Here they are ................ UPDATES since January!

Hello everyone! Well, I finally was able to download all of the pictures from our trip until Easter! Surprise! I actually had about an hour to go through them all. I hope you enjoy them!

On the 25th of January, we left Oklahoma (whaaaaa) and started our journey to our new home in New York! Our first stop ........ Georgia to visit Me-mom and Poppie! They had not met Leah Rachele yet so we wanted to stop by and have a short visit!

Buba with his little sister, Leah.
Me-mom and Leah meet for the first time

The Portillo Kids at Me-mom and Poppie house in Georgia.

While we were there, my brother Greg came up from Alabama to vist us. He brought his beautiful children with him.
Gabi, Ian, and Xander all have a seat together. Poor Xander got very sick not long after this picture, which is probably why he was upset that morning!


Nikki Lynn and Greg


Poppie, Me-mom, Gabi, Leah, Jack, and Ty-ty share a moment together before we leave for North Carolina.


After visiting with my family, we headed to North Carolina, to Olivia, to have Leah baptized. It was a WONDERFUL visit with friends (thank you Billy and Diane) and something that we treasure each and every time we visit!

Karen made some delicious dessert for the luncheon that was to follow Leah's baptism, in which Gabi had the pleasure of tasting for us all!

Leah's cake

Leah Rachele Portillo on her baptism day. She is 2 months old here!

Buba and Gabi on baptism day (before the accident with Gabi)

This is the Portillo family together as Leah was being introduced to our congregation.

My dearest friends in North Carolina, Karen, Wendy, and myself

Wendy and Farhen


Gabi and Farhen had a GREAT time together on this day!

Rylan - this beautiful little guy was born only 4 days after Leah!

Trudi and I - Mommy to Rylan and good friend of mine from North Carolina

Oh, the PINK ONE! What a mess this was! As I'm sure you all know this story, I will just share alittle bit of it! After Leah's baptism service, we had a luncheon so that we could share time with our Olivia friends. Gabi was outside playing on the playground at the church and fell. She was holding her leg, although we didn't believe it was hurt badly. Unfortunately, we were incorrect and Frank took her to Womack Army Medical Center, where they casted her leg from her upper thigh to her toes. Gabi called it the PINK ONE! It was a horrible ending to such a great day! URGH

We went from Olivia to the coast to spend some time with a high school friend of mine which was WONDERFUL. However, I didn't get any pictures of them while we were there (shocking!). But after our visit with them, we moved on to New York. We stopped in Virginia, Quantico to be exact.
This is Leah and I on the way there!

The Great Portillo Kids at the hotel on Quantico!

Finally, Leah's first smiles begin to appear (at least on camera!). She is the hardest baby to take a picture of because she is so curious. That smile just goes away as soon as she spots the camera!

When we got to New York, it was just ....... well, needless to say by this picture, you can tell it had snowed and alot! We hadn't seen a big snow like this in a LONG time so of course, Jack had to go out and play in it! The snow was up to his knees and continued to get higher! URGH


The long awaited picture of our home! (MORE TO FOLLOW in the upcoming weeks with this! I'm still unpacking boxes and cleaning!)


While at the hotel, Buba and Gabi enjoyed watching the snow (which came almost every day). Gabi will wake up and say, "What is it doing outside? It's snow."




Finally, the day that we all couldn't wait for. Or at least Frank and I who had to carry her all the time. We took off her cast! And although her leg was better, she didn't actually walk on it for a long time. The lower leg bone, the one that is your shine, was fractured which is why she was hurt and holding that spot. Thank God for the Womack docs who put it in the cast. The Ortho specialist here said it was the best thing they could have done for her!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mommy and Leah on Valentines. Frank had to work but we got his picture too!

Our kids at the HOME-tel.

Here is Daddy with his girls!

The products that are out there right now for babies are amazing! And they continue to impress me with all that they have. A GREAT friend of mine (Michelle) gave Leah a Bumbo seat before she was born. I have ALWAYS wanted one and couldn't wait to use it. Finally, Leah's neck was strong enough to use her Bumbo seat. What an impressive sight it is to see your 2 1/2 month old sitting up by herself!!!!

And she loved it! Leah doesn't like to lay down and would prefer to sit upright! I guess that is why she was breech inside of me!

We had Leah's ears pierced when she went in for her 3 month appointment. She was almost 3 months at the time. She did cry and wasn't very happy after that for alittle while but she still looked so BEAUTIFUL!



We were in the HOME-tel for alittle over a month, which was very hard so on the days that Frank had a lot of time, we would go out in town to do things and let the kids have some time to run. We went to the mall often to walk around and play. On this day, we found on of the local outdoor stores and the kids had a ball on these dunbuggies!





Leah turns 3 months! It is so hard to believe that Leah is already 3 months old! URGH Of course, she still doesn't like to smile for the camera but it will come with time. She is such a great baby and does so much. She talks and coos all the time. She wakes up happy and doesn't cry all that often. Even when she wakes up in the middle of the night, it is like she is saying, "Mom" and that's it. No crying involved! It is such a relief and truly made this move easier than it could have been!




Here she is again with a CUTE smile!


And then the SNOW!!!!!!!!! We had a big snowstorm come through and it was lake effect snow, which is more wet than the other. It stuck on all of the trees and everything. URGH




Leah enjoys her belly time for alittle while. She would much rather be standing in her gym or being held! Oh well, they are only little once and for such a short time!


More of her new smiles! What a beautiful girl, if I do say so myself!




Leah gets her new room and her own crib!
Leah finally slept in her own crib when we moved into the new house. She sleeps like such an angel! And thank you Stefanie for the BEAUTIFUL bedding which changed her whole room! Leah's room was a navy blue with light blue sponging when we first moved in. Because of the beautiful bedding, we painted it. It is so sweet and girly now!



Lynda and Deanne gave Leah this cool Jungle to play with for her baby shower. We finally are able to play in there and she loves it!




My sister moved into the bottom portion of our home, which is about 2000 sq. ft., with her daugther Viviana. Gabi and Vivi play good together most of the time. There are some times where they don't but that is to be expected! Here, they color together in Vivi's room.

See, they are good cousins too!

Easter is almost here! We colored Easter eggs the night before Easter. They had such a great time. Gabi was throwing the eggs into the dye. Vivi colored her eggs with white crayon first and then dyed them to make pretty designs. And Jack, well, he was our artist! He made the best looking eggs!



Buba concentrates on his elaborate designs.



Even Leah sat with us dying our eggs!

Gabi checking to be sure the dye was taking to her egg.



Our beautiful bowl of COLORED eggs!

Showing off their works of art!




Easter Morning is here! Happy Easter Everyone! We went to church Easter morning and really have come to like this new church.



Easter Morning checking out her stuff!

Vivi showing all of her goodies!

Even Leah got a little something! She just LOVES her bunny that says, MY FIRST EASTER 2008.






Well, we hope you enjoyed all of the pictures! I promise to update more often now that we have DSL and our home! And yes, those pictures will come soon! I just would like to put the boxes away and have it pretty much cleaned up before I publish those! Heee heee You know, I can't show you my dust bunnies and mess.

God bless and keep in touch!