from a sippy cup...She seriously won't have ANYTHING to do with any of the cups we offer her. She still wants her bottle. This is going to be a challenge. I know she will grow out of the bottle phase, but I am hoping things will start to change soon. We have been working with a sippy cup for months, but she has never shown any kind of interest. Any tips from you moms out there is definitely appreciated! Elena is getting more adventurous with foods, though. She is enjoying yogurt, bologna and other lunch meats, hot dogs, pizza, spaghetti and meat sauce, and all her regular baby foods too. We are still giving her baby food at times just to make sure she is getting all those nutrients. Elena has enjoyed all her Christmas goodies too...she learned she likes spice cookies and cream cheese cookies...YUM!! So, as we come to another end to another year, Juan and I wish you all a blessed and prosperous 2013. We are forever thankful to everyone who has helped us in any way over this last year as we stumbled our way through as first time parents while trying to juggle the rest of life at the same time. All the prayers, thoughts, well-wishes, meals, visits, etc...it is all SO appreciated. Thank you for supporting our little family! :)

A few Christmas pictures...SO many more, but this is just a start :)

 

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December...

This month has been flying by!  We have been just enjoying the Christmas season together hanging out at home and playing around the Christmas tree.  Juan and I finally got our tree up last weekend and it is awesome.  It makes me just so happy to turn it on all day long and enjoy the lights and sparkle.  Elena has really enjoyed looking at it as well.  Believe it or not, she doesn't touch it that often.  I put a few "touchable" ornaments closer to the bottom so that if she did get a bit curious, we'd all be safe!  I have a video below of her playing with an ornament with a bell inside and she just thought that was great.  Smiles all around.  Since Elena's birthday, we haven't been doing much of anything!  We'll bake a few cookies again this weekend and hopefully get out for some more shopping, but that's about it!  This momma is hoping to get all of the shopping finished this weekend and begin wrapping it all up!  I really do enjoy wrapping Christmas presents.  For me, it's SO not a chore.  It makes me happy knowing that the gift is going to bring a smile to someone we love's face.  No better gift than that!!  One more week of work left for both Juan and I and Christmas vacation will be here.  I seriously cannot believe it.  Another school year is passing us by in the blink of an eye.  Trying to enjoy every second, but times are getting busy and the hustle and bustle of daily life can make that difficult at times!  We thank God everyday that we have and love the jobs we do everyday and are able to touch so many lives.  Here's to a blessed rest of the Christmas season!!

 Can we please eat dinner now?

 Stacking skills...

 Not quite a pro, yet.

 Trying again ;)

 Playing "Where's Elena?"

 Playing before we go meet Santa Claus!  (She hated him, by the way.)

 Hanging out on daddy's lap...look at those teeth!!

Great One Year Check Up!

Elena had a wonderful one year check up this evening with Dr. Hagan.  She is right on target for her growing curve, which is such good news.  Elena is 19.3 lbs.  She is our little flea, but like we've said from the beginning...she is long and lean!  Elena took 3 shots in her leg like a champ and only cried for a minute or so...I think she was just mad that Nurse Chelsea and I made her lay down for a bit to get the shots!  All in all, Juan and I couldn't be happier with the year we've had as far as Elena's health goes.  We have not had any major issues and we are hoping to keep it that way through the winter.  We don't have to go back to the doctor until March...here's to hoping we are healthy until then...even though our baby has a cold right now.  Praying that goes away soon, too.  Elena has had her flu shot, so hopefully that helps her stay healthy this coming winter.  We are going to finish Elena's last container of formula this week and then it's onto whole milk for our little lady.  We got the official OK from the doctor on all foods now.  Elena is ready for it all!  Now, if we could just get her eating it all, we'd be in better shape.  I think she is just like me...texture is SUPER important.  Elena likes blended peas, but won't touch them in regular form.  Same goes for bananas...too funny.  Hopefully we can continue introducing some other foods to her that she might like in the coming weeks.  Well, I'm hoping to get to bed early tonight...my wake up call was at 4am this morning, so this momma is TIRED.  Looking forward to a good night's rest for the Diaz household!!

1st Birthday Party!

Elena had a wonderful first birthday party yesterday with some family and friends.  She enjoyed her day all dressed up in her special tutu outfit and eating lots of sweets.  It was a very memorable and special day for our baby girl.  It is still overwhelming to Juan and I how much love everyone surrounds Elena with.  She is truly one lucky little baby...well, not so much a baby anymore, huh?  :) 
Now that her big birthday is past, we are back to business now.  Tomorrow, Elena goes to the doctor for her one year well baby visit.  She will get her next round of shots, so we hope that she does just as well with this round as she has with all the others.  I'm sure Dr. Hagan will tell us all about what foods we can start feeding Elena and hopefully we can make the change from formula to milk!  That will be exciting.  Keep E in your prayers tomorrow that she has a good appointment!
I have officially changed my mode over to Christmas now.  I haven't been wanting to think much about it until Elena's big day was over.  I am excited to get our Christmas tree up, music going, and cookies baked.  Oh, and Christmas vacation can't get here fast enough!  I was lucky to spend an extra long weekend here at home with Elena, so it's back to normal until Christmas break in a few weeks.  I know it will go by very fast, but it will be so sweet once it gets here!  It's always such a nice time to be at home recharging the battery for the second half of the school year.
Thank you to everyone over this past year that we've been blessed with Elena.  Juan and I are so grateful for all the help, prayers, gifts, advice, and visits from our family and friends.  You truly are our rocks and inspiration!  Here's to another wonderful year with Elena Elizabeth!

Our baby is 1!!

2:38pm 11/30/12...exactly one year old and this is what I'm doing ;)

Mmmmm...monkey cake!

Sugar cookies with abuela

The tissue paper the day after the party was still fun!

Homemade monkey cupcakes...they were SO good!!

Elena is 1!!

 Today marks Elena's first birthday.  At 2:38 this afternoon, Elena will officially be one year old.  Right now, I can picture myself in my hospital room with Juan just laying and watching some It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Friends.  If I remember correctly, by this time, the pitocin had started to kick in, but it's hard to remember time frames...all I know is that once I got that epidural, I was able to rest...and boy, did that feel nice!!  My parents and Juan's parents would come in periodically and check on me, but there was nothing to really report until the nurse said it was time to "have this baby!"  Then, reality set in and our precious baby girl was here.  Time sure did fly this year.  Juan and I are blessed to say that Elena has been healthy and MOSTLY happy :)  She has met all of her little milestones along the way and we are SO excited to watch her meet many more in the coming years.  Today, I stayed home from school to enjoy the day with E. But, at about 8:40 this morning, she just looked at me and said "niiniii" which means "night night" at our house, so I gave her a binkie and she just laid down in her crib.  I haven't heard a peep from her since then...she must have been extra tired!  I guess if napping is what she wants to do on her birthday, then napping it is!  It just gives me a little extra time to get ready for her little birthday party tomorrow and sit here and type a quick blog note.  There is so much I could sit here and type about Elena's first year, but really, I could just go back to each month along the way as I have written this blog to reminisce about our first year together with this girl. I am so happy I have been able to make time this year to write about E growing up...I hope to continue for years to come, but I know it's just going to get busier and busier.  No excuses, though!  I love doing this kind of thing...
Well, here's to Elena...our beautiful baby, Elena.  How did we ever manage without you before you came along?  Life seems so much more joyful, meaningful, and loving since you entered our lives.  There is not an hour that goes by that I don't think about you when I'm away from you.  There is nothing more that your dad and I would rather do than spend hours and hours with you.  Don't ever forget that (especially someday when you don't want to spend time with us :)  We love you to the moon and back, Elena Elizabeth.  Happy Birthday!!!

Nostalgic...

So, here I am on this Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving with plenty of things I should be doing like some laundry, baking some cookies for an upcoming special 1st birthday, picking up toys, or doing the dishes among other things, but for some reason I just can't seem to bring myself to do anything tonight!  I have been catching up on some shows that I haven't watched in weeks and figured a little blog post was long overdue.  Although I have been trying to keep busy with everything lately, I can't help but be a bit nostalgic this evening as Elena's first birthday approaches.  Last year at this time, today was my "target day" to make it to at school before Elena's birth.  I remember the feeling a year ago of such accomplishment that I had made it to Thanksgiving break without baby girl, although my doctor never thought I was going to make it to my due date.  I am remembering tonight my thoughts a year ago of how I wasn't returning to school until February.  It seemed like everything "got real" the Tuesday before Thanksgiving last year.  Juan and I were not allowed to travel far at this time last year due to Elena's due date being so close, so knowing I was going to be home for the long haul was honestly wonderful.  I am truly looking forward to sharing a first Thanksgiving with Elena.  She is honestly one of the things I am MOST thankful for this year.  God blessed me as a mother with a healthy, beautiful baby girl almost a year ago and for that I will be eternally grateful.  She brings a joy to Juan and I's life that we never knew existed.  It's hard to explain, but the feeling is there.  It almost brings me to tears at times when I think about how much love I have for this little human being.  So, as I sit here tonight getting my feelings down in writing, I can't help but feel a little sad about how fast this past year has gone by and how our baby girl will never be her small little self ever again.  Is it weird to say that I already miss her?  I am looking forward to SO much ahead in her future, but there are so many things that have happened in her short little life so far that I don't want to ever forget!  We love you so very much, Elena Elizabeth, and can't wait for all the many wonderful things to celebrate ahead.

Friday Fun!

Elena had some fun today with her grandma...my mom comes to watch Elena for us on Fridays and my mom caught Elena enjoying some lunch :)

Our First Halloween and 11 Months Old!!!

It has been a few weeks since I've been able to find a good time to sit at the computer and write about our little girl.  She is one busy body, let me tell you!  I can no longer just let her play in the room or watch an episode of Sesame Street while I type for a bit.  Elena is walking all over the place and getting into anything that will open...cabinets, drawers...you name it, she will find a way to get it open!  Life has been great, though.  Our little girl is growing up right before our eyes and sometimes it makes me so happy and other times it makes me somewhat sad...and when I say sad, I mean that our monumental first year together is almost over...Elena turned 11 months old on October 30th and is on her way to becoming a one year old.  Seriously, I don't know how to take that some days.  I miss my little 7 pounder that came home with us last year!  All the nights sleeping on the recliner because that's the only way she'd fall asleep for more than an hour or two, checking facebook at 2:30am just to see if I was the only one awake at the time, and holding E's binkie in her mouth until she fell asleep are just a few of the memories that will live on with me for a lifetime.  I remember thinking back then how frustrated I would get but would look back on all of it with a smile on my face and here I am doing just that. Juan and I find ourselves just smiling at one another when we look at her playing so innocently by herself.  She is just so smart and knows how to play.  We marvel at her and still can't seem to comprehend that this little human being is our own. I feel like we have been doing a fine job raising our first baby so far.  Elena's first birthday is less than a month away...

Over the last few weeks, Elena has been eating a lot of new foods!  She is loving her shredded cheese still, but has now moved onto string cheese too.  Elena enjoys mozzarella, colby jack, and cheddar cheeses.  I'm sure there are more that she likes, but we are sticking with the ones we enjoy most too!  Elena tried her first french fry (which she loved), mashed potatoes, pieces of bread, yogurt bites, and even macaroni and cheese.  I'm sure there are other foods we have given her, but I can't remember them all! She is still eating her regular baby foods, but her tastes are definitely evolving.  She is gagging on the foods she doesn't like anymore, although, I have found that if I add a little extra bit of water to some of her food (especially the homemade ones), the texture is a bit smoother and she likes that more.  She couldn't be more like her mama :)  Elena still takes her bottles of formula daily and we have been working on that sippy cup, but it still isn't going that great.  I'm going to give her this month and then hit the sippy cup hard after she turns one.  I've been reading up on how to make a smooth transition, so here's to hoping it goes well!

Below are lots and lots of pictures from the last few weeks...starting with a NLCS championship day picture before school and ending with Elena and I's little outing to the park the other day.  We continue to stay very busy with school and Elena, but Juan and I couldn't be more blessed.  We are so thankful everyday for this beautiful family of ours and only hope to continue to grow closer together as we move into our first Thanksgiving together later this month. We have so much to be thankful for and are looking forward to all the blessed times ahead the next few months!

 Wishing for a Cardinal win...

 Just waking up...you got that bottle coming yet?

 Attempting some mac n cheese

 Elena's pumpkin glowing on Halloween night

 Ugh, can we go yet?

 Mmmmm...tootsie rolls...

 This is the best one I could get...she won't stay still!!!

 Just swingin'