Standing on my own 2 feet and 6 legs.

Let’s start at one of our favorite times of the year (the other being Halloween): CHRISTMAS! It was  time to pack as  Mom and Adita flew off to San Antonio for Christmas with the whole family. Nick joined a few days later as soon as work could spare him and the new Montalvo residence was officially sworn in. Bigger smiles couldn’t have been found anywhere; especially Nana and Pito’s! Miguelito actually came down early and helped mom and dad to get the new house looking amazing. Adita’s first Christmas will always hold a special place in our hearts, even if she was more interested in the wrapping paper than the presents.

The box is almost as big as me!

That was the funniest joke ever clancy!

Adita also got to meet Team Draper! Amy, David, DJ and Jordan, aka Slurpee,drove up from Dallas and we all hung out together and even got some great sight-seeing done downtown with a visit to the Alamo and an amazing lunch with Margaritas and laughter flowing non-stop! Ok, just one Margarita. But it was gooooood.

After an amazing Christmas with family and friends we all got back home just in time for New Years and a party with our close friends, who are all new parents. And as new parents, we were way too exhausted to stay up until midnite and watch the official ball drop. We first celebrated at 7pm EST and then again at 8pm before we called it a night. By the time Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest had ushered in 2010, the Bazins were already tucked in for a long winters night nap.

And what a winter it’s been so far…the coldest weather in almost 2 decades found it’s way to us dropping several inches of snow along the way and countless days of cold rain. Of course, Adita was so adorable all bundled up and looking like she was ready to tackle Mt. Everest! She’s our little snow bunny ready to go!

And go she did, as Mom and daughter teamed together again to hit the road in January.  First Adita and Coach Ada started off with a trip down to Orlando for some quality time with Lyzette and Sal as they provided daycare services while mom recruited. Adita also got to meet her greatgrandmother, Lydia for the first time as well as her cousin-uncles and cousin-aunts! It was all so exciting and filled us both with warm fuzzies to last a long time. Then a week later back to San Antonio for more recruiting and quality time with the grandparents. 

Me and my godmama

January also found Nick celebrating his 39th birthday and Adita and Mom made the day so special with a fabulous dinner and the latest “How I Met Your Mother” on DVD. Good times! Speaking of birthdays, here’s some snapshots of Adita’s who just celebrated her latest un-birthday, clocking in at 8 months, 18.5 pounds and 26 inches long.

I make these look good

At 8 months she now sits up on her own perfectly fine but not for long as she’s trying to go straight into standing..it seems that crawling is beneath her but we’re trying to convince her that it’ll get her from point A to point B quicker than rolling, which is her only other form of transportation right now.  She has a new habit of sticking out her tongue, which looks just as silly as it sounds. I once saw her play for 5 minutes and that tongue continued to hang out the whole time!

My first time meeting a 'character' - prep for Disney

Mom and Dad took me to the Georgia State Bball game

Why are they always running mommy?

Then add a dash of oregano and stir like so!

Adita is 6 months old now! She has reached several milestones by now so brace yourself for some fun details!

She is eating baby food now and is already moved up to the 4 oz jars of food! That’s stage 2! She loves Applesauce, Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Peas and Bananas. She’s not a fan of the Green Beans at all!

She sits in her high chair to eat, recognizes her own name when we call her, can sit up for a little while without support, bangs on toys a lot (we like to call this ‘making music’ and she’s trying really hard to get in that crawling stance.

Are you talking to me?

We still can’t get her to stay on her Tummy for longer than 30 seconds without her having a fit!

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving with family visiting us. Nick’s mom, Sue and his brother, Tim with daughter Skylar were all here. Then my brother, Jaime came with his girlfriend, Kristin. We ate a lot, played games, rested, went shopping a few times and put up the Christmas decorations! It was exactly the holiday that Nick and I needed. So much fun! And Adita loved every minute of extra attention she got too.

 Now bring on Christmas!! 

Yum, yum in da tum tum! Ada can't get enough of the spoon or the food!

Adita’s quite the fashion forward type, often choosing to wear more than 1 outfit a day.  Bedazzling to all with her quick smile and easy charm!

Go Gators!

Adita now bathes without the sling on her little tub and makes quite a splash while doing it! Sometimes we get almost as wet as her but never as cute.

B as in Beautiful!

The highlight of recent memory is a great visit with our papa! He was in town for business and made sure to splend plenty of quality time with all of us! Can’t wait till the next visit!

Hey cutie!

We make a cute pair!

Another set of visiters came by: the honeymooners, Jonathan and Ruth and their handsome Desmond, or as they like to introduce him to Adita, “Your future husband!” They are so cute together and I can tell Adita misses him dearly. She asked me to tell him he has the softest hands, and that his voice reminds her of a morning bird in song. So freakin’ cute!

Adita also turned 5 months this week…5 months that seem to have flown by! She weighs 14.5 lbs and continues to make strides with holding herself up and making all kinds of sounds. Here she’s all dressed up to scare the trick-or-treaters on her first Halloween, and hopes everyone has a great time! BOO!

Boo!

She couldn’t have gotten better without all the good thoughts and well-wishes from friends and family. Thank you for all the emails and phone calls that helped us get through this trying time. Thanks so much to Sarita, Leslie, Christie and the Ledoms for bringing food to the hospital!  Huge thanks to mom for flying in and spending so much time helping with Adita and everything else that seems to pile up when tending to a sick baby. We could not have done it without you.

She stayed home from daycare an extra week then returned with her doctor’s note in hand on picture day! Perfect timing. Everyone was happy to see her and you could tell she was happy to see her daycare teachers again – she was smiling at everyone.

Here’s all the good stuff – plenty of smiles and laughter to pass around. Enjoy!

Power to the Pediatricians!

One day she will lay the smacketh down upon thee Spalding.

Adita’s hand to eye coordination is starting to kick in…she’s already finding our fingers and grasping them tightly with her closed fist. Her favorite toy right now is the Chime Garden Party- Musical Toy by Lamaze. We could sit and watch her try to smack those flowers for hours. Her face lights up every time she makes the toy light up and play music.

In other events, mom put on her coaching hat for the weekend to travel with the Georgia State volleyball team’s on their first road trip and first tournament of the year. They were 3-1 on the weekend and started off the season with a bang! Dad and Adita stayed home and did their usual routine…curiously enough there seemed to be twice as many dirty diapers as when mom is home. Hmmmm. And check out the volleyball team’s media guide with a dashing picture of the coach and her family. Here’s a short video of us arriving to work with mom for Blue & White team scrimmage.

Now if you want to see some more videos of her, feel free to check out bazinfamily.blip.tv, as new ones are posted constantly with our new Creative Vado HD digicam. Maybe one day that elusive giggle will be caught for the masses to see, until then we wait patiently content in the steady stream of smiles.

Let's ride!

What are you talking about?

Let's see...what should we have for dinner?

Can I have 3 bottles this time?

"I got no strings to hold me down..."

Blue Eyes still intact

Adita is SO close to a giggle – she grins huge and makes a little noise along with it sometimes. Can only imagine what her little laugh will sound like one day. Not to mention the precious moments that make us laugh then she smiles back at us. LOVE IT! ENJOY!

Bath time is always fun with those smiles!

The following pictures were taken by Rob Witzel (our photographer from our wedding). www.robwitzel.com
He is AWESOME!!! He was excited to document the historical moment of the four generations of Ada’s being together. Here are a few of my favorites from that day: June 18, 2009. (Adita was only 3 weeks old)

Before the summer ended we had one more wave of friends stop by to say HI and see the new house and of course, the star of the show, Adita! Our friends Jason and Leslie came over for dinner with their 1 year old, Olive. A great time was had by all, and the portabella mushroom parmesan was delectable!

We then went to a game night hosted by the Ledom’s. 4 couples, 4 brand-new babies and a lot of catch phrase! An impromptu photo session on the couch made us all bust out laughing it was so cute. Then the last Sunday of the summer was capped off by a visit from Adita’s Godparents, Lauren and Jordan. They’re always a delight and we chowed down on the biggest fish and chips I’ve ever seen down in Little 5 Points @ http://www.brewhousecafe.com

This past week also marked Coach mommy’s first day back to work and Adita’s first week at daycare. Both went off without a hitch, and Coach Ada hit the ground running and kept going strong with a team dinner on Saturday night followed by a team outing of white water rafting on the Ocoee! Adita was a hit at daycare and Ms. Viris, her morning teacher says she is always smiling and only complains if the chef takes a little too long to prepare her meals. Nick continues to find more things to love about his new job, but still can’t wait til quittin’ time to go pick up his two favorite girls and head home for time with the family.

ADITA on her very merry 2 month un-birthday

The little princess has met most of her family now and has grown in every way possible! Not only has she gained weight (she weighs 10.5 lbs!), but she has developed quite a little personality too! She smiles on a regular basis now, repsonds to our voices and other sounds around her and is starting to reach and grab a little here and there. In fact, today while I was working at the computer and she was next to me sleeping I turn to look at her and she had her pacifier in her mouth – I didn’t put it there! So cool! I would have loved to have seen her do that though! Too bad I missed that moment. Well, as you can see by the pictures below we havn’t missed too many other moments! Enjoy all the fun updates and special memories she shared with family and friends. We’ll try to keep up with the updates as best as we can in the future. All the best to all of you and yours! xoxox

Her FIRST Airplane Ride- we flew to San Antonio for Dad’s Retirement, FIRST CLASS! The flight attendant even offered for us to take a picture in the cockpit. WOW! I didn’t know they did this anymore. Adita got her wings that day. She was so well behaved and slept the whole way there. Such a good baby.

She was awesome at Dad’s retirement ceremony and dinner – she slept the whole time there too! That was an amazing day! And for all of us to be together on such a momentus occassion was truly a gift. Dad retired from the Air Force as a Colonel after 30 years. He had an incredible career decorated with medals of honor, world travels, major accomplishments that served the medical world in many ways and many prestigous assignments. I learned a lot about my dad that day and seeing so many high ranked officers attend to speak about him and celebrate his career made me glow with pride. Being an Air Force family provided us very rich experiences that I am so grateful for and hope to give something similar to Adita as she grows up.

 From left to right: Tio Yayi, cousins Sandra & Sofia, Titi Sarita, Me and Adita, cousin Sylvia, Mom & Dad, Brothers Miguel & Jaime with his girlfriend, Kristin

She had tons of time with family. Her uncles were so sweet with her! Made mommy choke up a few times. We took her to her first tourist attraction: the Japanese Tea Gardens in San Antonio. Adita wasn’t very interested…

Her first time with Uncle Miguel. So precious!!

Cozy on the couch with Uncle Jaime.

LOOK how much her head has grown -
first picture was taken at 1 Day old.
Second picture was taken at 2 months old.

While in San Antonio at her grandparent’s house their golden retriever, Clancy took on the role as Nana and came running to check on Adita any time she fussed or cried. He was so good with her and always so concerned about her. Made me want a Golden! We’ll wait about 5 years for that though.

She also made sure to get all her Gator Gear taken care of while we were in Gainesville too. ) Meeting all the UF Volleyball peeps was so great – she was hugged and adored by many. So sweet!

This is by far her favorite place to be – there’s no place like daddy’s comfortable arms!

She’s still learning to open her hand before hitting the volleyball, but we’re getting there.
At one month she is starting to focus on the world around her a little better. She can find us by the sound of our voice and follow us with her eyes fairly well. And we can find her really easily by the smell of her toots!

Adita’s “aunties” Suawanna and Alaina came to visit while in town to see Eddie Vedder. (Always thought it was cool that he has double d’s in his first and last name – not to mention he is a fantastic musician/artist, of course.) Anyway, this is such a sweet picture of the three of them because Adita is smiling and loving the attention she’s getting. hee hee

We very much miss her grand”mama” – we felt so much more confident as parents with her here, but we will be fine. She will also be with her grandparents and uncles in July when we go to San Antonio together. Thank you Mama for everything!!! You were so awesome and helped us get some much needed rest during the first month. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

“La Maja Desnuda” by Goya – what a poser!!!

With memories of labor day still clear in our heads, we truly cannot believe we are already one month into parenthood. Besides the very fussy times she goes through during the day, we really are loving every moment. We are forever changed for the better, and our life together has new meaning. For the first time, we are actually paying attention to commercials about life insurance. Best of all we have a little life that depends on us and needs us to provide for her. It’s the best feeling in the world when she falls asleep on your shoulder or the times that she is alert, watching every move we make and responding to the toys we bring out to entertain her with. So adorable!

More baby news! Atlanta friends, Heather and Nathan had their baby girl, Emersen, earlier than expected on June 24th. We’re all looking forward to baby play dates!

At only 21 days old, Adita has already grown quite a bit, gone on a road trip, met all of her grandparents including her great grandparents, as well as her godparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. In short, she’s been very busy.
Let’s first announce that she graduated from preemie diapers to newborn size! Yay! We made her a diaper graduation cap in honor of the occasion.

Her last doctor visit on June 15th revealed that her current weight is 7lbs, 1 oz. She also grew one more inch already and is now 20.5 inches long. She eats like crazy – now asking for 3 ounces and sometimes a little more. She also poops a lot more! Yikes! Her new nickname is Gizmo Caca!

Her uncle Jaime and girlfriend, Kristin, came on a weekend visit and we had a blast hanging out! No question that Adita is getting mega spoiled! 
With grandparents, Mama and Papa – taking a quick photo shoot before Papa leaves for the airport. See you in July Papa!

The most historical moment this past week was the chance for Adita to spend five days with her great grandparents in Gainesville, FL as well as her original name sake – the four generations of Ada’s were united for a week of fun in the sun. Well, it was too hot to be out in the sun, so it was a week of fun indoors.

Adita had an exciting week in Gainesville, FL visiting her family and friends. She even had a 2.5 hour professional photo shoot – those pictures will come in the near future …Adita was a trooper and actually loved all the camera flashes – maybe she was born to be under the spotlight. Haha! Our wedding photographer from ’06, Rob Witzel and wife, Marion, arranged some BEAUTIFUL photos of Adita with her great grandparents, the four Ada’s and with her mommy. Can’t wait to see them all!

In other news…….Adita is very aware and alert all the time. She has already found herself in the mirror and likes to check herself out on occasion.

She also loves bath time. Being in the warm water calms her completely. It’s getting out of the water and trying to stay warm that is the hard part. 

Adita  also had a big moment when she shocked us all and held her own bottle!! She grabbed it from me here – this is a real picture. It is not photo-shopped nor did I put her hands in place.

UF Grad friends, Molly and Drew (newly engaged!) came to visit on their way into town from Key West.

Work associate, Awilda, stopped by one day after work to pay us a visit too.

Looking straight into her grandma Sue’s eyes. How cute!

Her first visit with her Godparents, Lauren and Jordan – what a precious moment!

Comfortable in the arms of her second cousin, Teri.

Hanging out with Titi Lyzette.

In matching dresses with her cousin, Skylar and friend of Skylar’s, Brooke.So popular that even Bob and Anne Funkhouser came by to spend a moment with Adita.

With cousin, Gabriel and his girlfriend, Heather during our last night in Gainesville - what a good looking group!!

More good news! Max is back home and is doing very well. All his wounds healed beautifully and amazingly, he is walking very close to normal as well as running and jumping like he used to. He’s such a strong little guy! Unlike the picture shows, he now has his lamp shade off and all his stitches are out. His favorite place to get rubbed is his neck, for sure! He’s so happy to have the lamp shade off! He is very sweet with Adita and carefully approaches her to sniff and kiss her feet. It’s really cute.

Our friends, Jonathon and Ruth in Nashville had their baby boy on June 4th and are home also figuring out life with a newborn just like us. We call each other as often as we can to compare notes. We’re hoping their Desmond and our Adita get to meet in the near future. Ruth worked through a 27hour labor to deliver Desmond and is doing really well, considering. What a trooper!!
Atlanta friends, Matt and April had their little girl recently on June 18th. Madalyne Mae was very nice to her mommy and popped out in about 30 minutes when it was time to push. 8lbs, 1oz and 21 inches long, Maddy is a precious baby girl and adjusting to life on land very well. We’re so happy for them. Nathan and Heather are next then Rebecca and Ross up in Canada. Can’t wait to hear more baby news!