Just some sweet Gabi!

Here are just some cute pictures of Gabi at 2 months...

We start them young! GO TIGERS!

My Gabi dinner table.

Sweet sleeping baby...

Horseback Riding

Lilian's school took a field trip to ride horses. She was a little shy at first, but the teacher scooped up Thomas and stuck him on a horse. After that, Lilian found her courage to ride, too! Here are some pictures from their outing.

Happy 4th! (This is called catching up...)

So, to celebrate the 4th of July, we wanted to do something so the kids would know what the 4th was about (since last year we missed it...it's hard to think about celebrating the 4th of July when your freezing under layers and layers of clothing!).

We decided to pull out the flag and celebrate!

We grilled some steaks outside in the freezing cold. Thomas was not too happy about having to stay inside!

My (Allison's) mom was there to celebrate with us.

We feasted on steak, baked potatoes, and homemade baked beans.

My favorite hour...

Tomorrow will be a month since Gabriela has been born. (I never did an official blog introduction. Sorry! I've been a little busy.) And, yes, we are still surviving. We are finding new ways to do things. The older kids are learning (or I'm trying to teach them) some patience. I'm remembering what goes into taking care of a newborn. And, we are rearranging our daily schedule to try to fit it all in. But, one thing that I have guarded is nap time. That has been and will continue to be a protected time of day. And, Gabriela is taking to the idea as well. So, here is a picture of my favorite few hours of the day--a picture that can only be truly appreciated by those who have had little ones. (And, don't worry. I didn't leave Gabriela there--it was just for the picture.)

Gabi has been a great baby during the awake hours as well. She's a great eater and great sleeper. I'm having to wake her up some nights to make sure she eats enough (something that will end as soon as possible!).

But, it's still hard to believe that we have another baby. Especially since mostly all we see of her is her little round face peeking out of mounds of clothes and blankets! Hopefully soon it will warm up enough for us to enjoy seeing all of her!

Who does she look like?

I have to admit. This question was more important to me with the first one, but now not so much. However, it still seems important to others. We received this photo of Allison below and below that is a picture of Gabi. I think we have a match.

It (didn't) rain on my parade

On the 14th of May, Paraguay celebrated it's bicentennial. The country was decorated in their colors and there were special presentations, parades, and concerts all over the place. Well, everywhere except for the town where we live! Lilian was supposed to march in a parade with her class, but it was cancelled because it looked like it could rain. Being from Louisiana, a cloudy day is not a very good reason to cancel a parade, but we aren't in LA now, right?

They ended up rescheduling the parade for the 25th, which, of course we weren't able to make. Poor Lilian's heart was broken. But, we were able to cheer her up by doing a photo session next to all of the decorations that our apartment building put up. And, we still got some cute pics out of the deal.

I guess we'll just have to wait till the next "centennial"...

The Moto

Thomas just really started getting interested in riding the tricycle around the apartment. He can't quite reach the peddles, but you'd be surprised at how fast he can get around. And, he rarely has an accident. Now, before riding, of coarse, he must put on his LSU hat. And, if it's a sunny day, he's sure to put on his shades (aka, Mrs. Potato Head glasses).

Lilian also caught on to Thomas's love of the bike and now takes full advantage, getting rides to where ever she wants to go. She drags her feet and he pushes her where she wants to go. (She does help steer, at least!)

Thomas has also been making a little more sense lately. Here he is practicing some very meaningful words:

Resurrection Sunday

The Sunday before last, we celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord. The most important Easter date to the Paraguayan culture is Good Friday--the death of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, only the evangelicals here celebrate the Sunday of the Resurrection. The Paraguayans miss out on the true celebration that is Easter--Jesus didn't stay dead! He conquered the grave and is alive! He sits at the right hand of the Father as a mediator for those who have trusted Him for their salvation.

So, we started off the day by spending it with other believers, celebrating together the mercy and grace that God has given us through the death and resurrection of His Son. We shared with our kids the importance of the resurrection (in 3-year-old terms, of course!) and told the story of the resurrection.

Later that afternoon, we taught them some things that are done back home around this time. Here are some pictures of our day:

The kids made and decorated their own baskets for me to put candy in them. (Thomas did put stickers on his, but they kept disappearing and winding up in random places throughout the week.)

Thomas thought the little chocolate eggs were balls. We were able to hide the fact that they were actually chocolate for about a week--then he discovered the source of his candy. We had to take them away because after kicking and throwing them for a second, he'd try to eat them--paper and all.

Then we decorated and dyed some eggs. We tried some things to make some fun designs, but they didn't really work. The kids still had fun with it, though!

Then, we put them in the dye. And, being that you can only find brown eggs here, we had to let them sit for a long time. So...

...we went outside for distraction. I thought it'd be better than an impatient child climbing up on the counter and tipping over a glass of egg dye!

So, although we missed family terribly, we had a great time together!

Your pushing me!

Allison was getting on to Lilian about moving while she was trying to fix her hair. "Lilian stop moving!" Lilian responded, "But mommy you are pushing me." Allison realized that her belly was pushing Lilian and she didn't feel it.

First Day of School

Lilian has been going to school and she loves it. She begged us forever to go and we finally found something that would work for her. It's a pre-school that speaks in German and Spanish. It's mostly Spanish with German thrown in here or there. One day, Lilian came home singing a song in German. I didn't understand a word of it. Her Spanish is improving a lot now, also. She has always been able to understand, but hesitates to speak. Now she speaks in Spanish all the time. It's amazing how fast children learn.

Here is a picture of her on her first day. She chatters the whole walk to school.

Here Lilian is reading to Thomas in her bed. Most of the time when they get quite it means trouble. This time, however, was a pleasant surprise.

The Great Outdoors

I forgot to make a post about our camping experience before we went to Chile. We were able to spend 3 days and 2 nights on a private camp ground with 2 Paraguayan families before we left. The kids had and ball and did much better with the sleeping arrangements than I thought they would. (They slept much better than I - Allison - did, I'm sure!) Here are some pictures from our experience.

Here is our tent set-up. We borrowed someone's HUGE family size tent. We had no space issues at all!

Here's our "kitchen."

Thomas loved the company of his little friend.

And, being carted around...

Here is the creek where the kids played all day long. Helps to cool you off on a hot summer day!

Making chocolate cake!

And, you can't have a camp-out without roasted marshmallows! So, we taught the nationals how to roast 'em. The kids loved it, but not as much as their fathers! One dad told me he ate around 12!