Osh Kosh B'Gosh

These Osh Kosh B'Gosh overalls that Grandma Karen got for Santiago are super cute. They are 9 months size but Santiago fits in them perfectly now because he is in the length and weight size range for them. Santiago loves his overalls so much that he wanted to eat them while wearing them! He is putting everything he can get his hands on straight into his mouth these days. That strap he is holding was soaking wet by time we took them off.

We had a very nice weekend this weekend. Saturday was spent at a friend's house for BBQ. Santiago was very well behaved (as usual). He laid on a blanket in their backyard while we sat at a table close by and talked. I had to hold him while we ate but that was no biggie. We were there past his bedtime but that didn't bother him. He was a trooper. I changed Santi into his jammies around his normal bedtime and he went to sleep in my arms after he ate. He slept on the ride home in the car and when we got home I put him into his crib without waking him. I was glad to know that we can take him out at night and break up our routine and he will still do well. But we won't make a habit of doing that of course.

Today I had to meet up with my sister-in-law Bianca and the other bridesmaids for her wedding to try on and order our bridesmaid dresses so I left Santiago at home with his daddy. Grandma Linda and Grandpa Hector also came over to play with Santi. I went out to eat lunch at Chili's with the girls and made it back home in time for Santiago's next feeding. Hector said that Santiago was really good and was all smiles and giggles while I was gone. That is a HUGE improvement from last time I went out with the girls. Hector, Santi and I spent the rest of the day relaxing at home. It was a nice weekend!

Santiago's Room

The first blog that I began reading was Kelly's Korner and she is hosting "Show Us Where You Live Friday." I have been following her story for about 8-9 months now. She became a mom to a beautiful little girl named Harper about 3 weeks before I became a mom to Santiago. I related to her a lot since we were pretty much at the same stage of pregnancy and now our little ones are so close in age. It is fun to read about her life even though I have never met her. Thanks Jennifer for introducing me to her blog! I thought I would show you Santiago's room since she is featuring Nursuries/Children's Rooms this week.

Here is Santiago's crib. I bought the letters on the wall at Hobby Lobby and painted them to hang above the crib. We bought the crib at USA Baby and the bedding set online. We didn't know the gender of our sweet baby boy when we were planning and decorating the room and the letters were not hung until much after he was born.

In these pictures you can see how the walls are painted. My husband and a friend painted the room when I was in my hometown for a baby shower. It was a great surprise to come home to. They installed a chair rail to separate the olive green and grey paint on the walls. The curtains were made by my lovely mother to match the crib bedding by Skip Hop. I love the curtains and I think they make the room complete!

This shelf in the corner of the room holds some stuffed animals and a bunch of books that we love to read. Most are from Scholastic since I am a teacher.

The shelf on the wall holds an ultrasound picture of Santiago at 20 weeks and his birth announcement and of course Curious George is hanging out there too.

The blue sign hanging above the double closet doors reads "I love you to the moon and back." That is a saying that my husband and I have said to each other long before Santiago was here. Hector bought it for me for my birthday in April. The three crosses are to the left of the closet. One was a gift from my mom's friend Donna and says "Bless this baby" and the other two were baptism gifts.
Santiago's Godfather - Uncle Travis.

And last is the dresser. It has the changing table and diaper organizer on top. I hope you all have enjoyed seeing the room that we put a lot of love in for our Santiago to grow up in. And here is our cutie pie:

Got the Giggles

This morning Santiago enjoyed his tummy time a lot because I propped him up with a towel. He is holding up his head better each day. I found out yesterday at his doctor appointment that his helmet weighs 10 ounces. It feels pretty heavy when you hold it in your hands so I can only imagine how heavy it feels on his little head. You can see the big hole that they cut out of his helmet to allow the growth on the right side of the forehead in these pictures.

Santiago has really started grabbing ahold of things too when he plays. Its neat to see him starting to play with his toys more and opening his hands up. Also when you are holding him he wraps his little arms around you and grips your clothes or necklace. It feels like he is hugging you when you hold him - I love it!

Today we had a pretty laid back day. We just hung out at the house all day until Santiago and I went to meet my dear friend Kathy at Hasta la Pasta for an early dinner. He was such a good baby the whole time. He hung out in his carseat for awhile and just played and talked to his toys. These people who were sitting in the booth behind us even came to see the baby who was making "sweet noises" as they ate when they were leaving. I'm glad they enjoyed all the talking he was doing. We were there almost 3 hours and Santiago ended up falling asleep on Kathy. When we got home, Santiago woke up very happy so we went on a quick walk in the stroller to get the mail before Hector got home from work. I took this video with my cell phone because he was laughing so much. I just love his giggles. They melt my heart!

Two Months After Surgery

On March 25th, Santiago had surgery to correct his right coronal craniosynostosis. Yesterday was two months post-op. That was an extremely difficult day for Hector and me but it was so worth it. We are seeing the progress in our little boy each day and it is amazing how fast he is growing and changing. We had a helmet adjustment appointment and a doctor appointment with Dr. T today - Santiago's surgeon.

At the helmet appointment, Aaron expanded the helmet by 3/8 of an inch and cut a big hole out of the helmet on the right forehead area. This hole allows his head to grow in this area with absolutely no pressure being applied. This area is where we need Santiago's head to grow the most to make his forehead more symmetrical. Aaron also added some more air holes in the back of the helmet. It is getting hotter every day and Santi is really sweating under the helmet.

At the doctor appointment, Dr T was very happy with Santi's progress. He informed me that we will continue to see him once a month until his helmet comes off and then we will extend the appointments to every 3-6 months, then once a year until he is 7 years old. Santiago's head is growing at a great pace and the helmet is doing it's job guiding the growth. It is allowing the right side of his forehead to grow more rapidly and outward while it is making the growth everywhere else happen at a slower pace. We still do not know exactly when Santiago won't have to wear the helmet anymore - it all depends on how fast his right forehead and orbital rim (eyebrow bone) come out. Dr. T checked Santiago's head where the bone was removed and he is happy with the amount of space still there. You can feel the gap in the bones when you run your fingers on his scalp and Dr. T said that is exactly what we need to feel. He told me that we may not see the final result of the surgery until Santiago is 3 years old because that is how long the head is still growing rapidly and the sutures remain open. I was glad to hear that Dr. T thinks Santiago is doing so well.

At Dr. T's office Santiago was weighed and measured. He weighs 16 pounds 7 ounces and is 27 inches long. He is 3 months, 3 weeks old. The circumference of his head is 42 cm.

Like Father Like Son

When Hector and I found out we were having a baby we decided that we wanted the gender to be a surprise so throughout my entire pregnancy we made guesses and dreamed of things we wanted to do with our son or daughter. One of the things Hector J always said that he wanted to do if we had a boy was dress in matching outfits as his son. Well today was the first of many days to come. Daddy and Santi both were white Polos with green shorts today. I have two very handsome guys in my life that I love dearly!

Memorial Day Weekend at the Lake

I grew up going to my Grandpa Hollis and Grandma Dorothy's lakehouse for summer holidays and I am so excited to have started the same tradition with Santiago going to his grandparent's lakehouse on Lake Buchanan. We had a wonderful relaxing weekend. Santiago got to see his Grandma Karen, Pappaw Monty, Uncle Travis, Aunt Allison, Uncle Tim and cousin Blake Michelle. It rained this weekend a little bit so we spent a lot of time just lounging around and admiring and playing with the babies. The guys played some ladder golf, we ate some delicious meals, and my dad and I rode the waverunners today. We thought the water was going to be too cold still to get in but it surprised us by feeling pretty nice. We were sad to leave today but we will be back real soon! We love the lake!

Hey Hey Were the Monkeys....

Future So Bright...Gotta Wear Shades...

(I could not get blogger to turn these pictures the right way...sorry I tried!)

Chillin' on the boatdock...

Santiago's ready for his first boat ride....

We love Grandma Karen....

Cousins Blake and Santiago having fun together.....

PS If you read my blog, I would love you to "follow" my blog officially so I can see just how many people are out there sharing in our memories each day. Please scroll down and click on the FOLLOW button on the right side of the page and show me who is reading. THANKS a bunch!

Helmet Fix, Smiles and Crazy Hair

Today was a day of smiles and laughs for Santiago and a some fussing in between. We had to get up early to go to the medical center to get Santiago's helmet adjusted again. Yes again..we just had an adjustment last Thursday but his little head is growing so fast that we had to go back before our weekly appointment. Santi didn't sleep well the last two nights and I noticed he was really wiggling his head alot trying to get out of the helmet or something. I knew it wasn't comfortable on him for the first time. It was leaving a pretty big red mark on his forehead and I thought the helmet was too straight on the forehead piece instead of rounded. Sure enough Aaron, the orthotist, said that it needed to be rounded out in the area that covers his forehead. He also had to make it apply pressure evenly on the left side of his forehead and give more room on the right side so he removed a small portion of the white padding inside the helmet to even the pressure out better. He also added some more holes in the helmet to allow Santiago's head to breathe better! I saw a huge difference in the amount of sweat on his head today after leaving the helmet place. He seemed a lot cooler today and when we took his helmet off tonight for his bath he wasn't drenched in sweat. So more holes are a great addition!

I think Santiago may be teething already and that may be the cause of his increased fussiness, TONS of drool and interrupted sleep that he has had the last couple of days. He isn't extremely fussy but he is definitely more fussy than he usually is. I felt around in his mouth today with my finger and I can feel something poking out on the top gums and one on the bottom. Santiago is now 3 and half months old...is that too early to be teething?

Grandma Linda had Santiago laughing so hard today when we got home from the helmet appointment. Santi was playing on his jungle playmat and Grandma Linda was just talking to him and he kept laughing and laughing. It was great!

Hector J also got Santi laughing when we came back from eating dinner with Bianca and Amy at Pappasitos. The picture at the top of the post is Santiago looking at and laughing at his daddy. So cute!

Santiago took his bath a little late tonight because we had dinner out and when I got back home we visited outside a little while with our neighbors. Here Santi is standing up with a little help from mom as he waits to eat before going to bed. He is getting so strong and he loves to push up with his legs. Santiago's hair is growing back nicely since he had a strip shaved a little for surgery so I took a picture of his crazy hair after he took his bath tonight. What you can't see in this picture is how his hair is rubbing off in the back in two places from the helmet. We may have to give him a buzz cut or something short when he graduates out of his helmet to even his hair all out. We will see!

Kickball at the Park

Hi!

Today we had a fun day at the park playing kickball with a huge group of friends. Well...Hector played and Santiago and I watched. It was a very nice day - a little overcast and not too hot. We were at a park in Houston and there were about 50 people gathered to play kickball. Hector's team wore camoflauge and so did we! Don't we look cute? Our friends Sean and Crystal organized it and they do this once in the fall and once in the spring every year and it was a lot of fun. The park had these huge trees so it was very shady and Santiago didn't cry once! Everyone was so impressed with how good he was and how cute he is - especially with his longhorn helmet on! We packed enough stuff in our car for an entire weekend trip but I was glad to be prepared. We brought blankets to lay on, the stroller, boppy pillow, playmat, fan to keep Santi cool, bouncer seat, and our stand up cooker that my dad gave Hector. The guys grilled hotdogs and hamburgers and we made a whole day out of it. The games started around noon and we left the park around 6 in the evening. Then we went to Crystal and Sean's for pizza and then headed home around 8:30. Santiago was tired once we got here so I fed him and put him right to bed. I hope he sleeps as well as he did last night. Last night was the first night he slept all the way through the night without me having to give him the pacifier or move him into my bed around 5 am. He slept from 9:15 pm - 7:30 am.

Here is how Santiago spent a lot of our afternoon:

These are the incredible trees that provided wonderful shade for us at the park. Mom and Dad I know you will appreciate these trees! They are beautiful!

One Month of Helmet Wear

Santiago started wearing his helmet a month ago. We started with the Starband (white helmet) and then switched to this clear one. The orthotist is happy with the progress that Santiago is making. We went again today for a helmet check and adjustment and you can see that he added another white patch to the inside of the helmet. He wants to apply a little more pressure on the skull in that area in order to help his bones grow toward the front instead of up. They are working on bringing the right forehead and eyebrow bone out more. A lot of the flatness has already disappeared and rounded out. He also made some adjustments to the plastic in front of the ears to allow a little more room because it was beginning to leave marks on his face when we took the helmet off in the evenings. Aaron, the orthotist, also opened the helmet up an eighth of an inch to make the whole thing just a little bigger. Santiago likes Aaron alot. Santi was a little fussy when we got there because I had to wake him up from a nap. He didn't sleep much today at all. Just two 30 minute naps earlier in the day. Whenever Santi and I were waiting in the room for Aaron to bring the helmet back, Santi was fussing a little and wanted to go back asleep but as soon as Aaron would come back in and talk to him he automatically would start to smile. I am glad that he likes Aaron because Aaron has to mess with his head so much while we are there. He has to take the helmet off and on several times to make sure the adjustments are good. It would make our visits there a lot more difficult if Santiago cried the whole time. So thank goodness Aaron is nice and Santi likes him! We will go back again next Thursday for our weekly checkup and then he wants to see us on the following Tuesday at the main center so he can take another scan of Santiago's head. The scan will show the growth progress. We also will see Dr. T that day so it will be nice to show Dr. T the scan so he can see the actual progress as well.

Tues/Wed

Yesterday was kind of a "blue" day for us. Santiago was not in the best of moods. I'm not real sure what was wrong or if anything was wrong but he just wasn't his normal happy self. I struggled all day to get a smile or laugh out of him. He barely cooed or anything all day long. He cried a little but not extremely bad or anything. He was just quiet and wanted to be held alot. When I would lay him down on his play mat or put him in his swing, he would be content for a few minutes and then would start to fuss. If I let the fuss go to long, then he would cry. So we just hung out watching tv and cuddled. We watched Sesame Street and Baby Mozart a few times.

Today was a lot better. Santiago woke up very happy and stayed happy pretty much all day. I was glad to see his smiles back. I was a little worried he was getting sick or something so I am glad he is ok. Here he is waking up from a nap in his crib. I could hear him moving around on the monitor alot so I went in to see if he was awake and he was just laying there looking at the mobile and stretching. I had to lay him in the bobby pillow to keep him asleep today in the crib during nap time.

Here is Santi a little later in the day playing on a quilt on his bedroom floor. As you can see he has different clothes on because when I was changing his diaper after his nap he decided to kick off his little coverup and sprayed himself in the face and all over his helmet. I have learned that little boys always have to be covered up when you are changing them and today even though I had him covered, he got himself because he loves to wiggle and kick on his changing table. So here he is all cleaned up and in new dry clothes.

And here is my pretty boy after bath time tonight. He really loves his bath time and I love it too because it is the only hour of our day that he does not wear his helmet. It is so nice to be able to snuggle and love on him and feel his hair. His head smells really bad when we first take the helmet off so we get the best snuggle time after his bath when he smells all fresh and clean! He gets really sleepy after we lotion him up and put his jammies on. He knows that it is time to read a book or two, eat one more time and then call it a night after we take a bath. In this picture Santiago is playing with his ear. That is something he started really early on when he is starts to get sleepy. Now he also sucks on his bottom lip for comfort in addition to playing with his ears.

Good night!

A New Trick

Santiago LOVES having his diaper changed and here is proof of it:

Yesterday I mentioned that I thought Santiago was accidently rolling to his side but today I learned that it is no accident. Right before Hector came home from work today, I put Santi on his lamb rug to play so I could start getting dinner ready. He was cooing and smiling alot at the ceiling fan like usual and then he started to lift his legs in the air. Then all the sudden his whole body fell to one side and he made a funny noise. I kept watching him as I heard the garage open. He rolled back onto his back and lifted his legs up again and then turned to his side. I ran to get Hector as quick as I could and we both got to watch Santi continue this new trick he mastered today. I was so excited that Hector got to see too! Santiago was having fun repeating this new trick over and over again. You can watch him perform on the video. Enjoy!

Mother's Day

Wow I am a mom. It's hard to believe sometimes. It's something that I always dreamed of and now that I am I understand the incredible love that a mom has for her child. I love Santiago with all my heart. He is a blessing and I love every second with him. I am proud to be his mother.

We had a great day today. We began the day with brunch at a super nice restaurant with Hector's parents and sister. After we ate, we all went to church together and after went to have ice cream. Then we went to Hector's Aunt Diana and Uncle Carlos' house to visit awhile. That's where the next picture was taken. Santiago was exhausted by time we got to Diana's house. He was sleeping in my arms pretty much the whole time.

When we got home from our busy day, it was nice to just relax at home with our little family. Hector and I ate wings from Buffalo Wild Wings while Santiago entertained himself by laying on his lamb rub on the floor and laughing at the ceiling fan. When he is on the floor he has started to roll onto his side. Sometimes I think it is on accident when he is lifting his feet in the air. He seems to just fall to the sides sometimes but last night he decided he wanted to sleep on his side. It was cute to see him curled up on his side like a big person sleeps.

Santiago has really begun to enjoy looking and playing with his toys. He is starting to bat at toys - especially the ones we have hanging on his carseat. He also has started to notice his feet when he is laying down. He hasn't really found them yet but every once in awhile he catches sight of them and is really hypnotized by them. It's cute. I can't wait for him to grab his toes and pull them into his mouth!

You can't spell CUTE without UT

Today we are going to a crawfish boil/graduation party at a friend's house. This shirt was a gift from Danny and Tamitha and the party is in honor of Tamitha so of course Santiago has to sport the CUTE UT shirt. It's a size 6 months and Santi is only 3 months - it's not going to fit by time football season gets here! Santi is growing so fast.


I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday with him and a lady asked me if Santiago was 5 months old. That seems to be everyone's guess when they see him and they are always shocked when I say he is 3 months old. My mom told me the other day when I was 3 months old I weighed 14 pounds and 10 ounces and was 25.75 inches long. Santiago has me beat - last time we weighed him he was 15 lbs 2 oz and 26 inches long. Hector and I both hope that means he will be as tall or taller than me when he grows up.

I didn't get around to posting yesterday so this is a picture I took yesterday.

Does this helmet make my butt look big?

Today we went for a helmet adjustment. Aaron is very impressed with the progress Santiago's head has made. He had to heat the helmet up to make a little more room on the right side of the forehead and he added a white patch on the top left inside of the helmet to apply a little more pressure. I also added a longhorn sticker to the helmet because this is the one we are going to keep. It is working well. Aaron, the orthotist is happy with it and I think Santiago is happy with it as well. We will go back next week.

Santiago has begun to suck on his bottom lip. Why? I don't know...but here is a picture of him doing it. He drools a lot now and blows bubbles too.

Sleeping in the Crib

Monday night we started putting Santiago in the crib at night to sleep. He is too big for the bassinet in our bedroom. It was time to let him try sleeping alone in his cute room. For the last three nights, Santiago has gone to bed around 9 pm and he sleeps solid until about 4 am. I can hear him on the monitor making noises and beginning to cry around 4 so I get up and go into his room. I give him his pacifier and he will go back to sleep. That's when I go back to my bed but then Santi wakes me up again anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour later. When I go in the second and sometimes third time and the pacifier doesn't work, I have been picking him up and taking him to bed with me. He then will fall asleep with us in the bed and sleep until 7 am. I don't have to feed him or anything in the middle of the night so I feel like he is doing really well. Eventually I hope he will sleep the entire night without any interruptions in his own crib. But for now, Hector and I both love waking up with him between us. When Santiago wakes up, he is all smiles and wiggling! He is adorable in the mornings.

In addition to sleeping at night in his crib, Santiago has been sleeping in it for his first nap of the day. Yesterday I was thrilled that when Santi was getting sleepy, I just laid him in his crib and covered him up with the blue blanket and he fell asleep. He did it again this morning! That is a wonderful accomplishment for both of us that I do not have to hold him or rock him to sleep. Hopefully he will start doing this for other nap times as well.

The blanket that is covering him in the picture is from my mom's dear friend Bonnie. He absolutely LOVES this blanket. When you wrap him up in it, he automatically gets sleepy. I think it is going to be his favorite for a long time!