Aventuras y travesuras: Time flies!

I have really been trying to post more often so that I don’t write a testament every time but the lack of internet doesn’t really allow me to do so. This is probably one of the hardest things to get used to not having whenever we want it. The way it works is that you have a modem which is like a memory, you buy cards with internet and use the codes then you have certain time to use it and if you don’t then you lose it….. It’s so frustrating.

We have been doing really well. We had 2 great visitors this month and that was great! It was nice to share with them a little bit of my birth town. Matt was here for a whole month…... how did we do it?! I don’t know but we made it!! Haha. We had a lot of fun while he was here we were able to do some fun things. Mike, Matt, Jeremy and Xavion got to go to Lago Atitlan and they were able to do some cool stuff like a zip line, rode jet skis and did a boat ride across the lake. We also went to a few other places called Rio Blanco, Laguna de Magdalena, Ahuehuetl and we probably went to Quetzaltenango about 3 times. A couple of days before he left we attempted to go to the beach called Champerico and an amusement park put after 3 hours of driving we came across a bunch of people who had blocked the way because they were protesting and they wouldn’t let anyone go by. It was so frustrating, we had no other option but to come back home. We also had no water the whole time he was here, he brought bad luck with him because as soon as he left we had water the whole weekend and it started to rain super hard. He said it would happen as soon as he left. It was very nice to share time with Matt, in the US we almost never saw him so while he was here I got to know him better and see that there is a good guy inside ;). He was great with the kids, Colton who never goes to anyone had no problem hanging out with him and he loved him. The day he left I cried, crazy I know. Mike looked at me and said “You are either pregnant or something is definitely wrong with you” well… I’m not pregnant.

Jeremy was here just for a few days but we sure enjoyed his visit. All the kids fell in love with him immediately, Layla just wanted to show him off to everybody (poor Jeremy he was almost never alone) haha. I’m sure he had a whole different experience than he did while he was in Antigua. The 2 places are so different. He also helped me clean, wash dishes and a bunch of stuff so I was very sad when he had to go haha.

Colton is 1 already!!!! I can’t believe how fast he is growing up. I often think about how we couldn’t believe he was real and he was ours when I held him in my arms the first time. We had waited for him for so long and the day he was born everything happened so fast that I just couldn’t believe he was finally in my arms. We did a water birthday party for him and it was really fun. He is now walking everywhere with no help anymore. He likes to climb on dogs and ride them like horses, or just sits next to them and hugs them hard. His personality is coming out and he can be pretty funny sometimes. Just today I woke up early to go running and so when he woke up for his bottle Mike just picked him up from his crib and put him in bed with him. Minutes later Mike felt Colton tapping his face, when he woke up Colton was standing on the floor pointing at his bottle and formula going “ooh ooh ooh”. He has 6 teeth now and man you can’t hide anything from him. Mike had bought some cookies and hid them in a box…well he found them and brought them to me saying “ooh ooh ooh” lol. Once he wakes up in the morning after he drinks his bottle he gets off the bed and goes to climb on the kids to wake them up going ooh ooh ooh. He is trying to play soccer, he knows how to kick the ball around and says ball very clearly as well as MOM!!!!! I think he says mom more than he says dad now! He does go with more people now but not too many, he is seriously a momma’s boy. Our house is almost done and there are stairs up to our roof, sometimes we lose him and we find him climbing half way up the stairs and as soon as he sees us coming he goes as fast as he can so we can’t catch up to him. He also got his first haircut. I made a lot of people mad by doing it but it was really long and I didn’t like how it looked anymore. He didn’t give me a hard time while doing it. He also loves brushing his teeth. Every time he sees someone brushing his teeth he goes and points at his toothbrush and goes ooh ooh ooh. We can tell he is understanding a lot more. His favorite thing is to play tag right before bed while he is naked lol. Every time I see an opportunity to lay down and rest he sees an opportunity to climb on my belly and jump up and down on top of me. He is seriously a boy!

Miss Layla is still keeping us on our toes but I’m going to try to stay positive :D. She learned how to ride her bike without training wheels the first day she tried! She can ride super-fast and is starting to do tricks. Her favorite thing to do is to ride with one hand and the other one on her waist like a beauty queen. She still dances, her and Xavion danced at a church activity and they did really good. Her hair looks much better after a lot of searching I found out that she needed a deep conditioner made out of honey and olive oil and thank goodness it’s working! She is excited to have her own room in the new house and to decorate it. Her Spanish is amazing, she talks like one of the kids here and throws some words out of her that surprises us. Yesterday after lunch I sent her in her room to go work on her homework after a while she came crying saying that someone had hurt her while going into someone else’s house. I quickly replied, I’m sorry but what were you doing in that persons house if I sent you to work on your homework she replied “ I just wanted to go there to breath” haha I guess she can’t do that everywhere.

Xavion is getting big, we can tell his face is changing and he is getting pretty tall. He loves to spend time with the family and play soccer as a family. Yesterday while playing a soccer game. Our family was winning and Xavion and Layla started doing chest bumps after every goal. Today he asked us to do it again as a family. He loves riding his bike as well. He does things that I don’t think a boy of his age would think in doing, like once he is done eating he will take everyone’s plates to the sink or he will pick up your trash and throw it away for you. He loves taking care of Colton and plays with him but gets really sad when Colton does not let him give him a kiss. He does not like to go to bed until he has kissed and hugged everybody. He did his first zip line and he loved it! He has been in 2 different zip lines now. He loved going with the guys (Mike, Matt and Jeremy) to Lake Atitlan and his favorite part was to eat at a place called Pollo campero 2 times! He is seriously an awesome little kid.

Colton really watching a movie for the first time. He liked it.

Layla with some of her favorite girls

The kids celebrating our family scored a goal while playing soccer.

Colton getting his first haircut!

I'm so happy with how Layla's hair look in this picture. It was the first time i was able to braid her hair all the way around. Its growing!!!

Colton opening grandma and grandpa Barney's present. He loved it!

Family ride. Colton wouldn't get off the bike. He knows exactly where his hands need to go while riding the bike.

He loves to ride this little bike and carries his balls in the back.

Remember when i said he loves to climb everything?? he opened this kitchen little door and was standing on there for a while until the kitchen almost fell on top of him.