Trimmings and All

Decorating a little late...again! This year I was so tempted to put the Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving and then I talked myself out of it telling myself it was too early. Well here we are, decorating a week before Christmas. Better late than never right?!

Danny loves helping with the tree.

Ella and Emma confined to their seats. That was their way of helping.

We've started a new tradition in our household this Christmas. We decided to get the kids an ornament each Christmas hoping it might reflect what they were into that year, or something they like. Danny chose Toy Story of course.

The girls got "My 1st Christmas" ornaments

Me and Cecilio chose a key, which represents our first home.
We figure it will be nice to look back and reflect on as the kids get older.

Finishing Touch

Hope everyone has a special Christmas!

Happy Fourth Birthday Danny!

Four already!! Can't believe it. This year Danny had a Toy Story party with jumping balloon and all. He really enjoyed himself. Love you Danny!

Update on Danny

I am so behind! Anyway, last month Danny had his followup checkup for his ears and the doctor said he's doing great. His hearing is back to normal and the tubes look good. Thank goodness!!

Pierced Ears

I know this might be controversial for some but we finally did it (two months ago). We got the girls ears pierced. We kept going back and forth about whether we should do it while they were young or wait until they could make the decision for themselves but with a little peer pressure from Cecilio's sister, Lily and brother-in-law, Mike we took the plunge. These were the best pictures we got and we didn't even get any pictures of their earrings but they look so cute!! They only cried for about a minute and the rest of the day they were fine. Personally I'm glad we got it done now, they don't seem to mind the earrings at all!

Emma

Ella

On a side note Emma had to have one ear done twice due to the earring not being centered. We waited a few days and took her back. She was a champ. She cried of course but not very long. It killed Cecilio that we had to put her through that torture twice and I think he's glad and relieved this whole piercing the ears thing is over and done with!

Got Butter?

This kid loves butter. I have to hide it from him or this is what happens.

"What, what'd I do?"

Too Old?

Is this how you can tell they're too old for the swing?

Emma

Ella

Yeah, we put them away real quick!

Danny's Surgery

So we finally went through with it and scheduled Danny for surgery on October 28th. Since he was about two he's suffered from ear infections but we never knew the extent or severity of them because he would never complain or even get fevers. Last summer it seemed like it had all cleared up. The fluid in his ears was gone and his hearing was back to normal but a few months ago the infections came back. The doctor found he had an infection in both ears during a routine check up. Being that we were always finding out about the infections by chance, it kind of made us wonder how many infections he'd probably had in the past year that went undetected.

Danny also has a speech delay and we figured that this might be the root of the problem. His hearing. Whenever he had an infection that was caught it was always in both ears so he'd been hearing like he was under water. My poor baby.

So anyway, we scheduled the surgery and it went fine. It was an in and out procedure. All they did was make an incision in the ear drum and inserted a little tube into it to relieve any pressure and allow any fluid that may accumulate to drain. You can't see the tube. Eventually as he gets older they'll just fall out. The scariest part of this whole ordeal was that he had to be put to sleep, but obviously he did great. After the surgery he was back to himself. We got home and he just watched movies and played and played and played. He didn't even take a nap or complain of pain!

I'm a little worried because it still seems like he can't hear very well but I'm hoping it's just his ears healing from the surgery. It is possible there might be damage from the infections. But despite not being able to hear very well, Danny is doing great. He seems much more happier and content. His appetite is even better! His next appointment is the Monday after Thanksgiving. They'll do a hearing test and see how the tubes are doing.

P.S. I wish I could of taken more pics but my camera phone is not working :(

Halloween Happenings

Making our First Haunted House

This project was fun, Danny really enjoyed putting the candy on it. Next year, however, We'll probably just make one from scratch. Making the icing for this one was kind of a pain. I just ended up using some icing I had in the cupboard to finish it up. Still fun though.

Our audience. First Halloween by the way.

Concentrating.

Mommy joining in on the fun.

Finished product. Voila!

Admiring his masterpiece.

Carving Pumpkins

Danny was really grossed out by the inside of the pumpkin so he really didn't do much. I at least got him to pretend to carve his pumpkin though. It was kind of funny that he didn't want to do anything, yet he was really excited about the whole process. Cute.

Emma carving her pumpkin with her teeth.

Wow Emma, good job!

And here they are.

Decorating Cookies with Cousins

Luke finishing up his cookies.

Sebastian going in for the kill. Yummy.

Halloween Party
And presenting...
Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 & Thing 2

With cousins Enlai and Martita

Happy Halloween!

Taming the Beast(s)

No I'm not referring to the girls, I'm referring to their hair! Yes it's cute but when you're pressed for time (for church in this instance) what to do?! Either take them like this or be late by doing their hair?

Well, I've found the perfect solution, for fall anyway...





HATS!!

Ella


Emma

Worked like a charm. Little girls accessories are the best! I love them.
(Just so you know we were late to church because we took the pictures. Next week there's no excuse!)