Up, up, and away!

While Enrique's parents were here for Thanksgiving our oldest Gabriel was lucky enough to go on a helicopter tour of Seattle with his papi and abuelo.  At his age he loves cars, airplanes, and yes, helicopters.  I was actually a little nervous at the thought of my baby going up in a helicopter because who knows what could have happened and of course I was thinking the worse.  Among other things I kept thinking he would cry the entire time, be freaking out or worse yet he would throw up all over the place (he had just eaten lunch).  But I was wrong on all accounts.  Enrique told me that he cried a little when they were getting in the helicopter because he was the first to go in and Enrique wasn't in there yet but once they were air bound he had a blast.  I guess he wouldn't stop talking the entire way.  We could sum up his experience with this one picture.

Priceless!  Here are a few more pictures from their flight.



A Time for Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we were so lucky to have Enrique's parents and sister here to visit us.  After frantically getting the house ready in one week after moving in, family arrived and the fun began.  My mother in law was instrumental in me keeping my sanity and not wearing myself out completely.  She helped me clear off counters and tabletops that still had picture frames, candles, and decorative items that needed to find a place in our new home.  She cooked meals daily and cleaned my kitchen afterwards.  I couldn't have asked for anything more. 

As for Thanksgiving dinner, we invited our friends Brian and Jen over which was a lifesaver because they brought over a wonderful butternut squash soup, a yummy vegetable dish, a salad and an apple pie to round off our meal.  It was nice only having to focus on a few items and not the whole meal.  That is a lot of work!  I made the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, rolls, pumpkin pie, and of course a chocolate pie for Yanira and Enrique.  It all turned out so beautiful and tasted amazing.  Thanks for all your help Yolanda, Yanira, Brian and Jen.  It was a great Thanksgiving!

 My mother in law Yolanda and sister in law Yanira.

Our beautifully decorated table thanks to my mother in law.  She is so gifted when it comes to entertaining and decorating.  I'm so glad she was here to do it instead of me.

A look at our Thanksgiving spread.

 The boys enjoying their yummy turkey!!

We have so much to be thankful for this year.  Our growing family, Gabriel, Raphael and another baby boy coming in April.  We have a beautiful new home closer to Enrique's work which makes his life a whole lot easier and gives us more time to be together as a family.  We are also grateful to have family that loves us and takes the time to come visit us even though we are so far away. 

A Little Update

I wrote this a long time ago and never posted it. Ooops! Thought I'd post it anyways. :)
My appoligies for anyone actually following my blog for I have not been diligent in my postings.  I don't have much time tonight so I will start with a little update of what has been going on in our neck of the woods. 
Since September I have been working...full time.  I started off the school year working as a Para Ed in one of the local elementary schools; working one on one with a little first grader from a Russian family.  I was needed to observe this little girl for two and a half weeks.  That was a fun experience and a great way to get back into the schools.  It turns out that there was another position opening up the following Monday after my first assignment was over, a long term sub for a 3rd grade class.  I decided to take this position although I was unsure how long it would last.  And...I'm still working.  It turns out the regular classroom teacher fell and broke her shoulder and has needed a lot of time to heal.  As of today she will be returning after the Christmas break.  I am so grateful for the many opportunities that I have been given to return to teaching and to meet some wonderful references for future teaching jobs that I may come across.
These opportunites have not come without a price though.  Unfortunately I feel like my family has paid the price.  Since starting to work and having to put the boys in daycare, they have been sick ever since.  If it is not pink eye, it is croup, an ear infection, a pesky cough or an unending runny nose.  In Raphael's case it may be all of the above at the same time.  That is just the boys.  I have been sick with some kind of cold, lost my voice completely for two days and had food poisoning.  Enrique has also been sick with a sore throat and resporatory issues.  I feel like I'm living in a bubble but not the steralized, safe bubble, a bubble full of sickness that we can't kill off no matter how hard we try.  This has been so frustrating!
As for my working, it really wasn't planned that I would go back to work full time so soon.  I think that I will be taking a little break after this long term position ends in December so I can be with my little boys and hopefully rid my family of this never ending sickness.  Don't get me wrong I am grateful for what I've been given but this may not be the right time for me to go back full time.  I will probable take some sub jobs here and there to keep in touch with the teachers and principals that I'm met but that will be it for now.
Okay, now that I got all that out of the way here is a little update on the boys.  Gabriel is two and a half and tall!  We always knew he would be tall and he is not letting us down.  He looks like all the other 3 or 4 year olds in daycare or "school" as he calls it.  Every night he asks us "Go to school morrow?"  He really likes going and has made a lot of friends there.  The first things he asks for when he wakes up in the morning is, "eat with papi?" and "eat oatmeal?"  He loves to eat with his papi every morning.  He is becoming such a big boy and is taking a lot more.  Although we can't understand everything he is trying to say full sentences and to talk to us even when we look at him half confused most the time. He is such a lovable little guy and he loves his little brother!  I know he loves him even though we hear a lot of, "no Raffa, no" and "my toy, my car, my ball, my shoe, my phone, my water"....etc.  He calls him "Raffa" and his favorite thing to do is play catch with him. Yes, Raphael actually throws the ball back!  Amazing!  At least I think so at 8 months old.
That brings me to Raphael.  He is now 8 months old and the cutest little thing ever.  He has been dubbed the smiliest baby ever at church and at daycare.  He constantly has a smile on his face.  He could be sicker than sick and he is still smiling.  He started crawling about a week and a half ago and he has not slowed down since.  His favorite things to do are also throw the ball with Gabriel and chase him all around the house.  He is usually after whatever toy Gabriel is playing with at the time so Gabriel is literally running from him.  He loves Cheerios or anything he can pick up and put in his mouth to chew on.  This is mainly because I think it feels good on his poor little gums.  He already has his two bottom teeth and is in the process of getting his two top teeth plus another one on the bottom.  Poor guy has been teething and battling ear infections and colds for over a month now.  He is one I wish I could just put in a little bubble so he can get better at least.
I'm having issue linking any pictures for some reason so my next post will have some recent pictures of the boys.  Until next time.