Hawaiian Day!

During summer time, every Wednesday is dress-up day at Olivia's school..it's a way to make school more fun I guess!

Today was Hawaiian day, so naturally Olivia wore a grass skirt and some flower accessories... She was so excited to dress up and kept begging Ignacio to take her to school "right away"... I guess she really wanted to show off her costume... how cute is that??

The picture is a bit dark since I took it with my cell phone camera, but you get the idea...

Wordless Monday...

World Cup fever!

We're halfway through the 2010 FIFA World Cup and Olivia is definitely into it...she's got the fever!..and it's so exciting...
Some of our favorite teams have made it through... some have not, but the excitement is still big and Olivia definitely knows how to enjoy the matches...
She does freak out every time they scream "GOAL" on TV, but then she gets that it's a good thing (when our team scores) and starts dancing of joy! it's pretty funny!
On Saturday, the USA played and Olivia was dressed up as an "all American" girl..too cute... She kept cheering "USA, USA, USA!"....




..and then they lost, but she still managed to look (and feel) excited.. it was cute!

Today was Argentina's turn.. She got to wear the cute "Argentina" t-shirt that I brought her from Europe..she looked adorable and was very excited to see the match...

...of course they won and she got WAY too excited.. she took a marker and painted all over her face.. and also painted her sister's eyes.. it was crazy...

Wordless Monday...

Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful fathers out there...
We had a great Father's Day today... Had breakfast with the whole family and then drove to Naples to spend some time with great friends..
I enjoyed my dad and Iggy enjoyed his daughters...
As I always, I thank God for allowing me to have such a great father and such wonderful husband, who is also a great father to our daughters!

Happy Birthday Isabella!

Today we attended Isabella's 3rd birthday party at the Diaz home...
Isabella is one of Olivia's best friends...they go to school together and have known each other since they were born...their friendship goes back to before they were even born, since Isabella's aunt and I have been friends for over 25 years... it's crazy to see them growing up together..
The party was so much fun and the girls enjoyed the afternoon playing and jumping in the bouncy house... everything was great.. especially the food.. everyone ate so much...
Isabella's actual birthday is tomorrow but it was celebrated today so it wouldn't interfere with Father's Day festivities... it was so much fun!
Happy birthday beautiful!

Play date with MaryAnn and Kassidy

Today was a great day since we had the opportunity to meet MaryAnn and Kassidy and had a wonderful play date with them....

I met MaryAnn through a website (Whattoexpect.com) when we were both pregnant.. Kassidy and Gaby were born 2 days apart so we have been talking online for over a year so it was great to finally meet in person...

MaryAnn and her family are vacationing in West Palm Beach so we drove up to their resort and spent the afternoon at the pool.. The girls had a blast playing together and I enjoyed MaryAnn's company very much...

Olivia is 35 months!

My "little lady" is 35 months today... in just one month she will be THREE years old! where did time go?? I seriously want it to STOP now!

Olivia is quite the character.. she can be the sweetest person one day and very devilish the next one... it's crazy!

She has such a strong personality and definitely knows how to get her way...

Olivia loves to dance and enjoys music so much.. She has demonstrated some theatrical abilities in the past month and I'm really loving that!... Her imagination never ceases to amaze me... she loves brushing my hair with pretend hair brushes and style it with pretend hair accessories.. it's so cute!

Olivia is extremely excited about her upcoming birthday party.. she's set on dressing up as Snow White and even helped me write the guest list... she's so freaking smart!

She has a love-hate relationship with her baby sister, which I guess is normal considering Gaby is not a "baby" anymore so now they can argue! ha ha!

I get so emotional every time her birthday gets closer... it's so nice to see them grow into little people but why does it have to happen so fast????

Happy 35 months Olivia!

Gaby is 11 months!

This is IT! the FINAL countdown to Gaby's birthday has officially started! One more month and she will be ONE!

She's such a good baby and so cute too!... She is so sweet and has a great temper...

In the past month, she has developed a sense of independency that I didn't know before.. She is able to entertain herself for long periods of time and plays with anything she finds around...

She also loves playing with her sister and is always looking for her...

Although she is a VERY fast crawler, she is NOT interested in walking at all... A month ago she was standing on her own and walking while holding hands, but all that is gone now... every time I try to get her to stand on her own, she just bends her legs and sits on the floor.. a bit frustrating, but I guess she'll walk whenever she's ready!

Her favorite toy is my Blackberry, which makes sense since it's the item I use the most and babies always want what they can't have... right?

Her next doctor's appointment is scheduled for July 16th (her actual birthday), so I don't have any weight updates...

She's health, happy and thriving!

Happy 11 months Gaby!

10 years ago today...

10 years ago today I was graduating from high school, so naturally I've been thinking about those times.. and wow!...
It amazes me to see how much my life has changed in "just" 10 years...
I must say that I did NOT enjoy high school, andt it was rather a difficult period in my life...
First off, I moved from Venezuela to the USA at the start of my 9th grade and that wasn't a pleasant experience... I had to learn a new language and adjust to a new culture...it was hard!
I also lost my sister Erika in my junior year of high school and that completely changed my life...
I was never able to "find" myself in high school and when those four years were over I was so happy...
Today I was digging through my old pictures and I didn't even find one picture from my high school graduation... I was a bit sad about that, but I'm not surprised since those pictures wouldn't bring any happy memories, so I probably didn't keep any on purpose!...
The picture I posted on this post is from my junior year... it's pretty horrible, but it's the only memory I have from high school...although I wasn't the goofy/nerdy kind, my yearbook pictures were alway horrendous!
The 10 year reunion will be held this month and surprisingly (not!) I will NOT be attending.. Not only did I HATE high school, but I also have a mere 4 friends from those times, so I feel like I don't belong in such celebration...
Oh well! Happy 10 years! time does fly!

Wordless Monday...

Baby giggles..

Gaby loves to be tickled and I love to hear her laugh!!

Too cute!

World Cup fun!

Today marks the opening of the 2010 FIFA World Cup... how exciting is that!?!?

Even though Soccer is not among my favorite sports, I must say that I am very excited about the idea of the girls enjoying their first every Soccer Wold Cup, since it is such a big world event..

Down here in Miami, people have a serious soccer fever, so it's very hard not to get into it since the energy is so contagious!

While I was in Europe, I bought a cute Argentina team t-shirt for Olivia (since my father was born in Argentina and that's our favorite team) and she woke up this morning asking me to wear it.. I asked her why, and she said "the World Cup starts today".. ha! I thought that was hilarious...

She walks around the house chanting "Argentina! Argentina!".. too cute...

Also, for the first time ever, I have entered a World Soccer pool, in which I could win some cash!!! In my predictions, I am choosing Spain as the winner! We'll see! ;)

My little fashionistas!

I have two crazy daughters...and they are cute as heck!... of course I'm biased, but they are both so beautiful and they LOVE fashion...

Gaby wore a little "pony tail" for the first time today and she seemed to really like it.. it was so cute...

Here's a picture of her with it.. it's really small so you might have a hard time seeing it.. but it sure it pretty!

...and then there's Olivia and her love for high heels... She loves wearing my shoes and when we go out to shoe stores she enjoys trying all kinds of heels and platforms.. hilarious!..

A very special visit...

Today I received a very special visit from my best friend's parents who are currently visiting from Poland...

Martyna and I have been best friends for almost 14 years... we have been through many highs and lows and it's always great to see her parents when they visit...even though they don't speak any English it's so much fun to "talk" to them...Martyna is the official translator...too funny...

They will be here for 2 weeks so I'm sure there will be many more fun visits and outings!

Wordless Monday...NOT!

Ever since I came back from Europe, I haven't taken any pictures, so I will not post any today...

I really need to get back into the groove of taking pictures and recording memories.. but I guess I took so many during our trip that I'm trying to give my camera a rest...;)

By the way.. if you're interested in seeing our Europe pictures, here are the links to the albums

1) Paris 2010: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=179931&id=507547507&l=c6e4389acd

2) Madrid 2010: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=180071&id=507547507&l=9fa6cc6d5c

3) Paris through my lens: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=180009&id=507547507&l=a9eedad656

Plaza Mayor

Besides Paris, we were lucky enough to also visit Madrid during our little trip to Europe. I was nicely surprised by this amazing city in a country that I always wanted to visit. Also, not only did we get to visit another city/country, but I also got to visit my wonderful friend Marianna, whom I've known for over 25 years; she was nice enough to show us around.. it was great!

Well.... One of the places that amazed me the most in Madrid was Plaza Mayor, located near the center of the city... It is such an immense and breath taking space.. so relaxing and picturesque.. I really enjoyed the time we spent there...

Around the plaza, there are painters and other artists that gather.. as well as little shops and cafes...a wonderful place to spend the day...

The Louvre Museum

The Louvre Museum:

Probably most famous for housing the Mona Lisa and Aphrodite, this museum was well worth the visit. It is beautiful from every angle and it has such an artistic appeal. Starting with the famous pyramid (by architect I.M. Pei), the Louvre museum is a captivating place, a wonderful house of art. It is enormous and it has so much art that a day isn’t enough to see it all. We, of course stood by the famous Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (and took about a hundred pictures of it), and then walked around and saw some sculptures and famous paintings; a great experience indeed. It costs 9.50 Euros for a whole day and you can go in an out as many times within the same day.

Eiffel Tower

Here is where I continue to recount my experiences from Europe. I will make brief posts about the most iconic places we visited during our trip...

Eiffel Tower

The famous Eiffel tower is absolutely amazing. Not only is it gigantic (over 900 feet tall), but it is also a very interesting and captivating structure. It really took my breath away when I saw it. It was my dream come true. We were able to see it from every possible angle, day and night and we even went up to take in the amazing view of Paris. The tower definitely deserves all the attention and iconic connotation that it is given. One of the most beautiful sights in Paris…I loved it, and of course couldn’t stop snapping pictures of it… It costs 8.50 Euros to go up to the 2^nd level and an additional 5 Euros to go up to the very top (which gets very crowded)

This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip...the original FRENCH KISS!

Here are some other pictures of the famous Eiffel Tower...