Christmas Day 2010

This Christmas was especially fun to shop for Bella because she is so in to imaginative play, dolls, and games. This Christmas morning was most special because of Julian and Bella likes to open gifts and gets very excited. Christmas morning the kids decided to sleep in until 8 so we all had to wait to open gifts! Bella got too many gifts to name but off the top of my head she got the following from Santa, Eric and I, my dad, and Cassy : a Barbie vanity set w/ pretend makeup and accessories, baby doll stroller and accessories, Dora candyland, her first barbie w/ car, playdough set, clothes, a keyboard, an easy bake oven, more pretend food,art supplies, etc, etc. She made out big time! Julian got lots of light up toys, a firetruck, and jumper, clothes, etc.
Another special part of the morning was my surprise gift for Eric. A couple of weeks ago, Deb had been given the opportunity to purchase some tickets for the Cardinals/ Cowboys game on Christmas night. She called me to see if I was interested in buying one for Eric. I of course said YES! I knew the game was Christmas night, but I couldnt pass up the chance for Eric to see his Cowboys play. Anyway, I put his ticket inside his Cowboys Santa hat that we have hanging in our house. I put on my U of A santa hat and asked him to put on his cowboys hat so that my sister could take a picture of us in our hats. As he picked up his hat, the ticket fell out and he was shocked!! He was sooooo excited!! It was awesome! My sister bought him a Dez Bryant jersey for Christmas to wear to the game. Eric gets more excited about Christmas than anyone I know. He is so giving and cheerful all the time, it felt good to give him a nice surprise.
So after opening gifts with my dad and sister, we all got dressed for Eric's dad, stepmom, brother, sister-in-law, and nieces and nephew to come over for Christmas brunch and open gifts. We had yummy egg, ham, and green chile casserole, sausage, potatoes, salsa, bagels, and fruit. We then open gifts with them and the kids got even more fun stuff. Bella got her soccer ball that she will need to play in her soccer league next month.
After they left, I cleaned up and got ready for our next batch of guests to arrive for christmas dinner. Tommy, Becky, Marissa,Britney,Deb, Delia, and Katherine joined my dad, Cassy, and I. Becky also bought Tommy a Cowboys ticket and we surprised him with it when the got here. Eric, Tommy, and Cox left to the game and I made our traditional dinner of Birria, beans, and rice. Stevie then came over to exchange gifts and to yet again spoil the kids. Bella got so many nice gifts from her Nino.
By the end of the night, needless to say I was BEYOND EXHAUSTED. It was such a great day with our family and friends and I feel so very blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. We had a great Christmas and know that next year will be even better. I look forward to many more wonderful Christmases with my family and friends.... A special thank you to my dad and sister for not only the kids gifts but mine and Eric's awesome gifts. Thank you to Nino Tommy and Nina Becky for the great gifts, and to Nino Stevie as well. You all love our kids so much and do such a good job of making sure that they know it not through gifts, but because of all the time and effort you put in to show them your love. Eric and I are very thankful for that.

Christmas Eve 2010

My dad and Sister came in to town on Christmas Eve. Before heading over to my Mom's for dinner, we all baked and decorated cookies for Santa. Bella was really in to it and insisted on cutting out each cookie. I gave Bella the rest of the cookie dough to roll out and play with, which she did for over 20 minutes. When the cookies were done, her and Eric decorated them. We explained to her that they were for Santa and that he would eat the when he came to drop off her presents that night.

We then got dressed in our pajamas and headed to Nino Stevie's house to visit him and his family. We try and go every year to his house to see his Dad for his birthday as well as visit everyone for Christmas. Bella had some fun running around with Steve's nephew Ben. She and him always seem to get along great.

Next, we headed to Nannie's house for dinner and to open gifts as we do every year. Mom made shrimp fettucine, salad, and bread. Bella ate every single bite, it was very yummy! Then it was gift time!! The kids were of course spoiled rotten and we had a great time! We came home to put the kids to bed and put together Santa gifts. It was a great day...

Bella's imaginary friends

I've been meaning to post this for over a month, but have not had the chance to. So here goes..

Bella has always had a great imagination. She loves to play with her dolls and feed and bathe them. She also enjoys playing in her pretend kitchen and talk on her pretend phone.She will use random items around the house and substitute them for other items.
She has also been telling me for quite some time that she has a dragon that follows her sometimes. Sometimes he goes with her to the restroom, sometimes he's under the couch, sometimes he just plays with her. She says he is small and green. She talks to him and includes him in the games that she plays. I ask if he talks, and she says no that he just says "grrr". I think it is very cool how creative she is. We all know that she didn't get that from me. I can take some credit for her love of books and numbers, but NOT for the imagination part.
Tonight, after dinner Bella precedes to talk to someone who is not there. I asked who she is talking to and she said "Shie Shie". Ummmm okay!! She told me that she is her friend and she was pretending to hold her and help her in the restroom. I took video of her telling me about her and talking with her. She said that she was in the restroom (it was our pantry). It's pretty funny. She is so full of imagination this baby girl of mine! Here is the video of her telling me about her "friend"

Tamale family day

Every year for more than 30 years, my dad's side of the family gets together the week before Christmas to make tamales. We havent been in many years, but since my dad was able to go this year, I thought it would be great to join them. I drove with the 2 babies to Tucson since Eric was at work. My Tia Alicia sets up tables in the garage for all of us to stand in an assembly line and make the tamales while listening to Mexican music. We have endless food, desserts, and beer. Bella played the entire time with all of her cousins and literally ran around for hours. JJ was passed around from family member to family member and never fussed once. It was such a good time. I only wish that I could, along with my kids, see our family more often. Bella especially had fun playing with all of her cousins. She also had a great time dancing to the Mariachi music, it was so cute! The food was amazing and I hope to bring the kiddos every year to this tradition....

Snow Day 2010

Last year, Tata was able to take Bella to the snow at Desert Ridge while Eric and I were in Dallas. This year, I wanted to take her again since she loved it last year. Eric was working but Jen offered to go with us, which was so awesome! Thank God she was there to help me with both kids because there was no way I could have done it alone.I am so thankful for her help all the time. She loves hanging out with my kiddos and they love having her around too. Anyway, the day was really warm (almost 80 degrees), so we got there early and played for a while. Bella really enjoyed it, and JJ was too young to enjoy it but did fine. We ended the day with JJ sitting on Santa's lap, lunch, and shopping. It was a great day!

Decorating the Hoover Home 2010

This year was especially exciting for Eric to start decorating outside since our family is now complete. He was so excited to get outside and start decorating the front yard. The four of us made our way outside all bundled up to watch daddy put up the lights, snowman, santa, penguin, and deer. After Eric finished decorating, he went to plug in both extension cords AND..... on the lights went, then 2 seconds later, they all blew out!! All I could do is laugh because it was almost exactly like our favorite Holiday movie Christmas Vacation. We had to get another extension cord and everything worked just fine. I have to say, Eric did a fabulous job, the best yet!

The following week, we got our Christmas tree. We put Christmas music on, put Julian in the Baby Bjorn (or as Bella calls it, his backpack), and started decorating the tree. This year, we decided to not do purple and silver, but red and silver instead. Our tree looks beautiful!Isabella really enjoyed decorating! It was a nice family effort. Tis' the season!!




OUR FALL SCARECROW THAT BECOMES OUR WINTER SCARECROW





THE BEFORE