Marco has teeth!!

We had a special visit with Mima and Opa and a wonderful family Thanksgiving. We did so much and have lots of pictures to share, but not today. We have had house guests for three weeks non-stop and it has been absolutely wonderful, but we must get cleaning!! So, I just wanted to share the news that Marco cut his first two teeth this week. He has been drooling puddles of drool (literally) for a few weeks now so we knew they were on their way. On Tuesday, they were just barely cutting through the skin and today (Saturday) they are well on their way out. He is super baby and the teething has barely phased him. He was fussy on Tuesday and Thursday, but I think that was also due to a lot of activity going on in the house and not being able to sleep well during the day. He was been an absolute angel through it all.
We saw Mima and Opa off this morning and decided to head out for the day to escape the state that the house was in...but we are facing it now! We went to Taqueria del Sol for lunch (it was delicious!), Dancing Goats for coffee and donuts and then to a small park in Decatur to play for almost two hours. It was a blast!

A week with Tio Roby and Tia Dany

So, we saw Scott and Paige off on Sunday afternoon and Ricardo headed to the airport around 10pm to pick up Roberto and Daniela. The kids were soooo excited that they would get to wake them up Monday morning. I made them wait until 9am before they went charging into the guestroom to give the kisses and cuddles.
We had a fabulous week with them and were so thankful that they were able to be with us. Every day was special and we did so much. Roberto had to work from home Mon-Wed, but had a flexible schedule so we were able to hang out with him a lot.

I will give a little re-cap, day by day and let you get on to enjoy the pictures :) I know Grandpa and Abue are anxious to see pictures of Roberto y los sobrinos.



Notice their feet - they were dressed up as Tio Robi and Tia Dany! My mom sent Alexia that tu-tu for her birthday so she was so excited to put it on for ballet Monday morning.


It was really special for Alexia to have special guests come to her ballet class. Roberto's morning was free so he was able to join us.


After ballet, we headed to Whole Foods for shopping and lunch.



In the afternoon, D, A & M opened a bunch of gifts from Roberto and Daniela and this tea set was so special for Alexia. The two of them have spent a lot of time playing teatime and chatting - I love it!


This past Sunday was Marco's baptism (more on that in the next post). Our senior pastor came to the house for a visit last Tuesday evening to talk to us ahead of the baptism. We thought it would be a short visit, but we were delighted to have him with us for almost 2 hours and we were so blessed by our time with him.


On Wednesday morning, Daniela went to Bible study with the kids and I and then we went out for lunch at Chik Fil A. We can't welcome out-of-town guests without a trip to our favorite! :)


We went home for some quiet time and once Tio Roby finished his work, we headed to the bowling alley:

Marco slept in my arms for the first round and then enjoyed time with Tia Dany and hanging out in his car seat for the second round

Tio Robi bustin' a move with the kids

After bowling, we met Ricardo at Mellow Mushroom for dinner. I love this picture of the kids with their uncle.

Ricardo took Thursday and Friday off of work. We had breakfast Thursday morning and were hanging out at the house, playing in the backyard and Ricardo suddenly said "Let's go away for the night!" He made a call and within 20 minutes, we were running around the house, packing bags and getting ready for a little getaway. We went to Barnsley Gardens and had an amazing time. I had never been there before and we were all so excited to see what a fabulous place it was when we arrived. It was an absolute blast for the kids and Diego kept saying how much he loved it.

We waited for Marco to wake up from his nap and we hit the road around 2pm. We settled into our room, toured the property and took it easy until dinner time around 6pm.

The hotel had a "fairy godmother" that brought gifts to each child. Alexia received a Cinderella gift set with a purse, sunglasses and pretend makeup. She did not want to take her sunglasses all evening - it was adorable!

We had a great dinner at the restaurant. Diego had pasta with olive oil and cheese and Alexia had the most delicious mac n cheese I have ever tasted. Diego ate a huge portion of that plate of pasta you see in the picture. Alexia wore her sunglasses the whole time we waited for the meal, but took them off to eat.

The "fairy godmother" also brought a basket with marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers to make s'mores. Ooooh, the kids were on cloud nine!

Diego and Alexia slept on the sofa bed in the sitting area and did really well sleeping together. Marco snuck in for a picture.

Singing songs in bed before turning out the lights.

Friday was a glorious day. Ricardo and Roberto woke up early to play golf together. Daniela came over to our room around 8:30 and we ordered room service breakfast which was wonderful. Diego and Alexia had packed their swimsuits, but the pool was closed for the winter so they asked to have a "pool party" in the room. While Dani and I enjoyed our hot coffee and talked, the kids ran around the room in their swimsuits, playing "pool party."

Once the guys returned from golf, I took the three kids for a long walk around the property and had a really sweet time with them. We all met back up again and had a leisurely stroll, running, taking pictures, playing soccer and simply enjoying being together. It was a precious time.

We took a posed picture like this, but I love this natural one, especially since it captures Tio Robi sneaking a kiss to Marco before the picture. So sweet!

We stopped for barbecue lunch on the way home and arrived back home around 4pm. We fed the kids, played for awhile and put them to bed since they were wiped out from a busy day. Aldo came over for dinner and we had fabulous take-out food from a vegetarian restaurant not far from home.

The kids said goodbye Friday evening b/c Ricardo left around 6:30am Saturday morning to take them to the airport. Tios, we love you so much and miss you already!

Saturday was a busy day that included a trip to the mall, a trip to the salon for me, a family photo shoot with Bobbi Jo and the arrival of Ricardo's mom and step dad. I will try to share another post later today...!

The rest of our weekend was a blast. On Saturday morning we walked to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast which was the first time we had done that and it was a lot of fun. Alexia rode her little bike and Diego walked the entire way so they worked up their appetites to devour an entire donut each. The babies were tired after hanging out there for awhile so Paige and I walked home with the Sev and Marco and the guys took the big kids to Mellow Mushroom for lunch.
We spent the afternoon hanging out and playing at home and had another double date night in.


Scott and Diego playing the "box game"


Diego has never asked to climb the maple tree in the back, but when he did on Saturday, I gave him a boost and up he went. It was awesome to see him up there!

The wonderful spread of sushi that Ricardo made. My job was to make the rice and cut the vegetables and he did the rest. It was all amazing!

We miss you, Scott, Paige and Sev!

An afternoon hike

Last Wednesday, Paige and baby Sev arrived from San Francisco. Scott was already here for work so he joined us on Thursday afternoon. They were with us until Sunday and we had an awesome time. On Friday afternoon we headed to a walking trail nearby and had a wonderful walk.

We last saw Scott and Paige in San Francisco in April '09. We went to a beach near the city and I have an adorable picture of Diego walking up the trail, holding Ricardo and Scott's hands. Here he is again with the guys. Love it!

We had a rest on this huge boulder which quickly turned into a slide for the kids. Scott was on Alexia duty, making sure she didn't fall off!

When Ricardo approached this fallen tree, he had to climb it. After making his way almost to the top, he came back down to help the kids climb...

I love this picture of daddy/daughter rock-throwing


So happy to get a good family shot!

After the walk, we went to Whole Foods to stock up on goodies for "date night in." We had our typical cheese/bread/meats/chutney spread and loved having "double date night!"


Scott dressed for the occasion :)

Before going to bed, we peaked in at the kids and this is how we found Alexia. She was completely hanging off her bed, sound asleep. The four of us stood in her room, giggled and took pictures and neither of the kids woke up.

Ricardo's brother, Roberto and his wife, Daniela arrived from El Salvador last night. We are so thrilled to have them here!!! I am sitting on the couch, watching a movie with them (Ricardo is at a meeting at church) so I am going to sign off for now and tomorrow I will upload the rest of the pictures from the weekend and start sharing pictures of our time with the "Tios."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEXIA!!!!

Last Thursday was Alexia's third birthday. Wow, three years old! We can hardly believe it. Alexia is a the most beautiful, fun, spunky, caring, loving and funny three year old girl that we know. She swells our heart with love and brings an abundance of joy to us. She was so excited for her birthday and had been counting down the days. She had been asking for a Cinderella party which I agreed to, but when Ricardo and I took her to Party City last weekend, she spotted the Dora decorations and decided she wanted a Dora party.

9 of her buddies came for the party and most of them have older or younger siblings so it was a full house and we had an absolute blast. It was so special that Auntie Paige, Uncle Scott and Sev could be here to celebrate with us.

She started the morning with a bunny pancake with chocolate chip eyes. She ate her breakfast in the living room because she said she wanted to eat "at her birthday party."

After some play time, the kids played the game "Stick Dora's bracelet on her arm"

Kids getting settled with their lunch which was chicken nuggets, salad, fruit, pretzels and juice

The purple Dora cake!

She had really been looking forward to digging into her chocolate cake

The kids started by pulling the strings on the pinata, but then we decided it was best to hit it with the stick...which was much more entertaining!

The kids lined up, waiting to hit the pinata. For blog book sake, I am going to list the names of the friends so we remember who they all are 20 years from now! Alexia, Paige, Gerrick, Elle, Michaela, Zack, Keona, Dillon, Peyton, Anjuli

Big bro had his share of hits as well.

A family picture after all the goodies had been collected.

After the pinata, we headed inside to open presents and she received really fun and special gifts. I am bummed I didn't pull out my camera for that, but she had a blast opening presents. We spent the rest of the afternoon outside, playing soccer with Uncle Scott and swinging on the swings. It was a gorgeous afternoon. We cooked steak on the bbq for her special bday dinner and enjoyed a great dinner on the back porch which ended our super special day.

She loved swinging with Uncle Scott...

...and so did Diego!

Marco had his first swing, sitting on Alexia's lap.

Precious Severin. He is 10 months old and is simply wonderful. We all fell madly in love with him!

Lil' Marco is a drool machine and constantly has his fists or some toy in his mouth.