Update!

It's 5am, Gemma is nursing, and only the light of the phone can be seen in the darkness. Her breathing is soft, rhythmic and comforting. The horn of the train wails in the distance as though it's quite pissed it can't be snug in bed as well. Surely everyone must be in bed, right? I hear you train.

Browsing the web for a local deli about to open up led me back to my old stomping grounds, and I thought an update was in order. It's only been over a year!

Well.

Zephyr is two years old and still amazing.

Tony is still the most loving father and thoughtful husband.

Tokyo and Hoyt have been missing our attention for awhile now :(

Gemma is three months and a complete joy.

Life is good!

A New Summer

Summer is here and this one is special.  It's the first as a mom.  It's hard to believe that a year ago my sweet little Zephyr was chilling cozily in me.  Now he's laughing, mimicking, crawling, flirting; doing it all!  I've been basking in the rays of contentment that comes when I am able to spend all of my days with my loving boy and husband. I'm sporting a new do', we bought some land, we're hitting the roads, and best of all we laugh with our little guy who amazes us everyday with his burstful energy and unique personality. 

Happiness Like This

Zephyr is four months old and a complete joy. Our world is filled with smiles, squeals, and lovely yellow poop. Little would I have thought that keeping a watchful eye for a baby to roll onto his tummy by himself would bring such suspense and pride, but alas it does! With babies making their grand entrances all around us in our circle of friends and family, these gentle souls have never been more captivating to me, especially my sweet boy.

time is a flying...

my little man z turned a month old last week, time has really flown by. the first two weeks were definitely trying times as all three of us adjusted to our new life together: z being outside of the womb, me breastfeeding every two hours and healing from the c-section, and tony and i saying goodbye to sleeping through the night. but boy has it been worth it! zephyr is the sweetest little soul. his precious face and big brown eyes make every moment a reminder of how lucky and blessed we are and how far we've come to be here. at a month old he is starting to have more control of his neck and he's addicted to looking around. he is locking eyes with us more and it's the most fun to carry on a conversation of coos and aahs with him. he is starting to smile a lot more and that of course instantly melts our hearts.

smiles...

at two weeks of age, zephyr's smiles come quick and mostly due to gas. but boy do they melt my heart. i got really lucky with the shot below.

it's a boy!!

zephyr salvador made his grand entrance on a beautiful september afternoon. we are in love!

 

about to pop!

today i am 38 weeks pregnant and soooo anxious to meet baby castro!! we have everything ready to go for BC from the room and washed clothes to the hospital bags! the anticipation of finding out if baby castro is a boy or girl is definitely at an all time high! i am so happy that tony helped me to wait on finding out our baby's gender until the big day. it has made this pregnancy that much more special and exciting for us. today i made this little video using a nifty little iphone app called 8mm vintage camera. i love the settings and wanted to test it out : )

smile!

with a baby on the way, tony and i thought a new camera would come in handy to capture special moments.  today tony's little sis vicki was our photographer for the day.  she helped capture some photos of our growing family!

feeling good...

 

it's amazing to think that within five to seven weeks, we will get to finally meet our little one! it's crazy to feel baby castro stretch its little foot out of my right side, which it does quite often.  tony always says that he (or she) is packing and taking down the frames and posters in his (or her) room! i'm feeling great and loving each moment : )

the dog park...

hoyt loves to run with his new bff sailor at the dog park and tokyo loves to chase hoyt to remind him he needs to behave more properly.  it's quite amusing.  today we ventured out to madison square dog park in the morning and i took some footage of their play.  then i tried out an imovie app on the iphone and made this silly but fun little trailer of their adventure : )   

in the mood...

for a cheesy hamburger. YUM! cheese, pickles, tomatoes, avocado? yes, please!
my honey doesn't disappoint.

glowing...

34 weeks and loving pregnancy.  who knew baby hiccups could be so endearing and washing baby clothes for the first time could make me smile so : )

little beauties...

life is always sweeter with these three around : )

cambria

alayna

nadia

It's a hot summer...

The boys need to stay cool somehow :)

 

preparing for "bc" {baby castro}

another school year is down and it's summertime! while i have been enjoying some much needed rest, tony and i have been busy preparing for our newest addition, little baby castro who is due at the end of august! its been a lot of fun browsing pinterest for inspiration and ideas and we're just about done. it's been even more fun hunting for fabrics with tony and just being creative as we make curtains, a pelmet box, wall mobile, an abacus, art, and shelves!

out the front door...



boo bash sack racing



hays street bridge



siclovia



chalk it up

 

freckled streets



bright hues

 

diwali festival

 

accordian festival

wow. to think it's been since summer that i've last updated our blog.  time sure is flying by!  thanksgiving break is already around the corner.  last month we celebrated our one year in the house and the shots above are some of the awesome events we've been able to enjoy recently. 

the dig is heating up...

and i'm not talking about the weather...our dig hill neighborhood association voted to support the establishment of a microbrewery on a city owned lot located near the outer edges of our neighborhood.  there are of course different views and opinions on the issue everywhere.  from what i can tell by monday night's meeting, many are for it, some are skeptical, and a few are fervently opposed.  very interesting... it appears the city seems to think so too by the looks of these stories from sa current, ksat news, and the express news.

on a side note, dig hill is finally getting the much anticipated historic street signs installed.  woohoo!

we ♥ dignowity hill...

there are so many great initiatives in the works in dignowity hill and it has been an absolute thrill for us to be able to participate and contribute in any way that we can.  sometimes,  i reflect back on the preconceived notions i held about the neighborhood during the initial stages of our house hunting and  i always end up shaking my head in disbelief at how little i really knew about the community's history, significance, beauty, and people. it's like befriending the outcast and realizing, hey you're not as bad they said! ha, ten months in and we are absolutely DIGGING our community ;) ok, to the fun stuff.  let's see...

there's THE EASTSIDE SPROUT...

our community is starting up a second garden in dignowity hill at ella austin community center called the eastside sprout.  we are in the beginning stages and looking for volunteers of all skill levels and ages. we were just approved recently for funding by green spaces alliance and look forward to the fall season which will start off our first planting efforts. i wasn't a "dig" resident when the first community garden took off so i'm so excited to be a resident now and help out from the very beginning.  i'm so looking forward to meeting even more community members and enjoying the fruits of our labor together.

there is also THE EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE...

our community is also planning to build a partnership with saisd's bowden elementary, one of the elementary school's in our community.  as a teacher, this is right up my alley and i'm psyched to see that our committee is growing to include members outside of our community who really want to make a positive impact on the children. insight and support from communities in schools and san antonio youth literacy are really helping us build a strong foundation for our committee and we look forward to beginning a mentoring program in the fall and a "saturday school" type program in the spring. in this program, students and their parents will meet with volunteers and fellow community members who will teach a unique skill. we are currently still in the planning stages and hope to present our plan to the neighborhood soon so that we can start recruiting volunteers and mentors.

and there is THE FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE... 

 now, this one is really tony's baby.  but since i went to the last meeting for him, i have to share what may be in the works. it's a halloween block party.  that's all i'm throwing out since it's the very early stages of planning.  but many cool ideas were thrown around at the meeting and there's much potential for good ol' scary and neighborly fun in october.  it's gonna be a treat!

there's also talks of a MICROBREWERY... 

eugene simor, owner of alamo beer company, would like to build a microbrewery on a city owned corner lot near the restored haystreet bridge which is located in dignowity hill.  tony and i absolutely love this idea because it would bring more attention and economic interest to our side of town.  this will be san antonio's only microbrewery in the city and would help shine a light on the beauty of the dignowity hill historic district.  hopefully, it will also help others in the city think again about their preconceived notions about the eastside.  simor has already presented his plan to the city and neighborhood association and many of us our thrilled.  however, there are some residents who feel that the microbrewery would bring only traffic and noise into the neighborhood.  they feel that a skate park would be a better solution for the use of the city owned corner lot. the neighborhood association will take a vote this monday to choose its stance on the issue.  we'll be there!

and just yesterday, we attended a BURGER FEST!

so this isn't in the works since it just happened yesterday and it's not organized by our neighborhood per se, but still it's pretty awesome and just down the street,  it's the all-american burger festival! it was our first year to attend the event and we look forward to chowing down again next year.  yum!


what's in between your buns?



loving the lake + nkotb + my hardworking man...

the secret's out, boerne city lake is a great place to visit if you're looking to spend a quiet and relaxing day at a lake that is right outside san antonio.  the scenery was beautiful and i was surprised with how few people were there in the morning.  we can't wait to go back...



mom practicing her swing



dad fishing



tokyo chilling

 

the boys bonding

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my favorite band as a girl, new kids on the block, came to san antonio a couple of weeks ago.  my bff, sis in law and i went to the concert for some good ol' screaming and dancing to the songs of our youth.  we even dressed up retro! we got out the curling iron, teasing comb, some bright colors and went wild.  fun, fun!

we love you jordan and donnie!!



bsb's biggest fan!

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my hardworking man built us a bench for our front porch... and in this texas heat!  our front porch is finally coming together and is starting to feel like the welcoming space we've been working toward.  good job tony!


hammering...



sawing...



and perfecting away...

while these two cuties looked on...



in between their kissing breaks!

and viola! our bench that we get to all enjoy!