Playing catchup and just playing!

I could complain about a lot of things like the economy, my pant size, the fact that I live by a college football stadium in the fall...but the thing is today I am so blessed. I shared a few of these photos on my photoblog, but I didn't want to give too much detail, because who knows who reads that thing sometimes.

We have been stuck indoors for the past two weeks with toddler diarrhea. Trust me, taking stool samples was an all-time motherhood low. Then Adam came down with a bad cold. He has been pushing so hard to finish up his degree and he only has ONE WEEK left. I can't believe that he actually will be completing his MBA after 6 months. It went by so quick. So last night we took a much need time out and went to the park with our kids. They were elated to be out of the house and the weather was perfection.

Max-Max. Doesn't he look so grown up in the photo above?
I want to tell you why I love this photo.
Max is looking at me.
My boy, who a few months ago I wasn't sure would ever speak or look me in the eye again, now will look into my eyes the whole time while I sing the alphabet to him. After almost nine months it brings a tear to my eye, because I know he can say "mama" again.

He still has a long road to travel, but he is making his way back to us.

¡Aye Mi Niña!

My baby turned ONE on September 30, 2011.

PHEW! I won't lie. It's been a long tough year, but we made it together and after all that hard work we've all put in we are not about to give up now!! We love this sweet girl. Here is a list of things that my Dempsey-girl does that make me smile:

-she has lightning fast reflexes and when we go to get her out of her bed in the morning it's almost like seeing a triple flip up to standing position, because she is so excited to see us!
-loves to tap things with her index finger.
-does little random dance moves moving her shoulders up and down.
-can say mamama and dadada, but has a very pronounced BaBaBa and will even wake up in the middle of the night to say BaBaBa.
-she's got a huge gap in her two front teeth and it reminds me of Mater from the the Cars movie, so I am always saying she has "two buck teeth for one buck"
-she wears a shoe size 6 already! she's going to be tall like her daddy!
-she is in 18-24 months clothes.
-her hair is coming in slowly, but surely and though we try to deny it, it seems to have a tinge of red.
-she's a climber and I am constantly pulling her down off of the furniture and stairs.
-she will have nothing to do with dolls, jewelry or anything "girly". However, if you give that girl a ball, she is very happy!
-she has a strange fetish with the posts on our bed. she gets overly excited to go into our bedroom and try to get her mouth on that bedpost.
-she loves playing outside and if ANYONE goes out the front door without her she throws the biggest tantrum ever.

She is pretty fond of playing with Adam and he likes to throw her around. By the time these kids are old enough for tumbling, they may think it's too boring. :)

Happy Birthday my beautiful girl. We love you so much!

Birthday explosion!

September is definitely the month to be born in...6 people in my and Adam's family were born in September. We had a giant party, complete with piñata, for Me, Becca, Roy & Dempsey. This is how it went down in Hurricane...




It's pretty much pure torture to expect a fat kid to sit and stare at a chocolate cake.


We have a drama queen on our hands. If meals and naps are not kept on a strict rotation we have total meltdown. I'm pretty sure she gets it from her dad's side of the family. 'winky face'






After about 5 minutes of digging, she finally got to the actaul cake, but by then she was already spiraling into a frosting induced coma.



The rest of us had to share a cake, which pretty much proves that life doesn't get much better after after childhood ends. Live it up while you have the chance, my children.



Becca's mom, who hails straight from the motherland i.e. El Salvador, was attempting to teach us gringos proper piñata etiquette. It involved blindfolds, spinning, counting, and the crowd heckling a dizzy person with a bat...it was like trying to recreate a drunken riot without the alchohol.



Of course, everyone was surprised at my pent-up rage. All I need do is imagine the roaches, mice, and ants that once bombarded that very kitchen and no piñata within 20 miles is safe.



Trent(right) was having a nice time making us all look silly as we swung into thin air and missed the dancing target.

Adam gets the award for killing the piñata as he continued to beat it's lifeless cardboard frame long after it had exploded all over the ground.



Then propor protocol states that you use the cones from the piñata to collect the candy...yum, candy canes in September, just what I had been wishing for. :)