1967 Volkswagen Bug/Jasper!

We normally don't publish posts that aren't about Dean but this is a special post. You see, back in 1966/1967 my Father, Dean's Nonno, bought a brand new 1967 Volkswagen Bug. This bug has been loyal to our family and we have been loyal to this bug. It was, after all, my first car. Nonno taught me to drive in this car. Nonna was pregnant with all three of us in this car. Scary to think we were tossed around in the back since it didn't come with seat belts. Interesting how times have changed. I really loved this car. So much that I gave it a name. Jasper. It suits it.
Well, back in 2004 Nonno and I came to realize that we needed to say goodbye to this wonderful car. Enter the kind gentleman shaking hands with Nonno, Mr. Barger. Now Nonno wanted to make sure that when we sold Jasper that the new owner would take good care of him. Mr. Barger gave us a promise that he had planned on restoring Jasper to the way he was when Nonno bought him. 5 years later we get a wonderful visit from Mr. Barger. He was so excited to let us know that not only did he keep his promise but he invited us to visit Jasper in a car show! Most of the parts are the originals. Mr. Barger even managed to find the exact body paint that Jasper came with when Nonno bought him! How amazing is this?! Ahhh, what wonderful memories we have of this car! Notice the original jack, tool kit (barely visible), bumpers and console. Just a few things that sparkle with new life from the hard work of Mr. Barger and his friend!
Thank you Mr. Barger for keeping your promise to me and most importantly to my Father! You have worked hard on this car and it shows. Beautiful! Thank you!

Our Big Boy!

Well, the time has come when we think Dean is enough of a big boy to wear his big boy undies! So I went out and bought him some Sesame Street undies. Now Dean is mostly potty trained. He just hasn't quite learned that #1 needs to be done in the potty as well. So I'm hoping that this will help him get fully potty trained. Keep your fingers crossed! Our "Baby" Dean is now our Little Boy Dean!!!!!!

Sleepyhead!

Dean has been doing a great job sleeping in his crib all night (knock on wood, salt over the left shoulder, etc...). Nap times are a different story. Sometimes he will take a nap. Other times, well, he would rather be hyper all day. This week he has been a little off with the time change. He does go down for a nap but it usually takes us a while to get him there. Nap times are my favorite times because I get to snuggle with him! One morning we both took a wonderful nap. So wonderful that little Dean didn't want to get up. Usually he is the one to wake me up and get me going for the day. Not this time! He just didn't want to get out of bed and kept pulling the covers over him. How could I NOT take pictures of this?!

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween everyone! Dean really enjoyed this years trick-or-treating! His first stop was at the Nonno's house. As you can see Dean was a purple wizard this year. Of course a purple wizard needs his trusty dragon basket to help catch all of those treats! Cousin Kalina stopped by to trick or treat as well! Dean loves his Cousin Kalina and kept chasing her around the house. I'm loving the pictures of the family together, Uncle Ivan and Kalina, and of Uncle Ivan and Dean trick or treating together! Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful night!

Pumpkin Carving!

Dean helped with carving his two pumpkins this year. He and DaDa removed the seeds while I carved. We tried to carve Elmo and Bert. Unfortunately Bert lost one of his eyes during the carving. They look great though!

Dinner Time!

Just wanted to share some pictures of Dean enjoying his dinner. Here he is having boiled potatoes with olive oil and turkey patties. Of course he has to eat them with "boop sauce". "Boop" meaning ketchup. So every time he dips his food in the "boop sauce" he has to say "BOOP!". Oh and notice his dinosaur slippers. He loves wearing these instead of his socks. I just noticed how much he has grown. Still hard to believe he is 2! His head barely reached the top of the chair when we seated him for his first "solids". Our little baby is now a little boy!

Pumpkin Patch!

We took Dean to pick out his pumpkin. All the orange ones were already taken so we decided to go ahead and pick up a few green ones! Dean really liked picking his own and even now he points to it and says "Dean's pumpkin"! We bought some orange pumpkins and have carved two of them. Pictures of those soon to come.

Visiting Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count Part 2!

We are so grateful to Sonja, Clara and Mimi for sharing their home with us during our visit to Houston! On our last day Clara and Mimi were holding a lemonade and banana bread bake sale. It was so wonderful to see the girls and Dean play together! Thank you Sonja, Clara and Mimi!
Now I know you are probably wondering why I took pictures of clouds. Well, we were driving and Dean pointed directly in front of us and shouted "DRAGON!". Sure enough, the clouds looked exactly like a dragon! I thought it was neat!
My favorite pictures are of Uncle Count holding Dean, Dean asking to see Aunt K.K.'s turtles and Dean asleep in his car seat. He was a trooper in the car. The trick, lots and lots of stickers! Thanks you Aunt K.K. for giving us a bag full of stickers! You just don't know how much easier it is to have a 2 year old in the car when he is pleasantly occupied with putting stickers all over his legs!
Thank you again for such a wonderful visit Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count! We love you!

Visiting Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count!

(Sorry for taking so long in posting these) Back in August we all decided to pack up the car, fill the cooler with goodies and make a wonderful trip to visit Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count for the weekend! Dean just loved Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count's house! He immediately fell in love with all the toys and figurines they had around the house. He was so happy playing the piano and drums. I bet he was thinking "FINALLY, I get to make some NOISE!". Much to our surprise, and Uncle Count's delight, he was very good with the drums. Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count had a jam session playing different versions of Twinkle Twinkle. Now it's Dean's favorite song. Thank you Aunt K.K. and Uncle Count for such a wonderful visit! Can't wait to do it again!

Swimming With Nonno!

Dean loved counting to three and jumping off the side of the pool into Nonno's arms! We use to have fun doing this when we were kids and I love that Dean gets to do it too! I had to take a picture of his wild hair after the pool.

Beach Time With Uncle Iván

Dean and Uncle Iván enjoying some time together on the beach.

Dean in Florida!!!

My family has been going to the same place in Florida for a long long time. I was so happy to know that we can continue this "tradition" with Dean! Last year he was too young to really know what was going on. This year he had a blast! He thought the sand was snow and didn't want to step on it at first. Once he realized that it was ok to walk on, well, it ended up more of a "chase Dean around the shore" game. Here are a few pictures of our afternoon stroll. Oh and I put in some pictures of him eating a yummy dinner his Nonna made for him! (by the way, the zoomed in picture of the man in the ocean is Uncle Iván).

Snuggle time with Uncle Iván

Dean got a little hyper after his first plane ride. But once we settled into the hotel in Florida he kind of decided a nice long sleep/nap was in order. Uncle Iván took advantage and got in some snuggling nap time with him! I LOVE these pictures!

First Plane Ride!

Dean, Nonno, Nonna, Uncle Iván and myself took a small vacation to Florida. It was easier to fly than to drive.
Dean did great on his first plane ride to Florida. He was a trooper and waited patiently to board the plane. He sat in his booster chair and was happy to look out the window and see other airplanes in the air. He was a big boy and was able to ask the flight attendant for "more apple juice please!" and handed her his drink cup.

Hanging Out With DaDa

Couldn't resist and had to take a picture of my boys munching on crackers and watching TV together!

Dean's Tower

One of Dean's favorite toys is this large bag of Mega Blocks. He loves to unzip it and empty it onto the floor. As I was doing something around the house I noticed that Dean was a bit too quiet. Sometimes a quiet child means a mischievous child. Not in this case. Dean managed to work on a tower of blocks! I couldn't resist and decided to take a picture of his accomplishment!