Adrian's stove and oven

Week 2 of Adrian in Preschool and 2 days shy of Preggo Week 36

Hello to all,

I'm at home enjoying one of my final days of relaxation before I start work on Monday. Yesterday, was Hermes' BDay - So happy Birthday again, little Bro!

This week marks week 2 of Adrian in preschool. It has not been an easy two weeks with Adrian and Luis having to commute about 45 minutes each way (sometimes more). We have been diligently looking for a nanny since driving a new born and Adrian each way may be more of a challenge than we expected. We may have to re-evaluate our school options for Adrian based on the nanny's skills and if the commute to his school becomes bearable.

Luis is doing great in his new job and has all sorts of adventures - including working within the confines of a non profit budget and weekly mice visitors.

Here is a pic of me taken last week. This baby is expected to be smaller than Adrian! I'm very excited about that.

Hope all is well on your end . . .

Isis

Woody, Nemo and Soldier - Halloween 2010

This is a picture of Adrian's first time ever trick or treating. We accompanied Isla (Nemo) and her cousin, Jayden (Soldier). They are too cute!

Adrian's 3rd Birthday Photo Shoot

Hello and welcome to Target Portrait Studio. Isis Martinez is excited to share these wonderful portrait memories from Target Portrait Studio with you. "This album will be available for viewing for 90 days. We've ordered wallet size pics for some of them and you should be getting them in the mail in about two weeks. Enjoy! Isis" Click here to view these portraits. You can even create an account and add this album, so you can come back to it again later. It's fast, easy and convenient. Once you have picked up the album, you can view the images at your leisure, order portraits for yourself and even create your own portrait gift products with these images.

This email was sent by: Lifetouch Portrait Studios Inc. 11000 Viking Dr., Suite 200 Eden Prairie, MN, 55344, USA

Happy 3rd birthday Adrian

Enjoying the beginning of Fall

Baby M2 - 25 + weeks

Apple picking

Important Dates for the remainder of 2010

September 4 – 7: Garcia – Burt clan get visit from Garcias and Martinez Family
October 3 – Sophia hosts birthday weekend and brunch on her bday in NYC
October 28 – Adrian’s 3rd Birthday
November 6 – Adrian’s Birthday party – all are invited to attend!
November 17 – Lilah’s Birthday
December 7 – Hermes’ Birthday
December 18 – Dad’s Birthday
December 25 – Christmas and Baby Boy M Watch Commences
December 31 – New Year’s Eve and 7 days for Baby Boy M ETA

Babies a'huggin

Adrian and Baby Boy M

Update - 18 weeks and 33 months

Dear Fam,

Given that we have not provided a proper update, I thought today would be an appropriate day given a significant milestone that we encountered. First, with some serious persistence and reassurance he would be fine, Adrian finally sat on the potty without having a horrible meltdown. That initial 10 minute experience was followed by numerous potty trips every 15 minutes over the course of 3 hours!! He even got to the point where he just sat there for an hour (with an iphone, ofcourse).

Unfortunately, all the potty trips didn't end up with ANYTHING in it but his willingness to participate and our "no more diapers policy" is going well!

Then as if that were not impressive enough (for us at least - hey we made 2 years of progress in 3 hours!), he then asked to sleep on his own on a big boy bed and no more crib. Now, we tried this before with no success. But this time, because of our recent Texas trip where he slept on his own almost every night on a twin/full size bed, he had no qualms about it. We moved his curtains and night lamp to the guest bedroom and Adrian took over the queen size bed with no standing at the foot of the stairs asking for us every 2 minutes. So we now officially have two rooms ready for the two kids.

RE the pregnancy, today we are at the 18 week mark. I am feeling well and definitely showing. I also went to a job interview and I don't know how the recruiter didn't notice I was pregnant (or appropriately didn't mention it). The job is working in an Indiana town located about an hour away, at a law school. I would be the Director for Career Services. They would offer law school tuition after completing one year of successful service. They are also offering relocation assistance. This is not at all the job or the location I was looking for, but I am open to any experience. Let's just see how this interview process goes.

In closing, we are really happy we got to see so many of you in Texas. We look forward to seeing you all soon. Also, we will be spending Xmas and NYE in Chicago this holiday season so all are invited to join us! You can always stick around for the birth of Baby M2!

Adrian, the Big Boy

Making an Idea Box at the Museum of Contemporary Art

Lying out by the pool

Living it up on Chicago's West Side

Swim play date

Michael Jackson's ABC by Adrian Martinez

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKQ9mwhnmZc

Rocking along at 12 weeks!

Luis teaching Adrian how to play Chess, too cute!

Waiting for daddy to graduate

Spider Man learning the ancient art of ... Marbles

Surfing

Latino Graduation Banquet

Sporting his new Thomas the Engine sunglasses

Our favorite

More beautiful butterflies

Scarce Bamboo Page butterfly

What's going on . . .

So I have not provided an update on Adrian or anyone else on this blog for a while. Here is a quick update on the family:

1. Cibeles - Still very pregnant and 5 days past her due date. Baba, we want to see you already! And your grandma wants to be there when you do come out.

2. Nate - tomorrow is his 14th bday! Happy Birthday! I still remember when you were born and the only thing that came to mind was how sad I was to know I was not going to be around to see you grow. And now, you are getting ready to go to HS! You had a nice run as the baby of the family . . .

3. Sophia - took the day off from work today after not feeling well (hmm, maybe it's the not sleeping and going to school FT and working FT). She was doing fine last time we chatted today on Skype. I will make sure to give you a wake up call so that you make it into work BEFORE 10 AM tomorrow.

4. Hermes - grossest story ever with the quarter size, inch deep abscess. EEEEwww! Glad to know it's getting better and Tasha's health has stabilized.

5. Osiris - was golfing in Dallas this week for WORK, must be hard to have your life!

6. Mom - camping out in Detroit on Baby Watch. But will be back after she leaves in a couple of days.

7. Dad - last time i spoke to him, he was planning a drive to Houston to participate in a teacher job fair. However, a few days before, he had a seemingly positive interview at a teacher job fair in San Antonio. I'm rooting for SA!

8. Adrian - (aka, Diego, Big Boy Dinosaur, and Big Boy Deer) today is day 2 of operation, "No Chupon." Luis even informed me that when Adrian found it in his backpack, he just stared at it longingly but didn't put it in his mouth. must be so hard to not fall into the immediate gratification trap so that so many of us fall into on a daily basis. Another cute thing about my baby, is that he says hi to my uterus in such a loving way - i know he will be a great big brother!

9. Baby M 2011 - we saw the heartbeat on WED! The baby is sooo tiny, like less than an inch! I'm 7 weeks tomorrow. I'm staying positive. On a similar note, i think my excitement about being hungry (i. e. a sign i'm still pregnant) is resulting in my overeating and gaining too much weight in the first tri mester, like double what i should be gaining. eek! also, if it's a boy, statistics show he will weigh more than my first born! Double eek!

10. Luis - not quitting and almost there. Today we got the graduation announcements so we will be sending them out ASAP. He is in school about 8 hours straight tomorrow and SAT! I'm so ready for him to be done.

11. Marah - she is excited about her upcoming classes. Hopefully her number 2 pencil is sharpened and ready to go. Congrats on starting grad school soon, Marah. Next thing you know, we will be planning your graduation party!

12. Me - other than being constantly hungry, I am blessed! I entered my 32 years of life with a sense of peace and gratitude. I had a buffet lunch with Luis (don't know when was the last time we had a lunch date) thanks to Adrian being back in daycare for 3 days this week. We then had a birthday dinner with Adrian and I came home to find some beautifully smelling gifts and a handmade plaster imprint of Adrian's hand made while he was at daycare.

13. Dalilah and Horus - we have to catch up. I haven't talked to either of you in a while.

Love,

isis

Bird watching

Adrian and cousins

Dancing with the Prima

Two Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Adrian, Mayari, and Isis on the river front on the Canadian border

ugh

so, at least I get to host all the Garcia's with no other time commitments when you all get to Chicago because, well . . . the Martinez's are not going to SF any time soon. Yup, after interviewing with them for about 1.5 months through 12 interviews and 4 positive reference calls - the answer is Thanks But No Thanks.

I appreciate all the kind words through the process.

Best,

Isis

Hello!

Adrian getting a Thomas the Engine manicure

Isla and Adrian at the park

Adrian gorging on peanut butter. Note the hairstyle that resulted out of Adrian rubbing his PB hands all over his hair.

Toasted Almond Fudge immortalized

Tio Osiris reading a book to Adrian

Commercial in Spanish

Ok folks - here is the Spanish version. Never mind the accent. the guy who was directing me had a Cuban accent (i think) so i picked up whatever accent he had.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xgfo-FM3zo

Playing in the sand

Adrian feeding his new snake "Simon" packaging peanuts- thank you Lilah for the amazing gift package!

Happy Birthday Tia Cibeles, from SF

Adrian hard at work in his new profession as a farmer, driving the tractor

It's official

Your prayers, words of encouragement and job leads are welcome.

Love, Isis

Sent from my iPhone

Fueling up

Commercial - H&R Block

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Ye7saUiiI

Ok - so here is my debut . . . enjoy! I sure felt like it was a "Surprise!" (heheh, snicker)

Pic from H&R Block Commercial Photo Shoot

 

Happy Valentine's Day

An early valentine for you to show how much we appreciate the love and affection we receive year round. Adrian is an especially lucky to have Tios, Tias, Primo, and Abuelitos like you!

Adrian and Isis on TV

http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?cid=48

Happy Birthday Mayari!

This is a picture of Mayari taking her doll for a ride in her new walker/stroller. She enjoyed the concept of walking on her own so much, she started going really fast and liking the feeling of freedom.

Adrian and Mayari hanging out

Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough

Adrian wearing the hat to do the mj hat toss