Sydney Faith

Well, we are all doing well and I decided that since it has been a while since I have posted I would do an individual post of each kid. So, here is a picture Patrick caught of Sydney and I a couple of weeks ago at church. She was exhausted and fell fast asleep in my arms. I have always enjoyed holding my kids while they sleep. Especially when they are little like Sydney is. I promise all of Sydney's pictures aren't of her asleep. Somehow with the craziness going on in our house Sydney manages go get a few cat-naps in. Jordan and Isaac were running all around and she still managed to doze off to sleep. I thought it was a cute picture.
Her eyes look a little red in this picture but she was very happy and screaming when I took it. The other kids were dancing around the room and she wanted to join in so bad.

And finally, a close-up. She is getting so big. 10 months old. I can hardly believe it. You've got to love a smile and cheeks like these! If you look closely you can catch a glimpse of her bottom teeth.

This last picture was taken on a semi-warm day when we were outside. She got a new coat for Christmas and we had to try it on her. It is just a little big but still looks cute on her.

Overall, Sydney is doing great. This evening as I was creating these posts, she crawled for the first time. It has taken her 10 months to get to this point but she is now crawling. Way to go Sydney!!! Love ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Isaac Julian

Well, Isaac continues to do well also. His vocabulary is getting bigger every day and so is he. It is hard to believe that is is almost 3 years old. I thought the following picture was a cute one I took of him earlier this week. And everyone in Texas will enjoy the following two pictures. Isaac got a Dallas Cowboys uniform for Christmas from Uncle Anthony, Aunt Nikki and Cousin Paige. He was so excited when he opened it. He actually wanted to sleep with his helmet on the first night he got it but somehow Patrick talked him into just putting it beside his bed.
And of course I had to get a picture of him and Patrick together. Let's be honest, They were both excited about the uniform.

In the following picture he was wearing a hat and pretending to be Patrick. It was pretty funny watching him try to walk around the house with a big hat on. This picture makes his ears look huge!

A couple of weeks ago the sun started to come out and melt the snow, Isaac was very excited to get out and play in it. In the following picture he was mowing the snow. You can see all of his tracks in the snow. We try to take any chance we can to get outside.

So, as you can see, Isaac continues to do well also. He is enjoying school and loves to torment his sisters (like any good brother does).

Love ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Jordan Gwen

Jordan celebrated her 100th day of school this past Monday and it was a very exciting day for her. Each student took in a 100 day project (which was something made of 100 things). Her teacher sent home a letter explaining that as parents we should allow our child to be creative with this project and let them do as much as possible. So, me being the very open parent that I am, I asked Jordan what she wanted to make for her 100 Day Project. With great joy she decided that she wanted to take in 100 cupcakes for her and her classmates. I commend her for the idea of 100 cupcakes (Who doesn't like 100 cupcakes!) for her and her friends but I saw this a little bit more of a project for myself than her. So, after many days of persuasion I finally talked her into a construction paper cupcake with 100 skittle sprinkles on it. Well, it turned out pretty cute but I am not for sure how many of the skittles were still on the construction cupcake after a 25 minute bus ride. The following picture was one I caught when she got home. She was very excited about this 100 Day crown she made! Uncle Anthony, Aunt Nikki and Cousin Paige sent her a Baby Alive for Christmas and she was very excited as you can see in the following picture.
And she is continuing to do well with her piano lessons. She has her first recital this weekend and we are all very excited about it. We have decided that we need a real piano (not a keyboard.) She is very excited about that idea.

The following picture was taken last Friday night. We took the kids to go swimming at the gym but there were many things going on in the pool. We decided that since our children are not great swimmers ("Great" is an understatement) we would just play wall-ball. They had a good time. It wasn't the same as swimming but still a fun family evening out.

And this last picture was one I took of Jordan a few weeks ago. I thought it was a cute one of her. Overall she is doing great. Her teacher says she is doing well in school so we are very excited for her.

So, here is my quick blog on Jordan. She remains full of energy and a great big sister. You've got to love that! Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Happy Valentine's Day

Well, we hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day. Here at the Gallegos house things went pretty smooth. (Any holiday that revolves around CANDY can sometimes consume our day!) But we all had a great time. Patrick cooked steaks for dinner and they were delicious. Him and the kids also surprised me with an afternoon at the spa. I got a facial, manicure and pedicure. It was a very relaxing afternoon for me. Patrick and the kids got to spend the afternoon together and they all had a good time. The following picture was one taken early yesterday evening. Patrick and Sydney were taking a late Valentine's Day nap. They both looked so cute!And this picture shows how we started out our Valentine's day. I made heart-shaped chocolate-chip pancakes. The kids really liked them. (As you can see by the chocolate on their faces.) What a way to start off the day: Chocolate chips covered with high-fructose corn syrup. (Delicious and Not Nutritious!!!!)
And I wanted to add a few pictures that we had taken over the past week. The kids and I made a quick trip to Target on Friday and this is how Isaac looked when we left. At first glance, he looks just fine. But when you take a closer look you can see that he is wearing two DIFFERENT shoes. One is a Black high-top shoe and the other is a brown loafer-type dress up shoe. I realized his new found fashion when we got to Target and I was putting him in the basket. He was so proud of himself for getting his shoes on all by himself. (And rightfully So!)

So, when we got home I took these pictures of him. He was kind of confused why I was making such a big deal out of it.

The kids got Valentines cards from both sets of Grandparents and they were very excited to be able to get their own mail. The following is a picture of Sydney looking at one of her cards. I thought is was a pretty cute one. It looks like she is actually reading it. When on the contrary she is probably just trying to figure out the quickest way to get it in her mouth.

I also got this picture of the kids making Valentine bracelets. One of their friends gave them a bracelet kit for a Valentine. They were very excited. I don't think Isaac actually got much of his made. He realized pretty quick that it was easier to eat the candy rather that try to run a string through it! Where on the other hand, Jordan made hers and was able to wear it most of the afternoon.

And last but not least I caught a picture of all three kids, looking right at the camera! WOW, that is definitely a feat of its own. They were all in their pj's and ready for bed. Jordan and Isaac were excited because they were wearing zipping pj's just like Sydney.

So, here's to another Valentine's day that has come and gone. We hope everyone had a good one. Love ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Doing Well!!!

Well, we are doing well. The snow is starting to melt and we are starting to see the ground again. Patrick and I had our dance class tonight and the kids had fun with Miss Carrie. Miss Carrie is our babysitter and the kids really like her. I caught the next three pictures after she left and right before the kids went to bed. Sydney got a diaper change and and I couldn't help but catch this picture of her! I love closeups!
Jordan is doing well. She is enjoying school and is excited about the snow melting away. She is ready to go outside a little more.

Isaac is doing well also. As you can see by his art work, he is a budding artist. Him and Jordan were coloring all evening and very excited about all of the art work.

And this weekend we had the opportunity to go to a baptism. Sydney's Godparents have a little boy named Miguel who is one month younger than Sydney. Miguel had his baptism and it was a very fun occasion. This picture is one of Fran (Sydney's God-mother), Miguel, Sydney and I.

And this final picture is one of Sydney and Isaac. Isaac has started a new thing were any time Sydney is in her walker he wants her to give him a ride. If you look closely at the bottom of this picture you can see that he is RIDING the walker. He begs me to put her in the walker so he can ride around with her. It is pretty funny to watch. But Sydney is doing all of the work!

We are all doing well over all. The snow is starting to melt and we can see the ground again. I have to say that I am ready for spring to get here. Love ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Stars!!!

The day has finally come and Jordan is FINALLY the Star of the Week. She has been waiting all year to be the star and Feb 2nd through Feb 6th is her week. She came home last Friday very excited and ready to decorate her "All About Me" Poster. I don't blame her for being excited. The following is a picture of Jordan with her very decorated "All About Me" Poster. We filled it out with all the necessary information and then stuck or glued everything she could think of onto any blank spot. Needless to say it is a very full poster. If you look closely on the top left hand corner of the poster there is a circle where she was to either color or glue on a picture of her family. Jordan wanted to color a picture. The person with the blue body is her and she is holding a green oval with hair. That green oval is Sydney and she is drawn upside down. The rest of us are much smaller in size and harder to see in the picture. (At least we are right side up!) She had a lot of fun getting it ready for school this weekend needless to say. And by chance Isaac also had to fill out an "All About Me" page for school. His was a smaller scale so it was much easier to get ready. However, he is just as excited about his page. He didn't have quite as much space but we managed to put two dinosaur stickers on his.

I got the following two pictures this afternoon. Isaac wanted to hold Sydney and I have to say that she was pretty excited that he was playing with her. I thought the pictures turned out pretty cute. I think Sydney's head is close to the same size as Isaac's. (And I always thought Isaac had a pretty big head!)

At least they are enjoying each other! I know pretty soon they will be fighting like any good brother and sister do.

Well, I hope all of you are doing well and I will post again soon. Love ya and God Bless, Tara G.