HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIEGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today Diego turns TWO YEARS OLD!!!!!!!! We celebrated with three of his friends yesterday and he had an absolute blast. He had been looking forward to his "happy birthday party" all week and really understood that it was all for HIM. We played some games, put train tattoos on everyone's hands, ate pizza and cupcakes and had a really good time.
He is taking a nap right now and in the afternoon we're all going to go to a museum and have Indian food for dinner.



He loved blowing at the candle


Alexia woke up just in time for cupcakes!


Everyone loved their tattoos!


Luke, Ella Ann, Alex and the birthday boy


Showing off their tatoos


This is when we were singing "Happy Birthday" and he was as happy as can be

2-month checkup (and Diego's new do!)

Alexia had her 2-month checkup yesterday. She weighs 12lb 4oz (75th percentile) and measures 23 inches (50th percentile). Praise God - she is in perfect health! Our only concern was her eczema which is still bothering her so the Dr prescribed a steroid cream to help with that. She had three shots which were absolutely AWFUL. She screamed so much that even the nurse was impressed. I nursed her right after the shots and that immediately calmed her down. She fell fast asleep in the car and woke up as soon as we came home and continued to cry for the next 4 hours. The poor thing was inconsolable. Diego and I took her out for a walk which helped a bit, but as soon as we came home, she broke down again. She finally started to calm down in her swing and was fast asleep by 7:30pm. She slept until 5:30am!!!!! She was making a little bit of noise at that time, but wasn't awake. I woke her up to feed her since it had been 10+ hours since she'd eaten. She is becoming a much better sleeper, but 10 hours is a record stretch!
Diego, being the sweet brother that he is, wasn't bothered by her crying one bit. We continued to read books and play games through it all.
Papi took Diego to get a hair cut on Monday....are you ready for this? Check it out below!

Alexia's first playdate!

My friend, Emily and her daughter, Madelyn came over today and Alexia had her first playdate with her first girlfriend. They had all sorts of things to talk about and enjoyed each other's company. Maddie is 4 1/2 months old so had a lot of things to teach Alexia. Emily and I really enjoyed our time together and Diego even took a 2 hours nap while they were here which left plenty of time for girl talk for the four of us. We can't wait until Maddie and Alexia can really have fun together!











Getting jammies on for bed


Diego and I went to a birthday party for two of his friends on Saturday and he DEVOURED the cupcake!


Diego cuddled up next to Alexia and played with his toy for awhile like this

IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A restful week

Ricardo had to go to England for work last week so my mom flew in to help me out with the kids. The night before Ricardo left we went on our first date since Alexia's arrival. When we left Diego was asleep in his crib and Alexia was asleep in Grammie's arms. 45 minutes after we left Diego was screaming in his crib and Alexia was screaming in Grammie's arms (the neighbors upstairs had woken Diego up). Grammie ran to pick up Diego (while holding Alexia) and carried them both back into our bedroom where she put Diego down on our bed and rocked Alexia to sleep. Diego asked to get off the bed several times, but Grammie insisted that he stay there and he was a really good boy and obeyed. He hung out with her for about 20 minutes and when she asked him if he was ready to go back to his crib he said he was. She called us at 10:00pm to tell us that all was well and to take our time (of course my heart skipped a beat when I saw her name come up on my cell phone!) Ricardo and I really enjoyed our time alone and talked nonstop.
My mom and I were on our own for the week and we had a fun and productive week. When she left on Friday I told her I wanted her to move in! She cooked up a storm (leaving 12 meals in the freezer), cleaned, ran several errands (with Diego of course) and most importantly, helped with Diego and Alexia. Every morning she got Diego out of his crib, fed him breakfast and played with him so that I could rest with Alexia. He loved playing with her and kept her very busy with legos, cars, books, trains and dinosaurs. They built a new lego structure every morning and kept it up until I came out to see it and then he would make it go “boom.”
One day my mom took Diego to Costco with her and when they were at the check-out line, Diego fell asleep in the cart! He had skipped his nap that afternoon so was very tired and couldn’t wait another second to close his eyes. The trooper that she is, she scooped him right up, put the groceries on the belt, paid the bill and carried him to the car while pushing the cart!
Diego became quite attached to Grammie so we were both sad to see her leave on Friday, but we’re sure she’ll be back soon!




Enjoying an afternoon snack



"Tummy Time" with Alexia


The last structure that they built on Friday. It is still standing and he reminds us that Grammie built it.


Hanging out with Grammie


Double duty! Diego loved Grammie reading to him on the couch



All smiles!!

Cuteness!

Hands on ears


Hands on cheeks


Hands on head



Now bust a move!


I love this little move of his!

Happy New Year!!

We had a fabulous Christmas with family! Diego was ecstatic to have so much attention and so many buddies to play with. His favorite presents were matchbox cars and legos. They have already provided hours and hours of entertainment for us all.
I don't have much time to write. Alexia is in the baby bjorn and Diego is watching a video that will soon end. He was diagnosed with pneumonia on Saturday so we've been indoors for the past 5 days. Our big outing today will be to the doctor to have Alexia checked out to make sure she is ok since she's been coughing a whole lot the past couple of days. I'm not looking forward to this outing since it's 20 degrees out!
We are so grateful for what a wonderful year 2007 was for our family and all the blessings we received. We are really excited for 2008 and wish the very best for you and your families!
Here are a few pictures from the past week. Freddy (Opa) took several so I'm waiting for those to post more since I'm hoping there will be some good family shots.



Playing leggos with Mima (Ricardo's mom) and Opa (her husband)



"Abrir, abrir, abrir!!!" (open!)


Notice the line-up of cars to the right of the legos. These were the biggest hit!


This is how Alexia and I spent the entire gift-opening and dessert time.


Watching a movie and eating popcorn with Tio Robi (Ricardo's brother, Roberto)




A special trip to the aquarium with the family



"Pockets!"


Helping Papi and Tia Majo (Ricardo's sister, Maria Jose) with their game



Reading a new book with Tio Robi


The following are lego structures that we've done the past couple of days while being stuck inside: