Thanksgiving {2012}

Well I just wanted to tell you all thank you for the love and support from my last post it is much appreciated, my Dad seems to be doing much, much better but there is still a long haul ahead.
I think it is time to catch up on the end of November!
We had been planning a long trip to visit Robert's family in Texas for Thanksgiving. The day before we left Elena started puking - great. Then Robert got up in the middle of the night with the stomach bug too. We decided to pack up, grab some medicine, an extra trash can just in case and hit the road. Thank goodness there was no puking in the car but Robert felt terrible - even when I was driving. We hit some horrible traffic in Ft. Worth and gave up (even though we had about 8 more hours til our destination!) We scored an awesome hotel that had a beautiful view so it was actually a nice stop:

In the morning everyone seemed to be feeling better and I (thank goodness) didn't wake up sick. We hopped in and started the rest of a very long drive. It was so awesome to have hardly any traffic on the roads! Elena kept busy with her little desk we brought for coloring and crafts and Dominic slept a lot.

We made decent time and made it to Robert's brother's house right in time for an early dinner! Yay! Everyone was so excited to see Elena and meet Dominic. Robert's Mom picked up D and started crying - it was too sweet! By the way, he is the only grand-baby who will be carrying on the family name!

We had a fun relaxing rest of our day just hanging out with family.

Turkey/milk coma ;)

Little did we know that the fun was just beginning -- yep, you guessed it, I got that nasty stomach bug that night and apparently so did the ENTIRE rest of Robert's family! Yikes, what a gift to bring with us! I felt terrible for getting everyone sick but at least it was only a 24 hr bug! And at least we got it out of the way at the beginning of the trip, right?! ;)

Overwhelmed.

I have gotten so far behind on blogging and honestly just haven't really been up to posting the past couple of weeks. It's not that there hasn't been much going on since I last posted, we've had a long vacation to Texas, Thanksgiving, my first experience at a Quinceanera, a visit to the beach, Elena's Christmas program, Dom's first solid food, Illuminations, and even more... But my Dad has been having some very serious health issues lately and that has been taking a priority right now. I don't know if I will really get into what has been happening on this blog but I did want to acknowledge it and ask for prayers. Prayers for strength and healing for my Dad as well as for the rest of our family, especially for my Mom who has also been very overwhelmed lately. There is a long road ahead of us but we just have to have faith and believe that everything is going to be ok. Thank you.  

4 months.

It is so unbelievable that my little man is 4 months old! He is growing so so fast!! Here are some new things he is up to from this past month.

He loves his exer-saucer - it is his favorite thing to do right now, I think it makes him feel independent and he likes it!

He has really started grabbing onto toys - so fun!

We started rice cereal and he is eating like a pro - I see veggies in our very near future! (Then I am really going to have a chunk on my hands!)
He still likes to stick his tongue out and smile.

He has found his hands and likes to chow down on them!

He is also starting to drool a lot! Makes me wonder if he is working on some teeth.

He is doing great with sleeping but likes to take a couple little power naps in the morning instead of one long one.
He absolutely loves pat-a-cake! He will giggle and giggle when you clap his hands together.

Loves watching Mickey Mouse already - uh oh!

Squeals very loudly when he is excited! (I wonder where on earth he got that from? Hmmm...Big sis maybe?!)

Is really starting to love baths and enjoying kicking and splashing in the water!

Is in 6 months clothes already! Right around 17 lbs!
He is the happiest baby ever! He always has a smile for you - even if he is hungry or tired.  

 Happy 4 months little man!

Rice Cereal.

On Nov 5th, we let Dominic try rice cereal for the first time! He seems very ready for food. He watches us while we eat and chomps with his mouth. He gets mad when we are at the table and he isn't! And obviously he is chowing down on formula too! So we thought we would give it a shot. He took it like a champ and chowed down an entire bowl!

The next time we tried I even let Elena give him a couple spoonfuls. She thought that was awesome!

We decided to go ahead and get out the highchair so he could sit at the table with us. I think he likes it. :) 

I have a pretty strong feeling that we will not be waiting until 6 months to try out baby food like we did with Elena. This big boy is getting more and more ready by the day!

Lil' Mama.

 Elena is such a great big sister! She has done so well with Baby D, better than I ever could have hoped. She is my little helper and always wants to take care of him. She is definitley a little mama!

How adorable is this?? She is practicing "super baby" with her doll Olive! So sweet! 

She actually practices being a Mommy with her dolls all the time! Here she is swaddling and putting baby Dora down for a nap!

As you can see here - Dominic thinks his big sister is pretty awesome too! 

First Haircut.

and no, I'm not talking about the baby, I am actually talking about Elena! I know, I know - she's 4 years old! Why wait so long? Honestly no reason really - her cute little curls have always looked really good so I've never felt that she needed one. Plus, she went on a very long streak of being obsessed with Tangled and when I tried to talk her into a trim before she gasped and acted like I was crazy, she wanted hair like Rapunzel! :) But after straightening her hair a few times recently I realized she could definitely use a trim! So last week she got her 'official' first haircut! That's one for the baby book - lol!! She was really excited!

What better place to take a princess than to a Pink salon! :)

This girl was hilarious - she kept saying ''This is so great!" over and over, and look at this reaction after - ha ha ha! She was cracking the entire salon up! 

I got a 'little' trim too - what do you think?

I'm loving it so far (even though it looks darker its not, just the lighting I guess)! I have had it long for quite some time, it's nice to have a little change!

Hectic.

November has been so hectic! Between Robert traveling for work, my work being very busy and two busy kiddos - I have had a hard time finding time to take pictures (gasp - I know!) let alone blog. I have managed to take pictures on my phone so here is a little catch up ...

Mr. Man sporting his 6 month jammies!

Seriously, make him stop growing!!

All Elena wants to do all the time is crafts, crafts, and more crafts!  

Her most favorite thing to do right now (which I need to get a picture of!) is coloring and cutting out construction paper in the shape of clothes for her little dolls! I mean all the time she is cutting out new designs! Maybe I have a little fashion designer on my hands! 

I can just see in his eyes that he is going to be an onery one! :)

Already he wants so badly to keep up with his big sister! He watches her like a hawk! 

This is definitley his favorite toy right now! 

Some pre-bedtime snuggles - one of my favorite things to do!  

 Elena had a friend over to stay the night for the first time! What a fantastic time she had! We definitley had to lay the law down at about 11pm when the giggles were still continuing! ;)

 Yup. That's my husband.

 We decided to break out the highchair so the little man could join us at the table.

So of course I should have known this would happen!

 He's also starting to like the Bumbo chair too!

Of course there has been lots of time hanging out with Mom...

and Dad!