life according to the diaz's: January!

I just realized this afternoon that I hadn't made any blog posts this month...oops!! I can't believe we have been so busy with things going on that I haven't even thought about making a blog post. It seems like we have been filling our weekends with family time. It's been a wonderful month. Now that it has been getting cold most of our days, we tend to stay in our cozy house just playing and having fun! It's been nice to just spend some quality time together. Juan and I are both staying busy with our school work. Right now I am in a transition with students as we graduate students out of Reading Recovery and begin our work with a new round of students that need some intense help getting on track as a reader. It's always a very busy, but fun time of year to see how much the students I began the year with have grown. Many of my students couldn't read anything at the beginning of the year and now they are reading books with actual characters, dialogue, and pages full of text. It really is amazing work. Juan is staying busy with all of his students at school too. What an inspiration he is to them everyday...I know the kids he has don't always know it now, but they will realize soon how awesome of a teacher he is for pushing them to accept nothing but the best for themselves. Tough love, guys!! Elena has been growing so much from week to week. She is doing so well at the babysitters and has some really great friends there. We couldn't be happier that she is enjoying herself while daddy and I are working! Elena is eating so many new foods it's hard to keep up with all the new ones. We have discovered, though, that she has fine taste...no room for generic items. This baby is all name brand...ha! We are still giving her some baby food purees to be sure she is getting all the fruits and veggies her little body needs since she isn't so fond of the actual veggies just yet. We keep trying, though! Her favorite food continues to be any kind of cheese. She just loves it. This past Friday night Juan and I got some pizza for dinner and she at a whole slice along with some fruits and veggies. She is quite the little piggie! Elena is clapping her hands and lifting both arms to show us she is "SO BIG!" Elena likes to talk on the phone and she frequently calls my mom "on accident"...somehow if Elena gets a hold of my phone, she pushes something and calls my mom...it's too funny. Elena knows to hold the phone up to her ear and say "hi!" Elena can pull herself up on our couch...she thinks it's quite hilarious to just stand up once she gets up there and run from one end to the other...NOT funny in mom and dad's eyes. Juan got stern with her yesterday and told her to sit down and she just looked at him with those gorgeous brown eyes and said, "Hi there" in her sweetest voice...oh geez..she starts now. How can we stay mad at that sweet little thing?!

So, Elena just continues to get bigger and bigger on us...she is wearing shoes when we go out places now, is almost too big for her infant car seat, and LOVES to sit in the cart when we go to the store and say "HI" to everyone we pass. She is a little girl now. Our little girl...how can it be that she's not our newborn baby anymore? Time is passing too quickly...I find myself everyday thanking God for her and keeping her safe, healthy, and happy. We are just so lucky to have this little human being to call ours. She is our joy, our inspiration to be better people, and she is love personified. She is our Elena...Love you, sweet girl!!