Name Change

Well, we tried the other name out for a while...then 2 days before our lil guy received his baby blessing, we opted for a name change. His name is Patrick Emmanuel Diaz Taylor. We like it...and you can pronouce it easily in both languages. So, it doesn´t matter where we end up living...as far as his name goes.

Welcome Christian Jeremiah Diaz Taylor

Well, he´s finally here. He was born Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 1;45pm. Weighing 3.360 Kilograms and 50 cm long. And I must say he´s the cutest lil boy ever! We are sooooooooooooooo thrilled to have him. Newborn babies are a lot of work...but he´s worth it. Labor and delivery wasn´t exactly like I expected it...all natural...lots of pain. Luckily, the pain wasn´t too bad until about 8am. (Labor pains started at about 3am, and at 9am we went running to the clinic when my water broke. What an experience! We were blessed that baby´s and mom´s health are fine and there weren´t any complications. What a blessing! Now we are learning how to be parents...I sure hope we are doing this right. Its definately different than babysitting. Isn´t he cute, adorable, handsome, and perfect?

Baby Diaz

Ok, so it looks like our lil baby is right on track. We took the last ultrasound. He´s in position and has already dropped. That means that he could come anytime. 36 weeks...but the doctor is almost sure that he´ll come before Jan 15th...the due date is approximately Jan 27th...but we´ll see what happens. What´s really funny is that I don´t think the doctor is used to part north american babies. They are usually a lil bigger than latin babies. So, she´s pretty sure that he´ll come out early and a perfect size.

You know what I love! I love going to the doctor and she checks out everything and says...PERFECT! Or what a good strong heartbeat your baby has...or perfect size...or...your gaining the perfect weight...good job...perfect, no dehydration, good level of iron. I just leave the doctor feeling much better about my baby. She said that at this point it is very very very unlikely to present any kind of complication...I just have to keep taking care of myself.

Anyways, I´m feeling good. A little overwhelmed with all the baby preparations and cleaning/disinfecting that I have to do before the baby gets here. I was planning a relaxing extra month to do it all, but the doctor says that it wouldn´t surprise her if he´s here next week. So, its time to get on the ball. I´m just glad that there´s a lil flex time between the holidays. Can you imagine Christmas preparations and a baby coming at the same time!?!

Oh, and we have a problem. We still haven´t decided on a name! IDEAS!?! SUGGESTIONS!?! We seriously need help. We want him to have to have an english name and a spanish name. IDEAS??? His last names will be Diaz Taylor...so basically something that goes well with _______ ________ Diaz Taylor. HELP! Anyways, that´s life. I really don´t know why I´m blogging when I have a TON to do...I guess I´m just looking for an excuse to sit down and rest a lil bit. :) Ok, gotta run. And HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Funerals

Ok, so I know its never all that great to talk about funerals, but its wearing on my body. Here funerals are quite different. The stake patriarch died on Tuesday and was also in the ward. Now with Christian in the bishopric there are a lot more responsabilities. The bishopric has really taken a hand in all the preparations for the funeral service, and of course I´m there to support in whatever needs to be done. Especially since the patriarch´s wife and 2 daughters are good friends of the family and have always been soooo kind to me.

So what´s so different about funerals here in Peru?

1. There´s a thing called a "velorio". That means that the day that one dies all the family and friends go and "pay their respects" by sitting around the coffin all night long until the early morning. So, yesterday night and the night before we stayed until 12am Tuesday night and almost 2am Wednesday night. I´m exhausted. I can´t even imagine how tired the family is. In these "sittings" generally they serve some kind of soup or crackers and a drink. Its really quite costly. Anyways, we stayed so long mainly because the bishopric needed to be there to make sure everything went smoothly and to close up the church building.

2. After the funeral service everybody walks behind the car with the coffin for about 5 blocks stopping all traffic. Then, everybody gets on a bus to go to the cemetary.

3. The burial ceremony is about the same, just a lot of catholic traditions unless you talk to the coordinators first. Oh, and generally they let the family members and close friends throw a handful of dirt and say a few words over the coffin once it is in the earth.

You know its interesting, but while living in Peru I´ve gone to/participated in 4 funerals. Today is the funeral service and burial. Just a note about Brother Villavicencio. He was a great man with a kind, loving spirit. He always had a smile on his face and thought of everybody individually. I feel privelleged to have known him.

Moments in pregnancy

I´m sure several of you have gone through some sort of back pain in your life. I just have never known it to be such a constant thing. Well, baby Diaz is about 31 weeks along and boy does my back ache. It seems to ache sitting down, laying down, standing, walking...pretty much all the time. I can usually change what I´m doing to take it away for a little bit, but its really annoying. But I´m getting the pregnancy "waddle" down.

Other than that pregnancy isn´t too bad. You know the basic stuff. A little bit of nauseousness every now and then, trouble bending over. I can´t see my toes anymore. You know, all the normal symptoms. I get tired, but have been very blessed to have an active baby that lets me know that he´s ok. Now he does have a habit of pushing in weird places causing me to be short of breath, be shocked in weird embarassing moments, etc.

Today I was teaching my sunday school class for the youth 14-17 and the baby moved so suddenly that it shocked me, I made a weird face, and ran out of breath before I could finish my sentence. Of course, the young women thought it was the cutest thing ever and the young men had a good laugh. Funny how that works, huh?

Oh, another scary pregnancy moment. Yesterday, I went out with my mother-in-law to stop by people´s houses to invite them to the baby shower she´s throwing me. Well, needless to say the streets here don´t have curbs, but every now and then people will put a giant curb in front of their house going perpendicular to the street. Well, needless to say my mother-in-law was in a hurry and floored it and hit one of those unseen curbs. My sister-in-law was thrown from the back seat towards the front and needless to say baby Diaz got a pretty big shock. OUCH! My tummy ached like no other and I couldn´t breath. It was horrible. I got home and put my feet up and rested until I felt better. The good thing is that that night baby Diaz started moving a bit. I was really worried. I think he got really shocked because he didn´t move as much as normal until about 2 p.m. today. He´s over the shock it looks like. But, a scary experience needless to say.

Those are just some of my pregnancy moments. What are some of yours like?

Tagged

Even if you don´t like the tag games...sometimes its fun to just play along.

RULES

1. Post rules on your blog

2. Answer the six "8" items

3. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment

8 Favorite TV Shows - in no particular order

1. Asi es la Vida

2. 2 Hombres y Medio

3. Matrimonio con Hijos

4. Esposa y hijos

5. Fuego en la Sangre

6. Cine Satelital

7. Simpsons

8. Cinescape

8 Things I did Yesterday

1. Homework

2. Cooked lunch

3. Family Home Evening

4. Shopped for food

5. Experimented with Baby Shower invitations

6. Blogged

7. Read 10 Ways to make the Diamond in you Sparkle

8. Laundry

8 Things I look forward to

1. Christmas

2. Our baby´s arrival into the world

3. Shopping for baby stuff

4. My next doctor´s appointment for the baby

5. Getting the package my mom sent me

6. Awaiting the arrival of my hubbie at the end of the day

7. Chatting with family and friends

8. Christian´s visa

8 Favorite Restaurants

1. Porton Gaucho

2. Nachos

3. Betos Grill

4. Olive Garden

5. Sonic

6. Pizza Hut

7. Pardo´s Chicken

8. Rebachini

8 Things on my wish list

1. All of my baby things I need for free or at least discounted!

2. A baby shower

3. Friends and family at least close enough to visit once or twice a year

4. Health insurance

5. A crib, playpen, bassinet for our baby

6. Massage chair, or a really good massage each day...especially in my back

7. American food variety

8. To be able to get up to BYU-Idaho and graduate

8 People to tag

I´m not going to tag anybody...but if you read this it would be fun to see your answers too! I must admit a lot of my answers may not be very well known...since I´m living my life in spanish. But, heck, its my life!

Earthquakes

Earthquakes here in Chimbote have been a regular occurrence the last couple of weeks. We´ve felt little rumbles, to long rumbles to, quite nerve wrecking shaking. Well, for the past 2 DAYS and NIGHTS we´ve been on alert for a BIG earthquake...you know one that´s bigger that a ricter scale 7, one that knocks down houses and buildings. So, we finally got our act together and put together an emergency bag. Its not anything too fancy, but its got the basic needs. Snacks, water, change of clothes, toothbrushes, toilet paper, flashlight, matches, medicine, first aid kit, money, etc. You know the stuff that you would have to have if something happened for a couple of days. I really feel much better having something prepared. Just in case. Now, I´m not a fanatic. My brother and sister in law have slept in their clothes...shoes on and everything just in case they have to leave the house running. I put shoes by the door to grab if we needed to leave quickly, but come on. I´ve gotta sleep and I can´t live my life scared all the time. I know we should be on the alert and all, but lets not be too extreme.

Plus, when we heard about the warning we said a prayer and we both felt better. We felt like we needed to pack an emergency bag...just in case, but that everything would be ok. I love prayers! 2 nights ago we went to my mother-in-law´s house and we both slept in the kitchen on a twin size mattress. Now when they say a twin size mattress is meant for one person...it is definately true. 2 people just don´t fit on it comfortable for an entire night´s rest. Then, last night we took turns of staying awake. One would sleep 1-2 hours while the other one stayed awake just in case a big earthquake came and we had to leave the house quickly. Well, needless to say we woke up exhausted. Tonight I´m sleeping on a normal schedule, earthquake warning or not. The good thing is that we haven´t had an earthquake and everybody is safe and sound.

I feel really blessed. You know everybody complains that they are losing sleep and sleeping in tents and uncomfortable because of a possible earthquake, but you gotta look on the bright side. There hasn´t been a big earthquake and everybody is ok. Everybody would be really really uncomfortable if there was a big earthquake and their houses were destroyed. Count your blessings. Anyways, that´s enough babbling from me. Maybe I´m just soooo tired I just keep babbling. Happy blogging and have a great day!