Finally here!

I am proud to announce the birth of my little girl, Lilybelle Elena Hernandez.  Born on a Sunday, July 1st, 2012 at 2:31pm. Weighed 7lbs 11 1/2 oz, measured 20 inches long.

Small details about her labor process:
-2 days with contractions

-Water leaked while walking to the car then rode to the hospital

-I withstood more pain than I thought, reached 1 minute contractions without feeling like dying, but was persuaded to get the epidural (I really wanted to try, but people were freaking me out)

-After epidural, body relaxed and contractions subsided to 4 minutes apart. 10 hours of epidural later, I was dilated to 10cm. Read about it's effects HERE.
-15 hours total at the Kaiser Permanente hospital to deliver. The staff was wonderful! Had my mom with me as my husband slept, my son stayed with family.

-30 minutes pushing time, no cut nor tearing "down there."  The relaxation breathing techniques REALLY worked to relax my body. Easy to find on YouTube or click HERE.

-Lilybelle breastfed like a champ within 10 minutes from arriving, and big bro finally came to see her 2 hours later...told her he loved her a lot (still tells her that daily).

So that was the short of it all. I want to keep blogging really soon, but I need to focus on the baby, which is very demanding since she only breastfeeds...resulting in 14 feeds per day (through the night included). That's besides taking care of my toddler, feeding the family, cleaning, etc.  So you can imagine it can get super busy. I'll be writing soon about what nursing on demand is compared to scheduled nursing, tips, and sacrifices that come along with it to give your baby the best possible from birth.

See her newborn photo shoot at MariaElenaPhotography.com

So happy to be a new mommy all over again 

Fashion Friday #5: FUN Friday

I haven't been able to fit into any clothes much lately and I was feeling kinda sad because of it.  I understand I'm only going to get bigger and it's natural, but it just made me sad to be so limited... so I needed something to pick me up... MUSIC!  I LOVE music and you know what?  It really helps!  It picks you up, makes you forget about stress, and just makes you feel better all around at any time of day.  So, this Fashion Friday will be more of a FUN Friday featuring MUSIC.  These are some little fun, pick-me-up songs I ran across while just reading some posts.  Mind you, they are not common songs, but they are SUPER sweet and true, not to mention, catchy.  So, feel free to click on the links attached to each image and soak up some fun:

Brandon and Leah - "LIFE HAPPENS"

Carly Rae Jepsen - "CALL ME MAYBE"

Stephen Jerzak - "TOGETHER WITH THE SUN DOWN"

Paolo Nutini - "CANDY"

Simple Plan - "WHEN I'M GONE"

Kate Voegele - "SANDCASTLES"

It's a GIRL!

I don't recall if I was able to show some of my new baby's ultrasound pictures.  If not, here it is: (I have even lower memory intake lately, I blame the pregnancy!!!)

Well, so far I keep thinking about the name and what-not, but then I thought to myself, " You're just shy of 5 months left, why not relax, focus on the move to California, enjoy Andrew and maybe browse ideas for princess' theme and colors." So I searched and searched, more like quickly scanned, and found some lovely ideas.  Though the hot bright messes and pastel colors are both popular and common choices, I wanted a different approach.  I've always liked fairies, not Disney, just classic and garden type.

So below I'm showing what the feel is mostly and some adorable outfits I found real quick too.  Starting from the top right and going clockwise: A personalized Fairy Growth Chart, Fairy Booties (classic), a Baby Fairy Dress (isn't she adorable?!?!?), some Fairy Giggle Dust in a bottle for decoration sealed, a Pewter Bubble Wand with 3 stars, and a yellow Fairy Costume, a magical Fairy Flower Staff, and topped with a Fairy Flower Garland on her hair.

All of these items can be found online at chasing-fireflies.com boutique store. Sign up for a FREE catalog!

I love flowers, and much more when they're given to me ;-) so I think this is something that works well for tiny, little. angelic newborns, especially one I plan to make a home with too.  Then I thought of colors: Well, I love gray (such a neutral color) and like pink, but also like the happiness of yellow too. So I came up with this for a color scheme:

I know the colors aren't common, which is what I'm all about and I love a challenge, especially one that makes me appreciate everything more.

So this is it for now.  I need to get back to my moving-out-life with boxes and clothes that keeps shrinking when I try them on...I wonder why :-)  I love being pregnant mind you, simply because my husband becomes very sweet and caring and tender and touchy and...well you get the picture.  It becomes excessive sometimes, but I love it! Plus, he buys me anything I want at this stage.  I'm not much of a craver though mostly nauseous, and I don't think it's all true since I never experienced constant cravings with my first pregnancy. Mostly you either lean towards either salty or sweet foods.  This one is sweet and I love fruits and fresh salads without dressing or anything, just crunchy and fresh.

Got to go!  I hope I can update again in the future since I love to write, create collages, do anything creative.  Online is my only tangible source for now, so it helps me out :-)

PS. Can't wait t make her vintage flowers, paint her tiny nails, and fix her soft hair!!!

5 Forget-Me-Not tips for life

This was all inspired and paraphrased from a talk given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf from the LDS presidency and Relief Society Worldwide General Conference.  As Woman, we were reminded to value ourselves and that our Heavenly Father loves us ever so much.  We are strong and we are chosen to lead our families, the greatest responsibility in the face of the earth...to raise your children to walk their life on their own :-)  Among many other great and amazing talks given during the session, this is a fun and simple one I loved.  See the image below for a visual of a forget-me-not flower.  Five petals, five forget-me-nots:

1.  Forget not to be patient with yourself.
   DON"t spend so much time comparing yourself to others and celebrate your efforts.
2.  Forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice.
   Give up something good for something of far greater worth, never jeopardizing your family time. Ask if you're committing your time and energy to the things that matter most.
3.  Forget not to be happy now.
   Stop desperately yearning for your golden ticket (perfect marriage, stress-free life, money and riches, etc). Look at what you have, do not miss the tiny wonders around you...the daily moments of sweetness.
4.  Forget not the WHY of the gospel.   Don't see the gospel and work therein as a list of more stress you will add to YOUR life and do not focus on HOW to do things, but WHY.  Remember why you committed to having that light and joy in your life.
5.  Forget not that the Lord loves you.
   You are not forgotten...wherever you are, whoever you are.  No matter how dark your day may seem, nor how overshadowed you may think you are, nor how many mistakes you make...He loves you!  You are his child.

There is so much more to this and all the talks.  If you're interested in listening to these talks, just check out the LDS webpage if you're a member.  If you're not a member yet, then you can check out MORMON.ORG

Maternity shoot style ideas...more

Click on the image to read some tips and details!

Maternity shoot style ideas

If your including the your man in the pictures, just make sure you coordinate and compliment each other.

Maternity shoot style ideas