Back to school, to prove to dad you're not a fool!

Dear Emily and Leo,

There I stood, same usual place and time to wave goodbye to Daddy, but today it was different. It was so quiet that I could hear the morning runners’ feet pad the sidewalk. As I looked out, your two tiny faces were craning to wave to me from the backseat squished with a princess backpack, nap mats, lunch boxes and a “nigh-men-men-keen” (lightening McQueen) backpack. It’s the first day of school. I held back a tear and showed my best smile and mouthed I love you.

Emily you’re a lucky girl. All the 8th graders at your school (classmates of Aunt Teresa) practically shove through a crowd to yell hello and ask for a hug. You love all the extra attention, and pride yourself in being your teacher’s “good helper girl” since you know the drill from last year. For the past couple weeks, you’ve awakened with the squeaky yet raspy voice of a 4 year old asking “today, mama? Can I go to school today?” You’ve had your uniform set out for weeks, have been planning to spend lots of time in the home center and hoping the boys don’t take over the block center like last year. I can’t wait to hear all about your new friends and what new tattle tales you’re excited to tell me.

Leo you‘re a lucky boy too. “Pe-NA, mommy? Fwiens?” Yes, Leo, you’ll have a blast with Mrs. Pena and your friends. At the meet the teacher day, without any prompting from me, you marched straight up to your teacher and said Hi Pe-Na with a big hug. She already loved you and couldn’t wait to meet the nephew of her former students. You went from 2 yr old to 2 yr old waving, hugging, saying hi. I knew from that moment that I just have to stand back and marvel at all you can bring to the world. Mr. Independent--not afraid of being curious, sensitive, generous, rambunctious. This morning you’ll insist on buckling your carseat all by yourself and carrying your very own big and heavy backpack. I can’t wait to see you grow up to be a boy full of character, but for today (and everyday until the new baby is born), you’re still my sweet baby boy.

I love you,
Mommy

The Holy Rollers

Leo has been picking up lots of new words lately. I thought most of them were only comprehensible to me, but apparently Emily can understand him too. Yesterday on our way home from mass, I heard the very first conversation between brother and sister. It went like this:

Leo: "Bye bye Je-dus! Bye bye Mawee"
Emily: "Yes Leo! Bye Mary and Jesus! Leo, did you see what was on Mary's dress?"
Leo: "taws!!!"
Emily: "Yes Leo! Stars!

I was beaming in the front seat. I was thinking, finally! All of these years of daily mass is finally paying off. They must love Mary so much to have been looking closely enough to notice her dress. Emily will tell him just exactly what those stars symbolize. My kids are genius! She'll tell him about Juan Diego, and how her mommy and daddy went to visit to see the REAL tilma! They'll be so faithful!

The conversation continued:
Emily: "You see, Leo, Our blessed mother Mary loves shopping. She gets in her car, and goes to buy lots and lots of outfits so she can show off to her other family."
Leo: "Yeah!"

Womp Womp. I tried to give Emily a little lesson on materialism, but she could care less. Oh well, God always sends me a dose of humility right when I need it most:)



Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

The best is yet to come, and babe wont it be fine!

Happy New Year! 2009 was an unforgettable year that brought more excitement and joy to our lives than we thought possible. Last January we had just settled in San Antonio after living in Dallas on and off for six years. I was a ball of bittersweet feelings--thrilled to be living close to (actually in the same house as) my parents, but bummed to move away from all our UD and mommy friends. Slowly we adjusted to our new life, and now I can't imagine what our lives would be like if we never made the move!

Emily learned how to walk, climb and run. From the moment she awakes in the morning to the second she falls asleep at night, she is in motion. Her mouth also is constantly moving. She not only speaks in complete sentences, but she has a sense of humor too. Diapers, cribs, and pacifiers were proudly left in 2009. The independence and will power of this little girl regularly surprises me. Today she unloaded the dishwasher and then loaded her dirty dishes without me asking. I had no idea how loving a small child could be! She takes better care of Leo than of herself. This morning I heard Leo over the baby monitor just talking up a storm. When I went in to get him, I found Emily snuggling with him in his crib. It is not uncommon that she will try to change his diaper. In daily mass she kneels during consecration, says a very sweet prayer to Jesus thanking him for whatever random thing she can think of, and walks down the isle without hand holding for a blessing during communion. Sometimes it seems like she’s more adult than toddler. And boy--she is adorable singing Twinkle Twinkle and the ABCs.

Leo is on the move. Everyone always says all the milestones come too quick with the second child, and I couldn’t agree more. I still can’t believe that he’s able to sit up and is on the verge of crawling. He can scoot clear across the room like no one’s business. Santa brought him baby food in his stocking, and by the way he chows down, you’d think that he was born with a spoon in his hand. I love his easy-going personality, and the way he tries to grab Emily every chance he gets. His hair is coming in and his sleep stretches are getting longer. It won't be long before he's following his sister's example and getting into lots of trouble!

Eli began his new job with a fantastic company and had lots of free time on his hands after graduating with his MBA. All this free time translated into a very close relationship with the kids and a very happy wife. Oh yeah and that whole house project. Kudos to Eli for painting 50 gallons worth, installing a front door, patching the 2” x 3’ crack in the drywall, assembling numerous blinds and curtains, laying a stepping stone walkway, just to name a few projects.

As for me, I’d say I’ve been busy too. Life with a 2 year old and baby is sometimes hairy, but never dull. There is definitely less time to do, well, any hobbies I had thought possible. But there is definitely lots of time to spend falling in love with my beautiful family. 2010, here we come! We're ready for some new and exciting adventures:)

Beautiful Progress

Fall has finally hit San Antonio and the weather is beautiful. I've yet to see many changing leaves, but the temperature really drops down in the evening. The continuous rain really saved us after almost 60 days over 100 degrees without rain (the last 2 months of my pregnancy!) We've been spending more time going to different parks around the city and just can't wait to have a free weekend to go out to the hill country for a hike.

Emily surprises me all the time with her fearless attitude on the playground. Last week we met Eli for lunch at the park and she climbed up a huge rock-wall without any help! I love to watch her play. She's totally into building blocks right now, and of course still loves playing mommy. If her attention span is good, she'll pretend to grocery shop, cook, feed her baby doll, change her diaper, sing her songs and rock her, read her books. She radiates with love around Leo, who she still calls "brudda". Whenever he starts to whimper she dashes to give him the pacifier and tries her best not to suffocate him with her hugs. She's really becoming a big girl with a new bed and potty training.

Leo is growing up fast--it's hard to believe he's almost 4 months old. He loves to roll and try to sit up alone and is really reaching for toys now. His intensity is really cool...you can tell he's going to have a lot of drive. He's a fantastic sleeper and is packing on the pounds. I think he could give us some pointers on patience!

Our lives lately have been revolving around trying to get our new house fixed up. Eli and I have been heading over after putting the kids to bed at my parents' house. The biggest project we've accomplished is painting--everything from walls to cabinets to garage doors, outside shutters, bathtub/showers, interior doors, all door frames and baseboards. I think it's safe to say we're kind of tired of painting. We lost track of how many gallons, but it's at least 30 gallons. We got new carpet, which really brightens up the place. We've fixed drywall, faucets, pulled out tree stumps, repaired the roof, took off popcorn ceilings, installed new hardware, and put up blinds. Whew...and we've still got a lot of work to do! If we keep working at this same pace, we hope to be moved in before our trip to Mississippi for Thanksgiving.

Other than that, Eli's still traveling almost every week. I dream about the day when I can sit and read or just be bored for a minute. Life however continues to speed by, and we have to enjoy every moment with the kids! At some point I'll post pictures! Emily and Leo enjoyed Halloween as a caterpillar and butterfly and have enough candy to last them until next Halloween!

Family Updates

I just realized today that I haven't posted any news in almost 2 months. The days go by very slow sometimes, but looking back, the months have gone by super fast.

Emily has acquired a whole new slew of words and finally speaks in full sentences. I am literally shocked everyday at her energy level. Trying to wear her out is just impossible, and she tends to get faster and louder and crazier the more tired she gets. Luckily I was able/forced? to learn to juggle 2 kids alone sooner than I felt comfortable. By the time Leo was 2 weeks old we were out and about and I never had time to be afraid. We are ready for the hot weather to end so our outings will be a little more enjoyable:) Emily turned 2 in August, so now we're trying to potty train her. So far she's scared of the potty and now scared of pooping on the floor. She has had a really hard time getting used to all the changes around here and very often acts like a baby and wants to be carried everywhere. I think we're going to hold off for a few weeks on the potty.

Leo is growing into a little chub. I'd guess that at 8 weeks old, he's about 15lbs. and wears the same size diaper as Emily. He's your typical baby...feed him and hold him all day and he's happy. As soon as we can get to our box in storage, I'm pulling out the baby sling. I think he's started to regulate his sleep a little bit with blocks of 3-4 hours of sleeping or being awake at a time. We've all been sick with a cold for the past week, so he could just be trying to recover. He gave us his first smile around 6 weeks, and this morning he started to laugh at me with a towel wrapped around my head. He's such a cutie!

Eli's doing well and excited that we found a house! It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house in a nice little neighborhood about 3 miles away from his work, my parent's house, church, and school. The great thing about the house is the space--it is 2200 sq ft! All 4 of us have been living in my childhood bedroom at my parents house for the past 9 months (which is awesome because we were able to save up our money, but a little cramped:) We got an unbelievable deal on the house because it's a foreclosure. I think we've got our work cut out for us, but are excited for the potential. We close September 22, which is Eli's 26th birthday. We're hoping to move in by the end of October.
The other big changes around here are that my sister Mary Clare left for Rome to study with UD at the end of August. One week later my sister Lauren left for Rome too, taking a job as an au pair. My other sisters Teresa and Annie have started school and my mom went to work teaching a spirituality class at JPII, the new Catholic high school in San Antonio. All of a sudden the house is pretty empty most of the time!
Unfortunately I dont have the time to post pics at the moment since Emily is waking up from her nap, but I just posted a new album to facebook that you should check out!