The 2007 holiday season!

Wow!!! Ceci Miri is 8 weeks old today, and the time has just flown by for us. It been a non-stop blessing having her in our lives, and we also spent some great holidays with family. Everyone enjoyed meeting and spending time with our family of three :-)

Little Ceci started sleeping at night pretty early on (yay!) and she only had a few days of eating trouble while Cecilia learned about the whole feeding thing. As the baby gets older, she's getting not only more beautiful, but also more interactive. She's been putting on weight now and has some cute chubby cheeks, and her precious blue eyes sparkle as she smiles and laughs at us. Her little quirks are a source of nicknames, which include "Keebler", "Piggy" or "Piglet", "Yammy" and "Little Bitty". But don't fear - we don't intend to use these forever!!

As far as our holiday visits: First, Tony's parents (Antonio and Rosa) and sister Patty drove over from IL the night of 19 Nov, and stayed a day. Then, Cecilia's mom (Isabelle) flew in from Alaska on the 21st and spent three fabulous weeks helping us around the house so we could get into a routine with little Ceci, and also teaching us so much about baby stuff. We spent a truly marvelous Thanksgiving together. For Christmas, we drove out to IL to introduce Ceci to the rest of Tony's family and had a great time - Ceci slept almost the whole way there and back, and Bellina and Doggie were really good girls on the trip. We had to drive back home again on the 26th because Cecilia's dad, Pablo, and his family (Esperanza - stepmom, Jimena and Gaby - sisters, and Flor - grandma) flew in from Mexico to stay through the New Year. It was all in all an incredible holiday season, and the family visits wayyy too short. It was wonderful having so many loving arms to hold and cuddle little Ceci. Having all the great company made the time go by so fast - we were sorry to say goodbye to everyone, but hope to see them all again later this year!

Knowing that the baby is starting to develop quickly now has made the last two weeks hard for Cecilia as she gets ready to return to work - agh! But God has been so good providing those weeks of maternity leave, and the means for child care in perfect time and order. Praise Him! It has been such a blessing to have spent these past 8 weeks daily with the baby - getting to know her and love her - and we know God will help us as we transition fully into our routines for the months ahead!