31 years old

My sweet husband turned 31 on the 28th of December.  As mentioned earlier, December is a busy month in our household with all the birthday and Christmas celebrations!  Bret has two friends who have his exact same birthday - Damon and Ross.  Damon was even born in the same hospital in Houston, Texas!  Happy Birthday to Ross & Damon.

To celebrate the occasion, we went to dinner with Ross and his wife, Erin - my friend since middle school.  We went to violin camp together and then went to high school together.  The memories!  We went to a local restaurant, Mark's which we have only been to once before (on the company's dime - that is the way to go if I do say so myself) and enjoyed a deliciously scrumptious dinner.  Check out the matching tie Ross wore - the Buntings are so matchy matchy!  

Thankfully Bret's folks were still in town from Christmas and watched our kiddos while we went out.  Free babysitting is always a huge hit in our household.  Bret scored some cool gifts this year from his folks.  He got a rifle (I'm sure it has some fancy name but for those of us that didn't grow up around hunting, I know very little) to go deer hunting with his Pops next year.  It looks fancy and dangerous.  His uncle gave him a generous gift card to Best Buy which will help buy Bret's Wii.   Need to get on that!!

Christmas Mail Out

Feliz Navidad.  I love receiving and sending out Christmas cards.  Albeit it's a bit difficult to get a good picture, come up with a poem, have everything printed out and sent out all before Christmas.  I'm not sure when the picture phenomenon started with the Christmas cards.  It seems to me that growing up we received Christmas cards that had something hand written in them and perhaps a family or kid picture included.  More and more we are steering away from anything that is personal or hand-written and only including a photo.  I have mixed feelings about this.  I enjoy the picture, but it seems so impersonal if you don't write anything in the card.  Don't get me wrong, ours is impersonal; I only hand wrote on two Christmas cards this year and those were to out of the country cousins.  The rest of our mail out received the following poem that my husband whipped up.

2008 in the Oliver household to the tune of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

Good tidings we bring to you and your friends

Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We moved from our old West U. house,

and headed west to find a new house

we unloaded all the boxes right after New Year's.

Not long after we arrived there

we quickly had good news to share

Diego joined our family on the ninth day of the year.

Isa gives bro a hug and pins him to the rug

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sara handled the glorious commotion

Bret got a new promotion

We are thankful for our family and blessings this year.

Sara's 30th birthday 

was a thrilling and special way

to close out our exciting year with family and friends.

Good tidings we bring to you and your kin

Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Feliz Navidad

We had a very joyful Christmas with all of our family.  Traditionally, in Mexico Christmas Eve is celebrated much more than Christmas Day.  Typically we would go to a relative's home and have a lot of food late at night - say around 9/10pm.  Once the eating was done, we'd head to Midnight Mass.  But, we live in the States and we have young children so here we went to the 5 o'clock service at our church, Christ the King Presbyterian and then headed for some grub at our friends, the Batchelders' home.  We enjoyed singing carols and listening to the 7 lessons being read at church.  After socializing with fellow church goers, we got home and set out oreos and milk for Santa Claus along with corn and veggies for the deer.  

Christmas Day we woke up to hear Isabella all excited that the deer had eaten their food and two of Santa's cookies.  Santa had only eaten one.  Mee-maw & Grandpa, Uncle David, and Susan came over for breakfast and opening presents.  Tia Sofia and Nani (formerly known as Abuelita Sonia) spent the night with us.  Isa had really been looking forward to helping Diego open his presents.  That is all she would talk about therefore she could barely wait for Diego to wake up from his early morning nap.  

Grandpa Floyd cooked us a delicious breakfast of whole wheat pancakes which we all enjoyed very much.  Diego has become very good at eating with his fingers and rarely eats the pureed food anymore, so he particularly enjoyed the pancakes and couldn't get enough of them.  Isabella was mostly interested in the syrup (pronounced sarahp).  

After reading many stories from her new books to Isabella, and Grandpa drawing many a princess for her, we started getting preparations going for Christmas dinner.  Abuelito tito Juan made his grand entrance in time to make his delicious cream of carrot soup.  We ate cheese & crackers, olives with some tequila shots while waiting for the pork loin to cook.  We then sat down for a delicious meal of carrot soup, apple rosemary pork loin, french green beans, garlic cream cheese mashed potatoes, salad, and eventually much later in the evening some coffee and an array of desserts including Jack Daniels pecan pie, almond crusted cheesecake and grasshopper pie.  

It was a wonderfully relaxing day filled with family.  By the late evening we played cards, whilst watching cheesy movies and having good conversation.  The men solved the world as Mee-maw likes to say.

Twas The Night Before Christmas Eve

Twas the night before Christmas Eve, 

And all through the house

Not a creature was stirring

Not even a ... wait a minute, there's a possum in the attic!

The leaves of the tree

were all droopy and dry

Not even the sugar water

Could keep it alive

The freezer and fridge were losing their cool

and the ice was melting into a large pool

With only hours till our family arrives

What will we do, what will we provide?

A decrepit tree and food that is rotten

I'm sure that this Christmas will not be forgotten!

Los "Tas"

I have officially entered the thirties (known as los tas (from treintas meaning thirties) in Spanish).  To commemorate the big day, we threw a birthday bash at our house on my birth date.  We had such a blast.  Having a December birthday is not always the most fun because people are always busy with the Christmas hustle and bustle to remember December birthdays.  As it happens, we have several family members with December birthdays.  Bret's uncle David - 12/1.  Me and my mom, Sonia - 12/13 and Bret on 12/28.  This December though....everyone came out for the festivities and enjoyed a good party in my honor!  Here's how the party went down:

The Chef

Marisol Isabel Edwards.  A close friend of mine who graciously offered to do all the menu planning, shopping and best of all, cooking for the party.  The food was amazing.  Thank you, Sol!

The Bartender

Juan Ignacio Guadalupe Alonso Aguerrebere (i.e. Abuelito-tito Juan).  My dad has always enjoyed a good drink and has a great bar in his home.  If you ever find yourself in the San Antonio area, you should always stop in for a drink.  His specialty is rum & coke with lime or tequila with lime.  We are Mexican after all.  

The Music

We had several compilations put together by professional music listeners.  Jonathan Edwards, Ryan John Dolibois, Gladys Ileana Ortiz de Arakelian, and Alison Pauline Brown.  I love music, but am terrible about artists and knowing what's hip.  Good thing I have friends who are in the know!!

The Scene

Good friends + Good food + Good cocktails = Good times!  About 50 pairs of feet walked through our front door.  We enjoyed the night eating, talking, drinking, talking, dancing (mostly just me), singing, and having an all around good time.   

Reflection

Recently, Tricia Zucker asked me, "How do you feel about turning 30?" To which my answer is as follows:

I think it is really different being in your 30's.  For me the last decade has been the most change I have experienced.  When I turned 20 I was a junior in college, had just started dating Bret, did not have a career, lived from the mula my parents gave me and had no real responsibilities to speak of.  Now that I am 30, I have been married for 7+ years, have bought and sold a house and bought another home, have two children, have graduated from undergraduate and then law school, and have a career.  That's a lot of change in just 10 years!  I am excited about being 30 and seeing what life has to offer.  

For my birthday, my sweet daughter told me that a cake would be arriving at our house because you must always have cake on your birthday.  I asked her if she was going to make or help make a cake for me?  She quickly responded no, that the mail man would just bring me a cake!  This (obviously) didn't happen, but I found it amusing.  She is still talking about how my birthday will be on Saturday even though at this point the day has come and gone.  So cute.  

Thanksgiving Week

We were supposed to fly to Utah to visit my beloved maternal grandparents and uncle for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Unfortunately, my mom's boyfriend of three years, Mack Stewart passed away sort of unexpectedly.  He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and three weeks later passed away.  Cancer sucks.  

We, therefore, changed our plans and went to San Antonio to spend the week with my mom to support and comfort her.  It turned out to be a great family time week.  We ran errands, prepared for Mack's funeral, cooked a delicious Thanksgiving meal together, watched movies, jumped rope, had several people over who brought food and just had some good old fashioned family time.  

For the actual Thanksgiving Day, we had my in-laws (Bret's parents, sister and uncle) over as well as my aunt who lives in Italy (but spent a year in the States), my dad and sister.  Tia Sofia is an excellent cook and makes it all look effortless.  I love having her around in the kitchen any time I have to cook for a lot of people.  She made the turkey and several of the sides.  I think the highlight of the dinner meal though was the cheese and fruit platter that Andrea, my aunt put on.  There were over 15 different kinds of cheeses and they were all delicious.  Our family loves cheese (who doesn't?).

After it was all said and done, the girls watched girlie movies while the guys watched THE University of Texas football game against Texas A&M.  Hook 'em.  

Donde esta Elmo?

Just about every baby/toddler is attached to something - be it his/her pacifier, blankie, lovey, stuffed animal, etc.  Isabella has never really been an attached girl.  She had a lovey we put in her crib when she was a baby, which she never really took to.  She has several blankets, but prefers to sleep on top of her bed with nothing on top of her.  She has one baby doll whom she only plays with when a friend is over.  She gave up her pacifier pretty easily when she was about 18 months old.  

Now that she is 3 years old, Isabella has started taking Elmo around with her and constantly needs to know where Elmo is.  Elmo is a girl don't you know.  Elmo needs to be sung to.  Elmo needs to be bathed.  Elmo needs to take a nap and no she doesn't want any books read to her.  Elmo needs to be rocked.  As usual in our family, she has yet to watch Sesame Street.  I'm wondering if we introduce Sesame Street to her, if her opinion of Elmo will change.  Oh and lest not forget, Elmo likes to be photographed.  

Monkey

Isabella has been our little climber since she learned to crawl.  She would try to climb on everything and has never been afraid of heights.  When we were at my mom's house for Thanksgiving, she found my mom's grapefruit trees and climbed them over and over.  Since she's really into wearing dresses and prefers them over any other type of outfit, you will almost always find her in a dress.  She was climbing one of the trees while we were inside when we heard a scream.  She was hanging from the tree by her dress.  It was really amusing to us, but not amusing to Isabella.  The scare did not prevent her from climbing the trees over and over again.  

Splish, Splash

Diego loves and I mean LOVES to take baths.  I think it is his favorite thing to do.  He would probably let me bathe him several times a day.  I sometimes bathe the kids separately because they like their water temperature so different.  Isabella is our ice queen - she likes her baths cold.  I mean cold - as in I would never bathe with her.  Diego likes his at a much more normal temperature - warm.  Usually I bathe Diego during the day (some time in the afternoon after one of his messy feedings before nap time) and Isabella at night before going to bed.  But, lately Diego has been getting very upset when it is Isa's bath time.  He sees the water running and thinks he is in for his bath time treat.  He starts kicking and getting very excited at the mere sight and sound of water.  He tries to pull up on the bath tub and see the running water.  When Isa gets in her ice cold bath and he has to be a bystander, he starts crying in disapproval.  Therefore, more and more now I have started bathing the kids together with warm water.  Isabella complains about the water temperature, but usually is appeased by the fact that she and Diego are bathing together, playing, splashing, etc.  It's a lot of fun to watch them interact.  

Jump, Everybody Jump

Jump roping is so much fun....even grandma can still jump!  Doesn't Abuelita Sonia look adorable jumping?  We had a rope tied to a tree and all (Abuelita Sonia, Bret & Isa, Tia Fia, and me) took turns jumping rope in my mom's backyard.  Isabella enjoyed jumping rope the most with her Papi.  She also helped a ton with the rope.  

I'll Take Some of That

We went to Jack's 1st birthday party earlier today.  The kids had a great time playing in the sand.  Diego was rolling all over in it and Isabella liked driving the big "cement" truck.  

When it came time to eat the cake, I asked Isabella if she wanted some to which she responded, "in one minute."  When it looked like I was about to take a bite of what she thought was her cake, she came running over and said she wanted it right then.  She sat down next to Diego in the truck and Diego was very much eyeing this dirt looking cake and tried to help himself to some.  Yummy dump cake.  

My Boys

We went over to a friends' home recently and realized that Diego and Bret were dressed the exact same.  Guess we had red and dark brown on the brain.  They both looked really good in their respective outfits.  Bret didn't have the cute bicycle socks to match, though.    

Knock, knock, Trick or Treat

We went trick-or-treating earlier this evening.  This is the first year that Isabella really got it. 

She picked out her costume this year - the Little Mermaid/Ariel and was very excited to wear it multiple times throughout the month of October.  We should really introduce her to the movie.  She's only seen Ariel on diapers!  (Talk about great marketing).   She wore her costume to a Halloween festival in the neighborhood last weekend, to a costume play date, to school today, to a pumpkin carving party and of course to trick-or-treat tonight.  

She was so excited about Halloween because we were invited to a Halloween party with crafts and dinner at our neighbor, Natalie's house.  Isabella loved putting stickers on paper.  She of course, found a book to read whilst the other little girls continued with their craft.  

We commenced our neighborhood trick-or-treating with friends Macy, Natalie, Morgan, Camille and Jack.  Isabella and Macy would run to the doors as quickly as possible.  It was fun to see this as last year Isa had zero interest in going up to people's houses.  This evening before going to bed she talked about how she would knock, knock on so many houses and then say, "trick-or-treat" and get candy.  What an exciting time!

Diego was a good sport about it all.  He enjoyed people and costume watching.  The kiddos are now in bed while we answer the door to the later, older trick-or-treaters while getting a sugar coma ourselves.  

Kissy Kissy

Play by play of how Diego french kisses his mama.  Sweet baby.  Whereas Isabella has been wiping off my kisses lately!  She asks to be kissed only to literally wipe her face to rid herself of my kiss!

Personal Library

Isabella is my book worm.  She is always reading.  She doesn't really know how to read, but you will always find her with a book in hand and looking as though she really is reading . She's been into books for as long as I can remember.  She goes through phases with what her favorite books are.  When she was a little over 2 years old, we had 4 books that were her favorite: Prayers for Children, My Little Golden Book About God, Where Do Kisses Come From?, and the Animals of Farmer Jones.  All of these are Little Golden Books.  Then she went through a phase where all we could read to her were Dr. Seuss books - in particular, Huevos Verdes con Jamon (Green Eggs and Ham) and One Fish Two Fish.  Last Christmas Tia Fia gave Isabella her first dictionary (in Spanish).  That was the biggest hit ever.  Isabella's favorite letter to read was P for Papa (Daddy).  Can we say Daddy's girl through and through?  

Isabella started going to school 3 days a week this year.  She loves going to school.  The first week she would wake up extra early, come into our room and tell us to hurry up and get ready that it was time to get to school!  

She has found her own personal library at her school.  There is no formal library to speak of, but there is a book shelf where she checks out a book every day after school.  We have a routine where we go outside to the benches and read the book before we can get into the car.  She brings the book back the next day and the routine starts all over again.  The school administrator, Elizabeth finds it amusing as no other child does this.