Almost at 37 weeks!

Tomorrow I complete 37 weeks! yikes... time really does fly. These last few weeks are so emotional.. its when you begin to realize that in a few days you'll finally get to hold in your arms, and see his little face starring at you for the first time. The anxiety to meet my little boy! And at the same time, the fears... birth is such a natural process, but it can be complicated by so many little things. So I just pray, put it in God's hands. To take care of me and help me through it when it comes time. All I ask is for a healthy baby, and healthy mom after birth.
Isabela is still wondering what is in my belly. I trully believe it will be a shock to her when we bring home this little boy to live with us. She will take sometime to adjust, but she is so amazing, she'll be a great big sis in no time.
For now we are on the countdown for my mom's arrival! She will be here with my aunt and my grandparents on March 8th. Cutting close to my due date.. but that's the way it worked out this time. I think Isabela will be so happy when she sees her grandma! She loves her so much. It will be fun for her to have more people around again. She misses my sister and brother in law already. They were here for a week and she had a blast.
In this aspect she is just like me, we love being around people! the more the better :)
I'm gonna run and try to finish up some housekeeping things before Isabela wakes up from her nap. Happy Thursday!

it has been a while...

Wow, it has been a really long time since I've posted anything. Mostly because life gets busy and we find ourselves without much time for anything. Also because to be honest I wasn't sure anyone was really reading, so I felt a little discourged. But since writting this blog is not only for the readers, but also to help me get somethings off my chest I decided to come back and start again.
Recap- Isabela is over 2 years old, sleeping in a big "girl" bed, not potty trained yet, talking a lot, phrases using both languages, but most of all, she is definetly testing her limits with Jason and I. She knows what she wants, and if she doesn't get her way... oh no, there is usually a meltdown. But she continues to be a very sweet little girl, loves to play with her dolls, takes such good care of them. She is the joy in our lives. She has been taking ballet classes for a few months now, and loves it. She does very well in class, learning mostly how to listen and follow orders. The actually ballet stuff will come later. Although she does get all dressed up in ballet clothes, and loves to dance around.
Baby #2 is very active in my belly. I'm about 36 weeks along, so we are on the home stretch. And although we don't have a name picked out yet we are very anxious to see his face and hold him in our arms.
We are just now starting to arrange his room, getting diapers and packing a bag for the hospital. But of course, we have faith that he won't come a minute too early. Hopefully going to be born right around his due date of March 12th.
I'll post some picts when he arrives!

Uma futura fisioterapeuta :-)

A Isabela me surpreende as vezes com as coisas que ela lembra! Ontem ela estava brincando com uma bolinha de tenis. Quando olhei ela deitou a bonequinha dela no chao de costas pra cima, e estava massageando as costas da bonequinha com a bolinha. A Vovoh dela ensinou isso pra ela faz tempo... Ensinou ela a usar a bolinha pra fazer massagem, e ela lembrou!
Foi engracado! Claro que logo ela queria que eu fizesse massagem nela tambem e em todos.
Hoje ela acordou um pouco emburrada.. nao quis comer nada, mas agora ela ja foi tirar o soninho da tarde, quem sabe ela acorda melhor.

Rotina...

Entao... ja esta tudo entrando na rotina.
Na semana que vem eu volto pro trabalho. Vou trabalhar nos 3 dias de folga do Jason. Assim pelo menos no comeco a Isabela pode ficar em casa mesmo com a mamae ou papai.
Ontem compramos outro carro, tentamos evitar ter que comprar outro carro. Mas com nos dois trabalhando ia ficar quase impossivel. E infelizmente aqui os onibus nao sao tao faceis. Compramos um carro mais usado, de 2003, mas esta em bom estado entao acho que vai durar. O carro eh simples, nao tem "power windows, power locks", e ele eh manual! Assim continuamos praticando enquanto estamos aqui :-)
A Isabela esta comecando a sentir falta da Voh. Ela acorda e vai procurar a Voh.. eh tao triste... Ai ela fala pra mim: Vovoh.. ueeehhh?
Mas com o tempo ela vai acostumando. Ela adora conversar com o Vo e a Voh no computador. E quando eu falo de ligar pra eles, ela ja anima.
Estou um pouco nervosa sobre comecar a trabalhar pra dizer a verdade... faz tempo que nao trabalho, e nunca fiquei longe da Isabela. Mas vai ser bom pra nos duas.
Estamos com muitas saudades, e estamos ja pensando na nossa visita pro Brazil. Estou pensando ou no meio do ano que vem, ou no fim do ano que vem.
Estou pensando muito na Juliana, Vo e Voh, la na Italia! Deve estar tudo muito divertido! Quero ver fotos logo.
bjs

Isabela at the park

Ola, sorry American readers, I will now post in both languages ok!

(this is jut a blog updating my family on my arrival here to the US - we are in Clearwater again, Jason working at HSN, and I will be getting my job back at ACH hopefully soon :-)

Ola gente, bom primeiro ja vou avisando, meu portugues esta horrivel!!! E escrevendo aqui com o keyboard em ingles nem acentos eu tenho. Ja peco desde ja, sua compreencao, e please, nao me escreva corrigindo meus erros ok. So minha mae pode fazer isso :-)
Bom, depois de uma longa viagem estamos finalmente aqui, em casa instalados. A Isabela ainda nao notou muita diferenca pois a Vo esta aqui com a gente, mas tenho certeza de que quando ela for embora (em uma semana :-( ela vai sentir muito mais essa mudanca.
Jason esta trabalhando na HSN de novo, e esta indo muito bem. Trabalha 4 dias de 10 horas, entao tem 3 dias de folga por semana. E eu vou trabalhar nesses tres dias de folga dele. Assim nao precisamos colocar a Isabela no daycare ainda. Temos planos de fazer isso mais pra frente, pois com a economia ... e nossas contas... vamos precisar de 2 salarios pra sobreviver. Mas por enquanto vamos levando assim.
Eu fui ontem no hospital (All Childrens Hospital) aonde eu trabalhava e consegui meu emprego de volta. Vou comecar ja na primeira semana de julho. Estou nervosa mas contente de poder ter essa oportunidade de voltar pra la.
Bom, de resto esta tudo certo por enquanto. Ainda temos aqui Tia Nelia e Vo Ines, entao estamos bem... vamos ver como sera quando elas forem embora...
bjs com saudades!

New word

Isabela has learned a new word, and it is not Mommy! She can now way Voh, which in portuguese means Grandma. She goes around my mom's house yelling for her. It is so cute...
Yesterday I was watching the Mom show on FX (here in Brazil), and they were talking about toddlers and their "favorite blankets, or stuffed animals", how all kids around 12 months get attached to some sort of blankie or doll and they can't let go of it. They drag it with them everywhere they go, and they sleep with them. And then one of the moms commented that her child never had one, and the therapist (yes, an actual psych) said that those kids that do not have this will later in life most likely have attachment issues.
You have got to be kidding me! that is so silly! Isabela is one of those kids, she has not really attached to any one toy or stuffed animal in particular. So that means she will likely not be able to be in a long term relationship and have attachement issues, oh please! the things people say.
Talking about toys though, I must mention this that has been on my mind for a while, a friend of ours (Nic :-) gave Isabela (it was acutally her son's b-day party's treat for everyone there!) a bus that has letters and sing songs. It is very cute, and actually very instructive. It teaches how to spell and how to play some songs. Well, Isabela loves that thing! She wants to carrie it with her, but it is kind of big! and the toy is LOUD! So, Jason and I sometimes hide it from her, but she always finds it! She loves that thing!
Have a good week everyone, gotta run to Pilates now.

How is this man allowed to be president of any country?

I am not sure if this made the news in the USA, to be honest I really hope it didn't. It is sad to think that Lula Ignacio da Silva (president of Brazil) is capable to still surprise me. He is a terrible president, do not be fooled by what CNN says, or Fox for that matter. This man is crazy. He has middle school education, barely knows how to read and write, he was a union worker that retired at age 30 something due to disability (he lost his pinky finger in a work-related accident, and has alleged that he is unable to work ever since). He entered politics, into the PT party. Which stands for Partido trabalhador -the Working Party. Their symbol is a white star with a red backdrop, much like comunism. His party and himself have very communistic like ideas. He has a huge ego because he backs this whole switching to sugar cane alcohol as fuel for a "green world". But he is full of it, he is doing it for the money of course. He is ignorant and just a terrible man. He supports Chavez, and he stood against the US throughout the fight against terrorism in the world. I can just go on and on about how corrupt he is as well. But today I am focusing on the recent ridiculous words that came out of his mouth. In a meeting with a British Prime minister they were discussing the financial crisis in the world. And when asked how he viewed the crisis he said - quoted! "the world crisis was not caused by blacks or indians, but by white people with blue eyes" - yes, you read it right. That is what he said, he continued by saying - do you people know any black banker? so I ask you... who caused this crisis.
Unbelivable.
So that is it, I caused the crisis... put me in jail. I am as white as anyone can be (specially lately without any sun) and yes, I do have blue eyes.
This man is insane, Racist doesn't begin to describe his ignorance.
He is always on the news saying something stupid, but this one was just ridiculous. What a shame... and he was elected president... Probably because voting here in Brazil is obligatory by the law, for everyone, no matter what... so buying votes here is a real thing.
It is hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel when your president is this man... Brazil is such an amazing country, so much potential, good people... if only the right government would take over.
see the link-
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510954,00.html

Daddy

Summer is officially over here in Brazil, as of yesterday. But it is still 100F, so not sure when the heat will end. Here, much like Florida, there are only two seasons - summer and almost summer. We have not adapted to this heat, unfortunately, we still miss our AC very much.
Isabela is great! This weekend Jason had the idea to buy a little thing to make bubbles, and she absolutely loved. He would blow the bubbles and she was trying to catch them. Fun for hours, she just did not get tired of it. She is getting so smart too. Her new word is : out. When she is done at eating, she says out, she wants out of the chair. When we arrive somewhere she pulls on her seatbelts and says OUT. She continues to say Daddy, and call for Dad; but no mommy, mom or anything similar to that. I'm starting to take this personal :-(. He also knows when is bath time, she yells Baaaa, and starts rubbing on her belly.
Her bedtime routine is what makes me so proud! It took 15 months, but we are finally there! Don't get me wrong, there are the ocasional nights when she wakes up at 2am crying for no reason.. but all in all her routine is set. And is a good one. At 7pm she gets 1 cup of milk, then we watch 15 minutes of cartoons, and read books. At 7:30 pm we brush our teeth, wash our hands and ready for bed. I say good night, daddy says goodnight, I put her in her crib, and say that I love her and we'll play tomorrow again, turn the lights off, and that is it. She goes to sleep without a peep! Amazing... from having to rock her to sleep for 45 minutes to this! I am so happy and proud. It was a slow transition, but it was worth it. She does wake up early, around 5 to 5:30 am she is up and ready for the day. But that is okay with me for now, at least she is sleeping through the night!
I think that is all the news for today. I am going to catch up on some tv shows now, Greys anatomy is killing me with the Izzie story line!

sorry.. it has been a while.

Two days ago Jason and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary! Last week we got to go spend 2 days in a resort/spa in the mountains. Just the two of us, as my mother stayed with Isabela. The 2 day trip was suppose to be 3, but I could no longer stay so far from my little baby. Who by the way is no longer a little baby. She is 15 months old! And she is walking, running, dancing, playing and being so funny. She loves music, any kind, a commercial with a song is good enough reason for her to dance. She flaps her arms around and pretends she is singing along. Adorable! She is transitioning slowly to table foods.. she still prefers her homemade baby pureed foods though. She will try some rice, beans, chicken... but she usually only takes 2-3 bites and gets tired of it. She loves yogurt with prunes though, eats it every morning.
On a different subject- Jason applied for a job with his old company HSN. We've decided to move back to the US, but for that he will need a job. With the economy the way it is we aren't sure how easy that will be. But we are hopeful for this job. I'll keep you all posted.
I am doing well, still see some patients at home for the usual stuff like weight loss counseling, diabetes couseling or athletes looking to increase muscle mass. I miss my work with kids the most... I hope to return to that at least part time once I get back to FL.
Our summer has been super hot here, around 100-105F daily, which is bad but we get those temperatures in FL too, the only difference here is the lack of AC! Sleeping has been a challenge, we wake up in the middle of the night to change our sheets that are soaked... horrible visual sorry. With March halfway done, hopefully will come the more moderate temperatures of April. Our summer here really doesn't end until mid July.
We've been trying to get in the pool whenever possible, Isabela loves the water! She is going to love Clearwater Beach!

Gators #1

First off I must say how amazing it is to be a Florida Gator these past few years! So much fun to watch our proud football team lead by Tebow to victory one more national championship game. Although we had to watch on the computer, with a verrrryyyy low quality website, and with some buffering issues, it was still great to watch the game. It was Jason´s birthday, so we went out to dinner, then came home and stayed up till 3am watching the game. Only to wake up at 5am with our Isabela.
Who by the way is walking like crazy! She is so cute with her little steps... She still wobbles and falls a lot, but she gets herself up and goes again. She is very talkative also. Not in any specific language we can understand at this point, but that doesn't stop her from babbling all day long. She is still very attached to her grandparents (my parents here in Brazil). She gets very upset if she sees my dad´s car and he doesn´t get out to see her. She loves my mom! And of course, why wouldn´t she, they let her get away with everything! There is no NO in their vocabulary when it comes to her. All the forbidden things are free game for her.
They are such great help though.. I can not complaint. My parents help me out very much. They watch her whenever we need them too. Is the only way Jason and I can enjoy some dinner sometimes, or go to the gym together.
The weather here has been warm. We are in the middle of summer, and it has been a HOT one. Without AC you really notice how hot it is all day long. In February there is the big party here in Brazil everyone knows as Carnaval. We don't live in Rio de Janeiro, but Carnaval is still big here too. It´s big everywhere in Brazil... It is not a party we participate in though.. I grew up understanding the real meaning of carnaval - a big party to drink, dress very innappropriately and dance around. As a family we always took those days of carnaval to go to the farm and try to as far away from the madness as possible. This time will be no different. Except we will watch some of the parade on TV just so Jason can see what it is like. But I really have to confess I have no respect for Carnaval. It´s not even a true holiday... just a party where a lot of bad things seem to happen in the end... we always hear on TV later.
For me Carnaval just reminds me that Lent is about to start.
I have been able to keep up with Grey's anatomy via online. And the last episode was a good one, finally! Izzy is breaking up with the dead guy!!! about time... I hated that storyline, i hope it can just be over with.
I miss you all very much, and hope to be able to see everyone sometime soon.

Almost 2009

Can you believe we are almost in 2009. I remember being a kid and thinking how the world would look like in 2010, and I must tell you it was a lot more futuristic then it is now. But I am so glad I was wrong ... the world looks just fine the way it is. If we can just conserve it and make sure it is around for our children to enjoy, great!
Let me give you an update about Isabela, she had a great sleeping run... she was going to bed at 7:30pm and waking up at 6am! GREAT! finally.. that went on for about 2 weeks, I thought for sure we were finally at the easier stage. Oh well.. today she decided to wake up at 4am, ready to go! That is no fun! I can not function before 5am, so hard. Hopefully it was just a fluke and she'll go back to sleeping better again, that way I can convince her daddy to think about baby #2 :-)
She also has been transitioning to whole milk, and doing very well! She loves it! Drinks it from her sippy cup, and seems to be adapting to the transition (not easy to stop nursing.. for me or her actually). She has been very talkative lately, she can say daddy, but no Mommy yet! She loves the intro to playhouse disney show, with Ohh and Ahh, the two funny monkeys. She can sing the song along... well, its all just oohhh and ahh... Too bad she has already watched her dvd's a million times... starting to memorize them by now, I need to ask someone in the US to record some more for me. Before I came I recorded about 20 dvds of the Disney channel, I would set up the dvd to record from 6am on.. and they saved my life! Here in Brazil for some reason cartoons don't start until 9am!!! As if kids woke up that late!
Not that I leave her in front of the tv, don't get me wrong. Her attention span only lasts 15-20min anyways, but it is long enough for me to go to the bathroom and change in the morning. I have need too!
We are heading to Campinas tomorrow to spend a couple of days at my aunt Virginia's house. She has a pool, so we are hoping the weather will be nice so Isabela can get in the pool for the first time ever.. can you believe it! She still hasn't made it into the pool...
we are spending New Years there as well. I am very anxious about all the fireworks and noise... it will not be a fun night for Isabela, but we'll make it.
I have to also comment how much I love facebook lately! I have been able to connect with some very very dear friends of mine that I had lost touch about 7-8 years ago! And it was so nice to see them married, with their adorable children. I really hope we get to see each other again once I get back to the US.
I better go try to get some zzzz... before Isabela wakes up from her nap... after all waking up at 4am, I won't last until 7pm either!
Have a happy NEW YEAR 2009!

Wrap up!

Okay, its Christmas already?! Amazing how as we get older Christmas just seems to come so fast every year. I remember as a kid waiting so long for the next one..., now I blink and its here again. I took Isabela to see Santa at the mall, and although she loves xmas trees and decorations, she wasn't a big fan of Santa. She stood there for two seconds for the picture and then cried... I wasn't surprised since she rarely goes with strangers anyways... now this large old man in a red suit wasn't going to be easy.
She had a great time at her birthday party a couple of weeks ago, her favorite part was unwrapping gifts. Didn't matter what was inside, she just wanted to unwrap. So under the xmas tree she will have lots of empty boxes wrapped this year! Seems to be her favorite anyways... why spend tons of money on toys when all she really wants are empty card board boxes, tapeware, pan lids, paper... Anything that is mine and I tell her she can't have it, she wants it. I am looking foward to Christmas, although last year was her official first xmas, I feel like this one will be more like it since last year she was only 2 weeks old.
Here in Brazil, Christmas is huge! Since most of the population here is Catholic the holiday starts with a mass celebration on the 24th, usually around midnight, and then a feast follows. Then on the 25th, another feast!
well, it is the 23rd, so I have lots of cookies to bake, better run.

Proud to be a Gator, proud to be São Paulina and Proud Mommy

Wow, what a weekend this was. My dear gators did it! They beat Alabama in the SEC championship game, and are now on the BCS Championship game. We woke up and dressed our gator gear! All three of us, orange and blue. Waited all day long for the game, finally at 7pm our time we connected with our friend Dylan, who broadcasted the game to us via a webcame turned to the TV. It wasn´t easy to watch.. we couldn´t really hear what was going on, and the image was foggy. But it was better than nothing! And we loved every minute of it!
Now its BCS time! and we are already trying to search for a better way to watch the game... we´ll see what we can get.
Then came Sunday, and our soccer team São Paulo took the field to try to win their 6th title of best team in Brazil. My family here are huge fans, and I grew up watching this team. So it was time to bite nails again and watch closely... and again! Party! They won the game and got the title! They are the most successful soccer team in Brazil, with the most wins ever. My father was so happy!
And now for the biggest party of the week, my little baby girl turns one tomorrow!!! Oh my.. I can´t believe it, but yes, she will be a toddler. She is almost walking, takes a couple of steps towards me on her own already. Although I´m not sure who´s more scared, her of letting go, or me of her falling. If I could I would make her wear a helmet, knee and elbow pads. But my mom tells me that a little bump and bruises are part of growing up.
We will have a little cake for her tomorrow and then her party will be on Saturday. Picture to follow for sure.

Gravity!

My little scientist just figured out gravity, oh yes, how proud I am! I turned her sippy cup upside down and watch the water drip as she shook it. And loved it... so now, all the time.. in the car, in the living room, couch, anywhere anytime, its time to shake up the sippy cup and get everything wet. I'm lucky that all she has in the cup is water, so although it makes a mess, its just water. I'm not giving her any juice until around 18 months... oh that's a big one! Everyday I get the look from somebody when I say that.. oh poor baby! Give me a break! I made the decision and I'm sticking to it. And its a good choice, juice is nothing bug sugar water sprinkled with a little big of vitamins. Why not give the fruit instead? Plus for dehydration, they need water only! Also there is so much evidence of juice leading to diarrhea, to malnutrition (by not eating as much food since they are too full from just drinking juice).. and the list goes on. So.. sorry folks, I know so many people, specially here in Brazil, start with juice as early as 2 months, but that's the beauty of being a parent. You get to make the decision for YOUR child to the best of your knowledge for their best.
Sorry.. its a hard subject for me.. as a dietitian I am trying my best to do with my child what I have for years taught other moms to do. It's not easy, I give you that.. but its basics. Like: no soda!, no junk food (she is one! she doesn't need chocolate chip cookies!). Not that I'm never going to let her have that stuff.. of course I will! I hope to bake many cookies with her and eat them too! But she is just to young, lets first get her a good start by teaching her that fruits and veggies are great!
On another note, Thursday is thanksgiving! We will be cooking a turkey at my mom's house and she has an exchange student in her classroom at school from Illinois that will be joining us. I'm going to try to make some pecan pie, but I'm sure it won't be as good as Cracker Barrels. And the day after thanksgiving.. that glorious shopping day.. well, we won't talk about that.

November already!

Time flies... I can't believe its mid-november already! I have to start planning Isabela's first birthday party for next month. She has grown so fast! She is almost walking, crawls around so fast, and she is starting that phase where she mirrors everything we do. If we laugh, so does she; if we cough, so does she, its so funny. She has 5 teeth already, and is eating very well. She loves to pick up foods and feed herself, not always a practical option, but her favorite. She still has some sleeping issues we are working on... waking up at night to feed, and not napping very consistently. But if that's my problems, then I'm happy! I'm still nursing her, looking to start weaning when she turns one, although I'm not in a hurry.. if it continues to be convenient for me and her I don't see why to stop just yet. A little independence would be nice too though.
Jason is doing well, continues to make progress on his Portuguese and working hard at the farm. They are planting eucalyptus so he has been busy with that. Last weekend we went to a concert at our city theater. It was a Beatles cover band, and it was decent for a Brazilian band trying to cover Beatles. We enjoyed doing something grown up for a difference.
We are technically still in the spring, but for the most part it feels like summer already! We wake up to 90F and go to sleep to 95F... without AC sometimes it feels like 100F inside our apt. I'm trying to make some crafts for x-mas to decorate our home since I left all of my stuff back in Clearwater. I really do miss my xmas tree! It will be hard not having stuff to decorate this year. Also with thanksgiving fast approaching my favorite day of the year-black Friday! Needless to say I am devastated that I'll miss it this year... I am already looking online at all the awesome deals, but the best part is always waking up really early (4am!) and driving to walmart to stand next to the huge covered mountains of goodies! And when the clock hits 5am, its time to shop!!! Thanks to my friend Nic who introduced me to this great marathon! I'll be back soon so we can plan our next one!
Nap time for Isabela so I better run... missing you all very much.

Granpda turned 80!

My grandfather turned 80 this week! He is my mother's father. He has been a source of strength for our whole family all these years. When I was little I used to think he was the best grandpa in the world, now as a "grownup" I realize he is not just the best grandpa in the world, but an example of man for us all. He has lived his life with integrity, with respect, always placing his family at top priority. I have learned so much from him and will continue to learn. And we are so lucky that he is so strong to be around for a while and teach Isabela and any other children we have the many lessons in life I have learned from him. We threw him a big birthday party! He deserves it! Everyone had fun, I'm posting some pictures down below of Isabela at the party.





Another note... my father is visiting China at the moment for a citrus congress. He has sent us some pictures and already is telling us amazing stories about China. I never was really interested in traveling to that side of the world to be honest... but now I am! He says it is so neat, the culture there is incredibly different from anything we've seen. The world is so huge.. it makes me realize that when I think about the fact that I'm living 10,000 k away from my home in Clearwater, my brother is in California, my father at the moment in China... technology has made it possible for such an immense world to be connected. Thanks to skype we've been able to talk to him during his trip.

We had a blast!

The weekend was full of fun! Isabela cooperated wonderfully and we were able to go to our cousin´s wedding! She went to sleep at 7:30pm, and only woke up at 5am. So we went to the cerimony at 8pm and were back at home by 2am. Sure it was no fun waking up in 3 hours to take care of baby... but it was worth it. It had been so long since we were up past midnight, we had a great time. We ate good food, danced, had a drink, got crazy and everything! I´m posting some pictures below. Enjoy. And btw- go RAYS!

Wedding

This coming weekend we are going to my cousin´s (Antonio) wedding. We are so very excited since the wedding starts at 8pm, so this will be an event for mommy and daddy only, Isabela will be home (HOPEFULLY!) asleep. The plan is to put her to bed as usual around 7:30pm, then finish getting dressed and go to the wedding. An aunt of my cousin (Aunt Ana, she is awesome!) will be staying with Isabela. We are praying that she will just sleep through until about 2-3am, which is usually what she does, and by that time I´ll be home to feed her and get her back to sleep until 5am at least. Now all of these plans are just that, plans! Isabela needs to cooperate in order for it to happen. And we´ll be so happy if she does since it has been a long time since Jason and I get to enjoy dinner and dancing.
The topic of wedding also reminds me that in about 5 months we will be comemorating our 2 year anniversary! wow.. it goes by fast. We are hoping (again dreaming..) that we maybe able to take a trip together. We never got to go on an official honeymoon. Since we got married here in Brazil and at the time were living in the US we didn´t have the time to take a honeymoon. But now that Isabela will be 1 and more independed (again HOPE), we are starting to plan a trip together.
The weather here is full on Summer already! 100F during the day and a cool 90F at night. Yeap, I said 90F... and no central AC. My oh my.. I thought it was hot in FL, but here without AC seems like the desert without water. Jason and I sleep with fans and windows open and we´re still hot. And since the window is open we wake up with millions of scary looking buggs in our room, and some mosquito bites. Isabela, poor baby, wakes up wet from head to toe ... she loves standing in front of the fan too (although I´m not sure that´s a good idea).
This weekend is a bye for the Gators, so we´ll try to follow the other SEC teams. And wait for the Gators next weekend vs Kentucky.

Saudades

There are words in each language that are unique to their traditions and culture. There is no straight translation into other languages. And this word Saudades is one of them in the brazilian portuguese language. It means to miss someone dearly..., to have that knot feeling in your chest when you think of someone who is far away or who has departed, to feel empty inside when you think of those (things or persons) you miss. It is a word that is constantly in my vocabulary! Unfortunately... even though the world is much "smaller" nowadays I still live with this feeling of 'saudades' quite often. When I'm in the US I feel saudades of my family, my mom, dad, sister, brother, cousins...etc. When I am in Brazil I now feel saudades for my friends, my home, the beach, even my work! It is a healthy feeling though I think. It means you have ties in many places, that you have found meaning in many encounters in your life. And although it hurts, its nice as well because you always know in your heart that you'll get to cherish times with those people, places and things again. Well, this feeling of saudades is what our friends left behind this weekend... they were here visiting us for a week. Dylan and India came all the way from Cape Coral to spend a week with us. We had a great week, we went to Santos (beach, deep water port city), to Pocos de Calda (city near by with lots of water springs and waterfalls), Caconde, where we went water rafting! I'll post some pictures soon!
We are now hoping more friend will come visit!!!
This will be a long post.. sorry! I also wanted to update you all on Isabela! She is 10 months old!!! and now had 4 teeth. They all sort of came in at once. She has her two upper and two lower front teeth. She wants to chew everything now.. no more pureed foods for her. She is sweet as ever, she is playful and now she is starting to understand what we are telling her. She is a little sponge! Whatever we do she tries to do it too. She has a little purse from Fisher price that she got as an early b-day gift from her cousin Lucas and it has a lipstick inside (a fake one made of plastic) and she looks at me and rubs the lipstick on her lips like she is putting it on! So adorable! Such a girlie already.
Well, Jason and I continue on our quest to try to watch gator games, we've been able to watch a little bit b/c my awesome brother!!! who is now living in California puts the skype camera towards the tv and we can see the game a little. Got to watch the 4th quarter of the LSU game, GO GATORS!!! great game and good timing to win! all the other ranked teams lost!
okay, I better get some things done around the house before Isabela wakes up from her 30 min nap!
much love.
here is a link to a video our friend Dylan taped of Isabela:
http://www.youtube.com/v/onWEwgJy1ic&hl=en&fs=1