Merry Christmas!

We hope you had a blessed and wonderful Christmas and continue to enjoy the season! Ours was, as usual, interesting! Sebastian is thankfully beginning to feel much better. On Christmas Eve he finally began eating more and in the evening when we went to my Aunt Monica's house for festivities he was excited to play for a little while with his cousin Angelica. He didn't open any presents because he fell asleep, but we saved them for Christmas Day.

At our friend Cathy and Zach's wedding, they played this game called "table presents." Typically you'd play on a table, but we just set ours up on the floor. We thought this was a really neat tradition and wanted to share it with our families. Each family had a string attached to a gift and all at once had to pull their string to find their gift.

As the families opened the gifts they were in for quite the surprise! Each contained a homemade Christmas ornament that said...

It's a BOY! or Es un NENE!

The secret is out! We are SOOOOO excited to have another little boy, especially since they will be so close in age. They will have so much fun together!

At the news everyone was gasping and clapping and cheering and Sebastian was just a bit confused...then he started crying. He didn't take the news so well. =)

My Mama's favorite present was a special book I made her of just her and Sebastian.

Along with the Christmas festivities we were also celebrating my Titi Monica's marriage to Nandy. We celebrated with a toast, exchange of rings and cake. Here is a picture of the new blended family - Monica and Angelica with Nandy's two grown kids.

Exhausted, but happy. Merry Christmas!

On Christmas morning, Sebastian was not feeling his best. He opened a few gifts, but we ended up saving the majority for another day when he felt better. He did enjoy tearing the gift wrap of a few of them though and he would say "abre!, abre!" which means "open" in Spanish.

Later on, we went to Nana and Papa's house where he got his little red car from them. Wow! (Those were his words once he saw it.) He was so excited and played for about an hour just getting in and out and driving even though he didn't feel well.

Video - turn up volume and click the play button.

Sebastian playing with his car on Christmas morning.

He kept doing this little "excited dance" you will see in a minute.

It's very cute!

A few days later he opened his gift from Abuelita - an art easel with chalk on one side...

...and magnets and dry erase on the other. He LOVED it and again, has been so excited to play with it throughout the day.

Two days later, the car is still a huge hit. As soon as he wakes up in the morning, he runs over to it and gets in and out at least 10 times with a huge grin on his face.

We slowly continue to open Christmas presents and have found that he really seems to be able to take the time to enjoy them more this way. So I think it will be a week long Christmas event for us. As of today, he is certainly back to his normal self, although he is still coughing. We have felt so blessed and so overwhelmed with all the gifts. We are thankful for so much loving family and friends, but at the same time feel so torn because we want to find a way to give back and make sure that our children grow up knowing that Christmas is about giving as well. As we look at the mountain of toys, books and singing gadgets, we know Sebastian is enjoying them, but also hope that in the coming years, we can make sure our family understands that we have so much more than we could ever need and truly want for nothing...

Today was Paul's 29th birthday and we celebrated with a lunch at our apartment with our families. We had a great time and Sebastian and Daddy both thoroughly enjoyed the cake. =)

I've posted additional Christmas photos too, so click here if you want to see more pictures! At the top is mostly pictures of my Titi's wedding, but towards the bottom are more Sebastian Christmas pictures. Enjoy!

We will continue blogging in 2009! We know it will be an exciting year of moves, a new addition to our family and entering the toddler years. We look forward to it and know that God will continue to guide us on this path! Happy New Year!

Quick Update! Need to get another post in before Christmas!

Greetings! Hope everyone is ready for Christmas festivities tomorrow! We are packing up our things for the weekend to go to Orlando and hoping that things go well. Our poor little Sebastian is quite sick - he has severe bronchitis or pneumonia - so it's been a rough couple of days. You'll see a picture of sick Sebastian at the end of the post. So please keep him in your Christmas prayers that he feels better soon, soon, soon! Here are a few of the activities from the past weeks.

Sebastian playing at Gymboree.

At Daddy's family Christmas party at Harris. Sebastian loved his present!

Waiting for the Melbourne Christmas Parade. It was actually cold which was nice for a chance. Angelica and Sebastian really enjoyed it.

Sebastian's favorite part of the parade...a school bus all decorated with lights as the Polar Express.

Lately Sebastian loves wearing his sunglasses and praying. Here he is praying before dinner with his sunglasses on. The other day, after the Christmas parade, we had a lot of people over for dinner. We sat Sebastian with Angelica at a little table and when it came time to say prayers he jumped up from the table and ran to his high chair saying 'pray, pray' and folding his hands because that's how he prays before he eats. So cute.

And here he is ready to dig in...again, with sunglasses. Whatever makes him happy!

Cristina at 26 weeks pregnant during Paul's work Christmas party.

So tired...but not wanting to miss out on his pretzel snack.

Sick Sebastian getting his nebulizer treatment from the fish. It's a cute little fish mask, which he now calls "fish face" and we tell him will help him feel better. Poor baby!

Christmas Lights at MGM (Hollywood Studios)

Last weekend we visited Disney's Hollywood Studios or MGM to see the Osborne Family Christmas Lights. Here is our little Mickey walking around the park. He loves those Mickey ears! Such a big boy.

He was so excited to see the car, but once we got up there he was a little scared. The day he finds out there's a movie with these cars, he's going to be so excited!

One of the highlights was playing with these Mickey lights that moved around on the ground near the center of the park. He would chase them around and laugh saying "icky, icky!"

Our family with the Christmas lights. I love this picture!

Our cutie during the Avalon Christmas parade. He had a great time waving at everyone and handing Mami and Daddy all the candy people threw at him. I can't believe how grown up he is getting!

The grandsons with Papa on his 65th birthday.

Sebastian's Merry Christmas Party!

Today, Sebastian hosted a Christmas party with his playgroup buddies. Notice all the food was kid friendly snacks and boy did they eat up. They all ate constantly!

Sebastian, Emilio and Owen working on the their Christmas tree craft. They turned out so cute!

All the Moms and babies. But they sure aren't little anymore!

The girls. I'm so thankful to have a great group of friends!

They all wanted me to post all the pictures from the party, so click on this link to see more pictures!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sebastian's Thanksgiving craft from school.

We spent Thanksgiving day at the Giammarinaro's with family. Sebastian wanted to ride the tricycle, but kept falling off, so we'll have to wait a little bit for that. He didn't much care for the Thanksgiving feast, but he loved looking at Nana's Christmas decorations and singing snowmen.

Mami and Sebastian got creative and made the family Thanksgiving place cards for the table. Sebastian put the stickers on the front and...

...colored the picture inside and helped Mami do the stamp. He got tired of putting the stickers on though when I wouldn't let him take them off of the paper. Oh well. Everyone enjoyed their special memento of Thanksgiving 2008.

We celebrated Thanksgiving #2 with the Silva family at my mom's house with a Boston Market feast. Can't beat the price and convenience!!! The day was beautiful outside and we even started the Christmas decorating.

Sebastian woke up from his nap just in time for the feast. He was soooo happy to see everyone when he first stepped outside. It was pretty cute. What a face!! You'll also notice Sebastian's hair was getting a little shaggy here... Now Paul has been dying to take the buzzers to it and Mami has been freaking out about this possibility. Finally, after seeing Jackson, my friend Sarah's son with a cute short cut, I went for it. Below you can see the results. I am pretty happy with it, even though he looks like a bigger boy now. Certainly beats paying for a bad haircut because the kid won't stop screaming!!! =)

The new big boy cut (which is also a work in progress if we find pieces that are too long). It's not perfect, but when he is screaming, crying and trying to wiggle out of my grasp, we were pretty proud.

VIDEO above - click on the play button and turn up the volume!

Here he is being a cut up on his bed. He made up this game one afternoon and just thought it was hysterical. It involves talking to himself in the mirror (which is directly behind me with the camera) and falling backwards. Then he touches each one of his cars, lays down and plays with his feet and starts all over again. I think he did this for like 45 minutes one afternoon as I just sat and laughed at him. Kids are so funny and weird sometimes!

So everyone always sees the "oh, he's such a cutie" side of Sebastian, but here is the other, very real, "I'm an 18 month old little terror who likes to have his way all the time and immediately" Sebastian. I don't even recall what he was mad about here, but I couldn't help but to capture the "memory."

The terrible two's arrive a little too early...tears and everything.

Beginning of Christmas Festivities

Cold weather has arrived! (At least for the day.)

Excited to go down the slide during his pre-school Christmas Party. I love him in this jacket - he looks like a cutie Colombian baby!

His excited face. Love the eyes...



VIDEO above - click on the play button and turn up the volume!

Sebastian decorating his Gingerbread Man. He actually (and surprisingly to Mami) really enjoyed this activity. He very carefully placed the little candies on the cookie and even helped to spread the icing.

The finished product. Paul ate it once we got home.

**Edit by Paul** I did NOT eat the entire thing, it is in fact still partially sitting on the table thank you very much! **End Edit**

Shopping for the perfect "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree. Since all but one bin of our Christmas decorations are in storage and our living room is already packed with furniture and toys, we wanted to get a small tree. We got a great deal and this one was the perfect size. Sebastian kept saying "tree, tree" and was very excited touching the tree.

With Mami and the Christmas tree. More pictures coming soon once Sebastian sees the Christmas tree up and decorated! I'm sure we'll get a big "WOW!" from him!

While we were setting up the tree he kept going up to Paul because he wanted to help. Here is "Daddy's Helper," as his shirt appropriately says, taking a break. =)

Quick Catch Up

We have been working with Sebastian to brush his teeth - which he does not like at all. So after each tooth brushing session he gets a sticker - which he LOVES. The other day we brushed his teeth before bedtime and he went to sleep with his sticker on his shirt as usual. Well sometime in the night, he must have decided to put it on his bellybutton and when I went to check on him before we went to bed this is what I found! We had a pretty good laugh.

This past weekend we took my goddaughter Angelica to her first Florida Gator's Football game versus Citadel. It was beautiful weather in Gainesville and so nice to be back for a game! She was so excited, but the concept of UF being our school was pretty tricky for a 6 year old to understand. Whenever someone walked by she would ask if they were our friend. =)

In front of the fountain at St. A's Catholic Student Center, our home away from home in Gainesville.

The proud Gator girl. She was so interested in the game and had a great time!

With Albert and Alberta.

During bathtime playing with his super-sized rubber ducky, a gift from his Lelo (Abuelo).

Building block towers, one of his favorite activities these days. He's getting much better at it - they get taller and taller!

With Titi Monica at the beach. It was cool, but nice weather and he had fun seeing the water and blowing kisses at all the birds.

We are looking forward to a nice family Thanksgiving and of course the UF -v- FSU football game on Saturday. Now that we are a divided family (my brother's wife Emily is an FSU grad) the stakes are high! Go Gators and Happy Thanksgiving! We are so very blessed and are so thankful for all the blessings we have in our lives.