To Marcelo

I love this picture. We took this on Father’s Day morning before church. Last week was Family Week in our themed summer (more on that another time), so we made cards for Marcelo, a video of the boys talking to him and answering questions about him, and these ties. The primary at church sent them home for them to decorate. Celo made the one with the tractor (naturally) and Diego made the one with the coin (he’s currently obsessed with coins, jewels, and treasure hunting).

I’ll keep this brief. Marcelo is an amazing dad. He is their hero. I could go on and on talking about all the things he does and how grateful I am and blah blah blah. Instead, I’ll share two little stories that show why he is the perfect dad for our kids.

One day last week, Marcelo was giving the kids a bath. They started asking, “What is water made of?” They always ask him those kinds of questions instead of me, because they’re pretty sure he knows everything. His response was, “Water? Water is made out of water, sillies.” They said, “No, but what’s it MADE of??” If they had been asking me, I would have said, “Water! That’s it. It’s just water.” Marcelo? He said, “Ohhh, you want to know the molecular makeup?” I laughed to myself, but the boys said, “Yeah.” He said, “It’s got two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.” They are 5 and almost 4. But they accepted that answer like that was exactly what they were looking for.

Then, a couple of days ago, Celo asked, “Daddy, what’s the long thing in a building?” This came out of nowhere. I couldn’t even begin to guess what he was talking about. Marcelo said, “The long thing? What’s it look like?” Celo said, “It’s long. And when the crusher crushes, it hangs down. What is it?” I still had no clue (although I figured that he was asking because he had seen it in one of his Mighty Machine movies that shows the construction of a building). Marcelo said, “Hmmm. What’s in it?” Celo said, “Something that looks like a rope.” Diego said, “Yeah and it looks like a pipe.” Marcelo said, “Oh, is it a conduit?” Celo said, “Yeah. That’s it. A conduit.” ?????

And that’s why he’s the right man for the job.

The Before and Afters

It took 6 weeks, but we're finally done! Well, not really, but almost. There are still projects to do, like drywall here and there, painting, transitions, and more, but for the most part, the house is done. We are so happy! You can see the before and after pictures HERE. I'm only sharing them with a few friends and family, so the facebook album isn't visible to everyone I know. But I'm sharing them because 1) It's been the biggest project we've ever taken on and I'm proud of all the hard work my hubby put into the remodel, 2) Okay, and I'm proud of myself for managing to help and unpack and make the house a home with 3 small children constantly pulling me away from it all, and 3) Before and After pics are just FUN! Aren't they?? I think so.

Here's a peak:

BEFORE

AFTER
So go see. :) Once again, to all those who helped in any way, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

My Baby Girl

SQUEEEEZE. That’s what I want to do when I look at this picture:

Just want to squeeze all three of them.

I want to write a few things about my one year old girl.

At one, Eliana:

-Stands alone, cruises, and has taken a few steps. I doubt she’ll walk any time soon, though. Her balance is not so good.

-Says mama, dada, baby, eyes, ouch, hi, bye, and guys. Her favorites are hi and bye. She says that allll day to anyone who looks at her. The second she sees Marcelo or me take out our keys, she knows it means we’re going somewhere and immediately says, “Bye!”

-Signs eat, more, sleep, please, and nods her head yes. Actually, she nods her head to say yes to any question you ask her. I need to make a video. “Eliana do you want to eat?” Yes. “Eliana can I change your diaper?” Yes. “Eliana is mommy crazy?” Yes.

-Her “babble” sounds like this, “Whoa whoa whoa?” Like she’s asking a question. She’ll grab something she’s not supposed to touch and I’ll say, “No!” And she’ll hand it to me and say, “Whoa whoa whoa?” while nodding her head. Like, “Oh, is this what you were looking for?”

-Is very aggressive and kind of mean. See picture below.

 

She was not happy that I was making them sit for pictures. Celo was just trying to give her a hug and she grabbed his face and squeezed as hard as she could. She does that a lot.

What else?

-Loves rice and beans, chicken, oatmeal, yogurt, cheese, and warm milk. Juices must be room temp or she’ll throw her cup at you. Water too. She hates most cold things (excluding yogurt), and the feel of slimy fruit. Although she’s finally starting to like watermelon, grapes, and mangoes. Still working on bananas, but I’m pretty sure she’s going to hate those forever. Hated them at 5 months, hates them now.

-Does not own a single doll. She has a couple of girly toys (a pink stuffed pig, a flowery rattle), but she only likes to play with the boys’ toys. So trains, tractors, cars, and blocks. Oh! She does love the magna doodle! That’s girly, right? And she’s drawn on my new tile floor with crayon like 8 times. Seems like she’s going to be into art like her momma. She mostly ignores the play kitchen, but I’m still hoping she’ll eventually like it. She did have a doll at one point, but she was afraid of it, so we left it at Tata’s house. She seems to be afraid of any toy with a face, although I think she’s getting over that.

-Loves to make her brothers laugh. Loves to scream. Throws major fits when something gets taken away from her. Throws major fits anytime something doesn’t go her way. She’s a major fit thrower. My first big screamer. The boys encourage it, which makes things just a tiny bit harder for me.

-Has SO much hair. Really. And it’s so wavy/curly. It’s a mess. But I looooove it.

I’m so happy she came to us a year ago to complete our family. Life just wouldn’t be the same without her. We love our little hispanic rapunzel girl.

Eliana’s Birthday Party

Eliana turned one last week, but because we were all sick and our home owner’s association took forever to get me a key to the neighborhood pool, we had her party today. All of our family came to celebrate, swim, and eat. :)

My mom made the goody bags. I love how they turned out!

I made cupcakes topped with flower shaped Starbursts. It took a long, long time.

We decorated the princess’s throne:

Grandma and I posed for pictures with the birthday girl:

Ellie (or Pinpinela as Tata calls her) and Tata:

I think Eliana looks a lot like my dad. They have the same expression, and the same mouth:

Lots of fun in the sun:

Best we could do. Kids in the pool do not want to pose for pictures:

And then there was cake:

Check out those tan lines on her wrist.

She was a fan. AHHHH I love those bows, even if one is falling.

I just love her expression in this picture. I was a genius and planned her party during her normal naptime, but besides this grumpy/serious face for the first hour, she did great.

Presents! She got lots and lots of clothes (which she really needed)!

I love my family oh so much. I recently heard a girl in a movie say that when she heard moms say they love their life she always thinks they are just pretending. I’m not pretending.