Baby Shower

We are going to have a very exciting time around Christmas. Both Clint's and Adam's wives are pregnant. Fabiane and Adam are having a boy and Clint and Katie are having a girl. What lucky grandmas! If they see something cute for a girl they can get it or for a boy they can get that too. Since Fabiane and Adam were here for such a short time we put together a little baby shower with the moms in the family for Katie and Fabi. We went to eat at Wildflower Bakery. We talked and ate and it wouldn't be a baby shower without presents. I thought it was really fun. In fact I think we should do it whenever anyone in the family is expecting. I'm so excited for Fabiane and Katie. Congratulations girls! I hope you had a good time too.

The Cracker Monster

I was busy getting a few things done when it occurred to me that I hadn't seen Isabel in awhile so I went looking for her. I finally found her in the pantry. She had found the crackers and was sitting on the floor munching away. You can't tell from this picture but there were actually crackers and cracker crumbs scattered all over the floor. At least she went for the healthy whole grain crackers. There are other options. And she knows exactly where to go now. I've found her a few times since in the pantry with the same crackers. They learn so quick!

What is it like to have a big sister?

Alexandria is the best big sister. I wish I had a big sister like her. She really does take care of her younger brothers and Isabel. And they love her! She put Isabel on the rocking horse and was playing with her the other day just trying to make her laugh. As you can see it worked. I heard baby laughs coming out of Alexandria's room so I grabbed the camera before I went in. It's fun to see them play together.

1,2,3 JUMP!!!!

Swimming has been our favorite summer activity this year. And, this is one of their favorite tricks. They usually jump off the other side of the pool which is about two feet higher so they really fly. And they always jump in together. They even talk me into doing it with them.

For awhile they got to go swimming everyday because Aunt Whitney gave them swim lessons while she was here for two weeks. They loved it and did really well. Thanks Whit! Alexandria is a little mermaid. She dives down to the deep, swims all over and loves the water. AJ won't pull his head out of the water. He swims with his head down, eyes open, looking underwater and you literally have to pull on his hair to get him to come up and breathe. DJ makes me laugh because he swims with his arms straight down in front of him. He looks like a seal. Then there's Isabel who is content to just float around in her baby float. What a cutie. Hopefully, the water stays nice for a little longer. We have fun and it's one of the best ways I know to wear them out. They come home and fall right to sleep.

Happy Birthday to me!!

So, Thursday was my birthday. Grandma came over after work and stayed with the kids so I could go do some things. (You're great Mom!) It was fun. I made a trip to ToysRUs and didn't have to worry about kids asking for everything in the store.

I was enjoying my time so much that I was even thinking about getting a pedicure/manicure but, unfortunately, my solo time was cut short. There was a mix up at school. Alexandria got put in the wrong line and instead of getting on the bus she got left and I had to go pick her up. Grandma offered to get her but I insisted I would go. I thought maybe she would be a little upset. We had just had a talk about whether she wanted to be picked up from school or ride the bus. It's really hot here right now and the buses do not have A/C. But I guess she really likes the bus because she chose the bus. (Makes my job easier.) When I got to her school she was waiting for me in the office, not traumatized a bit. So I took her with me to a few more places and then we headed home.

Aunt Janalyn made me a cake (Thanks J!!) and we all went to Grandma's for pizza and swimming later that day. As you can see the boys loved the cake. We didn't use all the candles for my age but we probably had that many holes from the boys sticking the candles in the cake and pulling them out to eat it. And, when I asked DJ what he was going to get me for my birthday he said a doggy. That would have been fun.

Did you guys hear about this?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2975386
They've been talking about it a lot on ESPN. Jose Offerman is on Dionys' team. I guess it's the first time anyone has pressed charges in a game. Dionys thinks they are pressing charges to try to get money out of him because Offerman played in the majors. He also said Offerman is thinking of counter-suing because they intentionally hit him with a pitch. If they really let these charges happen then what about if someone tackles someone too aggressively in football? Will they be able to press charges? I'm not defending Offerman, but I don't think pressing charges in sports is the right thing to do.

Alexandria's 1st Day of School

She's had her clothes picked out for a week and she was up and dressed this morning at 8am! Not only is that really early for us but the bus doesn't come to pick her up until 11:30. She was so excited though. I think I got asked about every 10 minutes, "When will the bus be here?" She even went to try to do her own hair! When the bus finally got here she did great. She walked right on turned around and waved, I took a picture and that was it. The bus doors closed and she was gone off to her first day of school.

When she got home we started on the homework. She had to draw a picture of her family and answer some questions about her first day of school. I wrote it word for word on her paper.

Favorite part of the day: playing on the playground

Worst part of the day: Having the teacher tell us the boring rules.

The boys were slightly worried when she got on the bus. AJ wanted to go on a bus too and DJ started to jump up and down so he could go to but then decided he still wanted to go on an airplane. It must be hard for them to see Papi leave on an airplane and then their big sister leave on a bus. At least she came back today. The boys ended up sleeping most of the afternoon. Alexandria's excitement must have worn them out too. But it worked out great because it gave me time to be with Alexandria when she got home and have her tell me all about her day.

Alexandria was so ready for this. I was a different story though. I had to hold back the tears. I really was excited for her but I'll miss her. She'll be gone all the time now and this year is only half day Kindergarten. She won't graduate until 2021! Doesn't that seem forever away?

I just don't want her to change. Of course, I want her to grow up but I hope that she will always remain the sweet little girl that loves to play with her brothers, loves Costco trips and loves to wear pink.

How's Dionys Doing?

He's doing great. Here's an article that they wrote on him when he got to Long Island. http://www.massapequapost.com/news/2007/0801/Schools_Sports/
Right now he's hitting in the middle .400s. For those of you who are baseball illiterate as I used to be that's really good. Average is .260, .300s are good so .400s are awesome. He's playing 3rd base and doing a great job. Hopefully, we'll see him soon.

Good Night, Sleep Tight

Don't kick eachother in the face. We just got that big loft bed for Alexandria and a few days later we found a great deal on Craig's List for bunk beds, $25!! So we decided to move the boys out of their cribs finally and give a crib to Isabel. Poor girl has been in a Pack 'n' Play her whole life because I didn't want to have 3 cribs. So when we got the bunk beds all set up guess where they all want to sleep, on the top bunk. It's a twin sized bed and they all three go to sleep up there. I think it's adorable. But since Dionys is gone I usually go steal which ever one is hanging over the edge to come sleep in my room. By the end of the night they're all in our room anyway.

Queen of Bling

Grandma bought her a new little box with some princess stuff in it including this tiara. The boys were sick yesterday so I sent Alexandria to church with Grandma. Before she left she asked if she could wear the crown. I told her no. She started to argue and it was late so I told her to take it with her and ask Grandma what she thought. I was pretty sure Grandma wouldn't let her wear a tiara in church but Grandma must of said yes because she came home with it on. When I asked her if she wore it in church she said yes and that everyone told her how beautiful her hair looked. Can't wait until next week when I have to tell her no crown in church.

Trouble Sleeping

Isabel was acting cranky this morning so I thought maybe she was just tired. I laid her down but she would not go to sleep. So I thought maybe she's teething. You can see her top teeth but they haven't broke through yet. So I gave her some Tylenol. A few minuteds later I tried to lay her down again. She still cried and cried so I got her back out. I thought maybe she's starting to get a preference for her blanket that I was washing so I got it out of the drier. She seemed happy to see it. I thought that was her reason for not sleeping so I laid her back down in her bed with her blanket. She still cried but finally went to sleep. She didn't sleep very long. After I got her out of her crib I went to change her diaper and there in her onsie were two crayons. You couldn't see them from the outside because the onsie is part of a dress so the skirt part was over them. No wonder the poor girl couldn't sleep she had to lay on top of the crayons. How uncomfortable is that? I have no idea how the crayons got there. When the kids are coloring she always joins in so who knows who put them down her shirt. I guess next time the crayons are out I'll have to check Isabel when we clean up.

4th of July

I know it's a month later but I didn't even have this figured out on the 4th of July and these pictures are really cute. We have a little parade on our street early in the morning July 4th. The kids get to decorate their bikes, scooters, cars, whatever and parade up and down our street. One of the families on our street organizes it every year. It's really fun and the kids love it. I just wish it didn't have to be so early. By the time the 4th is over we are exhausted. It started out the night before decorating the kids vehicles. Then we got up at 6:45a.m. (For those of you who don't know us, this is like 3-4 hours earlier than normal.) The parade started at 7. Alexandria got to drive the Escalade and the boys drove their "mo-mo's" (twin for motorcycle). Then the family that organizes has a pancake breakfast in front of their house for everyone. I think after that we came home and took long naps because later that day we had swimming and food at Grandma's. Then, of course, the fireworks at night. Our kids love the fireworks. They're used to seeing them at the game so they have fun with it. It turned out to be a really good 4th of July. It was nice to be home and not in Mexico for it. They don't really celebrate it in Mexico. ;)

Brotherly Love

So this is what twin brotherly love looks like. And in true what goes around comes around style. I promise they really do love each other. They're actually laughing. It would have been so fun to have someone around all the time to play with. They are fun to watch. They're actually at a really cute age. They love talking on the phone and talk almost everynight to Papi. Everytime the phone rings they want to talk too. So don't be surprized if you call our house and get a two year old on the other end. They're pretty good at passing me the phone but just be patient. It's actually a great way to deal with telemarketers. They just hang up.