Our Busy Day

Now that Avery is a whopping 9 months old, I felt he was ready to attend his first playdate. So, we loaded up and headed to one of the local libraries for "Partners in Play." There were children there ranging from 8 months old to 3 years old. Of course one of Avery's best friends, Jadyn, went as well, so he had a familiar face there. I should also mention that since Avery is all grown up, he feels that he is ready to feed himself. Well, we gave him a try at it..........





"Here ya go, son,, your own plate of dinner as you requested." Notice how clean he is.....


At the playgroup... Jadyn is ready to get comfy on a beanbag....Avery, not so sure what's goin' on yet.

After a long day, Avery enjoys a Baby Einstein movie. He's excited to see it, he wants to crawl through the T.V.

Still enthralled........

"Better grab my sniffer, (AKA his blanket) I'll probably enjoy the show even more."

Surf's Up Dude!!!

Avery has become a regular at Siesta Key Beach and he just loves it. He has quite an assorment of swimming trunks already, now we are trying to find him the most suitable surf board. Well, not really just yet. We made several trips to the beach while Mimi and Papa were here and he is attracting beach babes like it's his job. Way to go son.



Mom and Avery taking a stroll along the water's edge.


Time to get your feet wet.........

Quick photo op....."Dad, time for you to get in some of the pics. "

"Dad, if you lay real still, you can be a great climbing block for me. "

Traditions

Our family (immediate and extended family) has many traditions. And, one of our traditions is that we always attend the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida every New Year's Day. So, of course, this year where were we New Year's Day? You guessed it.....in Tampa at the Outback Bowl. This year it was between South Carolina and Iowa. We had GREAT weather, PERFECT seats (had we been any closer we would've been on the sideline), Avery was a complete trooper and of course we had a snack or two. On the down side, the game was TERRIBLE. South Carolina should've just stayed home as Iowa whooped their A**!!! Oh well, it was still a great time.




Mimi and myself while Avery takes it all in.


Just a view from our seats.

Right outside Raymond James Stadium.

The Marching Bands at half time.

Avery's 1st Christmas

Avery's first Christmas.....wow, did it ever make for a different Christmas, but a great one at that. It was so neat to be able to shop for toys and books and play Santa Claus for the first time. Although Avery didn't understand any of it, Mommy and Daddy sure did and we enjoyed it to the fullest. We had Mimi and Papa here, and Avery's Great Grandma and Great Grandpa as well. We had a fabulous meal prepared by Rico and Mimi and PERFECT weather for Christmas. What a great day it was.


Mommy and Avery discovering all the bells and whistles on his new bike.


Oooooh, a delicious Christmas dinner, Chicken, sweet potatoes and applesauce!!! "Can I have seconds please?"

Back on the bike again. "This thing is cool." ("Don't worry, there's a gate around the pool, no matter how hard I try I can't drive my bike into the water.")

Avery and Papa opening presents. "Papa, I will show you how to tear into these gifts in NO TIME."

All of the Alcalas ready to see what Santa has brought. (Notice Avery is so excited he's about to jump off the couch.)

"Whew, all that excitement of presents and more presents....I'm exhausted."

HO HO HO!!!

HO HO HO!!! Merry Christmas. The Alcala Family would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. We are very excited to have our first Christmas with Avery Alexander. We have already made so many memories with him during the holiday season that will probably be the start of many holiday traditions to come. Anyhow, we haven't updated our blog lately as we have been very busy. Mimi and Papa arrived safely from Illinois on Saturday, December 20th. Rico and Dad have been golfing nonstop.....doing exactly what they love, while Mom, Avery and I have been playing outside, catching some rays, baking and shopping.........doing exactly what we love.

Last night we hosted a holiday party at our house with some of our closest friends in the sunshine state. We had about 25 people at our house and the weather couldn't have cooperated more. We enjoyed great food, cocktails and good conversation with some great laughs by the pool.


Pat, Jadyn, Rico and Avery chillin while the females prepare the food.

Most of the chicks in attendance at the party. We all thought it would be a great idea to pose for a pic by the Christmas tree......yet, where's the Christmas tree.......hidden behind all of us. Great idea girls. This is what happens when you get a bunch of girls together drinking wine.....

My mom and dad chillin' by the pool, playing with Avery, waiting on the guests to arrive.

Well, cheers to a very Merry Christmas and most importantly Happy Birthday Jesus.

Cookie Monster

Today was the day for making those ever so yummy Christmas cookies. I had an excellent helper in the kitchen (see below) so they turned out fabulous. Next step is to deliver them to our neighbors. We are very fortunate to have AWESOME neighbors, so we want them to know how thankful we are for them. And, what better way to show them then by baking Christmas Goodies.


My Helper: "Mom, as you dirty the dishes, I'll put them in the dishwasher...after of course, I lick the cookie dough out of the pans."


Yes, he climbed up there all by himself....no assistance needed by mom.

A Fabulous Assortment: Sugar cookies, Chocolate Chip, Hershey Kiss Cookies, etc.

"After all that labor, I am EXHAUSTED. I'm gonna take a snooze while you finish, mom."

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Well, the decorations are up and the house is ready for Christmas. We have some presents to wrap, but we are basically ready for Santa Claus to come fill our stockings.



This is my favorite part of the decorations....the lil' Christmas tree in Avery's nursery with the twinkling, colored lights. He loves to lay in his crib at night and sing out loud "Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree......."

And, the Alcala Family Christmas tree... a fake one, what a beauty!!! (And we didn't even have to drive to the middle of no where to pick it out)

Ah, how romantic....the lights and greenery above our headboard!!!

And, the outside lights. Didn't Clark do a real nice job, just a real nice job Clark!!!

Side Note: For those of you who don't know; the movie "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" is one of my all time favorites.....so I will be quoting it often during our Christmas blogs. If you haven't seen the movie, I recommend pouring yourself some eggnog (or a stiff Captain and coke) and renting it. What a great flick!!!

Gettin' Ready for Christmas

It's that time of year when everyone is getting ready for Christmas by putting up decorations, shopping til they drop and baking those ever so yummy Christmas cookies. Well, the same is true for the Alcala family. We have been busy decorating the house, doing some shopping and preparing for family to visit for the Holidays. This truly is an exciting time and definately no need to get stressed about anything. This will be Avery's first Christmas and we want to make it very special (although he won't remember a thing, mommy and daddy sure will.)


Mom and Avery on "supervisor" duty while dad puts up lights on the outside of the house. Yes, we are decorating for Christmas in short sleeves and sandles!!! Notice our dog in the background... he even gets a say on the placement of the lights.

Clark, you be careful up there, we want those lights twinkling!!!

Brianna, the "neighbor girl," let Avery try on her Santa hat.

We will be finishing the last touches of the decorating tonight. So, look forward to more pics soon.

Back home, safe and sound.

We are back!!! Goodbye to the cold, winter weather and back to the warm, Florida sunshine.
Avery and I have made it back home safely. We arrived Tuesday night in Tampa where Rico was there to meet and greet us. It was great to see him. Gosh, 3 weeks is a long time to be away from your hubby. But, I will say the time just flew by since we had an amazing time visiting family in Illinois. We are so happy that Avery is getting to see his extended family as often as he does, considering we live so far from everyone. We are back to our routine, while it does still feel like we have been away, Avery has adjusted quite well and all this traveling doesn't phase him a bit.

Now, we get to look forward to Mimi and Papa coming to OUR neck of the woods in exactly 2 weeks. Ever since we have lived in Florida we have been fortunate to spend every Christmas together under the sunshine and palm trees. In the next 2 weeks we will be busy decorating the house, Christmas shopping and preparing to make more great memories. Life is good for the Alcala Family.

Our Thanksgiving Weekend

Now that our Thanksgiving weekend is over, I must reflect on what a great weekend it was. We were fortunate to see so many people on both sides of my parents family that we haven't seen in what feels like YEARS. Thanksgiving day was a great, relaxing time. We ate lots and lots (who doesn't), played "Wii" and visited. Then, we did the "black Friday" thing, which was also a great time. There were tons of shoppers and long lines, but when you're prepared for it, it doesn't matter that you get elbowed by complete strangers and you have to fight for a table in the food court. Saturday we celebrated Nanny and Grandpa's 60th wedding anniversary. Nanny and Grandpa are my mother's mom and dad. Wow, 60 years of marriage. That is sure something to celebrate!!!



The 3 siblings pose for a pic. Erica, Ryan and Jessi


The entire "Pancoast" clan, minus Rico. From L to R: Phil (Erica's b/f), Erica, my Dad, my Mom, Ryan, Holli (Ryan's wife) Avery and myself. Then, down in front, the princess of the family, Rylie.

And of course, the guests of honor: Nanny and Grandpa. Congrats guys!!!