All About Andrew

My firstborn baby...already four and a half! Andrew continues to be the happy-go-lucky free spirit of the Gonzalez family. Life is good and school is cool. I don't think Andrew would mind if school was 7 days a week! He's really into playing with Sam and I've even caught him reading his little brother a book...one of the best mommy moments yet! He's got a laugh that would cheer up anyone and a smile that's almost contagious. This little cuddle bug of ours is such that I want to keep a little Andrew like this around forever, yet I know its inevitable that he will continue to grow and become a big hairy, smelly boy like his daddy! (chuckle) Speaking of growing, Andrew is doing so by leaps and bounds lately in his development. We've noticed over the past few weeks, he's starting to use more new words and entirely original phrases without prompting from anyone. For example, while Andrew and Daddy were looking for a favorite bedtime toy, Demel kept saying "where's Tad, Andrew...where did he go?" To which the Andrew just two months ago would have most likely just echoed what Daddy said, shocked Demel when he commented back, "I can't find him." Trust me, this is a HUGE milestone and cause for celebration. Things are starting to happen and to say that we are ecstatic is an understatement!!! Amazing things that Andrew is doing.... reading, counting to 100 in sign language and into the hundreds verbally and can read numbers such as 689,342 with ease, appears to have quite an ear for music as he can carry a tune and stay in the same key that he started in (mommy is sooo proud of this), and can identify about eight states and can locate them on a globe along with locating the United States of America and Africa.
This ball of nonstop energy is going to appropriately be a race car driver for Halloween. I guess for a boy who loves to do anything but be still and loves going in circles, the actual race car would have been a better reflection of him, but I suppose the costume might have been a bit more complicated and cumbersome.

All about Sam

Okay... already. Here is what my two and a half year old is up to these days.
Sam continues to thoroughly enjoy school and is quite the lady's man with a handful of girlfriends. Let's see, there is Ashlyn from school; Ashlee from KidsClub at the gym; Katie, his good friend and first love, and Miss Debbie, a friend of my mom's whom Sam seems to have fallen for. He continues to test me daily and challenges my simple requests of him with a "no" and a sly little smile. He is however a sparkle in my daily routine and usually puts the first smile of the day on my face when he wanders in to our room in the morning and says, "Hi, mom...I'm awake!" I was so excited last week when I won a radio contest of sorts. It was the family name game on our local Christian radio station, and the name of the morning was Samuel. I was the right caller and "won" the opportunity to go on the air and "brag" on my son. How fun was it to get to tell the thousands of listeners all about why my Sammy is so special to us. It came to me as I was talking how perfectly made Sam is as a brother for Andrew. I realized that the areas that Andrew needs strengthening (speech and language, social skills, emotions and empathy) are the very areas in which Sam seems to be gifted. Just goes to show you that The Creator knows all and what an incredible example that is in these two brothers!
I really hope I can get some pictures up soon, as Sam is choosing to be a Care Bear for Halloween. I tried to sway him to be a ninja, or Thomas the Train, or Tigger. "No," says my little boy, " I want to be a Care Bear!" .... how fitting;)

Christa's Top 10 Reasons for not Blogging

In no particular order ....

• It hadn't been that long since the last post
• The computer was in the repair shop...really, it was!
• The boys were sick
• I was sick
• I felt better, but had a lot of chores around the house to catch up on
• Why bother if I can't add a picture...a result of the computer problems
• I'll just wait 'till Demel orders the new laptop
• I'd rather go to bed
• I'm just lazy
• It hasn't been that terribly long since my last post

Surgery Update

I feel bad that it took me this long to add this message...especially for those whom I don't speak to on a normal basis. Anyhow, Sam's surgery was completed on Wednesday, August 29th. It took about an hour to remove a Thyroglossal duct cyst on Sam's neck. Sounds worse than it was. Actually just a little piece of residual thyroid tissue left over from development while Sam was still growing inside me. He did as well as expected, and was back to running around the house the next day like nothing ever happened. He would proudly lift his chin to show anyone his special "sticker." On Friday, we went to get the bandage off (all stitches are internal and will dissolve on their own) and the pathology results from the lab showed no signs of cancer--Praise God! If you ask Sam where his sticker went, he'll grab his neck and say, "It's all better now." And it is!

Say What?

Okay, so as a mom of two preschooler boys I am constantly breaking up fights, fixing toys, generally keeping the house from destruction as well as making sure Andrew and Sam don't inflict bodily harm on one another or themselves. In doing these things, I have realized recently that some of the things I find myself saying are quite funny, and taken out of context are rather hilarious. I have made a conscious effort to write down a few "one-liners" to post for your reading enjoyment.

1. I don't think the cat is enjoying that as much as you are. (As Sam was decorating Olivia with about 20 stickers)


2. Hands up! (Correcting the apparently hereditary condition of placing one's hands down the front of one's pants to make sure nothing is missing...Andrew went through the same phase, but it did end---thank goodness)


3. No jumping on the rocket! (The boys have an inflatable punching bag in the shape of a rocket that seems to be a great landing surface after a jump from the couch)


4. Stop throwing the fish! (No, not the ones for dinner, but the plastic ones from a fishing game...just sounds funny when I say it out loud)


5. Hands up, please!


6. The shovel won't fit up your nose. (Again, not what you may think, it was a small plastic spade that Sam has and really was attempting a booger extraction with)


7. Please try and walk like a human!!! (Haven't we all had moments when our children's legs seem to transform to spagetti noodles when you need them to exit the furniture store even though they had been functioning just right for the past 15 minutes as said child was running laps around the showroom floor...what were we thinking taking kids furniture shopping)


8. Hands UP! (I say this a lot...too much)


9. Don't jump off the grill (No, not that grill...its a playskool talking grill that Sam was practicing his balancing act on followed by a perfectly executed dismount)


10. I don't remember putting your dessert in your nostrils (I really think restaurants should start offering boogers on the children's menu as Andrew would rather nibble on his own snot than try a bite of ice cream, chicken nuggets, pudding, etc...)


11. The cat's ears do not come off! (A lesson Sam learned about the house cat, and the fact that she cannot be disassembled in the same manner as Mr. Potato Head)


12. For the last time, I said HANDS UP!!!! (Oh, I give up. I just hope this stops soon)

Well, I hope you all enjoy these as much as I did putting them together. I LOVE MY BOYS!!!!

Time Out!

ANDREW AND SAM--GO TO TIME OUT!!! Shouldn't this envoke emotions of guilt and unhappiness in children? Do these boys look like they feel either of those emotions? I snapped this the other week while they were in timeout. How could mommy stay mad at them as they sat next to each other so sweetly?

What a Summer!

Although it was three months long, and there were days that I thought would never end...it's over! I have to apologize for going two months without a post. I really don't have a good reason why. Allthat said, I don't know were to start because there are so many things that have happened and are in the process of happening that I could end up writing another mini-novel. So I'll take my dear friend Mandy's advice and bullet point some ongoings in the Gonzalez tribe. I'll expand on them when given the opportunity. Okay, here goes...

• Andrew's stitches are out and the scar is a doosie--thank God it's on his foot and not his hansome little face!
• Trip to Wisconsin was a blast in July--found out I will be an aunt again as Katrina is expecting in March (Aunt Christa is so much hoping for a girl)
• Lots of trips to the pool over the summer have allowed Andrew to really blossom as a legitimate swimmer!!! He amazes me at his progress since April and can now swim the width of the pool, come up for a breath or two, and can dive down 4 ft. 9 in. to get a dive stick! Sam's still quite clingy and would rather be held or just play on the steps for now.
• Went to the beach a couple times too...I think the boys would be more than happy if we just lived there!!!
• School's back in session and both boys are excited about this. Andrew has the same wonderful teacher as last year and has adjusted back to the routine beautifully...he was the star student on the third day back ;) Sam has started preschool at our church two days a week and seems to be doing very well...no crying!!! In fact, when I dropped him off this morning he wasn't phased by the other two boys in his class that were crying, he simply turned to me after putting his back pack in his basket, waved and said matter-of-factly "bye-bye mommy," as if to say you can leave now, I'm fine.
• Andrew is starting potty training- an arduous task for an autistic child, but is making steady progress. He almost always will go tinkle (or make yellow as he calls it), but brown has not happened yet. He did have an confusing potty experience at a friends house the other week. After "making yellow" in a toilet that has blue water he looked in the bowl, then at me and quite proudly announced that he had "made green!!"
• Poor little Sammy has to go under the knife soon to have a cyst on his neck removed. Doctor's are fairly confident that it is a common cyst and nothing malignant, but nevertheless, it has to come out. Surgery is scheduled for the 29th of this month, however it might be postponed until after he has fininshed an antibiotic for a pretty nasty infection on his big toe that has actually moved into a small bloodstream infection in his foot!!! What's up with these Gonzalez feet??? Demel' s feet are okay, but he does have funky looking toes.

Well, I hope this satisfied you all for a while and I really will try to get some photos up soon. It's 2:00pm so I 've got to go pick up Andrew and then it's off to speech therapy before going home. My life and my hectic schedule sure do revolve around my kiddos...but as hectic and monotonous as is sometimes seems, I know that doing what we do day in and day out and just plain being here is the most important contribution I could be making to their lives....and that makes it Soooo worth it!

It Happened SO Fast!!

Alright. I admit that there are times during the day that I do not have the boys in my sight. They are usually in their rooms playing while I cook dinner or put away laundry. Well, Friday afternoon while I was straightening up the living room before our dinner guests arrived, I had an ear on the kids while they were playing in our bedroom. Literally as I started walking towards our room to take a shower, I heard a loud CRASH! They both started crying immediately and I just had that feelin that it was bad. I ran in to check on them and found them in our bathroom. The vanity stool was on the floor and so were the boys. I picked up Sam first to comfort him, only before I realized that he was fine but Andrew's cry seemed more painful. I set Sam down the same time I glanced at Andrew and saw blood! And a lot of it!!! He was hysterical and frankly I was getting there too as I tried to locate the source of the blood. What I found on his right foot is still engrained in my memory. He had a gash on the top of his foot from his little toe about 3 inches long almost reaching his ankle. It was bad. I knew right away this was emergency room material. I quickly ran to get a towel and swooped him up trying to hold the skin together under the towel. I grabbed the phone and called my mom, who had the day off, and basically told her she needed to drop everything and get over here. Did I mention that it was really bad, yet? Anyway, I knew my wonderful neighbors were home so I rushed out the front door carring a forty pound 4-year-old in my arms and asked God to protect Sam as I left the door open with Sam in the house. I ran next door, rang the doorbell with my shoulder, and as soon as Marie opened the door, I excitedly explained that I needed to take Andrew to the hospital and asked if she could watch Sam till grandma got there. She followed me over to my driveway just as Sam was stepping out the front door. She grabbed him and went to get her hubby (who was in the middle of mowing the lawn) so that he could drive Andrew and I to the hospital. I slipped on some shoes and hopped in the backseat of Mark's car. It took moments to get to the hospital and once there were seen very quickly. Turns out, his laceration went through the fatty layer and needed 3 internal stitches before 15 external!!! He put up quite a fight while the stitches went in, and the male nurse that assisted Demel and I in holding Andrew down commented that he doesn't usually break a sweat restraining a patient until they see the drunks in the middle of the night. Well, it's three days later and if Andrew wasn't wearing a bandage on his foot, you would never know anything was wrong with him as he runs around like normal. Stitches come out Friday in Cedarburg, WI. Then he'll be cleared for swimming and baths. (No, he's not stinky- showers are okay for now.)

We, the jury...

can't seem to be able to come to a unanimous decision. After debating our viewpoints on a battery case for about 2 1/2 hours, we informed the judge of the situation and he had to rule the case to be a mistrial. This was the first jury I had ever sat on, but the third time I had ever been summoned for duty. I was excused from federal court duty when my grandma was failing and in the hospital shortly before I was married and again excused when I was pregnant with Andrew. I actually could have been excused for being a full time mom with a child under the age of 6, but for some reason, I think they might stop calling me if I just go do it. And maybe now I'll be blacklisted for being on a case that was mistried. I really did find the whole process very interesting, but feel a sense of failure that the six of us on the jury couldn't render a verdict, therefore pretty much wasting a lot of time and money! If any good came of it, I would have to say that it reaffirmed that I'm still an intelligent person as I thouroughly enjoyed arguing my points to my fellow jurors in hopes of swaying them. In fact, one of my fellow jurors commented that a sheriff that had mistook me for being a public defender earlier that morning was pretty accurate as he said I was very persuasive. I guess my mom and husband could affirm that too. Ah, so back to persuading two toddlers to be nice to one another, so they don't end up in court one day for resorting to physical force when they get upset at someone. I guess this mommy job is more encompassing than it may appear!

A Pirate's Life For Me!

Sam is Officially a Two-year-old! Somebody help me!!!!

Since we had a larger party for Andrew this year, the original plan was to have a small evening get-together at our house on Sam's birthday. I don't know how it got so "not small", but we ended up with roughly 12 adults and 7 children. So much for an informal evening, but it was really fun!

The dinner consisted of two pans of good ol' Stouffer's lasagne, salad, and breadsticks-I didn't have to do any real cooking!! The most time consuming part of the whole celebration was the preparation of the Lightning McQueen cake that I constructed the night before. (That whole process could almost have a post of it's own!) Let's just say that Sam was lucky to have a cool cake like this one, but chances are slim that it will be an annual tradition. Check it out, though...admire what 3 1/2 hours of decorating a cake till midnight will get you. Please comment that you have seen the most beautiful cake in the world and that you would have a hard time eating such a work of art!!!
The highlight of Sam's big day was a tie between two events at his party. He really enjoyed opening his cool gifts....
...but, the opportunity of getting kissed simultaneously by two girls at the cake table took the grand prize. Thank you Morgan and cousin Isabelle for making this two-year-olds day! A funny note about the kisses is that after round 1, Sammy used sign language, as well as verbalizing that he wanted "More."
So there it is folks, an updated entry from Christa. See you all in another month! No, hopefully before then.

Andrew turns 4!

We can't believe that we are parents of a four-year-old already, but so proud of our Andrew for all that he is and all that he means to our little family. We celebrated #4 at Sylvan Lake park with friends, family and classmates. It was a beautiful and windy afternoon and lots of fun was had by all that came. Spiderman was the theme as Andrew is really into this character for some reason, though he has never seen a movie or show about Spiderman.? We played bean bag toss into hula hoops and a tic tac toe ball game.



Andrew's "girlfriend" Morgan was the event coordinator and assisted Andrew with the gift opening ceremony as well as presenting metals to game participants.

It really was a great afternoon, but I think Sam might have got tired of all the activity and decided to spend some time in the sand volleyball court that was adjacent to our pavillion. Grandma let the boy be a boy in the sand and when all was done, I think there wasn't a square millimeter on his body without a grain of sand on it! Oh well, good thing kids are washable.

Those Lazy Crazy Days of Summer

Well, the days are crazy and I'm just lazy for not keeping up with my blog. But, Sam is sleeping and Andrew is in school. So in the next 40 minutes, I'll add as much and as many pictures possible.

Andrew amazes us every day with something new. Check out what he did with his letter magnets while I was cooking dinner one afternoon! Okay, so it's misspelled, but it's pretty darn close, he's only 4 after all. Sam is my little flirt and we're almost convinced that he's going to be a veterinarian as he has such a special relationship with Olivia and seems so interested and gentle with all animals he sees.

A few more pictures I added were of just another afternoon on the patio, when I heard a rustling in the backyard and looked up to see an entire Sandhill crane family taking a stroll behind our house. Mama and the two babies, who were still sooo little, stayed at the edge of the grass, while papa bird came within about 18 inches of the screen where Andrew and Sam stood to watch in amazement. Maybe Sam coaxed him over to them with his special animal presence. Enjoy the pictures of my two kiddos!

Do you hear what I hear?

With Andrew's speech blossoming like crazy in the past month (thanks to little brother doing the same), I'm actually starting to hear more than just the little voices in my head talk to me during the day. Andrew is starting to express more frequently what he wants as well as getting my attention to share with me things that he observes...BIG steps for our Andrew!!! He's also starting to try and understand emotions; a complicated area for children with autism as emotions are not concrete things such as numbers, colors, letters,etc.. He gives me a status report on Sam every day as we pick him up from school; "Sam is awake. Sam is happy"
Let's not forget Sammy. His favorite things to say usually involve informing me that something just "fell down" or was dropped. "Uh oh, the melon fell down!", he announces a split second before he launches a piece of his lunch on the floor. He also likes to walk around the house and search for brother calling out, "Andrew, where are you?"
We are all pretty much healthy now as I am now on antibiotics for a sinus infection, but I'm feeling better. Demel is looking forward to a "week off" when the boys and I join grandma for a trip to Wisconsin for cousin Ian's first birthday over an extended Easter weekend. We're looking forward to that very much!

Stayin' Alive!

That about sums up the past weeks in the Gonzalez house and gives me at least a partial excuse for not posting in such a long time. It's amazing how your world can change in a matter of hours. Two weeks ago, the day was starting as usual. We went to church, then out to lunch with friends, then home for Sam's nap before the rest of our day's events. Shortly after returning home from lunch, however, I plopped myself on the bed and told Demel that I didn't feel so good. I thought maybe my lunch wasn't settling well. I then proceeded to take a two-hour nap. (A treat I don't normally enjoy) When I woke up, I felt worse. Sam woke up grumpy and threw up and I did the same. Oh no! Long story shorter...by midnight, all four of us were ill. Sam slept through the night without a peep which was a Godsend since Demel and I were tending to Andrew the vomit launcher while weak and queasy ourselves. This was some nasty virus that we had. My mom came over Monday to help us out, all the while exposing herself to whatever it was that we had. I was starting to feel better by Monday night and was fine enough Tuesday that I even shampooed the family room carpet as it had been on the receiving end of a few"episodes" when the bowl didn't make it to the child in time. (Anyone want to come over for a slumber party on our floor?) Well, things were starting to look better even though we were still having a hard time getting Andrew to drink anything, since he couldn't even keep liquids down on Monday. Wednesday morning started at about 4:15am for Sam and myself as he was having a little relapse and I went in his room to find that he had thrown up but has also, how should I say, exploded from the rear as well. Good old mom came over again to help on Wednesday as I was getting overwhelmed with sick kids and starting to stress out over the fact that Andrew was not eating anything and drinking only about 6 ounces of fluids a day, clearly not enough. In fact it was bad enough that his pediatrician suggested that we take him to the ER to get IV fluids. We spent 4 hours there in total, only to be sent home after they drained his bladder with a catheter and we managed to get him to drink some juice there...that was a waste of $100. This is a long story. Are you all actually still reading this... Okay, Thursday was not better, it was worse. Demel, Sam and I were on the rebound but poor little Andrew was showing no signs of improvement. I nervously took Andrew to the doctor's office that afternoon only to experience the worst possible experience with the pediatrician. While Dr. Karen (a friend of ours, by the way) was checking Andrew's throat, it triggered a gag and he proceeded to throw up all over Karen, himself and me. Sam trotted over to see what all the commotion was about just in time to "catch" the second round of Andrew's stomach contents. So now the two children in the room are both crying and the two adults are trying to calm them down and wipe off the yuck that covered us. Fast forward a few hours...Demel, Andrew and myself arrive at the hospital children's ER once again but this time, Sam is with us because my mom was now at home sick with the virus that she got as a thank you for helping us earlier in the week. Demel and Sam went home to sleep after the nurse told us that we would probably be there for a while. And were we ever. Andrew had two x-rays to make sure there were no blockages anywhere, since it had now been 24 hours since he had peed. They came back okay so it was determined the next step would be to get an IV going. Poor little guy was still pretty strong as it took myself and two nurses to hold him down and still so the third nurse could put in the IV. He was so dehydrated that the first two veins actually collapsed! After a 1000 mL bag of IV fluids he started to be a little alert... even though it was 4:00 in the morning. The doctor wouldn't release us until he peed and drank something. Well, he did finally pee...but it was an uphill battle getting anything in this kid's mouth. After trying for 5 hours to get him to drink I finally put it God's hands. I prayed and cried that he needed the help of his Heavenly Father because his Earthly mother has done all she can and is exhausted. Upon saying "Amen" I offered him his cup once again, and he took it and drank it down...all 10 ounces!!! Prayer answered, miracle performed!!!!! The road to recovery was slow, but we are just about back to normalcy in the Gonzalez house. Back to swinging dining room chandeliers and pushing each other down... ah, life is sweet!

A California Suprise

Since sometime in November, I've been secretly planning a trip to California to suprise Mandy, my best friend of almost 19 years. With the help of her husband, Mike, I pulled it off. I literally hid in the doorway of her daughter's room and stepped out to suprise her as she walked by. Aside from a confused face and a faint "What the he** are you doing here?", she was pretty much speechless for a good minute while the reality that I had made it cross-country and into her house without her knowing sunk in. We had a great time, albeit a short one as I was only there for 72 hours. A trip to the zoo was a fun afternoon with the Lomonoco family, but made me miss my kiddos even more. Below are some cute photos of her kids Lucas (almost 2) and Emily (4 months). I took so many pictures of her kids because they're so darn cute, and Mike took the one photo of the two of us, but I neglected to get one of him, so I found a picture of someone with a striking resemblence to him.

Back at the homefront, Daddy was on duty all weekend, with Grandma's assistance on school days. The house was in one piece upon my late arrival early Tuesday morning (flight gone in at 12:25 a.m.!!!) and all the toys were accounted for when inventory was done Tuesday afternoon.

Okay, the post is finally done and I'll try to get in the blogging groove again soon. Oh, and my eyes are WONDERFUL!!!!! As you can sort of see in the first photo, I no longer look like I've been crying for an hour and the little bit of redness that appeared after surgery is pretty much gone. Talk to you later and sorry, Mike for the picture, but thanks for helping make this trip a success.

The "eyes" have it

I can't believe the first picture of myself that I am posting is as horrible as this one. But, at least there's a good reason why it's so bad.

This lovely photo was snapped literally 20 seconds after my LASIK procedure was completed. Drs. Dempsey and Filutowski (shown with me) and their staff did a wonderful job and as a result of this simple, yet stressful morning, I can see!!! In fact, I can see better than I ever thought possible already. My vision used to be 20/200 and just 24-hours after surgery, I was seeing at 20/20 from both eyes! I think Demel might be getting tired of hearing me comment on how incredible my vision is, or just how doggone happy I am!!! Technology is amazing and I feel so blessed to take part in procedure that has freed me from contacts and glasses. Well, enough about me. This is supposed to be a blog about my boys. Since LASIK, they are as cute and precious as ever. "See" you all later!

Yuck!

Last night, Demel was at the gym so I had to go it alone when it came to bath time. (usually a daddy-and-the-boys activity) As I stepped away to throw out the diapers, I heard a bump and then a little cough. Apparently, Sam had tipped over and taken in a little water. No big deal. He was okay. But then "the cough" started. Yes, I'm talking about the cough that usually triggers his sensitive gag reflex. It had only gone down twenty minutes prior, but within seconds, dinner reappeared and added color (and texture) to the bath water. I quickly grabbed Andrew out and wrapped him in a towel at the side of the tub while I drained the beefaroni and bubbles from around Sam. I really could have used an extra set of hands so that Sam didn't have to sit in his own yuck during the process, but I did what I could. Clean water and more bubbles quickly filled the tub again, and we proceeded as usual. Oh, the joys of boys!

Ouch!

Well, it happened. I got the first phone call from Andrew's teacher yesterday informing me that Andrew was hurt. Apparently, he fell while playing on the playground and bumped his head pretty hard. Ms. VanRees said he had a knot on his head and it was bleeding a little bit. She said Andrew was very upset and wasn't really calming down, so maybe a doctor should look at it. With Sam's lunch half-way heated in the microwave, I grabbed my keys and headed out the door. (I grabbed Sam too;) I might have been exceeded the speed limit on the way, but I was so anxious to see my Andrew. What if I had to take him to the doctor? How will I do that if he's still crying and Sam is with us too? Oh, and Sam's probably getting hungry seeing that I was preparing his lunch when I got the phone call. And nap time for Sam is in 30 minutes. He's gonna get cranky! Great, I'll have on cranky, whiny child and one who's crying for more legitimate reasons. I'm only one mommy. How am I going to do this? Red light. Come on, turn green already......turn GREEN!!! We made it to school (without a ticket) to find Andrew and his teacher waiting for us in the front office. A wave of calm came over me. Andrew had stopped crying, but his eyes remained were puffy and red. The knot on his head had gone down a bit and I couldn't even tell where the blood was. Whew!! No doctor needed. A little Tylenol and he's gonna make it. Needless to say, we made it home in time for Sam to have lunch and go down for a nap, giving mommy and Andrew a little quality time.
A day later and, aside from a little scab, Andrew is all better. In fact, as we pulled in to the school driveway this morning, Andrew said he wanted to go to the playground (he has never said this before). I guess all is forgotten and he is ready for another fun day at school!

A few of our favorite things...

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.... are NOT their favorite things!!! These are Gonzalez boys we're talking about. Let's revise those lyrics to fit Andrew and Sam:

Noah's Ark playtime and plants out of their pots;

Video games then upstairs to play the slots;

Jumping off chairs and then landing in balls;

This is why our mommy wants to climb walls.

Now that I'm responsible for keeping this site updated and recent, I've actually found myself taking more photos of everyday events. I'm sure in years to come, these will be the moments that I will look back upon with great fondness. I wish you were all here to join the mayhem, till then, enjoy the pictures!

On a tricycle built for two!

It's really fun to see the boys playing so well together now. Occasionally they share the same toy and do really well. But, this morning, the toy was a tricycle, and let's just say that Sam's attempt at trike-jacking was unsuccessful. Good, I can now rest assured that he's not gonna be a career criminal. After the altercation, daddy started a pick-up game of basketball. Andrew worked on improving his foul shot and catching bounce passes. Sam was perfecting the slam-dunk which we refer to as a "Sam-dunk."

Appetizer anyone?

I've heard that the most unappealing food color is blue. Well, tell that to Sam. Apparently, blue food in the form of a crayola crayon is quite tasty. Geesh, kid. Lunch is in 10 minutes, but I guess you just couldn't wait. See, this is what I'm talking about with my boys. I walked in from the living room after taking down the Christmas tree to find blue crayon "crumbs" at Sam's feet and smaller crumbs and smears on his chin. I think he tried to eat the whole crayon as it took about five baby wipes to clean the inside of his mouth from any of the colorful appetizer. Ah, just another day in the life of BOYS!!!

My first blog! Can you believe it?

Thanks to my dear sister who is in town for the holidays, my blog is now up and running. It appears that I'm less than computer savvy and actually needed help setting up this simple piece of technology. Well, don't get too excited because a new post may not appear for a month or so. I'm actually really eager to keep everyone updated on all the goings-on in the Gonzalez family. So, without further ado, here are my boys! I took these photos shortly before Christmas, so they aren't too dated. Sam is almost 20 months old and Andrew will be turning 4 at the end of March! Wow, how time flies. To say that they keep me busy is an understatement, and as I get used to posting on a regular basis, I'll fill everyone in on the details of the joys of boys! Until next time Happy New Year!!