We The Elves...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Count Down!!!

Just 14 days until DaDdY comes back home. We miss you so much Andy. Nothing is the same without you.

Andy, I just took this pictures so you don't miss moments like this. Here is Catalina reading to Julienne (from memory and pretending). Awww Aren't they cute?

Showing some sissies' love. So cute!

A kiss for daddy.

Julienne after eating her dessert (chocolate cake) and Andy's favorite silly face from Julienne.

Julienne showing her "Mater teeth" (the tow truck from the movie Cars).

Te Amo Andy.

Can't wait to see you again!!!

Got Yogurt?

Yup, all over herself.

My New Nephew

My oldest sister had her baby yesterday. He is SO cute that I "almost" want to have another baby.
Happy Birthday Daniel!

My family in Chile is getting so huge. I have 5 siblings and they are all married. I have 7 nieces and 4 nephews. My parents have 13 grandchildren in total (when I add my 2 girls). Pretty awesome!

Mommy, You Are Fired!

Today Catalina FIRED me. Can somebody be fired for being a mom?
It's not new to say that I am not gifted with patience. When I run out of patience I show off the Hispanic side of me and get very loud. I'm also late to everywhere I go (a very Latin thing, too). This morning I was following our usual weekday routine with Catalina (wake up, eat breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth, and go to school) and Catalina wasn't being very helpful. She usually takes her time for everything but today she was "extra" slow. I told her many times to hurry in doing everything she normally does. I told her to brush her teeth fast while I changed Julienne's diaper. I changed Julienne's diaper and her clothes, went to get my purse upstairs, and when I went to get Catalina in the bathroom she was singing and just starting to squeeze some toothpaste on her toothbrush. So I just yelled "Catalina". She jumped up scared and told me (yelling as well): Mommy, you scared me, don't scream at me! I said (still yelling): "You haven't brushed your teeth yet, we are gonna be late again". And she replied (still yelling): "Mommy, stop screaming. YOU ARE FIRED" (exactly like this). I couldn't help to "LOL" about it. She sure knows how to make me feel frustrated, mad, happy, and so on and so forth. Whatever she does I still love her so much, and especially when she brings me to my senses by reminding me that I am the "adult" one.
I have so much to learn and that's why I'm thankful to have my Cata to teach me...or to fire me ha ha.

Sad Goodbyes...

This last month I have experienced too many sad goodbyes. It's always hard to say goodbye to good friends and family. It's something I obviously can't control or get used to. In our over 6 years of marriage we have left behind many places and people, and we have seen people leaving as well. This past month started with Andy going away for work stuff.

Here is Julienne (Daddy's girl) a little upset saying goodbye to daddy.


Here is Catalina a little bit used to see daddy leaving and coming back. It was so cute that that same night Catalina offered to say the family prayer, and she said: "We ask thee for daddy to come back in the airplane tomorrow". She's so sweet.


Then my super friend Shelly and her family moved far far far away. I started to cry from the day they found out they were going to move (3 weeks before). I miss you!


Then my Dad went back to Chile after a little visit (too short for me). In my way back home (from MIA airport) I realized how lonely I am now (not cool).

And to end the sad goodbyes, the Johns also moved far far far away. They're so awesome. We'll all miss you tons.

Abuelo in KW!!!

I got behind with all of our happenings. I have quite a few more things until I am totally "up-to-date".
From October 19th to the 29th my "Papa" came to visit us all the way from Chile. It was so much fun having him over. We enjoyed every minute of his visit and we made his vacations totally worth it. My dad almost had the "whole" Key West experience.

Here is a list of all the things we did:
-Key West Aquarium
-Sunset Pier
-Mel Fisher Museum
-Mallory Square
-Duval Street
-Harry S Truman Little White House
-Fort Zachary Taylor
-Goombay Festival
-Shipwreck Museum
-Bahia Honda State Park
-Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory
-Key Deer
-AIDS Memorial Pier
-Southernmost Point
-Mile 0
-Smathers Beach

To all the things mentioned above I have to add a great deal of laugh, shopping, good food (my dad is an awesome cook), and my normal routine (school, homework, Catalina's school, activities, church, and so on). I am a daddy's girl so it was super hard to say goodbye. I dropped him off to the Miami International Airport and drove crying all the way back. Julienne still calls and asks for "sisso" (that is how all of his grand kids call him). I know he had a great time. He relaxed, slept, and enjoyed all the things we did. He said he wanted to came again next April. I hope he does. Until then, I miss you and love you Papito.This picture can't be any cuter.

Shhh...

Only in Key West...

Today in Key West was the official "Trick or Treating" for the children. Every year we have the stupid "Fantasy Fest", and this year was from October 23rd to November 1st. It is something SO not children friendly so the "Key West Authorities" designate November 2nd for children to be on the streets to ask for candy I guess. I took the girls around town with my friend Rosaura. Julienne was Tinker Bell, and Catalina was Princess Belle. Catalina freaked out with some of the cool Halloween decorations and ran away screaming (from a hyperactive skeleton and a walking arm. Lol). We again got SO much candy. I made the comment to Catalina's school teacher and she told me to bring her the candy (it's a lot better than throwing it away).
I have a lousy "Fantasy Fest" anecdote to tell. Exactly 2 years ago Andy was out of town (unbelievable right?) for that week, and I had school. I left Catalina with my good friend Jules who lives by the Southernmost Point (parallel but still pretty near Duval Street). I remember, it was a chilly night, and it was around 9pm when I went to get Catalina. It took me forever to get there because the streets in general were very congested with Fantasy Fest advocates. I obviously avoided all the commotion, and I was just 3 blocks from getting to my destination when I stopped on a red light. Then my eyes saw 2 men crossing the street. They were holding hands, and wearing just sandals and the "tiniest mini micro thongs" I have ever seen in my entire life...yuck!

HALLOWEEN

It is not fun to spend Halloween without Daddy. It is just not the same.
This year I started too late with the girls costumes. I ended up buying Julienne's monkey costume but I'm so happy that it was 50% off at Kmart and I payed $7. She had to be a monkey and they did not have their size so I bought a size 6-12 months. I had to work on it to make it fit my 20 month old Monito. After I altered the monkey costume I made Catalina's Pocahontas one. I'm so happy how it turned out. Catalina makes the perfect Indian.
Today we went to the church's "Trunk or Treat". It was so much fun and there was a lot more people than previous years. Julienne didn't understand what was going on but imitating Catalina she did say something that sounded like "tee o tick" (I'm glad nobody gave her ticks tough). She carried her bag for like 3 seconds and then she spend the rest of the time "monkeying around". Catalina was the one that filled up her pumpkin bag to supply us with months worth of candy.


Catalina was the cutest Pocahontas ever.


My Monito monkeying around.


Some primary children.



I was a Pirate/Gypsy this year. I love how Catalina is sharing candy with Monito (because she didn't get more than 2 o 3 things).

40 inches...

It is amazing how much stuff you can do in Disney when your height is 40 inches or more. This last time (Sep 26th-Oct 3rd) we found out that Catalina is 40 inches tall and that she can ride most of the stuff they have. I was so proud of her for wanting to be with her cousins so bad that she didn't realize what she was getting in to. She was so brave, not overcautious, and not in total control from how she usually is and that was OK. Catalina rode "test track" (twice), "Soarin", "Splash Mountain", and last (the most awesome one) "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror". She was so brave, and everyone in our elevator cheered her afterward. This time we also went to the water parks "Typhoon Lagoon" and "Blizzard Beach". They are SO awesome and it was so perfect for the hot weather we had those days. Catalina also did a lot of stuff here because she is 40 inches.
This time we had lunch with the princesses. We went for lunch in Cinderella's castle at the "Cinderella's Royal Table". Catalina was so happy to see the princesses, and Andy and I were surprised about the food. It wasn't bad at all. We had a huge laugh because for some reason all the princesses that day were pretty ugly (but for some reason they look a lot better in the pictures than in person). Lol. Please understand that it was our 5th time in Disney World and we have seen many. After all of them came to our table we were talking about it (thank goodness for Spanish) and I said "I guess they brought out all the ugly ones for Halloween" and Andy couldn't stop laughing for a long while. It was a very good experience (a one time thing though). I'm glad we did it.She did it!!!

Catalina raising Andy in the "Toboggan Racers" from Blizzard Beach. She is that tiny thing in the 4th line.

I love Catalina's face in this one.

Andy coming out of the "Slush Gusher".


Monito monkeying around Disney.


We had a very fun lunch at the "Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater" in Disney's Hollywood Studios.


Cinderella, her castle, and the girls.


The not so graceful (but so charming) princesses of that day and my totally cute girls.

Catalina and her favorite princess. She was so happy from "sleeping beauty's kisses".
One tasty meal, one happy family!

The Ihrigs in KW

I'm so late with my blog's posts but I better start now.
The last week in September Amy (Andy's sister) and her whole family came from UT to visit the beautiful East Coast, and us here in KW. We had a great time. The cousins played and had so much fun. We also celebrated our nephew Mark big 16th birthday. It was so cool having them here. Then we all went to Orlando for a fun week in Disney World.I love the picture of Catalina and Jenessa holding hands.

The Southernmost Ihrig Family (baby Serenna was sleeping in the car).

Table for 12 (7 Ihrigs + 4 DuBois + 1 cousin Stu) at "Bongo's Cuban Cafe" in Downtown Disney.

Catalina and Julienne's cute cousins.

The cousins being swallowed by a shark. Arianna's face is priceless lol.

This picture is for you, Grandma Margaret. All the cousins finally together from youngest (17 m) to oldest (16 y).