Diego's birthday party!

Finally, here are pictures of the big party on Monday! We had a blast and Diego was so excited to celebrate his birthday with his friends. The theme of the party was Cars (the Disney movie) and everything was McQueen and Mater related.

After all the friends arrived we played for awhile and then had lunch. We had chicken from Diego's favorite restaurant (Chik Fil A!), fruit and salad. The kids did so well standing around the little tables we had set up in the living room and happily ate their lunches. After lunch we ventured out to the cold to hit the pinata! The concept of the pinata was new to most of our friends so Diego had to show them how it was done. Some of the girls were even scared to hit it, so cute. It was a big hit and we had a blast with it. We then went inside to have cake and open presents and play some more before everyone started to get sleepy for nap time.

Ricardo took the day off of work so it was special to have the whole afternoon together. In the evening we went to La Fonda for dinner and we started a fun tradition. We spent the whole time at the restaurant talking about the past year. We told Diego stories of all the trips we'd taken and we talked about special memories which he really enjoyed. He kept asking us to tell him more and asked a bunch of questions. It will be a lot of fun when the kids are older and we can enjoy this tradition on their birthdays.

Enjoying lunch!

Notice how the moms are shivering - the kids didn't even notice the cold with the excitement of the pinata!

Quite a swing!


Showing off his suckers

"Happy Birthday to you"


Diego and Bennett with their cheeks full of tootsie rolls

This is Diego having to do whatever Papi does!

Enjoying salmon and asparagus off the BBQ last weekend

Diego turns THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today we celebrated our superstar's THIRD birthday. Amazing!
Seven of Diego's buddies came over for a party this morning and we had a blast. Diego was on cloud nine all day long. I will upload pictures tomorrow, but just wanted to make sure to say Happy Birthday Diego today!

Baby Cayden

Some of our best friend's had a baby boy last Friday and we are pleading for prayer for this precious boy. He was born at 32 weeks, weighing 3lbs 11oz. He is still not breathing on his own very much and is in a very delicate situation right now. He had an MRI done this morning to conclude whether or not he has any neurological problems. Please pray for peace for Scott and Paige, wisdom for the doctors caring for him and health, strength and recovery for baby Cayden.

You can follow his progress at http://hirschhaps.blogspot.com/

Friends

My friend Jessie and I have been exchanging childcare lately. Her children are almost the same ages as Diego and Alexia so they make a happy foursome. It is a wonderful way to get some things done during the day without children (like yesterday I went to the doctor for the first time since Alexia was born!) She even watched our kids for us last Friday night so we could go to Cirque Du Soleil on a special date and it was spectacular!!

Here are some pictures from last week when we had Sofia and Albe for a morning. I even fed all four children lunch at the same time and survived! :)

Sofia kept saying "You have to fix my heart. You have to fix my heart."

I was so pleased that Sofia and Diego contently played legos together for a long time. They made a great team and built some awesome structures.

Quietly sitting together is rare for them, this is usually what they're up to - being wild!

Meanwhile, Alexia and Albe tumbled around on the pillows and had their own share of fun:

Happy New Year!

It's crazy that this is the first post I've done in the new year! Where have the first two weeks of January gone!?

So not to delay a post any longer, I will upload some pictures and try to write a post soon...!


Ricardo bought fireworks for New Years and Diego was just giddy with excitement. In the next picture you can see the line-up of all the ones they set off together. It was so cold out that Alexia and I were inside when these pictures were taken. The boys had a blast!

We had a special New Years dinner at a friend's house. They have 4-month old twin girls and Alexia decided to be silly and hang out in the bouncy seat.

Ricardo and Diego assembled a gingerbread house on New Years Day and really enjoyed their time together.

Diego decorating the tree with ornaments.

They LOVE sitting at this table in the morning to play their pianos together.

I babysat my friend's 3 children last week and this is what our family room looked like for several hours: Alexia and Hartley (also 1-yr old) playing with the new play kitchen, Asher (6 yrs old) and Diego running around like wild and Adeline (5 yrs old) reading a book on the couch. Whew! I don't know how mothers of 5 do it!

Alexia and Hartley were so cute together!

I know that after 2 weeks of not posting, there should be more..but I still have pictures on my camera to upload. I will try to update again this weekend. Thank you for your patience!

Christmas Vacation

As previously mentioned, we had a fabulous time in Florida with the family for Christmas. We were there for 6 days and every day was a blast. Upon our arrival, we were welcomed with presents for the kids. Mima and Opa had bought a soccer net and soccer ball for Diego and a ride-on firetruck for Alexia to keep them entertained during their time in the house. Alexia mastered climbing on the firetruck and making it move by pushing her feet on the ground - I'm bummed I don't have a picture of her on it. Diego had a blast spending a little bit of time each day playing soccer in the back yard.
On Tuesday we took a day trip to the Everglades which was gorgeous. Diego was enthralled by the alligators and Alexia impressed us with her keen eyesight in picking out the animals amidst the camouflage of the brush. She barked at the alligators and birds and absolutely loved the walk. On our way back to town we stopped by a wonderful fruit stand to buy milkshakes and Alexia downed almost half of Ricardo's milkshake - her first real taste of ice cream. That evening we had dinner at the house and then Roberto and Daniela came over to hang out and we played a game of Cranium which was so much fun.

On Christmas Eve we cooked, hung out, listened to Christmas Carols and got the house ready for the big party in the evening. We went to church service in the evening and then headed back to the house to wait for the guests. The invitation was for 8:00pm, but being on Latin time, the first guests arrived at 9:00pm! We had an exquisite meal and a really special time with family and friends (Diego and Alexia missed the party since it was too late for them).

On Christmas morning Ricardo and I got up early with the kids and had breakfast and opened a couple of presents before anyone else got up. Once the family was up, Diego and Alexia tore into all of their presents and loved every second of it. They scored big time with all of their treasures and had a blast playing with their new toys.
Shortly after opening presents, we packed up all the leftovers from the night before and packed our bags and drove south to Key Biscayne to spend the day with Roberto and Daniela. We have started a tradition of doing a photography contest where each family member brings their best 10 pictures of the year and we choose the best scenery picture and the best people picture for a grand prize of $50 each. It was so much fun to see everyone's pictures and to recap memories of the year. We also sang karaoke, went to the beach, ate delicious leftovers and just enjoyed hanging out as a family. Ricardo, the kids and I spent the night at the condo and the next day hit the beach again. Diego and Alexia were absolutely and totally in love with the beach and swimming pool - it was definitely the highlight of the trip for them.
Our vacation came to a close with a fun dinner out on Friday night at Las Olas Blvd in Ft Lauderdale and then a day at the park on Saturday.

Diego mastered the concept of looking through the binoculars to see the alligators.

In the Everglades

The crazy number of presents under the Christmas tree

Getting ready to open the present from Tio Robi and Tia Dani

His first set of golf clubs - a hit with them both!

Ricardo's grandmother (in red), mom, siblings and cousins

A very happy boy at the beach!

Alexia sat in one spot, playing in the sand while Diego played in his hole

Mima and I jammin' to "Love Shack"

Diego stayed in this same position the entire time we were all singing karoke - he didn't know what had gotten into us!

We set them up in their boosters to enjoy the karoke show!

Hanging out with Tia Majo and Alfredo - he is in love with them both!

This was just a small sampling of pictures, click here to see the full album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=199120&l=9abc5&id=678120522

Alexia Marie

We had a fabulous Christmas vacation in Miami with Ricardo's family, but today we decided we wanted to write a post dedicated to Alexia, a wonderful sunshine. A Christmas post will be along in the next couple of days, but today is all about our 1 year old princess:

Alexia has always been a source of immense joy for Ricardo and I, but she is blossoming so much right now that we often find ourselves in pure amazement. I used to often fear that our second-born wouldn't bring us as much wonder as Diego, but it's amazing how God has designed our hearts to grow in love instead of dividing it and to love them each in their own unique way.

Alexia has a contagious smile and is incredibly social. She notices every person around her and makes each person feel special and loved with her glances, smiles and kisses. Yes, kisses...she is a kissing machine! She blows endless kisses with her hands and gives kisses on cheeks on cue and sometimes on her own if she is feeling especially affectionate.

Her vocabulary consists of the following words: Up, Ball, Wow, Uh-oh, Papa, Mama, De-De (Diego) and a ton of other sounds which I'm sure mean something, but we just haven't figured them out yet.

She has a great appetite, as long as she is eating foods of her choice. She actually eats better than Diego does on most occasions. Her favorites are: cheese, black beans, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, cucumber, chicken and pasta. She likes drinking from her sippy cup, but much prefers sucking her liquids through a straw (see below and Ricardo asked that you excuse his face):

Her favorite activities are: playing with Diego, flipping pages in books, dancing, taking things out of containers, boxes, bags, etc and putting them back in again, eating and her latest discovery, coloring:

I've always heard that girls are attached to their daddy's, hence the phrase "Daddy's girl." Ok, this girl is Papi's girl beyond belief. Unless she wants to nurse (which is less often these days), she prefers to be with her Papi. She says "Papa" at least 25 times a day and is always on the lookout for him. I am afraid she will go through withdrawal this week now that he has to go back to work. She showers him with kisses and is so expressive and funny with him. Her love for him also carries over to her sensitivity around him. When Ricardo disciplines her, she immediately melts down with tears. We've always known she would be tough to discipline (because of her independence and strong will), but now we're really seeing it in action. It warms my heart in an incredible way to see the bond that Alexia and Ricardo share and I pray that they continue to grow closer together as the years go on. Here they are lounging at dinner on Friday:

We call her our lil' firecracker -- she blows kisses when she's in trouble and she tells Diego neh-neh (no). She loves to play peek-a-boo and barks at all animals that she sees. She pounds her chest like a gorilla, moos like a cow, smacks her lips like a fish and can point to the following body parts: head, mouth, ears, nose, feet and hands.

Here are a couple of cute shots from the week. We thank the Lord for blessing us with Alexia Marie.

Looking at presents at Mima's house.

Enjoying her time at the beach, seated on Tio Robi's belly.

Splashin' around with mom in the pool

And here are some moments of joy that she brought to family members during our time in Miami: (Tia Majo, Opa and Alfredo, I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures of you with Alexia)

Mima (Ricardo's mom)

Tio Robi (Ricardo's brother)

Tia Orli (Ricardo's cousin)

Tia Dany (Our sister-in-law)

And of course her dear brother, Diego. I have to mention how sweet their relationship is. In this picture you see they are both chewing on toys. That is because Diego does everything she does and imitates her every move. They play so well together and Diego is always watching out for her. On Christmas Eve we went to church service and we left them in the nursery at a church we had never been to before. When I went to pick them up at the end of the hour, the ladies told me that they had played right by each other's side the whole time and that they were happy and smiley the whole time.