Francescsa's Virtual Graduation

First Day of School

How time flies... I can't believe that today Felipe starts 4th grade and Francesca goes to 2nd.  I feel like just yesterday I was dropping Felipe off in Pre-K.  This school year will bring new adventures as they both embark on a voyage through the Gifted Program.  I will try to continue to post on a more regular basis. Until next time!

Happy 4th Birthday Princess!!!

Four years ago to the minute mommy and daddy were on their way out to Costco to buy a few things to celebrate your brother's 2nd birthday.  We had waited to the last minute because we did not know when you would make your grand entrance.  Little did I know that we would never make it there because you wanted to get out.  My contractions started at around 11:15 am and 12 hours later I was holding you in my arms.

Today, my princess, I wanted to wish you the best in everything you do.

Am I vertically challenged???

Today I was taking Felipe to school and since I didn't have to go to work I had Francesca with me also in the car.

The conversation goes like this...

Felipe:  Is daddy 37?
Me: Yes
Felipe: Why is daddy not like you?
Me:  He is, I am also 37.
Felipe: No, why isn't daddy like you?
Francesca: What... Tiny?
They both start to laugh and I call Adrian to tell him and he tells me that I am not tiny I am just vertically challenged.

The most interesting part of all this is that I still don't know what Felipe meant by his question.

DIY Memory Box

I’m participating in Smarty Pants Mama’s SmartMamaLUTION.

SmartMama-Lution #1 is a do-it-yourself memory box.  I loved the box she used but since I couldn't find it I chose a CD storage case.  I decided on the storage box because when I went to Target and the only one that I liked was actually the same one my friend was using.  I ended up buying mine at Walmart along with 5x7 index cards.  I figured the larger cards would give me more space to write and also be able to include various years on one card.

For less than $12 (the box was $2.99, the index cards were $1.88 per pack and the divider tabs were $2.00) and about an hour (sorry but I am a perfectionist) I finished my box.

I have finished filling in all my cards to date and will continue to do so every night just before bedtime.

What do you think? 
All the tabs are evenly distributed and I also made sure that certain months got specific colors but they are all alternating in the same pattern. I did say I was a perfectionist.
 
All in all I love how cute and easy it was to create this memory box.  I just wish I would have known about this idea before my kids were born... It would have made it easier to remember when they did something specific.

Trip to the train museum

Yesterday we saw in the weekend section of the newspaper that the Goldcoast Railroad Museum had free admission the first Saturday of every month so we decided to take the kids.

When we first got there the kids seemed a bit bored but they quickly started seeming a bit more curious about all the trains. They really enjoyed the model train room.

Once we finished walking around we rode on the link train which was a huge hit with the kids.

Happy Halloween

Hope everyone had a safe and happy halloween.  This year we didn't do much because unfortunately Felipe had bronchitis and a double ear infection so we played it safe and stayed home considering it was drizzling.

Eventhough we didn't go out I did dress them up in their costumes so my mom could see them.  She had bought them matching superhero costumes so I thought it was only fair for her to enjoy seeing them.  She came over and brought them some candy.

Early in the day Felipe had a small party at school with all his classmates.  They did a little parade around all the school and then ended in their own classrooms for their parties.

Take a look at a selection of photos I took today: Halloween Photo Album

Francesca's New Bed

We finally gave up and got Francesca a toddler bed. 

We wanted to wait a bit longer but realized that she already knew how to climb into her crib so there wasn't anything stopping her from trying to climb out of her crib.  As many of you know her crib is up on a platform above Felipe's bed so that last thing we wanted was her going head first onto the floor.

So yesterday we went and got her a toddler bed. Tonight will be her first night in her new bed.  Let's hope she has a good night.  I will keep you posted.

Bob the Builder - We can build it!

Today was Target Free Friday at the Miami Children's Museum so I decided to take the kids to see the Bob the Builder exhibit.

Since this was the last Friday before Felipe started school I thought it might be a nice treat.  Since they had never really played at this museum before, the few times we have gone they were too little to enjoy anything, I wasn't sure if they would actually enjoy it.  Well to my surprise they both enjoyed the museum lot and we were there for almost 4 hours.  Felipe didn't want to leave the Firefighter section but I had to drag him out so he could see the rest of the exhibits.  Once we got to the Bob the Builder section they both started playing with all the blocks and playsets.

New and Improved Playroom

The full view of the room

Truck and Tractor parking lot

The kids finally have a playroom that can be a mess and we won't care.... As their birthday present we decided to convert the garage into a playroom for them.
It took a bit to complete but now the kids have a room to play in and we have our sunken livingroom back.

As you can see from the pictures we have foam tiles on the floor and we used my aunt's old kitchen cabinets for storage.  Let's hope it is always this organized.

Happy Holidays from The Simos

Happy First Birthday Princess

A year ago today, at this exact time, Francesca joined our family.

Dear Francesca,

It's been a year of happiness not only for daddy and me but also for all those that have gotten to know you.

For the past week all your daddy and I can say is "Can you believe it's been a year?". Although it seems like time has flown by, we can definitely say that we have enjoyed every minute that we have been with you.

Today you are turnig one and you have taken us on a roller coaster ride like no other.  Eventhough we already went through all this with your brother I can definitely say that it has been a different experience.

Together we've experienced: baby kicks, ultrasounds, heartburn, breastfeeding, burping, sleepless night, co-sleeping, exhaustion, diaper changes, explosive poops, constipation, getting pooped on the hand, baths, first bath, First Halloween, First Thanksgiving, First Christmas, First New Year's, Your Baptism, First Valentine's Day, First St Patty's Day, First Easter, First 4th of July, leaving to work in the mornings while you are crying for me, booger bubbles, gases, long nails, fussiness, scratches, SIDS obsessions, bottom teeth, homemade baby food, lots of pictures, First trip to the zoo, First car trip, First time at the beach, First time in the ocean, laughs, bumps, bruises, scratches, standing in the crib, biting, drooling, slobbery kisses, rolling over, sitting up, crawling, pulling up, standing, face landings, sleeping through the night, tantrums, giggles, mama, dada, saliva bubbles, rocking you to sleep, singing you to sleep, multiple pediatrician appointments, clapping, peekaboo, screaming, squeals of delight, tickles, waving bye-bye, first dip in the pool, Mother's day, Father's Day ... and your first birthday!

Wow, my precious, it must have been an exhausting year for you.

Happy 1st Birthday Francesca!!!

I love you my princess and with every day that passes, I love you even more. I'm looking forward to the next year of "adventures" with you.

Mommy

Memorial day at abuela Mali

We didn't have plans for Memorial day considering we were not sure if Adrian had to work so at the last minute we decided to have lunch at my mother-in-law's house. After lunch we headed over to the pool. We weren't there for very long because the kids hadn't napped so they were tired.

A day at the beach

Today decided to go to the beach to enjoy a relaxing morning. We were so lucky that the water was CALM and delicious. Both kids enjoyed the water and had a fun time...

Francesca even played on the sand by the shore.

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My little girl is growing up...

Today Francesca will be 7 months old and I just finished putting her in her crib. It has taken me this long to release the cord and allow her to sleep in the other room.

I am not sure if what was stopping me was the fact that I can't see both Felipe & Francesca through the monitor or just that I wanted to keep her within arms reach.

Whatever the reason I finally had to concede because she was getting to big for the bassinet.

My little girl is getting older by the minute and I can't do anything to stop her.

Francesca's Baptism

Earlier today was Francesca's baptism. To keep with the tradition, she was baptized at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Miami and Father Gerardo performed the ceremony. Her godparents were Adrian's cousins (Lauri & Sebastian)... Unfortunately earlier this morning Sebastian was called away on a EMERGENCY business trip so he couldn't attend the baptism but luckily Joaquin, my brother-in-law was able to step-in as a substitute.

Our baby girl was well behaved during the whole ceremony. She did get a bit fussy when Father Gerardo poured the water over her head but she calmed down quickly.

After the ceremony, we all took pictures with Francesca and then headed home for the reception.

We had set-up a tent with tables in our backyard just like we did for Felipe's baptism. The whole week we had been praying for a beautiful day because the weather outlook said it was suppose to rain today. Luckily the weather was really nice so it was fun to be outdoors. My mother-in-law had prepared some Salmon and Chicken spreads, we bought some brushetta and a Tortilla Española. We served all this to the guests until the food was ready to be eaten. As the main course, Adrian had prepared some Pumpkin Raviolis, 4 cheese Tortellinis and Proscuitto di Parma Tortellinis.

In the end I think everyone had a great time.

Francesca's Baptism Photo Album

New Years at the Mejia House

We brought in 2010 at the Mejia's... All the kids made it to midnight except Francesca who fell asleep at around 11.

As usual we just sat around and watched TV until the New Years countdown. After midnight we sang Happy Birthday to Ren and cut him a cake. A little while later the Dufaus and the Rivadeneiras left.

We continued to party "hard" by playing Rock Band. Everyone but me participated in one way or another except me (I was the official photography/videographer).

I am not sure if the music woke up Francesca or just hunger but at around 1 am she started crying and I went to get her. She enjoyed the afterparty.

Pictures of our celebration

Francesca's First Christmas

Noche Buena was spent at my mom's house. We had dinner and then mingled for a while before going to midnight mass.

Felipe was so tired from running around my mom's house that he fell asleep before the mass even started. Francesca on the other hand was awake throughout the whole mass and the ride home.

Christmas Day we had our traditional breakfast at my mom's, we opened presents and then went to my mother-in-law's house for lunner.

The kids got lots of great and useful gifts this year.

Later on tonight we are going to the Dufau's for our annual "Grupito" gathering except this year we are not giving out any gifts to the kids. The economy was tough on all of us.

First Day back at Work

After 3 1/2 months of Maternity leave I returned to work today. I thought I would go crazy waiting for the time to go by but it actually flewn by really quickly. Now I am going to play with my kids 'til they get tired of me.

Trip to the zoo

Today we went to the zoo after having the tickets for almost 6 months...

We had purchased tickets online sometime in May but by the time we got to the zoo that day it was raining so they told us we could use them any other day. Today was such a beautiful and cool day that we decide to take advantage and go walk around.

It was Felipe's second trip and Francesca's first but this time around Felipe really enjoyed pointing at all the animals and saying their names.

Enjoy our pictures