And....we're back!

The Davis family took a trip to Texas for a few days for some nifty events that took place over the weekend. First of all, there was a 25th anniversary celebration of Victoria Ballet Theatre, which I was a part of from 1990-1998. Several alumni returned to dance together in a piece called "Still Dancing" set to the music "Fame." I was able to see lots of old friends, one of my best friends to this day, in particular...Veronica Vallejo. It was so awesome to take the stage again with some wonderful ladies that I share a love of dance with, and also with whom I shared some of the fondest memories of my youth.

We drove down on Wednesday, and stayed in Conroe with Tia Veronica (aunt V for the babies). She made us some awesome Puerto Rican spaghetti! Then on Thursday, we stopped in for a visit with another great friend from VBT, Laura Meadows Garrett...who just had a beautiful baby girl, Elizabeth Elaine, in February. She obviously has something very important to attend to, so she was unable to come dance with us. But it was wonderful getting to see her and her adorable daughter.

We stayed in Goliad, with Aaron's grandma, Florine, the rest of the time. We were able to see lots of family, including his brother Aric and his 6 month old, Cira Jo. This was our first time to see her. She is precious, and we are so glad that we finally got to meet her.

Another reason for our trip was to celebrate the babies first birthday while we were together with Aaron's side, and since we were all going to be together, I thought it would be nice to have Alec and Emma dedicated to the Lord in Goliad.

I have been wanting to have a dedication service for them since they were born, but wanted to do it when family could be around for support. It just seemed like everything would come together nicely while we were down in Goliad, so Bette Burris, the minister at Goliad Presbyterian Church (G'ma Davis' church) was kind enough to perform a service of blessing and dedication for Alec and Emma. They were prayed for and we as their parents, along with their family, and the church family were charged to teach them the Christian faith, to pray for them, and to raise them in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. If there is nothing else that my children learn from me, I hope it is to be like Jesus. And my greatest desire for them is that they know His love and grace, accept His love and grace, and walk in the plan and purposes that He has for them.

Alec was sleepy for most of the service. Emma, in true Emma fashion, tried to steal the show. She blabbered along while Bette spoke. She insisted on walking around the front and down the aisle, and on playing with Bette's stole while the dedication was spoken. Of course, she was a hit. Family in attendance included Aaron's parents and brothers, Andrew and Alex, his Grandmas Florine and Delphina, his aunts Becky and Linda, his great aunts Eva and Lucy, and cousin Debbie...and well, I'm pretty sure most of the church and the town of Goliad is related to my husband in some way...if not by blood, by friendship!

After church, we all gathered for a potluck lunch and then back home to get ready for the birthday party. Now, Emma had not felt well on Saturday, and by Sunday afternoon, Alec was starting to feel crummy too. But they made it through for all of the festivities. Aaron's mother, aunts, cousins and others did a FANTASTIC job of creating a very special party for my babies! Alec had a white cake with pineapple filling that was decorated with balloons. Emma had a carrot cake decorated with flowers. And there was a German chocolate cake for the adults. We had G'ma Wanda's yummy chicken salad sandwiches and lots of different veggies, chips and dips, including G'pa Jeff's chile con queso. The kids had a little of the chicken salad, while playing with the balloon bouquets that were tied to their chairs. They sure like balloons! We put slices of cake in front of them to let them go wild. Emma totally went for it...in fact, I think she still has cake on her! Alec, feeling not to great, didn't really seem to interested. He did lick a little off of my finger, but wasn't feeling up to it.

Then we did presents. My children were blessed with a lovely spring wardrobe, some sweet plush toys, a special picture album, a book to share and some money for their college accounts. THANK YOU to all of the family for loving on my babies! They aren't old enough to thank you, but I am...and we are so very grateful for all of your love, support and generosity.

I will upload pictures in a separate post, because I can't find the cord I need to transfer them right now!

Emma's Earrings

On Saturday, we took Emma to get her ears pierced. Aaron has been wanting to get it done for a while now, and we finally got around to doing it. It was quite an ordeal! Because she is under 6, two people pierce them at the same time. As you can imagine, once a little tyke has it done once, they probably don't comply to have it done again!

First they had to mark her earlobes. That took a while, as she was squirming like a squirrel! It took many tries before they FINALLY got them marked in the right place. Then it took a while for her to hold still enough for both of them to get the piercing gun centered on the dots. I was so scared that she was going to flinch right when it was time, and that she would end up with an injury instead of a piercing, but after several minutes of trying, she finally held still long enough for them to do the deed.

After they pierced her, the gun got stuck on the left side, and it took a minute to get the earring back dislodged from the gun, and Emma was VERY unhappy that we did this to her! She wailed for about two minutes, and then everything was okay. The little 3mm cubic zirconias look darling on her. She looks older to us now, and very cute. Here are a few pics of Emma with her new earrings.

Pajama Playtime

Playing together...you can see that I have "MacGuyvered" (Aaron made that up...big fan) the living room such that they can't get to the tv, the wires behind the tv, or the boxes under the tv...and also so that they can't get out of the living room.

Brother having a blast...Sissy very entranced by something on Noggin.

Yesterday was a pj day. It was dreary and cold outside, so we played in our pj's all day. Here, Emma has Daddy's egg shaker.

Happy Girl! You can't see 'em, but her top teeth are coming in! She's catching up to bro!

Alec's new trick...climbing onto the coffee table. "Yikes," says Momma! No, I did not let him stay up there!

Playing with the walker. They don't get inside it anymore, they just like to climb around the outside and play with the toys on it.

Back at the Park and Bundled Up

At the duck pond with Mrs. Billye and Zeke

Emma blowing me a kiss

After going to the park with Daddy and Mommy a few Sundays ago

Emma is AWAKE!




Alec is a sleepy bear

This is about a week ago, we went to go see Daddy play basketball with the church league. We were all bundled up because it was coooooold again! These hats and scarves are from our

Abuela Tica (Costa Rican Grandma), Miriam Rivera. She sent these all the way from San Jose! Gracias, Abuela Miriam! Pura Vida!

Emma Walking

Here is a video of Emma taking 12-13 steps at the IMWA on Friday. I was teaching, and Aaron had them in the nursery. Luckily, he was able to catch this on the camera! Alec is working on his walking too, but hasn't taken more than a few steps before deciding to sit and crawl. He'll be there soon enough!

The resolution isn't great, because its hard to get videos uploaded that require more memory. We had to convert it to get it to upload. You get the idea!

Shout-Out to our Saturday Girls!

We just want to take a minute to publicly thank Melissa, Amanda, Kim and Sarah...our Saturday girls!

Melissa works with Daddy, and he plays on a Springdale softball team with Melissa, Amanda and Sarah. Sarah and Amanda are sisters and Kim and Melissa are sisters. Though none of these ladies have children yet, they are moms at heart because they all take super care of us!

On a regular basis, they offer to come over (usually Saturday afternoons) and watch us so that Mommy and Daddy can go and have a lunch date and run around town alone. We don't even care that they're gone because we have SO much fun with our Saturday girls. Mom and Dad are super grateful that they have been so kind to give of their time and energy (it takes a lot of that to watch us...why do you think that they come in packs of 3 or 4?!)

Mom has been wanting to get a picture of us with our Saturday girls, but it keeps slipping her mind. Hopefully, we'll get a pic up soon.

Thanks again, to each of you for being so special to us, and for giving our parents a much-needed break, and some time to themselves. You are each an enormous blessing to our whole family, and we love you!!!

Duck Pond Pics

They were both giggling, but not looking at the camera!

He looks scared in this picture, but he was
squinting because of the sun, and waving bye-byes.

Fun in the swing!

I had to work really hard to get Emma to look at the camera.

She was busy watching the baby next to her.

That's a good girl!

Eleven Months

Let's go, Dad!

Alec: "I can fly, woohoo!"

Emma: "Sit up before you fall out, dork!"


Emma Rosey Nose and Alec wearing the Dallas Cowboys hoodie and hat
that belonged to his Daddy

Today Alec and Emma turn 11 months old. I absolutely can't believe that time is moving so quickly. I think all the time about how much more we're going to be able to do together as they get older and bigger...things like going to the playground or the library or the zoo, doing arts and crafts together, and baking together. These are the things that I've dreamed of doing with my kids forever. But I am acutely aware that right now is precious. I LOVE this age! They are so incredibly cute and attached to us, that the love just pours out of them, and it really makes my heart nearly burst several times a day. I have so much fun playing with them and watching them change and develop right before my eyes. They are learning so much so fast, and I know that in a few years, even as we are enjoying the playground and making rice krispie treats for Daddy, that I will miss these wonderful baby days. So, I'm trying to soak up every ounce of their babyness right now.

Some milestones we are at right now are that both of them are standing and balancing without holding onto anything. They both take steps between furniture, toys and us...Emma a little bit more than Alec. They both say mama, dada, emma, byebye (and wave). Emma says keekee (Cookie) and uh-oh. Alec doesn't feel the need to say uh-oh because sister says it enough for both of them. They are on the go pretty constantly, and are at peace in the octagon less and less. We are looking at baby gates and ways to reconfigure the living room furniture to give them a safe and bigger play area. They really object to being placed in anything "stationary" like the bouncer or walker, except for their high chair. And that brings me to food.

They love to eat. They eat a lot, and with Alec...you can tell. He's getting heavy! Emma is growing too, but she's just such a dainty lady compared to her bruiser of a brother. They are still humoring me with the last few jars of Stage 3 baby food, but would much rather feed themselves real food, chewy food. They LOVE macaroni and cheese. Hmmm, no doubt they are their father's children! They love meat sticks, and chicken or turkey when Mom makes it, string cheese bits, mandarin oranges, grape bits, yogurt, whole grain waffles, oatmeal and oatbran with applesauce...and the list goes on. OH, and I almost forgot, they are 1/4 Mexican...so they love tortillas, Spanish rice, refried beans, and pretty much anything off of Mom's or Dad's plate at the Mexican restaurant.

Aaron informed me yesterday that Alec likes to "shake." We hold his hands and say "shake shake shake" and he bops his head back and forth (imagine Stevie Wonder) and gets a kick out of it. I am also starting to work with the kids on a little sign language like "thank-you" and "more." Well, this has been a longer post than I planned. Just imagine how mushy I'm going to get this time next month for the big number 1! Well, here are a few pictures of the kids getting ready to go for a walk with Daddy not too long ago. We'll take some pics this weekend, and I'll post true 11 month shots soon!