Easter

I love love love love Easter. who doesn't? I almost wish there were more songs and hype about it because it is clearly the second best holiday of the year. This year I didn't get to celebrate at home (in rosytown) which is the best! but...I did have Sarah and her kids to celebrate with which made it awesome. You gotta have candy-craving-kids in order to enjoy the hunt. It was especially fun because I got to play Easter bunny for the first time! I didn't have the slightest idea how fun it could be. Hiding eggs and stealing baskets and candy in true Easter bunny fashion (reference to Uncle Marshal). It was a delight.
And this year we had Marcus and boy did he catch on quick. After observing his big cousins he realized that as soon as you find an egg you start yelling back at the table triumphantly. For him it doesn't matter what you are yell just as long as get back to the group as quickly as you can with the prize egg held high over head. He loved it. Just as much as his first taste of all the delicious kinds of candy coated chocolate and jelly beans. Oh, and did I mention- he already adores eggs- hard boiled eggs. Eats at least one everyday.
Having kids makes holidays especially special. And I am not just talking about for the hunt or the candy. I am so grateful that my little guy will be mine forever. My Savior made it all possible. I love my little family now and can't wait to get to know the rest of the little angels that heaven sends our way. I only hope that I can be a worthy and able mommy to all of them. The sickness that I am feeling right now is quite a trial. I am doing it for our second little one. Jesus suffered for all of us. I am so glad that I can be a part of his plan of happiness in bringing little souls so the earth. The pain and sickness is only temporary. The joy is eternal.
Happy Easter!

By the sea

We had an awesome vacation a few weeks ago. Juan's brother, Andres, came for a visit from Ecuador and stayed with us for a while so we took him and Marylu along with us to San Diego.I was pleasantly surprised how close it is to drive to California from Vegas- only about 4 hours. We stayed with Juan's friends the Walkers in Mission Viejo the first night and Saturday we went to Sea World. Marcus enjoyed it so much even though we sat in the splash zones during every show. He only cried a little bit when we got splashed. Most of the time he was very entertained. His favorite part was the turtle aquarium. As the fish swam right by his face he tried to grab them- it was so cute to watch. I wish I would have gotten a good video of it. We loved seeing dolphins, killer whales, sea lions and all kinds of creatures of the sea. Still, I like to see it all in the wild and I found myself missing Hawaii and snorkeling. I would do anything to be able to swim with dolphins again in the wild.
Marcus' favorite part in the whole park was the baby fishbowl. In my opinion this was genius for the little toddlers to run around in. He met some other cute fishes too.
That night we stayed in Carlsbad in a hotel a few blocks to the beach. The next day, while Juan and Andres went to a Clippers game during the day, Mare and I took Marcus down to the beach. What a fun time we had; playing in the sand, finding seashells/rocks, and chasing birds away from our picnic. Marcus ate it a few times...literally...and after the third time, and it was into the water because a wave wiped him out, we decided to pack up and head back. SO MUCH BETTER THAN GOING TO A BASKETBALL GAME! Our last day was pretty awesome. We got to see the San Diego temple and went to a beach in La Jolla where we got to see about a hundred leopard sea lions basking in the sun and some huge pelicans. Can you spot them on the rock?

smile wide and drool

I love my little man. ever since i can remember he has been dripping from the mouth like the bulldog in Rio. I think its his happy attitude and hunger for...well...food. some of his favorites include:
eggs
avocados
shrimp
chicken
spaghetti
grapes
bananas
cottage cheese
shredded cheese
granola bars
I could go on and on...he is not a picky eater.
Lately, I have felt like we are really communicating effectively. When he wants to go outside he brings me one of his shoes. Then I point to the other shoe and explain that he needs it and so he goes and retrieves it as well. At meal time when he is not happy with one of the options being thrust in his face he looks heavenward as if saying a prayer and puts his hands on his head and under his chin. I abuse this one a little too much cuz I love seeing him squirm and stress out :)
To the relief of both his parents his favorite toys are balls. Big ones, small ones, deflated ones and especially bite size ones. That might be the only reason why he likes grapes.
He is a very independent little guy. It is very hard to get him to hold your hand while walking and he has exhibited frustration when I have tried to help him climb up onto the slide or chair.
He is a fast learner and daredevil (like his mom). He loves naps, the iPhone, and food (like his dad).

long time no see

time to just say something here since a few months have passed by. uh...a lot has happened since halloween. we had a wonderful thanksgiving and christmas out in rosytown with all the fam. i love it there with everyone- pure bliss. new year's was spent at lauradaves which was a lot of fun, of course. that is until kids started throwing up. then a week later Juan had an job interview in las vegas so we headed down there (here) and the day after the interview they called him up and offered him a job. so the last day of january we packed up our lives in a big moving truck and drove 7 hours to vegas. and here we are in our little apartment. we live a few blocks away from sarah which is awesome.
that was a quick up to speed post...but i left out one minor detail....
we found out on valentine's day that....drum roll please.....i'm pregnant.
so that means i am sick. as a dog. but not throwing up. hooray!

HALLO...When's Christmas?

Carving pumpkins is super fun- I admit. But all the rest of the stuff I've grown not so fond of. Call me a 'bah-hum-bug' but I don't like to dress up myself and go beg for candy. I dressed Marcus up as a giraffe and we knocked on two doors but that was it for the 31st. The fun was had when Jordan, Laura, Dave, Jamie and Nathan came over for chili, scones, pumpkins, donuts and cider.
So I am really looking forward to Christmas this year! What do you want for Christmas? I just can't wait to spend quality time with the fam!

X RATED!

okay not really but i just wanted to warn you.
so lately this little guy can't lie down long enough for me to get his pants on let alone his diaper. oh, and he would rather eat the wipes than let me wipe his bum. he is still at the stage where everything goes in the mouth (other mommies? when does he grow out of this stage?)

regardless of my complaints he still manages to rock my world and he is way more entertaining than tv or youtube or facebook. that is the reason my blogging has tapered off. I'm having too much fun (either that or i'm pulling my hair out cuz he won't go down for a nap!).
latest entertainments include:
1. figuring out how to crawl with a favorite object. he resorts to trying to hold it in his mouth and crawl but it never works because he has to breath heavily and crawl at the same time. MULTITASKING IS HARD!
2. he treats our apartment like an obstacle course- racing from one end of the room to the other and back and around. he wants to try out his standing abilities on every elevated object no matter how tall or small. that means he is sticking his bum in the air while holding on to a flat-on-the-ground book wondering why he's not standing.
3. peek-a-boo is his favorite game. whoever is holding him during this game gets all slapped up for the duration. he just cannot contain his excitement while waiting for you to pop your head up.
4. this one's hilarious! he can wail with is mouth closed! when he is done eating his squash and i mean DONE! he cries with his lips closed. i have yet to get a good picture of this.
5 lastly, i love watching him wrestle with his daddy. this is usually right when juan comes home from work and they are both bursting with excitement to see one another. today was the first time that marcus cried when daddy had to go back to work. not just a whimper-and-forget-about-it cry. he cried for nearly 30 mins while looking at the door.

isn't that sweet?

Too many girls

What's happening to the Y chromosome these days? I mean I have always been a proponent for friendly competition between women and men but this is a whole different realm of competition: X vs. Y.
Poor Marcus will wipe this sweet smile off his face when someday soon he realizes that all of the cousins that are his age are girls. With nobody to play cars and shoot bad guys with he will be one sad kid.
There's Maya, Alexis, Emily, Camilla, Linda (chinita), and now my other sister Laura found out she is going to have a girl too! I'm gonna have to have another boy so that he has someone to play with. (I'm not making any announcements here.)