Chicago 2010

Ricardo was so mad at the cold weather he complained the entire time we stood outside waiting to get in to the aquarium! HAHA

City View

Clearly not happy with the cold

WOW!

Belugas

At the fresh water gallery

Happy Birthday Livie!(totally copied this from Lori's blog)

Madie, Noah, Livie, and little manny

One of my best friends (30+years of friendship right there)

Alexander trying to charm yet another lady!

Thank the Lord for portable toys!

From our hotel room

Eating Venezuelan food...he's right at home

My favorite pabellon (meat, rice, beans, and plantains)

Alexander at the pool

Our second trip to the Venezuelan restaurant...Coke in a bottle...nothing better

Popsicle in the back seat on the way home...YUM!

This year we decided to take a little 3 day trip after Christmas to Chicago to take Alexander to the Shedd Aquarium and hang out in the city and get away from Indy for a bit. Thankfully, my best friend Lori and her family were going to the city as well to celebrate their youngest daughter's 5th birthday. Can't believe she's 5 already! When I was pregnant they came to visit once and Livie was the same age then as Alexander is now. Kids grow up soooo fast!

Our trip to the aquarium was totally worth the $103 it cost us to go there. Ya, $103! It was $16 to park, $30/ticket for Ricardo and I, and $27 for lunch. His face at each fish tank was priceless. Each time the Beluga Whales came around the tank he yelled "here they come"!

We stayed at the Hilton downtown which was really nice but again the cost. Hello, it was $45 a night to park the Jeep!

Everything was totally worth the cost, especially since we found a Venezuelan restaurant about 20 minutes north in Oak Park. We went there Wednesday evening for dinner and returned today for lunch before we drove home. Ricardo was SO excited when the owner told him they opened one here in Indy. I immediately got on my phone and looked it up before the owner even chance to give him the address and information. HAHA!

We really enjoyed the drive home because Alexander sat in the back seat and counted over and over and told us all sorts of stuff about the trip. He told us several times that he saw Aunt Lori and Uncle Pete and ate french fries and hot dog. HAHAHA!

Christmas 2010

This year I decided to make cookies for "Santa" since Alexander is now keenly aware of Santa and the milk and cookies concept. I attempted several times to tell him about Jesus and while he did say Happy Birthday Jesus each night during his prayers, he went into his own rendition of baby Jesus when I said his mom's name was Mary. He began a story about eating salsa and chips with Aunt Mary and Uncle Rick, I assume since we had eaten Mexican with them on the 23rd. HAHAHA. Very entertaining to Jesus I'm sure!

Christmas was so overwhelming for Alexander he didn't even open all of his gifts before he fell fast asleep! I had to open the last few while he took a nap. LOL! We had a ton of gifts...only because there were 9 of us all together yesterday and LOTS of food. Alexander's favorite gift by far is his new guitar. He hasn't put it down since yesterday. Thanks to "Santa Lori" for that FREE gift. Such a blessing! He got a lot of music items like drums, a Fisher Price DJ toy, and a xylophone. (he's playing the guitar as I type)

We're fighting colds but ramping up for a week off of work and Karate and a three day trip to Chicago to get away from Indy. Can't wait!

(In case you're wondering...that is my sister in feety pajamas, Cha Chi is wearing actual sweat pants, and my mom has Smurf pajama pants on...these are the traditions that we don't openly discuss - YIKES)

Weekend Update

1) We've gone through the past 5 days without a pacifier. How did you do it you ask? Well, that's simple...my child decided on Thursday evidently that he didn't need it any more and went to bed without asking for it. He's asked for it maybe 3 times since but went along his merry way when we told him Paci went bye-bye. YIPPEE!

2) Saturday was our family's annual holiday bash at the Logansport Carousel. Had an awesome time...will post pics once I have all of them.

3) Went to the ER last night after Alexander woke up gasping for air. It was the croup as I expected. We soon learned that not only did he really give up the Paci for good because he didn't' ask for it at the Hospital but he is really learning how to cope in any situation. He only cried once when I told him he couldn't run around the room. After a dose of really strong steroids he seemed better so they let us go home around 2am. He is taking a nap now and seems to be doing ok. Never been so scared let me tell ya!

4) We are officially on the countdown to Santa. Our child is ramped up about the presents and cookies and milk. That's all he talks about! Well, that and Meme and Krystal and his Aunt Chachi and Angie. That kid loves his aunts let me tell ya!

5) I have 3 days of work until I have a week+ vacation. We're going to Chicago for a few days to the Shed Aquarium and probably Nike Town knowing Ricardo and to have dinner with my best friend (one of them) and her family. Seriously, cannot wait!

This weekend was full of activities as usual. Friday night was the Karate School Christmas party that Ricardo hosts each year. The families really enjoy being able to hang out and of course eat. The kids love all the candy, the piñata, and the dancing. This year Alexander got in on the festivities and put on a dancing show for everyone. I’m waiting on the video from one of our friend’s phone so I can post it.

Saturday we headed to the mall to buy Alexander some new tennis shoes. We’re in for a new pair about every 3 months it seems. At the rate he’s growing it might be faster. He’s already in a 9 and that won’t last long. I have been told several times over the past few weeks that he’s a big 2 year old. I wouldn’t be surprised if he surpasses 6’3” or so…given that my dad was super tall and I have tall uncles as well. And, if I’m not mistaken I think my dad’s grandpa was tall but I’m not 100% certain on that one.

Anyway, while at the mall Alexander took a liking to the jumping thing they have in there and now that he’s big he can totally enjoy all the fun things in life. He was so excited. All he kept saying was salta, salta which is jump in Spanish. He really loved it! When we returned to the mall on Sunday to do some Christmas shopping he said jump…jump as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. That kid has a memory like a steel trap! And, I have to say thank you to the mall people for having a real life train in the mall that people can ride. Do they know how distracting it is for a kid? All he kept saying aside from “jump” was “train, ride train”. NICE! We didn’t get to ride it but I’m sure he won’t forget any time soon.

Saturday night was "Friendsgiving" at ChaChi and Angie's so we headed over there for some YUMMY food and drinks and hung out with their friends. We had an awesome time. Once again everyone there was enchanted with our rather dynamic child. His dancing and ability to keep a beat at age 2 makes everyone crack up. Seriously, he can keep the beat. I think we have something here!!! :)

Best Buddies

My parents love taking pictures at every event we have no matter how great or how small. So, today I looked at some of the pics that Steve has taken over the past couple of months and found these two of Nathan and Alexander. They are the cutest pictures ever. These two are best buddies. They love to play in the sandbox, color, and most recently have found that rough housing is the best way to go on a cold winter night. I've never seen my child become so rough as I have lately. He was litterally taking Nathan down to the ground in one fell swoop only to be "karate chopped" by Nathan afterwards.

We are very thankful for our great friends and just as much that our kids love each other so much!

California

Yesterday, Ricardo competed in a tournament in Sacremento California. He placed third in his division giving him the title of 3rd on the West Coast. He's super excited!

Sharing

Yesterday, Alexander decided that sharing his home made popcycle with Sonny was a good option. Sonny did too of course!

Conference a go-go

Last week was my very first work related trip out of state. The Director, my counterpart, and I headed to Orlando Florida last Monday to spend 4 days at the Federal FSA Conference. It was a little scary at first to leave Alexander since I had never done that but it turned out to be a fabulous trip that was a lot of fun. We really had the best time laughing, drinking, and of course learning at the conference. I have said it before but I'll say it again, I am so blessed to have such wonderful colleagues. My boss, who is more like my long lost sister, is just the best and so much fun to hang around. And, Sarah, my counterpart at our other campus location is someone I worked with at my former job so we've known each other for like 7 years at this point. Super fun!

We enjoyed the warm weather, the beautiful scenery, and Epcot which was awesome and so fun. On the last night we had dinner with my boss's