Noe's Blog

Between 12 years...

2012-01-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

When I left Argentina 12 years ago
I was a chubby 22 year old woman
totally 'in love' with Brad Pitt
with a bag full of dreams...

Noe 2000

I left behind my family...
dear friends...
awesome foods...
to venture into a new life
where I didn't know where I wanted to go
what I wanted to be

Throughout the way, I found love
and I married my best friend

We laughed,
we cried,
we travelled,
we loved...

and we became a family.

Noe 2012

All my life I wanted to be loved,
to find a great man as a husband,
to be a wife,
to be a mother.

I'm still a chubby 34 year old woman
who's in love with Gary and Mika
with a pocket full of dreams
hopes and wishes
for the next 12 years...

but this time
my two loves are included, too.

Happy anniversary...

Gracias Abuela for making my dreams come true.
I will love you until the day I die.

♥ love ♥

2012-01-14T20:49:00.000-08:00

Thanks for being my friend all these years.

I love you!

Read

2012-01-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

Fill in the Blank Friday

2012-01-13T05:47:00.000-08:00

1. The last thing I ate was pizza!!! It was part of our diet, so we indulged! .

2. The last song I listened to was Lady Gaga Fugue, after reading a post on Facebook .

3. Using the letters in my name I can spell {NOELIA}... no, noel, loan, lean, line, ano, in, on, an, lo, lion, one, and many more, I'm sure... :) .

4. If I had to dress in one color for the rest of my life I would pick green. I love green and it's a nice color .

5. If you were to look in my bag right now you'd find some quarters .

6. When I finish filling in the blanks I'm going to go have breakfast! .

7. My all time favorite song to dance to is ... I don't dance , but if I did and I had to pick one song for me to dance it'd be 'Insomnia' by Fearless. .

Sleep

2012-01-11T05:01:00.000-08:00

Childhood

2012-01-10T02:17:00.000-08:00

By now my mother is still flying over South America going back to Argentina. She'll miss Mika and it'll be a long time until she sees him again. We had a great time with her and I miss her already.

This photo was taken a week before my mom knew she was pregnant with Lucas, my little brother. I ♥ this photo.

Fill in the Blank Friday

2012-01-06T20:34:00.000-08:00

1. One of my favorite things to do when I have free time is catch up on mails and blogs .

2. When I have free time I tend to not know how to spend it wisely .

3. If I had an entire day completely to myself I would get up and make myself a great breakfast. Go online, read the news, burn a Cd and jump in my car. Drive to Washington DC, walk around all the monuments taking photos and just enjoying the day. Then, I would catch a flight, go to Texas and eat dinner in the vegan restaurant with my friends, and the come back. Too bad I'd need like 2 days... .

4. I would prefer to spend my free time (alone or with others...) with the people I care about- especially the ones that are far away .

5. Most of my free time happens when Gary has duty and I have TOO much time alone .

6. The best thing about free time is that you can do whatever you want... even do nothing! .

7. The next time I have free time I should probably organize my office and clean up the papers but instead, I'll probably just get online and read the news or some other stupid things.... .

Adore

2012-01-03T11:17:00.001-08:00

I was really bummed to know on Jan 22 the postal service will go up 1 cent.
However, international mail will go up 7 cents. I'm not too happy about it... but I promised Gary I will try not to go over $1.05 on every letter (the actual price is $0.98) so I will keep writing... but short letters.

Breakfast

2012-01-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

I wake up at 5am every morning to make breakfast for Gary. Usually, it's coffee with oatmeal, or coffee with eggs, bacon and pancakes.
Today? Just a very lazy cup of coffee with milk...
It was a lonnnnnnnnnnng night!

Me

2012-01-01T13:55:00.000-08:00

With the new year comes new challenges, resolutions and changes. Also, the knowledge I will be in my mid-30s this coming May. WOW- Time goes by so fast!

I've decided to keep my blogs (yes... both of them) alive but I will write short, interesting posts. I do have time to sit down and write, but I'm working on a very hard project named MIKA :) and he requires a lot of time for snuggling, feeding, changing and just plain loving! ♥

Happy New Year!

Challenge

2011-12-31T06:55:00.000-08:00

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-12-30T19:13:00.000-08:00

1. New Years is the chance to start all over again... to plan new trips, new parties, read new books, watch new movies... It's a blank page in my book :) .

2. One of my New Year's resolutions will be to lose the weight after Mika was born and my mom was here for 2 months! I would love to be able to stick to this resolution and even if I don't go down my pre-pregnancy weight, I'd love to at least weight something under 200lbs .

3. A New Year's resolution I've made in the past was to read more books... I haven't done that... just read the normal 2/3 books a year :( .

4. The most time consuming resolution I ever made was none. I don't make resolutions that will take a lot of time .

5. This year I will be spending New Year's Eve with mom, Gary and Mika. Just the 4 of us... enjoying some funny stories, and LOL about everything .

6. If I could wish one thing for my new year it would be to save the $ we need to go to Argentina .

7. 2012 is going to be filled with changes and new things... being a mother full time will be AWESOME! .

2011-12-25T02:09:00.000-08:00

"For unto us a Child is born",
-Merry Christmas-

Things that make me happy today

2011-12-24T07:49:00.000-08:00

Baby boy hears his mother's voice for the first time. As seen here

General Update

2011-12-23T19:31:00.000-08:00

* Alone- at last *

On Nov 27th, Gary and I had the opportunity to go out. Mom stayed with Mika and we decided to go to Norfolk, to watch a movie and had dinner together. It was the first time after MIka was born that we were completely ALONE for more than 5 hours, and I felt strange. Not that strange that I couldn't stop thinking about Mika, but strange in the sense I realized I can't get my stuff anymore and 'run away' with Gary as we used to.

I know MIka was in good hands... I don't know if I'd leave him with someone I don't know and it's gonna be hard once I need to get a babysitter coz I need to do stuff without Mika. We saw the movie HUGO in 3D, by Martin Scorcese. I almost left the movie theater half way thru as I thought it was such a boring and LONG movie, but in the end, it was a great movie. (not all 3D movies are great, and this one wasn't great in that department... but it was a great plot and actors).

We ate sushi at the mall and we had a wonderful time.

Hopefully, we'll do this once again before my mom goes back to Argentina.

I ♥ Gary

{{ K i n d n e s s }}

As you remember, Bernadene came on Friday to visit me. While she was here she invited us to attend the Mormon's church Christmas concert eh following day. It was at 6.30pm, so at 6pm I decided to leave in order to get there on time. As soon as I got into the car, I see a notification telling me the tire needed air... I was like, yeah, whatever! That tire always needs air. I turn the car on, start driving and about 2 minutes later I hear a horrible noise. I stopped and what do you think I saw????????? A FLAT TIRE!

I texted Bernardene telling her I wasn't gonna make it cos I had a flat tire. Gary was on duty at the base, so I had to find a way to fix the tire. For 7 years I had AAA and nothing happened to me. NOW, that I moved to a different state where I know nobody- I got a flat tire.

Bernadene and her husband came to help us; they missed the ENTIRE concert just to come and help us... They're so nice!

On Monday we took the car to get checked and they told us a. our tire can't be repaired, b. our rim is cracked. I called the Acura dealer in VA and they told me the new rim for Acura is about $350 (and $125 was the tire!!!) and I was really sad about the whole thing. We were planning on spending $350 on our Christmas gift :(

I got another rim online and we got it on Friday and by Monday we were driving with new rim/tire.

@ Fixing it the Argentinean style @

When I was about 10 or 11 years old, there was a guy named Ignacio Copani who came up with a song titled: 'We fix it with wire' and since then, every time we have to fix something and we say 'lo atamo con alambre' we sing that song :) It's very common in Argentina that we fix everything in '3 kicks' o we fix it 'with wire'. LOL

Anyway- we moved from NH to NC and our plates expired at the end of Dec. Gary registered the car here at the end of October. As he couldn't get the screws from the back plate, he decided to get the NC plate in the front of the car. Of course, the plate goes in the back. I had to take Gary to the Naval Base, so when we were getting there the officer in charge on the ID check-in asked Gary: why do you have a NC plate on your front and a NH plate on the back? Gary told him he couldn't unscrew the thingies... and the officer looked at him and said: you get that changed TODAY!

After wasting 2 hours going around trying to find the screwdriver I gave up. I found those plastic things inside the trunk and I fixed it that way. It works... :) and of course, the NH plate is behind the NC.

♥M♥ I ♥K♥ A♥

I feel very lucky and blessed to have married such a talented guy as Gary. He has the ability few people have: he draws and paints wonderfully. If you remember, he drew Pablo Neruda, Victor Jara and he also made the bebes from last year's Christmas' cards. He even made a great card for my parents (that's the photo on the right). Every year we made different cards and he's the one always drawing my ideas. This year we made a very simple card... but he was the one who drew it.

Gary painting Mika's letters and painting my parents' Christmas' card

When the time came to start fixing Mika's room, I had a lot of things in my mind. I wanted bears and bees, I wanted lions and tigers... I wanted an elephant, giraffes! The whole African animals! However, everything is very expensive and I didn't want to spend $ on bedding or decoration. I'm not cheap- I just don't have the $ to invest in that kind of stuff. Anyway- with my mother's coming we made a lot of things and Gary also had to work! OF COURSE!

I explained to him what I wanted, we searched for fonts and in the end we decided for the monkeys. It took Gary 1 hour to paint the letters and the monkeys and it looks great! I'm so happy with the result, and now we just need to hang them up :) We'll see how it looks after it's all done...

~ Back to December ~

I had a horrible day on Sunday (12.18). It's hard, sometimes, to realize I'm not doing well because I'm NEVER alone in my house. There's always someone with me: my mom, Gary, Mika. I can't show I'm not doing well because I feel the responsability to show I'm strong and everything is doing GREAT with me. However, I was having a really hard time.

Mostly, it was because of Facebook. I deleted my old Facebook but now I have a new one with new people... mostly people from High School and some stupid ones, as well. There's still this person who annoys the hell out of me and I still have her as a friend on FB. I should delete her for good.... My heart was heavy for something else (related with Facebook, though) and every time I'm sad for this specific topic I always think about this song. I don't want to go back to December but I would LOVE to turn back time and change things.

I wish it wasn't that difficult...

In a second, my heart wasn't heavy anymore... and my day ended with a smile on my face, my heart. I just know time heals wounds and sometimes it heals them forever.

No Paparazzi!

This is Mika eating, and every time he does it

he covers his face.

E V E R Y S I N G L E T I M E

We've taken his photo while he's eating for 2 days

and in every photo, he's covering his face.

We love watching him do this...

My alarm clock is set to 5.30am- that's when I get up to make breakfast for Gary before he heads to work. Usually, I find these 3 bottles (*) by my nightstand, and quite few diapers near the door. Most night, I'm a good shooter and they end up INSIDE the basket :)

(*) Unfortunately, I was unable to breastfeed. My breasts produced 2oz of milk every 2 days... and even with some breastmilk vitamins and shit I didn't get anything... By December 4th Mika wasn't even interested in my breasts and I had no more milk.

Sometimes we want to do many things and we know breast milk is the best for our children... but in the end it's what's best for our children right now and not what we wanted. I knew I had problems with my milk supply as soon as I left the Hospital, and I was willing to move on from that and look forward to a healthy baby. Pro-breastfeeding mommies are all over and they show off their power to breastfeed, which I find disgusting. I wanted many things for my pregnancy and my child, but things didn't turn out to be what I wanted. However, I'm happy I have a healthy baby who is being formula-fed and growing fast and very well.

Fill in the blank Friday

2011-12-23T08:51:00.000-08:00

This week I pass...

Christmas is not my favorite holiday, and we won't be doing anything.

So anyway...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Good bye...

2011-12-20T23:13:00.000-08:00

I'm un-inspired

I don't want to write about Mika

I don't want to write about my life

I don't want to write about anything!

~better days will come soon~

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-12-16T07:27:00.000-08:00

1. My most favorite "little thing" is getting everything ready in the coffee maker and get up early in the morning with the smell of coffee :) .

2. I give anything to wake up one morning and have a different set of boobs (LOL) .

3. I can't believe how some people can't seem to be interested about their own blood. .

4. The one thing I'd like to achieve today is cleaning my room... which is still a mess after rearranging Mika's stuff .

5. The last thing I want to do today is go outside.

6. If I were writing my own blank today, it would say: What I don't like about my Facebook friends is... .

7. My favorite candle scent is none... I'm not fond of candles .

Check other answers at The Little Things We Do.

Guests

2011-12-10T10:22:00.000-08:00

Gary;'s coworker's wife came to meet Mika and she brought her 2 smaller children with her. My mom made lemon pie, orange pie, apple cake and we had hot cocoa, herbal tea and a wonderful time! :)

Here is mom playing with Owen and Raleigh (who was so :( as mom couldn't read the Elmo books to her). Mom enjoyed the kids and the visit. She could talk to someone else!!! :) [Bernadene lived in Puerto Rico for a couple of years so she speaks a little SPanish).

Raleigh is 2 years old and she was great! Such a cute little girl!!

I hope we can become good friends with Bernadene. She seems a really nice woman! :)

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-12-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

{I wish candy could count as a balanced meal. The photo has nothing

to do with this post, but I'm 8 months pregnant and I've got candy on the brain!}

1. Love is pure, kind, not jealous, forgiving. .

2. Being in love feels like tummy flutters and awkward moments and beautiful moments and anticipation and excitement all rolled into one - in other words, you can't explain what being in love really is .

3. My favorite quote about love is "If I was drowning you would part the sea, and risk your own life to rescue me" Jon Bon Jovi. It's not actually a quote about love, but the song talks about love and I'm sure the person who loves me would do that for me.

4. The most important thing in a relationship is RESPECT (when we take respect out of the relationship, there's nothing...) .

5. A "deal breaker" for me in a relationship is someone not willing to change .

6. The way I show love in my relationships is by getting up every morning to make breakfast for Gary so he can sleep in few more minutes and not worry about getting his breakfast ready (at 5am) .

7. I love (d) Gary with my whole heart... until Mika arrived :) .

Updating my life...

2011-12-08T09:23:00.000-08:00

I realized it's hard to have a blog, a baby, a husband, a house, a life. I've been struggling to keep up with many things 'internet' related. I told my mom I would stop writing, but she said: I kill you if you do that so here I am... trying to update :)
Mom and I have been really busy sewing stuff for us and Mika. I always wanted a sling, but the ones I saw were too expensive. I looked online and I found some patterns for another type of sling and mom saw it, after she finished with the pillows for the chairs. She sworn she will never work with goose feather EVER again!

Putting the filling on the pillows

Cutting the fabric for the slings

Gary's and Noe's slings
:)

Thank you mom!!!

After the slings we started working on the cloth diapers. I bought all the stuff needed for the diapers and we made 3 small covers and 3 medium covers (not pictured). It wasn't as hard as we thought it'd be. For those reading and wondering whether they're cheaper than buying them: No. Go ahead and buy them. The work put into the covers and soakers is not worth it.

Above: Diaper covers Below: Mistakes in putting the snaps

We made a mistake with the fabric on the soakers... we used the micro fleece :( which was for other project and now we have to redo all the soakers. It was my mistake, though.

Above: Soakers Below: Mika wearing a cloth diaper

Drying covers outside as they can't be dried in the dryer.

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-12-02T12:11:00.000-08:00

1. The holiday season is just another time in the year (sorry- no holiday spirit around this time of year :( .

2. Snow makes me think about E and how much fun we had making snowmen and doing our 'Mt Everest' Expeditions...

3. The best comfort food to eat when it's cold out is coffee and bagels with cream cheese and dulce de leche! YUM! .

4. Winter is the best time for watching old romantic movies, snuggling in the couch watching TV and sleeping in REALLY late!

5. I can hardly wait for March! Going to NYC! .

6. When it comes to holiday gifts I prefer to not think about them as I don't give or receive any. .

7. If I were to rate my excitement about the holiday season on a scale from 1-10, I would say I am at about a 1- I don't like the holidays .

I just realized this was a very depressing FITBF - Sorry peeps... I don't like the holidays.

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-11-25T07:08:00.000-08:00

1. Waking up at the break of dawn to go shopping is my idea of wasting useful sleeping hours... I did it only once, and I will do it again tomorrow as there is something really worth my sleep-deprivation :) .

2. If I were to go shopping today I would be on the hunt for some baby stuff... especially a whole bedroom set! .

3. The best thing I ate yesterday was a dessert my mom made with dulce de Leche. SO YUMMY!!! .

4. Something I've been learning lately is that I need to let it go and just live the present and look forward to the future .

5. I cannot start my day without my cup of coffee... still! .

6. My nighttime attire consists of a black tank top and underwear .

7. I am looking forward to my trip to NYC in March. I CANT WAIT! .

Why?

2011-11-24T12:50:00.000-08:00

What You're about to read here is based on a very 'heated' exchange of text messages between me and my best friend Chris. He got pissed at me because I posted a blurred photo of Mika in Facebook... then came all the backlash for posting a blurred photo of my son.
This is sort of the explanation- which doesn't really explain anything...

Long time ago I decided not to share photos of my baby, or the kids I was babysitting on Facebook or my blog. Why, you may ask? Well... At the beginning it was because they were not my kids (the kids I babysat) and I didn't have the parents' permission to post photos of them online. Now, I choose not to post photos of Mika because he's a baby and he has no word and vote on whether he wants to be exposed to the internet world, or not.

I explained this to Chris, and here you can read our txt msg exchange...

The truth is, I think Mika is MINE!
He is MY PRIVATE WORLD at this moment, and I won't share photos of him here, on Facebook or on my Spanish blog. I don't care if people think I'm weird because I blur his face. I can do whatever I want, and if I choose to blur his face, that's my business. I've shared photos of him with people who have asked for a photo, or who've left comments in both blogs... BUT I won't be publishing photos of him (his face).

When Mika is old enough to understand what the internet is, and he wants to share his face here... then he can do whatever he wants. As long as he's little... Mika will be under my censorship and people can say w/e they want. I'm his mother, and I think I have the right to choose what's best for him.

In reality, I don't care...
In the end, he's my son and for as long as he's a minor, he's under my care (and Gary's) and we both choose what we think it´s the best for him online and offline.

No woman, no cry.

2011-11-20T10:04:00.000-08:00

As soon as Mika was born we found out my breasts don't really produce a lot of milk. I felt frustrated and it took me a few days to digest the idea I might not be able to breastfeed Mika. With all the problems he had after being born more than 5 weeks early, I decided not to worry about this and focus on something more important: Mika's health and weight. We started feeding him formula after the 2nd visit to the doctor, and we're happy to announce Mika now weights about 7lbs. He does latch on my breasts, but he can barely get anything out of them (even with pumping, I get only 2oz a day! from both breasts!).

It really sucks not to breastfeed him... but I've learnt to love feeding him and though I didn't create that 'bonding' over the breastfeeding, he does enjoy being with me and I can soothe him in a different way that Gary does. He's still a very quiet, peaceful baby. I hope he stays that way forever! though I've heard that premature babies go into a crying phase after they pass the 40th week. I don't know... I just pray Mika stays like this (he's so cute!!).

A couple of my friends on Facebook were pregnant around the same time I was pregnant and 2 of them delivered this past week. I sent them cards and one of them wrote me this on Facebook:

For those of you who read my blog and wonder how I manage to do SO MANY THINGS while having a newborn baby, I have 2 answers for you:

a. My mother and Gary have been with me since Mika was born (Gary's going back to work on 12/1)

b. I've been a babysitter/maid for the past 6 years- taking care of babies, infants and children while also cleaning the house, cooking, doing the laundry, running errands.

Gary's a big help to me during the day, and I take care of Mika at night. My mother has never changed Mika since she's here... she feeds him, and holds him... but it's up to us to take care of him. She's a great help with the cooking, and we're busy working on sewing projects. I'll show you what we've done -she saws, but I 'direct' her. LOL

Because our city is so boring, we decided to take my mom to Virginia Beach, VA yesterday. We walked thru the 'boardwalk' and it was so funny coz NOBODY was there! I bet in Summer Time that would be so populated, but yesterday was very calm.

We enjoyed the trip to VA and this week we'll go to another place so my mom can get to sightsee a little bit of this area, instead of being inside the house all day long. I'm feeling much better, and Gary's still off so we'll take this time to show her around. Hopefully, the weather stays nice so we can do all we have planned.

Happy Week!

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-11-18T09:19:00.000-08:00

1. A nervous habit I have is playing with my wedding ring with my thumb. I also bite my nails once in a while... .

2. Something that makes me sad is living so far away from my friends .

3. Today I am thankful for having my mom with us and the relationship she has built with Gary. Watching them play Kinect last night was priceless .

4. My favorite room in my house is the dinning room... I love sitting there, writing my letters, eating there and having deep conversations with Gary. .

5. I can't stand people who look at me like I'm from Mars because I have an accent .

6. If I had an extra $100 to spend on whatever I wanted today I would go to this Greek restaurant in VA .

7. The last person I hung out with was my mom, Mika and Gary :) I'm home all day... I hang out with them! .

SPOILED!

2011-11-17T02:08:00.000-08:00

My mother came from Argentina on Nov 5th and she'll stay with us until Jan 10th, I believe. We love having her with us because she's been helping us a lot, cooking and cleaning and just being with us. Gary's off at the moment, but once he's back at work it'd be my mom and me for a while until she leaves [snif, snif].

Though my mom is holding Mika in this photo, it doesn't mean Mika is on my mom's arm ALL THE TIME. He actually spends a lot of time in my arms... and my mom gets him when my dad's on Skype to show him how Mika's been changing on how silly he looks when he sleeps. Mika will grow so fast and I won't be able to hold him like this anymore. So, for now, I enjoy 'spoiling' him in my arms.

Our joke at the moment is how we'd like to exchange Mika for an older child. All Mika does is sleep, eat and poop. It's so boring!!!! (LOL) We're SO LUCKY as he barely cries, and if we don't wake him up he can sleep all night long w/o waking up- not even to eat! We do wake him up, though. He has to eat every 2-3 hours, so we disturb his peaceful sleep to feed him. 2 minutes into eating he falls back sleep.

I love my son. He's so precious and we can't stop looking at him, talking to him and singing silly songs. I wish we could keep them babies like this for a longer period of time- but oh well... it's impossible and kinda boring too. LOL I do enjoy it as he's my son and after taking care of so many babies I can feel that connection between him and I.

I'm stressed out ...

2011-11-16T19:07:00.000-08:00

Mika gained 4oz and he lost his umbilical cord today.

I can sleep... I'm not tired,

I can do many things...

except b r e a s t f e e d

IT SUCKS

but

may be it's like this because he's premature

tongue tied

and blah blah blah

Went to see a lactation consultant today

who helped with some tips

and proved me how little

doctors, nurses and specialists

actually hear you

when you talk...

Oh well...

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Mika's Birth

2011-11-14T19:03:00.000-08:00

I'm almost done writting my super lonnnnnnnnng story about Mika's birth. Soon, I'll update this post.

My gladiators...

2011-11-12T11:00:00.000-08:00

I'm so surprised at the ability babies have to adapt to other people or our ability to adapt to babies... Mika loves to sleep in Gary's chest and he does it with such quietness... It's lovely to see it and so cut how he lay there, like hugging Gary.

It's a little hard to change his diapers as he cries while we do that. However, we've found the remedy: we sing the

US National Anthem and the soundtrack of Gladiator. We sing it like reallly slow- and he seems to like it and he falls sleep.

I'm happy he's with us this weekend and my mother is with us as well. I'm really blessed!

Happy Sabbath!

He stays Home!

2011-11-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

Mika lost quite a lot of weight after being home, mostly because he's premature and he's not eating well. We've tried breastfeeding (with no luck) and now we're on formula almost all day long. He latches, but he doesn't suck... He's just using my nipples as a paci.

Sad.

I know...

He gets to stay home, though.

The doctor saw him and he gained 5oz which is great!

so he won't have to go back to the hospital.

Happy 11.11.11

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-11-10T19:18:00.000-08:00

1. My favorite new blog of the moment is Sizzle Says .

2. Something I am thankful for is Mika's gaining weight and being able to stay home with us .

3. Something that made me laugh this week was watching how Mika sleeps and makes silly faces while sleeping .

4. An item that is currently on my wish list is those 3 plane tickets! .

5. I am excited about sewing the slings and other thingies ;) .

6. If I were a color I would be green... always green! .

7. My favorite way to spend a chilly fall day is by going to the movies to see a romantic movie with a happy ending! .

Guess what????

2011-11-06T05:51:00.000-08:00

I'm in room 364 at the Hospital...

with a nice view of a beautiful baby boy

who was born on

Nov. 4th at 8.01pm

It was NOT a false alarm...

it was the right alarm

telling me

he wanted to come

into this world

a lot earlier!

However,

he weights 6 lbs 13 oz

20.5 inches

and

everybody says

he doesn't look

like a 35 week baby

Welcome to the world baby Gladiator

who from now on will be called

Mika Elias

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-11-04T03:53:00.000-07:00

1. My favorite thing about this week was/is that my mom is coming tomorrow and we'll be touring DC .

2. Colder weather makes me happy- though now I live in a warm area... which I hate .

3. Three things that make me terribly happy as of late are getting compliments on my cooking by strangers, getting fabric packages on the mail and sleeping more than 2 hours straight .

4. If I could only wear one kind of shoe for the rest of my life, I'd choose Converse shoes .

5. My personality type is (ISFJ) something I'm still trying to figure out....

6. I have a serious problem resisting ice-cream at the moment... I can't eat it, but I do it anyway.

7. My favorite color to wear is Black ... and green .

OMG- I think my water broke!

2011-11-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

I'm 35 weeks pregnant and Gladi has the right weight to be born. HOWEVER, it's not time for him to be born. I still have 5 more weeks to go and my mother is coming in 2 days! I have to go pick her up!!!!

Around 2pm I felt a FLOP! and I started freaking out- ~~and by that I mean I started googling like crazy: how do i know my water broke?~~ until I got to a post where they tell you WHAT to do if you think your water broke. For those asking: didn't you take birth classes? the answer is no, I didn't and I don't plan on doing so. Call me crazy... but oh well... to each their own, right?

Anyway, my water didn't break. After doing a 'scientific' experiment (according to this website) I realized my water didn't break and I'm still pretty much the same as this morning. I'm still pregnant and not worrying about my water breaking any time soon. May be it was a false alarm... or too much pee. :(

The day is coming though...

Short List

2011-11-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

I've started making my Christmas cards. This year I will only make 70- not 125 like last year. LOTS of people got 'deleted' from various lists... My mother pointed out last night: do you think people wonder if they've been 'cut off'? The truth is... I don't care.
Almost 65% or people I send cards to don't send me cards (or even call me for my bday) so...

Anyway- I'm almost ready painting the main picture of the card, and when my mom comes she'll help me with the rest. :)

Hallullas

2011-10-31T22:16:00.000-07:00

As you know, Gary and I love cooking. Lately, we've been doing a lot of CHILEAN BAKERY.

With all the ingredients at hand, and after getting the recipe, Gary started with the hard task of making the Hallullas. This type of bread is similar in preparation as the Jewish Challah (this according to wikipedia) with the exception of the yeast. People in Chile eat it at supper time, usually in the form of ham/cheese sandwich or with butter and dulce de leche (caramel).

He did great at making the 'volcano' with the flour... but I read the ENTIRE recipe first so we didn't make a mess like the one time when we didn't read anything and we ended up throwing the pizza dough in the trash.

Kneading the ingredients...
Will it come out ok?

It's looking good and pretty elastic...

After 30 minutes... it's ready!
Let's start making the hallullas!

We mark the circles with the glass and then we proceed to put them in a greased pan.

where they will rest for 1/2 hour until they're ready to go into the oven

Look at the shape they're in!

All done!

After letting them cool for a few minutes
we ate them.
Yes! you read right!! WE ATE THEM!

I just ate one with butter and dulce de leche.

OH! SO YUMMY!!!

CHEATER!

2011-10-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

When I'm not around, he sleeps with Romualdo
(my pillow- btw)

~Rio~

2011-10-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

I have no problem explaining to people that I have an accent because I was born on a different country. It's hard for them to understand I'm NOT Russian, Eastern European or from some place where the language is Slavik. I do have a very strong accent and people assume I'm Russian. I don't sound Russian... At least, I don't think so. However, they get all excited when I tell them I am from Argentina.

Usually, the responses go something like: 'Argentina! Soccer! Maradona!', 'Argentina???? I love Messi!!!', 'Are you from Argentina? Really? Do you know Gustavo Garcia?' I think just ONCE in my life I talked to a person who knew more than soccer... he knew about Fangio (a car-racer) and we talked a lot about that.

Anyway... today we were invited to a party and this woman approached me.

Woman: Are you from Argentina?

Me: Yes... I am!

Woman: Have you ever seen the animated movie 'Rio'?

Me: Yes (I was trying to figure out where she was going with this...)

Woman: I always wanted to go to Rio.

Soon... many people at the party were talking about Rio and Spanish (all sort of things) and I kept thinking to myself:

IS IT TOO HARD

TO UNDERSTAND THAT RIO de JANEIRO

IS NOT

IN ARGENTINA?

*sigh*

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-10-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

Link Up with Lauren

@ The Little Things We Do

1. When I was a kid I wanted to be a teacher, a gymnast, a mommy

when I grew up.

2. As an adult, my dream job would be the job I have right now: being a mommy.

3. When I was younger I wanted to be just like my English teacher.

4. The childhood Halloween costume that I remember

most was when I was none- never a friend of Halloween.

5. My favorite childhood toy was a baby doll my aunt gave me for my 8th bday.

6. The time I got into the biggest amount of trouble when

I was a kid was when I told my brother that when he was

in the Army he would have to dry the dishes.

I left the kitchen, smashed a glass, and the rest is history...

BIG spanking... :(

7. I get daily inspiration from Bloggers, Pinterest, cooking books, etc.

34 weeks

2011-10-27T17:12:00.000-07:00

Just 6 more weeks to my due date

4 more weeks to my new due date :)

My own pillow

2011-10-26T19:17:00.000-07:00

Ever since I got pregnant I've wanted to get one of these pillows. E's mom had one and I loved it! However, when I saw it at the store it was ridiculously expensive! Even on Amazon.com and Ebay.com. So I decided to find a page online where I could find HOW to make it.
It was very cheap for me to make it... and I loved it! Here are the photos of my procedure (sorry they're in Spanish).

materials: old shirt, old pillow case, poly filling, zipper

1. cut the pillow case according to the pattern.

2. fill the inside with the filling (about 1 lbs)

3. cut the cover according to the SAME pattern as the inside... and sew the zipper.

4. Once everything is sewn, put the cover and voila! you have a pillow!

Then... take silly photos with the pillow :)

Gladi is...

2011-10-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

definitely...

A BOY!

I had my sonogram today which confirmed he is, in fact, still a baby boy :)

We'll sue the Chinese gender predictor. LOL

He already weights about 6.5 lbs

and because of that, the doctor told me

the new 'due date' is 11/26

10 days before the 1st due date

which was 12/6

We are almost ready with everything we need

and my mother will be arriving

on 11/5

YAY!

Visit to the Zoo

2011-10-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

Gary had the weekend off (finally!!!)

so we headed to the zoo

to pay a visit to the animals

that are in the VA zoo.

They were a little 'lazy'

but we had a wonderful time

walking around

seeing the amazing things these animals do

and enjoying our last hours together

before Gladi is born.

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-10-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

via

Link Up @ The Little Things We Do

1. Nothing says fall like watching pumpkin patches all over the place.

2. My favorite autumnal tradition is changing my clocks a week before the actual Daylight Saving day. Silly I know...

3. My favorite fall treat is pumpking pie. I wait ALL year to eat just ONE bite! .

4. Fall makes me think of Dina because she was always looking forward to October to get her coffee with pumpkin spice which is only made in October .

5. Autumn free form word association, go! foliage in New England, colorful leaves, empty trees, pumpkin pies...

6. My go-to outfit in the fall is whatever... Not too much into 'season' fashion .

7. My favorite fall holiday is (Halloween or Thanksgiving) Thanksgiving. I can eat pumpkin pie :) .

Boy or girl????

2011-10-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

On Monday I went to the doctor who gave me referral to see an OB. I won't get into much details, but I wasn't very happy when I went in. I didn't share a lot of info w/ her, but she told me how she's found out what gender her baby was. She checked the Chinese Gender Predictor:

According to this predictor I was 36 Lunar years, and Gladi was conceived in the lunar month of July, so Gladi is a:

Great!

At least we can keep the same name (in another country it's a girls' name)
and I will have to figure out what to do with all the BOY's clothes
we bought :)

33 weeks....

2011-10-19T03:26:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited!
(not really)

My belly is too big
my skin on my belly too tight
I'm too tired

7 more weeks
for baby Gladiator to be with us

I'm sleepy :(

2011-10-18T04:21:00.000-07:00

Me at 5.45am

Every day I get up at 530am. I have breakfast with Gary and after 2 hours I go to sleep again. These past few weeks have been HORRIBLE as I CAN'T SLEEP! I get in bed at 11pm and after 2 hours I start my trips to the bathroom :(
Last night's count? SEVEN trips in less than 2 hrs.

I know my body is getting ready for when the baby arrives and I have to get up to feed him and blah blah blah, but I'm not too happy with this sleepness situation!

Our Project Baby-Runway :)

2011-10-15T12:52:00.000-07:00

I bought this sewing machine at the beginning of September. I had planned on making some things for Gladi, but I didn't have time at that time... or space. However, after shopping for baby clothes and seeing HOW EXPENSIVE new born clothes are, we decided to buy fabric and make the clothes ourselves.

Here is Gary making his very first pajamas. :)

Pinning the pattern to the flannel

Cutting...

CONCENTRATED SEWING!

Do I really need to take a photo with the pajamas?

Pajamas for Gladi made by his father :)

We had a wonderful time doing this project and I helped Gary just a little bit. He was very proud he saw it and it came out great! YAY for Gary!

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-10-14T12:42:00.000-07:00

Link Up @ The Little Things We Do

1. The most selfless thing I've ever done was something I can't share online :P

2. When it comes to working out I wish I could do it just by looking at other people do it for me. I'm not a good friend of exercise and it requires a lot of me to even think about working out :(.

3. A woman should always feel beautiful no matter what, and never EVER let anybody put her down.

4. I wish I could be able to afford all the baby things I want! and then I'd be able to decorate my baby's room the way I wanted without worrying about how much $ I'm spending on it.

5. A best friend is a person who is not there anymore.

6. I can't get enough of eating Peanut Butter on crackers. It's my new obsession due to my new condition!! Very healthy (?) and not so many carbs!!!!!

7. This weekend I am going to catch up on my mail and try to organize my office as Gary will be working and I won't be able to go anywhere as he needs the car.

32

2011-10-07T03:55:00.000-07:00

♥ Gladi ♥

almost 32 weeks

New Place

2011-10-06T15:48:00.000-07:00

On 9/23 we moved to our new apartment, which is about 15 minutes away from the base where Gary works. We didn't want to rent an apt. We wanted a house... However, the house was too expensive for us and we found this cheap apt. which has 3 rooms and it's really big.

The movers brought our stuff on 9/28 and I felt really sorry as we live on the 3rd floor and the poor guy had to bring all the stuff up! 2 flight of stairs!!!

We've organized almost every room- with the exception of the office and laundry room (the mess in the dinning room counts too, right????)

Here are some photos:

~LIVING~

Our new 51" 3D HDTV

~DINNING AREA~

still a mess....

~HALLWAY~

Full of crap!

~OFFICE~

~LAUNDRY ROOM~

another place that needs organization...

~GLADI'S ROOM~

I just fixed it so it looks nice for when my mother comes
but on the other side there are some stuff related to Gladi
with his 'real' name spelled and stuff.
I won't show you though. :P

some of Gladi's clothes...

~NOE and GARY's Room~

it's the same design we had on the other apartment in NH
We will save to buy a very nice bedroom set
and some nice painting...

View from our balcony

Hope you like it!

We are alive!

2011-09-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

Noe & Gary

Gladi: 28 weeks

We are in the process of finding a house or apartment, so we're kinda busy. We are living in hotels! and eating out, which is not good. I'm kinda tired of that, and I'm longing to sleep in MY bed and cook my own food.

I'll keep you posted on how we're doing but wanted to share my 7 month photo with you.

Have a great weekend!

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-09-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

Link up at The Little Things We Do !

1. You should always take time to exercise. (do as i say, not as i do)

2. Speed-limitless roads make the world a happier place to be.

3. I can hardly wait for Gladi to be born!!! .

4. Thursday is my favorite day of the week.

5. Something totally dumb and ridiculous that I love is reading GQ sitting in the toilet. IDK why... I only read this magazing there. .

6. If I could, I would go back in time to undo things I did .

7. I rather like eating raw broccoli than Brussel Sprouts (yikes) .

28 Weeks

2011-09-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

Only 12 more weeks...

Weekly Update 5

2011-09-12T06:53:00.000-07:00

This time it's on Monday... as I've been busy over the weekend.

E started pre-school on Tuesday. it was really cute to see her get dressed and be so happy for her 1st day. Her parents???? Very emotional. It was a good day and she had a lot of fun. I don't know how she's gonna do with the mess when craft time comes at pre-k. We had to be indoors as it rained and we played with glitter... she wasn't too happy with Glitter on her hands.
On Wednesday it was Ballet and she did great too. She was the CUTEST of them all!!! Only 5 girls, but they looked like a zillion! E enjoyed tap a lot... hopefully, she enjoys the rest of the other classes.

C was still sick. I can't believe she's 7 months old! She's grown so much ... as much as my belly! :) She's really cute and I will miss taking care of her. I will have Gladi, but it's different with a girl. I love kissing her cheeks :)

The weather forecast photo is there because for 2 days I kept reading the weather for Burleson while it was raining cats and dogs over here! :( I woke up every morning seeing the forecast and getting all happy and excited about having high temperatures, while the truth was it would rain all week long! My hip pain wasn't helping either. Well... it turned out to be the sciatic nerve and not hip pain.

The NP that I saw on the Women's Center told me: if you think it's sciatica it must be sciatica. Let's just say Gary wasn't too happy about it. She said: take Tylenol. I was laughing after she said that as I remember the movie 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' where Toula's father solves everything with Windex. Oh well... The pain is EXCRUCIATING! and I can't wait to have Gladi so my pain stops.

We ran some errands with Gary and we searched all over for a Jamba Juice store. No luck. We came back and Gary made a banana-mango-orange smoothie for me. SO YUMMY and so loving! :) I got heartburn after I drank it, but oh well...

The movers are coming at 8 so I'd better get ready to start getting stuff ready before they're here. I'll tell you more about my move soon.

H A P P Y W E E K !

9/11/01 - 9/11/11

2011-09-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

10 years later

NYC mourns a symbol of the city... and this father mourns his son, who died that day.

No matter how old you were, no matter where you were,

it's hard- very hard- to forget what you were doing

the day the WTC fell.

My thoughts are with the families of all those who died on 9/11

as well as those who have lost their lives fighting in Afg Iraq and other places.

Day 10: Something I made

2011-09-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

Gladi's jacket

You can see the original here

30 Day Project

2011-09-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

I've been reading about this challenge for about a month! and I've decided to take part in it!!! :) I think it'll be really fun to do!!! :) I'll skip all the 9 previous days and I'll start from day 10 on ... Hopefully, I'll be able to complete it!

Happy Weekend!

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-09-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

It's Friday, so let's fill some blanks my friends!

1. Somewhere someone is wishing upon a star... .

2. I don't really know what is/are my muse.

3. It would suck if tomatoes was no more because, I would be deprieved of something I really love .

4. Driving with my windows down while listening to music is/are my favorite thing about today.

5. Life is kind of like earthquakes... Things come unexpectedly and you have to deal with them the best you can .

6. If I could have anything I wanted I would want to be able to lose all the weight {plus more} after having a baby and live a healthy life .

7. A funny thing happened the other day... we went to the mall with Gary and we took photos on this machine.... we both looked terrible! :) .

Tuesday Tune #2: '9 Crimes'

2011-09-06T05:36:00.000-07:00

I like depressing songs and depressing singers/songwritters.

I had heard this song before and once 'The Social Network' trailer came up and we heard the version of Creep by Scala I started 'youtubing' all Scala's songs and I ended up downloading this version instead of Damien Rice's song which I think it's pretty nice.

I chose this song because we saw a really sad video and I really liked the song.

Sleeping Music

2011-09-04T03:34:00.000-07:00

As soon as I moved to the USA I found a very nice Cd collection with 'Musical Relaxation' pieces. For about 5 years prior to my move I used to listen to a tape with Christian music, just instrumental. I still have that tape!!!! but since I found this collection I made a CD with different pieces by different composers.

My 'sleeping Cd' features only 6 pieces:

* Jesu, joy of man's desiring by JS Bach

* Nocturne Op. 55 #1 by F. Chopin

* Largo, keyboard concerto 2nd mov by JS Bach

* Air, Orch Suite #3 DM by JS Bach

* Gymnopedies #3 by E. Saite

* Prelude Ops28 #4, #20 (medley) by F. Chopin

You can look all the pieces on Youtube as they're all in there. However, you won't be able to hear any 'relaxation' thru the videos uploaded there. This CD collection I got was made in Canada and to me, it's the best thing EVER!

Here I've attached the video titled 'Midnight Symphony'. It was recorded Thursday July 7 around 4am. I had birds in my window and because NOBODY believed how loud those damn birds were, I decided to record them. You're gonna be able to heard the birds and part of my music. Usually, the volume was about 6 (which is low) but at the time of the birds it was 8. I could still hear the birds.... :(

Because of Gladi's night movements and my terrible headaches, I've decided to stop listening to my music. It's been a week and the good news is that I can sleep without my music. I was a little reluctant to try again as I've failed before... but I'm really happy to say I'm doing great. :)

Hopefully, we can keep sleeping without music once Gladi is born.

Weekly Update 4

2011-09-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

It was a really weird week in every single sense of the word 'weird'. First of all, Gary can't go back to being in EST and he goes to sleep at 4-5 am which is NOT good for me. It's hard to sleep next to him again as I've had my bed for myself for 4 months, but at the same time it's so good to find a familiar face when I get home.

Gladi has been kicking like crazy. I don't know if he knows his daddy is home or what, but this baby will be the next kick-boxing champion in the world. I got used to the moving, but the kicking in something else. I had a weekend full of 'pre-menstrual' cramps which led me to the doctor's office on Monday. It was nothing though... the NP thought I was dehydrated so she sent me home with a prescription of 10 glasses of water! I had my 26th week appointment on Friday which went great. I'm measuring 2cms bigger though, and she thinks it's ok and nothing to worry. Everybody at the Women's Center told me: 'we'll miss you' and I had to laugh @ that statement. They won't even remember my name after seeing me 10 times, so I don't think so.

I'll know the Glucose Test results on Tuesday... The nurse couldn't find good veins on my arms (I do have horrible veins!!!) so my right hand hurts a lot as she used the hand to draw blood.

MOVING NEWS

We started packing on Tuesday and on Wednesday we found out we've done that 'al pedo' (for no reason at all) as the moving company will come and pack all our stuff. I've unpacked most of the stuff that they won't take if it's already packed, and we've cleared out couple of boxes and the mess that was our living room. My office will be done tomorrow as ALL my craft is in all over the place and it'll be hard for this poor people to pack it all up. So far, our moving date is Sept 13th though we'll be driving down to the new state (TBA soon) on Sept 15th after stopping in NY to visit Gary's family.

We've been looking to houses in that area but haven't found anything we like. The prices are ok, but the houses are horrible and most of them don't have W/D which is something we really want. We might buy a W/D though... but we were trying so save some $ trying to rent a place with all the appliances included. Anyway... Hopefully, by the time we get there we can find a 'decent' house with W/D and good price.

Next week is my last week babysitting E and C full time. I'll be working part time the week we're moving... but it's just to help out E's mom as they transition to me not being there. They didn't get another babysitter, E's mom decided to work part time so she could watch them... I think it's a great idea and though it will mean less income, the girls will be with their mom. I fully support women who stay at home (even though that means less $ for me!).

Y'all have a great week and I'll check with you again next weekend!

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-09-02T15:42:00.000-07:00

Friday's here! Link up at The Little Things We Do !

1. One thing that is completely superfluous, but that I could never give up is reading the 'entertainment' section at every magazine I buy.

2. This girl's laugh makes me feel awkward.

3. I can't live without tomatoes .

4. Pita chips with Humus is my favorite snack.

5. Lately I've been trying to sleep without my sleeping music.

6. If at first you don't succeed , try again.

7. Fall is a beautiful season in New England (which I'll miss terribly) .

Tuesday Tune #1: 'Cat's in the Craddle'

2011-08-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

I'm a lot into new music {with TONS of exceptions} and my super classical music, but Gary's been listening to some old folk songs. He showed this video today and we even listened to it while talking to Gladi.

Now all I have in my head is 'the man on the moon and the silver spoon'...

Nice song with powerful message though.

He's back!!!!

2011-08-27T06:38:00.000-07:00

On April 17, 2011 Gary left for San Fransisco, CA where he'd be for the following 4 months. That was a REALLY LONG TIME!!!! We saw each other for Memorial Weekend and due to the increasing value of plane tickets I decided not to fly again - even though I had a week off at the beginning of July. However, he's coming back today.

Every time he'd been out of a mission I've made a 'welcome home' stuff for him. This time, I just wrote the phrase on the wall and that was about it. No balloons or hearts hanging from the ceiling. I did organize the whole apartment- sort of.

I made my bed (after 4 months!) and I fixed the living room where it looks 'normal'

But I didn't even touch my office. He hates my office, anyways, so he won't be getting in here... but I will have to fix it soon before we move (which is in about 2 weeks). Most of the stuff you see are stuff already packed, my niece's bday present (she wanted a baby doll she can bathe) and other sh-t. Near my computer you'll see yarn and papers and bunch of ''things'' related to my crafty projects. I'm still working on the knitted jumper, so it's there for when I Skype with my mom.

Anyway... let's just face it and say it out loud:

I T ' S A B I G M E S S !!!!

Oh well... I'll have time in 2 more weeks to change everything and leave the room spotless (while all my junk makes its way to our new home).

Happy Sabbath everybody!
Have a wonderful and blessed day !!!!

PS. I just found out about Instagram on iPhone so I'm trying different things which I think look cool.

Weekly Update 3

2011-08-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

Sunday: Blanket? Check!

Finally, I finished my little blanket for Gladi. The light blue squares were a little off, but once they were all sewn together they looked ok. I had made 49 light blue squares, and I really didn't feel like making them again. The blanket is all washed and dried and really to be used by my baby :)

Monday: What a copycat!

People always laugh at my signature. Many, including Gary, consider my

signature a doodle... LOL and it's all because I based it on Brad Pitt's. See, when I was younger (this photo is from 1998) I used to be totally in love with Brad Pitt. My room was like a shrine to him... Anyway, I really liked the guy and I based my signature on his. Last week I saw a photo of his autograph on Perezhilton.com and I took a screenshot to show Gary where my signature comes from.

The version I'm using at the moment looks more like Brad Pitt's than the one before...

Tuesday: Knitting in the Sauna AKA my 'office'

I've been working on my knit/crochet projects and I'm done with the little blanket. I just need to buy some stuff for the sheep's head and I'll be done. Next???? Finishing the little jacket and the jumper. It took me a while to finally get that started, but it's taking form... right?

Wednesday: I miss you when you're gone

In 2 weeks we'll be on our way to our new station {nothing I'm looking forward to} and that will be the end of my job as E's babysitter. She followed me everywhere- even to the bathroom. I'll miss her... as she's a lovely girl and out of all the kids I babysat, she's been my experiment in everything: from games, crafts, patience to almost being a mom.

Thursday: 25 weeks

This is me at 25 weeks pregnant (and very tired)

Friday: My week

After E saw Gladi's blanket she wanted one for Baby Stella

(the doll she has in the photo). She wanted it PINK, so

I made one pink and white for her. She was

SUPER EXCITED about her blanket.

She even played peek-a-boo wtih baby C

with the pink blanket.

Baby C is out of pacifier and she's using whatever she finds available to put in her mouth.

Here we can see her with the horse's legs.

Super cute!

Weekly Update 2

2011-08-21T07:50:00.001-07:00

I had a pretty busy week: grocery shopping on Monday for me and my boss, cooking! tons of projects to finish before Gary's back next week, activities for E as it was gonna rain and trying to fix my house which is a mess (we're moving middle September so there are many boxes all over the place!)

We did couple of things with E: sheep, seahorse, E ballerina, and the ocean which ended up being pretty cool :)

During the middle of the week the sun appeared and we went to the playground. We had fun, even though the games were pretty hot and E didn't want to play with anybody. C played with me and I pushed E to go play with the other kids (there were like 20 kids in there and she wanted to play with her sister... funny E).

Gladi is about 12 inches and 1 1/2 lb. The midwife told me I'm measuring 'big' which I still don't understand, but considering they sometimes don't know who I am or how far along I am, I don't really trust them anymore. I'm kinda relieved I won't be having my baby here. I don't like this place... I gained 4 lbs which I'm really happy about. I had been on the same weight for about 2 months, and I was beginning to worry. I'm on a good track as I haven't gone crazy eating! :)

Ok. On a random note: GARY'S COMING BACK NEXT SATURDAY!

Weekly Update

2011-08-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

SUNDAY: Mosquitoes bite me

I went to work this weekend as E's parents were guing out of town for a wedding. She was really cute, though it didn't give a rest from her. Here we see her watching TV - which she barely does. I couldn't sleep at night and the mosquitoes ate me alive! I had TONS of bites!!!

MONDAY: We are moving!

We will move at the end of September to a warmer place, and I still haven't started packing. Instead, I'm buying more stuff. :) I will NOT miss the snow, but I will miss the tranquility of this area. I'm very excited about the move... and the new adventures we'll live where we are going.

TUESDAY: Knit Knit

This is my new project which I've started this week. I'm half-way done and I'm so so so so so EXCITED! I've started sewing all the little squares for the blanket (which I'll show you once it's all done) and I'm really busy working on this little jacket. I chose a different color as I'm a little tired of green and blue. It will look GREAT!

WEDNESDAY: Too Fast

I was going to work when I saw a police car behind me... and he pulled me over for going 51 mph in a 30mph zone. I didn't get a ticket- just a warning... which was great as I didn't want to pay $$$$ for a speeding ticket. It was an interesting morning :)

THURSDAY: Prima Ballerina

E will be going to ballet classes this fall and she got all her outfit ready to go. She was begging me to play with the clothes, but I just dressed her as a ballerina, took a bunch of photos, and then she played with her 'tutu' skirt (a pink skirt with raffles) and her fairy wings. She drove me crazy with a lot of crafts: she as a ballerina riding her new bike. Next week I'll show you the photos as I forgot to take photos this week.

FRIDAY: From here you look so well...

This is my belly... and those tiny little things are my toes.

Soon... you won't be able to see them!

Kick Kick

2011-08-06T08:24:00.000-07:00

Like I've been writing for a while, my pregnacy and I are NOT friends.

These past few days I've read how many women feel so blessed and glowing and beautiful while being pregnant. I don't feel like that a tiny bit. I don't see anything beautiful about my body becoming so big every single day and how uncomfortable that is for me.

I'm VERY thankful to God for the blessing of being pregnant. I think about all those women who can't have this experience and I'm happy for being so lucky to have a baby growing inside me. However, that doesn't stop my feelings of discomfort (and I will repeat again: it's mostly because I'm unable to sleep at night!)

Gladiator had a pop party last night. I couldn't sleep. He moved all night long and about 4am I decided to touch my belly where I could feel the 'kicks' and he stopped- or I fell sleep. One or the other...

My belly button is taking a weird shape and we laugh about it as we think it's really odd how the belly is shaping like whatever. :) The belly is getting more shaped though. It now looks more like a pregnant belly, and not just a belly.

And- on a very random note: Gary's coming back in 20 days.

Jinxing my car...

2011-08-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

I love my cousin Javier. He's always writing me telling me super funny stuff, or he gives me info about cool things. I don't know how he remembers stuff I tell him, but yesterday he sent me this link with the most stolen cars in the US.

My white car is a Honda Accord 96. It's valued about $900. It has a lot of miles, several crashes and it doesn't work very well. I haven't turn it on since Gary left... so go figure! By the time he's back we're gonna have to tune it up coz poor car has been stuck there the whole summer.

(the conversation was in Spanish and my last line says something like they would do me a favor if they steal my car)

My belly is on the way!

2011-08-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

It's very hard to get a photo of my belly considering I don't really look pregnant. Lol
My belly is hard, though. But I still don't look like I'm about to be 6 months pregnant. My belly is on my way of everything- especially at night when I can't sleep. I get frustrated when I need to tie my shoes and my belly is on its way. I'm constantly tired and all I think about is my bed: from the moment I wake up to the moment I go back to it. :)

I know there are other women who work and are pregnant... Or mothers with 4 or 5 kids... And may be they don't complain much about the belly or being pregnant. I do because I can't sleep and it's been a horrible week. I think I've slept an hour a night and I'm really worn out.

I almost grabbed my check yesterday when my boss came to me and said: see you next week!!!! I told him: It's Wednesday! I have to work tomorrow too... He looked at me confused telling me: I wish it was Thursday. I think I had the same thought - unfortunately, we both had one more day of work [he's one of the lucky people who works 3 days in the office, 2 days at home].

with A or E?

2011-08-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

Gladiator will have a name...

H O W E V E R

the main problem at the moment

is the way we'll spell

his name

with A?

with E?

with O?

So many questions and so many options...

One thing I'll tell you though:

It's a beautiful name

at least for us.

Thank You!

2011-08-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

Besides making my own Xmas Cards, and Bday Cards (and all sort of other cards) I also design cards my friends asked me to design. They call me with the phrase: I have an idea... can you make it into an invitation? and there I am... spending quite a few hours drawing and doing stuff to make the 'idea' into a nice card.
I wish I knew how to use Photoshop or other photo/coloring programs. I have ZERO drawing skills and if you all knew how fast Gary can sketch something you'd be like: OMG! You do have a very talented husband. He's the talented... not me! :( Anyway... I think I did something my friend liked and she was really proud to send the invitation to everybody.

She sent me this box today... among other things, there were Quince jam and peanuts!

It's SO HARD to find quince jam around this area, that I was so excited when I opened the box and I saw this! I totally love quince jam and I'm ready to introduce it to Gladiator... He'll love it too!!!! :)

25

2011-08-01T05:28:00.000-07:00

The Countdown started...

Oh... THE CRAVINGS!

2011-07-31T17:06:00.000-07:00

I love this icecream... and I can only eat 2 spoons.
If I eat more I get really sick.

UNO CHICAGO GRILL makes a great pizza
with eggplant, spinach and feta cheese!
I crave that a lot!!!

Chicken wings with blue cheese dressing.
Again- the blue cheese is not a good friend of my stomach :(

Cherries!
I wish the farm where we get blueberries
would have cherry trees.
I love cherries and I'm so happy
this past week have been on sale!

Last, but not least...
CREAMY TOMATO SOUP!

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Franklin

2011-07-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

I HATE WHEN PEOPLE TREAT ME LIKE AN IDIOT!!!

(I can't tell you what happened, but IT really PISSED ME OFF!)

'I'm bored'

2011-07-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

One of the main problems with this generation of kids is how fast they get 'bored. If they don't play on the PC, or TV or computer, they're bored. The phrases 'I'm going to grandma's house to play poker' or 'let's play chess, grandpa!' are so outdated! That's something B O R I N G

E got her craft stuff in time out this week after a series of mess. She messed up all the play-doh and didn't want to pick up the beads from the floor. My rule is: I don't pick up stuff from the floor... So she ended up in time out that day, as well as the craft. She's not allowed to watch TV (not even when the parents are home) so she's grown to be very creative and imaginative.

We went to the library to hear the story and do some crafts. When we came back we played with baby C and I started taking photos with E's camera. The camera has a stupid game with music E likes. She wanted to play the game but she doesn't really get the idea of the game. Anyway, she played with the game for like 5 minutes and then she was bored, and wanted to do what she likes doing: running around, singing and reading books. Never a boring moment with E!!!!

I just hope Gladiator isn't born with the computer chip in his brain... we'll have a problem! :)

Crazy people...

2011-07-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

Albino Python

People from the Granite State Zoo came to the library to show us some 'wild' animals. I had to get E up from her so much needed nap to go see the animals. She freaked out when she saw the snake and only touched the turtle... because it reminded her of Franklin.

Possum African turtle with f-d up shell *

Insane kids holding the python...

* the previous owners fed her the wrong food and her shell was totally f-d up. She explained the poor turtle feels like carrying a backpack as it's a little heavier than other shells.

Loneliness...

2011-07-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

I've had a rough couple of days. Gary's been gone for about 4 months and I'm at a point where I'm tired of being alone and experiencing all this new things alone. I love my job and the girls, but it's tiring to be 10 hours with these girls. I have to be so patient... and understanding... and sometimes, all I want to do is run away or hide under a rock!

In my Spanish entry it says: 'I end my days really tired and with a belly that keeps growing, everything is really annoying. I feel uncomfortable... I can't find a position in my car, or the chair. I can't sleep... I can't do anything! It's like someone has taken over my body and now it's not mine anymore- I have to share it with Gladiator. He's quiet during the day, but the dancing starts at night:'

I feel very lonely and most days when I'm coming back from work I think about the million of single women who are pregnant at this time and have noone to rely on. I think about the military wives whose hubbies are in Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan... wherever! It's hard to be alone and pregnant.

Most days I'm ok- today, I'm not. I can't wait for Gary to be back.

Is your mama a llama?

2011-07-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

Finally the heat is gone for a while and we have some rainy days.

E wasn't too happy about it

but she's doing great, though.

We played outside, cooked in her grill.

Played with bubbles.

In the afternoon I took them to the library.

Everybody is WOW! Is the baby really 6 months old?

She wanted to eat the books- of course!!!

But E read to her and had a great time

playing with the toys.

We found THE PERFECT name

2011-07-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

When I got pregnant in 2009, we named our baby Ponyo. We never really got a name for her and til now we call her Ponyo. Even in the death certificate it says Ponyo... sweet little Ponyo. Because we didn't want to get used to a nickname we named our baby Gladiator. :) Silly, right?

Why 'Gladiator'? Well... Gary and I both like the movie and we always liked the name of Russell Crowe in the movie: Maximus! We also liked the names from the Roman Empire Ages.

For a couple of weeks we named the baby XXXXX if she was a girl (we will us that name if we happen to have a girl later on) and LUCIUS if it was a boy. Doing a little research on the name, we found out it comes from the word Lucifer and we know who Lucifer ended up... Lucius means 'light' as well, but all the people we found with this name are kinda evil. We don't want our baby to have such a name.

As Gary's last name comes from Spain we were looking for names that come from Latin, Italian and Spanish languages. This week, finally, we found the perfect name!!! After a lot of thought, 7 name lists, and 2 baby name books we decided for these 2 beautiful names:

SANDRO FIGARO

Roberto 'Sandro' Sanchez would be so proud of me :)

Upside Down

2011-07-22T07:35:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've realized how violent the children's books are nowadays. Let's not mention the songs!!! Rock-a-bye baby... You're my sunshine... and so many more! Anyway, even the 'safest' books have some really weird stuff.

E got this book titled 'Silly Sally'. The book tells how 'silly Sally went to town walking backwards upside down'.

On her way she meets several animals and they do different things- always walking backwards and upside down.

Take a guess... WHO wanted to walk backwards and upside down?????

My blanket project

2011-07-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

3 weeks ago I started my project to create a blanket for Gladiator. It's gonna be blue, green and white. We didn't know the gender yet, so I picked colors I knew would work both ways. The blue part is all done. Now, I'm starting the green part. 49 squares done, 70 more to go! :)

Gladiator is a...

2011-07-20T19:20:00.000-07:00

You can see the video of my sonogram by clicking Gladiator

The Last Goodbye

2011-03-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

For quite a while I've struggled with this situation: I'm writing 2 blogs. Don't get me wrong: I love blogging and telling you about my life, but I'm kinda tired of writing in 2 languages. My mother loves to read my blog and the stories I share with her, so I've decided to write ONLY in Spanish.

I might write English Posts once in a while, but I won't be posting in English all the time anymore... It's really stressing, tiring, and a little frustrating when I don't know who reads me... OR if there's people who do read what I write. I often try to leave comments on the people I read, but lately my posts have had 0 comments :(

For those of you who were reading me before in English, I know Google Chrome can translate posts for you. I will still follow the people I've always followed but I don't think I will be writing here too often. May be I'll write some venting words so my mom can't understand why I'm upset. Or may be one day I post only in English. I don't know... Right now, I don't have the energy to post in two languages.

Thanks for the years you've followed me, you've read me. If you're interested in reading my Spanish blog you can go here.

♥