happy valentine's day

i have been making these breakfast fruit cups on feb. 14th for the last couple years.
these shots are actually from last year, it was so much darker and colder last year.
i always look forward to this day - a good excuse to show those i love just how much i do.

fresh seasonal berries sprinkled with raw sugar, with milk/cream, and whipped cream.
such an easy but fun and special treat.
we actually make these quite often, but use these special heart cups only on v-day.
shortly after i had darrel, christopher made them for everyone before they woke up :)

this is the one holiday (besides t-giving) that i set the table with placemats and such.
i started this a few years ago, see here, and here for past celebrations.
last year we were in the middle of our major plumbing problem-
i didn't know if i would get to it, but did last minute - it really doesn't take much.
i always enjoy making the table look pretty for everyone, they all look forward to it too.

-->

grandparents tend to swing by to deliver some goodies and fun treats.

grandma has made these adorable cookies the last couple years,

and nani made the lovely 'amor' heart last year.

-->

last year chris and i had a wonderful lunch downtown while all the kids were in school.

i was newly pregnant with baby d at the time.

-->

hope to post some pics of this valentine's day soon :) - and not a year later again!

and would love to somehow add more time to the day so that i can blog more often :)

first smiles

-->

so, i started this post months ago and now it seems like ancient history.

but here is the first picture i got of darrel smiling - 

i remember we were all laying around him in the living room watching him smile.

-->

all my kids have been super expressive on the changing table.

they coo, and smile, and let out their sweet baby talk - 

i have so many fond memories of all them really communicating on the changing table.

here is baby d acting quite hilarious on the changing table...

at first little d was mainly a morning smiler.

we all looked (and still do) forward to it every morning- happy, happy, happy...

we all just love laying with him in the mornings (and after nap time) -

those smiles just light up our whole world each day.

now he smiles all the time, and it continues to melt our hearts every single time.

he sure knows how to make us happy, this little guy is a real sweetheart.

i took this last picture a couple of weeks ago-

there was an amazing shot i got after it, huge smile showing his adorable teeth.

i hadn't taken any pictures of him smiling in awhile and it was seriously darling.

then, i accidentally deleted it off my phone.

i called chris in a panic to see if i could get it back.

well, sadly it is long gone but that image of him is forever ingrained in my mind.

as chris said, there will be many smiling pics to come :)

Christmas 2013

it was a wonderful christmas, especially with our new little addition.
oh, man he has brought so much joy to our family, we are all crazy about the little guy.
i love this pic i got on christmas eve - even with him crying, he was ready for bed.

no crying in this one- just chewing on his hand, he had two teeth coming in.
this was after our tradition of reading 'twas the night before christmas before bed.
the kids get all cozy in their new pj's they receive on christmas eve.

just got a few shots on christmas morning...

for years we have had both sides over for brunch on christmas morning.
it is so fun to share this special day with all our family together.
one of these years i will remember to snap a picture of everyone - 
here's our gang when the sun was up, before everyone came over...

lots of smiles from baby d later in the day after he got in a nice good nap...

for years we would go to my dad's house for christmas dinner.
then for years it got moved to my mom's after pop passed away.
and now we have hosted it for the last 3-4 years.
so, my family goes home for the afternoon then comes back for dinner.
we used to cook, and now we order chinese - best decision ever :)
my mom wanted to get a pic of all the males (couldn't get the red eye out)...

we walked to a boxing day party the evening of the day after christmas.
the presh fell asleep on the way, little sweetie looked too adorable...

the kids were thrilled with the dessert bar she had set up.
we will do this sometime...

my #4 doing what he loves the most, holding his baby bro :)

and a few shots from christmas eve.
chris and the youngest three after mass, the two older boys were altar servers.

hang'n out with cousins at grandma's house for christmas eve dinner.
bummed that i could not get the red eye out of these.

such special times and great memories for the kids to have forever.
we are so blessed to have so much wonderful family around us.

yes, finally another blog post - so many i want to get caught up on, so little time!

the early days

i can't believe our sweet babe is three months old now -
here are some of my favorite pictures of baby darrel's first month.

some precious ones of him sleeping (these first ones are my all time favorites).

with  john and christopher in his first days/weeks.

meeting tio pat for the first time.

and with ella and andrew when he was starting to fill out at three and four weeks old.

john apparently took this one of me and the babe, he was about a week old.

i had no idea he took it but i'm so glad he did, i really love it.

and a blurry morning one with john john.

a couple of my good friends threw me a surprise shower.

they invited all my 'school mom' friends - here are ella and the darling girls with baby d.

it was so sweet of them and so lovely, i found out about it about an hour before.

so glad i found out  - plenty of time to get myself ready :)

those thunder thighs - i love this pic and love those chunks and rolls :)

(almost all) the kids doing 'tummy time' with 'the presh': baby darrel.

another sweet sleeping shot.

on the way out of the school board mtg at a month old, he looked so darn cute!

arriving home after his/our first walk together.

those cheeks...have gotten so many comments on them.

i absolutely adore this picture:

those precious fisted hands placed so sweetly together -

oh, those fat, wrinkly sweet sweet hands just made my heart stop when i saw them.
this was my view looking down at him as he was nursing.

so beautiful, i just had to take a picture of it as i want to cherish all these special moments.

he is my first child born in this age of the smartphones -

have gone crazy taking pics of him with my phone, took a million of him in those first weeks.

love that i will have them to remember those early days as they are gone before you know it.

tried to post just a few here, will be posting more when i do posts on him with each child.

we are all loving this precious babe more than words could ever express.