Laurita's farewell party...

Saying good bye is never easy and this time was definitely not the exception. As a way to wish well to my aunt Laurita, who will soon be moving back to Venezuela, we had a farewell party at my mom's house. It was a nice get together with friends and family. Many tears were shed since she will be missed very much by all of us, who stay in the US.
She has been living in the US for the past 15 years and has decided to go back to her home country for several reasons, many of them very personal....
It is very sad to see her go, but we also join in wishing her the best of luck and many happy years back in Venezuela... we love her very much!
Good luck to my dear aunt with all of her future plans! I hope to see you again very soon!

Ricky and Susy visit us...

This weekend we were happy to receive a visit from Iggy's cousin Ricky and his wife Susy, who stopped in Florida on their way to New York. They stayed a couple of nights in our house before flying out to their New York vacation and we had a wonderful time with them.

Ricky and Suzy live in Venezuela so we don't see them often but it's always great to have family visit us and spend quality time with us.

We went to IKEA to look around and had lunch with them. Suzy was fascinated with Olivia and they both seemed to click right away. It was wonderful!

They will be leaving to New York tomorrow and we hope they have a great time in the Big Apple. Thanks for coming to see us!

Eva's 28th birthday!

Today we celebrated my friend Eva's 28th birthday! I have known Eva since I was a sophomore in high school and we have a great relationship and awesome friendship.

She currently lives in Tampa but came down for the weekend to celebrate her birthday with her fiance's family, who happen to live in Hollywood (about 20 min from my house), so we got to celebrate together!

We all went to have dinner at Bahama Breeze and had a wonderful time. Olivia met baby Sophia, who is Eva's 6-month old daughter. She wanted to hold her and started crying when she realized she was not a toy...it was very cute!

It was great getting together with Eva and her family... we had a great time!

Rain, rain... go away!

The weather has been so crappy this past week or so that I'm starting to wonder where the sun is. What ever happened to "Sunny South Florida"?  It has been raining non stop for about 10 days and although I'm sure the rain is great for all the plants and such, it's getting so annoying. Every day there are thunder storms and just crazy weather in general..... The sun barely comes up and the days are dark and gloomy...

It would be great if we could just cuddle while it rains, but the reality is that we still have to go out and work and just live our lives.... 

Rain, rain... please go away!!!

Olivia's first day of "school"

A couple of months ago, Iggy and I decided to enroll Olivia in a day care/school program since we will soon have another baby and it just seemed like the right thing to do.  We feel that Olivia needs to interact with other children her age and start learning to be in a school environment. 

I did some research of local centers and found one that seemed to fit our needs.  I filled out the paperwork about a month ago and after finding several excuses to put it off, she began attending today.  She looked so cute holding her little lunch bag before we left the house....it was so emotional for me!

This has been so hard for us, although we know she will enjoy the experience very much and it will be very beneficial for her, it is just horrible to leave her with "strangers".  

I've cried so much between last night and this morning that my eyes are burning.  We dropped her off this morning and she was so happy to be in a classroom with other kids.  She started playing right away and sat in a little chair.  I started bawling... it was horrible!!!

This will be a day to remember and I'm sure it will also be a story to tell.  Hopefully it will be a rewarding experience and all my crying will pay off!

Wordless Monday...

Belly shot: almost 32 weeks

Here it is... my ever growing belly at almost 32 weeks....I look huge and I am very uncomfortable.. but still enjoying this journey....

My cousin Renato visits from Europe...

My favorite cousin Renato was recently visiting us from Luxembourg, where he currently lives. Renatico has been living in Europe for the past 7 years and is very used to the European life style; however, since much of his family is in the USA, he tries to visit as often as possible.
This time, he spent almost 3 weeks here in Miami and we had such a wonderful time; it was great to have him here with us and he had such a good time. He got to go to Orlando, Key West and several beaches. He also had the opportunity to be with his mom during Mother's Day and spend some quality time with the family. His girlfriend Olga also joined him for a few days, but she returned to Europe a few days before he did.
Today, we took him to the airport, where we was going to catch his flight to Paris. He was sad to go but also happy to get back home after a very active few days. We hope to see him again very soon! Thanks for coming to visit!!! ;)Here are some pictures we took during his visit....

Renato and his girlfriend Olga

Double stroller

After much research (and several months of trying to convince Iggy), I finally bought the double stroller for our babies... I'm so excited, not only because I got the one I REALLY wanted, but also because it was such a good deal. I ended up paying $549.99 including the doubles kit and the shipping costs (compared to $700, which was the price at our local baby shop).. I bought it from a website called www.BabyBecause.com, that was having a sale on this particular model.
Now, I'm so anxious for it to get here... I can start using it right way since it's a single stroller as well...
Yay for our new stroller!!! Here's a picture of it... it's called the Phil & Ted's Dash double stroller... isn't it great???

Wordless Monday...

Baby Shower

My baby shower was held today at my mom's house and I had a wonderful time. It was a small shower, considering this is my second baby and I already have most of the stuff I need, but it was a great opportunity to get together with my girlfriends and other family members.
The food was very yummy and so were the cakes. My friend Martyna made me a strawberry cheesecake and there were other desserts as well.
I received many fun gifts from my registry and tons of gift cards.. I'm sure I'll have a lot fun shopping for baby Gaby.
All in all it was a great "all girl" afternoon and a great way to celebrate the anticipation of baby's arrival!!!
Here are some pictures we took today at the baby shower...

Olivia is 22 months!

My little girls keeps growing up and I remain torn... happy and sad.. it's crazy to think that two years ago she wasn't even born, and today she's a little person with a mind of her own! Crazy!!!

She's 22 months today, 2 months shy of her 2nd birthday and she has become such a smart little girl.. Her favorite activity is singing, both tunes she knows and ones that she just makes up.. it's really cute!

She has also learned to count from 1 to 10, both in English and Spanish and knows a few letters of the alphabet. Her vocabulary is rather extensive and she speaks very clearly, considering she's not even 2 years old. She's very creative when it comes to inventing games and things to do. She loves to color and is crazy about stickers...she loves to put them in her face and arms!

Her favorite characters are Barney and Dora; she loves those two TV shows and even knows the theme songs. Olivia also loves to dance and to play outdoors...

So far, she hasn't accepted the idea that she will soon have a little sister... every time I ask her "do you want a little sister?", she quickly says "No!" and still refuses to even mention her sister's name.. I don't know if I should just laugh or be worried about it.. I guess we'll play it by ear!

Happy 22 months baby girl!

Left handed?

Iggy and I are starting to wonder if Olivia is a lefty... We both are left handed, so if genetics have anything to do with it, I'm sure Oli could be a lefty as well...

Ever since she was very little we've noticed she favors her left hand, not only does she only suck her left thumb, but she also colors exclusively with her left hand and seems to have better coordination when she uses it for anything else! I think it'd be really cute if she were a lefty just like us!

What do you think?

Play date with Gisela and Sebastian

We had a wonderful play date today with my friend Gisela and her son Sebastian, who is 15 months old and has such a fun personality. We went to Busy Bee Kidz, an interactive play center that we frequent, which is located near our house....
Olivia and Sebastian had so much fun together... they played in the ball pit and jumped around like crazy... they looked so cute together....
It's funny because both kids are so laid back and so much fun... I also had a wonderful time talking to my friend Gisela and catching up with her... Yay for great play dates!

I ♥ my husband...

I found out today that two of our friends are getting a divorce; apparently "he" decided that he no longer wants a family and doesn't love his wife anymore... the news were very shocking because they got married the same year we did... I felt awful when I heard....especially because they have a little girl and seemed like such a strong couple...
I started thinking and realized (once again!) how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband..He is so loving and considerate and such a great father as well. I'm so thankful to God for allowing me to love this man and for feeling on cloud nine just because he's in my life...I pray that God lets me live this life for many years to come!
I love him and he loves me and it is such a wonderful feeling... I couldn't ask for more!
I am so nostalgic today, thinking of 5 years ago when we first met and I just knew he was "the one"... I love you babe.. now and forever!
Here are some pictures of our first year together.. they bring back so many great memories!!

Wordless Monday...

Mother's Day!

I had such a wonderful Mother's Day today in the company of my family and my wonderful daughter Olivia.
We had a family BBQ at our house; we had some yummy steak and some other delicious food. I was able to enjoy my mommy, who is so good to me... Olivia had a blast playing with her cousins and turning the house upside down! haha!
After the BBQ I was really exhausted but it was all well worth it!
Thank you God for another wonderful Mother's Day and thanks for blessing me with such a beautiful family!

Meeting baby Alessandra

Today I met baby Alessandra, who was born yesterday May 6th at Memorial Hospital Miramar. She is the 2nd daughter of our good friends Hugo and Rosanna; she joins sister Isabella, who is just a month older than Olivia. Alessandra was born around 2pm; she weighed 7lbs 4oz and was 19" long at birth. She is so cute and her family is very happy to have her around.

I spent about an hour at the hospital talking about her birth and her first day in this world. Rosanna says she is breastfeeding well but didn't sleep much last night...hopefully that will change soon!

I was so happy to meet her and look forward to many play dates with all the girls!

Welcome to the world Alessandra! God bless you always!

Wordless Monday...