My Birthday

It is so nice to have family so close by. Now that my sister lives here, we are spending a lot of time together. Before, special occasions would bring me much sorrow because Esteban would have to go to work and I’d be home alone with the kids. Now, I have my sister. I was very sad that Esteban and I couldn’t do something together for my birthday since he had to work, but we managed to get the kids together and go out for breakfast. And that was a great start to the day. We had a great time and then he left to work and I loaded the kids up in the car and went to my sister's. She made a wonderful lasagna dinner and a chocolate cheesecake. It was so good. It ended up getting kinda late so I spent the night there and came back the next day. It was a great day!

Here I am with my sister and Maya. Jayden of course said something about No! when I asked him to take his picture with Mommy.
This was a super delicious chocolate cheesecake with chocolate ganache icing. Beautiful presentation. Thanks sister!

Arthur Live!

My sister suggested we take the kids to see Arthur Live. They were coming to the Lakeland Center which is right smack at the halfway point between her place and mine. It worked out really well. Aiden really loved the show and had the typical ooh-aah reaction. He was very cute. And when she wasn't dropping her bottle, Maya was cooing and babbling the entire time. I was pleasantly surprised with the show’s content. It had something for all ages. I enjoyed it much better than the Blue’s Clues show, but poor Jayden sat there with a frown on. I tried to engage him by dancing in my seat, clapping and singing, but he was actually trying to hold my arms down so I wouldn’t clap. I’m no longer surprised by his reactions so I just ignored him.

The curtain went down for the intermission and Jayden looked at me and said “Where’s Blues Clues?” Is that what the problem is? He automatically thought it would be Blues Clues performing, since that was the first show we went to. Poor guy. Snacks and juice kept him entertained for the second half of the show and afterwards we hit the souvenir stand. I got him a T-Shirt and a back pack and he seemed happy with this. I’m thinking about Diego Live next. We’ll see.

Here is my boy. I'm not sure if you can see it or not, but notice how his eyebrow is furrowed.
I kept Maya on my lap with the help of the baby carrier. Diaper changes were interesting but we made it happen!

Here's my sister and her family, enjoying the show.

The Grandparents Come to Visit!

Grandpa and Grandma came for a long overdue trip. And we had such a fun time with them. It was hard to see them go. We sure did keep busy with frequent visits to my sister’s place, the birthday, the swing set and a few other things around the house, but we enjoyed their company. It was so nice to have some extra hands around the house. Maya was always in someone’s lap. Grandma helped with baths and Grandpa loved to feed Maya. Grandma came with me to one of Jayden’s birthday parties and to Maya’s 1 year well visit. My dad helped my husband with the swing set and some irrigation work that needed to be done as a result of the screen room installation. He came with me to pick out the ceiling fan and the carpet for my screen room and he installed some lighting for me in my kitchen. It was so awesome having them around.

Jayden caught on to saying grandma and grandpa and it was just so cute to watch him. He would get into trouble and call out “Grandma”. Or if she wasn’t around, he’d say “Grandpa”. Now they are gone and he asks about them all the time. Where’s Grandpa? Where’s Grandma? Grandpa’s working? Grandpa’s coming soon? One day, he took me by the hand and led me to our spare room. “Open the door.” I wondered why. Maybe he wanted to color. When I opened the door, he looked at me and says “Where’s Grandpa?” Awww. I was so sad for him. If he sees anyone in public that’s a grandparent type, he’ll actually say hi grandma or hi grandpa. Luckily most people laugh. “Look, there’s Grandma. Hi Grandma!” he yelled this morning to the lady who was out walking her dogs. It would be so nice to have them closer. Visits are so nice, but saying good bye is so hard. Luckily my sister popped in on us to see them off and hung out with me after they left.

Here's Grandma with Jayden and Maya.
Here's grandpa with the kids. He's got his hands full.

Here's Grandpa with the boys: Jayden, Sebastian and Aiden.

My Favorite Space!

We finally got our screen room! I’m so excited. I love this space. This could easily be the room that gets the most use in the house right now. I have a sitting area out there and the kids have their play space. I’ve gotten my living room back. No more toys! Now the kid’s rocking chair, my rocking chair, the play pen, their ride on toys and their toy box is neatly sitting on the porch. The kids go out there willingly so it works out really well. We can keep them out of the house but still keep an eye on them and actually clean or do things around the house.

As soon as I wake up, I make a pot of coffee and grab the kids and head for the porch. Daddy can now get some much needed sleep in the mornings because the house is quiet. Since we’re outside, there’s less TV action, which I love. I was worrying that the kids were spending too much time in front of the TV. Messes are no longer located in the middle of the living room. Everything is outside and clean up is a cinch. It works out great.

Jayden and Maya love being outdoors. And there’s so much going on out there. They hear the birds singing, or the planes flying over us. They stop to listen or see where the sounds are coming from. The neighbors walk their dogs or push their strollers. The neighborhood kids run around on their bikes or skateboards so Jayden can say hi and interact with them. They just don’t get bored out there. I spend a heck of a lot of time at the kitchen sink so it works out great because I can hear and see everything that’s happening from the window right in front of my sink. Did I mention, I love this space?

Here's the view from the curb. And yes, those are gardenias that are just now coming into bloom. They smell wonderful right about now.
Here's my sitting area. Love it! PS I bet if I wanted to take a picture of Jayden he would make a face or turn away, but because I was clearly trying to get a picture of my room, he just had to scoot into the shot!

A Swing Set

We decided to get Maya and Jayden a joint gift this year for their birthdays. We got them a swing set for the yard. After lots of reading and searching, we got one at Toys R Us. It was a lot of work for Daddy, Grandpa and our neighbor Jim, but it’s so worth it. It turned out really well and it’s sitting in our yard, off to the side where it takes advantage of the neighbor’s oak tree for shade. Jayden especially loves it. He always wants to go outside and swing on it all the time. Well, he calls it swing, but really what he loves to do is climb the rock wall and come down the slide. And we attached the baby swing that was hanging up front to the swing set so that I can push both of the kids at the same time and she loves it too. Sometimes I swear I could rock her to sleep on that thing.

Here's the three amigos!
Here's the finished product! I supposed I should have taken one with the kids actually enjoying themselves, right!

Maya Isabella turns 1 Year Old!

It’s been a very busy month. Maya started out by taking 3-4 steps on 3/8. On 3/15, she got a new tooth. By 3/14, she was taking 5-6 steps. She was also walking with her ride on toy. The funniest thing was to watch Jayden on the ride on toy, while Maya walked behind him and if Maya fell down, Jayden would back up and “pick her up”. On 3/20, Maya was rushed to Urgent Care. She was home with Esteban and Jayden and lost her footing. She crashed right into the corner of the wall and instead of stitches, they used glue. I was so sad when I saw her. She had the tiniest of bandages on her little forehead. On 3/22, she up and decided she was going to be a big girl and take 15 -20 steps twice in one day. By her birthday, she was walking with ease.

At her check up, she was weighing 21 pounds, 13 ounces and measuring 29 ¼ inches long. We moved her from the infant car seat to Jayden’s convertible seat and now Jayden sits in his big boy booster seat. Maya is no closer to sleeping through the night than she was when she was an infant. Perhaps, I should notify her that she’s a big girl now. Hmmm. I still nurse Maya and haven’t really decided whether or not I want to wean her yet, but I have definitely been thinking about it. No real words yet but Maya makes the ma and ba sounds. She responds to her name and even cries when Jayden gets in trouble.

Here's Maya after the bandage fell off. This was my first time seeing the wound and I was so heartbroken. The doctor assured me it would heal well and fade over time. Good thing she's a girl and can wear cover-up. LOL
Here's the birthday girl. Her birthday button, sash, and shoes didn't last long. I daresay, they were on long enough for this picture. I never even got a chance to put her tiara on. She flung it right off.

Here's the birthday girl with her brother and cousin. I must say, she was very tired. It was dangerously close to bedtime and she wanted to nurse so bad. The cake kinda covered her face a bit. If we hadn't been rushing, I would have probably raised her seat a little. Oh well.

Here she is eyeballing the huge princess balloon that Titi and Tio brought her. I'm pretty sure she has no idea that what is sitting in front of her is a delicious coconut cake with cream cheese frosting. Poor girl.

After the birthday song, there was no candle to blow out since there wasn't really a space for it on the "castle tower". So I cut up a wedge and gave it to her. My dad held the plate in front of her and she dug her little hands right in and it was hilarious. She had frosting on her fingers and she was clearly confused. Should I lick my fingers or keep shoving the cake down my throat. Jayden was calling out, "Oh man!" and poor little Aiden was trying to be patient while he waited for his piece, but he just looked really sad.

After cake and changing out of sticky cake dress, I fed Maya and we opened presents. Of course she wanted to chew her way through the wrapping paper.

Here's Princess Maya with Mommy and Daddy. Don't mind my hanky. It was really humid out and I was trying to protect the hairdo I had gotten the day before.

Jayden was being a party pooper, but finally we got a picture of him actually looking at the camera.

God bless you, Maya Isabella!

Easter Egg Hunt

We took Jayden and Maya to the Easter Egg hunt at our church. Unfortunately, my batteries gave out so I relied on my camera phone for the shots. Here's Jayden collecting eggs. He was very serious. As you can see by the number of eggs, there was alot of work to be done.
Maya did have a small stash of eggs, but Jayden came by and swiped them. That's ok. She was happy with her two eggs.

Jayden could barely sit still for this picture. It was a fun event.

Afterwards, they went down for nap and I emptied the goodies from the eggs. Jayden didn't care too much. He was just happy moving the eggs around from one place to the other. Eggs were everywhere and whenever I collected them all in one place, he would come to me and say "Huevos?" Too cute!