Then and Now

In August 2010, I snapped a picture of Ana, Javi, Juan and Ringo chilling out on the couch.  Just last weekend I glanced over at the couch and had a major case of déjà vu .  I grabbed my camera and got another cute shot.  I can't believe how much they've grown in just a few months (especially Juan's hair - ha!).  And I don't know why Javi always has to sit with Ringo...

Rocking Pig & Cow

Most kids have rocking horses.  We have a rocking pig and cow.  They were an adorable gift when Ana and Javi were born and they sat as decorations in the nursery until pretty recently.  Now they reside in the living room and Ana and Javi regularly push them out to the middle of the floor and beg to be put onto them.  They are able to climb off by themselves, but can not get back on.  So, I'm getting a bit of an arm workout lifting them up 100 times a day. 

My New Toy

My new bike arrived today!  Yay!!!  Hopefully this bike will see me through my first few years of triathlons.  You know, because then I'll need a really really fancy pro bike.  ha!  I need to take it to the bike shop to get it tuned up, but I'm excited to take it out on the road.

In not so exciting news - Ana has her first ear infection.  Poor baby.  She's had a low fever, on and off, for the past few days. She's been acting pretty normal, just a little bit clingy.  I took her to the doctor today and she has a bit of an infection in one ear.  Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in and she'll be all better tomorrow. 

Happy 2011

Yeah, I know it's already almost the end of January.  My resolution should be to blog more :)  It wouldn't be hard to succeed. 

I've also been bad at taking pictures this month.  Sorry.  This is going to be a pretty pictureless blog post.

We're trying to work with Ana and Javi on being more comfortable with other people looking after them.  They have only ever been in the care of me, Juan, Steve & Emily, and their grandparents.  One way we're working on this is by going to church more often and taking them to the nursery to play while we're at Mass.  The first week was okay.  They were both just confused when we left them there, so they didn't cry until they figured out we were gone.  When we went to pick them up we found that Javi had been crying a bit.  The nursery volunteers said that Ana just cried when someone else cried.  :)  She's empathetic like that. 

Week 2 was a little better.  Javi was totally fine when we left but Ana was crying crying.  When we went to pick them up, Javi was in the foyer looking out the window with one of the nursery volunteers.  He had been upset but was doing okay.  Ana was happily playing until she saw us and burst into tears. 

Week 3 will be great, right??  Too bad the nursery is closed the next 2 weekends for a retreat.  Sheesh.

I have been talking for a very very long time about wanting to do a triathlon.  I am really out of shape, so it's going to be quite a challenge.  I have signed up for a super sprint "rookie" triathlon in April.  I have to buy a bike, see if I remember how to swim, and figure out how to run more than 20 seconds without crying.  I can do that by April, right?  :)   If I enjoy it, I'll sign up for some more triathlons throughout the summer and early fall.  I think it should be pretty fun!  Would anyone like to join me?

We had brunch with my old friend, Laura, last week.  She was visiting Austin and we were so lucky to be able to get together with her for some yummy food.  I haven's seen Laura for years and years and years.  She is as sweet and kind as I remember.  I hope to see her so much more often in the future.  We talked about doing an Austin COR reunion next time she's in town. There are several COR alumni and coaches in town.  It would be fun to get together with everyone. 

December 2010

I have been such a HORRIBLE blogger lately!  I really need to do a better job at this.  You may notice that I have a different layout!  I 'won/bought' a new blog design package at our AMOM silent auction.  I worked with Becky at 'Cheese my Head' and she made me this fun layout :)

 I don't know where to start.  I guess I'll try to get the rest of 2010 covered in one post.  Get ready for a lot of pictures!

Look at Javi's poor head.  That boy gives me a heart attack just about every day.  He runs into everything head first and he has a bit of trouble staying on his feet.  He has a 100th percentile head (it's large).  I think that's to blame for his lack of balance.  It actually has improved a whole lot over the past month, but just last week he fell head first into the music teachers fireplace.  

I love their Christmasy outfits in this picture.  The dress that Ana is wearing used to be mine when I was a baby! 

Ana and Javi love to ride around on their little 'cars' (or, as we call them, the Princessmobile and the Fire Truck).  Javi pushes Ana around on the Princessmobile.  He's such a strong brother.  Ana loves to push the buttons and play music.  She'll even reach over and push the buttons on the fire truck so Javi can enjoy some tunes as he scoots around.

 We went to the 'baby park' in our neighborhood several times in December.  It is a great little play area attached to the elementary school.  I don't really know who plays on it during the school day - maybe kinder aged kids?  I don't know.  It is perfect for toddlers.

 Ana's hair got so so long in front and it just all falls into her eyes.  I really was avoiding cutting bangs, but decided it would be best.  This is one of her last bang-free photos!  She looks adorable with bangs though and she seems to enjoy not having to deal with hair in her eyes all the time.

We painted a few Christmas presents this year.  Doesn't that green paint look yummy (Ana)?  haha!  Javi was not sure at all about putting his hands in paint.  Ana just thought it looked like peas - yum!  We got some very fun artwork out of these art sessions.  Their Abuela and Grammy loooove them!

Their great grandparents (my granny and grampa) gave them these great chairs for Christmas.  We tried them out a few days before Christmas so we could take pictures with us to Dallas.  They loved them!  They play in their chairs all the time.  I say, "sit on your bottom" all day long, but the are pretty good listeners.  They've only fallen over the arms of the chairs a few times...  ;)

I loved this picture of Ana and Javi looking at their daddy and doggy through the door.  Please ignore the fingerprints and dog nose prints... ugh.

Here are some "after" bangs pictures.  She is such a sweet big girl.  I just retrimmed her bangs last week and they look much better than my first attempt.   I love her little smocked top.  So old fashioned, but so cute.

We went to Houston for a few days before Christmas and for Christmas Day.  It was so much fun to see Nancy, Manuel, Pedro, Jenny and the Abuelos.  They spoiled Ana and Javi rotten and gave me and Juan a great break with so many hands offering to help!  It was so nice and relaxing.  We went to Christmas Eve mass, ate yummy food, opened presents and played at the park!  Juan and I also got to go to lunch with Tom and Shelley who are expecting their own little girl in a few months!!! 

I forgot Ana's coat in Austin.  (yeah, I win mom of the year for that one...)  So, she wore a random assortment of sweaters for the whole trip.  This sweater was one that Juan, Pedro and Manuel wore when they were babies.  It's a little snug on Ana, but I thought this picture was adorable.

There was a fun little park in the neighborhood.  We went there every day to swing and slide and run around.

We left for Dallas late on the 25th and made it in at around midnight.  Erin, Dan, Grammy and Grampa held off opening all of their presents until the 26th.  I have to say that Santa made Javi and Ana's Christmas by bringing them a basketball, football and soccer ball.  They love them.  They got so spoiled with all of their presents.  They will not be bored for a long long time  :)

Ana and Javi made a picture for their Grammy with their handprints.  When Erin and I were little, my uncle made a picture that said, "twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are..." with our handprints around it.  So, Ana and Javi decided that it would be fun to make one to match that says, "up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky."  She loved it.  They also loved showing her how they made their handprints.

Sweet little owl babies with their mommy and Grammy.

Erin was teaching a very snuggly Javi how to make some pretty faces.

They loved playing the piano!

More swinging at the park in Richardson.

Ana and Javi visited their Great Grandparents and had a GREAT time playing. 

We went to the new Aquarium at Fair Park in Dallas.  It's a kids aquarium, so it's very very toddler friendly.  The fish tanks are all really low and it's okay if the kids touch the glass.  We went about an hour before closing time and basically had the place to ourselves.  Ana and Javi ran loops around the place, stopping every once in a while to say hi to some alligators.  It was a lot of fun and I'm sure we'll go back!

We came back to Austin on the 29th and celebrated New Years Eve with Steve and Emily at home.  We played games and ate some YUMMY food.  Ana and Javi decided that they were way too cool to sleep through NYE.  Our normally very great nighttime sleepers were both awake to see the ball drop.  Luckily they pretty quickly went back to bed and slept in for us on January 1st.   Yay!