2nd Snow storm

Recently Arkansas had another wonderful snow storm. The best part was, Carlos got to stay home from work and play! It was a blast. This was Carlos's family's first snow storm in the new apartment! It was freezing but we had a lot of fun in the snow. Joaquin loved being in the backyard and realizing that every time the apartment door opened and someone came out, it was his Tata(Claudia), Abuelo or Abuela!! He got extremely excited every time someone joined in the fun. Thank you Lord for the beautiful snow.

THANK YOU!!!

I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone that donated furniture/goodies for the apartment, spent many hours painting, spent many hours cleaning, spent many hours fixing and organizing and encouraging us in a HUGE way!!!! Special thanks to Grandma Lu and Grandpa Richard, Grandma Bonnie, Grandpa Gordy, Mom, Dad, Aunt Betsy, Uncle David, Courtney Linn, Sarah and David Hamrick, Karen and Trey Trumbo, Tanner and Cory Cangelosi and MANY OTHERS!!! We appreciate you SO much.

The Acosta's move to Fayetteville

This weekend, Carlos's mom, dad and sister moved from Florida to Fayetteville and moved into our apartment that is attached to our house. Carlos's brother, Daniel and his cousin, David drove with them from Florida to help with the move.

The blessing of the apartment

When we bought our house, we got a very awesome apartment with it. It has a bedroom, kitchen, living room, bathroom and laundry room. It was in pretty rough shape to begin with. BUT, we have had SO SO much amazing help from SO SO many people in the last couple of months to not only make it livable, but beautiful!!! Thank you EVERYONE that blessed us by helping. This weekend, Carlos's mom, dad and sister moved from Florida to live in the apartment. Here is a little idea of what it looks like.

The Apartment

More pictures of the apartment that is attached to our house.

Playing in the snow

Full body piano

Joaquin loves to entertain me during the day. Today, he decided to play the piano with his whole body.

Snow in Fayetteville

Since we were in Florida for Christmas, we missed one of the Fayetteville snow storms. Seeing as I grew up with cold Christmases, this was a little sad for me. BUT, NEVER FEAR, winter is not over in Fayetteville. We had some snow last night and this morning and we are supposed to get more tonight and tomorrow. Joaquin got to play in it for the first time. SO FUN.

Jason and Alisha visit

Our dearest friends, Jason and Alisha Kempenich were able to visit on their way home from Christmas in Minnesota. We played LOTS of games, at LOTS of good food, went to Eureka Springs, visited War Eagle and saw the movie Tangled. It was so good to catch up with them and of course, Joaquin thinks they are the coolest. (They are actually Joaquin's God parents).

17 week pictures

While we were in Florida, I hit my 17 1/2 week mark in the pregnancy. I don't normally do pictures, but I thought I would a few times during this pregnancy. Baby number 2 has given me a run for my money. I have been sick a ton, but have felt the baby kicking a lot. We are excited on Jan. 11, 2011 to find out the sex of this baby. :)

Orlando getaway

Carlos had a CME (continuing medical education) conference on Pediatric Infections while we were in Florida. It was in Orland0, which meant that we were able to have a little getaway for 3 nights. Thanks to Carlos's parents and Carlos's grandmother, we were able to go childless(of course, I still had Acosta number 2 with us in my belly). We had a great time. His conference was only until noon, so I was able to sleep in in the mornings and then the rest of the day, we were able to go out to eat, visit some disney places and just relax. We were also able to see Uncle Brian and Aunt Fanny for a meal. Praise the Lord for getaways!!! :)

Navidad 2010

We headed to Florida for Christmas this year. As usual, we were able to get together with the BIG Acosta family on Christmas eve as well as Christmas day. It was really fun to watch Joaquin in his first wild, Colombian Christmas. He loved it. Like most Christmases, there was a lot of music, food, dancing, laughter and stories of God's graciousness through the year.

Christmas on Misty Valley Lane

We celebrated Christmas on Misty Valley Lane tonight since we are headed to Florida in a few days. It was so fun to see Joaquin open his stocking and OUR stockings! :) He also helped daddy open his presents. It was a sweet little family time!

Weekend Getaway!

This weekend was wonderful. Carlos and I finally got a getaway weekend ALONE!! No one but us!! I'm pretty sure that this has not happened (except for work related or wedding getaways) since Joaquin was born!!! Mom and dad let us use their cozy little cottage in Kingston, AR and Aunt Betsy and Uncle David offered to let Joaquin hang out with them for the weekend! It was so quiet and relaxing. There is nothing nearby, so we didn't even leave once! We watched Lost, Carlos went for a long walk, we played Sequence and we SLEPT IN! :) Thanks everyone who made this weekend possible.

Playing with daddy!

Joaquin loves his daddy more than anything in the world!! He especially loves it when his daddy gets down on the floor and plays with him!!

Feel the rhythm!

Joaquin was very excited tonight about listening to some Carlos Vives and dancing around the living room. He really likes to dance with his arms.

New Tradition

This is such a fun tradition that we would love to do every year!!!! Thanks Shelley for introducing us to such a fun and yummy hobby!!

Icing on top

After we baked a million cookies, it was time to ice them. This, again, is one of Shelley's specialties!! Amazing. I learned so much. Joaquin even got in on the action...although he really liked tasting the icing more than decorating the cookies!