Christmas Decorations

Our decorated Christmas tree. We have star ornaments that were used at our wedding reception, 4 anniversary ornaments (my mom gives us one each wedding anniversary), several homemade ornaments from my sister-in-law, among various others. The star on the top is from our wedding reception also.




Our mantel with stockings (the tiny one is for Diego). The frame in the corner is a new addition this year. It's been nice to look at and remember the reason we have Christmas. The jar of candy on the other end was a game at a party that Cesar and I went to. We had to guess how many pieces of candy were in it, and I won! My guess was 1,327 and there were 1,354 (or something close to that, I can't remember exactly)! I've never really been good at those kind of games, I just got lucky!

This is a wreath I made after Christmas last year. It is made out of a wire hanger and red, silver, and gold ball ornaments. I really like it. It looks better in person than it does on this picture. Cesar tied the pretty red bow.

This is an advent calendar I made out of baby food jars. The #4 needs to be re glued. We didn't use it this year since I finished it mid December, but we will next year!

Neighbor Party

We had our 2nd annual Neighbor Dessert Open House last week.

I made invitations and Eli, Diego, and I delivered them to our neighbors. We had several come (13 I think). It was a fun night to chat, eat, and get to know some of our neighbors better. Eli had a fun time too (Diego was asleep).

Graduation

Cesar graduated Saturday! I am so proud of him. He now has a Masters in Architecture from the University of Colorado Denver. My parents, Troy (my brother) and his family, Cesar's mom and brother and uncle came to the graduation. The ceremony was at the Colorado Convention Center and then there was a reception at Cesar's school down the street.

It feels nice that he is finished. He worked so hard on all his projects and homework and spent so much time at school! It will be nice to have him home more. The all-nighters were especially hard.

He is looking for an internship now and we hope he finds one soon.

Check out his online portfolio: www.ccervantesportfolio.com

He is so talented!

Eli

Eli is such a cute 3 year old! I love him so much! Let me give you a snippet of our evening.

After I put Diego to bed Eli and I usually read books. Tonight he read to me! We sat and read four books, pretty long books too. I have read these books to him before and it's amazing how much he really remembers the stories! While we were reading I could tell Eli needed to go to the bathroom. I asked him a few times and he denied that he needed to go. I told him, "Eli I can tell you need to pee please go." He refused. Finally he went but didn't make it to the toilet. He peed all over the bathroom floor. How frustrating! Oh well.

Then he asked me how to spell words. He would say, "How do you spell book?" I would say B, then he would repeat B, then I would say O and he would say O....etc. I felt like I was at a spelling bee for probably 15 minutes or so. Maybe he will be a spelling champ one day!

Then we said our family prayer together (Cesar was still at school, and Diego was already asleep). Tonight I said the prayer while Eli listened. Then we kissed and hugged and walked upstairs together "quietly so we don't wake Diego up". Then Eli turned the bathroom light on, opened his bedroom door, but didn't close it, and laid down and went to sleep.

He is such a sweet boy! I'm so glad I'm his mom!

Recent Pictures

Eli and Diego taking a bath together with blue water. Eli has been resisting baths lately- I'm not sure why. He has never really loved them like some kids do. Diego likes splashing and didn't mind at all when Eli poured a cup of water on his head which makes it easier for me when I wash his hair. :)

The boys wearing UT shirts!

Silly Eli.

Eli and Diego with their cousins. Cesar's sister, Lorena, and her family came one night to visit. They live in Denver, but we rarely see them. She has five kids.

me, Cesar, Lorena, and her husband Curtis

(cute Diego is pulling up on Cesar's legs)

The Rockette's. Cesar and I went to their Christmas show at the Pepsi Center in November. It was a good show and nice date.

Picture from the Southland's Christmas parade. It was a fun time and not as cold as last year.

In front of a fire pit at the parade.

Eli feeding Diego. I was cooking dinner and having a hard time juggling everything, so Eli helped! He actually did a really good job.

Eli with our Christmas advent tree. We cut this out of the Friend magazine. Each day we read a scripture from the Bible and put an ornament on the tree.

Thanksgiving

(Diego playing on Thanksgiving)
We had a nice Thanksgiving at my parent's house. The food and company was good. Before we went to their house we watched the Macy's parade at home. We enjoyed it.

The two weeks before Thanksgiving we wrote down each day what we were thankful for on cut out leaves that we taped on the door. It was nice to rethink the day and be aware of all our many blessings. Eli was thankful for snow, toys, food, cousins, books, bacon, the dark, and Grandma and Grandpa's house. We guessed that Diego was thankful for naps, mommy, toys, milk, pears, medicine (he had medicine to get rid of an ear infection), baths, and that Eli and Papi made him laugh. Cesar and I were thankful for our children, food, family time spent together, our date, Sandra for babysitting, libraries, Snickers, etc...


Thanksgiving night we spent the night at my parent's house. We put the boys to sleep, watched a Christmas movie with my parents, and then went in the hot tub (it was so relaxing!). At midnight Cesar left to go Black Friday shopping! He didn't return until 7 a.m. He is so crazy! He bought a new laptop, he is going to sell his old one, a new suit that he desperately needed, and a new coat. In the morning my mom and I did a little shopping together while tired Cesar stayed home with the boys. He is a nice dad and husband!

Halloween 2010

We had a fun Halloween. The weather was perfect for trick or treating! We didn't even wear jackets. We went together as a family, but before we left we had some visitors.My parents! They started the tradition a few years ago of dressing up and going to their grandkids houses to trick or treat in disguise. It's funny! Here are some pictures from previous years.

Eli got the hang of knocking on the neighbor's doors and saying Trick or Treat and then Happy Halloween! He was a cute little crayon. Diego had fun being outside after dark I think. One of our neighbors is so nice. She gave Eli and Diego each their own Halloween gift. Eli got crayons, coloring books, two toy cars, and candy! and Diego got a pair of pants and a shirt! I really like our neighbors. Halloween is a fun holiday; maybe I should dress up next year.

11 Things

1. I'm loving the weather lately. It is November and we haven't even had any snow yet! We played outside for a little while on the porch without jackets.

2. Eli and I like to eat Wheat Thins, cream cheese, and tomatoes for lunch. It is so good.

3. Potty training is hard and frustrating. Each time Eli successfully uses the bathroom he says, "I am so proud!."

4. I'm going to start taking Jazzercise classes. There is a studio just down the road that is offering an exchange of 2 hours of work in their childcare center for free classes. When I think of Jazzercise I picture the 80's and funny workout clothes and crazy hair.

5. Speaking of crazy hair; mine is! I lost a lot of my hair after having Diego (they say that is normal) and now it is growing back. I have funny looking small hairs and it looks awful. I can't wait for it to grow longer.

6. We went to a new library and we love it! They have super nice books as opposed to colored in, chewed on, and torn books that the library we used to go to had. They also have storytimes. We went to the Spanish/English one on Saturday and had a good time. The librarians were super friendly and helpful. Eli and Diego were wearing UT shirts and a couple of the librarians were from Texas so I think they liked us even more!

7. While at the library, Eli was coloring after storytime and he wrote his name on his paper- all by himself! I had never seen him do that or even try, so needless to say I was pretty surprised. He is a smart boy!

8. We went to the Nature and Science Museum as a family Saturday night. It is Denver Arts Week and it was free! We had fun and ate at Spicy Pickle before going.

9. Cesar has been working hard and spending many many hours on his portfolio. I hope he gets a job!

10. Both of my boys have snotty noses right now. It is so gross when Eli wipes it on his shirt or arm. He is pretty good at blowing his nose, but just doesn't do it often enough. Diego just wipes it all over my shirt! Yuck.

11. I read and studied about Faith in Jesus Christ last night. If we have strong faith we receive so much! We will gain knowledge and hope, get direction from God, our prayers are heard, strength is given, we can know the mysteries of God, and more! Pretty cool.

Temple with my boys

Last week I took Eli and Diego to the temple grounds. It was a nice fall day. There were people outside planting the new flowers and we also saw 2 couples that had just gotten married. Eli loved to see the angel Moroni statue and the big statue of Jesus in tha annex. Diego liked the water fountain. I love the temple and am so grateful we live near one!

Happy Birthday Eli!

I became a mom 3 years ago today when Eli was born! I'm so blessed to have him as my son. He is so fun to be around and I love him so much. We had a great day celebrating his birthday. Cesar made him a very cool car cake (he is so talented), we had a party at my parents house with all of his cousins. We all had a great time. We played some games in the basement, made our own little pizzas for dinner, opened presents, sang happy birthday, and had cake and ice cream. The day totally wore Eli out he fell asleep in the car on the drive home which he rarely does and even less rare is that he stayed asleep when Cesar carried him upstairs to his bed. I had a great moment in the car while I was driving home and all three of my boys were asleep (Diego, Eli, and Cesar). I felt so grateful for my family and all the many blessings that I have been given from Heavenly Father. I love my life!

Museum

We went to the Nature and Science Museum the other day and had a lot of fun! We (Eli, Diego, and me) met my mom and nephew there. Before we went inside we walked around City Park for a little while. I really love being outside in great weather. We had a good time at the museum and didn't even have to pay- it was a free day!

We listened to a presentation about Mars and astronauts and the man asked Eli what color the sky is. Eli confidently said "Blue" and loved speaking into the microphone!

Learning Letters

I love my cute little E!

Eli has been interested in letters lately. We played a matching letter game and hide and seek letters. The letter of the week last week was "E". I thought of doing a new letter each week, but that hasn't happened yet. He does know a handful of letters and some of their sounds!

6 months

Diego is six months old today! He is such a sweet baby. He loves to cuddle with me and I love it! I can't believe it was six months ago when he just came out on the bathroom floor! wow! As long as he is well rested, he is a happy easy baby. He is very strong and loves to laugh and smile. He enjoys eating his rice cereal once a day and going out places. He loves to look around at everything and everyone. He puts everything in his mouth. He has three teeth now and slobbers a ton (you can see proof of that in the pictures). He wakes up once sometimes twice during the night to nurse. He goes to sleep around 6 p.m. and wakes up around 7 in the morning. He usually cries some before he falls asleep. He takes two naps a day. He likes taking baths and laughs when I tickle his back. His fingernails are so sharp; even right after I clip them he still manages to scratch me! He moves a lot when I lay him on the floor. He rolls over and scoots some too. He is learning to sit on his own. Today he sat for about a minute by himself. He occasionally gets into a crawling position on all fours. He is the best baby and I love him so much!

Circus

Cesar took Eli to a circus Friday night. They had a lot of fun. Eli's favorite part was seeing the elephants and playing with the monkey Cesar bought him.

Diego and I stayed home. It was nice for me to have a break from taking care of Eli and spend some time with just Diego.

Eating

Eli loves to play restaurant. He asks me what I want and then brings it to me. I decided to keep a few items from the recycle bin so he could play.

Two days this week I took care of Lucy, my friend Grace's daughter. She is 3 weeks younger than Diego. It was like having twins. The first day was so easy, but the next day was a different story. I will have her two days next week too.

Diego ate rice ceral for the first time this week! He did very well and seemed to like it. Cesar feed him today and he got so excited as soon as he saw the bowl and spoon. Very cute.