Happy New Year, from our family to yours! We welcomed the new year with a very low key dinner gathering at my mom’s, in the company of my parents and our family’s three dogs: Louis, Baci and Toby. The pups did not disappoint, and as expected, provided us with hours of entertainment, chasing and wrestling one another to their hearts’ content. Not surprisingly, they were the first to checkout for the night, succumbing to exhaustion and sleep by 9pm.

Happy New Year from the Contreras Family!

This night was particularly memorable for Jose and I as it marked a pretty fantastic milestone in my pregnancy. First let me set the scene. We had just settled down on the couch at home, with a piece of pecan pie and vanilla bean ice cream, and with just 15 minutes before midnight, tuned into the NYE countdown broadcast. Up until this day, I hadn’t really felt obvious sensations of movement from the baby. I might have felt some flutters a few days prior, but nothing that stopped me in my tracks with the realization of “this is it”! But on this night, no more than 5 minutes after our last bite of pie and ice cream, the baby started dancing and kicking furiously, in an obvious response to the sugar rush. To make the moment even sweeter, I quickly placed Jose’s palm on my upper belly and he was able to feel all of the activity for himself! What a treat! Our new year was off to the most amazing start – a sweet and tender moment with our little miracle, the purest expression of our love.