Happy Easter! He is Risen!

Things have been busy in the Sotomayor household, but that's nothing new. We spent the month of March enjoying the spring weather, and wishing it would last forever. But I know the heat is just around the corner and it will be here before we know it. We went up to Pinetop again for a couple of days, and it felt weird leaving the sun and heading for the snow during spring break. All in all it was nice to get away and spend some time together. I did learn though, Luca is not a fan of the snow.
This weekend we celebrated Easter. Luca left church singing "Jesus is alive". I love that we are part of such an amazing church that has such an awesome children's ministry with such a God focus. I know it is still our responsibility as parents to be in the Word with him and teaching him to follow Christ, but it helps to know that we have the support of our church as we raise him. Not only that, but he spends his days in a loving Christian daycare that also pours into him with the love of Christ. I know that by the time he reaches public school he will have a firm foundation in Christ, and that is invaluable.
This little guy is quite the pistol these days, and way too smart. He is stubborn, impatient, and wants things his way or no way. He is a control freak, and kind of demanding. He is his mother's son. So, getting an Easter picture was nearly impossible, despite lots of attempts at negotiating.

Dear Luca

Dear Baby Boy,
Can I even call you that anymore? You are growing into such a little man. It was so great spending this last week with you, and I hate to see tomorrow come, but summer will be here soon! You are so funny, and you always have us laughing. You absolutely love singing to toddler radio in the car, which we learned on our trip to Pinetop last week. Your favorite songs remain Wheels on the Bus and Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. I need to catch you singing and doing the motions on video! You and Tevez have recently realized that you can be fun playmates, and playing ball with Tevez always has you laughing. I love watching you guys together. You are also just a sweetie, and when you called out from the backseat today "I love you momma" I turned to mush. I love you baby boy. And you will always be my baby boy.

Love Momma

Come on spring!

We have had some unusually cold weather here in the valley the last couple of weeks, including snow (yes I said SNOW...in the desert!), with random warm days scattered in between. Today is a little chilly, but the sun is shining and I'm so ready for spring. I am not, however, ready for what comes after spring...110+ degree days that keep us trapped inside for months. I guess that's the price we pay for gorgeous weather from November to May. Yesterday Luca and I spent the morning at Friendship Park feeding the ducks and checking out the farmer's market. There was a guy playing the steel drums that had him mesmerized. I love those Saturday morning nowhere to be spur of the moment outings with my little man. We also danced to our song (You Are My Sunshine) in the dining room while I took a break from cleaning. He held my hand and melted my heart. And I had to try to remember that feeling when he woke me up at 4:30 this morning demanding cartoons and jumping around in our bed. Yawn. I can sleep when I'm old. I am just so in love with him, and it grows every day. I wish tomorrow wasn't Monday already.
On another totally random note, we are kicking off a new healthy eating and exercise plan tomorrow, including some paleo inspired food choices, and I'm looking forward to having more energy!
For now though, here is the man of my life (well, the other one)

Dear Luca...

Well baby boy...who isn't such a baby anymore...it's been awhile since mommy wrote you. Let me start off by saying I am so thankful you are feeling better and getting back to my happy little boy after battling pneumonia twice this winter! You are amazing me these days with how much you know, and how much you talk! Every day I hear something new from your little mouth. This past Tuesday you counted to ten in Spanish all by yourself!!!! Daddy and I were putting on your pjs and you were counting the spots on my leopard sweater. I almost fell over in shock! It also brought tears to my eyes. We were so proud! You still need some practice, but I know you are so smart! You also identified the color blue today, and loved the blue lollipop you got after your haircut, and you asked for a blue cup when we got home. Is that your favorite color? I loved having a three day weekend with you, and we had so much fun at a birthday party and playing at the park. You love to be out in the sun just like mommy. I am going to miss you when I am at work tomorrow, but I know you love your school too. They always tell me you are a happy boy and very talkative. I believe that. I hope we get to snuggle and watch some cartoons tomorrow morning before starting our busy day. That's my favorite time of day. Watching Hippa Hippa Hey or Eggbird in bed while you drink your milk. I love you so much, and I am so blessed to be your mommy.

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 +.