Merry Christmas...A bit early!

I really am a very organized person, despite having three little people that frequently try to upset my plans. I even ordered my Christmas cards over a month ago! They are waiting for me to address in Colorado-our first stop on our Christmas 2010 World Tour. They most likely won't get out until the 25th or slightly later, so I thought I'd give a sneak peek now. I love, love stationary and cards and went with my usual Tiny Prints to make the card. The pics were from our family session a month or so ago. I think they turned out great! Hopefully arriving in a mailbox near you before Valentine's Day!

Brazilian Baby

We started introducing solids to Stella very casually. Sort of like every few days, if we're feeling up for it, we grind up some fresh fruit for her. In Brazil most babies start eating fresh fruit (not cereal) and based on all my reading of childhood nutrition we are going that route as well. So far Stella has eaten banana, pear, and papaya. She still has a bit of the tongue thrust reflex so I think more food gets on her than in her...but it is fun to try! I think papaya is her favorite!

Photo Recap

Life Is Full!

Wow! I don't get to this space nearly as much as I should. Things are busy with three kiddos! Busy for all the right reasons, but busy nonetheless. Add in my training schedule and a non-night sleeping four month old and putting together any kind of cohesive thought is a challenge. I have a ton of pics to download from the weekend. Highlights include:
*Stella's first swim
*Circus trip
*Graded's Thanksgiving

I'll have pics up tomorrow. It was a fun time!

Meet Finn

Meet our new family member Finn. I bought him at the fruit stand for the kids last week. He's cute, right? Notice the distinctive U.V.A. colors? Coincidence-I think not. Fate. Both kids are completely smitten with him. Sophie feeds him every morning and Noah every evening. Last Monday we averted a near disaster (on many levels) when the maid knocked his bowl onto the ground. The fish apparently went flying and the maid yelled like crazy for the nanny to come and capture him in a bowl of water. Sophie and I were at the store, but Noah saw the whole thing and burst into tears at the sight of sweet Finn flopping around on his bedroom floor. All is well now-he has a new home and seems to be happy. How can a fish look happy, you wonder? I don't know, but he has a little more swing in his swim and fish lips seem to turn up. I think he's happy. The kids are happy. We're happy. Welcome to the family, Finn!

Squishable

Stella is different than Sophie (and Noah, for that matter) in many different ways-probably more than we can possibly imagine since Stella's only approaching four months. One big thing is her cheeks-I mean, from two months of age on Sophie's cheeks touched her shoulders. They were huge! So yummy! Not Stella. Stella is llllloooonnnnggg and lean. Just about 13 pounds and 25 inches long. When we went to see the doctor last week he called her "magro falso". As in, she looks skinny but she isn't when you take her clothes off. See? Absolutely squishable.

Halloween Photos

Because I Have So Much Extra Time...

I decided to start a second blog: See Abby Run

Running has always been a goal of mine, but now I am making it a priority. This blog is a way for me to stay focused on my training plans, goals, and keep myself honest on my progress. Feel free to come on over and cheer me on! I can could use it!

Pride calleth

So I don't post here anymore. I've left that task to my immensely capable wife, who takes care of our updates here. But an event took place last Sunday that has inspired me to take up the quill and scroll to record for posterity: Noah's first competitive sports event.

Now, I was no soccer boy. I was a baseball boy who took up basketball later in childhood. But I get soccer. Especially here and now, in Brazil. Literally everyone plays soccer here. At least all the kids. But the weekend warrior middle-aged (and older) men get out and play on the weekends too. It's a culture where it's inescapable. So there has never been any question about what sport Noah would take part in here. He's been taking soccer lessons for two years.

But Sunday was his first competitive game. His 6-and-under team of mostly Brazilians (and a couple of Argentines) against a 6-and-under team of Brazilians from just around the corner. And guess what? Noah's team won. Big deal, you're thinking. Somebody had to win. But get this. Our little gringo showed those big, bad futbol-playing Brasileiros how a gringo on a mission plays. Noah scored the first goal of the game and later added a second goal in his team's 4-2 win.

Photo Session Sneak Peek

We had a mini photo session with the kiddos on Sunday. I've been wanting have new photos taken since Stella was born, but wanted to do it closer to December so I could hopefully get a Christmas card out of it! Karin, our photographer, was late and Stella was not so happy half an hour after the original scheduled start, but the few pics I've seen turned out very cute. I love that I feel like these look like our kids...you know, without the stuffy outfits and fake background. These are our kiddos in their element and these are the moments I wanted to capture. I can't wait to do it again (when Stella's sitting up and has a larger "happy window" to work with)!

This Our (Littlest) Girl

She's sweet, right?
She's also a maniac
She rolls both ways
Scoots across her crib
Babbles at us
Smiles at Noah and Sophie like they hung the moon
Grabs at her toys (and Paul's glasses)
Starting to organize her naps during the day (at 9, 1, and a cat nap at 5)
However...She DOES. NOT. SLEEP. AT. NIGHT.

I love her. So very much. But not so very much at 11, 1, 3, 4, and 5. Seriously.
I clearly need some help in that department.
*sigh*
She is sweet though.

It's An Obsession

Some of you may know that soccer is pretty big in Brazil.
Pretty big in this house too.
Noah was obsessed with the World Cup.
He can recite most of the game scores. And teams. And players. Still.
Now he can't stop thinking about Brazil's soccer teams.
He spends Saturdays organizing his stickers, memorizing players, and generally making the rest of us realize how bad our memories are.
I wonder if his love will continue when we leave Brazil? I don't think we'll make it to the next world cup in 2014 in Brazil. It would be pretty cool if we did though!

Look at Me!

Hi Mama

What, you thought I was sleeping?
Why would I do that?
There's so much to see
So much to do
Who has time for sleeping?

Four Day Weekend

When we first arrived in Brazil we rarely spent a long weekend at home.

Guaruja. Campos do Jordao. Campineas.

They all called our name.

It was all about discovering a new country.

Not so much these days.

A sweet one named Stella changed that for us.

Our discoveries are a little more local these days.

This weekend I discovered Stella likes to play in her crib rather than sleep.

She can peek out above the crib bumper.

Where is my newborn?!

Found out Sophie is obsessed with all things Parisian. Especially the Eiffel Tower.

Noah can spend hours researching, drawing, and explaining different country's flags.

We hung out at home.

We had dinner with friends three out of the four nights.

We left Portal once for a really awesome book store, lunch, and the LEGO store.

I ran 2.5 miles for the first time since Miss Stella arrived.

Paul did lots of hard work and took afternoon naps.

Our friend cooked us a Thai dinner.

It was a great weekend!

Nanny Drama

I feel guilty even complaining about problems associated with a nanny because I know how lucky we are to even have this childcare option, but holy cow! I can't take the nannies any more!

A few weeks ago we let our nanny of two years go. It was a tough decision, but ultimately one that had to be made because of personal problems she was having that interfered with her ability to devote the time and attention to our kids. So the following day our new nanny, S, started. Things seemed okay at first (as they always do!) but quickly things have deteriorated. Just today, I couldn't find her when I needed to leave to go work out, she was crying/talking loudly locked in the bathroom on her cell phone, she took my In Style magazine and was reading it and left it in her bathroom (while on duty), gabbed on her cell phone the entire time she walked Stella, and disappeared from 5-7 leaving me solo with the three kids. I know, these seem like good problems to have, but we are paying this woman to work the hours required and complete the tasks assigned. She cannot do it! So tomorrow I'm going to let her go. We've had her less than 30 days so we can get away with only paying her for her work (not vacation, etc...). The timing, however, is terrible-Paul's gone for the next f0ur days and then I leave for the States on Sunday, leaving Noah, Sophie, and Paul flying solo. I have another interview lined up right after I can the other one, so we'll see...fingers crossed!

Because I'm So Very Tired

All I've got is some pictures at the moment...but they're awfully sweet!

Happy Two Months Baby Girl!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Houdini

Stella is our resident magician. You put her down in one spot only to find her upside down facing the other direction. She's on her belly and two minutes later screaming because she's on her back. We finally stopped putting any type of blanket in her crib as she seemed to getting a little too friendly with the game "Peek-a-Boo". There have been a few mornings I find her like this when I wake up:


Only her knees-red and chapped-give us clues that she is the one performing these tricks!


She was two months on the 4th of September, but she's starting to remind me of a 4 or 5 month old!

Sisters