Weekends in Dallas

April 24 - 26


Our little Jacob Franklin was baptized this weekend. He was yet another one in the long line before him of babies baptized in the beautiful lace gown which came from Cuba. We know that my mother's father, Alberto Rodriguez, was baptized in it around 1916 or so, and more recently Sofia shared the honor and was baptized in it last year.



The Deacon was the same man who baptized Matthew. And the baptism was held at St. Michael's Catholic Church. The last time I was there was for Mom's funeral. I kept thinking about how life brings you sorrow and then such joys. So many of our family's important moments were spent at St. Michael's.

Dan and I are honored and proud to be his Godparents. He is such a sweet, happy baby. We just love him like crazy! Here are some other shots from baptism.











April 29
This day marked what would have been Mom's 64th birthday. Her absence really weighs heavy on us all. It has almost been 2 years since her death and I still long to pick up the phone and hear her voice, see her huge smile that lit up her entire face and to learn from her sound advice. I so wish that Sofia could have felt her warm hugs but then I see pictures like this of her with Matthew



and at least I can imagine. She loved Matthew, at the time her only grandchild, with such abandon. I know she would have been just as crazy about Sofia and Jake. I am at least grateful that through her short time with Matthew we were able to see the kind of grandmother she was... and imagine what could have been.

May 1 - 3

Dan has to retake his Board Exam and to ensure a passing grade he holed himself up in a hotel in Dallas for a week attending a study review course. He was gone most of the week and come Friday Sofia and I missed him too much. So we hit the road yet again and headed to Dallas. We got to the hotel and Sofia checked out the traffic on 635.



We met David, Julie and the boys for dinner. Matthew and Sofia always HAVE to sit next to each other. They just adore each other. It's so fun to watch them grow and bond. Jake likes to watch and smile. We shared pizza and stories and had fun. And as you can see Jake ate too.







After dinner we headed home (the Sheraton.) It's not so much fun to share a hotel room with a baby AND a dog. We put Sofia down and then had to turn off most of the lights and hide behind our bed so she wouldn't see us and think we didn't want to play with her. Because we did. But we had to let her sleep. And sleep she did...



It was a great weekend to be in town actually because Saturday, May 2 was Papi's 72nd birthday. And so begins the Mayor birthday bonanza! Julie's would follow on the 3rd, David's on the 5th and then Louis' on the 15th.

Anyway, the next day Sofia and I stole Daddy from the conference long enough to eat breakfast together. Then we spent some time in the lobby before Dan had to go back. Sofia walked all over the place, fielded a ton of compliments, lounged on the couch and then text messaged some friends.





We left Daddy to his studying and headed to Tia Emily and Uncle Jeff's house. I had kept my visit a secret from Papi. Since he was coming over to Emily's house we had Sofia answer the door. He was so happily surprised. I remember he said, "Ohhh! You brought my girl." or something to that effect. It was a nice moment.



Sofia was just as happy to be with her Bobo. She cried when he tried to put her down and she cried even when he tried to pass her back to me. She really loves her Bobo! We went to a restaurant and David, Julie and the boys met us too. We had a nice lunch celebrating Papi's birthday. (We missed you, Louis!) Sofia sat by Bobo and as you can see in the pictures she made him hold her hand the entire meal. It was really pretty funny. She wouldn't let go. Or let him let go. Again, she really loves her Bobo.









After lunch Julie took Sofia home with her. She wanted to spend some alone time with the girl and I know Matthew had a blast with her. That night Sofia and Matthew were going to spend the night with Emi. I remember so many fun memories spent with Emi when I was a kid and it is so fun now to let Sofia make her own memories with Emi. Emi took a few pics of Sofia and Matthew playing and sitting in her bed and it brought back such memories. For a second you see my and David's faces instead of Sofia and Matthew. If I get copies of the pics I'll share them here.

So, since I had a baby-free night my plan was to go see Dave Matthews Band play an outdoor concert. Unfortunately the weather was such that there was no way I was going to an outdoor concert. It poured and stormed like crazy.

Instead I hung out with these two...



drinking white sangria.



The next morning I grabbed my husband, had breakfast with Jeff and Emily, grabbed my daughter and headed to say goodbye to Bobo. We spent a couple of hours hanging with Papi at the house. Sofia's favorite thing is to stand by the back door pointing and saying, "Outside." She loves to swing and play in the backyard with Bobo and Jax.











We said our goodbyes and headed home. Just the fourth long drive in the past two weeks. We got to Huntsville before Sofia couldn't take it anymore. We stopped at Chili's for a quick dinner and Daddy got to teach Sofia how to color.





Today
So now we're back in the swing of things. Trying to get back to normal. It can be exhausting traveling so much. I haven't even begun unpacking! We got back in town late and have been pretty busy this week. Monday night Sofia fell asleep on the way home from daycare and she didn't wake up again until the next morning! She was tired indeed. Dan and I were bummed we didn't get to play with her that night but she needed the rest. I love going back "home" and visiting family. It's important for me to have Sofia feel close and connected to those who love her so much!

This morning I almost cried. I got her dressed as usual but this morning since summer has arrived here in Houston I put her in a pair of shorts. There is something about the shorts that made her look like such a big girl. I had to take pictures. Where did our little baby go?