2011 Family Pictures

A grade school friend that I reconnected with via Facebook took family pictures for us back in November. She began a ministry called Simply Olive Photography to provide professional photography for those who cannot otherwise afford it. She does not charge or ask for anything in return! She will however accept donations which go back into her ministry. Not only is this an amazing gift that she provides, she truly is very talented. Professional pictures are so expensive and definately not something remotely close to showing up in our budget any time soon, so I'm forever greatful for her and her gift to us. We hope she will take our pictures again in the coming year when a certain child of mine is in better spirits and the weather is warmer. Here are the few shots that she was able to capture of us in the few moments we had before Esperanza was taken over by her evil twin...Brienne really liked the hat that Ezra was wearing the day we had our pictures done so part of what I donated to her and her ministry were these knitted baby hats for her to use when she photographs babies.

This one fit Ezra. He looks good in pinkAnd this one fit the snowglobe Thank You Olive!

Choo Choo At The Zoo Zoo Lights

Our first trip to Zoo Lights at the Portland Zoo! We met Armando's sister Eva and her kiddos there one evening last week. We had a cloud cover that night so it wasn't freezing, a little drizzle here and there, but for the most part the weather was good for us. It was a school night before the winter vacation kicked in so it wasn't very busy either. Overall, the perfect day for our adventure.Eva's children: Rafa with a big fake smile, Celeste with her eyes closed and Kiko in the stroller distracted and looking at the lights Look at that smile Armando! Wow, thats a first.An outting would not be complete without some tears and drama from Miss Esperanza. I purposely try to get photos of these moments rather than just the 'happy' smiles we all typically attempt to capture on camera. This is truly how our outtings, days and life go. A whole lot of drama with a few good moments in between. I don't want these memories to be forgotten or go unnoticed when Esperanza looks back one day at all these wonderous adventures we have. She'll thank me one day for capturing these pictures of her. Maybe then she will be able to talk to me about how she was feeling.Armando, Ezra and some ghostly fog or somethingEva is camera shy, she hides her face any time I try to sneak a picture of her. This is the best I got. Her and three boys...holding Ezra, pushing Kiko and Rafa hanging on her. What a mama.We took the lit up zoo train ride at the end of our zoo rounds. Ezra zonked out just before we got on and stayed that way most of the ride. While on the train watching all the lights, we warmed up and re-energized with some hot chocolate and snacks I brought from home. Eva bought each kid their very own battery operated train with track set from the gift shop. They were so excited about the whole choo choo train expereince. Esperanza spent at least the next 48 hours running around yelling 'Choo, choo...chuga,chuga, chuga...choo, choo' This was my favorite illumination. Esperanza and Rafa with Armando and their choo choo's

Festive Moments

Holiday Cookies

We baked ginger bread people cookies. Esperanza loved using the rolling pin. She was good at it too It was an improptu baking day and I didn't have anything to use as frosting or decorations (besides those two chocolate chip eyes). Esperanza didn't know any different though. They turned out pretty good.Gingerbread House
During Ezra nap time one afternoon, Esperanza and I put together a gingerbread house kit. I convinced Esperanza that the candy was fake and was not edible despite how closely it resembled real candy. Yes, I'm a mean mama. About 10 minutes into our project though, I instinctively licked some icing off of my finger without even thinking. Busted! The task of putting together a gingerbread house is very messy. And not easy. The roof kept sliding off, the icing was very difficult to decorate tiny windows with and the walls even caved in once. We had a lot of fun putting it together though and in the end, it stood up on it's own.Christmas Jammies

I came across matching Christmas jammies for my kids at a thrift store. THE. BEST. FIND. EVER. I paid 7 dollars for both of them! Perfect condition, gender neutral, Childrens Place jammies, size 12 months and size 3T. They were in different sections of the store and I just happened to find them both. Score! These kids are the best little gifts ever! Oh Christmas Tree
We went and cut down a Christmas tree awhile ago. It was dusk and I forgot my camera, so no pictures of that very cold and uneventful moment. Once home, Esperanza and Ezra had fun looking at all the ornaments and decorating the tree We found a few 'safe' ornaments for Ezra to chew on She wanted me to take a picture of her with each and every ornament

What Christmas tree would be complete without a chili pepper ornament? Not ours.

Food For The Birds
We went for a walk to find pinecones in the neighborhood (off topic side note: we've had the driest and sunniest December on record...my record anyways. It's been delightful!) Put peanut butter on oneThen we added bird seeds
And hung it up outside for the birdies. Fast forward a couple of weeks and we still haven't seen any birdies.

Santa
We took a trip to the mall for the sole purpose of getting a picture of the kids with Santa. I should have known better. Don't go to the mall, ever. Especially during holiday season, not even for a Santa picture. Esperanza was terrified of Santa. Ezra of course didn't care, just another warm lap to sit on. He got his picture taken but we didn't fork out the 25 bucks to buy it, especially since Esperanza wasn't in it. Lesson learned. When we got back home, Esperanza took a nap and I planted myself in front of the computer and put together a personalized Santa video for Esperanza through a website. You answer a few questions about your kid, they plug the info in and wah-lah - you've got a video to prove to your kid that Santa's watchin them. Her eyes were big. She didn't say a word the entire time. She would look away from the screen every now and then only to look at me with huge eyes that were saying 'where the heck did this guy come from and how does he know so much about me?' I chose to put her on the 'naughty' list. The video came to a part where Santa said something like 'I know you want a certain special toy for Christmas, and there's still time for you to be a good girl...'. While he was saying that, the video showed a picture of some generic toy, which was supposed to represent whatever it is she wants for Christmas. After the video was over, I reminded her of what Santa said. Her response, 'Well, thats not the toy I want anyways.' Sheesh! Nice try mama. She did tell me later that evening that she was scared of Santa. Who can blame her. The one special toy that Esperanza wants...and these are her exact words, not mine..."I want a BIG Woody". Toy Story Woody of course.

A blurry photo of her watching her Santa video

Paper Snowflakes

It had been years and years since I made paper snowflakes, and I can't say I ever really knew how to make a very nice looking one in the first place. Then, I came across a tutorial the other day on how to make paper snowflakes (Martha Stewart of course). It's so easy and fun! Even I was able to get them to turn out wonderful! Esperanza and I made several colorful snowflakes of various sizes to hang up in our window. She had fun cutting up the scrap paper into itty bitty pieces while I did most of the actual snowflake making. Then she unfolded them, put double sided tape on them and hung them in the window. I'm still practicing, but even these first ones turned out pretty darn good I think. Aren't they pretty!? Esperanza is still mastering the scissors. We bought her a pair of scissors that spring open after they are closed to cut. It makes it so she can actually use scissors without getting too frustrated and now she loves to just sit and cut paper with her scissors.

Ezra Is Half A Year Old

At 6 months old Ezra can sit on his own with no support, he eats pureed foods and is super giggly for no reason other than that he's just a happy little baby. He's still very distracted when he's nursing, even when it's just him and I alone in a dark room during the day. He won't nurse more than a few times a day. He's decided he'd rather nurse more at night so that he can discover the world around him during the day without having to be attached to me for the boring task of eating. So he nurses throught he night which keeps him thriving, growing and healthy. He's quickly growing out of size 9 month clothes and into size 12 month clothes now. He weighs 19 pounds. No teeth have appeared yet but he is still teething and wants to chew on anything and everything he can get into his mouth. A few weeks ago, out of the blue, Esperanza started calling him Buddah. He's such a joy to be around.He loves mamas home made carrot puree. He's a very messy eater too. After each bite, his hands immediately go to his mouth, then to his eyes, hair, ears, and within seconds his entire body is covered in food. I'll learn soon that I just need to wipe his mouth after each bite cause I will not be giving him a bath after each meal. I am afraid though that this is just the beginning and eventually he will turn into an even messier eater where food ends up all over the flood and walls. This is a very clean picture of him, before the hand rubbed the carrot puree all over the place.Happy Half Birthday Buddah!

Duck, Duck, Goose

We found the very best place to see and feed the ducks. For those of you who live in the area, it's off of 172nd Ave across the street from the 24 Hour Fitness. There are a few ponds right there where dozens and dozens of beautiful ducks await your childs arrival with stale bread. Facebook has various pros and cons to it's existance and uses. One of the things I love about Facebook is the endless ability to share and discover information through other people, groups and organizations. I discovered this place through a Facebook friends photo and am so happy I did. We've been trying to find a good duck feeding place for years! Okay, maybe only 3 years, but still.

While there may not have been any geese, there was this one featherless blue-hatted silly goose along with 30 or more beautiful and hungry ducks. It was a sunny yet very chilly day. Esperanza still despises the cold so she sat in the stroller bundled up, tossing bread pieces to the ducks. Convincing her to get out and chase the ducks around was impossible. Ezra was snuggled in the Ergo watching the ducks and his sister with interest

Eventually she warmed up enough and got out of the stroller. She actually threw a fit at one point cause she wanted to get into the water with the duck. And then, along came another little girl with her mama. Hooray! Esperanza's attitude quickly changed and she ran around with this little girl chasing and feeding the ducks together. Her mama and I exchanged phone numbers and hope to meet up again with our girls to feed the ducks. We'll be back duckies!