Our Bundle of Four

Diana's three months

2012-02-10T21:54:00.000-08:00

Where does the time go? Diana is three months already and she is such a cute little happy girl, she is doing the baby talk a lot, loves to have somebody to talk to, likes to be sitting more than laying down, she is sleeping more at night (well she has been doing it since a couple weeks ago) she is growing so fast, we love her a lot, she has a sweet spirit! We enjoy to cuddle with her and take advantage of all the time we can spend with her, because we want her and Joel to feel really love.
Here is our sweet girl posing!

And an extra picture of Joel being funny while we are in our photo session with Diana (with his pajamas's of cars)

Sorry these last pictures didn't come out as good as we would love to, light wasn't very good! But ENJOY them.....

Joel being a Peter Pan

2012-02-10T21:21:00.000-08:00

When I saw this I couldn't believe it, what????? Joel didn't enjoy these when he had the age to do it...and now or he enjoys the swing and the bouncer more, or he doesn't want to grow and be our big boy.

This is one way he uses the bouncer the other one is when he uses it as a trampoline, and he had lots of fun with it when Diana is not there.

Dentist appointment

2012-02-10T21:05:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, Joel had his first Dentist appointment, yes he at his 17 months had his first visit, poor little one, the reason was that has been working a lot on getting his molars and we found out that one of them was making his gum purple, swallow and not looking good, besides that he was always touching his right ear like something was bothering him but he hasn't been a crying baby for teething, think he is very good about pain. He has still an eruption cyst, not very common but it happen sometimes and it will be fine, we just need to wait for the molar to come out.

Joel had a great time while waiting

He loves cars and makes freeways everywhere

He's looking like I didn't do it....

Waiting for the dentist and while there Joel got a little toy (helicopter)

After the visit, Joel was more than ready to go....he was very scare to see a stranger looking at his mouth

Going home!

Finally together

2012-02-10T20:38:00.000-08:00

Finally I think I could get a picture with Joel and Diana together, well kind of, here Diana is two months and Joel just woke up from his nap, so he was cooperating a little bit after that great rest he had.

Crayons

2012-01-25T22:04:00.000-08:00

Since we got a magic board for Joel, he got to be a pro using his hands to write and loves to do it, so we got him the routine that before or after he eats he can express himself on paper, so we have some paper and crayons on the table ready for him. He takes his activity very seriously (as he usually do with mostly everything he does) and doesn't eat that much the crayons, yay!!! He just break them.....oh well...!

Our little princess

2012-01-25T21:58:00.000-08:00

Our little princess (8-9 weeks) on her Doctor's appointment we found out that she is doing great, I was a little concern because I got use to Joel eating a lot, probably she eats average, at her two months visit she was 23 inches and 11.14 lbs (she gained three pounds), so she is growing fine.

Sweet dreams!

Rosca de Reyes

2012-01-25T21:35:00.000-08:00

This year again we made Rosca de Reyes (Wise men ring) which is a sweet pastry very typical from Mexico, celebrating the Wise Men visit to baby Jesus, this usually is celebrated on January 6th.

We just forgot to take a picture with the whole family.

Our active big boy

2012-01-25T21:20:00.000-08:00

Here is Joel our happy big boy. The weather has allows to spend time outside because we have had beautiful days, lately we have been going to the park twice a day, Joel enjoys being exploring everything & running around, some other times we just take a walk around the complex. Love winter time!

In these pictures he was wearing a hat that grandma Ana Luz made him, eventhough not always is that cold to wear we had to take a picture with it, so here we are.

Joel loves the swing, and he can spend around 15 mins there

He loves to bring different things when we go for a walk, so I have to watch him very close and sometimes carry them whenever he is tired of holding, pushing his toys.

We were watching a hot air balloon that was really close to the town home were we live.

Bath time

2012-01-24T15:43:00.000-08:00

Diana really enjoys taking a bath, she loves to kick the water and relax while we give her a bath. Happy little swimmer!

Diana's 7-8 weeks

2012-01-24T15:42:00.000-08:00

As you can see these are some old pictures (December) our little Diana is growing and thanks God happy and healthy, it has been hard to pick a few pictures of her but here are some so you can see her growing!

One more on Christmas

2012-01-06T22:33:00.000-08:00

We had a great experience this year, we have some ideas of things we would like to do the following years with the kids, but this time was rewarding, hopefully we can make the twelve days of Christmas to somebody or family some time in the future.
Let me tell you what our experience was on saturday evening, there is a brother at Church that he is not in his five senses even though when you talk to him he answers everything you ask him but he still in his world and this due to a bad accident he had, so not every body talk to him, but we respect him a lot and try to be nice to him, he rides his bike to Church every single Sunday, summer or winter time, we haven't seen him missing Church, feel bad for all of those who are healthy and have a car and don't want to go to Church, we grateful to be able to meet special persons in our lives who help us to give our best not matter what. Well, we wanted to do something nice for him, and we got some presents and got a plate full of food and Tom drove by his apartment that night (because this brother was working we didn't find him earlier), and when he opened the door and saw Tom, said: I was praying for this, I was praying for this, took what Tom brought and closed the door. That was it, no more words, but he certainly made us feel grateful we gave him something that night to make him happy. Our eyes were full of tears and now that I'm writing it I have the same special feeling for that little action we did on Christmas eve. We are grateful for all the blessings we have and hope we can share with those less fortunate every time we can, so we can be the Lord's hands in some way.

Before I forget and not mention this, on Christmas day we had dinner with the Smith's a very beautiful family we met when we just moved to Yuma in the first ward we were attending, they invited us over again (second year) to their home to have dinner with them and another, we are grateful for the opportunity to be blessed with good friends around us that make our lives better, and all of this is because of the gospel of Jesus Christ that help us to be better, and to have good examples at Church with wonderful families. We love Christmas season because makes us remember Christ birth, and give us the opportunity to be givers more than receivers or at least trying to learn that principle in our lives.

Here we have our little doll enjoying her time there as well

Here we have our other little one having some fun with daddy, as he had the chance to explore the trampoline the Smith's kids got from Santa, Joel loved it.

We had a great dinner and enjoyed the company a lot. We brought four different things for dessert, we were not sure what would be best (wish I took pictures of them but I forgot), chocolate chips cookies, cheesecake, chocolate cake and a pineapple cream cake.

Joel's art

2012-01-06T21:43:00.000-08:00

In December we had a new thing to do for Joel, since the weather has been so nice to go to the park we also started doing a few different activities with Joel so he can discover others ways of entertainment than cars or blues clues or leap frog, actually he did pretty good when we first introduce them to him, well for a little bit until he starts wanting to eat the crayons, finger paint and the other paint for drawings or may be I such called it 'Baby art', and when he starts working he gets very focus and take it seriously, you will see him.

Here are some of Joel's master pieces, more will come soon!

Diana 6 weeks

2011-12-31T12:30:00.000-08:00

Little Diana so you can see how cute and big she is getting!!

Happy Joel

2011-12-31T12:11:00.000-08:00

Joel loves to be outside and be able to be free and do lots of things, he has lots of energy that needs to be burned so he can be more happy, otherwise he gets frustrated and cranky, we do as much as we can to take him for walks or to the park so he can have a variety on his activities.

I was surprised that he is doing a few of things by himself, so he's more independent when playing in the playground. He's getting big !!!

Interacting

2011-12-31T11:49:00.000-08:00

Some more pictures so you can see the growing of our lovely children, and how they are interacting (well just Joel , who wish his sister was bigger so he could play with her), Joel is feeling more comfortable having his little sister and I think she is getting more used to have noise around her even though she likes more quite time for naps.

In this pictures Diana is around 5-6 weeks ( sorry, we are a little behind)

Christmas

2011-12-31T11:35:00.000-08:00

We went to Church at 9am on Christmas so we had to wait and after that is when we could actually open the presents, Joel didn't know what was going on...so we helped him a little bit, probably next year he will be more excited and expert in opening presents from Santa.

When finally we made him open one of them, he kept playing with his cars that didn't want anything else.

Some of Joel's presents

Joel very excited getting some Leap frog dvd's, thank you Grandma Culwell

The best we could take as a family picture on Christmas day!

Daddy and little Diana

Diana posing with her first presents

Put her Christmas outfit , and with her dolls

Wanted to do it with Joel but probably next year....

Family pictures

2011-12-30T13:49:00.000-08:00

Last year we were only three, happy with our little Joel. Can you believe we are already four? We are very happy and feel so blessed to be able to have two little ones to take care, teach and guide them.

We waited until little Diana was a month old so we could take our family pictures, it was almost the middle of December so we were running a little behind with our Christmas cards, but at the end it looks like we made it on time with most of them.

Joel wasn't sure what was going on, so he tried to smile a little bit....he is not an easy boy to make smile specially for pictures.

Joel (15 1/2 months)

Finally we got him, a little one!!!

Our little sweet Diana!!! (one month)

A whole family picture, including my mom!

The three girls!

Cruising

2011-12-18T21:11:00.000-08:00

Joel is taking an interest in cars at an early age. We as parents are encouraging this. The only question we have is whether he will be a Ford man or a Chevy man.

Here Comes Santa Claus

2011-12-18T20:52:00.000-08:00

Joel was not excited to sit on Santa's lap at the grocery store. He was especially disappointed because the kids in front of him got little toys and Joel was first in line after they ran out. So all he got was a candy cane.

Some pictures are worth a thousand words. This picture of Joel fighting Santa to let him down is one of those - his expression says it all.

Ward Christmas dinner

2011-12-18T16:32:00.001-08:00

We had a Christmas party at church. It turned out great - the food was good, lots of visitors, and a fun program. The evening is usually a difficult time for Joel, but we were able to keep him happy most of the time and stay through the whole program. He even sat on Santa's lap!

Thomas sang a Christmas song with the "Brothers Four" quartet

Diana slept like an angel most of the time

Joel still is unfamiliar with Santa. I think next year he will enjoy visiting Santa a little more :)

Diana didn't mind telling Santa what she wants for Christmas.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-04T19:43:00.001-08:00

For Thanksgiving we were invited for a family from Church to go over to their home, they are very good to us and always have been so kind, we had a great time and enjoyed their company and food.

On the other hand another friend gave us a turkey, we were excited but that was our first time making it, and because it was frozen it took us a few more days make it, and here it is. Considering it was our first one it turned out very well!!!

After thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree while Joel and Diana were taking a nap, when Joel woke up he was very surprised and excited looking at the Christmas lights.

Joel loves to play with his cars, that he wanted to get Diana to play with him

but appearently she didn't like the idea yet.

Multitask

2011-12-04T19:00:00.001-08:00

Joel is always finding different ways to play and have fun, even though he has some toys he really likes to try new things.

A few pictures of Joel trying to be cute

...well except for his one trying to look angry...

Quilt Project

2011-12-02T21:47:00.001-08:00

We found out that there were some people at the stake center that were making quilts to donate them for the children in the hospital (this organization is called Project Linus and they are not members of the church but they use the facilities twice a year), so my mom and I decided to go and help somehow, we were impress on how well organized they are and all the equipment the bring in and also they provide all the fabric and material necessary to complete the quilts (they have fundraisers or get donations), and if somebody has a sewing machine is more than welcome to bring in to help speed the process. The work for two or three days from 8-5pm, so it's a complete shift, and you can go and help every day or just one day or a few hours. We just spend around three hours and the only way we could help was making knots in the quilt to make it stronger (I guess). It was fun to be able to help a little bit with this huge project of making lots of quilts.

Mexican tradition

2011-12-02T21:39:00.001-08:00

One of the Mexican traditions is to remember our loves ones on specific dates, November 1st and 2nd, everybody goes to the cemetery and clean/paint the tombs and place some flowers to make it look nicer, and at home it's the tradition to put up an altar with some the favorite food and pictures of our loves one who have passed away, some hot chocolate and a traditional bread of death, which is made only during this time a year. So my mom and I tried to make it, and this is what it came out, closer to what it looks like and taste.

Diana's 3rd and 4th week

2011-12-02T21:01:00.001-08:00

Here she is again, our little sweet angel doing the best thing she can do right now! We are so blessed to have the opportunity to have two wonderful spirits in our home to be part of our family! We love our children!

We noticed Diana sleeps more than Joel did when he was first born. She is quiet and patient when we change her diaper. Her favorite place to be is in Mommy's arms, and sometimes she prefers to spend all night being held.

Trunk or treat!

2011-12-02T20:19:00.001-08:00

We wanted to include in our post list, the trunk or treat (Halloween) even though it happened a month ago. We dressed up our little big boy for our Ward activity as Superman, because that's how we feel about him some times, he's very strong -this activity was combine with other two wards and was a huge one, lots of people, food, candies, games,etc.
Joel didn't know what was going that evening, he doesn't like to be in a place with lots of people and he doesn't care about candies yet, so that's something good I guess (instead of wanting them to eat them, he just want them to play).
We got some candies to give away on monday october 31st, we were not sure if we would get some kids but got some knocking on our door, so we dressed Joel up again.

It looks like Superman had a long day!

Playing outside

2011-12-02T19:57:00.001-08:00

Since the weather has been nicer, Joel has been able to spend time out outside and explore different things, like playing with dirt until getting a ride with daddy on his bike (before it was stolen).

Wondering if Joel will study something related to agriculture......

Or something related to mechanic...........

He id enjoy having to experience getting a ride on daddy's bike! Even though we can't see it that clear on the pictures....

Joel Sunday best!

2011-12-02T19:48:00.001-08:00

We are always in a hurry, and even though we have the good intentions of taking pictures of all together or from Joel, it's hard. Sunday early morning tom goes at his meeting at 7am, and gets back home to pick us around 8.40-8.45am and it's just enough time to get in the car and get to Church on time and by the time we leave Church another ward is coming in and Joel is ready for his nap, so things haven't work out right now, but here there are a couple pictures of this little happy handsome boy.

Sleeping is fun

2011-12-01T12:52:00.001-08:00

We are sorry that we are really behind on posting pictures, and I think it will be very hard to catch up. These are some pictures of Joel before Diana was born so probably you will see a mix pictures of before and today, hope you enjoy this little guy adventures as much as we do, when we caught him doing something fun or enjoying things around in his way, some times it's hard to caught him but here are some pictures we got.

Since Joel likes to try different way to sleep, we enjoy watching him rolling over and placing his feet between the rail bars from the crib.

Our sweet little boy after a great night time rest!!!

I usually wait for the editor to review the post and make the corrections related to spelling right words or how something will sound better, but this time we don't have time, so I apologize for grammar mistakes you might find.

Diana's first week!

2011-11-15T11:18:00.001-08:00

Here we have our little angel, doing the things she does best - sleep and eat! That's a great life =D

She likes to sleep just like Joel did (probably it's a baby thing)

Our taco!! mmm!

Our little Diana (nicknames- Strawberry Shortcake or Princess Dee)

Joel's feeling more comfortable around her. He likes to push the swing when she is there, he tries to touch her and show her his love, whenever she cries he cries with her (mourns with those that mourn) or tries to find something to bring to her so she is more happy, he worries a lot , he will be a great older brother, he's too sweet!

We caught her smiling in one picture, but it was at night, so the color didn't turn out well.

But she is still cute! We are so blessed to have another baby in our family!

Diana's Birthday!!

2011-11-15T10:58:00.001-08:00

It seemed to me that Diana wanted to come a little early, in early October I had some contractions that made me think that she would come earlier than expected, but fortunaly she waited to get the right positioning. On Sunday October 30th, while Tom went to a choir practice at 4pm I had a really bad contraction while playing with Joel, I called him a few times but didn't get an answer so when he got home I asked him to please answer the phone when the big day will come.

This is what happened on Friday November 4th, I took my mom to the Mexican consulate to get some paper work done there early in the morning, we came back and I was having some kind of cramps, that for me felt normal but very uncomfortable, so we had lunch and I started getting ready for my Dr's appointment at 1.30pm, before I left I was joking with Tom and my mom that the Dr will say the following Friday (11-11-11) that I was ready that I would have to go directly to the hospital. I saw the Dr and she was doing the routine check up, while I was telling her that I had some kind of cramps below my belly almost all morning, she checked me and said that I was 7 (from 10) and that I had to go to the hospital right away, I did laugh - I couldn't believe her because with Joel by 7 I was at the hospital and I wasn't very happy at all! She called the hospital to make sure I didn't have to wait and have direct admission. I called Tom to let him know that I needed him to pick me up at the clinic because I was afraid to have the water break before I could make it to the hospital, (fortunately he was still at home and he rode his bike). He got there (parked his bike at the Church building across the street form the Dr's clinic) and we went to the hospital. I had to have some medication for four hours so they delayed the dilatation until 6:30. Had the epidural, which was really nice, and made a huge difference from first delivery to this one. Finally!!! it was time and at 6.40pm the Dr broke the water and by 7pm we started the process on bringing little Diana to this wonderful world to join our little family!

To tell you the truth, I had a better experience during this delivery, everything seemed more easy than before, I had a very good care from the nurses (which I was a little afraid -only one hospital and not very good comments, but for sure Heavenly Father took good care of us) and I couldn't believe little Diana was already with us, it was like a blink of an eye....too fast...we didn't have the chance to think about it.

Counting the time....to meet our little angel!

Welcome to the world Diana Lizette!!

Weight 7 lbs 11 oz.,

Length 20 in.,

Head 34 cms

Time 19.38 pm

Dad singing some children songs after her bath

Saturday morning Joel and grandma Ana Luz came to visit Diana. Joel didn't want to get to close to her

Dr Subbu is Joel and Diana's peditrician

Joel a little bit happier

Spending golden time with baby first hours

First FAMILY picture of us four!

Ready to go home!

We celebrated the new addition to our family!

Our curious Joel

2011-10-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

Since Joel is very active and very persistent in things that he wants to accomplish, this is how he surprised us last month, climbing this box, we wanted to have them as a barrier but they don't work anymore, we re-arranged our living room, but still he finds a way to climb around things. One day he went into the dining room, saw a chair perfectly set up for him that he climbed it and we found him on the table standing up....our heart almost stopped! Now we try to keep all the chairs and even his high chair in a way that he can't climb them. He is trying to do the same thing with boxes around and everything that can look like a step, it's hard for us some times, we have to keep an eye very close to him all the time because if we lose him for a minute, it could mean trouble. I knew that could happen but I was thinking it would be when he was eighteen months, so I wasn't worried about it, but now we are, because he's mastering this skill every day.

In this picture he threw a little green car over the black box (the best excuse) he started climbing obviously I had to get it because we don't want more trouble, but he kept throwing it again, silly boy.

and here I had to catch him because even though he could probably get down safely, we don't want any chance of him getting hurt. (that's why the pic is a little -blurry)

Joel always surprises us in different ways, so we need to be careful of what we left out of place because he can use everything he can, like you will see in this picture, the night before this picture, we went to Sam's club to get some more diapers for him and the new baby (no name yet =( , feel bad) and because when we came back it was time for his 3 B's we just let the boxes sit by the counter, so here is what I caught him doing when I was fixing breakfast for us. I was by the stove when I started seeing a little head coming up the counter, and there he was feeling taller.

Here is something that he likes to do after he wakes up, goes to our bedroom to find daddy to play with him while he is on bed. As I see him trying to climb everything every where even us, I think he will be excited to do rappelling or rock climbing when he is old enough to do it.

Other new adventure, not that we are proud but just saying that we have to keep a close eye on him because we never know what is crossing his mind.

Haven't mentioned, but officially Joel was moved to the other bedroom, and it has been a week now, and he's doing pretty well probably because he has his crib, Bud and Curious George and all his toys close to him, the only thing different is the bedroom but it didn't seem to be bother that much.

Family pumpkin patch

2011-10-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to find different things we can do while in Yuma, it's hard to find things for little ones, especially during winter. I think the city and everything else focus on the 'snow birds' more than kids. Finally I found a 'Family pumpkin patch' where we could take Joel and have a little of variety, I was very excited, even though we have been quite busy lately with our callings, especially Tom that has going to visit his youth and then camping, we made it to the patch last Saturday.
Joel was looking around and as always tried to do different things. He was happy to be able to walk around and see lots of kids and people everywhere. We had a good time, that we are looking forward to go back next year hoping that Joel will be able to enjoy it more.

Pirates!

Joel finding wheels everywhere, his weakness, he loves to push....

We thought he would enjoy been in the inflatable castle, but this wasn't his case. He was around strangers so he got out of there as soon as he could to join us again.

Daddy showed Joel how to play this, and eventually he tried it out

He got to ride a pony but he didn't want to (I think he was getting tired).....

A group dancing, actually they had a pirate show later that night, but we couldn't stay because we had to get Joel back home :)

Little helper

2011-10-17T21:55:00.001-07:00

Since Joel likes to do what we do (copy cat), he saw me mopping the kitchen floor so he decide to take charge and do it himself, so here he is helping mommy and making sure everything looks great! He does the same with the broom. Hopefully he keeps doing it when he is old enough for chores.

Curious George intensive care

2011-10-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

We are so happy to see Joel playing more with Bud, Curious George, balls and cars, among the top ones, but the one that has been hurt is little Curious George who had to go to intensive care and get fixed. We don't know how Joel could have done this.

The head and wrists had to have a little repair.

Here we have our little friend all ready to keep playing and make Joel happy again

Posing for mommy

2011-10-17T21:53:00.001-07:00

the mouse!

2011-10-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

Joel loves to do same things daddy's does, like being in the computer and use the mouse pretending he's working on something. Also he's very good at using the keyboard. We try to keep him away from this area but he's very persistent, he usually unplugs the mouse because that's what daddy does to him so he can entertain himself, now he knows the procedure when he gets close to the PC.

Here we can see how expert Joel looks using the mouse....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZRh1V5L7bs

Hair trim

2011-10-17T21:50:00.000-07:00

We were not worried at all when Joel was little because he didn't have that much hair, but now that it is getting thicker and he gets really hot, he needs hair cuts more often. Last time was at the beginning of July and we have been delaying this time but we had to do it. So Daddy took charge.
He doesn't the idea of getting a hair cut, so to avoid a little bit of trauma we took him to do something that he likes so he would get distracted while that little trim happened. As soon as he was sitting on the sink he was excited because he loves to play with water and likes to be in charge of turning the water on and off as he wishes. That made everything a little bit easier.

Here, a little bit surprised by all the hair falling on him

But he kept playing until we finished and gave him an early quick bath to rinse off all the little hairs

First football game

2011-10-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

College Football season started and we are trying to follow it as much as we can. We don't have the chance to go to any of the games because we don't live that close to where we would like to go. One of the YM from Tom's group plays in a high school team so we all went to the game. This was Joel's first time going out to a football game, especially at night! He was looking around (as he is used to) to find out what is going on and why there were lots of people cheering a group of players.

He was paying attention to the game and everything that was happening around

It was fun to be there, but I prefer to watch them on TV because I can see everything closer and the replays because being in a live game it's hard to follow all of them. Especially with a little one that wants to walk and explore instead of just watching and getting excited with some plays. We didn't last that long because it was time for the three B's (bath, bottle and bed).

Bath time is fun

2011-10-17T21:44:00.000-07:00

Our little angel is very curious about different things around him and he likes to try them out and have the experience himself. During bath time, he likes to play with the bottles of shampoo....but now he decided he wanted to taste what we usually pour on him when we are giving him a bath...so here he is...

Here, is our boy laughing so hard, because daddy was playing with him and a little rubber duck splashing water.....Joel thought it was so funny that he couldn't contain himself. It was contagious - we were laughing with him as well....silly boy, some times simple things are great for him!

This is a great video of Joel laughing hysterically as daddy was playing with him during bath time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwPgBQ3rWLo

San Diego trip -3rd day

2011-10-09T21:56:00.000-07:00

On our third day, daddy and baby were playing on the bed and they had a blast jumping on it, on the pillows and all that stuff that boys like to do.

Finally we made it to the park and we did the rest of the things we had on our to do list, we took a couple of rides, went to some shows (sea lions and pets), we all had a great time!

At the end of the sea lions show, Joel was very tired and hungry, that we couldn't believe what our eyes were seeing, he fell asleep in the stroller! This was the first time in the whole year that he has slept somewhere else besides his crib.

My mom and I went for a walk while daddy kept an eye on the baby, that was probably thirty minutes, we met to see the pet show, the last one we planned.

Daddy's shoulders and neck were really sore after holding Joel for a half hour on his shoulders!

By the end of our time at Sea World, we were ready to go back home and enjoy some other great days before daddy went back to work.

San Diego trip - 2nd day

2011-10-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

We wanted to go back again to Sea World the next day, but Joel didn't have a very good night so he needed a nap and he would be ready to sleep about the time we had to leave. We decided to stay at the hotel and just take a walk around the beautiful bay area and relax a little bit without feeling stress or pressure to do things around, so here we are enjoying the beauty around us.

Joel was pretty excited to be doing something that he really likes...walk! But we got a harness to keep him close to us, he didn't like it that much, but eventually had to accept the reality.

After his long long nap, we got ready and went to the San Diego Temple to take some pictures and enjoy this beautiful and sacred place.

Our little family of almost four!

Joel didn't want to miss any chance to walk around

My mom (Ana Luz)

Happily walking!!

Together Forever!

Joel loves to see the Temple!!!!

It has been really hard to get some pictures were Joel is actually smiling, he's too busy to give us a smile, but here he is!! Yay!!!

After the Temple we went to get an Orange Julius, and we saw the people playing on a big chess board! Fun!

We wanted to do the same thing we did with Joel in Seattle, take a picture with a bronze statue of kids, but this time he rejected our idea, and walked away.

San Diego trip - 1st day

2011-10-09T21:47:00.000-07:00

San Diego here we go!!!!

We hesitated a little bit but finally we found the courage to go for it.

Tom started working a week after he took the boards (which we are truly grateful because it's a great blessing for us), and then the week after that the Dr was out of town for the whole week. We wanted to do something fun before we can't do it again (who knows when) not because we are rich but wanted to have some good memories for the months to come, where we'll be a little more busy, working and with another baby.
We drove on Tuesday early morning, stopped by IKEA, had lunch there and got to our final destination "Sea World". Joel just took a short nap on our way there, so he made it until after 4pm when we thought it was time to go to the hotel so he could take a nap, then look for something to eat.
We had a great time at Sea World! Joel was very surprised and sometimes probably a little bit scared of what was going on at the shows, he was paying close attention and was very serious most of the time, the best part for him was that he had enough room to walk and run around whenever we let him go. He got really tired after all that.

Here Tom and Joel with the dolphin man!

We gave Joel some time to be a little bit free in this area, he had a good time running around and trying new things, except for one...

He didn't really like the tea cups....he wasn't very happy at all at the end! But he made it! Daddy was so proud of him!

Church books

2011-10-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

For some reason Joel loves books, and when it comes to our scriptures or our hymn book, he wants them. He likes especially to hold daddy's scripture case and walk with them around, they are heavy to carry but he's very persistent, the other day after Church services the Bishop saw him and I told him that he loves scriptures, he said, "that's what we want them to learn, to love them!"

Walking # 2 (videos)

2011-10-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

This video is when our little boy started walking #1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjDdkzIlMzI

Here is another video when he started walking, and instead of staying on the fresh grass he wanted to go to the sidewalk, now he has more balance and he loves to walk on the rocks or dirt as well....even though we tried to keep him on grass....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDREL0K-nZ4

Our little angel walking at the park, having a good time. But always wants to go on the wrong direction, to the street....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgtl1c6hvRU

Walking

2011-10-04T22:03:00.000-07:00

Finally I get to post some pictures of Joel walking, which are from a few weeks ago. He really likes the idea of being free and able to go everywhere, and because of it, he gets very frustrated with us when we are trying to direct or tell him where he supposed to go just to be safe. He likes to do things the hard way, a little bit stubborn.
Here are some pictures of him enjoying his time outside. It has been difficult to let him go outside walking because we had to wait until it was close to 7 pm in August and September, and even then it was hot for all of us. Now that the weather its getting better it's getting dark earlier, I guess we can't have everything we want in life all at once, light and nice weather.....

Very relaxed

2011-10-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

Just love to see Joel sleeping, he seems relaxed and comfortable, and like a sweet little angel, so I had to take a few pictures of him...

He likes to put his feet up and between the rails of the crib even though sometimes he gets stuck in them, he enjoys his crib a lot and it will be hard to make the transition to his little bed. Don't know when or how we will do it, but hopefully we get enough inspiration to do it in the right way, we don't have that much time left so hopefully we can work something out so our two little ones are happy!!

This is a video of Joel talking before falling asleep, he usually likes to play with Curious George , Bud or with his pillows before he fall asleep, but this time he was a talker!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHOStQpY64M

Here is our little one in a very comfortable position watching TV with us!

Board exam

2011-09-25T20:52:00.000-07:00

Finally the big day after Graduation, was the next Friday Sept 2th, when Tom had to take the board exam in San Diego. He drove on Thursday afternoon and stayed with a family that I met during my missionary time in Escondido, CA (Carlsbad mission), who live really close to the testing center. After the test he drove back, and we wanted to WELCOME him when he got home, (we couldn't do anything in Phoenix so this was a great excuse to keep celebrating).
We are very happy and proud of Thomas for all his dedication and hard work during this time, we wanted to recognize him for all that and more, although we were requiring lots of attention and time.

Cheers!!!

Graduation

2011-09-25T20:49:00.000-07:00

On August 25th, we drove around 7am to get to the Banquet in Phoenix at the Arrowhead Country Club, which is a very nice place (I wished I could take more pictures but it was really hot that I forgot to take some pictures of the facilities outside and busy with Joel running around inside).

We were a little late trying to find the right entrance, so by the time we were there they celebration started, but we were there just in time for lunch and for the rest of the program, where Tom got to have a recognition (and couldn't take a picture of that moment because Joel fell down and started crying so I had to leave the room).

It was a long program, so after Joel calmed down the lady at the reception asked me about how old he was and about when he started walking, then she told me the club has a play room (which is a day care for all the members) where I could take him, by that time I wasn't sure if I should take him or not because the program was about to finish, but I told Tom and he said he could find us there, so we went to our new adventure. It was a very nice day care that the country club has next to the gym, they even have cribs for babies to take their naps (I wished I knew that before because Joel didn't take a nap and it was close to 3pm without sleeping since 6am) anyway! He was very excited to be in a different place, especially with lots of toys to play with and more baby friendly, he definitely had a good time for the 20 minutes that we were there till daddy picked us up.

Next day August 26th, we were thinking if we should go to the Graduation Ceremony, but after talking about Joel's naps and rest, we decided to let daddy go by himself, especially because he had to be there two hours before the ceremony and that meant nap time for Joel (who didn't have enough rest the day before) and a long day for him again. We just said bye bye to daddy before he left, we had mixed feelings because we wanted to be with him but the schedule and weather (lots of heat - over 110 degrees) didn't help us.

After daddy's Graduation Ceremony we went to celebrate at Peter Piper Pizza; little Joel had some time in the carousel and other baby games. After that we drove around a little bit because we didn't want to get out of the car. We wanted to visit couple friends but we changed our minds, summer time during the day is not a good time to socialize!

We drove by the site where the Phoenix Temple is being built after lots of disagreement with neighbors and changes to the layout (and it is just 10 mins away from the first place we used to live back there), through all this we just remember what the Standard of Truth says: "...no unhallowed hand can't stop the work from progressing.." and one more time we see it fulfilled!! We can't wait to come back for the open house, probably in 2 years or so. It's going to be a beautiful structure.

Birthday boys

2011-09-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

Before the big day we just took a quick trip to Party City, I like that they had lots of things for different themes. We found the aisle with all you could wish to buy to celebrate your baby's first year, I wanted to get everything to throw a big party, we were only window shopping and wanted to take a few pictures with some hats for the first year birthday boy, he wasn't as excited as I was, but here is our little model.

Obviously he didn't want to stay sitting in the cart, as usual he wanted to push it, but if you have ever tried to hold him so he can push the cart you know it's really hard to do that, because he's not a feather! We chose to put him inside the cart basket so he could a get a ride, which he liked. I know it's not very safe but it helped to make him happy and distracted for a little bit.

On his Birthday, we took Joel to the library, he was very happy to be able to go out and be free with more room around to explore, he likes to play with LEGO's which right now means throw them away, not interested in building anything yet, also to be walking every where he can...

Even though it was Tuesday, we made a little celebration for the two Birthday boys which are the LOVE of my life, wish we could have something super fun but it wasn't possible this time, we had lots of things going on during the last two weeks of the month.

Can't believe how fast a year has gone, and now I can see how much more we have grown.

Joel is our little angel, we are so blessed to have him in our home, he makes every day even better, he helps us to be better and try our best, he is always making our day the happiest of all, because we can see through him the LOVE and trust that our Heavenly Father has in us, and because sometimes we are more tired than him, we are trying to figure out where all that energy comes from if he doesn't like to sleep as we thought babies would do, because we love to sleep, we'll see when he is a teenager and has to go to seminary how that goes.

Joel weights around 30 lbs., height is around 33 inches -which is in the 99 percentile of his age-, size of shoes is 6, as of today. But they fit pretty tight.
He started going a few steps by himself before he turned one, and started walking like a pro two days later.
He likes when we sing: "The wheels on the bus", "Head, shoulders, knees and toes", If you are happy", "Patty cake".
Some times it takes him a little while to feel comfortable with some one, (I think it is this stage) because before he was celebrating everybody around, when you know him you realize that he likes to make funny faces, likes to laugh a lot besides that he's very ticklish like his dad.
Since he was a baby he loved books, so now he enjoys to sit down and go through his books by himself if we are not around to do some story time.
He likes technology (computers, mouses, cellphones -that work-, remote controls, play the key board among the top ones, and I want to mention that he's very good at finding buttons that we never figure out before or that they exist ahhaha!) probably all babies now are born with a special chip; he also likes to play with everything that belongs to dad, like his belt, shoes, name tag, pen, little notebook, and of course with him.
He also likes to play with simple things like a box of cereal, empty gallons of milk, bottle of water, bottle of shampoo -during bath time-, blankets and pillows. (When we were preparing our 72 hr kit, we were thinking about taking some toys but we realized that he will be happy playing with a few things around, so a couple books are the only ones we will take).
He's our little explorer, likes to find new things in every room where he is.
He likes to make faces like shaking his head, rolling his eyes up, and flexing his neck muscles.
We love him so much, he has a great spirit in a little body, he's smart, sweet and huggable!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY our little one!!

JOEL FIRST YEAR!!!!!

Our little family -Together Forever-

Celebrating Daddy's Birthday!!!!!

What can we say about our dear and loving head of our sweet home, he is a very dedicated man, husband and dad. He is a very hard worker, caring for family, friends and people around, always willing to serve and share, good example, honest, faithful, humble, smart and loving.

Joel and his first piece of cake!!!

To tell you the truth, he wasn't very impressed and attracted to it, instead of eating it, he was just smashing and playing with it, we had to put a little piece in his mouth to see his reaction, but he didn't care that much, even though we love it!

We had a good time, we made a homemade pizza because we know that one of the Birthday boys will love it, and the other one will learn very soon.

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR........

Busy bee

2011-09-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

Some of the things we have been doing is just going to the library to spend some time there even though there is no story time right now, he likes to explore every corner, he feels happy being able to go out once in a while. Sometimes it seems he can't get out enough.

This is how Joel used to watch his video, being very comfortable and relaxed (and it was great because I had some time to get a few things done). Things have changed now, he just stays watching it for a little bit and keeps playing with something different, or just goes to another room to see what he is able to reach, and then come back to watch a little bit more.

Here it was one of those not as hot afternoons (or at least it didn't feel that hot, even though the whole summer has been over 100) when we were able to go to the park.

Joel loves to swing

One time he was looking at the sky while swinging, calmly enjoying the beauty of the skies

Back to the pool

2011-09-19T21:49:00.000-07:00

We went back to the pool a couple more times. That was one of the few resources we had to survive in Yuma, especially at the end of July and August. Little Joel seems to enjoy it more and more every time, and we love to see him having a great time.

On our way to the pool!!

This is the video (not very good resolution -taken with the cell) it shows how Joel loves to be in the pool and how excited he is kicking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGH33yxzaGs

Leapfrog

2011-09-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

After we got home from our wonderful trip to Seattle, we got a Leapfrog DVD that grandma sent him (Letters that makes sounds), I was so surprised by the attention he was giving it, he loves to hear the sounds of the letters and sometimes he's trying to say them in his baby talk, it looks like pretty soon he will be singing the alphabet!

New look

2011-09-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

One morning when Joel woke up he had this new look. Even when I try to mess up his hair a little bit it never seems to work, but without much effort he did it! It looks like he really enjoyed his night sleep.

Trip to Seattle, part III

2011-09-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

As soon as we were on the deck Joel wanted to go down to the back yard because it wasn't enough for him to be just looking from the top without enjoying the grass and all that environment, he enjoyed so much being outside, playing around and being in contact with mother nature.
Here Joel was trying to get through the gates really bad, so Grandpa, aunt Miriam and I went to the playground at the elementary school close by to get him out.

After sliding a couple times he wanted to go up the slide, grandpa helped him

That afternoon he enjoyed being on the backyard, he loved the swing

Joel ate lots of raspberries while in Seattle

Playing with everything he found

This was one of Joel favorite activities, going up and down the stairs, and as soon as he was up he turned around to go down again a million times

Exploring what was under that black cover

We went to a Court of Honor and the gym was nicely decorated, it was a huge american flag where we had to take a picture to see how small we looked in front of it.

Joel liked this rocking chair! It was the perfect size for him, especially because he could push it like that truck that a nice friend of grandma let us borrow.

I was a little concerned about how Joel would react he saw uncle Steve. I really wanted him to have a good time with his uncle. To my great surprise as soon as he saw him, he was smiling, happy and playing with him as if he has been around him for a long time! Joel was not nervous or afraid. We really enjoyed spending time with uncle Steve and his girlfriend, yay!!! And they had a good time meeting Joel as well.

Our last beautiful day in Seattle, saying goodbye.....! or See you later to our dear Grandpa, Grandma and aunt Miriam. Thank you for that wonderful time, we were so happy to see you and hope we can do it again!! hehhehee!!!

Trip to Seattle, part II

2011-09-04T21:16:00.000-07:00

We went to the Temple grounds to take a few pictures. Joel got the chance to wear an outfit that for some of you will look familiar and that daddy got the opportunity to wear when he was a little boy (I was surprised that the tag said 3T when Joel was 11mo. old)

It was hard to get him to pose or smile because he was too busy looking around at some other people taking pictures or just very distracted by the fountains. I don't know how pro photographers do it with little ones, it's a hard task to get nice cute smiling pictures!!!

We thought it was a good idea to take a picture with this statue, but it wasn't for Joel, who was so confused and wondering who that brown guy was......

We went to a farewell. Joel was scared when we just got there and saw lots of people gather at the same time, but after a little while he was fine and happy, trying to explore everything and everywhere using his new skill of walking holding somebody's hand.

This is the walker that grandma got so Joel could be safe when going specially to the chicken, because he wants to walk really bad and wants to be everywhere all the time, this is the reason : I was cooking a vegetable soup for him and he saw the steam coming out of the pot over the stove, and he was playing with some magnets but he was so curious about the steam, that when I was either washing my hands or just checking the soup, he stood up on the bottom bar from the stove and held himself onto the oven bar trying to reach where the steam was coming out, we almost had a heart-attack, so I held him so he could stop his curiosity a little bit, later when I was serving his soup he did it again, for one day it was enough, he didn't last that long in the stroller because he prefered to pushed it around that to be in it.

This is how I caught him several times when he was playing on the stairs, trying to open the door, he really wanted to take advantage of his time up in Seattle and spend much of his time outside.

Joel is very curious about everything, and when he was playing and heard a noise of an airplane or dogs barking he was always trying to find out where the sounds were coming from, he loved to see the birds, airplanes, people, and cars through the window

Joel loved to play with the rocking chair, and more after he found out that he could push it

Trip to Seattle, part I

2011-08-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

Finally we had the opportunity to go up to Seattle and visit grandma, grandpa and aunt Miriam, plus enjoy the nice weather they have there (yes! we run away from the heat over 110 degrees every day in Yuma).

Joel had a great time exploring the backyard. He was very excited to be able to do it at anytime, he can't do it at home, just before 7am or after 7pm and it's a short visit because is hot.

Joel loved to go up and down the stairs (a million times if possible during the day)

Loved to spent time with grandma

Joel loves sea food

2011-08-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

Joel enjoys his bath time, and every day he's looking forward for that time! One of his favorite toys is a fish that he likes to squish and dip it into the water. Besides that he enjoys playing with the water.

The green family

2011-08-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

I'm not taking about a family with the last name Green, or carbon footprints...I'm talking about us! In June there was a Mexico soccer game and it was the last game to be the champions, so we all were cheering them, and put on our green shirts just for fun, it was a very exciting game, and we had a good time as a family.

Official first haircut

2011-08-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

We were complaining that Joel didn't have that much hair, but suddenly it started to grow until this was how he was looking that we even were trying to make his hair like Justin Bieber or Joseph Smith style.

This is before as you can see

We found a place where they charge $5.00, and we thought it was a pretty good deal since it will be faster to get both of these boys a haircut instead of me spending a lot of time doing it. We called early to find out their hours and for our surprise it was open at 7am, it sounded good to us (especially because it wasn't as hot at that hour, just around the middle 80's), so we went.

Joel was always looking around and trying to figure out what was going on, even though we were telling him we will get him a haircut probably it didn't mean anything to him :)

He was kind of scared (poor little thing) and he didn't like all the noise and being held so the barber could perform the haircut, he likes to be free so it was a hard time for our little one.

This is his new look after the haircut, doesn't he look cute? He was so serious and a little bit upset for putting him through all that. I can even say that he couldn't sleep very well during his nap time or even at night because I might say that he was having nightmares about his first experience with the barber.

A little bit more happy posing with his sunglasses

Balls

2011-08-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

Something else he likes to do is play with balls - grab and throw them or chase or try to eat them.

Baby story time

2011-08-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

After a few months, baby story time at the library was back, I was so excited and ready to take Joel, and set apart the day on the calendar, But we totally forgot because of some changes in daddy's schedule, the following week we resolved not to miss it again, but all of us got sick after we came back from San Diego, then the next week we were ready but an ex-neighbor (from the apartment complex we used to live) asked me to babysit her baby boy (who is a month younger than Joel), so we missed it again. That was last week in June and we were not able to make it any day. I was really frustrated because it is one of the few things we could do here and it suppose to be only for seven weeks and we already missed the entire month.

Before anything else happened the following week (before we went to Seattle) we finally made it!! I was so happy and excited that Joel could see some other babies and interact with them because he only sees us. He is usually very careful when he in a new place and starts to look at everybody and everything until he feels comfortable (I guess). It took him a little while but finally he participated with the others and crawled from my side and enjoyed playing with new and different toys.

Visiting the kitchen again

2011-08-28T22:05:00.000-07:00

Besides making sure the dishwasher, oven, drawers and cabinet doors work, Joel likes to take a few visits to the kitchen to make sure mommy has everything she needs in the cabinets. If something is missing then it's time to include it in our next grocery list.
Exploring time! It's hard to try to keep him away from things/places he's not suppose to be. Every time we think it's baby proof we discover there is something new to protect, so we just let him go around for a little bit being curious about new things and exploring.

Rolling over the bed

2011-08-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

One of the things that Joel likes to play is rolling over the bed, some mornings he is so full of energy that he wants to keep going over and over for a little while but we get tired first, we try to have fun with him trying new and simple things, we know it could be dangerous if we let him stay by himself, but also we are teaching him how to get down on his tummy.

These pictures and video are from June

Here it's a short video of Joel rolling over....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PX_NUoNERE

It's a baby .....

2011-08-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

Finally we found out what are we having, probably some of you might know by now....but we want to make it official.....

I know it took us a little while to say it, we are excited for having a baby girl!

We are following Angie and Sander's pattern apparently =)

The ultrasound technician took more than half an hour with me, the baby was a little bit shy and didn't want to move to let us know the gender, first she was bending her knees, second time we tried after moving a little bit she was playing with the umbilical cord, and finally we could barely find out when she was kicking my bladder (nothing fun to me, because it was full) the technician said, it's a GIRL! so we are trusting her because we will have to start getting everything in pink or similar colors, besides some headbands and cute things for girls!

I was looking for something cute to make for her (even though I didn't make anything cute for Joel - but I will make it up for him too).

I found this and I wanted to try it...........

Even though I 'm not very crafty or creative as I wish, this is what it came up for our little princess! Hope she fits in the onesy at least for a picture

Thanks to our Heavenly Father, this pregnancy with our little angel has been so far so good. I feel really blessed, I can say that I know I'm pregnant because my belly is growing but besides that, the first trimester was pretty good (part of it didn't know I was pregnant) and this second trimester has been really good (except for two days that I ate something I shouldn't that caused me some heartburn, but that was it).

I haven't shared our story about how we found out we were pregnant, we were looking for a place to move from our apartment complex and while packing things and getting things ready for the big day, I suddenly wanted to eat peanuts really bad (Mexican style -with some chilli) and I did it a couple times and I was craving them, but I don't usually do that, I'm not a big fan of peanuts and if I eat a peanut butter sandwich it has to have strawberry jam on it as well. So a thought came to my mind that there was something going on....I told Tom that we should get a pregnancy test just for curiosity, and for our surprise it came out positive!!! We scheduled an appointment with the Women's Health Clinic here in Yuma, and the soonest they could get us one was almost a month and a half later, so we sat and waited for that day, because we didn't even know how far we were or anything....that's one of the reasons it has taken us a long time to share this with you all. As today they say we are 25 weeks (I thought we were 20 when I had the ultrasound -that's when they usually schedule it here).
I really miss Dr Erickson and his staff and clinic back in Glendale! If I complained before about something I take it back, they are the best, even the hospital, we had a good deal being self-pay in both clinic and hospital, we had at least four ultrasounds and a 3D one, with great discounts with the lab. Here I just have one, and the deals are not very good as we thought and I'm a little concerned about the people in the hospital, they are not as nice as in Glendale, if you ask something to the ladies at the front desk they even look at you like why are you bothering me, if that's the case for those ladies that are supposed to be nice because they have to direct/help people I wonder about the nurses (I haven't heard good comments about them or the rest of the staff there) I'm not even thinking about getting the epidural...
But something I know, we have been very blessed and Heavenly Father will be watching over us and the people that will be taking care of us during the big day!
I just will be more positive so more good things will happen to us from now on, even though it hasn't been fun for our budget.
Hopefully next baby or babies are born in a different place than Yuma =D

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

Officially we are able to celebrate this day! yay!! Joel and I wanted to make something special for daddy, and because this was his day we wanted to give him a surprise but also make what he wanted.
To start our first Father's Day Joel and I sang "The Dearest Names" (It wasn't the best voice because of the cold we got but with lots of meaning and love).
We were ready to make a delicious breakfast for daddy but he said that he will eat what he always does: cereal and orange juice.
At Church there was a beautiful song the choir sang which is called: "The Most Important Work a Father Does" by Jorgensen and Allen. We have been trying to get the lyrics from the internet to share but without success, we will order it and we'll let you know.

We have a present for Dad, Joel gave him a card with a snickers bar, actually he helped me to make that little card, and he signed it (in the only way he can right now), and I helped write some words.

Present from Joel and me

I know Joel has big feet (but they are cute and chubby) Dr. says he will be a big guy.

Then our next opportunity at home, was lunch and as requested we made: pizza and brownies with ice cream! yummy!

Mmmm! two different homemade pizzas!!

Homemade brownies

Wish to our dear grandpa, dad, and uncles the best Happy Father's day ever, you are so special and dear to us, we are grateful for your example, leadership, hard work, service, love and faith, in everything you do!

San Diego trip

2011-06-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

After postponing our little trip to SD, we finally made the excuse to 'celebrate my Birthday', so Monday morning we started our adventure. Joel wasn't as excited as we were because he didn't like the idea of spending three hours in his car seat not able to be free and take his nap laying down on his crib (which he loves because he feels comfortable and free to move). Anyway, he had a hard time taking a nap so it was a long day for him. The weather was really nice all day long, they had 70 degrees while back in Yuma the weather was over 100. Now we know why people like to live there even though it's expensive.

First thing we did was finding an IKEA store (which is really close to the freeway), and did some shopping, then before we went to the beach we stopped by La Jolla. We wanted to spend some time on the Temple grounds and take some pictures, until we got there, we realized it was Monday and the temple was closed. But at least we enjoyed the beauty of that place (probably next time). Then we headed to the beach in Oceanside (just north of San Diego) meanwhile Joel was taking a nap when we were driving up there, and because he was asleep, we decided to get something to eat, but when I came inside the car with the food, I hit my head going inside and (surprise!) Joel woke up. Dang! I was upset to myself not because I hurt myself but because I knew how tired he was and I woke him up, so we ate as fast as we could and went to the beach. There were lots of people there, we were excited to take Joel for the first time into the ocean. The water was cold, so he didn't like it at all and he was scared after that. We just took some pictures and sat on the sand so he could be happier and could play with the sand for a little bit, which he loves. We tried to rinse off the sand all over him but the water was soo cold that we just took him to the car and rinsed him there with some water I brought from home. He was cold, poor little thing.

Before we went to Tom's Mission President's house to spend the night there, we went to visit a family that I met in Escondido during my mission field experience (which I never thought I would see them again!) We spent some time with them talking, bringing out those good memories, but it was almost bed time, so we ran to the former mission president's place. We gave Joel a bath and tried to put him down on the pack and play, it was hard for him but he finally made it. We spent some time talking with the president's wife until we realized it was really late, and by then Joel started crying and ended up on our bed.

On Tuesday we planned to go to the Zoo (Wild Animal Park) in Escondido, which is cheaper than the one in San Diego, and it's part of it anyway! But finally a friend from Tampico, Mx got in touch with me and we wanted to see her and her husband, so we changed plans again and didn't go to the zoo, because we had to be coming home around three so tom could be on time for mutual. We drove down to SD and spent some time with them. They really wanted to meet little Joel and we had lunch with them before we headed back to Yuma.

We had a great time, and Joel did great on our way back. He fell asleep more easily, he was a good boy all the time even though he was really tired, because he's not used to be out for long periods of time.

Just to mention we brought two things from our trip :
1) Great memories
2) A baby who started getting sick with a cold on Tuesday and now two parents who started two days later!

Playing with the mirror

San Diego Temple -beautiful!!!!!!!!!!

Excited???????

Trying the cold water, which he didn't like it at all.

Joel got really scared of the ocean

He was more happy playing and eating sand

with Claudia and Angel Lopez

Joel loves to pose for a picture when he is not too distracted looking around

Singing HBD to me

Wanted to show Joel how to blow out a candle but he rather wanted to touch it, what a brave baby - he will soon learn that we don't do that.

Happy family!!!

With little Joel and my friend Claudia

Before our friends let us get back, they wanted to give a present to Joel, they got him an outfit and talking to them that we wanted to get some sunglasses and see if that will help Joel to sleep on our way back (because it's really bright so I thought that could be one reason) so they got him some sunglasses and he's modeling them

Our last picture of LOVE!

This is what happened to the sunglasses

First babysitter

2011-06-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

Finally we decided to get some time for a date, so we asked one of the YW from Church to babysit Joel while we went out to do something fun. Since Joel is so used to us, we want him to get exposed to somebody else, and see how that goes...it went ok, we put him down and fled but he just took a short nap, by the time we came back he was awake crying =( well, hopefully next time he will do better. On the other hand, we had a good time, we went bowling (we just have a few options in Yuma - bowling, movies, park or eat) and we played two games and tied 1-1....

Blood drive

2011-06-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning there was a blood drive at church. Since Tom hasn't been able to donate blood for a while, he decided that was the day, because it was in the morning. I wanted to take Joel for a little ride before his nap, but it took a long time, they were supposed to start at 8am and they started by 9.30am. So Tom got out around 10.30am, so Joel had took a late nap, which was good because he was super tired. So here is our hero =D We love you, thank you for your service!

This was my first time going to a blood drive, and I was impressed by all the equipment they had there ready

Mission accomplished!!!

Thomas was hoping to get out of all his chores because he gave blood, but it turns out I burned my finger making a choco-flan. So I had to make him do all the house work for a few days. Ouch!

Pool time

2011-06-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

Finally we got the chance to take Joel to the pool, the water was a little bit chilly so we took him little by little so he could get use to it, but when he was in there he was happy and having a great time that he didn't want to get out of there. We want to take him again. Joel loves water, he might become a very good swimmer one day!

2nd Anniversary

2011-06-05T20:07:00.000-07:00

Two years have passed, and it seemed like yesterday when we were getting things ready for our BIG DAY, invitations, guess list, dress, receptions, etc,etc...but the most important being the day set apart for our sealing! What a special moment that we will always treasure in our hearts! The beginning of everything in our lives. We have enjoyed our time together as much as we can and feel really HAPPY! Now we have the opportunity to celebrate with our little one. He makes us realized that the time has passed and he keeps growing and being cute to hug, kiss and cuddle all the time, he has definitely brought more happiness to our home and we are grateful for this little blessing.

For our anniversary we wanted to do something fun, we planned a quick trip to LA or SD, but because the weather wasn't that nice, we postponed (didn't want to take the chance to bring Joel sick for some reason like last time we went to LA) so we decided that on Tom's vacation week, the plan was to take two days to do our trip and maybe the weather would be nicer.

So very thoughtful that day, Tom asked me what do I wanted for our anniversary (I was surprised he asked me) so I answered : 'flowers and chocolates' .

He went to the store to get some groceries, while I was putting the baby down, he really surprised me with my flowers and chocolate in a cake, so we celebrate with cake and milk that night!

Next day we took Joel to the park and spent some time there while weather was really nice, we all enjoyed it!

Joel really likes the swing

Well....the vacation week it's almost over and we couldn't go to SD as we planned, Tom was called to be the YM President in our ward last week, and there lots of things going on with mutual, interviews because the youth had a Temple trip on Saturday so Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we were busy, and Friday we had a Dr appointment so we forgot about our plan and decided to celebrate going out for lunch to our favorite restaurant, where it happened to have a great deal -good price and lots of food for us (Soup, Salad, Entre, Rolls, Dessert), that we even brought a to go box home and had lunch the next day.

Joel always always trying to be a good boy (some times if he is tired doesn't last that much, but usually he's happy)

Here it's our little family celebrating!!!!

Pears

2011-06-05T20:02:00.001-07:00

Besides eating corn, bananas, berries and lots of other fruit and vegetables, Joel likes pears, and this is what little Joel can do to one, he just love them! Hopefully we can keep him eating healthy as much as we can.

Time to balance

2011-06-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

Joel has been crawling everywhere and holding onto every piece of furniture to stand. We didn't have a closed area where he can do that without us being after him, so he didn't get hurt, and even though we tried to cover the sharp corner from our coffee table it wasn't enough because there is a tempting fire place, the chair where the keyboard is, and the cables -which he loves to get into as well. So we re-arranged the living room and finally decided to get rid off the coffee and end tables. We like them a lot but they are not toddler-friendly. Maybe it doesn't look as nice but at least is a little bit safer than before, so now he can play and walk around holding onto the couch and some new ottomans that Tom got to have some extra soft areas to hold on.

Now Joel is working on balancing himself and he loves it, he thinks he's playing a game or something but he gets really excited every time he does it, and he's doing it more often, so hopefully he will start walking soon. He will be so happy - every time he accomplishes something he is a happier baby.

He started with five seconds probably, and now he is around fifteen, increasing...yay!

Besides the window everything else is more soft to hold onto.

Here he was trying...

Joel did it!!!

(Sorry about the quality but our camera doesn't get good shots inside compared to the outside)

Finally, here are the tables, and it's time to say good bye, hopefully we can sell them, if not they will to end up at Goodwill or Salvation Army, too bad we don't have D.I. around here. In one of the pictures you can see the green stuff we put around the coffee table but it didn't last that much!

Corn on the cob

2011-05-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

Joel loves corn on the cob, just like his mom. This might be because in Mexico corn on the cob is like candy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skIol4mnmzM

Our little model

2011-05-20T21:22:00.000-07:00

Even though we have had great weather these past days, yesterday was really windy and here in Yuma we got the fortune of lots of dirt flying around, so I didn't want to go outside to get a dirt bath. So in the afternoon while Joel was playing, I took some pictures with the football jersey because it seems he won't fit in it next time. Too bad because I like it, and I was hoping he could wear it when football season starts. So here it is, our little top model!

besides eating books he likes to read them

some push-ups

Doctor appointment

2011-05-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning we had a Dr. appointment for Joel - his nine month visit! He did pretty well even though it was getting closer to his nap-time, which is sacred for him now that he sleeps more and more than when he was a newborn. Crazy huh! at least for us. I got some silent books that we could read and some other toys so he could get distracted while we had to wait.
We are happy to see him growing healthy and strong, he is a solid baby, as some people that held him have stated. His weight is 26 lbs 3.5 oz and his height 30.5 inches.

Viejito face

2011-05-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

Joel is a funny baby, that likes to smile and laugh as much as he can but also to make funny faces like this one that we called viejito face (old person face)

Here is the link where Joel is making the face from the picture above

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqGnt0FkZGY

Here is the link where Joel is laughing with daddy's robot voice while eating

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga7d9Qd7CSE

Kitchen trips

2011-05-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

Since Joel sees me cooking or doing a few things in the kitchen, he wanted to make sure mommy is doing everything she's suppose to, and make sure his food is ready on time, so he started coming to visit the kitchen to put a little bit of pressure, and just double check everything is in place. Well, it looks like the time has come where we have to baby proof more and more places in our house because we didn't think Joel will get this soon on his walker . So here it's some proof when we caught Joel red-handed

A day with Joel

2011-05-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

There are some mornings after Joel wakes up that he likes to know what's in the other side of the crib rail on our drawer, here he wants to grab the toilet paper, I can say that he is very persistant in things that he wants to get but fortunately we had a barrier here.

Some other days he prefers to stand and jump or do funny things as he stands. His baby talk hopefully soon will be a little more clear with a few words.

Golden time with daddy, Joel loves to spend time when daddy is around and free

A friend of us let us borrow this little train for Joel, he liked it especially when he grabbed the blue elephant on the top to make the train noise and of course pulling it to himself, he enjoyed it till it last we gave it back because our friends moved out of town.

Mother's day

2011-05-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

Some friends that we met at our old apartment "invited" us to go out for dinner on Friday before Mother's day, we went to Famous Dave's (first time for us). We had a great time and Joel enjoyed his time being outside and around more people, besides that he had new things to play with, so we kept an eye on him, he definitely was happy.

Here with Pam, Jessup and their little boy Curtis

Mother's day was special and I got very spoiled by my wonderful husband who made breakfast for me

We had a great dinner and lilies that Tom gave me a couple days ago

For dessert I was craving cheesecake so I made one to complement that delicious dinner we had.

Thank you for all your LOVE, spoiling me, time and help with Joel, so I could have my FIRST unforgettable mother's day!!!! LOVE you

A new ride

2011-05-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

Our little sunshine is getting interested in everything so we have to keep an eye very close on him because any minute he can changes plans.

Here he is trying to help? Well he was getting a ride in the laundry basket as his little car

He simply enjoys everything, and simple things makes him HAPPY!

Carne asada ward activity

2011-05-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

We work hard trying to put some things together so we kind of know where things were, but we didn't have anything to eat, that same Saturday there was a ward activity and even though we didn't live within the boundaries, we decide to show up and have some food and say good bye to some good people we met during our five months attending that ward. We had a great time, there was lots of food and we were enjoying the weather and the gathering.