On Saturday we threw a surprise birthday party for Aaron. He will be 27 on the 29th, but we had it a little early so it would more easily surprise him. He was shocked! We had almost 50 people come to celebrate with us and it was awesome. It was a perfect day for it and my parents have a great place for parties. My dad cooked a pig and some chickens, and mom prepared all the sides. They worked really hard to put it all together. Some pictures to show how fun it was!:
Thanks to Joy for taking this picture of his reaction. We had just pulled up and when he got out of the car, we took off the blindfold.

Charles helped out a lot with getting the pig ready. He and Brittany came all the way from Nash County (NC) to encourage Aaron for his bday.The main cook and a helper...Granny and Gene came from Lucama for the party. They were a big help (especially when Granny took care of Vivian for me). We really missed Grandma...she had to stay in Raleigh because she wasn't feeling well. She prepared several dishes, though, and sent them with Grandma Carolyn and Granddaddy, who came from Pinehurst.While we waited for supper, we hung out at the pool.Lots of mommies and babies!Brittany (Charles's wife), Susan, and Ava. David, Susan, and Ava also drove a long way- from Wilson, NC. It really meant a lot to Aaron.Jenny played with Vivian and got her to sleep. Yay! :) She'll make an awesome mom in the near future, right Tyler?Gracie and Ava and several other kids swamAnd then it was time to eat!David, Susan, and Ava. Thanks for driving all that way to hang out with us!Here's a big star of the party: Seth Morgan. Jonathan and Joy came from Greensboro and brought their little one (6 weeks old). I was glad to finally meet him.As long as we're on baby pictures, here's one of me with my cutie :) It's getting cooler in the evenings here. And of course we had a cake!And then the real fun began: there was a mechanical bull for entertainment. Most everyone had a chance to ride it and it was hilarious to see them get thrown off. Michael was a pro

The birthday boy (man, I mean)

Even Vivian had her turn with Uncle Joey!
And last but not least, my mom gave it a try. I'm mad that I was inside the house and missed seeing it, but thanks to Michael we have proof with this picture.
It was a memorable party! Happy birthday, Aaron.

This morning Aaron, his friend Bryan from Spring Hope, and my brother Michael ran the Marine Mud Run, a 5K race here in Salem. They finished looking like this:
Because they had to wade in a stretch of mud like this:
Another part of the race was through knee-deep water. I think they had fun!

Vivian is 3 months old today :) We took some pictures to remember her growth. Enjoy! I know I should take her birthday pictures beside a stuffed animal to show size comparison from month to month, but we don't have any stuffed animals that would work for that. I'll look for one for next time. I can't get her to smile when taking a picture because she is so focused on the camera.


To celebrate, we had a ladies night out with Vickie, Kathy, Debbie, Carissa, and Gramme. The little one slept most of the time because her mom had her out past bedtime...yikes. I had a huge brownie on behalf of her, for celebration purposes of course.
At 3 months, Vivian:
-loves to be outside
-loves to sit up or stand up so that she can see what's going on
-is exclusively breastfed, although we are starting to introduce formula a little bit just to see if she needs the extra ounces. She eats every 3 1/2 hours during the day, starting at 7 a.m.
-naps 3 times a day (or tries to) and goes to bed around 7 or 7:30
-is cutting her first tooth
-rolls from tummy to back
-smiles and squeals when looking at herself in the mirror
-likes to watch TV
-shows her best smiles on the changing table

Size comparison

We also took this opportunity to have a photo shoot with her Papa.

"Whoa, Papa, cool wheels..."

Vivian has been rolling over from her stomach to back. She's not crazy about being on her stomach for very long, so she's figured out a way to get out of it. It's a short video- I caught her in action at the last second. And excuse my loud laughing...her cuteness makes me really happy :)

Check out that drool...she's cutting her first tooth and drools in excess all the time!

We will miss Bow and have fond memories of him. But even though it will probably take several months, I am going to get all of the dog hair out of our house!! And no more barking to wake the baby from her naps! Aaron wrote a poem to remember this day:

December 2006

Dear Dad,
This is how I've felt all week without you here:This is how I felt when mom told me that you're coming home tomorrow:This is how I felt when she tried to explain what your seminars have been about this week: Have a safe trip home!
Love,
Vivian

Note: no babies were made to cry for this post.

Dear Dad,
Here I am, all tucked in for the night after a full day of playing with mom! Can't wait until you're home so you can be the one to tuck me in. I stayed at home again today to practice napping, so nothing much to tell about. I can say that I have started lifting myself up out of the bouncy seat and car seat, and also that mom found a white spot on my bottom gums that she's wondering about. Cutting teeth isn't supposed to start for many more months, so she's curious about what it is and I have no idea either.
Glad you called us today!
Love,
Vivi girl

Dear Dad,
Today there isn't much news to tell you about because it's very rainy outside and we are just playing inside. After my long morning nap with mom, I played a lot by myself. I also watched a DVD of nursery rhymes in Spanish very intently. Mom is making me work hard on my naptimes, so please keep praying for me. I hope you are learning a lot at your seminar today. I love you and I will write another letter if anything else exciting happens!
Love,
Your little girl

Dear Dad,
Things are not the same without you here with me and mom. I know you had to go to Dallas for that training, but we are already missing you here! Thanks for kissing me goodbye this afternoon before you left. I can't wait until you come home next week. I hope you learn a lot about batteries while you are there.
Mom and I will post some notes to you about what we're doing this week. Call us anytime!
Love,
Vivian

A couple of new things are happening at the Fernandez house:

1.

Aaron is learning to play the guitar. Actually, he started several months ago, and then put it down for a few months, and now has started again. He teaches himself by picking a song he likes, looking up the chords on the Internet, and trying it out until it sounds right. He's very good at it! He knows about 10 songs now. He plays Jesus Loves Me and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star for the baby, and for me he plays the Doxology and Holy, Holy, Holy.

2.

From this weekend, at 10 weeks old: In July at Emerald Isle, at 4 weeks old:

We had a great vacation at the beach! We got there late on Friday night, just in time to see Mike, Peggy, and Brooke before bed. On Saturday we had a lazy morning and then went to the Expo for the runners to pick up registration packets and browse the vendors. Later we got lunch together along the main strip of Va. Beach.

We went to the beach for a few minutes that afternoon and took pictures of the baby, spent some time in the hotel room, and then went for pizza and ice cream and a walk on the boardwalk. Sunday was the big day...the Rock 'N' Roll half marathon. Aaron and Mike ran and the women cheered them on along the side of the course. They did great! They both finished around 2 hours. There was a tremendous amount of people there and it was very inspiring to watch them compete. Glad it wasn't me, though :). Aaron is in the very middle of the picture in the gray shirt. Here he is at the home stretch...only a few tenths of a mile to the finish line along the boardwalk. I enjoyed my job as head cheerleader for my hubby. Vivian cheered for a while, too, but before her dad got to us she started getting sleepy so I turned her around to take a nap.
After the race, we met up on the beach and rested for a few minutes.Congratulations, men.
Yes, this is a picture of a dumpster. It's the dumpster at the hotel where we stayed. What a crazy story...Aaron's registration bag from the Expo was missing on Saturday night. It is a really important bag...it had his bib number and his time chip in it for the race. He had to have it. After some deducing, we figured out that housekeeping had thrown it away! Aaron went down to the dumpster and sifted through the trash to find it. We all thought it was a lost cause, but only 10 minutes later he came back to the room with bag in hand. He had found it in the 4th trash bag he looked in!

On Sunday night we went to a nice dinner and finished the vacation with an adventurous bike ride. It was really crowded along the bike path but Aaron and Brooke did a great job navigating, and we didn't crash into anyone. We came back Monday morning after breakfast. Great trip. Vivian did fabulous.