There goes life as we know it!

They say that the only constant in life is change. Well, life as I knew it has changed again. No longer can I sit S on the middle of my bed with a few toys while I shower. No longer can I set her in the upstairs loft area and turn my back to do laundry, work on the computer, etc. No longer can we leave little pieces of toys around. It means vacuuming and sweeping more frequently, and more vigilance in general... yes that's right S is crawling!! While I am proud of her accomplishment, I have to confess I am not really excited about her being mobile, and I have not really encouraged her in that area because of it. Of course, she is a Sanchez-Kennedy, so it was bound to happen anyway. Yet at the same time, it's impossible to not be happy when you see her growing up. So here is a video of her beginning to crawl. Next stop... well I guess there is no stopping from now on!

Finally a lost tooth!

I'm not sure why, but A has only barely started getting loose teeth, and he is already 7! When we went to the dentist a few months ago, I told him my concern, that he hadn't even started to lose his baby teeth yet, but he reassured me that it was fine, in fact he said it was actually better if kids can hold on to their baby teeth longer. Well, about two months ago we finally we noticed that two of his bottom teeth were getting loose. However, he didn't play with them (what a weird kid - right?), and he actually forgot they were loose, until about a week ago, when I noticed his first adult tooth coming in BEHIND his baby teeth. I knew that this could cause real problems, so I called the dentist and he said that it would be okay as long as the baby tooth comes out before the adult tooth is more than half way out. He explained that the tongue & bite will naturally force the tooth forward, if there is an opening. He suggested we give A a week or so to loosen the tooth and pull it out himself, because it is an important part of the whole childhood experience. But, if he didn't get the tooth out himself, he could come in and the Dr would pull it... for only $100. Are you kidding me? $100?! So I told A, you have until Thursday night to get the tooth out yourself, and if you won't pull it out yourself, I'm going to do it myself with a pair of pliers (and I'll do it for free!) Well he worked on it, but refused to pull it out himself, even though it was barely hanging on, so Thursday night came the moment of truth. Earlier, Jorge had said that when he was little, he wouldn't pull out his teeth either, so his dad would tie a piece of string around the tooth, tie the string to the door and then close the door. This actually made A excited to try it, so I put aside my pliers and Jorge tied some string around the tooth.

It was so loose, that he decided to just pull the string and skip the whole door thing. It was so cute because A didn't even know it was out, we just lightly tugged and pop!

My baby lost his first tooth, and the tooth fairy finally came to visit our house. He was so excited to see what the tooth fairy had left him that he was up at 6:30 this morning, which was not so exciting for mom.

Birthday boy.. & girl!

Spring also means birthday time at our house. Within our immediate family three of our five birthdays are within a two week spread between April and May. This year in an effort to scale back, we opted to not do birthday parties with a bunch of friends. So instead we went to Chuck E Cheese's as a family... twice! While their pizza is not my favorite thing in the world, I still love Chuck E Cheese's. I remember going there when I was a child, and how magical it all seemed. The excitement I would feel when I won tickets and then cashed them in for little treasures. I remember how real the big stuffed characters looked and sounded, when they rocked out on their little stage. What better place to spend an evening birthday. It is also nice, because the kids are old enough now that they don't need constant supervision, just give them a few tokens and let them go. Our visits were a big success, and hopefully we have now had our fill of Chuck E. for quite a while.

A turned 7 this year, here is his birthday cake & a picture of him enjoying it. He really wanted Star Wars, so I picked up this set of action figures and used spray paint to try and recreate his favorite scene, the ending battle in episode #2.

V, who turned 5 two weeks after A, wanted a butterfly, so here is the cake I made for her, along with a picture of her and Chuck E. Cheese. I was not as pleased with this cake as I have been of others in the past, but of course V thought it was the "Most beautiful butterfly in the whole world" and of course that is all that matters!

Even S got to enjoy a few rides on the carousel with her sister!

Spring has sprung... maybe?

After weeks of stuttering along, taking two steps forward and three back, I think Spring has finally arrived... just in time for summer! Honestly, you'd think we had just skipped it all together. So here are a couple of pictures of the house in spring. This is my favorite time of the year for my house, because it actually has flowers!

On the first Sunday of April, while we were watching conference, we heard chirping and scrapping right against our front door. After a while, we noticed that a pair of birds were building a nest right on the top of my wreath that was hanging on the door. We were so excited, but soon realized that birds against our door was probably not the safest thing for the birds, especially with the amount of traffic that goes through it. So Jorge decided to move the wreath onto the porch light next to the door, so that it would be safer for the birds to continue with the nest building. I didn't really like the idea of a wreath hanging on my porch light, but I figured the birds would not return, so I humored him. Well, they did return, they built their nest and the mom layed 4 or 5 eggs, which have since hatched. So we have a little family of birds living on our porch.

It has been so much fun watching the progress, and teaching our children. In the past we have had issues with neighborhood kids knocking down nests, so this has been a great opportunity to really teach ours about the sanctity of life, that all animals are God's creations and that we should protect them and not disturbe them, even if we are just curious. It has been interesting how protective they have become, and it has been wonderful to the joy on their faces when the mama bird comes to the nest to feed her babies. I worry everyday that something will happen to our little neighbors, that one will fall out of the nest, or that they will be disturbed, but then I realize, just like everything else, it is in the Lord's hands, that he is mindful of all of us, even the littlest baby birds. I am grateful for the blessing of spring and for the gift it has given us to help protect and nurture these little creatures, right along with our own.

Bicycle rides

Yay! We are so excited that warmer weather has finally arrived! To celebrate, Jorge took a break from his studies to go on a bike ride with me, V and S. Obviously this was the first time for S to be on the bike. She loved riding shot gun in the seat behind her mommy.

She lasted through most of the ride with a smile on her face, but toward the end of our trip, the motion, the warmth and the breeze all took their toll. Our little angel was completely tuckered out!

When we realized that she had fallen asleep, we transferred her to the wagon that Jorge pulls with V, hoping that she would continue her nap more comfortably. But of course, she never went back to sleep!

Our "Star of the Week"

A was the "Star of the Week" in his class last week, so we had the opportunity to create a poster all about him. It was really fun to choose the pictures and create this spotlight of our great little boy. We were really proud of the results and think A liked it too.

Happy Easter

I am so grateful that after so much rain and snow, Easter Sunday was nice and sunny. The egg hunt was successful and warm. My mom bought the girls new dresses and A a new white shirt and tie. Needless to say, I think they looked adorable.

I love this time of the year when the grass starts to green up and the flowers start to bloom. When we are reminded of new life, new beginnings and especially of the gift of our Savior, His sacrifice and His resurrection.