Christmas Cards A La Shutterfly

I love getting Christmas cards in the mail. But it seems like every year I get less and less! I'm either losing my spot on my friends' and families' lists or people aren't sending them as much anymore. This year Shutterfly.com is making it really easy (and cheap) for me to send out mine. I've been busy busy busy this year, so I'm so happy to see that they have great card templates to choose from so I don't have to design my own like I usually do. Here are a couple of the templates I like: I love the Family Wall Red one to showcase all the family pictures we just got, or maybe Glitter Glamour with a cute picture of my kids. I'm going to have fun picking one. This picture might be hitting a mailbox near you:

Okay, maybe not that one, but Eliana's face is hilarious in it.

Shutterfly.com has a ton of good stuff. I just printed a photobook from there a couple of weeks ago as an anniversary present to my aunt and uncle. I got so excited when I saw that orange package arrive! They also have Wall Calendars, which make a great Christmas gift, Folded Christmas Cards (I can picture my three kids on this one), and cute Birthday Invitations.

Go check out Shutterfly and browse their cute stuff for Christmas gift ideas!

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. We usually go to two houses in one day, which means we eat double the food and see double the family. But this year my parents and aunts and uncles were in Colombia, so we only had one side of the family to celebrate with. Although I missed my family, we had a great time with my in-laws. My father-in-law drove the kids around on a trailer on the back of his tractor. Here they are getting ready to go on "Grandpa's hayride".On their way backPulling into the driveway We ate tons of great food and had a lot of fun. I had photoshoots to do on Friday and Saturday, so the kids spent a lot of quality time with Marcelo (while I spent quality time with my lovely camera). Friday evening I took the boys to Zumba family night with me to work off a few of those Turkey Day calories! We had a wonderful weekend (up until this morning when both boys were sick) and I'm going to miss Marcelo when he goes back to work tomorrow!

Family Pictures

My friend Happy and I did a photoshoot swap last week. We took each other's pictures and then edited our own. We didn't get to go to the location we wanted and had to pick a last minute spot that neither of us were familiar with, but even though it didn't go exactly as we had planned it, I am SO SO happy with the results. Happy did such a great job and taught me some new tricks. :)

Here are a few favorites. As you can tell, I had a hard time narrowing it down.

I love how these pictures capture the boys' personalities. Ohhh Celo.Diego cracks me up. He loves posing for pictures. She got so many mother/daughter ones that I love. Here's one:And a great father/son one!And I'm sooo happy to have an updated pic of me and this handsome guy.
Thanks, Happy!!!

Halloween

This year Marcelo and I did a theme costume with Eliana. The boys are too old for it. They have their own ideas about what they want to be. Last year they chose McQueen, so we went with it and still tried to do a theme, but this year it was just too hard. So Marcelo was the Mad Hatter, I was Alice in Wonderland, and Eliana was a white bunny. Celo was Clifford the Big Red Dog, and Diego was a racecar driver. Showing his tail.

He's not a Jeff Gordon fan, so he asked if we could pretend that he was Juan Pablo Montoya or Kasey Kahne.The annual Halloween party was at the studio where my cousin teaches Zumba this year. It was a lot of fun and Diego danced all night. I posted all the family pictures on facebook. :)

5 Months

For Eliana's 5 month pictures, I dressed her in her Halloween costume. She's a bunny!

A very happy bunny. I had to cut the legs off and shorten the arms because size "infant" is really like size "18 month old".

At 5 Months, Eliana...

- Wakes up every 2 hours at night and takes two 20 minute naps a day. And how many cans of Pepsi I drink per day will remain a secret. She got sick at about 4 months, so I started feeding her on demand. After a couple of months of sleeping through the night, her schedule got all messed up and now she's still waking up. It's a nightmare.

-She rolls over both ways. She started rolling from tummy to back at 3 months and just learned how to roll over from back to tummy.

-She babbles nonstop. I love hearing her play with her voice.

-She is not interested in solids, which is fine because I'm not really pushing it yet.

-She has had her ears pierced for a month.

-She is getting more and more interested in her brothers and tries to get their attention by screeching.

-She loves her jumper, exercauser, and walker. She stays in the bumbo or on her playmat for shorter periods of time, and is too big for her swing now.

-She makes us fall more in love with her everyday. Even if she doesn't sleep.

Baby in a Tutu

I recently did another newborn photoshoot. Have I already mentioned those are my favorite? Once or twice? Well, they're my favorite.

I put a ton of the pictures from that shoot on my photography blog, but here's a glimpse:


My weekends from now until Christmas are filling up fast. I've got an engagement shoot, a wedding, and some family photoshoots coming up. I feel so blessed to be able to do this as a little part time gig. I never get tired of it!

Lentil Tacos

I grew up eating lentils. One of my comfort foods is Colombian lentils and rice the way my mom makes them. I make them for my family regularly. One day I'll post the recipe, but I've never actually measured what I do. (It's basically rice and lentils with tomato, onion, and garlic, and some spices that are used regularly in Colombian cooking.)

Since lentils are a superfood, great source of protein, fiber, contain no fat, and are all around really healthy, I've been wanting to find other recipes to add to our regular menu. I found a great one that my whole family loved. (Okay, the 3 year old had to be coerced a bit.)

Lentil Tacos
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2-1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup salsa
Flour tortillas or taco shells
Toppings (see below)

In a large skillet saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
Uncover; cook for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Mash lentils slightly. Stir in salsa.
Spoon mixture into shells and top with whatever toppings you like. We did lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream, lime, and cilantro, but next time I'll try adding black beans and/or cilantro-lime rice.

Little Painters

Two posts in one week! That's unheard of these days. I thought I would take advantage because I probably won't be blogging much for the next month while my grandparents are here.

This morning I was in a big rush as I was trying to get the kids out the door. Diego was following me around being my shadow, as usual. I would rush into my room and he'd be a half step behind me. I'd turn and try to walk into another room, and he'd be right there in my way. After almost trampling over him for the 100th time, I snipped, "Diego! Please!" He was like, "Why are you talking mean?" I said, "Because I'm trying to get things done and you keep following me everywhere." He said, "That's because I want to be with you."

Who wins the jerk of the year award? Me.

So to make it up to him, I let him and Celo do one of their favorite things in the world: paint. Here they are working on their masterpieces. (They picked these houses out at the store today and as I type, they are using their dried creations as a garage for their cars. Shocking, right?)

Diego's is the same color every single thing he ever paints is: all the colors mixed together. It's a self control issue. ;) Celo's is his 3 favorite colors: green, yellow, and black.

Many moms may do this on a regular basis, (actually MY mom lets them paint pretty much every time they go to her house) but painting is a special treat at our house. And the fact that we did it today is an especially big deal because I'm really sick right now. I'm hacking up a lung and lack the motivation to pick up clutter, let alone a giant paint mess. But I did it. And the kids were happy. Listening to them say, "Let me just put on the finishing touches" was just the medicine I needed today.

Randomness about my kids

Life is busy busy busy right now, but I wanted to come on here and write a few things about the kids before I forget.

Last week, on our way home from picking Diego up from school, the boys started asking me if we could go somewhere.
Celo: Can we go somewhere?
Me: No, we're just going home.
Celo: Can we go to Mitchell's house? Can we can we can we?? (A friend of theirs.)
Me: No, not today. We're just going to go home.
Celo: Okay, Mommy, you have two choices. We can go to Mitchell's house, or we can go home. Which one you choose?
Me: Go home.
Celo: (Pause.) Good choice.

A few days ago, Diego came up to me and asked, "Mommy, who's Justin Bieber?" I was shocked. Where the heck did he hear about Justin Bieber? The next day, when I went to pick him up from school, I heard one of his classmates singing, "Like baby, baby, baby, ohhhhh." I wasn't aware that Justin is such a big hit with the 4 year old crowd.

Also, while at Tata's house, Diego drew some paper money. He announced that he wanted George Washington to be on his money. He then drew a little circle and a line in front of George Washington, along with a long wavy line. Tata asked him what that was and he said, "That's his microphone (with a long cord) so he can talk to all the people." Apparently President Washington was holding a press conference.

This is a typical day at our house:
Eliana sits in the bumbo watching her brothers play with trains and I sit on the couch and fold heaps of laundry.

These pictures crack me up. I wanted the boys to sit next to her and smile but they just wanted to be silly.

A sweet one:

Cuteness Overload: Soccer and a 3 month old

I've been hesitant to post these pictures for fear of being reported to CPS. What I'm about to show you borderlines on child abuse. Ready?




Yes. Those are pigtails on my 3 month old. I know. I'm terrible.

I promise she didn't mind it one bit. I mainly did it just to show that her hair is long enough for it. Oh, who am I kidding? I pretty much think she's a doll sent here for me to dress up.

And in boy news, Diego and Celo had their first soccer practice last week. Marcelo is their coach. I almost teared up because of the adorable-ness of it all. Here they are warming up.


Walking along the field lines learning all about boundaries.


Not that it did anything, because as soon as they started their scrimmage, Diego and another kid ran all the way to the other field.

Celo lasted about 10 minutes before he decided that listening to the coach (a.k.a his father) was optional. The little balls in his hands were Marcelo's brilliant idea to keep the kids from trying to pick up the soccer ball. It worked really well!

Diego scored a goal and was so proud of himself. Aaand Celo sat on his daddy's hip for a large portion of the time. The fact that we were unable to find cleats in his size should have clued us in that he's not quite ready for soccer.

Diego did great for the most part. Until someone took away the ball as he was trying to score another goal. That really hurt his feelings. Here he is being comforted by Coach Daddy.


I can't wait until their first game!

Picture Updates

It has only taken me 3 months since the birth of my daughter to finally update my photography blog. All of her pictures and the rest of the pictures I've done since April are finally on there.

See the latest pictures HERE.

Boys

This morning Diego came to me with his pockets full of cars and looked at me all innocently and said, "Mommy, I'm not taking any cars to school." Lied right to my face. He is completely positive that he's smarter than me. I said, "Diego, that's a lie and that's not nice. You can't take your cars to school. You can take them in the car, but you need to take them out of your pockets when we get there." He stared thoughtfully at me for a second and then this conversation ensued:
Diego: "You'll forget."
Me: "Forget what?"
Diego: "When we get to school, you'll forget to tell me to take them out of my pockets."

I couldn't hold back my laughter. It was so funny to me that he's smart enough to pick up on the fact that I am quite forgetful. I really would have forgotten. Which is why I made him take the cars out of his pockets right then and there. Who's the smart one now?


Also, I got my first, "I don't like you" from one of my children this morning. As if I even need to say it, it came from Celo. Diego has never said that to me. This morning, Celo was being a grump and a half and kept throwing his trains. He wouldn't listen to me, so I finally took the trains away. He made the meanest face possible and said, "I don't like you." I was appalled. I probably should have given him a nice, calm, "I'm sad that you said that", disappointed kind of talk. But instead I may have firmly forbidden him from ever saying that to me again. Which, I'm sure, won't be effective at all.

Here they are harrassing their sister and pretending to cry like her. She's going to have to be a tough one with these two as her brothers.

Who Wore it Best?

My sister-in-law threw her daughter an adorable "secret agent" birthday party. She did an awesome job with it and the kids had a great time. These glasses were in their goody bags, so we had a little fun with them. I know they look amazing on all of us, but I'm pretty sure if this was a "who wore it best", Eliana would win.

Smiles

This is my new favorite picture of life. It's a love fest between the two of us.

PS, if you're reading me in google reader, you might not see some of my pictures.

My Preschoolers

Today was Celo's first day of school ever. He'll be going 3 days a week for 3 hours. He was so so excited. Last year, when he came with me to drop Diego off at school, he always tried to sneak into the classroom. He was so happy that he was finally going to be allowed in! He walked right up to Ms. Denise (or "Mister Niece", as he calls her) and hugged her legs. She said, "Give mommy a kiss." But he couldn't have cared less about saying goodbye to me. He was too excited. The "look at my size...I big" look on his face made me want to cry.



Diego was a little more nervous about school. He'll be going everyday for 3 hours. As soon as we walked into his classroom and he realized that he recognized lots of faces, he calmed down and didn't even blink when I kissed him goodbye. He was too distracted talking to his friends. I talked to his teacher a bit about his allergies and left her with Benadryl and an EpiPen. This year I bought him an allergy shirt instead of making it. I let him pick it out. He really liked this stop sign one. He also loved the wristbands I bought him that say "Allergy Alert".



His teacher seems like she's going to be on top of it to make his school experience a safe one. That really gives me peace of mind!

Three hours flew by. I only made it through a few items on my to-do list. I stopped at the library, dropped something off to my dad, cleaned up my house a bit, made the boys a fun back-to-school snack, fed and changed the baby, and it was time to pick them up.

I love my boys and part of me is really sad that the school year has started, but the other part of me is excited to spend 3 mornings a week hanging out with this little doll:

2 (and a half) months

Every morning when I wake up with the boys, I see this little angel in her signature sleep pose, and every morning I say, "I need to take a picture of this." So here it is. I was sure there was no way I'd get lucky twice with a good newborn sleeper, but I hit the jackpot with her. Celo started sleeping through the night at 6.5 weeks. At 5 weeks, Eliana slept from midnight to 6am, and by the 6th week, she had stretched it another hour. By 8 weeks she was sleeping 9 hours straight. For the past two weeks she's gone to sleep between 9:30 and 10pm, and has woken up at about 7am. She eats and goes back to sleep for another couple of hours, allowing me to make breakfast for the boys and get ready for the day. It's wonderful.

Daytime naps are hit or miss. D batteries are my friends because if she's in the swing, she'll sleep for an hour or two. In the carseat she'll sleep for awhile, too. It's so hard to have set naps for her since we're on the go a lot.

She is sooooooo stinkin' attached to me. As soon as I'm out of her sight, she cries. She just wants me to hold her and stare at her all day. And when she's looking at me with these eyes, how can I resist?


2.5 months old. I wish I had the power to freeze time.

Celo's 3rd Birthday

This is going to be a picture overload. I promised my grandparents pictures of Celo's birthday party and this is the easiest way for them to see them. The Spanish is for them. (Aquí están las fotos prometidas del cumple de Marcelito.)

Last Saturday, we had Celo's 3rd bday party in my parents' backyard. The weather was perfect for what we had planned. It was a car wash party! My boys love the carwash. Water + cars = great fun. So I asked Marcelo and my dad to build a kid-sized carwash and they delivered.

Pizza was on the menu. (Marcelito disfrutando su pizza.)

His cousins sang to him. (Las primas cantando.)

I made this banana split cake. (La torta que le hice.)

Celo approved. (Le fascinó su torta de helado.)

Eliana just chilled. (Eliana con mi mamá.)

Decorations by Tata. (La Tata se encargó de las decoraciones.)

It wouldn't have been the same without my mom's signature foamy cup labels.

Goody bags by Tata. (Las sorpresas hechas por Tata.)

And the CAR WASH! A big thanks to Marcelo and my dad! They looooved it. (Lo que les hizo mi papá y Marcelo. Les encantó!)

The girls enjoyed the slip'n'slide.

Always the ladies' man, Diego chillin' in the tiny kiddie pool with Isabella and Sofi.

Enjoying a nice summer evening. (El día estaba muy lindo para estar afuera.)

Water balloons! (Bombas de agua.)

At one point all the kids ganged up on my dad with their waterguns. So funny. (Todos los niños ataquando a mi papá con pistolas de agua.)

It was a really fun party! On his actual birthday, we had lunch at Chik-Fil-A, also known as "Chicken A". Here are the kids all ready to go.

Celo got tons of Thomas stuff. He was in heaven. Diego was pretty excited Celo was getting new toys to share with him. Marcelo and I scored on this little Thomas station on craigslist. PS, as I was taking this picture, Celo was saying, "Thank you, Mommy." Love that boy. (Aquí están los niños jugando con el regalo que le dimos a Marcelito. Es una estación para los trenes que adora tanto. En esta foto me está diciendo, "Gracias mami!")

Another big giant THANK YOU to my parents, in-laws, and husband for all of their hard work to make this party so fun for our little guy. We love you!