Leti, my niece

She is a courageous young lady, traveling to the US for the first time alone. She came to meet and spend time with her cousins this summer. It has been an adjustment for our family to have a pre-teen in the house:) She loves hanging out with the babies, but like all 12 year olds, she loves TV, sleeping in, the pool, relaxing, etc. Even though she is bold enough to travel alone, she tends to be shy.

It's been fun to have her try and do things that are so common in America, but not so much back home (Dominican Republic). I've been cooking American foods for her to try. So far so good in that department:) Also, she has been helping with things around the farm. Here are some pictures:
We went fishing. It was the first time for the both of us. We didn't catch any fish, but we at least learned how to cast the fishing pole;)

Having a picnic at the park, after visiting the zoo.

Mowing for the first time ever (this is her favorite thing to do as far as chores go).

She even rode in the tractor with uncle Mike.

Lot's of laughs with the kids:)

Before coming to the rural part of the country, she spent a week with my aunt (her great aunt) in Orlando. She got to go to Disney world almost every day. I'm wondering how rural US compares to Orlando? Hahahahaha

It's been a year since Alea came home from the NICU

Alea came home on June 14th, 2008, weighing 4lbs 12Oz. This little peanut sure had us on our toes from the beginning. It was SO scary to bring the first one home without all the 24/7 nurse care that she had at the hospital. The first night I slept on the floor by her crib, just to make sure she wouldn't stop breathing. She didn't come home with any special equipment, but I was used to to all the wires and monitors that she had in the NICU. It almost seem unnatural to have this baby with nothing hooked up to monitor her heart rate, oxygen level, etc.

Some people say that they loved EVERY baby stage, but I have to admit that I did not like the first couple of months of triplets baby stage. Just picture this, when all the babies where home we were feeding 28 bottles in a 24 hours period and at least that many diapers change, not to mention the lack of sleep, etc., etc., etc. But I do LOVE the stage that Alea is in now:) She is SO MUCH fun. She is a silly silly little girl. Alea is climbing on everything that she can get her legs on, lol. She loves to climb onto her little rocking chair, the swing, the lower level shelf of the bookshelf, up and down the stairs, Daddy's legs, etc. She is cruising like crazy, pushing her little toy all over the house. She is not a crazy driver like her brother, but she sure knows how to turn the toy around to keep going:)

Let me see if I can remember all the things she is doing now: clicking her tongue, waving bye bye, playing patty-a-cake, SOOOOOOO Bigggggggg, peek-a-boo, saying mama and dada, looking for Frankie (our dog) (If we ask her "where is Frankie" she looks or crawl to the window), making lots of cute noises and funny faces. Alea can also stand without holding on to anything.

Alea has the stronger personality of the three, but she can melt you with a silly face and a big smile. She can be very friendly if she is in the mood, HA. It has been a wonderful year with her at home and I wouldn't change anything:) She has changed and learned so much in the last year!

I believe that pictures can talk louder than words, so here is a series of pictures of Alea from the day she came home month by month until now.

June 2008 (2 months old)
Finally coming home

What a cute little peanut! We had to get her a preemie car seat because she weighted less than 5 pounds, yikes!

She has always been Daddy's little girl:)

After her first bath:)

Cuddling with Grandma

July 2008 (3 months old) Loving the bounce.

Screaming in the boppy.

August 2008 (4 months old) Taking a nap in the glidder.

Making her pouty face (this is one of my favorite pictures).

September 2008 (5months old) Sucking her thumb while taking a nap in the swing.

Smiling at Mommy.

October 2008 (6 months old) Wearing her witch outfit (hahahaha).

November 2008 (7 months old)Sitting up for the first time:)

December 2008 (8 months old)Laughing with her Santa hat:)

January 2009 (9 months old)Having her first baby food.

Starting to enjoy baby food (lovesssssssss butter nut squash).

February 2008 (10 months old) First pigtail:)

All bundled up, ready for bed!

First time drinking out of the sippy cup:)

March 2009 (11 months old) Standing in her crib

Smiling, smiling, smiling:)

April 2009 (12 months old)

Switching to the next car seat (not happy about the change).

Birthday picture

May 2009 (13 months old) Loving Cheerios

June 2009 (14 months old) Loves to get in the toy box and hang out:)

Climbing into the swing

Hanging out at the park

Alea tu eres una niña super especial, no me imagino mi vida sin ti. Este año ha sido maravilloso a tu lado. Te amo mushisimo. Me encanta como me sonries en las mañanas cuando voy a buscarte a tu cuna. Se me aguan los ojos de solo pensar lo chiquitita que eras y lo grandota y preciosa que estas ahora. Dios nos ha bendecido grandemente y le pido que continue bendiciendote para que continues creciendo fuerte y llena de salud:) Te prometo amarte y cuidar de ti toda mi vida asi como tambien guiarte por el camino de nuestro Dios. Que el Señor te bendiga mi muñequita. Muchos besitos! Te amo! Tu mami. I'm looking forward to the years ahead with you:)

Parent /Child Dedication

Last June 14th, 2009 our babies were dedicated in church:) It was a beautiful services, and a joyful day for our family:) We are so thankful for our Pastor and our church family for all the support that they have giving us during this last year. We are TRULY blessed. Armando being dedicated. He just listened to Pastor Eric and seemed to understand what he was telling him;)

Arianna didn't want to go to Pastor Eric, she is such a Mommy's girl:)

Alea was happy to talk to Pastor Eric:)

It was wonderful to have the family in church to rejoice with us:)

Our Family: from left to right Arianna, Mommy, Alea, Daddy, Armando.

Proud Momma with Arianna:)

After the service we went to Grandma's house for lunch (thanks Grandma!).

Crazy driver on the loose!

Well the video says it all:)

Push.... Push

That's what the kids love to do lately. So here is a video of each one pushing something or one sibling;)

Where did the sun go?

We were having so much fun with the nice weather. However, rain and gloomy days have taken away the summer fun:( We can't wait to have the sun come out and play again:) When we had nice weather, we visited the park and played in the pool:) Here are some pictures for you to enjoy:)

Armando cautiously enjoying the swing.

The kiddos looooooooooove the water. Here they are splashing away. Alea is wearing the black swim suit and Arianna the green one:)

All 3 kissing:) Isn't that sweet?:)

Alea climbed there all by herself.

Arianna did too (she was the first one to do it). Armando did as well, but I have his on video.

Alea sticking her tongue at us.

Armando blowing fish kisses to us.

Arianna giving us beautiful smile.

The kids at the park swinging.

Daddy and the kids.

Arianna loving the swing.

Alea having a good old time, sharing a swing with Arianna

Their cousin Leti is here to spend the summer with us:) The kids are enjoying having a person with lots of energy to play with them;)

The kids are getting soooooo active:) Armando is close to walking (in my prospective). He pushes his little toy around all day long, driving it like a maniac, Ha. He can even turn it around when he gets to a dead end. He has been pushing the kitchen chairs for a looooooooong time, but now he has some competition. The girls started to push the chairs as well. My kitchen chairs are never by the table when these kids are around. They are making lots of different sounds (Arianna in particular). They no longer like to be fed, they like to feed themselves. So I have to come up with finger foods for their meals. We do things like chicken meatballs, peas, pears, pancakes, etc. On the teeth front, we have a total of 18 teeth (6 each).

Thanks for reading!