Summer Fun

She’s not afraid of the water-she jumps right in and sticks her face in the water.

Giddy-up water horse!

Last weekend we went to Leatherby’s for ice cream. As we were finishing, the waiter came over to ask how we were and if we needed anything else. He was standing right behind Sylvie and she turned around and yelled, “GO AWAY!” at him. Fortunately he had a sense of humor because I heard him laughing about it as he told some of his co-workers.

This is one of our nightly rituals (when Julio is home). Tessa will fuss and Julio will hold her in this position while he’s watching tv. (Notice the contrast in their complexion).

She loves being held like this and it calms her and gets her relaxed. I can’t hold her like this because my arm is too short-so it’s definitely a daddy job. I love those cheeks!

Our summer is turning out to be a good mix of lazy and fun. We’ve gone swimming quite a bit and hung out with some friends. We also stay inside most of the afternoon and nap and do schoolwork. (Marco is learning his letters). Then in the evening after dinner, the kids play outside until dark and go to bed late. It’s nice not having to be on a schedule. I love summer…

We’ve got a new cousin!

Little Riley Ann Hill was born last night at 1:30 am. She weighed 6 lbs. 1 oz.-only 1 oz. less than Tessa. Look how much Tessa has grown in 5 1/2 weeks!

Scary times are coming...

We've known it was going to happen, we were warned about six months ago. Julio wasn't permanent at his current job. They hired him last August and then quickly realized they didn't have enough work to keep him busy. His boss had a managing partner of the firm breathing down his neck to get Julio to fulfill his 180 hours billing per month. He didn't ever get it-not his fault. The boss wouldn't give him the work, too busy doing his own thing to bother with giving Julio stuff to do. Then they sent him to San Francisco, saying they had plenty of work there to keep him busy. But, it was the same situation-the boss was too busy to bother finding stuff for Julio or there wasn't enough work. They've been stringing him along, not allowing him to have his own files since he wasn't permanent in SF, and not giving him enough to fulfill his hours. Again, Julio was more than willing to take on whatever they gave him, but they weren't giving him the opportunity. They told him the beginning of this month that if he didn't do 150 billable hours, he would be laid off at the end of the month. Wednesday, they told him he would be let go in two weeks. That sent us spinning-what are we going to do? Julio has been applying for jobs for the past six months and nothing has come of any of it. The only logical solution is to start his own business. It makes sense, why work for someone else slaving away and not growing professionally or making good money? Why pay $500 a month to commute to a dead end job? So, we are setting the wheels in motion. They did tell us today that they will let him stay one more month, so that will give us more time to get things figured out. We've got a few options and we'll keep everyone posted. In the meantime, please pray that everything works out for us. I am hopeful, but Julio says, "I'm assured."

Tessa 1 month

Last week I took her to the doctor because she’s been spitting up and vomiting a lot. The doctor said she has GERD (gastr-esophogeal reflux disorder) Basically the little flap on her esophagus hasn’t developed enough and doesn’t close properly when she eats so the milk comes back up if she eats too much. It’s something that will resolve on its own, but we need to make sure she doesn’t get dehydrated. She doesn’t'-that’s for sure! She eats, pees and poop on schedule! She’s up to 7 pounds 5 ounces-she gained a pound in two weeks! That’s pretty good although she’s still a little peanut. She sleeps well every other day. One night she’ll stay up really late, then she gets a good 5 hour stretch of sleep, and then will be up every 2 hours.  So today is her awake day and it’s hard to get anything done. Tomorrow she’ll sleep most of the day. She wants to be held. I did find that she likes white noise and it calms her when she’s crying-especially the vacuum. She will nap in her swing from time to time, but not for very long.  It’s amazing though how quickly she’ll stop crying when I pick her up and feed her. She’s a girl who knows what she wants! She’s a little cutie pie and we love her so much!

Lucia’s 7th birthday

Yesterday was the last day of school for Lucia and her birthday. It was a big day for her! She was up at the crack of dawn and ready to go to school. She wore her new outfit from Grandma. The 1st grade had a Family Picnic that we went to. Daddy met us there with In ‘n Out burgers that Lucia requested. After school she asked every hour when everyone was coming over so she could open her gifts.  Since she wasn’t having a party this year, I told her she could invite a friend over for pizza and cake with the family. She invited her friends Madelyn and Natalie. Although we don’t see them often now that we aren’t in the same ward, they picked up where they left off and played and had fun. Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle B, Callie, Brian and Eden came over and we had a full house.  We also got to skype with the Aldama’s. 

It’s weird to think she’s 7 already. She is beautiful, smart and sweet to her siblings. We are so thankful to have her in our family.

Before school in her new outfit

With her teacher at the picnic

Cute shirt from Uncle B.

Piggy bank from Aunt Callie and Uncle Brian

A guitar from Grandma and Grandpa. She got lots of other stuff too-zhuzhu pets, crafts, and a new scooter.

Posing with Tessa (who slept all evening and was up all night)

Happy Birthday Lucia! Hope being 7 is even better than being 6!