Friday, December 31, 2010
A visit to the office
Every Christmas season, we make a trip to Ricardo's office to see the gorgeous decorations in the lobby area and then head up to his office to hang out for a bit. The last time we were at his office was the day that I was in labor with Marco. We had a great time seeing Papi's new office and pretending to work with him, while enjoying the beautiful view. We had so much fun, I told him that we were going to come to work with him everyday :)
Pictures galore
The past several weeks have been busy, busy and I have not done a good job keeping you posted with photos and happenings around here. I just uploaded a bunch of pictures and have more to go, but will let you enjoy these first :)
Diego and Alexia have always loved lil' Benjamin. We took care of him a couple of weeks ago and we can't call him "Baby Benjamin" anymore because he's a big boy. He is so sweet and adorable!
This was from Christmas dinner. Diego was really excited to be the photographer.
Ricardo and my mom took the kids to the park one afternoon and had a blast!
Waiting in line for the Pink Pig at Macy's. This is a very popular Atlanta Christmas tradition. We waited in line for almost 1 1/2 hour for a 2.5 minute ride. But the kids LOVED it!
Diego and Alexia were so excited that they were able to sit all by themselves. 
The rule is that babies cannot sit on laps so Marco had to sit on the bench like a big boy. He did great.
When Ricardo and I went away for the weekend, my mom had a thousand and one things for the kids to do. She said they only watched TV for 20 minutes on Monday morning when she showered. Here they are very focused on decorating their Christmas cookies.
Alexia has this new thing of poking her tongue in her cheek when she is focused on a task. So cute!
Grammie told them they had to wait until we got home to try the cookies so here they are digging in!
In early December, we went out to lunch with Aldo, Eliana and Cami to celebrate Cami's 16th birthday. Here's the birthday girl with the Lopez fam.
Also in early December, we went to Chik Fil A with Patricia and Caitlin and stayed there for THREE hours. The kids had the indoor play area to themselves (pictured above) and Patricia and I hung out and chatted while Marco snoozed in my arms.
The annual making of the gingerbread house. I need to get an after shot because it turned out so cute.
Before we cut Alexia's hair, I used to love how it looked in a ponytail. Doesn't she look so grown up here? 
Marco and Callen playing on the kitchen floor. 
Big siblings in on the action, too! 
Alexia trying to calm Marco with a song
Diego and Alexia have always loved lil' Benjamin. We took care of him a couple of weeks ago and we can't call him "Baby Benjamin" anymore because he's a big boy. He is so sweet and adorable!
This was from Christmas dinner. Diego was really excited to be the photographer.
Ricardo and my mom took the kids to the park one afternoon and had a blast!
Waiting in line for the Pink Pig at Macy's. This is a very popular Atlanta Christmas tradition. We waited in line for almost 1 1/2 hour for a 2.5 minute ride. But the kids LOVED it!
Diego and Alexia were so excited that they were able to sit all by themselves.
The rule is that babies cannot sit on laps so Marco had to sit on the bench like a big boy. He did great.
Big boy!
When Ricardo and I went away for the weekend, my mom had a thousand and one things for the kids to do. She said they only watched TV for 20 minutes on Monday morning when she showered. Here they are very focused on decorating their Christmas cookies.
Alexia has this new thing of poking her tongue in her cheek when she is focused on a task. So cute!
Grammie told them they had to wait until we got home to try the cookies so here they are digging in!
In early December, we went out to lunch with Aldo, Eliana and Cami to celebrate Cami's 16th birthday. Here's the birthday girl with the Lopez fam.
Also in early December, we went to Chik Fil A with Patricia and Caitlin and stayed there for THREE hours. The kids had the indoor play area to themselves (pictured above) and Patricia and I hung out and chatted while Marco snoozed in my arms.
The annual making of the gingerbread house. I need to get an after shot because it turned out so cute.
Before we cut Alexia's hair, I used to love how it looked in a ponytail. Doesn't she look so grown up here?
Marco and Callen playing on the kitchen floor.
Big siblings in on the action, too!
Alexia trying to calm Marco with a song
I am sorry that this was very random and out of order, but wanted to get pictures up before more days go by. We are on our way out to have lunch and park time with some friends. Happy New Year! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMMIE!!!!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas!!!
We have had a lovely Christmas week. Yesterday (Christmas Eve), my mom and I cooked all day and we had our big meal last night. Ricardo had a super special day with Diego and Alexia. He took them out for a really long walk in the morning and then took Alexia on a daddy/daugther date to have hamburgers for lunch. They had blast and then came home to pick up Diego (he was here, helping Grammie and I cook) to go out for ice cream. We finished up all of the cooking in the afternoon and sat down for dinner around 6pm. After dinner, we opened the presents under the tree, played for some time and then put D and A down for bed around 9:30.
We have never done Christmas stockings before, but thought it would be fun to start the tradition. So this morning we woke up to full stockings by the fireplace (with presents from us, not Santa) and the kids had a blast opening their goodies. We had a quick breakfast and then headed to church at 10:30, for a great Christmas family service. We came home for a lunch of leftovers with our friend Manuel (a missionary from El Salvador) and his mother.
We have had a nice afternoon, just taking it easy and ended the evening with delicious pupusas for dinner while we enjoyed watching the beautiful snow fall.
Alexia enjoying a huge lemonade on her date with daddy.
I LOVE this picture!
Yes, that hamburger was all hers. She didn't finish it all, but ate a ton of it.
Helping Grammie make the stuffing
Christmas tree photo shoot:
Before tearing into the stockings this morning
A White Christmas!! Diego sliding down the slide as he shrieked with delight, playing in the snow
We have never done Christmas stockings before, but thought it would be fun to start the tradition. So this morning we woke up to full stockings by the fireplace (with presents from us, not Santa) and the kids had a blast opening their goodies. We had a quick breakfast and then headed to church at 10:30, for a great Christmas family service. We came home for a lunch of leftovers with our friend Manuel (a missionary from El Salvador) and his mother.
We have had a nice afternoon, just taking it easy and ended the evening with delicious pupusas for dinner while we enjoyed watching the beautiful snow fall.
Alexia enjoying a huge lemonade on her date with daddy.
I LOVE this picture!
Yes, that hamburger was all hers. She didn't finish it all, but ate a ton of it.
Helping Grammie make the stuffing
Christmas tree photo shoot:
The first presents they opened were new jammies from Grammie so they decided to change right then and there.
Diego sporting his new jammies and new rain boots from Papi and I.
Alexia thrilled with her new helmet
Before tearing into the stockings this morning
A White Christmas!! Diego sliding down the slide as he shrieked with delight, playing in the snow
Monday, December 20, 2010
10 years!!!
***I started this post many days ago, but am just going to go ahead and post without updating time references***
The next few posts are going to be a bit out of order, but I haven't uploaded pictures from the other camera so I will start with our weekend away...
Ricardo and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last Wednesday. He took the day off and we had a really special day. We had a daytime babysitter for all three kids, for the first time. We went out to a wonderful Italian lunch and then to buy a few things at Ikea for our party on Friday night.
On Friday, we renewed our wedding vows which was unbelievably special. I will write about that in a separate post, with pictures and all. For now, I will share about our 2nd honeymoon...
On Saturday morning, Jasmine (my dear friend, Ruth's sister in law)arrived to help my mom take care of the kids for the weekend. My mom is awesome with Diego and Alexia, but we did not want her to go crazy having all three kids, so we asked Jasmine to come be Marco's nanny for the weekend. I have been pumping milk for the past few weeks and had collected quite a stash, but I was really nervous about him taking the bottle well and sleeping well for her...more to come on that later...suffice to say he did amazingly well!
So, Ricardo and I took off around 11am on Saturday and started our getaway with a stop for lunch at a great sushi restaurant. From there we made the drive to Serenbe, a fabulous community a little over an hour away. For our first night there, we had a great little apartment in the community and our second night was in a cottage, near the Inn. Our time there was wonderful. We went on long walks, ate delicious food, relaxed and just took it easy. It was such a perfect way to celebrate our anniversary and have a really special time to reconnect and have time alone.
The cheesy couple shaping hearts in the shadows :)
Self-portrait during our afternoon walk on Sunday
The gorgeous sky we enjoyed on our walk
Breathtaking!
The sitting area of the cottage 
Another self timer shot...
...and another! :)
The next few posts are going to be a bit out of order, but I haven't uploaded pictures from the other camera so I will start with our weekend away...
Ricardo and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last Wednesday. He took the day off and we had a really special day. We had a daytime babysitter for all three kids, for the first time. We went out to a wonderful Italian lunch and then to buy a few things at Ikea for our party on Friday night.
On Friday, we renewed our wedding vows which was unbelievably special. I will write about that in a separate post, with pictures and all. For now, I will share about our 2nd honeymoon...
On Saturday morning, Jasmine (my dear friend, Ruth's sister in law)arrived to help my mom take care of the kids for the weekend. My mom is awesome with Diego and Alexia, but we did not want her to go crazy having all three kids, so we asked Jasmine to come be Marco's nanny for the weekend. I have been pumping milk for the past few weeks and had collected quite a stash, but I was really nervous about him taking the bottle well and sleeping well for her...more to come on that later...suffice to say he did amazingly well!
So, Ricardo and I took off around 11am on Saturday and started our getaway with a stop for lunch at a great sushi restaurant. From there we made the drive to Serenbe, a fabulous community a little over an hour away. For our first night there, we had a great little apartment in the community and our second night was in a cottage, near the Inn. Our time there was wonderful. We went on long walks, ate delicious food, relaxed and just took it easy. It was such a perfect way to celebrate our anniversary and have a really special time to reconnect and have time alone.
The cheesy couple shaping hearts in the shadows :)
Self-portrait during our afternoon walk on Sunday
The gorgeous sky we enjoyed on our walk
Breathtaking!
The beautiful cottage. Look at that BLUE sky!
The sitting area of the cottage
Another self timer shot...
...and another! :)
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Our baby is 6 months old!
Can it really be true? Marco Andres has been with us for SIX months!? It is amazing how fast the time has flown by. Marco turned 6 months old on Monday. Where do I begin? I can't even explain to you what a wonder baby he is. He is so mellow, laid back, happy, relaxed, adorable, personable, funny, chubby...he is simply angelic. He really is. If you know him, you know what I am talking about. He rarely cries, he smiles and laughs often and is totally content being held and watching what is going on around him. Diego and Alexia are just as in love with him as they were the day we brought him home from the hospital. They talk to him all day long, do all they can to make him cackle, jump into his crib to give him cuddles when he wakes up, play with him, protect him and pray for him.
He can now sit up, without support for 10+ minutes. He still tumbles over sometimes, but has great balance. I am happy that I can now leave him sitting up and not laying down. He is a rolly polly so if I leave him on his back, he rolls himself across the room and has been known to end up under tables and under beds!
We had his 6-month check up yesterday. He weighs 18lb 8oz which puts him in the 75th percentile. I forget how long he was, but I want to say 26.5 inches?
He is a great eater and sleeper. He goes to bed around 7:00pm, nurses around 4:30am and then wakes up between 7:00 and 8:00. He usually goes back down for a morning nap around 9am which lasts from 45 minutes to 2 hours. He takes another afternoon nap around 2pm which again, lasts from 45 minutes to 2 hours. This schedule is very loose and changes every single day. He can be out and about all day long and just take cat naps here and there to get enough energy to carry on with the day without getting fussy. He does not have a feeding schedule, I just nurse when he's hungry. He has been exclusively breastfed until Monday, when he had his first taste of rice cereal. I mixed 1 tablespoon of cereal with water and he devoured the entire bowl within minutes. He LOVED it. With D & A, I always mixed the cereal with breast milk, but thought I would do it with water just to try (thanks Jessie!) and sure enough, he thought it was great.
We had his 6-month check up yesterday. He weighs 18lb 8oz which puts him in the 75th percentile. I forget how long he was, but I want to say 26.5 inches?
He is a great eater and sleeper. He goes to bed around 7:00pm, nurses around 4:30am and then wakes up between 7:00 and 8:00. He usually goes back down for a morning nap around 9am which lasts from 45 minutes to 2 hours. He takes another afternoon nap around 2pm which again, lasts from 45 minutes to 2 hours. This schedule is very loose and changes every single day. He can be out and about all day long and just take cat naps here and there to get enough energy to carry on with the day without getting fussy. He does not have a feeding schedule, I just nurse when he's hungry. He has been exclusively breastfed until Monday, when he had his first taste of rice cereal. I mixed 1 tablespoon of cereal with water and he devoured the entire bowl within minutes. He LOVED it. With D & A, I always mixed the cereal with breast milk, but thought I would do it with water just to try (thanks Jessie!) and sure enough, he thought it was great.
Ready to try his food!
I had to hold his arms down the whole time he ate because he wanted to grab the spoon from me.
YUMMY!
Sitting up and playing with his favorite toy
We love you Marco!!!!!!!!!!!!
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