Lady-bugs

After trying to decide between a tropical punch animal theme or ladybugs, Jose and I have finally found Reese baby bedding that we hope she will enjoy. Obviously Reese's room will not be as cluttered with ladybugs as the example we have posted. We ordered the valance, polka dot drapes, quilt, bumper, polka dot sheets, and the striped dust ruffle. Reese's furniture is all dark brown, we think the pink and brown ladybugs will go well with it. We're thinking of painting the walls some sort of warm neutral or beige color with white. Reese's room doesn't receive any direct sun so we want to keep it as light as possible. We are very excited to have a plan in place. We're hoping to get the walls primed before Thanksgiving so the room has time to air out while we're in Boston and then we'll come back and get started. We're still waiting on the crib to arrive though (could be as late as January). With the Holidays approaching, we're afraid March will creep up on us quickly. We'll keep you posted on our progress.

A Visit from Aunt Brea

Aunt Brea came all the way from Seattle to visit for a week. We're sad to say that she's leaving early tomorrow morning. It was a fun having the whole family back together and Nadia really enjoyed having another Aunt around, even if for a short time.

With Eli approaching his 1st Birthday, the interaction between him and Nadia just keeps on growing. Above, they're actually sharing a seat (sharing doesn't come that easy at this age). Eli and Nadia have developed quite a brotherly/sisterly relationship. It's so fun to see them playing together.

Okay, not a proud moment for Mom but too funny not to post. Aunt Brea was a witness to this famous pastime of Nadia's. Nadia loves to find Mommy's underwear and model them like necklaces. Oh, and don't worry...it's all clean.

2nd Stop-Puerto Rico

We stayed with Abuela in Puerto Rico. We got the royal treatment during our visit. There was a gift basket waiting for Nadia when we arrived and Abuela didn't stop cooking for us the entire time. Arroz con gandules, empanadas, platanos, you name it. We really can't thank Abuela enough for letting us stay with her and for all that she did. We are very blessed to have seen both Great Grandmothers on our trip.

Nadia shows off her "evil eye" witch headband given to her by PR Abuela.

Hello pretty ladies...


We tried to get a cute photo of Nadia in the above dress but she woudn't sit still long enough. Anyway, thanks to Oma, we were prepared for the wedding with this beautiful dress and white dress shoes.

Shirley and Armando share their excitement with all of us shortly after getting married. What cute newleyweds!

Even though the weather didn't quite pan out like we had hoped to (goodbye Old San Juan, going to the beach or even being outside), we were lucky enough to see our friends and catch up with all of the happenings since we last saw each other during the summer.

Now that we have travelled to PR, New York, Florida and PR again this year (and soon Boston), we're looking forward to chillin' the rest of the year at home as we have to get all things ready for the arrival of 2.0 in March.

Downtown

Disney Marketplace

Since Nadia isn't quite old enough for Disney World Oma and Abuelo took us to the next best thing, Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney is an outdoor shopping center that only sells Disney products. They have anything and everything in Disney. Nadia had a really great time riding the train, carousel, eating ice cream and the LEGO display was something to see. (The dragon below in the family photo is made of LEGOs.)

1st Stop-Florida

As soon as we arrived in Florida we made a stop at Nadia's Great Grandmother's home. Nadia warmed up very quickly to everyone and had fun looking for Cleo the cat. When we got to Oma and Abuelo's afterwards it seemed that Santa Claus had made an early visit. Abuelo, Geraldine and Jose spent approximately a whole 45 minutes putting together the tent above, along with a house, connecting tunnels and center dome.

2 Trips in 1

Last Wednesday we flew out to Orlando to visit Oma and Abuelo before heading on to Puerto Rico for a wedding. We all had high hopes for hot and sunny weather, even Nadia had her sunglasses with her for the trip. However, Florida was very cloudy (no rain) and in Puerto Rico there was a tropical depression and it rained 24/7 during our stay. Below is a photo showing just how gloomy it was although the view is awesome. Despite the weather we had a great time visiting with family and friends and Nadia was a traveling angel, we couldn't have asked for more from her.

The only sunshine we saw during our trip was from far above the clouds.
At 15 months, Nadia has become quite the traveling expert. She has taken one long road trip to New York and Washington D. C., flown to New York once, flown to Puerto Rico and Florida twice, and will be flying to Boston this month. Below Nadia is releasing some energy before boarding the next flight. Airlines board people needing assistance and those with children first. We decided it was best to board last on every flight. We were able to give Nadia more time to run around and spend less time sitting on the plane. The worst thing about flying with a child is preventing boredom. I had read in a magazine to never leave without window color clings (the window decorations that stick and re-stick). So I bought some that were Halloween themed and this was by far the greatest trick to keeping Nadia occupied and happy on our flights. Definite recommendation for anyone flying with a toddler.

Luckily for us Nadia was able to sleep a whole 3 hours on one of our longest flights and take a short nap on another, it was then that Mommy finally got some rest too.
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We have so many photos of our trip that we we have broken them up into parts that we will be posting separately within the next few days. There are plenty more to come.

A Visit from Titi Gigi

Geraldine came to visit last week for a few days before flying out to Florida with us to surprise her parents. We had a relaxing time and she and Jose played a lot of Wii! I think I was able to make her visit memorable with the "Kirby" vacuum demonstration that we spent watching for three whole hours one evening. I'm not going into details, but let's just say we ended up with a clean mattress, couch and shampooed carpet. So thanks to Rusty for that one. Oh, and noooooo I did not purchase the vacuum although it was very tempting.