Vin's Baptism This Sunday

We invite you to witness the baptism of our son

Vincent Taylor De Leon

Sunday November 23rd, 11 a.m.

Cathedral of Hope, Dallas Texas

Proposition 8

This past Saturday, "Crowds gathered near public buildings in cities large and small, including Boston, San Francisco, Chicago,Fargo and Dallas to vent their frustrations, celebrate gay relationships and renew calls for change."

James, Vin and I were proud to be a part of these activities! Read more about these protests and how you can help your state and the nation recognize same sex relationships at

Gay advocates protest marriage ban across nation
and sign the Human Rights Campaign Marriage Equality Petiton!

Food #2

The sweet potatoes went pretty well so we moved on to avocados. He seems to like these too but we've discovered that when he eats "real" food he doesn't sleep very well at night. We think it might be a digestive issue or it might just be a coincidence. We're still trying to figure all this out.

Fall Festival

On Friday Brinker had a Fall Festival for families. Tickets were given for donating canned goods and they had a cake walk, a giant inflatable slide, pony rides and lots of other stuff.

Here I am at the pie throwing booth. Before....

and after....

Vin's First Real Food

Vin ate sweet potatoes today, his first "real" food. We were expecting him to dislike it but he was really receptive to the whole thing, just look how happy he is in his new highchair.

Here he is practicing with his teething ring.

The Big Moment!

No big story to report on this picture. Just an average night with our adorable son sitting on the counter top in the kitchen.

Halloween

Since I was not the type of girl who always wanted children, I had very few "visions" of what kind of mom I would be. However, I always knew I would be the Mom who made homemade costumes for my children, staying up late into the night with the sewing machine, glue gun, etc.


For his first Halloween Vin was a Chili Pepper (full disclourse note: I did not make this costume)

Then he went as Charlie Brown

We knew way back in the summer that we wanted him to be Charlie Brown, he has the perfect "blockhead" for this.

Cosume #3
Teri and I love Halloween and especially love going as Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. We started this several years ago and it has become our standard costume.

Here we are the very first year.

Last year when I was pregnant with Vin, we broke with tradition and Teri went as a Chef (look at her utensil) and I went as an Oven with a bun in it. Teri made my oven, look closely at the top where she built in a drink holder.

This year we were back to our favorite couple but this time Vin made the perfect accessory. What do you get when you cross a frog and a pig?

A FRIG!!!!

Check out his pink pig ears! His curly pink tail is hiding in all the pictures but it was there!

We attended a party with all our other baby friends and their parents. Here we are with Lourdes and her daughter Sienna who was a chipmunk!

This is Wesley as an adorable cowardly lion with his Mom Katherine and Dad Jeff as Dorothy and the Scarecrow.

And here are our devilishly good looking friends, Lisa and Trevor.

Living History

I've taught United States history for almost 10 years now. I've been responsible for teaching thousands of students the history of their country. I tell them that the history of the United States is largely the history of race. We start with the landing of the first slaves in Jamestown in 1610 and discuss the long and hard struggle to abolish this practice.
It took the U.S. over 250 years to outlaw slavery and the Civil War cost us 600,000 lives in the process but the struggle for equality was just beginning. We go on to study the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. For those who need a refresher on these the 13th abolished slavery, the 14th granted freed slaves citizenship and the 15th gave black men the right to vote.

Ideally these post Civil War efforts were the opportunity that America had to be who we always said we were - the land of the free and the home of the brave, a democracy where all men were created equal. Unfortunately this was not the case, white supremacy continued into the 20th century where poll taxes, grandfather clauses and literacy test prevented many African Americans from voting. Domestic terrorist organizations like the KKK emerged and lynchings were common place, especially in the South.

When the Civil Rights Movement begins in the 1950's America again has the opportunity to live up to its claims. Courageous leaders like Martin Luther King led nonviolent protests against a "militantly defensive majority population".
Finally after years of struggle a new dawn emerges with the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Bill and the Civil Rights Act.
Last week Teri and I early voted for Barack Obama. I literally cried in the process. I was then, and am today, prouder to be an American than any other time in my life. I took Vin with me into the voting booth and cast my ballot. The election of our first African American President is a long time coming and I'm just so proud that I got to be a part of this historic election.