Not Sure How She Does It

Ella is always losing her pants.  I'm not sure how she does it but it's the funniest thing.  She'll have them on one minute and next thing you know they're off and she's playing with them.  Here she is waking up in the morning, yes you guessed it, without her pants.

Where are your pants Ella?

She thinks it's the funniest thing.

Emma waking up.

"Ay, my sister is so crazy guys."

Scaling New Heights

Emma, my little climber. Danny never climbed anything and Emma, on the other hand, loves to climb everything! She's pretty good at it too. Guess it's time to put this table away for a while.

Bye Bye Bye

I can't believe it but we're going on day 4(about)of no bottle! I have to say the girls have transitioned beautifully. I think it was a little bit harder on me to tell you the truth. It's kind of funny because when I weaned Danny, I was so ready. Did not miss it at all! I was sooo ready. With the girls it's been different. I'm actually kind of sad. They're just growing up so fast!  I'm so relieved I don't have to wash em anymore though, that was kind of a pain.

Presents to Them, Gifts for Us

 

Here is a beautiful video my brother Daryl made.  He made it within a matter of minutes on his phone!  I'm not sure how he does it but I loved it and wanted to share.  Thank you Daryl.  Love you.

Ella and Emma's First Birthday Party

It is just crazy how fast the past year has gone! My baby girls are one already. I just can't believe it. They have been such a blessing to this family. I can't imagine life without them. We love you Ella and Emma!

Birthday morning. Eating breakfast. Poor things, we actually confined them to their chairs so we could get some stuff done. They did great though.

 

The invitations. 

This year I decided to send the invitations through email.  I was hesitant at first because I felt it might be the lazy thing to do but let me tell you, I think I'm going to continue to do this.  It was fast and so simple.  I didn't have to worry about addresses, labels, buying stamps, printing them out or whether I sent them on time.  

Not to mention how easy the thank you notes will be too.  (Danny's are still sitting on top of my computer :() I did print out a few to send to Grandparents or people who don't have face book or email though.

Yummy, birthday cake. It was tres leches with pineapple filling. We also had chocolate and white cupcakes. For food we did a taco salad bar and fresh fruit.


Singing Happy Birthday to them.

Dig in girls.



By the time we sang happy birthday to them, they were EXHAUSTED. I could hardly get a smile out of them.

Emma

Ella
(She was done. Wanted to go to sleep.)

After a much needed nap, they played a little in the jumping balloon.

Ella absolutely loved it!

Emma, however, did not take to it at first. She was getting so mad that every time she tried to stand up she would fall.

She eventually figured it out though.

My Danny. I did not see this boy for the whole party! He really had fun. He got to invite some friends, and they had a blast.

A few of the decorations...

For the party I wasn't sure what theme to do. With Danny's first birthday it was so easy because he loved Elmo. The girls however, don't even watch TV or have a favorite character, so...as time went on and I started buying things and getting ideas, it somehow turned into a butterflies and flowers theme.


Front of house.



Centerpieces. Were super easy to make!

Took this picture after the party. Excuse the mess and dying balloons
:0

Party favor cones. These were a big hit. Were easy and super cute. They fit a lot more candy than I thought too!

The girls really enjoyed their day. What made it even more meaningful is that it was their actual birthday. Worked out great. I just wanted to thank all of you for your love and support. I'm not sure where me and Cecilio would be without you guys. Family and friends just helps make life so much more special. Love you guys.

Also, I just wanted to wish my Dad a Happy Birthday too. Hope you had a great one Dad! (I'm sure I've mentioned this before but just in case, Ella and Emma have the same birthday as my dad. Which is funny because Danny was born on Cecilio's dad's birthday.)

(P.S. I might be adding a few more pictures to this later.)

Catching Up...AGAIN! So Sorry

Wow, I can hardly believe its almost been a year since the girls were born, and how behind I have gotten on this blog! Time to restart it. I'm so sad I missed documenting so many of those moments that make life special. But I'm here now rededicated and ready to start again.

I am just the kind of person that wants everything perfect. I kept telling myself, ok, once I do the dishes, or once I pick up the house, or once Cecilio comes home...I'll work on on the blog. It takes me a while to get it exactly the way I want it you know. Fast forward to a year later and no updates on the blog. With three kids now though, I have learned or am learning shall I say, that everything can't be perfect and if it is, I am usually missing out on something else.

Not to mention that having twins has been crazy!! (That's my other excuse.) it's kind of hard to explain but at the time it has not seemed hard at all. People ask me, "Is it hard?" And I always respond that it isn't nearly as hard as I thought. Sometimes it seems like its been easier than it was with Danny. Looking back now, however, I have no idea how we've done it! Just the feedings alone were so time consuming. If it wasn't for my two boys, I'm not sure what I would of done.

Danny has been so amazing this last year. So patient, and understanding. Going from the only child to the oldest of three has to be hard and he has been so wonderful. There have been so many times that I've had to put the girls before him and he just waits patiently until I'm done. He is such a good boy and I am so blessed to have him in my life. He seriously deserves a trip to Disneyland or something. I have been very impressed by my little man.

Cecilio. Poor Cecilio. He has been extraordinary. From helping late at night with the girls and having to wake up early for work. To watching the girls for me while I take a much needed break, even though he's exhausted too. He has helped so much. If it wasn't for him, I really don't know how I would of done it. He is such a good father and husband. His calmness with the kids has always calmed me down. I am so grateful for that. When the girls were first born people were amazed that I would leave him alone with all the kids. He's just a natural. He's a pro.

So here's to updating my blog. Hopefully I can keep it up!

Snow Day

This is what happens when it's too cold to go outside and play.

Clay and Andy's Wedding

My baby cousin, Clayton, and his fiancee, Andy, were sealed for time and all eternity on January 8, in the Albuquerque temple. Aren't they a beautiful couple?

Getting the girls ready in the morning.

This bed was soooo comfortable! I think the pictures speak for themselves.

It was a fun little trip. The kids really enjoyed staying in a hotel.

Christmas 2010

Ok, so not only am I behind on my blog, but we have been terrible about taking pictures! With my re dedication however, this is going to change. I now am going to see the camera as being part of the family, a friend, as opposed to a mere object or extra thing to carry.

Here are a few shots I bummed off Lily, my sister in law, during Christmas. As always, it was great. We had family in town and could not have had a better time.

We took a million shots but the girls would not smile. I love Danny's smile though. Poor guy, he was so tired when we took these.

Thank you to my Tia Belinda for their traditional Christmas outfits. They looked so cute!

For Christmas this year, Santa went all out for Danny. He got him everything he wanted and a little bit more. He figured he had been such a good boy this year, with his sisters being born and all, that he deserved it. Well Christmas day, me and Cecilio were so excited to see his expression. We couldn't wait to see how excited he would be to get so many toys from Santa.

When he finally woke up and walked into the room, he just non chalantly walked over to his toys and started to just touch them. He had no expression on his face at all, almost like he expected it. We were so disappointed and sad. We figured it might have been because he just woke up, but some more theories started brewing after that.




Later that day we went to my aunt's house to open gifts. He was a little more excited there, but still not the excitement I had envisioned in my mind. Maybe it was just me and my crazy expectations. I just kind of let it go. Through conversation, my uncle started telling us about his Christmases as a boy and how he would get so excited over a pair of socks. That really stuck with me and stood out in my mind for some reason.

A few days later we went to a birthday party. When it came time to open gifts, something was just too familiar. The little girl, the same age as Danny, was just opening gift after gift, and not even getting excited about anything. She'd open a gift and look at it and then move on to the next. That's when it finally hit me (took me a while I know). My kid was ungrateful and not because he was a bad kid, the opposite actually. He's always so good that we buy him whatever he wants. While trying to make him happy and "reward" him we have actually been robbing him of those wonderful emotions you get when you are so thankful for something. He had no clue what that felt like!! That really made me and Cecilio sad. This feeling is so important in life. Being grateful is what makes us happy and content. We do not want Danny to miss out on this beautiful feeling so, we're starting to make him work for his toys, and trying to say no a little more. We'll see if this helps. Next year we have decided Santa can only bring him three toys by the way. After all, that's all the Savior received. We'll see what happens.

Santa and Cookies

Danny has been doing wonderfully in school. His teacher is amazing. She just always goes above and beyond for her students. This year she had a little party for Christmas and invited parents. Me and Danny had a lot of fun. There was a special visitor that came to the party too. Here's Danny's face when he walked in.

Santa Claus!!!

He was so excited to meet him!!

He even gave Danny an early Christmas present.

Next, we decorated cookies...

Yes, there are cookies under there, I promise.

Me and Danny hardly get to spend time together anymore, so we really enjoyed this alone time. I love you Danny!!

P.S. Neo enjoyed the cookies by the way. Ay Neo!!