a good year comes to an end..

The holidays have been a blur! Alejandro is officially two -- we had three parties to make sure (Albuquerque, El Paso and Ohio.) Somehow, the big 3-0 snuck up on me. I have no idea how I got so old all of the sudden. We had a long visit in Ohio for Thanksgiving. Aunt Deb and Uncle Jerry helped me fly back to the land of enchantment with the boys. Then we were off to El Paso for Christmas. Santa came a couple days late in Albuquerque. We headed to Farmington for another celebration with our adopted family and got snowed in for a couple extra days. Our house is completely buried in snow and we are exhausted! Happy New Year!

the boys: a few tricks, lots of treats

Well, we had a nice visit with mom and dad. They made it in time for the last day of the balloon fiesta. Then we got to stay at Grams and Lolo's place in Angelfire. Dad and Alfonso went to a storytelling festival in Taos and we got a great recipe for green chile sauce from a diner there. Of course, the week went by too quickly.

Dante is growing like a weed. At 10 weeks he's almost out grown his 3-6 month clothes already! He's lifting his head and jabbers constantly -- well, when Alejandro lets him get a word in. Alejandro's vocab has really taken off in the past couple weeks. This morning he tried to pick up Dante out of his bouncer but informed me he was "too heavy." (The safety belt may have had something to do with it too.) We had another little incident when I ran outside to take the trash out. Alfonso's stinker-pants son decided to lock the sliding glass door in the mean time. It took me ten minutes to coax him to unlock it while I'm stuck outside in my bare feet without a jacket. I'm not sure if he would have ever unlocked the door except for the fact that he wanted to come out. Alejandro really enjoyed trick-or-treat the other night. When he realized he wasn't going to get to keep the pumpkin with all the candy at his disposal, he shoved as much candy as he could in his mouth, wrappers and all!

Anyhow, we will be home this weekend. Next weekend we are going to El Paso since most of Alfonso's family has yet to meet Dante. Then we'll be headed to Ohio the 18th.

love always,
debi

family of four

Well, it's been a busy month. Mom was able to stay and help out for three weeks. She prepared lots of meals to fill the freezer for the coming months. She entertained Alejandro and changed most of Dante's diapers so I could get some rest. We were so grateful for all of her help and enjoyed the company. Alfonso finally took time off work last week. Fr. Al came this past weekend to baptize the baby. We were very honored he was able to come and make this event special for us. Alfonso's mom and siblings were also finally able to come this weekend. So we had a pretty full house. Today the boys and I are finally home alone. (Well, for a few more hours anyhow. His aunt and uncle are stopping on their way back from Phoenix. I'm not sure how long they are staying.)
Alejandro has done really well with Dante. He's very excited to be around him (not very gentle) and laughs at all of Dante's squawks and noises. He always asks to hold the baby but isn't sure what to do once the kiddo is on his lap. Overall, Alejandro has been a handful lately. I'm sure he's just adjusting to the baby -- but he might be hitting the terrible twos a couple months premature. He's been better the past couple days since it quieted down a little at the house. Right now we are just praying for lots and lots of patience!
Mark your calendars for November 18th. That's when we are headed back to Ohio. Otherwise I'll send some more pictures when I can.
Love always,
debi

Baby Navarrete #2!

Dante Cristiano Navarrete was born on Aug 24th at 5:47 a.m. weighing 8lb 3oz and measuring 20.5 inches. Mom and baby are doing well (both are napping).



Love,
Alfonso, Debi, Alejandro and Dante

still no baby

Well, the past few weeks have been somewhat eventful. I finally finished my MBA. I'm told the diploma is in the mail. (They don't have a graduation ceremony for summer graduates.) It's just a huge relief to be done with school right now. Even more exciting, Alfonso got a new position at Intel. He's kind of been in limbo this summer working on odds and ends. Then a few weeks ago they announced they were reducing his department by 20%. He interviewed Tuesday for a position in the 12 inch facility (also in Albuquerque) and they had him start Wednesday. He's back working day shift so Alejandro misses him though. We have also been getting lots of rain (as you can see in the pic below) which is good.

We'll be in touch when the baby arrives (hopefully sooner rather than later -- I'm tired of looking like a hippo!)




Love always,
debi

I know, I know -- he needs a haircut!

Well, the house is finally getting together. Alfonso has painted the whole thing. We got our new carpet. With new fans and bathroom fixtures, it's looking pretty spiffy. Alejandro loves his new room with Uncle Jim's animal pictures. Even after a month, he is still howling like a wolf first thing when he wakes up (that's the pic right above his bed.) We still have a few projects we'd like to finish before the baby arrives but it's looking good so far.
I'm taking my final class for my MBA. It's going to be a lot of work -- but there are only seven weeks left so it should go pretty quickly (I hope.) Alfonso is on a different shift for the next three months, working 3pm - midnight. He gets to spend a lot more time with Alejandro this way. I'm happy because it is easier to run errands and I'm getting a lot more help around the house. Always nice, but especially when one feels like a hippo with a gland problem.
Alejandro is always keeping us on our toes. He's lots of fun and too smart for his own good. The other day, I smelled something foul and asked Alejandro if he had a stinky diaper. His response : "No, no. Papa! Papa!" Poor Alfonso gets blamed for everything.
Well, take care.
love you,
debi

trip to arizona

Just got back from our mini-vacation. Went to Phoenix where it was unbelievably hot for only being May. Stayed with some friends for a couple days, then stayed with Alfonso's cousin on the air force base for a few more. Were lucky enough to get to see Stefanie for a quick meal as well. Alejandro did really well on the drive there. He behaved for the first few days but the trip started to take its toll on him. We took a miserable drive to the Grand Canyon. Alejandro refused to ride in the backpack and kept taking off his sandals (velcro is not such a wonderful invention after all.) So we only stayed at the canyon for a couple hours (most of which was at the picnic grounds where he could run around with tennis shoes that he couldn't take off.) Then cut our journey short and drove home late last night skipping other planned stops along the way. We are all happy to be home.


Love always,
debi