Natasha Esguerra Photography - The Blog: personal

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Personal Updates :)

I thought I should post a quick blog about what I've been up to on a personal level.

William is 16 months now! The time really flew by so fast! He makes Fred and me smile and laugh every single day! He can say a few words now, like "eat", "up", "hi", "spoon", and "applesauce". He's very friendly and plays well with others. I think he has like 9 teeth. It's hard to see into his mouth though because he's not cooperative when it comes to such things LOL!

Baby-led weaning has gone really well. I totally didn't keep updating along the way ooops! But... the main gist is, starting at 6 months, I let the baby learn to feed himself and bypassed purees. He now eats an awesome assortment of food, his palette is much more complex than mine was at age.. 25 LOL! I'm happy because he eats almost anything!

Some examples are:

Salmon with lemon dill sauce

Chicken with sundried tomatoes and horseradish sauce

Japanese Beef Curry

Shrimp

Lobster

Tilapia

Spinach Feta Omelets

Seaweed

Lots of different types of fruits and veggies

etc etc.

It's pretty awesome!

Also, the other day at a church function, he got on stage in the middle of his Auntie's performance and started dancing. Oh, but first he made sure to wave to his mommy and daddy. I almost died of happiness. I think that's one of my fave mom moments to date. Now I know what it's like to watch my boy do something and say, "That's my boy up there!" I was just so proud.

I swear, this dude has traveled more in his 16 months of life than I did in my first 25 years of life! He's been to Cali twice already hahahaha! Not to mention, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia Beach, and Florida, among others! What a jetsetter!

So without further ado, here's some pictures my wonderful little family!

At a wedding in Cali:

With Aunty and Uncle!

SNOW!!

Snack time and his table!

The aquarium in Baltimore, MD

Him and his buddy, Freddy Teddy.

Alright, hope all is well with you all! Thanks for dropping by :)

William's Food Adventures: Baby-Led Weaning Day 1

So today marked the official start of us introducing William to solid foods, and rather than going the pureed food route, I decided to take the Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) approach. If you aren't sure what that is, basically, it's giving the baby food in a recognizable form in sizes that he can learn to grasp and gnaw/chew on. At first, he won't really be eating, but rather, he'll be exploring the different foods' textures and tastes. He probably won't actually start eating it until a couple more months, but these early months help him to develop his motor skills to feed himself :)

I read Baby-Lead Weaning by Gill Rapley before starting, and feel really good about going this route as opposed to spoon-feeding. William will still get his nutrition primarily from breastmilk but in the meantime, he'll get to sit with us at the table and be introduced to different foods as well. Also, for the record, he's 5 1/2 months. I'm excited, and today seemed like we got off to a great start! He had been showing interest in our foods for several weeks now so I figured it was time to start.

Here's my cutie pie getting ready!

On the menu today: Boiled broccoli and carrots.

Here's the initial reach...

And he goes right for the bite!

LOL look at his nostrils flaring hehehe! Also, I think he's left-handed! I ate the leftovers and man, I forgot how good boiled carrots and broccoli are! I need to eat healthier myself hehehe!

Okay, hope you enjoyed this first installment! I'm going to try to be better about blogging in general. I always say that every year, don't I?

Have a great day everyone!

Nursery Reveal, a Few Maternity Pics, and Other Updates

I realize I haven't really posted any personal stuff on here in a while.. this year has been going by so fast.. God really is so good and I can NOT thank Him enough for helping Fred and I to accomplish so much. Now we are just patiently waiting for our baby boy to arrive.

As of today, I am 39 weeks and 5 days. William's due date is in 2 days on the 25th. We'll see when he decides to make his grand entrance though hehe!

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you the nursery :) I have to thank Pinterest and Etsy for helping inspire me ... I don't know where the elephants really came from (it is by no means an indication of my political views hahahaha), but I really like the colors grey and yellow so... this is just what developed. I didn't want to make it toooooo elephanty as when the baby gets older, he may not like elephants at all.. so I tried to keep it plain and simple. Not to mention, I didn't have tons of $ to spend on nice bedding or accessories, so I whipped out the sewing machine and relearned how to use it to make curtains, bedskirts, and other things :) I did see a teal dresser at ikea and felt like it would be nice to add some teal into the grey and yellow mix as well :)

Without further ado, here's a slideshow of my nursery! Just kidding, there'd only be like 10 pics in it hehehe! And below that, I'll post a few maternity pictures as well!

I designed the bible verse in the left picture via photoshop, and just ordered an 11x14 print to frame. I saw some options on Etsy but they cost twice as much so why not do it myself HAHAHAHHA! The zigzag fabric and the elephant fabric are from fabric.com. The clock is from ikea. The artwork in the right picture is just scrapbook paper from Michael's.. I made an elephant pattern and cut it out hehehe! Total cost: about $13 bucks including frame.

I used curtain rod holders from Ikea (about $3 total for a set).. The wooden dowels are from Lowe's. I sewed the fabric to make it into a little sling to slip books into.

Those are just vinyl decals you see on the wall, very easy to apply and I ordered them on Etsy for around $20 bucks.

There's me and baby Will chillin. I do miss wearing jeans. I should have at least bought some more neutral sweat pants to wear so I can match LOL oh well! But yeah, there's my nursery :) I'm still debating on a chair for the room. I do have a glider but currently it's in my bedroom for the first couple of weeks.

In other news, here's some images from my cousin-in-law, Joan of es-sense, took while we were in Cali around my 7 month mark hehehe! She photographed our wedding and it was so cool to have her photograph us again at this new milestone in our lives! :)

And here's some images of me that Fred took at my 39 week mark :)

I don't want to forget.. any of it. What a ride this has been... With God's help we were able to purchase our first house last July.. which is so close to my church and also to Fred's job. Truly a blessing, and better than what I could have ever dreamed of for our first house. I have a feeling this will be the house our children will grow up in.. our lifetime house :) Now, we're just waiting for our new "guest" to arrive.

And lastly, I am so thankful I was able to rebrand the business this year, and meet so many wonderful couples and families along the way! Rebranding has to be the best thing I've done for my business to date.. to get a fresh start and to really be able to offer the quality service and products that I'd want for my own photography experiences!!

Thanks all for your support throughout this amazing journey.. it's only just begun! I look forward to sharing pics with you of my baby boy in a few weeks :)

Personal: My Cousins Turn 14!

On Sunday, my twin cousins, Cielo and Eduardo, had their 14th birthday at a humongous buffet in Cinnaminson, NJ! It was a lot of fun, with many many people! You guys are growing up so fast - happiest birthday to you, Fred and I are so very proud of you!! :)

You can view the whole album on the fanpage!
Tag yourself and your friends!

WHAT?! It's Been 3 Years!? Happy Anniversary :)

So, yesterday marked Fred and my 3rd wedding anniversary!!! YAY!!!

Thanks to everyone who greeted us or 'liked' my status on facebook :) We felt so loved - 56 likes is like a record for me HAHAHAHAH!!! Maybe I just need more friends LOL!

Thanks be to God for blessing our marriage and allowing us to reach another year of happiness together!! I truly believe in soulmates.. for I have been blessed with mine, and I cannot even begin to fathom all the miraculous ways in which God works. For it was HIM who brought us together, even though we grew up on different sides of the country... everything just fell into place. We started going out on August 9, 2007, and exactly one year later, August 9, 2008, we were married. I guess you just... KNOW sometimes.. yeah, you just do.

So happy 4 year anniversary of our first date, and happy 3 year anniversary of when we said, "I do"!! Fred is truly a blessing in my life. He is so patient, so loving, so understanding, so many more wonderful things.. I don't know how I got so lucky. All I know is - thank you Fred for loving me!

In celebration of our anniversary, I am sharing with you some of my favorite wedding images, courtesy of Es-Sense Photography!

But first, I felt the need to document 'us' on our 3rd anniversary. Nothing special, but I wanted a record of how we are at this moment, so that I don't forget.

First I tried to hold the camera myself... hahahaha!