Birthday Girl !

Today is our beautiful baby's 2nd Birthday! She opened her first present from Uncle Ron and Aunt Evelyn. Thanks. They are very cute. She called them a boy, a clown, a car (don't know that one, maybe because the color?). She counted them. She told us the color. Where is green? Where is blue? Where is red? We tried some towers, but it took me longer to do than for her to smash! Oh, they were also drums. So, many ideas, you can tell her mind was working two-fold... Thanks.
Tomorrow, we are celebrating her birthday. So, more pictures to come. We are having pizzas. So, no one is cooking and everyone is just sitting relaxing, eating, and drinking. :)

Belated Anniversary Blogging!

As Arianna's 2nd birthday is near, I realized that I had been blogging about her for a year (September 10) so I missed the day, but makes me see that we had a very interesting year. Full of get togethers, families, friends, and many many new things. I don't know how long I will be blogging, but I do it not only to share her life with our dearest, but so we could remember all the craziness and insights that our little girl comes up with. They do grow fast indeed and if there is not somewhere written the stuff that they did, most of it will be lost in our little brains. And I want to remember everything. The nights without sleeping, the first tooth, the first smile, the first kiss, the hugs, her words, everything. Like a few days ago, she was looking outside the patio door into the trees and she says " Mama, trees dancing". And I looked outside, and the wind was moving the branches enough that if looked like they were. I would have missed them. That is what I don't want to miss or forget. So, as this is the last day before she turns 2. I want to say thanks to everyone that made this year, a year not to forget.

It's raining cats...

My last flowers are blooming. Enjoy!



What to do with a new kitty that came to our door? Can't they see that there is no vacancy! She is so tiny. I know in some of the pictures she looks bigger. But, if you see her face. You'll see she is not. She is the size of Betsy, maybe even smaller. Arianna loves her, of course, and she is very good with her. Making it very difficult for us!

Weekend Celebration!

Happy Birthday to an awesome pair. Alma's birthday is today (the 12th)and Tony (the 13th). Enjoy them and many, many more!

Last gathering of the Summer

Summer is coming to an end around here and Mike and Ann wanted to go bike riding. Next thing we know, if turned into a nice picnic outing. (Well, it was nice for a little while until we had about 3- 4 different radios fighting to see who was the loudest. Then, we decided to get to our house and we continued with the picnic there. Alas, it was very peaceful.)


Mike getting Ari ready with helmet and such. She does not care for the helmet, but she knows she needs it to ride.


A nice shot of the area. It is a nice trail, it gets harder as you walk in... not as flat and there were a lot mosquitoes. But the area is beautiful. I did not go in as much as Tiff, Dave, and Glenn, but I was able to capture 3 types of mushrooms. What a difference between them!


Well, this is not about the picnic. But, I wanted to include a picture of my best tomato of the season! What do you think? I see a salad with my tomato, mozzarella cheese and basil in my future :)

Bad mama!

Yesterday, we went shopping for an obligatory suit. I called obligatory because I really don't like to shop for clothes. Maybe if it was easier to find some in my size, I will change my mind. Anyway, after about almost 2 hours, we were on our way to our house. Traffic was a nightmare, worst than usual. This guy cut me off, and if I don't hit my breaks I would have hit him big time. Then, because of this, I got a yellow light so I slam on the brakes. Mike told me that I had enough time to go. After so many cameras in each corner trying to get you for a 100 dollars ticket, well you learn to hit your breaks. So, let's say we were frazzled. So, I said the big "WTF" (Mind you I used to never, ever swear before, but my language has some color in the past years- mostly S### or the WTF). I am trying to stop.
But, the point of my story here is that 2 seconds later, our darling said " What fuck?". Now, I have to say that it was funny, but we did not laugh. I don't want my child to pick those words. At least not yet. So, I said no sweety, not a good word and we were quite the rest of the ride.
Then, home about 30 minutes later. I am trying to put her down for a nap. She does not want to go just yet. She loves books too much sometimes. So, she says not to me, but in an exasperated tone to herself " What fuck?". Well, I am glad that she understand the context, but no.... no swearing in this house. I said no sweety, not a nice word. She has not said it. Me neither. So, now my new word will be "Cheetos". Yeah, that is safe.

Santana's Birthday!

The party was celebrated in the park near their house. This is a shot of the festivity. We got there in time to eat: arrachera, beans, rice, pork chops, hamburgers... It was all very good. Tony was face painting all the kids. The girls were butterflies. The boys were either a pirate or a shark eating his eye. Arianna was afraid of her cousins in the beginning until she realized that they "were" her cousins!

Everyone that knows our baby knows that Arianna takes a little to warm up before she starts screaming, dancing, and going away with the other kids. So, when we got there, Mike was making towers for her. She likes them.


Oh, I see your intentions! Not even 2 seconds after the tower was history!

I finally found the birthday boy. The party was next to a baseball field so all the kids were happy getting dirty of course!

Scarlett is showing her butterfly make up!


Proud father!
How about us? Phoenix was in line to get his painting as well.


Oh, let's take a rest. No, they are not sleeping. Sometimes, we wish she could sleep somewhere else that is not her crib.


Santana came to inspect who was taken a nap on his birthday. Come on, we are having a sack potato race! Wake up! (Sorry, trying to keep up with the baby, I missed taking a picture of the race, sigh)


Santana and his car's pinata. He loves cars!

Ok, it looks like Arianna was crying. She was not. But, she wanted me to hold her. So, she kept saying "mama, mama". But, it is hard to hold her and take a picture at the same time!


Time to open the presents! Lots of clothes. Always needed. Not that Santana was to thrill with that!

Now, we are talking. Trucks and cars. Yippee! His parents got him this gift (red truck) and we got him the other 4 cars that go with it (but that are sold separately).


Cake time. Of course, cars and more cars. The cake was vanilla with bananas.

Happy Birthday to you, lalalalalala, Santana, happy birthday to you!

They also gave us this super cool acrylic balls that open in half filled with candy. Now, the eerie part is that I was looking for those just a few hours earlier for Arianna's birthday! At least now I know were they are sold. Thanks guys. It was a cool party.