I Should Be Grading...

I am ashamed that I haven't blogged since the end of OCTOBER. What is wrong with me?! Well, it's been a rough couple of months. Shortly after the last blog post, our poor baby came down with a bad case of pneumonia. I don't ever want to go through that day again. It was the same day that I took Santi in for surgery on his wrist for tendonitis. I had taken the day off work, and we dropped Luca off at daycare in the morning like always. No fever, but he had been battling a cold off and on for a few weeks. We had even been to the doctor a few times already, but they said it was just a virus. The whole day while waiting for Santi's surgery I was so worried about Luca. I kept calling to check on him and they kept saying he was just fine. I just had this mother's instinct that something was wrong. When we finally got there to pick him up, he was so quiet (which is not like him at all). We got home and he just wanted to sit in his little chair. I gave him a bath and put him to bed, and I hoped he was just tired. Then I had to get pain killers for Santi. When I came back, I heard him having a coughing fit on the monitor so I ran in to grab him and he threw up. He was also burning up. After realizing he had a temperature of 102, I loaded him and my completely out of it on pain meds husband into the car and we headed to the ER. We spent most of the night in the ER and discovered he had pneumonia. They were going to admit him, but he perked up quite a bit after the shots of antibiotics so they sent us home with lots of meds. The next day he seemed better, but the following night we were back in the ER with another fever. So we were sent home again with a nebulizer and steroids. We then decided to call grandma to the rescue. We flew her out on Monday (thankfully it was Veteran's Day) to help him recover. I also ended up sick that same weekend. It was pretty brutal. Grandma and Aunt Andrea nursed him back to health over the course of a few weeks, and knock on wood he has been doing MUCH better. We still have another follow up chest xray this month, and more blood work, but he is back to his old self. On top of all that, December was just insane with holiday parties, zoo lights, etc. Luca even performed in his very first Christmas program at school. He was a baby chick. Cutest thing I have ever seen. I actually teared up. It was just precious. Excuse my crappy phone camera zoom. It's the best I could get of the baby chick:)

Luca had a wonderful Christmas with mommy and daddy, and Santa was very good to him. He must have been a good boy. His favorite gifts were the basketball goal (of course) and his pretend grill. After celebrating just the three of us, we flew to Indiana just after Christmas. Although it was FREEZING there and they literally were hit with a blizzard the day before we flew it, it was so nice to spend that time with family.

Luca had a great time playing with Ruthi in the amazing cardboard mansion grandpa Gary built for them, as well as sliding down a make shift cardboard slide in the living room. My dad is so creative and talented. He also made Luca an amazing work bench with letter pegs for Christmas. They are shipping it to us soon and I can't wait for him to see it here at our house. He loved it when we were there! He even made Ruthi a little kitchen that looked like something people would pay hundreds of dollars for. Besides entertaining the kiddos with all kinds of silly things, we played cards and enjoyed some yummy home cooked meals (chicken and noodles of course!). We also spent half our time in Bloomington with the Sotomayors, which is always fun. It was nice having all those relatives to fight over Luca so mommy and daddy could get a break! We enjoyed going to an IU basketball game, and I even got to meet up with my good friend Jen from high school (and college roommate) after the game at Nick's (hello memories!). We also made sure to take time to go out to dinner and a movie since we never get to do that here. I even went shopping with just my mom and dad, which was so nice. I really miss having both our families close by. Especially now that my little brother is now expecting TWINS! We have talked about the possibility of moving back to the midwest, and it is something I would like to do, but financially it's not feasible for us at the time. It's something we have to give up to God in prayer and wait for him to reveal His plan for us. That may or may not include moving back to be with family. And we have to be okay with either scenario. I never imagined I would want to move back, but ever since Luca arrived it's been so difficult knowing that he is growing up without being able to pop in to grandma and grandpa's whenever he wants. Or have his cousins nearby to play. And we miss so many holidays and birthdays with them. It's just hard. And it makes me sad. But it's also hard because we have been here for over five years. And this feels like home too. And I love my new job. And I love living in the southwest. And I don't know what I want. I want my family all to move here! I never thought it would be so difficult!
In the midst of all that, poor Luca was getting two molars in and so uncomfortable. We got home Saturday night, and now I am sick AGAIN. But Luca has been such a happy boy now that his teeth are through, and he is talking up a storm. And so funny too!!! He has started wrapping his hands around my neck and giving me hugs and kisses. It surprises me every day how much he can communicate too. Today I actually made a list of all the words and phrases he knows and uses regularly and he is up to almost 100 words combined in English and Spanish!!!! Tonight I put him to bed and I forgot to cover him with his blanket (he was snuggled up with it) and he promptly reminded me "blanket" so I would cover him. He will also remind us to brush his teeth (good boy!). Then he said in the cutest voice EVER "I wuv you". I pretty much melted into a pile of mush on the floor. He has said it many times before, but there was something about the way he said it tonight that just made my heart explode. I love that kid.
Well, I waited waaaaaaaay too long to update the blog, and because of that I had waaaaaaaay too much to add and I do not have the time now (Luca's baby album is calling my name) to actually edit the photos and make them all cutsie...so it is what it is. But there you have it. I promise I will be good from now on and not wait so long to update. I also got a new iphone (yes, I am finally cool) so I have got to figure out how to get it to send my photos to Google +.