March happenings and some of our last outings as the 3 muskateers

By Liv

So many things have happened in the last month, and most of them were pretty unexciting. And as my darling friend (Annie) has so bluntly informed me: I haven't been posting or blogging nearly enough. I guess maybe she's bored because she's about 12 months pregnant and understandably impatient, but I'm sure she speaks the truth. So here are a few photos to appease those who want to keep up with our lives (or just want to see pictures of Stella)!

 

Auntie Jess came to visit - and (of course) cuddled Stella.

 

This is what it looks like when TWO Hernandezes are pregnant at once. (I'm almost 37 weeks, Jess is 17-ish)

 Stella-pie got a new kitchen... and apparently needs a new belt :)

 Just like her Mommy - she loves to cook.

 We live about a mile from the Seattle Zoo, so it's a regular outing for us. Stella insists on bringing Minnie-Mouse and showing her all of the animals.

 Learning how to milk a cow: this is an ever-important skill to have - for those times when the apocalypse is near or zombies take over the local grocery store. 

Dorks!

 Trying it out the new pram. Baby Sister will fill the extra seat, but in the meantime, Minnie Mouse gets the smoothest ride in town. 

 Sporting my new Bob duallie. I can't wait to put this jogger to good use after Baby Girl arrives.

 Chillin with my homies: Tiff and her daughter Navah @ the Zoo.

Stella's new wheels. 

Preparing for baby girl's arrival

By Liv

I'm 36.5 weeks along now. 37 weeks is considered "full term" and 40 weeks is the average length of gestation for most women. Because baby's Birth Day is coming up so quickly, our house has been busy getting things ready for her birth – and I'll admit, I've been nesting quite a bit.

The major difference between Stella's birth and the new baby's birth is that this labor and delivery will take place at our house, instead of the birth center. We will (again) have just a midwife and the midwife's assistant there for the birth, but this time we get to stay home – yay!

Because baby will be born at home, there are a few extra comforts that we get to enjoy: my very own super nice birth pool, I get to eat/drink whatever I want during labor and the most wonderful part for me: I don't have to get in a car during my powerful pressure waves AND I don't have to get in a car postpartum and make the drive back to the house. I get to sleep in my very own bed and I can walk around the house (or neighborhood) and labor/birth wherever I want!

 This is our fantastically awesome birth pool. It's quite big - big enough for Stella to splash around in until the big moment comes :) 

 I'm sure you know all about my cloth diaper obsession. While visiting my in-laws last weekend, I brought along all of my diapers and prepped them for baby #2. It was then that I realized that I just might have a few more than I need...

 In preparation for Stella's arrival, Nick and I had visited one of those paint-your-own ceramics places and together we painted a beautiful (and huge) bowl that we named "The Placenta Bowl". This is what Stella's placenta was delivered in to. Afterwards, we washed it and have it saved as a commemoration of her Birth Day. Along the lines of tradition, we just went to paint a bowl for baby girl. Stella decided she would rather paint her own teacup :) 

I have baked and frozen a huge batch of lactation cookies. These cookies contain ingredients that help a new Mama's milk supply. They contain powerful milk-making ingredients like oats, brewer's yeast and flax. And it turns out they are delicious, too! Here is the basic recipe that I use to make the cookies. (I use coconut oil instead of butter and egg replacer instead of real eggs to make them vegan.)

The Terrible Twos

By Liv

Having a two-year-old can be difficult. After reading that first sentence, you didn't doubt that I was lying to you because that's what everyone says. "Oh you just wait"... is a famous line I've been hearing since I first announced I was pregnant and every time I have something good to say about my journey in parenthood, it's inevitable that someone pipes up with this famous intro to a horror story about some awful milestone I'm about to hit. I'm always very happy to reply at a later date that whatever worry that they instilled in my subconscious didn't actually come to fruition. And honestly, I don't really understand why so many women feel the need to frighten other women about their new chapter in life.

In contrast, I try to always devote my chit-chat time with other Mamas with positive and empowering stories. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? If someone expects the worst, there's always the chance of the self-fulfilling prophecy where the woman actually makes that happen in her own life. I'd like to not be the woman who instilled any negative feelings in other Mamas, that's for sure!

The truth is, everything in life can be difficult at times. But in the realm of being a parent, the twos have most definitely not been the hardest for me. Yes, all these new found skills that Stella has acquired can be frustrating for her and for me but these skills have by far been the most useful, too.


Here are some of my favorite things about having a two-year-old:

1. She can dress & undress herself. I love seeing her little sense fashion develop!

2. She is always trying to "help" me with one thing or another. Whether it's with laundry, dishes or putting on makeup, she's always being helpful. Even though this often means more of a mess for me to clean up, it's really comforting to know that at some point, she'll actually be helpful :)

3. She can play by herself. This is a life saver for a stay-at-home-mom. This means that I get to take a shower by myself or fold the laundry and put it away before I'm needed!

4. She is much more adventurous with her food choices. Stella hasn't always been the easiest child to feed. With her food sensitivities and preferences, this has been a huge hurdle for me to jump over.

5. She speaks in full sentences and is much easier to communicate with. I no longer have to guess what it is that she wants. She just tells me. And for a child who is pretty particular about almost everything, this is quite a blessing. She can specify what color cup she wants, exactly what type of juice she needs in that cup, etc...

6. She is potty trained. Everyone knows I'm obsessed with cloth diapers. Even when we lived overseas without a clothes dryer, I still loved using cloth diapers on Stella. Now that she's potty trained, I realize how nice it is for her to have the independence of being able to tell me when she needs to use the restroom. I'll be honest, though, I'm excited for the new baby to arrive so I can pull out my stash of cloth dipes :)

7. I can reason with/bribe her. When we go out and I need her to be very good (say, during my Midwife appointments, etc), I can promise her a lolli-pop if she's a good girl and sits quietly. This realization that she can handle the delayed gratification was fantastic!

8. Her personality is quite clear and it's possibly one of my favorite little personalities in the world. Sometimes, I wonder if she's serious, but then I ask her and she replies, "Of course, Mama!"

9. Bedtime and Naptime is much easier. And I can convince her to stay in bed until the designated time (7:15am) by bribing her with a treat when she wakes up in the morning.

10. Most of all, I love that she seems to completely grasp the concept that she has a little baby sister arriving soon. She hugs/tickles/sings to my belly every single day. She tells me all of the things she's going to do with baby sister when she arrives: teach her how to have milk, sleep, play with her toys and "hop on pop". I can't wait for that day!

Realistically, I know being a Mom isn't all butterflies and rainbows. There are definitely days when I'm physically and emotionally drained, but the days when I am thankful very much outweigh the draining days!

Enjoying Valentine's Day again

By Liv

Ever since the day we met, I've always told Nick that Valentine's Day is one of my least favorite days of the year: all the consumerism, over consumption and needless worry over a silly day. I very much dislike cut flowers (you just have to throw them away in a few days, anyways) and am not a fan of chocolate. So, Nick followed my cues and almost every year did nothing for V-day, which was fine by me.

Now that Stella is old enough to appreciate Holidays (you should have seen her excitement over Christmas, which is by far one of my LEAST favorite holidays ever), I realized that there was fun to be had in some of these holidays - even if it meant just enjoying a few small things with my little bambina.

And in remembering the lovely days when my own Mom was still around, I have very fond memories of waking up Valentine's morning and having a huge gift basket filled with toys, candy and other goodies from my Mama. Jess and I used to love these mornings and I want more than anything for Stella to have memories like these to share with me. So I put together a little basket - just like my Mom used to do - and put a few small things in it for Stella.

Of course, the one thing I knew Stella really wanted was a cupcake. Being gluten/egg/dairy free makes cupcakes a little more difficult but I wasn't about to be discouraged even after driving around town on the night of February 13th scouting out all the gluten/vegan bakeries for a special treat for Stella. Unfortunately, everyone was sold out, so I headed home and whipped out my trusty baking supplies and put together a delicious batch of orange cream cupcakes with orange flavored frosting - tinted pink with a little raspberry preserves :) The cupcakes were a hit, as were all the other goodies she found in her V-day basket.

I'm so glad I have the opportunity to share these holidays with my new little family and I look forward to sharing them with Stella's little Sister soon :)

Stella's modeling photos for Zulily.com

By Liv

Zulily.com is a website that sells items for children/babies and Mamas. The funny thing is that the main reason I even know that Zulily has modeling positions open for children is because I'm on their website (buying stuff) far too often – ask Nick.

Of course, every parent thinks their child is the most adorable thing ever created, and I'm definitely one of those parents. But apparently someone at Zulily thought so, too, so they invited us to their corporate headquarters to have Stella model for them.

We had a lovely time hanging out in their "green room", which was basically a kids' toy room filled with the coolest toys in the world. Stella was a doll and although it was hard to coax a smile from her, both her stylist and photographer loved her. Here are a few photos from that shoot.

I'm not sure if Stella will ever model again – I will leave it up to her. She says she liked it and would like to do it again, so if the possibility arises, I just may be posting some more photos!

The Hernandez girls (and their men) take on the Seattle Aquarium

By Liv

Imagine two 2-year-old Hernandez-spawn running free at the Seattle Aquarium: one wearing bright red shoes that squeak with every step, the other in a bright blue tutu and fast-paced run. This is what you get:

 Cousins don't shake hands! Cousins gotta HUG!

 Hernandez-Mclurken Family

 Teaching the girls to hold hands was the best idea yet.

 Accosting the poor defenseless sea creatures.

 Stella said, "Those amemomees were shiny!" (she meant slimy, I hope!)

 Octopus-kids.

 They couldn't wait to see the seals.

 Daddy's little girl.

Seren was much more interested in playing with Stella's hair than watch the fish :)

26 weeks along...

...and I'm already gripped with excitement to meet this little girl. Stella will surely be the best big sister ever – she gives the baby (my belly) hugs and kisses every morning and says, "I want to play with my little Sister" before tickling my belly and telling it stories. I can just feel my heart grow with adoration for Stella and what a lovely little person she has become.

I can't wait to post Birth Day photos and the Birth Story in April. Until then, I will sit and day dream of what little girl Tostenrude will look like :)