Amy Walked Down the Aisle!

Amy got married! And she was a beautiful bride. It was an amazing, fun day. We first got our hair and makeup done in Amy's hotel room.

I took Samuel with me so that I could nurse him. He looked like a little angel while he was sleeping.

Then a limo picked us up and took us to the wedding site, and we were in a bridal suite until go-time. It was a lot of fun.

The bride

Lace her up!

Almost time for the ceremony

Samuel in his first suit

And see? I even combed his hair to the side. Special occasion . . .

The ceremony was beautiful! Makayla (Amy's stepdaughter) was the flower girl, and she waited at the end of the aisle until her grandmother took her hand and walked her to the front. She didn't drop any petals. Then, after Amy was at the front with Philip, Makayla decided that she wanted to throw the petals. So she did. It was adorable.

Here comes the bride

Dora and Samuel. Samuel was held by someone the whole time, and it wasn't me! My arms got a break.

Making their way to the reception

The rare picture that includes both parents

Elena also had so much fun with Sabrina. I think Sabrina got pretty tired. It was hot outside and Elena just wanted to run around in the sun, then she wanted Sabrina to spin her around.

Again, my arms got a break! And Samuel did so well with everyone, he didn't really cry at all. 

A day full of love

The kids had a lot of fun, and there was so much space to run around.

Their first dance

Elena had a blast dancing. She danced with Destiny. They danced and clapped and hugged. They were so cute together.

I had worried about how we would get Samuel asleep, and I thought I would have to leave early, but he got super tired and passed out in Victoria's arms, despite the loud music.

Dancing

If you look closely, you'll see that Elena's in mid-air in this picture.

Wardrobe change!

Bouquet toss

And the garter

Destiny and my mom

Elena and her Auntie Amy

It was such a fun, happy day full of love. 

We learned the next morning that my grandma had died early the day of the wedding. A few people knew, but they didn't tell us so that the wedding wouldn't be full of grief. I totally understand the reasoning for it and I'm glad Amy had a joyous day of celebration and love. I had wondered how my grandma was able to hold on for so long after going into hospice care, barely being able to breathe. And I was convinced that she would pass away before the wedding and that Amy would be sad through the entire day. But I do believe that God has a plan, and that He took her when the time was right. Amy had a wonderful day. I love my grandma and will always miss her.

6 Months

I'm 6 months old today!

I am 27.25 inches long and I weigh 15 pounds, 15 ounces.

I love to kick my legs like crazy (especially when I don't want to fall asleep).

I'm really interested in the things going on around me.

I can grab things very quickly, when you least expect it.

I like to stick my tongue out.

I got to taste banana yesterday, my first solid food!
 

Amy's Bachelorette Party

Amy's bachelorette party was last night. I got a weird stomach bug the day before and started to panic, but I felt well enough by Saturday morning to go on with everything as planned. We got pedicures early in the day, then in the evening we had dinner. Here she is at the beginning of the night.

We ate at a Spanish tapas restaurant, and the food was delicious.

Here she is with Lena, one of the bridesmaids.

Lena, Amy, and her friend Lisa

Amy had a blast dancing

 

This is the longest I've been away from Samuel (which means the longest that Jorge has taken care of both kids alone). Samuel hardly drank from the bottle while I was gone, and when I got home at 1 am the first thing I did was feed him. He was sleeping, but he started eating right away when I held him in my arms. It was a fun night. Now all that's left is the wedding!

Amy's Bridal Shower

Amy just got back from Afghanistan a few days ago, and Saturday we had her bridal shower. In 13 days she'll be a married woman!

She saw Samuel once before she left, right before Christmas. That's when she told us she would be in Afghanistan for a few months. He grew a lot since she last saw him.

My great aunts Shirley and Jean were there.

 

They got to see Elena at the very beginning of the party. When we got to my mom's around 11:30 the night before, she woke up and was too excited to go back to sleep, so she was jumping and running around and playing with the dog while I decorated the cupcakes until 1 in the morning. She woke up at her regular time, probably because Samuel wakes us all up, and at the beginning of the bridal shower she had a big frown and was super tired. So she went back to my mom's to take a nap, poor thing. Jorge brought her back when the shower was over, but we were all still hanging out so she didn't know the difference. 

 

Samuel met his great-great-aunts for the first time. 

He also met Victoria. I have to say that he did best when Shirley and Victoria were holding him. Then he just turned into my little barnacle again and wanted to be held by only me. I pretty much went the whole day with him on my hip.

 The cupcakes.

Me and my sisters, and Samuel.

Amy with her friends during one of the games. It was "Who knows the couple best." Everyone guessed right that Amy is the messier one.

 Family picture

Very soon she'll be walking down the aisle.

Relaxing Days at Home

We've had a lot going on lately. We made a last minute trip to Santa Maria to see my grandma. Her health has really deteriorated and she's in hospice care right now. So we drove up there after Jorge got home from work (for his part-time job that he was doing after his day at his full-time job), and stayed with my mom. She was having a really good day when I got to spend a good amount of time with her, so I'm glad I have that. That was one week ago, and right now everything is day-to-day with her.

This weekend we drove up to Santa Maria again for Amy's bridal shower. Next weekend is Amy's bachelorette party, and the following week is her wedding. Busy. Then we've had all of our regular, everyday things going on. So I've enjoyed staying home with Elena more over the last week, opting not to go to some of our usual activities.

I finally got her some water gems (we call them "water balls"). I've been meaning to get some since I saw them on Pinterest, and when I saw them at Joann's I had to buy them. They start out so tiny and then grow when you put them in water. It's for a sensory experience, and I love tactile stuff so I like them as much as she does.

She played with them a lot. 

And this little guy . . . my barnacle. The one who cries when I walk away, tracks me around the room, and reaches for me whenever I walk by him. He wants to be in my arms all the time. And my arms get tired. So I've been wearing him more recently. He likes that. And check out his little cleft chin! 

I love seeing Elena play with him and comfort him. She is such a caring person.

More sibling love. This was at my mom's house this weekend. 

I hope to have some relaxation in the near future. Traveling with kids is hard, I'm not a big fan. But they do enjoy it, even though we come home absolutely exhausted. So hanging out at home is good.

Nana's House

Elena loves to visit her nana. These pictures were taken on Easter.

 

 

 

 Samuel has a good time, too. 

 

It was a nice Easter. We went to church on Saturday because Elena's still getting used to going with the other children rather than into the service with us. I knew it would be extra busy for the Easter weekend, and they had a petting zoo and giraffe for the kids, so we decided to go on Saturday. Then on Sunday we went to my mother-in-law's house and had dinner.