Our Newest Addition

Wow has it been that long since I blogged? I guess that's what happens when you add a fourth to the mix.

Anne Elizabeth was born Jan 25th and it has been a fast three months. She is smiling and cooing and growing out of all her clothes. Her little toes are even peeking out at the bottom of her car seat. I am ready to upgrade her to a bigger size...there is nothing worse then a huge baby being carried around in an infant seat. Not that she is huge, but she is getting there-healthy is more appropriate. She is growing more along the lines that John Paul grew, she reminds me a lot of him. But then other days I think she looked just like Rosie as a baby. She of course is her own unique and perfect self and already has a little personality.

Christmas

John Paul's preschool has a Breakfast with Santa where kids can meet Santa, get faces painted, listen to stories from Mrs Clause, etc. In the hour we were there we were able to scarf down some pancakes, swallow a couple of candy canes, sit on Santa's lap, play in a bounce house and of course get faces painted-with no tears-Success!

To be honest, I'm not a huge "take pictures with Santa fan". This is one of the first years I had the kids pose with Santa and looking back at the pictures I realize why it's a bit creepy and I avoid it if possible: Here kids sit on this strangers lap, by force if necessary, I'll even bribe you with some candy-its ok to take candy from this stranger but not under normal circumstances. Is this the real Santa my kids ask? Of course he's not! I can spin some tales to my kids about Santa during the Christmas season but to look them in the face and say yes, this guy sitting in that cheap suit and fake beard is Santa...I can't do it. So not only am I forcing them to sit on his lap but he's not even the real Santa. Weird.

It is always hard to get good pictures on Christmas because we are so busy opening presents, helping the kids set up their new toys, visiting with family, etc-who has a spare hand for a camera? But we were able to get the cousins together for a "photo shoot" pre-Christmas. Below is the first and probably best picture we took. The rest are comical, and those of course are my favorite.

I have one of the pictures of all the cousins on my desktop and the kids love looking at it, especially Adam. He names everyone ten times before we can walk away from computer. I love that they are all so close in age. The Munoz family leaves the beginning of February to go back to Spain for a few months and we are going to miss them.

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we were all together, my parents (Rose and Ed), all my siblings (Theresa, Margie, Celie, Tony, Mary, John), spouses (Dani, Paul, Jeremy and Pat), dogs (Dub and Sammy), children (Rosie, John Paul, Adam, Andres, Miguel) and three on the way (Cat due Jan25, Margie and Theresa due March30). Not to mention we threw in Paul's friend from Oregon and his girlfriend and Tony's girlfriend and family. It was crazy fun. I think the first picture captures how much fun we all had.

We had our Thanksgiving "feast" at my cousin Chris' house, where we have been celebrating Thanksgiving since I can remember. The house used to belong to my aunt and uncle and now Chris owns it, with the stipulation that he continue to host this family gathering. It is casual, fun with great food-there is a huge backyard where the kids can run around, climb trees and get dirty. We had a blast picking and eating from the citrus trees that grow in his backyard.

Rosie and Sarah picked and ate many. I'm not quite sure Rosie even had turkey.

We started off the day with our traditional Turkey Bowl. I can't remember who won (typical). The first year Paul played we ended in a tie and he was disgusted. He couldn't believe we would do such a thing. The Bowl was a success this year, Paul pulled his hamstring.

John Paul would have loved to play but instead he took a knee on the sideline. It is only a matter of time before he is showing up his uncles and dad.

A little action shot. It was Pat's first Turkey Bowl and he had a good showing, he was wary of the Bowl's validity because we were slow getting the teams formed but we pulled through with enough to play. Makes it hard when three of the normal players are pregnant.

The older we all get the harder it is to get the entire family together. This Thanksgiving we had Theresa from Spain, Margie from Pensacola, Celie from Jacksonville (recently moved from Maine), Tony from Denver, and Mary from DC. This picture is just my parents and siblings...I would have liked to get the "outlaws" in the picture but they were held up in the garage-they like getting together as a group as much as we do as brothers and sisters.

Rosie loves hanging out with my uncle's girls, her "cousins", and family gatherings are a great opportunity. I don't think I saw her the entire night she was so busy running around with these two.

Having five girls in my family we were bound to have a handful of us pregnant at the same time, but growing up (and until recently) I never thought about or considered it. Theresa and I have been pregnant the same time for maybe a couple of months but this time we are all due within 2 months of each other. Margie and Theresa are due the same time (end of March) and I am only a couple of months before them (end of Jan). I love being pregnant at the same time and I am even more excited to have children the same age. There is something about sharing this experience with a sister.

Thanksgiving was a complete success, lots of well managed chaos. It was great having everyone together and I look forward to next year when all our newest members will be there too. It was so much fun Paul and I need to go on vacation to recover.