Up Up Up!

This is her new favorite thing to do. Escape to the stairs and climb up up up! It makes me so nervous. I get so scared that she will fall and hurt herself. So far so good though. Pretty soon she will learn how to go back down backwards and I hopefully won't have to worry too much.
One time when Zach was learning to crawl up the stairs, he started to fall and I ran to catch him before he hit the kitchen floor. Gabe said, "I've never seen you move so fast before!" :)

11 Months

It's hard to believe that 11 months have gone by. Sophie's birthday was on Tuesday (No, I didn't forget. Just got behind on the blogging). I can't believe that we will be celebrating her first big birthday next month! She is a growing girl and amazes me each and every day. This is what she is up to these days:

• LOVES to eat! Notice that is the first thing that I listed. :) She will have just finished eating, see us eating, and still want more! And will eat almost anything!


• Is a crawling machine- not quite ready to walk yet. She will accidently let go, realize what is going on, and either squat real quick or grab something.


• Has 4 teeth- two on bottom and two on top. But the two on top are the canines- or as we like to call them...her vampire teeth. It's hilarious when she smiles real big.


• Likes to crawl up the stairs.


• Will drink out of a cup sometimes (prefers Zach's cups over her own).

• Sleeps pretty good at night. Usually wakes up once, but quickly goes back to sleep; and takes two naps a day.


• Likes to play with Zach (or destroy whatever he is playing with).


• Just learned to clap (I will have to get a video of this later- it's too cute).


• Likes to play "Where's Sophie?"

• Likes to take things out of boxes, etc. and put them back in.


• Waves "bye-bye."


• Says "Dada."

• Shakes her head no to everything.


• And smiles for the camera!

Happy Birthday Sophie!

Daddy Time

Daddy had the magic touch here. She was alseep in no time!

Playing on Daddy's new laptop.

The Great Escape

Our walkway from the living room into the entry is too wide for a baby gate. So I placed two dining chairs across the walkway to try to keep baby #2 in the living room and off of the stairs. Some days, she is very good and won't even go near the chairs. But other days, it's like the chairs are calling her name. She will not stay away! This time, she figured out that she could squeeze her little body through and tried to escape the living room. Then she realized she was kind of stuck! "Uh-huh... see. That's why mommy says to stay away from the chairs!"

Happy New Year

2009...WOW! Remember when the world was freaking out because the new millenium was approaching? There was the Y2K bug, you had to get money out of the ATM, have food, water, gas. Crazy! Now here it is 9 YEARS later!
Gabe and I stayed in last night. The kids were in bed by 9, so we had some bonding time on the couch (exciting, I know). I don't know who all knows this story, but Gabe really wanted a laptop...badly. He has been wanting one for about 2-3 months. I was planning on getting him one for Christmas, so I needed him to hold out a little longer. Then the time came to buy it for Christmas, and I wasn't sure if I should get it. Well, I did (and now I am the best wife ever). We have been on the internet together now (on the couch), listening to music, playing games, etc. So Gabe turns to me the other night and says, "See...the laptop is already bringing us closer." Funny man! So that is what we did last night... we played this damn game until almost 2am! We couldn't walk away... it was crazy. Finally, Sophie woke up with a little fever and I HAD to walk away. Poor thing, I guess she was uncomfortable and couldn't go back to sleep- until of course I put her in bed with me.
And that's what our New Year's consisted of. We did have a lot of fireworks going on in the neighborhood. That was cool to watch.

HAPPY 2009! HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT NEW YEAR! :)

Caught Up

YEA!! I'm finally all caught up. Pop some popcorn, get comfortable and enjoy! Sorry it took me so long to get the blog updated. I know some of you were feeling deprived and getting the shakes from the withdrawals. :)

Two More

Here are two more pics from the party. This is Grandma Gonzalez with the grand-girls, Taylor, Skylar and Sophie. Notice that Zach is missing. He doesn't like pictures when he's tired. And notice that Sophie really isn't happy either.

80th Birthday

On Saturday, the family threw Grandma Gonzalez a surprise 80th birthday party. She was definitley surprised.

The Grandkids (not quite all of them)













Sophie with her daddy



















Grandma & Grandpa Gonzalez

Christmas #3

We made the trip to Corpus on Friday to have our final Christmas with our family there. More toys! More clothes! I think the kids are set. We didn't even have enough room to bring all of the presents home with us. And we enjoyed some menudo for dinner - well, I enjoyed some ham. Everyone else enjoyed the menudo. :)

Trying Out Our New Cameras

I see you! I took a picture of Zach taking a picture of me. Or did he take a picture of me taking a picture of him? :)

Christmas

Christmas morning was exciting. I think we all got what we had asked for. Santa was on top of things this year! :) Zach woke up about 7, but didn't even remember what day it was. So I kept him in the bed with me and Gabe until everyone else woke up. We had left Santa a cupcake the night before, so that was one of the first things that Zach noticed. He said, "Santa ate the cupcake! He came!!" It was too cute. I got his reaction on the video camera.
After opening presents, it was time to get dressed and start cooking lunch. Mom was in charge of the turkey and gravy. I made everything else! I was so proud of myself! :) It turned out really good.
I think Zach's favorite toys are: camera, flashlight, puzzles, and Black & Decker work bench.
We had a laid back afternoon. After everyone left and the kids had naps, we played with our new "toys" and watched a movie. It was a great day.
Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE GONZALEZ FAMILY!

Christmas Eve/ Grandma's Birthday

Christmas Eve was a busy day. I ran a couple of errands in the morning and then had to rush home for lunch and the kids' naps. Then it was time to get ready for church. Church started at 4pm, but it is always packed on Christmas Eve. So we decided to leave before 3pm to make sure we got a seat. Church was packed! And that's because this is a new, bigger church! We did get a seat- luckily. This is a children's mass, so it was directed more to the kids and there was a children's choir. It was very nice. After dealing with the traffic after church, it was 6pm before we got home. How crazy! Considering we had the kids with us, we all did pretty good.
Now it was time to celebrate Grandma's (my mom) birthday. She opened presents- and got some good stuff. We were going to go to Outback for dinner, but there was an hour and a half wait. So we decided to go to a local steakhouse in Cypress, called Bertani's. The co-owner went to school with my dad's sister. So of course my dad had to scout him out when we got there. The food was really good. I recommend going there. Happy Birthday Mom!
Don't think I'm a bad mother and didn't get a picture of my son...he was in one of his moods and didn't want his picture taken. :)

Christmas #1

We started our Christmas celebration on Sunday, December 21 at my sister, Sandra's house. We started early because my other sister, Becky and her family were leaving for Maine the following day. We feasted on turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing and rolls (someone forgot the corn :)). And of course, we opened presents. Sophie didn't really know what was going on, but Zach was all into opening gifts this year. I think he understands a little bit better this time around. Let's just say that Sophie had enough help opening her gifts. :)
I didn't take a whole lot of pictures... I wasn't feeling too well. I had a 103 fever earlier in the day. Luckily, the kids were not affected.

Zach's Christmas Program

Zach's school hosted a Christmas program on Thursday, the 18th (I know, I'm way behind). Each class got up on the stage to sing a song or two. It was soo cute to see my baby boy (but really big boy) up there with all of the other kids. Unfortunately, we didn't get any snapshots but we did videotape the program. Zach didn't look like he enjoyed being on the stage in front of everyone. He actually looked like he could have been anywhere else! :) He sat on the front row and just kept looking at the girls around him that were singing. It was hilarious. What is funny, is that he likes to sing at home with me, but not when he is supposed to sing. We enjoyed some cookies afterwards and headed home.
I got to open my Christmas presents that he made for me at school. I got a necklace, a magnet for my fridge, and a sweet picture. It really is about the little things in life. :)

Coming Soon...

I promise that I will update soon. It has been a busy week of shopping, wrapping, cooking, baking, etc. We are heading to Corpus this afternoon to have our 3rd Christmas... so pictures and updates will have to wait till Sunday upon our return.
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Another Funny

I was really irritated at Zach because he was not listening. I said, "Gosh... open your ears!"
Zach replies, "They already are open!"
LOL... he can turn my mood from bad to good in a matter of seconds, or good to bad, but we won't focus on that right now. :)

My Funny Little Man

I am amazed every day with how my baby boy's mind works. He says some of the funniest things ever and his imagination is growing and growing. Here are some funny things that happened yesterday while we relaxed at home...

I'm at the computer, not happy with how slow the internet was going. I say, "Hellooo..." Zach says, "Hello McFly!" LOL! This is a quote from "Back to the Future" that Gabe and I say. Too funny!

Then a little later, I am still on the computer and he is busy playing on his "car" (the same toy from previous post) in the foyer. I get up to leave the office and he scoots over real quick and says, "No mom, I will open the door for you, it's locked." And he "parks" the car by switching the lever, grabs his keys, "unlocks" the door and then opens it for me. Then he "drives" it over to the laundry room and says that he parked his car in the garage. I cracked up.
This is the same toy that he was playing with one day when I asked him what he was doing. He replies, "I'm driving my golf cart" (like papa and grandma). :)

A Helping Hand

Sophie likes to help out whenever she can. And Zach doesn't mind giving sister a little bit of exercise. :)

It's Safe

It's okay, it's safe to come and visit us... we are all better. It started with Sophie on Monday. I awoke to a mess in her bed! She had gotten sick! But she seemed okay until it started on the other end. Poor baby. Then on Tuesday, after school, Zach informs me that his tummy hurts. After about 15 minutes of complaining, I notice that he is white as a ghost. Great, now he's getting sick! About five hours and a few loads of laundry later, he seems to be better- asleep for the night. Then comes 5am. I'm not doing too good...the virus "bug" bites me! But God must have been on my side. I'm glad it happened as early as it did, because I don't know how I would have taken care of the kids while hanging over the toilet. I still took all day Wednesday to recuperate- didn't have much of an appetite, just wanted to sleep. Haha. That didn't happen.
But I am definitely glad to report that we are all better. For some unknown reason, Gabe is invincible when it comes to getting sick. He NEVER catches what we have. Crazy immune system of steel! :)