Thanksgiving and Chattanooga

We have had a fabulous holiday weekend. Ricardo and I started the festivities on Wednesday afternoon by getting a babysitter at 3pm so we could go to the mall together. I know this is funny, but he is my very favorite shopping buddy so I wanted him to help me pick out a couple of new tops. We enjoyed our alone time and picked up pizza on our way home to have pizza night with the kids and Aldo, Eliana and Camila. On Thursday we woke up to glorious weather and Ricardo took the kids outside to play in their jammies after breakfast and they had a blast. I started cooking around 9am and enjoyed having the windows open and beginning the day with a thankful heart for all of God's blessings. Ricardo and the kids decorated the Christmas tree in the morning and the kids were ecstatic. This is the earliest we've ever put it up, but we knew we'd have a busy weekend so it was a good time to do it. I spent most of the day in and out of the kitchen and cooked turkey, sweet potatoes with maple syrup, mashed potatoes with goat cheese, green bean casserole with mushrooms and cranberry sauce. I took two new short-cuts and bought the gravy and dressing at Whole Foods and they were really good. Aldo and family arrived around 1:30 with desserts and we were good to go! We ate around 4:30pm and had a really nice time. Alexia ate her weight in turkey and Diego would not even try it. We made him try everything else, but we know he does not like turkey so we didn't force that one.


The kids patiently waiting for everything to be ready!

Clockwise: Eliana, Aldo, Ricardo, Camila, kids. The kids love Camila and Alexia insisted on sitting next to her.

On Friday morning we woke up, packed our bags and hit the road for Chattanooga for an overnight trip. We drove straight to the children's museum where the kids were in wonderland. They have the coolest children's museum and there was so much to do. We had brought our lunch from home so we stayed there for a few hours, ate our lunch and then headed to our hotel around 2:30pm. We wanted to get the kids to nap so we could have a late night, but our attempt failed. They did not want to have anything to do with sleeping in a cool hotel room. So, after a 40 minute rest time, we headed out again to go to Rock City which is spectacular. It is a winding trail that goes through natural and man made rock formations and has gorgeous views. The kids had a blast and Diego was in awe of the caverns and enormous rocks. We took along the hiking pack for Alexia to ride in, but she would have nothing to do with it. She walked for over 2 hours and never asked to be carried and would actually get mad when we picked her up to speed up the pace. Diego, on the other hand, was wiped out so we offered him a ride in the pack which he gladly accepted. After our lovely walk we were all hungry so we headed down the mountain and drove by a fabulous Italian restaurant where we had a delicious meal.

On Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and met Aaron and Helen and Aaron's parents for breakfast. Aaron's parents live near Chattanooga so it was a special morning to meet them and hang out with our friends. Alexia was thrilled to start her day in their company! From breakfast we headed back to the hotel to hit the indoor pool which was a blast! We then showered, packed the car and headed to the aquarium. The aquarium there is awesome and the we all really enjoyed it. We had a fun lunch at Sticky Fingers, ice cream for dessert and we hit the road around 3:00pm. It was a really special family weekend and we are so thankful we were able to do it!

Pulling the levers to splash water. He was very into this!

Alexia could barely reach!

She was thrilled to camp out at the water table for a long time

Digging for dinosaur bones

Bad picture, but it has a purpose. I have a picture of Diego and I in this same frame when he was about 13 months old. I will try to upload it to share.

Very cool painting benches

A bubble capsule

And on to Rock City:

There were some pretty strange animals in the Rivers exhibit at the aquarium. I think they are looking at an alligator turtle here.

Lunch at Sticky Fingers. Ricardo got his fill of BBQ ribs, Alexia devoured mac and cheese and Diego and I enjoyed a salad.

I like how this picture depicts the streets of Chattanooga

Can't forget the ice cream!

Dance party!

We had a little dance party last night and as it was coming to an end, I took a video of the kids. Diego says "Mirame papa!" (Look at me Papa) That is what Alexia keeps repeating over and over with her silly face. Enjoy!

Photos

Here are some of the photos that Aaron took a couple of weeks ago. Thanks Aaron!

Our week

This week has been a bit off for us since we spent the first half of it sick. The kids and I were on our way to Ella Ann's birthday party Saturday morning when Alexia threw up in her car seat...about three times in 2 minutes. It was BAD. We quickly turned around and went home. Diego had been looking forward to the party for several days and was so excited to go. When I told him that we could not go to the party because Alexia was sick he said "Okay mami." He was so sweet and understanding that we had to take care of Alexia. When I told Alexia we couldn't go, she started crying "pastel! pastel!" (cake, cake). She did not want to miss the cake.
She was back to normal within an hour and we had a great weekend, but then Sunday night it hit me...but worse. I was really sick all Sunday night and then when I woke up Monday morning feeling like I'd been hit by a truck, Diego started throwing up. Great! So, our Monday was spent on the couch, in our jammies, eating saltine crackers. The kids were very cooperative and despite being sick, it was a surprisingly good day.
On Tuesday we were back to health, but just running on low speed. On Tuesday evening we headed over to our friend's place to celebrate Abby's 1st birthday. Diego and Alexia adore Abby and were so excited to be celebrating with her.
Yesterday we went to bible study in the morning. Diego and Alexia should be in two separate classes, but they love being together so this week Alexia went to the big kid class with Diego and did great. She had her own arts and crafts project to show off to me and had a great time. After bible study we went to pick up Asher, Adeline and Hartly and brought them home to play for awhile. It is great how easy having 5 kids has become!
Today Diego had sports class and Alexia had gymnastics. I took my camera with me to take videos and left it in my purse (argh!) so, hopefully next week you will get to see the lil' star in action :)
We decided that tonight would be family movie night. We started this tradition several months ago and do it about once a month. We cover our bed with a huge blanket, pick up pizza and eat dinner on our bed while watching the movie. Today was the first time that I took the kids to Blockbuster to choose the movie (Ricardo usually does it). I told Diego he could choose absolutely any movie he wanted from the two aisles of "family" titles. There were countless options and he had a blast looking at them all. When he came across "IMAX Under the Sea" he ditched all other options and took a tight grip on that one. He was thrilled and I knew it would be a great one to please the whole family. I loved that he wanted something so real and a bit grown-up. When we walked in the door Alexia was singing "Movie time, pizza time, movie time, pizza time." We had a great evening and still had both kids in bed by 8:00pm!


Diego was really cold when he woke up this morning. He chugged his smoothie, ate a few cheerios and headed straight to the couch. He cacooned himself into the blanket and stayed there for about 20 minutes. I was tempted to get under the blanket with him!

When Alexia saw me take a picture of Diego she insisted on me taking a picture of her too. Check out her pose!

This was at Abby's birthday on Tuesday. The kids got in such a cute position to play so I grabbed the camera and after 6+ takes, I still could not get them all looking at the same time. Alexia was purposely looking away...lil' stinker!

She LOVED her cake!

"Happy Birthday Alexcha"

Today was our sweet, little girl's SECOND birthday! Amazing! What a treasure of a child she is and we are so grateful to God for creating her. Not only does she bring our family an unimaginable amount of joy, but she spreads her energy and sweet spirit to anyone who is around her. She is full of smiles, energy, love, cuddles and sweetness. She is a little chatterbox and is saying many complete sentences of 4+ words. She continues to be the champion eater and enjoys all of her meals. She is absolutely and completely still her daddy's girl. She expresses her love for him any chance she gets and prefers to be in his arms than anywhere else, most of the time.
Ricardo took the day off of work so that we could have a special day together as a family. Diego was giddy with excitement to be celebrating his sister's birthday and was so sweet with her.


Ricardo drew a sweet picture on her present


She was thrilled to open her first "little people" doll house. Diego and her played with it all morning...


...until it was time to go to breakfast at La Madeline. She loves the croissants and muffins there so we had a special breakfast out and enjoyed our time together.

Breakfast at La Madeline always ends with racing up and down the sidewalk area. Diego and Alexia ran together for about 10 minutes and then asked Papa and I to join in on the racing.

After breakfast we headed to the Children's museum downtown and had a really fun time.

They loved painting!

This crane was the highlight for Diego. He loaded the top with balls and then dumped them into the basket. Alexia was a great co-pilot.

They probably had the most fun playing in the tree house. I love Diego's face here. His cheeks were bright red because he was so hot from running around.

Ricardo is part of a weekly men's group on Wednesdays. This Wednesday was his turn to host so we decided to turn it into a little birthday party for Alexia. We invited wives and children and Alexia was thrilled! I enjoyed having my girlfriends over and Alexia and Diego had a blast with their buddies. We had hot dogs, chips and salad and of course, chocolate cake!

Playdate with the girls and Halloween

Last week the kids and I drove up to Rome, GA to visit Jana and her daughter Mara Kate. Katie, Ella Ann and Rane were there also so it was a full house and a wonderful time. Diego had a blast playing with Mara Kate and Ella Ann and wore butterfly wings for about four hours. Alexia kept up with the big kids most of the time and really enjoyed sitting at Mara Kate's little table to play "tea party." Jana, Katie and I loved the time we had to catch up and be together.


Diego leading the "train" into the living room. Notice wings, umbrella (which Ella Ann is holding) and guitar! Love it!


They were hysterical!




Alexia trying to manage the guitar and baby cradle together


She loved the wings! We picked her up a pair today for her birthday while we were out doing errands.


On Saturday morning our friends, Aaron and Helen came over for brunch and we had a great morning. The kids adore spending time with them and Alexia never gives poor Aaron a break when he is around. She is constantly pulling at his legs, asking him to hold her and giving him kisses. I didn't get many good pictures, but Aaron took some great ones with his camera so I will post those once we get them. Here's one of the kids being silly with Aaron.


Diego was invited to a birthday party on Halloween so we got the kids dressed up and headed over to an afternoon full of fun festivities. The party ended with trick-or-treating in the neighborhood so we let Diego join the kids and he had a BLAST. It was so fun to see the extreme excitement in him when he realized what it was all about. Alexia even became brave and went to some front doors with the big kids, without mom or dad.


The second the clothes went on Alexia, she kept saying "Meow, meow, meow, meow" She loved it!


Playing a ball toss game at the party


Blowing her bubbles. Lucy, Archer's mom is very creative so there were lots of fun games with great prizes!


Archer's grandma read a story and then had the kids play "Old maid says"


The turtle and his buddies "trick or treating"


Back home on the front porch, waiting for trick or treaters to come our way. We only had two families come by since it was already raining by the time we arrived home.


Out of focus, but just a glimpse of the sugar high Diego was on! He was running around in circles...


...and dancing!