40 Days

Last weekend Sweet Baby James celebrated 40 days since being born. In the Catholic religion we honor  such a blessed event by taking newborn babies to mass and have them presented to the community and blessed by the priest and the people of the church. 

We practice this tradition to honor the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple after 40 days of his birth. 

James was an absolute Saint (no pun intended). I guess he was excited about what was happening because he stayed awake during the entire procession and was a doll during his blessing.

He was loved from the beginning all the way through the end. The priest who presented James was Father Mata, who married Jack and I and who has been through so many blessed events with our family.

After mass my mom took James around the church and prayed over him alongside the Virgin Mary. 

Once outside the church so many community members approached us and continued to bless Sweet James and wished him the best in growth and spirit. It was really touching and I'm so glad we got to share this with them.

Afterwards we celebrated with a nice dinner alongside Jackson, Abuelo and Tio Bibi. The boys didn't make it to mass because Jackson was a little sick the night before but the cub is always up for celebrating so he was sure not to miss dinner ;)

After all the excitement at mass however Baby James passed out and celebrated all his own in dreamland...

Welcome to the family Sweet Baby James :)

Little Monsters

 

War Eagles Air Museum

Last weekend we went to the Air Museum here in El Paso. It was mentioned to us in passing and my dad's ears perked up when he caught wind of it. All of a sudden he 'had always wanted to go'. So we went. 

It's actually located in New Mexico but if you live here in El Paso, y'all know we live a mile from Santa Theresa, NM. Turns out the museum is really nice!

Jackson enjoyed himself for a bit but it was near nap time so he was kind of out of it. Jack bought him a toy plane and the entire visit was centered around his avion. His avion wanted to jump on the other planes, his avion wanted to ride in the vintage cars and finally, his avion wanted pictures taken of him. 

What a diva his avion is huh?

 

My dad and Jack thoroughly enjoyed themselves. This is something both of them have in common--they LOVE boring interesting museums like this one.

You may be wondering where baby James was. He chose to opt out, and being the diva he is stayed in the air conditioned car with my mom. Such party poopers. 

If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend this museum. We actually went to an aviation museum while we were in Belgium last Spring and it was nicer than the one in Brussels. 

Our cub and his avion were big fans...

One FUN 4th!

Our 4th of July was spent in El Paso. The boys and I are home (well my "home") for the summer so that Jackson can be entertained 24/7 and I can care for James. 

While its a bit trying since Jack isn't around, both him and I decided this would be beneficial for all parties so that way I can get help with the James, Jackson can swim all day long and Jack can focus on work instead of having to juggle everything all at once. Plus he comes up on the weekends so he says it feels like he's going on vacation every week. Nice.

The 4th was spent at my parents house with some friends, family, dogs and loads of good food. Here I am surfing the internet sans kids, with a great view, all while drinking a beer. This doesn't happen. EVER. See why I like to come home?!?!?! 

The kids were napping by the way so it was short-lived but lovely none-the-less. Once Jackson woke up it was of course pool time...

The lion cub has gotten SOOO good at swimming. Not because I'm his mom or anything, but I'm thoroughly impressed. Also, we've enrolled him in bi-weekly swim classes here in El Paso. It's a different style of lessons than what he's used to and we are hoping his independence in the water continues to grow through the rest of the summer. So far, so good :)

His brother however? Well...

Poor baby James is still a wee one so we aren't pushing anything on him yet. He actually LOVES the water and I'm thinking I just caught him at a bad time with this try. His bathtub was placed outside, in the shade, next to the pool and full of warm water FYI.

A patriotic dinner...

Jackson heard there were hot dogs involved and came a RUNNIN'. 

After dinner Jackson spent the remainder of the night playing with his guests, Luisana and Mara. They are 8 yr old twin girls that come over often and always bring him amazing presents. Jackson is a fan of older kids (especially girls) and they had a blast playing tea party, swimming and having them pull him around in his wagon in my mom's garden. He was in heaven. It was hilarious.

Needless to say both boys knocked out early and we once again missed the fireworks. Ahhhhh well, one day we'll see those darn displays! Happy 4th y'all :)

1 Month!!!

Life with two...

One must do what one must do to keep both happy. Lesson learned.