Fall Holidayz and Big Brother

Well, if you checked the first blog, you'd know that Alexander is going to be a big brother! You can visit his baby sister or brother's blog by clicking here. Alexander has transitioned into a FULL BLOWN toddler. He's super smart, and funny, and crazy, and sweet, and loving, and silly, and has the cutest patootie EVER!



To see all of Alexander's latest pics of Halloween and Thanksgiving, you can see them here at dermondiaz.shutterfly.com.

So, Halloween was a BLAST! It was a week long event in our house. On Saturday before Halloween, we had to pick out our pumpkins at the local pumpkin patch. After a hay ride from the parking lot, Alexander got to run a muck in the pumpkins and even made a new friend. Then we had our annual pumpkin carving party on the Sunday before Halloween. We had friends and lots of family. I made swamp juice (mmmm....) and devilish eggs. There were LOTS of pumpkins carved. Alexander got to carve his first pumpkin with Manny! Alexander LOVED his "ManTevStein's Monster" costume and brought it to me everyday to put it on. He wore it around the house and outside until it got too hot. FINALLY, Halloween came. That day was a little less eventful, but we went trick or treating in our complex and had a great day together.

From Halloween to Thanksgiving! I toned Thanksgiving down significantly this year and we had a fun and relaxing day. We had a small family brunch and dinner at 3:00. Alexander hung with the boys (Manny and Karen's boyfriend, Jules) after dinner...it was cute. That was pretty much it for the day...hallelujah!

So, sometime in there, Manny and I made another baby! Yay! Alexander is very excited, he just doesn't know yet.

The short sale on our house is almost approved. I expect to get word now in the new year. Then we'll have 30 days to find a new place. Things are going well with Manny at work. I'm back to school in January and still working for our homeowner's association. Things are pretty routine, thank goodness, cause Alexander keeps me on my toes!

I am sure you have noticed, but I have added Google AdSense to my blogs, so the more you click, the more I may get paid. We'll find out in a couple of months if it pays off, but feel free to click away as often as you would like! Thanks!

Loves, Hugs, and Kisses,

The Diaz'z

A YEAR Already!

Has it really been a year already? Well, Alexander is still a mess, if anything, a BIGGER mess. :-) Three albums have been added since last blog.

Check out all of his pictures here for a visual story of the last few months!

Alexander is into EVERYTHING. He's climbing in the fridge, opening cabinets, opening the toilet and leaving phone chargers in there, climbing into chairs, running up and down the street, hiding remote controls in the trash, and gives the BEST HUGS EVER!

As the summer heated up, the water hose came on. Alexander's favorite part of the day is getting to play in the hose and his little pool. He LOVES water and has a blast. Check out the video of Alexander playing with his neighbor friends (that's Alexander you hear when the video starts). Little Jacob has twin cousins (Alexandra & Andrea) that Alexander is courting. We call him Little Hef! All of our video clips are POSTED HERE for download.

The biggest part of the summer was when Bumblebee came to town for Xandy's 30th birthday... oh, and Alexander's FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!! We had a LOT of fun! Alexander got tons of booty, clothes, books, and toys. After our breakfast birthday party for Alexander, we spent the day at Dodger Stadium watching the Dodgers whoop the Cubs. Then, we went straight from the game to Xandy's birthday sushi dinner. The day was filled with fun and family. We are very blessed!

On Labor Day, Alexander did end up with a bit of a flu and we took him to the hospital with a 105 fever. They tied his hand to the gurney to get blood, but it didn't work, so they did it again. Two hours later, they found his blood sample after being lost. It had coagulated and they couldn't use it. I wouldn't let them try a third time. By the time Alexander had gotten his chest x-ray, he was well traumatized. This photo was taken after his fever broke and he actually wanted his cheese stick. We took him home 4.5 hours later and his fever never returned. He was diagnosed with an ear infection, upper respiratory infection, and a coincidental case of ringworm. Our poor baby was finally back to 100% about a week later.

On the Mommy and Daddy front, we are selling our house to cut our expenses and looking for an apartment. It's been tough keeping the house clean, but we do have several offers, it just needs to get approved by the bank due to the fact that we owe more than it's worth (called a short sale). I give it another couple weeks and I get to wake up without having to make the bed! Woo-hoo!

Almost a YEAR!

CHECK OUT ALL OF OUR PICTURES HERE!!

On July 22, Alexander will be ELEVEN MONTHS OLD!! That's one month shy of a year (and surprise, I did some math!).

Well, obviously we've (I've) been busy. Our little family has definitely settled into our routines. Morning, breakfast, naps, playtime, lunch, playtime, naps, Daddy's home!, dinner, bedtime. We all get a bath in there at some point, although some bathe more than others *clears throat*.

Last time I wrote, Alexander was starting "solids". Well, he has well surpassed his purees and refuses to eat anything he can't pick up and shove in his mouth himself. He has moved on to a sippy cups and is getting pretty good at it (yes, he is still nursing...whenever he wants, mostly at night). On that note, he has SIX TEETH now too. Two bottoms and four tops...and "No Biting!" is Manny and my new mantra. Big Boy is working on his problem solving skills and likes to take the vegetables out of the refrigerator one at a time and the movies off the shelves at Blockbuster one at a time. We actually only go to Blockbuster to play now. He has been standing on his own for a while now, but has officially graduated to WALKING. He took his first steps at 9 months and is practically walking across the room now. His skill increases daily and surprises me every moment.

Our Visit to my mom (Bumble Bee) in Texas.

Not only are his cognitive and physical developments on par at the least, but he is quite the character. Alexander smiles ALL THE TIME, will laugh at the most simple glance, and flirts like his mommy...I mean his daddy...I mean his mommy... ... He adjusts to strange environments well as he is too curious to care where he is or what's going on. He is one of my new best friends...but not at night. I don't like him at night. Okay, well not HIM per sa, but his sleeing habits, or lack there of. I know it is a monster that Manny and I created, so I can't blame The Boy.

I'm doing well. It seems like I spend 80% of my day in the kitchen cooking or cleaning, but practice makes perfect and I am a perfectionist. I bust my butt working for our HOA (home owners association), but they are paying me now. I feel epowered knowing that I can buy our groceries and contribute monetarily, at least a little. Alexander and I spend a lot of time outside, swimming in big pools or mini pools, walking, bubbles, eating leaves, delivering HOA letters, etc. Manny just reminded me that I broke my foot in April. The first week on crutches was IMPOSSIBLE, but I had lots of help from wonderful friends and family. I had a walking boot on for about eight weeks after that. It wasn't a blast and it still hurts, but I'm glad to be out of the boot.

Manny's good too, doing his thang in the Sales Dept. at Quad. Most mornings, Alexander is up by 6:30, so we get to make breakfast for Daddy and wave bye bye bye to him. He's usually home by 6:00 and gets to see Alexander at his most excited when Daddy gets home. It's a hoot to see Alexander's arms and legs trash around in excitement. We've been attending quite a few Dodger games and they are #1 in the league, so that's ahhhh-sum.

4th of July 2009

The rest of the fam is good. Karen's in her own place, so we see her every couple of weeks or so. Now that it's Summer, we've been grillin' with Uncle Xandy and Aunt Kara more. VJ is home for the summer, but working with Karen at UCLA, so she is only here at our house on the weekends. Carmen is working hard, but is home most evenings to kiss Alexander good night.

Check out all of the latest pictures online. They probably tell more stories that you would prefer to read. Enjoy and we'll see you at Alexander's one year birthday...or is Alexander turning THIRTY?!

Hugs, loves, and snuggles,

ManTevXan

SIX Months and Counting!

Boy have we been busy! Blog updates seem to take a back burner the faster Alexander moves!

Check out all of our Pics at DermonDiaz.Shutterfly.com!

Well, I haven't written since before Christmas. I won't bore you with our thousands of Christmases, but the pictures ARE posted online, so you are welcome to see the multitude of First Christmas photos of our Nug (Nugget).

The most recent news is that two days ago, Alexander sat up all on his own. He was on his tummy and I turned around and he's up on his tush. THEN, the next morning and he sticks my finger in his mouth and sure enough...TEETH! Well, I call them little razor blades protruding his gums. No he hasn't bitten me while nursing...yet. He hasn't officially started crawling yet, but I can' turn my back on his for a second already. He squibbles his way over to every electrical cord and electronics light he can find!

Alexander has been sleeping better lately. For the most part, he's asleep by 10:00-10:30 and wakes around 4:30 to feed and sleeps again until 8:00 or 9:00. Of course I still wake up every 2-3 hours to make sure he's still breathing.

Manny is doing well at Quad still, but since times are rough, he's been working "late" lately. Even an extra hour is rough on me (and he commutes an hour). Alexander and I are settling into a pretty good routine with daily walks and checking of messages and writing letters for the HOA...they may actually start paying me soon. This semester is my first on campus at CalState Northridge, so Manny rushes home on Wednesdays and Thursday to take Xander and drop me at class. I've managed to keep A's, but honestly, it's tempting to give up sometimes, but I guess I manage to plow through.

I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful gifts we received while I was pregnant and after Alexander was born. We have used EVERYTHING! I think of each of you individually as we put on his cute little Gap sweatpants, sit him in his play saucer, play with his wolf puppet, chew on his vibratey teether, read him a dinosaur sleep book, etc., etc., etc. We are all very grateful.

Thank you for all of your love and support,

Tevis, Manny, & Alexander