Crawled for the first time!

Last night while having his usual tummy time, Marcus crawled on his own for the first time. He took 2 good solid forward movements before sliding down on his tummy. Of course, mommy yelled because she was incredibly excited. We all were amazed at this and quickly grabbed the camera. Hooray Bubba!!

Happy 6th Month Birthday!

It doesn't seem like 6 months, but I am sure happy that we've got to this point with all the fantastic things we've seen Marcus accomplish. How lucky we are to watch this amazing baby become the independent little dude he is. We love sharing these growing photos of our little "MAN"!

Its solid's time!

Marcus' first taste of rice cereal

End result

The second feeding

Marcus had his first taste of solids last weekend. Needless to say, we had no doubts Marcus would have any trouble in this department. Then when we told Shelley to begin with the cereal, he had a little off day with eating, but it only took that one day and has been eating well since then. Now we're still just waiting on being able to sleep more throughout the night since he's eating more. We've been lucky to have a night now and then, but we are very much looking forward to a consistent sleep. Ohhh, the joy of sleep...

The "silent" family member

We nearly lost a member of our family the other day. It all started when I noticed Elena's fish bowl was dirty (whose name by the way is 'Dolphin Fishy'), so of course I decided to clean it. It's real simple--just pour some water in a cup, slowly pour the fish into the cup, clean the bowl and fill with water, then slowly pour the fish back into the bowl from the cup. Except this time, I overestimated the "slowly" part back into the bowl and before you know it, this fish literally jumped out of the cup as I was pouring it and then it slipped down the disposal. Why?! First of all, why did this fish jump?! Why was I doing this over the sink with the disposal?! How was I going to explain this to Elena?! Quickly, I yelled for Andy, told him what happened, (Analissa and Elena came running up, too) and he stuck his hand into the disposal. Every second I could feel my heart become sad and my stomach begin to churn because this fish was going to die and it would have been my fault . What felt like forever, Andy was finally able to grab the fish after much squirming and put him in his bowl. Then we all shouted "Hooray" to daddy and then Elena wanted to kiss her fish. Now the bowl is starting to get a little dirty and I'm afraid I'll make the same mistake again. I think I'll need to have supervision as I complete this now scary task.

Becoming a big boy!

Marcus on all fours
Trying to sit up with little assistance

Now that he's getting ready to sit on his own, he's able to finally play with his Christmas gift.

This posting should have gone out earlier, but better late than never. I took these pics because it was about a couple of weeks ago that Marcus was starting to begin to sit on his own. He was still very wobbly and could be only leaning on his own for a few small seconds and we knew anyday he would be able to do this on his own. He was starting to get on his hands and knees and began doing his army crawl little by little. Shelley, his babysitter, said she could definitely see it coming very soon because he'd do the same thing with her.

It wouldn't be long until he's going to crawl. sniff - sniff! My baby boy is no longer a baby!

Elena's Snowy Day!

Elena took a field trip with her school to 'Chaparral Ice' - the local skating rink. There, they got to play in make-shift snow that was "dumped" (we actually saw the bobcat dumping it right before walked in the rink) for all the kids to play in. Elena was super excited because since Christmas she kept asking, "Where's the snow, mommy?" Naturally she would ask since after all it was Christmas time and there was no snow here like what she's read in the books and seen on TV.

Well, it was super cold when we walked into the room where the rink was located and we got ready to jump into the snow. As soon as we stepped onto the rink, the story changed. "Mommy, it's slippery - don't let go of me!", "It's too cold!", "I don't want to be here - I don't like it." Then what set the rest of the morning was her friend playingly threw snow at her face. That was it! She didn't want to have anything left to do with it. I tried as hard as I could to show her how fun it was and how long she's wanted to see this, but of course mommy didn't help. Ms. Mackie, Ms. A, and Ms. Koker, her teachers, each came up to her and made her laugh, put snow on her, and helped her do everything they could to make her happy. Though Elena was still very cautious of it all, they did a whole lot more than I ever could. That's was makes them such amazing teachers!!!

Afterwards, we had a picnic lunch outside on the small grassy area, where it was a total change of temperature from 'bbrrr' to 'sunny sweat down the back'. Overall it was a beautiful day and successful field trip. Maybe one day we'll take Elena to see the real thing by visiting family up north.

Happy Birthday Analissa!

Analissa and her buds

Grandma and Grandpa Dave made a special trip to celebrate with Analissa

I don't doubt this was a face of surprise

It's all her homies

Analissa and her yummo 'Wall-e' cake

Analissa turned the big 2 digit number - 10! She was born on January 6th at 6:15 p.m. I remember that day I had to take a defensive driving course - I swear that has been my only ticket- and checking up on Veronica because she was having some pain that morning. When I called during a break, my mom said she was in the hospital. Of course, I couldn't concentrate for the rest of the day because I was so excited. Immediately after finishing my course I went to the hospital and not much longer after that Analissa was finally here! I remember Andy saying how funny she looked when she was born. Seriously, Analissa was only a few hours old! It never fails how men react so differently from women when it comes to special little moments like those.

Now, we celebrated her 10th and boy how fast she's grown! She's half way through fourth grade and it won't be much longer when she's in junior high - aaauuuggghhhh! Analissa is such a smart kid that I really can't wait to see what she will become some day. Lately it's been an artist and an art teacher. Though yesterday she said she wanted to be a secretary because they are on the computer all day and get to talk on the phone. Her reasons being that she wishes she could do those two things all day long because it looks like fun!

After having a small celebration on the day of her party at home, we had the bigger party at Gattiland. All her girlfriends enjoyed eating, playing around giggling, and having fun. It turned out really good and we were so thankful for everyone who came. We had a blast! Until next time!

New Year 2009!

After having a small celebration for her birthday, Analissa was soooo ready to get to her homework.

Happy 10th Birthday Analissa!

Marcus started off the new year by meeting all his deadlines.

I'm not sure what happened with the hair the night before.

Too much excitement for Elena on New Year's Eve because she passed out between the sofa and coffee table.

Marcus' last bath of 2008

We spent New Year's Eve here at home just relaxing, laughing and goofing off, and catching some New Year's Eve celebrations on t.v. It was our usual cook up some munchies -- buffet style. It's always low key that night, with the exception of some neighbors popping those firecrackers. Boy did the dogs love that!

The next day we sort of hung out at home and did a visit to the Home Depot. It never fails that I can't go in there thinking I want to do or change something at the house. So I bought some paint for our bathroom to cover up that awful homebuilder's paint. It just never seemed that I could find the right color, but then I saw my mother-in-law's brand new bathroom and found her bathroom color very soft and smooth. We'll see how it turns out.

After enjoying some time at home, it was time for everyone to get back on track with our regular schedules. The kids enjoyed going back to school, and Marcus did very well at Shelley's. She said all her little babies pretty much did well. I don't know how she does it with all those kiddos, but that's what makes her amazing! (Love you Shelley!)

Then of course, the second day back at school Analissa had her 10th birthday. She's super excited about her party this weekend. Some family will be coming up to help spend some time with all of us and help celebrate. We're anxious to see everyone again since we last saw them at Thanksgiving.

Wishing everyone a great beginning to another wonderful year with continued health, happiness, and love!