First steps at 4 months?!?!

Suzy took her "first steps" today...check it out =)

future musician?

Ever since Suzy was a newborn, she has been calmed and intrigued by her musical toys. Even in the womb she seemed to really like her Coldplay baby CD. And now that she's a little bit older, she really likes live music even better- she can be having a big fussy fit, but if Elvis pulls out his little hand drums, she stops crying immediately! Last night I broke the flute out and Elvis was on his drums and she danced to our little personal concert for her for a long time, then just watched us very intently when she wasn't dancing. I can't wait to see if she becomes a singer, dancer, musician, etc. We imagine her sometimes playing the cello, maybe because it's an instrument that neither one of us play but we both love. Here are some videos of Papi playing the drums for her:

semana santa part III

Happy Easter! We've had a great day celebrating our new life in Christ and remembering that exactly one year ago we found out that I had a precious new life growing inside of me. =)

Here is a picture of Suzy in her Easter outfit... this was actually MY outfit waaaay back when, and it does have a little bunny on it even though you may not be able to see it. It's weird...the outfit is almost to small for Suzy, but the hat was way too huge...does that mean i had a big head as a baby???We didn't have an Easter basket for Suzy (although ENanny and Granddaddy sent some fun easter books and socks!) but I pulled out some new stuffed animals for Suzy to feel and play with today. So, I guess that technically counts as an Easter present since she'd never played with them, right? She loved the softness.

I really enjoyed today because we don't have any traditions for celebrating Easter, but today we celebrated with our dear friends Rafa and Sarah. They had us over for lunch and an amazing dessert (I love going over to their house...we always know there will be some kind of awesome dessert involved!) In general, we pretty much finished up our holiday weekend eating good food and drinking good coffee. Yesterday we went to a cookout with some of Elvis's friends from work, then the 3 of us went out for coffee. And Elvis made us some yummy fish tacos for dinner with homemade mango salsa and guacamole. MMM! Oh, and I tried a new fruit yesterday...mamey. I'd had it before in homemade icecream, but never just the fruit. I have no idea what it is called in english, but it was a yummy mix of mango and peach i would say.

So, yesterday when we went to get coffee at an outdoor mall, we saw a bizarre thing. They have this new kids' activity at the mall...it's these big blow-up balls that the kids actually get inside to walk around, as if they were hamsters...and all of this in a pool. It's crazy. And looks like a lot of fun! We can't figure out how they breathe inside there yet, but I just had to show you this:

Now, I'm just listening to the rain (yes...rain! what a nice surprise!) and will be enjoying tomorrow off also, although Elvis has to go back to work. Hope you all have enjoyed today with friends and family.

Semana Santa part II

Yesterday we went to the park with some friends from church and had a nice long picnic. We had a great time just eating, playing, napping, and walking.

Then, Elvis and Suzy and I came back here near our house to go see the "alfombras" that they make in front of this cool Catholic church near our house. We love just walking by that church because it is so unique, and especially love going to see the whole neighborhood out doing the rugs for Easter. Being a predominantly Catholic country, Good Friday is celebrated way more than Resurrection Sunday. One way they celebrate is by using colored sawdust and salt to make these beautiful rugs all through the streets depicting the life and death of Jesus. Here are some pictures from yesterday's rugs:

The thing is that as soon as everyone has admired the rugs, they pass through the streets carring this Jesus that you see below, and destroy the rugs in the process. I remember when we saw this in Antigua, Guatemala a few years ago, and it was a very somber processional of hundreds of people carrying Jesus through the streets wearing robes, showing their devotion and for some, penitence.

What better way to finish the day than with chocolate covered strawberries covered with crushed oreos =)

Semana Santa!

We usually do some kind of trip for Holy Week, but it's been fun this year just being here in the city and being together as a family. The other day Suzy went to go "play" with her newest little friend, Rocio. She is finally bigger than someone! I can't wait til they can really play together. Yesterday we went up to a cafe on the volcano and finally got some new family pictures!

I love this time of year because even though it is the hottest part of the year, we always have new life in our little patio. Yesterday I found a caterpillar working on his awesome cocoon in our gardenia tree:

And you may remember our turtle dove that had babies last year at this time in our patio...well this year we have another one, but in our garage. Last year I felt like I should take this as a sign from God that I would get pregnant soon (and indeed was already pregnant!) I think it's OK if I don't interpet this the same way this year =) Here's our little birdie, who is taking care of her two little eggs, no matter if we park the car, etc she is always there. What a good momma!

Suzy, Warrior Princess

So, Suzy has some new tricks. The first one is that she is rolling all over the place (stomach to back and back to stomach) and she's able to pick her head up after rolling onto her stomach. I couldn't keep her on her back now if I tried to! She's a wiggle worm for sure. Every morning I find her asleep on her belly even though she went to sleep on her back.
Her other new trick is squealing and making crazy noises like she is Xena Warrior Princess. It's fun that she can finally verbally communicate her excitement to us!

Here is a video of her rolling over...she had just woken up recently and i guess was too sleepy to get her arm out from under her, leading to some major head banging.

And this one is of her crazy noises...

new wheels!

Ahhh...I'm on vacation!! Unfortunately, Elvis's vacation doesn't start until Thursday, but we are soo looking forward to the long weekend coming up! It will be the first time since before Suzy was born that we will have 4 whole days together as a family!

This week has been hectic but rewarding...I was preparing all week to share at our monthly women's group on Saturday, Elvis was preparing to preach tonight, and we got a new car (well, new to us)!! It was time to sell ol' Cecilia the Sentra and get something a little newer and more reliable. You see, we started saving up 5 years ago, when we were still dating, with an account where the bank automatically sets aside our money for us. I decided to ask about that money a few weeks ago, and it turns out that they closed all of those accounts last MAY when our local bank was bought out by Citibank. However, they failed to mention to us that they had closed it, so if I hadn't asked about it, who knows where that money would be now!!

After wrestling with bank a bit, we finally got our own money in our possession and therefore had a bit to invest in a newer car. I spent 2.5 hours in the bank yesterday trying to do some other transactions, and again had to rely on persistence (had to talk to the bank manager) and tearfilled blue eyes to get through some sticky red tape. But finally it all worked out, and we now have a 2003 Honda Civic, midnight blue (not to be confused with Duke blue). We are still looking for names for him (Elvis seems to think it is a boy), so please let us know your suggestions. Here he is with Suzy, who turned 4 months yesterday! Not a bad gift, eh?

We have a couple of new Sunday traditions which we really enjoy....the first is going to our favorite park here in the city. You've already seen lots of pictures from this park, but I just had to share these new ones as well!

Another Sunday tradition is that since it is the only day that Elvis is here in the mornings to give Suzy a bath, he puts on his swimming trunks and bathes her in the shower instead of her little bathtub, and she loves it! The hard part is keeping her from sucking on her hands since she can't drink the water here, but as you can tell from the picture, it's tough to do that!

with cuteness like this...

...how can I not post pictures everyday??

So, yesterday's video showed Suzy trying to roll over but not quite making it all the way, but today she totally did it like a pro and stayed on her belly after rolling over!! I'm so proud of her!!

I haven't gotten a video of that new breakthrough yet, but this video is of me making funny noises last night and Suzy cracking up at it. Sorry the filming is so uncentered...I was looking at Suzy instead of looking through the viewfinder in the camera. Oops! But you can see her cutiepie dimple and hear the cutest squeal you'll ever hear.

happy st. patty's day!

Suzy is working really hard on rolling completely over! Check out the video...

Apparently suzy likes Bob Marley...

I love this video! Whenever Elvis sings to Suzy, she sings right along. This video shows a little bit of one of their Bob Marley duets. Elvis even provoked Suzy's first out-loud giggle this weekend by singing to her! Too bad we didn't catch that on video!

And here are some pictures from Elvis's graduation dinner at the Gourmet Burger Company. I got a portobello mushroom burger with bacon, grilled cajun avocado and blue cheese sauce. YUM. And of course, some new Suzy pics. =)We went to the doctor last night, and she's up to 11 pounds 6 ounces!