PR Continues!

We have some very good friends Giovanna and her family that we love to go see whenever we are in town, hopefully someday in-laws!!! Brock and Sara are in love, and Brock tells me all the time he is going to marry her. They have 2 daughters the same age as Brock and Z, so the odds are good right?

K.C is one of my favorite Young Women. She was in the YW's program when I was president in PR. My boys just loved her, and she was such a great help to me.

Mommy and Brock!

Sara and Brock playing in their pool in PR. They are so cute together, it is so fun to see how they really remember each other after all this time.

Puerto Rico!

The end of July we went to our old stomping grounds, Puerto Rico, with my sister-in-law and her two kids. It was so fun for our kids to be together, a little bit crazy with 2 adults and 5 kids but so much fun. I miss PR and all its beauty, and our friends as well. We had such a wonderful 3 yrs there that it is fun to be able to go back when we can. We had plenty of beach time, parks, museums and of course shopping!

El moro, we went to fly kites and go to the children's museum. What a fun day, until the boys kite's flew away with the wind.

The kids first time ice skating, poor Em had to take all 4 kiddos so I could stay with Cooper. They loved every second, and beg to go again.

Dia de Patrias!

I have so many pictures like this of these two guys, I am so grateful that Z loves his brother so much. This pic was taken during Zander's fiesta de patrias, kind of like the 4th of July in the states, but they celebrate all month. Every year Zander's school does a show where the kids perform, and this year Zander played the cajon and danced the marinera. It was adorable!

Zander with his cajon and his costume.

All the boys in his class playing their cajon's on stage.

El Pueblo!

So cute right! For Easter weekend we went back to the resort El Pueblo that I posted a few days ago. Chris had not been so we took advantage and had some family time. We had a great weekend, and again the kids did not want to leave.

There is a huge water slide that Brock was too scared to go down, but Z on the other hand begged to go down a billion times with dad. He is my dare devil for sure.

Gordo, some fatness too bad it is only cute when your little right? Cooper is about 2 1/2 months in this picture.

Having some laughs with dad!

Cooper's first pool experience, he did not know what to think. He now is my little fish like Zander.

Easter!

This was the madness that was my house when I decided to have Zander's class over to dye eggs and have an easter egg hunt. Dying eggs is not a tradition here so they all thought it was pretty cool. Funny story though: so the morning of I had the girl that helps in my home boil 40 eggs so that they would have time to cool, and when I came home I found 40 eggs boiled alright, but also peeled! I was so mad, poor girl was trying to be proactive and help. So I asked her how I was supposed to die the eggs with no shell??? So yes she had to go buy more eggs to boil, and to help me think of something to do with 40 hardboiled, peeled eggs!!!

Our try at an easter egg hunt!

I made an attempt to make bunny cupcakes, but man was it hard to find the right ingredients to make the faces here, but they tasted good. The mom's all think I am some sort of Martha Stewart, but only because they do not cook so it works in my favor!

On a Roll!

Random pic, Zander is just changing so much so fast. I just love his face. And the ladies love the hair.

This is how Z is everyday with his "baby." This was when Cooper was not even 2 months old. I often have to tell him to leave poor Coop alone, he is just so full of love.

First day of school in March, he just loves his preschool and has a great teacher.

When Grandpa Higbee came to town we went to this really fun resort called El Pueblo. They have everything a kid could want, pools, horses, bowling, shows, and more. We had a great time and the boys of course did not want to go home.

Just look at Z's face. This is how he is folks, good luck at getting a real picture of him. Brock on the other hand is my model boy, he will strut his stuff fo the camera!

Cooper 2 months!!!

One of my friends gave me this outfit and I just loved it! Cooper just looks like such a bruiser with those arms, they grow way too fast. He is about 2 months here.

Knock em dead smile just like his brothers, watch out ladies!

Big ole blues, he gets lots of attention here in Peru that is for sure. It is so funny though, everyone asks me why he does not have any hair, since latin babies usually have a full head. They often think there is something wrong with him, or that I had his head shaved.

March 2010

My dad came out in March to see the new guy Cooper, and we went to this restaurant on a cliff where there is this guy who jumps off the cliff everyday to reinact a sad story of a priest who did this back in the day and died, I will spare you the whole story. It is a crazy thing to watch as you eat lunch, the cliff is crazy high and the water is really cold and then he climbs back up the rocks that you can see in the pic and does this a couple times a day.

Brock started big boy school in March, the school year here starts in March, and was so excited as you can see! He is going to a british school her in Lima and loves it. It is a long day, but a great school. I really wanted to take him and pick him up from school everyday, but his school is about 30 min. away and with Zander in preschool, and Cooper only 7 weeks old it was crazy. So we ended up putting him in a transportation service through the school and thankfully he loves it. He leaves at about 7:20 and does not get home until 4, so really long day for a 5yr. old, but he is happy to go each and everyday.

Super animated! Not only will he be brushing up on his english but he will learn french as well. How lucky to leave school knowing 3 languages!

Grandpa and Brock walking to school, bad traffic on the first day. Poor grandpa was a trouper driving with me everday 1 hr. to school and another hour in the afternoon. Good times, good chats!

A little more!

Too tired to even open presents!

Last post for birthday's promise, the boys picked these ones themselves. Such opinions at such a young age I must say!

Birthdays!

Ok so bear with me as I try and catch up on the last 8 months of no blogging, I will make it quick. The boys insist that I post their "ultimate" birthday bash, so here is a quick overview. Just to let you know a time frame we are now in February of this year!

We decided this year to combine the boys bday party becuase we were going to attempt to throw a "peruvian" style party. Which includes, inflables, food, show, cake, servers, etc. We thought about it long and hard, but things are so inexpensive here we decided to go for it since we could never afford to do anything like this in the states. We had it a hacienda that was beautiful and had horses for the kids to ride and all sorts of animals as well. We had three inflables, inflatables, two trampolines, hot dog and hamburger stand, cotton candy stand, a show with Diego, and Power Rangers, and the list goes on. Way over the top, but the boys had a birthday they will never forget.

Zander got tired of waiting to ride the horses, so he went and got one of the workers to get one out for him to ride. He is a do-it yourself kind of guy!

Brock on the water inflable, it was so hot that it was nice to have some way to cool off!

The kiddy candy table equiped with all the peruvian favorites!

A look at the grounds, it was hard to get a good picture of the whole thing!

More Cooper!

I have to say I was a little worried about how the boys would do with a new lil guy around, but those worries were for nothing. Brock and Z are awesome big brothers, in fact Z can't keep his hands off of him, even to this day. He loves his little brother more than words can say. He tells me all the time how much he loves "his baby," and is very protective of him. I could not have planned it any better.

A few weeks after Cooper was born my mother-in-law came out to help, and get to know this new guy. It was wonderful to have her here and the boys loved having Grandma around. Zander got her up bright and early every morning to remind her, and Brock loved cuddling with her in her bed reading stories. That is the only hard part about living out of the country, no family close by!

I have never seen a big brother quite like Zander, he is so good with Cooper and showers him with kisses every day. Brock truly is a big brother and helps me all the time. He loves knowing that he is the oldest of three brothers, and loves his little baby too.

He has Arrived

........well to my blog anyways! Eight months late can you believe it? Cooper Alejandro Tidwell was born January 15, 2010, at clinica Montesur Lima Peru. He weighed 3.760kgs., 8.3 lbs. and was 51 cm. long. He made quite an entrance to say the least, and we are so glad he is a part of our family. Not to bore you all with the bloody details, both of us are lucky to be here today. Which is why it has taken so very long for me to post. It has been a crazy eight months. I had a emergency c-section, without an epidural, very fun but don't recomend it. Cooper was purple and scored a 1 on the apgar scale, so not off to a good start. But long story short we are all healthy and happy now, it was very scary but we had wonderful doctors and a great hospital. Cooper is such a joy and please keep checking in the blogathon starts today!!!!!

Sad but I do not have any pictures of when he was just born because he was rushed to the ICU and I was not in good condition, so here some day after shots.

The new crew, the boys are so excited for their new brother!

The smallest Tidwell, but two weeks early!

Dia De Abuelitos 2

It is about time right! Long time no post, like 8 months too long. I am now in the process of organizing the last eight months of craziness that has been our life to post and catch up. So be patient and please check back in, Cooper will be making his big apperance!!!

Yesterday was grandparents day at Z's school and so I thought I would share this with his abuelitos first. Sorry my camera stopped working right when it started to get good, oh well. We love you all, and he was so sad that he had no appearances from his grandparents. Such is the life of living abroad right?