Ella and Francisco

We passed the two week milestone and everyone is doing fine. Ella, Veronica, Katya, and I have settled into our new lifestyle which oscillates between changing diapers and everything else. Ella has been miraculously requiring little sleep as she caters to Veronica’s feeding schedule. I undertook an errand and house-fixing binge that included tending to some of the outstanding nursery-related items I did not finish when Veronica arrived early. Luckily I had a couple weeks off before returning to work.

October 29th was our wedding anniversary, which we were sure would be our last one before the baby arrived. The photos below contain a couple of the fantastic cake Ella orders every year from our wedding cake baker, Simon Lee Bakery. You’ll also see a shot of Katya mal-adjusting to her new position in the family hierarchy. She has taken to hiding in the bathtub; a location she previously avoided because of its association with bath-time. The only way we could get her into the tub was by closing all the doors in the hallway and running her like cattle through a chute into the only open door to the bathroom.

The rest of the photos are of Veronica dealing with her new out-of-the-womb existentialist state. Every now and then she strikes an expression that simply kills us. We love our sweet little lawn gnome.

Ella and I were surprised on Monday with the most amazing gift. Veronica Maribel arrived on Monday, October 26, at 11:53AM.  She weighed in at 5lbs 8 oz and 18 inches in length.  Both Mom and baby are doing great.

Ella began experiencing contractions around 2:00AM and by 4:00AM we were timing and monitoring the frequency and duration.  The frequency and duration seemed erratic so I thought it may be false labor, but Ella knew from the intensity that it was time.  We went to the hospital and upon arrival at around 6:30AM the receiving nurse examined Ella and announced “Oh, you are having a baby today,” followed by an aside to the other nurse, “She is smiling and so calm, she should be screaming and flinging obscenities.”  I credit Ella’s calm to her inner strength as well as our fitness training over the summer.

The baby arrived and promptly expressed her displeasure at her new surroundings.  After cutting the cord I accompanied our daughter for a few of her firsts:

• Her first swaddling, which she loved.
• Her first feeding which, after a few moments, she loved.
• Her first bath in the nursery, which she did not seem to love.
• Her first shot; which she definitely did not love.
• Her first long nap, which like her Dad, she definitely loved.

The pictures below showcase some of these moments.

Meeting my daughter has been one of the best moments in my life.  I am simply beside myself with pride and joy.  Bienvenida hija mía!

Veronica’s First Day

Veronica’s Second Day

Veronica Comes Home

Ella and I traveled up to Michigan to spend Easter with my in-laws. We had a great time visiting with family and friends. We spent some time at Eliza’s condo where she served a great dinner followed by some serious Wii time. After Easter mass we went for brunch at a local hotel. The brunch was held in a ballroom which contained over 50 tables full of happy families. On one of the beautiful evenings, Ella and I took in a local comedy improv show with her friends Mike and Katie. One of Katie and Ella’s friends from high school was a cast member and came to talk to us after the show. Always a good time in Michigan!

While we were in Michigan, we had a chance to share some very big news with Ella’s family…

It was not long after Katya came into our humble home that she needed some medical attention. Katya had a case of puppy pyo (a small staph infection), a little mange around one eye, and a wound on her tail that the vet determined might require amputation of the tip. The treatment for the infection was easy; oral antibiotic once a day and apply antibiotic ointment twice a day to her hot spots on her belly. And the mange required a little cream once a day.
The tail was another matter entirely. The vet initially bandaged her tail to see if it would heal on its own. When we returned a week later, the vet wanted to put her on the antibiotic for both the puppy pyro and the tail. He also advised us that we should give Katya hydrotherapy for her tail; basically, put the tail under running water twice a day for ten minutes. The running water apparently promotes skin growth around the wound. Sounds easy enough but along with the antibiotic ointment and the mange cream, we now had to drag our little girl into the scary bath tub and force her to sit still for ten minutes while we held her tail under the tap, twice a day. Additionally, she had to wear a plastic cone so she wouldn’t pick at her tail or her hotspots.

If dogs could write journals, I would not want to read her entries during this fussy time when her masters seemed to be obsessed with topical creams and bathing her tail. Katya began communicating her displeasure about her medical treament by:

• Dragging her plastic cone across every wall in the house producing a horrible tearing sound
• Using the cone as a means to scoop up dirt in the backyard and bring it into the house
• Jumping into and lying on the ferns and other delicate plants in the backyard, thereby crushing them
• Splaying out spread-eagled on the floor so we couldn’t pick her up and place her in the tub (I call this maneuver her anti-hydrotherapy defensive posture)
• Farting

Ella and I quickly found some toys and activities that seem to put her in a better mood. These include:

• Walks
• Roofball (throwing a tennis ball on the roof and waiting for it to come back down so she can jump and catch it)
• Belly rubs
• The Kong (a little rubber ball that contains a compartment in which we place a treat so she can try and fish it out with her tongue and teeth)

After two weeks of struggling with Katya to avoid surgery on her tail and clear up her puppy pyro and mange we finally took her to the vet today to determine if the treatments were a success. I told Ella before we met Dr. Newton that if it turned out Katya would still require surgery, I could not be held responsible for my actions. I instructed Ella to hold me back, and if need be, to slap the cone on me.

Lucky for everyone, Dr. Newton is an animal genius because the hydrotherapy fixed her tail without the need for surgery. Today, Katya is a healthy, hot spot-free, tail-wagging maniac.

Our family has grown by 16%! We adopted a dog in November from Austin Dog Rescue. It happened one Saturday morning when we decided to check out a dog adoption event in downtown Austin at Lofty Dog. Ella and I had been searching for a dog to call our own for a few months. We had visited the Town Lake dog shelter, the Austin SPCA, and attended events sponsored by Blue Dog Rescue. We liked a few dogs we met but never fell head-over-heels for any one candidate.

From the moment Katya smelled my hand and wagged her tail it was game over. She was all snowy white with a tan colored face that said “Take me home and spend gobs of money on me at Petsmart.” It didn’t hurt that her foster parents, Julie and Brad, did an excellent job of promoting her easy-going and loving personality. Ella remembers that Brad commented on how Katya reminded him of his childhood dog, and indeed, Katya’s personality reminds me of one of our family dogs named Sofia.
We got home that afternoon and filled out the long application on their website. That evening we received an email from the organization director, and later, from Julie and Brad to set up a meet. The following Thursday they came by with Katya and after some conversation, Brad asked “Well, are you ready to take Katya this evening?” We had not expected that we would be allowed to take her that night, and thinking that Ella would want to wait until the weekend I started to stammer out a response. I turned to Ella and before I could say “What do you think?” she was nodding her head and saying “Yes!”. Julie and Brad said a heartfelt goodbye to their foster dog, clearly sad to see her go but happy that she found a home.

That night Ella and I went to Petsmart and purchased a crate, dog food, treats, food dishes, and a few other items. We have been rushing home every night after work since that night to be with our dog. Katya is a mixed-breed Pyrenees/Collie. She is very submissive, loving, and so far has barked only to warn us that our roof ‘possum was threatening the integrity of her new home and family.

We want to say how grateful we are to Austin Dog Rescue for rescuing Katya from the mean streets and to Brad and Julie for caring for her. She has been a great companion and adds a lot of love to our home.

A new member of the clan has arrived. Our niece Aubrey was born on July 16, 2007. Follow the link to see pictures of the baby girl and her proud parents.

Aubrey Nicole

Crystal, Brian, and Aubrey Nicole

Ready for the Photo Shoot

Tita Ella and Aubrey Nicole

Back in June Ella and I went to Michigan for Eli’s, my father-in-law, 60th birthday party. Myrna, my mother-in-law, organized a secret birthday party at Hong Hua, a great Chinese Restaurant in Farmington Hills. I can attest that my father-in-law was truly surprised. I followed him into the banquet room where he first noticed the immediate family at a big table. Then I saw his eyes widen as he took in the three extra larger tables of additional rowdy attendees, realizing that his party was a lot bigger than he previously understood.

Ella and I had just flown in a couple hours before the big dinner. My mother-in-law warned us not to eat anything that day, and when I get this kind of warning from one of Ella’s family, I take it to heart. The pictures below of each course do not do justice to the deliciousness and presentation of each course. What a great time! My tummy was happy for many months, and severely misses the non-stop entree action of that evening.