Corban's First Christmas

Christmas has always been extremely special to me. It was the time of year growing up where we would wait anxiously by the door for the arrival of both sets of grandparents. I remember being so excited knowing they were coming that I could hardly contain myself. They would knock at the door and I would giggle with excitement. It was the time of year where all the family was able to get together-still is. Now that we are older-and my family is more spread out, it's the one time that we all see each other, my brothers and I revert back to our childhoods and act silly. It's still hard for me not to have my mom's parents here, but, I know that they are smiling down on our living room from heaven as we laugh and reminisce.
Either James or Dennis put the star on the top of the tree and we take a "gazillion" pics-it's inevitable that Dennis will be making a face and nobody will notice until the pictures are developed. My dad always makes us hot chocolate and having my little brothers always adds to the fun, they are always so happy and thrilled with every box they open. We also enjoy the Christmas service together every year. It was a whole new experience having Corban this year. Jamie and I have our own special traditions that we look forward to and cherish, but they were even better with our son to enjoy. We open gifts with the family on Christmas Eve. On Christmas day, we wake up, and like five year olds, we get giddy and run to the tree so that we can enjoy (and spoil) one another.
We realized that this year, we have the honor of beginning our own traditions with our own family. We have a responsibility to our child(ren) to create the stories they share in the future! So we read to Corban, the story of Christ's birth in the Bible. Our goal and hope for him is that he always knows the special meaning of Christmas and the spirit surrounding this time of year. Yes, the gifts are fun -but the most important thing is knowing that Christmas is the day we celebrate Christ, the saviour. Then , he got to see what Santa brought him! It was a red Radio Flyer Wagon! He stood up and smiled and pounded on the box. Dada spent a good portion of the morning putting that together, along with his buggy from his "Mammy and Grandpa", and a storage shelving unit for me :o) As I sat on the red couch watching Dada, I realized that with having children, this putting together of gifts every Christmas morning will in itself become a tradition. I love our sweet little family. My cup overflows.

Thanksgiving!

Whew! Where has time gone...it's a days after Christmas and I'm just now getting started on Corban's Thanksgiving post. Next up, Christmas and First Birthday! I think I'm going to try something new with this post and add a slideshow of the pictures we took. Maybe. Or, maybe I'll do that for Christmas.
We had a lot to be thankful for this year and shared the special day with the Jamie's family in Austin. We got to listen to some great piano playing by Michael and Maren, and got to have a dance competition on the wii. It was loads of fun. The food was also delicious and the company was wonderful. Corban even took his first steps! The drive up and back was long, but with lots of breaks and stretching it was alright.
We sure have a lot to be thankful for!

Eleven !

Aaaah-one more month and he will be a year old!

Brunch with the Billstones

From Corban 10m Billstone visit and Lily

Last weekend we were fortunate enough to have a lovely brunch with Corban's grandparents, and great grandparents! It was nice to see everyone again. The last time we saw Mimi and Poppy was 3 months ago in Austin and I know Corban has changed a lot! Here are some pictures from the weekend.

From Corban 10m Billstone visit and Lily

Thanks for the cute jacket Mimi-

From Corban 10m Billstone visit and Lily

Loving on Great Grandma

From Corban 10m Billstone visit and Lily

Kisses!

From Corban 10m Billstone visit and Lily

Halloween!

Well, this is our pumpkin's first Halloween! We prepared over the weekend since it is on a Monday this year. We carved pumpkins yesterday, dressed up, and took pictures. We roasted seeds, and discussed the plan for Halloween night. It was supposed to look a little like this: Get home from work, get Corban dressed and paint a little nose and whiskers on his precious face to go with his Lovable Lion costume. Then, we were going to hop in the car and go back up to the daycare to surprise Marisol. She would then "eww" and "awe" over our lion boy. Next, off to Patty and Paul's for some huggy time with Aunt Patty. Then, off to Papa's to surprise him and the boys. They were all going to smile and fuss over Corban. I was going to have to pry him away from them to make it to our last surprise stop. Mammy and Grandpa's jaws were going to drop when they opened the door to the cutest little trick or treater ever. Oh yes, we had big plans for our first Halloween.








What ended up happening was: Corban woke up around midnight with a very high fever. We felt helpless as we attempted to comfort him. Thankfully , the wet cloths and Motrin worked and lil C got some rest. We woke up and headed directly to Dr. Guggedahl's office, where we found out our baby has double ear infections. The day turned into long naps and cuddles with me home from work and Mammy came over to lend her arms for a bit.
Not what we imagined, but that's okay! We got pics yesterday and can share them via the web. We made lasting memories to share with our son, we didn't have to rush around anywhere, and Corban is on the mend. That's all that counts. Oh, and if I hadn't been home with him today, I would have missed him standing up without the help of a toy or piece of furniture to hold onto!



He has now been asleep for an hour, and I'm about to follow right behind. Hoping Daddy comes home from school soon. So far, no trick or treaters-but we have our jack-o-lanterns glowing and our candy by the door.

Ten,Ten a Little Piece of Heaven

Diez meses hoy!!! Our little boy is getting big! Looking at pics now, I do double takes. He is looking more like a boy than a baby. His hair is starting to curl up on the sides and back. He is understanding more of what we say. He talks to us all day long. We talk back to him as he jabbers sentences , then pauses for reaction. It's amazing the progress. He loves to let go of things and stand on his own. I think he will be walking before we know it. Almost a week after his 9 month mark, he stood when I put him on the ground at Mammy's house for about 3 seconds and my mom and I were both so excited. On October the 13th, our 4 year anniversary, I said "bye-bye" as I was leaving his nursery and he turned around and waved bye! On the 31st (Halloween) he actually got to standing without having something to help himself up with. Eeeekkkk it's bittersweet. These exciting moments are reminders that time is not standing still. We cherish these days. Happy 10th month sweet boy.

Here is a pic from today at daycare. He is with Marisol, Augustin, and Max. Max is 13 months in the pic.


Daddy and Mama went to a wedding and got spiffed up!

Auntie Sara and Uncle Tim were there too!




Handsome Daddy!



Ready for my closeup!

Fourth Anniversary Celebration Weekend

We had a great time celebrating our 4th anniversary over the weekend. We were fortunate enough, thanks to Mammy and Grandpa, to go to "Casa de Rosie" again. It's become a great tradition for our anniversaries-this year it was made even more special since we had Corban with us. Rosie was super excited to meet him. Even made an exception to her "no children" rule. We have become pretty close over the last few years after sharing many meals and conversations. It's such a great get a way. We stayed in the casita this time around and it was perfectly cozy. We got pretty spoiled by the king size bed
This photo of Casa de Rosie - A Mesilla B and B is courtesy of TripAdvisor.
This photo of Casa de Rosie - A Mesilla B and B is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Corban enjoyed exploring the place and loved the water in the fountain.





We made it to the Farmers Market in Cruces which is one of my favorite things to do. We also took a stroll around the plaza-walked along the irrigation canals, ate some delicious food, and did lots of relaxing.






By the end of the day, Corban and Daddy were tired!



So Peaceful (thankfully-because he had a rough go with teething earlier in the day)



Sunday, we got up and Rosie made us a delicious breakfast. She made fresh strawberry jam, homemade bread, and a Dutch pancake. She is so sweet , she gave me her sourdough recipe, along with a starter. Then it was naptime-clean up time-then pumpkin patch time! We had fun taking Corban to the pumpkin patch and maze. We took lots of pics and got a cute little pumpkin from the patch.
Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. So grateful for my marriage and my boys.




Love Corban's face on this one-





Thank you Lord for our son.



Our Love


(Hector and Letty, so glad you all got to come down to El Paso! Thanks for feeding our pups for us!)