July News from the Mendezes

Hey guys. We're here getting ready to start packing for our trip back to the States. We'll spend two weeks in Miami and then Joel heads back to the daily grind in Zagreb while Abby and I spend some time in Alabama, and then back to Miami so we can pick up our flight back to Zagreb. A lot of flying with a one-year old and a lot of baby paraphernalia.

Speaking of that soon-to-be one-year old, she’s currently throwing a fit in the middle of the living room floor because I wouldn’t let her play with the laptop. Ah, the joys of toddlers. Don’t you wish you were here? (Here's a picture of Abby singing and waving to Elmo from before.)

Well, we’re up to two teeth and counting. I'm pretty sure there are three, but I can’t really tell because she won’t let me look.

It’s breaking my heart that my little baby will be turning ONE in just a few days, but man, she is sooo cute and so much fun. She really plays with her toys now. She keeps trying to get Puzza to play with the toys too, but he doesn’t quite appreciate being bonked on the head with the plastic giraffe. At least she’s trying to share though, right? Puzza must be her best friend. She keeps trying to kiss him and pet him all the time. (We have to watch out for what body part she tries to kiss!) Another new game we play is the “put things on the head” game. I’ll put a toy on my head, and she’ll climb up and take it off. Then she’ll put it on her head and I’ll take it off. I know. Yes, I’ve gone off the deep end. But it’s so much fun to watch her “figure” these things out. Oh, and Abby and Joel wrestle on the floor every night. She apparently has gotten very good at body-slamming.

We also got a little kiddie pool for her as an early birthday present, since we’ll be gone most of the summer. I’m not sure who’s had more fun in that thing, her or me.

We’re big party animals here, as you can see. On Friday nights, we’ve been going down to the big park and playing on the playground because they have baby slides. We play until it gets dark and then (hopefully) plop a very tired little girl into bed where she (again, hopefully) sleeps through the night.

For Father’s Day, Joel did exactly what he wanted: played with his grill. We had a ton of folks over from our church, and threw a big potluck BBQ. Joel got a couple grilling lessons thrown in as well, and everyone had a great time. That grill has gotten quite the workout this month – we also threw a going away party for some folks in Joel’s office, and that turned out to be really nice. Not too hot, some great food, plus our yard had the landscaping cleaned up by the landlord, so it looked fantastic. And, I haven’t had to cook hardly all week because of all the leftovers. Can’t ask for more than that!

This month we also celebrated our third anniversary. Yep, we’ve made it three years! We celebrated by having friends babysit for us and went out to eat Indian food.

That’s about the extent of our month. I’ve started to do a bit of resume coaching/consulting on the side, and have been going to a gym, which I’ve really enjoyed. I’ve missed my gym-rat status.

Last night was the AmCham’s 4th of July picnic. Abby saw the Croatian Ronald McDonald (who walked around carrying a beer, but I digress). She got a McD’s red balloon which was the highlight of her little life so far. The picnic turned out to be pretty nice, though not as big as we expected. But we had nice food and all you can eat ice cream bars and McDonald’s apple pies, and an open bar; what else can ask for from a 4th of July party? The highlight of the evening was that Abby stood by herself, on purpose, for about 30 seconds. Her facial expression was priceless – she looked terrified, like “what is happening to me?” Joel and I just sat there and cheered for her the whole time. We left before the fireworks because Abby (and Mommy) were worn out.

So, that’s about it for us. We’re thinking about going to a water park on the 4th, then Saturday will be Abby’s birthday party (pray for us, we might have 40-50 people here, including kids) and then the following Thursday we get on the plane bright and early in the morning. Somewhere in there I’ve got to pack, clean up the house, finish up my work and get it ready for someone to cover for me while I'm gone, take the cat to the vet for a check-up, that sort of thing.

Love to all, (and see you soon!)

Julie, Joel, and Abby