You love what?

Emma has been learning to read and likes to sound out random things around her. Her Daddy was helping her brush her teeth before bed and she decided to sound out the words on his shirt.
This was his shirt.


At first she giggles and then looks at her Daddy in complete disapproval and says, "Daddy! I can't believe you are wearing that shirt!"
This is to give you an idea of the look she had on her face. This is her "disbelief, disapproval" face. (the apple she picked had a hole in it; disbelief)

We thought it was too funny and had to share.

My little Princess, Emma

So, as I'm looking at my old posts, I realize my Emma isn't in very many of them. She is always gone at school when I have the camera out and when she is home life is pretty crazy with homework, cleaning and cooking. So, it thought I would give you all a little update on Emma.

Emma started school in September as most of you know. She is attending, Amigos, which is a Spanish immersion school. She is loving it and picking up the language very quickly. She is often commented on her accent. It's beautiful. I love listening to her speak.

She is growing up so fast. I can't believe she'll be six in just a few short months. She is the most beautiful, sweet, smart, caring and loving little girl. She is always worried about other people. We went in for our first parent teacher conference and got rave reviews from her teacher. We didn't really expect anything less but it's always nice to hear. Her teacher is amazed at her attention span and how she never gets upset and is always helping her classmates. She is the same way at home. She is also always reminding what's important in life. Family. Although, part of her family is her new pet chinchilla, Dusty. She often thinks life should stand still for Dusty and thinks we should all feel the same. (we don't, Ces and I would love to get rid of it!)

Emma, is a lover of animals and wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. This has been her dream since she was 3. I keep thinking it's going to change but has not thus far. She has only added being a mom to it. During the summer when we have cable she loves to watch Animal Planet, she says it's going to help her be a better vet. One day, she wanted to imagine what our new home will be like when we move to Oklahoma. She said it would have Animal Planet :) along with a room of her own and a huge! playground that her Poppi will build. It's fun to see her excited about the big move.

As you can tell, she is growing up and such a great little girl. We love her dearly!

Oh, the things kids say... Part II

Miguel likes to sneak out the front door and play on the stairs in our apartment building. I was in the middle of changing Gabe's diaper and Miguel decides to sneak out. I yell at him to get back in, he comes to the door and says in a very calm voice, "Mom, I'm practicin' my ballet..." and in a crazy Miguel voice, "and shoopin!!!!" (which is shooting in Miguel language) I was like "What!" How in the world do those two things go together. I guess we like to keep our children well rounded :\


Every night, as part of the kids bedtime routine, we say family prayer. Before we pray everyone says one thing they are grateful for. Lately, Miguel has been telling his Daddy what he (his Dad) is thankful for. It is always, himself, Emma and Gabe. However the past couple nights he is only allowing his Dad to be thankful for himself and not his brother or sister. So, tonight,

Ces started to say "I'm thankful for...."
Miguel, "Me!"
Daddy, "And Emma, Gabe and Mommy."
Miguel, "No, just one"
Daddy, "Can't I be thankful for all of you?"
Miguel, "No"
Daddy, "Okay, I'm thankful for one."
Miguel, "Yeah, me."

We couldn't stop laughing. It was so cute.

The many faces of Gabriel...

Here are some pictures I've taken of Gabriel.


Here they are both giving me the same look. "Mom, do you really have to take another picture!"

Our favorite is when he smiles!!

Cheese Man!

The other day we had taco soup for dinner. It's not really Miguels favorite so he usually just piles cheese and sour cream on top and it's that. Healthy? Not really ,but, whatever. Well, after dinner we were clearing off the table and I knocked the bag of cheese on to the floor and forgot to pick it up. Miguel was vacuuming the floor and then he disappeared. I thought he just went into his room. And then I heard some strange noises coming from under the kitchen table. This is what I found....




Miguel had dumped out the entire bag (it was only about 1/4 full) and ate it all!! Yum! Yum!!

Tagged

My sister-in-law, Kim, tagged me and also let me know I was falling down in the job with this whole blog thing. I will try and do better, Kimmy! So, here is the 6th photo from our 6th album. This is Emma And her Grandpa Cook (my dad). I think this is when he came to visit for Emma's 3rd birthday. I cant believe how little Emma is. This was also right before we moved to Cambridge. She sure has changed a lot over the past 2 1/2 years



I tag Bronwyn, Becca, Melissa and Josh Simon, Sara and Dulcie. I usually don't do these things but this one is kinda fun. You get to look at pics from a long time ago and reminisce. Have fun!

Gabriel's blessing

While we were in Utah we blessed Gabriel. Cesar was able to have all of his Aunt, Uncles and cousins there as well as his brothers and sister. It was great. We actually blessed in at his parents house which was a little strange but overall a great experience. 

        

My little snowman

As i mentioned in the previous post, Miguel loved the snow.  I was able to spend some time out with him one afternoon when everyone else was cold and ready to come and he wasn't. I got some cute pics.
   

This is Miguel diving into the snow. He would walk right up to the edge and then just lean forward and fall into the snow. He couldn't really get up with all his snow gear on so he would just roll wherever he needed to go. 

    

He joined the big boys and went sledding all by himself!  Even when he fell and got a cut on his cheek he didn't even cry he just "Again!" He is such a daredevil. He scares to me death but he is so much fun. 

WHEEEEE!!!!!!!
 

Christmas Break

Ok, so I'm terrible at keeping up on the blog thing. I apologize, Kim. I will try harder. 

For Christmas break we went to Utah to visit Ces' family. We had a 6 am flight on the way there. The kids always do really well on flights but it was still too early for me. They had a hard time adjusting to the time difference and Miguel and Gabe were very cranky. They didn't become happy again until like 4 days before we left. They were tons of cousins, tons of snow, tons of presents and tons of fun. 

Ces' brother Spencer brought his Wii from Florida and the boys (meaning the grown boys) spent most of their time around that.  Occasionally they would let the little boys play too. 

 It snowed almost the entire time we were there. The kids were in heaven. Miguel had been waiting for it to snow in Boston before we left but it never happened. So when he got out of the van at his Abuela's house and he saw all the snow his first instinct was to dive right in which wa

s followed by crying because he had no gloves or snow pants on. We later got them all dressed up and let them go outside. 

Christmas morning was a little crazy.  Four families consisting of 8 small children and 9 adults. I wasn't able to get very many pics that morning which I was sad about but what can you do? 

   

Miguel got a telescope from Santa along with some transformers and hotwheel cars from Mommy  and Daddy. 

Emma got a fluffy white chihuahua (she was very specific) from Santa and games and art stuff from Mommy and Daddy.

Gabriel got some toys from Santa and clothes from us. He was the easiest of all. 

        

We had a great time and were able to see some good friends of ours (Mike and Miss Becca); sadly I did not get any pics of us together. We were glad to be able to spend some time with Ces' family who we hadn't seen in over a year. I had forgotten how beautiful Utah was and how much I missed it. They kids are already looking forward to going back to see their cousins!!