life according to the diaz's

Sunday, August 25, 2013

More summer fun...

Summer's not over yet!! Even though school may have started and Elena is back to the babysitter's everyday, we are still enjoying every bit of this warm weather. Elena has been getting in her pool almost every night after dinner and we spent most of yesterday afternoon in the pool, too. Seriously, who would have thought that a little blow up baby pool could be so much fun. But, it's helping me stay cool while working on a tan still, so it's perfect! Since the last post, we've been a busy family. From Star Wars night at Busch Stadium earlier this month to the birth of Elena's new cousin, Blake, we have been doing a lot of traveling and living day by day these last few weeks. I think this week will start to feel a little more "routined". I am already looking forward to a long Labor Day weekend to enjoy the last bit of real summer we have left. What an amazing season summer is...how is it not everyone's most favorite season of the year, too?! I know, I'm weird for loving the sticky, hot summer sun, but with a cold drink and water nearby, there's no better recipe for a great afternoon!!!
Elena's been growing up before our very eyes. This week she turns 21 months old. We are getting closer and closer to that 2 years old mark and Juan and I can't believe it. This time has seriously flow by and I know it's just going to continue to go faster with each year that passes. Elena is talking up a storm and she understands almost everything we talk about or ask her to do. She knows almost 20 letters of the alphabet, not consistently, but most of the time. She is getting so smart! She loves to read books, especially before bed at night. She is still sleeping like a champ. E goes to bed now between 7:30 and 8 and she sleeps until between 6:30 and 7am...over the summer when we weren't on a schedule, she would sleep sometimes until closer to 8!! Those were Juan and I's most favorite days!
On another note, that attitude of hers is out of control at times, but with a time out, she gets back to her sweet self again ;) Elena has started with the "throwing herself on the ground because I'm mad" tantrums here at home. It will be so wonderful when she does that out in public at some point...insert sarcasm there...
So, with life getting back to reality, we venture into the last week of August into September awaiting the beautiful fall up ahead....more pictures to come! Happy end of summer, all!!

Our visit to see Grandpa!! Love.

Star Wars Night at Busch Stadium...it was awesome!!!

Just more summer fun...

Pigtails...those lasted about a minute.

This is what she does while we make dinner.

Sitting with grandpa while waiting to see Baby Blake for the first time!

I'm an AUNT!! Love you Blake!!

Sisters and Blake

Grandma and Blake

Uncle Juan and Blake

Fun with grandma while visiting "Ernie" at the hospital

Morning talks with grandpa

Love

Abuelo and Elena

Enjoying the afternoon!!

She's smiling!!!

Saturday, August 3, 2013

It's August...YIKES!!

So, here we are at the beginning of August again...it is always a bittersweet month. While summer is coming quickly to an end, the new adventures of the school year are quickly approaching and I am getting excited about it. It's this time of year that really reminds me of how much I really do love the job that I have. I realize that I miss all the stinkers of last school year and that I want to sit down and catch up with them and hear a good joke or two. From experience, jokes from an eight year old can be outstanding!! However, the bitter part of this time of month is knowing that the days of waking up and doing whatever we want...including nothing at all...won't be for much longer. Running to the store at random times, sitting in the baby pool for an hour just to get a little bit of sun, taking a quick nap at 1:00 in the afternoon...all of our favorite little things will have to wait until Christmas vacation, huh?! No problem...time sure does fly these days and I know those cold months will be here before we know it...
BUT, the Diaz's are still enjoying these warm summer months and we have been busy! Since getting back from Puerto Rico weeks ago, we have been filling our schedules with lots of family time. For starters, Juan and I celebrated 9 years of marriage this past week...it was a great day of eating over-sized BLT sandwiches at Crown Candy and having a blast at the Science Center. We were like kids again. We also took Elena to the zoo the day after our anniversary and that was so much fun, too. We hadn't taken Elena to the zoo yet, so it was her first time and she loved seeing all the animals. She often pointed and said, "Whass-at?" We just named all the animals we saw and enjoyed our time together. My mom and sister came too. After about two hours, though, Elena was very hot, tired, and crabby, so we decided to head home, but not without a quick lunch stop at the drive thru at Chick-Fil-A first ;) YUM!! Thanks, mom. :)
Elena also got to go and celebrate her cousin's first birthday at a park and splash pad with all of us last weekend too. She had so much fun playing on the playground and running in the water. Her excitement was priceless. We had snow cones, ice creams, and BBQ. It was a great time. Pictures below of our adventures since returning from Puerto Rico! We have had a BLAST this summer!