life's going good

OK, I guess I'll start up with this blog thing again! Here's a little update:

Joah is growing way too fast for me! He'll be 4 months in a week, and I get a little teary-eyed when I look at pictures of his early days. What a sweet little gift he is!

1 month

3 months

We took two trips to Colorado so Joah could meet the fam. They all loved him (of course).

with Grandma Mona

Highlights:
When Uncle Steve rushed out of the house to meet the little guy after our long road trip, I handed him over and Joah had a leak. Steve looked shocked, "What is that?" We were trying out a new diaper brand, which we don't use anymore...poor Steve :)

Joah also met his only first cousin, Ammon. What a cute pair. Definitely love at first sight. Can you believe they're less than 7 months apart? Babies grow too fast.


We moved! When my little monkey was exactly 2 months old, we packed everything up and moved 7 blocks, with the help of my crazy awesome parents. We're now living in a basement apartment in a less fun neighborhood and paying half the rent for a larger space. Woohoo! It still looks like we just moved in...maybe I'll be brave and share some pictures sometime.

I went back to work a week later, and James is at home with Joah until he starts school at the end of August. My mother-in-law, Carmen stayed with us for a week to help with the baby while we got settled, which was amazing.

These days we just try to keep on some sort of schedule, hang out, and watch our little cutie grow. We went to the aquarium in Sandy last weekend, and Joah had fun looking at the fish and penguins. I tried to take more pictures, but the light was so bad. I'm pretty sure the building used to be a grocery store.

on the way to the aquarium

at the aquarium

and a nap afterward. That's a penguin on his onesie.

Work is good. I have a lot of projects to update my portfolio. I'll get around to it when it's important I guess. Right now that's kind of taking a back seat to watching my baby chomp on his hands and blow spit bubbles. He's so cute :)

AND, that's it I think. I'll try to post more often in the future!

Joah at 2 weeks

I'm behind!

Here's a little video of Joah waking up last week. He is so cute when we de-swaddle him. I always feel bad waking him up, but he has to eat! At his 2 week appointment, he still hadn't gained back his birth weight, which concerned the doctor a bit. We're going in to weigh him again tomorrow, and we'll see if our efforts to put some chunk on the little guy have worked.

The weird banging sound at the beginning is our washer...It's a little bit of an over-achiever when it comes to spinning.

Wake Up Joah! from Analisa estrada on Vimeo.

Expect more photos soon!

A Baby Joah!

We had a baby!

Joah Anthony Cruz

Thursday March 31, 2011

7 lbs 5 oz, 20 in

And he is absolutely perfect. He's lived with us for only a week now, and has completely changed our lives. I thought 'd use this occasion to stop staring at him and share some pics:

Still Here!

These past few weeks have gone by so fast!

The baby is due in 1 week and 3 days. I can't even believe it. I'm so anxious for the baby to come, I don't really know what to do with myself!

Our condo complex has a little terrace with gorgeous vines growing up the walls. I've been wanting to take some pictures down there before the baby comes. We had fun :)

Wooli Bottom

I saw these gorgeous books on iiiinspired awhile ago, and I've wanted to do some bookbinding ever since.

However, I feel a little bad lately using my free time on anything except baby things, so I made a little wool diaper cover instead! It turned out pretty cute.

I used a wool sweater from DI that I shrunk and felted in the washer. It used to be gray, but I accidently put it in with a blue and red blanket, and it turned purple! I love the purple though. James looks good in purple, so I'm sure Babyboy will too. It's super duper soft, and the felting makes it waterproof. I even tested it. I can't wait to pull it over his little bottom!

I sewed it by hand, so it took me a couple hours, but still a pretty quick little project.

Secret: I'm a little terrified of sewing machines. They move too fast and stress me out. Maybe someday I'll be brave and really show the machine who's boss, but for now hand sewing is OK.

Oh, just HUGE

You can see why I almost cried yesterday when I came home for lunch and the elevator was out of order. This baby is not easy to carry up 4 flights of stairs...

5 weeks, 2 days to go!

Light Bright

I had a sick Valentine's Day today. Woke up with a sore throat and stuffed sinuses, and a little bit of a headache. So I stayed home, rested, and ate some nutritional sick food (ie pizza and strawberries...the pizza was to celebrate our oven finally getting fixed today!) Anyway, I tried to sleep most of the day, but my brain wasn't cooperating, so I found something to work on.

I saw this light art idea on AT a few months ago, and thought it was super cute.

A cute little Light Bright-ish night light to hang next to the baby's sleeping place. Yay! Since I already have the stuff to make it, I'm going for it! But I thought it would be fun to try using the baby's name or a cute word instead. So here's what I did today. I'm probably getting ahead of myself—I don't know how many lights are on one string, but I had fun!

...and then I thought it might be a little silly to put words on the wall for a baby... Anyway, wouldn't it be more fun to design a little Light Bright animal or robot friend? So this project is to be continued.

I'm working on making it cuter...

PS James came home from Target and cooked some Vday steak! It was delicious. He's incredible. Pretty sure I can't be sick after this kind of treatment.

Awesome Things My Baby Does

1. Wiggles around when we play music.

2. Kicks.

3. Kicks my hand when I rest it on my belly.

4. Kicks James' hand when he rests it on my belly.

5. Kicks the iPad when I rest it on my belly.

6. Kicks his new stuffed puppy when I rest it on my belly.

7. Kicks my dinner plate when I rest it on my belly.

8. Kicks James in the head when he talks close to my belly.

9. Kicks me in the ribs when I slouch too much.

10. Gets hiccups!

He's amazing!

Teeny Tiny Legs

One day, I saw this picture:


And ever since then, I have been a little obsessed with baby leg warmers. Unfortunately, this particular item costs a little more than I want to pay. (here) Especially since they're basically a pair of socks without feet. So I googled "baby leg warmers tutorial," and found quite a few lovely blogs that show how to make them from adult socks. I don't have a sewing machine, or know how to use one. But my mommy does! So we used this tutorial to make these little cuties:


After the baby is born, I'll be able to measure his legs and taper the bottom so they fit nicely. But I may have to do that sewing by hand, because my mommy is no longer near by!

My parents were serving a mission here in Salt Lake City for the past year, and left us for home last week. They had a blast helping people out at the Family History Library at Temple Square, and I was super spoiled to have them living so near, and to have them all to myself! Now they're far away, and I think I'm having mommy and daddy withdrawal. Aren't they cute?

When we own...

It turns out someone already designed, furnished, and decorated my dream home. Which is actually an apartment! I'm in awe. I'm going a little crazy over how much I love this place.


They even have an gorgeous nursery!