Cotton Candy

Blogging surely has a funny effect on me and on my family, or so it seems! I write something on it and then quite the opposite takes place in the near future! I wrote that Nico had zero teeth and less then a week after that he has three teeth popping out! I tell you he only eats avocado and bananas and then he started enjoying pumpkin, carrots and even my homemade baby food! (Thank God!). And I also said that nothing exciting was going on, well, Nico just started clapping his hands!!! It's so cute!!! We all have so much fun watching it and cheering him on! I think it's time I take it to my own advantage and let written in here that Nico - isn't - crawling - yet. DO YOU HEAR IT, BLOG??? ;)

And finally, I say I'll write a new post on the following day from my last post and more than two weeks have passed and you haven't heard from me ever since! I also said I was more organized, so you can figure that this blog's plot against me took action again and my house was messy for a good while (up until we had friends coming over last Saturday night and I HAD to clean the house! Dan helped me A LOT, God bless the man!).

I also stopped making my gryffindor scarf....... And I haven't ironed a single piece of clothe since the last post! Well, but I continued reading HP books and I actually just finished book number five this morning! But I guess I don't get bonus points for this, huh? Nope, I didn't think so!

I also started playing Candy Crush again, but I'm doing it responsibly! At least for now!

My last two weeks had some good things going on too but all the good things I was bragging about on the last post went downhill after I spilled them in here! I know failure is only natural and expected, I myself being human and all, you know! To always restart has to be the most important ability for me to acquire and to never give up hope! So here we are, on restarting mode!

But I was about to tell y'all about "the cherry on top" I mentioned on my last post! But let's change it, because I actually hate those pretend cherries on top of ice cream sundays or cakes. They taste horrible! They taste horrible but look beautiful! Deceitful little nasty things that trick young kids into your awful flavor!

Anyways, let's call it Cotton Candy, then! Not that it's my favorite sweet, but I surely enjoy it sometimes! We even got REBECCA a cotton candy machine as one of her birthday presents, hehe! Yeah, sure! Well, she does enjoy cotton candy, mind you, although she keeps calling it "ice cream"...

But without further ado, let me get to what really matters cause I'm already kinda late for lunch.

The cherry on top The Cotton Candy of my new resolution, that I was about to reveal to you, is:

Wait, I've almost forgotten! I meant to put a disclaimer on this post! So here it goes: if you are not religious, or get annoyed by religious subjects, you may stop your reading here, if you want! I do not wish to make it through you without your fully consent, knowledge or will. So you've been warned, I won't get offended if you wish to stop here and neither you will be offended/annoyed in some degree by what I write in this post! And, sure, if you would like to read the whole post, go ahead, you are always welcomed to do so!

As I was saying, the best part for me, when I decided to have a change in how I was running my house and dealing with my schedule, it's that I committed myself to go to confession every week!

Okay, pause! I cannot postpone lunch for the kiddos anymore. I will have to stop here for a while!

Just came back! Kids and mommy had lunch then we had some fun watching leap frog on Netflix and playing with balloons and now both kids are napping! So back to blogging.

I was writing about my new resolution! You could say that is an old new resolution! Because when I was still single and living with my parents and siblings I used to go to the Opus Dei center every week and I used to go to confession weekly! Then I got married and Dan and I are living in the US, ever since! I tried at the beginning to go to confession twice a month and although our former parish priests didn't say the words exactly, I had the feeling they thought it was a little weird for me to be confessing that often!

And I know what you might be thinking: "well, it is kinda too much indeed." And I used to think the same way, believe me! I used to go to confession weekly because some people offered me this advice, but it wasn't actually of my own consideration at the time. And I know what else you might be thinking: "but what so much do you have to confess?". I believe people are not much instructed in this matter anymore so this is, actually, a common thought for many people! They think: "I'm a good person, I didn't kill anybody, I don't steal, I don't cheat on my boyfriend/girlfriend and I don't do drugs. What is to confess?". And I don't deny you one thing: you probably are not a bad person indeed! But what people fail to acknowledge is that everybody commits multiple sins everyday, even if you are a very holy person. Probably not all of them are that much serious, but they are sins, regardless.

The catholic theology of sin, if I can call it this way, it's much more complex and it's not my intention to explain it here! But I will give you some examples of not so serious sins that probably everyone commits every once in a while! Well, there is the sin against patience! And when I lack patience with my neighbor I also lack charity. There is the sin of being selfish. Selfish with my time, my money, my abilities. There is the sin against purity, chastity (although these ones are usually always serious sins, the theory says) There is the sin of laziness, the sin against temperance (self restraint). There is the sin of gossip, bullying, etc! In a big compendium, every action, thought and words that hurts in some degree your relation with God, your relations with your neighbor and your relation with yourself, it's bad, it is a sin! It can be a mortal, serious sin or it can be a venial, light sin.

When I say I used to think that it was kinda too much to go to confession every week I mean that this was what it felt like sometimes! But I would have to add that not doing it correctly was one of the reasons why! If you don't prepare yourself properly for confession, it can easily become banal, and fruitless. By preparing yourself, it's common practice that this means to pray at least for awhile trying to rethink your conduct since your last confession. BUT, many people would also add to make a daily bedtime examination of conscience. And by my own experience I say that this is so very true! Every time I kept a written record of my daily examination of conscience at the end of the day, my confession is better. The contrary is also true!

And I will tell you what made me feel that actually what Opus Dei, in my case, taught me, about going to confession frequently - as in once a week - and doing my examination of conscience is actually the best thing ever you as a catholic can do for yourself and your family, it was, of course, when I was forced to suffer from not doing it!

Since I moved to US, as I was saying, that wasn't possible anymore. And even when I've tried to got to confession at my parish, it didn't feel the same, because I was so much spoiled and used to getting practical advice and spiritual direction from an Opus Dei priest who already knew my soul. So my spiritual life went a bit downhill. And I've learned the hard way that it was so much harder to get rid of old bad habits when you don't confess so frequently and don't have spiritual direction. And I started to miss the old days!

Fortunately, we moved to a place where there are a lot of Opus Dei activities going on! But only after a year living here, it hit me: "I should start going to confession every week! I know there is a chapel where Opus Dei priests attend confessions all day long and there is barely no one in line!" What a blessing, I know!

And I have been to confession every week since then! It's been the third week in a row, now! I can't say it's been perfect, but I'm on my way to improve things (if the "blogging special turnover feature" doesn't get on my way!) ;)

And what's best, I could choose a day when Rebecca goes to MDO (school), so I only have to take care of Nico AND now every Thursday Dan, Nico and I have lunch (a picnic) together after I go to confession and before I get back home! Isn't it truly lovely??? Nico has such a blast seeing daddy in the middle of the weekday, for a change and I try to pack a yummy picnic and it is also a good change from hot meals everyday, lunch and dinner. And Dan and I almost feel like we are on a date!! (Nico is such a sweetie and doesn't bother us at all). =)

So that's my cherry on top cotton candy!

xoxo

"Second post of the week!" or "I have the most inventive post titles!"

Aren't you surprised with my creativity on naming my posts? I am! How can I lack so much of it? But anyways...
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Wow! One post yesterday and another one today? That's crazy! I think so too! I don't know what has got into me!

Actually I do! I'm not that crazy and my actions do have an explanation - most of the times! The thing is that I really wanted to write about today's post (actually, tomorrow's post because this one turned out long enough already. Typical.) But in order to do so, I felt obligated to finish my kid's anniversary post that already was incredibly late.

Other reason (why do I always feel I need to explain why I'm writing on MY blog? Get a grip, girl!) is that I'm considerably more organized on these last few weeks! And it all started with Harry Potter!

Okay, so now I'm crazy!

Jk, I'm not crazy, I told you already (why do I feel like saying "I'm not crazy" all the time? Maybe I'm a little crazy! Actually, I know that I am! But so are you, in case you don't know!).

But yes! If you follow me on facebook, and chances are that you do follow me if you are reading my blog, you'll know that I am rereading all Harry Potter books! I'm currently reading book number four! And it's been awesome, just like it was on my teenage years! Is it absurdly nerd of me to say that the times when I was first reading the books were probably the highlight of my adolescence? I guess not, the books are really really great, everybody will agree with it! Right??

Mind you that I'm a very self conscious person. An egocentric you might say! And I have a high mental activity. I have a good memory, I tend to analyze every single detail of anything, I over think, I over judge and my imagination tends to run wild, except when I need it, of course!

So as I was reading the books I kept thinking what others might think of me! I imagined things like: "gosh, she must have been neglecting all her duties", "doesn't she have kids to take care of?", "Stay at home mom, must be THE DREAM job". And things like that. Well, mostly, because at certain point I've thought about it myself.

Well, sure, what the heck I think I'm doing with my free time reading the books while a have a house to clean, two kids to take care of, meals to cook, errands to run, etc? And I confess that at the beginning I didn't think I would be able to finish any of the books. But then, the unexpected happened, and I finished book number 1, then book number 2 and book number 3. And sure, some things were neglected! Not the driving (Dan continued to go to work, I continued to go to daily mass, Rebecca continued to go to MDO and I surely continued my grocery shopping). Neither the cooking was neglected (or we would be starving/dead right now, or we'd be really poor because of all the take out meals I would have had to buy. Well, our budget it's a little tight right now but it's not because we've been eating out...), and - finally - I didn't neglect the kids either.

The kids have been sleeping at the same time and our schedule has been easy on me! So I basically read when the kids are napping in the afternoon. That's about 2 hours of reading! And sometimes I would read at night (I actually finished book number 2 past 1am! I couldn't stop until I've finished it!) And there are also the weekends. Dan usually cooks on the weekends and helps me with the kids so I usually have more free time. I love my husband, I know he's the best! And I certainly love his cooking! You know the old saying, "you conquer a woman by the stomach". Or something like that! =)

What proceed it was the following: as if reading the whole book series was not bold enough for me, I decided to knit my own gryffindor scarf! Actually, I'm making four scarves, for the whole family! And being precise, I'm not really knitting because I'm not using needles (how can anyone mange to maneuver those things?) but a loom circle (it's so easy, it's actually ridiculous!) and three tutorial youtube videos. Blessed youtube, when you need it for noble reasons!

And the unexpected happened AGAIN!! So I'm not neglecting all my SAHM (stay at home mom) duties, I'm reading the books, and I'm knitting  making scarves (and it's getting really pretty!!).

So at this point I started to rethink what I was doing before all of this took place in my life. What was I doing with my time? Because I surely couldn't imagine me having the time for all of that! And reality and reason started to come together in my mind and I once again concluded: I was losing all my time! And this turn it wasn't because of Candy Crush Saga (I stopped playing it again, although I confess I did try it for 5 minutes a couple days ago).

But I was losing my time with my old pal enemy, "Mr. Facebook" or "Mr. Miscellaneous of the Internet" (aka, blogs, articles, pinterest, instagram etc). And what a waste! Gosh, It's been so awesome to read HP and to knit make gryffindor scarves, much more than I was enjoying doing nothing in front of the screen.

And on top of that, guess what? I even started to clean, as in "deep clean", my house and even iron the clothes!!! All because I felt empowered and started to think I actually could do EVERYTHING! Now my house is cleaner and more organized than it has been for ages! And finally, I even found the time to write on my blog again!

I'm finishing this post right here, but there is more to it. It's the cherry on top, actually! Maybe tomorrow I'll write about it!

xoxo
gossip girl Gabi

Can you tell I only found out about the strikethtough feature recently? I LOVE it! hehe

3 years and 6 months - Actually, it's 38 and 8 months!

Ok, so this post is exactly two months late! But like the old saying, "better late than never"! That's more my style! So here it is!
____________

I've heard more than once that when you have more than one child, they start sharing nearly everything. For example, think about pictures! We have tons of pictures of Rebecca. Rebecca alone, Rebecca with Dan, Rebecca with me, Rebecca with both of us, Rebecca taking a bath, eating, sleeping, playing on the playground, etc! We basically have a picture (or usually multiple pics) of Rebecca doing anything. Now about Nico, I still try to take pics of him doing everything, but - it's only natural - we don't take as many pictures as we did with Rebecca! And it's more difficult to take pictures of him by himself or with just the two of us, his parents! We end up taking pics of Nico, plus Rebecca, at the same pic! Gotcha what I mean?

And I've just realized that I wrote the word "pictures" (or "pics") nine times! Eleven, if you count the last two in this line!

I know that some of you just read the paragraph again to count and confirm the number. =)

I'm sorry, But I do not have enough english to make it fancy or to play with the grammar in order to avoid repeated words! Bear with me!

Well, all of this to explain why I called this post: "3 years and 6 months". Because this is a post about Rebecca turning 3 years and Nico turning 6 months old! In the old days I would write one post each, but I'm just too busy or tired nowadays! BUT I'm very happy, in case you are wondering! =)

So baby Rebecca is 3 years old (actually, 3 years AND 2 months old)!!! I remember last year when I wrote her a post for her second birthday! And I will be plain honest with you guys! That time last year, it wasn't very easy for me to be all lovely and write nice things about her! I know, this is shocking! But the thing is, she was right in the middle of that well known phase brilliantly called "the terrible twos". Man, it was NOT easy!!!!! When I say she was in the middle of it, it's because she decided to enter the "terrible twos" at 18 months! Please, feel sorry for me!

BUT, that phase is now basically gone! Thank Goodness! But don't get me wrong. She still throws a lot of tantrums and can be really hard to manage sometimes, but now I know she understands us better, thus we dialogue more and fight less!

And besides, she has accomplished SO much in the last months that instead of thinking only about the hard time she gives me, I'm mostly so proud of her! Everyday when Dan gets home and I'm telling him about our day at home, I have something to say like this:  "and you won't believe what our smart girl did today".

And she IS smart! My goodness! Dan and I are starting to wonder if she might be a genius! And this is not just us parents (or the rest of the family) talking! Every single person who has the opportunity to spend some time with her says the same things to us! I'm not going to lie, this is sweet music to my ears and maybe I care more about it than I should. Actually, I know I do.

And she just started MDO, that's somehow like going to school, twice a week! And she LOVES it!!! And she is doing so well at MDO! She never cries when we leave her there and we love her independent personality! Actually, the teachers just confirmed me that she is the only one that actually cries to leave the school! Every-single-time.

And talk about independence and strong character! She is full of emotions and she's pretty sure of what she likes and what she doesn't! And she will let you know all about it! =)

She is also getting a lot better at talking. Now she can repeat practically anything we say, in both languages, but she will speak - by her own - mainly english. She knows lots and lots of words. Combine two words often and can say some of three words sentences. I know that if you compare to most 3 years old, that is still little (talking-wise), but the norm for your child to be considered "normal" (talking-wise) is actually that a 2 years old should be able to speak 2 words sentences, as few as they might be, and three years old should be able to speak 3 words sentences, it doesn't actually matter how many sentences.

But like I said, she improved so much in a matter of few moths, that I'm in that stage that I get proud every time she says something new, instead of thinking how much more other toddlers can speak! And this my new posture is great!

She also learned how to use the potty in June this year, and it was also a matter of great proud for us!!! She was fully potty trained, day and night, in a very short time and has had very little accidents! The fact that she has a good bladder control helps a lot. She is usually more comfortable at home (who isn't?) but she can use the big potty anywhere, which also makes our life much easier when we are on the go.

And as for the rest, she is very friendly, energetic, and, well, cute! A true joy, even considering the tantrums and problems we have with her!

And Nico will be 8 months old in ten days! And he is such a cutie, OMG. I have to control myself not to eat him with kisses, specially when the other one is near! Jealous, you know, nobody is jealous-free! I think.)

Not much to say about him though. No teeth yet, but I think we might spot one popping out in the next month. He is sitting up, and can prop himself up in certain cases, but not when he is totally lying down. (I once saw, with my own eyes, a 5 months old - soon to be 6, alright - propping himself up as in "lying on his back" to "sitting down upright"! That was impressive! But not my baby, nor future babies I must predict.) No crawling yet, either.

Nico still hates tummy time, but will endure it for a little time, specially if he doesn't see me around and has Rebecca to distract him. By the way, talking about sibling distraction, that's a blessing!!! That's the main reason why I tell anyone who would care to listen that I would rather have babies 18 months apart than longer. Rebecca and Nico are 30 months apart but I really wish they were much closer!

Anyway. What else? He already eats solids, but "eating solids" is much harder with him than it was with Rebecca. Rebecca used to love my homemade baby food (with meat, potatoes, carrots, peas, onion and parsley), but Nico doesn't like it! On the other side, Rebecca hated all fruits for a long time, and Nico loves bananas and avocado. But actually those are the only two things he likes to eat. Can a baby thrive on bananas? Cause I'm giving him two bananas a day!

And he is just a sweet baby! He loves his daddy (well, Rebecca adores him as well)! Every time Nico has a daddy time (daddy and Nico only, usually outside the house), he comes home and he is so much happier and talking-ish. It melts my heart! And he loves Dan's voice as well! Actually daddy singing and playing the guitar even works as a lullaby for him! Not with Rebecca. For her, it means "jamming time"!!! Energetic, remember?

And I'm start to think he is smart as well! Different kinds of smart, for sure! Nico and Rebecca have so different personalities! But both have my hands! My granddad's hand, who was an artist! I love to draw like my granny did and consider myself to be good at it! And I think my kids will be good at it too! They clearly have good fine motor skills, at least!

But look at me bragging about what I think my kids will be! I know it doesn't matter if they won't excel in math, or if they won't be an athlete. I know it won't be easy for me to realize, if that's the case, that my children aren't bright as I wanted them to be! But what really matters are manners (look at me rhyming)! And a good heart!

So finish here, asking God to please make me a better loving mother, a better educator, a more understanding and compassionate woman. Help me always be grateful to what we have, and be joyful. Be patient. Be forgiving! Be more self giving. Help me be worthy of what I have received, specially my husband and our two kids, and to help others too. Amen.

E Lá Vem Ele Mais Uma Vez

Gente, dei uma atualizada no blog, curtiram/repararam???
Quer dizer, dei uma atualizada, mas com foto velha, hahaha! É que eu e o Dani estamos sem o nosso fotógrafo oficial (é mentira, não tem não, nem dinheiro pra sabão! kk) e então a nossa foto "guti guti" escolhida foi tirada há nada menos, nada mais, que 5 anos atrás no nosso casamento civil! A foto do Dani também não é muito atual, como vocês podem reparar no "chicletinho rosa" que era a Rebecca, um ano e meio atrás! E a única foto que temos de nós quatro foi no batizado do Nico, no começo de Abril. Sim, isso mesmo! É a única foto de nós quatro!

Mas vamos falar do assunto desse post. E lá vem ele mais uma vez! Ele quem? O Facebook! Face, para os íntimos!

Não é nenhuma novidade de que quem vos fala é uma viciada! Facebook é ruim mas é bom e não me vejo atualmente, ou em um futuro próximo, deletando minha conta. O que eu preciso é de mais controle, ser mais comedida, pra ficar bem na fita!

Mas verdade seja dita. Eu continuo viciada, sim, MAS, é um vício diferente! Desde que eu tive o Nico não tenho muito mais tempo pra nada! Alguém me perguntou se ser dona de casa e mãe era monótono. E eu respondi: "Com um filho sim, com dois não!"

Então o que acontece é que mais do que eu passar (perder) longos períodos de tempo no face, eu o checo várias vezes por curto períodos de tempo. Sim, posto bastante fotos, dou bastante "shares"(tá certo que considero os meus "shares" realmente interessantes ou engraçados, e não acho q tenha muito problema em fazer isso! Eu também escondi os "feeds" de mais de 90% dos meus contatos para não me distrair muito com minha wall quando eu resolver checar "por checar". Ainda tenho esses contatos organizados em grupos e vira mexe dou uma passada por lá! Porque como eu disse, desde que o Nico nasceu, não me sobra muito tempo! E embora eu passe a imagem de que tenho muito tempo livre pra checar e postar no face, a verdade é diferente!

Sim, eu não trabalho em uma empresa ou escritório que tenha o face bloqueado e não lido com um chefe que fique me vigiando! (Já tentei imaginar Deus no lugar do chefe mas não deu muito certo! Deus bravo não consigo imaginar e Deus triste.... bem, imaginar Deus triste pode ser que comece a funcionar.....) Então sempre foi muito tentador e fácil ficar entrando no facebook quando tenho cinco minutos aqui ou lá, quando estou presa com o Nico no colo, na hora da soneca das crianças (quando eles dormem na mesma hora), etc.

Contudo, entretanto, todavia, porém, eu pretendo adotar uma postura diferente depois de conversar um pouco com minha irmã sobre esse assunto!

E ela me deu uma idéia booooa! Em vez de postar o que eu quero "live", ao vivo e à cores, por que - ao invés - eu não separo um dia e hora da semana pra postar o apanhado geral, de uma vez só? Assim ainda deixo a família e os amigos antenados das gostosuras dos meus filhos, consigo acompanhar algumas coisas interessantes que as pessoas postam e de sobra ainda "reclamo" menos no face! (Já reparei também que sou uma reclamona).

E é isso! Facebook é ruim mas é bom! E de volta a luta!

xoxo

Papai Dani!

Hoje é Dia dos Pais no Brasil e escrevi uma pequena homenagem ao meu querido pai! Realmente, eu o acho o melhor pai do mundo! Claro que eu não acho que ele seja perfeito. Ninguém é! Mas as suas qualidades e especialmente seu coração gigante são realmente notáveis! Contudo, é por causa de seus defeitos que eu consigo ver q ele é o melhor pai do mundo! Porque durante a minha vida inteira eu o vi se esforçando por se vencer e ser um homem cada dia melhor! E realmente, o tempo pode confirmar o que eu digo, e meu pai é a perfeita analogia do vinho: fica melhor com o passar dos anos!

Mas esse post eu quero dedicar ao meu marido, pai dos meus filhos que tanto amo, o Dani! Pensei em postar alguma coisa no facebook, mas fui pensando em tanta coisa q queria dizer q resolvi escrever aqui no blog mesmo!

Como eu já disse, eu realmente considero o meu pai, o melhor pai do mundo! Tanto, que fica difícil pra mim aplicar honra igual a qualquer outra pessoa, incluindo o meu marido! Mas o Dani também é o melhor pai do mundo! Mas o meu pai é o melhor pai do mundo! Ai, ai, é difícil me explicar! rs!

Contudo, eu fiquei pensando nos motivos dessa minha dificuldade, e as razões se mostraram bem óbvias! Meu pai, por ser meu pai, e portanto vinte e poucos anos mais velho que eu, sempre exigiu de mim respeito! E embora eu já tenha brigado, e feito cara feia e reclamado com ele várias vezes nesses longos anos, ainda assim, foi muito pouco (comparando)! Porque meus pais bem me ensinaram a os respeitar como tais!

Já no caso do Dani, eu tenho a dificuldade natural de o respeitar como ele merece e acredito q muitos casais passam por coisa semelhante! Ora, temos quase a mesma idade, estamos na mesma situacao (de esposos e pais), temos deveres e responsabilidades em igual medida perante um ao outro! Embora tudo isso seja muito simples de entender, não estou dizendo que me conformo com essa situação! Tenho consciência de que devo crescer em Amor e respeito por ele invariavelmente do quanto recebo dele!

Então as vezes é mais fácil ver em que pontos ele poderia ser melhor do que reconhecer os pontos em que ele "excel", se sobressai! (Porque sou uma egocêntrica, mimada!)

Contudooooo! Nesses últimos tempos o Dani tem sido incrivelmente incrível! rs Um lindinho mesmo! E me pego pensando em como ele é bom mesmo! Então aqui vai a bateria totalmente sincera das coisas que fazem o Dani o melhor pai do mundo!!!

Nunca vi pai mais dedicado com seus filhos! Sério gente! Até me irrita as vezes! rs (Porque eu sou uma impaciente, irritada, egoísta, estejam certos disso!)

Não existem limites para o Dani se doar pelos filhos! A mente dele está sempre pensando nas suas necessidades! Não desconecta nunca, parece! E isso se mostra nos mais infímos detalhes! Estamos indo dormir, o último pensamento do Dani é se o ventilador ou aquecedor do quarto das crianças está adequado! Vamos em um restaurante, ele chega e senta pensando no que a nossa super alérgica filha Rebecca vai comer e beber! E vai embora pensando se ela comeu direitinho ou não! Ele escolhe os pratos mais se tem arroz e legumes para dar pra ela do que escolher aquele prato q está com vontade de comer! Todo dia ele acorda pensando no que vamos dar de café da manhã para a Rebecca e fica preocupado q ela esteja bem alimentada!

Ele é totalmente atento a todos os detalhes de seu conforto e saúde! Sempre cuidou de todos os pormenores de usar meia, secar o cabelo, escovar os dentes, etc! Ele é sempre o primeiro a perceber um roxo, uma assadura ou uma picada a mais ou uma irritação de pele nos nossos filhos! Gente, é realmente incrível! E ainda chega em casa do trabalho e quer saber de tudo! rs!

Sua dedicação também se mostra no quanto, mas no quanto, ele brinca com a Rebecca (o Nico é ainda muito novinho e precisa mais do meu peito do que qualquer outra coisa, rs!). Eles brincam tanto! Todo dia!!! O Dani pode chegar em casa a hora que for, q a Rebecca não desgruda mais dele! E eles brincam de tudo! De correr, de bola, de piscina, de blocos, de dô dô (né, Dani? rs!)

Além de ser exemplo de amor, dedicação, doação, é também exemplo de homem trabalhador, de homem comedido, fiel, de homem que se esforça por ser cada dia melhor! De homem "baum" mesmo!

Gente, não tem como ser justa com ele e não dizer q ele é o melhor pai do mundo (também)!!!!!

(E ultimamente ele também tem sido o melhor esposo do mundo! =D)

É com muito amor, com muito orgulho e muito reconhecimento que digo tudo isso!! Sim, ele não é perfeito, ainda bem, senão eu não
o teria por perto com certeza! Ele já estaria no Céu!

Dani, te amamos muito! Você é a pessoa mais importante de nossas vidas!!!!

Gabi!

Bubbaloo de Morango

Tivémos um final de semana produtivo! Aqui não é feriado de Corpus Christi como é no Brasil. A festa católica foi passada para o Domingo. Contudo, segunda passada comemorou-se o feriado de Memorial Day (relembrando todos que morreram em serviço pelo país), mas isso não vem ao caso!

Pois então! Desde que todos os nossos parentes voltaram para o Brasil (os últimos foram os meus sogros que ficaram conosco por 35 dias - nesse meio tempo, uma pausa de 5 dias enquanto eles visitavam Las Vegas - retornando dia 9/Maio) resolvemos que deveríamos adotar algumas medidas para tomar conta das coisas aqui em casa (aka, sobreviver).

Brincadeira a parte, stamos conseguindo mais do que sobreviver! Estamos muito bem, muito obrigada! Graças as medidas adotadas, é verdade! Pois bem, a mais importante delas é que decidimos que eu não teria condições de cozinhar almoço e janta com duas crianças pra tomar conta! Na verdade, eu não daria conta nem de cozinhar uma refeição por dia! Eventualmente, claro que eu consigo! Mas não cozinhar todo dia foi a primeira coisa que percebemos que faria a maior diferença no nosso dia!

A solução encontrada foi cozinhar um monte de refeições no Sábado e deixar porções congeladas no Freezer para irmos comendo durante a semana! No fim, eu acabo preparando uma salada, arroz ou macarrão e c'est fini, Voilà! (Bonjour, C'est tu la même chose, Je t'aime, pra acabar com todo o meu frânces logo de uma vez!).

E tem dado muito certo fazer assim!!! Em geral, é o Dani que cozinha tudo. Usamos a lava a louças só nesse dia. E cuidar das roupas e da limpeza do chão se tornaram minhas tarefas exclusivas! Contudo, o Dani se encontra meio dodói! Não foi nem jogar fut na Sexta, sô! Então quem cozinhou foi eu! E nossa, que trabalhão!!! Só assim pra gente dar o devido valor ao trabalho dos outros né? Passar um dia nos sapatos do outro!!!

Dessa vez eu cozinhei: creme de milho com leite de côco, carne de panela desfiada com vinagrete, sobrecoxas assadas ao vinho e alecrim, e um monte de peito de frango grelhado (o Dani me ajudou na hora de grelhar!). Ah, o Dani preparou molho de tomate hoje, no Domingo!

Outras medidas que adotamos foi comprar salada de folhas mistas pronta e já lavada! E também fazer supermercado no Sábado de manhã! O Dani ficou encarregado do supermercado, mas nesse Sábado foi eu mesma! Também vimos que seria uma necessidade comprar um carrinho duplo (postei a foto no facebook). O carrinho duplo é uma maravilha e muito mais necessário do que eu poderia imaginar!

E por último, o Dani comprou uma bike (outra, porque a nossa primeira bike foi roubada com um mês de uso pois o cadeado era fraquinho). A bike é uma história longa, mas no fim das contas, o Dani só começará a ir de bike para o "Park and Ride" nessa semana, mas a idéia é me facilitar, já que não precisaria levá-lo e buscá-lo de carro no ponto de ônibus com as duas crianças!

E temos também uma grande novidade que faz partes dos novos propósitos. A Rebecca agora não usa mais fraldas, eeeeeba!! Foi super fácil, quem diria!! Utilizei um método de três dias que minha amiga americana me passou, mas isso é assunto pra outro post! A Rebecca só está usando fraldas de noite, porque ele tem mais acidentes que sucessos em ficar a noite inteira sem fazer xixi e o Dani estava ficando muito cansado de cuidar disso pra mim. Mas ela está quase lá! Mais de uma vez ela acordou sequinha (as 6am e 6:30am, é verdade!), mas achamos melhor deixar a fralda noturna por mais um tempinho!!

E fora tudo isso, estou ficando craque em cuidar dos pequenos by myself! Estou até conseguindo ir na missa diária novamente! Graças ao carrinho duplo e à "sala do barulho"! E até me aventuro no supermercado com os dois quando só preciso compras uma coisa ou outra (o quanto couber na sacola do carrinho).

Também já fui pra Houston com os dois para assistir o meu círculo mensal - formação católica ministrada pelo Opus Dei. São chamados de círculos pois são pequenos grupos de pessoas em condições de vida semelhante entre si. No meu caso, jovens mães ou esposas, donas de casa, cooperadoras (que quer dizer que não são membros do Opus Dei)! Tem tanta criança que vai junto com as mães, que tem até mais de uma babá! Quem dá a formação é uma supernumerária (membros do Opus Dei, em geral casadas) na casa de uma delas! Pois bem, o Nico fica comigo, mas a Rebecca ficou sozinha com as crianças e babás pela primeira vez! Terça que vem tenho o recolhimento mensal para ir, e pretendo deixar a Rebecca no day care da igreja. Caso não dê certo, acho que minha amiga Gloria (que também vai no recolhimento) ficaria encantada de me ajudar a tomar conta da Rebecca!

Também estou tentando entrar no horário! Sempre foi meu ponto fraco! Mas com dois filhos pequenos pra cuidar, você não tem muita escolha! Estou conseguindo cuidar da casa até que bem e hoje até dei uma organizada nas baguncinhas da casa! Guardei as roupas de inverno da Rebecca, tirei as de verão, guardei as roupas pequenas do Nico e estou oranizando gavetas e papéis! Também finalmente mudamos o bercinho do Nico para o quarto extra da casa e o Dani e eu voltamos para o nosso quarto!

E por último, estou tentando dar uma de professora pra Rebecca, pra ver se ela começa a falar mais! Ainda está difícil, tadinha! Mas isso também é assunto pra outro posto!

Ah, e se vocês ainda querem saber o que significa o título, bubbaloo de morango foi meu primeiro chiclete na vida!! Ainda lembro o dia que meu pai comprou pra mim!! E não tem nada a ver com o resto do post. Estava achando muito difícil elaborar títulos, entao resolvi chutar o balde e escrever qualquer coisa aleatória mesmo! Daqui pra frente acho que seá assim! =)

xoxo

Good Friday

It's not Holy Week but it's a good Friday!

Goofy catholic me.

Jk, but I really mean it. I'm writing this post boosted for how well things are doing today, so far!!!

Yeah, I have this thing that when I have a good day I feel like writing a blog post. Well, when I have a bad day I would love to share it too but I doubt it would be loved back by you, my readers.

Although sometimes I do mention I have some sort of messiness and trouble in my life. It's not easy to be a good mom and wife (and it's not easy to be a bad mom and bad wife either. You feel a thousand times worse). 

I had somebody ( a reader) once mentioning to me that she appreciates when I write about my difficulties, because it seems more real, down to earth, believable, reasonable, you get the point.

And I do get the point too. Sometimes looking at some people and how perfect their lives seem to be, you feel like you are the only who is not getting your fair share of the happiness in the world. And that's just not possibly true. What it is true, but it's hard to remember when you are felling low is "that is just a bad day, not a bad life" - from Pinterest wisdom.

But back to my good Friday - after a kinda bad Thursday, I must add.

Nico woke me up at 7am, thus a great time, so I was on time to drive Dan to the Park and Ride and take the kiddos for the 8:30am Mass for the first time all by myself! They behaved great! I used the puppy "chain belt" on Rebecca and the car seat for Nico.

After that, we went to the pharmacy to buy my prenatal vitamins. This time I had Rebecca on my arms, wallet on my hand and now asleep Nico on the car seat on my other hand.

After that we went to HEB to buy a few things that were missing from our Walmart grocery trip the night before. This time I used our recently acquired double stroller since I could fit all the few groceries we needed on its bag. The stroller received 5 out 5 stars as well as my kiddos behavior!! :D

Getting home, Nico was still sleeping ( he woke up only at 11:30am) and I started to wash the breakfast dishes and cook dinner and lunch. I made pan fried fish for lunch and put together a fish moqueca in our slow cooker for dinner. And washed the dishes!

Nico woke up, I nursed him. Rebecca and I had lunch. We watched Pingu on Netflix while I had Nico on my knees cooing and smiling. Sweet sweet boy.

I gave Rebecca a bath because she was all sweaty, brushed her teeth and put her down for her nap. I nursed Nico until he fell sleep again (milk drunk) and I'm writing this post.

As for my final words, I should mention Rebecca lost her cookie (Oreo. It's dairy free, don't worry) because she hit mommy.

And, please keep Dan and us all in your prayers this Sunday afternoon as Dan will be confirmed in the Catholic Church at 33 years old! :)

Xoxo

Gabby

Long time no see!

Wow! It's been a long time since my last post. And I haven't translated it yet, but I promise I will someday not so far away!

Things got really busy and craaaazy around here since then!

Besides the most obvious of the things that took place (had a baby!), we had a lot of family members coming over from Brazil and still there are more to come! And last, but not least, I got an ipad mini as a birthday gift from my sweet parents which is awesome but because of this I hardly use a regular pc anymore, thus writing blog posts and posting full albums of pics on Facebook were left a little behind. That's also my excuse if I eventually missed your birthday on facebook (sorry, but hey, happy birthday!!)

So let me try to wrap up in here these last 2.5 months.

Mid Jan - Feb: Nothing much! Cleaned the house like craaaazy for the upcoming guests. Studied a lit bit.

Feb: "cooking, cleaning, talking/catching up with family!"
- Feb, 1st: My dad, sis Juliana (Ju) e and bro Alexandre (Le) were our first guests for 3 days! Meanwhile, we celebrated Dan's birthday on Feb, 2nd, with our very first BBQ on our very first outdoor grill (Dan's birthday present from my parents!)
- Dad and Le leave for Las Vegas (for the annual civil engineering conference daddy attends almost every year!) and Grand Canyon. BUT sis Ju stays for more 10 days!
- Sis Ju studies with Gabby (me) thus no more free time for blog posts, for example! (I wish! I kept running away of my awesome teacher and procrastinating....)
- Happy birthday to me on Feb, 10th.
- Sis Ju leaves for Cali and bro Le comes back from Las Vegas/Grand Canyon and stays for two weeks!
- MEANWHILE, brother and sister in law, Xande and Luiza visit us for 6 days.
- MEANWHILE, Sis Ju comes back with her boyfriend to visit us for more 3 days!
- Feb, 27th: EVERYONE goes back to Brazil.

March: "This baby could be born at anytime!!!!" Or so we thought!
Thus, from March, 1st - March 10th, Dan stays home working and I stop driving. Weekends summarized by watching "The Walking Dead" (and having some nightmares) and staying home all the time, except for Sunday Mass.

Talking about Sunday Mass, on March, 10th I woke up feeling weird! Like having some stomach pain, aching a bit, feeling like under the weather. I remember in these days just praying to God that the baby would wait for Sunday Mass. Well, he did, but barely!!! We missed the 9am Mass on March, 10th, because of the time change (duh, we fall for that!) thus, went to the 11am Mass. We had lunch, and hellooooo baby!

More specifically, around 12:40pm I started feeling some weak contractions. Every 10 min. "Uh-oh". I thought, "that's weird. Anyway, I don't want to think about it. Don't care if labor started, let me have some lunch because I will punch somebody if I have to go the hospital AGAIN with an empty stomach!"

After lunch, I decided to call my expert mom who had eleven babies herself. "Er, mom, so, what do you think? Is it labor? Would you drive now to Houston if you were me?"

"humm, yes, honey! I would!" - she gently said!

Dan was listening to our conversation and got super hyper and started carrying all of our bags and putting them in the trunk. Ok, so we got Rebecca and put her on the car too, leaving home without her nap, poor kid.

In the car, I called the hospital and talked with some guy (yes, a guy!). "Er, so, I think I'm in labor. Not sure. But I'm on my way to Houston, anyway." Doctor called me back. I explained to her I had been feeling weak contractions every 10 min for an hour and started crying, all of sudden. Doctor was super sweet and told me she would have a room ready for me at the hospital, because it seemed like I was in labor.

Good thing she said it because as soon as we finished talking I noticed my contractions became every 6 min apart and stronger. From my house to the hospital it's a 40 min drive. Good thing it was on a Sunday early afternoon, so no traffic jam.

Got to the hospital. Got to my room, and everything else was ready around 4pm. Nurse checked my cervix. It was 6cm dilated. Doc: "Good thing you decided to drive down to Houston, huh, Maria?".

Got fluids in my vein, got the epidural. Dan left with Rebecca for a drive trying to make her sleep in the car. I would call him when it was time to push. Around 5:30pm I told the nurse: "You know, I just felt some good pressure down there. Really!! Would you check it, please?". Sweet nurse checked my cervix, "Oh, yes. Call daddy!".

Dan was parked very close to hospital and got in time for the pushing phase. But stayed outside taking care of Rebecca. Less than 30 min later, baby Nico makes his debut! Daddy and Rebecca enter the room, and another sweet nurse takes pics of all of us on my ipad! Talked to family thru skype and they got to see the baby like 30 min after he is born. Thank goodness for technology!

Summary, 5h30min of labor, baby boy Nicholas Jose, Nico, is born at 6:09pm, weighting 6lb8oz (2,960kg) and measuring 19 inches (48,3cm).

Yay!!! Sweet precious boy, he is beautiful!!!!

Stayed for two days at the hospital. Meanwhile, on Tuesday morning, my parents arrived from Brazil. They got to see me in the hospital on my last day there!

We all go home! Mom and dad cook AMAZING meals for us, do all the driving, grocery shopping, cleaning  and also take care of Rebecca for two weeks!!! They also got to enjoy themselves a bit too! What a blessing!!!

(MEANWHILE, we have a Pope!!! Viva Pope Francis!)

Mom and dad go back to Brazil on tuesday, March, 26th and reality hits hard for some days! BUT, now everything seems better and back on track again. Finally, father and mother in law will arrive on Thursday, April, 4th! They will be staying for a month!

Nico's baptism will be on sunday, April, 7th. In laws will be his godparents!

And that's all folks!!!

Planning to post some pics on facebook soon!

Love to you all,

Gabby

xoxo

"A História de Nós Dois - Parte 7"

Olá pessoas!

Como já disse no post da semana passada, nesse dia 18/jan comemoraremos quatro anos de casados!!! =)

Decidi, então, compartilhar com vocês mais um pedaço da "História de Nós Dois". Pra quem não sabe a que me refiro, logo no começo deste blog, eu postei a história TODA de como eu o Dani nos conhecemos e começamos a namorar. Dividi a história em seis partes e naquela época eu ainda tinha muito tempo livre e energia pra traduzir tudo para o inglês, então tbm tem a versão USA. Aqui vão os links dos posts em portugês, para quem se interessar pela leitura:

"A História de Nós Dois - parte 1"
"A História de Nós Dois - parte 2"
"A História de Nós Dois - parte 3"
"A História de Nós Dois - parte 4"
"A História de Nós Dois - parte 5"
"A História de Nós Dois - parte 6"

E vamos ao que interessa! Na verdade, chamei esse post de parte 7 porque é o próximo post que escrevo sobre o assunto, mas não tem mais a sequência cronológica que as seis primeiras partes compartilhavam. O que pretendo contar dessa vez é mais sobre como que eu o Dani resolvemos nos casar!

Infelizmente, não tive um pedido de noivado oficial! Ainda não era muito comum isso no Brasil, pois bem que continua não sendo a via de regra. Hoje em dia, porém, mais casais estão adotando o padrão americano do homem fazer o pedido oficialmente!

Sinceramente, eu sinto uma peninha de não ter tido isso ainda mais depois de vir morar nos EUA, ficar sabendo das histórias das minhas amigas e até a presenciar ao vivo a algumas delas! E sem contar no belíssmo anel de diamantes que a noiva recebe!!! Ninguém tem coragem de recusar o pedido olhando para algum desses exemplares, haha!

Pois bem, então eu não tive um pedido formal de casamento! Mas segundo o Dani, teve algo q lembra isso! rs. Sempre discutíamos casamento, essa que é a questão. Estávamos nos guardando (a meu pedido, claro!) para isso, então é uma coisa que desde o começo esteve sempre nas nossas mentes!

Contudo, gostaria de lembrar que antes mesmo de oficializarmos nosso namoro, o Dani meio que me pediu em casamento! Foi uma parte meio chocante até, que devo ter transcrevido os detalhes na parte 5 ou 6 (dos links acima).

Fato é, que o Dani com seus 26 anos, já não estava saindo do mercado (dos solteiros) sem ter isso (casamento) na cabeça! Ele estava cansado de namorar a pessoa errada, isto é, a pessoa com a qual você não tem certeza de que quer casar. Óbvio que para isso precisa namorar pra saber, mas também não é tão menos óbvio que fazer uma pré seleção dos candidatos ajude e muito! E além disso, tem o fator intuição que eu não desconsideraria tão facilmente se eu fosse você (leitor/leitora que ainda não casou!).

É uma intuição de que você sabe que essa pessoa tem algo diferente dos demais! Algo nela te atrae como o ferro a um imã. E você sabe que se trata de algo mais profundo do que apenas beleza ou outro aspecto meramente físico. Porém, você também sabe que o fator atração física está presente! Essa pessoa também passa pela triagem inicial, isto é, a princípio nada de aparente seja um impedimento ou falha grave que mostre que o relacionamento não deva começar/continuar!

Bem, eu diria q se formos bem sinceros conosco próprios, e deixarmos passar o fator que a carência que estivermos possivelmente sentindo no momento possa pesar, sabemos dizer logo de cara, ou depois de algumas semanas apenas, se essa pessoa é uma possível candidata a casamento ou não.

Aliás, ter a consciência disso me ajudou muito no começo! Estávamos namorando já há um mês e meio (pouco tempo mais que a minha "deadline" nos relacionamentos passados) quando eu quase entrei em crise comigo mesma! rs. Eu pensava "Oh não. Não estou vendo nada de errado nesse relacionamento! Eu continuo gostando dele, até mais do que no começo, e não estou vendo nada que venha a atrapalhar o nosso futuro! Será que é esse com quem vou casar? Será que vamos namorar anos, até que finalmente alguma coisa aconteça para terminarmos? E meu coração como fica depois disso? Despedaçado! Nunca mais o mesmo!" Era chegada para mim a hora do "rachar ou casar". Rs

Nessa hora, eu tive um tempo de reflexão! Eu tentei pensar em todas as "variáveis do meu problema". E descobri que o que poderia acontecer e que estava me assombrando, na realidade, é se aparecesse algum cara já conhecido ou não, que fosse ser um melhor "match" pra mim do que o Dani, que me fizesse querer terminar o namoro com o Dani no futuro! Era só isso, no fundo, que me assombrava! Pois bem, pensando nisso, eu fiz uma lista de todos os caras que eu tinha/tive uma quedinha.

E fui vendo e analisando friamente cada um deles! E até comparando com o Daniel. Mas especificamente vendo cada caso como um caso! E descobri que eu não teria dado certo com nenhum dos caras da minha lista (foram uns 15 pelo menos!!! haha). Foram coisas bem específicas, sabe! E isso foi o suficiente para me deixar tranquila e me deixar levar pelo Dani! Eu poderia continuar namorando o Dani, sem medo de que nosso relacionamento ficasse tão sério e comprometido e acabasse, por fim, em casamento! Eu estava tomando uma decisão muito pensada! Logo, não precisaria mais me preocupar com isso!!

Pode parecer ruim, frio, calculista e desnecessário tudo isso para você leitor/leitora! Mas pra mim foi importantíssimo, necessário e que me deu muita paz! Tanto que até contei o que eu tinha feito para o Dani no mesmo dia ou dia seguinte! Não tinha nada que esconder e estava muito feliz com a minha descoberta!!

Mas voltando a nossa história! Eu estava cansada de namorar caras só pra ver no que dava e o Dani também. Ele mesmo falou: "Se começarmos a namorar, eu nao pretendo terminar". Logo, fui "pedida" em casamento desde o primeiro dia do nosso namoro, se formos considerar isso, hehe!

E também, segundo o Dani, fui pedida oficialmente em casamento no dia em que nos despedíamos no aeroporto pela primeira vez quando o Dani estava indo para os EUA dar um boost na carreira e eu ficando no Brasil para terminar a faculdade de engenharia civil. Ai, que época chata e triste que foi aquela! Mas, como alguém muito sábio me disse na época, é bem verdade que depois que passa, você mal lembra do sofrimento! Só lembro que odiei, haha!

Mas então, estavámos ambos chorando, na porta do ônibus da Capriolli que ia direto do aeroporto para Campinas. Eu estava prestes a subir as escadas quando o Dani me segurou e ainda chorando disse: "A gente vai casar. A gente vai casar, você me ouviu?". Eu fiz que "sim" com a cabeça e ainda chorando, subi as escadas e o ônibus foi embora! Demos mais um "tchau" pela janela e foi isso!

Mas óbvio que já falávamos de casamento e filhos antes! E na verdade, eu fui a primeira a dizer isso com todas as palavras, isto é, a pedir o Dani em casamento, rs! Estávamos namorando a menos de seis meses, e conversando pelo MSN (eu já estava em casa e o Dani no laboratório trabalhando). Conversa vai, conversa  vem, chega assunto pertinente, e eu solto "Eu quero casar com você, haha" (risadinha acrescida para disfarçar o nervosismo do momento!) ao que o Dani gentilmente e prontamente (ufa) respondeu "Eu também!!!".

Então esses foram os nossos "pedidos"!

Contudo, a oficialização do noivado veio quando reservei a igreja, outra coisa que foi meio do jeito não convencional e até meio louco! Estavámos separados fisicamente, eu no Brasil e ele nos EUA. Faltavam bem poucos dias para o Dani voltar ao Brasil pela primeira vez depois que ele viajou, para me visitar e defender o mestrado! Depois ele retornaria aos EUA para continuar o trabalho temporário como técnico de laboratório enquanto o programa de doutorado não começasse (iria começar em Agosto apenas e estavámos em fevereiro/março ainda!).

Então o Dani já estava nos EUA há 5,5 meses. Estávamos nos falando no MSN, como sempre, discutindo planos futuros, passagens aéreas futuras, etc, e batendo as datas todas, ficou claro que teríamos que nos casar em janeiro de 2009, um mês depois de terminar a facul, aproveitando o recesso de Natal e Ano Novo para ele voltar ao Brasil, nos casarmos na Igreja, ter a nossa lua de mel (que deixarei para um post futuro) e ainda voltar para o doutorado sem perder muitos dias de aula e trabalho. Não teria outro mês para isso!

Então, por volta desse dia, eu tinha ido rezar com minha mãe na igreja Nossa Senhora das Dores (aonde quase todo campineiro resolve casar). E vi que a igreja era bonita mesmo e talz! Falei com minha mãe que ia ver - só ver - no escritório da igreja como andava o agendamento de casamentos.

Pois bem que chegando lá, a mulher me fala que janeiro já estava tudo lotado, mas que teve uma desistência de última hora para o dia 17/jan/09. Atordoada que iria perder a chance e pensando que todas as igrejas e salões já estivessem lotados a menos de um ano da nossa data preferencial, nao tive outra escolha racional a não ser reservar a igreja naquele mesmo instante!

Então foi assim, hehe, que oficialmente, eu era uma noiva! Com igreja reservada antes mesmo do Dani voltar para o Brasil para nos reencontrarmos pela primeira vez depois que nos despedimos (assunto para outro post tbm!). Louca né? Mas espero ter passado o lado racional da história para vocês!

E no fim, quando fui marcar o salão de festas que queria, o dia 17 já estava lotado! Então acabei marcando para o dia 18, um domingo no almoço! Tive que desistir da minha reserva na igreja "Nossa Senhora das Dores" e graças a Deus e ao Pe Mauro da São Paulo Apóstolo, nossa paróquia, que gosta muito da nossa família e vice versa, ele se ofereceu para fazer o casamento no dia 18, domingo e com MISSA!!!!! Um super bônus! Serei eternamente grata a ele por isso!!!

E essa foi a nossa história relacionada ao nosso casamento! Talvez eu ainda escreva outro post nos anos seguintes sobre os preparativos e o dia do nosso casamento em si!

Desculpe-me mais uma vez o post longo!

January, celebrating our wedding anniversary!

Hellooo

So is January back again and in a week Dan and I will be celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary (on the 18th).

Dan and I have been in a very good phase for some months already!! Very few fights/discussions. Don't know how we managed to do it! Must be God's grace!!! We are growing! Helping ourselves and each other to get along and to avoid arguing. Helping also in a physic way. If one of us are tired, the other will reach out a little more without judging faces or asking for some kind of recompense later!

I've realized that I also learned how to let go on small disagreements in other to achieve peace or not get into a "dark alley" even if that means that my point of view, or my need to give an explanation for my thought wouldn't be heard every time!

Dan, on his part, is being amazing on ignoring my grumpy pregnant worn out self when it eventually appears at "dinner preparation" time. Also, I'm impressed how Dan is good at keeping the stress and tiredness out of our home!!

I particularly noticed it when in a specific day I was SUPER tired and just couldn't put on a good face at the end of the day. Then I realized how Dan often has some very busy days at work, but he never has a long face. Actually, when he has one hell of a day, he starts to sing annoying parts of songs for everything. hahahaha It's actually funny, but it really annoys my prego ear. Poor Dan....

We did get into one "medium" fight that left me feeling very hurt. But in the same half an hour Dan went out to hug me. I went out to cry all the crying my prego emotional self was holding. We talked! He apologized! We got all better!

But mostly, we are smiling much more!! Natural smiles, you know? And actually, we are more smiling with Rebecca too! And she has also been smiling much more as well!! It's a true flow of good "vibrations" (no exoteric/mystic meaning intended!).

We still don't know how we are going to celebrate our anniversary this year since we are really trying to budget. But we are thinking on having a meal at "The Cheesecake Factory" and maybe to watch a Rockets game (we can find tickets at $10 each!). It would certainly be my last real hang out before baby Nicholas arrives!

And since last year we spent our anniversary in the middle of our trip to California, I'm planning on writing a post about that trip, since I've never got to do that. But mostly because I don't want the memories to fade away. Keeping a blog is a wonderful way to avoid that. Like keeping a diary! Although, I'm thinking on only writing a portuguese post about this trip! Trip posts are not my favorites so I'm writing in my native language and I probably won't be writing it twice to translate it! Forgive me, please!

Take care, everyone!!

xoxo