Alleen & Ferdy's Guatemalan Princesa

Happy 4th Birthday to our Princess!

2010-03-17T20:46:00.005-04:00

Gabriella turned four on Sunday. Someone please tell me just how time has passed that quickly???

She had a Princess & Pirate party for her birthday and, while crazy and chaotic for us, was a blast for her and her friends! The little girls got to dress up and got their hair, makeup and nails done. The boys got to dress up and get painted on moustaches(though only a couple wanted it done!).

The office manager at our church makes AMAZING cakes and made this one for Gabriella. I told her I wanted a pink and white princess cake with a tiara on it and she designed this for her. The inside of the cake was pink and white layers.

One Gabriella's classmates mom made these cookies and sent them with her husband(she couldn't make it to the party) as a surprise. Are they not fantastic??

The girls were making princess crowns.

This is Miss G's best friend in school. They are two peas in a pod!

Look at our pretty nails.

Daddy says this is the last time she gets to wear makeup until she's 21!

She got her very own laptop and loves it!

Grandma and Miss G.

She wouldn't take a nice picture with me. She wanted to be silly!

The RARE family photo.

Later that afternoon, since it was a very windy day, we went to fly a kite. While it wasn't very successful(not such a great kite I guess!), Gabriella had a lot of fun. That is the best part of her personality - she has such fun no matter what she is doing!

I thought it would be fun to do a little flashback and show pics from her first three birthdays. Sniff sniff, my baby is growing up!!!!!

One year old(2007)

To this day, this Tiggy is her must-have animal to sleep with and the one she is attached to.

Two years old(2008)

Three years old (2009)

Long Time No Blog

2010-03-09T16:33:00.002-05:00

Yes, in fact, we are all still here and doing well!!! I know I've ignored the blog terribly since before Christmas! So, this post will be one of few words and LOTS of pictures from Christmastime and a few recent ones.

We went on a trip to North Carolina to play in the snow, but I'll save that for a separate post since there are so many pictures from that.

We met our good friends Carrie and Rich and their two little ones Savannah and Seth at Downtown Disney one day. Here's one of the girls.

At the AWESOME gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian before an unfortunate meltdown that caused us to have to leave early.

Gabriella was so excited to have her own pink Christmas tree in her room.

We couldn't leave Bing out of the fun!

Christmas Eve service at church

Getting cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer all ready.

Opening presents on Christmas morning. It was so much fun this year since she really got it and was so excited!

She's hugging a box of dress-up shoes. That's my girl!

Mommy's princess

Mommy and Miss G went to Disney one day during Christmas break.

We went to a local place to pick strawberries one day. Gabriella had a blast doing that.

Getting a box of straw ready for the camels for Three King's Day.

Putting it under the bed.

Opening the gift that the Three Kings left.

Pajama Day at school.

Trying on her hat and mittens before our trip to see snow.

We met some school friends at Blue Springs park to see the manatees. Should I be worried that she is holding hands with all the boys already?

Enjoying a Valentine's cupcake.

Stylin' and profilin'

Trip to Animal Kingdom a few weeks ago.

Well, hopefully that gives everyone their picture "fix" for a bit. I will post soon from the North Carolina trip.

Holiday Season Pics

2009-12-22T14:09:00.009-05:00

We went to Hollywood Studios one weekend to see the Osborne Family Light Spectacular. Gabriella just loved it. She especially loved when it "snowed" and kept catching it on her tongue(I'm guessing it wasn't so tasty since I think it's soap). I also told her this would be the warmest snow she'd ever feel.

Helping make cookies.

We took Gabriella to see the Nutcracker ballet(it was an abbreviated version for the little ones) and just loved it. She especially loved getting all dressed up "like a princess" as she says. It makes this mommy happy that she still loves to get all dressed up and girly.

She saw her friend Peyton before the show.

Last week was the Christmas show at Miss G's school. I didn't really get any good pics since you couldn't use a flash. So, I got a couple after the show (yep, same dress. What can I say, it is so cute on her! And would you believe under $5 on clearance last year?!).

This past Sunday afternoon we went to a Christmas party at our Guatetot friends, Hannah & Haley's house. Gabriella had a fun time playing and doing crafts. I tried so hard to get a decent picture of all three of them, but it proved impossible(I know how parents of more than one child feel trying to get Christmas card photos!). And yes, leave it to Gabriella to find the tiara to wear around all evening.

Yesterday, Gabriella and I had a movie date to see The Princess and the Frog. We had a fun time watching and munching on popcorn.

I'm sure I won't be updating again before Christmas, so I hope everyone has a wonderful, blessed Christmas.

Visit with Santa

2009-12-10T15:37:00.009-05:00

I took Gabriella to see Santa earlier this week. She was quite excited to go visit the big man in red!

She sat on his lap for quite a while and had quite the conversation with Santa. When she was done, Santa said she kept saying something about "no nannies in the house this morning". He wondered just what that was all about. I had to laugh!! We had run of bananas(otherwise known as "nannies") and she apparently thought that was newsworthy and proceeded to tattle on mommy to Santa. I guess she'd be happy if her stocking was filled with bananas, huh?! Do you think Santa will still think I've been nice and bring me presents?

And for fun, a little trip down memory lane.

Thanksgiving pics

2009-11-30T12:59:00.009-05:00

Here are pics from Thanksgiving and then some from a few photo shoot attempts for Christmas cards this past weekend.

Helping Grandma make the crescent rolls.

Favorite Foto Friday - No Faces Allowed!

2009-11-27T19:38:00.003-05:00

It's been a long time since I did a FFF post. So, since I'm being so lazy lately about catching up on posting pics, I thought I'd participate and post my favorite "no faces" pics from our beach trip this summer. I will post Thanksgiving pictures soon, I promise! And lots of others I am behind on.

Halloween and catchup

2009-11-03T16:11:00.008-05:00

OK, time to play catchup on the pictures once again.

First up, Miss G helping mommy make some mini pumpkin cheesecakes. She was so excited to help me cook.

She had to show Tiggy how yummy it looked.

We went to a little art festival and Gabriella remembered having her picture taken by this fountain the last time we went to one here.

Fall Festival at Gabriella's school was last week.

Hayride - Florida style.

A little Hokey-Pokey action.

Some more pumpkin patch pictures.

Halloween this year was so much fun with Miss G since she was so into it and got it! I walked with her to the first door, told her she had to ring the doorbell, say "Trick-or-Treat" and "Thank You". When we got to the next house, she told daddy and me "Wait here!" and wouldn't let us go with her to any more doors. By the time we got through about half of the neighborhood, her bag was so heavy she couldn't carry it any more.

The beautiful butterfly princess!

Showing off her wings.

She was so excited to have sparkly eye shadow and lip gloss!

I still need to post pics from our day at Downtown Disney with lots of Guatetots and friends. I'll save those for a separate post.

Wordless Wednesday - Pumpkins

2009-10-21T17:01:00.003-04:00

Shamu and Princesses with Guate Friends

2009-10-14T17:28:00.009-04:00

This past weekend was spent in the HOT, HUMID Fall(hahahahaha) weather of Florida. We broke records several days in the past week for record highs and high heat indexes(over 100). I have lived in Florida all of my life and can't remember many times being as hot as I was. That being said, we had a BLAST with our friends! Leslie and her sweetie Abby were in town from Ohio(nothing like leaving weather in the 40s and having the 90s hit you when you step off the plane) and we were so excited to finally meet them!

On Saturday we went to SeaWorld to see Shamu. We also met Shelby, Amy and Corey and their kids(10 kids, all but one from Guatemala, between all of us). Unfortunately, we neglected to get all the kids together and get a picture. Sigh.

Leslie and I met for Breakfast with Elmo and Friends and the girls loved it.

They were having their Halloween Spooktacular and had trick-or-treating and special characters which Gabriella really had fun with.

Cooper is such a good big brother and endured 2 days of Gabriella dragging him around and demanding that he push the stroller, hold her hand and take her on rides.

Sunday was spent at the Magic Kingdom. This was Gabriella's first trip(and my first trip in probably 15 years if you can believe it!). She LOVED it.

I made the girls matching Mickey zebra shirts. They looked so adorable!

Her favorite was seeing the princesses up close and personal. She's sneaking a peak at them while waiting her turn.

Visit with Titi Karen

2009-10-01T14:34:00.006-04:00

We had a short-but-sweet visit with Titi Karen and her fiance Carlos. We went to Animal Kingdom and Gabriella had the best time! She said her favorite was the Cali River Rapids ride. As soon as we got off she said she wanted to do it again(but, the lines were long).

Checking out Goofy's whiskers.

Making sure Mickey doesn't have any cavities.

She loved the frozen chocolate-covered banana. Her shirt? Not so much. Oxiclean didn't even touch the mess! Oh well, she had fun.

Ready for her wedding! She is very excited because she gets to be in Titi Karen's wedding in April in Puerto Rico (her mommy and daddy are pretty excited too!).

Some pool time on Tuesday.

Wordless Wednesday - Blue!

2009-09-16T16:16:00.002-04:00

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Birthday Ferdy!

2009-09-09T20:10:00.004-04:00

Favorite Foto Friday - Family

2009-08-28T19:08:00.005-04:00

Since I've been neglecting the blog, Favorite Foto Friday will have lots of pics today.

Ferdy's mom and brother were in town last weekend and Gabriella thoroughly enjoyed their visit.

Abuela brought Miss G a tutu set with butterfly wings, a tiara, shoes and magic wand. Every waking moment that we are home, Gabriella has to wear it. She literally strips off whatever bottoms she has on the minute she wakes or walks in the house and puts it all on.

Our 3rd Forever Family Day was Monday. We kept it low-key this year and took Gabriella to the splash pad and had cupcakes at lunch to celebrate. It hardly seems possible that it's been 3 years already.

Wordless Wednesday - First Day of School

2009-08-19T10:10:00.003-04:00

Wordless Wednesday - Tutus and Cheeta Shoes

2009-08-12T16:18:00.004-04:00

Can You Spare $5 ??

2009-08-10T20:48:00.002-04:00

Please go and visit this blog to enter a raffle with some awesome prizes(and you get to pick where your entries go!). Some very special children in Guatemala need our help.

http://www.globalorphanteam.blogspot.com/

Wordless Wednesday - A Girl and Her Babies

2009-08-05T17:59:00.002-04:00

Siesta Key Vacation

2009-07-27T14:38:00.022-04:00

We spent last week in Siesta Key lounging on the beach and relaxing. Gabriella is definitely a beach bunny and LOVES the sand and the water. She was in heaven. So, sit back for the motherload of pictures(um, I took over 650!!!).

Wordless Wednesday - Ballerina in Training

2009-07-15T16:16:00.002-04:00

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T20:32:00.008-04:00

I hope everyone has had a great 4th of July. We had a wonderful day today. We had a big pool party, cookout at our house and had a great time. We had about 30 people(including about 13 kids) and everyone had fun. As usual, I was too busy to really get many pictures(and most notably, not one photo of Ferdy, Gabriella and myself- grrr).

Wordless Wednesday - Manicure with Grandma

2009-07-01T17:38:00.002-04:00

Favorite Foto Friday - Red, White & Blue Week

2009-06-26T10:30:00.003-04:00

Getting ready for 4th of July.

Wordless Wednesday - Splish Splash

2009-06-24T11:06:00.003-04:00

Sunday Catchup

2009-06-14T20:15:00.015-04:00

Picture overload warning.....

This past week, Gabriella and I went downtown to the park. She wasn't too keen on me trying a photo shoot and it's getting nearly impossible to get her to look in my direction when the camera is out! And it felt like it was 8 billion degrees out with 110% humidity. And it's only June???

Here are some shots that I got.

The famous "cheese" face.

I think this face means we're done with the photoshoot.

We were at friends' house last night and Gabriella loved playing with the dollhouse. Never in a million years would I get her one right now since she strews small parts from toys throughout the entire house and doesn't keep things together, but she sure enjoyed it!

I had a major craving for some rock shrimp at a seafood restaurant over by the coast that I hadn't been to for years, so we drove over for lunch today. After we ate, we drove to the Canaveral National Seashore. The water was GORGEOUS! It's not usually this blue over on the east coast. Gabriella wasn't too happy that she couldn't go in the water since we didn't have bathing suits or towels for the beach(or sunscreen for that matter!). But she enjoyed playing in the sand for a few minutes.

The space shuttle is still on the launchpad since the launch was scrubbed yesterday.

Wordless Wednesday - Dishwasher(as she calls it)

2009-06-10T15:40:00.002-04:00

Some Summer Fun!

2009-05-31T20:25:00.007-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted many pictures lately, but until this weekend, we were dealing with about 2 weeks of rain(about 8 days of it was pretty much non-stop) and so we spent a lot of time indoors and I didn't have the camera out much. But, it looks like we are into summer now and just normal afternoon rains.

Two peas in a pod, these two....

An impromptu photo shoot the other evening - terrible lighting though, so sorry for the washed out colors. And because it was impromptu, her hair is a mess....

We went downtown today for some fun in the park.

Favorite Foto Friday - Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-22T10:49:00.003-04:00

Wordless Wednesday - Bathing Beauty

2009-05-20T13:53:00.002-04:00

Wordless Wednesday - Pottying in Style

2009-05-13T09:22:00.002-04:00

Mother's Day Beach Outing

2009-05-11T16:22:00.010-04:00

I had a great Mother's Day at the beach yesterday. We went to an awesome place, Fort DeSoto south of St. Petersburg. The weather was great and Gabriella just loves the beach as much as her mommy and daddy do.

All ready to go! Are we there yet?

She couldn't even wait for daddy to take his shirt off before taking him down to the water.

First snow cone!

FFF - Mommy

2009-05-08T16:44:00.002-04:00

Today's Favorite Foto Friday theme is "Mommy".

So, I thought I'd go back to when I became a mommy.

First, here are a couple of the pictures we received for our referral on April 7, 2006.

Next, a couple of pictures from our visit trip in May 2006. Holding her for the first time made it real.

First bottle!

A picture with mommy on Embassy Day. It's now official!!!

I enjoyed this trip down memory lane of becoming a mommy.

Picture Post

2009-04-23T21:14:00.011-04:00

First, I promise to get back to blogging the Guatemala trip soon.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks since, surprise, I'm way behind!

Some pics playing in the yard in the water. Miss G starts swimming lessons on Saturday and I am hoping she catches on quickly and we can spend more time in the pool this summer. She certainly loves the water, but she needs to learn some basic skills to make it easier to go in with her.

We went to a birthday party at a petting zoo/farm. Gabriella loved all the animals. Sadly, my camera battery died not too far into the trip, so I missed a lot of great photos. We got to pet turkeys, catch chickens, ride a pony, milk a cow, hold baby chicks and ducks, pet and feed sheep and go on a hayride.

More pictures of my little model. Poor lighting choice with all the shadows, but oh well.....

Guatemala Mission Trip - Part 2

2009-04-16T20:20:00.018-04:00

Monday, March 31

Monday morning we left Chimaltenango and drove through the mountains to San Andres. Unfortunately, this was when I started not feeling well and so the drive was not a lot of fun for me. But, it was still beautiful. We saw a lot of farms along the way. One of those farms had the biggest carrots I've seen in my life. I wish I could have seen them up close to really see just how big they were!

San Andres is the home of New Hope Ministries. It has a church, a preschool/daycare and they are expanding and setting up small "efficiencies" where missionaries can stay when they come to help.

Kim and Andrea went on from there with Mayan Families to visit with Alex's family in Tierra Linda. Alex was the baby that Kim and her husband fostered in the U.S. last year when he had cleft-palate surgery. I know they had an awesome experience.

Julia, Bryan and I spent the day at New Hope. This was a day filled with many conflicting feelings. I felt a lot of hope when we walked in and saw this:

The children were all attending preschool and they were practicing writing their letters. Some children barely older than Gabriella already were able to write!!! What an opportunity they are being given. Education is so very important and many of the children in Guatemala are not fortunate enough to be able to go to school. I'm sure many of their parents are illiterate.

But, I was also struck by how dirty many of the children were. Many of their faces had scabs where they had scratched themselves. As we would come to realize the next day(more on that later), many had lice, sores all over, horrible conditions on their feet/toenails,etc. And these are children from the community who all have families. So, it is a stark reminder of just how desperate the situation is there.

They had recently gotten new playground equipment and the kids were so excited to be able to swing and slide and have fun outside.

One of the goals Global Orphan Team had for the visit to New Hope was to educate the caregivers on hygiene, cleanliness, preventing the spread of illness,etc. So, Julia presented her ideas and wrote them on a board and it was translated to the nannies. They really seemed receptive and we hope they learned a few things that can help keep everyone healthier. While we were there, we had someone get things like bleach and spray bottles so they could spray the table down before eating. We also realized they were changing the babies in cribs that were filled with blankets and stuffed animals. So, a project for Bryan for the next day was born - build a changing table!!

I spent some time going over directions on giving the kids fever medications and I wrote up labels in Spanish with dosing instructions.

Snack time.

One of the future visions of New Hope is to be able to hire more staff and separate the babies from the older kids so that both can get the attention they need. The babies spent the day in strollers or slings because they don't have a safe area for them to play. And there isn't enough staff to tend to both groups at the same time if they are separated.

Some of the kids were getting out of school in town while we were eating lunch.

It was great to see the kids all get a hot, healthy meal for lunch. I'm sure for most it's more than they get at home.

We dubbed these three girls "The Three Mommies". We had given out some toys and they got dolls with bottles. They carried the dolls around and fed them from that point on and were so adorable the way they cared for their babies.

Monday afternoon, we said our goodbyes(but, we return the next day) to New Hope and drove about 45 minutes to Panajachel. I wish there wasn't so much smoke in the air from burning off of crops so that the view would have been better. I wasn't able to get any pictures of the lake from up in the mountains. I can only imagine how spectacular it must be on a clear day.

You couldn't see across the lake to the other side either. Apparently, you can take a boat to the other side and go ziplining. That is on my to-do list for another trip!

Panajachel was fabulous! We stayed in a great place that was right on the lake. We had enough time for me to get a shopping fix in (man, I love bargaining!) and then we had a nice Italian dinner that night.

The next morning, we went to go and buy some school supplies to take back to New Hope and we got to witness quite the sight. I can best describe it as a street-cleaning party. And let me tell you, they were all making it fun! They were cheering and yelling and getting into it.

Wordless Wednesday - Hats

2009-04-15T17:45:00.001-04:00

Easter Pics

2009-04-13T13:19:00.008-04:00

Here are pictures from Easter at an egg hunt after church and then at home when I hid some eggs for her since she didn't find many at church(too many big kids!).

Opening the egg to find out what's inside.

This is the look I got when she discovered I replaced the candy with stickers!!! Mean mommy.

Favorite Foto Friday - Easter Bunny

2009-04-10T13:49:00.005-04:00

Gabriella got to visit the Easter Bunny yesterday. She apparently begged daddy last week and he told her she had to wait until I came home.

The angle of these isn't that great because I took them with my camera (I'm cheap and didn't pay for any of theirs!)

Guatemala Mission Trip - Part 1

2009-04-06T20:34:00.015-04:00

Hello everyone. I got back from Guatemala yesterday morning. I am beyond exhausted, but I am sure a few days of some extra rest will catch me up. My tummy is back to normal today after not being so great for the entire trip(next time I will make sure to visit my dr. before going to get some good stuff).

The trip was amazing, fantastic, uplifting, heartbreaking, heartwarming, hopeful, sad, eye-opening, wonderful, emotional.... Well, you get the picture. I could go on and on with all of the emotions that I experienced and I'm not really sure it's possible to put it into words.

I made friends for life in the awesome group of people that went: Julia & Bryan, Andrea, Kim and Stephanie .

I am going to break the trip up and blog it day-by-day. I'm not sure how many posts I'll do... we'll see.

My camera went on the fritz not long into the trip(I didn't bring my good camera), so sadly I missed many, many pictures. I will get some from the others and post later.

DAY 1 - Saturday March 28

I had flown into Atlanta on Friday night and on Saturday, the entire team met in Atlanta and we flew together to Guatemala. We had been worried about Julia, Bryan and Kim getting to Atlanta that morning, but God was already at work and got them there. We had an uneventful flight after about an hour delay at the gate. Unfortunately, Kim's bags didn't arrive and it would be Friday before they were finally retrieved(after many phone calls and visits to the airport by various people).

After we arrived and got a van rented, we went to get something to eat(somebody tell me why I didn't eat breakfast?????). We then shopped for snacks, water, supplies etc. for the team for the week as well as some food donations. It was truly amazing to see how far our money goes there.

That evening, I was able to share an incredible experience with Andrea. We went to have dinner with her son's foster family at the foster sister's and her husband's house. We then went and saw his foster mother's house where he spent his time until he came home. It was incredible and the love they still have for him is obvious.

They prepared an awesome meal for us of tamales, eggs, plantains, beans, cheese and tortillas.

DAY 2 - Sunday March 30

Today was Project Valentina, named because this is the hogar in Guatemala City where Cameo's daughter Valentina was until she came home.

The kids here were so excited to see Bryan, who was here this past December. They flew out of the house and ran to give him big hugs. All of the children were so happy to have some attention and love. It was a day filled with hugs and kisses.

We took the children to the zoo and had an awesome day!!! I hadn't been to the zoo in Guatemala City before and it is incredible. We had 15 children from 2 to 11 years old. We each took responsibility for 3 kids and it was so neat to see how they held our hands and stayed right with their "chaperone". It was fun to experience it through their eyes and see how excited they were too see all of the animals.

After getting back from the zoo, we took a picture of each child with us and printed it out. The kids then got to decorate a picture frame with their picture and hang it by their bed. We hope they will know they are loved when they see the pictures.

We also made sure each child got a new pair of shoes from the donations we had. Bryan went to PayLess to get the three pairs we couldn't match up a size for.

We then enjoyed the afternoon coloring, blowing bubbles, jumping rope and having an Easter egg hunt.

Some of the babies (we weren't able to take them to the zoo).

We hung up all of the hearts that were from Valentine's donations made to Global Orphan Team for Project Valentina. This will remind them that they are very loved by many.

There were many tears as we said goodbye (for now). By the end of the day even the shiest of the kids had warmed up to us.

We then drove about an hour to Chimaltenango. At the hotel we met Maureen who runs Los Gozosos, a special needs home. She had three of the children with her and we got a glimpse of the love we would feel later in the week. After taking the kids home, Maureen took us to dinner and we had a great meal at a typical restaurant.

Hola!

2009-03-31T00:00:00.002-04:00

I don´t have much time to blog and this is the first chance I´ve had with internet access, but I did want to quickly post to say I am having the experience of a lifetime. I can´t possibly say right now what my mind has running through it since I have yet to even begin to process it all. But, I promise to try when I return.

Until then, goodnight from Panajachel Guatemala.

Last Post Before Guatemala

2009-03-26T21:09:00.004-04:00

I have pictures still to post from a playdate with Savannah and her mommy and daddy outlet shopping and then at Sea World with them plus Breahana, Cooper and their mommy from last week. But, I'm tired and so the pics will have to wait.

I did want to post before I leave for Guatemala to thank everyone that donated for supplies. I was able to buy a ton of children's tylenol/ibuprofen, antibiotic ointments, bandaids, larger sleep diapers(these are expensive in Guatemala) and some other misc. supplies. I was also shipped a large box with more meds and vitamins and another with shoes that were collected by someone else. AWESOME!! I have my two-bag allotment filled with supplies (my stuff is packed in my carry-on).

So, again, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK you!!!!

I fly to Atlanta tomorrow evening and then we all leave for Guatemala Saturday morning. We return the following Saturday and I will fly home Sunday morning. 9 nights away - yikes!!!! I put Gabriella to bed tonight and as I was leaving her room she said to me "Mommy, don't get on the plane". Gulp. This is going to be hard. It's so hard to know how much they really understand at this age. I just hope she does understand all the times I've told her I will come back and see her soon. I will miss her and Ferdy like crazy.

I will likely not be posting from Guatemala, so stay tuned for a trip report and hopefully lots of pictures.

How to Give a Cat a Bath

2009-03-22T20:26:00.010-04:00

This is the 2nd time this week this has happened. The first time I didn't get any pictures(but Ferdy did get video) because I was too busy crying from laughing so hard.

So, without further ado, here is how to give a cat a bath:

Step 1 - Find a willing, not so bright cat that likes to get into the bathtub after your bath.

Step 2 - Wet thoroughly.

Step 3 - Coax him back in after he jumps out.

Step 4 - Pause to say cheese.

Step 5 - Scrub him well with a washcloth.

Step 6 - Make sure to clean the face well.

Step 7 - Wash behind the ears.

Step 8 - Rinse well.

All done.

Wordless Wednesday - A RARE SIGHT!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-18T20:27:00.002-04:00

Splish Splash

2009-03-16T14:36:00.005-04:00

We went to visit some friends yesterday in Mt. Dora. Their neighborhood has a splash pad in it and Gabriella had an absolutely fabulous time. She was literally squealing with delight the entire time.

These pictures put a huge smile on my face just seeing the pure joy of a child. Is there anything better????

Happy 3rd Birthday Gabriella!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-14T15:17:00.011-04:00

Wow, it's hard to believe that our Princesa is three years old today! I definitely feel in some ways it seems like just yesterday we saw her sweet face for the first time in pictures and in other ways, it seems like a lifetime ago!

She had an absolute blast celebrating her birthday with all of her friends at Monkey Joe's today.

She opened some presents at home first....

With all the craziness and kids everywhere, it was hard to get good pictures at the party and with all the jumping around, many were blurry. But,here are a few.

Her amazing cake. The office manager at our church made this for her. I told her to surprise me with something girly and I finally got to pick it up last night. It was gorgeous!! All of those flowers and letters are made by hand.

Starting the Birthday Celebrations

2009-03-12T20:49:00.004-04:00

How is it that I am about to have a three-year old???? Sigh....

Since today was Gabriella's last day of school before her birthday, she got to wear a birthday shirt and bring in some cookies to share with her friends(boo hiss, they had to be store-bought, so I didn't bother taking pictures or anything).

I asked her to let me take a couple of pictures this morning before we left and she was happy to oblige.

Wordless Wednesday - Potty Peek-a-Boo

2009-03-11T20:52:00.002-04:00

Pictures and the Zoo

2009-03-10T20:04:00.005-04:00

We drove to Jacksonville this past Saturday to go to the zoo. We had a fun, but long day. I didn't really get a chance to take many photos, but here are a few.

Bing loves to get in the tub right as the water is draining. He's the strangest cat(but, we all knew that,right?) as he doesn't mind getting wet. Gabriella thinks it's hilarious and serves him "coffee" and "ice cream".

Spring has sprung here and after an unusually cold(for Florida anyway) cold and late winter, it's warm now. Won't be long and it will be downright hot. So for now, we're enjoying the beautiful weather.

Wordless Wednesday - Hodge Podge of Pics

2009-03-04T20:01:00.006-05:00

Mission Trip - Can You Help?

2009-02-28T08:03:00.002-05:00

It's hard to believe, but one month from today I leave for Guatemala. It's going to be one of the most exciting things I've ever done.

I'm going to try to pack as light as I can for the trip and save space in my suitcases to bring down some needed donations. Here is a list of some things that are needed. If anyone would like to contribute even just one or two of these items, it would really help. To be really frank and honest, the trip itself is not inexpensive for me and so as much as I'd like to load up on all these things, I really can't do it all myself.

Diapers
Wipes
Bibs
Powdered milk
Vitamins
OTC meds (like Tylenol, Motrin,etc).
First aid items
Huggies Good nights (Large & XL) large
Closed-toed shoes

Things like diapers and wipes are pretty bulky and/or heavy, so I probably won't be able to pack too many of those.

If anyone would rather just donate a little bit of money and save shipping items to me, I would be happy to go out and purchase the items. I will post a list on my blog of exactly what I buy with any money donated. I can take a check or if you want to donate via PayPal, I'll cover the fees and still buy the full amount in supplies.

My email is alleensantana @ yahoo .com (remove the spaces).

Thanks in advance!

Just Checking In

2009-02-24T19:32:00.003-05:00

I know, I know, I've been terrible at keeping up with the blog!

I thought I'd just check in and say we're still here. My mom had to have a heart stent placed today, so today was a long day. She's doing fine. And to add to the stress, Gabriella's been running a fever for two days now. I took her to the doctor yesterday just to make sure it wasn't something we needed to treat since my mom will be here tomorrow (assuming they release her as planned). I didn't want to risk her picking something up from Gabriella. The doctor said it was viral and would have to run its course. So, Miss G missed school today and I'm hoping she gets better by tomorrow. She's still got a fever tonight, so we'll see.

Sadly, I've also not had the camera out at all since Valentine's Day!! I will have to fix that.

But, I'll send you to my friend's blog here for some great pics of Miss G and her friend at a playdate downtown last week. Oh, and if you look at the top of her blog, you might just recognize somebody there :-)

Happy Valentines Day!!!

2009-02-14T17:05:00.005-05:00

Happy Valentines Day to everyone!!!

Gabriella went to a birthday party today at Gymboree sporting her Lou Lou Creation.

Wordless Wednesday - My model

2009-02-11T13:35:00.006-05:00

And yes, this is the same grass that was green before....

Spread Some Love for Valentine's Day

2009-02-05T11:55:00.002-05:00

My mission trip to Guatemala is fast approaching! Because of the tight baggage restrictions, we won't be able to carry lots of extra bags of donations down for the orphanages. What is really needed is funding to help buy things needed for the children. So, would you like to help? Here is a great way! I'm copying this directly from the Global Orphan Team website:

In lieu of chocolate and candy hearts this Valentine’s day, why not donate to a worthy cause and brighten the day of a child.

By making a small donation (tax deductible) to Global Orphan Team beginning immediately through February 14, 2009, you will be sending a Valentine heart to the children of “Project Valentina.” The hearts will include your name and will have “YOU ARE LOVED!” printed on them as well.

At the end of the month, we will update you with pictures of the children who receive your hearts. We hope to do things like this often to reinforce our commitment to our children. We want to be “present” in the orphanages we have chosen to support as much as possible and we think this is a great way to do that. We want our children to feel our love for them consistently, not just when we are able to travel to Guatemala to see them.

For a $25 donation, we will send a “Valentina” heart on your behalf (hearts will be cut from 8×10 paper so you have an idea of the size), and don’t forget, you will receive an update at the end of the month full of pictures of the precious children who enjoyed your Valentines!

Would you help us spread the word? We will accept donations through our website until February 14th for this project as well.

Click on the donate page to submit your donation and help us cover the walls in BIG RED HEARTS!

Super Bowl Sunday - Yeah Steelers!!!!!!!

2009-02-02T09:42:00.005-05:00

Gabriella was excited to wear her Steelers outfits yesterday. She got to watch the game until halftime at our neighbor's house. Boy, was she wound up and hard to get to bed though.

Pre-game fun.

Come on Bing, show your team spirit.

How thrilled does he look??????

FFF - Just because

2009-01-30T14:27:00.002-05:00

Today's FFF theme is UP. I really have been terrible and haven't even had the camera out. So, I snapped a few today just to have something recent to post.

Wordless Wednesday - Little Mommy

2009-01-21T11:19:00.002-05:00

FFF - Eyes

2009-01-16T13:42:00.004-05:00

Today's theme for FFF is "Eyes". Certainly one of Gabriella's most striking features. I took these yesterday. Um, ignore the crumbs around her mouth (and the spot on her face that is my sensor that has to be sent in to get cleaned) .

Wordless Wednesday - Rare Mommy & Me Photo

2009-01-14T14:44:00.002-05:00

Big Girl, Park and GO Steelers!

2009-01-11T20:28:00.011-05:00

Gabriella got her big-girl bed this weekend. Her crib converted to a toddler bed(she's been in for about 7 months) and then a full-size bed. She was sooooooooooo excited and hasn't stopped talking about her new bed. We had to rearrange the room since her room isn't that big.

Sigh.... my baby just isn't a baby any more.

Some pictures from the park yesterday.

Gabriella loves to wear her Steelers clothes and she gets so excited when we tell her she gets to put them on. Daddy is very happy that the Steelers won and Gabriella got to yell "Touchdown Steelers" lots today.

In other news, we're starting to have some success with potty training. She's getting pretty good about pee-pee and often will tell us before she goes in her diaper. Until a couple of days ago, she was telling me she had to go when she actually had already gone in her diaper. She went about 6 times today on the potty and is staying dry longer. But, definitely not to the point where I'm ready to try undies yet. And really, I need to just buckle down and stay in the house for a day or two and take her constantly and maybe it would go faster. Nighttime training will probably be a ways off since she is a heavy wetter at night. And I'm not ready to have her getting out of bed and going to the potty alone in the middle of the night. Though, she probably wouldn't since she really doesn't wake during the night.

FFF - Cold???

2009-01-09T17:50:00.003-05:00

The Favorite Foto Friday theme this week is cold. Well..... just not gonna happen here.. So, I'm posting a few I took today. I got a new camera lens, so I was trying it out. Man, I have a lot to learn.

Wordless Wednesday - Happy New Year!!

2008-12-31T15:48:00.003-05:00

FFF - Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T14:13:00.010-05:00

I hope everyone who celebrates had a wonderful Christmas. We had a nice, low-key day. This is the first time that Gabriella was truly excited about Santa and presents. It was so fun to watch her in the morning tear into all of her gifts. Her favorite? The trampoline! This was her gift purchased with $$ sent by Abuela(Ferdy's mom). As soon as we walk into the house, she goes straight for it saying "Jump, Jump, Jump". I am hoping it will be a good outlet for at least a little of her energy. And as you'll see, Bing is rather fond of it too :-)

Somebody please tell me why the heck I bought Play-Doh????? What was I thinking?

The doll that doesn't work.... So, the question is, do I take it back since I know they won't have any more(I bought it on clearance a while ago) or just keep it? She doesn't know it is supposed to do anything.

Thank goodness mommy finally pulled my hair back and I can see!

Thank goodness we didn't leave all the cookies out for Santa. Nothing better for breakfast!

Here baby, let me show you the trampoline.

Grandma brought more presents???? Oh goody!

Thank you grandma!!

The yummmmmmmmmmy traditional Puerto Rican Christmas dinner of pasteles, arroz con gandules, red beans and pernil(roast pork). Thank you abuela for sending most of our feast all the way from Puerto Rico. And I made a cheese flan which was pretty darn yummy if I say so myself. We've also been enjoying the coquito(Puerto Rican egg nog) sent by abuela.

Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T21:40:00.009-05:00

Today, Gabriella and I made cookies for Santa. This was the first time I was brave enough to let her really help me in the kitchen.

First, we mix, mix, mix....

Then, we try to taste it before mommy stops us....

Then, we decorate ....

Snuck an M&M in.... yummmm.

These are four that she decorated all by herself, so they are the ones for Santa.

She was a wild woman at church tonight and it was hard to get a good pic of her in her dress.... And she had just had her hands in her mouth so I see that she has drool all over her mouth and dress. I thought we had passed that stage, but she has been terrible about having her hands in her mouth again lately. And I had bought nice silver sparkly shoes to go with the dress. I got them about a month ago and they fit. Tonight?? Too small. Her feet have barely grown at all in the last year and in the last few weeks, I've noticed her shoes getting tighter. So, we went with black shoes.

Daddy and Gabriella lit the candles during the service.

As always, our attempts at a family shot are never very successful.....

Putting our cookies and milk out for Santa. It's hard work delivering all those presents you know.

When I opened the door tonight to let my mom out, I found this on our doorstep..... Awwww, how sweet.

And I just had to share this last picture. It doesn't really show well in the picture, but can you see what there is an imprint of on this cookie???? It's a paw print. Bing's paw print to be specific. Right as we were getting ready to do the cookies he jumped from one kitchen counter to the island and landed on one of the cookies. Thank goodness I was able to basically catch him before he took the entire batch out. He might not be here tonight if he had.

ICE ICE Baby

2008-12-20T16:28:00.014-05:00

Today we got together with the fabulous Kya and Jagger (oh and their mommy and daddy too!) and went to the ICE display at the Gaylord Palms hotel. We had a blast in the frigid(9 degrees) winter wonderland. Surprisingly, I really wasn't cold other than my face. By the end, Gabriella was saying she was cold though. But, she kept wanting to take her mittens off and touch the ice.....

I tried to get some pics, but it was crowded and my camera is acting up lately and the focus keeps messing up.

Don't you love Miss G in her Lou-Lou creation?? We got lots of compliments on her pants at the hotel.

That's my girl.... messing up the fake snow outside the exhibit.

Of course, it was next to impossible to get a picture of the two girls together!

You can't tell, but this is Kya coming down the ice slide. Funny story about Kya and the slide. Candy had gone down first and I was up at the top with Kya and Gabriella. Well, Kya slid just a little bit and then stopped right at the top. We couldn't get her to push off or wiggle to get moving. She sat laid there as still as could be. Apparently, the ice is so slippery though that the guy couldn't step onto it to get her, so he had to stttttttttttretch and finally got hold of her parka and pulled her back up. She then got a good push and down she went.

And here comes Miss G. She had a blast and would have gone down it over and over. But, we had reservations for brunch and didn't have time to wait in the line multiple times.

And of course, I had to have some fun too!

This pic is all fogged up because we had just come in from the cold into the heat and humidity and my lens was fogged. But, it was too cute not to post.

Mrs. Clause came to visit at the brunch.

These last pics are some that were really out of focus. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Are they not the cutest together?????

As you can see, Kya wasn't exactly too sure of the exuberant Miss G and her besos.

Got a smile from Jagger!

She is just gorgeous!!

Wordless Wednesday - Holiday Fun

2008-12-17T10:35:00.005-05:00

Addresses Please

2008-12-09T11:46:00.001-05:00

If you would like a holiday card, can you please email your address to me???

alleensantana @ yahoo . com (of course, take the spaces out).

thanks!!

I promise to hopefully have them to you before Christmas actually gets here! :-)

FFF - I Love Christmas!

2008-12-05T14:44:00.005-05:00

Sarah doesn't have a theme this week for FFF, so here are some I took today of Miss G. Too adorable in her Christmas shirt and some Bing lovin'. How cute are they???????????

Wordless Wednesday - Visit with Santa

2008-12-03T14:06:00.005-05:00

FFF - Thankfulness

2008-11-28T17:42:00.004-05:00

Today's theme for FFF is Thankfulness.

So, here are a couple of pictures of what I'm thankful for this year. I was terrible and didn't take pictures except these two on Thanksgiving!! I was too busy cooking. Unfortunately, the focus isn't great either.

Here are a couple of my turkey taken the day before Thanksgiving.

Does the outfit look familiar??? Here's a picture from last Thanksgiving. And no, I didn't buy it in a bigger size. It's the same outfit!! My peanut still fits in it, just with 3/4-length sleeves this year.

And I certainly couldn't end a post about thankfulness without saying how incredibly thankful I am to have met so many wonderful people on this journey. My blogger friends are truly a part of my life, even those I haven't been fortunate enough to meet in person(yet!).

Happy Thanksgiving !!

2008-11-27T08:21:00.000-05:00

Myspace Graphics, Thanksgiving Graphics at WishAFriend.com

Sea World and Catching Up

2008-11-26T13:22:00.010-05:00

On Sunday, we went to SeaWorld one last time before our passes expire at the end of the year. We had a great day and the weather was glorious! Gabriella even got to see Santa.

And here are some pics taken in the last several days.

This was just after she came in after her nap. Gotta love this look,huh????

That's better!

Who me? I wouldn't take off my jammies....

FFF - For Crying Out Loud

2008-11-21T14:20:00.005-05:00

Sarah's FFF theme this week is Crying pictures. I just posted last week crying photos, so I went back to find some earlier ones. I don't take many pics of Miss G crying, but once in a while I do just to show people that, no, she isn't always smiling. Trust me.....

So, here are some I found from the years past....

She isn't crying in this one, but she's really close... This was her first Christmas.

HOT Deal Alert, Sickies & a Big Announcement

2008-11-16T20:48:00.003-05:00

EDIT: Target has put the prices back to normal.... I sure hope they fulfill the ones that were placed at the lower price.

OK, first the deal:

Target.com right now has the Britax Marathon carseat in Granite for $42.99 and Cowmooflage for $59.99 including FREE shipping!!! Holy cow this is unheard of! I have been wanting to order a new cover, but those alone are $50.00. I just ordered a whole new seat and now we'll have another seat(we've been moving one seat between cars when needed, thankfully, not often). Use this link to get another $5 off of $50 or more: http://www.target.com/gp/widgets/embedded-claim-code.html/178-9709178-7963921?&promoCode=VHMEIAL6&promoTemplate=261555110&AFID=Performics_DailyeDeals.com&LNM=$5%20Off%20$50%20At%20Target.com&ref=tgt_adv_XASD3208 Sorry if that URL is mangled. The savings will show up at the end. It says they aren't shipping for a few weeks, but at that price.........

This is a great seat that is highly rated for safety. My only complaint has been that Gabriella recently figured out how to release the tightening strap that is between her crotch. Thankfully, after some bigtime scolding, she's stopped doing it while we drive and now only does it sometimes after we stop.

====================================================

Next, the sickies.... It's been a rough week around these parts. Last Monday night, Gabriella woke up around 10pm and was throwing up. Fortunately, it really wasn't awful and she only did about 4 times and it was over by just after midnight. I slept in her room on the floor just to be sure she was ok. So, the night was probably rougher for me since she slept and I didn't.

All I kept thinking was, "Please don't let me get this". I'm known for catching every single illness that comes into the house. Well, when a couple of days went by and I was fine, I breathed a sigh of relief.... HA! Thursday morning around 5am, I woke up and wasn't feeling so hot. By 6am when Gabriella got up(yep, 6am. She doesn't seem to be adjusting to the timechange at all), I knew it wasn't going to be good. I told Ferdy he'd better likely plan on not going to work. By 7:00am I was POSITIVE he wasn't going in. People, I wanted to die. I didn't get out of the bed(well, other than trips to the bathroom) until Friday morning. And even then, grandma came over to keep Gabriella busy and amused so I could lay on the couch. I finally began to feel human Friday afternoon.

UGH, let's hope that doesn't happen again anytime soon. I repeated that same scenario sometime last year and once a year is too much if you ask me!!

============================================================

Lastly, the big announcement.....

I'm going on a mission trip with Global Orphan Team in March to Guatemala!!! I'm so excited (and also nervous!). I've been really wanting to go on a trip at some point and I'm stepping out in faith and doing it. This will be the first time I've travelled out of the country without Ferdy. He's always been a source of comfort, not to mention the best translator for my very limited Spanish!!! But, I will be surrounded by a great group of women and we are going to have a great time and hopefully make a difference in the lives of some of the orphans in Guatemala. Now that adoptions from the US have stopped, there are so many children there that face a bleak future.

Due to the excitement of the week, no pics. Sorry. I promise to try to take some this week.