The month of April

I can't believe how quickly this year is going by! It seems like we just celebrated Christmas and now Easter has come and gone and summer is just around the corner. April was a fairly uneventful month for us. The kids and I took a trip down to Houston in the middle of a storm to see David while he was home. Joshua was thrilled beyond words to see his Grandma and was so sad when we had to leave. Abigail decided that she loves her Uncle Peter too :) He held her most of the time we were there! We have been keeping busy with projects around the house and have officially finished getting the backyard ready for the kids to play in, just in time for it to get hot outside! We had to rip out a bunch of garden beds that were completely overgrown with weeds and put down grass seed so Joshua wasn't just playing in dirt, not that he would have cared :) Luckily a few days after we seeded the backyard it started raining and didn't stop for a week......Joshua was upset because he couldn't play outside, but it was so nice to see everything turn green and the flowers start to bloom. I've been feeling for a while that there are too many little ones under my feet, so unfortunately the puppies are no longer with us. We found them a new home with some friends of ours who have three little boys. Needless to say they are getting more attention than they have ever had in their lives and have adjusted well to the move.

Joshua is a big help these days. He helps Abigail stand up, gets toys for her, feeds her (yes, with a spoon!) gives her drinks from his cup and helps me change her diaper. I can't believe how quickly he's growing up. It's fun to watch him learn new things and start to explore more on his own, but sad at the same time because he definitly isn't a baby anymore. His time with the speech therapist is going well. She comes over once a week for about an hour and plays with him. He thinks it's great that she comes just to see him! He gives her hugs when she gets here and never wants her to leave. In the few weeks since she started coming he has started saying baby, moo, baa, roar, gobble, cock-a-doodle-doo, Mama (and actually means me!), boom, ball, and ow. There are probably a few more, but I can't think of them at the moment. I'm not sure if these new words are because of the therapist or just because he's getting older, but as long as he starts talking it's fine with me! We (just me and Joshua) went to Baskin-Robbins last night for their 31 cent ice cream cones and he loved it (even though more ended up on the ground and on his clothes than in this mouth)!. He has really started to want one-on-one time with me lately, lots more reading books, coloring, and "helping" me in the kitchen. He even helped me load the dishwasher the other day!

Abigail is 11 months old now....I can't believe how quickly the last year has gone by. She is crawling all over the place and getting into EVERYTHING! She spends more time standing than crawling these days; it's only a matter of time until she starts walking. She still loves to cuddle and gives me hugs and kisses all the time. She loves to play with our new dinosaur toy (you put balls into holes at the top and it lights up and plays music), read books, pull all of the stuffed animals out of the basket, and turn the TV on and off :) She is VERY interested in feeding herself these days and so far has been successful with Cheerios, Gerber puffs, macoroni and cheese, grilled cheese sandwhich pieces, Mother Maria cookies, crackers, etc. She is almost completely off baby food and I'm excited not to have to buy it anymore!

Tommy has had a busy month trying to get the semester wrapped up. He turned in a HUGE paper and a final this week and has a paper due next week before getting a few weeks off until school starts again in June. We're excited that he is down to one more year....just one class over the summer, two in the fall, then one more next spring! He found out a few days ago that he is scheduled to take the Foreign Service Exam on June 6th, so his break from school will be spent studying for that! If we do decide to pursue working/living overseas that will officially be the start of a 12-18 month process.

I'm having fun playing with the kids and watching them grow-up way to quickly. We're planning on going to Houston in May for a friend's wedding reception, then College Station for baby Michael's blessing, followed my Abigail's birthday party, then back to College Station the following weekend for Dash's birthday, and off to Dallas the weekend after that for a family reunion :) Needless to say I'm enjoying the little quiet time we have left before all of this starts!
We love you all and are looking forward to seeing you soon. Watch out for the swine flu!!!!! :)

The Garcia Family

How on earth?????

Ok, so I went to get Joshua when he woke up this morning and picked him up to change his diaper like always......but he wasn't wearing one! Somehow he had taken his diaper off, WITHOUT taking off his clothes, and thrown it away. After I got him diapered and dressed I asked him what happened to his night-time diaper. He got the biggest grin on his face, ran over to the diaper pail and showed me how to turn it over to throw the diaper away :) I have no clue how he did it, or how long ago it had been done, but he was dry and I didn't have to deal with a soaked diaper, so I'll take it. That boy never seases to amaze me!

March update

Another month has come and gone. We enjoyed being able to go to San Antonio this month to attend the sealing of a good friend, and were VERY thankful to Christopher and Sarah for watching the kids while we went. We got to see their new house and meet the new puppy (who isn't that small anymore!). We are also greatful to Mom for watching the kids while Tommy and I were in London (and to Dad for sharing her yet again). There is no one else in the world I would have left them with for a week. I missed them like crazy, but they didn't even pretend to care that I was gone :(

Joshua is as crazy as ever :) He enjoyed a lot more freedom with Grandma than I usually give him and is now convinced that he needs to be outside all day everyday. Unfortunately for him it has been raining and muddy since we got home, something he has seldom experienced in his life. He loves to help with the baby, but isn't thrilled that she is getting into his toys these days. We have a speech therapist coming to meet with him tomorrow to see if we can get him to start talking more, so with any luck I won't be able to get him to stop talking soon!

Abigail is no longer my sweet little baby :( While we were gone she started crawling and pulling up on things and I can't get her to sit still anymore! She has started waving and giving kisses in the last few days too! She may not be a little baby anymore, but she's still MY baby and concedes defeat when I catch her (meaning she lets me cuddle her when I want to, something Joshua never did). FYI we're having her birthday party the morning of May 30th, invitations will go out closer to the date.

Tommy is busy with school and work. He is working on getting his final paper started this semester, so he's spent MANY hours at the library doing research. If it works out like they say it should then this should be the worst of it though. He's supposed to do all of the research and gets it outlined this semester, then he just has to put it together.......... We keep telling each other that it will be over in a year!

I'm keeping busy with the kids and the house, like always. The older the kids get the more work they are :) They are getting more fun everday though as they learn to interact more. We love you all and hope to see you soon!

Hugs and kisses,
The Garcia family

Spring break

We got home from a wonderful trip to London and Paris late Saturday night. It was the first time I have voluntarily left the kids, and as great as the trip was, I will NOT be doing it again. It's funny how much my daily activities have come to be centered around them. I kept checking my bag before we left the hotel in the mornings to make sure I had bottles and diapers.......and had to remind my self that I wouldn't be needing them :) The trip really was awesome though. We arrived back at the hotel every night completely exausted with blisters forming over blisters (well I did anyway, Tommy's feet were fine) and woke up early the next morning ready to start over. We got to visit one of the ward's Tommy served in on his mission, see where he lived, and most of the classic tourist stuff too. We took a day trip to Windsor, Stonehenge, and Oxford that was well worth the time we spent traveling. During the drive we got to see the "Forbidden Forrest" from Harry Potter :) We spent one whirlwind day in Paris and got a good overview of the sites there as well. Notre Dame was the only place we spent any real amount of time, but it was beautiful. We found a gorgeous doll for Abigail and a horse and night for Joshua in addition to some pictures and other things. We spent a morning at the London temple with Tommy's parents and were able to enjoy the peace that the temple always brings. We also went to see "Les Mis" and were very impressed with how good it was. All in all it was a great trip and we are so thankful that we were given the oportunity to go. Unfotunately the kids had such a good time with Grandma that they didn't even miss me.......Joshua cried when she left, but not when I did:( Abigail also chose that week to master crawling and starting to pull up on the furniture...... apparently she forgot she was supposed to wait until I was watching to learn anything new. Now I'm keeping busy catching up on laundry and trying to get back into the swing of normal life again, oh the joys of diapers and grocery shopping :) I wouldn't trade it for the world!

The month of February

February was a fairly uneventful month for the Garcia family. We have been enjoying the warm weather and hoping it doesn't get too warm too soon! We have been working on getting the house and yard how we want them and making plans for London :) Obviously some of these things have been more exciting than others! The kids had their check-ups at the doctor a few days ago. Joshua is now 37 inches tall and 34 lbs. (85th %) and Abigail is 27 inches and 16 lbs. 11 oz (10th-20th %). The doctor wants us to talk to a speech therapist for Joshua to see if we can get him talking more :) We'll see how that turns out; it would be nice to finally hear all of the things he wants to tell us! We enjoyed seeing Mom, Dad, and Peter when they came up for Joshua's birthday. They brought him a bunch of balloons which he played with until they were hardly balloons anymore :) He got a climbing toy for outside, puzzles, a golf set, a bead maze, and a gardening set! I made him a cute cake shaped like a bear......he didn't want to eat it, but Abigail LOVED it :) Peter was a big help at bed time. He gave Joshua a bath all by himself! We are greatful that Christopher and Sarah are willing to help out with the kids this weekend so that we can go to a friends sealing in San Antonio. We only wish we were going to be able to stay for longer!
Tommy is really busy these days with school and an increased work load and more responsibilities at work, and a list a mile long of things to do around the house. He is enjoying it though and we constantly remind each other that he only has another year of this. We figure we've made it this far, we better keep on going!
I've just been chasing kids and taking care of the house and all of our animals :) I love being home with the kids and am amazed at how quickly they are growing up. We leave for London on the 13th, so I'm trying to get everything organized that I can before we go. I'm keeping busy freezing meals and trying to make sure everything is ready so that it won't be any more difficult than necessary for Mom. We are SO thankful that she is willing to come take care of the kids so that we can take advantage of this oportunity!
We love you all and hope to see you soon!
Hugs and kisses,
The Garcia family

Abigail

Little Miss Abigail was born on June 4, 2008. She is an absolute doll and wins over pretty much everyone that she meets. She is always smiling (especially if she sees a camera!) and makes friends everywhere she goes. She recently started crawling and pulling up (while I wasn't here......that's a topic for another post) and now refuses to sit still. She's a tiny little thing, but she has enough personality to fill a body ten times her size. I'm amazed that such a little girl can be so LOUD, I affectionately call her my little screamer, wherever she is in the house, you will hear her if she wants to be heard :) She seldom cries, but will call out to you, just to make sure someone is paying attention to her. She can be a demending little Miss, but pay attention to her and you will be rewarded with the biggest smiles and the most infectious little giggle I've ever heard.

Joshua

Joshua was born on March 1, 2007. He is now a lively two year old who is trying to find out how much power he really has in the world :) He loves to play outside, especially throwing, kicking, and chasing balls, climbing, and going down the "big boy" slide at the park. He loves his baby sister, but is somewhat annoyed that she is now mobile as she has started playing with his toys when he leaves them on the floor. He loves corn on the cob, meatballs, grapes, and gummy candies of all kinds. He is learning to drink out of a big boy cup and gets SO excited when he successfully gets through a meal without spilling any of his drink. He loves to go to nursery at church every week, and I love that he gets excited and runs to give me a hug when I go to pick him up when it's over. He is a big help with the baby. He makes sure that she has toys to play with and doesn't get into things that aren't safe for her. He makes sure everyone knows to be quiet when she's asleep and gets me clean diapers for her (he throws away the dirty ones too!). He loves to give her hugs and kisses and tries to share his snacks with her when he thinks I'm not looking :) He is a wonderful part of our family and I am loving watching him grow up.