Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. This was Juliana's first year actually going door to door to trick-or-treat. The past two years we have just taken her to see grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We did the same this year but after hitting up all of our family members' houses we decided to go door to door. Juliana made it to about 15 houses. She actually knocked on doors and said, "Trick-or-Treat?" Joaquin just went along for the ride. He was being such a good baby. I have to say my favorite part was dressing them in coordinating costumes. Juliana was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and Joaquin was the Cowardly Lion. They looked so cute together. I know I won't get to do this for long so I'll just enjoy it while I can.

Pumpkin Patch

We love the pumpkin patch! We have taking Juliana the last two years and we were excited that we would get to take two kids this year. We called The Solars (our favorite photographers) and asked if they would be available to do some family photos for us. We decided to meet up at Johnson Farms for som fun fall pics. They have a huge pumpkin patch, corn field, and petting zoo. Joaquin was so happy and all smiles! Juliana not so much. We were really disappointed we couldn't get a smile out of her, but when we got home we realized why...she was running a temperature of 101. No wonder our baby girl wasn't in a picture taking mood! Oh well, here is what we were able to get from the shoot:

Watch Out! Baby on the Move!

Joaquin is on the go! He was rolling quite a bit and then next thing I knew he is army crawling. It totally caught me by surprise I just thought he would take a little longer. He is getting so good! He will even get on his hands and knees and rock! Oh boy are we in trouble. Operation baby proof is underway now if we could just get Juliana to pick up her toys! Seriously, besided the fact that having toys all over the house drives me nuts, it is now a safety issue for Joaquin. Since he can get to what he wants and where do you think it goes? You probably guessed it directly into his mouth! Here is a short video of Joaquin army crawling.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Joaquin's 6 Month Check Up

Joaquin had his six month check up today. The doctor says he looks great! He is getting so BIG! I can't believe half a year has already gone by. Believe it or not he did not gain that much weight in the last two months. He weighed in at 19 lbs 10 oz. (still well above average 85 percentile) He is 28.75 inches long (He is in the 98 percentile for his height). He's going to be tall like Daddy!

He has been on medicince for his acid reflux for about two months now and he is doing sooooo much better. He is a completely different baby! He is sleeping through the night, taking "normal naps" (none of this 15 mins. here, 10 mins. here ), and eatting all kinds of baby food. We have not come across anything he doesn't like yet!

Going to the Zoo

August was a busy month for the Rangel Family. School was starting up again so that meant back to work for Mommy and Juliana and Joaquin to daycare. Let me just say it was not easy getting back into a routine after been home for practically five months. So if it wasn't hectic enough we decided why not take a mini family vacation since we didn't go anywhere this summer!

We knew it had to be somewhere close since we would be traveling with two kids and we only had the weekend to travel there and back and be ready for Monday. We decided to head to Nebraska to see the zoo. We knew Juliana would love it. We were a little worried because the forecast called for rain all weekend but we already had the trip planned so we decided to cross our fingers and hope for the best.

We drove down the night before and met my parents there. The next morning when we woke up it was pretty gloomy out and there was a steady drizzle. We decided to make the best of it so we got ready, ate some breakfast, and head to the Omaha Zoo. I am so glad we did because no sooner than we got there the rain stopped and it ended up being a cool summer day! We all had a blast! There was so much to see we didn't even get through it all! I think us adults could have made it but when Juliana said, "I don't want to see the giraffe, I don't want to see the zebra, I want to go home, I'm tired." We knew it was time to go. As for Joaquin no compliants from him, he pretty much slept. All in all it was a great family vacation!

Little Picasso

Juliana is so creative. She gets that from both of us. She loves to color, draw, paint, glue, anything that has to do with making something. So, here she is painting here latest masterpiece. I think I enjoy her paint time as much as she does. I enjoy it for two reasons: 1. It keeps her attention for at least 25-30 minutes, which allows me to get some things done around the house. 2. I like seeing what her little imagination creates.

Check out some of her most recent pieces!

Potty Update

Juliana is now using the potty 100%. Our last accident to date was on July 4th. It is awesome! She tells us when she has to go instead of us nagging her every hour. I am so proud of her and happy about not having to buy and change diapers for two kids.

I do have to say that in a way I am kind of sad. I can't believe how big she is getting. Everyone says how she looks like a little girl and not a baby anymore. Oh how she has changed so much from just last year. Take a look!

This is her last summer

Here she is this summer

Joaquin's Check Up

So Joaquin had is 4 month check up on Monday. He weighed in at 18 lbs. 8 oz. (97%) and 25 1/2 inches long (75%). He is doing great and hitting all of his milestones: laughing, smiling, tracking 180 degrees, holding his head up. He has not rolled over yet but the doctor said it usually takes the bigger babies a little longer. He is trying.

I talked to the doctor about how he throws up after every feeding and he has even started coughing (almost sounds like choking) in his sleep. I told her how he always wants to be sitting up and positioned over my forearm and how when he cries sometimes it almost sounds like he is in pain. She said that it sounds like Acid Reflux and she prescribed some medicine. We have also been giving him baby food to help settle his stomach and he loves it. Hopefully this is what he needed and we will see a much happier mellow baby! We have our fingers crossed!

3 Month Photo Shoot

Last month the Solars came out to take 3 month photos of Joaquin. He did great! He was smiling and happy. Juliana on the other hand was grumpy and not cooperating (She did not take a nap) but you can't tell from the photos! They posted a few from our session on their blog. Click here to see Joaquin's 3 month session.

I have to give Josh and Jenny Solar credit. For those of you who don't know they were our wedding photographers and we have been using them ever since. They are really cool people and they take amazing photos. If you are looking for a photographer they do it all Engagements, Weddings, Senior Pics, Maternity, Baby, Kids, Family, Etc. The have great ideas and their photos come out looking natural and not forced or posed at all.

Fun & Fireworks on the 4th

Fourth of July was a lot of fun for Juliana this year! She spent some of her time in the pool with her two cousins Jaxson and Haley. It is no secret that she loves the water and with two more little ones it was three times the No's when it came to getting out but we managed to lure them out of the water with food and fireworks.

Here is Juliana doing her first ever firework.

Juliana was very excited when the night show started.

Some were too loud she said.

Joaquin couldn't sleep with all the noise so here he is wide awake!

P-O-T-T-Y Cause you Gotta! or because Mommy said so!

We have been working with Juliana on potty training and she is doing really well but it's hard work. It is all about consistency. I think we are on the right track now. I guess at first I was hesitant to but her in underwear in public because of the inconvenience but we just had to do it. She has been in underwear for four days now and we have only had three accidents! Yea!!!

So I have to share some of the great potty talk that has been going on around our house.

• Mommy I made a snake! (after #2, I have no idea who she heard this from...GROSS!)
  
  
• Ryan asked her, "Did you go on the potty today?" Her response, "Yeah cause mommy's bossy!"
  
  
• "Daddy I just had two accidents today. Aren't you proud of me?"
  
  
• For anyone who doesn't know pull ups put an image on the outside that disappears when you have an accident. Juliana's pull ups had hearts so I kept asking her all day, "Do you still have your hearts? Did your hearts disappear?" Later that day Juliana said, 'Mommy my hearts are disappointed. I need to go on the potty!"
  
  
• "I need my privacy please!"
  
  
• After coming out of the bathroom Juliana said, "I need candy." I said, "Did you pee?" She said, "No." I asked, "Did you poop?" She said, "No, I just farted."
  

Swimming Like a Fish

We spent most of our weekend in the water. It seems like we have to take advantage of the nice days with all the rain we have been having. Juliana is no longer using her floaty chair. She has graduated to arm floats and she is doing awesome. She is fearless. Of course her papa has convinced her that she can do it and boy can she. She even put her face in a few times. Now we practically have to bribe her to get out of the pool and sometimes it doesn't even work. Joaquin enjoyed the water too. Since he is still little he can't be out to long but he seems to enjoy what time he was in for...and when I say enjoy I am basing this on the fact that there was no crying.

Jump Up, Jump Down, Jump Around!

It was Juliana & Joaquin's Cousin's 1st Birthday party on Sunday and there was a moonwalk set up. Juliana is usually all about cake and ice cream but not today. She just couldn't get enough. It was so funny watching her run from one side to the other just singing and laughing and falling down of course! She was singing "If your happy and you know it, If your happy and you know it, If your happy and you know it...."I guess she was so happy she forgot the other verses. Needless to say she had a blast. Here are some pictures of Juliana and her cousins jumping around.

The big kids even got in on the action!

Joaquin played it a little more low key and enjoyed some time on the swing.

Splish, Splash!

Thursday started out as another gloomy day but we did not let that stop us from heading to the pool. You maybe wondering how this was possible with all the cloud cover and temperatures that weren't ideal for swimming. Well we headed the the Matt A. Ross Community Center which has an indoor aquatics facility that is totally awesome! The center has a zero depth entry pool complete with dumping buckets and water features, a lazy river, hot tub, slides (kiddy one & a big one), and lap lanes. You don't have to be a member to go they sell daily passes which cost $7.00 for 2 and up and under 2 are free.

Juliana is like a little fish she loves swimming. This is the girl who asked her Papaw back in December where the pool was (My parents put up an above ground pool in their backyard for the last two summers.) and she continued to ask until it went up in May. Needless to says she really had a great time. I think she had an even better time because we met her babysitter and her little friends from daycare there so they could see each other.

This was Joaquin's first time in the pool and he loved it! He was so calm and relaxed. He slept great that night!