Recuerdo de Monterrey

Team Rodriguez had a grrrreat vacay to Monterrey, Mexico. Short - but a vacay nonetheless. We hit the road (with Janelle and Desiree in tow, our good friends who accompanied us on our cruise back in 2006) on Thursday evening and got to Ruben's Dad's early Friday morning. After a nap, shower and delish meal we were ready to see some sights. We hit up a market and did a lot of lookin' at the goods to be sold. Later we cooked out and I enjoyed tecate light with a fresh lemon from the tree in the front yard. It was beautiful weather but quite cold in the evening. Saturday we went into the city. Downtown was crazy packed with people, came to realize because everyone was shopping for Christmas, duh. We went to another market and then to visit some relatives on Ruben's Mom's side of the family. We wrapped up the evening with more food from the grill, ahhhhh. It was very relaxing and we got to see a lot in a short time. I was thankful to have a fun, safe trip. We got home and had to unpack and head out to do a few last minute Christmas errands. I'm tired now but my head will feel so good once it hits the pillow in a bit :)

Good night, sleep tight.

xoxoxo

achi

Wordless Wednesday

Bleh.

Happy Tuesday :) Here in the home of Team Rodriguez are 3 sad sickies. Coughing. Sneezing. Sore throat. Feeling kinda blue. For some reason the worst of it always seems to be in the evening and early morning. It's so beautiful outside today. I took Kramer out and sadly he seems to be the most upbeat of us! Hopefully we can kick this thing and cheese it outta here on Thursday and head down to Monterrey.

Hope everyone is feeling good and groovy! I can't believe the Holiday's are almost over, ah!

xoxoxoxoxo
alicia

Happy 28th to me!

So I headed off to NYC with Krystal and Ana for a couple days of fun in the Big Apple. The city was cold and snowy, we divulged ourselves in a little shopping, eating and girl time. A short but sweet trip was just right, we had a great time and I was happy to get home to my baby cj, and her dad of course ;) Here is the one pic I took the whole freakin' time we were there:

Then came the slumber party. OMG, it was a night to remember. I may be getting older but being silly with your girlfriends never will! We had so, so, so much fun. Jen was an awesome hostess. She made CD's as favors for everone with 80's songs on it. (This CD came in mucho handy last week when I was in need of new cleaning music.) The food was yum-o, dang I ate a lot! We gabbed, drank, crashed a neighbors party and played a HILARIOUS game of truth or dare.

Good times, good times! Thank you everyone for everything :)

An early birthday surprise...

...showed up on my doorstep tonight! Maria, Til, Fabs, and Sarah looked so freakin' cute standing holding a birthday cake with the candles lit and their party hats on, singing happy birthday :) Ruben was out working and when the doorbell rang I thought it was Maria. Checked the side door and no Maria. Peeped out the front window, saw no one. Called out "who is it?!" and heard a cute little voice say "Matilda! " It was too sweet. Dinner, dessert and the company of Las Sucias was one heck of a gift. Thank you, girls!

xoxoxoxoxo

Alicia

A new baby in town!

His name is Joseph Taylor Blachly, and man is he a cutie. I wanted to stay and visit with the proud new mom and hold the baby all day but I think that would have been over welcoming my stay :) Welcome, welcome little one!

I can't believe I have known Heather (or HO as we affectionately call her) since the junior high days of Hotchkiss. We've come a long way!

Thanksgiving was goooood....

Yum! The food was de-lish and even better was the time spent with the fam. We hiked over to Ft. Worth on Thursday morning and had a good visit over at Casa de Vu. Vince and I played a round of "Memory" which he is quite good at, little stinker. Carmen took to the carpet and was off and crawling! She looked so cute and determined, she is a little stinker too. Baby Victor was good and sweet as usual. He is a very low-key baby. Happy to fed, held and loved - that's all he needs! We traveled back to D town and were greeted by the swarm of 16 nieces and nephews, 6 siblings, 5 spouses, my mother-in-law and her husband, and a partridge in a pear tree. We spent the rest of the day being the goofballs that we can't help but be, and at one point we each took a turn to see how many push ups we could do, not sure how that one got started but it made for some really good laughs. Ruben, cj and I made our way home and settled in for the evening. Truly another wonderful Thanksgiving. God is good! Everyday :)

Almost Turkey Day!

It's just about a day away and the goodness that is turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, (my specialty!) pies... (and the list goes on...) is about to be bestowed upon us. This year I am very thankful (as I am every year) for the many blessings that I encounter each and every day. Most obvious though on my list of thankfuls (i'm pretty sure that's not a real word) is of course my 17 pounder, raspberry blowing, fair skinned, chubby, cuddly, funny girl, my cj. My husband gets a shout out too, I love his antics and random jokes, his big bear hugs, and thoughtfulness. I love my family. Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving if it wasn't for them. Growing up I always loved Turkey day and every 4 years or so my sister's birthday would fall on Thanksgiving in which my parents found an awesome turkey cake from baskin-robbins that I will never forget. (It had sugar cones for the legs, just in case you were wondering)

I hope everyone has a wonderful, family filled, tummy filled, awesomely great Thanksgiving. I am very, very thankful for each and every one of you. I love you guys.



Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,
Alicia

Wordless Wednesday

Long Time No Bloggy...

It's been WAY too long since I have been a happy little blogger. I got quite distracted for the past few weeks (oooooh... shiny object! haha) and I had little yearning to write any entries. I'm hoping to be better about this. Word is bond, yo.

Love,

Team Rodriguez

Wordless Wednesday

Team Rodriguez at the Fair

Ruben and I are faithful State Fair of Texas go-ers. We start talking about turkey legs and corny dogs in July, and by early September our mouths are watering at the thought of funnel cakes. *doing the homer simpson gurgle noise* We haven't missed a year since... well, I can't remember not having been since our senior year in high school. We were excited to take Carmen, and guess what, when you have a baby, you can put your drink in the handy stroller cup holder along with all kinds of other stuff you pick up along the way. Another grrrreat Fair experience, see ya next year Big Tex.

ps-ruben won cj her first prize, a pink bunny rabbit. he played the "guess your weight, age or birthday" game.

Carmen Jueves! (that's thursday, folks)

Introducing Baby Vu Number Two!

Today a new life came into this world, my nephew, Victor Alexander Vu. It was beautiful and amazing. Junior and I coached, and with 2 counts of 10 and my sister pushing with everything she had, out came Baby Vic! As he let out a BIG cry and made the most sad face (I can't blame him, it was cold in the hospital!), Junior, Angie and I all had tears of joy. Welcome, Baby Victor. We love you, mijo :)

I made the dog get in on this one...

This took several tries as Kramer didn't really want to wear the hat (jen, don't call PETA on me), and Carmen wanted to take the sign off of Kramer, it was hilarious...

Happy Garage Sale! Well, kind of...

EARLY Saturday morning, we (Demira, The Belanger's and me) trooped over to The Aguilera's new home and set out all of the goods to be sold and it didn't take long before the shopper's started showing up. But after an hour or so Mother Nature was such a bummer. We made out pretty well but the rain kinda put a damper on getting more mooh-lah for our pockets. It was a lot of fun though, we will have another sale soon, cha-ching!

ps-david aguilera has mad skills when it comes to garage sale-ing. thanks, david! thanks to josh too, the guys kept toweling off our merchandise trying to keep it dry! (jen, i loved josh's hat and i hope he wears it camping, lol)

Carmen Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday

B&B Weekend (Baptism and Baby Shower!)

Carmen's Baptism day finally arrived, her dress was looong and her chubby cheeks looked so cute in her bonnet. I jokingly asked CJ if she was getting married (or as her Tia Bertha said, "is this your 15 dress?!"), her poofy dress complete with tulle and satin was just so beautiful. I was proud of my little one as she seemed so alert after the holy water was poured over her head. It was neat the way the priest held her up (like simba from the lion king!) and the congregation clapped and welcomed her to our Catholic Community. Our family celebrated the rest of the evening and by the time we headed home, Carmen J was worn out. I put my little social butterfly in her pj's and she was out. Felicidades, Carmen Jules!

Bright and early Sunday morning, Kel, Jen and I gathered at Casa de Belanger to prepare for our dear friend, Heather's, baby shower. Let me tell you, I think we had way too much fun preparing and gabbing it up. Our guests arrived and we showered HO with food, games, gifts and of course lots of lovin' :) I'm very excited for Heather and Josh, December can't come soon enough! Baby Blachly, I can't wait to hold you!

Carmen Thursday!

A few of Carmen Jules' most recent pictures :) Lately she's been blinking in a lot of them though, darn flash. I am still trying to catch a picture of her smiling - she does a lot! Unfortunately something about the flash throws her off and she ends up looking like she's studying the camera. Also, here's a shout out to my Aunt Evelyn who is a faithful reader of my blog, she always likes to see what we are up to. Hi, Auntie!