Our family update and another birth announcement!!

So almost 2 months has passed since I blogged last. Everything is always go go go around here...I wonder when time will slow down? Haha
Since the last post, I have yet another congrats to shout out to my cousin Megan and her husband John. They welcomed their first baby into the world on Halloween, 5 weeks early!!! It was definitely unexpected,  but she was happy, healthy and as beautiful as can be. And super tiny at 5lbs 4oz!  They had been trying for quite a while to get pregnant and suffered a loss during that time as well, so her birth has been much anticipated.  She surprised us all and couldn't wait to meet her mommy and daddy sooner than expected.  What a sweet little trick and treat!   Welcome to the family Kathryn Roseann! You are so wonderful and so loved and I can't wait to meet you!!

 

Since my last post, Adrian finished his soccer season, and I'm so proud of how much he improved over the 2 months of playing.  For being the youngest member of the team, he did excellent. I think with a little more time and growth, he'll be able to grasp the concept of kicking the ball to his team's goal, and taking the ball from the other team instead of his own LOL  He just keeps growing bigger and amazes me every day with something new...his vocabulary gets clearer and expands all the time.  I am so excited (and nervous) for when he starts school.  I think that he will do so well, and I am so proud of the person he’s already becoming.  I often think of how he will be when he’s older, and I hope that he remains the loving, caring, and full of life person he is now.  When we go to the playground, he tends to be a bit shy, but then just gets right in there and plays with the kids as if he’s known them forever.  I’m sure he’ll make a lot of friends when he’s in school J  He makes me such a happy mommy.

 

Victor is now almost 10 months old!!  Only 2 more months to his 1^st birthday!  I can’t believe it!  It feels as if it’s only been a couple months, yet at the same time, feels like he’s always been a part of our family.  He continues to grow a lot as well and when I weighed him the other day, the scale said 21.4lbs!!  Our big, little boy!  He is now scooting, not quite crawling around, more and exploring everything he can get his hands on.  He can pull himself up into a standing position very well now though…the scary stage is upon us!!  I’m not a fan of this stage because you can’t take your eye off of them for a second, but you have to let them figure things out as far as their balance goes.  I will be happy once he masters balance so that I don’t have to continuously tell Adrian to be careful around Victor.  He is still such a happy baby (well when he’s around his momma) and wake up in the morning every day with a smile.  He absolutely adores Adrian and I’m sure they’ll be the best of friends growing up.  One thing that he’s also learned recently is he raises his hand, as if to wave hi (been doing that for a few weeks), but now he actually moves his fingers in a waving manner…SO CUTE!

First Halloween!

9 Months Old!

Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I want to give my thanks.  I am thankful for the health of my family and the blessings that have been added to our family this year (Victor, Rhylyn, Giovanni, and Kathryn). I'm thankful for my best friend, Manny.  He is the most hard working person that I know and I am grateful and appreciative of him every day.  Our kids are so lucky to have him for a father and I am SO excited that we are so close to our wedding because I can't imagine my life without him.  I can't wait to be Mrs. Pena!  I am thankful for our parents and grandparents...there have been some ups and downs regarding health issues, but everyone has generally been very healthy, and their love and support means everything to me.  My boys are so lucky to have grandparents like all of them, and to have so much love in their lives!  I am thankful for my sisters and their families.  I am so glad that we were all able to be together again (although it was too short), and I look forward to seeing everyone again.  I love that our friendship continues to grow even while being separated by hundreds of miles.  I am thankful for my cousins...I can truly say that you all have been my life-long friends and I am so thankful to be able to share experiences with you all (even being hundreds of miles away as well).  I am thankful for my aunts & uncles and that through technology, we can stay connected.  Last but not least, I am thankful for all of our friends and the fun times we have together (either in person, or just a phone conversation).
I wish I could thank everyone individually, but know that I love each and every one of you specially and am grateful to have each and every one of you in mine, Manny's and our kids' lives.  Thank you for all of your love, support and friendship!  Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Halloween Pictures:

The Boys:

 

 

Seven Months (Late) and EIGHT months NOW!! THREE years!!! And other announcements!

So technically, I had a post almost ready to go for last month.  All I needed to do was transfer the writing from an email to here and add some pictures.  Unfortunately, the email did not save and I just did not have time to write it again.  So, I'll be playing catch-up today as well as sharing new news.

Firstly, I want to congratulate Manny's sister & brother in law, Lisette and Nick, on their beautiful baby boy, Giovanni, who was born over a month ago now!  It's hard to believe that it's already been a month!  He is such a sweetheart and totally adorable!  When I held him for the first time, it was so hard to believe my babies were that small and it made me really see why my mother-in-law always commented on how little their faces were...to me, I couldn't grasp how tiny they were because I had nothing to compare them with.  But going from holding a 7 month old, to holding a newborn, I definitely understood then about their "caritas,"  little faces.  I love my newest little nephew and I love going to visit him (even though Victor doesn't allow me to hold him for long whenever I get the chance).  Congrats again Lisette and Nick, you guys are doing an awesome job and have really been great parents from the start! He is certainly a lucky little boy!





I also want to congratulate my sister Tiffany and brother-in-law Eric on their wedding!  I wish you both many happy years together!  So glad we got to spend time together and can't wait to see you again!

And one more congrats to our friend Nicole on her beautiful new baby girl, Arianna Elyse!  She's very precious and is very lucky to have you for her mommy!

Since my last post, we celebrated Adrian's THIRD birthday!  He is such a smart, happy, funny, (and sometimes bratty) little boy.  He is looking more and more grown up each day, and it makes me a bit sad (but also very proud) that he'll be off to pre-school next year!  I'm sure he'll do great, but it'll be hard sending him off "on his own" since we spend so much time together now.  He went for a check-up on his birthday and he is 37" tall, 32lbs, and healthy as can be! He didn't really appreciate getting a shot, but he didn't cry too long :)

As you all know, Adrian has also started playing soccer and had his first game on Saturday.  It is so fun to watch them all running and "playing."  I think they've improved since their first practice, but they've got a little ways to go in actually knowing how the game is supposed to be played LOL  For instance, when you're chasing after the ball and it happens to go in front of you, you should probably kick it, not jump over it LOL  Oh I was laughing, it was so funny!  Adrian is the youngest on the team, but he seems to keep up and play just as well as his team mates, and he really enjoys playing, so I'm glad we got him into it :)  It's nice to have something like that to look forward to doing each week and I love that it also gives Manny some father/son time with him at practice :)



Victor is 8 months old, as of Monday, and is still growing like crazy :)  He weighs around 20 lbs now and has been in size 9-12 month clothing for at least a month and half.  He has also got FOUR more teeth in in 18 DAYS!  He was not a happy camper when we went to Oregon (first plane ride!), and I will usually try natural remedies first before medicine, but even I know that there is a time when Tylenol is a necessity.  Poor little guy was very serious when we were there and not his normal, smiley self, but he seems to be feeling much better (even with the 4th tooth popping in last Friday, 6 days ago). 

Victor has learned how to scoot around on his belly, and I'm sure that crawling will be happening soon (he gets up on his hands and knees at times).  He loves being in his walker and enjoys the freedom to explore and grab things that are within his reach.  He likes to play peek-a-boo and will pull things over his face, pull it down, and will grin really big when you say "peek-a-boo!" I love baby babble and Victor seems to be trying to speak with more purpose and in sentences.  It's very cute to see the serious looks he gets on his face when he's talking haha

That's all I've got to share for now...household chores are calling my name :/ We love you all and are also so thankful for the time we got to spend with our central Oregon family!  Until next time, I leave you with some pics of our little guys :)

SEVEN Months

EIGHT months

five...SIX...seven

Our babies are growing so fast! Today, Victor is 6 months old and next month, Adrian will be 3 years old!  Last month I didn't do a 5 month update for Victor since I was late on posting the 4 month update, so hopefully I can catch you up on all that's happened between then and now.

So, on Jun 30th, Victor was baptized (on the hottest day of the year), and we are so thankful for everyone that came to celebrate this special day with us.  At 5 months, I weighed him and he was 17.4 lbs...I weighed him just the other day and he is now 18lbs.  That's 2lbs heavier than Adrian was at this age and he is now wearing 9 month clothing! Funny thing too is that by this age, I was feeding Adrian more solid foods than I have with Victor, but that'll be changing soon ;)  He is such a happy baby and always greets us with a smile...he does have his moments of anger or sadness, but he is still a happy-go-lucky, easy-going baby.  He adores his big brother and thinks that he's hilarious.  His giggle is the cutest!  He is reaching for anything he can get his hands on now, especially toys and faces :)  And, he already has 2 teeth which came in 12 days apart (first on the 19th and second on the 30th of July).  He loves playing with his feet and is rolling front to back, back to front.  He hasn't started crawling around yet, but I'm not in a rush for that haha.  He seems to want to be mobile though because sometimes in his jumperoo he looks like he is trying to walk forward. I got him a walker the other day, but he's less than an inch too short to touch the ground, so for now, Adrian has been having fun pushing him around :)  He isn't the biggest fan of tummy time but I'm sure once he figures out how to move in more than just a circle, he'll be a handful like his brother ;)  Victor experienced his first fireworks and “swimming” in the pool in the past 2 months as well.

Things are much more busy with two little cuties to look after, but I SO enjoy the moments when the boys interact with each other and I look forward to when they can truly play with one another.

Adrian is such a good brother and he likes to give Victor hugs and always says things like, "Victor is my best friend ever" or "hi baby, hi Bicter! I think he likes me!" Hahaha In the beginning, I think Adrian was very jealous and he cried and screamed a lot, but he's gotten much better, especially at night.  He would kick and scream in his sleep and there was nothing we could do but let it pass. Sometimes it would go on for 30 mins or more!  Thank goodness that's over! He is growing taller and smarter every day.  I am amazed each time I hear him say new words or put together new sentences and thoughts he hadn't said before.  We need to work on numbers, letters, and colors, so I'm planning on buying things to make for activities to play with him.  School is still 2 years away, but I know it'll be here in no time, so I want to make sure he's prepared :)  We're still working on potty training too.  He goes pee all by himself & usually doesn't have any accidents.  But #2 has been a nightmare for me...I can't seem to catch him before he does it because I'm usually attending to Victor.  He went twice in the toilet last week FINALLY so I was able to praise and reward him, but I guess those aren't big enough incentives for him to tell me when he needs to go.  Hopefully we'll get this down soon because I'm so tired of changing his pull-ups.  There are a lot of things you miss when your kids get older, but that is one thing I'll never miss LOL  ***Update*** Right before I posted this, Adrian told me he needed to go, and he WENT ON THE TOILET!!  woo hoo (Oh the things that make me happy these days LOL)
Here are some quotes of things he says (just so I have a record for myself) ;)
"You cleaned the house? Oh, thank you mommy, you're such a good mommy."
"Dadda, this is such a nice work, dadda."
"Dadda, when you come home we can go get an icee, okay dadda?"
"Mommy, I dont feel so good. I'm hungry. My tummy made a noise, ike Monster Inc!"
"I'm so es-sited to go to Abuela's house!"
"Hi Gramma, you wanna play cars with me? Or bastick ball? Okay, we can play when you come to my house!"
"I yuve you, mommy."
"I don't ike it."
"I think Bicter ikes me!"
"No! Stop it mommy! I can do it myself!"
"Umm, I don't tink so."
"Umm, let me tink about that."
"I wanna make smoovies. It makes my tummy all better! Mmm delicious."
"No, not ike dis! Ike dis!!"

I guess I could go on forever, so I'll stop now haha

Another milestone coming up is Manny & my dating anniversary.  7 years ago manny asked me out, we went on our first dates and officially started dating on the 22nd of this month.  It's hard to believe that was 7 years ago...talk about time flying!  I'm so thankful to have met him and to have our beautiful family together.  It hasn't always been easy, but what relationship doesn't have its ups and downs?  In 9 months we'll officially be tying the knot and I'm so excited for that day! I refer to him as my husband at times already, but it'll feel so great to be saying it honestly :)  It's been a long time coming and I really look forward to celebrating our marriage with our close family and friends. 

I'm sure I missed a lot, but that's it for now.  Enjoy the pics & videos! And until next time, we love you!

FIVE Months

 

SIX Months

 Handsome x 2

 

Victor's first Fourth!

Fun at the park

Working those "sad face" muscles lol

Yummy carrots!

 

TWO new Teeth!

 

They're so silly :)



 

 

 

Victor chats with me before his nap:

 

Bouncing & laughing is what he does best :)