Baby Anton

Our new addition arrived on Sunday, September 23 at 6:43am. Anton Carlito weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces and was 20 inches long. He has kept us very busy but we have been loving him and are so excited to watch him grow up. My mom, dad, Mikah, Max and Skyler were here to celebrate Anton's birthday, it was so great to have them here. My family is a huge help when they are here and Skyler and Nico were best buddies. Watching them play together was so fun. Nico loves his baby brother, he brings him toys to play with when I am changing Anton and gives him kisses and high fives all day long. He is in preschool 2 days a week and absolutely loves it, he is a social little guy and loves to play with his friends in the neighborhood. Nico is full of energy, he is all boy and we are amazed at how smart he is and how fast he is growing up. Mir hasn't been around very much, she is taking all of her classes this year at Olympic College and is in the musical Tommy. Between here school and rehearsal we don't get to see her very much. I went to see Tommy on Sunday and was so proud of her, the show was awesome and she did a great job. Anton is a good natured little guy, he calms down easily and doesn't get upset very often. He is pretty adaptable and has already been to a few fall festivities with us. We went to the Harvest Fair when he was only a week old and last weekend we went to the pumpkin patch. He was also my date at Mir's show yesterday and didn't make a peep the entire time. He is great in the Sleepy Wrap so we haven't missed out on much. He is growing fast and had already gained over a pound at his two week checkup. Here are lots of pictures since his arrival, I will try to do a better job at keeping this updated. One of my most favorite things is when they put Anton on my chest right after he was born. I got to snuggle him for an hour or so before he was weighed or measured.

Happy Daddy, Filipe was awesome - we missed the last boat so he had to drive me around through Tacoma, he was cool, calm and collected for the entire drive. I wish I could say the same for me!

This is how Nico fell asleep the first night, we got home from the hospital around 8 and he was beat. Now this is pretty much how we nap.

Lola always gives the first bath to the babies, so glad she was here to do it!

Proud Grandpa, I don't know what Nics would have done without my dad here to go on walks, thanks Mom & Dad! I love you!

Skyler and Nico were so cute together, they got along great and Grandpa kept them busy with lots of walks.

It's been a while!

I haven't posted anything new here for some time. I blame Filipe for this, he gave me a Kindle for Christmas and so now it is very rare that I am ever on the actual computer for anything - I love it! Nico is also partially to blame, anytime there is anyone on the computer he thinks he needs to help and tries to climb up to see what we need him to do.

We've had lots of stuff happening up here, Filipe has a new job, Mir got her driver's license and has already gotten her first accident behind her. Nico is growing way too fast, as is my belly!

These pictures are from a while ago, we had a big snowstorm move through in January - Mir and Filipe both ended up having 3 snow days and one of Mir's friends who lives off the island ended up staying with us because she couldn't get home. Nico loved the snow & it was fun to get out and play in it & it was even better when it was gone less than a week later!

Right after the snow (it was still on the ground when we left) we made an unplanned trip to Utah to see my dad. I told him next time he wants us to visit he doesn't have to be so dramatic about it and end up in ICU. It was great to be home with everyone for a few days and the best part was having the 3 little cousins together - they are at a crazy age and it made for a great time.

We were also lucky to be there when Kayd got his mission call, he is headed to the Czech Republic for 2 years in 38 days (according to his official countdown).

We had a great time in Utah, we were sad to leave but so glad that by the time we came home my dad was home and feeling better. It was scary to see him so sick, I don't know what we would do without him - he is the best and I just love him so much!

Mir had her first fancy dance in February - she looked gorgeous! It is hard to believe what a pretty lady she has grown into, I am a lucky mom.

Nico is quite the little guy - he is full of energy and if he is not watching Curious George (which he would do all day if we let him) he is usually making some sort of trouble. He loves his blocks, balls, trike and hammer. He loves to be with Filipe and thinks he is the world's greatest assistant when Filipe is trying to get anything done. He is becoming much better at telling us what he wants and is sure to let us know what he doesn't want.

He is a little quirky and can often be found wearing any sort of jacket, hat, glove, socks-on-hand combo that he is in the mood for & don't even try to take them off! One night he slept the entire night with socks on his hands, I tried to take them off twice but each time he woke up and wanted them to stay on!

He loves his sister and she is awesome to do things with him that I don't. Nico knows that if I say no to go find Nana & she will probably do it or at least do something just as great. She is a great help to me and can make Nico laugh like nobody else can.

Snow Day!

It has been a snowy, wet week up here. It snowed about 6 inches since last night so it was a snow day for all of us! Nico LOVED it & every time he looks outside & remembers there is snow he runs to get his boots & wants to be outside. Mir took him outside this morning & attempted a snowman, but the snow was not good packing snow & it was cold & windy. It is fun to have snow for a couple of days, but I wouldn't mind living in Phoenix & just looking at pictures of it!
These pictures are from Monday, we got lots of slushy stuff.

Here are some from today, much more Utahish snow!

Too Cute!

Nics usually gets in big trouble for playing in the dog food & water, but this afternoon I caught him doing this & it was too cute to get him in any trouble:

Halloween!

Fall in one of my favorite times of the year, we have been taking full advantage of the festivities on the Island. There is a huge pumpkin patch on the north end of the island that we went to to get our pumpkins - they had a lot to choose from, I thought Nics would have a great time running through the patch but he was only interested in the tractor rides. Miranda took him for a few rides around the grounds - he was in heaven!

He eventually climbed into a wagon & we found some great pumpkins to take home.

We also went to a pumpkin walk at my favorite nursery.

Again, Nico wasn't that impressed. Aside from the Elmo pumpkin, his favorite part of the night was chasing Filipe through the dark parking lot.

We did the usual pumpkin carving & took Nico downtown for trick-or-treating. We have a ton of trick or treaters in our neighborhood, I wasn't sure how Nico would like it but he loved having the kids come to the door & by the end of the night he was the one putting the candy in their bags & saying trick or treat to everyone, it was pretty adorable!

Homecoming 2011!

Last weekend was Homecoming up here & Mir had a great time! The weather was great & the best part of the whole weekend wasn't the streaker we saw during the halftime show, it was having Kayd, Lola & Grandpa come up to watch Mir cheer!! I have been feeling really homesick the past few weeks and it was great to have them come visit us.

Mir danced in the assembly Friday morning so we all walked up to the school to watch.

Nico was into the music & dancing, but as soon as the skits started he was DONE, thankfully Kayd is an AWESOME uncle & took him outside to chase the birds.

We went to the homecoming game Friday night - it was a little chilly but not too bad, Filipe, Lola & Gramps made it through the whole game.
Saturday we hurried over to Pikes for grilled cheese sandwiches, donuts & fresh fish & veggies for dinner. We were home in time for my mom & dad to head back to Nordies while Kayd & Mir kayaked for a while.
It was a perfect weekend, we even had time for some games Sunday before we had to catch the boat for the airport.
I didn't take very many pictures - they brought their new camera with them & were using it the whole time, but I tried to get a few while we were at the ferry terminal.

Thanks so much for coming all this way, Mir will always remember this Homecoming - I love you guys!!

Thank You Lola!!

Lola is always sending the kids packages in the mail of fun stuff. Today on our walk we got the mail & there was something for Nico, he carried the envelope during the walk & was so excited when I opened it for him & there were some shoes that squeaked! He stomped around the house with a happy smile on his face, I caught the last little bit & thought I would share.

Thank you Lola, WE LOVE YOU!

This One's For You, Pop-Pop

Time for some videos!

Two weeks ago was Miranda's first varsity football game as cheerleader!  She did a great job and it was fun to see her doing something she enjoys so much.

Nico really got a kick out of seeing Mir out there too. He especially got excited to see Miranda perform the cheers he hears her do around the house.  He was also a fan of the school band playing right next to us.

Over the weekend we went over to Chris and Mercedes' for Marlowe's birthday party.  It's always fun to see Nico socialize with other kids, but there's an extra bit of excitement when he gets along so well with his cousin.  Marlowe is so adorable and talks extremely well.  She seemed to have as good a time with Nico as I know he did with her.  Nothing was cuter than when she would call him "Nico".

- Filipe

Rest of July....

Our summer up here has been busy, Mir has had a great time doing cheer camps, mini-cheer camps (where they have little kids come & teach them some cheers) & hanging out with her friends.

Nico has been busy getting into EVERYTHING, he is quite the little destroyer of all things visible. He is all out running from place to place, loves to be outside & is getting an awesome personality that is so fun to see.

The highlight of the month for us was having our BFFs, the Ratchfords, come stay with us for a few days. We had a great time while they were here, we miss them so much!!

Garreth set up a zip-line & all the kids (including Freeky) had a great time on it.

Filipe & Miranda built a fire pit in the backyard just in time for their visit, we had a great time making smores every night:)

Nico loved having some little boys here to play with, they were all so cute with him - Sam especially loved him! We love those Ratchford kids so much!

Last Sunday the Blue Angels were in town so we decided to take Nico (who is fascinated with all forms of transportation these days) over to see them...as you can see he was impressed!

He did eventually wake up in time to see them fly over a few times.