PicturePastries

Yes. I have indeed neglected to update this blog. BUT..... I have been busy working on my new venture in photography. PicturePastries Photography.

Check it out and follow the blog and website.

I'm really enjoying the creative outlet that is flexible enough to work around with having three young little ones.

Wish me luck, check me out and like me or fan me (or whatever phrase they come up with) on the facebook, that is, if you have one.

I'm not deleting this account anytime soon, but I also don't see myself updating it too much (at least until the kids get into school) :-) I will at the very least have pic updates on a regular basis in some form on flickr. Look for me if your a member and add me as a contact.

Good night people, I'm up WAY past my bedtime. With a dentist appointment in the morning. Yay me.

Save the date

Another free invite card by Smilebox

Updates, mostly pics

So, I've been away from computer ever since i got my beautiful and sexy iphone last monday..... photos needed to be updated and people want to see pics of the fam. I've finally updated Flickr

Livie is beginning to move her arm a little, mostly upward movements, not quite bending at the elbow. Maybe by the time of her next appointment we'll see an improvement and hear positive feedback from the doctors. This video provides a visual of w

hat occurred to her nerves during birth (for those curious and needing visuals).... I'm trusting in God for healing, but His timing sure forces patience sometimes! Speaking of videos... I've been having fun uploading from my iphone on YouTube .... enjoy... I'll let you know when I update that as well.

She coos and smiles and eats all day. She brings a smile to my face ALL day long, well kinda, except when she's going through those growth spurts.... they're exhausting! :-)

The boys are doing great... we are working on expecting them to vocalize more. In the mean time, we work on getting their energy out any way we can. They hug and kiss as often as they have little temper tantrums, though they beginning to learn how

to play together.

I'm keeping myself busy with some personal projects and forget to pass along the updates and pics... feel free to yell at me often!

Love and hugs and kisses!

Ta! Ta!

new blog or not

IMG_4132, originally uploaded by Natalie Fierro.

I embrace change. From rearranging furniture to thinking about new careers. My blog home has proven to be no different as I have already changed formats and websites a few times. SO I raise the question... to blog elsewhere or not....

For now, it will be a not... but dont be surprised if I end up linking you to another location.

Not much in the mood for typing today.... lots of things going on... one of the girls we've had for a while moved to the honor house today. Girls we thought were enjoying their time are talking about trying to move out. We left for a little beach time before getting too depressed, but that didn't do much for my mood.

We spent some time at La Jolla. Last time we went there I was Mother's Day I believe? I was pretty big in my pregnancy and, while frolicking in the tide, I was whisked away by the tide. I remember throwing dominic in the air and yelling at Nick to grab the kids and don't worry about me. While people got up to their feet to help the pregnant lady in the water I was staying in the water to make sure my clothes were securely in place. I will never forget the look on the boys' faces as the water pulled me away. :-)

Today was beautiful, yesterday was beautiful... basically any day by the beach is beautiful. I really need to make more of point to go more often. I was driving around town last night and pulled up to a parking space facing the ocean to watch a spectacular sunset. I just sat back and indulged. San Diego is a wonderful, almost magical place.

I love meeting friendly new people. There's not a day that goes by it seems that I encounter some form of genuine kindness when I'm out in public. Just today I met a woman that makes hair bows for girls. She gave me some samples after watching me with Olivia at our booth in a restaurant. I recently found a hairstylist that I LOVE in a strip mall where we like to go to for breakfast- the people there are also so great to us. San Diego is becoming the home town I've always wanted.... knowing the person in that shop and at that store and so on.

I do miss though, some of the people I was just starting to connect with in LA. You are always on my mind! Keep checking in... or better yet subscribe via email and stay connected. I still visit and would still like to hang out. We're not that far away.

I promise

I know I know... and I'm sorry... pics up this weekend.... or else.

Updates coming....

OMG!  So much to do.... 

Yes... we do have a daughter and there are pictures.... I just haven't gotten around to uploading them yet.  How lame am I?  

Our daughter, Olivia Hope was welcomed to this world on July 4th 2009.  She is beautiful, with a large amount of hair.... god, the hair..... love it :-)  She weighed in at 8lbs, 12 ounces and 20 inches long.  By her 4 week check up she weighed 11 lbs and grew to 23 inches.  She's currently in the 98th percentile for her height and 93rd percentile for her weight.  Got myself a big girl!  :-)

Labor was pretty exhausting even though I caved in and got the epidural.  This delivery was a VBAC and turned out to be a good one until they noticed that Olivia was a little bigger then expected.  On her way out she managed to get her shoulder stuck and after a couple extreme-looking maneuvers- they were able to get her out.  At first glance they thought they may have broken her clavicle or shoulder... but after a few xrays it was determined that the lack of movement in her arm was due to nerve damage.... I couldn't get an actual name for it until we visited the pediatrician: Erb's Palsey. She has movement in her hand and fingers but not in her arms.  I was pretty pleased to notice that she was starting to move her arm back but after a few more weeks, I haven't noticed any major new movements.....  

It's basically a sit and wait game at the moment-as a team of doctors in LA assesses her nerve development, she will be treated accordingly with a possible (last resort) surgery by 6 months.  I'm believing in and hoping for a miracle.  It's easy to get discouraged when you see progress at a stand still and when so many others around are experiencing some pretty hard life changing events... I sometimes wonder what God will or will not answer with a yes.  In all honesty I wished she had broken a bone- it wouldn't involve feelings of helplessness in waiting for the complete healing... this wait game is killer for impatience.  Please, if it ever happens to cross your mind, pray for healing.

As of now we are adjusting to life as a party of five.  

I convinced Nick we were getting too crowded for our cook SUV.  The conversation went something like:

We need to trade our cool SUV for a lame mini van and save money because the real estate market is too good to not try to get into.  Somehow we gladly went to the dealer with the thought that we could be home owners soon.  lol.  not that it couldn't happen, but one thing at a time natalie.  pay off that debt.  well.... the lower car payment and lower insurance payment should help us do just that.

We gave up the nice FJ Cruiser for a mini-van. Yep.  The van is actually growing on us.... coming from the one who never wanted to own one.  

The other day we went out for a dinner at a local restaurant...  I spent half of the time in our mini van feeding the newborn while Nick was battling his dinner and dealing with two adorable screaming boys.   Before I could eat a few bites, it was evident that Nick needed to take the screeching toddlers outside while I grabbed my untouched dinner to go. 

A wise one named John once warned us that dinner out will never be the same when you have kids.  It's nice to get up and leave a mess that isn't your responsibility, but embarrassing enough to leave a better tip for the server.  He also warned us that the bathroom will become our only sanctuary, the one place we could efficiently get away.  He's absolutely right, I cherish the few minutes of "alone time" behind a locked door and running faucet water :-)

The boys are doing well.  Nathaniel is exercising his toddlerhood as being a tough kid and pushing and hitting.  We are introducing time outs- this makes him cry.  Today we happen to do a time out every 5 minutes or so for various random things he decided he wanted to do.  It can be comical watching us I think.... parenting is so to us and we're figuring it out through trial and error. Dominic is doing better then Nathaniel when it comes to getting in trouble, but he's the one being bullied that I try to make sure he gets more praises and hugs for his good behavior.  He seems to thrive in musical outlets between banging out on rock band drums and playing a piano we have in our rec room, Dominic is proving to have an interest in the arts.  

We make an effort to give them as many experiences as possible from daily outdoor activities to outings at Sea World and other local attractions... its beautiful to see the boys ooh and ahh and point and laugh and experience things for the first time.  Pretty exciting, I think, to see who they are growing up to be unfold at such an early age.  It can be a magical time if we take the time to nurture their talents.

Well- that's about it for now.  We're both working and doing what we can to survive.  For nick its games, for me its working out.  Beyond that I apologize to friends and fam for not getting back and going MIA every few months.... I'm trying to get a grasp on a regular routine.  The whole, three children under 2 doesn't help much with that... but we're starting to get the hang of doing normal things.

This blog is my official attempt to start the regular updates.... subscribe by email to make things easier and I'll let you know when pics and updates are available.

Moving

quiet morning, originally uploaded by Natalie Fierro.

So many things around me are changing.... moving to San Diego has been nothing short of a journey, but we're here and healthy and having fun.

So this will be a boring update until I get the time fix our website.

Life is crazy busy and I can't update several things all once- especially if the kids are trying hard to "help" me type.... yeah, that doesn't end well.  

Posting with Blogger will now allow you all to email subscribe if you want updates sent directly to your mailbox... nifty eh? It will at least buy me time to revamp our site and still allow you all to get photo and fam updates.  Mainstream, easy and convenient.  Love it.

Oh! And check out our photostream on Flickr... you can also subscribe to the feed (but I'll update you on the blog as I update pics... )

For now, I'm going to call it a night, but I will post often (especially pics!)

Love you all!