Welcome home Daddy!

I am sooo behind, is ridiculous.. oh well... someday I will catch up..

today was a very tiring but calmed day.. Because last night at 10:30pm Jay arrived from the island for the Christmas break.. We are sooooooooooooooo excited to have daddy back.. If you know me, I am not much of an emotional person when it comes to crying.. however, seeing my little ones run up to him just got my eyes shining of water..

Of course, we were late.. and my mother-in-law dropped Samuel, Benjamin and me off and left to park.. And as we are running inside he was already waiting with luggage and all, since he also happened to arrive 10 minutes earlier. So he yelled my name and there he was.. I let the kids run to him first.. and then I almost was forgetting to take pictures.. and then it was my turn.. I asked him how he recognized me from far away.. and then I answered myself.. only small woman running with no luggage and two kids in their pajamas.. haha

Soon, grandma, baby, brother-in-law and his sweet girlfriend got there...

Baby slept all that time and woke up as we were going to bed.. Daddy was surprised to see how much he's grown. Have in mind that baby was 2 days old since daddy held him last, and now he is 2 months! Daddy got to hold him; then, as he smiled he also super unloaded!

Later as I went to sleep, in a bed where I wasn't alone anymore, I felt as the happiest and most privileged woman in the world.. My better half is finally here, and we are finally together as what we have been since 5 years ago.. a family!

Welcome home JAY!

Living by the minute

My mom is gone.. so sad.. I promise there will be a post just of her visit.. We sure miss her, and not just the kids but my in-laws as well. My little guy is already 6 weeks! He is growing so fast. Life has been busy, I don't think as much more stuff to do, but not ENOUGH hands to do it as efficiently as before. Now with my mom gone, poor baby gets less arms and more bouncer, floor and crib time. But such is the balance of life with three little ones and one mom. I have to be realistic. Cant blog much these days, especially with Daniel not quite having a set schedule.. we literally have been adjusting.. but last night he sleep 5 hours straight! And then woke up every hour after that.. :(

Thankfully Samuel and Benjamin are always sooooo excited to see baby Daniel, to hug him, kiss him and especially hold him. They also get excited about his toys.. and try to play with them. Although, since coming back from the hospital Samuel likes to "be in charge" and he takes it to heart. So, when he feel like the "big brother" he decides to be very bossy to Benjamin and even tries to make him obey..It doesn't always work.

However, he is adorable with baby.. just listen how he is trying to help him fall asleep.

The other day I pumped some milk so that Samuel could feed baby.. he enjoyed greatly...

He had a good laugh when baby started unloading too as he feed him.. haha

Now just getting ready for Daddy coming in 17 days, which we have the countdown for that as well as for Christmas. I am excited to be together as a family again, and for Jay to enjoy Daniel for 3 LONG GREAT weeks before he goes back.

We love our boys although the time out corner is getting very used these days. Hopefully it will pass soon.

Summer of fun at Granparents! Part 1

I am sooo behind on posts.. we will see how much can I summarize and get up to date..
Yes, it's been a crazy summer.. all started in Dominica, coming back to the States sooner than we thought, and continued to enjoy the places we were and are.
Of course, the States offers other kinds on entertaintment we could have on the island that we still enjoy... picnics, 3-D movies (Benjamin looks too funny with those big glasses, but he loved it), and their favorite, playing at the park with their sand toys.. Mami is always delighted to joined in.

Some weekends we were lucky enough that grandma found some cool deals on exhibitions and museums and the four of us went together.. even in very hot weather but still enjoyable. Unfortunately, it was long ago that I cant even remember the name of the places, but one was a train museum. Benjamin in particular loves machines, trucks and trains, and really enjoyed it until he nap time got him to miss a little of it. Also, grandma being a cub scout leader was glad to see the train painted in honor to the 100 years of the BSA so that was fun too. Samuel often talks how many awesome things he will do in scouts when he turns 8.

The kids also had their grandma and grandpa moments in different activities or daily tasks; for example, everytime grandma checks her email, they know she will have a "fun video" to watch, service projects, fun activities.. Or when grandpa reads to them..

There is also fun times at home. Being creative..

Even if they try to communicate but dont get the message through..

Or playing "taking care of baby" which the poor BYU monkey ended up being the baby, changing diapers, feeding the bottle.. Samuel even tried to potty train him! So funny the stuff they come up with..Back in July, we had a family reunion (every 2 years) in South Dakota from my father-in-law's side. The kids were excited to pack their toys and blankets and stuff and go.. obviously, we spend some time site seeing, like at a like aquarium.. They even had a wagon of Legos in the restaurant we stopped for breakfast once we got there from driving through the night.We also stopped at Deadwood, were lots of hotels and interesting history took place.Some times being silly was the best.. like playing with blankets in the car, trying to kick the air, trying to figure out the frog ballon, or simply fall asleep with a monkey on your back..Finally, time with the cousins.. Although there were far more girls than boys, the still had fun with the toys and few boys there too..On the way back, we stopped at two great places.. Storybook land in Rapid City.. with the coolest statues from famous books.. too back we only had an hour before closing.. still got the last train ride and quick stop through it all.The other place was a dinosaur park.. with huge statues.. which was a ton of stairs since it was on the top of a mountain, and the funny thing is that when we got there Samuel decided he needed to go potty! Yes, I was still pregnant then and that was not a joke at the time@!I always have seen funny or interesting stuff during trips anywhere.. especially liscence plates. However, this time was a sticker.. just read it for yourself! Too funny, that it deserve the picture!

Later after we got back from the trip there was a memorial done for our neighbor friend who past away the day after Christmas last year.. Her family decided to do it at a beautiful botanical gardens. Since we were early we decided to tour it. Samuel was lucky enough, that they had a "explorer back pack" with binoculars, magnifying glass, etc.. He sure got into it!

And the libraries always have something going on.. this time was boats! Samuel got to make one and be on top of a sail boat.. Soon they got tired and it was time to leave.. on the way home grandma had an erron to run and while waiting in the car, they got very silly!

Part 2 coming soon.. stay put!

Daniel is here..

Our third bundle of joy arrived today after being induced at 8am, Daniel came at 12:15 pm. He weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and has lots of hair of course. Like the other two labors I didn't have an epidural, and by the time I asked for my narcotic it was too late since I was progressing so fast.. We told the nurses and doctors how both kids missed the doctor before since i didn't wait just pushed them out.. well, although they were getting ready, and there were 4 nurses and a medical student doing her rotation, and a nurse doing his residency.. and all just froze when in a push poor Daniel came out with nobody to catch him.. Good thing the bed was big and I am short... He is a great eater just like Samuel and Benjamin were.

Both, him and I are doing great.. tired but healthy.

Did I mentioned Jay dislocated his right ring finger last night while playing basketball with his brother? Yeah... after baby was born he went to the ER to make sure it wasn't still broken.. Looks like he did a great job popping it back into place when it happened because it wasn't broken.. but it sure is swollen. Samuel and Benjamin were excited to see us, but more excited to give me two flowers arrangements.. They enjoyed "baby's gifts for them" and played for a while.. Samuel was looking forward being "in charge" tonight as big brother.. hopefully they wont be too bad for bedtime tonight for both my mom and mother-in-law.

We are so blessed to be with family and have help from both sides. We are loving this little piece of heaven! What an addition to our little family!

Quick post..

It's been a month since I last post anything.. life has been busy, between homecomings, first sewing project, huge banner, birthday party, Jay's visit during the break... really, mainly the last couple of weeks with two more people living in the house.. My brother-in-law who just came back from his mission (another future post) and my mom who is staying for two and a half months.. crazy, but great help.. and now with just three weeks till my inducement.. lots to do still, from unpacking baby clothes, packing maternity ones, unpacking regular clothes.. moving boxes to put out pack and play.. anyway... here is a little pic.. same from facebook.. the belly just keeps growing.. doctor says although I am 37 weeks, baby's size is more like 38-39 weeks.. (buaaaa) well, as long as he is healthy is all that matters.. I know now I am thinking how labor will be.. but I am shooting for the same route as the other two.. no epidural, vaginal, and a shot of demorol (like morphine) for the last hour or so.. we will see.

Friends in Dominica

What would we do without friends? The great part about friendships is that especially for kids it only means "play". During the short time on the island that is what we did.. besides sweating.. ;) One of my favorite activities to go to was playgroup. Very well organized by a friend who got there initially at the same time we did in August 2009, (thank you Jesse!) we had a whole calendar planned for the month, including trip and even a sports day... which meant balls! Most of the playgroup times we went to, was only with Benjamin since it happened while Samuel was in school. It was good for him to play with friends the same age..
Whether it was at Matix and Hawken's house..

Or Keira's house..We both enjoyed going and playing for a couple of hours. Sometimes it was just two gubbers who seemed to be the greatest match to get in trouble quickly.. That would be Benjamin and Matix, who are only 3 days apart. Matix being the oldest.Of course, we couldn't leave Shane left out.. except for the fact the he truly was helping Benjamin be more affectionate since Benjamin is going through the not-so-fun-hitting-fase. Sorry Shane. :(But overall, they had fun, even with the girls.. well, fighting over toys or with sticks.. They still spent time with them in different places, like couches, floors, game centers, under ping pong tables, pool..

Or at restaurants, movie time, school, or even birthday parties.

My favorite though, is to know that friendship doesn't care about age. Our boys have been sooo blessed to make great "older" friends.. and not only admire them but learn from them as well.

Thank you all for being such good friends to our little ones and help them be better children.. It definitely has blessed their lives by being part of a community, a circle of people who all speak the same language no matter where we go and where they are from.. the language of love and the bond of friendship.

tribute to food..

Food can be a necessity but also a great pleasure. We don't only enjoy lots of varieties of food but also to have fun in the process of cooking it.
Growing up in a country so rich in climate and land diversity, I enjoyed a lot of fruits from cold climates to tropical ones. Never realizing how spoiled I was, my mom very religiously would cut up lots of different fruits and pack them in a container for school. When I say school is until high school, and even my freshman year of college before I transfer to the States. Therefore, my pleasure for fruit is much higher than ice cream, cookies or chocolate. Having said that, as a mom, I always try to have the big variety of fruit available for the kids, although we still have the cookies, and other goodies.. Interesting enough, Samuel likes most fruits, except cantaloupe. Benjamin however, doesn't like plums or watermelon. Go figure.. But during our short time in the island, what we had the most was mango, star fruit and guavas.. and that was a hit every morning for snack.. I got tired of cutting the mangoes, and discovered that both kids would eat until the seed was hairless!

Daddy, on the other hand is not as big fan. However, his soft spot was juices. Mainly, mango juice which is his favorite. So much I showed him how to make it and he enjoyed the process. Can you tell?This is a short but funny story. I left Samuel finishing breakfast while I was changing Benjamin.. And when I got around to see the table: he had taken all the left over pieces of watermelon from the fridge and scarfed them down till literally no pink was left.. Ironically enough, I always have to watch out for Samuel when I am serving or leaving fruit around, or else, he would really eat it all in one meal...Enough from the fruit group..

Let's talk meat. So in the island is much cheaper to buy in bulk. But the orders can be very large. Gratefully we had a deep freezer where it all fit. These were the left over boxes, of more than 30 lbs of chicken, ground beef, sausage, bacon and steak.Of course it was to feed us all semester long.. without taking into count that daddy was gonna be left alone for half of that time. While there, pizza was one of the favorite dishes. And is the only way Benjamin will gladly eat ground beef.. weird.Also, pizza is one of the easy meals that kids can easily be involved.. and Samuel just enjoyed it as much as eating it.But cheese and meat wasn't the only thing.. Jay's favorite food is seafood; followed by Mexican or any spicy. Too bad Colombians don't eat spicy, therefore, I don't cook spicy; but hot sauce has always been the solution for his particular plate. So, one day he shows up with a big box of shrimp. I grew up in the mountain area.. hardly ever cooked or ate fish, except for canned tuna. So I am very inexperience with any seafood. But, he decided to take the time to "fix" all the shrimp (tedious work) and freeze it. We got quit a few great meals. Like a special batter of his, to fry not only shrimp but chicken too, which both kids liked. Samuel also LOVES shrimp.. I went for the chicken..Both kids love Italian, and so do we. So the Shrimp Alfredo was a hit.Enough seafood. Both, my kids and I absolutely enjoyed BREAD. I usually would do wheat (healthy and easier to do) but Jay only likes white. So I would do twice wheat and then white.. and really, with that much bread I baked (2 lbs) and i would only last 2 and a half days, 3 at the most.

I grew up with rice, beans and plantains. Jay likes them too, except for the fact that I like ripe fried plantains (sweet) and he likes the not ripe ones (salty). I tried making both every week, since Samuel like the "chip ones" (salty) and Benjamin the sweet ones of course. But here was the picture of my first Colombian beans! I was sooo excited. Although I grew up helping my mom on all the process of cooking everything, I never learned to actually cook. So, here were my first ones which are the most famous from above the coffee area. They are kidney beans, cooked with plantain, and a lot of other spices that make them sooo yummy.. The usual "bandeja paisa" looks kind of like that but with fine ground beef, sausage, sunny side up egg, arepa and a piece of avocado on the side.. that's why I named it 1/2 bandeja paisa, because is missing a ton of other little sides.

But I couldn't leave Jay's favorite breakfast (after 5 years of denial I finally got to make it for him), is biscuits and gravy, with sausage and scramble eggs on the side. I thought it was harder that what it really was. But I did tried to do it often while there. The kids like it too, without the gravy though. And Samuel also loves sausages but Benjamin doesn't, he rather chew (not quit eats it all) bacon instead. Yes, the last is a calsone-wanna-be because they ended up being huge and weird looking. The kids and I liked them though. They were full of rice, ground beef, veggies.. yumLast but not least, "pinchos" in Spanish but I have no clue how to spell them in English.. They are made of chicken, onions, bell peppers and lots of BBQ sauce.. also some salty plantains.. of course, I marinated the chicken in the sauce before pinching it on the skewer.. Jay, Samuel and I enjoyed them. Benjamin not so much, but he rejoiced on his peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which Samuel hates since he cant see peanut butter.We don't always eat at home, in fact, we love fast food. Mainly taco bell, but BK can taste good every now and then.. These pictures are from a Christian Fellowship dinner on campus.. they had lots of food. And what did they enjoyed most? The cupcakes of course.

I don't personally like Mac Donald's but at the airport in PR coming back to the States, they little ones thought that was the best dinner ever.. each kid ate 5 CHICKEN McNUGGETS! Although they both like them with a ton of ranch and ketchup.

We like sweets too. Here daddy got us some sugar cookies.. and junk food is welcome. The kids love Gatorade and Cheetos. And daddy couldn't resist the Byington's ice cream sandwich on his birthday.. the kids enjoyed it too.
Best of all, has been when the lovers go for date night to try a new place. Like the famous ribs in Portsmouth. Evidently, this little place there only cooks them on Friday nights. And the orders are basically just ribs with fries, nothing else. They were pretty good. Jay said they were more southern style not as sweet as the Texan ones. If you give me a choice, I go for the Texan ones. We still enjoyed the hour wait in such great company and the 10 minute eating time.

The interesting part in our cooking journey is that the harder the place to cook, the best we have eaten. Of all 11 moves we have had, and both times in Dominica were the best times we have had cooking at home.. even though the shortage in ingredients. I still think necessity is what makes true creativity. Either way, we still enjoyed food wherever we go.