The Kids Visit Santa

Katy visited Santa at Bass Pro Shop again this year.  As expected, she was very timid at first.  Thank goodness Santa was patient with her, despite the long line of children waiting to sit on his lap on the day before Christmas.  Of course, he had been equally patient with the lady who visited Santa before us...with her cat.  After much coaxing, Katy told Santa what she wanted: the doll on which you put make-up.  Santa looked up at me sarcastically and asked in a low voice, "Really?  Do they sell that?"  I appreciated Santa verifying with me that he was about to promise something that actually exists.

As we were leaving, Santa grabbed my arm and said, "one more picture."  He then directed me to sit on his knee and put my legs across his other knee.  I was a bit embarrassed at first, me being a grown woman sitting on this old man's lap.  But I understood Santa's motive as he placed his hand on my belly.  He seemed quite proud to give me my baby's first picture with Santa.

 

Katy's New Room

Katy had a lovely room in our old house but not so much in the new house.  Her room was brown, brown, brown.   So, when I received a little of my teaching money, I spent some of it on transforming Katy's room into a little girl's room.  Katy could barely wait to make her room pink as packages began to arrive in the mail, and she is now quite happy with the end result.

Christmas 2018

Christmas was quiet this year.  We stayed in the Valley, and no one came to visit us.  We were just three, the babies still growing away inside my belly.  Next year, when the children out-number the parents, I suspect quiet is a word that will be missing from our description of Christmas.

Christmas was exciting this year.  For the first time. Katy understood all things Christmas.  She asked for the same gift for six weeks straight (la muñeca en que puedes poner make-up), she wrote a letter to santa, and she persistently asked to decorate Christmas cookies.  She loved counting down to Christmas day using the Advent calendar Gigi made for us.  On Christmas eve, she had so many technical questions about Santa that it took her an hour to fall asleep (How will he know which stocking is mine?  Where will he go after our house?  How far away is he?).

Christmas was slow this year.  We started opening gifts before 9 a.m. and didn't finish until 2 p.m.  We didn't have five hours worth of gifts.  We stopped for breakfast.  We stopped for phone calls from loved ones.  We stopped when Katy was absorbed in a new toy.  We took our time, we lazed about, and we enjoyed the day.

Christmas was spent at home this year.  The day after Christmas, we ate lunch with our former McAllen neighbors.  Upon seeing our former home across the street, we weren't struck with feelings of longing or loss.  Instead, we felt grateful for what we now have instead.  This confirmed our feeling that we are finally feeling settled into the new house and feeling at home.

Katy was excited to decorate the Christmas tree.

One of several Christmas crafts. 

Cookie-decorating event at Chick-Fil-A

Finally decorating Christmas cookies at home. 

Mom enjoyed cookie decorating too!

Merry Christmas!

Decorating cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. 

Cookies and Egg Nog for Santa.  Katy in her new Christmas pajamas.

Santa came through.  The make-up doll. 

Stopping to play with the new toys while others wait under the tree. 

So cute!

Letter to my Three-Year-Old

Dear Katy,

You are three-years-old for only a few more weeks.  I'm know I won't remember all the little quirks that make this age fun, so here's my effort to capture who you are at three-years-old.

• You learned English this year and despite how well you speak it now, you still have an accent.  You sound almost Russian when you say Daddy (Dah-Dee).  You still occasionally use Spanish grammar when speaking English.  Sometimes I can tell you are stopping mid-sentence because you don't know the English word for what you want to say.  
• You are learning about jokes.  Your one joke, "What's brown and sticky?" is usually delivered without any pause for the punchline.  One time, however, while visiting all of my family for Thanksgiving in Denver, you walked up to everyone at the table, said "You want to hear a joke?", and delivered it perfectly.  You made everyone laugh, and you loved it.
• This year you started saying, "Shake it like a booty snake" a lot.  We have no idea where you learned this or what it means, but you usually shake your torso as you say it. 
• You like to sing songs that you make up, usually when we are in the car, and you get mad if anyone tries to sing with you.  You accuse us of "robando mi canción."  If you and I make up a song together, however, you love for us to sing it together and ask me to make-up new verses forever. 
• You hate to brush your hair, wash your hair, or do anything to make your hair look presentable. 
• You have a small bell in the bathroom that you ring after you wash your hands or brush your teeth.  The last time we traveled, you packed the bell because you needed it to brush your teeth.
• You say "hurra" (hooray in Spanish) when you are excited about something. You learned this from watching Peppa Pig in Spanish.  Peppa Pig has been a favorite lately, displacing Daniel Tiger.
• You get scared in movies very easily.  I tried showing you Frozen but you asked me to turn it off.  I thought G-rated Lady and the Tramp would be ok, but I was wrong.  
• You love packing random objects in boxes, bags, or any other container you can find.  When we leave the house, you usually pack one or two or three bags of stuff you need to bring. You love packing a suitcase for a trip, and then unpacking it when we arrive at our location.  I've actually used unpacking your suitcase as a way to keep you occupied when I was tired from a day of traveling. 
• You like for someone to lay with you at night as you fall asleep to "placticar" with you.  You like talking about so many different things - the pipes in the house, guardian angels, what we'll do the next day.
• Anytime we are going to do something "mañana", you ask, "hoy?"  When I repeat mañana, you ask, "cuando es mañana?"  Every. Single. Time. 
• You continue to be a very messy eater.  Food on the floor, on your clothes, in your hair.  
• Your favorite store is Target.  I think that's my doing.  Your favorite restaurant was Chick-Fil-A until we bought you your first Happy Meal at McDonalds.  Happy Meals are king now. Your favorite number is 8.  Your favorite color continues to be black.  Your favorite song is Barquito Chiquitito.  
• You learned to write your name this year, as well as Mom and Papi.  
• You like to color with colored pencils and cut different texture papers and plastics with scissors. 
• You learned to pedal your tricycle. You did really well on your balance bike until it broke about a month ago. You said you broke it because you were going "so fast."
• You like giving different kinds of hugs - little hugs, big hugs, wiggle hugs, squishy hugs, strong hugs.  If Papi or I give you more goodnight kisses than you wanted, you tell us you are "quitándolos" as you wipe them away.  I told you that you cannot wipe away my kisses because they travel straight to your heart and stay there forever.  
• More often than not, you put your shoes on the wrong feet.  We're starting to think it's not accidental. 
• You love looking at yourself in the mirror, especially after putting on your ballet uniform.  You stand, stare, smile, and comment on how pretty you are. 
• You can count to 25.
• You color well and insensitively state that friends and cousins your age "solo hacen scribbles."
• You still love to read.
• You started playing with your stuffed animals a lot over the last few months and although you don't have a favorite, you rotate through them regularly. 
• Sometimes I speak very firmly to you when you keep getting out of bed to avoid going to sleep or when you are trying to avoid something I've asked you to do.  When this happens, you try to distract me by saying, "Es que solo quiere un beso, mami."
• You have very specific ideas about how things are to be done and any deviation may trigger lots of sad sobs.
• Sometimes you tell me you are a big girl and other times, when you want me to do something for you, you remind me you are only "un poco grande."

Soon you will be four and around the same time you will become a big sister.  Your life is going to change in so many ways that you do not understand, although you very sweetly talk about how much you are going to help me with the babies.  Know that I have very much enjoyed our time together, just the two of us.  Three plus years of one-on-one time is something the twins and I will never have, so know that you had something very special, even if you can't remember it. 

Love,

Mom

Babies, Babies, Babies

I am officially in my third trimester now and it shows! 

24 weeks

28 Weeks.  The belly grew a lot!

Baby B is high and breech and is bruising my ribs constantly.  Heartburn is no joke right now.  I see my OB regularly, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at least once every four weeks, and have also visited a pediatric cardiologist for the babies.  I've had several sonograms, several of which lasted over half an hour.  Between all the appointments, I've had lots of time to marvel at the two life forms growing inside of me.  It is really cool to see how they are positioned next to each other, with a bright white line separating their sacs of amniotic fluid.  

The babies are moving a lot now.  The early, sudden jabs have transformed into massage like movements that I can see externally.  Staring at my stomach and watching little feet and hands move under my skin is equally strange and wonderful.   

My friend Sylvia recently hosted a Fiesta themed baby shower for me, an appropriate theme since the twins are souvenirs of our summer vacation to Mexico.  It was so fun to celebrate the twins with girl friends.  

At the airport in Denver, I sat next to an elderly lady who asked about my due date.  Like everyone else, she was surprised to hear that I was carrying twins.  Unlike most people, however, she genuinely exclaimed, "You are so lucky!"  I am lucky.  Carrying twins is hard work, and it will only get harder once they are tiny newborns .  Not many women, however, have the unique privilege of seeing two of their babies nestled inside their tummy together.

Packing Panties

Katy was so excited to pack for our recent trip to Denver.  Her regular play frequently involves packing boxes and bags with various items that sometimes only make sense to her.  So it was no surprise that she was more than excited to pack her clothes for her trip.  One thing she did to help pack was lay out all of her panties and count them to make sure she had enough for the trip.  

When Chris arrived home later in the evening, Katy was excited to help him pack too.  After carefully stuffing one of his dress shirts into a small zippered pocket in his suitcase, she laid out his underwear and told him she was "counting all of his panties" to ensure he had enough.  

A Last-Minute (Surprise!) Trip to Denver

In the spring, we made tentative plans with my parents to spend Christmas in the Denver area, where my brothers live.  Then we found out I was pregnant with twins and decided a Christmas trip was a bit too close to my due date.  My parents and I tried to make a Thanksgiving trip work, but Chris and I were unable to find tickets at an affordable price.  My parents made plans to go anyways and we made plans to stay home.  Then, a couple weeks before Thanksgiving, Frontier Airlines opened a new route flying directly to Denver from our hometown.  Better yet, the tickets were more than affordable.  So we booked tickets, told my brothers, and made plans to surprise my parents with our arrival.    

It was so much fun to surprise my parents when we arrived at Casey and Amanda's house on Thanksgiving day.  My dad looked so confused at first and my mom was just saying, "No!?!?! No!?!?! What are you doing here?!?!"  

The next few days were a much needed break from all the activity back home.  Chris, who has been working long hours, spent much needed time with his family.  Katy finally opened up to her uncles, cousins, and aunts and had so much fun playing with all of them.  We visited a few sights and even saw our friend Jackson.  It was a perfect Thanksgiving and my second favorite Thanksgiving only to one we spent in Hondo with Mimi several years ago.  

My mom didn't understand why she was setting such a big table...until we arrived!

Enjoying the deck and fire pit after over eating. 

It was SOOOO windy!

At Red Rocks Amphitheater

Before the candy factory tour.  Nothing but blue skies.

After the candy factory tour.  The snow is coming!

We worked a puzzle after playing the newly wed game.  So much fun!

This girl LOVED walking in the snow!

We visited the Air Force Academy Chapel

The goats at Casey and Amanda's house. 

Dinner at Casa Bonita

The flight home from Denver was celebrated as the inaugural flight on the new Frontier route and therefore we were greeted with water sprays on the plane and balloons and treats at the gate.  It was a fun way to wrap up a fun trip.

Moving On

For several pesky little reasons, almost a month passed after we moved out of the house in McAllen before we were able to list it for sale.  Praise God, however, that we had a contract for sale within days of listing it.  Praise God again because the contract didn't fall through, and we closed a few days before Thanksgiving.  

We ate one last family meal in the McAllen house a couple days before the closing and as expected, I cried as we prepared to walk out one last time.  The house in McAllen was our first house together.  The first place we stayed long enough to put down real roots.  The house we remodeled and thereby stamped with a small part of ourselves.  The house to which we brought Katy home from the hospital.  The house where we hosted countless gatherings, potlucks, and parties.   The house surrounded by familiar places and dear friends.  I cried for the loss of all these wonderful things that the house represented.

I was so excited to finally move our furniture out of the McAllen house the week before the scheduled closing.  I anticipated that finally moving the bulk of our large, tangible objects would suddenly make the new house feel like the home I had in McAllen.  But of course, the house in McAllen was so much more than just tangible objects; it was all the sentimental things that made me cry when we finally said good-bye.  And so the new house is currently a messy house.  Some of our furniture is in pieces because it didn't fit, a lot of furniture is waiting to be moved into place, there is still nothing hanging on the bare walls, and most of the sentimental attachments that make a house a home are yet to be formed.

Our last trip to the McAllen house.

I sure loved the light fixture in the dining room.  Sigh. 

One Last (Eventful) Road Trip

Over the last two years, Katy and I have taken several road trips just the two of us to visit family.  In October, we took what I knew would be the last of these road trips.  I had grand ideas about making it extra special by making pit stops to visit family and landmarks along the way.  All of these grand ideas, however, didn't quite work out due to illnesses, bad weather, and a very unfortunate incident involving a failed luggage rack.  

The actual visit with family, however, was awesome.  For two nights, we stayed with my grandma, my cousin Rachel, and her daughter Isabella.  It was the first time Katy and I met Isabella, and the first time my grandma had both of her granddaughters in her home at the same time.  Katy and Isabella had a lot of fun playing hide and seek, holding hands, and getting to know each other.  

Katy went to her first move with Isabella!

We went to church with Grandma Dorothy.

Potluck with family in the area. 

During our visit, my aunts and cousins hosted a baby shower for me.  It was a lovely baby shower with family, a few friends, and a whole crew of kids running around.  My sister-in-law made a beautiful cake for the party, and everyone gave such generous gifts.  I went home with so many helpful baby items that I had to pack several things in the luggage rack.

It was a cold, wet and windy day when we left for home.  Soon after entering the freeway, I saw something blue fly down the freeway behind me.  I thought this odd because I didn't recall passing anything blue in front of me.  Then I saw a box of diapers fly down the freeway behind me and instantly knew the luggage rack had opened.  I pulled over on the shoulder of the freeway and spent close to 20 unsuccessful minutes standing in the cold wind and rain trying to close the roof rack.  At some point Katy, began crying hysterically and a box on the freeway began exploding diapers everywhere, making the scene all the more dramatic.  

We finally pulled off the freeway very slowly, found an awning at a nearby business to park, and waited for my father-in-law to come help us.  It was during this time I discovered why Katy, who was still crying, was so upset.  One of the items we lost on the freeway was her pool floatie.  The only thing that finally calmed Katy was ordering a new floatie on Amazon.  Two months later, Katy still talks about how her floatie went flying out of the car onto the road. 

Thankfully, the floatie and a couple boxes of diapers were the only thing we lost, other than about half a day of our time and lots of calm nerves.  The boxes containing handmade blankets and a stack of giftcards were safe inside the car all along.