Not so new anymore...

Right after coming back from Paraguay Lucas learned to climb out of his crib. I wasn't too happy about it!! He started sleeping in the twin size bed and for a few days it was tough until Tim put the child lock on the door and he learned that he couldn't get out of his room so he chose to stay in bed. He has done so well. We are so proud of him.
This is the bunk bed we got for the kids. Ashley LOVES it. We haven't moved Lucas to this bed yet and won't do it until the baby comes.
Ashley loves to go shopping with me. I really enjoy seeing her developing her girlie personality. She is lots of fun.
A girl can't ever have enough necklaces, right??

Lucas = Mess

Lucas has definitely added some interesting experiences to our lives. He is one funny/crazy little boy. He makes me laugh every day and on the other hand he makes me cry too. He does things that make me wonder what he is thinking and the answer is always the same. He doesn't think!!! I adore him and can't imagine not having him around. Here are some recent pictures of him.
Lucas dressing up and playing Kung Fu (He just wants to hit Ashley...)
He likes to put Ashley's princess shoes on. He even cries when we go out and I don't let him wear them!
This is the look on his face after he has done something bad and I catch him. How could I get mad at him?? Oh no, trust me, I do.
At our house we love to bake. We bake almost twice a week!!! (especially bread) This is Ashley's apron but as you can imagine he wants everything she has so he has been using it. I'd better get one for him too.

Ashley's Early Birthday Party

Ashley had an early birthday party at the school with her cousins and friends. She loved it! She felt so special and loved by everyone. More than the presents and the attention she enjoyed having a magician at her birthday party. We all had an amazing time and I am pretty sure that she won't ever forget this birthday party...

The theme was...Princesses
It was nice to show up for the party when everything was done. Thanks to my mom and my sisters!

She got lots of presents.
After eating some yummy food the kids got to enjoy the show. Tim and I thought he was pretty good.

This is Ashley's favorite picture. I guess she must have liked the bunny a lot!!

Thanks to my family AGAIN for everything they did to make this day a special one for her.

Paraguay!

It has been a long time since I blogged last. We came back from our trip about 4 weeks ago and since then it has been one thing after another. We all had an awesome time there, including Tim, who went down to Paraguay to pick us up so we extended our trip for 2 more weeks. Ashley is constantly thinking about the trip and telling us how much she misses everyone there. Ashley had a very hard time leaving my family but she is doing better than she did when we first got back. Here are some pictures of our time there.


This picture pretty much tells you how Lucas behaved...it was a NIGHTMARE~~~

This is at the airport in Asuncion. I was so excited to see Ashley!!! Here are Martin, Cristi and Carolina.

The day Tim got there!!! I have mentioned before that in my family we welcome anyone with steak and lots of food. I just love it!!

Ashley and her favorite cousin...Martin

Tim, Lucas and me walking on a sunny afternoon by the Palacio del Gobierno (President's office)

The back view of the President's Office.

Ashley's first day of class. She refused to put her uniform on so this is how she went to school...

My mom and I watching the kids play at the pool.

Ashley and all of her friends from school.

Lucas loves bread. He had it every single day. It is sooo good and you can get them from the bakeries as soon as they come out of the oven ( every hour)...you can't beat that!

Ashley and Lucas playing at the pool our last week there.

Ashley's last day at school with my mom.

For her last day at school she got balloons, letters and all kind of things to remind her of her friends.

Tia Cari took the kids to the movies, to watch some plays such as the Wizzard of Oz, to places to eat, and to the mall so they could ride/play as much as they wanted. She is one FUN aunt! Ashley sure misses her.

My sister had us over too. The night before we stayed up late playing Wii and having fun. Needless to say, the kids were LATE for school but they didn't care.

Ashley and her new Ariel backpack. She was the happiest student once she got her backpack.

We often went to the Mall to eat and watch some shows. Here are my mom and Lucas.

My mom, Ashley, and me.

Tim and I at a Steak House. There is nothing like a good piece of tender and juicy meat:)

It was fun not to have the kids with us. My brother stayed home and watched them for us. My whole family was there (except my brother) until 2:00am!!!

My dad and Ashley our last night at their house.

Tia Cari and the kids. At the last minute, Cari got Ashley a little dog and at the airport she bought a necklace for him. Ashley was very sad by then so Cari tried anything that she could do to make her happy.

Thank you so much to my family for their hospitality and patience with us. We had a great time and miss them a lot.

Black and White

The more our kids grow the more we realize how different they are. They are both so adorable but at times we find ourselves wishing they were the same so our job would be much easier.

Lucas:
He is our goofy guy. He is constantly doing something to make us laugh. He knows he is funny so he does funny things all the time. He LOVES to get attention from us. He is our eater. He eats almost anything. I would say that his favorite foods are meat ( any kind) and chocolate milk. Another thing that he LOVES is candy. There isn't one day that goes by without him asking for a piece. At times when he gets mad at you he will ask for a piece of candy and I can only imagine this 18 month-old boy saying, "If you give that to me I won't be mad at you anymore". Lucas is very attached to us and to close friends. He will talk to people he doesn't know but we need to be by his side. He loves animals (any kind) especially dogs and cats (he is allergic to both of them...I am fine with that) He is also a big dancer. Both of my kids love to dance and Lucas is pretty good at it for a boy. I think it'll be fun to go dancing with him when he is older...Tim says that is NOT a good idea but I don't see anything wrong with it except some girls being jealous of me and my cute boy. Lucas is super active. He is always into things such as plugging and unplugging anything he finds (just like his dad) He won't sit down and watch TV. When reading books he won't sit still for more than 3 min. He doesn't walk, he jumps. Now that he is not able to jump in the trampoline outside, he has been jumping in small indoor trampoline he have. I just don't know how he does it. Lucas is an awesome sleeper. We put him in bed around 8:00pm and he doesn't wake up until 8:30am or 9:00am. I love it!! After lunch he takes another 2 hour (or more) nap. At night if I happen to be very tired or we are busy we put him in bed and he stays there, and never complains. He is still in a crib because he is too active to be in a big boy's bed and I am not ready to fight with him to go to bed. Lucas looks a lot like Tim and his heart is so tender and sweet as his dad's but he is definitely a mommy's boy and I love it.

Ashley:
She is funny but I don't think she means to be. She is constantly doing and saying funny things and what makes it funny is that she is serious. She has a beautiful smile and when she laughs it melts my heart. Both of my kids' laughs melt my heart. Ashley is a girlie girl but not to the extreme. She loves skirts and dresses but long skirts are her favorite. She likes to play with her dolls and her kitchen and more than anything in this world...she loves to watch TV. She is addicted to any show that has music and dancing. She also enjoys reading books especially whenever Tim has time to do it because he really gets into it and she has a blast!!! I know that she loves me but she is daddy's little girl. Whenever Tim gets home I don't exist anymore. She is so heart broken anytime she gets in trouble with her dad. She just loves him so much and cannot stand the fact that her dad is upset/sad at her for whatever she has done. Ashley is very independent. She can make friends better than anyone I know. She will pretty much talk to anyone and consider that person her friend. She adjusts to changes very well. She is not a problematic child by any means. She is tough and very stubborn (I wonder where that comes from?)
I hope she uses that latter in her life for good. When she is set on doing something nothing is going to stop her. She is also my picky eater and I don't blame her, though I wish she would just try, but I am the same way. She eats a very small portion comparing to Lucas who eats just as much as we do (almost). Ashley is such a sweet heart. I won't ever forget one day when we had to take her to the emergency room because she wasn't doing well and after they checked on her and her oxygen level was so low and along with that she had other complications I just lost it and cried and she asked me to hold her and she patted me on my back and told me she was going to be OK. She is my strong girl. She has a very strong spirit and I am so grateful for that.

I am so blessed to have them in my life.

SPOILED!!!

I miss baking with Ashley but I have a new helper...Lucas!
Ashley at the airport in Oklahoma City.
Ashley leaving the house to go to the airport with her Dora backpack. She was so excited to get on an airplane and fly to Paraguay. I just loved to see her so excited!

We have missed Ashley a lot since she left more than 3 weeks ago but at the same time we are so happy and proud of her. She has been enjoying playing and swimming with her cousins and spending time with my family. Every day when I talk on the phone with my mom ( and sometimes Ashley too) I laugh as I hear all the crazy and funny things that she has been doing and of course no one says "No" to her so she is LOVING it!! I was so spoiled as a child by my grandparents ( more than I could ever tell) and I am so happy to have Ashley experience the same thing. I am so grateful for grandparents and their role in our lives. I was blessed to have wonderful grandparents and my kids are so blessed to have two sets of awesome grandparents.
This morning as we talked to Ashley I told her I would be there in less than a week and that Lucas is coming with me to which she replied..." I don't like Lucas." I thought it was funny till I looked at my innocent little boy and I couldn't believe what she said. My mom mentioned that when they tell her about me and Lucas going down there she acts like she doesn't care. I think that's because she is getting so much attention from everyone and she never gets in trouble, so she knows that is about to end when I get there. Actually, probably not because there are so many people in my family and someone is always ready to spoil a little one but she doesn't know that. As for her getting in trouble, I can't discipline her too much around my parents. To them, the grandchildren are always good and they remind me that "they are just kids and it is normal" so I won't be able to do much...

St. Johns Indoor Triathlon!

Last Friday I was able to participate in my last triathlon before the baby comes. It was at St. Johns Health Plaza in Tulsa. I invited my friends Alicia and Ben to participate with me but I soon realized that I wasn't going to be able to do it all by myself ( I could barely run) so we decided to do it as a team. Right when we were ready to sign up Ben decided that he wasn't going to do it so we invited Andrea, Alicia's sister to join us. We were all so excited and fired up that Alicia's family decided to compete against us!!! They are very athletic and they don't need any time to train. It was hilarious! Ben has his own team along with Andrea's husband and sister in law. It was great!!!
Ben and I did the swimming together. As a matter of fact we got to swim in the same lane. It wasn't too bad but I could definitely tell that I am pregnant. I was happy with my swimming time though it has gone up since September that it was expected. Alicia did a fantastic job biking. She cut off 7 minutes from her training time; that is amazing to me. Andrea, who doesn't proclaim to be a runner, did an incredible job with her running time. Andrea, though she had a hard time breathing (asthma), did super!!! I am not a runner either but she is able to run 5 minutes faster than me ( she didn't even train for it). Some people are just good. I am sure not one of them. Our team came in first so we were very proud of ourselves. We seriously were not expecting to win but we are very happy that we did and most importantly that we all had a great time. Saturday instead of picking up our medals we decided to go out and celebrate with good food and great company.

Here are some pictures of my 5 months pregnant triathlon!!

Ben and I right before the competition started.

After passing the timing chip to Alicia. Lucas was so cute cheering me and my team on!!

Alicia biking as hard as she could.

This is our team. Alicia, Andrea and me.

All of us!!!

p.s. Thanks to Tim for video taping and watching Lucas so I could do this!!