Happy 3rd Birthday Andrew!

we are so happy and excited to be here celebrating with you!  

 Today our kids also saw their First EVER movie theater full length movie.  The kids all headed out for a matinee show of Rio on the Big Screen!  Then they came back home for more outdoor fun!

 The gang all together having some more cupcakes and singing Happy Birthday to Andrew.  Isa was quick to point out that Andrew was now "THREE" like her! 

As the celebrations end, and our remaining days here countdown there have already been tears about our May 1st departure.  However... tears put aside... the fun continues.  It's absolutely Awesome hearing all the laughter from the 5 kids!   They play so nice together and are so fun and imaginative!

little moments

14 months.  Today our lil Gabi Rose is 14 months.  By the time you are on your 3rd child, you sometimes lose some of the milestones and miss some of the moments.  However, Gabi's sweet personality sure makes it hard to do that. 
Over the last month Gabi has perfected the art of walking and now seems like she is running with the pack!  She has also joined the ranks of her siblings as a master climber.  She has been seen climbing on chairs, up stairs, the little playground at Tia Monika's house, and even tried following her Daddy up the climbing wall at Pump-it-up!  She is bound not to be left behind. 
Some things that she does that are soo cute to us are:
-the way she shrugs her shoulders up and twists her arms behind her back with a coy grin
-the way she pats your back when she gives you a hug
-we love the way she lays her head on your shoulder to cuddle
-how she loves doggies and will cry with laughter.  She is a little afraid at first, but still gets close enough to hug them!
-we love how she stretches out to reach for the next person to hold her!

Gabi  has become a fantastic eater!  We were worried for a little while that we were 3 for 3 on picky eaters, but she proved us wrong.  If her can feed it to herself, she will eat about anything and finishes her meals before Will and Isa.  This month she has also been playing with her siblings more and has a new found love for dolls.  She walks them in the baby car seat, give them hugs, and acts like a little mommy with them.  It's adorable to watch!
Gabi is a little sunshine to us!  She is still real easy going, but also loves to be involved with what we are doing as well.  She has the sweetest smiles for us and loves to smile with her big eyes!  She is still not saying much, but finds ways to communicate with us.  She waves hello, goodbye and night-night, she blows kisses, and finds her way around to get what she wants.  She is real good with opening and closing drawers and loves any play kitchen set that she can shove as many toys into!  Oh... and we knew she was a water baby.. but this week in Florida has truly confirmed that as she can't get enough of the pool or any outside water activity!
She loves to shake around and dance, loves being read to, but mostly just loves being with us!  We love this lil girl!

An afternoon with Isa....

 yesterday I sat outside while Isa was playing and the moments with her were priceless.  Yes, I KNOW Isa can be a handful, spirited, and a brat...but I also see her sweet and loving side.  She LOVES being outdoors.  i remember last summer when she was up at the crack of dawn and already standing by the sliding door begging to go out.  As I sat there yesterday, I thought of all the cute lil things that I always want to remember about my Isa Faith....
-i love the way she makes her way into my room in the morning, smiles at me and says "mommy, it's morning time" (of course normally followed by "get up")
-how she is a little follower and loves what her brother loves (now dinosaurs).  However, her loves are short lived... minnie mouse, snow white, jessie, and now she likes Pinkalicious and Giselle (from Enchanted)
- i love that she has to have her "colchita" blanket to go to bed at night
- her adoration of her Gramma is almost comical.  we sometimes sit there and shake our head at how she wants and follows "her" Gramma like a little puppy =)
-how she loves her cousins.  I love that when she saw Annie she hugged her and called her Annie Claire.  When we saw her FL cousins, she ran to Aidan and gave him a hug saying "Aidan, I love you!"  too cute!
- we love how she can amuse herself with little creations.  As I sat there I watched her create new ways of playing with old toys.  She is so creative and imaginative. 
- she loves sand and water (enough said!)


little moments, lots of love, and lots of laughs =)

sunshine and smiles

it's amazing to me that whenever cousins get together... near or far, it's as if they saw each other every day!  we arrived in Florida late Thursday night and were blessed to spend Easter together and participate in Andrew's 3rd birthday party!  The kids are loving the company and enjoying the sunshine!
Gabi has really blossomed here... and if this is a prelude to the summer... she is going to have a BLAST!
here is a glimpse of our time so far...

  Gabi joined the ranks of Sikora water babies =)  She can't get enough of the pool and slip-n-slide!

Will has Aidan; Isa has Andrew; Gabi's best friend here is Pepper!

Easter Sunday brunch!

 

 

Happy Easter

We wish everyone a wonderful Easter weekend.  Our was truly blessed!

weekend warriors

We have wanted to get the kids a sandbox for quite a while now.  We saw a couple and found nothing that was just right.... so Tobin and Will decided to build one!  Will and Daddy made up a plan (colored in and approved by Daddy, Will and Isa), and off we went to Lowes to get materials.  We decided on a wood composite for durability.  Let's just say the 4x4 sandbox is a GREAT hit and it's never too cold to play in the sand!

Our crew also took a little break to enjoy our church's Easter Egg hunt after mass!  Fun fun!

Easter fun begins

 Today our playgroup had it's Easter Egg hunt!  As always the kids had a blast together and even the lil ones participated.  We missed some of the gang though =(.  For me, it's crazy to see Gabi moving around with the "big" kids!  Happy days!

 

showing off their collected eggs!

 Craft time is always fun with the gang.  today the kids painted bunnies and also colored some masks!

Yesterday Will had another soccer game and we are proud to report that he played the whole game.  He was out there running with his teammates and even kicked the ball a few times.  His team is REALLY good... so we are hoping he stays interested and has fun!

Oh... and I wanted to note, that we are 3 for 3 on lil climbers in our family!  Gabi has joined the ranks of her siblings =)