Halloween 2011

Blancanieves y Dorothy

Con la bruja del cuento

Diego's first Halloween

Casting a spell on Lionel

61

Last Friday - October 28 - was Abuelito's birthday. He was turning 61, and even though we didn't do anything fancy Bella and I went to visit him after work and school. It was a bit of a relaxing night, which was nice for all of us.

Kids Fit

When Bella was only a few months old, and I was on Maternity leave, we would go to the gym pretty much every week day. She would stay at the Kids fit area for couple hours and I would go work out for an hour, take a shower, pick her back up, feed her, and head back home. Since the weather was so cold at the time, that was pretty much our outing of the day. We did that since she was 6 weeks old until she was 6 months and I had to go back to work.

This weekend, when we stopped by the gym, Bella walked into the baby section of Kids fit and started checking it out as if it was a place she never saw before. It was funny to see her standing there, all grown up.

Blancanieves

This past Friday was Bella's "Trunk or Treat" at her school. Every Halloween parents decorate their cars, and kids walk around the parking look trick or treating with their friends. This year Bella was snow white, and she was very, very cute ... at least if I may say so myself.

Halloween Family Portrait

Random Fall

Just couple random fall pictures.

Dropping Bella off at daycare

At Bella's daycare. Sofia thought it was hilarious

Bella touching our halloween spider

Pumpkin Patch

Last Sunday we took the girls to the pumpkin patch. I love going there every year, and I love that for the first time Bella really seemed to get into the hay ride. Funny enough, they had the "cast" of the Wizard of Oz, so Sofia took a picture with each one of them.

El Mago de Oz

Last Saturday we took the girls to the Cincinnati Children's Theater to see "The Wizard of Oz". Even though it was a production for children, there was nothing childish or amateur about it. It was really well done and the Taft theater itself, which has just been remodeled, is very, very nice.

Lionel and I were not sure how Bella would do, since she is not even three yet, but she did really well. She got scared couple times, and watched the whole play sitting on my lap, but overall she enjoyed it very much. My Sofia liked it as well, and she is looking forward to seeing the remaining three shows I bought tickets for. That leaves us with Lionel, who apparently [I can't believe it] almost fell asleep!

Hot Pink

Tonight I painted my hand nails, and I feel a bit ridiculous about it - because I never do. But I decided to do it to celebrate that for the last few days I have not been biting my nails, a nasty habit I picked up along the way. Also, I figured that if I painted them that would discourage me from biting them, hence perpetuating the cycle of decent looking hands.

Crush

One of my high school classmates, who is also my Facebook friend, sent me a message earlier this week to congratulate me for my birthday. Back in the day I liked him very much as he was smart, kind, and one of the better looking boys around. He looked like the Karate Kid. We were friendly, but he wasn't really my friend. He was just a classmate.

He closed out his message with "Un abrazo" (a hug), and even though I know he meant nothing special by it, I couldn't help but to think: If he had only offered me that hug 20 years ago.

Someone Like You

"Someone Like You", by Adele, is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking songs playing on the radio right now. I love it, even though it also makes me extremely sad.

I rule!

... and Lionel is a  good sport about it.

How are you feeling today?

When I got my flu shot this morning they gave me this. I know what it would have said when I was on vacation, and I can also predict what it would say right now.

My Birthday

Today I turned 35, and I gave myself a very important gift: The gift of peace. I surrounded myself by friends and family, and did not go to work or checked my work email. I simply thought that I deserved a break.

Happy to be wrong

I am very happy to say that I was wrong about the Bahamas, and about what to expect. Lionel and I had a great time, and finally got the opportunity to relax we have needed for a while. Even though the staff kept telling us stories about all the celebrities that stay there, they also found it in their hearts to be nice to regular people like us.

Courage!

Today I encountered the following phrase in the novel I am currently reading. It was said to someboy who was having a hard time defending herself. I liked it, and it got stuck in my head:

"Don't make things easy on those who are making things hard for you"

I think there's a lot of truth to that. We have to learn to defend ourselves, Vs waiting for someone to come to our rescue every time.

Dientes de Leche

Yesterday Sofia finally lost her first tooth. She has been anxiously waiting for it for weeks, probably months. Unfortunately she lost it while we were away. Fortunately she lost it at lunch, while she was at school. So even if we had been home, we wouldn't have witnessed the big event.

When we called home last night via facetime she kept proudly showing her tooth gap, pulling her lip down to expose it even more, and putting her mouth as close as she could to the camera.

Lionel' dad - his parents are taking care of the girls while we are away - reported that the tooth fairy brought Sofia two dollars. Hopefully the tooth fairy didn't lose it and I will get to keep it, at least for a little while, as a memory of when Sofia, my fast growing Sofia, was my baby girl.

Maddie

Today I learned about a twenty something year old girl that earlier this year took her own life. Although I know that tragedies happen every single day, this one hit closer to home. Maddie was an elementary school teacher, but right before that she worked for at least a summer at Sofia and Bella's daycare. She was nice, beautiful, and seemed to have everything going for her. I do not know or want to know the details surrounding her death, but I do know she was depressed. Such a loss, and such a shame.

May she rest in peace. At least she will never hurt again.

Literature

Today I finally started reading a book I bought many months ago. Such a luxury for me ... It has been a very long time since I read anything other than my work email.

One & Only

When Lionel and I first decided to come to the Bahamas we quickly narrowed down our options to the Atlantis and the One & Only, but debated forever before making the final decision. At last, I made the call and booked us a room at the One & Only ... A great decision, no doubt!

The place is beautiful, the lawns are perfect, and the service has been impecable so far, but above all it is peaceful, exactly what we were looking for. On top of that it doesn't hurt that every evening they deliver chocolate covered strawberries and champagne.

Lionel wanted to go see the Atlantis, so our hotel staff took us there. The place is enormous and busy, and it is safe to say that after only 15 minutes my stress level started to raise once again. But Lionel still wanted to see the place. After walking around for about an hour and a half, trying not to get lost, Lionel finally reached the same point as me, and we couldn't wait to go back to our hotel. When we did, it was like breathing fresh air again.

I think I can summarize the difference in experiences like this: The Atlantis makes you feel as one of the bunch, while the One & Only makes you feel like a king or a queen.