Newest Edition to the Rivera Household

Well it has been 5 months since we were blessed with another beautifuly baby boy, and it has been about that long since I have posted on this blog....coincidence? probably not. Kian was born on May 17, 2012 at 1:25 am. We thought he was going to be born on the 16th, but he wasn't ready. He was 7 lbs 4 ounces and 20 and 1/4 inches long. He was born 2 weeks early. He looked a lot like Kai at birth except he had a full head of hair and I do mean a full head.

He has brought so much change to our house, but with that came lots of happiness, joy and love. Big brother was so curious when he first met him at the hospital and continues to want to know what is going on, how he can help and he truly can't wait until baby brother gets bigger and can play legos with him...lol 

We were blessed with visits from Grandma Carmen, titi Liza, uncle Anthony, cousin Brianna and Ba ngoai and not to mention the local family members, the Edgars and titi Lisa.

The first 3 months were quite a challenge for us. We had to get used to the lack of sleep, the constant need for either the baby or Kai. And to top it all off, Kian was colick and had horrible gas that would wake him up every morning at 4 am and make him grumpy evey night around 4 pm.  I also had some minor complications after he was born and ended up having an outpatient surgery.

Kian continues to grow and amaze us. He is such a happy baby and loves to babble all the time. He is very intrigued by big brother and watches everything he does. He constantly laughs when big brother does something silly or is just playing with him. It is truly precious to see the two of them interact. It will be interesting to see them grow up together.

 

 Kian at birth

 

 1 Month Old

 

 2 Months Old

 

 3 Months Old

 

 4 Months Old

 

5 Months Old

Busy Couple of Months

2012 has proven to be a busy year for us. GG had a pretty serious surgery and we went up to Orlando to see her. While there we got to visit with Grandpa which was a nice surprise. Of course he was in full beard and Kai thought he was Santa. lol  While in Orlando we also got to see almost all of the Rivera clan. Kai got to spend time with Grandma and Pop Pop and his auntie and uncle and a bunch of cousins. He had a blast!

In March, Kai got his "big boy bedroom" set and he loves it. He thinks it is the best thing ever. He helped mom and dad put the stickers on the wall and was so excited to have Lightning McQueen and the gang all over his room.

In April we had a mini family reunion with GG, the Kirkers the Furmans, the Edgars, and some of the Davis clan. It was up at the beach in Jupiter and Kai got to play in the ocean with daddy. Something he hasn't done since last summer. Needless to say he was a little skeptical of the waves at first, but then had a blast playing in them.

Easter was fun this year. Kai got invited to his friend Trey's Easter Egg hunt. He had so much fun running around with the other kids looking for all the eggs. He filled his bucket and still kept going! lol  This is a picture of him and his buddies Trey and Zane right before the hunt started. Look how big the boys are. They have grown so much since being 10 weeks old together.

On Easter morning Kai woke up and found his Spiderman basket on his table. He was so excited at each item he received. He got his first bible. After going through the bucket, we headed out back where Kai found all the eggs and was so excited that he had to open each one immediately to see what was in it. Of course mommy tried to keep him from getting too much candy and instead spoiled him with cars! No wonder he has more cars than we know what to do with them. After the hunt, we went to church with the family and then everyone came over afterwards for fun in the pool and good food. It was a nice and relaxing day.

Recently Kai came home from school all talking up a storm about Spiderman and super heroes. All he wants to watch is the cartoons of Spiderman, Batman, Avengers and so on. He went to stay with Titi Teresa for a night and came home with a Captain America shield and knight helmet. Then while at the store another night, daddy got him the Thor hammer, so now he thinks he is some awesome super hero and who are we to argue with him. lol  Just look at this picture!

He seems to be just growing and growing. He talks in full paragraphs and has an insanely good memory. He has been really attached to daddy lately and we can't figure out if it is because of the pregnancy or if it is because daddy was gone for 2 weeks to China. Either way, it is somewhat nice for mommy to have a break. Other than all this madness, we are still dealing with potty training. We are not having problems with #1, but boy is #2 driving us mad. He would prefer to just go in his underwear. Needless to say, we are going broke buying new underwear all of the time. I'm ready to send him off to some type of potty training boot camp but I am doing my best to be patient with him. I just know he'll come around just in time for Kian to be born and then he'll just revert back to wanting diapers. Ughh, there may be no winning here. Either way, he is still our little man and is one amazing child!

35 weeks...

Wow, time is flying by! It has definitely been a trying 3rd trimester for us. Eli got called to an emergency trip to China for 2 weeks and at the same time we found out that my amniotic fluid was really low. So basically, I am on light bed rest where I can go to work but when I am home I am supposed to be resting. Well, that is really hard for me to do, but thanks to my sisters who were able to help out while Eli was in China and thanks to my husband for really taking care of things upon his return, we are still hanging in there. We have weekly visits now where they can check on the little one and see how things are doing. The doctor believe he will come early, but we will see. Even with all these things going on, this kid seems to move A LOT! He is very ACTIVE! My guess is that he is going to be as energetic as his brother.

2012 is Rolling Along

2012 seems to be moving along very quick already. Kai has really taken to his art easel. He draws with his crayons and colored pencils and tells us he is drawing different animals or that he is drawing his letters. We just love the fact that he enjoys it so much. He also has continued his swim classes and we are hoping that by this summer that he will be able to swim across the whole pool (keeping our fingers crossed). However, we are definitely not there yet. He is good at kicking and moving his arms but doesn't seem to be going anyway. Other than that he continues to LOVE cars and must have a collection of at least 50 at this stage. Yeah, he is spoiled. lol He also loves playing his guitar and making music. He and daddy march around the house with their guitars, playing music and entertaining mommy.

He is probably about 80% potty trained at this stage. We seem to be having issues with pooping in the potty, how fun for us! Hoping he will get it soon and be 100% trained by the time baby brother comes. Kai also seems to be going through some kind of phase with very vivid dreams that keep waking him up in the middle of the night. Which means he walks over to our room and ends up sleeping with us. Talk about a congested bed! Queen size with daddy, mommy, mommy's belly and Kai... Yikes!

Kai's vocabulary continues to grow and he seems to be a nonstop talker (hmmm, don't know where he got that from...Auntie Shelley??) However, you wouldn't know it if you try to talk to him on the phone. He has been moved up to the older 2's class and seems to really love it there. His friend Giovanni moved up with him and we have been told that the 2 boys are inseparable. No surprise there since they have been in the same class since they were 6 months old. They are definitely 2 peas in a pod, good and bad.

On the weekends, we continue to try to make it to play dates with Trey and Zane and lately Drew has even joined us. We have been doing My Gym, but we have also gone to a park and Kids Hub. Kai enjoys them all. How funny that all of us are expecting babies and all within a few months a part. So crazy, but we will be having huge play dates for the big kids and the little ones too. lol I can't wait.

25 Weeks and Still Growing...

I am 25 weeks along now and filling much rounder than before. Little man continues to move a lot and seems to have hiccups every day (just like his brother did). He also is giving mommy quite a bit a heartburn that never seems to go away. We've been told that he has the "Davis" toes according to the sonogram...lol Kai is starting to warm up even more to the idea of having a baby brother. He likes to stop by the nursery room at the daycare on the way out and look at the babies. He also has learned that baby brother has to "grow bigger" before he can come out and "play". Although the other day, he did pat his own belly and say "hi baby brother". lol He definitely says the funniest things. About a week ago, he was just waking up and he told me that his baby brother was going to sleep with him in "Kai bed". He also grabbed at my belly and acted like he was picking something up and then gave it to daddy and said "Here daddy, here is Kian." lol If only it were that easy. ha ha ha. Oh, and yes, that is the baby's name that we have chosen... Kian Davis.

This is me at 22 weeks!

18 Weeks and Going....

Wow, I cannot believe that we are already 18 weeks along. My belly seems to be much bigger than it ever was with Kai this early on and it is still growing. I'm not quite sure what I will look like once I hit my last trimester. Scary! lol I am feeling good, just "round" and I can already feel the baby moving. He sure likes to move from the upper side of my belly to the under side a lot. I think each day he moves up or down. Eli and I are on the mission for a name. This is so tough for us. It took us 3 months to figure out what to name Kai and now we get to do it all over again. lol We are so excited and nervous but look forward to having a permanent "play date" for Kai.

New Year's Eve and the Beginning of 2012

As the end of the year was wrapping up, Eli and I realized that we have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to in the New Year. We ended the year with a play date with Kai's friend Zane at Kai's first bowling outing. He loved it and thought it was the best thing ever. That lasted 30 minutes and then he was pretty much done. lol That evening we visited with Kai's Godparents and God brother and then made it home in time to watch the ball drop (well Kai was asleep, but Eli and I saw it). We toasted in the new year and our 5th wedding anniversary with some yummy sparkling grape juice. For New Year's day we took Kai out to try out the scooter on some real turf. He looked so cute in his helmet and sunglasses riding around on the scooter like a pro. We are truly excited about the new addition of the family coming this year and are doing our best to prep. Boy do we have a lot to do. But I know we will get there.