Pics from Vegas

There really isn't that much to do in Vegas when you have a baby besides shopping for your baby and taking pictures of your baby. There are so many places to shop at in Vegas that after awhile it's just exhausting. It was already exhausting pre-baby and now post-baby, it's practically impossible. You really have to be organized and focused when you're toting the little one around. My mom and I spent a day at Fashion Show Mall with Isabel and literally spend probably only have the time in stores, the other half was spent in the women's lounge in Nordstrom and Macys.

Here is the little munchkin totally out for a nap. To maintain our sanity we bought her a swing for the week...going to take it back when we leave. It relieves loads of stress!

Here is the cutie watching Sex & the City dvds with mommy.

Baby hanging out with daddy in front of the webcam talking to Grandpa and Grandma Bayani in Greensburg, PA. We're going to see everyone really soon!

Almost Christmas!

My dog is the CUTEST dog ever.
My baby is the CUTEST baby ever.

We are currently in Las Vegas right now since Ben has to do a little bit of work before the holidays. We drove Isabel and Ozzie on the 8 hour trip and both of them were incredibly well behaved. I knew Ozzie would be fine but Isabel I wasn't sure of. She had a new car seat which I think really helped out, so much roomier than her other one. She only fussed when we were 30 min outside of Vegas and then she fell asleep. It really wasn't too bad. The true test will be on a plane! More on that next week... Right now I'm on the search for the perfect travel accessories.

Happy 3 Months!

Isabel turned 3 months old just a few days ago. Time flies by fast! It has been 3 months of ups and downs, a true test of patience and relationships. The maternal instinct that people talk about for me was a progression through time. I don't believe at all that one could fall in love with their child the minute he/she is born. I believe that it's through the connection and experience as time goes by. I do love my daughter more and more each day. There are things that she does that crack me up hysterically:

1) She laughs out loud in her sleep for no reason at all...or maybe she's dreaming about milk.
2) She laughs and smiles when you get mad at her. She loves that.
3) She tries to entertain you while drinking her bottle which of course makes eating go by much more slowly.
4) She falls asleep in the bathtub cuz she's treated like a royal princess.
5) She talks to her stuffed animals when no one is around.
6) She is a super happy baby in the morning. She wakes up and just hangs out, no crying. The minute you walk by her and see her, she laughs and smiles. Then she starts a morning conversation.

She's going to be a little talker... We can see that already!

Isabel has been wanting to stand up or do sit ups anytime she gets a chance too. She's totally trying out her legs. It's super cute watching her grunt and try to do crunches! In a couple of days we're going to be going on our very first road trip with her and we'll see how she does. We bought a new car seat from Graco, the Safeseat which is much bigger than her Chicco infant seat so she's really a lot more comfortable. She and Ozzie both love car rides so we'll see how the drive to Vegas goes.

Diapers.com is a website that I found that sometimes gives really good coupons and always has free shipping. They're not necessarily the cheapest in the market but with their coupons, they're priced better. I use it for wipes and diapers. They carry Kirkland wipes AND all the major diaper brands. Their December coupon was $10 off a $50 purchase so that makes the diapers and wipes such a steal compared to the normal $1.50 off ones. Plus they ship really fast and you get your stuff in like 2 days.

Oh the joys of collecting coupons!

Isabel's New Toy

I've been researching online about the best baby toys to buy for our little princess and found two really cool items. Both of them are from Tiny Love. For some reason, Tiny Love is hard to find and I couldn't find them at Babies R Us, Toys R Us, or Target. They had have sold out of them or something. The one pictured here is the Symphony in Motion Farm Animals mobile. The cool thing is that it has all the black and white swirlies that catch her attention. She LOVES this mobile. Plus for me and Ben, it has a 15 minute timer and it's battery operated, so no more winding up an old school mobile that lasts for only a minute. It plays Mozart, Bach, and Beethovan too. The other item I got her was a Clip and Go mobile which is battery operated and can go with her anywhere. We haven't really tested that out yet but for our Vegas roadtrip in two weeks we'll see how that goes! By the way, I have to say that even though I despise the brick and mortar Walmart stores, I am so happy with their online service. I paid only $1.50 in shipping and I received both items in 2 days. They have one of the fastest shipping services EVER! And their photo department's speed is insane! It costs just a teeny bit more for one hour service and it's totally worth it!

An update on the Bugaboo.... We tested it out today at the mall and it has awesome handling! It's super smooth and can really turn well. I purchased the Graco adapter, the cup holder, and a new Graco Safeseat for it so now she can just sit in her new carseat without getting out. It takes a little getting used to but I have no regrets! Also, we went to Fresh Choice for dinner and the Bugaboo's handle bar can be adjusted so Isabel can sit right next to me at the table with the wheels underneath so she's super close. I can't wait to test it out at the park!

You Know You're A Mother When....

YOU GIVE UP HANDBAG SHOPPING! Not. Well when you start choosing items like strollers over handbags! So in a freak shopping splurge after HOURS AND HOURS of research...this is what we brought home on Saturday (see below).

Yes, I was out of my mind. Before I had Isabel I was a sane human being only splurging on items with the letters L & V on them but after being a victim of stroller envy I had to find a cure. It was ridiculous to think that after all I've accomplished with having a baby that I would let myself feel so sad about a stroller (of all things). Actually it wasn't even this stroller! I had wanted a Peg Perego pretty badly but after a lot of research and store test drives I realized that the Peg Perego was ill constructed and just a ton of hype. I didn't even watch the Nanny Diaries so I had no clue that the brand was featured in that movie. I was really disappointed that the Peg Perego Plika was made so poorly. It was wobbly and unstable, really poor materials too. Oh well, it did look nice in pictures though.

Which brings me to the above... I had decided that to cure my "sickness" (and yes, after all this my wallet is very ill) I needed to head straight to the top, that way there would be no questioning anything in between. I took Ben and showed him the 3 models Bugaboo had and he actually chose the Cameleon anyway, well, I guess he only knows the best! The new Bee was ridiculous, the sales woman couldn't even work it and it looked sooo complicated for something that was intended to have the ease of an umbrella stroller. The Frog was great EXCEPT if you're short! The handle bars don't even adjust and for the amount of $$$ you're dishing out, isn't that expected to show up? I didn't realize how much I liked the stroller until I was playing with it. It's a really beautiful item. See, this is what I mean, this time last year I would NEVER had fallen in love with a stroller nevertheless chose it over a Marc Jacobs handbag. Oh Isabel, what did you do to me?

Isabel Having a Conversation with Mommy

This is a video of Isabel having a conversation with us after she has just finished eating. She's usually talkative after meals but in the last couple of days, she has gotten even more talkative and louder! It's so amazing to hear her babble and she knows who we are. She can see our reaction and respond to them. It's soooo incredible! I can't wait to hear her speak her first words! My brother Chris was over and of course Ozzie wanted to join in on the fun.

Just a note: Ignore the absolute ridiculousness of my babytalk and the quality of the video, it came off my camera. I refer to "cherries and strawberries" in this conversation and that refers to the cherries and strawberries on her outfit. No we're not THAT crazy....

A Family Outing

On Saturday we went to Vasona Park as a whole family. I love that park and ended buying an annual pass. It's so nice to get out and enjoy the nice weather. Ozzie had so much fun! I couldn't have taken him with Isabel by myself, it would have been too much!

Isabel is awake! She was asleep for most of the time.

Daddy and Ozzie walking on pier thingy. Ozzie wasn't scared of this one, he was scared of the bridge though.

Okay, we found out that Isabel can keep herself amused when dad's playing the Xbox, especially hockey. She's totally enjoying watching all the players (black dots to her) skate around the tv screen. Sometimes when we rock her to sleep, we play music videos and she likes Bjork and Daddy Yankee right now.

Isabel had her 2 month check up today at the pediatrician's. She received her first set of shots and that was a traumatizing experience! Well I was so sad when I saw her little body jolt when the nurse stuck the needle into her thigh. Poor little thing. The first two shocked her and she cried for like 10 seconds but she wasn't expecting the second 2 shots. She was NOT happy with those... She was sooo happy too before the shots and was babbling to the doctor. Poor thing! She has grown so much! She's now 11 lbs 14 oz. She's almost 12 lbs!