Yes, I know that baby brother is coming soon, but with Memorial day and a teacher conference day, I had a four day weekend. Unfortunately, Daddy only had a two-day weekend, but that meant that Mommy and I got to play.
Friday, Mommy and I went to the children's museum. Did you know they have an airplane there that you can sit in? I was Captain Pablo for a while with Mommy as my copilot. They also have a tractor that you can sit in and load rocks from the scooper into the dump truck. It was so much fun!! Friday afternoon, Mommy brought out my surprise water toy and we had some fun in the sun. Daddy took a couple of pics and some video. Not too many though.
Saturday, I went to music class and fed the ducks. After my nap, I went to Lita's house to spend the night. Mommy kept talking about going on a date with Daddy (whatever that means), but I had a lot of fun at Lita's.
Sunday, I met Mommy and Daddy at church. After church some run of the mill playing happened before nap time. After nap, I helped daddy build a shelf and I played in the box. It was a tight squeeze, but I made it.
Monday, Daddy had to work, but he took his lunch break to go with me and Mommy to see where they are going to keep Baby Brother. Baby Brother is coming on Wednesday. I like goint to the hopsital because they have elevators and I can push the buttons. I liked watching the babies even though some of them were crying.
The day ended with Lito, Lita, Tio Abuelo Mon, Tia Abuela Syl, and Tio Monci coming over for burgers. Tia Abuela surprised me with a new blanket that has a lot of guitars and says "Rock"!! I love it!
Oh yeah, I opened my camera that Tia Michelle gave me so I have started taking my own photos. I am no longer dependent on my parents to take them. I will post some of my first works in this group. See if you can guess which ones are mine.
I hope to see you all soon,
Pablo Elias Acosta
Picture and video: click here
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Ready for baby brother!!
So the baby brother talk has been escalating the past few weeks. Apparently he is coming home soon. It is a little confusing since he is already home (in Mommy's belly), but I guess that means Mommy has to go away first and then they will both come home with baby brother outside of Mommy's belly. All I know is that I was pretty excited to be a big brother, but now they are telling me I have to stay at Lita's house for a night or two and I am not so sure I like this whole baby brother thing anymore. My room did get an upgrade so I have that going for me.
Since my last post, I had a huge Fiesta party at school. I met the King (see the pics) and played guitar and danced. For Easter, we went to Indiana to visit Jill, Emeka, Sonny, and Esphyr. For an added bonus, I got to hang out with Eshpyr's Grampa Paul and Grama Rosie. It turns out that almost everyone I know named Paul can really play the guiter (Mr. Paul at school and Grampa Paul in Indiana). Since my name is the spanish version of Paul, I guess I am destined to play guitar too. Maybe one of those big mariachi guitars....
Mom and Dad have been working hard on "getting ready for baby brother". I am not sure what the big deal is, but I can't wait to play with him. Mom and Dad keep asking me what I should name him. At first I said Rico (after a boy in my class), but I don't like that name anymore. Gretchen's (another classmate) baby brother's name is August. That sounded good for a while. Now I have setlled on simply Baby Brother. It's short and to the point. However, after my guitar-playing revelation, I may opt for Paul so that we can play guitar together.
I hope you enjoy this post. If this whole baby brother business is as good as they make it sound, it may be a while before I post again. If not, this blog may become a gripe-fest.
Hasta Luego,
Pablo Elias Acosta
Pictures: click here
Since my last post, I had a huge Fiesta party at school. I met the King (see the pics) and played guitar and danced. For Easter, we went to Indiana to visit Jill, Emeka, Sonny, and Esphyr. For an added bonus, I got to hang out with Eshpyr's Grampa Paul and Grama Rosie. It turns out that almost everyone I know named Paul can really play the guiter (Mr. Paul at school and Grampa Paul in Indiana). Since my name is the spanish version of Paul, I guess I am destined to play guitar too. Maybe one of those big mariachi guitars....
Mom and Dad have been working hard on "getting ready for baby brother". I am not sure what the big deal is, but I can't wait to play with him. Mom and Dad keep asking me what I should name him. At first I said Rico (after a boy in my class), but I don't like that name anymore. Gretchen's (another classmate) baby brother's name is August. That sounded good for a while. Now I have setlled on simply Baby Brother. It's short and to the point. However, after my guitar-playing revelation, I may opt for Paul so that we can play guitar together.
I hope you enjoy this post. If this whole baby brother business is as good as they make it sound, it may be a while before I post again. If not, this blog may become a gripe-fest.
Hasta Luego,
Pablo Elias Acosta
Pictures: click here
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Big Boy Bed
My Dad has been doing a much better job of keeping track of his iPhone so I haven't been able to post for a while. However, there is something called tax day that has my Daddy pretty busy and I managed to sneak his iPhone while I am taking a "nap" today.
The recent big change in my life has been the switch from a crib to a big boy bed. I know that Baby Brother is going to need my crib so Mommy and Daddy bought me a big boy bed to sleep in. I am pretty good at sleeping through the night in it, but I have had some trouble with nap time. It's all getting better now. The best part about my new bed is that it has a top bunk for when my cousins come to visit!!
I only have a few minutes so I posted a few quick picks from the month of birthdays in March. I also got to see my cousins from Boston when they came to Texas for a wedding. We went to the zoo and had a good time!! I can't wait to visit them this summer in Boston.
I have had lots of fun during Fiesta and I will post those pictures soon!!
Here are the pictures and a video or two.
:)
PEA
The recent big change in my life has been the switch from a crib to a big boy bed. I know that Baby Brother is going to need my crib so Mommy and Daddy bought me a big boy bed to sleep in. I am pretty good at sleeping through the night in it, but I have had some trouble with nap time. It's all getting better now. The best part about my new bed is that it has a top bunk for when my cousins come to visit!!
I only have a few minutes so I posted a few quick picks from the month of birthdays in March. I also got to see my cousins from Boston when they came to Texas for a wedding. We went to the zoo and had a good time!! I can't wait to visit them this summer in Boston.
I have had lots of fun during Fiesta and I will post those pictures soon!!
Here are the pictures and a video or two.
:)
PEA
Sunday, February 27, 2011
To the rodeo... And Beyond!!
I still haven't been able to get my Dad to make another post for me, but I had a little time for a quick update (Mom and Dad think I am sleeping, but I snagged Dad's iPhone on the way to bed).
Last weekend, I went to the San Antonio rodeo!! My friend Julian went with me (his Mom and Dad are friends from Rice). We had a good time playing on the tractors, petting the animals, eating rodeo food, and watching the calf-roping. I was so excited about the calf-roping that I put on my cowboy hat as soon as I got home and started roping my stuffed cow from the back of my trusty steed (er, I mean Moose). Unfortunately, Daddy didn't get any photos of that one.
The weekend after the rodeo, we went for an "adventure" (according to Mom). We stayed in Austin with our friends Stew and Angela. Did you know Stew has TWO BIG GUITARS!! I was in Heaven. I didn't even mind that Ali would lick my face any time she was within licking distance. Also, as it turns out, I might be part Brazilian. Angela was teaching me a very cool Brazilian song that I can't get out of my head.
After saying a very sorrowful good bye to Stew's guitars (and Stew, Angela, and Ali), it was off to Ikea to buy a bed for me. It turns out that Baby Brother (who I think we should call Rico, but Mom and Dad hate that name) is going to get my crib and I get a big boy bed. So far, this was my best Ikea trip ever. I got to sleep in the car with Daddy while Mommy went inside to do all of the work. At the end, we drove back to our house in San Antonio. I was so happy to be heading back home that I made up a song about it on the way. I don't think Mommy and Daddy were paying attention to my new song, but once I work out the kinks, I will play it for them on my little guitar. "Going back to our house. Going back to our house. going back to our house"
Yikes, I think the glow of the iPhone under the door is giving me away. Next time, I will need to pull the blanket over the phone first. Rookie mistake!!!
Here are the pics and videos
Hopefully, my Dad will write next time, but don't hold your breath.
PEA
PS Don't blame me for the lack of photos. Mommy and Daddy are still slow on the draw.
Last weekend, I went to the San Antonio rodeo!! My friend Julian went with me (his Mom and Dad are friends from Rice). We had a good time playing on the tractors, petting the animals, eating rodeo food, and watching the calf-roping. I was so excited about the calf-roping that I put on my cowboy hat as soon as I got home and started roping my stuffed cow from the back of my trusty steed (er, I mean Moose). Unfortunately, Daddy didn't get any photos of that one.
The weekend after the rodeo, we went for an "adventure" (according to Mom). We stayed in Austin with our friends Stew and Angela. Did you know Stew has TWO BIG GUITARS!! I was in Heaven. I didn't even mind that Ali would lick my face any time she was within licking distance. Also, as it turns out, I might be part Brazilian. Angela was teaching me a very cool Brazilian song that I can't get out of my head.
After saying a very sorrowful good bye to Stew's guitars (and Stew, Angela, and Ali), it was off to Ikea to buy a bed for me. It turns out that Baby Brother (who I think we should call Rico, but Mom and Dad hate that name) is going to get my crib and I get a big boy bed. So far, this was my best Ikea trip ever. I got to sleep in the car with Daddy while Mommy went inside to do all of the work. At the end, we drove back to our house in San Antonio. I was so happy to be heading back home that I made up a song about it on the way. I don't think Mommy and Daddy were paying attention to my new song, but once I work out the kinks, I will play it for them on my little guitar. "Going back to our house. Going back to our house. going back to our house"
Yikes, I think the glow of the iPhone under the door is giving me away. Next time, I will need to pull the blanket over the phone first. Rookie mistake!!!
Here are the pics and videos
Hopefully, my Dad will write next time, but don't hold your breath.
PEA
PS Don't blame me for the lack of photos. Mommy and Daddy are still slow on the draw.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
My Daddy dropped the ball....
... and I have to pick it up.
Yes, it's rough being a two year old these days. I finally learned about blogging only to find out that my Daddy hasn't posted anything since April. Good thing my Mommy has a Facebook account. If you want up to date news, that's where it will be. I will do my best to keep things up to date through this blog, but we don't get computers at school until I move up to the three year old class next Fall.
Since it has been so long since my Daddy has posted, I am just going to put a bunch of photos onto the web site and let you look through them. I will get you up to date on more recent happenings with me and my family.
Thanksgiving was great!! I love, love, loved the visit from my cousins from Boston and Denton. I can't wait to go to Boston this summer and I definitely want to go to Denton very soon.
My 2 yr birthday party was a BLAST!! About 6-7 kids came over and we played with airplanes!! I had an airplane cake (thanks Lita!!), pin the propeller on the airplane, a ball pit, and lots of friends/family to play with. What more could you ask for (other than presents, of course). I did get some presents, but Mommy and Daddy asked my friends to bring donations to St. PJs childrens home here in San Antonio. We had quite a haul. Mommy and I delivered them before Christmas so that those children could have a Merry Christmas too. Thanks to Noah, Mia, Lawson, Alejandro, Julian, and all my friends who came to my party. It was way better than my first birthday party (which was cancelled because I didn't want to get everybody sick).
Christmas was great! I spent Christmas Eve with my family in San Antonio. I spent Christmas day through New Year's with family and friends in Houston. I am very sorry for getting my Padrinos (and Kien) sick while I stayed with them.
After the Christmas break, I had a wonderful trip to Colorado with the Rice crew. For some reason I haven't figured out yet, my parents call this trip BBRAG. Last year at this trip, I vaguely remember helping Terry learn how to change a diaper (I was so young back then). This year, it was Jeremy's turn. I really like playing with all the kids (Kien, Grant, Zane, and Liam) and I can't wait for the next round (Jeremy and Bonnie's baby, Grant and Zane's littlest bro/sis, and of course, my BABY BROTHER). I just wish Kien could get in on the sibling action...
The trip was fun. I got to play in the snow, see horses, see tractors, go snowshoeing (well, Daddy wore the snow shoes and carried me), go sledding (this wasn't so much fun for me because the snow kept hitting me in the face), play with new games/toys, read new books, and generally have a blast! It was also my first trip in my own seat on the airplane. Mommy and Daddy bought a cool roller cart for my car seat so I was able to roll all over the airport. Extra bonus!! We got to eat cake for Arpi and Kate's birthdays!!
After that trip, it was back to the daily grind at school. Believe it or not, we did have a snow day thanks to about 1/4" of snow. I don't know how to drive yet, but I really don't know how to drive in snow.
It's now rodeo time. We had pony rides at school. Mommy and Daddy couldn't make it so I can't wait to show them the pictures. I heard Daddy say something about going to the livestock show this weekend. I sure hope so. This is the last weekend they are in town.
I hope all of you are doing well. Yes, I did mention a baby brother earlier. He will be joining the family in late May/early June. I was so excited to be a big brother. I couldn't wait. I even told mommy "I can't wait to meet baby brother and baby brother's mommy". I have since found out that MY Mommy is also going to be Baby Brother's Mommy. I am not sure how I feel about that yet, but I have been told that I will get all the new stuff and he will just get my old stuff... so I got that going for me.
Pictures (My Daddy also dropped the ball on taking more pictures, but this should at least let you know what I have been looking like for the past 8 months):
Album
Videos
I promise I will do a better job than my Daddy of posting blog updates (that's not very hard when it takes Daddy 10 months to post).
Ciao,
Pablo
Yes, it's rough being a two year old these days. I finally learned about blogging only to find out that my Daddy hasn't posted anything since April. Good thing my Mommy has a Facebook account. If you want up to date news, that's where it will be. I will do my best to keep things up to date through this blog, but we don't get computers at school until I move up to the three year old class next Fall.
Since it has been so long since my Daddy has posted, I am just going to put a bunch of photos onto the web site and let you look through them. I will get you up to date on more recent happenings with me and my family.
Thanksgiving was great!! I love, love, loved the visit from my cousins from Boston and Denton. I can't wait to go to Boston this summer and I definitely want to go to Denton very soon.
My 2 yr birthday party was a BLAST!! About 6-7 kids came over and we played with airplanes!! I had an airplane cake (thanks Lita!!), pin the propeller on the airplane, a ball pit, and lots of friends/family to play with. What more could you ask for (other than presents, of course). I did get some presents, but Mommy and Daddy asked my friends to bring donations to St. PJs childrens home here in San Antonio. We had quite a haul. Mommy and I delivered them before Christmas so that those children could have a Merry Christmas too. Thanks to Noah, Mia, Lawson, Alejandro, Julian, and all my friends who came to my party. It was way better than my first birthday party (which was cancelled because I didn't want to get everybody sick).
Christmas was great! I spent Christmas Eve with my family in San Antonio. I spent Christmas day through New Year's with family and friends in Houston. I am very sorry for getting my Padrinos (and Kien) sick while I stayed with them.
After the Christmas break, I had a wonderful trip to Colorado with the Rice crew. For some reason I haven't figured out yet, my parents call this trip BBRAG. Last year at this trip, I vaguely remember helping Terry learn how to change a diaper (I was so young back then). This year, it was Jeremy's turn. I really like playing with all the kids (Kien, Grant, Zane, and Liam) and I can't wait for the next round (Jeremy and Bonnie's baby, Grant and Zane's littlest bro/sis, and of course, my BABY BROTHER). I just wish Kien could get in on the sibling action...
The trip was fun. I got to play in the snow, see horses, see tractors, go snowshoeing (well, Daddy wore the snow shoes and carried me), go sledding (this wasn't so much fun for me because the snow kept hitting me in the face), play with new games/toys, read new books, and generally have a blast! It was also my first trip in my own seat on the airplane. Mommy and Daddy bought a cool roller cart for my car seat so I was able to roll all over the airport. Extra bonus!! We got to eat cake for Arpi and Kate's birthdays!!
After that trip, it was back to the daily grind at school. Believe it or not, we did have a snow day thanks to about 1/4" of snow. I don't know how to drive yet, but I really don't know how to drive in snow.
It's now rodeo time. We had pony rides at school. Mommy and Daddy couldn't make it so I can't wait to show them the pictures. I heard Daddy say something about going to the livestock show this weekend. I sure hope so. This is the last weekend they are in town.
I hope all of you are doing well. Yes, I did mention a baby brother earlier. He will be joining the family in late May/early June. I was so excited to be a big brother. I couldn't wait. I even told mommy "I can't wait to meet baby brother and baby brother's mommy". I have since found out that MY Mommy is also going to be Baby Brother's Mommy. I am not sure how I feel about that yet, but I have been told that I will get all the new stuff and he will just get my old stuff... so I got that going for me.
Pictures (My Daddy also dropped the ball on taking more pictures, but this should at least let you know what I have been looking like for the past 8 months):
Album
Videos
I promise I will do a better job than my Daddy of posting blog updates (that's not very hard when it takes Daddy 10 months to post).
Ciao,
Pablo
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Catching up
This will be a short post, but there are lots of pictures.
Pablo is almost 17 months old now. He is walking and talking and has been for some time. He is starting to lose the wobble now when he walks and has been known to run from time to time (although his stops usually involve a tumble). He now has 4 teeth (two came in on top). He can be very sweet, but has learned how to throw a tantrum. He knows what he wants and he is pretty good at letting us know. At school, he told the teachers he didn't want apple sauce and asked for yogurt instead. He gets grumpy hungry and grumpy sleepy. He loves to laugh and he even dances a little.
That's all for now. Here are the pictures:
Christmas 2009
Spring Break
Easter 2010
Fiesta
Pablo is almost 17 months old now. He is walking and talking and has been for some time. He is starting to lose the wobble now when he walks and has been known to run from time to time (although his stops usually involve a tumble). He now has 4 teeth (two came in on top). He can be very sweet, but has learned how to throw a tantrum. He knows what he wants and he is pretty good at letting us know. At school, he told the teachers he didn't want apple sauce and asked for yogurt instead. He gets grumpy hungry and grumpy sleepy. He loves to laugh and he even dances a little.
That's all for now. Here are the pictures:
Christmas 2009
Spring Break
Easter 2010
Fiesta
Thursday, January 14, 2010
New Year's Resolution - post more blogs...
I think we last left off right before our October trip to Chicago.
This post:
Chicago
Halloween
Baptism - Pablo's
Baptism - Mia Gee's
Thanksgiving
Pablo's first birthday
Next post:
Christmas
Pablo's cousins' visit
New Years
Chicago - (Pictures)
We headed to Chicago for Veronica's neuroscience convention. We stayed up there for about 10 days. Half of that being the convention and the other half being Veronica's fall break. Our first stop was Hutch and Carrie's place. We were able to visit with Zane (6 days old) and Grant and conveniently ended up bridging the gap between Carrie's mother and Hutch's mother visiting to help with the new baby. We had a great time, but unfortunately, didn't take very many pictures. It must have had something to do with constantly juggling 3 kids (or 4 kids when Carrie's niece was visiting) and some winter colds.
After a couple of nights staying with Hutch and family (Thanks again, Hutchinsons!!!), we moved on to the hotel for the conference. Pablo definitely enjoyed exploring the hotel. After a few days of Mommy working at the conference and Daddy working at Hutch's during the day, we headed out to Warrenville to visit our friends Craig and Margaret. We owe huge thanks to Carrie, her sisters, Hutch's sister, and Hutch's mother for taking care of Pablo while Mommy and Daddy were working.
In Warrenville, we once again didn't do a great job of taking pictures. We have a few photos of Mia and Andy and Craig, but Margaret managed to escape the lens. We had a lot of fun. Andy played his cello for us. Mia showed us how to eat chocolate and ride on the rocking horse. Craig took us out for burgers at a cool restaurant where your food comes on a train. We ate Uncle Pete's Pizza (best Chicago style pizza ever) and had Oberweis black cherry ice cream.
Other than Pablo battling a cold throughout the trip, it was a huge success!
Halloween - (Pictures)
We had a good time trick or treating at the Zoo Boo at the San Antonio zoo. We were the pirate family and Pablo managed to keep the hat on for about two minutes (which was 1 minute and 50 seconds longer than we anticipated). He had a good time receiving candy (and oohs and ahs) from the girls handing it out at the zoo. He wasn't sure what to do with the candy and we weren't helping him. After a while, he settled on sucking on the twizzlers... still in the package. After zoo boo, we got home in time for trick or treaters. Pablo saw a few come through before he went to bed.
Pablo's Baptism - (Pictures)
November 15, 2009, our little baby boy was baptised into the Catholic church. The ceremony was held during mass at St. Alphonsus church. Father Patout presided and Don Tom and Judy Le are his god parents. I guess that makes Kien his god-cousin? god-brother? brothers...definitely brothers...
The ceremony went well and Pablo made it through the whole time without crying or fussing. Luckily, I had practiced pouring water all over his face during bath time a few times so he was ready for the dousing in church. At one point during the ceremony, they applied some oil to his chest. They don't tell you this ahead of time, but the oil smells pretty good. :)
Don and Judy were great godparents and Kien slept through the whole ceremony. Don didn't even start a fire or put out the candle when he lit our candle. The same can't be said for the other god parents of the other children. All in all, four or five children were baptised that day.
Afterwards, we snapped a few photos outside of the church and then we headed to Pablo's favorite part of the day... lunch time!
We had a nice lunch at Doneraki's with a lot of Pablo's Houston family. Out of towners: Miguel, Danielle, and Lilliana from Dallas. Los Abuelitos from San Antonio. Bridget from College Station. Horty and Rene from Humble (aka north houston). I think folks had a good time at the party. I know that Pablo did! Thanks to everyone for coming!! We loved that you could share this day with us.
Special thanks to Don and Judy for agreeing to be Pablo's godparents. We look
forward to many more happy occasions spent with them (and Kien). Also thanks to Tia Michelle for such a nice and yummy cake.
A week later, we attended Amelia "Mia" Gee's baptism. I have the honor of being Mia's godfather. Pablo definitely let her in on some tips in terms of making it through the ceremony. In return, Mia helped Pablo open a gift from Dave and Carol. It was great to see Dave and Carol and Noah and Mia. We can't wait for another visit!
Thanksgiving - (Pictures)
We were back in Houston shortly after the baptims for Thanksgiving at Granpa Martinez's. Tia Michelle and Veronica cooked up a storm. Granpa Martinez made the turkey and I was just a sous-chef/babysitter. Don't get me wrong. I did my fair share of chopping and mashing and crumbling, but the culinary geniuses behind the meal were Veronica and Michelle.
Bridget came in from College Station to have a home away from home Thanksgiving meal. At the actual meal time, we realized that we had more dishes than people times two. Never fear, we did not let it go to waste as we ate leftovers for a week straight.
It was a good trip. We spent lots of time with Tia Michelle and Grandpa Martinez. We even snuck in a visit to Tia Mary Jane's for their post Thanksgiving lunch meal (aka Thanksgiving dinner). Pablo had a blast. He definitely enjoyed his first Thanksgiving, but not as much as his Mommy enjoyed her first Thanksgiving post pregnancy.
After the turkey day itself, we had a little post-Thanksgiving fun with Don and Judy and Kien. Dim sum on the day after Thanksgiving... why not?!?
Pablo's first birthday - (Pictures)
Let me start by saying that first birthday parties are more for the parents than the children. That being said, we had a doozy planned. The "Twisted Sisters" were coming over (not the 80s rock band, but a couple of balloon twisters that claim they can "make anything given enough time"), some new friends would be there, goodie bags for all, pin the collar on the doggie, a pinata, lots of San Antonio familia, and Grady's BBQ. Grandpa Martinez and Tia Michelle were even in town. I was all set to tell the Sisters to make a Spurs Coyote for Pablo (of course). Then, nature struck... in the form of a stomach virus. I caught it first followed by Pablo, then Mommy. All of this happened the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before the Saturday party. Since we were all miserable, but recovering, we thought it would be best not to make everyone who came to his party miserable too. So the party was cancelled.
Never fear. Pablo didn't get sick until Friday which meant that he was able to chow down on his first ever cupcake on Thursday night (his actual birthday). In addition, Frances and her mother were in town so we had a mini celebration with them (we miss you Frances). Plus, the virus didn't stop Tia Michelle and Grandpa Martinez from coming to visit. We got to spend a long weekend with them and they didn't even get sick... until they got back to Houston. I guess it's a good thing for the rest of the guests that we cancelled the party.
On party day, we were finally able to escape the confines of the house and spend some time at the Mercado. We mostly walked around and did a little Christmas shopping, but it was good to get out of the house.
We were sad to say "bye" to Tia Michelle and Grandpa Martinez the next day, but they made it home safe and sound.
That's it for now. I will catch up on Christmas and such in the next post.
This post:
Chicago
Halloween
Baptism - Pablo's
Baptism - Mia Gee's
Thanksgiving
Pablo's first birthday
Next post:
Christmas
Pablo's cousins' visit
New Years
Chicago - (Pictures)
We headed to Chicago for Veronica's neuroscience convention. We stayed up there for about 10 days. Half of that being the convention and the other half being Veronica's fall break. Our first stop was Hutch and Carrie's place. We were able to visit with Zane (6 days old) and Grant and conveniently ended up bridging the gap between Carrie's mother and Hutch's mother visiting to help with the new baby. We had a great time, but unfortunately, didn't take very many pictures. It must have had something to do with constantly juggling 3 kids (or 4 kids when Carrie's niece was visiting) and some winter colds.
After a couple of nights staying with Hutch and family (Thanks again, Hutchinsons!!!), we moved on to the hotel for the conference. Pablo definitely enjoyed exploring the hotel. After a few days of Mommy working at the conference and Daddy working at Hutch's during the day, we headed out to Warrenville to visit our friends Craig and Margaret. We owe huge thanks to Carrie, her sisters, Hutch's sister, and Hutch's mother for taking care of Pablo while Mommy and Daddy were working.
In Warrenville, we once again didn't do a great job of taking pictures. We have a few photos of Mia and Andy and Craig, but Margaret managed to escape the lens. We had a lot of fun. Andy played his cello for us. Mia showed us how to eat chocolate and ride on the rocking horse. Craig took us out for burgers at a cool restaurant where your food comes on a train. We ate Uncle Pete's Pizza (best Chicago style pizza ever) and had Oberweis black cherry ice cream.
Other than Pablo battling a cold throughout the trip, it was a huge success!
Halloween - (Pictures)
We had a good time trick or treating at the Zoo Boo at the San Antonio zoo. We were the pirate family and Pablo managed to keep the hat on for about two minutes (which was 1 minute and 50 seconds longer than we anticipated). He had a good time receiving candy (and oohs and ahs) from the girls handing it out at the zoo. He wasn't sure what to do with the candy and we weren't helping him. After a while, he settled on sucking on the twizzlers... still in the package. After zoo boo, we got home in time for trick or treaters. Pablo saw a few come through before he went to bed.
Pablo's Baptism - (Pictures)
November 15, 2009, our little baby boy was baptised into the Catholic church. The ceremony was held during mass at St. Alphonsus church. Father Patout presided and Don Tom and Judy Le are his god parents. I guess that makes Kien his god-cousin? god-brother? brothers...definitely brothers...
The ceremony went well and Pablo made it through the whole time without crying or fussing. Luckily, I had practiced pouring water all over his face during bath time a few times so he was ready for the dousing in church. At one point during the ceremony, they applied some oil to his chest. They don't tell you this ahead of time, but the oil smells pretty good. :)
Don and Judy were great godparents and Kien slept through the whole ceremony. Don didn't even start a fire or put out the candle when he lit our candle. The same can't be said for the other god parents of the other children. All in all, four or five children were baptised that day.
Afterwards, we snapped a few photos outside of the church and then we headed to Pablo's favorite part of the day... lunch time!
We had a nice lunch at Doneraki's with a lot of Pablo's Houston family. Out of towners: Miguel, Danielle, and Lilliana from Dallas. Los Abuelitos from San Antonio. Bridget from College Station. Horty and Rene from Humble (aka north houston). I think folks had a good time at the party. I know that Pablo did! Thanks to everyone for coming!! We loved that you could share this day with us.
Special thanks to Don and Judy for agreeing to be Pablo's godparents. We look
forward to many more happy occasions spent with them (and Kien). Also thanks to Tia Michelle for such a nice and yummy cake.
A week later, we attended Amelia "Mia" Gee's baptism. I have the honor of being Mia's godfather. Pablo definitely let her in on some tips in terms of making it through the ceremony. In return, Mia helped Pablo open a gift from Dave and Carol. It was great to see Dave and Carol and Noah and Mia. We can't wait for another visit!
Thanksgiving - (Pictures)
We were back in Houston shortly after the baptims for Thanksgiving at Granpa Martinez's. Tia Michelle and Veronica cooked up a storm. Granpa Martinez made the turkey and I was just a sous-chef/babysitter. Don't get me wrong. I did my fair share of chopping and mashing and crumbling, but the culinary geniuses behind the meal were Veronica and Michelle.
Bridget came in from College Station to have a home away from home Thanksgiving meal. At the actual meal time, we realized that we had more dishes than people times two. Never fear, we did not let it go to waste as we ate leftovers for a week straight.
It was a good trip. We spent lots of time with Tia Michelle and Grandpa Martinez. We even snuck in a visit to Tia Mary Jane's for their post Thanksgiving lunch meal (aka Thanksgiving dinner). Pablo had a blast. He definitely enjoyed his first Thanksgiving, but not as much as his Mommy enjoyed her first Thanksgiving post pregnancy.
After the turkey day itself, we had a little post-Thanksgiving fun with Don and Judy and Kien. Dim sum on the day after Thanksgiving... why not?!?
Pablo's first birthday - (Pictures)
Let me start by saying that first birthday parties are more for the parents than the children. That being said, we had a doozy planned. The "Twisted Sisters" were coming over (not the 80s rock band, but a couple of balloon twisters that claim they can "make anything given enough time"), some new friends would be there, goodie bags for all, pin the collar on the doggie, a pinata, lots of San Antonio familia, and Grady's BBQ. Grandpa Martinez and Tia Michelle were even in town. I was all set to tell the Sisters to make a Spurs Coyote for Pablo (of course). Then, nature struck... in the form of a stomach virus. I caught it first followed by Pablo, then Mommy. All of this happened the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before the Saturday party. Since we were all miserable, but recovering, we thought it would be best not to make everyone who came to his party miserable too. So the party was cancelled.
Never fear. Pablo didn't get sick until Friday which meant that he was able to chow down on his first ever cupcake on Thursday night (his actual birthday). In addition, Frances and her mother were in town so we had a mini celebration with them (we miss you Frances). Plus, the virus didn't stop Tia Michelle and Grandpa Martinez from coming to visit. We got to spend a long weekend with them and they didn't even get sick... until they got back to Houston. I guess it's a good thing for the rest of the guests that we cancelled the party.
On party day, we were finally able to escape the confines of the house and spend some time at the Mercado. We mostly walked around and did a little Christmas shopping, but it was good to get out of the house.
We were sad to say "bye" to Tia Michelle and Grandpa Martinez the next day, but they made it home safe and sound.
That's it for now. I will catch up on Christmas and such in the next post.
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