MARCH MADNESS

March was a pretty crazy month and not just because I tried to follow March Madness and all the “Jimmermania” from Spain. The month started with a bang as we were able to go watch the parade in conjunction with Carnival. Who needs Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans when you can go see a man dance in a pink outfit with feathers right in your hometown.

This month we also avoided a possible tragedy. Every Friday, Leo has his class for his MBA which is until 9:00pm in Murcia so he is home by 10:00 pm. He usually calls before he leaves to let me know that he is on his way. One Friday it was almost 11 pm and I still hadn´t heard anything from him so I was starting to get worried. I called him and no answer which is very unusual. He always answers his cell phone. I called his mom and his sister and they didn´t know anything either. Leo always lets me know if he has interviews or visits but as far as I knew he had nothing scheduled so I was really starting to worry and so was his mom. I called and called and still no answer and so my mind started to wander and imagine things. I was picturing Leo unconscious in a car accident and that is why he wasn´t answering his phone or even worse. I started looking at Charlie and Avery asleep on the couch and I started to cry thinking “how am I going to raise these kids by myself”. Clark was patting me on the back trying to comfort me. I asked Clark where daddy was and he kept on saying “work, work”. I started to pray as I was I starting to think the worst. Finally at 11:30pm I got a phone call from Leo. He was at the church conducting an interview and he accidently left the cell phone in the car. He had 16 missed phone calls when he got to the car. Of course I told him I loved him but I also let him have it for making me worry so much, however it did make me appreciate my husband even more.

We also experienced some big changes this month. After 6 years in the bishopric: 3 years as a counselor and 3 years as bishop, Leo was released. With everything on his plate: even longer hours at work, working on a MBA, father of three young children and husband of a somewhat needy wife, plus preparing to make a “big life change” in the very near future, it was time for somebody else to take over. Of course Leo had some mixed emotions but I am not ashamed to admit that I felt relief. However, Charlie and Clark did not take the change very well. Charlie cried through the whole sacrament meeting when Leo was released because he was sad that his dad would not have an office at the church anymore and Clark was sad that he wouldn´t be able to help the bishop hand out candy to the rest of the kids.

Also in an effort to get ready for our “big life change” and reduce expenses, we have been trying to sell one of our apartments where Leo´s mom and sister live, however we have been unsuccessful as the housing market has really gone down here. Since we were having no luck selling the apartment, we decided to try to rent the apartment but that was not going much better since we didn´t want just anybody to live there. We finally decided to offer to rent the apartment to the church for the missionaries to use. At first the mission office just said that they would think about it, but then one Monday in March we received an e-mail from the mission stating they wanted the apartment by Thursday. Leo and Cristina were working so pretty much Yolanda and I had to get everything ready for the move including packing and cleaning. Luckily, Leo and the Elders did all the moving but since Yolanda and Cristina were just moving to our apartment across the street and the move was such a rush, the move was not very organized and a bit chaotic. Pretty much we just stuffed things in bags and suitcases. We were able to get everything out and cleaned at the one apartment but our house turned into a total disaster as we had to find room for 3 more people and all their belongings. Let´s just say we have had to come up with creative ways to store things and we have given away a ton of things. At first it was a little crazy, all 8 of us in a small apartment but things are better now and I know it is all worth it since it is what had to be done in order to acheive our goals.



The kids are doing great. Avery continues to grow at an alarming rate. People can´t believe how big she is. She is smiling more and loves being spoiled by the Yaya (grandma). Clark pretty much has counting from 1 to 10 down in both languages. He is also starting to say more complete sentences in both languages like (I´ll get it, You get it, I did it, My turn, I love you, No quiero, Te dije). He still loves playing with balls and he wants to learn how to skateboard. Charlie is perfecting his reading in Spanish and is writing very well in cursive. He also loves to help me make cookies and his favorite food lately is french toast. If it were up to him, there are some days he would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He usually eats at least 4 pieces. We love our little ones and all the joy they bring to our home.

Carnival parade: pink, gold and feathers need I say more

Participants of all shapes and sizes.

Avery at almost 3 months with her typical Spanish outfit.

Avery and her yaya.

What cute boys I have!

Avery at 3 months.

Clark wanted to participate with his sister in the photo shoot.

One day I decided to take a picture of Avery without her clothes on and Charlie wanted to join.

Our dinning area after the move after we started to organize a bit.

Our living area with all the stuff we had to find room for. Before we started to organize things, you couldn´t even see the rug and the boys had to climb over the bags in order to get to the couch.

Front entry.

Avery and the Yaya´s room. Next month I will hopefully have the after shots.

Avery´s first bath in the big bath tub.

Clark discovered the small ironing board and inmediately thought it was a skateboard.

Cute picture of the boys.

Clark likes to pose for the pictures.

FEBRUARY 2011 REVIEW

February was a short month and actually a pretty non-eventful month except for the fact that sickness continued to rule our house. Leo once again was sick and sometimes I felt like a mother of 4 instead of 3. Both Charlie and Clark also got sick with the flu and fever. I spent quite a bit of time washing sheets and washing toys and light switches etc. with the hopes of killing all the awlful germs. Luckily, (fingers crossed) Avery did not catch the flu. Leo was so sick he said even his finger nails hurt. Although he was so sick he couldn´t take any time off from work because he was promoted to an even bigger branch and there was just too much work to do. Leo even went sick on an overnight bus trip to go the temple in Madrid in order to attend the sealing of a family from our ward.

Avery is doing very well and is starting to baby talk and smile more. On her 2 months check-up she weighed and measured in the 95th percentile. She is growing out of a lot of clothes including a dress that supposedly was for 6 months to 9 months old.

On the last Saturday of February, the kids and I with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and nephew, we walked to the port to see Spain´s largest aircraft carrier. It wasn´t as big as I thought it would be but it was fun to get out and do something different.

Avery at 2 months

The first and last wear of this size 6 months old dress. (She cried when I had to put her arms through the holes.)

The princess amongst the many princes.

Family outing to the port to see the aircraft carrier ship.

JANUARY 2011 REVIEW

January was a joyous yet difficult month for the Wilcken Gutierrez Family.

First the joyous occasions: The first Sunday of the month was the blessing of our little Avery. Unfortunatley there was too much noise around for me to hear the whole prayer but I did hear that she is to live a very charitable life.

In January we also celebrated Three Kings Day with the rest of Spain. This is the biggest gift giving holiday in Spain in which the Wise Men come on their camels and leave gifts for all the girls and boys. We have started to celebrate this holiday as well, but Santa still leaves most of the gifts at our house.

Avery turned 1 month and is growing very quickly. She is a very good baby and the boys have been adjusting very well to the new addition although Clark seems to get a little jealous sometimes. However, he loves to cuddle next to her and say "Mi nene" although he should say "mi nena" since she is a girl.

Clark is saying more words in both Spanish and English and understands both languages. He can almost say 1-10 in both languages by himself. We are working on his colors but for now yellow is the color of everything. He is also a superheroe expert and can identify all the Marvel Superheroes and he can tell you their real last name.

Charlie has been learning to read in Spanish and is doing very well. He is also a Superheroe expert and he and Clark still love to dress up as Superheroes.

Not so joyous occasion: The hardest thing about the month of January was that we were all sick, even Avery. The fact that I just gave birth, was not sleeping very much at night, hormones going crazy and sick with a cold that lasted a month, made for few crying sessions on the phone with my mom and on the shoulder of Leo. All this, I think, made the transition of 3 kids harder than I expected.

Let´s hope for a healthier and happier February.

Avery on her blessing day.

For Three Kings Day each boy received a new Superheroe costume.

Avery at 1 month old.

Clark helping to iron with a beater.

The boys playing cowboys and superheroes and Star Wars all at once. Even they like to multi-task.

PLAYING CATCH UP: A QUICK MONTHLY REVIEW

When I decided to do a monthly post I knew it would be a challenge but I didn´t think it would be impossible, but it has been harder to keep up than I thought. And now that I am a mother of 3, I think it will be even harder (At this moment I am trying to feed Avery while Clark is standing next to me asking to sit in my chair). No matter the obstacles, I am determined to keep up the blog, but I am so behind now I must resort to just a quick review of the past several months.

SEPTEMBER:

Celebrated Charlie´s Superhero 5th birthday

School started and Clark wanted to go too.

One Sunday afternoon we picked up 3 young Belgian girl tourists who were going to sleep in a not so nice park so following the Spirt we brought them home and let them sleep in our living room. (They couldn´t have been too bad because they watched High School Musical with us.)

OCTOBER:

After trying to convince myself not to, I finally decided to organize once again the ward Halloween Carnival party. This year was much less stressful and I didn´t yell at my husband once. I was very proud of myself. Charlie was a vampire and Clark was Spiderman.

We also went to a friend´s halloween party at their house.

See pictures below.

NOVEMBER:

The biggest highlight for November was that we attended a Stake Marriage Conference at a 4 Star Hotel with an all you can eat buffett and swimming pool. We brought the kids along and had a very good time.

My kids know about Thanksgiving but we still have not celebrated the holiday properly since both Leo and I work that day. Some day soon my children will eat turkey and stuffing.

DECEMBER:

This month was very busy. We first celebrated Clark´s birthday, then our anniversary and then on the 13th, Avery Susana was born, not to mention Christmas and New Years and all the happenings that go along with these holidays.

On Sunday the 12th, I woke up and I thought that my water had broken but I was in charge of the primary program that day so we went to church and then later we went to the hospital. At the hospital they determined that I had a small leak so they admitted me but since I did not start having strong contractions on my own, they induced me Monday morning and by early afternoon, Avery was with us. It has been such a blessing to have her with us. She is such a good baby and the delivery was the best of all three. The only problem is that I have had a stubborn cold for almost a month now, that just won´t go away and now Avery has it too.

Pictures from decorating the house for Christmas and Clark´s birthday.



Random pictures from December including pictures of the cool book Grandma and Grandpa sent of G & G reading ´Twas the night before Christmas.

Christmas morning opening presents.

Fun at the park during the Christmas break.

MY SPECIAL THANKSGIVING

I am ashamed to admit it, but since living in Spain I have never officially celebrated Thanksgiving. My kids have never sat down to a special turkey feast with all the fixings. They have never made Thanksgiving decorations. They have never watched the Macy´s Thanksgiving parade or American Football. Since we live in a country that does not celebrate this holiday and it is work and school as usual, it makes celebrating a bit more difficult. And I think I didn´t pay close enough attention to my mom to know how to cook a turkey or maybe I am just a bit lazy, but nonetheless this year I wanted to share some thoughts I have been having lately and share what I am most thankful for this year.

Besides the usual, which of course I am very thankful for, for example: family, friends, home, gospel of Jesus Christ, body, work and health etc, this year I am especially thankful for my children waking me up at night. Let me explain: Something I really enjoying doing is reading blogs of other inspirational women. Reading their experiences and feelings, makes me more exicited about being a women, a wife and a mother. One of the blogs that I read is written by a women who has a daughter who is three years old, but her daughter was born with a rare genetic disorder which dictates that she needs constant medical attention and that she must always be hooked up to a ventilator. As a result the little girl lives at a specialized hospital. This mother has never had the experience of having her daugther at home. She has never used her nursery, her crib, etc. She has never taken her daughter to the park to play or take her shopping. In one of her most recent posts, this women talked about the things that she misses most of not having her child with her at home. One of the things she mentioned is that she misses being able to wake up during the middle of the night to comfort her daughter when she is sick or cries etc. When I read this, it hit me very hard because this is exaclty what I have been complaining most about lately. Between Clark who has been sick with a cold and cough for a month, the baby in my belly that doesn´t stop moving and is always on top of my bladder and Charlie who just has bad dreams once in awhile, I haven´t had a good nights rest for about a month and so I had been complaining. Although I still miss a good nights rest, I have made the decision not to complain anymore and to actually give thanks because getting up in the middle of the night, means that I have my kids with me at home. It means that although once in a while they get a little sick, my kids are healthy and alive and are at home with me, and for that reason I should be thankful that they sometimes keep me up at night because at least I get to have this experience unlike other mothers who only wish they could.

To all the mothers out there, I invite you to give thanks this year for sleepless nights.

AUGUST 2010: NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Although we didn´t make it to Oregon or Utah this year we did make it about half way and touch American soil. The first week of August, Leo and I made a trip to New York City; my second and Leo´s first. Ashlee decided to come out to meet us and we had an enjoyable 6 day visit packed with sightseeing and some good eats. It was hard to leave the kids behind in Spain but honestley I have to admit that it was nice to travel so light and not have to worry so much about potty breaks, nap time, and things to do bags etc. However, the kids were always present in our minds and we even found some candy bars named in their honer and an intersection in Brooklyn of Henry and Clark.

When we arrived at JFK airport we had arranged for a shuttle service to take us to our hotel. It was the longest and scariest shuttle ride ever. We were not too sure how our trip would turn out with such a rough start, but in the end we had a wonderful time. Leo has always said that he would like to live and work in NYC but I, on the otherhand, think it is a great city to visit, but not my cup of tea to live. I had my fingers crossed that Leo would enjoy the trip but not like the city too much. Well, I guess my fingers weren´t crossed enough becuase he LOVES the city and still wants to work there.

During our trip we visited all the main sightseeing places including: Time Square, Central Park(Watched the Rollerskater Dance Club), Grand Central Station (They were filming a movie with Justin Timberlake although he was not there), several street markets, Broadway St (we watched the musical Wicked and absolutely loved it), American Museum of Natural History, China Town, Little Italy(good food), Financial District, Wall Street, Statton Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center, FAO Schwartz (played the big piano), Lincoln Center, the Manhattan Temple, Brooklyn Bridge, and some famous Pizza place near the bridge. (I can´t remember the name but I do remember how good the pizza was.) It was a jam-packed fun adventure that I would definitely do again.

JULY 2010: EXPLORE SPAIN PART II

Like I mentioned in the last post, instead of going to northern Spain, we decided to go back to Madrid and take the kids to the Warner Brothers Amusement Park. Although there were not very many people which made getting on rides easy, it was very hot so it was a good thing that there were so many rides that involved water. Even Grandma and Grandpa got wet to keep cool. We should have brought our swimming suits but we had tons of fun nonetheless. By the time we went back to the hotel we were exhausted.

The next day we headed back to Cartagena which is about 4 1/2 hours away. The trip went smoothly but it felt good to be back home. Through out our roadtrip Grandma had prepared some gifts for the kids to open which they loved and we were even more excited when we got home because she had even more treats to give out, including superhero underwear as you can see below. During our time in Cartagena we visited the port, went on the turist boat that goes around the bay, walked around downtown Cartagena, and visited the beach several times. G & G also helped with several projects around the house: fixing toliets, shower heads, door handles, hanging curtains, taking down a bed, putting up bunkbeds, just to name a few. I don´t know what we would do without G & G. Thank you so much!

I also have to thank G & G for something else. Before they got here, we kept on telling Charlie that Grandma doesn´t speak Spanish so he could only speak to her in English. Something must have clicked because since then he has been a bilingual machine. No more Spanglish for him, aleast not very much. He is really doing well with both languages.

The worst part of a visit of course is the good-bye. G& G took the train to Madrid to catch their flight the next day. Luckily we live very close to the train station so we could all walk there. Once at the train station, the tears started and it was hard to stop. It was a great visit and we can´t wait until next time, but hopefully the next time will not be a short visit but more of a visit of the permanate nature.