What's Mateo Up To These Days?

Mateo loves stuffed animals and will give them hugs whenever they're near, but his favorite furry friend is his Mr. Bear rug.Mateo adores his cousin Joaquin and of course his Nana. She takes care of these little guys everyday! They paint, sing, play with nature, and take little naps together...remember those days? Another one of his favorite things to do right now is pull EVERYTHING out of drawers and cabinets! He does it with such concentration like he's doing a VERY important job! Now if I could only teach him how to put things BACK!

So here is Mateo in his play tent saying "dad" but I think we just got lucky!



Who knew a balloon could be so fun?

Diego's Birthday

We had our godson Diego's birthday at our house and the kids had a blast. My sister-in-law made clues for a pirate treasure hunt and here are some of the pics.

So here's the birthday boy Diego with his cousins and friends getting ready to look for the pirate treasure!

Here is one of the clues...

The pirates are searching feverishly for the next clue...

Finally the pinata!

The fierce candy grabbing!

This is Ariana, the ONLY female grandchild out of 8!

And this is me just observing the fun from afar!

Last, but not least is Mateo in his firehouse. He thought this was a perfectly good pirate hiding place!

A New Camera...

So probably like many of you who have updated to a "newer" digital camera, I was completely annoyed with never getting the shots of Mateo I wanted because by the time the camera actually took the darn picture, he had already moved! So I bought myself a new Nikon D60 and am learning how to take great pictures. Here are just a few that I've taken this past week. By the way, Mateo turns 10 months old next week...can you believe it, my baby boy is almost 1 year old!?!?!

"What are you doing mom? Another picture?"

"I love to shake my toucan!"

"I tried to help the Seahawks out by wearing my pajammies, but it didn't work!"

"I'm hoping my mom washes off the spaghetti above my eyes from dinner!"

"Mom, I'm hoping this smile will score me some ladies down the road!"

"Finally my mom is in the picture!"

Forget mama and dada, I want to say fish!

I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update my blog. For a quick update on my life...Mateo is finally feeling better. I just took him in for his 9 month check-up and he's 21 1/2 pounds and almost 28 inches tall. He had to get blood taken and it was SO much harder on me than him. He was a champ. He just whimpered but didn't cry. The nurse said he did better than most grown men! HA! Mateo is just a joy to be around. He is learning new things everyday and is so close to walking in his own. He's such a happy little boy and I still rush home every day to see his smiling face. Cesar is still kickin butt as a 6th grade teacher and I'm still trudging on as a math & ELD coach. I miss the classroom terribly and look forward to returning. Well that is all for now friends. Here is a video showcasing what I think is Mateo's first word. I don't think he technically knows that he's saying "fish" but more mimicking me but it will do and it's cute as ever.

Mateo's First Christmas

Here is Mateo on Christmas morning. I felt so bad for the little guy though because he felt horrible. His little nose was running, his eyes were watery, and he was coughing. He still was a trooper.

Here he is opening his soon-to-be favorite present!

Mateo's brand new wagon. He thinks it's the coolest thing ever!Here he is ready to go over to his nana's house to open presents.

By the time Christmas night rolled around, Mateo was exhausted. I can't wait until he actually understands the whole Santa idea!

Before and After

Here is Mateo before he got the stomach flu...

And here he is now with his 3 basic needs: pedialyte, crackers, and children's tylenol. Poor thing has had the stomach flu this past week, but is slowly on the mend.

Christmas around the Casa

So slowly but surely, we've built up our Christmas decor. It's definitely different this year having a child as I'm SO into the Christmas spirit. I decided, small as it may be, to show some pics of some of the Christmas spirit in our casa.

So here's Mateo doing his favorite thing right now (climbing and standing on anything within reach) next to the fireplace.

Here's our mantle with our stockings hung by the chimney with care...I love this Santa. Mateo stares at him and yanks on his boots.

Does everyone remember the countdown to Christmas box that had a chocolate for each day before Christmas? I couldn't think of a way to put biter biscuits in one so I opted for this Snowman.

My mom made this when she was in highschool...priceless. The little Santa and reindeer was a gift I gave my mom in third grade. I bought it at a bizarre for a dollar.

Here's the tree so far. We're still trying to figure out how to keep this room safe for Mateo...he thinks he can climb this sucker!

Last, but not least, when my mom, grandpa, and brother came to Riverside for Christmas in 2002 my mom sent me all of the Christmas decorations she had from when I was growing up so that we could decorate the tree together. It was one of the most special times I've ever had and has so much more meaning now that all three have passed. I have so many priceless decorations but I thought I would share this one. I made it in Kindergarten and it still looks pretty darn good for being 25 years old. I will never get rid of any ornament my children make me as I know how special it is to have pieces of your past.