An American in Brasil

9.28.2008

After Much Begging...

My sister has a blog! That is my older (but smaller) sister Carmen. I am so happy since I am so far from them now and I am going to miss seeing her 3 boys grow into little men. She and her family just moved to the Corpus Christi , TX area a few weeks ago after living in Maryland - not too far from where we lived before and were lucky to see them frequently.

Check the Valencia family out ... http://www.mom2beachbums.blogspot.com/

Now, since my efforts to get Carmen blogging has reached success my attention will now turn to my younger (and smaller still) sister Allie. Wish me luck. =)

Hail to the Redskins

They beat Dallas today. Hoooray!

9.22.2008

Too Much Time On My Hands...

Seriously, waiting for this baby is no fun unless you find a website that you can morph you and your husbands pics together to see what your baby might look like. =)

Our Boy...

Our Girl...

Now, join the fun...
http://makemebabies.com/

Tag!

My sis-in-law Jenny tagged me a while back and I finally am getting around to doing it. I have a lot of time on my hands waiting for this boy to get here - not sure why I did not do this a while ago haha.

Enjoy...

THE RULES: You have to take 10 pictures of the following things and you have to do it right away. No straightening, cleaning or wiping you kids nose (I mean it!). Then you tag 6 others.

1. KIDS -

Only this one - ugly, white, and big right now. Haha - EW =)

2. BATHROOM -

Nice water cooler, huh!? We live in Mexico - enough said!

3. CLOSET -

We still have not received our shipment of household goods - this is all maternity clothes. Boo. Notice I packed my bag for the hospital - anxious maybe!? =)

4. FAVORITE SHOES -

All shoes are favorites right now. My feet and legs are too swollen to wear anything but flip flops. Boo, again.

5. SELF PORTRAIT -

Refer to picture # 1 - trust me you do not want to see more pics of me than that. =)

6. LAUNDRY ROOM -

Thank goodness for these things.

7. KITCHEN SINK -

As Dave Matthew's sang - "Don't drink the water!"

8. FRIDGE -

Empty - I eat a lot lately. =)

9. FAVORITE ROOM -

The baby's room - Empty for now. Wishing my shipment would arrive so I can put all the baby's stuff up. Hopefully soon!

10. DREAM VACATION -

Oh easy - Santos, Brasil - my mom's hometown. I would want everyone to be there together. It has been way too long...

I TAG ...

Rylie, Carole Ann, Lindsey, Chelsea, Amanda, Mary, EVERYONE ... I am bored and want to look at your homes. =)

It'a Raining Babies!

Congratulations to:

Joanie n Jake on their beautiful baby boy -

MANOA

Becky n Garrett on their precious baby girl -

ADELINE

and

Alberto n Diane on their adorable little baby girl -

MIA

I am a bit jealous. =)

9.15.2008

Time is a Tickin' Folks

All the sudden Danny and I are feeling that the end is near! Most likely because we see so many Doctors these days.

We had a sonogram last week and the got to see, not so little, baby J. It has been a while since we last saw him. But good news is that he is in fact a he (I have been so worried that for some reason the last sono was wrong) and he is looking healthy. The tech also said that he is pretty low already, that he probably weighs around 6.3 lbs, and that he seems to be lining up to come between Oct. 7th and 10th. I also saw the Embassy Dr. today (who is also in our Bishopric) and he checked out my tummy and is thinking this baby is pretty big already. Yikes! He was giving me all the tips he knows to get this baby coming sooner rather than later. Lets hope something works soon before I have a 9 - 10lbs baby in me... Joanie you are my inspiration. =) This Wednesday I go to my OB - I wanna make him commit to not let me go past my due date - hope it works!!!

Here I am at 37 weeks...

Other good news - I have had this strange and rather upsetting aversion to diet coke ever since I got married (Danny's curse maybe?) but I have found that the Mexican diet coke - Coke Light - taste great! It is not exactly the same as I remember but it does not taste like I am sipping on Lysol anymore. Hoooooray!!!

This past Saturday some Embassy folks invited us to Las Estacas. It is a neat little resort/park about 2 hours away that centers around a natural spring that flows into a river of sorts that you can float down. At the end of it it comes into a kinda pool area that is full of playgrounds, bridges, and rope swings. It is a beautiful area with crystal clear water, lush trees and flowers, and with temperatures around 85 all year round I think we will enjoy visiting again!

9.12.2008

Hurricane Ike

Praying that people are kept safe from the storm - especially my sister and her family who just (this past Monday) moved to Corpus Christi and my father-in-law's family who evacuated Galveston. For the sake of Danny (and you too Nellie!) I hope Galveston is preserved - I know how much you all love your hometown!

9.11.2008

Remembering...

9/11

It is hard to believe that so much time has passed. I am grateful that we are not forgetting those who bravely lost theirs lives that day. May God bless them, their families, and all of America.

This was from the Ground Zero Memorial Wall back when I visited NYC in 2006. I loved the drawing of NYFD and NYPD angels.

9.09.2008

Updates...

First of all I wanted to give a shout out to my brother D. Andrew for passing the bar - way to go! Also, I wanted to congratulate his whole family as they will be adding a new one (I am hoping for a girl) in March! Hope you are feeling well Jenny!

This past Saturday per our Dr.'s request (which I hope means he thinks baby is coming sooner rather than later - haha, yeah right) we did a "test drive" to the hospital where baby J will be born. Such a relief that the drive is not too hectic and that the hospital is amazing. We got to tour the brand new maternity section. My favorite part was when the tour guide called the nursery to have them opened the little curtains so we could see the new babes - oh what a sight! Those fresh new lives -just so amazingly beautiful. My Dr. - Dr. Bolanos is a very popular Dr. here in Mexico and I was so happy he took me as a new patient so late in the game. My favorite part about him besides his knowledge - he kisses his patients hello and goodbye!

Speaking of friendly Mexicans - When you get on an elevator here people always say hello, or good afternoon, etc. and everyone already on the elevator replies a greeting back. The first time I experienced this I was kinda confused. I thought maybe the people just happened to all know each other. But with time I came to realize that is just what people do here. I feel like such an unfriendly person all the sudden - if I come back with a few weird new habits you will understand. =)

9.03.2008

Progreso!

With Danny at work this week I have been on my own for 2 days now and I am proud to say that on today I made myself get up and get out the door into the real Spanish-speaking world. I could easily stay inside all day long - my house is clean, spacious, and comfortable and as tired as I am at 35 weeks pregnant I could easily sleep the day away. But at the same time I am a stubborn part-Latin woman who hates to feel needy – as in I need Danny to go anywhere. So, I realize that this is a bit boastful but hey I am proud of myself. What did I do when I went out? I went grocery shopping all be myself today! You see it may be boasting but it is humble circumstances. I also should mention that I actually drove home from the mall and Costco on Monday - granted Danny was in the car with me but if anyone has been to Mexico City driving here is probably 100x’s worse than driving in NYC. Yeah for me! Pray for me friends! Xoxo.

I tried to download some video footage of our apartment (and your new vacation spot) but I am struggling to get it up so instead I will just put some pictures. We are hoping that all our stuff gets here soon because as you can see the place is a bit barren. All the furniture is on loan - down to the cute little crib and bedding - which I hope is not a bad sign that our stuff will not arrive before baby J does! Fingers crossed. =)

The damage from Costco 35 weeks!

8.31.2008

Llegada!

We made it! I am so thankful that we made it to Mexico City safe and sound.

Danny and Sam had a nice drive down and were able to even visit lots of family in Tennessee and Texas. A big thank you to all of them - I wish I could have been there too! The drive through Mexico was smooth sailing until reaching the outskirts of Mexico City - at which point it took them an hour and half to go 5 kilometers (or about 3 miles)! Once they arrived and got into the house they were able to sorta catch up on sleep and see a bit of this HUGE city before having to go get me at the airport the next evening.

My trip had a rocky start when there was some confusion with my ticketing - the travel agent only had reserved my ticket, they had not actually confirmed it or paid for it yet. After about 30 minutes of some hormonal tears and trying to get ahold of Danny I put aside my dramatic episode and on the spot booked my one ticket for a pretty penny - I was NOT not getting on that plane! Thanks to my mom and dad for keeping me going and being my support - I am SO glad you both came into the airport with me! My plane ride was smooth sailing from that point on and no one seemed to care that I was pregnant which I was a little worried about. The flight attendant even let me have my own row in business class so I could stretch out, he was so nice bringing me extra blankets and pillows. When I arrived I fumbled with my Spanish through customs and immigration and made it out into the international concourse where there was no Danny to be seen. Thankfully, some nice old Mexican man seemed to know exactly where to take me. We found Danny and Sam waiting where the monitors told them to - Mexico's airport is a little disorganized - and to say the least I was overjoyed to have made it!

My first impressions of the city are - I have NO idea how I will drive in this city nor do I know I will ever understand how to get around! I am in love with the weather - right now it is the 70's and sunny during the day and it usually there is a brief rain shower or tunderstorm in the early evening. I love the lush greenery and the huge palm tress - I have never seen palm trees so big. We live in a very wealthy area where even the stray dog seem posh. Fortunately, because it is a nicer area I don't think I will feel too unsafe walking and driving around. Everyone dresses up to go places, I think Danny and I were the only ones wearing flip flops at the mall. We ventured to Costco and were shocked to see that parking lot was even crazier than the Gaithersburg one on Saturday morning. Anyway, there is much to take in and I am ready to get in as much as I can!

We were sad to say goodbye to Sam - he was such a big help to Danny driving down and he was my only other English speaking friend in Mexico City beside Danny. =) A huge thank you to him!

Here are a few pictures of our complex.

This is the inside area of our complex - at the bottom of the complex is this strange Aztec looking structure. The building has 15 floors (and yes mom, there is a 13h floor in Mexico but do not worry -we live on the 10th!)Our pool - it is kinda indoors and out - Danny the fish is particularly happy for the pool.
Checking the hot tub temp.
Our complexes "backyard"
The back side of the complex.