MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We had such a good time last night and this morning with my parents and my brother. We had dinner with them - Colombian tamales, green bean casserole, arepas and blueberry grape sparkling juice. We then opened presents and Bella had such a great time opening everyone's presents. All in all, she got over 40 presents!!! :O Dont panic.. most of them were $1-$2 little presents but she did get a Crayola easel and 2 cute playhouses plus lots of accessories.

Anyways, I'll have to post some pictures later..

Paci-free!

Wednesday night was Bella's 1st time sleeping pacifier-free! She did so good! Billy told her she was a big girl now and didn't need a paci. She then threw the pacifier in the trash can. At night, she got her blanket and her milk. When she asked for the paci we reminded her that she was a big girl and that she had thrown the paci away because "big girls don't need pacis." And that was it! She went to sleep and slept through the night. She has been a little sick (runny nose and cough). But I really thought she was going to cry all night for the pacifier!! I'm sooo glad she didnt!

Last night when she asked for the pacifier we just reminded her again and she said "Oooh ok." And just repeated what we had told her "I'm a big girl and I don't need a paci." LOL She's so smart!! :) We'll see how she does tomorrow at my parents house. Billy and I are going to a church member's home to watch the Saints game and Bella's sleeping at Nana and Papi's house :)

Gingerbread House!

I cant believe how fast December has gone by.. It's already the 16th and in just a week Christmas will be here!!!

I guess starting to work at Michaels has made my weeks and days go by a lot faster. My feet and legs and shoulders and everything else in my body hurts... but I like the people I work with and it gives me something to do.

I've also been Christmas shopping and Bella might set a new record with all the gifts she has under the tree :) But a lot of them are "small" gifts and some I separated into smaller gifts so she had a LOT of wrapping paper to tear through Christmas morning :) She'll have a blast!!

We also made our 1st gingerbread house yesterday. It turned out ok and I assured you, it looks a LOT better in the picture than it does in person! LOL But Bella had so much fun decorating it and eating the candy decorations, it was awesome!! :)

GO SAINTS!!

I hope you are not tired of pictures because I took the cutest pictures of Bella today in her new Saints Cheerleader outfit :)



This is our Christmas tree

The garland on top of the fireplace with the stockings (I'm still looking for 1 more stocking holder)

Bella's Little People nativity set and her mini Christmas tree


A wreath I did last year

Pictures :)

Billy and Bella at the New Orleans Zoo :)

A shot of beautiful downtown Houston yesterday while I was driving to the airport to pick up Billy

Our car this morning before going to church.. all frozen up :(

My little chiqui being silly :)

Bella and Tio David.. she loves her tio :)

Snow Day!

I've been missing for a while.. we went away for Thanksgiving week to Billy's mom's house and this week I started working at Michaels while Billy was out of town. We had a good week at mom's house and Bella *loved* spending time with Grandma, Grandpa De, Grandpa Bill, Aunt Kathy Jo (aka KK), uncle DeDe, uncle Dan and cousin Danielle. And of course she loved feeding the baby cows and seeing all the animals.

We had a great family dinner with lots of yummy food on Thanksgiving day! And on Friday, we went to the New Orleans Zoo (even though I was dying to go shopping) but had so much fun seeing all the animals.

My dad, brother, Bella and I drove back Saturday night and Billy stayed in Louisiana to fly with his family to Maryland for KJ's surgery last Monday. Praise the Lord the surgery went well and she's recovering nicely. A big scar and lots of pain meds, but they are hoping to fly back home early next week. Billy flew back today in the middle of a "snow storm," according to Texans... ;) I guess having lived in Michigan thought me that unless it's a blizzard (and even then) live goes on...

We survived the snow and by that I mean, I survived driving around the idiots that don't know how to drive in this weather. Although I gotta say, we'd call this a *dusting* in Michigan.. we had just a very thin layer of the white stuff.. The bad news, Bella's school/daycare closed and so I had to call grandpa to the rescue because I had to work from 12-3 AND pick up Billy from the airport. Anyways, everything went well and besides my soar legs and shoulders, I'm happy!

Up early

Bella got sick Friday night - high fever, coughing, runny nose... ARRRRGGGGGGG... I hate when she's sick! Yesterday we stayed home from church and I don't think we are leaving today for Billy's mom's house.. maybe tomorrow.. can't deal with a sick baby at someone else's house..

Anyways, she's up and so I'm up.. sorta.. lol.. *yawn*

And while I'm up what better thing than to post a picture or 2 of my little girl :)

We went for a walk with my parents and Bella rode her 4-wheeler. She pushed the "go" button all the way there and half way back. It was by far the longest she'd "driven" her little car.

Here's Bella at her Music class at the YMCA. She loves playing with all the instruments and helping the teacher put stuff away. She's *so* organized!! I wonder why... :)

She *loves* going to the park! Nothing much else to say :)
And last, but not least, Bella riding her first bike. It's really a tricicle but she absolutely loves it nonetheless! It was raining, so she went up and down the hall a hundred times!! Even after she fell and we put ice on her head (for 5 seconds) she said she wanted to go out and ride the bike again! LOL Funny girl!

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News, updates and announcements

Gosh! it's been 10 days since I last posted. I was sick for 2 weeks so that's partly why I've been out of sight.. Billy got sick too and Bella has been on the fence.

We are getting ready to go over to Billy's mom's house for Thanksgiving week and Bella is so excited to see the cows and grandma, of course! :) We are going to spend the whole week there and I cant wait to eat some yummy turkey and everything else! Please keep KJ (Billy's sister) in your prayers. She'll be having brain surgery on Nov. 30th to remove a tumor. Billy will be going up to Maryland with her for the surgery, so pray for me that I'll be ok by myself with Bella :)

Also, I got a job!! :) I'll be working part time at Michaels. It's seasonal and I'm hoping I can get the "real" job I applied for at the City of Houston's Emergency Management office.

And last but not least, is anybody interested in buying one (or more) Holy Bears? Bella's school is doing a fundraisers and they are only $10/each and SUPER CUTE!! You can see all the cute bears at www.holybears.net and email me with your order or post a comment here. Thanks!

Feeling sick

I hate being sick. And I hate when Billy and Bella get sick. It's just miserable and not fun at all.. I've been up since 3:30 coughing and feeling yiaky.. well, I've been coughing and feeling yiaky for a week now. That's partly why I decided to go to the ER at 5 am! My throat felt like it was burning when I woke up and I didnt know if perhaps it was strep or something worst.. BUT, apparently all I have is allergies and got 3 prescriptions for some antibiotics, steroids and allergy meds. I hope to start feeling better soon. I'm so sick and tired of coughing and feeling like crap :( Plus I've been drinking TONS of water and I go to the bathroom every 10 minutes..

I'm just glad Bella stayed with my parents last night so Billy and I could rest - even if I woke up at 3 in the morning!

Like Father, Like Daughter...

They love being silly. They love making funny faces. They love each other to pieces!! They just stood there in front of the mirror in Bella's bathroom and started imitating each other. It's just too cute and funny to see them play and enjoy each other.

Halloween Pictures

Bella was a Panda Bear in the morning and a Butterfly at night :) The Panda outfit is actually her church clothes but I figured since it was Halloween I'd dress her up in the Panda line from Gymboree. And then at night, our church had a fall festival program for the kids. And she actually wore the same costume she wore for her birthday in June.

ABC Animal Book

Since I got pregnant with Bella I've been working on lists of ABC albums for her. Animals, Food, Things/Toys, Family, etc, etc..

Well, since I won to host the Shutterfly House Party next weekend and I got a free 7x9 album, I figured I'd do an ABC album for Bella (finally!) :)

Click here to view this photo book larger

Day trip to Kemah

We had a great day today. It was Billy's off weekend so we drove to Kemah and spent the day there. Bella had a blast at the boardwalk and all the kiddie rides. We got her an all-day pass and she used every penny of it! :) Carousel, airplanes, train ride, and a mini merry-go-round. She loved it all!! We had great food at Landry's too. We sat outside overlooking the bay and seeing all the boats coming in and out of the pier. The weather was just perfect! Sunny with a cool breeze and in the 70s. What a beautiful day to spend as a family!

Here are some pictures:

First Major Injury

Bella had a brutal accident today. While we were watching a show at the Renaissance Festival this morning, we were sitting on some cement benches and she was walking/jumping/playing on them. Well, somehow she fell and cracked her head. It was about 1/2 centimeter wide but just the blood freaked me out! Can't believe I actually did a year of medicine :O I think it was just seeing my OWN child's blood.. anyways, she's ok now. Bled quite a bit and cried a lot. She also said her head hurt :( Poor baby.. We cleaned the cut, gave her some Tylenol for the pain and put some neosporin in the wound. After a good nap, she went back to her old self - singing, dancing, hoping and being wild crazy!

Family in town

My uncle (and godfather) Enrique flew to Houston with his wife last night to visit my parents and us. We havent seen them since Billy and I went to Colombia on December 2005. This morning while I was at a doctor's appointment they came by the apartment to see Bella. She sang for them and counted to 10 in Spanish AND English. Smarty pants girl! :) They were quite impressed! I've been trying to teach Bella more Spanish, at least talk to her a few things each day in Spanish. I know it's important for her to learn while she's still young. It's just hard.. Especially since Billy doesn't speak much of it either.

But my mom has been singing to her "Jesuscito de mi vida" (Jesus of my life) every time she can and Bella *loves* singing it and doing the hand motions :) Here are the lyrics. Just imagine a 2 year-old trying to say this and do hand gestures. It's too cute!! I'll have to film it soon and post it.

Jesuscito de mi vida
Fuiste nino como yo
Y por eso te quiero tanto
Que te doy mi corazon
Tomalo, tomalo
Tuyo es, mio no
Tomalo, tomalo
Tuyo es, mio no

Layouts shower...

Well, since it's been raining on and off for days here in Houston, it seems appropriate to title this post "Layouts shower" :) Most of them are just day to day pictures. Bella playing, drawing, or being goofy..

Scrapping at Archiver's

I took today's afternoon as a "me" day and went scrapping at Archiver's. One of the things I love about living in Houston is all the scrapping stores there are - Hobby Lobby, Archiver's, Lone Star Scrapbooking, Michaels, Jo-Ann, among others that I haven't even been to!

So, here are some more layouts :)

These are some pictures of when my Pea friend Sharon came to visit Bella and I with her son and niece.
Pictures of my little girlBella and Mocha - our 2 little princesses :)A little photo shoot of Bella one Sabbath afternoon in the backyard of one of our church members. Her hair was just starting to grow and you could see little wings (not quite curls). Plus her big plumpy cheeks... Just too cute! :)
Enjoy! I'll post 5 more tomorrow :)

More layouts to share

Here are some more layouts I've done lately even though the pictures are from a YEAR ago!... yiaks.. but at least I'm scrapping them, right? Enjoy! :)