Catching up on Alex...now 2 1/2

Hi friends and family. Happy 2011!


Here are some fun highlights from life with Alex over the past five months. We had a great holiday and are super excited for Baby Cassiel to join out little family in late April.

Tia Jhoselin came to visit us for the holidays. It was the first time she'd been to California and we had tons of fun with her!

Every time Alex says "Tia Jhos" it sounds like he's saying "GI Joe". It cracks me up. He also asked about Tia Jhos the other day when I offered him a tortilla because 'tortilla' and 'tia' sounded the same to him. It's so fun to watch him learn language. He makes the most hilarious connections and has us in stitches every day.

The view from the balcony at Grammy and Grandpa's new house in Santa Cruz...

Giving Grammy some love....

Christmas cuddles with cousin Holly and new little cousin Alec...

Mama's pregnant tummy at 5 months

Alex and Cousin Holly posing

Alex and the big red balloon on Christmas Eve.

In Mexico kids send their letters to Santa via helium balloons - not through the post office (which by the way Alejandro thinks is hilarious). So the night of Christmas Eve Alejandro drove around Santa Cruz looking for a place to buy a helium balloon. He got lost twice and never did find any stores open - but....he did find a real estate sign on the side of the road with three big red balloons. And since we only needed one....

While Alex was writing his letter to Santa, Alejandro called looking for directions (he was out searching for a balloon) and we pretended it was Santa on the phone. Alex had a whole conversation with Santa about what toys he wanted for Christmas and the cookies he was leaving Santa. You've never seen anything so precious! It continues to amaze me how things like Christmas and Disneyland take on a whole new level of fun again now that I'm a Mom.

We spent lots of time with friends over the holidays. Here is Alex with Andy, Eliana and Adessa at the train display in Henry Cowell.

And again at the park in Mt. Hermon with Adessa and Eliana.

Every once in a while when I'm with my girlfriends and our kids I have those moments of "Wow, are we really so grown up that we have kids now?" The rest of the time it feels like the most natural thing in the world, but every once in a while time seems to stop and I think how incrediby fortunate we are and how quickly life goes by.

A day at the beach with the fam....

Grammy and Alex at Natural Bridges

Grandpa and Alex

Walking through the redwoods

Alex getting into the Christmas spirit

We woke up one Saturday in November with no plans for the day and spontaneously decided to go to Disneyland (which is a very nice perk of working for the company). We had such a great time. We realized that the three of us had never been there alone together, we usually only go when taking guests. But this time we had the whole day to wonder around and play by ourselves.

Alex is a little less scared of Mickey Mouse these days...

And Lightning McQueen and Mater were a HUGE hit! He's such a boy.

In other news and before I neglect to write about important life events....In November we also lost Alex's daycare provider, Razia Shariff, may her memory be eternal. She was hit by a car on the street outside of her home and died soon after. She was a wonderful, loving woman and we were so grateful to have her care for our little boy. Our condolences to her husband, children, grandchildren and the many friends she left behind.

But, ending on a sweet note....

Thanks for reading! We'll be back soon with pictures of Alex with his little baby sister!