Christian's Big Adventures

Christian's a week old now and has definitely turned our life upside down! We've had lots of firsts this week, definitely lots of sleepless nights, but this has been an amazing week with our little baby. Here is Christian on his way home from the hospital.


Cuddling with Daddy.


Zonked out on Mommy.


Getting acquainted with the kitties. Two of our kitties will cry when the baby cries. It makes for quite a scene. Hopefully, they'll get used to him soon. Van Gogh just wants to cuddle.


We've had a couple of funny moments with Christian. He taught Daddy that Dad needs to cover him when changing his diaper. Christian gave him a quick shower. Since then we've gotten numerous showers. We're trying to remember, but it seems to take us by surprise every time. We, or actually, I (Audrey) accidently gave Christian a real shower. We were about to give him a bath, but I didn't notice that the shower was on instead of the faucet, and he got a surprise. Poor Baby. He did like the warm water of his bath, though. I'm sure there will be many more adventures to come, but the first week has gotten him off to a good start.

Hi, my name is Christian

Actually, my full name is Christian Carlos Rocha. If you are reading this blog, you know Mommy and Daddy, or as you probably know them, Audrey and Javier.



I made my entrance into this world yesterday at 5:56pm, after my mom spent 10 hours in labor trying to get me out. It took so long because I weighed 9lbs and 12oz and I was 22 inches when I was born. When I came out I wasn't real happy, in fact I couldn't stop screaming. This is the first picture ever taken of me



My first 24 hours have been fun, but I got into a little trouble. First, I loosened my foot security alarm which set off alarms throughout the floor, prompting everyone in the maternity ward to think I was missing. I wasn't missing, I was in my daddy's arms, but the head nurse came rushing in my room. A little later, I went to the nursery to let my parents sleep. However, I started crying...more like wailing... which woke up my friends in the nursery and made them start crying. Consequently, I was kicked out of the nursery and returned to my parents. It's not like they needed any more sleep.

I also had my first photo shoot yesterday. You can see those pictures on our365.com or at this link:

http://our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=09c85c96-3c26-4cdc-8f06-5980421423a6

And here are a few more pictures of me

Like his Daddy

Today is April 3, and if you are reading this blog you know what that means. Today is the day that Baby Rocha was supposed to make his grand entrance into the world. However, he is apparently taking after his daddy and won't be on time. We were hoping that Baby would be a good birthday gift for his grandma (today is her birthday), but I am sure she will be happy for a belated birthday gift. In the meantime, we will be patiently waiting for Baby Rocha's arrival. Here is a picture of momma 40 weeks pregnant.



Not only are we waiting for his arrival, but Baby Rocha's room is ready for its future occupant.

Showered

Baby was showered with love and presents the last two weekends. Thank you all so much! We feel so lucky to have so much support. A special thank you to the lovely hostesses of each one. I know it's hard work! Here are the photo highlights.

The San Antonio shower was at Apple Annie's Restaurant. Everyone was provided lunch and cupcakes!

Wow! Did I mention the baby got lots of presents.

Who will he look like? Sailor Javi? Or Audrey with a mowhawk?


My good friends Carla and Kristen, along with Javi's lovely cousin, Cris, and mom, Maria, helped host the shower.

Javier helped open presents. I was laughing as I looked through the pictures of us because in most of them Javier looks perplexed as to what he just opened. He did know what these were for. Thank you Grandpa Ernest for the cute baby shoes and socks!

My good friends from high school helped host the baby shower in Fredericksburg. Here's Amber (who's also 8 months pregnant), Kristy (who's beautiful stomach is flat as a board), and Christa (who's about 5 months pregnant). My friend Kiley wasn't able to make it because she is also nearing her due date! She did make the beautiful decorations, though.
Margaret, Kristy's stepmom, made and decorated these amazing cookies by hand. Along with these carrot cake slices, she also supplied everyone with cheesecake and chocolate cupcakes.



Oma made baby a beautiful handmade quilt!

Thank you everyone for two great showers!

Clean Bill of Health

About 3 months ago, Baby Rocha had his ultrasound where all his fingers and toes where counted and measured, along with every other piece of anatomy. That was the day Javier and I found out we were having a boy! We were both elated until we met with the Physicians Assistant. She told us his kidneys had measured larger than average, and she wanted us to go see a specialist with a higher level ultrasound. She further told us that larger kidneys could be a sign of down syndrome. After seeing our baby boy for the first time, we were on a high, but finding this out really took the wind out of our sails. While we would love him either way, it was still hard to hear. A few days later we met with the specialist and he said one kidney was a little larger than average, so he scheduled us for a follow-up appointment.

This morning we had our follow-up appointment, and by this blog's title, I think you can tell that everything checked out fine this time. In fact, he is a big healthy boy. He already weighs 4 lbs 8 oz, which is in the 77th percentile for his age. Not only is he healthy, but he's 27% larger than other babies his age! It turns out that he just needed to grow into his kidneys. Much like his dad, Baby Rocha takes tests better the second time around. With or without the stress, it was exciting to get an extra ultrasound to see our baby. While the photo isn't too clear, here's a profile picture from this morning.

The Nest

Nesting is when expecting parents feel the urge to prepare their house for their new baby. Nesting takes various forms, such as parents cleaning the house or painting the nursery. While the nesting instinct generally happens in expecting mothers, it is also known to happen to expectant fathers. Audrey and I took nesting to the extreme, and we purchased a house. Actually, our lease was going to run out in May and we wanted to have a house for our baby to come home to. Our new house is located off 281 and Donella Drive in the Oak Haven Heights neighborhood. We are excited that we have a place for our new family to call home. So without further adieu, may I present the Casa de Rocha.

Audrey in front of our new home


The Front Yard


Little birdie peephole in our front door welcoming us to our Nest


Living Room


Mama in the future nursery


Javi in nursery holding the future crib

Baby Bedding

Yesterday, Javier and I made our first big purchase for the baby. We had a little money we wanted to spend on him, so we looked around at Babies r Us. We thought about buying him a stoller/car seat, but then decided it would be fun to get the bedding. Plus, it was 25% off, so we basically got the little lamp and an extra sheet for free. We went with the Noah's Ark theme. Can't wait to decorate his nursery in our new house! We didn't want to unpack it yet, but here's a photo of the set. No, the cat did not come with it. That's "Vanna White," aka Pawsy.


One of the big selling points for Javier was the little colorful lamp that goes with it.