She is almost two months old!

So... we've been a little busy as we have adjusted to this last two months, hence the sporadic postings of this fledgling communique. This whole thing is definitely intense, but it is also really wonderful!

This little white-shirt-with-the-flowers picture (thank you Auntie Keri!) is from June 23rd.



This little stroll is from June 24th. Belén is growing by leaps and bounds... I'll try to be a little more faithful about blog entries from here on out (at least until I go back to work) because we definitely want this to be a place where you can check in to watch our little Sweet Pea grow. We may not have the luxury of living close by, but the Internet sure makes the world a much smaller place and we surely ought to take advantage of it! So, enjoy the photos and either post comments, or send us an email (ericandtaralopez@gmail.com) - we'd love to hear from you!


Belén still hasn't really settled into a schedule, and we're still learning how to guide her into one. But last night, she slept from 10PM to 5AM! It was blissful! Usually, she's just getting up for one middle-of-the-night feeding, so we are hopeful that she'll be able to sleep through the night in the not-too-distant future.


This big, adorable yawn is from July 3rd.

This little pose is from July 19th - she's just five weeks old here.

She is just starting to smile - which is so amazing. What a precious reward for parenthood - just one little smile. It totally lights up our day to see it! She is pretty elusive when it comes to us pesky paparazzi... we cannot catch the smile on film for anything. But as soon as we do, we will post it up for all to see! She has started doing this rather hilarious thing: she has discovered her own crazy hair. She likes to run her little fingers through it, and then, grab hold of it with all of her might resulting in no small degree of discomfort, but she will not let go - she just lay there, crying over the meanie who is pulling on her hair! We try to unlatch her hand from her abundant locks of hair between our own compassionate giggles, but to no avail. At some point, she just wears herself out and relents and, oddly enough, the pain disappears, too! :)

Last Sunday was a big day for her: she stayed in the nursery during Sunday morning church and then, later that afternoon, Auntie Jessica came over to babysit her while mommy and daddy went on a date for their Sixth Wedding Anniversary. She did well for all of these new things, and we didn't fare so badly, either. We actually really enjoyed our date! It is amazing how quickly five hours goes by! But it was a lot of fun... and we had so much to celebrate as we marked this anniversary. We're so thankful to God and His blessings for these amazing years of marriage and now parenthood.

This coming week, we will get to take our daughter for her first trip to the Zoo and hopefully get to go pick some of our luscious Oregon berries! Undoubtedly, she will sleep through all of these adventures, but we will be sure to take plenty of pictures of these escapades, nonetheless! In the meantime, we'd love to hear from you!

Hospital Visits

Parenthood

On June 10, 2008, my water broke. It wasn't supposed to break until June 30th; so I was in a bit of denial about the whole thing. The whole process of being pregnant and getting to know our daughter as she grew in my womb was such a beautiful time. Sure, it had its aches and pains and sleepless nights (and dozens of bottles of Tums)... but feeling her move and grow inside me was so amazing. Still, we were excited to meet her face to face - but just not so soon! She entered this world at 8 lbs, 15 oz and 20 inches long. I guess it is a good thing she did not go to her due date or I may have birthed someone the size of a toddler. It was 4:30 on Tuesday afternoon when my water broke. After a long night and a long morning, our sweet daughter, Belén, was finally born at 12:52 PM on Wednesday, June 11th. She is healthy and more beautiful than we even imagined.

It is such a miracle. I mean, all throughout pregnancy, Eric and I were aware of the miracle of it all... but the moment the midwife guided Belén out and laid her on my belly, Eric and I were captivated and enamored by her sweet, swolen little face (make no mistake, she's definitely got her mama's chubby cheeks, but 20 hours of trying to find her way out into the world sort of exagerated their prominence).

Parenthood is like most everything else - it is never really like what you think it is going to be. In some ways, it is so much better than you ever dreamed. And in other ways, it is so much harder than you even imagined. The beautiful burden of love that comes with the enormous responsibility of nurturing another human's body and soul is overwhelming and humbling. We are so grateful for the ways that God has answered so many of our prayers and allowed us to participate in the privilege of Parenthood.

And we are so grateful for all of our family and many friends who have lavished love and support and gifts and prayers over us and our new little one. Thank you for your sincere concern, unparalleled generosity and your many expressions of love to all three of us. We love you each one and our joy is truly made complete as we get to share this blessing and this new season in our life with all of you.

This is a place you can come and check in for pictures and updates... but please do feel free to email us! We'd love to connect with you! Forgive us if we're a little slow to return calls and emails - we're working on settling into our "new normal" routine of life.