Monday, December 31, 2012

Bringing in the New Year!

This New Year's Eve we were joined by my mom, Monika, Arnold, Arnold's childhood friend Agusto, his wife Sonia and their kids.  Later in the evening Rob and Megan also joined us in the countdown!
This last week of the year was a true testament to our wonderful year.  Over the holidays we had 4 families rotate through our home.  We love visitors and love the laughter and joy people coming in and out bring to our happy home!
Today we spent part of the day outdoors in the snow building a fort, another snowman, having snowball fights, and sledding.  The girls went out to see Les Miserables for an afternoon show.  We later enjoyed a wonderful Pernil (hispanic pork roast) prepared by my mom and then plenty of yummy appetizers to last us the night!
The kids celebrated the New Year a few hours earlier, watching the countdown in London.  They all had a great time together!  The adults then played a few games including Apples to Apples, Quelf, and Pictionary (Sikora style)and some Gangnan Style dancing (not posting pics of those =).  We welcomed 2013 with delicious Champagne, 12 grapes (making a wish for each one), and great company!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome 2013!

Fun with the Florida gang


Monika, Arnold, Aidan and Andrew arrived in Ohio around 11:30pm on Christmas day.  The kids weren't able to stay awake long enough, so they were reunited the morning of the 26th.  Aidan and Andrew were so excited to see snow on the ground upon their arrival, and even more excited when I told then there was a blizzard coming our way.  Monika then informed me that this was good since apparently the boys thought I had "guaranteed" snow this year (since we didn't have any for their last Christmas visit).  Snow we had PLENTY this week!    The kids were out sledding, building forts, making snow angels, having snow fights, and making snowmen almost every day!  Uncle Arnold even went out and used a snow blower for the 1st time ever (to give Tobin a hand, since his surgery).

Our week together couldn't be more perfect.  We spent our days relaxing and hanging out.  The kids (and adults) all got to make a call to my grandmother in Hungary.  They sang to her and we chatted for a little while.  We exchanged gifts... this truly became an Angry Bird Christmas... with everyone but my mom having Angry Bird pj's!  We got a "Move" system for our PS3 and our entire family (including my mom) enjoyed playing the Carnival games and Angry Birds!  There were several trips to the movies (to watch Lincoln and Les Miserables), a night out at Ninos and then to watch an 80's cover band play.

We had delicious meals together ranging from Hungarian cuisine, to Chinese, to Italian, to a delicious pork roast for New Years Eve.  The goodbyes were hard as always.  The kids immediately missed their cousins, and Isa is still reminding us how much she "misses playing with them"!
 

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Will 2012

This past year brought many milestones for our lil man, our little miracle.  Will lost his first tooth, entered Kindergarten, and has really advanced in his writing/reading abilities!  Though it's hard to see through all those smiles, not everything has been simple.  Some of the transitions were a little more difficult, but together, we made it.  
Will continues to be a sweet and loving little boy.  He is extremely artistic and creative.  Even though he enjoys fun times with his buddies, he also doesn't mind his space.  Most of the time you can catch him with some sort of writing utensil making books, plans, cards or anything his little mind can come up with. It's wonderful how Will can entertain himself for hours with things he has created.  It never ceases to amaze us!  The other thing he still loves doing is building... his Trios, blocks, legos, and now Angry Bird jenga sets.  This year he has grown fond of Transformers, Batman, X-men, and Angry Birds (but continues to loves his dinosaurs).  It's easy to know what he likes because they take center stage in his drawings and journals.  
Will has been doing great in Kindergarten.  He is surprising us with his writing, doing a fantastic job sounding out words and then transcribing them.  His teacher remarked how neat his handwriting is, and how well he is doing with his pre-reading skills.  He still prefers to have us read to him, but we know he can read more than he lets us realize!  
This past year Will participated in Soccer, Tot-Ball, Gymnastics, and has recently started taking a few Ice Skating lessons.  He is doing real well on the ice and was called "a little hockey player" by one of the instructors.  He attends his practices and lessons, but isn't overly interested in any of them... his passion is his artwork.  
We truly have loved Will this past year.  He is able to go along and do most things with us and really is getting the world around him.  It has been fun discovering with him!

Isa 2012

This year has been great to our "petite" Isa Faith.  In the Spring she had her first dance recital.  This summer she started swimming on her own, swimming across the pool all by herself.  She loves to be outdoors, doesn't matter if it's out in the snow, sand or just on the soft grass.   A few months after Will, she was also off and riding on 2 wheels on her bike.  She also stole our hearts this summer when she donated more than 10 inches of her hair to Locks for Love.
Isa continues to be a light in our lives.  She certainly brings charisma to our family, engaging everyone and finding a way to share her love with everyone.  She is nurturing with all the little ones.  She loves holding babies, and is very mothering to all her younger cousins and sister.  She is emotional, laughing with all her heart one moment and then crying if her feelings are hurt or she is sad.  Isa is a little mimic.  She tries to do what we do and has open ears all the time (making us be real careful what we say around her).  She is a little actress, loving the attention.
Isa is also a little leader.  We find ourselves giggling when we hear her from an adjacent room organizing games or leading the kids onto a new adventure!  Isa LOVES family (especially her Grandmas).  She cherishes all the times she spends with her cousins and misses them dearly when they depart!
This past year Isa has also matured.  She is still very spunky, but acts years beyond her age.  She is very proud of her accomplishments and loves sharing them with us.  She has recently learned to sound out words and tries her hardest at spelling them.  We are so proud of her.  Like her brother she loves drawing and painting.   One of the things we really love about Isa is her helpfulness.  No matter what Mommy or Daddy are working on, she continues to ask us if she can help... almost always followed by "we have a lot of work to do."  We love it!
This past year Isa took part in dance classes, gymnastics, tot-ball, and ice skating lessons.  You can find Isa dancing around the house, singing lots (sometimes loud), or strutting around in any of her Princess dresses (but... she is also our lil tomboy, never worried about getting dirty or being prissy).  Recently she has been excelling at gymnastics.  Most notably you can almost always catch her on her head!  She is doing head/hand stands on the couch, on the floor, or wherever she can!  Isa's personality is also very vivid in any conversation with her.  She is a very animated speaker, using her hands and body language to show and express what she is saying.  It's never a dull moment with our spirited little girl!

Gabi 2012

Wow, it's crazy how much can change in a year, especially when they are young.  Even though the change isn't as dramatic as when they are infants, looking back at Gabi's picture from January makes me think of her still as our little baby girl.  Now, however you may NOT call her a baby.  She insists she is our "Baby Cakes" and not to be confused with a typical baby.  What Gabi has obtained over this past year is certainly lots of spunk!  There is no denying she is a strong willed sassy little lady!
Gabi's smile is certainly contagious.  Her excitement is real and it's awesome to see her light up when she sees people she loves.... daddy, bapa, her siblings, cousins and especially Chloe her "best friend".  She is very loving and we love her hugs and big kisses.  We love asking her for "besitos" and seeing her come, grab our faces and puckering her lips for a huge kiss to give us.  Priceless.  Gabi also loves being the center of attention and always pipes in with some comment about whatever we are talking about.  Speaking of piping up... her vocabulary has really taken off.  Gabi is now speaking in full sentences fully able to articulate anything that is on her mind.  She is also a great little entertainer and loves being silly.
One of the wonderful things about Gabi is that even though she loves all her playmates... she does real well playing on her own.  She loves creative play and it's great hearing her in the playroom on her own vocalizing whatever her dolls are saying.  She refuses to be known as the youngest, proving over and over that she can do almost anything her siblings can do.  However, she has also become very stubborn and a little more difficult to deal with lately.  She will often give us a big loud pouty cry, while saying "don't be mad" over and over again.  Gabi has shown some interest in the potty, being successful some times, but she is definitely not ready to be in undies on her own yet.   She is a great sleeper in the evenings, but has pretty much given up her daytime naps.    She has also given up being our best eater.  However she does great when she's real hungry or if it's something she loves to eat.
Gabi is definitely full of personality these days.  She is goofy and fun.  She says so many things that make us smile and is real loving in her speech.  Its so heartwarming whenever she says "awwww" or "he's so cute" or singing any of her favorite songs.  She loves singing, and we love hearing her sing.  We love that she loves so many classic musicals like Annie, Sound of Music, and Mary Poppins along with many of new princess movies.  Her favorite character right now is Merida from Brave, and can be found in Merida's dress almost daily.  Gabi's dark brown hair is often tousled and we teasingly call her a "hot mess".  However, her hair is gorgeous.  She still has a beautiful wave and curl in her hair and over this past year, it has really grown long.  Gabi also seems to have a sensitive nose.  We giggle each time she starts sniffing and asks "what's that smeeeeeellll?"  Too cute!
Our little Baby Cakes is growing up too fast.  We really wish we could slow this time down.  This past year she has learned to ride her bike with training wheels alongside her siblings.  She is great on her scooter.  She also loves being outside and can be in our sandbox for hours.  She is also a little fish wanting to swim on her own as well.  After some time doing Little Gym, she is now also at Great Lakes Gymnastics taking classes at the same time as Isa.  She is also doing real well with this, mastering most of the circuits she is introduced to.  From canoe rides, to bungy jumps, or ice skating, this little lady is proving she is an advernturer willing to try most things with us!  We also love the times she still comes into our room to sleep in the middle.  We cherish letting her be little. =)