that which is not to be forgotten...

Xaris speaks in very full, long, complicated, complete, and even bilingual sentences.

However, as iXy is beginning to use more words and communication, I was reminded of those early days when I wrote down all the words she was learning, and how they all sounded....

Nowadays, there are very few words remaining in her "toddler-ese"...so, before I start forgetting them, here is the list, and I will hopefully remember to add to it.

Cupake (exactly what you think it is...she just doesn't pronounce the second C.  It is TOO cute)

Somomo or Somomin.  (telefono--for some reason when she started talking, she started calling telephones "somomo".  Maybe a mixture of cell phone, and telefono??  The thing is, now she can say telefono or telephone without any problem, but we've all adapted to saying "somomo", so she continues to say somomo since mama and papa do too). 

Ponit  (this is a combination of "put it" and "poner"--she just blends the two verbs with the same meaning and uses them both)

Diecivente (twenty-teen)...still working on counting

Lessings (Blessings--that one is kind of interesting theologically)

Lemalade (lemonade) also: lemalems are m&m's

buppa buppa uppabove (For the Father up above---when she's singing "Oh Be Careful Little Eyes What You See")

Jesus in my tummy (she gets "heart" and "tummy" mixed up.  Maybe because she's so tiny, they are basically in the same place.  But she usually talks about Jesus in her tummy, or tries to calm her baby sister by telling her she'll be ok, Jesus is there...while patting her tummy)

fairywinkle (periwinkle)

kemi (can i.  as in 'kemi see?' 'kemi try?' etc)

massive and overwhelming

amounts of cuteness!

 

While we were in Seattle, we had Sarah take our family pictures (we did this 2 years earlier when X was a toddler, so it seemed perfect to do some new ones with the new one).

 

Could not be more pleased with the results.  We absolutely love our photos, and I have a hard time deciding which ones to order copies of, and which ones to put up on the blog...hence LOTS of pictures here.  enjoy!

 

 

 

In case you can't see the watermark on the photos, it's Sarah Ellen Photography, www.SarahEllenPhoto.com

 

it's the most [terrible] time...of the year (not really...but kinda)

When is the worst time of the year to live in Texas?  Well, it's definitely the summer....but, recently I've been debating that.  

Today is the first day of November, and it was 86 degrees (when I checked).  Maybe it got hotter, I don't know.  Yesterday, on Halloween, I was stung by a bee 10 minutes before the church's fall festival was due to begin.  Butterflies were still out, ladybugs were flying around, and I got stung by a bee on the last day of October!  They are all supposed to be dead, or hibernating or something by now!

And, yes, bee stings Really Hurt.  I have not been stung since I was a kid or something--I knew they hurt then, but didn't know that they still hurt that much now!  My hand is still a little stiff today.  

So, I present the argument that the worst time of the year to live in Texas is the fall, because summer is gone, we survived the 100+ temperatures for days and weeks at a time, and now we can relax a bit because it's not been so hot.  But...we are still sweating.  We still have to use the air conditioning in our houses and cars.  And...all the lovely fall things cannot be celebrated (no sweaters, coats, boots, scarves, gloves, hats, warm cider and lattes, tea, baking...etc) because it's just not right!  

Even worse--is that we had a tease.  Last weekend it got cold.  Cold enough to get out the girl's Absolutely Darling winter coats that they will wear very few times, and enjoy brisk air as we left the house in the morning.  50 degree weather was WONDERFUL!  So beautiful and crisp, clean and felt like FALL.  I had youth group after church, but promised Xaris that when I got home, and she woke up from nap we would watch Polar Express and make hot-hot-hot hot chocolate.  Ricardo asked if it wasn't a little too early to watch the Polar Express...my response was "nope, because it's cold, and there's no guarantee that the cold will last, so I'll take what I can get!"  So glad we did, because it sure didn't last long!  

It's 10:45pm, 70 degrees outside, and that is the lowest high temperature forecast for the next 10 days.  Today I made quarts of chicken stock, a couple of chicken pot pies, and was going to bake some pumpkin bread but I realized I was too hot, and I didn't want to keep the oven on any longer.  I was only making them because I know that it is November, and those are the delicious foods that are supposed to be eaten and enjoyed during the fall!  I'm craving fall!  

I can easily imagine that next summer, I will once again hold strong to the argument that summers in Texas are the worst, but right now I am feeling the heartache of experiencing just a taste of what fall is supposed to be and longing for more!

sneak peek

one!

the baby is ONE!

how on earth did that happen?  

anyone else think that 2nd babies turn one quicker than first ones do?

at her one year well-check, iXy weighed 19.4lbs, (20th %), was 28.25 inches tall (20th%), and her head circumference is 17.25 inches (15th%)

New tricks:

Walking! she's done lots of steps, but showed off a LOT at her birthday party, walking back and forth between mama and papa

Says "Mama", and maybe a few other words...bye bye, gracias, ten?

But she definitely communicates a TON.  She has mastered the use of her voice and the words "uh uh uh" together with hand gestures to indicate where she wants to go or what she wants to do.  She either shakes her head "no" or opens her mouth wide (does it mean "yes"?) if she's asked a question.  She waves bye bye, and blows kisses.  

She loves her papa and playing with him and her sister, and loves her mama!

we had a fun birthday paella for iXy...gramama and tayta came into town, and we had a few friends over too.  the paella was delicious (iXy's first time eating it!), and it was a sweet time.

We set up a little photo booth...

 papa and the birthday girl!

 oh yeah, she gives kisses now too!  those lovely, open-mouth baby kisses :)

 tayta and the moon rocket

 big sister--playing with the birthday girl's presents :)

our beautiful baby sister!

 paella was a hit with the birthday girl!

didn't even clean off her face before her first cupcake--(what's the point? other than looking all cute and pristine again for the photo) 

braveheart X?

cupcakes were also a hit

12 cupcakes

Happy Birthday ilane!!

the naked chef

no, she is not really naked, she's got her undies on under there.

tea party with friends

We went to have a play date with some of my girlfriends who all have kids, and the kids are all pretty close in age too!  

Xaris is the oldest, Nory is one week younger than her, and Susanna is 2 months younger.  

Ellie is close to a year younger than those three.

Then come the second generation of babies.  

Elliott is the oldest at 15 months.  iXy is next at 10 months, Peter is 2 days younger than iXy, and Lydia is 2 months younger than iXy.  

Cute girls enjoying their tea party

Trying to get them posed for a picture

And...this is the best we got!

Still kicking myself that we didn't have Ricardo come in and take a photo with the mamas too!