Halloween!

This was such a fun Halloween weekend, filled with great kid-friendly activities and family fun!

Yesterday we went out to trick-or-treat at our local mall and the girls had a blast getting and eating all the candy..

They were dressed in matching ladybug costumes and they looked so adorable!.. it was so cute to see them together... A lot of other kids were dressed up too so the whole thing was just great! I was so exhausted after that... it was a lot of walking!

Today, we went to "Zoo Miami" with the girls and my in-laws, who are in town.. We rented a Safari bicycle and rode around the whole zoo... it was so much fun... We saw a bunch of animals and enjoyed the sunny day...

As an added bonus, the girls got to feed the giraffes.. that was great too! I even got to feed them.. it's the closest I've been to any big animal! What a great experience... My niece Erika was really brave as she got REALLY close to the giraffes!

Fav Picture Thursday...

Today's picture is a classic...so signature of "us"...

We took it about a month after we got married (court wedding)..in August 2005 during a visit to Epcot Center in Orlando...

We just went in the store and put the hats on.. I guess we looked cute because a lady walked by and offered to take a picture of us... so she did and here it is...

Ahh!! So many wonderful memories!!

Happy Birthday to my blog!!!

Today "A World of My Own" is turning 2 years old!.. wow!

I can't believe I've been blogging consistently for two years....For anyone who has a blog, you know it takes time and dedication to stick to it, so this is a big accomplishment!

The purpose of this blog is to stay in touch with friends and family and to share a bit of our lives with anyone who's interested in doing so!

I have so many wonderful friends and family that follow my blog.. and I thank you all for that...

It's always great to know that there's people out there that care, that can get happy when I'm happy, and sad when I'm sad! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Happy birthday to my blog!!! Here's to many more years of blogging!!

Welcome to the world....

I love to make birth announcements, especially when they're about close friends having beautiful babies!...

These past few days were very eventful in the baby department, so I want to officially welcome two beautiful babies to this world...

First, my friend Alejandra, had beautiful Cecilia on Sunday October 24th. She was born in Naples, FL at 9:22pm, weighing 7 lbs 5 oz and measuring 20 inches...She joins big brother Ezequiel who is 2 years old!

Congrats to the proud parents Alejandra and Jicham Zaatini

Welcome to the world baby Cecilia!!

On Monday October 25th, my friend Connie delivered baby Valentina. She was born in Miramar, FL at 8:05am, weighing 7 lbs 5 oz and measuring 17 1/2 inches... She joins big sister Daniela, who will turn 2 on October 29th.

Congrats to the proud parents Connie and Enzo Zarrillo!

Welcome to the world baby Valentina!

....wow! talk about baby fever!!! Ahhh!! I love it!!!

Wordless Monday...

Pumpkin Patch

Today was such a beautiful day, a great day to be outdoors enjoying the weather...so we did!

We took the girls to the local Pumpkin Patch and they had so much fun...

We met our friends, the Diaz family at the patch, and Olivia had so much fun playing with her friend Isabella...they painted pumpkins and ran around like crazy... I was exhausted just looking at them...

Gaby also enjoyed the experience and played with her friend Ale.. they all look so cute together!

It was such a great day!

Olivia's dentist appointment

A lot of my friends had told me that this age was the right one to take a toddler to the dentist so I did.. I really had no idea what to expect so I went in with an open mind...and so did Olivia.. or so I think!

We chose a pediatric dentist so that Olivia would be comfortable. We arrived about 1/2 hour before the scheduled appointment... Of course I had prepared Olivia for this BIG occasion and explained to her that someone would look in her mouth and such... I must admit I was terrified of the possibility of her having cavities or something along those lines...

Fast forward to the actual appointment... Dr U. looked in Olivia's mouth and she congratulated her (me) on her beautiful, clean/perfect teeth... What a relief....

The hygienist did a cleaning and put fluoride in Olivia's mouth... she did so well.. made me so proud!

Of course, as expected, the THUMB SUCKING subject came up and I was surprised by the doctor's comments... She said I should NOT worry about it because Olivia hasn't done any permanent damage to her teeth and she's obviously not emotionally ready to stop sucking her thumb. Dr. U. emphasized the importance of avoiding negative reinforcement and reassured me that she will EVENTUALLY drop this habit! I sure hope so!

All in all, a great first dentist appointment experience... I'm happy we overcame that "hurdle" and even happier that Olivia did so well!

Fav Picture Thursday...

Today's picture is one of those REALLY cute ones of Olivia... aren't they all? ha ha!

It was taken in June 2008, when Olivia was 11 months old...

The look in her face is so signature of her... I look at it today and it's like time hasn't passed..so cute!

The "mom look"

This past weekend I had the "wonderful" experience of traveling alone with my two girls! Ahhh!! Let's just say it was a challenge and I won't be doing it again any time soon!...

The whole "ordeal" got me thinking about the "mom look"... you know that compassionate look that other moms give out when you're going through hell??? That look they use to let you know that they understand what you're going through?? Yes... that look... the eye rolling, head nodding, smily look... wow! I got it many times!!

These moms just saw a poor mommy, pushing a stroller with two kids, who kept trying to get out of it, or kept whining about not getting their way...they saw me trying to keep two kids from screaming or jumping on top of the guys sitting next to me on the plane! wow!

I really admire the moms who can deal with kids on their own and keep their cool throughout stressful situations because I know it takes A LOT not to "lose it" when the kids are just going nuts!

I must admit though, the "mom look" does help... the unspoken solidarity from other moms (and dads) is just priceless!

So I will keep giving the "mom look" to others and will definitely embrace it whenever it's given to me! :)

Alabama trip

This weekend we had a wonderful time in Alabama visiting my parents...

It was so great to see them and spend time with them.. For a while it felt like the old times.. with all of us together...we drove around Alabama and visited a few cities around their Auburn town...

During the trip, I also had the opportunity of meeting up with Adriane and Kerriann, two lovely girls from the WTE board.. I met with them in Montgomery, and that day, the weather was just beautiful..

Here's a picture of Gaby and Kerriann, born just two weeks apart.. They hit it off very well!

Here's a couple of family pictures we took during the trip.. it's always great to be together!

...and last but not least.. I got to meet Susan and her kids...She is also a WTE, whom I met while I was pregnant with Gabriela... Here's a picture of Gaby and Michael, born just two weeks apart..All in all, it was an amazing trip... and I really hope we can do it again soon!

Gaby is 15 months!

It's hard to believe that my baby is already 15 months old! Before we know it, we will be celebrating her 2nd birthday!

She walks, she talks, she plays and does everything a baby her age is supposed to do... and then some!

Gaby is such a smart little girl, who never ceases to amaze me.. her vocabulary is very extensive and she has a way of expressing herself that cannot be confused!

Just like her big sister, Gaby loves music and dancing and she has quite the rhythm.. it's pretty amazing...

Gaby is a good eater and a great sleeper... she now hast 6 teeth and two molars!

She was a little sick last week but she is all better now...

At her last appointment she was 20 lbs 5 oz and 30 inches long..

Gaby loves Minnie and Mickey and enjoys playing with her sister Olivia... she loves to laugh and has a great sense of humor...

I'm so proud of my little girl and love to see her grow and learn every day!

Happy 15 months Gaby!

Fav Picture Thursday...

This is one of my favorite "family pictures" (before Gaby)... It was taken in May 2008, during a trip to DC, when Olivia was only 10 months old...

We were walking around DC and stopped at a park... We sat down on the side walk and I put the camera on top of a garbage can and took an automatic picture...

It's so funny to remember this one, because that's the only way Olivia would look at the camera.. as soon as she saw us posing, she would too... adorable....

Said by Olivia...

This week's story is actually pretty funny...so much that's it's probably hard to put it in words, but I'll try!

So, lately we've attended quite a few baby showers for some of my pregnant friends. Naturally, Olivia comes along because in my opinion, a baby shower is a great atmosphere for kids.. right?

Well, Olivia seemed to be enjoying each baby shower more than the previous one... and I was happy with that because she behaved very well...

After the first baby shower she asked me "Mommy, why do have to bring gifts?"..and I proceeded to explain to her that the purpose of the baby shower, was to "shower" the mommy to be with presents for the baby and that's what everyone got together for... Olivia seemed to love that idea and even went with me to buy some of the baby shower gifts...

So far, so good.. right?? Ok... so here comes the funny part....

One night Iggy and I were watching a movie and there was Olivia, with a fake "belly" that she had created by putting one of her dolls inside her shirt....she kept rubbing it and pretending to talk to it..

She walks up to and asks "where are my gifts?.. I'm pregnant now".. and then we all started laughing... Her reasoning made sense.. she must have thought "well, if I'm pregnant I should get a lot of presents"... Oh my God! I could have died laughing... Thankfully she didn't ask me HOW the baby gets inside the belly.. that would have made for a complicated explanation!...Ha!

Wordless Monday...

..and another busy weekend...

I know weekends are a good time to rest, but who doesn't love busy weekends full of fun events and time with good friends??... Well this weekend was one of those, so much fun...

On Saturday, we drove to Naples and spent the day at the beach with our friends Alejandra and Jicham, who are expecting their 2nd child at the end of this month...

Olivia had so much fun playing with their son Ezequiel and Gaby enjoyed the beach, even though she was a bit sick..

We took some amazing pictures and had a wonderful time with our friends..

Here's the happy couple with the belly... the baby's name will be Cecilia, and she is expected to make her arrival within the next two weeks... Alejandra looks amazing...

On Sunday, we attended my friend Eva's wedding in Tampa... It was a cute ceremony during the day and I got to spend some time with her and her family, which is always fun... She looked so beautiful and was so happy....

...and for those of you who remember this post about my horrible shopping experience... I ended up finding a dress at Dillard's, which fit the occasion just right..Here's a picture of it.. I thought it was adorable..

Fav Picture Thursday...

I'm going to be a little self centered today and post one of my favorite pictures of myself! ha!...

This one was taken in October 2006, right before I got pregnant with Olivia... It was during a night out with friends...we were celebrating Martyna's 26th birthday at a club in South Beach...

I love my hair in this picture and that's why I'm letting it grow out again!... Who knows, maybe one day I'll look as youthful and fresh as I do in this picture! ha!

Frustrating shopping experience...

I have a wedding to attend this weekend so I decided to go out and shop for a dress...

It's a day wedding so I need a dress that is not too formal nor too casual... easy, right?

Well, I went to Macy's because they usually have a lot of options... after a half an hour I was frustrated... I was looking in the dress section, where all the dresses were either too ugly, too big, too bright, too expensive or just too much!...Also, I felt like I was shopping for an old lady, everything seemed to be designed for 60+ year old ladies...

I expressed my concern to a sales person and she suggested I look in the junior section, so I did... Oh my God!! I kept asking myself.. "what am I?"... Apparently shopping in the junior section translates into dressing like a slut!

So, I didn't buy anything and not only did I walk out of store empty handed, but also frustrated of simply not having a place to shop that fits my age and my current needs...

Now I'm left with the worry of not having a dress to wear and still needing to face the struggle of shopping for one!

Who would have thought it'd be so hard to just buy a dress?? Ahhh!!!

Said by Olivia

Like I said in this post, I'm going to dedicate a day on my blog to something "Said by Olivia".. it will be a little anecdote about one of her funny comments...

Here's the first one, it happened today...

I've been looking for a Halloween costume for Olivia, specifically the Snow White costume, made by Danu, an exclusive Babies R Us product.. it was sold out everywhere, even online, so I took it upon me to visit every local Babies R Us (and Toys R Us), even on shipment days to find the so called costume.. and today I found it.. the right size and all.. Oh my God.. I was so happy.. ready to make Olivia's dream come true!... in the process, I also bought a cute Lady Bug costume for Gaby..

So, I came home with it, so excited to show her the costume.. and I also showed Gaby hers...

Well, she looked at it and said... "I don't like Snow White anymore"... and then she said "sorry mommy, I'd rather be the Big Sister Lady Bug"... I said to her..."I'm so sad you don't like the costume I got for you".. and she proceeded to tell me "Oh come on mom, get over it!"... I almost flipped.. she asked me to go to the store and get her and Lady Bug costume... and what did I do?...whatever she wanted... as usual!

I guess I should know better than to just buy what I want.. next time I should ask her? ha ha!

Wordless Monday...

Rosa Maria's baby shower..

Today we went to my friend Rosa's baby shower and we had a wonderful time...

I have known Rosa Maria since we were in 1st grade...she lives in Venezuela but is currently in Miami visiting her sister and buying all the gear for her first baby...

She's expecting a baby boy due in early January... of course, her and her husband Gustavo are thrilled...

It was so wonderful to see Rosa and a few other of my high school friends... it's always great to reminisce of old times!

Martyna's 30th Birthday

Happy Birthday to my best friend Martyna, who is turning 30 today.

Martyna and I have been best friends for the past 14 years... she was the first person I met when I moved to the United States...

We've been through thick and thin and have great memories of all those years....

We celebrated with a party at her house and had an amazing time. Martyna was really happy and enjoyed the company of all her friends....

Happy Birthday BFF! I love you!