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.

Space Shuttle Night Launch

On Friday we went to see a beautiful night launch from the river apartment in Cocoa. We had quite the gathering with my Abuelo, Nana, Papa, Aunt Kim, Cousin Tyler, Tio Daniel, Titi Emily, and friends Sarah, Nathan and Jackson. The kids all stayed up and were interested (although I think they liked the bright moon even better!). It was a beautiful launch and we all savored the moment since it's said to be the last night launch of the shuttle program.

Playing the mini bongos with Abuelo. Sebastian loves instruments and being LOUD!

I think this has to be the best picture we've taken of Sebastian with his cousin Tyler. They never both cooperate at the same time when we pose them and of course this was completely unposed. Sebastian wanted to sit on Tyler's lap and it was a great picture!

This week Sebastian decided to start trying to feed himself with his spoon totally out of the blue! I'm really quite happy because it would be great if he'd be more interested in feeding himself. At first he was pretending with his empty bowl and then we put some Cheerios in it so he could actually pick something up on the spoon. He was so proud of himself when he could accomplish it. I love the look on his face in this picture.

Ah.....he loves having a stay-at-home Mami. =) Watching his afternoon Barney with Chex cereal in his snack cup and sliced grapes in his bowl. He watched the whole 30 minute episode like this.

Happy Halloween and First Trip to Disney World

Two busy weekends in a row for our family! Enjoy the pictures!

Sebastian at the church playgroup on Halloween. He went as a Gator fan.

The kids all went on a "parade" around the school and church offices. It was very cute. Sebastian even carried his bag for a few minutes.

Playing on the playground after the parade.

Later that evening we headed to Orlando so Sebastian and Angelica could go Trick or Treating. Sebastian wore his Gator fan track suit and Angelica was Strawberry Shortcake. This cute pose lasted about 2 houses...

Until he saw the playground at the end of the road and flipped out because he wanted to play and not Trick or Treat. So we were effectively done after that point. Oh well...maybe next year!

Here is my belly at the halfway point - 20 weeks! Yippie! I think I seem smaller than I was with Sebastian.

First trip to see Mickey Mouse

We decided to take Sebastian on his first "official" trip to Disney this past Friday. He had been before when he was little, little, but we thought that now he might actually be entertained by a few of the attractions. He has a stuffed Mickey and Donald which we talked about all week and on Friday morning he was certainly excited to go see Mickey. As we drove into the park he was clapping and saying "icky, icky, icky!!"

We thought he'd love Dumbo. As soon as we arrived we got in line since it had the longest wait. He was so excited to ride the elephant. Then we got on. And all he wanted to do was get off. He spent the majority of the ride nursing and saying "ya, ya" which means done. Oh well - we determined he probably was too young for it anyways. As our day continued, his reaction to all the rides was pretty much the same as Dumbo...whatever. We tried not to be too disappointed - he is little right?!

His finally lit up at the Mickey's Toon Town play areas - he loved the little playhouses all at his size and kept peeking out the windows looking for us.

At the end of the day we saw the show at Cinderella's Castle with all the character and he LOVED it! He was pointed and clapping and had so much fun. So interesting that he liked the show more than the ride...it certainly surprised us! Because he liked it so much we decided to stick it out for another hour for the Spectralights Parade. Here he is mesmerized watching the parade from Daddy's shoulders. He LOVED it.

On the way out, impulsive Mami wanted to "just see" the mouse ear hats because they are so cute. Well, Sebastian (who NEVER wears a hat for more than 2 seconds) loved those ears. I asked him if he wanted to be Mickey Mouse and he said "si." I put them on his head and he just lit up and was so excited. So we had to buy them. I know, we were so suckered - what can I say - you really do do anything for your kids. But those minutes in that gift shop before we left totally made our day.

Being Mickey with Mami.

Even once we were in the car he didn't want to take off the ears. And he wanted his Mickey too. This is at 9 pm after a long day and he was all smiles. So, yeah, maybe he was a little young for some of the rides, but I still think his first Disney experience was magical and perfect for him. Thanks Bil, Jenn and Finn for the pass for this very special day!

There are a lot more Disney pictures so if you'd like to see them click here!

Daddy's Buddy & Pumpkin Patch

On Tuesday Paul and I went in for our 19 week sonogram and everything looked great! We were so happy to see the baby moving around and the little heart beating. I would put up some pics, but honestly, only the eyes of a mother can even tell much from the pictures! They are not very clear and it's tough to make out features. Oh well...we got spoiled with Sebastian's 3D sonogram - our new doctor doesn't offer that. The best part is that everything is on track and looking good. Enjoy Sebastian's newest escapades!

Daddy's helper. He wants to do whatever Daddy's doing!

My boys!

Last weekend we had the chance to go to the La Leche League's Annual Parenting Conference in Daytona Beach. It was my birthday trip and we had such a wonderful weekend! It was too cool and windy for the beach, but we enjoyed all the activities so much! We attended excellent parenting sessions ranging from potty training, toddlerhood, birthing methods, and Dad support circles. Our favorite sessions by far though were when we got to hear Dr. Sears speak about Attachment Parenting and Vaccinations. Both sessions were so wonderful and informative and inspire us to know that our decisions do not only feel right, but also have much medical and professional research to back us up. It was so neat to be surrounded by so many families and parents that are raising their children how we are. You can learn more about Dr. Sears at their web site http://www.askdrsears.com/. You can search AP and Vaccinations from there as well.

Sebastian with his drum before the drumming circle began on the opening night.

Saturday night's family activities included more drumming and songs, as well as making giant bubbles with fly swatters. The kids were crazy about this!

On Monday Sebastian's lab school class visited a local pumpkin patch. When we arrived he got a pumpkin sticker. This was really his first experience with stickers and wow, did he love it! He kept sticking it on and taking it off and looking at it with this proud face. I had to ask for an extra for later because I knew there would be a melt down when his sticker stopped being sticky... =)

The boys from the class sitting on the pumpkins. We didn't even pose them - one sat on a pumpkin and then they all sat down. So cute!

Sebastian being sweet and sharing with his friend Max.