Wow! Last night was a blast! We left Alex with Lizi and had an evening all to ourselves. Even though I grew up in the city, I've never been much into the city and nightlife scene...BUT last night that all changed. After becoming a mom, there is nothing like a nice (non-family friendly) restaurant to make you feel young. :)
Okay, so this is an LA pic, but the most recent thing I had to blog on this week's events in Alex's life. I can't believe how much he's talking now. He's definitely past the one-word caveman grunts. This week he said 4 words officially making a sentence, "I wuv you, dada." so cute...He also said "alli 'ta ball." Translation: Alli esta ball or "there is ball." He also says "ta?" for "Donde esta?" I love this age. I can't get over how cute he is, but then I'm sure no parent can get over how cute their kid is. :)
Our big splurge this year was the city of stars...We had such a great time. It's taken me 3 weeks to blog about it, but here's the scoop. We spent 8 days running around Southern Cali and we loved every moment of it (except for the last day actually, more later). Keith, Alex, me, Lizi and mom were all part of the entourage. We stayed right across from the USC campus which was very convenient no matter how I feel about the football team. We were usually out of the hotel by 10 am and trotting around until 9 p.m. at night (which is a late night with a 1.5 year old). Alex loved every minute of it! His first words every day at 7 a.m. were "shoes, outside." Ah, if only life were that simple...We visited Venice Beach, Santa Monica Beach, Huntington Beach, Beverly Hills (of course), Malibu, Hollywood and Universal Studios to name a few. We also got to spend time with some of my mom's side of the family, Lydia and her husband Eugenio who were very gracious hosts. At the last minute, we decided to drive to Bakersfield to see Fanny and Ruben and their kids. We had a great time (in spite of the heat) hanging out with them and swimming in their pool. It was a very nice detour indeed. On Monday, we headed to Hollywood again and got to see Andrew and Christina Irvin and their kids. The meal we shared at Pink's Hotdogs will forever live in our minds and we'll remember we first had it with you guys. :) On our way back to Hollywood that same day, we just happened on the "Inglorious Basterds" movie premiere and who else would be there but Brad Pitt, Quentin Tarantino, Samuel L. Jackson, Kate Hudson and so many other stars. We were like 50 feet away from the red carpet. It was fantabulous!!! Just another day in Hollywood. Later that week, we headed to Universal Studios which is a must-see for first-timers. And on Thursday we got to see the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (one of the initial reasons we chose LA). Robin Williams was the guest star! We were able to sit in the 2nd row. It was definitely one of the week's highlights. On our way out of town Friday, Alex got some kind of stomach bug and was throwing up everything so we kind of freaked. The airplane ride was horrendous, but thankfully we made it back okay on an earlier flight. Overall, I'd give it a 9/10 as far as vacations go. Great time, great memories!!!
In May, I got involved with the Homewood-Flossmoor Park District Theater Group. It's the best thing I've done in a while. I haven't been involved in theater in a loooooong time. It has been great to get back to my roots and I've made some awesome new friends too. Our last performance is today and tomorrow at Homewood Days. Here I am performing "All that Jazz" from Chicago.
On June 28th, Alex said his first real sentence. He could not have chosen better words, "I love you." Oh my goodness, all parents will know, there is nothing like your baby saying "I love you" for the first time. It was so precious. Thank you for Alex, Lord.
So I'm really bad at blogging as you can see, but I say "better late than never." In June, we took our first family mini-trip for the summer to Michigan. We did a little (or maybe a lot) of shopping at the Michigan City outlet mall in Indiana (very nice). Afterwards, we went to the beach in Michigan City which was wonderful! It's actually a very nice town and the beach is worth a trip. At first Alex was a little freaked out about the sand. He's very touchy and he did NOT like the sand on his hands. :) He loves water though. I was shocked when he slowly but surely made his way in deeper and deeper until he was almost up to his chest in freezing Michigan Lake water. He absolutely LOVED it!!! 
Okay, so it's been a while, but I needed to post this...In March we had a "Chili Jubilee" event at church and that is where I made my debut! Well, sort of. I sang "All Consuming Fire" by Jennifer Knapp and as you can see accompanied myself on the guitar. That was nerve-wrecking. Let's just say I usually only play guitar for myself. All in all though, it was a decent performance. I'll post this on you-tube at some point.
So this weekend, Lizi and I hosted a Twilight Party for our birthdays. It was the best idea ever!!! We had all kinds of Twilight-inspired food and music and watched Twilight in our new downstairs family room. Some of the items on the menu included Venison (very impressive), Bella's Mushroom Ravioli, Fish Fry, Sangria, Edible Art veggie tray and Vampire cupcakes. We moved our awesome flat screen downstairs for the occasion and Keith even set up our theater, surround-sound speaker system. Everyone who came was a major fan! You could hear a needle drop watching the movie when Edward Cullen entered the scene. It was a blast!
Last Sunday, Alex said his first real word, agua! Yes, my son's first language is Spanish I'm proud to say. It's so funny when he says or does something new and it seems to come out of nowhere. He gets so excited too!!! When he figured out he could say it, he would walk around saying "agua, agua, agua, agua..." It's the best.
Here's Alex, me, Lizi and Lucas. On February 8th, we celebrated Alex's first birthday with tamales and empanadas. The party was a blast and I wasn't the only one who thought so. The company was wonderful and the food was delicious. Alex had his first tamale and first empanada. The theme was Thomas & Friends. There were about 35 guests so we had a packed house. We had a pinata and Barb even did balloon animals for the kids. Alex had a so much fun! My baby is all grown up...
Alex has started walking! He started taking small steps back in December, but he's really taken off this month. This picture was taken January 5th. It's amazing how he just decided one day, "I'm going to start walking." At first, he would crack up that he was actually doing something new. It was too cute. He's really getting adventurous now and trying to walk everywhere. This is such a big milestone and very fun to see. It's great to see him do this before even turning one year old. That's my boy!
This year, we spent Christmas in Blue Grass, IA with Barb and Jesse. It was so great to get away from the city and have some r&r. Alex had a blast! He loved the dogs and it was so funny to see him chasing them around while they quickly ran away from him. Alex also took to Jesse, his grandpa. It's great to see him bond with his grandpa. Keith and I felt so comfortable, we even snuck out to see "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" while Jesse babysat. Mom and Lizi also visited with us. Although babies this age don't usually care much about presents, Alex had a blast opening them. And man, did he get presents! Don't get too used to it, Alex. You will eventually have to share with your siblings. :) Christmas this year was really special for me and Keith having Alex with us. He is the greatest gift God gave us this year!
