Grandparents!

Grandma and Grandpa Krotz are visiting us from Chicago. After some craziness from the airlines, where they had to stay the night over in Denver, they finally made it to sunny CA yesterday! :)

Gemma has been really sick with a stomach virus all week (not fun) and she's finally starting to recover - just in time to give Grandma and Grandpa some smiles. :)

Bed head

She keeps good company! :)

Ms. Gene Simmons

She's all about her tongue these days. Here we are posing for daddy as we channel Gene Simmons. :)

Farmers' Market

We are back from LA and trying to settle in again. While hanging with my family I got hooked on juicing by my brother Gonzalo. It makes me feel good and it is super fun for me to mix the flavors of fruits and veggies and watch the juice flow out! :) So this weekend we went to 2 Farmers' Markets and stocked up on oranges, strawberries, carrots, broccoli & grapefruit. Yum!

It has been tough for me after my father's death but I'm taking it one day at a time. It'll be 1 month on the 8th. I miss my family - his illness gave us the gift of bringing the family closer. So being back feels a little strange now... I've also started to work part-time this month and that is a huge change for us. Through all of this Gemma has been a super star. I have to say, I don't think I could have handled anything else. Becoming a parent and losing a parent within 6 months has been incredibly live-changing in ways I would not have expected. It has grounded me, pried open my heart, up-lifted my spirits, forced me to be vulnerable and ask for help and forgive ... basically made me rethink life as I knew it. This life and death cycle had made me feel more human and connected and very much grateful for all I have. I am sad that Gemma will not know her crazy abuelito. But I am glad that they did meet and he did get a sense of her. And I know wherever he is he will be watching over her and taking good care of her and all his family.

I wish you all and your families health and love and light! :)

Gemma Sits & Plays!

Gemma has learned how to sit up in the last month and has become very confident in her new skill! :) Check out this little video:

She's also becoming really efficient at rolling over from her tummy to her back. And once I even saw her roll from her back to her tummy - but that only happened once. She's also really talk-y these days and it cracks us up. We think she's also on the brink of crawling but we think (hope) that is still a little while aways...still need to baby-proof the house! Yikes!

Gemma has also been into her tongue these days. And I'm happy to announce that I saw her make a taco tongue! There are 2 types of people in this world, those that can make a taco with their tongues and those that cannot. Gemma is of the taco making kind! :)