Home Sweet Home

Ahhh is pretty much the word of the day EVERY day around here these days. Back from Orlando, we're getting settled in and 39 Timbira is really feeling like "home". Hence the .....Ahhhhhh. We had such a great time in Orlando and were so glad to be able to spend time with our family down there. I got to celebrate my birthday (22?) and have my very first VeggieTales party. Party hats and all! My nephew Joshua was also born on 3/20 so we decided to make it a joint event. Good thing he's a fan of Bob the Tomato! Vanessa loved all the company and couldn't get enough of her cousins! Vanessa is the big 1-0 today! 10 months old and this mom can barely keep up with her. We've mastered crawling and moved on to standing and are on the verge of the "cruising" stage. "Careful what you wish for" is what I keep reminding myself. I'm certain that no sooner will I see her take her first step and then she'll be sprinting down the driveway! We're waiting for Spring to not just come but to really and truly STAY! I'm getting ready to start training for this years Utica Boilermaker 15k Road Race and these OLD bones just can't hack a run in the cold!!

Where are the Blanco's

Where are the Blanco's????? Yes, our last post was WAY back on February 8th ...too long for some of you. Just can't get enough of us can you! Well we've been very busy but it's all been for the good! We finally have a new address...no wait...make that a new HOME! A home of our very own where we'll create all kinds of great family memories while miss Vanessa grows. We signed the closing documents, packed and moved all within a 12-hour period. Crazy. We're still getting a bit settled but it already feels like home. The timing couldn't have been better too especially since Vanessa is crawling and standing ALL THE TIME and was literally busting out the seams of our small apartment. With the size of our living room now, she can't decide which direction to go first. We also celebrated Vanessa turning 9 months! Wow...has it really been 9 months already?? She's still our little peanut weighing in at 16lbs 14oz and standing 27 1/2inches tall and has quite the linebacker appetite! We're off to Orlando to spend some bonding time with family --- Vanessa will finally get to meet her Tio Peter, Tia Marjorie and her cousins Samuel and Joshua!! Promise to post again when we're back! lot's of boxes!

Hablando con Tia Susy

Vanessa gatea por primera vez para hablar con Tia Susy. A little video for the Blanco side of the family. This was actually Vanessa's very first crawl....straight for the phone (foreshadowing for her teenage years???)

A small correction...

We'd like to make a small correction to our last posting. It appears we may have been mistaken when we stated that Vanessa is "almost" crawling. She was either teasing us or decided to prove us wrong. Take a peak at her new video ;-)

8 months big!

Wow....8 months already! Vanessa is at such a super fun age right now, laughing all the time (belly laughs!) and so interactive it's incredible to think just 8 months ago she was our little itty bitty 6lb peanut. Crawling? Almost! She crawls backwards and also does what look to be like cart-wheels around in circles to get to where she wants to be. Hey...gotta love her inventive style right?! Who wouldn't want to do cart-wheels all day long? We tried to take a photo of her holding her "8", but as you can see by the video below she preferred to shake it and crumble it up. ALSO... may we have another drum roll please.... the Blanco's are nearly home owners!! Hey, good things happen to those who wait, right? We're heading down the final stretch on our home purchase and hopefully if things keep going smoothly we'll be closing end of Feb or first week of March! So excited.

Proud to be an American!

Today was a very special day for the Blanco's (for all the Blanco's) as Juan took his Oath of Citizenship this morning and is now.....drum roll please.... a U.S. Citizen!! Yeahhhhh daddy!!!!! A big room with lots of people from different cultures (and lot's of different smells)finally getting to live the dream. Certainly a moment that one can't help but feel proud to be an American. Off to go sing a little Neil Diamond to my husband ("They're coming to America") ;-) Vanessa and I are very proud of our newest American!

Where is Vanessa.......?

No more fever and the congestion is getting better, I think Vanessa is feeling pretty good these last few days.....

Lord love the aspirator!

How's things with the Blanco's you ask?? Pretty great...except that Vanessa seems to have her first cold (we were hoping it was just teething, but we think otherwise). Fever of 101+ all day/night yesterday and oodles and oodles of snots and sneezing. We've fallen in love with our nasal aspirator (although I think at times Vanessa wishes we'd misplace it). Our poor little angel has been in good spirits most of the time, but you can tell for sure that she's not feeling well. Hmmm....could it be just coincidence that three days ago she had her first daycare/babysitting experience at the YMCA (I am leaning towards a big fat NO on that)??? Either way she was bound to have her first cold sooner or later, look on the bright side....she did fabulous at the YMCA and played so well her mom and dad wondered if she even knew we weren't around? Here's to hoping for a speedy recovery!!!

A few giggles for daddy

Since Daddy is away this week (in AZ for work) we thought we'd post a few giggles for him (and you) to enjoy. We miss you Daddy!

Rock on Gene Simmons

I wonder if KISS will still be touring when Vanessa is 18?? She's been working on her best Gene Simmons face...

Ms. Piano Man

"...sing us a song Ms. piano man...sing us a song tonight...." Rock star or Julliard scholar, we're not sure yet.

7 months and play dates

7 months....wooowhooo!!!! Vanessa is 7-months big today and couldn't be happier about it. These days all she wants to do is stand. And I do mean ALL she wants to do! She of course needs assistance, but just try to pull your hands away (I dare you) and she'll lunge for them. We're still babbling up a storm and have recently grown fond of talking on the phone (hmmm....is that an inherited trait?)

Also we had a few play dates recently which means we finally got to meet little Mr. Hehl...well worth the wait! So very cute to watch the two stare at each other and then start "talking"! Too bad we didn't film it, the adults got a kick out of the babble baby talk that's for sure. We've already made mommy Hehl promise to teach Vanessa how to ski.......we're working on future prom date too since Jake is added to the "pre-approved" list by dad.

our friend Marina

(born 2hrs before Vanessa - we met in the hospital!)

7 months!!

little Jake Hehl

Happy New Year!

2008 was such a blessed year for us! We are looking forward to the new year more than ever because it means many more "firsts" for Vanessa...don't worry, I'm sure we won't be shy with making sure we share every last one of them via this blog!

Hoping 2008 was good to you and wishing you many happy blessings in 2009!!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Is there anything better than celebrating a FIRST Christmas??!! We've had a couple of long days with lots of family and couldn't have asked for a better way to spend the holidays. If we were worried about Vanessa being in too much of a "shell" by being with mommy & daddy too much, well the last two days certainly broke the shell. Our little munchkin did very well flashing her gummy smile and babbling to anyone and everyone who'd pay attention. We can only imagine how much more fun the holidays will be as she gets older. Hoping everyone had a very merry Christmas!!

wrapping paper is fun!

playing with Aunt Toria's doll....hey, wait a minute that's a KEN doll. No boys till your 30!

Shhh....LISTEN!

...if you listen, you'll hear the sweetest words ever spoken ;-)

a week with Oma

Last week Vanessa (and us of course) got to spend a great week with Juan's mom, or "Oma" as referred to around here (Dutch for "grandma"). Vanessa was full of smiles and we think she made Oma fall in love with her the instant she showed her first gummy smile! We can't wait to see her again - we're hoping next time will be in Orlando so we can also finally meet Tio Peter, Tia Marjorie and of course Samuel and Joshua!!

Waiting for Oma to come

Lot's to be thankful for!

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! We personally have lots to be thankful for this year and loved having Vanessa spend time with the whole family. 6 months already - wow! You parents weren't kidding when you said it goes by fast...yesterday she was swaddled in her bassinet, today she's sitting like a big girl and lunging for toys, tomorrow....riding a bike???

Brrrrrr....

Brrr...it's starting to get cold outside! We've been blessed with some very nice (and unseasonably warm!) Fall weather, but make no mistake...winter is here! This week alone the high was only 28 degrees. We're gearing up for the cold and loading up on our warmest accessories so we can still venture out for some fresh air! Remind me why we live in Upstate Cold again?????????????

City girl

We traveled down to NYC this weekend to spend some time with an old friend of daddy's from Venezuela! I think Vanessa is starting to like the big place we call the "city"...lots to look at! We had a great time with a few other "new" experiences --- a few wrong turns, lots of traffic and another stop or two on the way home led to mommy changing a very poopy diaper on the table top at Dunkin Donuts. What? That's not what they mean by Value Meal?? I'll admit I was slightly horrified at the very thought of it, but by that point I was more annoyed that there was not a changing station in the restroom and decided the public display serves them right. A mom's got to do what a mom's got to do! Amen 'sista! (besides something tells me that may not be the worst place I ever do a diaper change)

Grand Central Station

First cabbie

con Juan Miguel

Enjoying the View!

This weekend marked a few "developmental milestones" for both Vanessa and us! Juan and I headed out to Buffalo for a wedding and left Vanessa with Grandma and Grandpa for the night...yup...the night. All seemed to go great (or so we're told) and it seems as though Grandma and Vanessa did some bonding. In the end I think it was far more traumatic for us than our little 5 month old (although we were happily able to drink a few glasses of wine and dance through the night to help "cope"). Also............5 months old means a whole new "view" for Vanessa! We're sitting up on our own now, practically overnight it seems! Man...where does the time go?????

First full hands-free sit First night away!

Trick or Treat!

Okay...so even though mom (and dad) think costumes for babies are a bit silly, we OF COURSE had to come up with a few for little Vanessa's first Halloween. Trick or Treat everyone!

"The Diaper Genie"

"Bubble gum on the bottom of my shoe"

"Mommy's little Pumpkin"

Weekend visitors

Is the weekend really over already!! This weekend we were lucky enough to visit with our friends the Wells' and the Revette's...even luckier to have Richard Wells all to ourselves for the night on Saturday. Rich was a great playmate for Vanessa showing her how to use some of her toys and reading her books (literally since he knew most of the stories even before we read the words). We also got to meet Lucy for the first time! Mommy forgot to take pictures with Lucy so we're looking forward to a 're-do'

p.s.

NO....the Blanco's did not get a new dog (yet). Just puppysat for our neighbors ;-)

Check me out!

Whoa! 20-weeks old this week and check out my new gear...

we may start calling my Bumbo seat the

Yumm-O seat...until I'm sitting up better

on my own this is where we eat cereal!

just call me McLovin ... standing and jumping is the only way to be!

This doesn't taste like Captain Crunch

Big times at the Blanco's this week! Vanessa started rice cereal for the first time and boy was it exciting. MMM-mmm not exactly the kind of cereal I'm sure she'll one day scream for in the aisles of the supermarket, but we think she liked it just the same (for now). First cereal...next all the other yummy goodies!!

Vanessa goes to the Big Apple

This weekend we headed out to NYC to visit with Christian - it's been awhile since we've seen him and Vanessa of course had not met daddy's long time friend yet. What a trooper our little girl was....out and about in the big city with so much to look at! She couldn't take her eyes off of anything nor did she stop smiling! We even caught her flirting with the bellman Cesar.

Tio Christian

Tired out at Rockafeller Center

King sized beds rule!

There's too much to see in this city!

we had fun - but happy to be home

My how baby grows...4 months and counting!

The three Blanco's payed a visit to the doctor yesterday for Vanessa's 4 month check-up (yes, that included her second round of immunization shots....which mom doesn't want to relive so won't "talk" about the horror across her daughters face for a very long 30 seconds).

She weighed in at 13lbs 9oz and 24 3/4 inches (up from 10.9lb and 22 3/4 at her 2 month appointment). She looks "great" according to the doctor (well, we could have told her that!) and we got the go ahead to try starting her on some cereal. Fun! We'll see what little miss V will think of that very soon.

Good Morning mommy, I'm awake

There are many moments these days when I say "wow - I love being a mom"....going to my daughter in the morning and being greeted with a smile is just one of them! And yes....this fresh faced smiling girl (as seen below) staring back at me at 6:45AM was a bit of a rarity. She's usually yelling at me to feed her. We are of course working on her waking up and singing "good morning mommy I'm awake"....right now her rendition and mine are a bit different.