Eee-I-Eee-I-O

For sometime now I have wanted to take Elena to a place where she could interact with farm animals. Since agriculture is Omar's field of work, I want the girls exposed to it as much as possible. We finally took them to The Oil Ranch. Even Marisa spent some time awake to be involved in the action. Elena was a litle wary of the large animals but had no reservations with those her height and smaller.


This was the best part of the ranch. You take a hay ride to a pasture with cattle and you feed them. They expect this, so they burrow their huge heads through the gaps in the trailer and literally eat out of your hand! Unfortunately, I forgot the camera here.


She was trying to get near the rooster, but it kept fleeing
"I don't have anymore food!"

Elena didn't want to ride on the pony but it was an accomplishment getting her on for the picture. You can see her saying no.
This was the milking station. Omar and I milked the cow. Elena didn't want to, but she came really close.
On the train

She rolled!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Recent happenings

It seems as if though I haven't blogged in forever but it really has only been 10 days. I find that I'm enjoying blogging memories down frequently because I seem to forget things too quickly. For instance, I don't remember what Elena's first sounds sounded like and I wish I had a video of it.

Part of the reason I've been away from the computer for a while is because Marisa seems to be having more of a predictable schedule. This gives me an incentive to work, work, work...around the house of course because I have a decent chunk of time to do it in. Before, I could expect to be needed in 10 minutes or 2 hours. That was too much of a range for me so I chose to spend my time on computer related things during the day rather than be interrupted from chores. I did chores in the evenings or weekends so I'm happy to have more of that time freed up.

Most recently we celebrated Easter at home and attended mass. With two little ones we tend to be late and when we showed up to mass we found long lines of cars parked and we decided we would try another mass. I was picturing myself nursing a newborn standing up and trying to keep a squirmy toddler from fleeing. Thankfully, our town has 4 Catholic churches that I know of so we had some options. We ended up celebrating at St. Joseph's and I was happy to visit a new church. It's nice to see how churches are similar yet different.

We took Elena to pick strawberries at a nearby farm. Elena LOVES strawberries and wanted to pick and eat, pick and eat, but we limited that to two times. She is doing a lot more with daddy now that I am always holding or nursing Marisa.

I also took Elena to her first movie. She did well and stayed in her seat. Her eyes lit up when she walked into the building and saw all the bright colors and lights.

Here are some pictures of recent happenings


Looking in her Easter basket after the egg hunt with the church's mom's group
Looking for red ones
Thanks for this picture idea Julia
Egg hunt at home
Marisa loves to spend time with her daddy for long periods of time now.I love this newborn sleep pose
This is a typical moment for these two. Playing by each other but doing their own thing. But, it does look as if though Dominic said something hilarious.

Marisa's 3 month update

Marisa is becoming more alert these days. The stages are sneaking up on me for several reasons I think. One, two children keep me busier. Two, I'm aware of the stages so when they happen I think, "oh, I remember this" and finally Marisa is an entire month ahead of Elena since she [Elena]was a month premature so I'm surprised that they're happening so soon.

On most mornings Marisa wakes up talking. And when I get up to greet her she smiles continuously. Every now and then she gives me a giggle but I can't quite figure out how to get her to do it on cue. It happens unexpectedly sometimes and it's a lot of fun.

Even Elena is noticing Marisa's new socializing skills. She is starting to talk to her more and play with her. She insists on Marisa holding toys that Elena places in her hands. Elena is 2nd to me in calming Marisa if she's crying and I can't get to her quickly. I love this part!! They're already connecting.

Marisa is holding her head up well and for long periods during tummy time. She also has strong legs and often catches me by surprise as she bounces off my legs.

Paper? or Plastic?

Okay, so I copied their corny slogan, but you get the point. I started using some cloth shopping bags that we made at a sewing party. I didn't have enough or the time to sew more so I was on the look out for inexpensive equivalents to complete my set and found these. They are wonderful and can't believe I didn't use them sooner. They have a square bottom so they keep everything upright. And, I don't know if it's the bag itself or what but the baggers bag your items in a much more organized manner than in plastic. When I unload, it's so much easier to find their handles in the trunk and it's 10 times easier carrying them in to your house. When I'm done unpacking, I just put them in the trunk of my car and they stay there until the next shopping trip. You need about 7 of them. These are from Super Wal-mart ($1) but I've seen them at Kroger and heard Walgreens sells them to. So, if you don't have some. Get some! They are great!! The only downside is that I don't have extra plastic bags to use for all those extra things we use them for.

Visiting family

We had a wonderful visit in South Texas with Omar's sister and her family this Spring Break. Elena loved playing with her cousins. We visited the Texas State Aquarium which Elena enjoyed with her youngest cousin, Andy. The following day it was 104! We had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard with traditional cascarones.
Bath time fun!
Being silly

Wow!
I love this picture Omar took of us 3. You can't see Marisa but she's in the wrap.
Finding eggs
This is great!!
Cousins
Watching from the sidelines with Grandma

Spring blooms

Omar got some great shots of our blooming garden. (This is only a week after the snow--this is typical Texas weather:))

Elena loves the decorative squirrel
Jane Magnolia
Lavender
Flowering Peach Tree

Flowering Pear Tree

Snow? In Texas?

Despite the fact that our expressions look as if there was a blizzard here, it really wasn't very much snow at all. It flurried for about 20 minutes, but it was a nice surprise nonetheless. Elena was not at all thrilled about us making her go outside and experience snow for the first time. It's a good thing we live here.

Aggie Basketball

It was dollar days, so we packed up our little family and headed to the Aggie Women's Basketball game at a bargain. Elena was quite in awe. She'd only seen games on TV.

Hobbies

I can remember many times having to fill out blanks to questions asking about your hobbies and interests. I remember the question of hobbies being asked in college, organizations, and most recently this was asked in the water aerobics class I attended while pregnant. I've never liked this question as my mind always forms a blank from it. I never had an activity that I loved so much that I wanted to spend my free time doing it. Sadly, before children my hobby was relaxing and going out anywhere--to eat, shop, the movies, etc. (which I still love but there's less time for it now) But like I said I was not one of those people who enjoyed scrapbooking, bicycling, collecting. Who has the free time for all this I asked?

Well, wouldn't you know, but now at almost 30 I've acquired sewing. It's hard to even call it a hobby because I don't love it. What I love about it is the ability to mend things that have come apart. I love that I can now make any pair of pants fit me in length and not become annoyed about being just shy of 5 feet tall. I love that most recently I re-did the elastic on Elena's cloth diapers (thanks for the lesson Rachel!) But more than anything I love making gifts and this is what motivates me to sew . Here are two things I most recently made. I've made a few of these and even sold some, but these are my first pictures.
nursing cover
ring sling