My Daughter, The Sock Genius!

So I just had to write about this one....

Aliyah is a genius. Today, I took her socks off of her while she was playing in the living room. She then decides she wants to share her socks with me...and she spent the next 10 minutes trying to put her tiny little socks onto my feet.

9 months old (well, almost 10). How would she EVER know to do that? She's never seen me put socks on my feet before. She's never seen Daddy put socks on his feet. All she knows is that socks go on HER feet. The fact that she knew and understand that because socks go on her feet, they too would go on Mommy's feet...is beyond me.

She's a genius. That's all there is to it!:)

9 MONTHS OLD

Just like I thought, here I am again at the 9 month mark!

Yes, that's right...My Aliyah is

9 months old today!

Nine month seems like a huge one. Maybe because it's only three months away from the big O-N-E!? Maybe because in past history (as a nanny & babysitter), nine months has always been a favorite? Maybe because in past history, nine months has brought new and great things!? Maybe because nine months means that she's now been alive for exactly a year and a half (9 months in belly, 9 months outside belly)? WHO KNOWS. Regardless of the reason, I just feel like nine months is a biggie! And it makes my heart happy to know she has arrived!:)

Today has been special. It's been *one of those days.* One of those days where I have reflected on my life, and what I saw was happiness and love. And because of it, I'm so full of gratitude. God is so faithful and has been so gracious to me.

Aliyah and I went on a beautiful walk around our neighborhood this afternoon. May I add that she FINALLY sat nicely in her stroller, and lasted that way, THE ENTIRE DURATION OF THE WALK!!! AHHHHH! I could cry of happiness! Anyway, going outside on a walk is such a beautiful way to feel close to God. To see Him in His creation and in everything around you; in the wind, the sun, the trees, the flowers....He is such an amazing God! And to experience it with my precious baby girl, who sat so lovely in her stroller, it was more than just beautiful. It was so special. You may never understand what that moment meant to me!:) I was a proud Mama to my Aliyah, and filled with endless gratitude to my God.

These past couple months have, like all the others, meant new things and new discoveries! She's doing so great.

First things first, she's huge. (Well, in comparison to all the babies around her!) I'm not sure exactly how much she's weighing, but it has to be close to the 22 mark. We will find out on Monday, as she has an a appointment that morning.

She's all over the place, crawling, crawling, crawling! She is basically non-stop. Anyone that spends anytime with her usually has a comment about how she never stops moving, ever. And it's totally the truth. She looses breath, just being herself. She doesn't stay in any one place longer than a few seconds at a time. She is always, always, moving. Am I exhausted, you may ask? Yes.

What else? She is pulling herself up and standing now. She also loves to walk (holding my hands). She's so speedy though! She tries to run, which of course doesn't work out for her. So then I end up letting her just crawl. Or I pick her up. She is so heavy though, so I try not to hold her as much. Everyone that does hold her, usually tells me they have achy arms the next day! :)

Her sleeping schedule, like always, continues to remain A-W-E-S-O-M-E!! She goes to bed anywhere between 5:30pm and 6:30pm (depending on how naps went during the day), and then gets up anywhere between 5:30am and 6:00am.

Routines, routines, routines! We love routine.

Her bedtime routine is pretty much solidly set in stone, since we have been doing it for months now. I feed her dinner, Beto gives her a bath and gets her all ready for bed, then I have been giving her her evening bottle, then put her in her crib. She is great about going to sleep, and has actually grown to love bedtime - she practically dives for the crib! She then moves around and/or plays for a good ten minutes or so, then she is out like a light. Then we have THE WHOLE EVENING to ourselves!!! It's pretty much amazing. Some of you may say, well that's not fair, mine doesn't go down until 7 or 8, or even 9! All I have to say to that is that I am SURE your child at least sits still for a solid minute during the day. Or sits nicely on your lap. Or can hold their bottle and feed themselves peacefully. Or can play in one spot for more than 5 seconds. Or can lay their head on your shoulder for more than 7 seconds, to show their state of relaxation. Ha. Do I sound bitter? Let me assure you, I am not!:) I am just one tired girl when 5 o'clock rolls around, and am thankful that she goes down early. I think that is the Lord's gift to me, for having given me such an active child! He knew I would need my evenings! :) OH, and I should add. Even if I did choose to put her down later, she still wakes up at the same time. That is why we chose to just go for the extra early put-down! Honestly, she can hardly keep her eyes open past 6pm anyway!:)

She takes two naps a day. Usually one is much longer than the other. If her morning one is a good 2 or 3 hours, then the afternoon one usually only ends up being like 45 minutes. Or vice versa. I have been trying to cut her back on bottles, which I thought would be tricky, seeing as she usually takes a bottle to go down for her naps. Thankfully this week has gone very well with the changes! I have her down to three bottles a day. One in the morning when she wakes up, one at noon (or when she wakes up from her nap), and then one in the evening. She hasn't enjoyed the whole falling asleep on her own during the day. But she will get used to it! :) Everyday has gotten a little better. She still cries when I put her in her crib, but it only lasts a few minutes. Then she plays for like 10 or 15 minutes, and then finally, she's out! I love watching her in the monitor... One time this week, she got onto her knees, looked straight up at the camera, and waived. TOTALLY COINCIDENTAL I know - but it was SO funny and cute!

Speaking of waiving..... She waives for hello's and goodbye's. She claps, constantly. And my sister taught her to do "SO BIG!" (hands raised in the air)! That one is my favorite! It is SO cute! She doesn't get her arms all the way above her head, so she kind of sticks them out, like superman, when he flies. It's adorable.

Last week she caught a cold, which is never fun for anyone!:( It was the first time she had ever been "sick." Thankfully she is doing much better - just a little bit of a runny nose. The worst of it really only lasted about a day. She had a cough, and was acting up, but nothing serious! Beto gave her bubble baths with Vicks Vapor liquid. She really enjoyed those!
:)

These are just a few things. Of course she has accomplished so much in the past few months, and has grown like crazy! She keeps us laughing constantly. She honestly is just one of the funniest people I have ever known - and she's only a baby! I can't imagine what she'll be like as a toddler, or a child. I can't wait to find out!

She's so much fun. We love her so dearly and are so thankful for her life, and the joy she has brought to our hearts and to this family.

I wanted to write more, update you a bit on us and the house, but I can hardly keep my eyes open! I'm not even going to proof-read! :-0 Ha! So forgive me in advance for all the wordiness and mistakes!

Love you all, and will update again soon! I miss the more frequent blogging!

P.S. VAMOS ESPANA!! (Most of our month has consisted of watching the World Cup. We have hardly missed any games. I thought this would be long and boring for me, but it has been SO exciting! We're all three into it - big time!):):) I will actually be very sad once it's all over.

7 Months Old Today!

Ok, so I am just as bad of a blogger as I thought I would be! Ha!! I CANNOT keep up with this thing! I think about doing it all the time, especially when I read all my other friends' lovely posts. I wish I could do it, but lately I just haven't seemed to have the energy to actually formulate sentences and type them out. Seems silly, but that's the truth!

Our baby girl, Aliyah Nicole, is 7 MONTHS OLD TODAY! And it's like she knew this, and wanted me to wake up early with her to celebrate! (Lets just say, it wouldn't be out of character for her to do so, that's for sure!) So that is exactly what we are doing. She's sitting so nicely over in front of the TV, celebrating with a little Baby Einstein (DVD) and a few of her favorite toys. I'm celebrating over here by the computer, with my warm cup of coffee and all of you guys!:)

She is such a joy. These 7 months have flown by. For me to actually explain in detail and write out what this baby girl is actually like, it would take more effort than just formulating a few sentences and typing them out, which we all know is difficult enough for me as it is. It would take paragraphs, books, series, etc.....!!!! SHE IS LIKE NOTHING I'VE EVER SEEN OR EXPERIENCED!

Aliyah, you are a handful! But more than a handful, you are truly the happiest, most joyful little creature I've ever seen on this earth. Nothing and no one, makes me laugh as hard as I have with you.

As I type this out, she is over having a great big laugh with the puppets from Baby Einstein. And when not laughing and thinking they're just hilarious, she's babbling away at them. It goes something like this....

"A - DAAAAAA - A - DAAAAAAA - NANA - hahahahah - A - DAAAAAAAAA - AHHHHHH (*an excited, very high pitched, scream*) - hahahahha - A - DAA - DADA AHHHHHHHHHHHHH DADA - hahahahah "

6 months was a big month in this home. We had a few pretty big milestones.

One, (and MOST importantly) was that Aliyah started sleeping through the night!!! YAY! Way, way, WAY later than I had wanted her to....but oh well! We did have a pretty big move at the 3 and 4 month mark, so I blame that! Haha! So yes, thanks to maybe mashed potatoes and/or her little pink elephant blankie, or just maybe the fact that it was way OVERDUE, she is now sleeping so lovely - about 11-12 hours a night. What a wonderful and beautiful month it has been!!

Secondly, she started to sit on her own. This has made my life about a thousand times easier. I can sit her down now whenever I need to, and she is perfectly fine and stable. No wobbling or falling over to the side. Praise the Lord!!! I waited for this moment for what seemed like an eternity! (Again, you'd have to know HER to understand, why this moment would be so special!) Thank you 6 months!

Lastly, 6 months brought not just one, but TWO little teeth! Within a few days, she got both of her lower left and right, central incisors. In normal human language, her bottom front two teeth! Yay!

Two days ago she had her 7 month check up. Apart from being a great appointment because all is well, and Aliyah is a healthy girl, it was a FANTASTIC appointment because Aliyah made it SO funny. I'm not sure exactly what was running through her head, or where it was she thought we brought her to...but from the second the Dr. walked into the office, she seemed to think it was one big joke on her. One big play/tickle session. The check-up lasted about 15-20 minutes, and from start to finish, she was all giggles! The Dr. couldn't even look at her or talk to her, MUCH LESS lay a hand on her, without her laughing and laughing. Anyway, I could hardly pay attention to the actual check-up and what was going on, because we were so distracted by Aliyah's happiness! It was the most fun I have had watching her, ever.

She weighed 19 lbs 12 oz, which means we only gained 12 oz this month! Finally plateauing! Hurray! I said, "Wow, not even a pound this month!??!" The Dr. replied, "Did you really expect her to gain ANY weight at all being THIS active?" :) She's non-stop. She measured almost 28 inches long. She seems to be doing just wonderfully! So, like usual, we were in and out of there, thankful to the Lord for our healthy baby girl!

As for us, we are slowly but surely getting settled. Our house is verrrrryyyyy slowly filling up. Yesterday we actually had a man come to take measurements of some furniture we will be getting made. Yay! Very excited about that. We "ordered" a TV/Entertainment center, a desk, and are having two little end tables re-finished. So in about a month or so, the living room should look a little more complete.

Life is busy. It would take a whole other post to tell you about all that's been going on. We're just thankful and excited about the things God is doing! Please continue to pray for us always! :) Love you all!

Realistically speaking, I will probably not write again until the 9 or 10 month mark!:)

New Home, New Life, & The Rocky Road to Get Here!!!

Hi Friends,

Sorry it has been so long. I just checked, and my last post was December 19th!!!! WOW! Forever ago. Obviously, we have been through a lot these past few months, and I just couldn't seem to either find the time, or bring myself to get back onto the blog.

Obviously I won't go into detail about everything that has happened in the last few months...I'll just give a short re-cap and let you all know where we're at today, and of course how my chunky princess is doing! :)

The holidays seem like a blur now. Christmas ended up being a wonderful time. We went up to Jersey with our friends, Pete and Jess to spend Christmas with Jess' family. They are all so wonderful, and made us feel right at home. Love them all, and am so appreciative to them for taking us in! :)

Christmas and New Years came and went in a flash! December 31st we had to be out of our place in Germantown, so we had everything all packed up, and moved over to Anthony and Camille's. We were with them for about two weeks, before we took off. Again, so grateful to them for taking us in as well!!! Such great friends we have. It was such a joy to be there in their home for those last two weeks, especially to see Sofi everyday and to love on her!!! I LOVED IT! :)

Aliyah and I flew out January 12th... The goodbyes were especially hard. Not only did we leave "home," and all our dear friends, and the life we new....but we also left Beto, not even knowing when exactly we'd be seeing each other again. Agh, a very emotional time it was for me.

We arrived to Canada...and all had gone well. Aliyah did awesome on the plane (for which I was eternally grateful to the Lord for!!! ha!!). It was such a happy reunion to be with family, and for Graham and Susy to meet Aliyah for the first time. It was also wonderful to see my parents reunited with her, after having missed her so much!

The day we landed though, is the day that everything turned upside down and inside out. Suddenly, I had completely taken her out of her environment, and away from any and everything that was familiar to her. Poor baby. She started waking up multiple times in the night...She would almost refuse to sleep during the day. She was wired 24/7, tired all the time, became VERY difficult to feed...was fussy at times, but for the most part, remained a very happy baby, despite it all.

We ended up being up at my parent's house for exactly a month. Much longer than I had anticipated. It was all due to hold ups that Beto kept having. The more he got held up, the longer our wait became...and that's just how it went. We can plan all we want, but things don't always seem to go the way we'd like.

We had a wonderful time at my parent's. Aliyah eventually got adjusted...and loved being with Grandma and Grandpa. She got spoiled rotten in their arms...Ha!! Which, of course, is totally allowed, because they're Grandma and Grandpa! ;)

Throughout all the joy though, my heart still ached. It was one of the most difficult times I had ever been through. I had just gotten rid of everything we owned, cherished and loved...it had been weeks since I had had my own home, kitchen, bedroom and any kind of order in my life. I had just said goodbye to all my friends, knowing that no time soon would those aches and pains in my heart be healed and mended. I longed to be with Beto...especially on the days that Aliyah really struggled. She missed her Daddy and I missed my husband. The wait became, what seemed to be eternal. Every day was a waiting game. Woke up everyday just wondering, hoping, and waiting for us to be a family again. I had no idea when we would have our own home again....when my baby girl could sleep in her own crib again. Everything was up in the air. I could do nothing, plan nothing....just hope, pray, and wait on the Lord for His perfect will to be done, throughout it all.

All that came to an end eventually. Aliyah and I booked our tickets for February 9th. The wait was finally over! I won't even go into detail about Beto's trip down from Texas. He drove down with his cousin and one other guy from Guate, and they had quite the adventure. He would probably call it more of a nightmare, not adventure! :) Anyway, they made it, that's what is most important.

My Dad, being the gem that he is, booked his ticket to come down the same day as Aliyah and me. He and I both knew that there's no way I could've done it alone this time around. You have to understand...when I say that her whole life and way of being had completely turned upside down and inside out....I really, truly mean it! She was NOT the baby that I had flown up with by myself just four short weeks before.

So Dad flew with me to Mexico City (where my connection was). He had to actually fly on to Guadalajara for some meetings, so we parted ways in the Mexico City airport. But boy, am I EVER glad that he was with me on that five hour flight from Calgary to Mexico. You can't even begin to imagine how restless Aliyah was. Ha, I took some video, maybe eventually I will get around to posting it. Anyway, we took turns holding her, standing up with her, letting her talk to the whole plane. I have never, to this day, seen her on quite the high, like she was that day. I wish I was a good enough writer to let you all capture exactly what it is I am talking about...but I'm not quite that good. Trust me, it's hard to imagine....it was a lot of work, let's just say that! :)

We arrived to Guatemala City late that evening. Beto's whole family was so anxious to see Aliyah. It was again, a very happy reunion, and it was so awesome to get to see them all meet Aliyah for the first time. It was great to see Beto again, although our "reunion" couldn't quite be all that we would've wanted.... We didn't really get to get caught up all that much, in spite of all the excitement of finally being here, seeing all the family, and just being thrown right into the day-to-day hustle and bustle of normal life in Guate! :) The lack of re-connection made things difficult at first. Everything was all very overwhelming. Aliyah had once again been pulled from anything normal, and thrown into a whole new environment, YET AGAIN. Although we were finally together again, we didn't know when we'd have a place of our own. We were going on 7 weeks living out of suitcases...7 weeks that I hadn't cooked in my own kitchen, 7 weeks that Aliyah had been out of her crib and away from her things, 7 weeks, 7 weeks, 7 weeks!!!!! AH! I was on the verge of desperation. Inches away from going completely crazy!!!! Ha!!! I laugh now, but I wasn't laughing then. Beto's family was wonderful, they were all so helpful and kind and so willing to do anything to make things easier for us. We stayed with his brother, Estuardo, and his wife, Paula, for the first two weeks, and they were so so wonderful to us! But it was just TIME. If there was any chance at all of me being able to put my head on straight, get over the emotions of starting a new life, I needed to GET ON WITH IT! I needed my own space, my own place, that I would eventually be able to call "home."

The Lord knew my heart. He knew what I needed. And He made things happen, right away! The day after we got here, we went to look at an apartment, and two weeks later, we moved in. It is the perfect place for us. Perfect location, perfect size, perfect everything! Praise God!!! He had it hand picked for us, since before we arrived. He is so good.

So FINALLY, after 8 weeks of not having a home of our own, we moved into this wonderful place on Saturday. It is completely and totally empty, but it is ours to live in. Yay!!!! We did bring Aliyah's things, so her room is beautiful and set up, just like it was back home. We also brought our bed, so at least we have a place to rest our head at nights. And I brought all of my kitchen things...so I can be back in my OWN KITCHEN!!! YAY YAY YAY! All of these small things bring such happiness to my heart. It makes starting over, just a tad bit easier....and at this point, I will take any "tad-bit" that comes my way! :)

Aliyah has adjusted wonderfully. She has relaxed and settled down SO much... She is still her happy, smiley, and laughy self! :) Everywhere we go, people comment on how 1) chunky she is, 2) white she is, and 3) most wonderfully - how SMILEY and happy she is!

What a testimony of how great God is. He sent us Aliyah, to be a constant joy in our lives. He knew that we would need her and her happiness. He knew I would need her. She is a constant reminder to me of God's faithfulness, love, and joy. Although there are times throughout my day that I wish I had all of our things from back home. I wish I had our couch, our table, a wash machine, a dryer, a fridge.........I just have to step back and look at what I do have. I have my husband, and I have our precious baby girl. Truly, I am content with what I have. For I know, that never will God leave us, nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5 -Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you.")

We've been in our new place for almost a week now, and I am feeling somewhat settled. We're hoping to be able to get a washer and dryer this weekend. That will make life easier, especially with an infant. I'm almost out of clean bibs, and on her second set of sheets (she pee'd through two nights ago, haha).

Aliyah is a wonderful baby. She is so very big. I took her to the pediatrician on Tuesday. She weighs a whopping 18 lbs 3 oz. She still prefers to stand, like always. Ever since she was about a month and half old and discovered her standing legs, that has been her constant and steady, preferred way of being! :) She's sleeping again during the day now. She usually takes a long nap in the mornings, and then one or two shorter naps in the afternoon. She is so enjoying the beautiful weather of Guate. No more jackets, hats, sweaters, and snowsuits!! She's all about dresses and short sleeves to show off those chunky legs, arms, elbows, and wrists! :) She has been eating solids now since we arrived to my parent's. She has cereal, and banana baby food. She loves them both....although, since I introduced bananas about a month ago, she's not been so fond of plain, old boring cereal. Ha!! So that's not good. She seems to have a sweet tooth already (of course that statement doesn't really make since in her case, since she has no teeth...but you all know what I mean!)

Everything goes into her mouth...everything. She's been in that stage for a while now. She drools like crazy. We go through bibs like nobody's business (thus the URGENT need for a washer and dryer!!) She laughs all the time.

It's been funny how things have worked out. Since things have been so crazy, and I haven't even had her baby book with me for the last few months to keep track of so many of her "firsts"... Ironically, a lot of her "firsts" have happened on holidays or special occasions....that way, it's been easy for me to remember and now I can record them all in her book! :)

Christmas Day was the first time she laughed out loud..like really big laughs!! (It was in a tickle session with Jess. I actually missed it! Ha! I was upstairs getting ready).

January 18th (my cousin's birthday) was the first time she ate cereal with a spoon.

Valentine's Day was the first time she rolled over. Now there's no stopping her, she rolls turns, pivots, scoots. She's all over the place.

Her hair has grown oodles since she was born. It is still very short compared to most little ones....but slowly but surely, it's coming in! :) It is very light brown, and looks like it'll be curly. With the little that she does have, she still has messy hair syndrome. Poor thing, she has no way of escaping that one. I am the queen of messy hair! :)

I'm trying to remember other things that I could share... I'm running out of steam though, ha! Hopefully I don't get so tired from writing this blog, that I take another 3 month break from blogging!! :) Nooo...don't worry! It won't happen! I have my home, my computer, and my camera all at hand. I'll be back on track in no time at all!

To save myself too much trouble though...I will save pictures for the next blog. I must go get something productive done now! A sleeping baby is like golden time, it can't be wasted!!! :) So I am off.... Off to do the dishes in MY kitchen! Yay! Ha... Never was cleaning my kicthen such a happy and wonderful thing.

Love you all....thanks for praying for me and my family during these difficult months... You are all so very special to me.

Our Crazy Life....A Birthday, Earrings, Snow, & One Fabulous Baby!

SO life has been absolutely and completely crazy lately!!!!! Trying to sell all of our things, pack what we will be taking, have a birthday party, stay healthy, pierce a baby's ears, while still constantly loving on a 2 1/2 month old precious princess - IT'S A LOT OF WORK!

Our VERY fun event this month was getting her ears pierced! She did super! We went to Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, Maryland. She did so well. After she got the first ear done, and the whole mall heard her piercing cry (which by the way, I think was more from the scare and me having to hold her down so tightly), she drew quite the crowd of spectators for the second ear. Most were looking at me like, "are you crazy? how old is she?!" :) One lady even got teary eyed! Ha!!!! Anyway, we did the second ear, she let out one more loud cry, and that was it! I was able to comfort her right away, and the crying only lasted a few seconds. She slept the afternoon away after that, and woke up a beautiful little lady with her pretty earrings! That was the end of that craze. I'm so glad we did it when we did! I was waiting for that moment since the day she was born! :)

Here's a picture of my princess showing off her dazzling little earrings, a few hours after she got them! (Video at the end of this blog for those of you interested in seeing the whole thing!) :)

Last Wednesday was Beto's birthday. It was very special - his first birthday as a Daddy! We didn't do much that day. He only worked in the morning, then Aliyah and I went out to lunch with him (to our fav - Five Guys!).
It was special just to all be together. Later on that evening, we went over to our friends' house, Shaun and Brandi, for dinner and cake. That was fun. Then we had practice at church, like usual. The big celebration was on Friday night. We had it at Anthony and Camille's house. About 30 people came over, and we had YUMMY tamales, taquitos, & Beto's favorite, Oreo Ice Cream Cake.

The next morning, we had our first moving sale. People stopped in all day long, to look and buy things. We had posted signs in our neighborhood and on some of the main roads in our area. It was sad to see some of my things go, but a relief at the same time, to be getting it done! We were hoping to have another sale today, but we're COMPLETELY snowed in, so it's a NO-GO! We'll have to box the rest of our things up and figure out what to do from there.

ALIYAH. She's a fabulous baby. I can't say enough about that! :) She's making this difficult and stressful time of life, less stressful than it could've been, had she turned out to be a handful! Actually, she's a constant reminder to me of God's faithfulness, and she's definitely our constant joy. I suppose the Lord knew we'd need an easy and happy baby to get us through all of this! :) She's our little bundle of joy.

Let's see....she's doing great, in all areas! It's hard to believe how fast time flies by. She's 11 weeks old already, and definitely out of that 'newborn' stage. To me, she actually seems more like a 4 month old. She's got quite the little personality, and loves to pretend she's a big girl. She likes to stand all the time. I can't wait to get her into a jumper or a walker, but that will have to wait til after the move. The house is already completely chaotic as it is; the last thing we need is more baby gear laying around!

Here's Aliyah testing out Sofi's Jumper/Activity Center - she LOVED it! :)

She still is a fabulous sleeper! She is sleeping about 10 hours a night, usually waking up once somewhere in between to eat. Her normal bedtime is now around 9:00 pm. She usually wakes up around 7:00 am, goes down for another short nap in the morning, wakes up for an hour or two, and then sleeps the afternoon away. Literally, she takes like a 4-5 hour nap in the afternoon, wakes up, chills for a few hours, then it's bedtime all over again! :) So funny!

Her newest thing, which just started this week, is she scoots in her crib while she's asleep! We lay her down in the middle of her crib (on her tummy - I know, I'm bad...don't tell the doctors! ha!) and a few hours later, when we go in, she's all the way at the top of the crib with her head against the bumper. So last night, she woke around 3 am to eat, so when I put her back down, I strategically put her at the bottom of the crib, giving her lots of scooting room, without having to reach the top. Well, sure enough, when she woke up this morning at 7, she was all the way at the top of the crib, laying HORIZONTALLY! So she scooted all the way up the length of the mattress, and almost completely turned herself around. I was SHOCKED! Those chunky little legs have LOTS of strength!

Let's see, what else? She's all about smiles and laughs! She is a very happy baby! She has her fussy moments too - but when she's content, she definitely lets us know! :) It's so precious.

Among other things, I've been quite sick this week. I've had a horrible sinus/head cold. As a result, Aliyah has had quite a bit more Daddy time than usual. These are some of the activities they enjoyed together.........

Daddy made my toys magically hang from the ceiling to keep me entertained on my change table!

Daddy set up my very own TV-watching chair! It's a front row seat!

I LOVE DADDY TIME! :)

Today we're all snowed in. It started at about 9 pm last night and hasn't stopped since! The news is saying it probably won't stop until about 6 am. It's definitely a WINTER WONDERLAND outside the window! :) I wish we had a Christmas tree to sit by and enjoy, while we stay cozy inside. Makes me a little sad that her first Christmas is being spent surrounded by chaos and boxes - but oh well! It's not like she knows any better....it's me that's missing all the lights, and baking, and all of my other favorite Christmas traditions! :(

Here's a picture of Aliyah opening some presents the other day...she especially loved her bows and JUMBO PJ's! :)

Two Months old, Holidays, and Changes All Around...

Yesterday Aliyah turned 2 months old! To celebrate, she had her two month doctor's appointment! :) Along with that joyous occasion came her first round of shots. She did super. She always does really well for the Doctor and I always leave feeling very proud of my brave little one! :) She cried when she got her shots (all 3 of them), but it didn't last long. We made sure to have Motrin and a nice yummy bottle all made up and ready for her, for when she was through. She then slept most of the day. When she woke up in the afternoon, she was very mushy and emotional and wanted only to be held. So she basically spent the rest of the day in one of our arms, body limp, and feeling very tired and out of it! I think she just wanted an extra dose of love - and I don't blame her, I'm that way ALL the time! :) We gave her one more round of Motrin in the evening, and she went down around her normal time, 10 pm. She woke up just fine this morning! So all the hype of that is over! :)

So besides the shots, it was just a regular check up. She weighs 12 lb 7 oz (88th percentile, WOW!), and is measuring 22.25 in long (47th percentile). She has doubled her weight since she was born. Pretty crazy to think about the tiny little thing we brought home from the hospital at 6 small lbs! :) She is definitely not that tiny little thing anymore! :)

Besides growing in chunkiness, she's also growing in every other area. She grows smarter, stronger, more playful, and of course cuter, with every passing day! :) Smiling seems to be her new favorite thing. She started at the beginning of November...but now it's almost a constant! She smiles whenever we talk to her. Her favorite time of the day seems to be the morning, and they too, have become one of the major highlights of my days! One of us goes to get her from the crib, and from the minute we pick her up, she's ALL smiles! We then bring her back to our bed and hang out with her for a good half hour or so, and she completely entertains us with her smiles and giggles. It is SO cute! I feel like taking video of her EVERY single morning! It's so fun. She's also all about standing now. She has the strongest little legs ever! We stand her up on our laps, and she can stay standing for a good five minutes straight, while all we really do is keep our hands under her arms to keep her balanced. I'm amazed at the strength in her legs!!! She likes to pretend she's a big girl already! :) Awww.....

So that's all the Aliyah news I guess there really is. She's overall doing great. Sleeps well, eats well, poops well. What more can you really ask for in a baby? :) The soft cheeks that I spend the day kissing away, is an added bonus I suppose! :) But most of all, she's healthy and content - so we're thanking the Lord for that!!!

HOLIDAYS........ I can't even BELIEVE they're here again already!!! This year FLEW by! I love this time of the year. Christmas music, lights, gingerbread scented candles, cinnamon scented pine cones, trees, and even the cool (but not yet frigid) air, it all makes me SO happy!

Thanksgiving was great. We spent the day with our friends Pete and Jess. Actually, Aliyah had her very first sleep over. We went over on Wednesday night, and spent the night there in order to wake up on Thanksgiving day to relax in our PJ's and to get an early start on the cooking. It was just the four of us (plus Aliyah, who slept through dinner)...but we made enough food for about 25! Haha! It was a lot of fun and the food was great. Later that evening we went over to Anthony and Camille's house. They had their families over, and we joined them for dessert and just a nice relaxing evening. It was overall a wonderful day. We couldn't have asked for more, as we felt so thankful and blessed to have spent the day surrounded by our dearest friends, who in reality, have been more like family to us over the years.

The festivities didn't end that day though!

Friday we spent the day relaxing at home (which was SO needed)! It was a cloudy and cold day, so we made a fire, watched movies, ordered Chinese food, and basically spent the whole day lounging around on the couch. I LOVE THOSE DAYS!!

Saturday we went to one of my favorite places - Butler's Orchard! We go there a couple times a year, either to pick raspberries, apples, strawberries, or at Christmas time, a Christmas tree! This year we won't be getting a Christmas tree (for reasons that will follow below.....), but we went with the Strickland's (who also didn't get a tree this year, as they will be spending Christmas down in Guate) and the Deleon's. We basically all went to watch the Deleon's cut down their tree, so that we could get into the Christmas spirit, and at least get a few pictures at the orchard with Aliyah! Well, Aliyah slept through the whole thing, but it was a very fun afternoon, and we of course, always love to snap pictures of our little Sofi muffin (who is now 10 months old and cuter than EVER!). She's such a joy to be around - we love her so much.

Not that this has ANYTHING to do with the holidays, but the fun continued on through Sunday, as Aliyah experienced her first "Clasico." Barca vs Madrid. We spent the whole afternoon/evening at the Strickland's for that event. Aliyah matched her Daddy, all decked out in her Barca ware. They both looked adorable...and she must have been a little good luck charm, because Barcelona won! :) Yay!

CHANGES,, CHANGES, CHANGES.......So now you may ask...why no Christmas tree?! Where will we be this Christmas season? The answer...we'll be here. But our house will be in boxes, because this is our last month in our condo. December 31st we will be moving out, and at the beginning of January, we will be moving to Guatemala.

Yes, you read correctly, GUATEMALA!

I know, it's been years since we lived there!!! Trust me, I'm still trying to get used to saying it and wrapping the thought around my brain! :) It would take me a very long time to explain all the details behind the move, and why we came to this decision.... But we're trusting God that this is the right thing for us for now. We're not sure what He has for us in the future, but we're taking this one, very small step now. It is extremely sad and painful for us to think of all that we will be leaving behind. We have formed an entire life here...and not just any life, but a life that we absolutely LOVE! We've spent our four years of marriage building and equipping a home together and it'll be very tough to let go of our belongings, literally our entire "home." More than that though, we are surrounded by the bestest of friends we could ask for...and I couldn't even begin to tell you how extremely difficult the goodbye's will be, and the thought itself is, of a life without all of them. But again, we're trusting God for His best for us. Furniture and objects are all things that are easily replaced, and we know that in the larger scheme of life, they're not things that matter at all. All of that will one day pass away anyway. And friends will always stay friends. They all will be in our life forever....we'll just be separated by distance for a while. Goodbyes are never forever, especially when aside from being friends, we're also all brothers and sisters in Christ!

So Guate it is! We're looking forward to seeing all of our friends down there, and to be near Beto's family! They all (besides his Mom) will also be meeting Aliyah for the first time, so we're VERY excited about that!!! :)

January is going to come very quickly, and I have about a million and one things to do before then. Please pray for us this month as we scramble and get ready for a gigantic move and ginormously huge changes! :)

I will try to do better with posting more frequently....I've been a terrible blogger lately! :)

Love to you all and happpppy holidays!!!!!!

BFF FUN!

A total highlight of November was a visit from RAQUEL!!!! Only my BFF since forever ago! :) It was so so awesome to see her!!! We hadn't really hung out since the wedding, almost 4 years ago, and because of the circumstances, even that visit didn't cut it. Anyway, it had been YEARS!

She came to visit for a week, and she got to meet Aliyah!! It was so great!! We took her to DC for a day...Baltimore another day...shopped, and just hung around the house relaxing. She mostly wanted to just hold Aliyah, which was totally fine by me! :) She was such a big help!!

Here are some pics of her time here.... Thanks for taking the time and money to come see us Quels!! WE LOVE YOUUU!!!!!!!

First "Social" Smile

This morning was special...

Aliyah got up pretty early (around 6:15ish). She wasn't in the mood to go back to sleep after eating like she usually does, so I got up with her and went to the kitchen to make my coffee. While we waited for it to brew, we sat down on the couch to hang out. I was talking and singing to her, and she was looking at me, seeming to pay very close attention to me (much to my surprise!). Then all of a sudden, she smiled real big!! I wasn't sure if it was a real smile ("social" smile as it's called, ha!), or a "i-have-gas" smile; so I repeated the same thing over again. Talked and sang, and poked at her cheeks. Sure enough, she smiled again and again! It was so cute and special!

YAY for social smiling! Although she's been smiling since day one, not once had it ever been or seemed, intentional! I was soooo waiting for the moment when she would smile out of happiness, or because she thinks I'm hysterically funny! :) I guess that moment finally arrived! :) Yay! (Maybe not the part about thinking I'm hysterically funny, but I at least would like to think so!)

So yeah, fun times...thought I would share that.

We've had a good week.

Yesterday we took a day trip to New Castle, Delaware. Beto likes to try to make it at least once a year to go see his college soccer team play. They had a game in Delaware yesterday, so Delaware it was! We had a really nice time. It was about a two hour drive away and Aliyah slept basically the whole trip. So she missed the whole thing, but at least we can say that she went! :) Her first Nyack soccer game. Actually, her first soccer game, period.

Aliyah and I watched the second half of the game from inside of the car.

It was SO cold outside!

Also this week, we got together with a good friend from high school, Ray. He's out from LA right now, just wandering around the East Coast. We met up with him for dinner. Was great to catch up! It's always sooo great to see old friends, ESPECIALLY ones from high school. It's so easy to instantly re-connect! And reminiscing of those old days always brings the brightest smiles to my face! I'm glad Aliyah got to meet an old friend of ours.

A Few More Updates and Fun With Friends...

Now that I was able to share the good news about poopy diapers, I figure I can get back to blogging about normal things.

So, changes...let's see?

Aliyah is doing awesome still! She definitely is changing a little more everyday - in looks/chunkiness, habits, etc. I love that she's one month now...only 11 more months until my favorite stage starts! Ha! :) (Not that I'm counting down or anything!) ;)

Aliyah...I'm going to LOVE every stage with you (I just secretly have my favorites, that's all!) :)

She still loves to eat like it's nobody's business. We're ALMOST, sort-of learning that to be awake, does NOT mean the same thing as hunger. Ha! She is slowing realizing that having her eyes open, isn't supposed to be code for, feed me! She still eats a ton though. On the weekend, I started giving her SIX OUNCE bottles! To some, that may not mean anything, but trust me, for a tiny little thing like her, that is A LOT! Anyway, eating department basically hasn't changed. She loves to eat, all the time.

She does SO well when we're out! Thankfully so, because we're out A LOT! This is something we really wanted her to learn early. We needed her to be ok while being out, because we did NOT want to cut back on being out! :) (Sorry for going way overboard on the word "out") She was either going to have to like it, or just learn to roll with the punches, even if she hated it. Ha. Don't get me wrong, she's not in love with her car seat or anything, and still will get upset having to be in it sometimes. But for the most part, she does awesome. She can sit a whole car ride, staring around, while staying very content. Most times, she falls asleep. And by the way, those sleeps are my favorite...if she falls asleep in the car, I can count on her being COMPLETELY zonked out for a good 2-3 hours plus. Those are probably her most solid naps. Occasionally, she'll hate being in her car seat - but that usually means she's hungry or overly tired. Then of course she just cries it out, and THEN falls asleep! :)

Let's see, what else is new? She's sleeping in her crib now like a big girl! I was basically waiting for all our guests to leave before starting her in her crib. I wasn't sure how it would go, and thought it would be best to keep her in her bassinet in our room while having people in the house. That way, if she cried, I could tend to her quickly before waking everyone up! Her first night in the crib was last Wednesday. So far, so good! :) I thought I would be sad to have her so far away (her room is complete opposite side of the apartment), but that's not been the case at all! Ha! I sleep like a baby, Beto sleeps like a baby, and Aliyah, well, she is a baby, and sleeps like one! :)

Last night was one of our best nights yet! She went to bed around 11 pm. Woke up at 3:15 am (her normal time). Usually when she wakes up in the night, she's not awake at all - just hungry. So usually I feed her and she goes right back down. Last night, however, she was so WIDE AWAKE, and I was SO NOT WIDE-AWAKE! (we had had a little bit of a rough morning the day before, with daylight savings, so I guess I was not recovered from that yet!) Anyway, I was too tired to be up with her. So I fed her, changed her and just layed her back in her crib and went back to bed. Haha! Sounds cruel, I know. I have the monitor though, so I could still see and hear her. I expected her to be very upset with me, and just cry. And I was totally prepared to let her cry for a bit, let her get sleepy while doing so! Well, turns out, she didn't cry at all! She layed there for a good 20 minutes, totally wide-eyed, and then fell asleep on her own. AWESOME! Then, even better. She didn't wake up at her normal time (5:30, 6ish). She slept all the way til 7:30!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay for that! Awesome night.

Another great thing to report - she hardly cries at all now for baths! I think she actually enjoys them now. I bathe her at night, right before going to bed. She must love the soothing warm water at that time of night. I know I would. Babies have it good, let me tell you.

I could write umpteen dozen other things about Aliyah's progess and the new things she does....but I'll save you all the boredom of my rambling.

Lastly, just a few pictures to share of fun times with friends.....

Sofi with the silly boys... She seemed to be ok with Superman (although somewhat unsure). But she didn't take to Bill Clinton in the Ghost Buster suit AT ALL! Lol!!!

Sofi giving Aliyah a kiss :)

Aliyah with Aunt Kristin and Unkini

Sof was a lady bug, for a couple of minutes! :) She then proceeded to yank off the antennas! :) Love this little Sof-Bug

Hanging out in Sof's play room

Sof, learning to be "gentle" with Aliyah :)

Aliyah meeting Grace for the first time :)

Normal Sunday afternoon, hanging out at the Gillotts'

Learning to dance with Aunt Jessie