feliz cumple Argentina!!!!!!!!

today is Argentina's 200th birthday!! (Independence Day) ...Central Market in Texas did a 2 week celebration by adding some traditional Argentine food to their menu (which by the way was NOT nearly as good as the real thing - obvio!), wine tasting, Argentine cooking classes and some tango dancing and lessons. the 3 of us went out last weekend and it was actually pretty disappointing - there's no party like an Argentine party...in Argentina. this one didn't even compare. but it was fun to go out and proudly sport our blue and white! ...actually, we went to Costco first and met 2 Argentines who work there! they approached us because of our jerseys and kyle even exchanged numbers with a guy so that they can play truco!!!!!!!!!!

look how excited Sierra is to be wearing the jersey her tias in Argentina bought her!! ...i forgot her bloomers so please excuse the uncensored photo. ...also, you can't tell because she's sitting, but she is wearing a white mini skirt :)

just another Argentine family all dressed alike...oh wait, we were the only ones! haha!

watching the tango lesson - it was very hot out in that tent....we didn't stay long

the parilla in the parking lot! ...but all we tried were the empanadas and a tarta

...yes, Sierra is wearing pink alpargatas!!!!!!!!

oh, how we miss our friends and the Argentine culture!!! te extranamos y te amamos, Argentina! we can't wait for our visit later this year!!!!!

future Longhorn?

Sierra loves to look at the clothes hanging in her closet. Whenever I am carrying her and we walk by the closet, she gets really excited and reaches towards the clothes. When I take her closer, she always reaches for the same one, every single time...and with a big smile on her face...

the burnt orange Texas Longhorns t-shirt!!!

what a smart girl!!! she must have some burnt orange in her blood :)

for some reason the link to the video didn't show up on the last post, here it is:

babble babble

Sierra's usual smile

...her new happy grin - it's adorable...she squints her eyes, wrinkles up her nose, opens her mouth just enough to show off her gums and makes this "hmmm" sound of pure contentment. melts me heart :)

Sierra is changing so quickly these days I feel like I can't keep up! She is at such a fun stage right now and is super curious about everything!

I noticed recently that when I repeated certain words she would watch my mouth as I talked. So I did what any mom would do and started saying "mama, mama..." over and over again - she loved it and would watch my lips! (ok, so i decided to be fair and i say "dada, dada" too...but maybe a little less, haha :)

On Thursday night (at 7 1/2 months), Sierra broke out her first "words"! She talked to us for a good 15 or 20 minutes straight! It was hilarious and super super cute! We didn't get out the camera until towards the end but caught a little on video. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG_fYV3pNrA

*I think she loves this new trick a little too much - last night when I put her to bed for the night she laid in her crib babbling for an hour and a half straight!(NOT exaggerating...ask Leslie or Lauren!) It was hilarious - she just talked to herself, very happily, until finally she was worn out and tired...an hour and a half later!!! We may have a big talker on our hands!*

quack quack

this is one of those pictures that she will be embarassed by one day, but we just LOVE it