What a DAY!

At 2:06amRamiro arrived. He came to join Peter for a mini-road trip/soccer game in Houston...and to visit NICO!

At 10:05am My mom left to Miami...before I started driving away from the airport, I started missing her. I'm so happy she came to spend time with us and watch Nico grow in the past 3 weeks. I love Austin, but it breaks my heart that our families can't be here to see everything, all the changes, all the milestones, all the funny faces. I try and capture as much as I can but it's not the same in person! My mom helped me sooo much. Not only with dinners and watching Nico for me while I got some extra teaching hours in, but just sitting with me at 3am when Nico wouldn't fall asleep or bringing me water and/or a mid-night snack while feeding. She would think of everything! She would even bathe and feed Nico in the evenings when Peter and I wanted to hang out in the pool or play a little volleyball. I MISS YOU MOMMY, It's going to be Just me and Nico tonight.

At 12:30pmI realized that Nico's 2 bottom teeth had cut through the surface. He has been fussing a lot more the last couple nights...except for last night (10pm-5:30am!) Hopefully in the next couple days they will start showing more!!

At 7pm Nico and I were in the pool and he starting babbling...saying DA DA DA DA DA DA. I didn't have a camera but Peter's parents were watching on Skype. They also got to see him swimming! Daddy wasn't there to hear it :(. My little pumpkin head is growing up!!

AND Today, 8 months ago, at Town Lake, peter and I said our I DOs...at our civil wedding. Some people say that the first year of marriage is difficult. Other's say that the first year of having a new baby is the hardest....and here we are in the midst of both, I think we are doing pretty good! Every night I close my eyes and thank God for my family! I sometimes wonder if there is a catch to all this. Why am I so fortunate?

That's my summary for today!

Nico's Doctor visits

Pediatrician Visits in the past 6 months

Newborn Visit: 7 lbs 3.8 oz 20 1/2 inches long

2 Week Visit: 8 lbs 12.8 oz 22 inches long

1 month Visit: 9 lbs 7.5 oz 22 inches long

2 month Visit: 10 lbs 9.9 oz 23 1/2 inches long

4 month Visit: 13 lbs 13oz 25 inches long

6 month Visit: 17 lbs 6oz 26 inches long

Rodriguez Family growth in 2010

2010 has been full of new additions to the Family!

It started with Nico's arrival on January 15th, 2010

Then my second cousin, Susana had her son Mattia on April 16th, 2010 in Miami but they live in Medellin, Colombia.

My cousin Gaby had her son Manuel on June 4th, 2010 in Barcelona, Espana. My mom was able to be there for the last couple weeks of her pregnancy and for the arrival of Manolo, his nickname.

And just 2 days ago, my cousin Cati had her little boy,Tomas on July 20th, 2010 in Cali, Colombia....on Colombia's Independence day!

Its going to be so much fun seeing them all grow up, same age, family and cultural background...but different surroundings... our own version of the movie Babies

6 months old!!

Nico's 1/2 Birthday

It's a little late...but our internet hasn't really been working so I'm finally catching up on mypostings!

Last Thursday Nico celebrated his 6 month birthday!!!

Now, as a 6 month old, he's been doing a couple new tricks...

He is now rocking back and forth and EATING BABY FOOD!!!

So far he has tried: 1- Carrots, 2- Squash 3: Sweet Potatoes

Nico has also been really enjoying his bouncy chair that one of Abuelita's friends' sent him as a gift (Marcella and Simon). Nico LOVES all the tails in the book and finds the book rather intriguing!

He has been sitting in his highchair at restaurants LIKE A BIG BOY, accompanying all the adults!
Abuelita and Nico have been hanging out a lot so that Mommy can go teach, run, and catch up on other life activities that she hasn't been able to do in a while. Nico and abuelita are always laughing when I walk in the door. Nico thinks its hysterical when abuelita barks at him like a dog or plays pick-a-boo. Nico and MOMMY are really sad that abuelita is leaving early next week! We don't want her to go.

Year to year we all experience changes.....we, I think, took the cake on this one...hahaha

It has been an incredible experience to actually SEE TIME going by in Nico's development, first in my belly, and now outside. My belly growth was visible in centimeters and pounds, week by week. Now that Nico is here, his growth has so many more facets....not just seeing his growth length-wise and weight-wise but seeing his coordination improve, his interest in objects increase, him gain understanding of the world around him is truly AWEsome. Days sometimes feel long and nights of LITTLE sleep even longer, BUT these past 6 months have FLOWN BY!

I love my little pumpkin head and I'm so happy God sent me this little angel to take care of....

HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY NICO LICO!

I'm signed up!!!

Today I signed up for the San Antonio 1/2 Marathon!

Though it will be the second time I run a 13.1 mile race, it will be my first half racing as a MOMMY!!!

I can't wait to see Nico throughout the course! I started my training on Saturday and since then have been running everyday. Hopefully this trend will continue. I'm starting to feel a little sore in my feet especially but much more soreness awaits ahead.

I want to raise money for a project that I had thought about doing with my community in Panama while I was there....When I complete the project details, I will let you all know. I hope that this way, I can accomplish one of the many projects I had planned to complete in my time in the Peace Corps!

Sign up today for the 1/2 or full Marathon with the code: Lucky13 for a $13 discount. The price will increase to $120 on August 31st.

Road toward San Antonio begins today!

18 weeks until the San Antonio Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon.

A mommy friend who used to run for FSU texted me yesterday asking if I was interested in running it. A part of me didn't want to do it, but I said yes. Because I haven't gotten into a routine yet, I am nervous that I won't be in the racing shape I want to be in. But my plan is that by committing to this race, I will be forced to be more disciplined and start running more regularly; something I never thought would be hard for me to do.

I want to set a goal for myself that I can attain, but at the same time I don't want to lower the bar too much...I ran a 1:31:20 in the Miami ING 1/2 Marathon in January 2009. At that time I was coming off of 4 years cross-country/ track training...even though I didn't do any special training for the race, not even workouts, just 1 hour a day of running.

My mom is here for a couple weeks and so while she hangs out with Nico I can go do my running/swimming.

Wish me luck!

4th of July Road Trip!

Nico's first ROAD TRIP!

4th of July morning, Peter and I decided to take our first family road trip to the beaches of Texas, Galveston to be exact. We were a little hesitant due to the bad weather and HURRICANE ALEX that hit a little south of Texas earlier in the week. We did not catch one drop of rain!

We got some traffic as we drove through Houston...one of the many not so good things that we have heard about the city. When we finally crossed into Galveston, we found it to be a run-down, abandoned version of what we think new orleans looks like. There were some restaurants in the Old downtown Square all had balconies and terrace areas. We saw fireworks from one terrace top.

We stayed at the Hotel Galvez and Spa: http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/GLSHG/main.wnt?cid=ROMGWD

Nico saw fireworks for the first time!

From 1007 July 4th in Galveston

Nico got to hang out in the ocean and in the pool.

From 1007 July 4th in Galveston

From 1007 July 4th in Galveston

He got to go on his first bike ride!

From 1007 July 4th in Galveston

Hear is a slide show of our Road Trip =)

Happy Birthday America!!!

Tio and Tia come VISIT NICO!!!

Manuela and Juan's visit was great. They had a little trouble getting out of Austin cause of weather, but after an extra day stay, they made it back to Miami safely.

There are other pictures of their trip but we haven't gotten them yet...they are on FACEBOOK.

We moved with the help of tio and tia and daddy's friends... and love the new apartment! Nico has his own room, like a BIG BOY!!!