It's the Word

We were on our way out the door, when Alex came crawling after me, looked up and extended his arms, and said "mama." I never realized how beautiful those two syllables sound coming out of a baby's mouth and directed at you. This may sound lame, but I'd have to say today was probably in my "top ten days of the year." Being a mom is really THE BEST!!!

The Halloween Turkey

I haven't blogged in a bit, so I wanted to at least post this picture of Keith and Alex on Halloween. He was a turkey as you can see and oh so edible. :) I think we had more fun than he did on Halloween, frankly.

Feliz Cumple Mami!

We took my mom to Buca Di Beppo for dinner tonight for her birthday. We had a great time! My mom is so great. Te quiero, mami.

Alex's Dedication

On Sunday, we dedicated Alex to God at Living Springs Community Church, where we attend. God is such a good God! We are so so blessed and I am so grateful to have the awesome privilege of being a mom. Children are truly a gift from the Lord. I realize that Alex really belongs to God and it is a beautiful thing to acknowledge this in front of our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. I love the story of Hannah and Samuel in the Bible. Hannah was unable to bear children for a long time and after much weeping and much prayer, God hears her cry and blesses her with a son, Samuel. When he is very young, maybe 3 years old, she takes him to the temple and devotes Samuel to God's service. I end with this:
"So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD. And he worshiped the LORD there."

Day of fun!

Last weekend, Keith and I ventured out on a day trip downtown with Alex. We had such a blast!!! We took the metra first thing in the morning and just hung out all day. We were a little worried about how Alex would do on the train, but he was great! Metra has a great deal---$5 unlimited rides weekend pass. Very nice. Alex was fascinated by all the people and specifically kids on the train. Our first stop was Mr. Beef on Orleans Street, northwest of the loop. It's a great little italian beef place, a little bit off the beaten path with great atmosphere and most importantly, great food. The rest of the day was spent shopping and walking around. Mentionables include The American Girl Store, Ghirardelli, Bloomingdales' Home Store, After-Words and The Jazz Mart on Grand. We all had a grand time and I recommend it to anyone with young kids looking for a daytrip to the city.

Who's who?

I love this picture! This was taken at a bookshop downtown, After-Words, when we went on our family downtown excursion. Alex is a carbon copy of his dad here.

13 Surprising signs you'll live longer than you think

http://health.msn.com/womens-health/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100216496&imageindex=13
very cool...

Is this an audition?

Not only were the food and fellowship great, we also had the best musicians in town there for our listening enjoyment. They had, get this, 2 drummers going, a bass player, piano player, trumpeter, guitarist and Reggie was doing double duty as drummer, sound guy and emcee/entertainer. I think some of these guys need to come play at our church! It was really great and definitely my most favorite party of the summer.

What a blast!

We got to spend this past Saturday laying down a funky one with Reggie & Menia and friends for Reggie's birthday party. I'll take a risk and say this was probably Alex's most fun shindig yet. Thanks, Menia! You do know how to throw a party! Here is Alex with Marisa and Brandon. It was great to catch up with old friends, not having seen people from Calvary since we moved out to Homewood. :)

DATES!!!

Keith and I have been trying to get out together once a week for a date night. We never really had a date night before Alex because really, every day was "date" night without a kid. So last night we went bowling together at Brunswick Zone down the street from us. I had never been there and I was amazed at what a cool place it is. We bowled 2 games and then ended up hanging around for an hour or so because there was so much going on there. Shout-out to my hubby-he bowled 143 his second game! Pretty, pretty good...We hung around and watched some of the league bowlers and man, those people are good. I was amazed at how good some of the women were! I've always bowled with amateurs and in my experience breaking 100 is great "for a girl." That's always my goal at least. So after that we wandered over to the bar and grill area and it was karaoke night! We hung around and watched/listened to some of the people and then I even got the nerve to go up there and sing. I'm always amazed at how good some people are at Karaoke and how bad others are. :) It was a good crowd though and a LOT of fun. We'll definitely be going back there for date night! Oh, and I sang Norah Jones, "Don't Know Why."

More of Sammy

I really do not exaggerate when I say this went on for like 15 minutes!

As you can see, Alex is not amused.

All laughs...or not.

On September 5th, Jennifer and I ventured out to Shedd Aquarium with the babies. Afterwards, we stopped at Potbelly's for dinner. For reasons only known to Sammy, he was cracking up at Alex. It was so funny!!!

Alex's debut

A big hello to all the mommys out there! You guys are my peeps!
So Alex, finally started crawling today. phew! Of course, like many parents I'm sure, I start to worry when he doesn't do something as quickly as I think he will or as quickly as other parents swear their kids did it. Thank God my kid is normal...but then again what is normal? I digress...So I think he's been trying to figure it out for the past couple of weeks, but it just wasn't clicking or he was just plain giving up. Come to think of it, I'm kind of like that. If a skill is too hard to learn or it doesn't come naturally to me, I tend to quit. Not a good trait, I know. So while he's been trying these past few weeks, he would just kind of give up. Anyhow, so today, of course with the added incentive of getting a toy out of reach, he did it! It was not perfect, albeit, but he crawled and scooted and made his way over there somehow. My baby is all grown up, awwww. I can't believe he is already 7 months old! Where has the time gone! Next comes walking, potty training, school and before you know it he'll be slamming his bedroom door and telling mom and dad "I hate you." AHHHHHHHHHHH! I'm not ready for that! It's okay, Cil, you have a ways until that yet and when that time does come, hopefully, you'll be able to laugh about. (fingers crossed). I'll be posting a pic of my cutie soon. ttfn.

Crouching Alex, Hidden Dragon

So last weekend was Alex's first real vacation!!! We spent 3 days at Indiana Beach, where Keith and I honeymooned coincidentally. It was wonderful! My mom and my sister, Lizi, also came along. We all had a great time together, but of course, Alex just had the time of his life. We arrived on Friday, and since it had rained, we kind of just had a low key day. We stayed at this very cute little cabin at Jellystone Campground. It was tiny, but very quaint and very clean. Keith had to work that morning (meeting with the boss) unfortunately, so he joined us a few hours later. After Keith got there, we headed over to the amusement park for a few hours. Lizi and I convinced my mom to come in to the "famous" haunted-house at the park. It is actually a very cool haunted house (probably my favorite). My mom is hilarious, she led the way and just practically ran through it after swearing she was going to get a heart attack because we made her go in. Lizi and I had been inside several times and we knew all the tricks (but we still managed to get quite a fright at the "choose a door" section). My mom, Lizi and I don't spend as much "fun" time together as I'd like, so it was a very memorable experience for me. That night, we also got to go to a fish fry at this neat local bar. The food was fantastic!!! The next day, we headed for an all-day excursion at the amusement/water park. Alex just loooooved the water. He even went into Lake Shaffer and it was pretty cold. We got to try a few of the water slides and just hung out a little bit. There was sooooooo much for Alex to see though! He was DEFINITELY overstimulated. He couldn't get enough though. The cutest was all the prize-winning games they have. He could not take his eyes off this one game with a bunch of fish that open and close their mouths (not in-sync). The object is to pick one of them up before it opens its mouth with a fish line they give you. He was very fascinated. We had never seen him so determined to see something. Too cute! We also took Alex to one of those cheezy Old-Western pictures places where you get all decked out in Old-Western garb. We had him all dressed up as a Billy the Kid-type character and got his picture taken. He even held the gun and everything! Since the adults didn't get to do much during the day (surprise, surprise), we returned to the park after Alex went to bed (with my mom) for a few fun roller coaster rides. All in all, it was a very good trip indeed.

A Fool or a Wise Man?

James 3:2, 4-6, 8-10, 13 says---
"For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body... Look also at ships: althought they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell...But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so... Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom."

Which one do we choose each day, fool or wise? I'd like to put myself in the latter category more often, but more often than I'd like, I fall in the first. Do I think before I speak? Is what I am saying building up those around me or tearing them down? Do I have my interests in mind first, or those of others?

But, thanks be to God, whose kindness leads us to repentance!

"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." Hebrews 8:12

Mom & Lucas

Doesn't my mom look great? Here she is with my cute nephew, Lucas.

Here is Alex with Stephanie, his cousin. She is a great babysitter. I love this picture!

Nicole's birthday

Here we are celebrating Nicole's birthday. Alex got to meet the rest of the family and we all had a blast. As always, Abel and Cecilia had a great spread. Lots of fellowship and food=Fun.

Happy Anniversary!

Keith and I celebrated 10 years of bondage, I mean marriage, July 9th. They have been the longest and yet fastest 10 years of my life. I have no regrets and I look forward to celebrating another 50 more years, God willing.

Barb & Alex

I could not neglect to post a pic of Alex and his grandma.

Happy Birthday, Jesse!

Alex had a blast as you can see from this picture. Great cake, Barb.

Six degrees of Kevin Bacon...

Steve Buscemi in "The Big Lebowski" with John Goodman, John Goodman in "O Brother, Where art thou?" with George Clooney, George Clooney in "Ocean's Eleven" with Brad Pitt, Brad Pitt in "Sleepers" with Kevin Bacon...And so began our 3-hour car ride to Blue Grass, Iowa. It was a weekend of new experiences for Alex, Keith and I. Keith and I got to ride in Barb's brand new ATV all over the subdivision (it's much cooler than it sounds). Alex got to eat cereal for the first time on July 4th!!! Very exciting stuff, man, at least to us parents. And was Alex ever ready for it. I think he would have eaten a steak had I fed it to him. Barb also noticed that Alex's 2 bottom teeth started to come in, at 5 months! It was a very fun weekend and a blessing to get to spend it with Barb and Jesse and their family (Stormy, Jack & Ernie).

The biggest cutie pie ever!

Here's Alex at 4 months or so at a Church picnic.

I just could not resist posting this! Check out the little Beethoven. When I sat him down at the piano, he really just couldn't resist. Of course, as his mommy, that makes me quite happy indeed.

Hubby's birthday!

Today was Keith's birthday! Ha! Now you can join the rest of us fogies, hubby! j/k :)
From my perspective, it was a great day and a good year for him. I think the 46' LCD he's always dreamt of would have been enough to make him happy, but he also got some other nice gifts. And of course the icing on the cake (no pun intended), was the Culver's Concrete Turtle Cake and getting to go see Hancock!!! ...which by the way is at least the 3rd Will Smith blockbuster we've seen on Keith's actual birthdate. All in all, I would say it was a very fine day indeed.

Can it be?

So a little under 2 weeks ago, we started "sleep-training" Alex. Before becoming a parent, one has all these ideas about what one will and won't do. :)
Of course, baby sleeping in bed with mommy and daddy was a big no-no. And then, reality hits...You realize everything goes out the window (at least it did for me) where precious sleep is concerned. Alex would not sleep in his crib or bassinet at all from day one. After some half-heartened attempts to get him to sleep in his bassinet, we resigned to letting him sleep with us. It was very convenient for me too as I am breastfeeding him. Well, 4 1/2 months and 21 lbs later, we decided it was time for him to learn the fine art of falling asleep on his own. Then, all hell broke loose.

For those of you who aren't parents, there are very specific sleep-training methodologies in the how-to parenting manual. Just a side note, DO NOT tell anybody which one you are adopting if you don't want someone to go into a 10-minute discourse on why their method is best and what a bad parent you are if you don't adopt their method.

So, Keith and I settled on the cold-turkey "cry-it-out" method. The first 4 nights were miserable!!! One night, Alex cried for 1 hour and 20 minutes and still hadn't fallen asleep (yes, I caved in and picked him up at that point). But we continued trying, and I'm happy to say that last night was the 11th night of trying, and he fussed for all of 10 minutes and fell asleep! Now he goes to bed at about 7:30 and doesn't wake up for his first feeding until 11:30-12:30. I am so proud of him! He's my sweet little angel. For those of you out there who may be trying this method or will, it sucks, but it's worth it.

A long time in coming

Hello World!

So I finally decided to start a blog. Yes, I caved in finally, Mags. I've always liked journaling, but I never really thought someone else would want to read my journal so to speak. And maybe nobody will, but that's okay. What really pushed me over the edge was my son, Alejandro. Alejandro Samuel was born on February 9, 2008, weighing in at 9 lbs 11 oz. He is the joy of my life!!! While life may have been mostly routine before the baby, it is now full of surprises daily. And voila! Priscilla's blog was born. It will probably revolve mostly around Alex (that's what we call him) at least for a while as my life currently mostly revolves around Alex. :) So, if you like babies and if you want to see what's going on with my life, onward!!!