1st Visit with Santa

We took Audrey to see Santa this morning. It worked out perfectly, no one was there and we just walked right up. Audrey did just fine, she didn't cry at all but rather starred at Santa like, "Who are you?" She was more impressed with the book she got at the end when she was back in her stroller. Here are some pictures:

So, this is an interesting outfit you have on here Sir.

Mommy is taking pictures, Daddy has the video camera out...what are they expecting me to do? :)


Ahh, that's what I'm talking about...this book is great!

Merry Christmas from The Rezas

Merry Christmas! We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday with their loved ones!

It's about time...

...for an update!!! If you'll notice the tracker Audrey is almost 8 1/2 months old and she is keeping us with our hands filled and we are loving every moment of it! It is so great to be celebrating the holidays with her and watching her react to all of the new and exciting things.

In the 2+ months since the last update Audrey has been up to so much. She is now crawling at record speed and getting into everything that she hadn't seen before including Gracie's (the cat) food. She giggles and screams as she moves around making herself so excited at all of the things she can now do. Changing her clothes and diapers is a regular wrestling match all day long as she would rather be moving instead of laying there nice and still! She seems to have the upper body strength of a competitive weightlifter and can nearly lift herself all the way up on top of the couch or anything else. She is starting to "surf" the couches by holding onto the top and moving her feet down below.

She needs extra sustenance for all of this movement and has been eating plenty of fruits and vegetables with ease. Next on the menu will be some of the "meal" kind of baby food like chicken, etc. I even saw a baby food version of lasagna and meat sauce at Walmart the other day. Really?? Is that necessary? I can't even imagine what will be next! Whatever it is, I am sure Audrey will eat all of it.

Now that she is standing up and moving all over the place we had to drop her crib to the lowest level and take out the bumper so she doesn't use it to hurl herself over the edge in an attempt to escape. She's always watching Gracie's gymnastic moves so I wouldn't put it past her to try something crazy like that! The crib looks so sad and plain now but we have all adjusted. The first night was a little rough for the first 30 minutes or so when she was trying to get herself familiar with the lower level and emptiness of her crib. I sat in the corner in the dark until she laid herself down because she kept pulling herself up on the sides and then didn't know how to get down without bumping some part of her body on the rails on the way down. It was a bit traumatizing for both of us but she is much more graceful and tougher now so it's all good. Marcos and I just keep saying to each other how wild it is that 8 months ago she laid there and didn't do anything except eat, sleep and cry and now she can do everything! Amazing! :)

Some more firsts have taken place in the past couple months: Audrey was Baptized October 17th (Godfather - Justin Dillon, Godmother - Melissa Reza), trip to the pumpkin patch, trick-or-treating (1 baby and 8 adults - quite the scene), Los Osos HS football game on the sidelines, Thanksgiving with the family, and exploring the Christmas Lights in Rancho Cucamonga. Enjoy the pics below:

Happy Baby + Cute Outfit = Photo Op for Mommy


I want to be in the picture too....this is us rushing out the door in the AM!

Audrey's Baptism

St. Anthony's ~ October 17, 2009

Godparents Melissa Reza & Justin Dillon

Getting kisses from Chai with Grandpa.

Travel seat is perfect for eating food at Grandma & Grandpa's house.

Pumpkin Patch on Halloween

The Grandmas had to join us for Audrey's first visit to the pumpkin patch.

BOO!

Cutest Ladybug ever!

Go Grizzlies!!

First picture with a mascot for Audrey & Mommy!

Happy Girl waking up from a nap on Turkey Day!

Fun with Daddy!

Fence + Auto Timer on the camera = Great pic of the fam on Thanksgiving

This is where Mommy & Daddy are always chasing Gracie out from under the Christmas tree right?

This tree is pretty cool!

Go Lakers!

Cutest baby face! You would never know that 15 minutes before this picture poor Audrey was throwing up all over the place. The flu bug hit her while we were walking around Rancho checking out the Christmas lights. She fell asleep moments later on Daddy's shoulder as we were headed back to the car. (Can you believe how long that hair is! She looks like a 5 year old!)

Anna, Javier, Melissa & Monique exploring the lights in Rancho. Merry Christmas!!

6 Months Old

Audrey turned 6 months old on October 7th and there are so many "firsts" and details to report. In the beginning of September her first tooth appeared and her second tooth on the bottom was not far behind. She has managed the teething pretty well with only one night where she needed a little extra TLC when her Auntie Monique and Uncle Jason were babysitting. Other than that she seems to have a high tolerance for pain like her Daddy!

We took Audrey to a tepan restaurant for the first time to celebrate her Auntie Julia's birthday. She was so in awe of the chef cooking in front of us that it was hard to even coax a smile out of her. She is so aware of everything around her now and constantly studying everything that is new to her. At her first Dodger game she did great around all of those load, rowdy fans (certainly not like Angel fans ;)) and she seemed to really enjoy herself. She even got to see a winning game and get a free Dodger dog...that Daddy ate! :)

Yesterday we introduced Audrey to rice cereal for the first time and she seemed to like it and had the whole spoon feeding thing down. She got to use her new high chair and seemed to be excited about that too!

Audrey has had a few sleepovers with her grandparents and was a good girl for them. It makes it so nice for Marcos and I to go out knowing that she is not too much of a handful for her grandparents that LOVE taking care of her. She is now sleeping 11+ hours each night and is much more alert and playful during the day. Here are some pics from the past month and a half. Enjoy!

Auntie Julia was dressed up by the waitress at the tepan restaurant to pose for a pic with Audrey. (5 months old)

Enjoying the Dodger game!

More Dodger fun!

Ready for lunch with Mommy and the girls.

Celebrating Laura's licensure!! Congratulations MFT!!!

Gracie checking out Audrey in her new high chair. Audrey loves Gracie and the cats and Ozzie and her grandparents house. She can't wait to be mobile enough to chase after them all day long.

Passed out when Grandma was feeding her...it was a long day. We had her try on these black Mary Janes that were actually mine when I was a baby. We only got one shoe on and had to snap this picture before she woke up!

Happy Baby playing in her walker at her Auntie Mel & Mon's house!

Cute Outfits!!

Audrey is getting so big, at her appointment on Thursday (10/8/09) she weighed 18lbs 15oz (94th percentile) and measured 27 1/2 in (96th percentile). Her doctor said she looks great and that her weight is just trying to keep up with how long she is getting! She is sitting almost entirely on her own, at least for a few seconds before tipping over. She is getting so strong and we think it is only a matter of a short period of time before she is crawling all over. Right now her primary mode of getting from one place to another is by rolling and she is quite efficient at it.

Now that the weather is finally changing and getting cooler we have been able to dress Audrey up in some of her cooler weather outfits. In the morning when we are rushing to get out the door I sometimes can't help myself because she looks so cute and I have to take a picture of her before we leave. This usually happens when we are downstairs ready to go, hence the same backdrop (our couch) in every picture. I tried to put her up against the wall to switch it up but she was too squirmy and tipped over right away!

"Daddy's Princess" 9/9/09 ~ 5 months old

"Grandma's Sweetie" 9/30/09 ~ almost 6 mos. old

Getting in the spirit - Halloween Outfit from Grandma Pat
10/6/09 ~ 6 months old

What have we been up to?

It's been awhile since I've posted an update about what's been going on with the Rezas. Well...as of the first week of August I returned to work a month ahead of schedule. A wonderful opportunity presented itself to me through a little angel named Laura and I just couldn't pass it up. Needless to say we had a lot of scrambling to do in order to execute the big return to work. Audrey was set to stay with her Grandma & Grandpa Reza 2 days a week but the other days were not covered. We are so fortunate to have found a family day care that is about 5 minutes from our house and Audrey really enjoys it there. She is one of 4 little ones that spend the day there and she is doing great!

I started doing some hours at a private practice much closer to my house than my previous job and it is really ideal for having a baby at home. I get to stay in one location and the clients come to me, which is different from my previous jobs where I was always going to get clients out of class, etc. I work with a wonderful group of people and we special in working with children with Autism and it is just amazing. I have learned so much in such a short period of time.

Meanwhile, Audrey had her 4 month appointment on August 10th and she is doing fabulous. She is 16 lbs. 5 oz. and measured 25 1/2 in. That puts her in the 94th & 89th percentiles respectively. She's definitely a healthy baby girl! Marcos was able to meet me for the appointment which I had to leave early (for work, bad planning on my part!) and he had to be the one to console her after her shots. As the story goes she cried when she was first pricked by the needle but as soon as he picked her up she was totally fine and stopped crying. She definitely loves her Daddy. He's the one who picks her up from day care or after spending the day at her grandparents and he is already a hero in her eyes! :)

As the summer quickly comes to a close here are some photos from recent weeks. Enjoy!

Mommy & Daddy had a night out....all of the Reza cousins got together for a little reunion, good times!

Audrey with her favorite accessory, her Graco car seat! Happy Baby!

Check out that mop....this was after a bath I think! She is holding onto her teething doll from Grandma Pat....you soak the ends in water and then toss it in the freezer for a few minutes and instant relief for baby! She's not quite teething yet but enjoys sucking on the doll. :)

Enjoying her exersaucer!

All smiles after a bath and getting burped! Silly girl!!

Audrey's First Photo Shoot with Ribbitt Creations

On July 31st Audrey and I had the privilege of getting together with my good friend and MFT colleague, Tasha Dixon, to take Audrey's "3 month pictures" even though she was almost 4 months old. We had a great time, I broke a sweat trying to keep her smiling for the camera and changing her into a bunch of different outfits. Needless to say she did a great job and so did Tasha! Check out her beautiful pictures below and also the link to Tasha's photo blog. Anyone that is interested in having a photo session with Tasha check her out or let me know. We can't wait to take Audrey's 6 month pictures with Tasha...gees, it will be here before we know it!!

www.frogqueene.typepad.com/ribbittcreations