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!!

Just looking at the snow.

This is the best one I got...she hates hats!

I'm ready to go, Mom!

Our silly monkey...

Playing around early in the morning

This is me everyday...surrounded by toys and reading a book.

Grandpa loves me!

I love my monkey.

Homer loves his grandma too.

This looks like a good idea...

Enjoying a book with grandma before going to bed.

Where's the puzzle board, Elena?

Trying to read Curious George...

Then she tried to escape!!

That's more like it.

Talking on mom's phone!

Reminiscing about the 1st birthday by reading her cards again.

I am SO SO cute!!!

A few more photos...

 I'm busy, here.

 Playing with daddy before a bath

 Just your typical night in Elena's room...Pulls all books out of the shelf and decorative flowers off the front.

 Using my "big girl chair"

 Listening to a good "gook"

Finally got her to stand still for a 12 month picture...a few weeks late :)

 So Big!

 Oatmeal cookies...and still trying that sippy cup...

 Wait...is she really taking a drink?

Yes, a small one, but it's a start!!

Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas to Everyone...a few days late!! :) We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a fabulous 2013 ahead. It is hard to believe we are on our way to saying good bye to 2012...it has been such a fast year. I guess when you spend most of your days trying to figure out how to take care of a child for the first time, the hours of each day seem to pass by faster and faster! Juan, Elena, and I got to spend Christmas Eve together in California, MO with Juan's parents and sister. We had a wonderful day eating great food, opening presents, and making stockings. Elena was not feeling that great as she was coming down with a cold and cough, so by the time evening rolled around, it was time to bring her home to get some rest. Santa was coming and we wanted her to feel well for Christmas Day. When Elena woke up on Christmas Day, she appeared to be feeling a bit better, so we made our way to St. Louis to visit my parents and sisters. Again, we opened presents, had great food, and watched our regular Christmas cartoons...Charlie Brown Christmas and Garfield Christmas. It was wonderful to spend time with everyone. By the end of the day, Elena was getting crabby again, so we tried to get her down to sleep, but she had a hard time falling asleep, so we needed to do some "old school" rocking and laying in bed together in order to get her asleep...it worked! :) I must admit, it was nice laying in bed with our girl...she is a good snuggler and is SO warm!! Other than our Christmas traveling, we have been just spending as much time as possible at home. We spend most of our days playing with Elena and cleaning up after her. We read TONS of books everyday and are TRYING to get her to drink from a sippy cup...She seriously won't have ANYTHING to do with any of the cups we offer her. She still wants her bottle. This is going to be a challenge. I know she will grow out of the bottle phase, but I am hoping things will start to change soon. We have been working with a sippy cup for months, but she has never shown any kind of interest. Any tips from you moms out there is definitely appreciated! Elena is getting more adventurous with foods, though. She is enjoying yogurt, bologna and other lunch meats, hot dogs, pizza, spaghetti and meat sauce, and all her regular baby foods too. We are still giving her baby food at times just to make sure she is getting all those nutrients. Elena has enjoyed all her Christmas goodies too...she learned she likes spice cookies and cream cheese cookies...YUM!! So, as we come to another end to another year, Juan and I wish you all a blessed and prosperous 2013. We are forever thankful to everyone who has helped us in any way over this last year as we stumbled our way through as first time parents while trying to juggle the rest of life at the same time. All the prayers, thoughts, well-wishes, meals, visits, etc...it is all SO appreciated. Thank you for supporting our little family! :)

A few Christmas pictures...SO many more, but this is just a start :)

 

Photo Card

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December...

This month has been flying by!  We have been just enjoying the Christmas season together hanging out at home and playing around the Christmas tree.  Juan and I finally got our tree up last weekend and it is awesome.  It makes me just so happy to turn it on all day long and enjoy the lights and sparkle.  Elena has really enjoyed looking at it as well.  Believe it or not, she doesn't touch it that often.  I put a few "touchable" ornaments closer to the bottom so that if she did get a bit curious, we'd all be safe!  I have a video below of her playing with an ornament with a bell inside and she just thought that was great.  Smiles all around.  Since Elena's birthday, we haven't been doing much of anything!  We'll bake a few cookies again this weekend and hopefully get out for some more shopping, but that's about it!  This momma is hoping to get all of the shopping finished this weekend and begin wrapping it all up!  I really do enjoy wrapping Christmas presents.  For me, it's SO not a chore.  It makes me happy knowing that the gift is going to bring a smile to someone we love's face.  No better gift than that!!  One more week of work left for both Juan and I and Christmas vacation will be here.  I seriously cannot believe it.  Another school year is passing us by in the blink of an eye.  Trying to enjoy every second, but times are getting busy and the hustle and bustle of daily life can make that difficult at times!  We thank God everyday that we have and love the jobs we do everyday and are able to touch so many lives.  Here's to a blessed rest of the Christmas season!!

 Can we please eat dinner now?

 Stacking skills...

 Not quite a pro, yet.

 Trying again ;)

 Playing "Where's Elena?"

 Playing before we go meet Santa Claus!  (She hated him, by the way.)

 Hanging out on daddy's lap...look at those teeth!!

Great One Year Check Up!

Elena had a wonderful one year check up this evening with Dr. Hagan.  She is right on target for her growing curve, which is such good news.  Elena is 19.3 lbs.  She is our little flea, but like we've said from the beginning...she is long and lean!  Elena took 3 shots in her leg like a champ and only cried for a minute or so...I think she was just mad that Nurse Chelsea and I made her lay down for a bit to get the shots!  All in all, Juan and I couldn't be happier with the year we've had as far as Elena's health goes.  We have not had any major issues and we are hoping to keep it that way through the winter.  We don't have to go back to the doctor until March...here's to hoping we are healthy until then...even though our baby has a cold right now.  Praying that goes away soon, too.  Elena has had her flu shot, so hopefully that helps her stay healthy this coming winter.  We are going to finish Elena's last container of formula this week and then it's onto whole milk for our little lady.  We got the official OK from the doctor on all foods now.  Elena is ready for it all!  Now, if we could just get her eating it all, we'd be in better shape.  I think she is just like me...texture is SUPER important.  Elena likes blended peas, but won't touch them in regular form.  Same goes for bananas...too funny.  Hopefully we can continue introducing some other foods to her that she might like in the coming weeks.  Well, I'm hoping to get to bed early tonight...my wake up call was at 4am this morning, so this momma is TIRED.  Looking forward to a good night's rest for the Diaz household!!

1st Birthday Party!

Elena had a wonderful first birthday party yesterday with some family and friends.  She enjoyed her day all dressed up in her special tutu outfit and eating lots of sweets.  It was a very memorable and special day for our baby girl.  It is still overwhelming to Juan and I how much love everyone surrounds Elena with.  She is truly one lucky little baby...well, not so much a baby anymore, huh?  :) 
Now that her big birthday is past, we are back to business now.  Tomorrow, Elena goes to the doctor for her one year well baby visit.  She will get her next round of shots, so we hope that she does just as well with this round as she has with all the others.  I'm sure Dr. Hagan will tell us all about what foods we can start feeding Elena and hopefully we can make the change from formula to milk!  That will be exciting.  Keep E in your prayers tomorrow that she has a good appointment!
I have officially changed my mode over to Christmas now.  I haven't been wanting to think much about it until Elena's big day was over.  I am excited to get our Christmas tree up, music going, and cookies baked.  Oh, and Christmas vacation can't get here fast enough!  I was lucky to spend an extra long weekend here at home with Elena, so it's back to normal until Christmas break in a few weeks.  I know it will go by very fast, but it will be so sweet once it gets here!  It's always such a nice time to be at home recharging the battery for the second half of the school year.
Thank you to everyone over this past year that we've been blessed with Elena.  Juan and I are so grateful for all the help, prayers, gifts, advice, and visits from our family and friends.  You truly are our rocks and inspiration!  Here's to another wonderful year with Elena Elizabeth!

Our baby is 1!!

2:38pm 11/30/12...exactly one year old and this is what I'm doing ;)

Mmmmm...monkey cake!

Sugar cookies with abuela

The tissue paper the day after the party was still fun!

Homemade monkey cupcakes...they were SO good!!