When you're too sick to go to church

Sunday morning at breakfast time, Collin announced that his stomach hurt.  Though he was acting perfectly normal, he was adamant that it did not hurt just a smidge, but a whole lot.  I was pretty suspicious when he assured me that it didn't hurt so much to turn down a cinnamon roll, but that he was too sick for church.  We talked about it at length, if there was a reason he didn't want to go to church, how the whole family was dressed and ready to go, how disappointed we'd be if Collin stayed home and suddenly felt better.  But because there's been a bad stomach bug going around, we decided not to be the family that brought it to church, and the kids and Cas stayed home.  

As part of our discussion, we thoroughly explained to Collin that if he was too sick for church, he was too sick to play in the backyard or go swimming later in the afternoon.  And of course he was fully recovered from his non-existent illness by the early afternoon and extremely disappointed that we were sticking to our guns about no swimming.  Initially we hung out calmly with a big book - 

And used the book to play peek-a-boo with Maya - 

The faker -

Reaching a compromise, we picked up all the toys in the living room to fill the rug with pillows from the couches.  Maya thought it was a scream -

Taking a rest from her pillow climb -

Tickles from Collin -

I love watching them play together -

Happy girl - 

Silly, and clearly healthy boy, leaping off the couch to the pillow pile - 

Do you see the little tear in her eye?  Push-over Mommy handed off my cellphone to keep my teething girl from melting down -

We made a trade for her toy phone from Alex and Coady as soon as I could distract her -

Later in the afternoon, Maya and I went for a swim but Collin had to stay inside.  He told me, "I'm so angry at you, I just want to crush you."  While we're glad he was using words to express emotion, we still have a ways to go on tone and respectful words!

Grandma Libia pool fiesta

Every Wednesday when Grandma Libia comes over, it's FIESTA TIME!  And last week it was an extra special visit.  I was out of town for three days, and Grandma Libia came to spend the night the two nights I was away, giving Cas an extra hand.  

Each afternoon when Cas would get home, they'd hit the pool.  

 Maya and her grandma enjoying a late afternoon plunge -

Floating away and practicing her wave -

Collin had a ball with Grandma, really enjoyed hanging in the pool and the special attention that was given to him during her stay. There were movies watched, bedtimes ignored, music danced to, and hugs and kisses galore.  The kids love their Grandma, and it was great to get some quality time with her that week.

Mother's Day 2014

Mother's Day 2014 was:
- Collin hiding his card and gift from school under his bed, asking me multiple times when it would be Mother's Day, and telling me he was giving me chocolate but he wasn't going to tell me what kind of chocolate.
- A happy son gifting me with a cute card and hand-painted box of Hershey kisses in the morning

- Opening two necklaces from Collin.  Cas took him shopping at Sam Moon, a store I never shop at, to pick out a gift for me.  He wanted to get me what Cas described as an over-the-top rhinestone cross necklace, so the compromise was a green flower necklace that was a bit closer to my taste, but still gaudier than I ever would have chosen for myself.  Hopefully the lesson learned for Cas was to take the kids to one of my favorite stores where the chances of success are much higher!  But of course, I wore the necklace Collin picked to church and posed with the kids beforehand.  I am just delighted that I get to be their mom!

Maya was not particularly delighted to be taking pictures.

After church, Maya napped and Collin played with her birthday present doll house.  The doll house currently is in Collin's room, since he played quietly with it during rest time.  But compared to the ways the girls in our preschool Sunday School class play, Collin's dollhouse has more battles and aggression!

Sunday afternoon, we had the family over for a meal my sweet parents prepared.  Neither my mom or I had particularly relaxing Mother's Days, as I was cleaning up our house and my mom was cooking, but we both had a great time that afternoon and evening with all the family!

Mother's Day 2014 was dinner with aunts, uncles, and cousins from my mom's, dad's and Cas' mom's side of the family - such fun!  My cousin Leo in the pool - 

Collin and Jackson - wherever Jackson is, that's where Collin wants to be - 

Beauties Stella and Melissa watching the guys in the pool - 

Maya spent a lot of time with my dad and Uncle Bobby around the backyard.  

Uncle Bobby had her smiling away, but not when she'd see mama behind the camera -

First time with cookie cake -

Pretty sure she's a fan!

Mother's Day was capturing a [blurry] picture of a common moment with my daughter.  Often by late afternoons on my days off, the kids and I wait for Cas to get home - or kill time before dinner if he's traveling - swinging and cuddling on the hammock and listening to music in the backyard.

And Mother's Day 2014 was pictures with the moms - both my grandmas with Bobby and Larry -  

Mother - sons - great-granddaughter -  

Cas jumped out of the pool to take a quick photo with his mom -

And my mom and Maya having a gleeful time together -

Compared to Mother's Day 2013 when Maya was three days old, this Mother's Day was more restful, more exciting watching Maya take steps all around the backyard, and more fun to have a functioning pool and family to celebrate with on Sunday evening.  I'm so fortunate that I have a family full of incredible mothers, that Cas and I feel we have the best moms ever, and that I have the gift of being a mommy to my two favorite children in the world!

Maya's first birthday - pink sparkle tutu and great grandma birthday dinner

Maya's first birthday began with a "Happy Birthday" serenade in her crib by Collin and me.  After breakfast, I couldn't resist a few pictures in her adorable "one" outfit from Kelly in the backyard.

Her most genuine grins were with Aquaman or my phone in her mouth!

Then we headed to the Children's Museum, the same destination of Collin's first birthday.  But here were the differences:  with Collin there were two parents and one one-year-old that we followed everywhere and documented with tons of pictures.  And with Maya, Cas was out of town and Collin was too old for the tot spot, so even though it was her birthday, where Collin wanted to go pretty much dictated our time at the museum.  

As we walked in, we saw our cousins Nico and Lorenzo, an unplanned reunion.  They spent some time with us in the first room, but got bored and headed to the younger kid area.  Nico and Maya checking out the fruit-  

Collin with a mask from the dragons and fairies room -

The closest we got to the tot spot, the under three-year-old room, was outside with the tricycles.  Maya was happy to try the rocking dog while Collin zoomed around in the toy cars and tricycles.  Next time when we go back with two adults, we'll introduce Maya to the room designed for her age group.

Friday afternoon, I  had promised to take my great grandma Jewell Rae to her hair appointment, and Cas arrived home just in time to take over watching the kids so I could run out the door and pick her up.  When we arrived home an hour and a half later with food, Maya was ready to eat.  Collin couldn't stand it - we had waited ALL DAY for Cas to arrive to open Maya's presents, and then he had to wait while I was at the hair place and then even longer while we ate dinner.

We had a great birthday dinner of Cuban food with our family of four and both of my grandmas.  As soon as Maya was finished eating, we let her/Collin open her gifts, with the great grandmas looking on from the table-

Collin was happy, Maya wasn't sure what was going on!

My dogs sense Jewell Rae is not a dog lover and give her extra cuddles -

We gave Maya a Fisher Price doll house after Collin was adamant about getting her some new "action figure princesses," so her doll house is filled with Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, Snow White, and other Disney leading ladies.

She got a homemade cupcake for her birthday - chocolate with pink icing -

She enjoyed being the center of attention as we sang her "Happy Birthday."

Collin had the job of blowing out the candle, and halfway through the song, loudly sped up the lyrics so we would more quickly reach the end and he could put out the flame, which tickled the adults -

Aaah, chocolate and icing -

We had a great day celebrating this sweet girl. This year has been a delight, and she is getting exponentially more fun as she interacts, walks, and begins to communicate!

Happy 1st Birthday, Maya!

It feels like it was just days ago we were bringing our precious newborn daughter home from the hospital, while at the same time, it feels like she's always been a part of our family.

A few days before her first birthday, I picked up balloons and a cupcake for photos.  We had family over, and we were all enjoying the afternoon, when I frantically realized the sun was starting to set and we had a very short window for outside pictures.  And this silly first world problem is where Collin gets his extreme dramatic flair from, as he watched me scurry around to get Maya in a ridiculous get-up, drag the table from his room outside, and make crazy faces and sounds to try and get her to look towards the camera!

Enjoying her first cupcake.  A photo play-by-play of every bite so you can feel like you were there.  You're welcome.

Will she be a chocolate girl like her mama, a vanilla-fan like her dad, or just a consumer of all sugary things like her big brother.  Jury is still out until she can talk, but she ate her fair share of the cupcake.

 Posing next to the aftermath of the cupcake

 Decided to sample a few more bites

 She was so consumed with the cupcake she didn't fight the huge bow in her hair

 Big brother, straight out of the pool, jumped into the final picture or two -

 Her biggest cheerleader, who daily tells of another word Maya supposedly says (she roared like a bear, etc)

Happy, messy, beautiful one year old!

Here are some of the things Maya is up to on her first birthday:
- She took her first step on April 19th in front of my brother, Cas and me.  Since then she has taken one or two steps, but if the object in pursuit is further than that, she crawls.
- She wore her first bow without a headband (as in she has just enough hair to hold a clip) on May 4th.  We took a pathetic amount of iphone pictures.
- She is expressing herself more and more.  She follows commands (wave, clap, high five, rub hands, all done with a meal), says quack and sometimes dada, and lets us know when she's not getting her way.
- She is starting to take an interest in books - hooray!  She likes the Brown Bear series, It's Time for Bed, and the touch and feel books - the same ones Collin preferred at her age.  We hope she's a great reader like Collin; it is such a joy to re-live some of my favorite books with my children.
- She loves being outside, swinging on the hammock or swing, splashing in the water table or pool, going on bike rides, taking baths, and dancing to music.  Her favorite animals at the zoo were the orangutans and chimpanzees, but I'm pretty sure that's just because she was able to get right next to them at the glass windows.  And she yells in excitement when she sees dogs walking or at parks.  
- She's a happy, smile-y baby.  We love to tickle her, sing to her, and cuddle with her.  Our whole family loves her to pieces!