Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Miami

I was so happy and excited to be able to take Sofia to Miami. Miami always makes me think of Mom and I feel close to her while I'm there. It's her culture and her friends and all the family that she loved so much.

Papi and I flew in together with Sofia from Dallas and she flew like an old pro. In fact, she slept the whole trip! We stayed with my Tia Clarita, Sofia's "Abuela Tia Atu", and Tio Piti. I love to visit their home because it's so warm and inviting. I didn't want to leave and if it weren't for how much we missed Daddy we may have never come home! We were able to visit with so many people - first our family friend, Pepe came and then Tia Odilia and Davy came to meet Sofia, and my cousin Maggie and Pepe and their beautiful daughters, Gaby and Alex came. Alexandra is the best babysitter - I felt like I was traveling with my own personal nanny. She stayed an extra day with us and when she had to leave to go on vacation I felt weird without her! I missed my "shadow!" Here are some pictures at Atu's house. For some reason there are no photos of Tia Atu on my camera and I know there's really no sense in taking pictures unless she's in them but I don't know what else to say; so I hope she'll forgive me!


Sofia and her "mini-Mommy," Alexandra


Sofia and Gaby


Sofia and Maggie


with Pepe Achon


with Tia Odilia

We got to spend a whole day at Tio Ramonin's beautiful apartment on the beach. Sofia got to meet her Tia Areli, cousins Michael and Leslie and her husband, Dusty and their sweet baby girl, Aliana. Tio Ramonin wasn't there but he came by another day to visit. We were also lucky enough to see my mom's Aunt Dinorah and Tio Rene. It was a lovely trip. I really enjoyed sharing Sofia with her family. They're all so loving and it was nice to finally introduce her to all the Miamians!!


Areli, Leslie, Sofia and Aliana


with Michael and Aliana


with her cousin, Aliana


with Tia Dinorah


Tio Rene, Tia Dinorah, me and Sofia


Sofia and her Bobo


meeting her Tio R


with Tia Areli and Tio R

We can't wait to go back!!! Click the album below for all the pictures...

Miami

Girls Lunch

For all the pain and agony I suffered while working at ANICO in Galveston I was at least able to walk away with some dear friends, Bobby and Lindsey. And when we're not busy delivering babies in the hospital we're typically getting together for lunch. Lindsey just had her baby boy, Isaiah, in June so now that they're mobile we got to meet for lunch.

Isaiah slept through the whole thing so he didn't get a chance to really see Sofia but I'm sure once he does he'll be smitten, just as we were with him!


Bobby with Isaiah and Lindsey with Sofia


me and the little nugget, Isaiah

White Rock 5K


Jeff, David, Louis and Dan after the race

We traveled to Dallas a couple of weekends ago to celebrate Meg-hizzy's Big Dirty 30 (happy birthday, Meg!) and while we were there Dan decided to join in the White Rock 5K that everyone was racing...

All the men in the family (minus the oldest: Papi and the youngest: Matthew) ran the 5K. They did great, especially considering they all finished! Among our group Dan got first place, David came in second followed by Louis and Jeff, who cheered each other across the finish line together. It was a beautiful day at the lake. Here're some pics...


Sofia and Matthew cheering on their Daddies



the men of the family


Aunt Nan with Sofia

Guess who's sitting up now?

If you guessed Sofia, you guessed right!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Beach Trip 2008




Sofia with her Tia Sara

Every year we get together with our dear friends, Sara and Kevin, in South Padre Island. It's always such a fun trip - as relaxing as you can ever imagine and it's always so fun to get together, have some drinks, catch up on our lives, sleep in, stay up late and spend all day in the sun. This year we got to bring Sofia and although that meant less drinks and absolutely NO sleeping in it was still a great time! Sara's parents came this year and their cousin John and even Mandy came in from sunny Santa Monica! We got to spend time with other family friends too - it was really fun! Everyone was so sweet and loving with Sofia - she definitely made some new friends.

We started the trip by driving to San Antonio to visit with our friends Scott and Kristy and their little one, who was born just two weeks before Sofia. Their little Camryn was so sweet and super cuddly. We were so busy chatting that we forgot to take pictures!

We continued on to Sara and Kevin's home in Laredo which is lovely and may have the most comfortable sheets I've ever slept on. I almost traded Sofia for them but quickly rethought that! They just opened a restaurant called HAL's Landing so we got to check it out. It was so beautiful and huge. We were so happy to finally be able to see it. We stayed in Laredo for a couple of days before heading to the beach.


Daddy and Sofes in the comfy sheets

Unfortunately, the sun hid from us the entire week we were there but we were still able to get in a couple of evenings sitting out on the sand and Sofia got one day at the pool. Dan got in the water one of the days and he yet again won first place in his imaginary Body Surfing Competition. It was quite a win considering he didn't feel like they were "the waves champions are made from." He impressed us nonetheless. I actually have video which I'll share soon.

Since most of the trip was spent lounging around we didn't take too many pics but here's a few...


Tia Sara and Sofia at the beach




with Mommy in the pool




In her floatie


Ready to go in her BOB Stroller (thank you Tia Clarita and Maggie!)


Hanging with Kevin on the 4th of July


Hanging with Daddy


In her beach tent


with Mommy at the beach


Sara's parents bought her a swing - she loved it!

Oatmeal and Bananas



Sofia finally got her first taste of real food this past weekend. Her grandma and grandpa gave her a beautiful highchair and it finally arrived so we were ready to put it to good use. Tio Louis was in town and he put it together for her - she absolutely loved it! She was so happy to be sitting up high and had a blast just slapping the table. We also took video so as soon as I figure out how to upload the video I'll share, but for now enjoy the pictures...

She looked a bit quizzical for the first bite but she slurped it right down. She seemed to like it best when she was able to hold the spoon herself. Click on the photo below to see the whole album.


First Feeding

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Finally, an Update!

Hi! Sorry it's been so long since I posted last. We have so many things to share. Sofia's really been growing and keeping us happy. She will be seven months on July 25th and as the old cliche goes, time really flies when you're having fun. Boy, is she fun! We have really been blessed with a happy-go-lucky kid. She started teething so we've had a couple of uncomfortable days but she's back to her old self again.

We have quite a bit to share so let me get started...

Save the Date
We finally have a baptism date! She will be baptized Saturday, August 9th at 12 noon. We are honored to have her grandfather, Deacon John, performing the ceremony. He married Dan and me and was gracious enough to perform my mother's funeral so it only seemed fitting that he perform yet another important event in our lives. The baptism is taking place at Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral in downtown Houston. It is a brand new Cathedral which just opened and it is beautiful. She'll be wearing a beautiful baptismal gown which belonged to her great-grandfather, the late Alberto Rodriguez. I'm so proud that she'll be able to wear it just as so many before her. We are not sending out formal invitations but if you're around we'd love to have you join us!

Father's Day
This Father's Day we spent in Dallas with Sofia's Bobo. Last year I was pregnant with Sofia and we spent Father's Day in Austin with my brother and Papi. He fondly remembers thinking during that trip that the next year we'd have a baby among us and we promised him then that we'd bring her to him. It was a nice weekend. All the siblings came and Emi and we made a nice dinner over at Papi's house. There's nothing he enjoys more than his home filled with his children. Unfortunately, we took no pictures to share but we had a beautiful time nonetheless.

The week before Father's Day we celebrated with Dan's dad. We packed up a picnic and spent the evening at the new open air park downtown, Discovery Green. It's a beautiful park and when the weather is nice, as it was that evening, it's a great way to spend the afternoon. Sofia was wearing a little shirt professing her love for her daddy but she quickly soiled it at the park so we changed her into one which describes her! Loretta took some lovely pictures you see below...


Grandpa, Sofia and Daddy


Grandpa and Sofia


Daddy kissing his girl

Coussirat Cousins
Dan's brother, Dave, made a visit to Houston last month and he brought along quite a treat, all three of his girls! Sofia's cousins, Caroline, Katelyn and Ashleigh came and spent some time in Houston. Grandma was so excited to have all her grandchildren in her house at once. The girls are beautiful, as you can see, and they were so sweet and loving with Sofia.


Katelyn, Caroline, Sofia and Ashleigh


Ashleigh and Sofia


Katelyn and Sofia

Sofia's favorite song of late is The Itsy Bitsy Spider. It can usually get a smile out of her even during the worst crying jags. Here's a short clip of the girls singing Sofia her favorite song.




That's all I have time for now but check back soon. We have great pictures of Sofia's first trip to the beach and her first taste of cereal!!

Love and kisses, The Coussirats