Noah at the park - blowing bubbles

Noah is such a boy - he's learning how to blow spit bubbles

Noah at the Park

Here is  a video of Noah on the jungle gym at the park.

It's Been Awhile

Dear Family and Friends,

It's been awhile since we've updated you all so there is a lot to catch up on. At the end of July we headed up north to attend the wedding of one of Stephanie's great friends. I (Steph) was a bridesmaid and Noah was the most adorable ring bearer. We had a great time at the wedding and we ate and danced the night away. 


While we were up north, we spent a couple of days hanging out with my parents. In Delaware we took Noah to the zoo for the first time. Unfortunately my mom tricked us into thinking this zoo was worth the ten minutes it took to drive there. After getting there we quickly realized that this zoo was one of the worst zoos imaginable. The entire zoo was about 1/4 mile long and the exhibits included bees, a fox, and ducks. There was a potential bright spot of the zoo - a monkey house. But when we entered the monkey house (which was literally a house converted into an animal enclosure) our hopes were quickly extinguished. There were monkeys in the house, but there was also the smell of poo, roaches, and mice. Next time we take Noah to the zoo it will DEFINITELY be an improvement. 

This August the Rivera family saw many new and exciting changes. I started a new job at Cook Endoscopy in Winston Salem, NC. My new title is R&D engineer and I will be working to bring medical devices that are used in the biliary system (bile duct, pancreas, and liver) to market. These devices will typically be used to clear any blockages that may be present near the liver and pancreas if people have gall stones or tumors. So far I've been there for a couple of months and it has been an easy transition. Most of my coworkers have been at Cook for more than five years but they have been super friendly in welcoming me. It helps that another engineer started a month before me so I'm not the only new engineer in our department.


On the same day that I started my job, Jorge started attending A&T University full time to a pursue a MS in Computer Science. At the end of July he resigned as a teacher from the Durham Public School system. After many discussions, we decided it would be a good decision to make a career change. He's done a great job of managing his busy class schedule with spending time with us.

Noah has been awesome as usual. Since our last post, Noah celebrated his first birthday and walking became his main mode of transportation. He also loves to babble and play hide and seek. For his birthday party, Noah celebrated like a super hero. Check out the pictures of Noah in his Super Noah outfit. 

Now that Noah is able to walk, we though it would be great to take him to the park. We aren't quite sure if Noah enjoyed himself or not because when we put him in the swing he had a look of confusion the entire time. 

Well that's all for now! Love you all!

God Bless,

Stephanie, Jorge, and Noah

Carnival Freedom

Dear Family & Friends,

On July 1st, our family embarked on our first big family vacation. We drove to the airport in Charlotte, NC in order to catch a flight to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Once in FL we met up with my parents and brother and his girlfriend who were joining us on the vacation (which was actually intended to be a celebration of my parents 30th wedding anniversary). We had to get plenty of rest that night, because the next morning we were going to be heading out on an 8 day cruise!

On Saturday morning we had a nice breakfast while we waited for the taxi to take us to the cruise port. Once the taxi came, there was surprisingly little trouble loading everybody's luggage and dropping off the luggage at the cruise terminal. Within 30 minutes of arriving at the ship, we were able to board. After everyone dropped off their bags in their rooms, we made our way to the Lido deck (where the pool and all the buffets are located). All of us (except Andrea and Noah) had been on a cruise before so we knew that this is where we would hang out on our days at sea.

Our first port of call was Cozumel, Mexico. Here, we decided to spend a relaxing day at the beach. Everyone, except me, went snorkeling right off the beach. I decided on our last cruise that snorkeling was not for me, so I avoided the water knowing that there were some decent sized fish swimming out there. The most exciting part of the day was when we came across the amazing artists who can use spray paint to create awesome surreal works. We had them make a custom NC State painting for us (all for only $25). These guys had obviously never heard of NC State so one of the artists had me Google the NCSU block letters on his iPhone. After seeing the block letters he proceeded to go out templates (without using rulers). He made five templates in all in order to allow the red, black, and white colors to be produced. In the pictures below you can see our work of art in progress. If you ever get the chance to go to Cozumel, this is one souvenir I recommend you waiting in line to get. 

       

One of the funniest nights on the ship was when "Stevie Wonder" gave an impromptu performance on the Lido deck. Jorge, Noah, and I were hanging out in our cabin when suddenly there was a manic knocking on our door. My brother was there (almost frantic) and he told he said, "Yo, Stevie Wonder is on deck. You've got to come up here now!" Jorge and I looked at each other with disbelief but he decided to venture up there and see what the fuss was about. A few minutes later he came back and told me that there was no way that was Stevie Wonder. So I went up there and sure enough it was clearly an impostor. Jorge called the front desk and confirmed that it was an impersonator. About an hour later we hear our family coming back. When we broke the news to them they were in complete shock and argues with us for a good five minutes. They didn't believe the truth until they called the front desk themselves. For the rest of the trip my mom complained about Carnival's "false advertising." Despite there disappointment, we all had a good laugh about it whenever the "concert" was brought up.

One of the most awesome experience of the whole cruise was partially traversing though the Panama canal. We boarded a ferry docked in a marina in the Pacific Ocean. We (Steph, Noah, and Steph's parents) traveled through three locks and made our way to another smaller port located within the canal. It was interesting to learn that complete passage of the canal will take up to 10 hours and can cost up to $250K (for the largest ships). While traveling through the canal we passed the construction site for new locks that will accommodate ships that are too large to fit into the existing locks. While we were going through the canal, Jorge and my brother and his girlfriend went kayaking on a lake that is considered part of the canal.

Throughout the cruise, one of our favorite times together as a family was dinner time. Every night we all got together to share the stories from our day. We especially had fun on the nights when the crew put on a show for all the guests. Noah was a big hit in the dining room and got waves and smiles from every member of the waitstaff that passed our table. 

All in all this was an amazing vacation. It was great to get away with my family and discover new locations in the process. It was also not as scary traveling with Noah as I had imagined. This has definitely allowed me to start mentally planning our next couple vacations. Here are a few more pictures from the trip!

Steph and her mom in Panama

Pose on the deck

Granny and Noah at the cacao plantation in Costa Rica

Love,

Steph, Jorge, and Noah

June = Beach Time!

Dear Family & Friends,

In order to prepare Noah for our impending cruise we thought that it would be a good idea to take  him to the beach so that he could have some exposure to the ocean. In the beginning of the month we packed up the car (with what felt like three time as much as we would take to the beach before Noah was born) and headed to our favorite North Carolina beach spot, Topsail Island.

Jorge and I have been going to Topsail Beach for years. We love the small crowds and easy beach access. Plus on a good day the water is pretty clear and reasonably warm. On a more sinister note, this beach has pretty frequent shark attacks - ~2/year. Which makes me nervous whenever Jorge decided he wants to some far from the shore. This year we wouldn't be worrying about sharks, thought, because we weren't planning on swimming in the water.

As the next two pictures show, Noah was not too thrilled with the beach, which was super disappointing to Jorge and I because we absolutely love everything to do with it.  As soon as we put Noah's feet into the water, he had a fit. I imagine the huge expanse of water in front of him was somewhat intimidating. But we figured the cool water would feel refreshing in the blazing heat. This, surprisingly, was definitely not the case. As soon as Jorge put Noah in the sand to play, he attempted to make a bee-line escape away from the water.

Noah was much happier when we were hanging out under our beach tent. It never ceases to amaze us when Noah is fascinated with any object besides his toys. On that day at the beach, and empty disposable cup was Noah's new favorite toy
 

On the sand we had a blast playing and finding some time to relax. With all the excersise I've been doing, I felt brave enough to take a stroll in my bikini. I'm not quite back to my pre-Noah size but I'm definitely getting close! Jorge has also noticed some decrease in muscle mass and has made a commitment to get back to his NC State size/strength. By next year's trip to the beach we will be in better (hopefully) shape then I've ever been.

At the end of the day, our first trip to the beach was awesome. We had fun kicking off the summer and by the end of the day we were looking forward to our big vacation in the Caribbean.

This trip to the beach was not just viewed as a quick weekend escape. As new parents, Jorge and I are making a conscientious effort to expose Noah to as many of the  world's wonderful experiences as we can, starting at a very young age. To us, it is important for our children to understand that the world is a very big place and that we should do all we can to prevent them from becoming complacent and encourage them to be people who are continuously looking to explore, learn, and be more enriched individuals.

Be Blessed, 

Jorge, Stephanie, and Noah

Noah Walking (Almost)!

Spring is Here!

 Dear Family and Friends,

Despite the massive influx of pollen and the crazy storms and temperature shifts, this spring has been pretty great so far. With the warming weather, we began to take Noah outside so that he could get familiar with crawling around in the grass and getting dirty (like a typical little boy). Although he loves being outside, it doesn't take too long until the sun wears him out and he's ready for a nap.

At the end of April, Noah took his first plane trip. He and Steph traveled up to NJ so that they could attend a bridal shower (both Steph and Noah are going to be in Steph's friend's wedding at the end of July). Noah was the life of the party and all the ladies in attendance got a kick out of his great personality. 


While visiting up North Steph, Noah, and Steph's dad took Noah on a little walk on a trail behind Steph's parents house. As usual Noah loved being outside. Steph's mom also encouraged Noah to make a mess in her kitchen by pulling out any non-dangerous cooking item she could find and letting Noah play with them. Steph used this time to practice taking close up pictures of Noah with her mom's Nikon DSLR (it also inspired her to purchase a camera like that of her own). 

After Steph and Noah's traveling weekend.  Noah became pretty sick. We're not sure where he picked up the germs (His grandfather was sick, germy airport, daycare) but when Steph and Noah got home he had slight fever. I felt bad for Steph because he started feeling sick in the airport and her plane was delayed four hours.

After I took him to the doctor, he was given several prescriptions to help improve his breathing and reduce the mucus in his lungs for the first two weeks of May.  The 2^nd week of May Steph became deathly ill.  Her fever shot up to a scary 103.7 degrees.  Although the temperature outside was easily in the upper 80’s, she was under the covers shivering as if we were in the middle of January.  Throughout the usual occurrence of Noah and Steph being sick, I did what I always do to help around the house.  I looked at Steph and Noah with pitty wishing they could be blessed with my OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD immune system.  (Side Note: I tell people all the time that my immune system is so amazing, I’d swear my blood can be used as a cure for AIDS).

Little did I know, however, that Noah and Steph’s germs and somehow managed to penetrate this fortress that no other germ or virus has ever been able to break through.  And, YES, for the first time in my ENTIRE memory I was legitimately sick.  Prior to this moment, the most I had ever experienced was a sniffly nose that would last, at most, a day and a half – I would not call that being sick at all.  Prior to this moment, I had NEVER experienced a headache. Wow, did this all change in the blink of an eye.  In what seemed to happen instantly, I was suddenly coughing uncontrollably, my nose was totally stuffed and runny at the same time, I had a fever over 100 degrees, and I had experienced my first headache. I have never taken so much medication in my life. But fortunately after a couple of weeks, I started to feel better. 

Right now, I am wrapping up a major graduate school assignment, and I have to make up for the time I lost when I was sick. Only two more months to go and I will have a Master's Degree in education! Steph is doing well, she's been working hard to tone up in time for our cruise. So far she's lost 15 pounds (reached her pre-baby weight) by doing the Insanity DVDs. 

Love and God Bless,

Jorge, Steph, and Noah

March Madness

Hi Family and Friends!!


March was a pretty eventful month for us. In the beginning of the month my (Steph) friend Lauren flew down from NYC to hang out with us for a long weekend. It was still pretty chilly here and Noah was fighting  a virus in his lungs so we didn't get to spend to much time outside. But, while Lauren was here we were able to swing over to the Elon University Campus and hang out with Jorge during one of his study breaks. 


On March 18th we celebrated Jorge's birthday by dining outside at the Cheesecake Factory. The weather was gorgeous and we figured it would be the perfect way to spend the spring evening together. Noah got a kick out of watching all the people walk by us. On March 19th we were supposed to continue the celebration by going out with Steph's family to Red Robin. Unfortunately, we experienced probably one of the scariest days of our lives. 

The week before Jorge's birthday we began supplementing my breastmilk with formula (Noah gave me thrush making it very difficult for me to pump and keep up with his bottles at daycare). For the first few days on formula Noah did great. On Thursday and Friday Noah began projectile vomiting a majority of his formula bottles. He did fine with his milk bottles and the fruits and veggies. Because formula digests slower than breast milk, we figured Noah was drinking too much and all of his moving around caused the formula to jostle around in his stomach making him queasy and throw it back up. Because, oddly enough, he always threw up an hour after he was given the formula. 


On Saturday we fed him less volume of the formula to see if that would do the trick. About 45 minutes after the bottle, Noah and I headed to the grocery store. While in the grocery store Noah began to throw up and in the midst of all the commotion his head tilted back and he inhaled some of his throw up. I don't know how I knew something was wrong, but, looking at Noah's face I felt like he was saying to me "Mommy something is not right." I ran outside with him and ripped off his vomit soaked clothes. His eyes started rolling back and he began to spasm, I thought he was having a seizure, but he was just trying to shake his body to get a breath into his lungs. 

Fortunately, the hospital was only 2 miles away. I threw him into the car seat and drove to the hospital as fast as I could (hitting every red light on the way). The whole time, I could here him fighting in the back for air. By the time I got to the hospital his skin was grey and his lips were blue. I ran him into the ER and immediately a team of nurses and doctors began to fight to clear his lungs. After a scary 3-4 minutes I began to hear some healthy cries coming from Noah. They had to intubate him for a couple minutes in order to allow his body to get some rest from all the fighting he was doing to breath. I called Jorge and told him to come to the ER immediately. (He listened and admitted to going 90 on the highway to get to the hospital). After the scariest ten minutes of my life they were able to completely restore Noah's breathing. Of course by now he was completely freaked out by all the needles and breathing apparatuses being used on him. Around this time Jorge got to the ER and saw me being hysterical and the great team working on his son. 
Once Noah was stabilized the doctors thought it would be best to send Noah to UNC where their pediatric ER department would be better suited to assess him. Noah was transferred, via ambulance, to UNC (with Jorge and I following closely behind). Noah ended up staying overnight at UNC. Noah's bubbly personality immediately made him a big hit with his nurses. After some evaluation, the doctors believed that Noah had an intolerance to regular formula (different from lactose intolerance or an milk allergy). It was interesting to learn the ins and outs of formula and how many doctors avoid soy-based formula and other hypoallergenic formulas due to the utilization of table sugar in them. It's amazing all of the things corporations get away with putting in baby food...but i digress.  
Apparently, due to the digestion process in my body, the cow milk  proteins in my breast milk are cut much smaller than the proteins found in traditional formulas. Noah had to be given formula in which the cow milk proteins are comparable in size to those in breast milk. Unfortunately, this formula tastes and smells disgusting and Noah was not a big fan of it. I mixed it with some of my milk and he's been doing great drinking it. 


After Noah was released from the hospital on Sunday (the 20th), Jorge and I had to take the Monday off to recover from our big scare. Noah even slept in the bed with us for the following week. All in all this experience was scary but eye opening. I truly believe that God directed me to the hospital and I am so grateful and blessed that everything turned out the way it did. Thank God that we were so close to the hospital. Thank God for the amazing team that took care of us at the hospital. Thank God for the support we received from family and friends. And Thank God for my great insurance that prevented us from paying the crazy hospital bill racked up in a day and a half :) 


All in all March was a month of blessings and even though typing up the story brought tears to my eyes, I'm glad we went through it and came out stronger.


God Bless,


Steph, Jorge, and Noah

February Fun

Dear Family and Friends,

February was a pretty uneventful month. Jorge stayed busy with grad school and work, I continued on my workout plan and Noah continued to amaze us with how mobile and independent he is getting. He loves playing in his floor gym with his toy piano. This month is inner narcissist came out when he started to get a kick out of looking at himself in the mirror. Looking in the mirror gives him a chance to see his face and Jorge and our faces at the same time. I think that's pretty amazing to him. 

This month we introduced Noah to a few of his stuffed animals. Since he had a Thing 1 and Thing 2 outfit, it was definitely appropriate to snap a picture with him and his two stuffed friends. Even though he was only five months old when we snapped this picture, I think he realized how silly it was. Unfortunately around the time this picture was taken, Noah was in the habit of blowing out his diapers so about an hour after we took this picture he had to be changed. 

This month Jorge really started feeling his workload pile up. He was assigned a couple major assignments in his spring semester class along with having to work on a larger assignment that must be completed in order for him to graduate. On top of that he had to continue with his duties  associated with teaching. Despite all of his work he continues to see the light at the end of the tunnel get a little bit brighter. However, he's realized that he's not quite finished with school. Recently, he has discovered that he has a great interest in working with computers and would like to take a few classes related to programming.  

I haven't really been up to anything new this month. I've just continued to work towards getting my pre-Noah body back (tight abs and all). I have made some progress thanks to the Insanity workout programs (10 lbs down!). With only ten pounds out of fifty left to lose I'm doing pretty good!

As you can see Noah is getting cuter and cuter every day and we're starting to capture pictures of him showing his emotions. I think in that picture he's showing a little bit of mischievousness. 

That's all for now. 

God Bless,

Steph, Jorge, and Noah

January Wrap-Up

Dear Family & Friends,

This month we introduced Noah to his bouncy seat. We saw that his legs were getting very strong and he was able to hold up his head without any support. When we first put him in the seat he didn't quite know what to make of this new type of movement but he got the hang of it very quickly. Whenever he is in the seat, he smiles and does his signature silent laugh. He hasn't quite figured out how to laugh out loud yet but whenever he's happy he opens his mouth as wide as it can go. With Noah occupied in his new toy Jorge and I can get all of our clean up, dinner prep, and prep for the next day done much faster. It's also nice for Jorge because it allows him to simultaneously watch Noah play and work on his graduate school homework. 

Speaking of grad school, Jorge is back in the thick if it. It's no fun to watch him overloaded with his teaching work and homework because I know that he'd much rather be spending time with us. Fortunately this is his last semester of having to juggle both job and school. Along with school work Jorge is also attempting to get back into shape (I'm also attempting to shed the last of my pregnancy weight). In the second half of the month we started the insanity workout program. If you've never heard of it, Google it. This is honestly the hardest workout I have ever done and it requires us to work out insanely (hence the name of the workout) hard for up to an hour six days a week. This is definitely proving difficult for us because by the time we get home from work we are exhausted! But like all things that are tough, the rewards will make it all worth it. Once we complete the program I'll post pictures so you can see how it worked for us. 

Also this month, we had Noah dedicated at church. This was a very special day for us because a large group of family friends came to our church to support us as Jorge and I dedicated ourselves to raising Noah according to God's Word. It's amazing how many people love our little angel. The ceremony went off without a hitch and Noah was well behaved when we had to walk on stage in front of hundreds of a thousand people. We even bought Noah a little suit so that he could be dressed up for the occasion. 

Towards the end of the month we realized that Noah might be ready to take the leap to solid food. He began drinking three seven ounce bottles of milk during day care making it very difficult for me to keep up with him. We do not want to give Noah formula unless it's absolutely necessary so I've had to pump a little bit more in order for him to get the nutrients he needs. Jorge and I decided (well I decided and Jorge went along with it) that we are going to transition to eating primarily organic foods in order to give Noah a pesticide, antibiotic, nitrate, and growth-hormone free diet. It's amazing how many chemicals they put into a lot of the foods we eat and I am trying to avoid introducing these chemicals to Noah this early in his life. Because of this I a going to be making the majority of Noah's foods from scratch (which takes time but its definitely worth it). Our first attempt at solid food was homemade organic rice and it wasn't as easy as I had anticipated but by the third attempt Noah was getting used to the idea of getting his food from a spoon. 

I also introduced Noah to the piano this month. Once he realized he could make noise by banging on the keys his eyes lit up and he began to jam. We try to get him to play around with the piano a few times a week. 

Anyway, that's all for now. You all be blessed!

Love,

Steph, Jorge, and Noah

The Holiday Season - Part II

Dear Friends and Family,

As the holiday season continued, we experienced our first snow of the winter. Fortunately it snowed over the weekend so we could be home to enjoy it. We weren't outside for long because it was a bit chilly but I couldn't resist taking Noah outside. He didn't seem overly enthusiastic about the snow (maybe that will happen next year when he's big enough to run around and play in it). As is the case with most NC snow falls, the snow melted as fast as it arrived so we weren't able to enjoy it as long as I would have liked. Hopefully before winter is up we'll have another big snow so we can enjoy it for a little longer (If it does snow it'd be great if it were over the weekend again so it won't be such a pain to drive to work/school/daycare on slick roads). For those of you in areas used to a lot of snow, you'd laugh at the pace the DOT here moves to clear roads. 

As Jack Frost continued to delight (sarcastic) us with chilly weather we had to find ways to entertain ourselves inside. Fortunately, my Aunt Karen bought us an item that should be a staple in any house with a baby, the Boppy. Noah loves this thing! He likes to be a part of all the action and the Boppy helps him sit up and observe everything going on around him. As you can see in the picture his neck is getting stronger and he is able to prop himself up for several minutes. Soon he'll be able to sit up on his own! Now that he's gotten a little older we have to keep a bib on him at all times because there seems to be a constant stream of saliva dripping out of his mouth. 

As Christmas approached we got caught up in the hustle and bustle of shopping for gifts and decorating the house. Jorge had the week  before Christmas off so he spent this time working on his graduate school paper (supposedly). I'm not sure how much work he got done because, if I remember correctly, the XBox got a lot more use during those few days than normal.  

Now I know that they (whoever "they" are) say that once you have a baby everyone should come to you to celebrate the holidays. Well we went against the grain and traveled all around NC and up to PA. We started off in Jacksonville, NC for Christmas Eve to spend time with Jorge' family. On Christmas Eve we headed over to Garner, NC to see more of Jorge's relatives who we hadn't seen in forever so it was great to see them.  

On Christmas morning we opened gifts at our house. I realized that I probably did not need to wrap Noah's gifts since his dexterity wasn't at a level that allowed him to grab onto and pull wrapping paper. He mostly sat in his new seat with a puzzled look on his face. It was really nice to have a peaceful Christmas morning where we could reflect on everything that we have been blessed with and give thanks to the one whose birthday we were celebrating. 

After opening presents relatively quickly, we were on the road again. This time we were headed up to PA to see my family. We were originally planning on leaving the day after Christmas but a big snow storm was headed for NC and we needed to get on the road as soon as possible. If you are ever planning to travel on Christmas day be warned that NOTHING is open accept for Denny's and gas stations. We were very disappointed to find that not a single decent restaurant was open along the I-95 corridor. Fortunately, we came across a gas station that had a Dunkin Donuts in it. 

After the 7 hour drive we finally made it PA where Noah had the pleasure of meeting his great-grandmother and great-great-grandfather for the first time. It was awesome to see so many generations in the same room. It was great to see my family but I think we are all so happy to be out of the car that was getting more and more claustrophobic as the trip progressed. I never realized how much stuff you have to bring with you when traveling with a baby. 

Sadly, we were only able to spend an evening with my grandmother and great-grandfather because they had to head back to NY the next morning to avoid the impending blizzard. It was a good thing they left when they did because that evening NY was hit with almost two feet of snow (which my brother had the misfortune of driving in the next day when he headed back to NY).   We ended up spending almost a week in PA before heading back down to NC for New Years. 

We ended the holiday season by celebrating on New Years day in Greensboro, NC with my family. Although this holiday season was definitely hectic, we were so blessed to have so many wonderful people to share it with!


Until next time, 


Steph, Jorge, and Noah


Ps. Here is a video of Noah dancing during lunch stop on our way back from PA: