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.