Lately...

I have neglected by blog lately.. I feel so guilty for not recording my recent events and adventures, but life has been so hectic and crazy these past few weeks...

Between our vacation, my best friend's wedding and all my work stuff, things have been less than easy..

So, here's a recount of our latest adventures...

Olivia attended her 2nd dentist appointment and she did great.. Her teeth are perfect and healthy, but the thumb sucking has ruined her bite and the shape of her mouth... oh well.. I guess we'll deal with that in a few years... I'm sure braces are in her future!

Last week we met with my friend Roxana and her kids.. She came from Venezuela to visit and we got together at Cafe Au Play in Pembroke Pines.. such a great place for the kids to play and have fun... great day!

This week we said good-bye to Poika, Minna and baby Alex, who moved to Boston during the weekend.. It is so sad to see them go, but we're happy about his job promotion and major life changes... We had dinner at Manolo and spent a wonderful night with them... Such a wonderful dinner!

...and there have been some other events, but those deserve another post...

Hopefully I can get back into full blogging swing and update this much faster!!!

Easter weekend!

What's better than Easter weekend??? Well, Easter weekend at Disney World!

Yes! We were lucky enough to spend our weekend in Disney World with Mickey and friends...

We went to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios with some of our friends and their kids...

What a wonderful time!

The girls had a blast and so did we... it was so amazing!!!

Disney is always a fun place to be, but this time was so much better! I love spending time with good friends, celebrating wonderful holidays!!

Happy Easter everyone!!!

More prayers for Izzy

Some of you might remember this post, where I spoke about my friend Kim's younger daughter Isabel Grace, who has been having seizures for the past month...

She had been doing better and things seemed to be under control, but yesterday she had four more seizures and it appears her treatment isn't working....

Naturally my friend Kim and her husband are worried sick over their little girl... She is being admitted to critical care for follow up on her issues and to find the proper treatment for her seizures!

I'm asking everyone to say a prayer for little Izzy and her family... it is so concerning for parents when their little ones are sick... and it's also concerning for friends who love those kids and want the best for them....

I met Izzy before she was even born, she is now 17 months, and it breaks my heart to know she's going through this!

I hope all these issues get resolved quickly and little Izzy is nurtured back to health...

I love you Izzy... tons of prayers and good thoughts going your way!!!!

"Couch to 5K"

As some of you know, I've started to run (slowly but surely) and I'm really getting into it.. I've bought new running shoes, ran my first mile and I'm educating myself on how to properly run.

So, after speaking with some of my runner friends and doing some internet research, I found the "Couch to 5K" program, which is a running plan designed for people that are "couch potatoes" and are looking to train for a 5K race... and that would be... ME!!!!

So today I started the program, which by the way, was harder than I thought...

The program lasts 9 weeks and aims to train runners and help them build stamina at a decent pace...with the sole purpose of running 5K races!

Today was the first day and I busted my butt... for a moment I thought I was going to pass out.. but I DID IT!

I did a 5-minute warm up walk, and then jogged for 60 seconds and walked for 90 seconds for a period of 20 minutes.. It was a good start! I'm inspired!

Hopefully, I will keep up the work and get into the swing of things....

..and for all my local mommy friends, be on the lookout for the start of the Pembroke Pines chapter of "Moms Run This Town"... more information to come!

Visit the website for additional details... A Facebook group has already been started.. feel free to request to be added.. I need some members! ;)

WordPLUS Monday..

I'm interrupting my regular "Wordless Monday" post to report that we're now back from vacation and I have a bunch of pictures from the trip and also a bunch of stories...BUT I'm so exhausted right now.. so I will get back to that later!

Post remains pending!!

Gaby is 21 months!

My little princess is 21 months today! 3 more months until she's 2 and her age is no longer counted in months but years!

Gaby is the most precious little thing.. she is such a loving little girl, super cuddly and kissable... I just love her so much!

She loves to dance, loves to sing and loves to make people laugh... She's such a joker and a very fun little person...

She's also very playful and enjoys games with her big sister...

Gaby is also very smart; she knows a ton of words and phrases and is starting to put puzzles together...she's an excellent communicator!

It's so much fun to see her grow up and learn new things!

Happy 21 months little Gaby!!!!

Georgia Aquarium

Yesterday we visited the Georgia Aquarium, which is the biggest aquarium in the world. It has some awesome exhibits and wonderful species...

We spent a few hours walking around and learning about different sea species and enjoying our time together.. so great!

On top of the aquarium being incredibly awesome, our trip got even better because we met my friend Pam and her daughter Anna Claire.. they are so amazing... I met Pam through WTE when we were pregnant 2 years ago.. We have become close throughout the years and share many interests..(including the running!)...

It was so great to finally meet her and spend some time with her and Anna!

Here are the girls during our visit to the aquarium...and then a picture and Pam and I...she's so sweet!

I love fun plans like the one we had yesterday...it was such a blast! On top of that, and to make my day even better.. Iggy joined us on our trip last night as well.. After the aquarium, we picked him up at the airport and now we're all together and happy! ;)

Atlanta day...

Today was a gorgeous day... a true SPRING day! Wow.. We spent the day in Atlanta, walking around and enjoying the beautiful weather..

We spent some time at the Centennial Olympic Park and the CNN building... it was great...

The girls enjoyed the flowers, the breeze and everything else that this wonderful day brought..

Here are some shots.. truly perfect day!

My new running shoes!!!

Yes.. I'm inspired with all this running stuff! I wanna run the world and then some...I've got my new shoes and I'm excited about it!

I went ahead and got the Nike Lunarfly+ 2 in pink and gray... This is a link to the model I got.. I love them...they are cushiony, they're comfortable and they are cool looking... NOW I'm ready!

Ready, set, run!!!!!!

Wordless Monday...

My first mile!!!

After reading about "Moms Run This Town", I got inspired by Pam and her friends and decided to go out for a run and just get on with it!

All I have to say is "wow, I'm so out of shape"...it took me almost 20 minutes to run (ok, sort of walk) ONE MILE and by the time I finished I felt like I was going to die.. but I DID IT!!

I've inspired myself to get on this bandwagon and enjoy the exercise... I know it will be such an awesome experience... and it will also be great for my body and self-esteem.

I will be leading a local chapter of running/jogging/walking moms (more information on that to come).. and I will continue to blog about my running experiences!

So.. it was great running and sweating for a bit.. oh.. and did I mention and completely OUT OF SHAPE??? ha ha ha!

...oh and I need to get me some running shoes... good ones!

Happy running!

Featured blog

Today's featured blog is Moms Run This Town, which is a wonderful blog created by my friend Pam (who turns 30 today.. Happy Birthday Pam!)...

This blog features a "moms only" running club, which motivates mommy runners all over the country. The idea is to have chapters of the club in different states and support moms in their running endeavors... I think it's wonderful...

I've never been a runner, but everything seems possible after reading this blog... I just want to take off running and feel accomplished... yay!

There's also a website, which complements the blog and explains what the whole idea is about..

If interested, visit this link

Congrats on the wonderful idea girls! Moms rock!

Fun photos

Someone forwarded me this link... the photos are so fun... completely unrealistic, but fun nonetheless...

Enjoy!

http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2011/04/02/estas-son-las-fotos-mas-creativas-que-un-padre-puede-hacerle-a-sus-hijas/

Adventures of a church-going mommy!

No! this isn't a religious post and it's certainly not a persuasion post.. it' more of an "adventure" post or something along those lines....

Sunday morning, 8am, I'm sleeping and walking around in dreamland...all of a sudden I hear some footsteps, very loud footsteps... she comes to the side of my bed and starts shaking me abruptly... "mommy, mommy... it's Sunday".... I open one eye and look at her with a face that begs to let me sleep for another 20 minutes... she smiles..Nope! it's not happening.. I have to get up and start the day... the SUNDAY!

Breakfast is served, cartoons are on, toys beginning to be thrown on the floor...yes.. it's Sunday, our crazy day!

A few hours go by and it's almost time to go to church... we all get ready and I start dreading the almost two hours that the mass lasts...

We drive to church, park in a shady spot, take the kids and start walking towards the cross...as we walk in, people begin to look at us.. their eyes say "please, don't sit here, keep walking"...so we do, we keep walking.. searching for "the spot"...and we find it..

(The "cry room" doesn't work for us because the sound is horrible and the kids simply don't like it!)

There we are.. all 4 of us.. ready to sing and pray and listen to the sermon...fun stuff!

So...it begins...we survive the first 30 minutes..kids are great, coloring, standing, sitting, kneeling... 15 more minutes go by.. behavior is still decent..I'm looking at my watch thinking "45 more minutes, a few songs, a few prayers and we'll be out"... and then the MELTDOWN starts.. kids start to get anxious....they're being loud, they're hungry, tired, sleepy... Gaby is squirming, Olivia is whining... I look at Iggy... my eyes say it all "hide, run, take them away"... and he shrugs...he needs to pray!

I look around, wondering who's looking at me and what they're thinking... luckily people are praying, focused, some are even sleeping... and there I am.. so worried about what my little ones will do next...I don't really want to know!

Things get progressively worse.. I'm looking for a door, a way to escape... I see a door to the CCD room (I know it all too well since I'm a catechist at the church)... I grab Gaby or Olivia, whoever is being the naughtiest... and I walk in the room.. silent and lonely.. with a crying baby or a whining little girl, whichever it is... the next 30 minutes are when everything happens.. communion, blessing, etc.. so I hear it in the distance... I'm praying, I'm feeling blessed but frustrated at the same time.. well, at least no one is looking...I walk out, take communion and back to the room I am!

... then I hear cues about the mass ending.. parish announcements, closing prayer...yes! it's time!

I exit the room, look around, people are smiling... "they understand" I say to myself... and I'm glad it's over... off we go.. we survived another Sunday mass...or did we?

.. and we do it again and again.. because I refuse to stop going to church and giving in.. the kids need to learn and I need to manage accordingly...

LORD HELP ME!

Wordless Monday...

Beach Day!

Yesterday was a beautiful beach day in sunny South Florida! We went to Hollywood Beach with our friends the Diaz family...

Olivia had a blast playing in the water with her BFF Isabella and we just enjoyed the day.. So awesome and beautiful!

Here are some pictures!

Cool-de-Sac

I took the girls to Cool-de-Sac today with some work friends and their kids... It was like "happy hour" without the alcohol...so much fun!

The kids had an amazing time playing and climbing around... The mommies had some great insightful adult conversations and a good time as well..