Adorable Alex: A Year In Review

I took a trip down memory lane, reminiscing over every ounce of our sweet boy's first year of life.  What a sweet year it has been, from the moment he arrived on our doorstep...

...to our first glimpses of those dimples...

...to his adorable smile that I can't get enough of.

I remember it like it yesterday, that feeling of having him in my belly...

...and I can remember the feel of holding him when he was so tiny...

...and the joy of every moment in between.

 I know a certain little someone has loved him wholeheartedly right from the start...

...even if he wasn't always crazy about being showered by her kisses!

We are so blessed as a family of 4!

 

We love you, son, so much more than you will ever know!

Happy 1st Birthday, Alex!

Happy 1 Year to our little sunshine, Bubsy!  

It is so hard to believe that it has already been ONE WHOLE YEAR since our baby boy, Alex, was born!

How did this tiny human being turn into this big boy?!!!!

And what a big boy he is!  Alex is such an adventurous little boy who seems to never sit still these days.  He loves to roam around, causing mischief and exploring the world around him.

Bubs is starting to take those first few steps and it is only a matter of days till he takes off and starts walking all on his own.  For now, he is happiest when he is able to follow us from room to room and especially when he gets to chase Jillian around.

He is still a good eater and a good sleeper.  All around, he's a pretty easy going baby.  Alex loves playing with mommy's iPhone, playing peek-a-boo, and pretending to feed his food to Jillian.  He says "mama," "dada," "uh oh," and "yay" on a consistent basis.  He loves waving hi and bye and doling out baby kisses every once in awhile.  

Sweet baby boy, I cannot believe that you have been with us for 12 months already.  The time has seemed to fly by!  We have so many fun things in store to celebrate your first year of life and there are so many memories to be made.  We love you, Alex Acosta, for making our lives even more complete!

Silly Jilly: "I Think I Can, I Think I Can"

The Acostas just got back from family vacation.  We went to New Braunfels and we went to Schlitterbaun one day while we were there.  My mom agreed to stay back with Bubsy, so Julian and I went with Jillian and my brother and sister to enjoy the day at the water park.

I was convinced that we would spend a good majority of our day in the kiddie pools or taking turns watching Jillian on little slides.  But as soon as we got to the park, we went straight to one of the rides.  Jillian did such a great job on her first ride and she was so happy riding in her own tube.  She smiled and giggled the whole time as we held on to her tube through the whole ride. 

For our second ride, we climbed to the top of a 4-story tube slide.  As we were on our way up, we looked around and there weren't any other kids in line that were as little as her.  The higher we climbed, the more nervous we got.  Jillian would need to ride in her own tube, down 4 stories, in a dark tunnel, all alone!  

I didn't want Jillian to be nervous and I didn't want her to know that we were feeling anxious too.  So we just kept pumping her up and hyping up the ride.  We got all the way to the top and I came close to turning her around and walking down the 4 flights of stairs.  

But I asked her when we were about to turn around if she was wanted to still go down the slide.  She turned to me and Julian and said "I think I can, I think I can."  And just like that, our brave girl went down the ride, shrieking and laughing the whole time.  Any apprehension we had was gone.  We told her we were so proud of her!

The rest of the day at Schlitterbahn was amazing!  We went on a ton of rides with our brave girl and she had the time of her life.  I am sure that these are memories that will last a lifetime for her and for us.

Silly little brave Jilly! Hope you enjoyed our time at Schlitterbahn!!!

Happy 11 Months, Alex!

Happy 11 Months, Alex!  I cannot believe that there is only one month left until you turn 1!!!

You are a little busy body these days.  You are starting to stand all on your own and I am sure it will only be a matter of time till you start moving those chubby legs to start walking.  But for now, you crawl around and follow us from room to room. 

You are also starting to eat more and more table food.  You are an eager eater but you don't love everything that we put in front of you.  You like feeding yourself and sometimes you insist on grabbing the spoon away.  We have tried to get you to use baby sign, but you've only done it a few times.  

You are still hovering around the 21 pound mark, and still wearing 9-12 month clothes.  You're a sturdy little guy who is really strong and such a wiggle worm!

You had surgery to get tubes in your ears this past months but you seem to still be getting sick, just not with ear infections.  It's been a little bit of a rough month as I think you are teething too.  But only time will tell.

You still love watching your silly sister bounce all over the place and you love spending time with daddy.  But this past month, you have been such a mama's boy.  While I love the extra snuggles, sometimes I can't even leave your sight/grasp without a whine from you.  But it's ok though, all is right in the world as I love giving you extra affection!

Bubsy, you have been such a wonderful addition to our family and I can't wait to get everything ready for your first birthday!  Happy 11 Months!!!

Silly Jilly: Two Prayers

Silly Jilly says funny things all the time these days.  But here are 2 of my favorite things from this past week:

Jillian told me a few weeks ago that she does not like the last line of the Lord's Prayer.

Jilly: Mommy, don't say "Deliver us from evil."

Mommy: But that's what the prayer says.

Jilly: Well, I don't like it.

Mommy: We can't just change the Lord's Prayer, Jillian.  We'll need to ask God if we can say "Keep us safe from every evil."

I hadn't thought too much about this conversation until we were driving home from school the other day.  I always tell Jillian that when she sees sun rays through the clouds, that means God is with us.  

Jilly: Mommy! Mommy!  God is with us, hurry and ask him if we can say "Keep us safe from every evil!"

So needless to say, we now change the last line of the Lord's Prayer.  Now that she has that one down, I have been teaching her the Hail Mary.

Jilly: Hail Mary, Fairy Grace, the Lord is with thee

Maybe I think it's the cutest thing in the world that she says that, so maybe I don't correct her...

Adorable Alex gets a Haircut

Somebody got a haircut today!!!  Though we had trimmed Alex's hair before, this was his first real haircut!

His hair had gotten so long over the past few months and it was hard to tame.  We would comb his hair before school, but he'd always come home looking like a mess.  So I decided it was time to cut it, even though I tried to wait till he was one year old.  

Some before shots

We took him to our stylist, Brittany, at Chrome.  She was the same one who gave Jillian her first haircut too.  He did not sit still like she did, as he is such a wiggle worm.

She took a little off the sides, and lots off the back.  

Doesn't he look like such a big kid with his new haircut?!

And here he is with his handsome daddy.  Now if only we could get daddy to cut his beard too.  (Just kidding babe...or am I?!)

#beardandson

Here is a Before/After shot of our handsome boy!

We love you, Alex, and your new haircut too!

Adorable Alex: Not You Too?!

Maybe you remember a story about a certain little someone who shall remain nameless named Jillian who started reaching for the bottle at a young age?!  It seems like her brother, Alex, is following in her footsteps.

Like brother, like sister...

In my morning haste, I heard a loud thump and the sound of glass hitting the floor.  It was my son...taking out a bottle of wine from our buffet...and he's only 10 months old...

Lord help us!  I'l be damned if I have 2 underage drinkers on my hands.  

But doesn't he look so cute though?!  Looks like I'm in trouble!