Finally....a blog post

I know. I know.....I said that we would update the family blog more often to chronicle our life and adventures in New York. And we have done a poor job of it. Well, it's never too late to start anew. So it's been over 4 months since the last post. A lot has happened. This post is picture heavy, so I'll try to keep it text light.

The boys had their 4th birthday on Dec. 1, 2012. We decided to have their party at a children's party place. Just show up, have fun, and leave. No set up or clean up. I love that kind of party. The attendees were primarily some of the boys' school mates and a few people we know from Javier's work.

Then a couple of weeks later, the boys had their school Christmas party. There was an appearance by Santa Clause. The boys were very excited to talk to Santa. The funny thing is, we really haven't told them much of anything about Santa stories and such.... but the other kids at school have fully filled them in. Every day in December, the boys would come home from school, telling me how Santa was busy in the North Pole making toys and was going to bring some for them on Christmas. Everyday, there were new stories. I just nodded my head and said, "oh really?"

A few days later came Sebi's 2nd birthday on Dec 21, 2012. It had been an activity filled few weeks with parties and outings, so we decided to have a quiet birthday celebration for Sebi. We went out to eat his favorite meal (pizza), and instead of a cake, his favorite dessert (donuts). It was rather perfect.

Then, a few days later, it was CHRISTMAS day. A very busy and tired elf spent a few hours wrapping presents the night before. The boys woke up and rushed downstairs to see their presents. They were very happy.

The day after Christmas, we had a big snow storm. I think we got about 9 or 10 inches of snow. After Javier got a good workout from shoveling the sidewalk and driveway, we decided to take the boys to the nearby park for a little sledding. To make it even better, a few of their classmates were there too. They had a blast!

New years came and went without much fuss. Some time after that, we made a trip into the city to go to FAO Shwartz. It's a toy mecca and the boys loved it too.

A few weeks later, we all went to the circus. It was the first time for the boys. The big boys really enjoyed the performances and the animals. Sebi was more interested in popcorn and wandering around. Regretfully, I did not get more than this one picture. I was too busy watching the show and holding the boys' hands. 

Not too long ago was Easter. We took the boys to an egg hunt in Queens. It was really nice at a park, and they had the hunt separated for young kids and older kids. The boys collected a LOT of eggs, and thus a LOT of candy. Needless, to say, they had a great time.

It's been a long, cold winter and the temperature is slowly but surely getting warmer. We are loving every minute of it. Warmer weather means more outings. The boys spending time outdoors = happy boys = happy parents = a lot of happiness. And with Javier having to leave for 2 months this summer, we are trying to pack in as much family fun as possible. Javier's sister, Jackie, is coming back out to hang with us for a month and that will be really great. The boys love her, I love having the company, and it will make the time that Javier is gone pass quicker.

And on that note, I will close this post. I hope our friends and family enjoy the pictorial update. Until next time!

~Latrice

So much to be Thankful for

Our little family has much to be thankful for. We have our health and we have each other. It doesn't take a day for Thankgiving to remember that, but it is nice to have a day to celebrate it. But before I get to a description of our Thanksgiving day, there were a few things to happen before that.

For the first time, I took the big boys to a movie at a theater. They had a great time. We saw Hotel Transylvania because I had heard it was very kid friendly without anything inappropriate for their age. The movie was cute and did not disappoint.

The next day the boys asked to go to the zoo. They LOVE the zoo. It was a lovely fall day, so we dressed accordingly and set out.

Sebi is changing a lot. Now he likes to walk around like his big brothers rather than be pushed around in the stroller. He's doing a LOT more talking lately too. He repeats almost anything like a little parrot, but he is starting to use language more and more each day. He turned out to be just like his big brothers with language. He didn't say much of anything up until a couple of weeks ago. Now he's a little motor mouth. He is tons of fun though. He's always trying to keep up with his brothers and does a pretty good job of it too. 

The big boys are doing well. They love school and doing homework. I know that part is not going to last long, but for now, it's cute that they are so enthusiastic about homework. They also play games with each other a lot. Equally as much, they fight with each other. I guess that's how it goes with brothers. For the most part, they get along, and prefer to have each other's company. It makes my heart smile when I see them playing nicely and showing affection towards each other.

That brings us to Thanksgiving. This year, we were fortunate enough to receive tickets to a special viewing area for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in Manhattan. We knew it would be a challenge juggling all three boys, but we decided to try it anyway. It's a unique New York tradition that we wanted to participate in while we live here. Javier and I woke up at 5am to start getting ready and we woke the boys up at 615am. They were not very happy about that. They usually wake up around 7:15 am, so this was a bit of a shock to their systems. We did manage to get them to bed early, but somehow their bodies still knew it was too early. Sebi was the most vocal about his discontent. We finally left the house around 7am and headed to the subway station to make our way to Manhattan. The boys still LOVE taking the subway. It's a major adventure for them. Sebi sits in the stroller and the big boys walk holding my hand. When we encounter stairs (and there are tons of them in subway stations), Javier picks up the whole stroller with Sebi and makes the climb. The boys walk with me. Yeah, I know I have the easy job. So we arrived in Manhattan and fought the crowds to make our way to our designated viewing area. We didn't get curbside seating, but still had a pretty good view. The boys really enjoyed seeing the big floats, marching bands, and the iconic big balloons. We did not stay for the entire parade because the boys became antsy after about an hour and a half, but for the time we were there, we saw several marching bands, clowns, Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, Whoopi Goldberg, Miss USA, and a few other entertainers we were not familiar with.

After we left the parade, we came home. The boys went down for a good long nap and I started cooking our Thanksgiving feast. Javier enjoyed some football on television. This time last year, Javier was deployed to Afghanistan and Jacob had a cast on his arm and I was utterly exhausted. So this year, we have the gift of togetherness to be thankful for. Life is good.

~Latrice