Merry Christmas!

Hi dear loved ones!

It's been almost three months since my last blog post -- sorry! :) The last three months were very hectic for me. One of my projects at work was coming to an end which required me to work 50-60 hours per week for two and a half months and travel to Zambia in the beginning of December to present the final evaluation results. Thank God it all ended well but it was a very challenging and exhausting experience. I'm so relieved it's over and hope to now return to a more normal pace of life!

We are doing well and you will be amazed to see how Luke has grown since his birthday post. He is now almost 15 months old, very loud, climbing on everything he is able to and running. His favorite words are: hi, bye, okay and Nani. Sometimes he will say "mama" but most of his talking is baby babbling. He continues to be an overall sweet and happy little boy but has started to throw a few tantrums, especially when changing his diaper or when he can't touch/have something he really wants.We had forgotten how challenging toddlers can be! :)

Daniel is doing great in first-grade, reading well independently and has restarted Karate twice a week. He has 2 weeks of winter break and is excited that his school will be in a brand new building closer to our home starting in January. We have a great routine of homework and play during the week and more recently Daniel has been great at managing his own time after school, choosing to do his homework himself so he can play before dinner. He is maturing fast!

We had a peaceful Christmas at home this year. On Christmas Eve, we were very blessed to have some dear friends who are like family be with us.It really made our Christmas special, since being far away from family at Christmas can be difficult... On Christmas day we had a relaxed day, slowly opening presents throughout the day, enjoying yummy leftovers and talking with family on the phone. The highlight of the day was going out for a walk with the boys since it was a little warmer than normal and we had a great time. Here are some photos for you to enjoy! :)

A couple of weeks before Christmas...

Our Ninja warrior helped us decorate the tree!

This year we put the tree in the corner of the dining area so that we could easily block it away from Mr. Luke, who we affectionately call Godzilla! ;)

Christmas Eve...

Sweet Holly with Luke -- she was so sweet with him!

Our dear friends!

Our two precious boys!



The four kids that night!

About to enjoy a yummy dinner!

Luke let Holly give him his bottle and she loved it!

For dessert, I made my grandmother's (my dad's mother) traditional "sufle de ameixa" which I remember enjoying as a child!

 

Christmas Day...

The night before Christmas; all was peaceful and quiet...

 

But in the morning, we had a very excited Daniel!

Luke had no clue about what was going on but enjoyed playing with the boxes!

"Minecraft" was a common theme this year! Thank you Granny for the Enderman!

And for the cute clothes for Luke!

Thank you Uncle Peter and Auntie Jenny and cousins for the Yoda alarm clock -- Daniel loves it!

And for the curious George book too!

Thank you vovo Stephen and vozinha for the Vikings book for Daniel!

 

Out for a walk on a warmer than usual Christmas day...

 

Wishing you a wonderful last few days of 2014, loved ones! Happy New Year!

Luke's 1st Birthday!

Today our sweet baby Luke turned 1! Exactly one year ago today he was born and changed our family forever, bringing us so much light and joy! This past year parenting Luke has been such a blessing, I never knew I could enjoy taking care of a baby so much. He really is an answer to many prayers!

In the past couple of weeks he started to walk and is becoming more and more stable each day. I think this means he is officially a toddler? Well, I think we'll keep referring to him as our baby for a lot longer! He has started imitating our sounds a lot more, loves to babble and his first and only consistent word so far has been "hi!" He continues to be very sweet but has become a lot more verbal about not liking to change his diaper or clothes -- he wants to keep moving all the time and so will complain if he has to stay put for a couple of minutes. Learning to be patient is definitely a new concept for him! 

Daniel adores his little brother.

We decided to keep his first birthday celebration very simple and it turned out great. We took a cake to church and invited our friends to join us for a quick celebration immediately after the service. It was short and sweet, and Luke was not overwhelmed at all by all the people present. We thank our friend Joan for taking photos of us all!

 

First time trying cake!

Happy 1st Birthday Lukinho!  We love you so much!! Please don't grow up too fast this next year, OK? ;)