Ears

We have apparently determined where Joe's Yoda ears come from. My Mom recently came across this picture of me and said all of a sudden it hit her. He looks nothing like me, but apparently, he has my ears. Poor kid. I never realized my ears were Yoda ears. Guess I should stop poking fun now.....

Joe's First Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope your day was warm and happy and healthy!

We had a wonderful Christmas here at Casa Spanos. We had everyone over for our second annual Tex-MeX-mas dinner. Last year we decided that after Thanksgiving we were all turkey and hammed out so we did fajitas for Christmas. It was so good we decided to do it again. It's always so nice to have everyone together. This year Paul's Aunt Marcia joined us as well!

Santa must have thought we were extra good this year and brought us all really nice gifts. Joe had so much fun with the wrapping paper we could have saved a bunch of money on toys! (I knew that going in....). Here are a few pictures of our Christmas Day.

Joe couldn't decide which toy to play with first!

Our three babies! Look how happy they all look!


Hey look! Someone else was finally taking a picture!

Our family's favorite gift of 2009.

Happy New Year to everyone! I wish you all many blessings in 2010.

Birthday Fun

Sorry for two posts in one day. I realized I never actually posted this one last week in all the pre-holiday bustle. You get a double dose of Spanos fun today.

Saturday was my birthday. I'm not going to say how old. And right on queue, I woke up to a stiff hip. Seriously? That's not a very nice birthday present. Couldn't God have given me something that made me feel youthful instead?


I had but one request for my birthday. I wanted to go out for date night, eat at a restaurant without high chairs, and see a movie. I guess that's actually three requests. Paul and I have tried a couple of times to go out without Joe but something always happened. Last time it was the day it snowed and we were supposed to have frozen roads. This time, no excuses. So we actually made it out of the house! I think after 9 months, my movie picking abilities are a little rusty though. We saw a really sad, depressing movie that made me not want to get old. I'll have to go back to the tried-and-true chick flick next time. Sorry Paul.


Paul took the girls to a concert on Dec 18. It was a concert hall full of screaming girls anxious to see Justin Beiber. Unbeknownst to him, the venue was standing room only and tweenage girls are crazy strong. They got pushed all over the place! Luckily Paul and another Dad were there to make sure the girls were safe. They had a ton of fun.....but no pictures that I'm aware of.

Not so sure about this Santa guy...

I'm realizing why online shopping has such appeal, moreso than I ever have before. We just barely balance everything in our normal lives. Holiday shopping just doesn't quite fit! The girls are excited for Christmas break to start in a few days. It actually snowed here about a week ago (see picture below for proof) so that makes it seem even more seasonal than it usually does in Texas at Christmastime. Alex had her holiday choir concert last week and did fantastic. She's also gearing up for track season to start. Maddie sprained her ankle and is sidelined from dancing until it heals. Dance is such a big part of her life she doesn't know what to do with herself.

Joe has started saying Dada a lot recently. And he says it directly to Paul so we are sure its not an accident. He really boves his Daddy and gets so excited when he walks in the room. I think they are going to be best buds. This is a little video Alex took on her phone of him saying "Hi Dada." Alex gets the best pictures and videos on her phone! I never seem to catch these things!

He's also doing a pretty good job of crawling now. But only when he really wants something. Otherwise, he thinks if he grunts long enough we'll figure out what he wants and he won't have to work for it. So far, that's working for him. He's also pulling up quite a bit too.....but so far, only on me and not on the furniture. (We have to keep his nails trimmed short for that trick. I don't learn very quick as is evidenced by the slices all over my neck.)

My office puts on a Christmas party for the children of employees every year. Santa and Mrs. Clause are there and they play Christmas movies and have all kinds of activities such as baloon animals, games, snacks, etc. I know Joe is too young to enjoy any of it yet, but I thought it might be a more successful first visit with Santa there as opposed to visiting him at the mall with a big long line of people. Joe did so good! He just kept staring at Santa and then looking at us to make sure we were still there. He stayed there for a good minute or two while we snapped some pictures. No tears! Although as you can see in the second picture, I think we saved him moments before the tears were set to appear...



Joe's been getting a cold and cough over the last few days. There's nothing more sad. He's just not himself and he just wants to be held. This was taken during one of his better moments. He was in his high chair and he had his foot propped up. I think he thought it was a lounge chair. Very cute. Yes, that's a bruise between his eyes. Not sure how it got there, but it doesn't seem to bother him. Must be one of those "just-learning-to-toddle bumps." Either that or his little girlfriend, Avery, at the Day Care whacked him a good one.


Hope all of you are well and having lots of fun during these holidays!