Life

Noah Xavier turns ONE

Although a little late, our little boy turned one this past 19th of April. This year has been a year full of all sorts of emotions, adventures, and just plain out blessings. If anyone tells you that their first year with their baby is smooth, I may question that. There has been challenges along the way, but those challenges have taught us so much about ourselves, about each other and just about life. Even though there’s been moments of struggle, fear, exhaustion and much more, this year was one that we will never forget or regret. Our sweet boy has taught us more this year than we thought we could ever teach him. To describe the love we feel and have for him, is indescribable. From all his sweet laughs, smiles and coo’s here and there, we absolutely love each inch of him. As a mom, I can honestly say time is a thief. This year has flown by and although life gets busy, this past year I had to stop and make sure I was taking in each moment I spend with Noah. I think as a parent, you never want to miss a thing… and this is sure our case. For both Xavier and I, making sure to be there for those ‘firsts’ has been a top priority. And even though, unrealistic, we are so grateful and blessed that he’s surrounded by such amazing people who get to share those moments with us. I wish I could keep him a tiny baby just a little longer, to keep that sweet baby smell on him, to breastfeed him a little longer, to just plain out keep him in my arms and not have him running away… He’s ONE and my heart has all sorts of feels!

Oh my sweet sweet boy Noah,

You are the sweetest boy with the most contagious smile ever, there is not one person who does not look at you and just wants to smile along with you. You took forever to finally sleep through the night, 8 months exactly… sigh.. But now you got it down! Mama loves watching you sleep so soundly as your sweet face just melts this mamas heart…

You are active and crawling techniques have never been so fast! Mama and papa love watching you on the go… you keep us busy and on our toes! We agreed that your first word was “Ese” in spanish.. aka “that one” in english! You go around pointing your chunky little finger as you say “Ese, ese” guiding us to what you want to get your hands on next! haha you can thank your dad on that one, as he loves letting you touch and explore everything!

You’re adventurous but cautious all at once, you analyze your every move and decide whether your going to cause any bumps before you make a move…You can walk but refuse to let go of our hands while doing so..(enter cautious side here)… But we know that the time will come when you let go of your little hands from ours and take off on your own.. so for now we will enjoy holding your soft little hand and walk you along the way..

You’re a BIG boy measuring in at 31 inches tall and weighing in at 26 pounds 12.5 ounces to be exact at your one year check up! You’re wearing 18-24 month clothes and shorts never looked so cute on someone.. your curly hair is EVERYTHING and gets attention from the ladies haha. You love bananas and sweet potato and you think sippy cups are chewing toys still.. don’t worry you’ll get that down eventually. You officially have two bottom teeth and your top two teeth are finally making an appearance and you’re handling it like a champ!

Sweet baby boy, keep smiling and showing us those two teeth and brightening up our lives! You are so strong, brave, sweet and such a happy soul.. Mama and Papa pray you will continue to be so! We pray you’re a man of GOD, a man who loves him unconditionally and chooses to follow all his ways… He has given us the greatest gift. YOU. You are our rainbow baby, a bright light to us, our lives, and to those who you surround. Know you are loved by us and soo soo many others.

We thought we knew what love was before you, but YOU have taught your dad and I the true meaning of the greatest most selfless and unconditional love. We love you with all our heart son. Know that mama and papa will always be there for you no matter what, know that we aren’t perfect and we may fail along the way, but we promise to come back stronger and guided by our faith to guide you the best we can. We know God will watch over you in those times where we may fall short and for always.

Noah, your dad and I love you dearly.. You have stolen our hearts.

We love you to the moon and back times infinity and FOREVER!

-Mama and Papa ❤

Here’s some pictures of Noahs celebration at Disney and a failed smash cake attempt with family! lol

*And then there was magic here *

We also celebrated grandpas birthday with these amazing people! =)

“So mom when can we come back to the land of mickey and where dreams come true?”

Love you baby boy, keep flourishing and your gang will be there next to you enjoying every bit of it!

Life’s Happy Moments Lately

Life has been busy lately, but there’s been a whole lot to be happy about around us lately. I’m calling these.. “Life’s Happy moments Lately!” We are definitely counting our blessings around here, whether small or big there’s a lot to be thankful for lately. I think it’s so easy to take things for granted, specially with two full-time nurses in our house hold. Both my hubby and I work 3, 12 hour shifts a week in the same household, while sometimes being on complete opposite days. It can get exhausting to say the least. But when we do get to enjoy sleeping in the same days off together.. the happy dance comes out! That alone calls for a Happy moment alone! But none-the less, even with the busy schedules we’ve been toughing it out and squeezing a whole lot of Happy Moments in when we can.

Life’s Happy moments lately!

#1 for those who have missed it, has definitely been announcing the arrival of our little Baby Carcache coming April of 2017! If you missed the great news, you can check out a sweet little note to our babe Here (Our Sweet Baby)
Can we say um.. FALL!? Fall is here and even though all you northerners are probably having a more realistic feel of fall up there, down here in florida the weather has at least been a breath of fresh air! The humidity has been pretty low, and the breezes have been oh So So wonderful! For us Floridians its as close to fall weather we probably get!
Pumpkin Patch with the little sister, a yearly tradition plus the yummiest frozen apple cider I ever did taste! Its a plus when your pregnancy makes it a craving too!
The arrival of a cousin we haven’t seen in years! Introducing her to some ‘American’ traditions during the holidays will surely be fun for us and her. Her smile of appreciation is priceless.
This mama and daddy upgrade mamas car for a bigger ride! Rocking the mama car early! So grateful that God has allowed us to be able to make these switches for the changes coming up!
Lastly Family and Friends, and for all the moments of encouragement they give through this stage in our lives. For our families love, patience, guidance and endless support! Those are always happy moments

-Jen<3

La Vida is back!

La Vida blog is back! Life was busy and the blog was on hold for a little while. We were in much need of some time to ourselves and pretty much in need of any free time we could get, to plan our wedding in the midst of all we had going on, plus work. But we are back! A lot has gone on since the last time we gave all our readers an update. We planned a wedding! Got married! Went on an amazing honeymoon! Moved to our new little temporary home! Got a new job! And pretty much snapped back into reality! I can’t wait to share with you all the process that has led up to where we stand in life right now! We have been on a very exciting journey these past couple of months, and even though we have been overwhelmed at times, tired and frustrated, we have also been incredibly blessed the last couple of months. And to be honest, our blessings surpass any of those tired, overwhelmed days! God has been amazing to us and has blessed us with more than we can imagine and its through his grace and his guidance that we stand where we stand today. I am so very excited to be back to blogging and sharing our special moments that have passed and all those special moments ahead of us. Thank you to all our readers for hanging around and still following us on Instagram and our Facebook feeds! I’m excited for what’s ahead and excited to start sharing our moments that lead up to life lately. We are excited for some of our ideas coming up for the blog soon! I personally hope to be back to blogging on a more regular basis and hope to grow from there! Hope you will all stick around.

-Jen ❤️

A YEAR AGO TODAY, I SAID YES!

A Year ago today, I said yes to the love of my life. A year ago today, Xavier and I made a commitment to our relationship. A year ago, my ears heard the sweetest sound with one of the loveliest questions and my heart-felt a love so graciously beautiful. A year ago today, God filled our hearts with his grace and filled us with a love so great, that we can only hope to mirror in our future marriage. Its been a while since I’ve shared any news on the blog with you all, but I felt today was the perfect occasion. Today marks the day Xavier asked me to be his future wife, his fiancé and the woman who will be by his side to share life with. This past year of engagement has been another chapter in his and I’s book, and its been all in all, a great one. We have gone through ups and downs, shared laughs and cries but most importantly we have done it all with love. We have come to the know the importance of respect, communication and love and most importantly putting God as our center. In only 39 days we will be walking down the aisle to say our I DO’s! Seeing all these pictures brought a smile to my face today, because how much we have grown and how important it is to still be smiling and laughing together on a day-to-day basis. I couldn’t be more excited for whats to come for Xavier and I and couldn’t be more grateful it will be together.

I have a lot of catching up to do with you all, but life has been busy, but will be keeping you all posted soon!

Cheers to us Baby! Cheers to a lifetime together! Love you.

Jen<3

Spending time with this guy is always okay with me, no matter what we may be doing. This couch with this lady and us together is our favorite

The boyfriend and I

graduation with my hunk

OVERWHELMED WITH THE LOVE OF FAMILY

I am overwhelmed with family love….a good kind of overwhelmed though, the kind that makes you smile. The past couple months, I have realized how much our family has grown and how much we have matured. Family isn’t always all smiles and cheer like seen in most photographs. Family is also about hardships, disagreements, loss and failures. But family is also about Love, forgiveness, grace and humility…these all can surpass any of those not so good qualities. It’s a good reflection of what God is to us, because he too, is our family..and love and forgiveness can overcome a lot. My family, like many others have had their ups and downs.. The downs being quite low. But these past couple of months I have seen how much we have grown. How amazing it is to forgive and let go…and how ahead it puts us in any relationship. We still have room for improvement, we still bicker and disagree at times, but we wouldn’t be human if we did not. I guess we are realizing that all we got at times is each-other. That it’s better to be at peace with each other than to be in any silly little disagreement. We are learning to let things go.

The past couple of months we have made it a priority to speak more and be more involved in each others days and lives. It wasn’t a talked thing but I think we’ve all realized how nice it is to be involved in each others lives. With my brothers this is a prime example. We have leaned on each other for help without expecting anything in return. My brother joe lend himself to us during our engagement party a couple of months back and it meant so much to us because he did it out of his own will and want. Thank you joe!

With my brother Chris it’s been special.. We have gone through a lot together… But we are learning to lean on each other when in need and when we want to share good things and that makes me so happy. We have talks with meaning and purpose, and we learned to listen to each other. Most importantly, I think we realized we have each other at the end of the day, no matter the circumstance. It’s been so nice to spend time with him on days off and share moments and build memories with him and his girlfriend Alexis, Xavier and I. The sweetness of it all is that we have come to see we are not just brothers and sisters, we are each others friends as well.

With my parents the relationships have also changed, and I think it has to do a lot with our age. Once we were kids, stubborn and thought we knew it all, yet they always had our best interest at hand and heart. We are growing and one thing I have learned now that I’m older is the unconditional love they give me, even when they disagree. We have had many uneasy moments in the past, but God has been good and we have overcome them all. Our relationship is stronger than ever, they are my best friends. They care for my heart more than any other physical human being and for that I am grateful.

My sister we all know is one that is dear to my heart, and I think she’s a reminder to our whole family of the joy we can find in the little things. She’s also a quick reminder of how different we all are and how differently we all have grown up. She brings us smiles and laughs only a child can and sends us “I love you’s and I miss you’s ‘” when we need them the most. While she may be strong-minded, she reminds me of how important it is to stand our ground, yet love with all our hearts.

The love recently has been one that even though we don’t talk about it on a daily basis and maybe my parents nor my brothers and sisters see. As I sat back to think and just take all the struggles we have gone through and all the memories in the past we hold dear to, they all just seemed to amaze me. We are growing as a family, and I really think it’s for the best. One thing I am so thankful for is that we all are here and live close to each other and that even though we don’t live under the same roof, were only a phone call away or a 10 min drive away. I’ve learned that while we are not a perfect family, we ARE a family and that’s good for me.

We have more family members being added like my fiancé Xavier and my brothers girlfriend and its so lovely to see how much we are a part of each others lives thus far. I know we have more to learn from each other and more to experience together, but so far its makes my heart warm. My family as whole is growing, and though some are far away, or I haven’t talked to in a while, I love them all because Ive learned something from each and every one of them. Today you were all in my thoughts, and today I am grateful for all those I call my family.

Jen<3

LIFE LATELY

Life lately has been busy.. But things are starting to settle down a little more. Of course there’s the busy days and the less busy days, but so far so good! Life lately has been full. Full of busy schedules, work, errands, wedding planning, moving out, moving in… It’s been full of emotions, cries, laughter, family and friends, but most importantly love. The love for each and everything we must do has kept us going. Love for what we do, our surroundings, our family and most importantly eachother. And to be honest, I am grateful for all the fullness, because if it wasn’t full we wouldn’t be complete. Life lately is a constant reminder to appreciate all we had, have and will have.

About two weeks ago, we made our biggest sacrifice thus far as a couple. We are staying with my parents in order to get a little break and save up for our wedding 6months from now and for our future home. It was a decision that I prayed because I knew it would be an adjustment not only for me again but for my fiancé. So far so good. We have learned to appreciate all we have been able to do thus far and what we had. But it’s also been a blessing to be sharing with my parents as well. They’ve been through a lot and are hard working individuals whom we learn something from each day. Family time has been my biggest happiness. Being able to spend more time with my parents, brothers and little sister has been truly special. My sister and I share a special bond being so far apart in age, and it’s been a whirl of fun watching how she grows each day not just in height but her personality. She keeps us on our toes, but she also brings the light back to us in the humility only a child holds. To say the least, it’s been special. Some sacrifice with loosing our personal and private place, but mostly joy behind a move that is only making us learn more from eachother as family.

Work has been busy, overtime is in full effect to save up for this wedding coming up! We are tired most days. But trying to make the best of our days off. While we mostly try to get some extra sleep in, we squeeze some errand time, family time and some much needed date nights just for Xavier and I. It’s important for us to find balance. And while at times I feel like work is consuming us more little by little whether it be physically or mentally, it’s a constant reminder of finding our balance and to be grateful that God has provided us with a job and most importantly our health. We know he will guide our way and we will be okay.

The LORD demands accurate scales and balances; he sets the standards for fairness. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭11‬ NLT)

Nursing week just passed and I just want to mention how terribly grateful I am to work with the group of nurses I work with. To be flat out honest. They kick butt!!! I am honestly part of an amazing group of nurses. We all have our strengths and weakeness, but from that comes the biggest lessons because we get to learn from eachother. I have to be honest by saying that there are three individuals that I am so lucky to call my work partners, my friends and most importantly my family. They are my girls. We are a group of girls that were meant to meet. I have learned so much from them, not just nursing but about life, love, patience, kindness and about having a giving heart. They have my back and I have theirs. They have become my sisters. I cherish our friendship and hold it dear to my heart. Vanessa, Dianna and Desiree, thank you for keeping me sane through the struggles of nursing, the hardships, and for being there through our accomplishments, laughters and craziness! Love you girls.

Now, for Xavier and I, our relationship lately has been stronger and stronger. We have learned a lot about eachother not just this past year but even more so now that we are back with my parents. We both agreed that it would be a change for us as far as our home, but we agreed that as long as we are together, we would be just fine. It’s been important for us to find a balance in our relationship as well. The time we spend alone as a couple to keep the fire going is very important to us! Sometimes the tiredness, work and life becomes a bump in the road, but we have talked about making time for us. We feel it’s very important to keep a well balanced relationship in our alone time and time shared to be about the quality of it. As long as we have faith, love, respect and all those other great things, we will keep getting stronger.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭7‬ ESV)

Life lately, well it’s been good. We are more than blessed I’d like to say. We have our good days and we have our little not so good days. But life lately has been good. Finding balance, love and strength is an ongoing process that keeps us alive and going. And with all that we have seen lately, experienced and still are waiting to experience, I must say we are doing well. We have been very grateful lately for our families, our friendships that support us like family each day, our growing love for eachother and our health. We are more than thankful to be healthy and strong. Life will continue tomorrow and pick up where we left off today. For now life lately has been… More than good.

For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. (‭Psalm‬ ‭36‬:‭9‬ ESV)

This is a little glimpse of life lately…

This little awesome coffee house was our location for our date night recently. My amazing parents at my dads birthday dinner. Little sisters weekend celebration to universal studios. Nurse life and my amazing friends who even sneak in a little FaceTime with me if I’m not working that day! These two are best friends and last Saturday I got to enjoy a weekend of watching my dad coach my little sisters soccer team and game.