Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Mateo's First Days

Here are a few more photos from Mateo's first days, in the hospital.

Like father, like son

One proud grandma


My mother took care of Emilia for much of the time we were in the hospital (thank you, mom!) and doted on her endlessly. This is the "big sister" outfit they bought together, which Emilia wore for three days straight. Her favorite part is the "wiggly skirt."

Our newly expanded family of four

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Introducing Mateo!

We are excited to announce the birth of our son, Mateo Malet Harvey. Mateo (pronounced “ma-TAY-oh”) was born Friday, June 5th at 3:57pm. He weighed 7 lb. 10 oz., and measured 20 inches long, with an impressive head circumference of 14 inches (already following in his sister’s footsteps there). Labor went very smooth, especially compared to the last, and Tara and Mateo are both recovering well.

Like big sister Emilia, Mateo has no middle name, but instead has a “double” last name, with a family name from dad and one from mom. This not only follows Spanish tradition, but also fits nicely with Tara’s feminist values. :)

We’ll post more photos and updates in the coming days and weeks, but for now we are tired, and I think Mateo is hungry…..

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

39 Weeks!

I've officially reached 39 weeks today! I feel like a boat and look, literally, like I'm very unsuccessfully trying to sneak a watermelon (one of those melons that’s won a blue ribbon at the State Fair not for tastiness, but for being freakishly large) out of the store under my shirt. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I've even outgrown most of my maternity clothes (thank goodness I rarely have to look presentable these days). I am ready to not be pregnant anymore. Don't know if I'm ready for a newborn, but that's beside the point now.

I'm scheduled to be induced on Friday in an attempt to avoid some of the complications that ensued during Emilia's birth. The baby is growing about ½ pound per week at this point, so the sooner I go into labor, the more likely it is to go smoothly. So, hopefully by this weekend we’ll be the proud parents of not one, but two, beautiful healthy kids!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

New Swingset

Unfortunately this isn’t a great photo, but I had to document the outfit Emilia put together today. These may be pajama pants, but they actually match the “dress” (it’s really a shirt, but Emilia always wants to wear it without pants) perfectly. And these are the Crocs that Emilia says have “two seatbelts” (the Mary Janes as opposed to the ones with only one strap across the back).

But today definitely warranted a special outfit; it was a big day—Emilia got her very own swingset (well, to share with her brother eventually). I found a second-hand Rainbow playset on Craig’s List, and today Agustín, with much help from my mom, spent the full day disassembling, moving, then reassembling it in our yard. We made it into a bit of a party, spending most of the afternoon/evening outside and having dinner with my parents on the deck. The job is about 80% complete, but Emilia couldn’t wait and was already playing on parts of it this evening. She’s already a big fan!

And a few photo highlights from the past month….

Emilia’s new bike


Mother’s Day at the Minnesota Zoo

Friday, April 17, 2009

Easter Bunny or Easter Bug?

Last Sunday we enjoyed celebrating Easter and a beautiful day with my parents and the local faction of my dad’s family. Unfortunately the day ended badly when Agustín, Emilia and I took a walk later that evening and Emilia proceeded to vomit profusely all over herself multiple times. Yuck! Some major clean-up ensued, primarily of Emilia and the stroller. In the end, Agustín ended up actually cutting some of the seams of the stroller cover, pulling out the metal rods, putting the cover through two cycles in the washing machine, then putting the rods back in and sewing it back together. Where do I nominate this man for a Father of the Year award?! (And why aren't strollers made to be more easily washable?!)

Above and below: Emilia shows off two of her gifts from the Easter bunny, a little stuffed bunny and bunny pajamas. She got a big kick out of following the trail of eggs that led from her bedroom down the stairs and to her Easter basket.
Anyway, I initially blamed Emilia’s unsettled stomach on too many Easter sweets. However, the next morning she proved me wrong. We headed to the doctor (where she proved me wrong once more! Thankfully I brought an extra set of clothing), where the expert opinion was that she had “some sort of stomach bug.” Thankfully there was no more vomiting after that morning, but Emilia was totally out of sorts and didn’t eat more than a few bites of yogurt and dry toast, along with her “special medicine juice” (Gatorade to replace electrolytes) until Wednesday evening. She’s still not 100% herself, but we’re getting there.
Above: Enjoying a treat the Easter bunny left her at Yaya and Grandpa's house (which I originally thought might be the culprit for the upset stomach).

Another Easter egg hunt at Yaya and Grandpa's house out in the beautiful sunshine.

It was so nice out that Emilia made her Yaya and great grandma check out the lake with her. She's so excited for summer that she even rolled up her pants and jumped off the floating dock (into six inches of water) despite the fact that the water was freezing.

Above: This is how the poor little sicko spent most of her time this past week.

And here she is, finally feeling a little bit better, and enjoying one of her non-edible Easter treats, fun chick window stickies from "Great Micky."

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Florida Revisited

I already posted about our recent vacation to Florida (see March 24 post), but I just got my mom's photos of the trip, so I wanted to post a few of my favorites.


Emilia pets a baby alligator after a tour through the Everglades.

Look, mom! I'm a turtle!



Fun, fun, and more fun at the beach!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Big Girl Transition

With the new baby on the way, it was time to move Emilia into a “big girl” bed. It’s been a work-in-progress for awhile, since we are moving her into a different bedroom and leaving the nursery basically as-is for the new baby. This involved selling two rooms full of furniture (thank goodness for Craig’s List!), moving my office from one of the bedrooms to what was formerly the “formal” living room (I love my new office!), having my uncle John (of Flannery Painting) paint the room a more fun color, and then moving the new furniture (thanks again to Craig’s List) into the new room. Although we’re still working on the final touches, Emilia finally started sleeping in her new “big girl” bedroom last weekend. She was a little hesitant the first two nights, yet did very well, only waking up a little earlier than usual. Now when I tell her it’s time to go to bed, she says, “In my big girl room?” and when I answer, “yes,” she yells, “Yay!” and claps. We’re still putting her down for naps in the crib and will probably continue to do so (or try) until next month, since I’m worried putting her down midday in the big bed will be the end of naps as we know them, which I am not ready to have happen until the end of the semester (at the earliest).

Some of the things Emilia says these days are just hilarious, and I want to share one. While in Florida, I noticed at one point that Agustín had turned his baseball cap backward for some reason (not a normal style for him; it had something to do with convenience). I commented jokingly that he looked like an American (in case anyone reading this isn’t aware, he’s Spanish). Later, when Agustín once again turned his hat backward to get the bill out of the way, Emilia said, “Papa looks like America!” We all cracked up. Then, last week, Emilia and my mom and I went shopping at REI. Emilia latched onto a cute little yellow baseball cap with a pink heart, and easily sweet-talked my mom into getting it for her (it really only takes a smile). But she had no interest in wearing the cap forward. She kept putting it on backward and saying, “I look like America!” Then she added, “Just like Papa!”