Nana's Visit October 2011

In between study sessions in Escobar, we got a much appreciated visit from Nana. She came bearing gifts of toys, accessories, and LSU apparel!

But, best of all, the kids got some awesome Nana-play time!

September - November 2011

And, I realize that my last post was over a year and a half ago and, even then, I was playing catch up. However, I am swallowing my pride and admitting my faults. I am a terrible blogger! The reason I wanted to start this blog, though, was to keep a written history (with cute pictures and videos) for myself and my children. So I will be backtracking a bit to catch me up on this little biography of mine.

In September 2011, we celebrated the birthdays of Tio Bill, Thomas, Tias Rebecca & Rachel, and Lilian early at the Baers' house. (By the way, we love the Baers!)

We also spent the end of September - November 2011 in Escobar studying Guarani with Tio Andy. This put us close to the capital, so we took advantage of being able to get some things done in the big city. We quickly discovered that we loved staying at the SIM guest apartments; there were always tons of kids to play with!

We also got to celebrate Thomas's 2nd birthday while we were studying. We invited the neighborhood children to celebrate with us with a US-style cake--slightly different from their version of birthday cake.

Oh, and, see the poor swollen face of the birthday boy?? He woke up on his birthday with his eyes almost swollen shut. Apparently something bit him on the face (several times, maybe) in the night that he was allergic to. Poor little thing didn't even look like himself!

I hope to, over the next few days and weeks, get myself caught up to present day. We'll see how well I do!

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.