Hello Santa

We just had a visit with Santa, he was at the mall if you can believe that! You might have thought he would be busy in his workshop, but no, sitting at the mall!

Check out some pictures of Thomas and Santa and no crying and no tears! We are proud parents, lets just see how long the streak will last.

We wish all our blog readers a very Merry Christmas, and be sure to check back next week for more pictures. We will be traveling to snowy Maryland for Christmas and New Years, and of course more pictures and stories will come from there!

Don's Graduation

Tonight was a big night with a lot to celebrate. Jenn and Thomas along with Teta, Gramma, Steve, Leia, Eddie, Gabriel and Kiera all came to watch and cheer for me at my graduation ceremony. I just completed my Master's in Elementary Education and here are some pictures from the ceremony, enjoy!

Graduation & Fun

Sick Day

This past Tuesday Thomas awoke with a fever and an ear infection. Jenn took the day off and the doctor prescribed some medicine. This is a short video I took of Thomas to show just how tired and unhappy he has been the last couple days. The good news is, that Thomas has been catching up on sleep (during the day, he's been up all night) and we are expecting a recovery within the next couple days.

Fun in the Tub

This is a video of Thomas taking a bath. Most of the time he enjoys getting clean and likes the water a lot. Another reason for the video was because we're always trying to catch Thomas 'talking' which he does a lot for us, but when a camera or telephone shows up, he becomes silent.
Enjoy the video!

Early Family Christmas

Last weekend was a special weekend here in Arizona because Auntie Laura flew in from CT for the weekend. And because Laura works for ESPN and they make her work on Christmas (basketball games are played on Christmas), we celebrated our Christmas a couple weeks early.

Here are pictures from our very special Christmas and a few captions to go along with each of the photos.

LAURA & THOMAS WALKING

ERNESTO, THOMAS & LAURA

SIBLINGS SMILING (EXCEPT LEIA, she's asleep)

FAVORITE COUSINS

KEIRA, GODFATHER (STEVE) & THOMAS

LOOKING FOR THE PERFECT TREE
DECORATING THOMAS

CRAZY UNCLE TONY

SITTING DOWN FOR DINNER

EATING UP PRESENTS

SITTING IN HIS NEW CHAIR

ENJOYING THE NEW CHAIR

I'll see about posting a short video of Thomas opening one or two gifts during our 'Early Christmas'. Hope everyone is having a very nice Christmas season!

1st Thanksgiving Feast

This past Thursday marked Thomas' first Thanksgiving. Although we ate turkey and stuffing a week earlier with Grampa and Teta, this was the official Thanksgiving. Thomas seemed happy the whole day and enjoyed meeting a lot of California family members.

You might think that Jenn and I travel everywhere with a camera all the time- you would be wrong. Sadly we forgot our camera at Thanksgiving so there are no pictures of Thomas eating turkey at this time. However there were several family members with cameras and I am currently begging them to forward me some pictures so I can share them with all our blog readers.

Here are those pictures of Thanksgiving that I promised, hopefully I can get a few more, but until then, enjoy!

Thanksgiving 2009

Please enjoy this video of Thomas and Mommy reading. I was in the other room while they read and I heard a lot of laughter which made me grab the video camera and capture some memories. You will see that once Thomas sees the camera he becomes disinterested in the book and more interested in crawling away or looking at the camera? It's still a cute video and you get a chance to see how much fun Thomas and Mommy have together.

Maryland Trip

As most readers remember Mommy has been over on the Eat coast and so this past Wednesday Thomas and Daddy boarded a plane and flew out to see her (as well as Grampa and Teta). Check out the photo album from our Maryland trip as well as some of the fun videos while we were over in the East.

These are the pictures from the trip. Also HERE are more pictures from Auntie Laura's camera.

Maryland Nov. 2009

This video is Thomas and Teta playing with a new toy.




This second video is Thomas and Teta again, but this time Thomas is cracking up!




The entire trip was very relaxing and everyone had a terrific time. Thomas was crawling and playing all over Grampa and Teta's house, and Auntie Laura flew down for a couple days to play with us as well. Saturday night we had an early Thanksgiving (sorry no pictures), and got to see a lot of friends. Thomas is already screaming about going back in a month for Christmas, so maybe next time he'll be walking all over Grampa and Teta's house?

Home Alone

Saturday morning was pretty sad because Thomas and I had to say good bye to Mommy who flew away to Philadelphia for a work trip. Don't be too sad because Thomas and I will fly out to see her on Wednesday, and since Washington DC is so close to Philly, we'll see Teta and Grampa next weekend as well!

Here are some pictures from our "Boys Weekend". Saturday afternoon we watched Uncle Steve play some ice hockey while playing with Tia Leia, Gabriel and Kiera.

Thomas enjoyed the racing game at the video arcade. Leia thinks he'll love video games as much as his Daddy (we shall see).



If one driver is good, then two drivers must be great. The kids really loved that steering wheel!

Thomas and Daddy watching some of the hockey game- this was toward the end of the game.

After the game we went across the street to Chipotle and we all ate some tasty-tasty food, yum!

Hey, it was a crazy boys weekend, so this is how we show our craziness- taking our own pictures (WOAH)!

Always on the Move

Here are some pictures of Thomas in some super cute racing pajamas that his Great-Grandparents (Don & Dorothy) bought him. Thomas was so excited and so full of energy that he was crawling all over the house, and wanting to walk with Mommy- it was great fun.

A little while later Thomas was hungry for some milk and every good racer knows that you have to refuel. After the milk and bottle Thomas had a little crash, and here are pictures from the crash.

Hope these photos put a smile on your face and we'll keep sharing all of our good times- as long as you keep reading and smiling!

Family Resemblance

About 3 or 4 weeks ago Gramma Katie was going through some old photos with Jenn, and it occurred to them that Thomas looks similar to his Grampa Thomas. Below is a picture of our Thomas (9 months) as well as two baby photos of Thomas' Grampa's.


This is a photo of Grampa Thomas Aguilar taken when he was 6 months old.

This photo is Grampa David when he was about 12 months old.

I will say that I see some resemblances between the 3 boys- mainly that they are all handsome and good look'n. Maybe next time I will post a photo of myself when I was Thomas' age... we shall see.

Trick or Treat

This Halloween marked Thomas' first Halloween, which was exciting because Mommy and Daddy dressed up Thomas as a little monster. The not as exciting part is that Thomas had no idea what was happening- but I'm sure in another year or two he'll be piling up candy just like his Daddy did.

Here are all the pictures we took during Thomas' first Halloween.

Halloween 2009

We had a large group that we traveled with, and so if you know who everyone is- good, if not- no big deal. We had a really fun night and it was certainly perfect trick or treating weather which is always an important factor.

What's behind door number two?

Here's a new video! Thomas is always standing up, and whenever you hold his hands he'll walk all over the house. Daddy's hand holding time is limited due to Daddy being so tall and Thomas being so little. This video shows Thomas exploring some kitchen cabinets. Occasionally he would try and pick up or grab a plate, but most of the time he just wants to see what's inside. Even when Thomas is in his room he will play with the door; pulling it closed or pushing it open.



Other things happening in Arizona is that Jenn had her 10 year high school reunion (I can't believe she's that old... and still looks so smoke'n hot!); the reunion brought Jenn and her two friends to memory lane. If you would like to see pictures of Jenn, Anessa and Nica during the special evening then I suggest you check them out on Facebook. Jenn puts a lot of pictures on Facebook and I post mainly to Blog; so depending on how interested you are in our family you can check out one, or both.

This weekend and past week has been delightful. The week was relatively quiet with Jenn returning from an overnight recruiting trip to Yuma Arizona, and I had a day off Friday because of school report cards were due.

Currently I am writing this blog post on Saturday afternoon, so technically Saturday night and Sunday could still be a nightmare, but I'm confident it won't be. Saturday has been a relaxing day where Jenn and I have been able to catch-up on several errands and things. I was able to sit around for a couple hours and work on some homework and write a couple papers.

I realize of course that most of you blog readers don't read this blog because you want to hear about what Jenn and I do with our errand weekends, but rather to check out pictures and videos of Thomas. You're in for a treat, because Jenn gave Thomas this little cookie biscuit teething thing, and so the video below is showing Thomas eating his cookie.




On a more personal note to this cookie video, I was the person that got to wipe the face and clean the high chair- lucky me.

Why Sleep Inside- We Own a Tent

This past weekend marked Thomas' 2nd camping trip. Overall this week has been pretty busy (in a good way), but here are some pictures from our camping trip.


Camping in October

For those to want to know more about the area we were camping, check out Woods Canyon Lake. Along for the camping trip we had our friends Anessa and Dan as well as Chris and Sandra. As you may notice it looked pretty chilly and felt even colder, at night the temperature went down to the 40s.

Here are a couple other pictures from last week when Thomas got a fun visit from his Auntie Kelsey.


Hope things are going well with all you wonderful blog readers. I also apologize for my limited writing in this post, but I'm just very tired, and going to bed sounds pretty good right now, so enjoy the pictures and there will be many more to come!

Oktoberfest? Must be October!

Friday evening was a treat because we met up with Uncle Jack at BJ's Restaurant and Bar. As some blog readers may remember Uncle Jack will occasionally fly into Arizona as part of his pilot training and so we always make time for one of our favorite Uncles (when your Uncle flies a Jet, he's automatically one of the favorites).

Here we can see Uncle Jack sitting at some kind of high table with Thomas and Mommy. Some other people in the restaurant yelled things like, "Why's yo baby in a bar?" I had to gently remind them that we were in a restaurant style establishment.

Here we see everyone smiling because after drinking from those tiny little glasses 2 or 3 times everyone becomes more silly.

After telling Uncle Jack goodbye, we stopped over at Tia Leia and Uncle Steve's house (Uncle Steve can't fly a jet, but he is the best napper around). Tia Leia was packing for a big trip to the East Coast where she would spend time with Auntie Laura, so Thomas grabbed a box and jumped in. The idea was that Tia Leia could just take Thomas with her to go see Auntie Laura!

All in all our weekend was really great. All these pictures are only from Friday night, and this video below is from Thomas on Sunday morning.

Saturday was spent cheering on the ASU Sundevils as they lost :-( And Saturday night was fun because Gramma Katie hung out with Thomas while Jenn and I went to Tempe's Annual Oktoberfest. We attended last year with the same friends, and it was fun because Jenn remembers how last year she was pregnant and couldn't drink all the Oktoberfest-style beers. The festival is always crowded and there is a lot to see and do.

Sunday morning was spent with a little church visit, this Sunday only Thomas and I attended because everyone else in our normal group has been a little under the weather. After church we drove to Phoenix and had lunch with friends Eli and Rachel (pictures from lunch are coming soon). After lunch we went back to Oktoberfest- this time to drink some beers with Uncle Jack. Uncle Jack was suppose to fly out of town Saturday but they had some radio problems and they got stuck in Arizona for a couple more days, which was a nice treat for us, because we got some more Oktoberfest.

More Cheese and Whine?

Have you ever experienced a weekend that was fun? Well this past weekend wasn't really one of those. We had some parts that were fun, and enjoyable, but overall, I am pretty ready for Monday.

Lets begin with the good times, because you're probably reading this blog on Monday morning, and so you're already a little depressed, so lets get happy first, and then I'll leave you the same way I found you- just kidding!

Friday was nice because Jenn and I both got out of work around the same time 3pm and so we picked up Thomas from day care and we all spent the evening doing a little shopping and watching some television and just enjoying the beginning of the weekend.

Saturday again was nice- ignoring the fact that Thomas was awake at 6am and ready to wake up for the day. We again did a little running around- errands and such. I was able to work on some homework (couple more months until I graduate, again), and Jenn was able to catch a movie, while Thomas was playing and happy- most of the time. Saturday evening was really terrific because our friend Anessa had a themed birthday party; the theme being 80's. Jenn and I both had sweet costumes and Thomas enjoyed mingling with all the people, and all the great music. Here's the part that might make you not love me as a blogger anymore, I forgot our camera and so not a lot of pictures yet of the fun 80's party. Here is one group photo which Jenn and Thomas (far right) heard and posed for, while I was in some other room doing the electric slide or something?

Over all the party was super fun, and like I said I'll try and get more photos that show me and Tia Leia and Gramma Katie and a bunch of other blog celebs.

Special shout-out to Gramma Katie who took Thomas to her house around 9 so that Jenn and I could keep partying until we'd had enough. Turns out we got home and in bed around... 2am. Crazy right, it's like a wild Saturday night or something.

Sunday we did wake up and attend church with Gramma, and then we all tried to recuperate from the night before. All three of us took small naps through out the day and watched a little football on TV. Here is a video that Jenn took of Thomas that some might find amusing.

As you might be thinking right now, "This weekend sounds fun, what's with the complaints Don?" I will now tell you why this weekend was a little rougher and tougher than previous weekends. Our darling son Thomas has learned to whine. It isn't a 24/7 thing, but it's a every 15 minutes thing that can kind of make you want to say, "Want some cheese with that wine?"

I have a theory that Thomas is just growing into the world more and more and so every day he is becoming a baby less and less. Thomas wants Jenn and I to hold him and play with him, but sometimes we need to go to the bathroom, or wash some dishes or make him a bottle, and so in those instances he will give this half-cry, whiny sort of noise thing. I joked a couple times during the weekend that I was looking forward to Monday just a little, so that I may get away from the whine. Also I started thinking that while Thomas is at daycare (Monday-Friday), he has toys and other babies to play with and he's very entertained where as when he's at the house all day with just Mommy and Daddy, he's a little bored.

I suppose it's part of growing up and that it's time to just start telling him to knock it off, and not give him extra attention for his 'squeaky-wheel' actions. If there are any experienced parents that would care to advise or give two cents then please feel free to comment, and as always if you want to just comment on any normal happenings, please feel free to also do that.

Haircut, Party, and Softball

My oh my, we have had another busy and exciting weekend here in Tempe, Arizona. The Ash house has been busy with many things, and I will share our adventures with you now.

Grampi had been visiting this past week, and so on Saturday, we all shared a nice breakfast before driving Grampi to the airport so that he could return to California. Here is a picture of 4 generations, Grampi, Gramma Katie, Mommy Jenn, and Thomas. Now that's a good-look'n bunch if you ask me.

Also on Saturday we gave Thomas his first haircut. We didn't want to cut it too short (which Jenn was nervous about), but his hair started getting long as you can see from some of these pictures. We discovered that as long as Thomas drank from his bottle he didn't really care what we did to his hair.

As you can see, the more distractions, the better. And yes, we cut his hair outside, because no one wanted to clean up the barber shop if we trimmed hair indoors.

Thomas looks much handsomer now that you can see his face again. Also in this picture, you should be able to see another tooth coming in on the bottom. That is tooth number 7, woo!

Saturday afternoon/evening, we went over to Tia Leia and Uncle Steve's house because Leia was celebrating her birthday (I don't remember how old she turned... was it 25?)

Here is Leia with all her favorite little people. It was a fun party because we had a hand'n foot tournament (card game), and so the kids played with each other, and the adults dealt cards.

Leia with her favorite nephew!

Sunday evening was cool because Thomas and I went and cheered on Mommy as she hit a couple grand slams. Jenn recently joined a softball team with some coworkers, and so Thomas was pretty intrigued with the stadium lights and it was his first softball game. Jenn seemed to get on base every time we saw her, so good job Mommy!

Thomas enjoyed riding on Daddy's shoulders, except the one thing Thomas grabs hold of is Daddy's hair. Look at this photo closely because in a couple more years there may not be any more hair left up there.

Here we all are posing for a picture. Mommy was very kind to indulge us in the photo, especially since she was the MVP, but it might be because we are her biggest fans.

So, in a nutshell, our weekend was fun and filled with lots of things. I only posted some of the pictures, but there are many more videos and photos, and so maybe if you're lucky I will post additional things later this week. PS- I enjoy comments, so leave some and maybe that will encourage me to post more cute pictures and even some funny videos.