Riding with Luke

Playing with Papi

WE'VE MOVED!

Well, I finally have internet connection and about two seconds to upload some pictures. We moved into our new house last Tuesday and we are having a great time settling in and making it our home. Diego and Alexia are as happy as can be and are doing great. Diego is sleeping in a big boy bed and LOVES it. He fell out of it three times the first night, but hasn't fallen out since then.


Ricardo's dear sister, Maria Jose came up from Miami last weekend to help us pack, move and take care of the kids. She was an enormous help. She departed on Wednesday and my mom arrived that night to help me get settled in since Ricardo was out of town until Friday. She did so much work around the house and was also an enormous help.

Alexia is crawling!!!! She is now a very busy girl and we can't let her leave our sight for a second because she is also mischievous. Yesterday I fished a magnet out of her mouth and the previous day it was a piece of aluminum foil. She is getting her two front teeth which has made for some sleepless nights, but overall she is being a champ with the teething.

I have to get back to unpacking, but wanted to leave you with some shots of our first days here!


MOVING DAY!!!!


We've had a special bottle of champagne that we've been saving for a couple of years and we finally got to open it!!!


This is what happens when you decide to cook the first meal in the new house. Ricardo had to open the can of tomatoes with a screwdriver and hammer! Take-out pizza would've been a more practical option, but we sure had a delicious meal.


Alexia's first meal was on the floor, surrounded by boxes and clutter


Diego's first ride in his bike in the new garden - he is in heaven! He calls it the park.



Helping Grammie put weather-protectant on the picnic table




He was really into "painting" with his brush.


The finished result. We had a wonderful first BBQ!




We were testing the alarm and Diego sat like this for about two minutes after the last test alarm. He wanted us to set it off over and over


Alexia has now discovered the wonders of the tupperware cabinet. She loves to pull out all of it's contents and play - a great way to keep her busy for a long time!

Diego quotes

Sorry, still no pictures, but just wanted to share some cute things Diego has said this weekend.

We went out to lunch today and Diego was eavesdropping on the table next to us. He looked up at me with a burst of excitement and said "Mami, estan hablando espanol!" (Mami, they're speaking in Spanish." I love how well he grasps the concept of two different languages.

I was changing Alexia into her jammies tonight and she was fussing. Diego came over to her, knelt down and said "Alexia, ya va a estar bien. Mami te esta poniendo tu pijama." (Alexia, it's going to be ok. Mami is putting on your pajama."

Ricardo left for an off-site meeting this evening and I told Diego that he had gone to the mountains (they rented a cabin up there). At prayer time I asked Diego to close in prayer. He said, "Padre, que Papa esta bien en las montanas. Amen" (Father, that Papi is ok in the mountains. Amen)

And Alexia has a mouthful of things to say as well, but just not as clear. People always comment at how vocal (and loud!) she is. She is always squealing and chatting away. She had stopped saying "Mama" for awhile, but is now saying it again. She loves to clap her hands and spends a lot of time dancing and clapping. I think I had commented previously that she does not like her baby food very much. Well, I discovered that if she gets her food in the form of finger-foods, then she is much happier. So now mealtime is much messier and takes longer because she has to feed herself - our lil' independent girl.

We have a busy, busy week ahead. I need to have the apartment packed PRONTO!

Postponing a post

We're here, but barely. Just wanted to write to say thanks for still checking in on us, but it will still be a few days until I can write a post with pictures. If you know me, you know that I'm the kind of person that folds laundry as it comes out of the dryer. To give you an idea of our life lately, there are THREE loads of clean laundry on the living room sofa, waiting to be folded! We have been busy, busy, busy trying to get everything organized at the new house while still maintaining a fun routine with the kids - play dates and all.
Alexia had her 9-month check up yesterday and, as always we praise God that she is in perfect health. She weighs 17 lbs and 8oz and is growing like a weed. She is sooooo close to crawling, but hasn't quite taken the leap. Her big brother spoils her and brings her all the toys she needs so she feels no rush to learn how to get around on her own :) The other day she fell over while playing in her crib and Diego said (in english) "I'll pick you up Alexia." So sweet.
Diego is a champ and is really excited about his new room. We had it painted green yesterday and he was so interested in watching the painter. He sat right down in the doorway, folded his hands in his lap and carefully studied the painter's every move. He calls it "verde blanco" (green-white) since it's a very light shade of green. We had Alexia's room painted the same color...keeping it simple.
I hope to have some pictures uploaded this weekend for your viewing pleasure!

Catching up

Here is a quick catch-up of pictures from the past couple of weeks. Not sure how much posting I'll be able to do with the moving madness soon approaching, but I will try my best to keep the updates coming.


Alexia tried to hitch a ride to London, but it didn't work. She loved hanging out in the suitcase though. As soon as Ricardo had his things packed, she scooted over and showed her disapproval of his travel by quickly pulling out his pants and shirts.



Happy girl minutes after waking up!

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This past Friday we met some friends at the zoo and had a great time. Diego absolutely loves going to the zoo and gets so excited to see the animals. This was the first time that we went to the petting zoo and it was awesome. Diego had a blast brushing the pigs, sheep and goats and Alexia went completely wild when she saw the animals up close. It was the cutest thing ever; she was squealing and chuckling, but when I let her touch the animals, she was hysterical with laughter. I really wish I would've had my other camera to take a video clip because it was so cute. We thoroughly scrubbed the children's hand and then went for a ride on the choo-choo which was definitely a highlight.






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Some dear friends from church had us to their home for dinner last Friday. They were so excited to pull out toys from when their children were little and they even had their boy's first highchair. Diego loved sitting in the special chair and sat through the whole dinner with us and did a great job. Alexia sat next to me in her booster seat/highchair and also had very good manners and behaved through the meal. Mrs Fowler is a beautiful pianist and when Diego saw the piano he asked if she could play for him. After dinner, we all stood around the piano and sang while she played - it was a really special time.





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Tio Luis brought Diego this adorable outfit from El Salvador two weeks ago. We have never had an outfit like this for him (since he's been a "big boy," that is). At first it seemed a bit "out of character," but after a little while I melted every time I looked at him - I thought he looked just precious.

Our new home!

I have received many requests for pictures of our new home, so here they are!
These are pictures that were posted on the real estate website, but once we get moved and settled in we will post pictures when it looks more like "ours."

This is the street-view. The second level on the left hand side are Diego and Alexia's bedrooms. Diego already chose his bedroom and is so excited to move all of his things there. Sometimes when we drive home he says he wants to go home to our "new house."

This is the back view of the house. The master bedroom is on the 2nd level, on the right side. We have a nice view of the large backyard which is home to bunnies, dear, squirrels, birds and an owl! Don't worry, we haven't moved to the mountains...we are still only 5 minutes from Ricardo's office, but Dunwoody still has beautiful wildlife.

This is the family room and next to these windows is the door that leads out to the back yard.

This is the dining room that leads back into the formal living room.

The kitchen!

And the below pictures are from closing at the attorney's office on Wednesday.

We made Diego sign a document so that he has to make the payments!

Ricardo's hand was sore after signing his name at least 60 times. I only had to sign mine a few times.