May FUN...

After Mother's Day Javo and Kristen came to visit us. We sang Happy Birthday with a homemade ICE CREAM cake. It was Delish (or at least Evan and I loved it)! She is the big TWO-FIVE. Yay Tia Kristen!

The following weekend we headed to Miami. On Friday, Madrina came over and brought Audrey a beautiful sunflower headband and played with Audrey.
playing the drums

That evening we headed to Tio Javo and Tia Kristen's apartment for dinner. Mama and Papa played PS3 for the first time. It was a lot of fun. The food was very good too. We really enjoyed the night.
Tia Ali playing with you :)


Mama & Tio Javo battling it out playing the Micheal Jackson game


Abuelita and Abuelo enjoying your sleepy, cuddley self


Saturday was primo hangout day. The primos and primas came over (except Amelie) and slept over abuelo, abuelita, and Tia Ali's house. Tia Tere and Tio Migui came to help too. We played outside with the dolphin that grows in the water. Then the boys took a bath and came out looking like this!!
CRAZY HAIR PRIMOS!!



Your bisabuelo came to visit!


primos playing


Mandy loves his prima


It was a fun day.

That night mama & papa went to celebrate a friends birthday after you fell asleep. It was themed "movie party". My friend Sarah made this concession stand for her boyfriend, Tony, the birthday boy.
Concession Stand


with "popcorn" cupcakes!


the cool cake Krysten made


Sunday morning we met up with Padrino, Marilyn and Aiko for brunch. It was so nice to talk, enjoy the weather and the good food.
with the Puertos


with my Padrino


Then it was back in the car to head back to WH.

We had a special visitor that stopped to see us on his way to NC.

ABUELO!!!!


This weekend is Memorial Day weekend! On Saturday we had a few friends over. Liliana our neighbor and Lily Anne your almost twin both came over to play in the pool. It was a low key fun day of burgers friends and fun.

8 Month-a-roonie

I'm not going to lie, the 1st month or two after Audrey was born felt like 6 months. You get comments on facebook like "omg I can't believe she is already one month old" and I thought "Are you sure she isn't 4 months old?" But now, I swear it's been a week, and a month has flown by!

I'm EIGHT MONTHS OLD. It's True!!!

At eight months she is....

CRAWLING like a little soldier. She may stay low to the ground and clean the floors but the kid can move. Her favorite things to crawl towards are phones and shoes.

Look at me. I just made it to the bookshelf after knocking down the basket of toys!


falling asleep ON HER OWN for naps and at night. We used to put her to sleep in arms at night time but she is too curious and won't fall asleep. She is even doing it without crying. We go into her room, I place her stuffed animal in a certain spot on her bed, turn on her music, give her kisses and say "te quiero mucho", and place her in her crib. She automatically turns to the opposite side of her stuffed animal(?), hugs the crib bumper, sticks her thumb in her mouth and she is out.

EATING REAL FOOD in addition to baby food. She has eaten oatmeal, bananas, couscous, eggs, peas, and red beans (that's all I can think of).

NOT SCREAMING as much. She likes to mainly scream only when she sees other kids and dogs but it is not constant or as much.

going through HATING THE CAR phase again. I hope she get over it soon.

LEARNING to KICK in the pool (she has no idea what she is doing but I reinforce it). I like that she is hearing the word "KICK" since it was a special part of my running days. Although not in the same context that I heard it in or with the same inflection maybe one day she will hear it too.

amused by us trying to teach her "mama" "papa" "clap your hands" "wave" etc...

doing a couple of things for the FIRST TIME like SITTING UP FROM LAYING DOWN(Neither Evan nor I saw her do it but she did it, somehow) and PULLING UP in her crib from the sitting position. I sat her in her crib with toys while I put away her clean clothes and when I turned around she was standing (extremely wobbly but super excited).

Last month I said she learned how to splash. We added a drum to the flailing arms to show her how to bang on the drum. Ta-da!
Bamboleoooo!

My 1st Mother's Day

Mother's Day. It is so much better when you are actually a mother and not because you are the one getting the gifts (although that is a perk). I've always enjoyed Mother's Day and Father's Day growing up because I was excited to give them gifts and usually there was some kind of family get together, maybe even at the beach:). I always enjoy time with my family. (Sometimes I complain because we have a birthday, graduation, etc...every other weekend, never leaving us any personal time. The only reason I think it is bothersome is not because I have to be there but because I WANT to be there.) Anyway, like I was saying, I have always enjoyed Mother's Day BUT NOW it is WAY better. Why?


Because I have my own little silly baby who loves to smile, eat and sleep. A baby who gives me kisses by leaving her mouth open when I put it to my cheek, a baby who screams with excitement and smiles often, a baby who loves being with her mommy, a baby whose cry breaks my heart and a baby who lets me kiss her to pieces and cracks up while I do it. Those are just a few of my favorite things about her.
Mother's Day is a reminder of the day I had my little princess. I cry just typing that because she is that special (and I am that emotional).
I hope everyone had a GREAT Mother's Day!




ps. We took some family pics on Mother's Day. Can't wait to show some off.

knock, knock.

who's there?
Percy.
Percy, who?
PERCY-NALITY!!!

Pretty good, ehh? I'm pretty good at being corny. Anyway, little Audrey is now 7 months old. She gets funnier everyday. From the start you see their personalities but as time passes it becomes more evident.

I've always noticed that my little linguini loves to be out and about. She loves people coming up to her and looking around. Screaming has served, and continues to serve several purposes: "I LIKE TO HEAR MY VOICE!!!" "WOW! I LIKE THAT! IT'S COOOOOOOOOL!" "LOOK MAAAAAAAAAAMA!" and of course "LOOK AT ME!!" "YES, I'M CUUUUUTE!". Those are just a few of her favorite screams.


She is not crawling yet, but she can do a complete 360 on her belly using her arms and she has been traveling backward instead of forward. She wants to go forward so she get pretty mad about getting further from the desired object. That results in a cry. Another sure fire way to have a crying Audrey is not giving her what is in your hand (anything that may be in it...trash, toys, keys, paper) or your hand itself...to bite! LOL No teeth yet but you can see her gums have the bumps to for the top 2 and bottom 2 teeth. Speaking of teeth and crying. Her favorite teether is her sippy cup and don't you dare take that away either. Anything you take away should quickley be replaced and the substitute item must be better.

While in Miami Audrey was given a walker to use. She is getting better in it. She loves playing with the single booklike flap on it.
In the excersaucer she turns completely around and "plays"/eats all the toys. Her favorite thing on most toys is ....the tag. I am soooo glad I didn't cut those off her toys.

Since last post she has been to Tallahassee where she went to her first FSU event....THE FSU FLYING HIGH CIRCUS. The girl has to know her roots. If you haven't been, you should. She was tired from an eventful morning and did great at the show but fell asleep during the second half. We had lunch with friends then headed to the alumni reception for drinks and good company.

Family pic before the show


Here is Audrey with the Lady Flying Seminoles

The next morning Audrey went to her FIRST egg hunt.
It was so much fun. All 3 of us enjoyed it so much, so much, that Evan wanted to have an egghunt for Audrey on Easter (the following weekend)and invite kids (which we don't know of any near us).

Here's Audrey looking so cute in this toy car at Chad and Mayela's house :)


Audrey met the Easter bunny at the mall that week and got her picture taken. She did great! Check out her smile

On Easter day she woke up at 6:30am?!?! Wierd. Luckily we left her in her crib where she finally fell back to sleep until 8am...much better. We got ready and headed out to church where we met up with grandma and grandpa. After church we had a lovely lunch at the Brinton's house. The table was set up beautifully and grandmother joined us for it.

After church on Easter Sunday


Scoping out her Easter basket


I feel so lucky to get to stay home with my little munchkin. I get to see all her little funny expressive faces, hear her laugh and cry, eat her yummy cheeks, take her out like a trophy baby (yeah, I said it). Only teeny drawback is that she doesn't really like other people to take her. I want to share her so that other people can see how great she is but she would rather them enjoy her while she is in my arms. She isn't completely spoiled...she will go with you (if I disappear and she can't hear me). For now I soak it up and enjoy it. Pretty soon she will learn that being out of mama's arms is way more fun.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIO JAVO!!

A week in Miami !

On Saturday April 2nd Evan, Audrey and I were here in Winter Haven getting things done around the house. We have been out of town so often there was some catching up and hanging out to be done. When we first moved in last summer we wanted to put up a canopy/ covered area in our backyard to enjoy it without melting. Well there we were, finally had one (thanks Meg), and in the process of building it. I was taking care of Audrey while Evan started building it. We hung out in the kiddie pool and helped Evan whenever we could. Then Audrey went down for her nap and I was able to help Evan finish. As we were finishing up I got a call from Mando "Christian ate some bang bang shrimp last night and is having contractions. Amelie Marie is on her way." That was at about 3pm. We finished up and contemplated driving down (who am I kidding, I didn't really have to think hard about it). Evan's dad came over for some pizza for dinner and Audrey woke up and played. I convinced Evan that I would drive to Miami and Audrey would sleep the whole way and he could rest in the back seat. The next day he would have to drive back to Winter Haven to go to work on Monday. Audrey and I got to spend the week in Miami and papa came back on Thursday night. We left the house at 7:30pm.

::::::DRIVING to MIAMI:::::::

We arrived in Miami at 11pm. I thought we would miss Amelie's birth but 30 minutes after we arrived my mom said she was going to the hospital because Christian was 9cm. Audrey and Evan went to bed and I headed out with mom. The baby was born as we parked the car. Christian did AMAZING again. No drugs. Nada. The woman is a champ. Amelie came out with 3 pushes. We hung out with family in the waiting room and received our picture text with her stats "Amelie Marie, 11:43pm, 6 lbs 12oz, 18in". Mando, Abuela Mari, and Tia Tere were her coaches. Mari and Tia Tere came out so that Abuelo Noel and Abuela Marta could go in and see mom and baby. Then they let me go in! I was so excited. I went in and of course Amelie was eating....following in Mandy's hungry footsteps. Christian looked Amazing and GLOWING. She definitely didn't look like she just pushed a baby out and WITHOUT an epidural.


Mando was so happy to have his princess. Then the nurse said it was time to take her away to the nursery. Little Amelie was not happy about being cut off but once she was tightly burrito-ed she was better. I took a couple of family pics (minus Mandy) and then I got to hold her for a second right before they took her away. I was so proud. I got to be the FIRST after her parents. It's amazing how much you can love all your nieces and nephews. How does the love not run out?


A couple of minutes after they took Amelie Marie away Christian stood up! ROCKSTAR
We headed home shortly after.

The next morning Evan, Audrey and I headed over to Kika's house to finally hold Gabrielle Alyse. I saw her the day she was born but wasn't able to carry her. I finally got to carry her. She was so tiny. You forget so quickly. Evan held her too. He looked so at home I think he is ready for number two. We even tested it.


We couldn't stay long because we still had one more stop before Evan had to head back to Winter Haven. We met up with Mami, Tia Ali and Mandy at the hospital and took turns visiting Mando, Christian and Amelie Marie. Audrey couldn't go in so she doesn't have a pic with her prima that day. Good friends of the family Vivi and Mary took care of Audrey in the hallway so that Evan and I could see Amelie. Mandy finally met his baby sister and they took their first Family Photo.


Evan unfortunately had to leave so Audrey and I went back home with Mami. Thanks Baby Cakes Magillicutty for going with us to Miami and driving back the next day.

Later that day Abuelo had promised Mandy he would take him to the park. Audrey and I went too. It was her first time in El Carreton! We had a great time.


As I have mentioned before Audrey is a good sleeper but it doesn't mean she doesn't cry in the middle of the night. I usually just leave her alone because she usually falls right back to sleep. That night Audrey slept in the same room as me and Mandy slept in the next room. I was taking care of Mandy and Audrey that night and on Monday. Well, in the middle of the night, Audrey started to cry. I would have left her alone but I didn't want her to wake Mandy since I didn't know if he was a light sleeper, so I picked her up. Here is the thing if I pick her up she fights her sleep more and boy did she. I decided to change her diaper...BAD IDEA. She SCREAMED bloody murder so bad that Mami and Papi came flying downstairs making sure everything was ok. Tia Ali also woke up and came to the room. Mandy slept through it. Lesson learned: Mandy can sleep through a bloody murder screaming baby. LOL.

Monday it was Mandy, Audrey and me hangout day.
We took a walk in the stroller, we hung out in the pool (well on the steps), I made 3 lasagnas, we colored (pics to come) and we played. Later that day Mando, Christian and Amelie Marie came home. They passed by to pick Mandy up. That night the Chulos and both Cruz families had some lasagna for dinner.


Tuesday Javo took Audrey and me to Kika's house. We hung out with the Chulos, Audrey slept in Gabi's crib, we visited the Cruzes and I was invited back the next day to babysit my boys. Kika lent me her tiny scion for the week. Thank God so I could get around. I don't recommend a tiny 2-door car with a baby seat. lol. It's not easy to get in and out.
The 1st pic of the 3 girls (with their mommies)

Wednesday we were back at the Chulo's in the morning. Once Audrey went down for her nap I borrowed Kika's van loaded the boys in the car, we picked Mandy up at his house, and headed to the park. We had a good time. It was nice to get out of the house and to be able to hang out with my 3 boys that I don't get to see very much.
We drove back home and Audrey was playing with Tia Kika and being a good girl.
The boys ate lunch and went down for a nap so Audrey and I went to visit the Cruzes. It just so happened that Mandy was tired so Tio Mando took Audrey and I took Mandy to his room and read him a book. In true Mandy fashion he went from paying attention and commenting on the book to completely out....There is no in between with the boy. We headed back to the Chulo's so that Christian and Amelie could rest especially with Mandy sleeping. Kika and Roger were getting ready to head out and it was time for Audrey's 2nd nap. I got to hold little Gabi and put her in her carseat for the ride. Once Kika and Roger left Adrian was still tossing and turning in his bed. Kika's video monitor is cool but even cooler are the things that her kids do when they should be asleep. Anyway I ended up in the room rubbing his back until he fell asleep. I was able to watch some of the "Little Fockers" movie before the little Rascals started to wake up. We (Danny, Adrian, Audrey and I) went to pick Mandy up to come hang out at the house. It turned out to be a bit of a mess to get the Chulitos out of the Cruz house since they wanted to play with his train but we made it out with Mando's help. He came back to the house with me so that I could cut up some strawberries for the boys snack. After snack time it was playtime.
I had such a GREAT time with the boys!!!

On the way home mami called to see if I could go to Publix bc she needed 1 green bell pepper. Audrey and I made the stop. I was pretty sure I would see someone I knew....gut feeling plus the odds are in my favor at that publix. I did! I ran into Ala-con-pala her 2 cute boys and Tia Alite. I've been wanting to pass by and see them. My unplanned week ended up being way more busy than I imagined. We got to talk for a little while which was nice. Hopefully I can actually visit for a while one of these days.

Thursday was good but rough for my little Audrey. We headed out to see Tio Javo and Tia Kristen's apt right when her nap was supposed to start. She fought it until we were a minute away and then woke up when we arrived. They have a cute small space. A perfect little first place. I'm looking forward to an invite. ;) Audrey fell asleep in my arms while we were there and in the car on the way home. She woke up when we arrived. I took advantage of Javo and Javo's friend Tom and Laura being home to help me load the car with the things I needed to take to Titi's house and I also thought Audrey might sleep in the car if I gave her some milk and headed out....wrong! She played the whole way to Titi's and then she played with her primito Chris. He is already crawling like a little pro. He uses a combo of techniques: the inchworm and the one-legger. They played together for a while...Chris tried finding toys to eat and Audrey trying to find Chris to eat. Then Audrey finally fell asleep (it only lasted about 40 mins). Sebi woke up and I got to hear all the words he says and he receptively identified: different cars, colors, words, and shapes. Titi, your kiddos are so cute and sweet. I love Sebi the Smarty and Chris the Crawler!





After helping/creating more work for Titi we headed home. Audrey took a tiny power nap in the car and was ready to hit the pool with Laura. We hung out there until my dear friend and ex-coworker arrived to visit us after a long day at Baudhuin. She even brought Audrey a floatie (and she didn't know we would be waiting in the pool). She didn't end up using it that day but she did the next :) It was so good to see you Kendra.


Audrey was already in bed but papa arrived in Miami that night!

Friday we went shopping at Babies R Us for Audrey and her primas. Then we used that as an excuse to go and visit them...so we did. It was brief but we got to see them again. We headed home to let Audrey get a good nap in before a long night at the rehearsal. It all worked out perfectly.
We headed out to the church...I forgot about Miami traffic for a minute and was quickly reminded. I don't miss it. We practiced then we went to Titi and Salvi's house for the rehearsal dinner. It was so nice of them to host it. It was 2 minutes from the church and everything turned out beautifully.
The bride and groom handed out gifts. They were both so creative.
It was so nice to see the friends and family together. Audrey fell asleep for 2 minutes at the dinner and then thought it was party time the rest of the time. She even let Tino and Libertad hold her (she is usually cranky when she is tired). It was nice to see them together.

Saturday, WEDDING DAY, was here! I showered and tried to help with anything Audrey related that I could before I left for the day. Then in true procrastinating Cruz form I got my bridesmaid dress altered right before getting to the hotel to get ready. I had such a nice time getting ready with the other bridesmaid. It gave me a chance to get to know them a little better which was great since they are important to my sis-in-law. Now I know 3 of her good friends and her cousin. The other two hooligans I knew already.

We headed to the wedding in the limo, we walked down the aisle and then the beautiful bride headed down the aisle. The ceremony was beautiful with a great message delivered by Father Willie. After many pics by the funny photographer we headed to the celebration. It was a packed house. We had a great time!

Sunday was back to Winter Haven....ahhh good to be home :)

A few things to add

Little Linguini got sick for the 1st time during month 5. It wasn't too big of a deal. She took it like a lady and was all better (no boogies) in one week. Here she is a little tired and a little sick at her cousins' 5th birthday party.


I also wanted to add her Stats from the Doctor's appointment. She is 27.5 inches long (90%), weighs 15.1 lbs (30%), and her head is in the 50%. Her doctor said she is doing great. She barely cried for her shots...a big improvement from the last shots. She got a low grade fever last night and this morning but she is doing well. The little bump on the side of her head is a little cyst. She said it's pretty common and we will continue to keep an eye on it. If they were to do anything to it, it wouldn't be until she is a year old. I also got a heads up that we might be seeing 2 bottom and top teeth soon. We'll keep you posted.

half-a-year-old

Did half a year really just pass?? All I have to say is my daughter is AWESOME!! She has really made being a mommy easy. Besides being super cute, she loves to smile, is a good eater and sleeper. She is getting pretty good with her sippy cup except she isn't very good at tilting it up....same with the bottle.
She loves to make cool noises. This month she discovered her feet which is so fun (except when I'm trying to feed her).
She is not too interested in crawling which I'm ok with...I'm not ready to babyproof. She has mastered rolling over in both directions which is good and bad. When I put her on her belly to practice she just rolls right over and smiles. She likes to hang out in bridge position.
She has started to suck her thumb to sooth herself. Pro- she'll never lose her thumb in the middle of the night or any other time she needs it,& Con- she'll never lose her thumb even when it's time to quit the thumb sucking.
We have been using the baby pool. It is so much fun. She loves it!
This month the went to Disney for the first time. She did awesome and was able to hang out with her cousins and Disney characters.
As I have mentioned before, Audrey has never been really good in the car but she has improved. She did 2- FOUR HOUR car rides with me and did really well. Of course I timed it with one of her naps, but you never know. Like today for example, she started screaming hysterically on our way home from the gym (5 minute car ride, really??). I guess she could feel how tense I was the whole ride. Most importantly we made the 4 hour trip to celebrate her primos' 3rd birthday
and to see her new Prima Gabrielle Alyse! I can't wait to hold her. We had to leave before I could hold her. WELCOME TO THE FALMILY BEAUTIFUL!!!Audrey already knows how awesome primas are. She can't wait to meet Amelie Marie too!
While we waited to surprise Tia Kika that we were in town. Audrey played with her primo Mandy. He helped bathe her, read to her and shared his animals with her.


Audrey also went to her 1st wedding. It was so nice. Two of my very good friends from FSU who were both partnered with me in different circus acts tied the knot this weekend. Audrey did great at the wedding and partied until 9:30pm (without a good afternoon nap) and luckly slept through the night. She also met so many of our friends from the circus, especially her Tia Sarita. Sarah also gave her the beautiful dress she ended up wearing at the wedding.
It was so much fun to see everyone. Sunday morning on Audrey's half-birthday we visited the bride and groom one last time before they left on their honeymoon and we met up with friends for breakfast.
After breakfast we headed to Audrey's GREAT-grandparents (Mema & Dedaddy) house for lunch. She met another cousin and more aunts and uncles.

What a GREAT WEEK/END & Half a year!