Eric and Emily's Adventures

The One About Poo

2012-01-17T14:09:00.007-06:00

I know, I know. It's been forever since I've posted. I'm sure I've left everyone with lots of questions about our life: How is everyone? What are the girls up to these days? How cold is it in Iowa right now? And with any luck, I'll get to that stuff one of these days. Today however, I am led in a different: The girls' digestive systems. Yes, let's break the silence on the blog with some good poop talk...'cause that's what you do when you're a parent. You talk about poop.

We'll start with the little one. Lilian, my sweet Lilian. Whose first word was "mama" just before 11 months. Whose 2nd word was just about a month ago. It was "gaaaaa" (gas). Yes, my little petite cupcake's second word was gas. And to date, it remains her favorite. She enjoys announcing to the world whenever she toots or burps. She is also quick to let the world know when anyone else around her passes gas...and she often points at the offender. You can't get away with anything around that one. Be warned.

It should also be noted that besides being highly entertained by bodily functions, there is something about the car seat that makes the kid fill her diaper. You frequently go the door on her side and are met by a giant, contented grin, maybe even an excited squeal, and the stench of a poop-filled diaper. Which often escapes the diaper (always escapes if she is wearing a disposable) and fills up her pants legs and possibly even the car seat. I'm not sure if her pleasure is derived from the fact that she feels better with her bowels empty or that she finds humor in knowing the mess someone else is about to have to clean up. Either way, it's really quite charming. (<--insert sarcastic tone here)

And then there is Gabriela. Or Miss Fiber as I believe I might start calling her. More than once she has snuck off with a box of prunes and totally chowed down until I caught her. (Note, a child who eats a half pound of prunes in the morning will be spending the afternoon sitting on the potty. In the case of my two year old, that is considered a benefit of said activity. Much like her sister's fascination with gas, Gabs gets exceptionally excited about pooping.) When not eating copious amounts of prunes, she enjoys bran flakes or All-Bran bran buds, fruits of all kind, sweet corn, beans...she's a proctologist's dream patient. The kid loves her fiber. Which I'm going to credit for afternoons like today.

Just as I got up the counter at the bank today with two children en tow, Gabriela announced that she needed to "faz cocô". It's moments like these that I am thankful we speak Portuguese, as I don't believe everyone in the bank wished to hear about her need for a toilet at that moment. I asked her if she could wait just a few minutes, and she told me she could. Although the look in her eyes said otherwise. I asked the teller if there was a bathroom we could use, but I was informed there was no public restroom. I told Gabs she would have to wait just a moment. The transaction at the bank counter was taking longer than it should. Gabriela continued to remind me she needed to poop. I explained that the two year old really needed a potty, but the nice teller explained to me that we were not allowed to use the restroom at the bank. Moments later, as I continued to wait on the teller to finish our transaction, I watched as Gabs got a most concerned look on her face, and then, with tears building, she told me that she had cocô in her new monkey panties.

It should be noted that a diet high in fiber leads to rather soft stools. Rather soft stools are rather difficult for a two year old to control. And getting poop in your new panties is really upsetting. Especially when they are your favorite ones with monkeys on them.

It's not a lot of fun to clean soft poo out of monkey panties in the bank parking lot either - you know, since we couldn't use the bathroom there, and I wasn't about to make the poor kid sit in her car seat with her pants full. That's for Lilian to do. Which she did. On the way home from the bank.

Marvelous Moments in Mothering

2011-10-03T08:03:00.005-05:00

My Grandad tells the story of being just a few years old and having a bigger kid shove half of an acorn in his ear. When he came home and told Granny, my great grandmother, she made some comment about him needing to quit telling tall tales (she probably then gave him a dose of castor oil to clean the fibbing out of him - although I'm just guessing on that part.) He never mentioned that acorn again. A few years later, Grandad was seeing the doctor for a problem with his ear. As the doctor was flushing out his ear, something fell out into the metal bowl with a "clank". After careful inspection, it turned out to be a partially disintegrated half of an acorn. As a mother, I'd think that would leave you feeling a little guilty. But Granny and Papa had four kids and a big farm (that was tilled with mules), and I'm pretty sure they didn't have indoor plumbing yet. Granny probably didn't have time for such things as guilt.

The last week or so, every time I put Gabriela's new sneakers on her feet, she says (in her most dramatic tone), "Ooooooo, tiiiiiiight". It's one of her favorite words right now, and uses it every chance she gets, so every day I've told her, "Look kid, these shoes are a size bigger than you normally wear, they are NOT tight. They're fine." And that quiets her down and she never mentions it again. Until the next time I put her shoes on her.

Last night, after the girls were in bed, I was in the bathroom scrubbing Gabs' shoes. Scrubbing shoes is not normally part of my routine, but I was doing it yesterday. Partially because they were black and yucky from walking the streets of Belo Horizonte and just needed it. Partially because I didn't want to get scolded again while on the streets of Belo Horizonte by some random woman. But mostly because I was tired of getting my clothes dirty every time I picked her up.

So anyway, I was scrubbing her shoes in the bathroom sink and decided to pull out the insoles so they would dry faster. When I did, a sock fell out of each shoe. Apparently, Eric or I (let's blame it on Eric) stuffed her socks into her shoes, most likely after she kicked them off in the car on the way home from supper, and we ended up carrying her and her footwear into the hotel. And apparently, instead of taking the socks out before the next time she wore her shoes, one of us (let's blame it on Eric) just shoved her little foot in there, wading up the sock into the toe of her shoe.

Turns out, her shoes probably were feeling a little tight every time we put them on her. We should maybe listen to the kid sometimes.

And I did feel a little guilty about blowing off her comment and the fact that she has been walking around with her toes all crammed up due to socks being shoved into the end of her shoes.

But then I remembered Granny. And it's not like she had a sock shoved into an oriface or anything. So then I felt better.

We are taking off this evening to make the journey back to the US after a glorious 17 days in Brasil. Gabriela will have clean shoes for the voyage. And they will be significantly less tiiiiiight.

44 lbs of kids, 146 lbs of luggage (plus carseats)

2011-09-19T10:12:00.007-05:00

A 1.5 hour car ride, 3 flights (one international), 1 bus, and a taxi ride over the course of 26 hours is a little daunting alone with a toddler and an infant. But when Eric realized he needed to be in India for almost two weeks and then fly straight to Brasil for another two weeks, I saw no other option. Mama wasn't about to spend the entire month of September alone with the kids! Eric had all kinds of excuses as to why he couldn't take the children with him and leave me in peace for a month (some nonsense about needing to accomplish some work?)

So the girls and I drove up to Cedar Rapids on Thursday morning, hopped a plane to Dallas, killed 5 hours in the airport, boarded an overnight flight to Rio de Janeiro, made our way through customs and immigration, checked into another airline, and finally made it into Belo Horizonte's airport at 11:00 am on Friday morning. My Brasil BFF, Megan, met me at the airport and helped me lug the two girls, their two carseats, and all 146 pounds of luggage on board the airport shuttle bus to downtown BH and then transfer it all to a taxi and into her apartment. The president of Brasil happened to be making an appearance here at the moment we arrived and traffic was a nightmare. Our 10 minute taxi ride took 1 1/2 hours. I was rather delirious by the time we arrived. And very ready for a nap. The girls were exceptionally well rested and ready to party it up. Megan totally saved me.

The girls were AMAZING. No, really. I know they are my kids. And I know everyone thinks their own kids are awesome. But seriously. I was a bit anxious about the whole journey. I played out every imaginable scenario in my mind to try and figure out what I would do if my two year old darted off and snuck onto a plane to Abu Dhadi and simultaneously Lilian had a massive blow out while attached to me and we both were completely covered in poop. I think I was prepared to handle anything the kids, the FAA, or the airline might throw at me. But it was so easy. Despite that I probably gave myself an ulcer in the days leading up to our travels, the girls made me look like SuperMommy! You could see the not-at-all-pleased looks of airline employees, security checkers, flight attendants, and other passengers as they saw me coming with two little ones all by myself. But we had won them all over by the time we walked away and received so many compliments.

I talked to Gabriela a lot in the couple days leading up to our trip and told her all about what we were going to do and how she was really going to have to follow directions well. Our daily prayers included a request for easy flights, for Gabriela and Lilian to behave themselves, and for Mamãe to have lots and lots of patience and stamina. And oh how blessed we were!

Gabriela, who is basically a good kid, but is only two and doesn't always mind perfectly, did everything I asked her to do. The first time I asked. And never once complained. Never once whined. Never once cried (except for at the very end of our final flight when she really wanted to look out the window and I told her she had to sit down and buckle up, but it lasted less than 20 seconds).

Lilian was a total champ. She was so easy going and content. She is crawling and cruising like crazy and hates to be contained right now, so I was sure she'd have a hard time with having to sit in her carseat for such long stretches of time. She was lacking in the sleep department by the end of it all, but, same as Gabs, never whined or cried. At all!

There was one moment on the overnight flight at about 4:00 am when I looked over at my two sleeping beauties and got totally teary-eyed. Not really like me at all, but I was so overwhelmed with how well behaved they had both been despite missing naps and being rushed around and being confined to carseats and told they must be quiet. I think it was partially just the exhaustion setting in (as I hadn't had much sleep the night before either with all the last minute preparations for the trip), but I seriously had to stop looking over at the angelic children beside me for fear of starting the waterworks. Plus, I didn't want to get too attached to that idea of my children...I knew it wouldn't last forever and didn't want to be disappointed when they returned to their normal ornery selves later on. haha

I also decided that patience is a lot easier to come by when your kids are behaving. I try to be a calm, patient person on a daily basis, especially when it comes to dealing with the babes. And while I usually succeed and have a cool exterior, I am often boiling over on the inside. I was 100% calm and easy going throughout the whole adventure. That was kind of nice. :)

Eric arrived in Brasil about 13 hours after we did. He was a brave soul as he recounted how he hung out in the Admirals Lounge eating free sushi and drinking free wine and how lovely it was when got upgraded for free to First Class on two of his flights. (He has earned quite the status on American Airlines with all this traveling he's been doing the last year!) Luckily I had taken a nap before he arrived and was able to maintain that earlier calm and restrain myself from strangling him with the strap of one of the two carseats I hauled across a continent by myself with two children.

It's been nice to see my hubby and to not be out-numbered by my kids. After moving out of Megan's apartment and to our hotel on Saturday morning, we enjoyed a low key weekend with a couple different friends. It feels good to be here -even if it is unseasonably cool at the moment.

And after the great trip down here, I've decided to keep my kids. About Day 10 alone with them back home last week, I was considering selling them to the Gypsies.

Oh now, you know I'm only kidding.

I might have locked myself in the bathroom for 10 minutes of peace though. Okay, so it was 15 minutes. If it makes you feel better I did pay for it later. Do you know how big of a mess unsupervised children will make in 15 minutes?

Quick Trip to KC

2011-08-12T09:40:00.009-05:00

The girls and I spent Sunday-Thursday in Kansas City, Kansas with my dad. He was attending a conference over there. We decided that 5 hours is a heck of a lot closer than 14, so we made the journey over to visit with him.

When Grandpa wasn't in meetings, we go tto hang out and play tourists. We went to the Kansas City Zoo, the Kansas City Children's Museum, the Agricultural Hall of Fame, and Harry Truman's home in Independence, Missouri. The girls and I had a good time with Grandpa (or BaPAAAAAW as Gabriela calls him) for sure!

Who had more fun in the water room at the Children's Musuem, Gabriela?

Or Grandpa?

Gabriela is especially enamored with elevators and requires lots of reminding of which buttons are okay to push (the one that takes us to the lobby, for example) and which she cannot (like the emergency call button...again.) After a lengthy conversation about why she can't call the nice operator, again, the Texas cowboy on the elevator looked at us and asked, "so where y'all from?" I smiled and casually responded, "We're from Iowa". At that moment, the elevator stopped and he got off. As the doors shut behind him, I realized what he was really wanting to know was what language I was speaking with my child and why. I suspect I might have left him confused about the geographic location of Iowa. "Well, dang, I coulda sworn that Iowa was a US state..." Oops.

I made it a point to regularly loudly say things like, "Lilian, you can sit over there next to GRANDPA, and Gabs can sit with me." Dad and I noticed we got lots of looks when we were together...I used to get the same looks back when I was in college and he'd take me to supper anytime he was in Athens for a meeting. Back then I could just call him Dad and straighten out any confusion. Unfortunately, when there are two young children involved, me calling him "Dad" just seems to make people think he is the father of the babies. And that I am a major gold digger.

Along those lines, I think my Dad got a good reminder of why 50-somethings don't normally have babies. Gabriela's super-human energy wears him out just a little (he seemed more ready for naptime each day than she did! hehe) and Lilian always surprised him with her go-go-gadget-arms that can reach anything she isn't supposed to have. There is no doubt he enjoys his grandbabies...but I do get the feeling that he, like most grandparents, appreciates that he gets to send 'em home when he's done with 'em! :) (Too bad you have to actually raise your own kids before you get to enjoy that benefit...it's just as annoying as that whole having to work 30 years before you're allowed to retire. Why do old folks get to have all the fun?!? hehe)

We got back to Burlington in time for a friend's 5th Birthday Party (a pool party) yesterday afternoon. After returning home from that last night, more than a little exhausted after 5 days without Papai and a 5+ hour solo journey with the kids, I was harassing Eric about not having the garden picked, flowers watered, yard mowed, or laundry done. I might have gently suggested that had he left me alone with no children for 4 nights I could accomplish all kinds of things...I might have even gone so far as to suggest that he give me the opportunity to prove it. ;) He urged me to go into the storage room in the basement before I said anymore. Which is where I noticed he had changed out the water heater.

The water heater was on our to-do list as our old one was a little undersized and we recently came across a large high efficiency model on clearance and, with the available tax-credit and energy company rebate, it was only going to cost us $75 out of pocket for the upgrade. It's a natural gas unit and the existing water heater was completely hard-plumbed with copper pipe, so we knew it was going to be a quite time-consuming undertaking. Which it was, I am told. Turns out he didn't just goof off while we were away. I spent the remainder of the night apologizing and thanking Eric for getting it done solo. I plan on some serious relaxing in the jacuzzi tub with a glass of wine this weekend now that we have a water heater capable of filling it up!

After 29 years, I have a passion!

2011-08-03T17:14:00.007-05:00

Throughout my life, I've never had a single passionate interest or hobby. I was one in high school that was an active member of pretty much every extra curricular club. I was in FFA (formerly Future Farmers of America), FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America), FGE (Future Georgia Educators), Math Team, and 4-H, among others. I showed beef cattle, was in the Optimist Club's speech competition, and was a cheerleader. You name it, I was genuinely interested in it (so long as it had nothing to do with music - I have no talent at all in that department! The 6th grade trombone experiment proved that once and for all.)

The broad scope of my interests continued in college, not only in my extra-curricular, but also with my major work. Which might have had a little something to do with the six years and countless credit hours...but that's another story we won't take on today (or probably ever).

All that has made me, what I consider to be, a pretty darn well-rounded individual. I know a good bit about a lot and have a very unique set of experiences. I've changed the lower element in an electric water heater by myself. I've made my own wedding cake. I've designed and installed a complete landscape. I've sewn my own formal gown. There are a ton of things I enjoy doing and learning about. What my Renaissance soul has not been useful with, however, is being passionate.

I witnessed my older brother, Travis, pick up a guitar in high school and teach himself to be an awesome player; 15 years later, he can still be seen rocking out in establishments around Statesboro with his band, Dirty Uncle Bob. I watched as my middle brother, Justin, built a log cabin all on his own (using only hand tools) with trees he cut down himself and have seen the him make incredibly intricate wooden creations. They both are incredibly passionate about their hobby (which also sort of turned into a major and then career for Justin). I've always been a bit envious of them in that regard. And it's not that I think I'm not good at anything, but I've never been really awesome at any one particular pursuit. I've never been totally focused and consumed with one specific interest.

But after 29 years, I have found a passion. Something that I want to learn everything possible about. Something that amazes me, that inspires me, that brings me an immeasurable amount of joy. For the last 18 months, every book I've read has been about pregnancy, birth, or babies. I've attend classes, workshops, online discussions, and community programs about birth.

I love being pregnant. I love giving birth. I love newborns. Eric tells me we cannot have 20 babies of our own. He's pretty firm on the no more than a dozen thing. ;)

So I've found that the next best thing to having the experience over and over again myself is being involved with other families and witnessing the miracle of a new life entering the world and watching as two people's lives are transformed as they become parents. My work this year as a birth doula has been incredible. And it is nearly impossible to put into words how much I adore what I am doing.

My main priority remains my family and our home. As long as we have young kids at home, I will limit the number of clients I take on and how many classes I teach. It's fun to have a hobby I'm truly passionate about though. (And making a little play money with it isn't all bad either.)

I have a real business now (Mãe Amor Birth Services). And a real website (http://www.burlingtonbirth.com/). My doula certification is caught up in a backlog and waiting to go before the review committee. But I did receive my HypnoBirthing Practitioner certification last month and will be teaching my first official class beginning in a couple weeks.

Business is good. The girls are growing and doing great. Life is truly grand.

I'll try to be around here a little more often to tell you all about it!

The "Vroom Vroom Agua" Works!

2011-07-26T07:34:00.009-05:00

Remember 8 months or so ago (you know, about the last time I actually published here) when I heckled my husband regarding his newly purchased heck-of-a-steal 13-passenger deck boat that actually functioned as a giant cumbersome canoe? No? Oh here, refresh your memory...it's priceless.

Well, I would be remiss if I didn't break the blog silence to tell you my husband is genius.

After a long winter in a friend's shed, moving the boat to our garage late this spring so we could work on it, finally getting one evening to run/diagnose the engine with two friends from work plus his multimeter and infrared thermometer, hypothesizing the problem was a bad resistor, ordering a $20 resistor, finally getting an afternoon to install said resistor, and Eric being the ultimate pessimist as we pulled the boat into the driveway to put it on the muffs and give it a shot...

The engine fired right up and ran for over 20 minutes, no problem. (It previously was dying after about 10 minutes.)

Always the ever so cautious optimist, I suggested we haul it over to Lake Geode and take it out on the water when the girls woke up from their afternoon nap. (Once and for all proving my unwavering confidence in my husband's mechanical abilities...not to mention his proven capacity to row that sucker back to the dock on his own.)

After an hour and a half of zipping around the lake Sunday afternoon, I would like to officially commend my dear hubby on a job well done. Gabriela was over the top excited to drive the "vroom vroom agua" (her name for the boat) and be out on the water. Lilian was happy too, so long as I kept feeding her a steady stream of Cheerios - that kid seriously eats nonstop now!

I think it's awesome that for a mere $21.14, the boat, whose previous owner spent hundreds trying to solve the engine issue and ultimately gave up and sold the boat for next to nothing, is fixed. Eric is still complaining that it was ridiculous to pay that much for a resistor and piece of wire which probably cost all of 75 cents to manufacture. Sometimes I have a hard time getting that guy to focus on the big picture.

A Refreshing Breeze?

2011-01-31T10:57:00.006-06:00

When you live in a tropical climate, you find lots of ways to stay cool in the summer. After living in Belo Horizonte over two years, we thought we had figured out all the various methods for keeping comfortable. Going commando, however, never really crossed our minds. But the older fellow at the outdoor restaurant yesterday afternoon might be onto something. I mean, it is one less layer...

So how might one know that the gentleman was not wearing underwear, you ask? Well, I really wish I couldn't answer that. As it is, unfortunately, I can. Imagine if you will:

-A man sitting in the usual knees sprawled out fashion that men seem to like to assume.

-A rip in the crotch of a pair of pants.

-One of his, um, hmmm, well, "boys" hanging out. Way out.

One can only assume no undergarments are involved.

I shudder a little just recounting the experience. I may be scarred for life. There are just some things no one should ever see. I can assure you that this qualifies.

At some point during his meal, he must have felt a little cool breeze where one usually doesn't get a draft. When we left, after I spent the rest of our lunch refusing to look up from my plate, I noticed the poor guy had moved across the table to sit with his back to the rest of the restaurant patrons. And he was now sitting with his legs crossed.

Eric thinks the guy, whether he stumbled onto the idea accidentally or not, discovered a fantastic way to stay cool and comfortable. I, for one, am going to have to disagree!

Brasil Bound!

2011-01-28T11:45:00.001-06:00

* I'm way behind on things around here. I have a bunch of posts started that I just haven't made time to finish and post. I want to get caught up . . . we'll see if it happens. :) Meanwhile, please forgive me that all my new posts were actually written 6 weeks ago!

Night time (and some day time) temperatures are in the single digits (F).

Snow boots are required every time I step out to get the mail.

My skin most closely resembles the color of Elmer's School Glue.

The girls and I are mildly cranky as our Vitamin D stores are quickly depleting.

My sleepwear currently consists of oh-so-sexy flannel pajama pants, a long sleeve t-shirt, and socks.

Lilian has a passport. And a Brasilian Visa.

I have a whole bunch of frequent flyer miles.

Eric needs to go down to Brasil for a couple weeks with work.

It's warm there. And sunny.

There is talk of a giant blizzard heading towards Iowa.

Eric recognizes that leaving me behind with two babies in a blizzard while he is in the tropics would be a bad idea. Very bad idea.

So tomorrow, we're going to Brasil! YAY!

We'll be in Belo Horizonte January 30-February 11 and then tack on a personal trip to Rio de Janeiro for a long weekend with friends there February 11-14. Next year, he's going to have a hard time topping Valentine's Day in Rio. :)

Lilian 4 Months

2011-01-25T14:16:00.014-06:00

Oh My Little LiliBelle,

A month of tickles and giggles, beach and family. Long hours in the car and attempting to get you and Gabriela on matching nap schedules. What fun we've had the fourth month of your life!

After spending the better part of your existence crying every time your big sister bumps you, you've finally come around are just beginning to think that maybe she isn't so bad. You still have your moments, but for the most part the drama is subsiding. And that's sort of nice. Not that you haven't been a good baby...you're actually incredibly laid back and totally chill most of the time. But up until now you have been a little on the prissy side about the trying-to-be-careful-but-actually-sort-of rough treatment received from Gabs.

This month has brought with it the beginning of the bumbo seat. While you do seem to tire quickly sitting up and holding that noggin' upright, you much prefer to sit up and look around over reclining. The bouncy seat is seeing a lot less time now as the bumbo moves into the picture. You are also just starting to put weight on your legs and will try to push yourself into a standing position when you're in our lap. Along with that strength is the beginning of some mobility. Today, on your 4-month birthday, you rolled over for the first time (intentionally). And you seem most impressed with your new trick as you have rolled from belly to back multiple times and have even rolled from back to belly once today as well!

Your nighttime sleep has been great as you sleep from 8:00 pm until 10:00 am waking just once between 6:00 and 8:00 am to nurse. Just in the last week you've been able to stretch your daytime feedings to 4 hours apart too. I've started to make a real effort to get you napping predictably. I am trying to put you down 2 hours after you wake up in the morning and then again around 4:00 in the afternoon. We're not fully transitioned yet, as you rarely sleep more than an hour at those times and still cat nap a couple other times during the day...but we'll keep at it and get there eventually!

Your hair seems to lighten more and more each day, and your eyes are continuously messing with me. One day I am certain you're going to end up with brown eyes and then the next day they look bluish-gray and sometimes they even seem to have a greenish hue! I've decided to hold off on all guesses as to what your final eye color will be...we'll just wait until you're 9 months old and see what happens! :) Whatever color they are, they are big and bright and beautiful!

Your car seat has remained a happy place for you - and that's a good thing! After logging more than 50 hours in the car over the holidays, and a trip to Brasil happening in a few days, we are extremely thankful for another good rider!

You have gotten quite ticklish on your thighs and neck and squirm and giggle with delight when we tickle you. You love to be read to and we laugh that the best way to make you happy is to make you the center of attention. Anytime you get a little fussy, all it takes is someone looking your direction and speaking to you and you immediately light up and smile and coo.

Your 4-month well-child visit is going to be just before you turn 5 months old, so I don't have official stats. According to my at-home measurements though, you're 24.75 inches long (50th percentile) and 12.2 pounds (15th percentile). You wear 3-6 month clothes (most of the 3 month stuff is short on you now) and, when you use disposable diapers, you're in Pampers size 1-2.

Our days have more giggles and smiles because of you! We love you very, very much!

Eu te amo, princesinha!
Mamãe

Mama's Little Bargain Shopper

2011-01-22T14:23:00.003-06:00

I'm sort of a fan of shopping. And an even bigger fan of snagging good deals. There are a few consignment shops that I like a lot - especially when you're looking for little kid clothes. They outgrow everything so fast that I can often find things that either still have the new tags on them or that appear to have only been worn a couple of times. Consignment shops are also my favorite place to buy "play clothes", since, if I only pay 75 cents for a shirt, I really don't care what Gabriela spills on it or how dirty she gets!

I think that a lot of times consignment shops are over-priced for my kind of shopping. When I can buy new at Kohl's or Younkers for 60-90% off, then I refuse to pay more than that for used. But, when a consignment shop has a sale...oh boy, the deals can be fantastic!

Stuff Etc. in Coralville, Iowa had their annual 1/2-off sale, so I had to hit it up! I came away with quite a bit for the girls (mostly Gabriela):

10 shirts
3 pairs of pants
6 dresses
3 medium-lightweight jackets
2 heavy winter coats (one for each girl for next year)
1 pink peacoat

The grand total of all 25 pieces was just $58.51!

The store was packed, and I thought it might be easiest to shop without "company". So I sent Eric and the girls down the road to a home and farm store (you can imagine how much Eric protested) while I hit up the sales.

Once we got home, Gabs was pretty excited to unload the goodies!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Gabriela 21 Months

2011-01-21T14:19:00.008-06:00

Dear Gabriela,

Seriously kid, the cuteness is killing me. As is the toddler orneriness! The last three months have been a bit of a blur as we settled into a routine with Lilian part of our days too now. We've managed to, well, manage and have gotten quite comfortable as a little family of four. And you, our little entertainer, kisser, and get-into-everything-er, have kept us on our toes and made the days an awful lot of fun!

You are a smart cookie. And I have yet to decide if that is a blessing or a curse. You observe everything - very closely. And you learn way too fast for our liking sometimes! You are constantly trying to figure out how things work and if you watch someone do something once, you remember it and we'll find you doing it yourself some time later. Whether it's plugging my camera into the USB port on the computer, starting the DVD player, operating my breast pump, using power tools (thankfully they were unplugged at the time!), pulling out the child safety covers and plugging things into outlets (we're hoping you don't combine that with the power tools thing before we catch you...), or running on the blender, there isn't much that gets past you. It's a bit difficult to let you out of our sight for very long. Not because you're a troublemaker, it's just that you're too inquisitive for your own safety right now!

You continue to be my big helper and love your baby sister to no end. The very first words out of your mouth each morning and after your naps are still, "nenê, nenê" as you take off through the house looking for Lilian. Anytime someone smiles or speaks to you when we're out, the first thing you do is point at you sister and say, "nenê, nenê" to make sure they acknowledge her too. If she cries you find her pacifier and bring it to her. You constantly share your toys with her and quite often attempt to offer her your snacks and drinks (no matter how many times I remind you she can't have real people food yet!) Anything I need for the baby - burp rag, clean diaper, wipes, clothes, bottle, pacifier, ANYTHING - you will find and bring to me, often even before I ask! And lately, anytime we remove her diaper or undress her, you insist that I take Lilian potty. You love it when she goes and often applaud her efforts. You are so proud of Lilian and never display even the slightest bit of jealousy.

The toddler finickiness with food continues. About the only thing I can count on you consuming consistently each day is milk. You love, love, love your milk and ask for it constantly throughout the day. I limit you to 30 ounces, but I'm pretty sure you'd drink a half gallon a day if I let you! Water is the other thing that gets you ridiculously excited. You'll yell out "água, água, água" repeatedly until someone acknowledges your request. Then as you're handed your drink, you get a huge grin on your face and say contentedly, "Aaaaaaahguaaaaa". You eat tons of different foods; I just never can guess what you're going to like on any given day. Or how much. Sometimes you eat like a pro football player. Other days I swear the only calories you're consuming are from your milk. I figure it's pretty much the status quo for your age though, so we never get too concerned on the food-front.

I should mention that you got your first taste of sweets over the holidays. You had a sucker at Halloween which was your first piece of candy. But at Christmas your Momo, with whom you decided you should stay close to at all times, was regularly handing you cookies and chocolates. We caught her most of the time, but you did sneak off with some of the good stuff without us noticing. (And we might not have known if it weren't for the crumbs on your shirt or chocolate on your face.) You also asked for ice cream for the first time while we were in Florida - so we gave you a few bites of ours and, as expected, you loved it! Some things you just don't like sweet though. I gave you some of my sweetened vanilla yogurt with your Grape-Nuts since I was all out of your plain stuff the other day - you hated it and handed me the bowl right back with a disgusted look on your face!

On the vocabulary-front, you've added "I love you" to your sign repertoire. Your new words the last three months have included, água (water), uh-oh (which you picked up from your cousin Hannah and quickly became a favorite), ah-gee (for ajuda/help), Papa (which you have used for both Grandpa and Papa), and Pa-pai (always whispered, unlike Ma-Ma which is always yelled). You are jabbering all the time now and try to repeat things we ask you to try saying. Most of what you say seems pretty random and unintelligible to us still. You do have about three different sentences you use quite regularly though - I just have no idea what they mean! They're rather long phrases and you say them the exact same way each time and with a lot of conviction, so I know you're trying to purposely communicate. Besides Portuguese, which you understand pretty much 100% of what we tell you/ask you to do, you're understanding a lot more English now after spending so much time with family over the holidays. It's a lot of fun to watch your language develop!

It has been fun watching you play with other kids. Unlike most toddlers your age who seem to want to parallel play, you always at least try to play with the other kids first. You love to give toys to others, but you're a little confused when they don't give you something in exchange or hand back whatever you just gave them. Your sharing isn't exactly self-less at this stage! :) You had a total blast playing with your cousins in Florida and spent hours playing 'beauty shop' with Hannah. Your newest obsession at home now is playing dress-up. You spend much of your day in other people's shoes, putting on hats, and coming up with interesting outfits (like the day I got you up from your nap and found you shirtless but still wearing your jeans...along with a swimsuit cover-up skirt.)

You are active, active, active and people are always commenting on how you never seem to wear-out. You go pretty much nonstop except for when we put you down for your naps (still 2 a day, each about 1 1/2 hours) and for bed at night. You love music and dancing and have recently started to put your head on the floor and flip yourself over. I'm thinking dance or gymnastics classes are in your very near future!

You keep getting taller and taller, but aren't putting on a lot of pounds. You are 33.5 inches tall now (75th percentile) and 23 pounds (15th percentile). 24 month/2T clothes fit you best (although usually a bit large in the waist) and you wear a size 5 shoe.

As you near the 2-year mark, you are definitely getting a little stronger-willed and a bit sneaky, but you generally mind pretty well. I am still waiting for your first official melt-down or tantrum...as I'm sure it's eminent! You tend to ask for help long before you ever get frustrated, which is a nice trait (although one I'm sure you didn't get from me.) 95% of the day you are happy and smiling and just a ton of fun. And even in the 5% when you get pouty or randomly cry for seemingly no reason, you're still pitifully cute!

Eu te amo, minha filha!

Mamãe

Ending 2010 and Beginning 2011 in Florida

2011-01-06T10:08:00.001-06:00

A little pictorial story of our time in Tequesta, Florida with Eric's sister, Tanya, Brian, and their 4 kids:

We weren't exactly expecting to need our winter coats our first night out in South Florida...but we sure are glad we brought them! (And no that's not some weirdly worn shawl I have on...Lilian was enjoying her toasty ride in the Baby K'Tan Baby Carrier!)

6-year old Madison had a 2 1/2' tall shadow throughout our visit - Gabriela loved tagging behind her. Madison seemed to equally enjoy the opportunity to be the "babysitter". I love this picture taken through the tank during our visit to an aquarium.

We weren't sure if Gabriela would be interested in the "touch tank" creatures or not. She jumped right up there and wanted to hold everything though. Including this sea urchin!

Brian is Eric's brother-in-law. Bob and Brian have been buds a long time. Brian started dating Eric's sister in high school. So Eric and Bob met and became friends in high school. (I think I have those details right...) Brian and Bob now live just blocks apart in Florida. While visiting, we wanted to catch up with Bob and his wife, Dawn (who is expecting their first baby soon.) While standing around chatting, Bob and Eric realized they were both holding babies. They were all like, "How weird is this?!?" Reminder #362 that we're closer to 40 than 18! YIKES!

Brian was working part of the time we were visiting, but he did get one full day to goof off with us. The 10 of us started off by hopping a boat over to Peanut Island, where JFK had an underground bomb bunker!

The girls enjoyed the quick boat ride!

We hiked around the island and wished it was warmer. There were lots of great snorkeling spots and pretty beaches! We also saw a whole bunch of manatees and fish!

After our hike we drive down to West Palm Beach and checked out the downtown area. We ate at an awesome pizza place with giant slices and great prices. I really only show this picture to illustrate how giant the slices were (for reference, that is a 6" sub on the far left side of the picture). And to mention that Gabriela ate MY ENTIRE SLICE!

Later that night we found a playground where the kids played a long time before climbing this bent palm tree.

We were invited to attend an awesome New Year's Eve Party thrown by a very generous couple from their church. Pony rides, a petting zoo, giant inflatables, magician/balloon artist, a special buffet, and on-site babysitting for the kids. Lobster and ribeye buffet, valet parking, open bar, and live band for the adults. All set at their incredible castle of a home and outside around their resort-like pool. Completely beautiful place. Incredibly warm and generous family! It was more impressive than lots of houses featured on MTV's cribs. Seriously. We were tempted to walk around and take a million pictures, but we figured that would probably qualify as tacky. So instead we just focused on enjoying the evening...and keeping our jaws off the ground.

All the kiddos joined us for a few songs after midnight. I had the pleasure of dancing with both Kaylee (pictured) and Madison before calling it a night!

Shortly after 8:00 pm, Lilian fell asleep and stayed in her carseat/carrier the rest of the night. We thought Gabriela would hang out with her cousins and all the other kids with the babysitters. She took one look at the giant room with all the kiddos though and was completely overwhelmed. We ended up just keeping her with us all night. She had a blast socializing and dancing, but, once it got past 10 pm, she pretty much just stayed on my hip and napped (first time she has ever fallen asleep while being held since she was like 8 months old!) She woke up to ring in the new year with us though!

Taking It Easy on Miami Beach

2011-01-01T12:26:00.005-06:00

The day after Christmas we drove down to Tequesta, Florida (Palm Beach/Jupiter area) to spend some time with Eric's sister, Tanya, and her family. We decided that while in Florida, we should make our own little family beach trip to Miami. So we took off and drove the extra 1 1/2 hours to Miami Beach for a night on our own.

We scored a room at Hotel Riu Florida Beach for $109 using Hotwire. The room itself was nothing special, but it was beachfront and had an awesome heated pool. It was easily worth twice what we paid just on account of the location and pool!

We were impressed with how gorgeous the sand and water is at Miami Beach. After visiting some really incredible beaches in Brasil, we weren't sure how Miami would compare. The water was clear and a brilliant blue and the sand was perfect. We would have a preferred a slightly warmer, slightly less cloudy day so we could enjoy the water, but we had fun playing in the sand and taking in the scenery. And in all honesty, coming from Iowa in December, we weren't going to be real picky about the weather!

While playing on the beach, we even got a little reminder of Brasil as a plane flew overhead with a banner streaming behind it advertising Leblon Caipirinhas. How totally random is that?!?

Gabriela had a complete blast playing in the sand. She really wanted to get in the water too, but it was definitely a bit chilly for that. She and Eric built all kinds of sand creations while I laid out and tried to combat my intense whiteness a bit.

Lilian spent pretty much all her beach time napping in the beach tent. She sort of reminded me of her big sister at that age. There's no telling how many hours Gabs spent playing/napping in that tent during her first 8 months of life! (Long sleeves were rarely required in Brasil though!)

We enjoyed checking out Miami Beach, long strolls down the boardwalk, taking in a bit of the nightlife (being the responsible parents that we are and all, we had the girls out past 10 pm for supper that night!) and swimming in the heated pool. It was a very successful and enjoyable first beach trip as a family of four! And we loved Miami Beach so much that it might become a tradition for anytime we're in Florida visiting the Arnolds!

Christmas in Georgia

2010-12-29T11:31:00.000-06:00

We left chilly Iowa after Eric got off work on the 23rd. We drove overnight and arrived at my grandparents home in Perry, Georgia about 7:00 am the next morning. After a family nap and showers, we were ready to enjoy a couple days with my family.

We just hung around Grandma and Grandad's on Christmas Eve. After the long car-ride, we were glad to see the weather was nice enough for a walk around the pasture and through the planted pines.

My two married brothers were spending Christmas Eve with their in-laws, so my grandparents, parents, Nathan, and my little family of four went over to my Aunt Jody's for chili and appetizers that evening.

We enjoyed a couple photo ops in front of the tree with the girls. Gabriela, as usual, was excited to hold her baby sister for the occasion. Lilian, as usual, was less than thrilled about the sitution. Both girls were equally concerned though when we got the great idea to toss them both into a giant stocking for pictures.

Papai Noel managed to find the girls in Georgia on Christmas morning. So we opened Santa gifts before heading back over to Aunt Jody's for brunch. Gabriela really got into opening presents. Her favorite gift of the morning was a remote control of her very own - which often doubles as her make-belive telefone. The enthusiasm shifted though when Grandma brought out a gift for her to open early. My child loves shoes. So brown and pink cowgirl boots from Grandma and Grandad made her a very happy kid!

My immediate family all made it to Perry before dinner, so we had our gift exchange then. The entire family, all 22 of us, were at Grandma and Grandad's for Christmas Dinner. Much food was followed by many presents with lots of laughter mixed in with it all.

A little Christmas Day photo session before we open presents.

Gabriela and Lilian are the only great-grandkids (unless you count Travis and Brii's en utero), so they get spoiled in a major way anytime we're around my family. Lilian gets held and cuddled and cooed over constantly. And Gabriela has a very captivated audience to entertain all on her own.

It was, as it always is, a fantastic Georgia Christmas. We then celebrated my first-ever annual 29th birthday on December 26th before leaving that afternoon to drive down to South Florida.

Lilian - 3 Months

2010-12-25T23:29:00.001-06:00

Dear Lilian,

A quarter of a year old on Christmas Day! What good times! And how has 1/4 of a year already passed since your birth?

After driving down to Georgia for Grandpa's retirement party and Thanksgiving, we turned around and did it all over again on the 23rd for Christmas. Our plan is to drive down to South Florida now after Christmas before making the journey back to Iowa in January. Your Papai and I are so thankful that you are proving to be a good car rider!

Your little personality has been developing so much this last month. You flash great big grins anytime someone is talking to you and have started to giggle on occasion. Your laughs are really throaty and almost sound fake - it's really cute and hopefully you'll let me catch it on camera one of these days.

You remain on the top of Gabriela's "favorite things" list. You have mixed emotions regarding her though, I'm afraid. She tries to be very gentle but inadvertently ends up bonking heads with you, stepping on your hand, or shoving the pacifier in your mouth just a little too hard. And then you roll out that bottom lip of yours. And you scream. Loudly. You've become known as "the drama queen" around here for your over-the-top antics. Given your normally super laid-back and ultra-chill demeanor and how quickly you can turn it to drama, you might have a job in Hollywood one of these days. Which would be great - we're not against you making us rich. ;)

Despite lacking anything resembling a routine in the nap department yet, you are a great little night-time sleeper and generally sleep from about 8:00 pm until 10:00 am waking sometime between 6:00 and 8:00 am to nurse. You're quite the cuddler and on weekdays you often stay in bed with me after our morning milk session since Papai is already up and getting ready for work then. Given that the rest of my day is pretty well split between you and your sister (with her demanding more of my attention at the moment), it is awfully nice to get some one-on-one cuddle time (even if you are asleep during it!)

You are having trouble stretching out your feedings to four hours, but since you already sleep all night I'm not really stressing over it. You tend to nurse every 3 hours or so and end up with five feedings each day rather than my preferred four...but we're getting along just fine that way. You are growing well and really filling out in your face - you've got some serious jowls now!

The last couple weeks you have turned into a complete slobber monster. I am pretty sure every bit of saliva you produce ends up on your chin and running onto your shirt. You have really got to work on the whole swallowing your spit thing...otherwise I'm afraid you might drown yourself one of these days!

Your last appointment was at 2 1/2 months. You weighed 10 pounds 12 ounces (25th percentile) and were 23.25 inches long (40th percentile).

You are our little cutie and we all enjoy you so much everyday. You are my daily reminder of how richly blessed I am!

Eu te amo,

Mamãe

An Early Iowa Christmas

2010-12-15T09:05:00.002-06:00

(I have a bunch of posts in the works...I only just now getting around to finishing/editing and posting them!)

Being that I'm from Georgia and Eric is from Iowa has it challenges some days. Besides the occasional language barrier, my rather persistent groaning about the never-ending winter, and a constant battle as to whether tea is meant to be brewed and sweetened or instant and disgusting (sorry but I do the writing here, I'm entitled to my opinion), there is the issue of the holidays. It's a little hard to do Christmas Eve with one side and Christmas Day with the other like my brothers and sisters-in-law do (although we did manage that in 2006!) So you can imagine our delight when Eric's sister in Florida, Tanya, announced that she and her four kids were coming up to Iowa for two weeks in early December. Eric's family decided to celebrate Christmas early while everyone was here! (Thereby freeing us up to journey down to Georgia for the 25th.)

Madison, the oldest grandchild and very much the "mother" of all the youngins', liked holding Lilian, the youngest.

We went up to Eric's parents' house both weekends that Tanya and the kids were in town. (Brian wasn't able to come since he was finishing up the school semester.) It was crazytown with all the kids: Madison (6), Kaylee (4), Hannah (2), Gabriela (20 months), Carson (3.5 months), AJ (3 months), Lilian (2.5 months). Yes that would make seven grandkids total under the age of 6, with two toddlers and three itty-bitty babies.

I should also mention that we had the great idea to take all the kiddos up to Sears Portrait Studio for a group picture. With no adults in it. Bless their hearts, the girls at the studio spent tons of time with us and did their very best. But here's the thing: it is impossible to get two toddlers to cooperate and three babies awake and not crying all at the same time. IMPOSSIBLE. We quickly realized that we were certifiably insane for even thinking that was a good idea. We agreed to try again later...once they're teenagers.

Lilian and Carson (5 weeks apart) spent lots of time smiling, laughing, and "talking" to each other.

The second weekend they were in town, we had a busy schedule: get together with some of the aunts and uncles at Tammy's house on Friday night, deer hunting on Saturday morning, Christmas on Saturday night. I ended up leaving before the festivities even began though.

Some of the family that got together Friday night at Tammy's

My very first doula client went into labor that day, so I high-tailed it back to Burlington Friday evening, supported her all night and day through a very long labor, came home Saturday at 6:00 pm after the baby was born, and (after eating my weight in pasta) slept for 14 hours straight. (For those who are wondering: it was a fantastic experience, left me in complete awe at the amazing miracle that is birth, and left no doubt that this is exactly what I am supposed to be doing right now. A 30-hour labor (I was there for the last 20 hours) is exhausting and tough on everyone involved, but even that didn't deter my enthusiasm for this new venture!)

The baby line-up: Carson, AJ, Lilian, and Mary Jo (their second cousin)

Even though I wasn't there and I'm certain that the absence of their favorite daughter-in-law (I maintain that it's irrelevant that I'm the only one) was greatly felt, it sounds like everyone had a great time celebrating Christmas. Good food, good company, lots of toys was basically the report I got.

Nena and Papa with their grandkids on Friday night (late enough for half of them to be in pjs already)

I hated to miss out on the weekend, but was somewhat consoled by the fact that we were planning to be in Florida with Brian, Tanya, and the kids for several days after Christmas!

Gabriela tearing into her presents on Saturday night

(How impressive is it that Eric even got the girls into Christmas dresses all by himself?!?)

So Pitiful (but hilarious)

2010-12-10T13:16:00.003-06:00

Gabriela is reaching that stage where she sometimes gets a little whiny. Sometimes she just sits and cries for no apparent reason. Sometimes that moment occurs while she's sitting on the toilet. Whenever and wherever it happens, she rolls that bottom lip out a mile and usually off to the side a little. It's equal parts pitiful and hilarious. To me anyway. :)

(And to those who know the difference, please excuse the grammar slip-up.)

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Thanksgiving in Georgia

2010-12-05T19:24:00.007-06:00

I picked Eric up at the Atlanta airport on the Saturday night before Thanksgiving. We spent a few days with my folks in Colbert before heading down to my grandparents' home in Perry for Thanksgiving. We left Perry on Saturday evening and made an overnight drive (much easier for the girls if they can just sleep the whole 14 hour journey) back home.

The weather was fantastic our whole visit. We spent tons of time outside going on walks and sitting on the porch visiting. It was 79 degrees and sunny on Thanksgiving Day. Shortly after arriving back home to Iowa, winter set-in and most days it hasn't made it above freezing. I would like to officially make it known that I still do not like cold weather.

Anyhow, we had lots of fun hanging out with my brothers and sisters-in-law, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We ate our fill of turkey, ham, noodles, mashed potatoes, sweet potato souffle, green beans, cornbread dressing, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie. I decided that as much as I loved preparing a Thanksgiving feast for friends the last two years in Brasil, you just can't beat going to Grandma's house and eating all her cooking! We watched lots of college football. We did some Christmas shopping. But the most fun of the week was finding out that my brother, Travis, and his wife, Brii, are expecting a baby in May! And we are super excited about that!!! Although I'm not sure if Gabriela and Lilian are prepared to share the attention. Since they are the only kids on my side of the family, they totally love the audience they have when we're in Georgia. I suspect they'll enjoy a cousin too though. :)

The girls hanging out with Momo and Grandpa

Gabriela accompanying Tio Justin on the piano.

And then helping out Uncle Travis (If she gets any musical talent at all, we can attribute it to Justin and Travis . . . Eric and I possess NONE!)

Gabs taking a break after helping Grandad pick up pecans. (She loved that job! She had so much fun out in the yard with Grandad and actually did a really good job finding and picking up the pecans.)

Dad's Retirement Celebration

2010-12-01T18:17:00.005-06:00

Dad getting up to defend himself a bit after everyone's remarks. :)

The girls and I drove down to Georgia on Wednesday, November 17 so that we could surprise my dad and attend his retirement reception the following day. (Eric stayed back home to work, but flew down Saturday to spend Thanksgiving with my fam.) My brothers were the only people who knew we were coming, so it was fun to see the reaction from all the rest of the family too!

A group shot of all the family in attendance

After 31 years with the University of Georgia Extension Service, Dad decided to officially retire and then hire back on part time for a while. Despite only being 53 years old, my mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's a couple years ago. Mom still knows everybody and if you were to casually meet her you wouldn't necessarily know anything was wrong. (You'd probably just think she was a bit eccentric.) But she is getting to the point where she depends on Dad to do pretty much everything for her, and she can't be left home alone too much anymore. So after lots of contemplation and prayer, Dad decided he needed to retire so that he could devote more time to Mom's care.

Grandpa looking awfully proud to have his granddaughter there! (Gabs was getting a little tired though.)

There was a committee of Dad's colleagues that put together an awesome retirement celebration, and I was so glad I was there for it! Along with comments from a couple coworkers, they asked my Grandad, Aunt Jody, and my little brother, Justin, to make some remarks on behalf of the family. Everyone had lots of stories to tell and gave Dad a pretty hard time! Justin did a great job representing my other two brothers and me and cracked everyone up with his speech, so I will share it for anyone who would like to watch.

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My brothers have been picking on Dad a bunch about being retired. His facebook page has included questions as to whether or not he is now sporting black socks with mandals (men's sandals) while driving the speed limit in the left lane with his right blinker on en route to his favorite fishing hole. I enjoy the opportunity to tease him about being an old grandpa these days, and an old retired grandpa at that! (Although if we were to be real honest, we are all hoping to be able to retire at 53...admittedly we'd prefer if it wasn't because our spouse has Alzheimer's though.)

My Grandad was happy to have his first granddaughter there too, I think. :)

Besides my mom, brothers and sisters-in-law, grandparents, aunts, and some cousins, there was a huge turn out of extension service colleagues for the party. Dad has had a great career with the UGA Extension Service and is greatly respected by those he worked with. He makes me awfully proud to be his daughter!

Lilian kept a close eye on Mr. Marable, the photographer of the evening. (And thanks to Blane Marable for letting me share these pictures!)

2 Months - Lilian

2010-11-25T10:03:00.009-06:00

My Sweet Lilian,

Last week as Papai was admiring you in his lap, he turned to me and said, "She just gets more beautiful everyday, don't you think?" You are filling out and getting chubby baby cheeks and the tiniest little fat rolls on your thighs. You rock a fauxhawk like no one else can. And that smile. Oh my gosh, how your grin lights up a room! You are still a little stingy with the smiles, but you love to stare at faces and will usually smile back when someone smiles and talks to you.

The first of this second month, we dressed you up as a ballerina and took you trick-or-treating at the mall on Halloween. You slept through the whole thing. Then you stayed home to pass out candy with me while Gabs and Papai hit up the neighbors for candy. You slept through all that as well.

We put you through the child-of-E&E test this month and you passed with flying colors. (Which is good because I'm afraid we'd have to send back any kid who wasn't a good traveller!!!) The three of us girls decided to drive down to Georgia on November 17 and surprise your Grandpa for his retirement reception the following day. A 14-hour car ride with two babies would probably intimidate most people, but I had full confidence in you and Gabriela. And you both did awesome! We left at 8:00 am and arrived 15 hours later with only two stops (and very minimal crying/whining) the whole trip! Thank goodness for hands-free pumping, having long arms that can hold a bottle in the backseat, and absorbent diapers. Oh, and two very-content-in-their-car seat girls!

Papai flew down on Saturday and we have spent the week, including Thanksgiving (also your 2-month birthday) in Georgia with family. Everyone was super excited to meet you and enjoyed lots of "pass the baby around."

You have spent much of our time in Georgia with a sour tummy and have started spitting up a lot. Up until now I could literally count on my hands the number of times you've spit up. You have been busy throwing up on lots of the family this week though! Your uncles are especially appreciative.

As of the last two weeks, you are sleeping completely through the night every day now. We put you to bed drowsy, but awake, around 8:30 most nights and you sleep until ~8:00 the next morning. You'll usually wake up, nurse, and then go back to sleep until after 10:00. You haven't been napping much during the day, except when you're in your car seat (you always fall asleep there) but I'll take it for a full night's rest! The last week in Georgia you have been a bit more of a night owl staying wide awake until after 10:00 most nights (probably partly due to the hour time difference), but you make up for it by sleeping later the next morning. You aren't on much of a "schedule" yet, but you are predictable at least!

Gabriela remains completely obsessed with you and spends much of her day smothering you with hugs and kisses. She has also started trying to pick you up off the floor (which we're trying hard to break her of.) She regularly asks to hold the baby and will rock you and sing to you. You're a good sport and tolerate her well. I keep hoping that will last.

You have outgrown all of your newborn clothes now and are wearing 0-3 month. Your size 0 shoes finally fit your little narrow feet now too. You are up to 10.1 pounds (20th percentile) on our scale at home and, though I haven't measured you, seem to have gotten a lot longer.

It's funny how quickly I've become used to being the mother of two. I hardly remember what it was like to leave the house with only one little munchkin now. You are such a happy, content baby, and we all love you so much. Having you here has brought even more love and happiness into our home.

Eu te amo, minha querida!

Mamãe

Restroom Adventures

2010-11-22T11:17:00.000-06:00

The end of October, when the girls and I accompanied Eric on a business trip to Burr Ridge, I decided to take the kiddos to the Chicago Children’s Museum one day while Eric was working. Eric questioned my judgment on driving into downtown Chicago and hauling a 1 month old and 18 month old around Navy Pier alone. I had taken them both out for an uneventful girls lunch at Olive Garden and stroll around the mall the previous day though, so I assured him I was up to the challenge and we’d do just fine.

After we parked at Navy Pier and made our way to the museum (with Lilian in the Baby K'Tan sling and carrying Gabriela on my hip), we had to stand in a short line to buy our entry tickets. It was time for Lilian to eat, but I had pumped a bottle to give her once we got inside and found somewhere to keep Gabriela busy for a few minutes.

No sooner than we get in line, Lilian fills her diaper. In a major way. Which is always a little extra discerning when you are "wearing" your baby. Having an accessory leak poop all over is never good, but it's a risk you get to take regularly when you're a mother. (You young girls have no idea how easy you have it . . . when was the last time a cute scarf or fabulous necklace ruined your outfit?) And while she never is very tolerant of a poopy butt, Lilian is even less forgiving of a dirty diaper when she's hungry. So my 1-month old child began to scream at the top of her lungs and refused to be comforted.

Meanwhile I need to get my wallet out of the diaper bag so I can pay. I tried putting Gabriela down, but she was lured by the fun things inside and kept trying to run away. So I am wrestling a toddler who wants down to go play, attempting to shush a hungry, poopy newborn, and dig out my credit card. I got more than one "what the heck does she think she's doing here by herself?" looks from onlookers, including the woman behind the counter. I debated turning around and returning to the hotel. But I had already paid $20 to park. We were going to the museum, dadgumit. Once inside, we immediately found the family restroom so I could get Lilian changed.

Of course, someone was occupying the family restroom and I didn’t dare try to contain Gabs inside the large normal restroom with the propped open door. So we sat down on a bench and I pulled out Lilian’s bottle hoping to distract Gabriela by letting her help me give the baby a bottle and get Lilian to quit crying by getting some milk in her belly and hoping she would forget about the mess in her pants.

Eventually, the family restroom door opened and a lady exited. A very able-bodied lady. Alone. Let’s take a moment to discuss one of my biggest pet peeves since becoming a mother: family restrooms are generally intended for those of us with, oh I don’t know, a “family” en tow (or those who need assistance in the restroom). It’s not just some giant luxury stall for those whom deem a regular restroom insufficient for their pottying needs.

Anyhoo, I take the two kiddos into the now vacant family restroom and start changing Lilian. I was pleased to discover that the diaper had contained the entire poop and, despite the grandeur of the bowel movement she had just experienced, none of it leaked out onto her clothes nor mine. And that’s how I knew the rest of the day was going to be just fine.

After getting the baby cleaned up and put back into the sling and telling Gabriela 142 times to please stop touching the toilet and not play in the trash and to stop licking the wall, Gabriela and I each used the potty (since we were already there and all). I washed Gabs hands very well and then applied some hand sanitizer, since she found the toilet and the trash way too enticing to leave alone. I opened the door to exit the facility and was half way out the door when Gabriela turned back around and darted to the toilet. Before I could stop her, she plunged both hands into the water, turned around, held both toilet-water-covered hands up in the air, and, with a disgusted look on her face, said “ssshhhhh, ssshhhhh” (which would be sujo: dirty in Portuguese.)

The rest of the visit to the Chicago Children’s Museum was great. Lilian spent most of the visit asleep against my chest. Gabs had a blast and didn’t want to leave even after three hours! And, so far, it seems she didn’t contract any fatal diseases from her bathroom antics.

Boat Lessons Learned

2010-11-18T12:04:00.002-06:00

I mentioned Eric's little boat purchase last month. He has high hopes for the 13-passenger deck boat and big dreams about the hours of family fun on the water. It needs a little engine work though. After putting it on the muffs in the driveway and it running just fine, he decided we needed to take it to the lake and give it a run to try to recreate the issue the previous owner told him about. Some valuable lessons were learned that lovely Sunday afternoon.

Lesson #1: If you are taking your boat out on the water to try and diagnose why the engine stops running after a few minutes, make sure there is someone else on the lake. If the place is deserted, you have no one to help give you a tow in when your boat, predictably, dies and refuses to restart.

Lesson #2: After buying a used boat, confirm that the anchor rope is actually long enough to reach the bottom of the lake.

Lesson #3: It's hard work to paddle a deck boat to shore by yourself on a very windy day.

Lesson #4: Your wife will refuse to take your two babies out on a deserted lake in a boat the you expect to die. Also, your wife will laugh at you once you're stranded in the middle of the lake with a dead engine, an anchor rope that is too short, and nothing but an oar to get yourself back to the boat ramp.

Lesson #5: No matter how many times you try in vain to crank the engine between paddling back, it will crank right up once it is back on the trailer.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

When things slow down a little . . .

2010-11-15T13:50:00.005-06:00

I need to stop ever using that phrase and just accept the fact that life moves at a ridiculously quick pace and things won't be slowing down any time soon. And while the girls are good sleepers and on paper it seems like I should have plenty of "free" time during naps and such, there still just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do.

Blogging is one of those things.

I'm not a scrapbooker, and I don't have baby books for the girls. I don't keep a journal, and I'm horrible about keeping up with friends. The blog has been my substitute for all that. I want to have a written record of things that happen around here and remember milestones that the girls reach. I want to give friends and family a way to find out what's been happening with us and show off pictures of my growing little family. And sometimes I just want to share a funny story or vent a little bit. But here lately I just can't hardly manage to carve out enough time to sit down at the computer and write. And I don't like that. I want to work on making more time to blog. No promises, but I really do want to do better!

A few things that have happened around here lately:

Eric needed to be in Burr Ridge, a suburb of Chicago, October 25-28 for a training. Since it was only about a 3 1/2 hour drive, the girls and I decided to load up and go with him for a little change of scenery. We enjoyed playing in the hotel room, lunches out, shopping, and a day at the Chicago Children's Museum. For my first major solo outing with the girls, I thought the Children's Museum went well...after the initial 10 minutes anyway. (More on that later.) In the evenings, we went out to supper with Eric and three colleagues. Everyone teased Eric about turning his business trips into family vacations, but they enjoyed the evening entertainment provided by Gabriela!

We hired a babysitter for the first time so that we could go to a Halloween Party. A friend's 13-year old step daughter came over to watch Lilian (we put Gabs to bed before we left) so that Erin Andrews and Maksim Chmerkovskiy from Dancing with the Stars could attend the Relay for Life Costume Party Fundraiser.

Can you tell which is us and which is the real Erin and Maks? ;)

We had a UGA cheerleader and ballerina to take Trick-or-Treating on Halloween. Since Gabriela doesn't really get to eat candy yet, we figured that we'd confiscate her loot for ourselves. She opened up a sucker while we weren't looking though and, since it was Halloween and all, we let her lick on it a while. She seemed to enjoy her first taste of sugar fine enough, but mostly kept trying to offer it to Eric and I.

The next week, Eric spent Tuesday-Friday in Austin, TX with work. The girls and I survived, but were awfully excited when he got home Friday afternoon. It made me super thankful to not be a single mom, and made me realize how much Eric helps out around here!

Last week we worked on a few little projects around the house before spending the weekend in Urbana with Eric's folks.

Since Lilian is sleeping through the night and life is as "settled" as it gets, I am back to pursuing my certification as a birth doula. The only component left to complete is to actually support clients at three births and have them, their doctors, and their nurses evaluate me. I have two births already lined up for the first of the year and another five people who are interested in using my services. And I haven't started advertising nor am I listed anywhere as a doula - this has just been from people hearing that there is someone in Burlington working to become a doula! I should be certified by spring. I am really, really excited!

And along the lines of excitement: Eric has a new toy/project. He bought a 13-passenger deck boat that is in pretty good shape, but needs a little engine work. He's already learned a couple important lessons, but I'll have to dedicate a different post to that. Admittedly, I did want a boat for our family, but wasn't exactly looking for a "project". So while Eric is pretty stoked about the great deal he got on it and is excited about re-working the engine, my enthusiasm will be postponed until the thing is running and I feel confident enough to take the girls out in it.

Lilian's 1-Month Letter

2010-10-25T13:41:00.002-05:00

You could have been a little more "cheery" for your 1-month photo, kid!

My Little Lilian,

My oh my, how time does fly! It seems like I just found out I was pregnant with you, and now here you are a month old already! And maybe more amazing is how much joy you've brought to our family in such a short length of time.

You've been such a perfect little baby. Do you know we haven't had a bad night of sleep around here at all? Not only did you let me sleep the whole night prior to your noon arrival on your birthday, but you have slept well every night since then too! Right now at a month old, you are going to bed about 10:00 and sleeping until 10:00 the next morning, waking briefly only once between 4 and 6:00 am to nurse. Once or twice a week, you still wake twice in the night (around 2:00 am) for a feeding as well. You've never been up more than twice in the night your entire little life though. And now you are stretching your daytime feedings 2-3 hours apart! After about the first week, we introduced you to the bottle and you'll take a bottle of breastmilk without any hesitation at all! (Which is great so that Papai can give you your bedtime feeding and free me up to do something else in the evening!)

You are quite the little cuddler and love to be held. Luckily, you're also laid back enough that you're usually okay with chilling in your swing or on the floor when your sister needs attention and no one is available to hold you. Bath time is your favorite and you've never ever cried while in the tub! (You are so relaxed in water - give you a glass of wine and you'd greatly resemble your mother! hehe)

You are gaining a lot more control over your head, and you can actually keep your head level with your body if we pull you up by your arms. You love to nap while being held belly-down, but you only tolerate tummy time for a few minutes before fussing to be rolled over onto your back.

After being home for a week, you had a little hangnail on your right ring finger that started to look infected. Over the next few days your fingertip turned bright red and swelled up twice the size it should be. We soaked it in epsom salt and put a topical antibiotic on it. It was a little better by your 2-week check-up, but the doctor felt it was a staph infection and really wanted to clear it up before it spread. So, you beat your sister to one milestone: you were the first one to take antibiotics! (Gabriela's made it 18 months so far without any meds!) For 10 days you got a 3-times a day dose of the pink stuff, and then I also gave you some L. acidophilus once a day to prevent thrush.

Gabriela is absolutely in love with you and spends much of her day covering you in hugs and kisses. You've started to grimace a little when you see her coming, but hopefully you'll learn to love all her affection. She acquired a cold and, of course, you were quick to catch it. So at 3 weeks old you had your first cold complete with a very snotty, congested nose.

While you were stuffy with a cold, sleeping flat was pretty much out of the question as you were unable to breath that way. You slept best in your swing, so I was swaddling you up and putting you down to sleep in your swing at night. It was going well for the first few nights, but one morning your Papai peeked in your room to find you fast asleep face down on the carpet...underneath your swing. (One more thing that makes you an awful lot like your older sister!) I'm still not sure how a 3-week old, swaddled tight (although you did free one arm at some point), managed to wiggle herself out of her swing and onto the floor. Or why you didn't cry when you got there. But I am thankful that we bought the small travel swing that only sits a few inches off the ground!!! (And no more sitting in your swing unbuckled anymore!)

The last week you've really been working on that smile of yours. I can almost always get a big open mouthed grin out of you now when I ask, "Onde está seu sorriso?" (Where is your smile?) And apparently tongue-protrusion is a genetic trait around here (from your father, no doubt). Just like Gabriela, you seem to spent a lot of time with your tongue poked out!

You were born 7 pounds 3 ounces, weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces when we left the hospital, gained back to your birth weight after the first week home, and you weigh 8.8 pounds now according to our home scale.

We are so very thankful to have you as part of our family. You bring out a very sweet and affectionate side of your sister and bring so much joy to your Papai and me. We love you so very much!

All my love,
Mamãe

18 Months Old

2010-10-21T15:00:00.012-05:00

My Dear Gabster,

If the last three months had a theme, it would be GROWTH. Physically and developmentally, you have just exploded since I wrote your 15-month letter!

You grew almost three inches in three months bringing you up to 32.75 inches (75th percentile!) and 22.5 pounds (15th percentile). Which explains why all your pants are either too short or too big in the waist! Your height is becoming a problem though as you can now reach up over the edge of the kitchen counter, reach door handles, climb into any chair, and just generally get into a lot more now. :)

Your sign language has progressed, and your signing vocabulary is limited only by the signs I've learned myself. Right now you sign eat, milk, more, all done, potty, want, help, up, please, thank you, and sorry. Some of the signs you have created yourself include: A palms-up-shrug that you use when we ask you a question that you don't know the answer to or when you lose something (indicating "I don't know" or "Where is it?"), your "I want to hold the baby" sign (wrapping your arms across your chest in a sort of hug), rubbing your hands together when you want to wash your hands, rubbing your fist to your mouth when you want to brush your teeth, the hilarious fish face you make when you want Goldfish crackers, and the kissy-face you make followed by pointing to whoever you want to kiss at that moment (usually Lilian). Oh, and we can't forget your hands in the air "touchdown" anytime you hear the word or see football on TV.

Spoken language is moving along at a rate that your pediatrician says is normal. You jabber all the time, but what we can understand and that you use regularly consists of: Mama, Dada, Momo (what you call my mom), nana (which is both banana and how you pronounce Nena -which is your papai's mom), nenê (baby), que-shee-shee (queijo/cheese), bobo (bonê/cap -which you use in reference to all hats), boba (which is how you pronounce three different words: bola/ball, bolsa/purse, and balão/balloon), ho-ho (cachorro/dog), ssssssh (lixo/trash and also how you say sujo/dirty), vroom-vroom (car or anything with wheels).

You can point to all of your body parts (or someone else's) when asked in Portuguese, including your head, hair, neck, eyes, ears, nose, teeth, tongue, mouth, chin (sometimes), shoulders, back, arms, elbows (sometimes), bellybutton, legs, knees, bottom, feet, hands.

Except at nap time and overnight, you are not using diapers at home anymore. You've gotten really good at letting us know when you need to go potty (using your sign language) and will usually even "hold it" and wait until you are taken to the toilet when we are out (even if we have you in a diaper). Now at 18 months, you very rarely have accidents anymore!

You are definitely entering the toddler phase of eating now. One day you eat so much I'm certain your belly will explode. The next day you hardly eat a bite. On Monday you love peas. On Tuesday you won't touch them. Pretty typical toddler behavior. Your papai and I decided to not make food a battle in our house though. We've taken the approach of we get to choose what you're offered, where it's offered, and when it's offered. We figure what you eat, how much you eat, or even if you eat is entirely up to you. No games. No "just one more bite". No cleaning your plate. It makes mealtime pleasant for everyone this way! (And hopefully encourages a positive relationship with food and good eating habits.)

You drink about 24 ounces of whole milk per day and all the water you want (usually around 8 ounces/day). Your favorite foods of the moment are plain yogurt, cheese, tomatoes, steak, and pretty much any type of fruit. Your favorite snack is Goldfish crackers (the most processed thing we give you). Despite some toddler finickiness, you are not a picky eater. Most days you eat a really well-rounded diet, and we've managed to still keep junk food and sweets out of your mouth (you haven't shown a particular interest in ice cream or cookies, so we haven't offered it to you. Pretty simple.) And now that you've finally gotten more teeth (three on the bottom, two on top, and four molars) you can actually chew up all that food you eat!

You sleep like a champ even despite us taking the crib out of your room and putting you in a toddler bed. You sometimes fuss for a moment or two right when we lay you down, and sometimes you get up and sleep on the floor in front of your door (in protest, I think), but you still sleep from 7:30 or 8:00 at night until about 9:00 the next morning (waking around 8:00 for a cup of milk before sleeping that last hour.) You still take two 1 1/2 hour naps each day, although it may be time to transition you to one nap soon.

Playing at a beach along the St. Croix River

Your favorite activities now are reading (we read so many books during the day!), finding trash and putting it in the garbage can (you get so excited to throw something away - we have really, really clean floors with you around - any little speck of anything gets picked up, shown to me to confirm it's trash, and then you take off running saying "Ssssshhh" the whole way to the nearest trash can), relocating things from one place to another and then returning them all to the previous location, helping sweep the kitchen floor, wiping down any surface imaginable in your constant attempt to keep everything clean, playing outside, anything with Papai, and, most recently, loving on your baby sister.

Memorized by fireworks!

Some of the fun we've had these last three months included a trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin the end of July for the Peterson wedding followed by a camping trip along the St Croix River (where you got your first leach-YUCK!), hosting a baby shower for Aunt Tammy, attending a Bee's baseball game and watching fireworks for the first time (that you didn't sleep through), Andrew and Mandi's wedding in Cedar Rapids, a Labor Day weekend trip to Chicago flying on a tiny little commuter plane on a very windy day, walking a 5K with a very prego mommy, spending a couple really fun nights with the Andersons when Mamae and Papai were at the hospital to have Lilian (you didn't want to come home after all the fun you were having with their girls!), and getting completely spoiled by your Grandpa, Momo, Grandad, and Grandma for a week when they came up to help out around the house after Lilian was born and Papai was back at work (you love all your family, but you especially loved your Momo that week and spent lots of time looking at books and playing with her.)

Your world changed a lot at 17 months and 4 days of age when your baby sister was born. We figured you'd handle the change okay, but we are still amazed at how awesome you've been! You never showed a bit of jealousy except that you whined to be held anytime Papai had Lilian for the first few days. To help ease the transition, Papai took a week off work to stay home with us girls. You were his little shadow and followed him around the entire week "helping" him with whatever project he had going on. You are still his little buddy and you love to spend time in the garage, in the yard, or running errands with your dad. You are about the farthest thing away from a Mama's girl, but it makes me melt to see you and Papai together. You two are adorable, and I totally understand why you're so crazy about him (I am too!)

Taking a break for milk while helping Papai in the garage. (You love hats now and insist on putting anything you find on your head - although a helmet isn't such a bad idea for you anytime!)

And about that little sister of yours: you are completely crazy about her! As soon as anyone walks in the door you quickly shout "nenê, nenê" and point to Lilian to make sure they know you have a new baby at home. You completely smother the baby in hugs and kisses and have gotten to be really gentle and sweet with her (and only occasionally try to poke her eyes out in curiosity.) Anytime you enter or leave the room where Lilian is, you insist on running over and kissing her. And if, say, we are on our way to the potty and you get distracted by something in between kissing the baby and exiting the living room, you have to turn around and go give her another kiss before we can proceed down the hallway to the bathroom. You love to help anyway you can, including trying to put her pacifier back in her mouth when it falls out (usually missing and shoving it into her nose or eye), helping to hold the bottle (or my boob) when we're feeding Lilian, getting a clean diaper out at changing time, constantly bringing her toys you think she might like, offering her your sippy cup and snacks, and rocking her in her bouncy seat/swing/carseat.

I thought it was just the addition of a new baby at home that made you look so big. And while that is definitely part of it, you have grown up a lot these last few months! You're a smart girl, well behaved, and a lot of fun to be around! Having a little sister has made you even more affectionate, both with her and others. Your constant babble makes me giggle, your giant toothy smile brightens my day, and your big hugs and kisses melt my heart. I love you so much, minha princesa!

Eu te amo!
Mamãe

Lilian's Birth Story - Part II

2010-10-20T16:55:00.001-05:00

Shortly after being placed on my chest, Lilian proved that her plumbing was just fine by peeing on me. Twice. And then after the umbilical cord had been cut, she had nursed, and the placenta was delivered, Eric picked her up to take her across the room to the scale. And she proved the other side works too as she pooped good ol' sticky meconium poo on her dear Papai. (Beating her older sister's poop-on-dad standard by a good week!)

At 7 pounds 3 ounces and just over 19 inches long, Lilian scored 8 and 9 on her APGAR. (She was a little purple at first but quickly got pink while laying on my chest.) We opted out of the goopy eye ointment seeing as how that is sort of a ridiculous protocol when the mother doesn’t have syphilis or any other STDs. We had them give her a vitamin K shot but decided to wait on the Hep B vaccine until her 2-week doctor’s appointment. She checked out totally healthy except for having low blood sugar right at birth (most likely due to MY low blood sugar from not eating anything! I was pretty pale and a little shaky after the birth until I gulped down a few cups of juice.) After she nursed a second time, her blood sugar stabilized and stayed up where they wanted it.

After a little discussion post-birth, Eric and I decided to name our little girl Lilian Scarlett. There is no major significance to the name. We both just really liked Lilian (plus it is pronounceable in English, Portuguese, and Spanish) and I’ve always like the name Scarlett from Gone With the Wind. (My girls might not be born in the South, but that doesn’t mean I can’t raise them to be good Southern Belles!)

It was an incredible pregnancy, labor, and delivery! Less than 5 hours from waking up in labor to having a baby in my arms! I was able to achieve a very deep level of relaxation with the hypnobirthing and stayed relatively comfortable throughout the entire process. I never pushed at all – I just let my body do its thing (which is something that hypnobirthing really stresses.)

I've always had only good things to say about Gabriela's birth in Brasil. And I said multiple times throughout this pregnancy that I would go back to Hospital Santa Fe in Belo Horizonte and deliver with Dr. Joao again if I could. But, Lilian's birth was just as fantastic and met/exceeded all my expectations! (With the exception of testing positive for Group B Strep and having an IV for antibiotics - but it was taken out after only about 30 minutes, so it wasn't too bad. And actually it was probably pointless since it wasn't in long enough before the birth for baby to receive any antibiotics anyway.)

I couldn't be happier with the Hypnobirthing (Mongan Method) and am more a believer now than ever in its effectiveness for some women. It takes some commitment to preparation (although this time around, I only practiced relaxing/fell asleep with the scripts for 25 minutes each night for the last month before the birth), but, once I was able to train myself to completely relax and let go, I experienced a very easy birth with relatively little discomfort. It's amazing what happens when you don't have tension in your body during labor and birth! And when I say I never pushed, I literally never had to bear down, never strained, nothing. I laid back with my eyes gently closed and focused on deep breathing and relaxing every muscle in my body. The contractions of my uterus did all the work. The baby just sort of fell out. Except for the fact that it almost happened on the toilet, it was quite anti-climatic, actually. Well, I mean, I did have a baby at the end of it, so I guess I shouldn't say "anti-climatic", but they wouldn't use my birth on a TV show or anything: not enough drama!

With Gabriela, I did push a couple times as the pediatrician in the delivery room was getting nervous about how long she had been hanging out low in the birth canal and was probably a little concerned about how long she was going to have to wait around for baby to be born. So, my OB and doula suggested I push a little. It got her out, but the straining caused a tear that required several stitches. The stitches and swelling caused me a lot of discomfort for a couple weeks after delivery. This time around, I had a teeny tiny tear, but it didn't require a single stitch. I never had any pain or soreness, just a little swelling for the first 24 hours or so. With the exception of some after-pains during nursing, and a little soreness in my back and obliques (probably from picking up Gabriela too much too soon after delivery), I've had a very quick recovery after having Lilian.

We very seriously considered a home birth so that I could have a water birth, which isn't possible at any of the hospitals around here. After talking at length with my midwife about my desire for an intervention-free birth and her confirming that my wishes could be accommodated at our local hospital, we went that route. We were pleasantly surprised at how supportive my nurses were and really had a good experience (minus being woken up multiple times during the night to check my vitals,waking up the baby check her vitals, etc. - I was really ready to get home so we could all get a decent night's sleep!) Besides making sure I had everything I needed, a couple of the nurses were always concerned about Eric too: bringing him snacks or drinks, making sure he had enough blankets/pillows for his little cot, etc. In fact, Eric decided that they could keep us in the hospital an entire week if they were going to wait on him too! :)

Basically, I just can't get over what a great experience we had with Lilian's birth. Eric has commended me on letting him have a full night of sleep before going into labor and for having Lilian born in time to still watch some football that afternoon/evening. (As compared to last time when the hard labor started about 10 pm and then we were up all night until Gabriela was born at 7:30 the next morning!) It has been recommended by several people that he get some training on delivering babies himself if we have more kids though. The first labor was a total of 23 hours. The second 4 1/2 hours. At this rate, the next kid could be born in just 20 minutes! ;)

Lilian's Birth Story - Part I

2010-10-15T14:08:00.006-05:00

Disclaimer (to my brothers, among others): If you’re not comfortable reading about things like mucus plugs and crowning baby heads, might I suggest you stop reading now and come back later when I’ll try to write about puppies and butterflies or something equally benign.
(Although I don't specifically mention a mucus plug in this birth story, as I had been losing chunks of it the entire week leading up to the actual birth day, there are still plenty of references to pregnancy and birth-related lovelies that I suppose might make you throw up a little bit if you're not cool with that kind of stuff.)

Three days past my due date, I woke up on Saturday morning, September 25, at 7:15. I got up to empty my very-cramped-by-baby bladder. On my walk across our bedroom, I had a pretty good contraction. Over the next 10 minutes, I had a couple more. Still sleepy, I climbed back in bed, cuddled up next to Eric, and fell back asleep. We both woke up about 8:00 when we heard Gabriela awake and wanting her morning cup of milk.

Contractions were rather strong and coming every 3-5 minutes apart. I thought it might be important to finish packing my bags for the hospital and rounding up everything Gabriela would need over the next couple days while she stayed with friends. While I packed, I suggested that Eric go ahead and get his shower while Gabriela was sleeping. In between gathering things, I crawled onto the bed, assumed something close to a fetal position, and breathed through my contractions.

At some point among my running around, I noticed Eric sitting at the computer looking up game times for the Iowa State, Iowa, and Georgia football games. I "gently" suggested that was probably not the most useful activity at the moment. After he responded with something about “well if you’re going to be in labor all day”, I told him, “Well, if things continue like this we’re going to have a baby by lunch.” He laughed at me. (Note to future husbands of laboring women: If you intend to have more children in the future, never, ever laugh at your laboring wife when she says something like this. Now is not the time to be questioning her! And no, I didn't actually punch Eric in the groin...but the thought did cross my mind. ;) )

A little after 9:30, Gabriela woke up for the day and Eric got her ready to go and took her over to our friends’ home. As they got ready to leave, I made my way down to the Jacuzzi tub in the basement. Contractions were getting very close together and more intense and all I wanted was to curl up in warm water with my Hypnobirthing scripts and relax.

Just before leaving with Gabs, Eric asked if I needed anything. After he called my midwife to give her a heads-up that I was in labor, I suggested that he bring a bucket and put near the tub. I threw up three times during transition when I was in labor with Gabriela, and I felt like I would probably do the same thing again. And knowing that I would probably see again anything I put in my mouth, I purposely didn’t eat that morning; I just sipped on a Powerade.

The tub was so fantastic! I was able to really reach a point of deep relaxation. And while I was a little uncomfortable, I wouldn’t describe my labor as painful. (This completely reinforces my desire to have a waterbirth one day!)

Eric was back home shortly after 10:00, and, after I assured him there was really nothing I needed him to do for me, he went to work loading the car and gathering a few last things on my packing list. I told him we would need to go to the hospital pretty soon. To which he responded skeptically, “Already?” (In his defense, he knew I didn’t want to arrive at the hospital until the birth was very near. And I was in labor for about 23 hours total the first time, we arrived at the hospital 7 cm dilated, and still had 5 hours before Gabriela was born. He also adds that I seemed comfortable enough that he really didn’t think I was very far along in the process. But still, note to future husbands of laboring women: Unless you are prepared to personally deliver a baby, don't question your wife's judgement on when it's time to go.)

About 10:45, I got out of the tub and threw up (glad I thought about that bucket!) a couple times. I was going back and forth between being really hot and really cold. Eric was a trooper as I ordered him to get out the box fan and turn it on high in front of me. And then turn it off. And then, oh-for-the-love-of-everything-good-and-holy-turn-that-fan-on-I’m-burning-up!

My mind was going back and forth between a totally relaxed hypnotic state and reviewing everything from my recent doula training. I knew I was going through transition, so I was probably somewhere in the 7-8 cm range. Although part of me was questioning that given that I had only been in labor for 3 ½ hours!

At 11:00, I told Eric I needed to get ready to go and asked him to help me back out of the tub so I could go upstairs and get dressed. He told me to stay put and he’d just bring my clothes down to me. Which was probably a good idea, since contractions were one on top of another and I could only really walk in the 30 seconds or so between them. (It would have taken me a long time to get upstairs, get changed, and get back downstairs and into the car. Lilian probably would have been born in the living room . . . and that would have required some serious carpet cleaning.)

After dressing, I made my way to the car and gave Eric the go ahead to start driving once a particularly strong contraction had passed. (Why do contractions always get stronger when you’re uncomfortably seated in a vehicle?) I “gently” suggested that he get us to the hospital quickly and oh-my-gosh-don’t-hit-any-bumps. He called my midwife again to let her know we were en route to the hospital. She said she would leave her house and head that way too.

About 7 minutes later, Eric dropped me off at the front entrance to the hospital. I told him to go park and then come meet me. He suggested I sit on the bench and wait for him, but I knew I would be making a very slow journey to the OB department (as I could only walk in between contractions). I assured him he would catch me before I made it to the OB reception desk!

He caught up with me about 50 feet from the OB receptionist. As I rounded the corner, the receptionist asked if I was Emily; my midwife had already called and they were expecting me. We had pre-registered, so there wasn’t much to do except verify a couple things. While she finished getting me into the system, the telephone rang, she answered it, and I was hit by an especially intense contraction. I squatted down, rested my head on the front of her desk, and let out a low groan as I tried to take myself back into a relaxed state. The nice receptionist seemed to not notice that the woman in front of her was very near giving birth as she chatted away on the phone. Eric was getting impatient with her, but calmly rubbed my shoulders. About that time, a nurse came out, saw me, and told us to come on back. She asked if I needed a wheelchair, but I assured her I could walk myself…just not in the middle of a contraction. We walked down the hall to my room, stopping twice more as I worked through contractions.

As soon as we walked in the room, I felt like I really needed to empty my bladder and my bowels. I went in the bathroom and got comfy on the toilet while Eric handled some admission details in the room with the nurses. It was about 11:30 now. Besides clearing out my system, I passed a pretty good size clot of blood (which I did in labor with Gabs once I was fully dilated) so I knew I was getting close. A few minutes later, Eric brought in a hospital gown and helped me get changed and make my way out into the room.

My Group B Strep test at 37 weeks had come back positive, so (after much research and consideration) we had decided I would take a single dose of antibiotics when I arrived at the hospital to help protect the baby from infection. I therefore needed an IV for the antibiotics, so we got that started.

The nurses had spoken with my midwife and she was on her way, but meanwhile the doctor on duty (I believe she is a resident) asked if she could check me. It was about 11:50 now. As I crawled up onto the bed, I felt a gush as my water broke. She checked my cervix and said I was about an 8, fully effaced, and at 0-station. A nurse checked the baby’s heartbeat with a Doppler and found her to be tolerating labor well.

The nurses asked if I wanted to sit in the rocker or have them bring in the birthing ball. I told them I really just felt like I wanted to sit on the toilet. (When in labor with Gabriela, the toilet was the only place I could get comfortable and relax – I think I spent about 5 hours laboring on the toilet!)

It was just a minute or two before 12:00 now. Eric accompanied me into the bathroom and let me rest my head against him while he rubbed my head and shoulders. No sooner than we got in there though, I had a contraction and suddenly felt a huge amount of pressure and knew that baby was ready to come! I announced to Eric, “Pressure . . . I feel lots of pressure. Go! Tell them!” He threw the bathroom door open and said to the nurses, “She’s feeling lots of pressure!”

Two nurses rushed into the bathroom and said, “Okay then, we need to get you back to the bed. Put your knees together and let’s walk back to the bed!” Eric and the two nurses supported me as we scampered across the room.

There was a flurry of activity as nurses tried to prepare the room, Eric got the video camera set up and started, and the doctor on call rushed back in. As I laid on my side, a nurse took a glance and said, “Oh, yeah, we’ve got a baby. A baby with a head full of dark hair!”

I laid back and took a deep breath to let my entire body relax. As the doctor positioned herself at the end of the bed, I mumbled to her that I wanted to protect my perineum. She nodded and said that she had read my birth plan. But baby’s head was already out at that moment, so I think it was sort of a moot point. This is the point when Eric said to me softly, "The baby's head is out . . . but I guess maybe you know that." Nodding, "Yes, I can feel it." (If you had something that large passing from your bottom-region, you'd probably be aware of it as well. But thank you for making sure I knew I was presently delivering.)

After her head passed through, there was a brief few-second pause at her shoulders before she was fully delivered at 12:04 (hitting my lunchtime prediction perfectly!) Baby let out a series of hearty cries and let her presence be known. As soon as she was lifted up and placed on my bare chest, she immediately relaxed her body and didn’t make another sound. It was as if she already knew her mama and knew that she was in a safe place. My heart swelled and I couldn’t stop grinning. I looked up at Eric who was beaming by my side and gave me a big kiss. Nurses placed warm blankets over us while they suctioned out baby’s mouth and checked her out briefly. A little later they clamped her umbilical cord and Eric made the cut.

And then my midwife walked in the room. Eric grinned and said, “Hey, you’re just in time!” After a brief glance at the new baby and declaring, “She looks just like her big sister,” she helped the delivering doctor collect the umbilical cord blood (as we decided to bank it) and deliver the placenta.

Upon reviewing the video that was recording from a bedside table over my left shoulder, we see that I had just settled in bed as the record button was pressed. Less than two minutes into the video, you hear baby’s first cry! So we were probably about 3 minutes away from baby being delivered on the toilet.

(Part II of Lilian's Birth Story coming soon...)

The Troops Are Here!

2010-10-07T10:31:00.011-05:00

After a week at home with his three favorite girls, Eric returned to work on Monday. I managed to survive my day alone with a 17 month old and newborn but was excited when an Explorer with Georgia plates arrived on Tuesday afternoon.

My parents and grandparents drove up to spend a few days to help me wrangle Gabriela and steal cuddles from Lilian.

As grandparents tend to do, they started the spoiling about 3.2 seconds after they walked in the door. Gabriela ripped into presents while I drooled as they carried in goodies from my Dad's garden: okra, zipper peas, tomatoes. And they brought me a gallon bag of boiled peanuts. Oh my postpartum goodness. Gabriela and I have both been feasting on boiled peanuts. So. Yummy. {Insert huge content grin and happy sigh.}

My family has been cooking and cleaning and letting me take long showers without munchkins in the bathroom with me. They mentioned today that Eric and I should have a date night and let them babysit for an evening.

They say they're leaving on Sunday afternoon. But I don't think they'll be able to drive away from the grandkids/great-grandkids. Especially after I steal their car keys. ;)

In very happy mommy news, Lilian, at 11 days old, slept 11:15 pm to 8:15 am last night. It looks like I might have another good sleeper on my hands! She had been waking up once around 4:00-5:00 am each night to nurse, but if she wants to sleep 9 hours straight I'm really okay with that!

Settling in as a Family of 4

2010-09-28T14:38:00.004-05:00

Gabriela's second visit (Sunday) to the hospital to see her new sister

We were discharged from the hospital on Monday right after lunch and are enjoying some time all together at home now. Eric is taking the week off to help with the transition and provide a second set of eyes and hands to make sure Gabriela doesn't poke out her little sister's eyeballs. When he's not preparing meals/cooking/cleaning, taking care of Gabriela, and helping out with Lilian, Eric is taking advantage of the opportunity to work on a few little projects around the house. And Gabriela is thrilled to get to be his little helper! With the toddler distracted and taken care of, I am getting in some serious cuddle time with Lilian and totally loving it.

Ready to leave the hospital!

Gabriela is enjoying having the baby around (at least for now with both of us home where she is getting lots of one on one time with Papai). Anytime she enters the room with Lilian or passes by her, she insists on running over and giving her kisses. Lots and lots of kisses! She is getting a little more gentle with her too. And she is completely intrigued by the whole breastfeeding thing. She just stands beside the chair and watches my every move as I get ready and nurse Lilian. I suspect it won't be long before her dolls are being fed too.

Just after arriving home on Monday

After a pretty chill Monday afternoon, we have been a little more active today. We even went on our first 'Family of Four' walk a little bit ago. The weather is supposed to be fantastic all week, and it felt so good to be outside! I'm looking forward to lots more walks together before winter gets here and we're confined to walking the mall.

Heading out for a little family walk

Gabriela, who we obviously needed to pull the sunshade over, enjoyed having the "nene!" next to her for the ride!

Welcome Lilian Scarlett!

2010-09-25T21:59:00.005-05:00

I woke up to strong, frequent contractions at 7:15 this morning. After laboring at home in the jacuzzi tub, we made the 5 minute drive to the hospital and arrived in our hospital room at 11:30 am. Lilian Scarlett was born at 12:04. (And almost was baptized too - I nearly had her on the toilet, but that story will have to wait for now.)

Her stats:
Weight: 7 pounds 3 ounces (3.27 kg)
Length: 19.3 inches (48.8 cm)
Head Circumference: 13.2 inches (33.5 cm)

Lilian looks a lot like Gabriela did as a newborn (only with a little less hair) and is almost identical in size. We've been experiencing some serious deja vu staring at our new daughter today!

She stayed on my chest after delivery and nursed before being taken across the room to be weighed, etc. That's when the pouty bottom lip poked out.

Then she got really mad!

But quickly calmed down and we've only heard her cry twice since then!

Eric picked up Gabriela from our friends who are keeping her so that she could meet her little sister. She was less than impressed initially and just wanted to run around exploring the hospital room. But before leaving at bedtime, she got interested in Lilian and wanted to touch her and give her kisses. She kept pointing to her baby sister and repeating "nene, nene" (Portuguese for baby) with a big smile. It was really sweet!

Lilian got her first bath about 9:30 this evening and has been fast asleep ever since.

Everyone is healthy and feeling great. We appreciate all of the sweet notes and calls we've received over the last few days and all of the thoughts and prayers that have gone out for us and the latest little blessing to our family.

2010-09-22T14:07:00.004-05:00

While we all wait around for Bebe Dois (Dear Child, You have 10 more hours before you are officially late...Mama isn't a big fan of tardiness, Young Lady!), here's a video of Gabriela from a couple weekends ago. It's mostly Portuguese. I thought I might add subtitles so everyone can understand, but, well, that's too much work right now. You will notice how confused she is and responds with, "Huh?" when Eric repeats a question to her in English. That totally cracks me up!

Anyway, she is munching away on a huge plum (only the third time we gave her a piece of fruit in it's entirety where she was able to eat the whole thing without help!) Eric asks her several questions including the sounds of a dog, cat, and bear, along with what a Mexican and Indian say. (No, not exactly PC, I know, but Eric has Mexican nationality so he can do that, right? And the Indian thing, well, that came from a Brasilian video with kids' songs --the only TV she gets to watch.) She also displays some of her sign language, "Potty" and "Please", at the end.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Getting Ready for Bebe Dois

2010-09-17T12:33:00.003-05:00

Things are gradually slowing down at Z Casa as we are in the home-stretch now with this pregnancy! My due date is September 22 (Wednesday!), my body is definitely in birth preparation mode (lots of good contractions all week, baby has dropped a ton, and other aspects of readiness that I won't get into since my brothers always threaten to quit reading when I mention anything too graphic), and we have completed the most pressing of our projects (like getting the new baby room put together and decorated). So now we wait. And stay within the area code, as my midwife was not real thrilled when I told her we were in Chicago over Labor Day!

I'm planning on baby being here next week. I really feel like things are moving along - a lot more than with Gabriela at this point - and my gut just tells me that I won't be going 10 days past my due date this time. And Eric has decided that next week is a good week for him to be out of the office. So, obviously, we just need to go ahead and have the baby on her due week. But not over the weekend, as I have plans to get a couple more projects done around here. Thank goodness I'm not picky and not a planner, huh? ;)

I am feeling really good still (and yes, I did the 5K last weekend with a time of 46 minutes - no speed records or anything, but I did finish!), I'm just having trouble getting comfortable at night what with eighteen sharp pointy baby parts poking out of various locations across my abdomen and what not. I've found that by strategically positioning something like eleven pillows around myself, I can create a nest worthy of catching some sleep in. Eric just laughs at me up on my pillow-throne as he curls up on his side of the bed with his one pitifully flat (just as he likes it) pillow and laments about the days when I used to cuddle up to him at night.

Trying to cheer on the Cyclones while watching the Iowa/Iowa State game last weekend with friends. It was a disappointing day for Gabs as both Iowa State and the Georgia Bulldogs suffered losses!

Gabriela is getting back to normal after a couple tough weeks of teething. I never even knew she was teething when her first two teeth came in at 13 months. But in the last month she has cut her top two teeth, a third bottom tooth, a molar on one side, and has another molar about to pop through. I think the molars are sort of rough on her and make her quite clingy/whiny during the daytime if she is not kept distracted.

Otherwise though, she has been awesome. She is signing a ton now and adding a few "words" and several sounds to her vocabulary. She is out of diapers 100% of her awake time at home now and has gone the last week without a single accident! She signs when she needs to go potty, although I also am still suggesting that she go several times per day too to help make sure we avoid messes! Even though she is only going to be 17 months old, I was really hoping to have her mostly out of diapers before the next baby arrives. It looks like we're there - YAY!

This week we decided to try transitioning her into a toddler bed too. We moved the crib into the baby room a couple weeks ago and just had her sleeping in the pack-n-play until we were ready to tackle moving her into the toddler bed. She's been in her little toddler bed for naps and nighttime since Monday and is doing well with it. She quite often ends up crawling out of bed and sleeping on the floor, but I don't really have a problem with that so long as she is sleeping. Her door is always shut at nap time so I don't disturb her, but we like to have her door half-open at night so we could hear her if she were to wake up. Concerned that she might crawl out of bed during the night and roam around the house (and get into who knows what) without us hearing her, we've been putting the baby gate up in her doorway overnight. It's a solution that has let us all sleep well!

It's always fun to wake up and peek in on her to see where she ended up overnight. The first morning she actually was half-under the pack-n-play fast asleep! Eric thinks the "poor thing" woke up in the middle of the night, realized she wasn't in her "bed", crawled over to it half asleep, and, when she couldn't get in the pack-n-play, pitifully crawled underneath to try and be in her proper sleeping place. I think Papai is just a great big softie. But then again, I laugh at the carpet marks she has across her face and chest after napping on the floor. It might just be that I am a bit more heartless than some . . . hehe

All in all, we're doing well around here! Hopefully we'll have some big baby news soon! And maybe, since I am mostly caught up on nesting and our projects, I will get to sit down at the computer and be a little more present in blogland too!

I do love this busy life!

2010-09-03T07:51:00.004-05:00

One night last week, Eric and I were winding down our evening and getting ready to turn in for the night while discussing all the things we need to do/finish before Bebe Dois arrives. Our list is sort of long. It's been a really busy summer and having a 1-year old doesn't really facilitate accomplishing anything with swiftness (unless we're talking about destroying a perfectly neat and orderly room.)

After a moment of silence as we each contemplated all that we want to accomplish pre-baby and how quickly my due date is approaching, Eric looked at me and asked, "Why do we do this to ourselves?" He went on to talk about how we tend to get a little ambitious sometimes and end up completely wearing ourselves out.

Another moment of silence passed and then it occurred to me: we each married someone a lot like ourselves! We both have this "can-do" attitude and nothing really intimidates us. We both are sort of Jack-of-all-trades (masters of none) and, regardless of whether or not we have any experience in something, we each think that we can figure it out and make it happen. We both enjoy staying busy and traveling and doing things with our own two hands and not paying other people to do something we can do ourselves . . . and neither one of us seem to know how to say "no".

As I explored this thought with Eric, I concluded that our "problem" is that neither one of us ever puts on the brakes. When one of us have an idea, the other one pretty much always says, "That sounds awesome, let's do it!" instead of sometimes saying, "Don't you think we have enough going on right now? Maybe it isn't so imperative that we pick a ton of apples from Grandpa's house and core, peel, and freeze apple slices and can homemade applesauce and put up a dozen jars of apple butter."

See, I think that instead of marrying someone so much like me, maybe I should have married a couch potato who moans every time I suggest a road trip or who tells me to call a contractor when I want to re-do everything in the house. Hmmm . . . yeah, okay, that probably wouldn't work.

I'll think I'll stick with the hubby I've got and enjoy our fun, busy life! :)

And on that note, we'll be leaving this afternoon to spend the 3-day weekend in downtown Chicago. Yep, we have a ton of stuff we should be working on at the house. Sure, I'm 37 1/2 weeks prego. And sure, at my appointment yesterday my midwife said I was about an inch dilated and my cervix is soft. But we scored free roundtrip airline tickets from Burlington to Chicago that have to be used before the end of the year. And my hubby has been working really hard and deserves a little mini-vacation (from his real job and all the ones I've given him at home!) AND we haven't been on a trip without a purpose/agenda since we went to St. Louis back in February!

As much as we both enjoy our projects and working hard and zipping all over for events, we also both enjoying getting to play tourist and spending some time relaxing together as a family. Yeah, I'm pretty sure we married the right person. ;)

(Plus, we make some really adorable babies, if I do say so myself! hehehe)

3 Years of Bliss!

2010-08-25T09:00:00.001-05:00

This time three years ago, I was sipping a mimosa and getting my hair and make-up done.

Eric is always sure to interject that he was not having a relaxing day of being pampered. Nope, since his hair takes all of 35 seconds to "do", he had a little chore list for the morning of our wedding. Things like delivering the drinks to the reception location and putting together the chocolate fountain.

Does the chocolate fountain look funny to you? Yeah, I thought so. I didn't notice it until I was looking at pictures a week later, but someone put my chocolate fountain together upside down. Instead of a beautiful flowing fountain of white chocolate, I had pools of chocolate that kept getting gloppy (since it wasn't flowing down to the heating plate to stay warm.) And it wouldn't be so bad, except that he took it apart himself (after I had properly assembled it at home) to transport it. I have threatened to talk to Iowa State about revoking his engineering degree. But Eric maintains that it is a flaw in the design; the user should not be able to put it together upside down. (He also likes to point out that water fountains have tiered bowls that the water fills and then flows over.)

Lucky for my hubby, he had already redeemed himself a day earlier when he and Jimmy, one the groomsmen, drew chocolate bowties and buttons on 150+ chocolate dipped strawberries. They did a fantastic job on those! (Those two may have missed their calling. If careers in engineering don't work out for them, they could always go to culinary school! I'd write a raving letter of recommendation for either of them!)

But non-properly-assembled chocolate fountains aside, that day was incredible! It was a gorgeous day (although Georgia in August is a smidgen warm), we were surrounded by awesome family and friends, and I became the wife of the most incredible man!

I had the fairytale wedding to Prince Charming, and now I am living the perfect happily ever after. I've been supremely blessed and am so thankful for such a wonderful husband.

Three years down and 67 to go on our goal of reaching our 70th anniversary together! (And he wonders why I make him eat healthy and give him a hard time when he reaches for the salt shaker...gotta keep in him good shape to make it to 95 years old!)

Don't mock my accent, Yankee-Woman

2010-08-11T16:19:00.004-05:00

It is only 90 degrees outside right now with a heat index of 103. Yesterday at this time the heat index was 113, hence the "only". I'm 8 1/2 months pregnant and surprisingly still being a pleasant person. Granted that's due mostly to the fact that I keep my blinds closed and the air conditioner running and that my car and all the stores I visit are air conditioned and I only go outside when I'm walking to the mailbox. But still. It's ridiculously hot and humid, I'm very pregnant, and I've yet to bite any one's head off.

Now, is that too much to ask of the very not pregnant checkout clerk at my very least favorite grocery store?

I ran over to Aldi's today seeing as how we are due for our weekly 2 gallons of milk (one for Eric and one for Gabriela). It's no secret at our house that I don't like Aldi's. Nothing about it is ever a pleasant shopping experience. It's not that I cannot appreciate a discount store, but I'm picky about what food I buy and the ingredients I use to cook. I'd say 80% of the items they sell has high fructose corn syrup as one of the top 3 ingredients, so Aldi's just really has nothing that excites me. But their milk is cheap (and does not contain high fructose corn syrup). And Eric gets all panicky if he sees that I've bought milk from somewhere else. $1.79 per gallon is hard to compete with, I give him that. And so each week I make a stop by the local Aldi's to pick up milk (and sometimes cheese) and let my husband sort of think he is married to a super frugal woman.

But never again. If my husband wants cheap milk, that is going to be his chore from now on. I'd rather pay $3.00/gallon.

I ran in for two gallons of milk. So instead of digging around my diaper bag for a quarter so that I could get a buggy (yes, in order to get you to return your buggy you have to put down a quarter as collateral), I just threw Gabs on my hip, grabbed a reusable cloth grocery bag from the car, shoved a $10 bill in my pocket, and went in. I tossed a gallon of whole milk and a gallon of 2% in my bag and went to the checkout counter. Of course, as always, there was only one lane open. There were about five people with full buggies ahead of me, but I waited patiently until my turn. I put my bag with its two jugs of milk on the conveyor belt, tossed Gabs across my ever-growing belly to my other hip, and dug my money out of my pocket. It was finally my turn, so I approached the checkout lady, smiled, and said "Good afternoon!" She looked at my bag and back at me and said, "You have to unload that so I can scan your groceries." In my most pleasant tone and with a smile I responded, "Oh, it's just two gallons of milk", thinking that it would be plenty easy for her to pull out a gallon, scan it, and place it back in my bag. "Oh, well then," said the checkout clerk, "you need to unload your two gallons of milk so that I can scan them." And she even used a fake southern accent. She mocked me!

I unloaded my two gallons and then put them back in the bag myself - which was all a little awkward with only one free hand. And given that I was fighting a serious urge to use that one free hand to smack the woman behind the counter.

Customer service is worth a little something to me. I prefer to leave a store in as good of a mood as I enter. And so in order to protect my mood and, maybe more importantly, the physical safety of the Aldi's employees, I will no longer be shopping there.

Guess who's wearing big girl panties today?

2010-08-06T11:54:00.002-05:00

Hint: It's not me.

Wait, I mean, yes I am too. But that's not what I am about to show you pictures of.

This is much cuter...

Training pants, technically, I guess. And a purse. You can never go wrong with accessorizing.

We are far from ready to leave diapers behind forever. But this is a start! Gabs has been staying dry for longer and longer stretches and using the potty more and more. I figure taking the diaper off gives us both a little more motivation to get there even more often. So we're going to try having part of our day diaper-free and see how it goes.

Plus, I mean, really, is this not the cutest thing ever!

Loud Noises, Big Fires, and Bulimia. Just another night out with our toddler.

2010-08-04T12:18:00.004-05:00

We try to get the Gabster to bed at 8:00 most nights. But sometimes life happens and we are out and about when bedtime rolls around. Most of the time she deals pretty well. But sometimes it makes for an interesting evening.

Last night we went out to supper with Eric's youngest sister, Kelly, and a colleague of Eric's who is visiting from Brasil. We decided to go to a Japanese Steakhouse.

Gabriela was seated in a high chair between Eric and me and happily munching away at tomatoes and cucumbers from our salads and lemon wedges from our water when our chef arrived right at 8:00. He greeted everyone seated around the grill, confirmed our orders, and then made a giant crashing noise with his knife on the metal grill. Gabs, who is rarely scared or weepy, nearly jumped out of her seat and then rolled her bottom lip out a mile as her eyes welled up with tears. She began sobbing and trying to climb out of her high chair and into Eric's lap. Like the superb parents that we are, we laughed. Really hard. And then got her unbuckled and Eric held her.

She put her little head on his shoulder and wept for a moment before turning around to glare at the guy with the big knife and funny-looking hat.

About the time she had changed from frightened to just plain mad, the chef created the giant flame in the middle of the grill. And once again her bottom lip poked out and she began crying and buried her face in Eric's chest. Because we're exceptionally empathetic towards the delicate feelings of our daughter, we laughed again. A lot.

Through all of the slicing, dicing, and shrimp throwing, Gabs was a little on edge. She went back to her high chair and didn't cry anymore, but, in between her bites of veggies and ribeye, she gave the chef her best stink eye. I'm not sure she'll trust anyone wearing a chef hat ever again.

Once the show was over and we were all finishing the last few delicious bites of our meal, Gabriela had caught her second wind and was eating tons of steak and chatting up a storm. We were mostly engrossed in our own adult conversation, paying little attention to the chatterbox at the corner of the table. Until we heard a gagging sound.

We all turned to look, a bit startled, just in time to see Gabs vomit onto herself. With her little plastic spoon shoved to the back of her throat. And laughing hysterically. I immediately grabbed the spoon from her and tried to catch/clean up the gushing bile, veggies, and meat bits. Gabriela continued laughing and trying to wrestle the spoon from me so she could do it again.

We have only recently gotten the food-throwing under control so that we no longer leave a complete disaster area around her high chair when we exit a restaurant. I'm not so sure a self-induced puke-trail is much better though.

15 Months

2010-07-21T09:59:00.003-05:00

My Beautiful Gabriela,

Whew! These last three months have been busy, busy, busy! It seems like ever since you turned one we have been on the go! (I'm not sure how that is different from the first 12 months of your life, I guess, but still...we've been busy!) You totally roll with it though and adapt to any situation we put you in. All the while growing up so, so fast!

Just for fun, we entered a Mother/Daughter Look-a-Like Contest Mother's Day Weekend. Out of the nearly 60 participants, we didn't win, but you were definitely the cutest daughter on stage that day! (And luckily I'm not biased or anything.)

Shortly after your first birthday, we hit the road. The second week of May, you and I made the 14 hour drive to Georgia without Papai (since somebody has to work and pay the bills!) We got to spend some good quality time with Grandpa and Momo before heading over to South Carolina for Uncle Justin and Aunt Casie's wedding festivities.

You were a hit at Aunt Casie's lingerie shower and bachelorette party (although you and I called it a night before all the girls headed out to a club to go dancing.) We were planning a little family mini-vacation to Myrtle Beach after the wedding, but Papai got called away on a last minute trip to Brasil. So, you and I got a little more solo time.

After getting back to Iowa, we attended Aunt Kelly's High School Graduation Party, and then you, Papai, and I headed south to your homeland. Our trip got extended, and we ended up spending a full 3 weeks in Belo Horizonte. Papai was working, but you and I were most definitely vacationing (do you see a recurring theme here?) Then we flew back home to Burlington and left the following day for a week-long family trip to Georgia.

You spent your first night ever completely away from the parental units and got totally spoiled by Uncle Travis and Aunt Brii while we attended my 10-year class reunion. (And as a side note, we never actually meant to wait this long to leave you behind while we took a trip, but you're such an easy kid that it really is no trouble at all to take you along with us. We've never felt like we needed a "break". And so, you were 14 months old before you ever spent a night away. Lots of people were surprised that I never called to check up on you nor were we the least bit anxious or worried. We knew you were in good hands and have full confidence in you to behave with or without us around.)

A trip to Hilton Head Island, a visit to Great Uncle Ruben and Aunt Betsy in Waycross, a quick visit with Uncle Nathan in Tifton, a stopover with the Mizells in Cairo, and then we returned to Colbert to spend the 4th of July with Grandpa, Momo, Uncle Nathan, Aunt Megan, Uncle Justin, Aunt Casie, and Cousin Tyson. And then we drove 14 hours overnight back home.

After all that, I was left feeling more than ever like you are a complete rock star! In less than two months, you logged over 5,000 miles in the car, more than 25 hours on planes, slept in countless cribs/rooms, got kept up past your bedtime regularly, had to skip multiple naps, met dozens upon dozens of new people, used disposable diapers instead of your usual cloth, and Mamae got lazy and did not give you nearly as many opportunities to use the potty instead of your diaper like you're used to. Yet you still slept 12 hours every night without ever waking up, you ate like a champ, you never complained about getting put back in your car seat AGAIN, you entertained the masses with huge smiles, squeals, and babble, and we received countless compliments on what a happy, outgoing, beautiful, and well-behaved little girl you are!

Despite my mild concern that we were going to have to get you dentures, it seems you might have teeth somewhere under your gums after all. You cut your two bottom teeth simultaneously at 12 months, 3 weeks while we were at Grandpa and Momo's. More than two months later, there is no sign of any more teeth yet, but you're doing pretty good with those two bottom ones and can gum up darn near anything we feed you.

A couple weeks ago, you started crying when we lay you down for bedtime and naps. That was totally new for you! But luckily it was short-lived and only lasted a week. The first night you screamed for 30 minutes and I was almost convinced something was really wrong with you. You quickly let us know it was just that you were mad and didn't want to go to sleep though: That night, you only calmed down after Papai came in the room and took you from me. Then you looked at me, scrunched up your little face, shook your head, and said "Oooooooooooo". After that you got laid right back down and we let you cry your little self to sleep. For the next week, you continued to cry each time you had to sleep, but it was a little shorter each day until you finally stopped altogether. (Thank goodness!!!)

My goal since your birth was to wait until your first birthday to cut your hair. We made it, and your bangs and mullet got a nice trim in May. You are no longer rocking a curly mullet. You're welcome.

You are walking like a champ and even starting to run now (although your little runs usually end with you sprawled across the floor or ground!) And your latest passion is climbing. You are constantly trying to throw your leg up and over things to climb up. Your short stature limits you a bit, but you've recently figured out how to drag things around and make little steps for yourself (oh joy). You climb on and off of your tricycle over and over again and even love to take a book to read while you sit on it.

Just after your first birthday you finally started to use some sign language. "Eat" was, not surprisingly, your first and favorite sign. Then you added "Done/Finished", "Want", and "Milk". (Although we say the words in Portuguese while using ASL - yeah, I know, confusing.)

Verbally, you're still not saying a whole lot of actual words. Mama, Dada, Nana (for banana), and Nene (baby in Portuguese) are your only words right now. You are constantly babbling your own little language though. There is so much inflection in your voice it sounds like you're telling all kinds of stories. And you are able make all kinds of sounds including clucking your tongue and rolling your tongue (as in a rolling "r" in Spanish). Despite your lack of ability to speak to us, you understand nearly everything! You follow most the commands we give you now and know the names of most things around the house that you regularly play with or get into. You only understand Portuguese as that's all Papai and I speak with you, but the English will come as you get older and spend more time with extended family, friends, and playmates.

You love most foods, although you might not eat something today but eat it fine tomorrow. Your favorites right now are tomatoes (we couldn't keep you away from Grandpa's tomatoes in Georgia, every time we turned around you had picked one out of the basket and taken a couple bites!), berries (blueberries, strawberries, blackberries), bananas, plain yogurt, cheese, and whole wheat crackers. You also have a strange affection for lemons and limes - you don't even make a face as you happily eat away at them! You generally eat table food now, but we're careful to make sure you get plenty of fresh fruits and veggies. You still haven't had any sweets or super-processed food of any sort. You drink water with meals and throughout the day and have three 8-ounce sippy cups of whole milk each day (one first thing in the morning, one as an afternoon snack, and one at night before bed). We've started giving you a fork and/or spoon with your meals. If we load it up for you, you do a great job of picking it up and getting the food into your mouth. You haven't quite mastered getting food onto the utensil yourself though.

You love dolls, adore purses or anything with a strap you can throw over your arm as a "purse" (such as my bras), and have been totally obsessed with books the last couple weeks. While we're at home you almost always have a book in your hand. You will spend a lot of time walking around and flipping through a book by yourself, but if anyone is sitting on the floor you back up and plop your little hiney into our lap and hand us a book to read. We rarely make it through an entire book, as usually you hop up and go pick out another one about halfway through. We hope we can continue to foster your love of books and reading for many years to come!

You've become even more affectionate lately. You run to the door the moment Papai gets home and immediately want him to pick you up so you can give him a great big hug. And you love to plant huge, open mouth, slobbery kisses on us when we least expect them! Your constant chatter makes us giggle and your movie star smile and wave lights up a room the moment you enter. Attention is definitely your thing and, at 15 months, you have yet to ever show the least bit of stranger anxiety!

You hit a sudden vertical growth spurt the last month and are up to 30" tall (30th percentile). Your feet grew at an even faster pace! Size 3 shoes were huge on you at your birthday, now you fill out a size 4! (Although all your summer shoes are size 3's and so long as they are open-toed they are still working out alright.) You're a tall and narrow thing, weighing only 20.5 pounds naked (15the percentile).

You are growing up so fast and we want to savor every moment. You are a busy little toddler and into everything these days, but we love to watch as you figure out how things work and gain more coordination and confidence. Our days are filled with laughter and smiles and your Papai and I enjoy you so much!

I love you lots, Minha Princessa!
Mamae

5 Years Ago: Hello Mr. Right

2010-07-20T13:03:00.009-05:00

On July 20, 2005, I was totally giddy. As in giggling, can't stop smiling, doing a little happy dance, excited.

In the months leading up to that fabulous day, I had:

- broken off an engagement to Mr. All-Wrong after dating on and off for 5 years.

- been on several dates with a guy who, as it turns out, was gay. (I am pretty sure his alternative lifestyle wasn't the result of a few dates with me...at least I like to tell myself that.)

- gone on a blind date with a really nice guy. Who never called. (I'm pretty sure he must have lost my number. Yeah, that must be what happened.)

-accidentally rattled off my real number to a slightly sketchy guy when I intended to give him a "fake" number. He did call. A lot.

- received a lot of "courting" phone calls from a nice, non-sketchy fella. Who had absolutely zero social skills and couldn't figure out I was trying to let him know I wasn't interested in a nice, non-direct, but still quite obvious, way.

- (I'm sure there are some other highlights that I have since blocked from my memory.)

- debated converting to Catholicism and becoming a nun. (Okay, not really. But sort of.)

But on July 20, 2005, I had a seven-hour drive to Athens, Georgia after spending five days in Tampa, Florida. Which was plenty of time to reflect on the absolutely fabulous guy I had just met. Sure, he was a Yankee. But I figured I could get past that with a little time. He was, after all, perfect in pretty much every single way (except that he lived in Iowa). And hot. Oh my gosh was he ever a hottie!

And he called. While I was still en route on my drive back from Tampa, in fact. (No "three-day-rule" games with this guy!) By the time we hung up the phone that night (sometime after I hit a deer while driving my parents' Expedition and only 5 miles from home), I had the wedding all planned out in my mind. I could barely sleep that night; I was so excited. I had met the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with!

Of course, he didn't know that yet. And I certainly couldn't let him in on the fact for many months to come. Actually, I later found out that he had a conversation that went something like this on the tarmac of the Tampa Airport:

Friend Sitting Next to Him on the Plane: "So do you think you'll ever see Emily again?"

The Future Father of My Unborn Children: "Oh, I don't know. It'd be pretty cool I guess if I did. But she lives in Georgia, ya know?"

I sure do like it when I'm right.

I am thankful that I went to the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers International Convention that year. And I'm glad that I accepted the invitation by my friend, Chops, to come hang out with him and all the Iowa State guys. And I thank God that out of the hundreds of guys in attendance (with only, oh, about a dozen females), Eric was able to catch my attention. And I'm happy that Eric called, even though I lived all the way in Georgia. And I'm forever indebted to whoever invented free long distance and free nights and weekends on cell phone plans. And that happily ever after that I had all planned out by midnight on July 20, 2005? A million times better than I ever imagined.

Random Thoughts From the Weekend

2010-07-12T11:07:00.007-05:00

We spent most of the weekend at home trying to catch up on homeowner stuff: cleaning house, pruning shrubs, pulling weeds, etc. Fun, exciting stuff.

I want to post pictures from everything we've been up to since mid-May, so this week and probably next I'll attempt to catch up around here. But for today, here are a few random thoughts and observations from my weekend.

- When asked by your wife, "Hey Babe, what are you up to?" The right answer is always, always, always, "Well, I was about to clean bathrooms . . .unless you object." God bless this man I married. (And no, I don't object. Ever.)

- Why do thistles have to be weeds? They have pretty purple flowers. And they are not fun to pull - I got poked even through leather gloves!

- Would now be an appropriate time to strangle the previous homeowner who planted invasive vines (lots and lots of vines, including Virginia Creeper, Algerian Ivy, Honeysuckle, etc.) in all the beds around the house?

- I know that they are tiny and cute when you buy them, but, just like puppies, plants grow. Go ahead and ask what size to expect the plant to get before plopping it in the ground. And if it is eventually going to be 4' to 6' in diameter, how about not planting it 8" from another equally large shrub? Just a thought.

- Bradford Pears = Not Good. Besides the putrid smell of their blooms that elicit images of a cheap motel, they have a tendency to split and fall during windstorms. Especially inconvenient is when half of the tree falls during your first days away on a trip to Brasil for 3 weeks. Even less fun is when the other half falls the day after you leave for a week long vacation in Georgia. Not exactly fun to come home to. And I'm not sure the grass in our front yard, nor the neighbors who moved in next door 6 weeks ago, will ever recover.

- I used to laugh at my Dad's never-ending list of projects and improvements to make on his house and property. After spending at least an hour each day over the weekend walking around with Eric talking about our vision for different rooms and parts of the yard - I understand now.

- It doesn't matter how many times you pick up the living room while Gabriela is sleeping. Within 10 minutes of her being awake, it will return to its previous state of chaos.

- Rednecks are not restricted to residing south of the Mason-Dixon Line. We went to the Lee County (Iowa) Fair Saturday night to get out and enjoy the nice evening. I've never seen so many NASCAR hats and t-shirts with the sleeves cut off. And I've sat in the cheap seats at races in Daytona and Atlanta . . . so that's really saying something!

- After months of traveling and being a big softie and giving Gabriela her pacifier to sleep with, I decided last night was time to officially retire all pacifiers for good. We put her to bed and she screamed, like top-of-her-lungs-making-my-own-throat-hurt-listening-to-it screamed. And this is the kid who pretty much never, ever cries. I let her cry it out for 15 long minutes. Then I went in to comfort her and tell her again it was time to sleep and tuck her back in. She refused to calm down even after I picked her up though and continued screaming. After a couple minutes, I was starting to wonder if something was actually wrong (something more than just pitching a fit because she didn't have her chupeta.) About that time, Eric came in for back-up. She immediately reach for her Papai, who took her from my arms. After silently laying her head on his shoulder for a brief second, Gabriela popped her head up, spun around to look at me, scrunched up her little round face, pursed her tiny pouty lips, and said, "Oooooooooo" while shaking her head back and forth. (She was obviously very much not happy with her mother. And very much showing off an emerging little attitude.) I sort of wanted to strangle her, but mostly wanted to fall on the floor laughing. I would generally recommend avoiding either action in such great moments of parenting. (Although feel free to laugh - uncontrollably - once in your own bed later that night as you recall her too-adorable "mad face".)

8 Weeks Later - We're Home

2010-07-08T11:22:00.005-05:00

The best thing about being away from home is coming back and crawling in your own bed. The worst part? Well, after being gone 8 weeks, stopping by home twice for a total of 3 nights to unpack, do laundry, and re-pack . . . THE MESS!

Oh my gosh. You have no idea. I like to leave the house orderly and clean, so when I return from a trip I can plop my behind on the couch for a couple hours (or days), recover from my travels, and not feel guilty about it.

Unexpected travel plans which extend your intended time away by, oh, about 40 days, are not conducive to returning to a clean home. Then throw in a 1 year old who has an exceptional ability to destroy a perfectly neat room in 5 minutes flat. (Those 3 nights at home? Yeah, just barely enough time for me to do laundry, re-pack, mow the jungle of a yard, and still manage to get the kid fed and bathed. Gabriela, on the other hand, had plenty of time to drag out everything from everywhere.) I do not exaggerate when I say it looked (um, looks) like a tornado came through our house.

Needless to say, arriving home at 10:00 Monday morning after driving all night from Georgia was not the most relieving experience of my life, as one might expect after being gone for nearly 2 months. Crazy Prego was feeling a little overwhelmed and out of sorts. As we were unloading the vehicle, Eric made the mistake of asking where I wanted him to put the tub of my favorite childhood toys that we brought from my parents' house for Gabriela. The response was something along the lines of a huffy "I really don't care." (Which, admittedly, was filtered from where I really wanted to tell him to put it.) As he came around the corner and sweetly asked me what was wrong and hugged me, my eyes welled up with tears and I made some profound statement like, "It's too messy. There's too much to do. I can't answer any questions."

Eric promptly suggested we finish unloading and then go straight to bed to take a nap. (I love that guy!) Gabriela's not the only one who gets a little cranky when she hasn't had enough sleep.

I've managed to get the kitchen and living room straightened up, but I still have the 3 bedrooms to go. And then there's the basement (which has been our "dumping grounds" for the last 6 months). And who knew so much dust could fall inside a sealed building with no one in it? Everything is getting a serious deep cleaning this weekend.

Meanwhile, it does feel good to curl up in our own bed at night. We had a fantastic time "on the road", but, even despite the mess, it is nice to be home. And it looks like we're going to stick around here for awhile. Or at least for the next 15 days. Then we have a six-week stretch of weekends where we have commitments 2-7 hours away. And then we have three weekends before Bebe Dois is due. And one of those weekends we're doing a local 5K Family Walk/Run, or in my case, a 5K Waddle. (Oh my. Can I go crawl back in bed, pull the covers over my head, and stay there...indefinitely?)

World Cup and The Man With the Yellow Hat

2010-06-18T13:01:00.007-05:00

Tuesday at 3:30 pm was Brasil's first game in the 2010 World Cup. We were over the top excited that we could be here for it!

Wouldn't you know, just one picture of all of us...and Gabs has her eyes closed!

Everything, with the exception of some restaurants/butecos where you could watch the game, shut down by 2:30 on Tuesday. With regards to Eric's work, the plant stopped the assembly line, the proving grounds stopped operations, everyone everywhere was sent home. I, for one, was not against my hubby being "home" 8 hours earlier than usual! We decided to watch the game in our hotel room, but go out for a walk after the first half and see what was happening. There was lots of horn blowing, whistles, yelling and general craziness before the game, but by 3:30 a rare silence fell over the city while everyone watched.

This was the scene at 4:30 Tuesday afternoon between halves. A typically very busy street, deserted. And everything locked up.

The only place you actually saw evidence of habitation in this city was anywhere with a TV. People filled butecos and flowed out into the streets - which was fine, since no one was driving around anyway.

One place we walked past had a young crowd that was particularly lively and obviously enjoying all the "special edition" cans of cerveja - and lots of them. Things got even livelier as we approached and a garbage truck came rolling up. They didn't seem to be actively collecting trash, more just cruising around and getting people excited. They stopped in front of the buteco and started blowing whistles like crazy. The crowd went wild, chanting and cheering, and one girl hopped on the back of the truck with the municipal workers.

And then, without warning, the truck driver took off at his usual lightening fast speed. With the girl still on the back! Her friends hollered and cheered and laughed, and all she could do was hang on and wave as the truck sped out of sight. (The truck eventually must have stopped and she got off, as we passed her walking back several minutes and several blocks later.)

(I should also mention we weren't the only ones with funny hats and headbands - I somehow managed not to get any of those in the "crowd shots" I took though!)

Brasil scored their first GOOOOOOL of the game while we were en route back to our hotel to watch the rest of the second half. The city erupted from its quiet slumber. Fireworks, horns, yelling, the entire city made one collective roar. And I nearly jumped out of my skin when some sort of firecracker was thrown into the street right next to me - it was really, really loud!

From the moment Eric put on the hat I had picked up for him, I couldn't stop giggling when I looked his way. He reminded me of someone, but I couldn't think of whom. Halfway back from our walk it struck me: The Man With the Yellow Hat!

He was less than thrilled by my comparison. But seriously, put Gabriela in a monkey suit and the resemblance would be too obvious to deny. Hmmm...Halloween?

Brasil won their first game, 2-1. But after all the predictions of a 3-0 shutout, everyone was pretty somber post-game. They get serious about futebol here, especially World Cup Futebol! So a less-than-stellar-win might as well be a loss in their book, it seems.

Brasil, as a whole, doesn't usually strike me as an overly patriotic nation. And I don't mean that as a criticism, more just an observation after living here 2+ years. BUT, when the World Cup rolls around every 4 years, that changes completely. Everyone is flying Brasil flags from their car windows, people who normally aren't even soccer fans (yes, they do exist here) are excited about the games, businesses and high rises are covered in green and yellow streamers and flags, green and yellow clothing and paraphernalia are everywhere. I have even seen flags that translate to "I am a Brasilian, I am a champion". For two years, Brasilians often looked at me in disbelief when I talked about how much I loved it here. For two years, I was frequently disheartened by what seemed like a national inferiority complex. So it is incredible to see Brasil so excited, so patriotic, and I feel incredibly lucky to get to be here for at least part of it and experience it firsthand. I can only imagine what it's going to be like when the games are hosted here in 2014!

Our trip has been extended an extra week, as Eric still has a lot going on here work-wise. The best part of that extension (not including 7 extra days of my breakfast being prepared for me each morning and 7 more opportunities to visit my favorite ice cream shop)? We'll be here for another game!

Bare Arms and Dirty Shoes: The Signs of a Horrible Mother, Obviously

2010-06-16T08:50:00.003-05:00

Oh, winter in Belo Horizonte. If it weren't that the pool water is too cool for swimming, this might be my favorite time of year here. Day time temps up around 80, and much warmer than that in the sun, with cool brisk nights perfect for cuddling under the covers with my Sweetie.

Long sleeves are a good idea at night and in the early morning, but during the cloudless sunny days it is pretty much summer-clothes weather. Unless you're from here. In which case you pull out the heavy winter coat, scarf, gloves, stocking hat, boots . . . you certainly don't walk around in jeans and a tank top. But if you're a 6 1/2-month pregnant gringa pushing a stroller all over the hills of the city in the middle of the day and if you're a 1-year-old who is constantly hot and sweating, then you tend to opt for the latter option: jeans and tank top.

And if you opt for the more skin-baring option, especially for your child, you better brace yourself for the incredulous looks and incessant comments. It doesn't matter than you're having to put sunscreen on her little arms and any exposed leg because the hot sun will cook her otherwise. It doesn't matter that her feet and back are sweating while riding in her stroller. It's June in Belo Horizonte. Apparently, you are only being a good mother if you have her in a sweatsuit, hat, and under a heavy blanket.

We hadn't been here for 2 hours before the comments started. And they have yet to cease. But Monday's concerned citizen really takes top honors for minding other people's business.

We had been out for a nice, long walk, and I stopped on our way back to the hotel to treat myself to a R$2.50 double scoop of ice cream in a waffle cone. (I'm pregnant people, I need the calcium.) Two blocks away from "home", I was waiting to cross the street when I was joined by a well-to-do-looking middle-aged woman dressed in a wool-lined jacket and leather gloves. (I nearly had a heat stroke myself just looking at her!) She leaned over to look at Gabriela in the stroller and told her how pretty she was but that her mother was "doida" (which I would generally translate to English as "crazy" or "stupid". I certainly never hear the word used in a complimentary manner here.)

I quit licking my ice cream cone and just stared at the lady for a moment. Then the signal turned green, and I started to cross the street. Concerned Lady walked alongside of me. And proceeded to tell me how cold Gabriela was and that I should really dress her warmer in this weather or else she would end up sick and it would be my fault and so horrible for this little child to suffer only because her mother didn't have any sense.

I wasn't exactly sure how, or even if, I was supposed to respond to that. So I just went back to licking my ice cream cone and picked up my pace a little. Concerned Lady stayed right beside me and continued on her completely innocent sounding, pleasantly-toned rant.

She told me how she was never blessed with children of her own, but that she is passionate about kids and just cannot stand to see them mis-treated. Then she asked me if Gabriela was walking. But before I could stop licking my ice cream cone to answer, she answered for me: Oh, she must be walking because look at how dirty her shoes are. She proceeded to tell me that shoes are washable, and I really should do a better job at keeping them clean. Concerned Lady told me of a woman she knows with four kids and how this woman never even bothers to give the kids a bath and how she sure hoped that, even if I didn't wash her shoes, I at least bathed the little princess.

And for an entire city block she continued to talk. As I listened, shocked at how a complete stranger felt the need to criticize, with such specificity, my mothering capabilities, my ice cream cone became more and more delicious and I stayed focused on it. I only occasionally glanced over to Concerned Lady and raised my eyebrows from time to time. No response I could come up with seemed quite right. So I walked, and licked my ice cream cone, and listened, thinking about what a fun story this would be.

After we crossed another street, I needed to turn left, Concerned Lady was going straight. She leaned down to tell Gabriela goodbye and how she sure hopes that when she grows up she won't be as "doida" as her mother.

I laughed out loud the remaining 1/2 block to our hotel. And then I laughed as I told the story to Eric that night. And again yesterday as I recounted the tale to my friend, Megan. I have never in my life been happier to be able to understand Portuguese! What a shame it would have been to have missed all that!

It's Not That Kind of Party

2010-06-15T16:11:00.002-05:00

Alternate Title: What Happens When You Put Daddy In Charge of Naptime

Mommy knows to pull the hotel crib away from anything that Gabriela's little arms can reach before you put her down in it. Daddy hadn't yet learned that lesson.

But neither of us quite expected to find this when she woke up from her nap this afternoon:

I took Gabs into the shower with me after Eric got home from work (very early, since everything shuts down when Brasil is playing in the World Cup!) Then I handed her out to Eric to lay her down for an afternoon nap. It was warm in the room, so he just put her in a diaper and her swaddle (yes, the kid still loves to be swaddled when she sleeps).

Apparently, after she woke up, she climbed out of her swaddle, as usual, but then proceeded to pull down everything she could reach on the desk beside her crib, including a box of Eric's business cards, her pajamas, and a DVD. Then, she went ahead and took her diaper off.

When we heard her in the other room talking, Eric opened the door to get her up. But he stopped, immediately started laughing, and called me over. We walked in the room to our daughter standing stark naked in her crib dancing up a storm with a huge smile on her face.

Granted, it's World Cup, we're in Brasil, and they were about to play their first game. I can see how she might be excited. But really, this isn't that kind of party!

How The Gabster Passes Her Time in Brasil

2010-06-14T11:26:00.005-05:00

Gabriela's been enjoying time in her homeland. Her bright blue eyes, constant babbling, and huge smile have been getting her a whole lot of attention in Belo Horizonte, and she's just eating it up. She acts like a movie star as we walk down the street or move through a crowd: waving at everyone, reaching out to grab people's hand as they pass by, smiling and laughing the whole time.

Here are a few pictures of how she passes her time...when she's not flirting with strangers, sitting through long meals with friends, or taking incredibly long naps (I think we've been wearing her out!)

Carrying home Papai's Guarana. (And nope, not allowed to have a drop of it.)

Playing in the grass at Vale Verde. (Yes, she walks like a pro now, but still loves to crawl too.)

Hanging out with her amiginha, gorgeous 6-month-old Leticia

A Sunday afternoon in Ouro Preto

Fun in the hotel:

Creating her own parade across the living room

Unpacking her suitcase, for the 132nd time (And trying to figure out how to put on her bikini top.)

Emptying Mamae's underwear drawer (Tossing aside anything cotton (seriously), but "wearing" the silky or lacy things. She also likes to pull everything out of Papai's drawer, but the only thing she deems nice enough in there to play with is his sunga (speedo))

She's Got Her Mama's Nose

2010-06-11T19:02:00.004-05:00

Dr. Carneiro says that Bebe Dois has her Mamae's nose. That ranks towards the end of my list of features that I'd like to pass along, but what can you do? ;) The previously uncooperative child decided to lay traverse instead of breech on Tuesday evening and gave us a real nice shot of her hind end. Proving that Mama's intuition was all wrong: turns out IT'S A GIRL!

We're really excited! Since they are only going to be 17 months apart, it will be fun that they're both girls! Plus, I get to use all the adorable baby girl stuff again. And I don't have to feel guilty buying more cute stuff for Gabs since, after all, it is going to get used by at least two kids! (Eric really loves my rationalization. haha)

Got a fabulous report from the doctor doing the ultrasound. Bebe Dois is doing well. She's a little on the small side, measuring 1 week behind where I am in the pregnancy. But 10 days past due, her big sister only weighed 7 pounds. Turns out that maybe I just don't grow monster-sized babies like my Mama did. And that's not a complaint!

Placenta is posterior, just like you want it. Amniotic fluid levels are normal. Umbilical cord is perfect. Baby is active. At 25 weeks, she is about 31 cm long (12.2 inches) and weighs 709 grams (1 pound and 9 ounces).

The place we had the ultrasound always burns a DVD of the exam while they perform it. I'm excited to get home and compare this one to one we had of Gabs at this age. I think Gabriela moved a ton more than Bebe Dois. Bebe Dois opened and closed her fists and kept opening her mouth like she was yawning, but was generally pretty chill. I seem to remember them chasing Gabriela around my uterus during ultrasounds . . . it will be interesting to see if my memory serves me correctly!

Watch out world (or at least Eric)! We women are taking over around here.

Passports and Visas: Our Adventure to Get Into Brasil

2010-06-10T07:04:00.003-05:00

(Random Note: The BabyBjorn is tough for me to wear a long time with 19 lb Gabs now - too much strain on my shoulders. I bought the Baby K'tan right before we came down. It can be used in 8 different positions, spreads out her weight a lot more, and can be used up to 40 lbs! Eric says he feels like a hippy wearing it, but I'm in love!!!)

I have a newfound respect for the United States Postal System. The Policia Federal in Brasil and I are getting along pretty well. But I am more annoyed than ever with the Brasilian Consulate in Chicago.

Eric's last minute 2-week business trip to Brasil and our decision for Gabs and me to tag along made for some hustle and bustle and the need for a laid back Brasilian attitude (to avoid shaving years off our life from the stress of it all). Eric already had a business visa valid for 5 years. I, on the other hand, had nothing. And Gabriela's Brasilian Passport had just expired.

We were going to be cutting it close with getting my tourist visa back from the consulate in time, but Gabriela's passport renewal was supposed to be quicker. After a little bit of busting our butts the Friday morning before my brother's wedding, we got all the necessary paperwork sent off. All we could do after that was wait and hope everything arrived back to us before Memorial Day, since we were leaving for Brasil on Tuesday.

We spent Memorial Day weekend at Eric's parents' house. His sister, Tanya, and her family were up from Florida and his baby sister, Kelly, had her high school graduation party that weekend. It was a fun, busy weekend! As of Saturday afternoon though, there was no sign of anything from the Brasilian Consulate in Chicago. Their website showed that both my visa and Gaber's passport had been processed and approved, but as of Sunday there was still nothing about our two Express Envelopes showing up on the USPS tracking website. (I had called the consulate on Friday during their "call center hours" to check and make sure they had mailed out our stuff, but I was informed in no uncertain terms that they do not answer any questions about visas over the phone and I would need to email them instead. Which I did. Without any reply.)

It's important to note here that to do anything through the mail with the Brasilian Consulate, they require that you send everything in an $18 USPS Express Envelope - they won't accept anything else that arrives there. They also require that you send a self-addressed and stamped $18 Express Envelope for them to return documents to you. No matter your time frame, they will not process anything from you unless you spend $36 on overnight mail. (Granted, in our case, we needed it to be rushed, overnight mail.)

By Monday afternoon, we had just about decided that our documents must not have been mailed yet, and we were going to need to skip our flight out of Cedar Rapids, drive early Tuesday morning to Chicago and be at the consulate when they opened to pick up our visa/passport, and then jump on what was supposed to be our second flight of the journey in Chicago. Eric and I both were amazingly calm about the whole situation and began calling the airline and seeing what it would take to change our itinerary.

We checked the USPS website once more and were ecstatic to see both envelopes in the system! Mine was in Iowa, and Gabriela's was lacking exact tracking info but did show up as having been through the Chicago sorting facility already. It appeared that it was going to work out just fine, just in time!

However, since we needed to leave Center Point by 11:30 the next morning, we needed to intercept the packages before they got sent out with the mail man for delivery. After a couple phone calls to people Eric knew who worked at the post office, we were told to call about 6:00 am and someone would be there to talk to us.

Tuesday morning at 6:00, we talked to someone at the local post office to alert them to the situation. By 8:00 am they confirmed that my envelope was there and they would hold it for us to pick up. They hadn't received Gabriela's though and suggested we call Cedar Rapids, since it would go through there on its way. As of 10:00 am, Cedar Rapids hadn't received Gabriela's but assumed it must be on a truck from Chicago scheduled to arrive at 1:00 pm. This is when we were informed that the reason our envelopes weren't being tracked properly is because the Brasilian Consulate in Chicago did not handle the Express Envelopes correctly. Instead of being handed to the mailman or taken to the post office counter so that the paperwork could be done and everything entered into the system to guarantee overnight delivery, they had just dumped them into a random drop box somewhere on the street. When that happens, the post office does its best, but your $18 envelope gets more or less handled as regular, first class $0.44 mail.

So Gabriela's passport was expected to arrive on a truck in Cedar Rapids at 1:00 pm. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 1:35. Much to our surprise, the guy we were dealing with at the post office said that he would do everything he could to help us out. He promised to have someone on hand waiting for the truck the second it arrived, and if our envelope was on there it would be immediately delivered to us at the airport. Talk about service!!! We were convinced it was all going to work just fine now.

So we jollily loaded up and left Eric's parents' house at 11:05 to go by the local post office and pick up my visa then drive down to the airport and get checked in for our flight. That's when we discovered that the post office in Center Point is closed from 11:00 am - 12:30 pm every day. Seriously. Locked up tight, no one to be found anywhere. My passport with my Brasil visa somewhere inside. That's the moment the vein in Eric's forehead started to bulge a little.

We couldn't wait until 12:30. So we went ahead down to the airport and asked Eric's folks to please pick up the envelope at 12:30 and bring it to the airport to us. The entire 25 minute drive to the airport, I'm pretty sure Eric had decided taking his family with him to make the two weeks more enjoyable was completely counterproductive. Combined with the unexpected 1 hour conference call he ended up on that morning where he learned that the progress he thought had been made the previous week was pretty much invalid, I can safely say my hubby's blood pressure was probably as high as it's ever been the entire almost 5 years I've known him. Had it not been for the giggles suddenly coming from the back seat, oblivious to the vein quietly bulging from her father's head, I'm pretty sure Eric would have had a coronary right there on I-380. Instead he smiled, maybe even laughed.

We managed to get Eric and Gabriela checked into our flight and bags checked, but they couldn't get my boarding pass issued until I presented a passport and visa. We barely managed to get Gabs through the system with her US Passport and her RG (Brasilian ID card). They asked for her visa, we told them she was a Brasilian citizen and didn't need one. They asked for a Brasilian passport, and we said she didn't have one. We were quite certain if we explained that it was held up in the mail somewhere they wouldn't let her board the flight, so we withheld that info.

The Cedar Rapids post office called us back at 1:00 to say the truck hadn't shown up yet but that someone was there waiting to rush the envelope to us the moment it arrived. Then they called again just as our flight was about to board to say that the truck was there, but the envelope was not. They had no idea where the envelope was.

We had already decided that so long as I had a visa, Gabs and I were going to go. We figured that a citizen, especially one in diapers, isn't going to be denied entry into her own country. We were quite certain the lack of a proper passport would get us held up in immigrations and it would probably cost us some money, but ultimately we knew there had to be a way around the passport. Especially since I had a copy of her birth certificate (the original had to be sent off with the passport application) and her RG (Brasilian ID card).

So on our way to Brasil we went. Flights were on time and fabulous. Gabriela did great the entire trip and slept most of the 8-hour overnight flight (waking occasionally to roll over and whimpering when she realized she was buckled into her carseat and couldn't, but then drifting right back to sleep.)

I got nervous for the first time as we approached the immigration desk in Belo Horizonte. Eric's passport was stamped, no problems. Mine got the Policia Federal Supervisor called over. Apparently they still had me in the system as holding a Temporary Resident (Type V) visa, which was expired. They also had no record in the computer of me ever leaving the country in December (their quick search for the stamp in my passport was in vain, as there are A LOT of stamps in that bad boy now.) Eventually they typed in some stuff, clicked a few buttons, and decided I was legal and okay. Then they flipped through Gabriela's US passport (we presented that along with her RG) looking for a visa. Eric pointed out her RG and said she didn't have a visa because she was born in Brasil. They looked at her RG and then asked for her Brasilian passport. Eric explained that her old one had just expired, that we had to send it to the consulate to have a new one issued, and that it was all currently lost in the mail somewhere. The Policia Federal guy said that yeah sometimes those things happen, looked at her RG again, and explained that it wasn't valid for international travel. Then he sort of shrugged, told the girl at the desk to give us back our documents, and told us to have a nice day. I wanted to kiss him. Instead I grabbed our stuff and skipped over to customs with a gigantic smile on my face.

The following day, Eric's parents received Gabriela's envelope containing all her documents in the mail. We're having it sent down to us so that we have it when we leave the country next week. I'm not sure we're lucky enough to have it so easy with Brasil Immigrations a second time!

The passport department at the consulate did email me back, after we had arrived in Brasil, to tell me they had mailed her passport on the previous Thursday. The visa department never bothered to get back to me. When I return stateside, I plan on getting something in writing from the post office saying that the Express Envelope wasn't mailed out properly, and then I'm filing a complaint with the consulate. Not that it will do a bit of good, but I'll feel better if I can scold them a little. I don't care if they want to just throw everything in a drop box, but it's ridiculous to require an expensive Express Envelope if they aren't willing to handle it appropriately.

But what matters most is that I'm in sunny Belo Horizonte. I'm eating fresh tropical fruit, pao de queijo, and having fresh juice for breakfast every morning. I'm having a R$2 (US$1.10) hand dipped ice cream cone at my favorite ice cream shop every afternoon (flavors like lime mousse, passion fruit, white chocolate, yum, yum, yum). We had an ultrasound for R$100 (US$54) and found out the gender of Baby Dois (to be revealed tomorrow!!!) I'm catching up with good friends. And most importantly, I get to spend each night with my Sweetie! Life is good.

Home Sweet . . . Brasil

2010-06-04T15:52:00.002-05:00

There are few things more satisfying than falling into your own bed after being away from home. And while my comfy bed is in Iowa, I also get a sense of being "home" anytime I'm in my home state of Georgia. Something about pine trees and red clay and other people who say "y'all" evokes a sense of being where I belong.

Stepping off the plane in Belo Horizonte Wednesday morning and being greeted with a warm, cheery "Bom dia!" immediately brought about a feeling of "I'm home!" that I didn't expect though. I knew I loved our time in Brasil, I knew I wanted more time here, but I was caught off guard by how at home I felt. As I've walked the familiar streets of Lourdes/Savassi, eaten at some of my favorite places, and even visited my old grocery store, I've fallen in love with this place all over again. It brings a sense of calm and peacefulness even right now as I listen to a car alarm going off, the screech of brakes at rush hour, and people whooping and hollering at a nearby buteco (small bar).

Eric and I utilized grandma babysitting services on Monday night and took the opportunity to have a dinner date before doing a little last-minute shopping for our trip. We didn't realize it, but we think the last time we ate out without Gabs was our anniversary in August (despite plenty of after bedtime stay-in dates, we should really do better with going-out date nights)! With the opportunity to talk to one another uninterrupted during the car ride and over our meal, Eric asked me what I looked forward to most about getting back to Brasil for a visit. My only answer was, "Just being there."

Then I went into analysis mode and contemplated how and why Brasil would always be so special to me/us. Starting our marriage completely dependent solely on one another. Having pretty much zero responsibility/worries (i.e. living in a rented apartment with no yard/up-keep, being financially comfortable, not having any obligations with family, friends, or organizations, etc.). Our first child being born here. Each day honestly feeling like an adventure. These are some of the reasons that I know we will always see Brasil, and specifically Belo Horizonte, as a really special place and why it is so easy to forget the many day-to-day challenges and frustrations that we faced (and that you're going to face no matter where you are.) I suppose we'll always view this place through rose-colored glasses!

But even after having all those thoughts before we got here, I didn't expect it to feel so much like going home! I think I'm going to enjoy my two weeks immensely! (Thank goodness the Policia Federal let us into the country! But more on that later . . . )

How much traveling is too much?

2010-05-23T20:00:00.004-05:00

There are some distinct benefits to being a stay-at-home mommy. Schedule flexibility is one that really comes to mind right now. It's an especially attractive benefit when it means you get to come into town early for wedding celebrations, enjoy a couple days at the beach that isn't interrupted by a last minute business trip, and accompany your husband when he has to work in Brasil for two weeks.

I am currently typing from my third floor hotel room overlooking the beach. After a fabulous weekend celebrating Justin and Casie's wedding, Eric, Gabriela, and I had plans to spend a couple days of vacation at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a little R&R. However, sometime around 1:00 am Friday morning (moments after he arrived in SC for the wedding), plans changed. Eric is needed in Brasil Monday morning. So Gabriela and I dropped him off at the airport before checking into our beachfront resort. Luckily it will be a quick trip for him and he'll be back in the US on Saturday, but still . . . we'd never spent more than 2 nights apart since we were married. So the 10 days we were apart when I came down early and now another week in separate time zones is leaving me missing my other half in a major way!

Life apart has just been a huge whirlwind as there has been a whole lot going on with Eric work-wise. A week after I arrived in Georgia, he booked a two-week trip to Brasil in June. Since he didn't want to spend two more weeks away from his two favorite girls, we went ahead and bought a ticket for me and the Gabster too! But then we realized that besides needing to get a visa for me, Gabriela's Brasilian passport was about to expire, so we had to get that renewed as well. Trying to get that done while I was in Georgia/South Carolina trying to get ready for a wedding and Eric in Iowa working was a little complicated, but I think we got everything rounded up and submitted just in time so that we'll have it all back by next weekend in time for our trip.

Our much-modified calendar is looking a little something like this now:

May 25: Emily and Gabriela leave Myrtle Beach and fly to Iowa (leaving my car in Georgia)

May 28: Go to Urbana, IA for Kelly's Graduation (on Sunday) and to visit with Brian, Tanya, and our nieces visiting from Florida

May 29: Eric returns from Brasil for graduation

June 1: Eric, Emily, and Gabriela fly to Brasil

June 17: Return to IA from Brasil

June 18: Fly to Georgia for a family reunion, my high school class reunion, and a little vacation

June 27: Drive back to Iowa

So if things play out as intended, between May 10 and June 28 Gabriela will have spent just 4 nights in her crib! And I will have spent 18 days in the role of single mama. We're going to really test this kid's traveling resiliency. And, already, I don't know how people manage long term without a present, involved Daddy. Single mamas must possess super human powers!

Bebe Dois - 20 Weeks

2010-05-14T12:39:00.002-05:00

Profile of Bebe Dois at 20 weeks

It's hard to believe I am past the halfway mark with this pregnancy! September is going to be here before we know it!

I went in last week for my 20-week appointment. I made the appointment with the midwife who works in the practice with my doctors. She was fabulous! So much more what Eric and I want in a care provider! The doctors there are great, but at the end of the day they are still surgeons and treat pregnancy very medically. The midwife really seems to share our philosophy on pregnancy and childbirth and is 100% on-board with us wanting a completely natural delivery again. We officially moved over under her care now instead of the OBs'.

Everything continues to go great with this pregnancy, just as with Gabriela's. Bebe Dois is growing and doing well - HR was 148 at this visit. I haven't been feeling much movement at all though. Since it is my 2nd pregnancy and I was feeling movement with Gabs by this point, my midwife ordered an ultrasound to verify all was well.

Eric and I were excited to have the ultrasound. The practice we go to doesn't do any routine ultrasounds at all. Unless there is an issue, you never get that sneak peak at the kiddo. (Much different from Brasil where we were getting ultrasounds pretty much every month!) Along with obviously wanting to confirm everything was fine, we also really wanted to know the sex of the baby!

The ultrasound went well. The baby is moving normally; just not nearly as much as squirmy-wormy Gabriela did. The ultrasound techs used to literally chase Gabs all over my uterus. This kid waved an arm, sucked on a hand, and kicked a leg, but was pretty much content just chilling. As she watched Little Missy wriggling around in her Papai's lap, my midwife smiled and said everyone deserves a calm baby - this just might be ours!

The trouble, though, is that our ever so calm and chilled out kid was positioned butt-down and back with legs crossed and tucked underneath. It was impossible to see anything! Probably our sole chance to learn the sex and he/she refused to cooperate! Go figure!

So Bebe Dois remains an "it".

Obviously, it doesn't really matter to us whether it's a girl or boy, but if it is indeed a boy I've got a lot of shopping to do! Everything we own is pink or purple or has ruffles on it. If it is a boy, I've half a mind to make him wear it anyway. You know, as punishment for not cooperating.

The Pit Stop Challenge

2010-05-12T13:08:00.003-05:00

I had full confidence in my ability to drive 14 hours straight through from Iowa to Georgia by myself while 20 weeks pregnant and with a one-year-old.

I had this great idea several months ago. My brother, Justin, gets married May 22. I figured Gabriela and I would drive down early, spend a few days in Georgia with my parents, and then head over to South Carolina to help with wedding preparations. Eric could then fly down just before the wedding and then drive back with me afterward.

Originally, I was going to leave at Gabriela's bedtime and drive through the night so she could sleep the whole way. That plan was looking less appealing though as I really need my sleep these days, and I know from past experience that those early morning hours just before sunrise are really hard for me when I pull an all-nighter on the road (and that's with company in the car!)

I decided instead to leave after she woke up from her first nap and ate lunch. That way she would start the trip in a good mood, take her afternoon nap on the road, we could stop for a quick supper break, and then she could go to sleep and sleep the remainder of the way. And lucky for me, I have a real trooper of a kid. She did just as I expected and never once cried, whined, or got fussy. She just sat there in the backseat entertaining herself when she was awake and sleeping when it was time to sleep. She is such an awesome traveler!!! (Especially when there is no one in the backseat with her. For some reason she gets really whiny and wants to be entertained if there is an adult back there with her!)

We managed to make the entire 900 mile drive with just two stops - which I can't even do when Eric's with me (I swear Gabs has a larger bladder than he does!) Pit stop number one was a little more than I bargained for though.

We stopped at 5:30 in Effingham, Illinois. Fuel, bathroom, supper, and we'd be back on the road.

Fueling up was no problem.
Supper at the attached McDonalds was fine.
It was the potty-break in between that proved challenging.

My prego bladder was full, but I decided to change Gabriela's diaper first. I got her on the changing table and got her diaper off. It was wet, but not dirty, so I thought I'd go hold her over the potty to give her a chance to take care of business where she wouldn't have to sit in it for several hours.

Leaving the diaper bag on the changing table, I carried her bare-bottomed across to a stall. We were 1 step away when I heard a splat. I looked down to see a turd on the floor. Fabulous! But I was fairly certain there was more to come, so I rushed her over the toilet and prayed no one walked into the restroom.

After she finished up, I took her back to the changing table, quickly re-diapered her hiney, and then used the wet diaper to clean up her mess on the floor.

By this point I was doing my own little potty dance. So I threw the giant diaper bag over one shoulder, held Gabs on my other hip and made my way into a stall and immediately noticed there was no hook or shelf for the diaper bag. Gabriela was excited to be out of her carseat and was squirming to get down. But she was barefoot for the car ride, so I didn't dare let her stand in the public bathroom. As she squirmed and the bag swung around me, I struggled to unbutton my jeans and pull down my pants - I cussed myself for not wearing something elastic-waisted.

Then I attempted the all-famous female hover technique as to not obtain any of the many diseases accredited to public toilet seats. At 20-weeks pregnant, I might not be that big, but my balance is off. Throw in a giant diaper bag and 19 pounds of squirmy little girl who is now trying to get into the bag and dig stuff out of it, and I found it to be most challenging to keep my bottom safely in the air. But I managed.

Then came the real test: how to pull up my underwear and jeans over my ever-growing rear-end and get them buttoned and zipped. I bounced and wiggled while my diaper bag banged loudly into the stall wall and Gabriela squealed like a baby pig since by this point she had wiggled around and I was holding her tucked underneath my upper arm like a newspaper and squeezing her around the midsection as to free my hand. Lord only knows what people thought was going on in there!

I got myself put back together, only to find the lock on the stall was jammed. So a little more banging around and I finally made it out of there to go wash my hands. Where I discovered the soap dispenser required two hands to function. And Gabriela managed to get into the water and soak the front of her outfit.

I've never in my entire life been more thankful that Gabriela was a singleton. How on earth would I have managed that with twins?!? (I'm also seeing the beauty of these little hang-your-kid-on-the-wall contraptions that I've always thought were really strange.)

(Eric pointed out that I am about to have a second kid - seemingly concerned about my future abilities to visit public restrooms solo. I maintain that is going to be much different than a twin. By the time the baby is old enough to be out of his/her infant carrier and require to me to hold during bathroom visits, Gabriela will be big enough to stand on her own inside the stall with us. MUCH different than if I had to hold two 1-year-olds at the same time while I try to go potty.)

Gabriela's First Birthday Party

2010-05-05T16:08:00.008-05:00

In Brasil, kids' birthday parties are really big deals. Parents will often rent special party places or else have a bash at their home. Either way, it's usually complete with elaborate decor (more decorated than some wedding receptions I've been to), a hired entertainer for the kids, lots of beer for the adults, and enough candy and sweets to cause dentist everywhere to cringe. The birthday parties we went to were a lot of fun, but we couldn't help but wonder how much money parents were dropping on a party that the kid will never remember (in the case of a one year old.) An expat friend in BH had a really interesting take on the birthday parties in Brasil, it's worth a read!

Eric and I wanted to do something fun for Gabriela's first birthday, but nothing too over-the-top. We decided to take host a churrasco, a Brasilian-Style Cookout. The menu included:

On the grill: pork loin, beef, chicken breast wrapped in bacon, and sausage.

From the kitchen: feijoada (black beans cooked with meat), rice, vinegrette, couve (collard greens lightly cooked in a cast iron skillet), along with some fresh strawberries and carrots for munching.

For the celebration: Homemade ice cream (a churn of strawberry and one of Oreo), a giant caterpillar cake with two chocolate cake sections, two strawberry cake sections, and a special apple cake with apple juice-sweetened cream cheese icing section for the birthday girl. (I wanted to be able to turn her loose with the cake, let her eat as much as she wanted, and not have to worry about her getting a bellyache from consuming too much butter and sugar!)

The things we forgot to put out included farofa, potato chips, and a pineapple we were going to grill. Oops. (The day was a little busy, and there was a lot of food, so I don't think our forgetfulness was too noticed!)

The weather cooperated beautifully and we had an awesome sunny, still, and not-too-hot day to spend out on the deck with family and friends. There were 25 of us all together, and we had a great time!

The morning of the party: decorating the cake. I would say I procrastinated on that one, but actually it was just the first chance I had to get it done. (Note to hubby and self: next time we're having weekend house guests and a cookout for 25 people, let's not try to complete a dozen home-improvement projects the week of.)

Eric's assigned station for the day: the grill. He didn't complain about spending his time in front of fire surrounded by dead animal parts on long spears while wielding a large knife. It made him feel all caveman-ish. (If cavemen had fancy stainless steel propane grills.)

Where I spent the first half of the party: in my favorite place, the kitchen! I love cooking for a crowd! (It makes me feel all grandma/Paula Deen-ish. I like that.) I love it even more when my mother-in-law is there and she cleans up behind me the whole time! I don't think I washed a single dish the entire day! (Thanks Nena!)

Both sets of grandparents with Mamae, Papai, and the birthday girl

The cake! Let's overlook the fact that I forgot to put the mouth on the caterpillar. Instead, let's pretend I did that on purpose. (Have you read The Very Hungry Caterpillar? I couldn't risk him eating all the food. Without a mouth, he can't do that. See? I'm not forgetful. I'm just a forward -thinker.)

Digging in to her cake, icing first! (Well, actually she spent the first 5 minutes eating the green-dyed coconut "grass". Then, she moved on to the icing.)

We hated for Gabriela to be the only Brasilian at her Churrasco, so we invited the other two Brasilians that live in Burlington. They play basketball for SEC, the local community college. They're both seriously like 12 feet tall or something. They made me nervous (and it had nothing to do with their giant stature.) I never make Italian food for Italians, and I never make Brasilian food for Brasilians; it's just a rule I have. I also very rarely make anything Eric talks about his Grandma making. I just can't handle that kind of pressure. The boys were most complimentary of my food though. And since they came back for more about three times each, I suppose they weren't just being polite!

Taking her first tricycle out for a test drive. (Thanks Grandpa and Momo!)

I used to think gift bags were boring for little kids and that wrapping paper was the way to go. Now that I have a kid myself, I must say gift bags rock. Gabriela LOVED digging gifts out of the bags!

Gabriela's friend, K, showing her how to ride a tricycle. (and licking some left-over frosting off her face?)

Friends A and E giving Gabs a hand with opening gifts.

We had Gabriela's birthday party on Sunday. April 18. Which just so happens to be someone else's birthday. I couldn't let the day pass without at least a little recognition! I baked a Truffle Cake with cherry topping for the big birthday boy and made him blow out candles too!

She obviously takes after her father

2010-04-23T15:30:00.004-05:00

We had Gabriela's 12-month check up today. Got the usual good report from her doctor. She is up to 18.5 pounds (10th percentile) and 28.25 inches (15th percentile). So she is growing . . . slowly.

We also got a couple vaccines (prevenar and varicella). And the doctor looked at me weird when I requested that we wait until 15 months for her MMR. I told him we would be more comfortable spacing out her vaccines a little instead of loading up her system with so much at once. He was okay with that, but he obviously thought we were strange. Oh well, probably won't be the last time someone thinks that!

We did have one concern we wanted to discuss with her pediatrician and had been waiting anxiously for her 12-month appointment to bring it up. Every couple of weeks, Gabriela will vomit in a very major way. And usually what she is spewing across the room, into her carseat, or down her father's shirt includes something she ate 8 or 12 hours earlier. There is no common food or activity that triggers it. And it isn't frequent. But it is regular, occurring a couple times per month ever since we started her on solids. All other systems work just fine. She eats very well, she goes poo three times per day every day, she's basically a healthy, happy kid. Whose stomach seems to stop emptying a couple times per month causing her to throw up.

The doctor had a couple theories on what could be happening. He hated to do anything too invasive (upper GI) or start throwing meds out there to try, since it is just an occasional occurrence and since it obviously isn't affecting her overall health. But, he thought it would be good to do an x-ray of her belly just to see if there was some oddity/malformation/something obviously wrong.

We walked down the hall to radiology (our pediatrician's office is in the hospital - super convenient!!) and then back to the doctor.

Turns out little missy has no major problems. But, her gut is packed full of bowels. Yep, she's full of crap. Proving that she might look like her mama, but she's definitely got her dad's genes too! (Just kidding, Dear!)

She already gets a lot of fiber in her daily diet, so the doctor wants us to try giving her a little bulk fiber mixed with her water. (I might try cutting her back to half a banana per day instead of her whole one at breakfast each morning. And maybe add a little more wheat germ too.) Hopefully that will help keep her cleared out and will prove to be the root cause of her stomach back-up and subsequent vomiting.

Her little pot-belly isn't so cute now that we've seen what's in there though!

1 Year Old

2010-04-21T16:09:00.006-05:00

My Dear Gabriela,

When you woke up this morning, I brought you into bed with me for a few minutes like we sometimes do. As you cuddled up with your head on my chest and your big blues eyes facing me, I starred at you for a while. I tried to memorize everything about you right now: your gummy, toothless smile, your wild curls, your round cheeks, your soft skin, your cute babbly chatter. And the longer I looked at you, the less I saw a baby and the more I saw a little girl.

It seems like just yesterday I was holding a freshly delivered, cone-headed, slippery, mush-nosed, pouty-lipped beautiful newborn in my arms and feeling a brand new part of my heart open up with a type of love I'd never felt before. I remember our first hours together as your Papai and I studied every inch of your tiny body in amazement that we could have created something so perfect. Now I watch as you totter around the living room looking so much like a real little person, and I try to wrap my mind around how fast it all goes.

Your Papai and I often sit and talk while we watch you play and wonder what the future holds for you. One year has gone by in what seems like the blink of an eye, and we know it won't be long before you're starting your first day of school, going on your first date, and packing up to move off to college. As much as we hate to see our baby girl growing up sometimes, I pray that we are always able to embrace each new phase of your life, to encourage you to pursue your passions, and that you'll always know how proud we are to be your parents.

But enough of all that. Your mama's crazy pregnancy hormones can't take too much more of that right now! Let's talk instead about what you've been up to the last month, shall we?

You are ready to walk! You're up to 6-8 steps now and will actually let go of furniture and walk off on your own. Your balance is improving daily, and I imagine it will only be a matter of days before I have a constant upright shadow (as opposed to one that crawls behind me all day).

You have a huge desire to help around the house. Whether we are folding clothes or tiling the bathroom floor, you want to be right in the middle of it all providing assistance. We are trying to find a good balance between letting you "help" and keeping you from getting stepped on or eating drywall screws. I try to involve you in as many chores as possible, with your very favorite being handing me clothes from the laundry basket as I fold them. While it definitely makes things take longer, it's totally worth it to see your face light up over and over again each time I say, "Obrigada" as you hand me another shirt or sock.

This has been your most cuddly and affectionate month to date. You frequently crawl up into my or your Papai's lap, wrap your arms around our neck, and lay your head on our shoulder or chest. You never stay there real long, but it is awfully nice of you to take a break from your very busy schedule to give us some love each day!

I didn't think it was possible, but you've become even more of a ham around strangers. You wave, smile, stick your tongue out, and giggle (and squeal if they've smiled at you but then look away to do something else) at everyone while we're out and about. There are checkout clerks at several different big stores now who remember you well! (And it's not like we're out shopping that often!) At Jared and Steph's wedding the end of March, your father and I didn't see you for most of the night. You were passed from person to person - and loving every minute of it! The only time you ever really prefer me over a complete stranger is when you're sleepy.

Despite my fears last month that you might be ready to drop your morning nap, they are back on stronger than ever now. You are napping 1 1/2-2 hours pretty consistently in the morning and another hour or so in the afternoon! Your bed time has remained 8:00 pm, you wake up at 7:00 to have your milk, and go right back to sleep until 8:30 or 9:00 when we start our day. And now you're napping great! You certainly continue to spoil us in the sleep department!!! (Let's just hope your sibling can live up to the standard!)

Although we did it a little sooner than I was planning, you are completely weaned now. I was planning to start gradually weaning you to whole milk once you turned a year old. But after a couple weeks of you never really latching on (and instead just sort of chewing on me), Mamae had had enough. On April 11, I was tired of you hurting me, you started crying as I pulled you away and tried to make you latch on properly, and I sent your father out to buy whole milk. By the third sippy cup feeding you loved it; we weaned completely in less than 24 hours! You weren't phased by it in the least (even though your mother had to use cabbage leaves for a couple days to help with the engorgement). You absolutely LOVE your 3 sippy cups per day of milk! You like it fine cold, but if it's warm you will actually turn it up and chug the entire 8 ounces without ever stopping to take a breath (an ability we hope you'll lose before you go off to college.)

We celebrated your birthday in fine fashion on Sunday afternoon. We hosted a spring-themed Brasilian churrasco served with a big pot of feijoada, a caterpillar cake, and homemade ice cream. There were 24 of us total to spoil you on your special day, including both sets of your grandparents and two other Brasilians. You completely ate up all the attention, devoured your "special" cake I made for you (yes, I know, we didn't even let you have sugary cake and ice cream on your birthday, but this way you have a sob story to tell your kids or something to discuss in therapy later on), and wore yourself out playing with the big kids.

It has been an awesome year kiddo! Despite that you're at the very bottom of the chart in size, you have been on track or ahead in all of your developmental milestones. You're a smart little squirt who is much stronger and more coordinated than you look like you're old enough to be! I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

I love you so much, my Gabers!

Mamae

Excuses

2010-04-13T12:57:00.004-05:00

I have a whole lot of reasons why I haven't been keeping up around here lately. But let my assure you that our house is seeing a lot of benefit from it! Since Good Friday (10 days ago) Eric and I have:

Primed and painted both bathrooms, including ceilings (which makes every room re-painted now!)

Ripped out vinyl flooring from 1 bathroom

Installed ceramic tile in that bathroom

Replaced the ugly vinyl floor in our kitchen with hardwood (looks AWESOME btw)

Hung new hardware in both bathrooms

Mowed the grass for the first time this year

Replaced light fixtures in both bathrooms plus the kitchen

Started re-staining the deck (to be finished tomorrow)

Oh, and we also made a trip to Eric's Mom and Dad's for Easter Weekend, I attended a two day doula training up in Waterloo last Friday and Saturday, and we've tried to not ignore our kid in the process. It's amazing how much can be accomplished after her 8:00 bedtime!

I know it's hard to imagine why we'd do our work after bedtime. I mean, look at what an awesome helper she is!

All the while, I am fighting a serious urge to drop everything inside and go work in the yard. We have some major yard projects coming up, and we have been seeing 80-degree days. Spring is FINALLY here!!! But I'm not sure how much longer I can live with my fridge in the foyer and stove and table sitting in the middle of my living room . . . so we continue on inside for now.

We are looking forward to having both sets of parents here this weekend and hosting a churrasco (Brasilian-Style Cookout) for Gabriela's first birthday. Lots of pictures are sure to make their way here real soon (including of all the house updates), so stay tuned. But probably not until next week!

Bebe Dois

2010-04-01T11:41:00.005-05:00

We don't like for things to get too settled or routine. We prefer to ensure that every day is an adventure. Right after getting married, we moved to Brasil. Right after we got comfortable with the language and culture, we got pregnant. Right after we got used to being a family of three, we decided it was time to add number four.

Bebe Dois is expected to make his or her grand entrance into the world sometime around September 22! (Big sister Gabriela will be 17 months old then.)

Ultrasound picture at 8 weeks

At 16 weeks into the pregnancy, things have been pretty uneventful - which, despite my sense of adventure, is a good thing! No morning sickness or random nausea. Well, except for once a few weeks ago, but that was my own fault. Crazy pregnant + nursing = constantly starving woman decided she had to have KFC, immediately. Eric was out of town, so I loaded up Gabriela and made a run through the drive-thru. I scarfed down a box of popcorn chicken and half of the potato wedges before we even turned into our driveway . . . it's approximately a 3-minute drive from KFC to home. It was yummy in a way that only a ravenous pregnant person can appreciate. But I very rarely eat fried food. Especially super greasy fried food from KFC. Within an hour, I wasn't feeling so well. Within two hours I was puking. Sadly enough, three hours later, I recounted to story to Eric over the phone - adding that it was totally worth it. (Again, something only a crazy ravenous pregnant woman can understand.)

I've generally avoided greasiness ever since and try to stick to healthier fare. But in rather gigantic proportions. There are a few important points to be made here.

#1: I tend to be super hungry while pregnant.
#2: I tend to get pretty tired while pregnant.
#3: I tend to be super extra hungry while breastfeeding.
#4: I tend to get tired more easily while breastfeeding.

Now, let's combine the two situations. For maybe the first time ever, I have regularly out-eaten Eric. (And even more surprisingly, I ate more than my bottomless pit of a brother (the only person to out-eat Eric at a churrascaria), Nathan, while he was here!) And on a normal day, my bedtime nearly coincides with Gabriela's. Almost 12 hours of sleep each night isn't an unreasonable expectation, is it?

Eric isn't worried about the extra costs involved with having another kid. He's not so sure he can afford to continue feeding his wife though. ;)

11 Months

2010-03-21T10:19:00.005-05:00

Dear Gabs,

It's hard to believe you are just a month away from turning 1! Where exactly does the time go? This month has been an exceptionally great one and you are amazing us at how fast you are learning.
You officially have a first word. Much to your Mamae's delight and your Papai's chagrin, it's "ma-ma". And boy, do you love that word. You must repeat it a couple thousand times each day, most of which occur when I walk into the room where you are. Never are you more proud of yourself though than when your hard working father arrives home, you quickly crawl over to the door to meet him, and the moment he scoops you up you look at him, grin a sly and knowing smile, and say, "Ma-ma!" He really loves that and usually gets you back by tickling you until you're nearly out of breath. (I should also note that he has since started trying to get you to say Dada or Papai. He doesn't care what you call him, he just wants you to say something that he can claim as his own!)

Most of your random babbling has been replaced this month with "Ma-ma", but you also thrilled your Aunt Kelly when she was able to get you to say her name. (Papai loved that too.) You say "Kkkkk". It sounds like you are trying to clear your throat, but you say it in response to someone prompting you to say Kelly, and you look at her when you say it, so we're counting it as your second word.

Besides your first words, you've been busy perfecting your gross motor skills. You can now crawl on your hands and knees in a more normal way (although you still generally prefer army crawling when you're in a hurry) and everyday you are getting closer to walking. Not only do you cruise the furniture and makes laps around the living room now, you can also cling to walls and make your way down the hall. You can stand alone for about 10 seconds, but you think it's hilarious to fall. So generally when we let go of your hands to let you fica no pe sozinho, you immediately throw yourself to the floor and have a giggle fit.

Just in time to sing Parabens on your birthday, you finally started clapping. It quickly became one of your favorite things to do. If you want someone to pay attention to you, you clap. If you're bored, you clap. If your Papai or I praise you with, "Muito bom, Gabriela!", you clap. If a stranger smiles at you, you clap. When your Nena tells you, "Bravo!", you clap. And, much to my surprise, without doing anything else, I can instruct you to "bate palmas", and you clap. The funniest is when you're on your hands and knees and you get the desire to clap your hands. You know if you clap you'll land on your face, but you'll clap anyway and just brace yourself for the face-planting. (I only wish I could catch it on video!)

As I mentioned before, you are learning at lightening speed these days. Everything you understand (nouns, commands, etc) is in Portuguese, but as you spend more time with extended family and friends we're sure you will start to understand English (and Spanish!) too. (The research on raising bilingual children says the majority language will come - it's the minority language that poses the greatest learning challenge. Hence the reason we speak Portuguese at home with you.) You know lots of body parts and will point them out when we say the word: head, nose, mouth, tongue, eyes, belly, feet, hands. You are learning the names of more and more of your toys, often surprising me that you know it. (For example, we were sitting in your room reading a book the other day. I pointed out a vaca in the book and you immediately crawled away from me and grabbed your big stuffed cow. We don't play with the cow very often, and I had no idea you even knew that one!) You can also follow lots of different commands that we give you, with or without any sign to go with it. The cutest right now is "Coloque seu pezinho dentro sua boca!" (Put your foot in your mouth!)

Your routine has mostly stayed the same this month, except that the 1-hour+ long morning and afternoon naps have shortened to just 45 minutes. (Which saddens me greatly!) We are trying to give you more of the food we eat, when we can, to start the transition to real family meals and are also introducing more spices and flavors to your food (while trying to avoid processed crud, lots of sodium, and sugar). You're not too sure about spicy-hot stuff yet, but you do love yellow mustard. Curry, cinnamon, ginger, and black pepper have all gone over well too. Unfortunately, you figured out this month how to take food out of your mouth. In the past you would just make a face and swallow more slowly if you weren't crazy about something. This month you have started digging the offensive material back out of your mouth and tossing it onto the floor. That's fun.

Some of the highlights of your month have included a weekend trip to downtown St Louis, going to daycare at the YMCA for an hour twice per week while Mamae takes aerobics classes, helping Uncle Nathan pick out a big shiny ring for soon-to-be AUNT Megan (you have excellent taste in jewelry btw - you love diamonds! That's my girl! Your father is scared!), your first rodeo (well, just bull riding and bull fighting), a weekend trip to Quad Cities with Uncle Nathan, going to Jimmy and Jenna's wedding up in Cedar Falls, and the parent-initiated disappearance of your pacifier that you slept with (which was actually a pretty easy transition). Oh, and you also got to share some real big news with family and friends!

We've had a lot of fun this month. You continue to be quite the little social butterfly, you thrive on interaction with other people (especially strangers!), you give Mamae and Papai the best hugs and slobbery kisses, and completely light up with huge gummy smiles whenever one of us enters the room. You enrich our lives more than we ever even imagined possible and make each day so special.

I love you more and more with each passing day,
Mamae

And the pacifier goes away (mostly)

2010-03-18T13:21:00.004-05:00

I don't really like pacifiers (or chupetas, as they're known in our house). Never have. I've just seen one too many five years olds trying to talk to me through a hunk of plastic, I guess. So my intention was to not give Gabriela a pacifier. Like is often the case though, once I actually became a parent, I ate my words. A couple weeks into her life, it became obvious that the kid had a serious need for non-nutritive sucking. And since I was really getting tired of her constantly sucking on my pinkie finger, or my shoulder, or my shirt, or anything else she could get her mouth on, I gave in. I gave her a pacifier.

Once she was a few months old, I started making the pacifier live in her crib and only gave it to her at naps and bedtime. Although my sleep-time only rule hasn't applied in the car or when we're out in public, as sometimes just keeping her quiet is worth whatever attachment issues I might be creating.

My plan since it's introduction has been to take it away once she's a year old. But a few weeks ago my dear little Gaberdoodle decided throwing her pacifier out of her crib was a really fun game. Until she realized that it was then out of reach. And then she would stand in her crib, starring at her friend laying on the floor, and scream until someone came in and gave it back to her. It was a fabulous distraction and way to stay awake. Especially during naptime.

Well, mean ol' Mommy had enough. Last week we embarked on mission Sem Chupeta around here. I started by taking it away at bedtime, since that is when she usually goes down really easily. The first night she cried a couple minutes, but since then she's been fine. This week I decided to take it away during naptime. She's missed it a little, but overall naptime goes better without the distraction she created by throwing her pacifier. I still keep it with me in the car and when we're out, just in case, but I've been a little slower to give it to her. My goal is to have it gone completely by her first birthday.

In an effort to let us all sleep better, I did give it back to her on Saturday night when we were staying in a hotel. She never sleeps nearly as well when there is someone else in the room, so I figured I'd break my own rule while we were away from home. That might have backfired a little though as Sunday night at home she screamed her head off and refused to be comforted after we laid her down. Luckily it only took 20 minutes before she fell asleep. Which, to Mommy, isn't too bad. But for her big softy of a Papai, it was torture. He looked at me about 10 minutes into her fit and said, "Why don't you just give her the chupeta? She was such a good girl this weekend!" I gently reminded him that we weren't taking it away as punishment! And the longer we delay going pacifier-free, the more drama it will surely entail! And then I made some comment about him needing to toughen up.

Long before we ever had kids, Eric harassed me saying that he was going to be the fun Dad and that I'd have to be the mean Mom. That's yet to be determined exactly, but I do know that he's a total sucker for tears. He has little tolerance for whining, but let a tear fall down the little Princess' cheek! For his own sake, I hope he toughens up before she realizes that is all it takes! Meanwhile, maybe I should take a lesson. Wonder if a few tears would get me a new fridge and oven? Might be worth a shot . . .

Why Eric Looks So Pouty

2010-03-16T17:17:00.002-05:00

If Eric looks a little pouty these days, this video should explain it. Gabriela has a new favorite syllable. And she's figured out it has some meaning to it. We're going on Day 6 of her saying it constantly. All day long.

Eric's favorite moment is when he comes home, Gabriela crawls over to him, and the moment he picks her up she looks back at me and says, with a big grin, "mama!" Pobre Papai!!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Lesson From a 10 Month Old

2010-03-11T13:50:00.005-06:00

If you were to ask what was my philosophy on being a stay at home mom, I'd say that I try to treat it like it's my 8-5 job. Meaning this: If I worked out of the home, the taking care of the house stuff would have to wait until after 5. And if I worked out of the home and Gabriela was in daycare, I would expect that she was being taught and played with during that time. So, despite feeling like I should be doing lots of other things sometimes, I attempt to make my "work day" about my kiddo.

That certainly doesn't mean I don't do some laundry or fix supper during the day. Nor does it mean I give her my undivided attention all day long. (I think independent play is a very important skill and we certainly do incorporate that into our routine!) But what it does mean is that while Eric is at work, I think teaching and playing with Gabriela should be my number one priority. Not checking my email, not scrubbing the house, not preparing 7-course meals to be ready the second Eric arrives home, and not creating wikipedia pages dedicated to my knowledge in nuclear physics and basket weaving.

Sounds like a pretty good philosophy, right?

Now let me go ahead and say that I fail at following through with it probably as often as I succeed.

Some days it seems like there is so much I need to get done or something so pressing that I let the little rugrat crawl around at my feet while I try to accomplish some other task.

And sometimes she gets whiny and wants my attention, and I attempt to appease her by tossing a toy her way or singing and talking to her while I focus my efforts somewhere else.

Yesterday was one of those days. Since it isn't really something she can "help" me do yet, I often wait to clean up from breakfast or lunch while she naps. But yesterday I had other things I wanted to accomplish during nap time. As I filled the dishwasher, hand-washed a couple pots and pans, and then got distracted sorting through some mail and preparing some things to be filed, Gabriela was constantly underneath my feet. She kept pulling herself up, holding onto my legs, and whining to be picked up. After all my efforts to distract her failed and I could no longer listen to her whine, I picked her up and, exasperated, asked her what she wanted.

Her little face lit right up with a giant grin the second I lifted her to my hip. Then (and this is the part my heart melted into a big pile of mush and I promised her she could have a pony, I don't care what her Daddy says) she grabbed both sides of my face with her chubby little hands, turned my face towards hers, and planted a huge kiss right on my lips. Then she sighed and laid her little head on my shoulder for a cuddle.

It's rare that I get all gushy and emotional, but I have to admit that I was fighting tears.

I guess as much as I like to think I am teaching my child, she is teaching me just as much or more: completely unconditional love, pleasure in life's simplest moments, slowing down and enjoying each day, being a mommy is an (the most?) important full-time job. These are things my little Gabster teaches me every single day. Sometimes she teaches with uncontrollable laughter, sometimes by a smile, sometimes through a great big spontaneous slobbery kiss and cuddle. But everyday she teaches me. For me, it's been the greatest I-never-expected-that element of parenthood. (Definitely beats the heck outta meconium poop and explosive vomiting!)

"Me" Things

2010-03-04T13:37:00.005-06:00

I love being able to stay at home with Gabriela. There is no place in the world I'd rather be, most of the time. But some days Mama gets tired. Sometimes Mama needs there to be more to her day than feedings and potty breaks and children's books and silly songs. And occasionally I need some motivation to get out of my pajama pants and do something to get my heart rate up (other than listening to a teething baby whining for hours at a time) or really engage my mind. And while Eric is really awesome to take over baby duty the second he gets home in the evenings, that isn't always soon enough. (Hey, I'm just being completely honest here.)

While I know that spring is right around the corner, we still have a fat layer of snow on the ground and it is still too cold to play in the yard or go for a nice, long walk. So for the sake of my own personal sanity, I decided to figure out some things to do just "for me".

The first is a bit of a change in "what I want to do when I grow up" (a question I'm not sure I'll ever be able to answer since my interests tend to shift A LOT!) I first had the idea while living in Brasil and then really started to research and pursue it once we moved back. I am now beginning training to become a certified birth doula through DONA International. I loved being pregnant (well, until those last 10 days when I was post due and so ready for Gabs to get here), adore being around pregnant women, and really want to help encourage and assist women to pursue the birth experience they want. Don't ask how someone who started college majoring in Landscape Architecture then went to Agricultural Engineering and ended up in Environmental Science decides she should assist women having babies . . . let's just say I like being a very well-rounded individual. Actually, I really like the term "Renaissance Soul" coined by the author of a book by the same name.

Anyway, I am attending a birth doula training in April, taking some basic childbirth classes now, and getting started on my required reading list. I eventually have to attend three births, and then I can apply for my certification. But hopefully I can get it all done within a year or so. The closest doulas I can find in the area are well over an hour away in Iowa City, so I really think that there is a need in the Burlington/Southeast Iowa region. I am super excited as it could be a great opportunity to do something I (think I'm going to) love, while still being able to be a stay at home mom!

And in the not-so-life-changing category, I signed up for two classes at the YMCA starting this week. They offer free babysitting while you workout, so I signed up for 20/20/20 (20 minutes of aerobics/20 minutes of strength training/20 minutes of pilates) on Tuesdays and a 45-minute pilates/yoga class on Thursday. So far so good! I'm sore, which is nice. Gabriela is having a blast watching all the big kids in the daycare room (she's been the youngest both days, so far). And it makes for a nice Mama break a couple times per week!

I got the nicest compliment from the pilates/yoga instructor this morning too! She asked if I was just visiting or lived in the area. I told her I had just signed up for the class, that it was the first time I had ever done pilates or yoga, but that I really enjoyed the class today and was really looking forward to it. She looked at me sort of funny and said, "Really? You looked great! I was watching you and thought 'wow, she's good, I'm going to have to step it up a notch for her!' " And so what if I was the youngest (by probably 20 years) in the class? I'll still take the compliment. ;)

St Louis for the Weekend

2010-03-02T16:24:00.003-06:00

After spending a couple months getting our house cleaned up, organized, and put together, our sea shipment from Brasil arrived last week on Thursday. And our house once again turned into a disaster area. Given that we have plans for the next five weekends, the only rational and logical thing to do was stay home and work on the house.

Since I obviously don't do logical and rational (especially when I have been stuck inside with a 10-month old for two months), I got on hotwire and started searching for a cheap last minute trip somewhere. Anywhere. So long as it was warmer than Burlington. And cheap.

There were absolutely no great deals to be found on flights, so I had to limit myself to drivable locations. I ended up being able to book a room at the Crown Plaza in downtown St Louis for $54 per night. The weather channel said it would be sunny all weekend and a good 10 degrees warmer there than Burlington. So I did a little arm twisting to my more rational and logical husband. And we spent the weekend in St Louis.

We drove down after Eric got away from work on Friday and arrived in St Louis about 9:30. Our hotel was steps away from the Arch and the weather didn't disappoint. It wasn't exactly balmy, but sunny with highs in the 40's at least made it possible to spend a good chunk of our days outside and walking.

After sleeping in a bit Saturday morning, we spent the rest of the day walking through the park surrounding the Arch, venturing down to Union Station, checking out the 6-story Macy's, and just wandering around downtown.

Gabriela fell asleep in the Bjorn during our long walk to Union Station. And I think she would have stayed asleep for quite a while if it hadn't been for the guy at The Fudgery ringing a dinner bell and yelling at her to wake up so she didn't miss out on free fudge.

The change of scenery was good for all of us. I know I needed to get out of the house and play outside, but I think Gabs did too! After a rough last week, we were both in much better moods after some time outside on Saturday.

On the walk back to our hotel after supper Saturday night, we got to enjoy a beautiful moonrise at the Arch!

We checked out Sunday just before noon and drove over to Forest Park to spend some time at the St Louis Zoo.

Some of the animals weren't out, as they cannot handle the cold winters, but it was another beautiful day so we enjoyed strolling though and soaking up some sunshine.

It was a quick trip, but an enjoyable one. A family weekend where all we had to do was play was exactly what we all needed to shake the winter blues! Unfortunately, the unpacking/putting away fairies didn't stop by our house while we were gone and clean things up. So now we're dealing with that.

10 Months

2010-02-21T16:32:00.007-06:00

My Little Big-Stuff,

We're only two months away from your first birthday now - and you seem to think that you're going to be turning 13. This month has brought some challenges, but we've had a good time.

You're reaching the point where you know what you want and you work real hard to make it happen, but your little 10-month old body has limitations (such as not being able to walk) and that makes for some frustration on your part. And a little more whining than your parents enjoy.

This has been a month of pulling up, cruising furniture, and constantly reaching for fingers to hold onto so that you can walk wherever you want. Apparently army-crawling is no longer an acceptable mode of mobility! And while you are very wobbly and your balance still needs a lot of work, no one has bothered to tell you that. You're quite certain you can walk unassisted and regularly get to the end of the coffee table and casually turn to walk away as if there is no doubt in your mind that you can walk. So this month has also seen A LOT of falls and tumbles. You're getting more graceful and you very rarely cry when you fall, but, just the same, you spend a lot of time face-planting it onto the floor.

It has been a cold month and we've been in the house a lot more than either of us would like. I'm not sure if it is actually seasonal affective disorder or just a severe case of cabin fever, but you and I both are a little more ornery than usual these days. We're girls who need our sunshine and time outside . . . being buried under 14" of snow isn't really our thing. I'm not sure who wants spring to come faster: you, me, or Papai! Meanwhile, I'm supplementing with extra Vitamin D and hoping to be passing it along to you through my milk.

We've tried to have a little fun despite the sub-freezing temperatures though. We took a trip up to Nena and Papa's House, took you sledding/playing in the snow for the first time, enjoyed a Valentine's Day Day-Date with Papai in Iowa City to eat lunch at Olive Garden and go shopping, had a couple play dates with other stay-at-home mommies and their girls, and you made your first trip to Iowa State University to visit the Ag Engineering Department with Aunt Kelly and watch an ISU basketball game (and just so you know, they were already trying to recruit you into the engineering department and encouraging your father to start saving now . . . and just so you know, your father said you better be busting your hind-end and getting some scholarships . . . I thought it only fair that I record this information for you so that you can't claim ignorance later. We're giving you 18 years to earn some nice big scholarships. I think that's more than fair.)

We adjusted your schedule (is it really a "schedule" though, maybe we should call it a routine) slightly this month to reduce your nursing sessions from four to three and try to have your three meals at more "normal" times. Our days are ruled less by a clock though and more by a series of events, hence my tendency to prefer talking about routines rather than schedules. This month, a typical day for you might be (although each event can vary by as much as an hour or so in either direction):

7:00 wake up, nurse, go right back to bed

9:00 wake up and have breakfast

11:00 naptime

12:30 wake up, eat lunch

3:00 nurse

4:00 naptime

5:30 wake up and eat supper

8:00 nurse and go to bed

You continue to be our lean, mean, eating machine with meals being your favorite part of the day. You plow through more than 2 pounds of plain natural yogurt each week and beans, of any sort, continue to rank among your very favorite foods. On an average day, you might eat:

Breakfast: 6 oz plain yogurt with 2 tsp of toasted wheat germ, 1 banana, 1/4 cup of blueberries

Lunch: 1/2 cup black beans, 1/2 cup of peas and carrots, 1/2 cup of applesauce with 1/4 cup of crispy rice brown cereal (think Rice Krispies, but made with brown rice and no sugar)

Supper: 2 tbsp ground beef mixed with 1/2 cup of lentils, 1/2 cup collard greens, 1 peach

You drink water with each meal and throughout the day. We've avoided giving you juice, since you get plenty of whole fruits. Well, that and we really want your only drink options to be milk or water. Seems the easiest way to keep you content with that is to make it the only thing you know . . . as long as we can, anyway. :)

Much to our delight, you started babbling about halfway through the month. You hadn't really made a single consonant sound before, so we were a little anxious for you to start saying something. Well, one day you woke up and decided you could make all sorts of sounds. And so you did. Nonstop. All. day. long. Your Papai came home and was all like, "Um, when did she start "talking"?" And I told him, "Oh, when she woke up this morning." You now jabber all the time (except for when you have an audience who wants to hear you talk) saying, "bababa, gabaga, dadada, kkkkkk, mamama, papapa, eheheh" and other sounds. You haven't assigned your sounds to anything particular, and you don't repeat anything we say. You're just content to hear yourself babble.

So you don't call anything or anyone by name and you don't use any sign language yet. But, that certainly doesn't mean you don't understand what we sign and say. You know who Mamae and Papai are and look right at us if one of us asks where the other one is. You understand comer (to eat), leite (milk), nao pode (no-no), pare (stop), livro (book), vai ao vaso (go to the potty), fica aqui (stay here), the names of some of your favorite toys (Madeline, seu macaco (your monkey), seu cachorro (your puppy)), along with beijo (kiss), maozinhas (hands), boca (mouth), and more. It's really amazing to watch you learn and see how much you understand now!

Of course, now that you're understanding more, we expect a little more out of you: like obedience when we tell to you stop or that you cannot chew on the electrical cord. You make it pretty obvious that you know when you're doing something you're not supposed to (such as when you stop doing it while we're looking, but go right back to it the moment you think we're not looking.) Whoever coined the phrase "innocent little children" obviously didn't have a child of his own! You're cute and adorable and lovable and fun. But innocent? Yeah, not so much. So along with all the praise and positive reinforcement you've been receiving since birth, we've added a little corrective action now as needed. Two (admittedly half-hearted) swats on one occasion to your diapered little hiney two weeks ago and you no longer fight and whine and try to crawl off when I get you dressed. I can only hope that future needs for discipline are as successful and long-lasting! (Somehow I doubt it, but I can hope, right?)

You make me laugh and smile everyday and then moments later make me want to lock myself in a sound proof closet. I suppose that comes with parenthood. But luckily we have a lot more the the prior than the latter! You're still my outgoing, stranger-loving, smiley, happy girl and you bring so much joy into my life!

I love you whole bunches, Querida,

Mamae XOXOXO

2010-02-18T14:28:00.002-06:00

"Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday, and Happy Valentine's Day . . . and maybe Happy Anniversary too, I haven't decided if you'll get something else yet or not by August."

Last week, these were the sweet {insert eyes rolling} words spoken to me by my dear husband when my new little toy arrived via my friendly (and now well-known) UPS man. (Yes, it was a sad Christmas and Birthday when I received nada from my hubby. Then he told me I could pick out the Digital SLR of my choice. And then I wasn't so sad anymore!!!)

I'd like you to meet our newest family member:

And so far, this thing has cost us more than Gabriela . . . so yes, it's part of the family now and will be attending family vacations, weekend trips, and more.

Hello Mr. Nikon D5000. You are a beauty! And I have great hopes for the photographs you and I will capture.

But first I have to figure out how to use you. This thing has more functions, settings, and options than a NASA spaceship.

Hopefully the 236 pages of the user's manual along with 298 pages of a camera-specific guide to SLR photography, and I'll at least be able to figure out how to take the lens cap off and take a picture.

So if you'll excuse me, I have, oh, about 534 pages to read. Better photos coming your way soon. (Hopefully before Eric opens the next credit card bill . . . He needs some reassurance about his "investment".)

In Honor of Carnaval

2010-02-16T10:28:00.003-06:00

Today is Carnaval! So to my Brasilian friends: Boas Festas e Feliz Carnaval! Bebe uma Skol pra mim. :)

In honor of this day, I would like to pick a little bone with Procter & Gamble. Namely, false advertisement.

Eric and I were picking up a few things at Wal-Mart on Sunday when we came across this:

Feeling a little sad that we wouldn't get to celebrate Carnaval in 2010, we couldn't have been more excited about our find. This time last year we were having a grand time in the fine city of Rio de Janeiro: watching parades at the Sambodromo, making our way across the packed beaches, and partying it up until after sunrise (well, as much as an 8-month pregnant woman can "party"). In 2010, we are freezing our hineys off under 10" of snow in Iowa.

But Procter & Gamble generously offers to let us spray a little Febreze air freshener, close our eyes, and be immediately taken back to the awesome celebration that is Carnaval.

We went on to read the can:

"Inspired by the lush green groves of acai berry palms that billow in the wind deep within the Amazon"

Wait a minute. Acai palms? The Amazon? What the heck do those have to do with Carnaval?!? I need to speak with the marketing department over at P&G. Seriously.

First off, let's talk culture and geography. Brasil is a real big country. The whole thing isn't a jungle. And the Amazon doesn't exactly attract Carnaval revelers. You see, acai palms do grow in the Amazon (kudos for getting that part right), but if you talk to anyone who has ever attended a Carnaval celebration in Brasil, I highly doubt visions of lush green groves comes to mind. Ever.

Now, I had a great time at both of the Brasilian Carnaval celebrations I attended. But let's talk about the smells of Carnaval in Brasil.
#1: Urine.
#2: Beer.
#3: Sweat.
I don't think you actually want your air freshener associated with these tantalizing scents.

Here's the deal Procter & Gamble, I can appreciate your efforts to market a fine product. And I also realize that the average person probably doesn't recognize your mistakes here. But really, a little research can go a real long way to avoid making you look like complete idiots.

Your name and description make about as much sense as calling a product "South Beach Breeze - Inspired by the towering Sequoias that grow tall above Yosemite National Park".

I can hear the Brasilians laughing at us from here.

Quadrigêmeos Update

2010-02-12T11:17:00.006-06:00

I'm long overdue to post an update on Manoel, Eliana, and their precious quadruplets. But better late than never, right?

Eric called and spoke with Manoel on December 20. We were saddened to learn that Eliana, Manoel, and the three boys were actually at the hospital. The boys had all came down with pneumonia. Some cousins were staying at the house with the baby girl and 5 older children, but Mom, Dad, and the three boys had been at a hospital a couple hours away for several days. The boys all started out in intensive care, but, when we spoke to them, they were all improving and in a regular room. They hoped to be home before Christmas.

We informed Manoel that we would be leaving Brasil on the following day, but we were going to deposit the money that had been donated to them into their account: R$850 (US$475)! He was very appreciative of the money and asked that we please pass along a big thank you to everyone who gave. He said that his family would pray that God may bestow His blessings upon each of you.

Since returning to the US, I have thought often of this family and wondered how they were doing. I debated calling them on more than one occasion. Then two weeks ago, I received an email from Manoel's sister - with pictures!

I asked permission to share them here and she told me to go ahead. What big, healthy babies! How they've grown in just two months!

To remind you, here they are in mid-November:

And now (these pictures were taken mid-January):

Ana Raquel

Natanael

Miguel

And my little buddy, Ezequiel! Look at that grin!

(On a personal note, oh-my-gosh these pictures make me want babies. Lots and lots more babies. Although one at a time would be fine. hehehe)

Manoel and Eliana have such a sweet family, and they really touched my heart. A big thank you to everyone who contributed. The generosity you showed was so awesome and getting notifications from Paypal each time a deposit was made really warmed my heart. Your donations equaled more than two months salary for them, and I know it will be a big help. They really have their work cut out for them as the quadruplets grow, and I'm certain they would appreciate a continued interest in your thoughts and prayers.

The world isn't nearly as ugly and bad as it sometimes seems. There are lots of good people out there (all over the globe) . . . I think sometimes we need reminded of that.

Our Snowy Weekend

2010-02-08T15:40:00.006-06:00

"I really want to just pick her up and drop her in a snow bank. I think it'd be hilarious!"

And this is the kind of comment that Eric is going to have to be sure to exclude from his "Father of the Year" application.

I didn't allow him to drop the kid in any snow banks (you're welcome, grandparents), but we did take Little Gabs out to play in the snow on Saturday. She still hasn't grown accustomed to getting all bundled up, and she was less than impressed as we zipped her up in snow bibs and a ski jacket. But we'd like to think she had a good time.

She didn't smile as much as she usually does though. She may share her mother's sentiments about cold weather.

Gabs giving her Papai the ol' stink eye after he picked her up and ever so gently tossed her into a flat spot of snow in the yard (which is decidedly different than dropping her in a snow bank.)

Making her very first snow angel! (Or was she fighting to try and get up/roll over? Either way, the result was one fine snow angel!)

I think someone must have mentioned hot chocolate (hence, the big smiles).

Sunday evening we headed over to a friend's house to watch the Superbowl. There were 3 other little girls (ages 2 months, 2 years, and 3 years) along with three other couples. We had a really good time, and Gabriela completely wore herself out trying to keep up with the big girls. (She slept until 10:30 this morning and then laid down for a nap at 12:30 - she is only now waking up at 4:00!!!)

Gabriela was rather indifferent as to who won the Superbowl. So she decided to just support her favorite college team instead: the Georgia Bulldogs!

It's been snowing all day and we're supposed to get 5-9" of snow between now and tomorrow night. While Gabs and I try to fight cabin fever, I'll leave you with a video clip of her first sledding experience down our driveway on Saturday!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Climbing!

2010-02-03T16:49:00.004-06:00

So she can't pick her belly off the ground to crawl properly.

But she is pulling up on everything.

And now, climbing.

(At least she can get herself back down as gracefully as she climbs up!)

I suppose this is a safer activity than chewing on electrical cords.

Life remains interesting. She keeps us on our toes!!!

How to Open Wine

2010-02-01T09:57:00.004-06:00

Sometimes life calls for creative means of problem solving. In the last few weeks of living in our house without our shipments from Brasil, without having everything we left in the US sorted through and organized yet, and without having finished my "replacement" shopping from our big moving sale in Brasil, we've found that more often than not we don't have what we need at the moment we need it (or we know we have it but can't, for the life of us, find it at the moment we need it).

A couple weeks ago was the perfect example. After a day full of cleaning and sorting, I wanted a glass of wine. Not a complicated request. My dear hubby had even picked up a couple bottles the previous night while at the grocery store. As he went to open it and pour us both a nice glass of the red stuff, it occurred to us that we had no idea where our corkscrew was located.

After poking around at the cork with his pocket knife for a couple minutes, Eric went scrounging around the garage and came back with a solution.

Observe, How to Open a Bottle of Wine:

1. Drill a pilot hole with your Craftsman 19.2 volt cordless drill. (A note from the engineer: The Dewalt, obviously, would have been overkill here. No need to pull out the big boys, it's just a puny little cork.)

2. Screw in a coarse-threaded garage hook. (One made for hanging bikes is especially handy as it gives you a nice big handle to work with).

3. Pull out the cork.
(Looking at your wife like you're the most brilliant man alive is totally optional. But a nice touch. Really wish I had captured that moment to share too.)

Now, if you happen to not be married to a man with a well stocked garage and a tendency towards improvisation . . . I guess you could just go out and buy a corkscrew. But that wouldn't be much fun now, would it?

P.S. You will be happy to know that since these photos were taken, I have acquired a snazzy new cork puller that also cuts the foil for you. It's pretty darn fancy. Eric is a little upset he doesn't get to use his cordless drill in my kitchen anymore though.