The next 5 months ....

TODAY we found out that I will be spending the next 5 months shopping for things like THIS ....

This ...

This ...

This ...
This ...

This ...

This ...

And this ...

Because our little peanut is

Two pink lines :)

January 11th, 2009 was a life changing day!!

Michael Scott Zaro and Karen Lisseth Zaro found out that they are going to be parents!!!

There were lots of emotions going through us - maybe the most dominant was a mixture of shock and excitement haha but we are so excited to bring a little angel (boy- according to Michael's revelation :)) into our family. Michael and I can't stop looking at babies everywhere we go. They are all so precious and sweet - really one of the greatest gifts from heaven!! I am 6 weeks already!! Who knew there was a little person forming in me since the beginning of December?! It is all so exciting!!
I always heard and read about the horror stories of morning sickness, but I was blessed with good pregnancy genes I guess because I have felt pretty dang good! There has been the occasional nausea and fatigue but I'm not complaining! I can't wait to hold our little one in my arms and give him/her little kisses all over his/her tiny little body. As scary and overwhelming as it can be at times, we are thrilled! Can't wait to meet out little Peep!

Oriental Date Night .....

Last Monday I surprised Michael with a romantic, inexpensive dinner. I took out the sushi set we've won the previous year on the annual Zaro's white elephant party, dim the lights, lighted a few candles, clear the furniture away, arranged colorful pillows on the floor, and enjoy dinner (fresh from Panda YUM!!!) with chopsticks for our oriental date night :) It was the perfect night!! Michael's face made it all worth it!! It definitely made my night!! I was so glad I was able to do something nice for my sweet hubby who every day makes sure I know how much he loves me.

Our New Apartment ... Heaven made at Home

Yes, it's official Michael and I are now proud owners of a brand new apartment!!! What a blessing this opportunity has been! To think that we will be living in our own place after 8 long months is exciting and really humbling in the sense that there will be a lot of responsibility that goes along with it but we are thrilled! We couldn't take all the credit for being able to rent the place, we have been blessed all along the way and we are so very grateful for both our families whose help allowed us to save money to be on our own again! We have truly been blessed with wonderful parents, we couldn't ask for more!! Here are some pictures of our new place when we first moved in. Pictures of what it looks like now will be forthcoming SOON!!! :)

Our little breakfast bar, great for entertaining!!!

Our small beautiful kitchen, great for a relaxing night making dinner with my hubby!!

View from the living room ....

Walking to our room, notice the storage closets we now have Yay!!

Our HUGE room!!! Notice how tall the ceiling is!! We just LOVE it!!!!!!
And now we saved the best for last .... our very own Washer and Dryer!!!!!!!!!!!

Lunch with the girls!! ... and Danny :)

My parents are flying to Peru this Friday and staying with loved ones for THREE WEEKS!! Everyone at home is so jealous they get to go and see family and eat the most delicious food on earth!! No joke!!! Seriously if you haven't tasted Peruvian food, you are missing out!! If only I could fit in their luggage!! On Tuesday my beautiful mamita, my sister Jessica, her cute little baby and I went out to grab some delicious food at Red Lobster for lunch. We wanted to do something nice for mom before she left! We spent such a nice afternoon talking and laughing ... mostly watching Danny making funny faces and sounds Haha!! What a wonderful time we had!! Sometimes I wonder what did I do to deserve such amazing women in my life!! I will truly treasure that day forever!! As fun as it was, it just wasn't the same without our little sister Melanie there who was still in school at the time :( Sorry Mel, we promise we'll do one again soon hopefully tomorrow if there is time before mom and dad leave PROMISE!!

Jessica's Baby Shower

Last Saturday we had a celebration for second time Mommy-to-be Jessica and the much anticipated birth of her new little Angel into the family!! :) We had such a great turn out!!! Nearly Everyone we invited came!! Girls were coming in almost every ten minutes and some even stayed around two hours past the Shower!! It made me so happy to see Jess having so much FUN, seeing her mingle with her Friends from high school she hadn't seen in years, Laughing and enjoying the company of all of us that LOVE and adore her!! I felt so priviledge to organized the baby shower for her; Jess is one of the most Amazing, Loving, fun, Charitable people I know!! And I'm not just saying that because she's my sister. She truly is such a remarkable person and the most loving wife to Daniel and mother to little Danny!! She is always there when you need her and will Always find her doing some kind of service for each member of the Family!! How many times have I found our bed made after Michael and I had a rough night studying for a hard test or writing a long essay due the next morning and hurrying up to make it to school on time (a 30 min commute from our parent's house!)!!! She is simply amazing!! And truly my Best Friend!!

Seeing Jessica's face beaming that day made all the sleepless nights planning the shower, the games, the decorations so worth it!! And I couldn't have done it without the help of my Sweet mom, my little Sister Melanie and her best friend Candace and especially without the help of my Wonderful husband who stayed up late with me Helping me glue things together and keeping me sane ;) haha How wonderful it is to know that you can always count on those you love to lend you a Hand when you most need it!! I love my family so much!! I'm not gonna lie and say they weren't times when it wasn't rough for all nine of us to be living in one place, but I can say without a doubt that it has made us come even Closer as a family and have made stronger Friendships with my sisters and brother and has filled our Hearts with great memories of laughing and helping Each Other. President Gordon B. Hinckley once said: "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." And how wonderful it is to enjoy each moment with our loved ones and know that we can be together Forever!! Life is good.

Thankful Countdown !!

I stumbled upon this fabulous Thanksgiving countdown idea over at Blue Cricket Design. Becca made this adorable jar and used these fabulous thankful cards by Valerie Lee over
at Sugar Doodle.

What a great way to remind us what we should be grateful for!