Wow, more than two months since my last post! At least this time I have some pretty good reasons for my disappearance... A little bit more than a month ago a huge "curve ball" was thrown to our family and it took me several weeks to recover... Not going into details I will just say that never before I felt we were facing such an enormous challenge ahead of us. On the bright side, these past weeks have been full of opportunities to learn more about myself, find where my heart is, refocus on my faith and appreciate my family and friend's support and love.
August was also tough because we had to postpone our trip to Ecuador and since it was a last minute change, I didn't have too many options for cool things to do with the kiddos. So we kept going to the water park, mall and the library over and over again every week! But some cool things happened such as:
* My dad visited for almost 3 weeks and spent some awesome time with Diego and Nina
* Nina learned to walk almost 2 weeks ago
* Mark and I decided to start going to church again and leave the kids at the church daycare - and you know what, Diego loves it and Nina has done pretty well!! Hurray! After more than two years of absence, it is awesome to be back at church every Sunday!
* We hired a babysitter couple of times and both kiddos (and parents) survived the experience. The plan is to continue using a babysitter here and there so Mark and I can get some time together.
*During June and July Diego was in swim school and he LOOOOOOOOVED it! He learned tons and it was truly amazing seeing him so happy in the water. At the end of the classes he even got a picture with AZ born Misty Hyman and her gold medal from Sydney 2000. Isn't it cool?!?
* As a part of Mark's company events we went bowling and Diego had a blast! We just stayed for a bit, but we are looking forward to doing it again!
* Diego finally likes ice cream (used to say it was too cold for his teeth!), so now every other Sunday we go out to the "the ice cream place", as Diego calls it. We can only pick from the fruity flavors since at this place these are not made with milk/cream, and so far Diego and Nina don't seem to care at all! Diego always ask for banana ice cream and Nina has had mango, pineapple and forest berry ice creams.
* Last week we got a new doggy; he is a 4-year old mini pincher/chihuahua mix and we named him Mojo! We were at the pet store for heart guard check and medicine for our 7-year old dog Lulu, but once I saw the other little dogs for adoption my heart melted as well as Diego's. Mojo is just adorable, kind with the kids and patience with Lulu and Diego is just crazy about HIS doggy!
* Diego finally started school last Thursday. This year he will attend this preschool 5 days/week, from 9 to 11:30 am. The original plan was to go from 2 days (last year) to 3 days/week, but since he is still adjusting/struggling with having a little sister, we decided that being a school with his buddies without having to "fight" for attention would be better for him... So far he has had no separation anxiety at drop off and has been a happy camper when going home.!
We are also trying a new method to get rid of the food allergies/sensitivities our kiddos have and to strength their immune system, it is called N A E T. So far the specialist worked on "blockages" of their brain/body balance and did a "treatment" for egg sensitivity. We are taking both Diego and Nina every other week, and we only pay half price for Nina as a sibling! And in general, we can not complain this year since they hardly get sick, Diego keeps growing and weights 33 lbs (yes, he is slim, but is all muscle!) and Nina weights 23 lbs (she has gained 4 lbs in her 4 months at home!).
And now, some pictures! Enjoy!
At the deer farm in Northern AZ
At the swimming class
Snuggling with his abuelo
Some fun Painting
the new little climber
Bowling for the first time
after church
"hey you!"
Mojo and his "master"
