Tia Rosa

Two weekends ago we had another special visitor, Tia Rosa (Ricardo's aunt). She is Aldo's mother so it was fun to see each of them one weekend after another. She was in town for business so she came over for dinner on Saturday and we had a great time. We enjoyed a nice dinner together and then made s'mores at the fireplace. Diego and Alexia really enjoyed her company and spent a lot of time discovering all the tricks of her iphone :) She brought Diego a Mcqueen shirt, vest and jacket set so he was thrilled!!

I think Tia Rosa and Alexia are pretending to blow the fire

Diego showing off his sticky fingers from the s'mores

Ricardo carved a pumpkin with them that weekend and at first, Diego did not want to touch it. He wanted to hold the top (as shown in the above photo) and let Ricardo do all the scooping.

But of course, Alexia dug right in and was all about scooping the slimy seeds out. Diego eventually warmed up to the idea and pitched in to help.

We took care of a friend's daughter last week and the kids LOVED her. It was so cute to see how they treated her like their little sister and worked as a team to make sure she was happy and entertained. Please pray for Abby today. She is in California on vacation with her parents and she had a seizure yesterday. After being released from the hospital with no answers, she had another seizure and was transferred to a specialty hospital where she has undergone countless tests today. She has now been released and they still have no answers as to why she had these seizures. Please pray that it was an isolated case and that she will continue to be a healthy and happy baby girl.

When Asher's mom dropped him off last week she said he had to finish up some schoolwork. He was so sweet and sat on the couch and read his book out loud to the kids.

A visit from Cousin Aldo and family

I have two blog posts in draft, but wanted to post some pictures today so those other posts can wait :) Ricardo's cousin, Aldo and his wife and step-daughter drove up from Miami to spend the weekend with us. They arrived Thursday evening and stayed until Sunday and we had a great time. Diego and Alexia loved playing with "Tio Aldo" "Eliana" and "Cami." I am bummed that I did not take more pictures of our time together, but we got a few good shots. On Friday we went to the aquarium which the kids loved. Diego was so excited to see the sharks and Alexia kept saying "Sharks, scary, sharks, scary." She is on this "scary" kick and a lot of things scare her. I hope this is just a stage and she doesn't end up being a toddler who is afraid of everything!
On Saturday we went to Stone Mountain and really enjoyed our day there. Ricardo, the kids and I left around 3pm, but Aldo and his family stayed there until 9pm!
We all went to church early Sunday morning and then they all hit the road from there. Thank you for coming to visit us Aldo, Eliana and Cami!!


They loved the jellyfish!


Diego's "scared" face


Alexia was nervous at first, but warmed up to them quickly

Maria Camila helping Diego touch the stingrays

Alexia tried her best to get her arm in, but just couldn't make it

After lunch at Stone Mountain, Diego asked for a dessert so we wandered around a bit and discovered a HUGE treat. A candy store! Diego had never been in a candy store before and he LOVED it. It was so much fun to give him a bag and see what candies he picked. He chose all gummy candies. I never buy him gummy candies b/c they're awful for the teeth so this was a big treat!

Alexia, on the other hand, chose all chocolate candies and was just as happy!

Posing with the pumpkin kids

This was the highlight of the day. Aldo, Eliana and Maria Camila did a huge obstacle course that is only for people over 48" tall. Aldo called us from up high on the obstacle course to tell us that there was one for children. We headed that way and came upon this awesome course. Diego was really nervous through the whole thing, but did an incredible job. Ricardo did a great job at documenting it:

Standing in line for the "zip line." As he got in the back of the line he told Ricardo, "Papa, I'm scared." Ricardo had him bow his head and prayed for him to not be afraid and for strength to hold on tight to the rope. Diego perked right up and was ready to go! He had to wait in line for awhile and here he is, waiting for the rope to be brought to him.

Holding on for dear life!

The guy kept yelling "ARE YOU READY?" and Diego wouldn't answer.

And there he goes!!

It was a long ways down (for a 3-yr old) and he fell when he let go, but he was ecstatic with the experience!

A group shot after church on Sunday. Diego and Alexia adored all three of them, but were especially attached to Maria Camila. Alexia was her little shadow!

Games and greens

I set up a fun letter game for Diego to play yesterday which he loved (Jana, thank you for the idea!) I hid all the letters around the living room and he had to place them on top of the corresponding letter on the floor. With each letter that he picked up he had to tell me the sound the letter makes and a word that starts with that letter. He did the capital letters in a breeze - it felt too easy...so, we decided to lower case letters...not so easy. He has known his capital letters for quite some time, but we don't work on lower case letters often enough so they had him stumped. He tried for awhile and enjoyed it, but didn't have the patience to make it through the whole alphabet. Today we worked on the lower case letters some more and we should have them done by tomorrow :)
Whenever Alexia sees the letters she sings, "A, B, C, la, la , la, da , be, de , go...." to the tune of the ABC's - very cute!
Excuse Diego's lack of pants in the pictures. He had just finished his quiet time and was not ready to get dressed. He always insists on doing his quiet time in his shirt and underwear.

Most of you know that I am a vegetarian. We do not raise our children vegetarian because Ricardo is a CARNIVORE. These children are after their mama's heart though because they love salads and vegetables. Diego's very favorite meal lately is salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Pouring his olive oil...

...then the vinegar...

...and enjoying his greens. The little things on the blue plate are crackers and hummus.

Alexia still loves black beans and here she is enjoying a black bean soup I made for dinner. On a side note, Diego does not nap anymore. He has a quiet time in his room, but doesn't sleep. He goes to bed at 7pm and since Alexia does nap, she gets to stay up until 8:00. Her usual routine is to have dinner with Diego (pictured above) and then sit down with Ricardo and I when he gets home and eat with us again. So, she ate a lot of what you see on her plate above and then when Ricardo came him this evening she had a second dinner with us. That reminds me that I didn't update on her latest doctor apt. We took her in for a weight check per the request of her doctor at her 18-month check up. We were excited to see that she has gained 1.5 pounds and is now at 10% for weight! This is a big deal since we thought she may have slipped to negative percentiles according to her weight on our home scale. Praise God for his protection of our little peanut!

"Cheers" to Auntie Paige. We had a video call with Auntie Paige yesterday (who is on bed rest in the hospital) during snack time. She was eating carrots and celery and the kids asked me for celery to eat with her. Since then, they have been on a celery kick and love crunching away at it.

After dinner Diego and Alexia went downstairs to play "Buruca" (dog pile). It was so adorable. They held hands, sang, rocked back and forth and then toppled over.

Kiddo updates

This doesn't happen very often, but this is a picture-free post. I just had a couple of cute things to share about the kiddos real quick

-Today Alexia went to her very first gymnastics class. She was a superstar! I wasn't sure how she would do since she is so independent, but she followed all the directions and was the first in line for all activities. She missed the first 2 classes, but you'd never know it because she was right on top of things. The teacher used her for most demonstrations since she was so eager and fearless. She loved the balance beam, obstacle course (consisting of somersaults, tunnels, etc), bars and of course, the trampoline. She was the only child who could hang from the bars all by herself and she was also the only student who could jump on the trampoline. Is all of this due to having a big brother??? I think so!!! She was right in her element and it made me so happy to see what a wonderful gymnast she is! :)

-I was taking a rest this afternoon and after 6 minutes, both kids got up. I was not ready to get up myself, but Alexia was crying hysterically in her room. I asked Diego to tell her that I would be in there in two minutes. I then heard him walk in to her room and say "Alexia, it's okay. Mami va a venir en dos minutos. Puedo subir a tu cuna? Puedo sentar en tu gee-gee?" (Alexia it's okay. Mami is going to come in two minutes. Can I get into your crib? Can I sit on your blanket?)" He then read her three books and entertained her for an extra five minutes. Of course when he came running into my room to ask if the two minutes had passed, I jumped up and was energized to have a special afternoon of fun with them. We colored for awhile and then spent a couple of hours playing outside.

We have not seen much of Ricardo this week. He has left the house by 6:45 every morning and right now it is 9:30pm and he is still not home. He was able to come home for about 40 minutes in between leaving work and his dinner so that was great for the kids. In the mornings Alexia always says "Mami, y Papa?" (Mami, where's Papa?) I tell her that he is at the office and she says "A traer" (which means "to pick him up.")

Battery is low and computer is about to shut down...must hit "Publish Post" NOW!

Random pictures

Since I hadn't uploaded pictures from the camera in awhile, I found some pictures that I hadn't posted.
Here they are...!


As previously mentioned, the new excitement is racing down the driveway. Most evenings when Ricardo returns from work, they run into the garage to get their vehicles and head straight outside.

Diego found that hat in his drawer and cracked himself up by wearing it.

Our friends, the Barker family recently moved to Rome, GA. Last week, Jana and Mara Kate were in Atlanta for a visit and they stopped by for a wonderful visit on their way back home. We sat outside for a couple of hours and the kids did great playing together while Jana and I caught up.

Diego took this picture of us!

I love how Alexia's hands are on top of Diego's hands

We had a picnic lunch in the backyard last Wednesday. It was such a gorgeous day that we just couldn't stand being inside.

Diego and Alexia ready for the gym! Diego is taking another sports class and Alexia is starting gymnastics this week. Mima bought Diego this Nike outfit and new tennis shoes while she was here so he is really excited!

Mima's visit

Ricardo's mom was here to visit...two weeks ago....ahh! That was a long time ago! I can't believe I am just now posting the pictures.
We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed her company. We took it easy and she was happy to just join us on our regular activities - helping a friend clean out her house, cooking meals for new moms, playing, doing errands, etc.
The Saturday that she was here Alexia and I had a birthday party to go to so Diego spent a special day with Papa and Mima. They went to an IMAX movie at Fernbank museum and Diego LOVED it.
It was the first that she was able to visit without having to work so that was a nice treat!


On Saturday morning we treated Mima to our favorite breakfast place - Le Madeline. We sit at the same table every time we go and always enjoy the delicious lattes and muffins.


A quick cuddle while they were busy playing, waiting for Papa and Mima to finish their food


On Friday we had a wonderful sushi feast

Mima showing the kids funny videos of cats

Filling up the bird feeder

The new favorite activity is racing down the driveway in their vehicles.