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Well, we found out that we're moving to Santiago, Chile next summer. No details yet, that's all we know. But we thought we would pass that along.

Hey, at least we'll be in the same hemisphere as some of you now!

Love,
Julie, Joel, and Abigail

September News from the Mendezes

Well, it's September, and to say we're back in the swing of things would be an understatement. We've gotten so busy that we even missed the fact that Labor Day was a holiday.

The first half of August we spent in Alabama, then went back for a couple of days to Miami before heading back to Croatia. Abby and I had an absolute blast playing with the Crutchfield boys, and with her Miami cousins. She played so hard the entire time, and would just collapse with exhaustion at the end of the day. Oh, and she grew two new teeth while she was there as well, so now we're up to five!

(Abby in Miami, left)Abby and I arrived back in Croatia in mid-August, and had our first houseguests in Zagreb that weekend! Our friends Elaine and Joe from Rome were in the area, so we invited them to stay the night with us. We had a blast with them and only wish they could have stayed longer.

Then, with recovering from jetlag (which surprisingly wasn't that bad this time) , me recovering from a little sinus infection, a BBQ at the Embassy, and getting Abby started on the transition from formula to regular soy milk, we stayed fairly busy at the end of August. Oh, and Joel has started up with his Fantasy Football group again. We also sponsored (or, were the welcoming committee) for two families that arrived last weekend.

Abby is running (literally!) around like a crazy girl. Yep, we went right from little tentative steps to taking over the world. Last night, she somehow pulled four buttons off the keyboard of the laptop and we were frantically running around the living room looking for them before she swallowed them. Oh, and did I mention the time she pushed the buttons on the TV and changed the language to Thai??? It Joel hours to figure out how to fix that. Aaaaah, toddlerhood, right?

She is really attempting to talk now. She says "Dada," and "Poo" for Puzza the cat. Sometimes we can get her to meow or say "ruff" when she sees a cat or dog. Mostly she keeps us completely entertained with her antics. In this picture I tried to take a picture of her after her bath so you can all see how her hair is starting to curl up when it's wet. I hope it comes out well, I thought you all would get a kick out of that.

So our September schedule is in full swing. The International Women's Club starts back up next week, and I start with board meetings for that tomorrow. (Don't get me started; I still have no idea how I "volunteered" for that.) Plus, I've decided that Abby and I will join the playgroup this year, and there's talk of several moms getting together for baby swim classes this fall (indoors, of course). Abby loves the water, so that would be fun. I'm still continuing to work by doing the Embassy newsletter each week, and am moving forward with my resume coaching business. (Still working on getting a decent name for it so I can get a website - if anyone has any ideas, I'm open to hearing it.) Joel's got a "man" night, aka poker and football, scheduled at the house this weekend, and next weekend we are taking the trip back to Aviano to stock up.

So, that's our lives in a nutshell. Hope to speak to you all soon!

Love,
Julie, Joel, and Abby

Abby's 1 Year Old Photo Shoot

Here is a slideshow of pictures from Abby's 1 year old photo shoot in Fairhope, AL. Yes, Abby should be a model!

Love, Julie and Abby

PS. I wrote a blog at the end of July for August, but for some reason, it didn't go out to anyone who subscribed. I haven't figured out why. So, to see that note, please go to the website at www.julieandjoel.blogspot.com.

August News

Abby says hello from her new favorite place to play!

(No, I didn't pose her; she climbed in all by herself.)

Well, we made it to Miami just fine, as you can see. Abby was an absolute angel on the plane. She barely slept, but walked up and down the aisles of the plane charming the pants off EVERYONE. She sang "la la" at the top of her voice to everyone. I was so embarresed, but it was hilarious. She watched Elmo videos until the battaries died on our iLuv (portable DVD and iPod player) and then we attempted to keep her entertained with her toys. I counted down the minutes until our flight was over!

Our visit here has been extremely eventful: from Abby getting tooth #3 and working on #4, her luau theme birthday party, getting a checkup from a pediatrician, a disastrous attempt to take a picture of all five kids together at JCPennys, shopping, etc. We helped Joel's parents set up the internet on their new computer (where I am currently writing this). Oh, and I got the new Harry Potter book and we saw the HP movie. And that was just the first week!

Our second week was very very different. Sunday afternoon Abby came down with a NASTY stomach virus. She must of puked up everything she ate in the past year. Well, by Monday night both Joel and I came down with it, plus the cousins, and Joel's sister and her husband. So, we didn't do too much our second week in Miami, other than recouperate. It's such a shame too.

So, Joel's already off to go back to Croatia, and Abby and I fly out to Alabama in the morning. We've had a great time here seeing family and friends, the only problem (besides the puking) is that we aren't here longer!

Love,
Julie, Joel, and Abby

PS. I totally forgot to tell you, Abby's walking!!



Abby with the "Eat More Chicken" Cow from Chick-fil-A at the mall.

















Abby's Miami birthday luau













Abby and Joel with cousin Sebastian (Seba) who's 6 weeks older than Abby. Abby did not like her daddy holding another baby.











Abby with Tia (Aunt) Basi.


















Abby is so cool with shades on!

Abby's Birthday Party

Since you guys missed our "Elmo" extravaganza, I thought I would send you some pictures!









Here is our Elmo cake. I ordered some stuff, but it didn't come in, so I had to get creative at the last minute.





Here is what I came up with for the good bags, also at the last minute. I'm pretty proud of these, they turned out so cute.




Here is Abby demolishing the cake. (Don't worry, everyone else got cupcakes.) She ate Elmo's nose, and then just wiped the rest of the icing off and ate it. That was one smelly diaper afterwards.


The kids really liked the pinata and getting the candy and prizes. Abby seemed very confused by the whole thing.







Here's a great picture of Abby and Joel during the party. We had little kiddie pools and a sprinker going in the yard for the kids to play in. That was a big hit.

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

June Slideshow

June News from the Mendez Crew

Happy June everyone!

We kept ourselves pretty busy during the month of May, how about you?

This month marked my first Mother's Day, and we all had a blast. I found one of those package hotel deals, so we all packed up and jumped in the car and headed off to the coast to a tiny town called Baska. The place was great, it had an indoor heated pool and outdoor pools, and kiddie pools! Abby absolutely loved the water. She figured out it was fun to splash, and to stick her face in the water, and she would try to drink the water. My favorite part would have been the massages Joel got me as my gift. Absolutely heavenly.

Baska

Abby loves the pool

How I spent my first Mother's Day

We also spent Memorial Day weekend at the coast in a city called Zadar. We've figured out that we are now officially no longer beach people. It's just not fun when we're constantly prying rocks (it's mostly pebble beaches here) out of a certain young lady's mouth. So we crashed a hotel resort's pool and had a fantastic time. I think Abby was a fish in a former life.

Abby and Joel in the pool in Zadar

In other big news . . . we have teeth! Well, at least one. Two more are just under the surface and driving us all batty. Abby is also couch cruisin' like crazy. I really think she'll be taking her first steps sometime in the next month. She stood by herself for about 3 seconds today before she realized I wasn't holding on to her.

And I finally got a "Mama" out of her when she was feeling pitiful right before the first tooth popped in. Well, it was more like "Mamamamamamamama" and I'm not really sure she meant me, but I don't care - I'm taking it anyway.

So that was our May. For June, we have another busy social calendar. I'm hosting a party for my Bible study group, we're hosting a potluck Father's Day BBQ and another BBQ for some people leaving Zagreb this month in Joel's office. (And let's not forget a particular birthday extravaganza in July!) We just got back from a weekend trip to the military base to stock up on stuff for all these parties. Plus, the local "4th of July picnic" will be at the end of this month as well. Thankfully not here at my house!

Love to all,
Julie, Joel, and Abby

PS. I'm going to upload another slide show of some pictures to our blog, so if you'd like to see them and you get this through your email, click on www.julieandjoel.blogspot.com.

About May Pictures

Sorry guys, it looks like the slideshow only works if you are look directly at the blog, and not if you're getting the blog in your email. Lesson learned. So, to see our pictures (and they're cute, so you want to see them!), click on www.julieandjoel.blogspot.com.

Julie

May News from the Mendezes

Hello and Happy May! Can you believe 1/3 of the year is already gone? It’s just flying by.

I'm trying something new on our blog this month. Here is a slideshow of our pictures. I hope it works! (By the way, the first one is a big kiss from Abby. Literally. She came and kissed the camera when I was trying to take a picture of her!)

After Easter, Abby and I joined a group from the Embassy for a trip to the Zoo! She loved it, though really didn’t care too much about the animals. She just likes to take rides in her stroller. We also got to see them feed the sea lions. THAT was an experience. The sea lion literally jumped OUT of the water and INTO the audience, while the zoo employee fed the fish. It totally freaked out all of the Americans in the audience, which was hilarious! Abby was not really appreciative of that either.

This month we’ve been enjoying some beautiful sunny weather. Joel got a grill and is becoming quite the grillmaster. So far, we’ve grilled steaks, hamburgers, chicken and vegetables. We also made one of our regular trips to the military base, and Joel had a short business trip.

So, yes, my little baby is gone and Abby is now officially a toddler. It’s breaking my heart. But, Abby is sooooo much fun now. She sings “la la la” when I sing to her, or she wants me to sing. Miss Chatty Cathy here talks all.the.time. I think she’s starting to make up words now. She’ll say “be-ba” (Croat for baby) when she sees herself in the mirror or her baby doll. Of course, she’s got “Da-Da” down pat, something that resembles “Hey,” and lots of squeals and grunts for everything else. She’s clapping now too, which is really cute, and plays peek-a-boo. Seriously, it’s almost insane how much I enjoy playing peek-a-boo and singing silly songs. She is totally into playing with toys and plays back with you. She’s pulling up on all the furniture to stand up and hitching from place to place. (Yes, I’ve got those baby gates installed, finally.) I bought her a walker this weekend and she loves it. She can’t quite manage it by herself yet, but she is very close.

Unfortunately, her sleep is completely off lately, so Joel and I aren’t very conscious for all of this cuteness. I wish we could blame it on teething, but so far, we don’t have any of them either.

What else has been going on? I finally finished my Spanish class. Let’s just say I’m glad it’s over. As part of my final, my teacher gave me a list of topics to choose from and talk about. Halfway through, she stops me and asked me why I’m talking about “tourism.” Apparently she said “terrorism,” not “tourism.” It just went downhill from there. (And why, may I ask, would I be talking about terrorism, when I’ve pretty much learned to describe my family and the weather so far?) Joel’s class finishes this week.

Yesterday, we all went to a baseball game! Since it was a local holiday, the Marines organized a tournament with some local teams. Abby and I hung out in the stands and played with all the little girls from a local orphanage (the Marines sponsor this orphanage, so they came to play on our “kids” team). Joel coached one of the kid’s teams, and then played on the adult team. He did pretty well, too! He got several runs and did a very “impressive” (ahem) victory chicken dance on home plate.

For the rest of May, it’s generally more of the same. I start planning Abby’s 1st birthday party and ordering supplies (aaaaaack!), and Joel and I start making travel plans for the summer. We’re hoping to go somewhere Memorial Day weekend, if I can figure out where to go. Mainly, we hope to spend as much time as possible outdoors!


Love,

Julie, Joel, and Abigail