Stuffed Animals and Dolls

J-Bear adores stuffed animals! His play with stuffed animals includes talking to them, toting them around, caressing them... Big stuffed animals scare the bejeezus out of him, and he's still tentative about whether or not hand puppets aren't scary enough for playing without Mama or Papi present. We probably received no less than 30 stuffed animals when Lucas was born (not exaggerating!), and though most of them were given away, Jesse will still go straight to the little cubbie on the shelf in Lucas's room that holds the few favorites we decided to keep.

And he loves dolls. The first time he saw this old doll, he instantly knew how to caress and gently care for her. He often asks to be placed inside his crib along with the doll so that he can lay her down on top of one of his blankies and then cover her with another. Then he makes the sign for "sleep" while making snoring noises. Precious!

Painting With Water

Jesse has been engaging in such imaginative and focused play these days. There are plenty of pictures of him to catch up on, so I'll try to post them most days this week for you to enjoy!

I just love staring at that sweet face!


Note that he's wearing (again) Lucas's underwear over his pants:

At Church Yesterday

Delightful Child

Below is a photo of Lucas and some train tracks that he put together. It looks like another day-in-the-life shot except that he put these tracks together all by himself. And that probably sounds like no big deal except that Lucas loathes putting the tracks together on his own. It's not about the process of putting them together that excites him but the actual playing with the trains, narrating various scenarios and situations and having them interact with each other. He will often create bridges out of random objects around and under the tracks, but piecing them together like a puzzle is his major headache. He's perfectly capable but he just won't do it. He'll say, "I can't do it! I need a grown-up to help!" (Strangely enough, he LOVES interlocking puzzles. Just don't make him put together his darn train tracks!)

So, as with all milestones that you sometimes impatiently wonder when your child will ever reach, we've just never pushed him. We negotiate and compromise and help him break down the process so that it doesn't seem so overwhelming. ("You do one track piece, and I'll do the next... until we finish." "You put one shoe on while I do the other.") We wait until he decides he's ready. We give gentle nudges here and there and help him to believe that he can do it. Eventually things shift, and he gets there on his own time. It always works.

Finally, he decided to stop waiting for the extra help and decided to just do it. And then, full of pride for his accomplishment, he took them apart a few minutes later and did it again in a different sequence: "Mama, take a picture! I did it! And it wasn't all that hard! I put the tracks together all by myself!"

So there you have it:

Here's one of his favorite toys right now -- a Christmas present that Tio Bryan and Tia Misti sent from his wish list. It's a Geoboard with pegs that comes with huge rubber bands for creating shapes. At first he would place the rubber bands willy-nilly and then use his imagination to see what shapes they resembled, much like when looking up at cloud shapes in the sky. Lately he has begun setting out to create a specific shape with the bands instead of seeking them out like before. It's been fun to see the way his play with toys like the train tracks and the Geoboard has shifted over time.

The other day, we had just come back home from running errands, when out of the blue Lucas approached me to ask if I could ask him to help me more, "just like when we go on special outings and I help you by holding the doors open and keeping Jesse happy in the stroller," he explained. He LOVES having special assignments to do. At preschool there's a job chart that the children check each morning, and he hopes each time that his name will be up there next to the "pass out milk" or "ring the bell" or "line leader" sections. At home I never worry that I'm asking him to do too many favors for me. He enjoys getting up to fetch something for Jesse when I ask or to put something away for me. In his words, "it makes me feel the most happiest and very excited when you ask me to help."

Last week I was giving Lucas the full report on my recent visit to the dentist when he asked if Jesse would be going to the dentist soon. I told him not until he'd be older... Lucas's response: "That means I will be older, too. And so... I will be old enough to take Jesse to the dentist for you! And that way you and Papi can have Mama-n-Papi-alone time in the house! Would you like for me to do that for you?"

Sign us up!

We're also trying a new thing with church on Sundays. I'm not willing to let Jesse skip a nap (or get a really short one) to make for a cranky kid the rest of the day (at least not every single week), so we usually go early enough to see everyone and then leave for home sometime during the worship service. A few times I've been able to leave Lucas to sit through the worship service with an adult and then he comes home with Papi after the coffee hour. One recent Sunday he stayed alone without anyone assigned to him and even sat through a couple of Papi's long meetings after the worship service and coffee hour before they left together. He knew that while Papi was working he could ask any other grown-up for help if he needed to use the bathroom or get something to eat/drink. Papi reported that he was patient during the meetings (and entertained everyone with stories about our trip to Beacon), and Lucas said he had a great time! Hurray!

The last picture below is from a birthday party Lucas attended recently. Some of the moms were a bit concerned that Lucas would be the only male invited but I assured them that Lucas wouldn't care, much less even notice (so what's the use in pointing it out to him?). And it was true. His teacher thinks that one of the reasons he's such a popular kid among his classmates is because he's high-energy while also very easy-going. I loved being able to see him interact with some of his preschool buddies and seeing this dynamic in action. Is he a spectacular kiddo, or what?

At a teacher-parent conference last month, I was told great news about Lucas's reading and kindergarten readiness. His teacher also shared that Lucas was one of the most well-mannered and kind-hearted children in her classroom and that she's every encountered! Whoa! I have a feeling that teachers tend to be ultra generous with reports about children at this stage, but whether or not it's really true, it's the kind of news that makes a parent's heart swoon!

Okay, enough with the bragging about our boy (for now). Someone's gotta go clean up the messy toilet that Lucas left behind. ;)

Underwear

It's always Monkey See, Monkey Do around here.

Jesse noticed that there was a train on Lucas's butt when he saw Lucas pulling up his underwear after using the toilet. So of course Jesse begged to wear some. He didn't care or notice how they went on as long as they were on -- over his bulky cloth diapers and corduroy pants was fine by him.

Too bad we didn't leave the house that afternoon. ;)

Lucas thought it was rip-roaring hilarious.

I'm pretty sure that Lucas is the happiest kid in the world right now. For the last few months it has seemed that he is always smiling, always joking around, always giving away lovin', always making silliness from the moment he wakes up in the morning until he falls asleep at night.

Hat Box

Lullabies

"Hush, hush. Hush, hush. Little monkeys must close their eyes. So they grow... up to be ... curious and wise."

"Hear the wind in the trees. See the leaves falling down. Feel the soft wind on your face... as we walk around. Smell the flowers I sent. Taste the fruit that I bring. Daddy's right here with you now, and this is your song that I sing."

Beacon, NY

Well hello there! I had almost forgotten about this old thing...

We've been gone for a while on a mini family vacation. We took the Metro-North Railroad 1 1/2 hours north to visit Beacon, NY, where old friends Ben and Gretchen and Lilly L-W have just moved! Our plan was to welcome them with some company and a helping hand for some unpacking, but on the day we arrived, I became sick as a dog! So our vacation was a bust with me holed up in a bedroom for almost 4 days and Papi doing a lot of solo parenting. BUT it was great to see our dear friends!!

Not surprisingly, most of our pictures from our trip were from the glorious train ride along the Hudson River. We were told by many people that it would be a gorgeous ride, and it was true! The train hugs the river the entire way, giving the most spectacular views. We can't wait to do it again in the Spring/Summer when the trees are full.

The closer we got to Beacon, the more snow and ice we saw in the water. The landscape is just breathtaking and the whole trip was so easy. We highly recommend the ride for any fellow NYCers reading, if even just to take a little day trip adventure.

Jesse was less impressed with the view out the window than Lucas, who was enthralled with every moment and every town and station and train we passed. Jesse mostly kept us busy with his squirming ways. He did make sure to give Little Brown Nut Hare a ride on top of Murdoch the train. "All Aboard!"

Papi faithfully caught a few pictures of the boys that week. We didn't take any photos together with Ben and Gretchen, sadly.

Their new home is lovely and set on a beautiful chunk of land nestled underneath Mount Beacon with a little creek running through it. We did take a stroll through the town's Main Street and loved it's Norman Rockwell feel.

While Jesse and I napped, Papi took long hikes with Lucas on his back to check out the creeks and rivers and waterfalls and landscape and Ben's church. Lucas was a gem throughout the entire trip. I think he was the one who had the best time of all of us!

It's a miracle! One shot of Lucas with Lilly-Bear on the morning we left. Lilly's going to be a big sister in just a few months!

There's always next time! We'll be back, L-W familia!

Birthday Party

These pictures were taken at a birthday party all the way back in November. Attending other childrens' birthday parties puts into stark perspective that we've entered new territory with an older child. He's now officially been introduced to the YMCA and Chicken Dances (sorry, Lucas); the limbo stick; Ariel the mermaid ("She was shiny!" says Lucas); air hockey tables; and Hawaiian leis. That's a lot of big-kid stuff going on at once!

Thomas (above) and Dylan (below) are still some of Lucas's best buddies from last year's preschool class.

Such little lovers. They played with other friends and strangers in the room but made sure to stop often to meet again and give each other hugs:

Lucas dislikes eating pizza with his hands, unless you cut off the bottom triangle so that he can hold the crust to eat the other half (and avoid getting his hands dirty). When they served pizza at the party, Lucas looked around and asked, "Where are the forks? Um... is there a knife?!?" At that moment he noticed the child to his right picking up his drippy pizza slice high into the air, tilting his head back, and lowering the pizza into his mouth to take a huge bite. Lucas looked back at his own plate, seemed to summon up some gumption, and attempted the same thing. That's what you're seeing here, and he ate the entire slice in this fun, "new" way. It made me chuckle out loud:

The money shot of the day:

That last picture has been set to my computer's desktop. I love that big kid and his sweet green eyes.

New York Botanical Gardens

Yesterday we skipped the preschool routine to help mark Epiphany by taking the boys to the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. Obviously there wasn't much to see on the outside, but we figured the boys would appreciate their annual holiday train show.

And Holy Smokes, it was fantastic! Not surprisingly, the model trains racing through the cityscapes at eye level were a huge hit with the boys, but Papi and I were especially impressed with the miniature models of historic New York City landmarks... made with natural materials!

Lady Liberty's garb below is made from banana leaf fibers and her torch is a pomegranate! You probably guessed that beautiful Ellis Island is in the background:

The Guggenheim is made with bark and fungi! And it was totally appreciated by this other fun-guy!!

See? Here's a bit of the Vanderbilt Manson on 5th Ave., with the turret shingles made of colorful leaves and the gargoyles with nuts and seeds! Brilliant!

You know I have absolutely no restraint with the picture-taking, so just bear with me a little longer...

Rockefeller Center! The Empire State and Chrysler buildings! Oh my!

Even the golden statue of Prometheus at Rockefeller Statue was made of sticks:

It was easy to forget to look up, but there was a lot going on there, too!

The Brooklyn Bridge in sugar pine cones!

The Apollo Theater... (And Tammany Hall was just a few doors down in the background. Eek!) To view more images of the train show from the NYBG website, click here and here.

We spent well over an hour in this warm, humid sun room (another reason this Mama was so happy to be there), watching the trains and trams speed by, listening to the water flowing, and ooh'ing and ah'ing at the details.

I think I'm going to start making it a goal to include in every blog post a picture of someone with a finger up their nose, since I already have a good start so far:

And then, (drumroll...)

A visit with Thomas! For only this week, a regular admission ticket includes the chance to see Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt (the head of the railway on the Island of Sodor). And what a gimmick it was! But Lucas and Jesse didn't think so. And for Papi and Mama, it sure beat the heck out of traveling again to Pennsylvania for a weekend of this kind of thing...

First, the children received coloring pages and certificates as Honorary Engineers. Meanwhile, they watched a Thomas video on a giant, stage-sized screen to wait their turn to see Thomas. There were no lines that day, so we just hung out for a little while to give the kids a chance to soak it in.

Then we marched back up the stairs to be greeted by a much jollier version of Sir Topham Hatt. Lucas asked Sir Topham Hatt who his favorite train was but couldn't get an answer from the mute character. Jesse stayed as far away as possible.

Then we were led down another corridor leading to an exit covered by a small tent, where Thomas was waiting! The guide told us that his eyes used to move, but it was scaring the children, so they turned off the function! Lucas was quick to point out the detail discrepancies between this Thomas and his toy trains. It's so interesting and fun to watch how children at this age walk the fine line between imagination and reality. He knows that it's all just pretend and that there was an actual person in Sir Topham Hatt's costume, yet he's able to play along as if all of it were real.

Then the guide offered to take a family picture on Thomas! Every thing about this part of our visit was CHEE-SY!! Ah, the things we do with and for our children!

We didn't know we'd be going back outside to see Thomas, so the kids were without coats. There was a hot air fan blowing right at us where we were sitting that distracted the boys:

We had to run around the huge building to get back to the entrance where our stroller was, and to our surprise, Sir Topham Hatt was there to meet us again! I tried to get Jesse to come closer but the closest he got to Sir Topham Hatt was within a foot or two to give him a high-five.

The NYBG has an amazing children's "adventure" garden that we hope to visit again once it's warmer and everything is in full bloom. We stopped by their gingerbread house exhibit to see more amazing details!

The theme this year was "classic fairy tales." This one's of the creepy story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin:

They had seed potting (which Lucas promptly spilled the moment we left the building), gingerbread spice grinding and sampling, and gingersnap decorating and tasting activities for the children:

Then, being the bright parents we are, we let our kids play outside without coats in the windy 25 degree weather:

We had a fantastic day! Hurray for more kid- and family-friendly play spots!

21 Months

Papi and I have recently noted that Jesse seems to be on the cusp of some big changes. Out of curiosity, we took a look at old pictures of Lucas around this stage and noticed many similarities and differences. Mostly we realized what a huge jump in development there was (for Lucas) between 21 and 24 months. We give thanks that having Lucas first has given us the gift of perspective on the time that we have with Jesse, which has taught us to never rush Jesse into being at a stage when he's not ready and to relish him as he is.

We know that, in just a few months (if Jesse roughly follows Lucas's timeline), that pooch belly will give way to a more trim body, his baby mannerisms will begin to disappear, we'll be talking about potty training, and he might even be speaking in complete sentences. We enjoy the big-kid stage that's to come but we're also savoring every bit of the cheeky, roly poly, soft, clumsy baby-ness that still remains in our Jesse-Bear.

Jesse is always ready to laugh and to be the jokester who makes other people laugh (like father, like son!). So far he's never had a tantrum or a full meltdown. Such an easy-going kid!

Here's a shot of a sick Lucas sleeping on the couch, and Jesse kept wanting to check him out and snuggle up to him. Jesse is finally catching on to the word "gentle" and quickly changes the force of his touch when he hears us say it. He's also more aware of peoples' emotions, asking "ouch?" whenever he sees someone cry and offering a hug to make them feel better. He's learned to make a trade with Lucas whenever he has the instinct to grab a toy, leaving both Lucas and Jesse better play partners. We have yet another sweet boy, through and through.

Jesse still loves to be held and snuggled but is more willing these days to let us hold his hand around the apartment. Before, he would require us to pick him up to walk down the hall to get to the other side of our long apartment but now he'll tolerate holding hands, especially with his big brother. We love the feeling of his hand in ours and looking down as he walks alongside us!

He's really into mimicking our chores and being a little helper these days. Every morning Papi offers Jesse two vitamins. Jesse knows that one is for him to eat, and the other is for him to take back to Lucas in the living room. I'm always impressed by the restraint he shows in not eating both vitamins because he's so excited by his assigned duty.

He's also Mama's little shadow. I remember Lucas doing this at this stage as well... Getting ready each morning in the bathroom, preparing and cooking dinner in the kitchen, and eating breakfast means that Jesse will be either on my lap or hip or somewhere close by (and usually consuming half or most of my meal). The video you saw above was taken when Jesse was hovering around the bathroom while I was blow-drying my hair.

Not long ago I was trying to juggle one-handed meal-making with a babe on my hip or on a sling. Nowadays Jesse's okay with being plopped on the counter next to me with a snack while I keep working...

...or standing on a stool to sort the spices, his latest favorite activity.

We call this picture below "The Root of Jesse." (Get it?!?!) Jesse makes the worst hide-and-seek partner! He looks to see where Lucas hides, then waits with excitement by marching in place and wiggling his body for Papi to finish counting to twenty, then he runs up to Papi and points the way to disclose Lucas's location. Little stinker!

(Hah hah! Mama, you're so witty!)

One huge realization in comparing our two boys at this stage was how much older Lucas seemed than Jesse. Perhaps it's just in our heads, or perhaps it has to do with the First Child/Second Child Syndrome (or possibly a little bit of both)... But around this stage (and just a bit older), Lucas could identify and name several colors, as well as every letter of the alphabet, and count to ten in two languages. We live on the second floor of a house, and every time we went up and down the flight of stairs, we would recite the alphabet or count each step. Once Lucas realized that those sounds went with distinctive shapes, he couldn't get enough of them. Besides playing with trains, letters and colors and numbers were the main obsession. Pretty amazing!

Jesse? He's no less bright and has his own gifts and talents. He can identify a few letters, though he can only say one or two, and is otherwise not all that interested in them. We're pretty sure we've never pointed out colors to him before and I'm less sure about numbers. But what we realized the other day that he could identify (though not clearly name)... you guessed it... trains!!

Where trains go to die:

We love you, sassy, spunky, sweet babe!!

More Macy's

Abuela loves to check out the Macy's window displays every Christmas that she and Abuelo are in town, but snow and cold temps made finding the right day tricky. Papi had to lead two services on Sunday but the weather was finally nice, so the rest of us went to Manhattan without him. :( Check out how much Lucas has changed in our Macy's pictures from two years ago.

When I told Lucas we were going to Manhattan, his first response was that he wanted a big pretzel. Done!

Jesse discovered hot dogs:

Some of these shots are from Abuelo's camera:

This one particular window had a moving train that delivered letters to Santa. Not surprisingly, that's where we camped out most of the time.

Jesse couldn't keep his eyes off Santa. He calls him "Sasa," just as Lucas used to call him at around this age. He also calls Abuelo and Abuela ""Elo" and "La", respectively.

Crazy crowds:

With so many people to wade through, getting to the bathroom inside took forever. I caught the boys holding hands while waiting for the elevator:

The crazies. People were walking up and down the street dressed as cartoon characters. You could take pictures with them in exchange for a tip. Minnie is totally blocking me with her ear:

The naked cowboy is... well, there's just no good explanation:
Times Square is just a few blocks away from Macy's. That's a pea on Jesse's finger, not a green booger. Though that's always a possibility, too.


That's it! Nothing too wild!

Happy New Year, everyone! We look forward to sharing another wonderful year with you!

12 Days of Christmas

The day after Christmas I told Lucas that Christmastime wasn't over yet -- that there were 11 more days left -- and he didn't believe it. He marched straight to each of our advent calendars to show me the evidence that we had reached day 25, and that there were no more, zilch, nada left to count. I tried to convince him that Christmas lasts until January 6 on a day called Epiphany but he was still pretty skeptical. "You mean we're still celebrating?" he asked.

A friend recently let us borrow the movie The Polar Express, which Papi and I had watched together last year. Papi and I didn't love the movie then for a few reasons, thinking especially that it was pretty heavy on the tough love and a little too dark for young children, so we didn't think Lucas would be ready to watch it at the time. This year we thought he'd understand the dialogue and plot more easily, not to mention that there's a big 'ole black train to distract our train-lover into thinking it would be the greatest movie ever.

Not so. Lucas cried through much of the movie. I told him at several points that we could stop and watch something else. He wanted to keep going to see what happened at the end, so I stayed with him, holding and talking him through the tough parts. Parts that seemed mild to me he kept saying were "scary." Lucas was in sheer panic at the scene where the boy loses the train ticket in the wind or when the children get lost in the maze of elfin houses on the North Pole. He would say "this music is loud and sad. The music is making me feel scared and sad!" He was feeling every emotion the characters felt and that the movie was trying to convey.

And so we learned a new word. One that no 4 year-old should have to understand: stress. The fear and panic he was sensing from the movie made him feel stressed out. The movie ending was positive but not in a happy, cheerful kind of way. It still left us feeling like blah. Afterward, Lucas was still wimpering and started pacing back and forth. The movie seemed to tap into other difficult emotions he had been working on. He was panicked about how Santa would be able to find his way into our home without a chimney. After we dealt with that issue, he still needed to talk about other stressful things that were on his mind: "I miss my preschool friends so much. I don't want them to go away on vacation!" We talked about how the school is closed, and most of his friends are probably at home celebrating Christmas just like we are, that vacationing doesn't always mean going away.

So we spent the rest of the day (and the rest of the week) doing non-stressful things, taking full advantage of our little stay-cation: playing with trains, reading books, singing and making and learning new music, cuddling and wrestling and tickling and laughing, saying silly things that make each other crack up, making art, enjoying the arrival of his abuelos. Whenever Lucas begged to have brain-free time with the t.v., we stuck to A Charlie Brown Christmas. There was enough slapstick comedy there to make Lucas laugh out loud and inspire just the right amount of gentle compassion for Lucas to offer to poor Charlie Brown (as well as plenty of disdain for Lucy's persistent use of the word "stupid!"). Or we watched the original t.v. classics of the stories of Rudolph and Frosty, forwarding through any scary parts. Or we stayed away from the stressful t.v. altogether, probably the best solution yet.

And then this past weekend we went to see Macy's windows in Manhattan, which for Lucas was like a little slice of heaven.

I promised to Lucas 12 more days of celebrating the birth of peace and joy and compassion and love. And for the next 8 days and beyond that are left, that's exactly what we're going to make sure he gets.

Big Christmas Catch-Up Post

Abuelo and Abuela in da house! They've been here since last Wednesday, helping to make every moment special for us.

Here are the boys enjoying our Noche Buena meal, Cuban-style: black beans and rice, yucca, roast pork... and asparagus (it can't all be Cuban!). Then we had a gringo-style meal on Christmas Day, and Lucas kept asking why the heck we were having a big special meal all over again. We had lots of answers for him, but the real reason is that Abuela has been spoiling us with her amazing cooking! Cuban-style garbanzos are simmering right now for our dinner tonight! Yum!

After the meal we headed to church for the Christmas Eve service. Lucas wore the same shepherd costume as last year in our little live nativity reading. Thomas the bathtub toy went along with him.

Jesse just wouldn't let go of that paci. He was having so much fun running around but might have been a bit overwhelmed by all the people and activity and excitement.

Sadly, these pictures with Abuela above and myself below are the closest we have to catching the boys in their matching outfits - yet again. Dangit! Christmastime is crazy for a family with a pastor, so I guess we have a decent excuse.

Lucas did great! He kept looking back at me from the chancel to give me a grin and a shy wave. He kept getting up onto his tippy toes to get a good look at the fake baby Jesus.

Even Abuelo got in on the act! The ladies at the church kept teasing him: "Is it francincense... or Frankenstein?" Heh heh. Love those church ladies! Lucas is a trooper about sitting through a worship service but Jesse is understandably pretty fidgety. At one point during the nativity scene, he ran up the aisle to meet Abuelo and then ran back to me. When he got loud I started to take him out, but those same church ladies beckoned us back and said it was okay. Once again, we love the church ladies who welcome our children and the noise they make!

Lucas said he felt brave enough to walk up to the chancel because his friend Matthew was holding his hand the entire time. Matthew is another one of those church boys who is so patient with the younger set. Thanks, sweet Matthew!

Lucas was way too excited about Christmas Day to be able to fall asleep, even though it was several hours past his usual bed time and his eyes showed that he was tired from the big day. On Christmas morning we heard him calling out to us from his room at 5:45 a.m. He patiently lay in his bed until 6:30 a.m., when we gave him the green light to get up. The boys even ate breakfast and waited for the rest of us to wake up around 7 a.m. before opening presents...

We opened one gift at a time. It's been one of those weeks where you wish you could freeze every moment to make them last forever. Christmas with your own children feels even better than Christmas when I was a child! The magic and joy you feel vicariously through them is like nothing else! It's cheesy and cliche but true.

Pausing for a Mary and baby Jesus moment...

Let the toy fest begin!

And then... the big present for the boys, thanks to the generosity of Abuelo and Abuela: bunk beds! Ikea sure knows how to package things up nicely, but there was more than a fair share of cursing at the Swedes for providing poor instructions. Thanks, Abuelo and Papi for your diligent work!

We'll plan to move Jesse in with Lucas sometime around his 2nd birthday, so for now, it's a cozy place for Lucas to sleep (below) and for the boys to romp around (above)!

The blue tent makes their tiny room look even tinier but the bed is such a perfect fit. The bottom bed sits on the ground, so the top bed doesn't feel all that high. There's a large "mural" of a family tree on the wall behind it, so Lucas has been calling the top bunk his "tree house."

Seriously now, does there always have to be a finger up someone's nose?!

Happy Kwanzaa, everyone!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays to one and all!

May the babes in our lives remind us of how to speak with honesty and innocence, to believe in the possibility of things unseen, and to feel joy and love so deeply!

We love you all!

The A-S Family