Luke's 1st Bath!

Luke LOVES the bath! He just hangs out in the water and enjoys every minute of it! He doesn't really love it when we put lotion on him afterward though-- I guess he's too manly for lotion. haha
Anyway, isn't he cute? (and for Luke when you get older-- notice that I spared you of completely naked pictures! We'll keep your privates private... :)

Life with a newborn

Francisco with Luke studying for his last final. haha What a life. Thankfully we both got through the rest of our finals and didn't even have to file incompletes for our classes. Thankfully Luke came AFTER classes were over and only had finals left.

Merry Christmas! Luke underneath the Christmas tree on Christmas morning! That is the stocking that the hospital brought him to me in after getting him cleaned up in the nursery. :)

Luke with more of the tree. Amanda's dad Dave actually gave us the tree! It was so nice of him! Today we went out and bought a whole bunch of 1/2 off ornaments for next year! We chose fall-like colors-- burgandy, burnt orange, gold, and bronze. We bought a bajillion ornaments for only $22 and Tai Pan Trading! AWESOME! The ornaments we used this year were borrowed from Victor and Amanda (except for the few special ones from my grandma).



Luke with the cousins-- Mady and Nathaniel. Mady is only 1 week older than Luke but she looks so much older! She is so much more awake and alert with big eyes! She's so cute!

Baby Baby Baby

For those of you who haven't heard already, Luke Javier Darquea was born on Tuesday morning at 5:02 am. Here is the labor story: I had a slight lower back ache that started around 7pm Monday with increased Braxtin Hicks contractions (or so I thought). We went to bed around 11:30. I woke up at 3 am to a loud pop and sharp pain in my hips. I thought it was just Luke moving or something but then I felt some liquid leaking out of me. I was in such denile- I thought it was pee or something. (Appearently that was my water breaking...) So I went to the bathroom and got back in bed! haha. A few minutes later I had a really strong contraction. I woke up Francisco and he suggested that I take a shower to help me feel better. ( We were both expecting another 10 hours or so... ha.) So after my shower and getting things packed, we headed to the hospital. WE got there around 4:15. They got me checked in and got the monitors on me. When they checked my cervix, I was FULLY dilated! Crap. Too late for an epidural! and they hadn't even called my doctor yet! So, I had to WAIT to push until he got there... Thankfully he doesn't live too far from the hospital. Anyway, Luke was born at 5:02 am. He was 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 in. long.
Recovery has been good so far. Not too much to report. We are happy and healthy!


Here is little Luke Javier Darquea-- just a few hours after he was born. He hadn't been to the nursery to get cleaned up yet. The hat was crocheted by Shaun Nelson. SO cute! He made Luke 3 different hats. Sorry the littlest hat he made for him didn't fit him! It was too little!



This is after we got him back from the nursery. They cleaned him up and checked him out to make sure he was healthy. He was perfect! :) They brought him to me in that adorable little hat and a Christmas Stocking! How sweet!



The proud Daddy with his brand new son! They are both so handsome! I hope that Luke inherits some of Francisco's good looks-- so far we decided that he looks pretty much like an identical male version of baby Emily. It is amazing to see my features in a brand new baby...



Here is Luke all ready to go home! I decided I would rather sleep in my own bed so we discharged at the end of the day on Wednesday. We planned to be out of there by 10 pm but somehow the nursery didn't get that memo and didn't start doing his assessments until 10! So we didn't leave the hospital until 11:45 pm. It was a little ridiculous.


Here is a close up of Luke on Thursday. We got him swaddled up good and he just looked so content and cute! I like this picture because his eyes are so clear. I wonder what color they are going to be!

36 weeks!

So, I don't have much to report except my growing belly!
I'll let Francisco post his own stuff about El Salvador!

Thanksgiving was pretty good considering Francisco was out of town. Ma and Pa came down which really helped me get through the week without my man. Thanks Ma and Pa!

I also got a haircut-- it's ridiculous how fast it grows when you're pregnant! So, it looks just about the way it did 3 months ago even though we cut off about 3 inches and thinned at lot of hair out! It's a good thing I have Sarah to cut my hair! Thanks Sarah! you always do a great job. :)

Umm, school is almost over and that means Luke is almost here and Christmas is coming! yay! So many good things all in the same week or so!

Comparison pictures!

5 Months (20 weeks)


6 Months (24 weeks)


8 Months! (32 weeks)

So, I am officially 32 weeks! Wooohoo! I still am very small but I know little Luke is just really good at stretching out so it looks like he's small. My ribs feel bruised because he is constantly pushing on them. He is a really good baby though. I can't complain too much. ;)

October Update

Here is a short updat of what has been going on in the dietetics life that I live. I pretty much spend my entire school hours with the girls in these pictures and they are awesome! We all have so much fun.

In mid October we went to Denver CO for the annual Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo. FNCE was awesome! It was such a great experience to see so many dietitians all in one place! There were some really good sessions that we went to that taught us a lot. Currently I am working on a group project that is teaching a kindergarten class about unfamiliar vegetables and so we went to a class on barriers to teaching moms with childhood nutrition and a session that incorporated theatre into teaching children about health! They were perfect supplementation for our project! The picture with the giant Ensure was at the EXPO. It was HUGE! I think I spent a good 8 hours total in there and still didn't get to look through all the booths. We got tons of free stuff too! (see picture below!) All those bags were given to us from booths. We got tons of food, bags, trinkets, etc. Lunch boxes, full boxes of cereal, mugs, personally signed diet books, one girl got a bag of whole wheat flour and another girl won a whole box of red wine vinegar! I think it was 8 jars! haha We have the BEST profession for an expo. Seriously, what better than a bunch of free food? We also never had to buy lunch because you could just snack your way through the booths and be stuffed in an hour!


While we weren't at the conference or on the bus (a total of 18+ hours when your 30 weeks prego isn't real fun...), we were out having fun! On Sunday we weren't able to go to church, so some of our professors gave us a devotional that night. A few of us took a taxi to the church and I practically taught the 1st discussion to the taxi driver (I was sitting in the front seat) He asked us where we were from and such and just kept asking us questions. It was great! Too bad we didn't have a pass along card for him. haha

We also went to see the broadway play, Wicked! Oh my goodness, it is SO SO good! I absolutely loved it and I'm not a Wizard of Oz fan at all. I would recommend seeing it if you ever get the chance. Seriously, really good music and really good plot. :)


Next things next,
Annual Student Dietetic Association (with the Food Science Club) Halloween Party!
Every year we have this party and invite the food science club to have boys there too since dietetics is predominantly women... It was great fun this year and we had some pretty good costumes!
These were a few of the seniors (my classmates) that came to the party. Aren't we so cute!


The three costume winners! Erica, the "bubble bath", I actually don't know who the pumpkin is..., and Steph the "Jelly fish" So creative!

and LASTLY, Dietetics baby shower! So, when we started up the school year in September, we very excitingly discovered that 4 girls were expecting (out of a total of 30 in the class)! Holy cow! We went from no one having any children to 4 at once! Anyway, it's been very exciting.
Esther actually went into labor at FNCE when she was only 32 weeks! She did make it home and was fine but had her sweet baby girl a few days later. She is still in the NICU. :( Christa actually had her baby yesterday! We haven't heard any news yet! Then there's me (hopefully 2 more months still!) and Sarah was due this Sunday, but still hasn't had her yet!
So, I'm left in the lonesome. By the end of the week, I will be the only prego left. Everyone else is lucky and have their little girls. and yes, they all are having/had girls. I am the only lonesome with a boy. But I guess that makes me a little special! Anyway, The baby shower was great fun!

So, thanks for sticking with me. I guess this was a long "quick post". haha
Other news,
We went to our first labor and delivery class at the hospital-- fun stuff! haha

I got to start parking in the garage! I love having a garage and getting to use it and I am SO excited to not have snow on my car and ice on my windows in the mornings ever again!!!! woohoo!! Best thing ever!

Guessing Game!

Okay, my sister set this up but it is kida fun-- Go to this website and guess when my baby is gonna come!

http://expectnet.com/game.php
The game sign in is : LukeDarquea

The winner will get the prize of being Luke's favorite family member or friend. :)

Luke's First Outfits

This little outfit was a steal I found at DI! They are both in really good condition (the sweater vest is even from baby gap! wow) and I spent a total of $6 ($3 each) Anyway, I've discovered that the "preppy clothes" are always REALLY expensive, so I think I'm going to check back at DI more often to try to find more preppy clothes for Baby Luke.

This was the first outfit that was bought for Luke. It was right after we found out it was a boy. Jerry bought it for us while we were in Florida (just the sweater/ beanie) because it was BYU colors and on clearence! I love the elbow patches and it should kep him nice and warm for his first few cold winter months of life.

I got this one at Walmart. It caught my eye and due to my love for elephants, I HAD to buy it! It just looks so comfy and it kinda makes me giggle every time I look at it. He'll look so cute! haha

Luke has also accumulated quite a few hand-me-downs from his cousin Nathaniel. Thanks Nate! We really appreciate having a base of clothing for the next 2 years.

Hopefully Luke will get lots more adorable outfits at his baby shower. It's going to be Saturday November 14th (date has been changed!), so save the date! :)

Wedding Celebrations

Yesterday we spent the day celebrating Francisco's cousin's wedding! Diana and Brady were married in the Salt Lake Temple. They are such a wonderful couple and we are so proud of them for making those covenants with Heavenly Father for time and for all eternity. We love them and are excited that they finally made it to the "married group". haha Isn't Diana so beautiful?

This is me, Catherine, and Melissa at the reception. All of Francisco's favorite girls! (except his mami tambien!) It was fun to visit with Ines, Melissa, and Catherine's boyfriend, Tyler this weekend. They flew down just for a few days for Diana's wedding.

All the siblings together. (Victor, Catherine, Melissa, Francsico) They are probably the most beautiful family I have ever seen. Seriously, all of them are so good looking!

Here is Catherine with Tyler. They really are cute together and make a great couple. Tyler was baptized last Sunday. (He was a little disappointed that he couldn't have raspberry peach tea at Olive Garden... haha oh well)
I really did notice a difference in his countenance in this visit compared to the last visit in June before he was baptized. It is neat to see the change in spirit over just a few months.


Well, update in our lives-- we are great. School is going pretty good. I leave for Colorado on Saturday to go to a nationwide Dietetics Expo. I am so excited! It's going to be awesome! It'll be hard being away from Francisco for so long. I won't be back till Wednesday, so 4 nights! That's the longest we've been away from eachother! We've only spent 1 night away from eachother (the time I went camping with my paretnes and he wasn't able to come!) We'll make it though.

6 months

wow, I can't believe I am already 6 months pregnant! I am 25 weeks today and still feeling great! My belly has grown quite a bit this month but it is still really small. (The pictures make it look huge in my opinion) Anyway, I know I am supposed to wear the same thing in pictures for comparison but I wanted to show off my new dress! I got to go shopping the other day and bought some really cute prego clothes. I am only just now starting to actually fit into pregnancy clothes and they are really still too big...

The other day I was watching a movie at work and Luke started kicking. I looked down at my belly and watched my stomach move! It was so bizarre. It's amazing to actually see something move inside my stomach... It was awesome!


School is good so far. I am really enjoying my classes and although its tough, I know the Lord has helped me already. He really is there for us when we need Him and I am so thankful for that!

Francisco is doing well. He has signed up to help people in El Salvador with dental work this November. He is so excited to go volunteer and get that experience. I am excited for him too except that he is going over Thanksgiving break... Lame-o. I guess I'll just have to eat enough for him too. (and I probably will... hahaha)

Anyway, I'm feeling good, I love my belly and I love my little Luke. :) I love Francisco so much and am so grateful to have him here supporting me and loving me and Luke every step of the way. He is so loving and is already a great papi.