Cassiel meets Minnie Mouse

We celebrated the first day of Christmas vacation at Disneyland. Cassiel got to meet Minnie Mouse, whom she loves, LOVES, loves. She was SO excited. And it was Cousin Noah's first visit to Disneyland.

 

Thanksgiving in Santa Cruz

 

Grandpa surprised Alex with a new bike, which was the highlight of Alex's vacation! They went on bike rides almost every day, and in Santa Cruz there is no shortage of beautiful scenery. We rode bikes to the harbor, to downtown for hot chocolate, along the river front, to the beach, to the park. It was heaven for a four year old. And heart warming for his Mama.

 

 

 

He was a trooper keeping up with his Iron Man Grandpa. I was very proud of him.

Meanwhile, the girls had fun at the beach - not that you can tell from Cassiel's expression here. She was more interested in all the dogs out for a walk on West Cliff than in the ocean or the sunset. I'm secretly hoping it's just a stage and she'll outgrow her love of dogs, but shhhh...don't tell Alejandro. She goes nuts when she sees a dog.

A stroll on West Cliff with Grandpa...

Speaking of things Cassiel loves....Slides. Swings. Climbing. Parks. She is a fearless little monkey. She amazes me every day. And she's tough - when she falls she stands up, brushes her hands off and is right back at it. No tears, no fussing - just on to the next adventure. She's a very determined and willful little thing. Alejandro says she is JUST like me (imagine him rolling his eyes as he says it - I'm not so sure it's a compliment)

Cousins!!! We spent Thanksgiving and the day after with cousins Holly and Alec, my cousin Mary's little ones and had so much fun! It's such a treat to have cousins the same age. I wish we lived closer.

Grammy and Grandpa bought the kids season passes to the Boardwalk for an early Christmas present. I love this pic! It perfectly captures their complete and utter joy.

Can't wait till baby Noah is old enough to play. He so wants to - it's precious to watch him crawl after the big kids.



 

Giving Mama kisses...love this baby girl. I'm so grateful my kids are affectionate. They smother us in hugs and kisses; nothing makes me happier.

 

Cassiel is starting to talk quite a bit and just beginning to put words together to make short sentences. One of her regular phrases is 'All done' when she's finished eating, done with her bath, etc. OR when she wants something to be all done. So we're at church the other day and 20 minutes in to the liturgy she shouts "All done. ALL DONE!" Alejandro and I had a fit of giggles. I can't blame her, church must be less than interesting for a one and a half year old. We've been visiting the Cathedral lately with the thought of possibly switching. We love our little parish in Torrance, but now that we have two kids we're looking for a community with a more active kids program. It's no small consideration, but so far it feels right. These little munchkins have changed every aspect of our lives - even what church we go to! And we've never been happier. #countingourblessings

 

 

 

Castillo Family Photos - September 2012

 

Love LOVE Love these photos. For my birthday Alejandro gifted me a family photo shoot with our very talented friend, Danielle Wang. The full shoot can be viewed at http://client.endpinphoto.com/event/Castillo-Fam/YAS8dEUrXrXlo

Password: corinth

 

But here is a selection of my favorites. Alex - 4, Cassiel - 17 months and Mama and Pap - old but still in love!

The kids and people who love them

This blog post is for all the amazing people who take care of our kiddoes, teach them, love them and have become an extension of our family.

 

Angelica Espinosa is our Mary Poppins. She's been with us since Cassiel was a baby and we ADORE her. She's with the kids three days a week and fills those days with trips to the park, story time at the library and tumbling class at the Y. She goes grocery shopping when we're out of milk and makes dinner when I'm busy. She's an angel. But this is about the kids, not me. And the kids love her!

 

 

 

Alex goes to preschool two days a week and they are his favorite days of the week (aside from Saturday and Sunday when he's home with Mama - he assures me). He loves school. Here he is with his teachers, Miss Vita and Miss Megan at Chalk Preschool in Westwood. He just graduated from the Yellow Room and is now in the Orange Room with new teachers and we're missing Vita and Megan. Everyone at preschool calls him Alejandro because there is another Alex in school with him. He has really taken to the name and now occassionally introduces himself as Alejandro. (Picture me smiling here)

 

We think maybe Miss Megan might just be the best preschool teacher on the planet. You know those people who were just born to do what they're doing? She's one of them. And she loves our little guy. It warms my heart.

Alex giving Miss Vita a kiss....

Shariff! Cassiel goes to daycare at Shariff's house the same two days that Alex is in preschool. Every day we pull up to daycare she squeals and claps. She just loves it. It's the same daycare where Alex went before he started preschool. It used to be run by Shariff and his dear wife, Razia, who passed away a year and a half ago, and now it's just Shariff and his helper, Kor. They've been so good to us and love our kiddoes so much! We are very grateful. So, if anyone ever needs a daycare in West LA, I highly recommend!

We can't forget Grammy and Grandpa! They're at the top of the list of people who love our kiddoes! We just came back from Labor Day weekend in Santa Cruz. Grammy has a whole closet of presents for the kiddoes, which Alex has discovered and now raids whenever we visit. They took the kids to the Boardwalk, the park and the beach. There is no shortage of fun at Grammy and Grandpa's house.

Godmommy Keidi and the Lewis clan! Here we are with our youngest, Cassiel (16 months) and Annea (4 months). The big kids are playing somewhere in the yard, but were having too much fun to pose for a picture.

One day we'll look back on this blog and forget how hard it was to juggle life with two young children. The struggle to get the laundry done and the dishes washed while commuting an hour and a half a day, maintain interesting but intense careers and all the while prioritize time to play with our children, to laugh with them, to tickle them till they can't breathe, to discover the world with them. The down side to having everything you ever wanted? Chronic fatigue. Alas...

We're so fortunate to be surrounded by people who love and adore our children. To you all, thank you. THANK YOU and thank you. You enrich our childrens' lives and keep us parents sane.

Summer Fun

Summer highlights from the Castillo family:

• Cassiel and I flew up to Seattle for Aunt Ruthie's graduation from the University of Washington
• Tia Jhoselin was with us for two months from Mexico
• Alejandro and I celebrated our ten year anniversary with a week in Maui
• We went to San Diego for a weekend to celebrate Sheila and Scott's wedding
• and a million other random, precious moments of joy.....read on....

Alex and I on a "date" having frozen yogurt and playing dominoes

Cassiel now gives kisses! They melt her Papa's heart every time. I caught this candid picture through a window, hence the screen blurring it, but how cute?!

She calls "Papa" in this loud, urgent screech. It was her third word after Mama and dog. She calls Papa in the middle of the night, in the middle of the afternoon when he's not around...in other words, all the time. She loves him. I might be a tiny bit jealous if it weren't so darn cute.

 

 

Bouncy house at the Cohens. What could be more fun for a 4 year old boy? It's about on par with Disneyland for Alex. And great fun for the parents who can enjoy some wine while the kids wear themselves out. Happiness all around. 

 

Our little Cassiel looks like she's headed to jazzercise with this headband.



Struttin' her stuff in the sand...

An afternoon visit to the airport with Mama. No, that's not our plane and no, we did not go for a flight. I'm not even sure who's plane that is or who took the picture, but adding it to the memory book...

And adding memories like this. Yep, she's messy. One day my children will sleep through the night and have civilized table manners and I will long for these days. Right?

Uncle Seth teaching Alex (and Noah) how to play with a yo-yo. Important life skills.

"Come here, Cousin Alex, give me a kiss!"

Baby Noah is learning to crawl. We tried to help him along, but he was having none of our imposed timing on him. He has the cutest little dimples and the sweetest smile. Such a cute little munchkin!!

Alex's 4th Birthday

Our little man turned four! We celebrated with a water/super-hero/airplane themed party - partly because he's in to everything and partly because Mama just couldn't decide. With living in Los Angeles, it's great that his birthday is in the middle of summer - there are so many great parks around us.

Tia Jhoselin was with us all summer from Mexico and the kids are madly in love her. She was excited to finally be with Alex to celebrate one of his birthdays. She and Alejandro made 200 water balloons which the kids went through in less than five minutes. I think that will be the last time we do water balloones. The super soakers were a hit, though.

And we had fireman backpack water guns that the boys enjoyed. Half the battle was just keeping them fueled up with water.

Good friends from pre-school, Max and Ryan came. Alex's good friends Owen and Garrett have both moved out of state this summer and we're missing them already.

The Santa Monica Airport is always popular with the little guys.

They pretended to fly...

And of course, we had an Avengers pinata. We had a Thor cake too, but I neglected to take pictures of it. The question of the week at preschool a few weeks back was "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Alex answered Thor. Not just "a super hero" - he wants to be Thor. Aunt Ruthie, on recommendation, got him a mjolnir for his birthday.

In other cute Alex news, he asked me this week if I would marry him. (Ahhhh, I know...imagine me melting here). I said "Sure, honey! Oh, wait, I can't, I'm already married to your Papa". To which he responded "But Mama, don't you love me?" Oh sweet boy, if you only knew. Love you to pieces. So precious.