November

I can't believe November has come and gone. It's December which means our little baby is well on her way to age one! Here's a bit of what we were up to this November...

Miami
I plan on going back to work in some capacity after the New Year. While I'm excited about that it also means less flexibilty for traveling. So we had to go one last time this year to visit Sofia's Abuelita, Tia Atu and the rest of the gang in Miami. This is her third trip to Miami and I hope that throughout her childhood she'll consider it a second home. The trip was sort of last minute so we didn't do much but we got to see my Tio R and Tia Areli, my cousin Maggie and her kids and just relax with Atu and Piti. It was a lot of fun, as always.


on the airplane


with her Tia Atu


with Gaby


with Alex

Grandma & Grandpa
Grandma was a life-saver! I came back from Miami feeling fine and literally an hour after coming home from the airport I was full-on sick. I haven't been sick in over a year and I forgot how miserable it is. I could hardly get off the couch. Grandma was kind enough to take over. She took Sofia for a couple of days while I got better. And it was even better because although I managed to pass along my cold to Dan, Sofia fared perfectly healthy! Anyway, here's some pics that Loretta took during Sofia's stay.







Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving was great! We had dinner at David & Julie's and had far more food than we could ever need or eat. It was all delicious though. I must say our family does it up right - especially when it comes to food. I somehow managed to not take a single picture. Julie's sister Sonya took a bunch though so if I get some from her I'll add them. We also held our 1st Annual "Thanksgiving Mom" 5K. My mom was known to be very mild mannered and sweet. However, every Thanksgiving seemed to get the best of her. She would spend most of the day slightly stressed and flustered, ordering us around and begging for help. As kids (and even sometimes as adults) we were not much help at all! Over the years we dubbed this second personality "Thanksgiving Mom." So in her honor this year we decided to name a 5K race after her. I had plans to design a logo and t-shirts and all but unfortunately I was sick as a dog the week before. When I finally do the design I'll share with you.

This year we were missing Emily and Jeff who went to Kansas to spend the holiday with his family. We were also missing Emi who is our gourmet baker and cook! We managed still a ton of food without her though! She was on a 2 week cruise through Europe and while in Turkey she got Sofia a belly dancer outfit. It is so funny! The first chance I got to put it on her I did... here's some pics. It's hilarious! I couldn't pick one - so here's all of them.













New Toys
We went to Babies R Us to finally get Sofia into her bigger car seat. But since Daddy came with us she came home with toys! Here she is playing with her new walker. We think she'll be walking soon. We've both caught her standing on her own with perfect balance but she has yet to take a step on her own. Not that we're in any rush!!!

Saving, I mean, Babysitting Isaiah
Well, this actually happened in December, but who's counting? Anyway, my friend Lindsey needed a place to leave her adorable little nugget, Isaiah, while she went to a Christmas party. Lucky for us she left him with us. It was fun and we got a very small taste of what it must feel like to have twins. He was so good it seemed like maybe it would be easy although I highly doubt it is! He's actually a big nugget - he's only 6 months but he's more than caught up with Sofia in size. I think he even has more teeth than she does! He's such a sweetie and Sofia is so excited when he's around and I think Dan liked having a boy around for once.





Well, that's all for now. Love to all!!!

This week in pictures...

**UPDATE** I didn't have pics of my cutie nieces but luckily Grandma did and sent some to me. Scroll down and see...



I hope everyone had a happy Halloween! We traveled to Dallas to trick or treat, meet baby Jake and Dan ran another 5K with David. It was a great weekend...

Halloween
We spent Halloween night at Emily and Jeff's house. Their street gets a ton of trick or treaters so we sat on the porch with our little Monkey and passed out candy. Sofia was a bit grouchy from a day of traveling and not enough naps but I think she still had fun. I know we had a lot of fun watching her in her monkey costume. Our good friends, Brooke and Nan and Kyle came by too. We love seeing them - it was a good time!


I want candy!


our grouchy little monkey




with Brooke D. in her glo-in-the-dark skeleton PJs


Nan and Kyle

Even though we didn't get to trick-or-treat with him this year, here's Matthew Spider Man going down a slide at a carnival. As you can see, he's been working out...



Cousins


We also finally got to meet baby Jake! He is so sweet and laid back. He just hangs out and sleeps all day making little newborn noises. Julie is doing great and Matthew really loves him, at least while he's not busy playing. We hung out at David and Julie's on Saturday watching (my favorite) college football and David made really delicious fajitas. We all ate and played and enjoyed all the kiddos!


Jake (so tiny) Sofia and Matthew




Sofia with her Bobo


watching College ball with Tio Louis and Matthew


baby Jake


baby Jake snuggled with Tia Emily

We also go to spend some time with Sofia's Coussirat cousins. We got to see Caroline, Katelyn and Ashleigh while they got ready for Halloween. Caroline was a witch and Katelyn and Ashleigh both wanted to be Superheros. They are such adorable, loving girls! We also went the next day to see Caroline play soccer. She's such a good little athelete - and her team won!


Katelyn as Superwoman


Caroline the witch holding Sofia... with a mustache?


Ashleigh as Superwoman with Sofia



Caroline running up the field

She Knows Tricks!
Well, Sofia is developing and growing, she seems to change every day. She's even learning some new things which prove to me that she's actually listening to us when we talk (and maybe even understanding some of it!) Here's what she can do so far...
1. She knows "bye-bye" means to wave. She was continually throwing her sippy cup down from her high chair. Fed up, I finally just looked at the cup on the ground and said, "bye-bye," she looked at the cup herself and then waved. It cracked me up. So now she's been waving hi and bye pretty much on command.
2. Her grandma has been teaching her where her nose is so I've joined in and had been asking her where her nose was. One day she reached out and grabbed mine! At first I thought it was a fluke but more and more she points out my nose.
3. I swear, this morning Jax walked in the room and it sounded like she said "Jax." Who knows? But I think she's getting close. But then again, it also sounded like she said, "Obama" the other day while my friends and I were lamenting McCain's loss over lunch. Seems I've unwittingly raised myself a little democrat. Well, she and her Bobo can begin their debates early I guess!
4. She's developed a mad-face with sound effects and all! Here's what it looks like but you have to imagine for yourself how she breathes through her nose in and out really fast with her face all scrunched up like this. She usually does it when she's frustrated and apparently I frustrated her this morning at breakfast because there she was making the face and the sounds... Poor thing - mommy just laughs at her!



That's it for now... Much love, Angie, Dan and baby Sofs

Happy Fall!

Love to all from our little pumpkin!

Jake is here!!!

Meet Sofia's newest cousin. We're so happy to welcome Jacob Franklin Mayor to the world! He was born on Thursday, October 23rd at 4:49 pm. He was 6 lbs. 7 oz. and as cute as can be! Julie is doing great and I know David and Matthew are very happy. I can't wait to meet him. We'll be visiting on Halloween and Sofia and I will stay the rest of the week getting to know our newest little guy!

God has blessed our family yet again! I know Mom is smiling down from Heaven!

More Baby Sofia

Sofia spent the day at Grandma and Grandpa's on Friday. I love this one above of her on the swing. She's such a happy girl! Here's another shot of her eating her favorite little biscuit. We love those things too - they keep her occupied!



Last weekend was St. John Vianney's Fall Bazaar. It's the church where Dan grew up and his mom works the plant booth every year so we went for the afternoon. We had a good time. These are some of the pics we took that day...






Here are some pictures we took today while we were getting Sofia dressed. She was being so funny. She's all over the place these days - she loves to sing and talk and explore her world. She's really so much fun!




I love her smile in this next one... she just melts my heart!



... and here she is (finally) dressed!