May Mendez News

Before I forget, you all need to go to vote in our baby pool! http://www.expectnet.com/games/LilyMendez

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Well, here it is May already!

You guys have already seen the pictures from our VIP visitor this month, but here is just one more. NO ONE got the picture of me shaking the President's hand!!! I'm so miffed. The embassy photographer got some really good ones of Joel, at least. (We've ordered those, but they haven't come in yet.)

I'm happy to say that Wednesday was a red letter day! Abby asked to sit on the potty and actually peed in it! Of course I'm out of M&Ms at the moment to celebrate with. She's been watching this potty training video I borrowed from the Embassy library (It's theme song: "She's a super duper pooper." No lie.) and has been asking to take her pants "Off" which is a new favorite word. Up until today she just wanted to run around naked.

So yes, I just talked about pee for a whole paragraph. Who cares? This is a total big deal in our house! (Can you imagine if I could get her potty trained before Lily arrives, and not have two kids in diapers at the same time?????)

Abby is TALKING now. Not just the occasional word here and there, but she is picking up new words practically every day. We've got clown, cloud, dinosaur, and octopus added to our repertoire now. Elmo has almost been overthrown by the Wiggles as Abby's new favorite show. We've had the video for maybe two weeks (another from the Embassy library) and she has memorized all the songs. And the dances. Oh and this is cute: when someone leaves, she has to blow them a kiss, tell them, "Wuv you, See you, bye bye." She likes to play hide and seek behind the couch, and also say "Who dis?", Where dit go?" And answers "I dunno" when you ask her the same questions.

We finally got an official diagnosis of reflux for Abby. So, with the reflux meds she's been on this month, plus the fact I've taken her off of soy milk, has been the miracle cure this month. Abby is back to being a great sleeper and has put on two pounds in the past four weeks! It has been fantastic.

Lily is still baking inside and doing just fine. She's rolling and flipping and kicking and just having a grand ole' time in there. Me, I'm doing fine. I'm 26 weeks along this week and really starting to feel awkward and big and tired. I'm growing out of my maternity clothes! Well, really out of my winter maternity clothes, as it should be warm now, but nope, I'm still stuck in long sleeves most of the time. I'm really sick of this weather, and I'm ready for summer to be here. And yes, I'll change my mind once I'm stuck in the Alabama heat this summer. My next OB appt is next week. Unfortunately I don't have any decent ultrasound pictures to show you. She's got a 3D ultrasound which looks really cool on screen, but when she prints out the picture - it just looks like a huge blobby mess.

I do have these to show you, though.

Me at 24 weeks. (I was taking of myself in the mirror, so it's fuzzy)

Me at 26 weeks. Still not a very good picture, but you get the idea.

Joel is just a busy beaver this month, working up a storm. He's also been doing double duty this month as the official "heavy duty lifter" in the house. He also got a poker night in.

I had some friends over to scrapbook last weekend, and I'm happy to say that I have Abby's baby album almost completed! I just have to put titles and and journal the last half of the pages, then it's all done!

We've also been working on my business website and I've been plowing ahead with my certification homework. We decided on the logo colors finally. I can't wait to have the finalized website ready to show all of you.

Our plans for our move are progressing right along - we've got plane tickets, and one of our cars sold! That just leaves one more car to get rid of, plus we're trying to get someone to adopt our cat Puzza. We can't keep him at the apartment we'll be staying at for the summer, and it's too expensive to put him in a kennel for three months. So far there are no takers here, because everyone we know is moving too! (Any takers? He's a very sweet and affectionate cat.)

In May, we have a couple of holidays coming up, which I am looking forward to. Not that we really have any plans to go anywhere. We have planned our last trip to Aviano planned at the end of the month to stock up on stuff before we move to Chile. I also have a baby shower that some friends are throwing me, and Joel and I are trying to get all those last appointments in - like dentists appointments, etc.

Abby with Alek, her boyfriendAbby at Brunch (after meeting the President)

Abby loves to give her daddy kisses.

Okay, that's it for us!

Love to all,

Julie, Joel, Abby, and Lily

PS. If you would like to show some support for my little niece Kate and her family during their summer at St. Jude's, her dad Mark has designed some really cute T-shirts and a mug that you can order: http://www.cafepress.com/sugarkate!

Some Friends Come to Visit the Mendezes

So, if you've checked out CNN you know that Croatia had some VIP visitors this weekend. And being with the Embassy, Joel has had to work around the clock for a while to set up for this visit. So, at 5am this morning, we get up, get dressed up in all our finery and head downtown . . .

to wait. . . .

and wait. . . .

and wait. . . .

for the 15 minutes we got with our VIP visitors to take these:

Here's my old pal Condi (I got my picture taken with her in Rome a couple of years ago).

There are even more pictures (which someone else took on their camera and I'm praying come out) that I don't have right now.

So George comes right up to me, points to my big belly, shakes my hand and says "Hey, good luck with that." And what did dorky me do?? "Umm, thank you." Yeah, uhh-huh, that's what I said. Really profound. Yep, there went all my "I'm too cool and up too early to be excited about being here" attitude.

In the middle of all this there was set photo op with the Pres in front of the crowd of everyone who works at the Embassy. And Joel was standing right behind Bush, on the other side of the rope. We can't wait to see that one either. I hope the Embassy photographers get their pictures out fast.

Then Joel comes around to get me (I was in the kids holding area attempting to keep Abby from getting tackled by the Secret Service - she was a little hyper by now.) We hustle over to the other side of the line, and DH shoves his way into the front to get his picture with George. So, our pal George says, "Oh, what a pretty girl, bring her up here." (PS. You'll notice the hairbow didn't make it for very long.)

And then they were gone. (Laura Bush didn't do the meet and greet today. About killed me. It's the second time I've missed a photo op with her.)

So that was our day. And all before 9:20am this morning.

Love,

Julie, Joel, Abby, and Lily

April Showers from the Mendezes

Hello everyone!

Well, the first item up for discussion: Baby Mendez's name. Joel and I finally agreed on one. The newest Mendez will be Liliana Claire! (Yes, we'll call her Lily for short.) Abby seems to love the name and even says "Li-ly." It's pretty durn cute. And just like last time, if you want to join in on the baby pool, feel free to click here: Lily's Baby Pool.

I'm doing fine, trying not to eat us out of house and home. Because yes, I have gotten to that point in the pregnancy where I will eat everything in sight. I'm starving all the time. We will not discuss how big I am, as it's just too depressing to think I'm only halfway done. I've popped and am officially looking pregnant. Lily is doing great and kicking away. Joel's been able to feel that now, which is kindof fun.

Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way, what else have we been up to this month?

Well, Abby was sick. Again. This time it was a virus and rash. On Easter. I know. I have absolutely no idea where she picked it up. She's doing fine now though. What can I say? Kids.

As far as the doctors in London, all the tests results came back negative, so we still don't have any real clue what is going on with her. We have her on the European form of Prilosec (reflux med) for the next several weeks to also see if that makes any difference, then we'll reevaluate. This week I've also decided to take her completely off soy milk and try rice milk for a while, just to see if she's developed an intolerance to soy as well as dairy. So maybe that will do the trick. We tried it one night and she slept great for her - only waking up twice because of wet diapers! So I went back and bought more rice milk to test that theory out for a week or so.

In other news, Joel and I have really been busting our bums trying to get stuff ready for our move. We've been making some inroads in the morass of paperwork that moving to Chile seems to entail for some reason; and I've been going room by room through the house and purging it of stuff we don't need anymore. I did this in Rome and it made our packout and unpacking here in Croatia so much easier. But wow, so much more house left to do! And today is just at 80 days and counting before we hop on a plane!

I'm still working with the website designer on the website for my business - I'm having trouble picking between two logos. That I have to just buckle down and commit to. Plus I'm starting the credentialling process of becoming a "certified" resume writer and career coach. Yikes.

Of course we had Joel's birthday this month. I pulled the pregnancy card out so I wouldn't have to host the party here, and we went out for a kid-free dinner with a bunch of friends. Yep, the old geezer turned 29 this year! (Don't worry, I'm already thinking of good ways to "get" him next year.) We also did a family dinner with Abby on his birthday, and we continued the Mendez family tradition of the big birthday breakfast!

Oh and the Easter Bunny at the Embassy Easter Egg Hunt? Went over about as well as Santa Claus did. Which is NOT.AT.ALL!

Beyond that, the weather is attempting to be Spring, though not doing that great of a job about it. Abby and I have been going stir crazy, so I started dressing her up in her spring dresses in the house. Thank God for girly girls!

Then lately when it's actually been warm enough, we've been getting out as much as we can. You know we might not have seen much of Croatia, but I can tell you all about their playgrounds!

On deck for April: a big VIP visit to Zagreb this weekend (just go check CNN, you'll get it), more getting ready for our move, more working on the business website, more scrapbooking, more of me getting bigger, more of Abby running amok and talking up a storm. (Oh funny story. Joel taught Abby how to say "Smell." So you ask her, "Abby, what smells?" And she says "smell" and points to her hiney. Gotta love my husband.)

Love to all,

Julie, Joel, Abby, and Lily

Mendez Baby Update: It's a . . . .

So, you guys really wanna know?

Well, the Mendez family will be adding a bit of estrogen. That's right, we're having a girl!

We've known for quite a while, but I waited until we had that the "official" sonogram in case the doctor changed her mind. So, we're finally in the clear to let you all know!

The baby is absolutely fine and looked adorable on the sonogram. She was kicking like crazy, just like her big sister did. And she was sucking her thumb which was hilarious. (Okay maybe not to all of you, but my family will get that joke anyway.)

I don't have an ultrasound picture for you guys this time. The ones she gave me just weren't that good. But after my next appointment, yes, I should have something to upload for you all.

And no, I can't tell you the name yet.

Because Joel and I are still "discussing" it.

So if you all have any opinions, you better let us know soon!

Love,
Julie, Joel, Abby, and Junior-ette

March Madness at the Mendez House

Hello all! Sorry I'm a bit late but as the title says, it's been a bit of madness around here lately.

The month of February could be called the Month of Germ Warfare in the Mendez house. Seriously. We saw the insides of four different hospitals this past month. Three of which I would never ever want to step in again in my entire life.

The very beginning of the month had me rushing to the hospital late at night - a false alarm scare with the pregnancy. Don't worry, I'm completely fine and so is the baby. But let me just say that if I had ever considered giving birth in a Croatian hospital, that experience changed my mind.

Then we saw a local pediatrician because Abby was still refusing to sleep (from the cold back in January) and waking up every hour and a half and I was worried she was coming down with something again. That pediatrician was a total quack, so the next day I tried out a new pediatrician office and they seemed to be very good. They ruled out sickness, but started to blame gas and stomach pain - so we started talking food allergies or possible reflux. Which led to a starting a huge battery of allergy and bloodtests. Which took us to another hospital (where they do lab work on children here).

In the middle of this process, Abby got a horrible horrible norovirus (stomach virus -- I'm convinced she must have picked it up in the hospital while doing all that testing). In about an hour, she literally puked up everything she had eaten in the past 24 hours. I totally freaked and we took her to the hospital that evening. That in itself is a long horrible story, so let's just say that two hospitals, many traumatic experiences with needles and doctors later, and at about 4:30am, we pulled Abby out of the hospital and brought her home. She was extremely dehydrated and very ill, plus the whole gas/no sleeping thing was still going on.

We finally got out of Croatia and went to London to see some "real" doctors, where she started to improve after the virus, and we got some real help finally. We saw a pediatrician, an allergist and a pediatric gastroenterologist all within our first 24 hours in London. The general consensus is that she was getting better on her own from the virus and the initial problem was probably due to reflux. So she was admitted to a London hospital so they could run the tests for that, and then check out a couple other things to rule them out as a precaution. So that was our last hospital for the month.

I can't tell you how impressed and overwhelmed by the level of service in London. We saw some of the best doctors in London, plus the nurses and staff were just so great with Abby. They were just wonderful, and thought the "Americans" were quite amusing because we kept thanking them for taking such good care of us. (Oh, and I got the stomach bug from Abby while in London, but not half as bad as Abby. It just made our hotel stay in London so much more pleasant, if you catch my drift. Thankfully I got over it more quickly than she did.) And we were just so relieved to finally be getting real answers and real treatment after dealing with Croatian doctors for so long. And everyone there is just SOOOOO nice. We loved it.

While in London, we tried to get out a bit and enjoy our week back in civilization. We ate Indian and Lebanese and Chinese for dinner, we took Abby to the zoo on the Sunday - which was a HUGE hit - and we played in the park a couple of times. We also went to Hamley's, which is the big famous toy store there and bought coloring books. (I came with nothing to entertain Abby, not thinking we'd be there so long.) We ate in a pub a couple of times, so Joel could have a "pint." So the trip wasn't all bad.

We came home on Saturday, March 1st, and Abby was back to her normal spunky toddler self on the plane ride. We had to say "Bog (hi)" to every single person on the plane, we colored, we ate cheerios one by one, we sang "The Wheels on the Bus," we counted Mommy's fingers over and over, and anything else I could think of to entertain her for two and a half hours. Yep. my little girl was back; just about at the time where I really wanted her to take a nap!

To answer your questions: as of writing this, we have not heard back from the doctors in London yet. We are waiting on the test results from while we're there. So we don't have a real definitive answer on what's going on with Abby. We're still operating the assumption that she has reflux unless we hear something different. Which is completely easy to deal with.

And Abby is doing fine now, because I know you all are worried. She is dancing a little jig right beside me because the babysitter is about to take her for a walk. She also waves "Bye Bye", blows kisses, and gives "Big Hugs." (We watched a lot of Teletubbies at the hospital in London.)

So that was our exciting month. We are very glad to be home now and back to our somewhat normal lives! Before all that, we did make that trip to Aviano to stock up, I had friends over to scrapbook again, and we are making inroads (very slowly) in the details of our move.

In the good news column of this post, Abby did pee in the potty! Just once before she got sick, but hey I'll take it! She especially liked the M&Ms she got as a reward. Maybe if I get up enough gumption to try again in the next couple of weeks, we'll start over.

I think I'm also becoming one of those germ-phobic mothers I swore I'd never be, and probably will be investing in crates of hand sanitizer and clorox disinfecting wipes. Maybe I'll even look into installing one of those CDC deconamination units at the door of the house - like you see in the movies. Just kidding. A little. I am being very strict about how much we take Abby out of the house and where we take her and who she comes into contact with - we have dropped her swim class and playgroup until I'm sure her immune system is fully up and running. Joel and I are taking turns going to church so that I don't have to put her in the nursery.

So, what's up for March? Well, sleeping in our own beds for one thing! No really, we've got a long to-do list for our upcoming move that we really have to make major progress on this month. We are at about 100 days and counting before we leave! Plus I have got to get working our taxes and get them in this week, and I'm plowing ahead on my career coaching business. I've filled out all the paperwork for our website designer, and she is busy working on her end of things as we speak. I have another OB appointment this week I think, (after which I will post again for you guys and give you an update) and lots of running around after Abby.

So, here are a couple pictures of February -

Daddy and Abby playing with her "pretties" (Mardi Gras beads) that Nana and Papa sent her.

Abby and Mommy at the Zagreb Zoo

Abby at her favorite place in the whole world - McDonalds

Mommy and Abby eating Lebanese in London

Daddy and Abby at the London Zoo

Checking out the "seep" at the London Zoo.

Abby talking to the "giger" (tiger) at the London Zoo

Love to everyone!

Julie, Joel, and Abby

February Update from the Mendezes

January just whizzed by. Guess that's what happens when you're having fun . . . or puking. (If you don't get the puking joke, you really need to read the previous post on the blog!)

The puking has eased up, halleluiah. I'm back to most of my normal self. I've been spending most of my time trying to dig out of the disorganized cesspool I let everything get to when I took a twelve week break from, well, everything.

Abby is doing great. She is also officially almost off the bottle. She wouldn't self-wean, so we had to do the hard core cold turkey method. Not fun. Tears and tantrums and wailing and gnashing of teeth. I got to the point that anytime she starting crying I just handed her a cookie. She even got very good at saying, "Cookie" very clearly! But it was amazing, at the exact same time she went through a HUGE growth spurt and this sweet little angel turned into a voracious, human garbage disposal! She has been eating us out of house and home! You laugh, but one day I literally fed her from 7am until 6pm. She just never stopped eating. I was even worried that perhaps she had gotten some kind of tapeworm, until about a week later I noticed her onesies weren't fitting her. She grew like 2-3 inches all at once. It's crazy; I can't keep up with her.

She also decided that she was going to go on a napping strike for the past few weeks, and that was extremely rough. This girl needs her nap in order for her to function and for me not to lose my sanity. That turned into a nasty head cold though, which is hopefully run its course. I'm here to tell you that snot is nasty and gross, and when people tell you that poop and snot are cute and not so bad when it's your own kid; they LIE. Snot is Gross.

Okay, in good news about Abby - she's talking. She is picking up words right and left. It's funny how many of her new words have to do with food: pasta ("papa"), corn ("cor"), crackers ("kaker"), pretzel (don't even know how to spell how she pronounces that one), and cookie (that one is a very clear "COOKIE!") Plus "go" and "car" are new favorites. We also learned the sounds for elephant and snake and birds this month. She even does hand motions with some of them, which is pretty fun.

Besides all of that, I have been working on my scrapbooking and have finally begun Abby's baby album. I threw a surprise baby shower brunch for a girl in my Bible study, and Joel went to a poker night and I got to keep the winnings (hahaha). We also took a last minute weekend trip to Graz, Austria. There is supposed to be some great shopping there. It was supposed to only be a day trip, but well, we accidentally took the long way to get there and by time we arrive it was 3pm, so we found a cheap hotel and hit a grocery store for milk and diapers for Abby, and stayed overnight. The good news out of the adventure is we were able to eat at a very nice Spanish Tapas place for dinner.

So, that's been the major part of our month. Mostly we've been trying to get back in the groove after the holidays and start all the fun process and procedures for our upcoming move and the summer spent in Alabama having Junior. A move can never be simple and uncomplicated, of course. Well, hopefully we're starting early enough to get the worst out of the way so we can just enjoy the summer.

Coming up in February: tackling the potty-training monster, another trip to Aviano, getting more of the move details finalized, working on the dreaded taxes, and another OB appointment. Plus while you guys (in Alabama, anyway) are celebrating Fat Tuesday next week, we'll be celebrating Fasnik. That's when the kids here in Croatia dress up and go trick or treating, instead of Halloween.

Okay, a couple of pictures to tide you all over til next month:

Don't let this cute face fool ya. It's about the time I see this look, I start to think, "Oh no."

Joel shoveling snow in our driveway.

Abby playing in the snow in our backyard.

Learning all about the mysteries of Play-doh.

Abby after a full portion of pasta. She reminds me of that plant in Little Shop of Horrors: "Feed Me, Feed Me."

That's all from us. Happy Mardi Gras to all!

Love, Julie, Joel, and Abby

Mendez Family News

Well, even though it's almost the end of the month, I'd thought I'd explain why some of you might be wondering why I've been slow to answer emails, letters or calls.

Blame Junior.

Yep, that's right. The Mendez Clan is growing by one (Yes, we checked, just one!) and we're due August 4th. Monday will be the 12 week mark, and I'm happy to say that we've survived the first trimester, which is a huge event in our house. (This picture is from last week's sonogram, at 11 weeks.) So huge in fact, I'm going on a girl's night out next week to celebrate and watch all my friends drink in my honor! Hahaha!

To answer your questions:

a) Yes, we plan to find out the sex of the baby. No, we haven't found out yet, but not because we didn't try! Maybe my next appt, if Junior wants to show off.

b) Yes, we're thinking of names. If you have input, you can relate it to Joel, as he's doing most of the thinking right now. I've been concentrating on not puking.

c) Today I feel fine. Yesterday I lost two pounds before I went to bed. (Don't worry, I gained that the day before when I didn't puke.) It's kindof a day-by-day, minute-by-minute thing. You know it's bad morning sickness when you're debating which is more important - brushing your teeth or eating breakfast - because you know you can't do both.

d) Yes, I'm already in maternity jeans, but no, I haven't gained too much weight yet. Depends on the day and whether I've been puking alot (see c.)

e) Yes, I think Abby knows that something is up. She's become fascinated by babies lately, and has started to point to my belly, and ask, "Baba?"

f) Yes, we'll be back in the US to have the baby, most likely Fairhope, AL right now. And yes, the baby will be born right in the middle of our move from Croatia to Chile. Just like with Abby. Just like we swore we would never do to ourselves again. (Goes to show you, God does laugh when you make plans . . . )

g) Yes, we're excited. (Well, I'll be more excited when I stop puking.) The baby is doing well now, though we did have a little more excitement at the beginning than you really want with a pregnancy. But now he/she's all hunky-dory and growing well (1 1/2 weeks ahead - so a big baby). My OB is very nice and very good, and quick to tell me how beautiful he/she is. And of course I say, "Well, duh!

So that's our news!

Love to all,

Julie, Joel, and Abby

Happy 2008 from the Mendezes!

Yes, I'm flabbergasted too. How in the world did it get to be 2008 already? Sheez.

December around here was quite a whirlwind. The main topic of conversation: SANTA. And Abby was quite emphatic that she.did.not.like.him.at.all. Not one bit. Ever.

At the Embassy Holiday Party

Can't you just see her thinking, "You're a mean mommy"?
With the Santa in Aviano

In other interesting news; I'm done with my CLASS! Barely got my final project in on time, but who cares? It's done. (And Joel won the championship in his Fantasy Football league. You'd think he walked on the moon.) We went to the Embassy Christmas party, and also hosted a small Christmas Eve extravaganza here in our house.

Our Christmas tree was huge!

We sent the older boys out on Christmas Eve to shovel snow. They thought it was fun!

Abby says "Cheese"

Oh, before we get to Christmas day, I have to tell you what Joel did. He got me GOOD. He threw me a surprise birthday party at a restaurant, and actually surprised me! I was so not in the mood to go out and couldn't think of a decent excuse to get out of it - and besides, who has date night with an 18 month old chaperoning? And lo and behold, when we arrive, there are all my buddies sitting at the table waiting on us. I was such a dork, saying, "Oh isn't that nice that you are all having dinner together?" "Isn't it such a coincidence that we're all at the same restaurant at the same time?" Yeah, I told you I was a dork. It took me a minute or two to get it. Anyway, the restaurant is called Fort Apache and has fabulous American BBQ, in the middle of nowhere in Croatia. I ate some seriously yummy ribs. Who woulda thunk?

Okay, so here are a few Christmas pictures.

I know I've not really written much this post, but I figured you guys rather see the pictures instead of listening to me yack on, anyways. And the reason we have so many great pictures? Santa brought me and Joel a new camera, so we've been "practicing" quite a lot!

Okay, just one more picture that I have to share. Do you see this face? This stinker is what I deal with every day. Yep. We're in trouble.

Till next time!

Love,

Julie, Joel, and Abby

December News from the Mendezes

Hello all! Well, we finally got through November, and now we are plowing right through the holiday season! We've even had Abby's playgroup Christmas party already. Let's just say that Santa did not go over very well this year. Doesn't this face just break your heart?
Poor thing. So no Santa picture yet this year. (Which is okay, he wasn't that good of a Santa.) We've got a couple more chances, so maybe we'll get lucky later on.

Thanksgiving was a bit crazy, but fun. Joel had a flag football game in the morning, playing against the Marines (who are all 19 years old and in peak phsyical condition of course). He had a great time but was creaking around like an old man afterwards. I think I'm also required to mention that he caught a pass and scored a touchdown. This is not the best picture of Joel, but it's the best one I've got. I like to call this the "Oh My Gosh, I Caught the Ball" face.
Abby got into the spirit of the game as well. Hut Hut!


Okay, one last one from that morning. I'm so excited I got some good pictures for a "fall" pages with the leaves for my scrapbook.


So, after going home and scraping off a thick layer of mud (Can I just say that I always thought that flag football meant no tackling; so why was Joel covered in mud from head to toe?) we got down to the business of finishing up our meal, and had a ton of people to eat it. That was fantastic. The only problem is that we had almost no leftovers, which are almost the best part of Thanksgiving.

Before Thanksgiving, Joel and I went to the International Women's Club Charity Gala, and the Marine Ball. I don't have any pictures yet of the Marine Ball, but it was FUN. We partied and danced and had a great time. The IWC Gala . . . well, it was for a good cause. We hardly knew anyone. Apparently it was the society event of the year in Zagreb. All these "famous" Croatian people that I guess we should know were there. However, as a member of the board I did get interviewed for Croatian National TV, and was on. Yep, that's right. I'm famous now, at least in Croatia. You can see the interview online here: http://dnevnik.hr/bin/article.php?article_id=30699&show_media=83296 (just his the video button).

Before that, we took a trip back to Rome. We got to see our old friends, eat some great food, drink some great wine, eat some more great food, see more friends . . . you get the idea. Luckily we walked off most of it and didn't gain too much weight. But oh, the food was so good. Haven't ate like that in ages. Not so easy to navigate that city with a toddler and a stroller though.

So beyond all of that fun and craziness, what else have we been up to? Well, I'm still working on that online class which will finish up in December, and scrapbooking whenever I can. Joel and I both have our Bible Studies and Abby has playgroup and swim class. (Oh I almost forgot, here is a picture of her with some of our friends at swim class.)

Abby is in the middle of a huge growth and development spurt. She is getting really tall and has gained another 1 1/2 pounds in the past 2 months. She is climbing all over the furniture and trying to give me a heart attack. She is also on the verge of talking up a storm as well. She will come and tell me she's ready to go "Night Night" when she's tired, and for some reason her other new word is "big." She says baba for baby, and boy, bobo for bottle, and CuhCuh for cookies and Cookie Monster. (She also does the laugh like the Count on Seseme Street - Ah Ah Ah.) She babbles all the time, and is also getting kindof obstinate and opionated. She is not cooperating on getting rid of the bottle at all. After Christmas we're going to have to go hardcore on that, but I just don't have the energy for it right now. She's really getting into playing with her toys and carries around her baby doll with her everywhere. What else? Every night Joel and I have to do a search for our alarm clocks because every morning she finds them and hides them.

So coming up for December, we're big into Christmas mode here. I have most of my decorations up, and am just waiting for them to deliver the tree. Yes, here in Croatia they will deliver a real tree to your house, let you pick out the one you want, and put it in your stand for you, for about $50-60. Heck, that alone is an advertisement for living in Croatia! Plus we're going to the military base this weekend to do all the last minute shopping and stock up on food, as the cupboard is pretty bare. Then Christmas party for Joel's office, Christmas party at the the Embassy, Carol Service at the church, then Christmas Eve extravaganza at our house (yes, I'm a glutton for punishment) and then Christmas day here! Somewhere in there I've got to finish up my assignments for my course, and all that normal daily grind as well.

So, I hope that you all have been good enough this past year for a big man in a red suit to come down your chimney, and you all have a great holiday season!

Love,

Julie, Joel, and Abby

Mid-November Mendez News

Hello all!

Yes, I'm late this month. And I'm going to keep it short and too the point or I will never ever get this done.

It's just been that busy here this past month. My homework for the online class I'm taking is kicking . my . posterior. Now I remember why I didn't go back to grad school. It's an extremely useful course, I'm learning so much, but gee whiz. I am so sick of the homework. I'm always behind.

What else did we do in October, besides the farm trip (pictures in a different post)? Oh yeah. HALLOWEEN.

Man what a trip Halloween was. Abby was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, complete with a Toto and red ruby slippers. She loved those shoes. In fact, "shoes" was her first real word. She would talk about "sews" for hours. The first time I tried on her costume and her shoes, she wouldn't let me take them off! She walked arounnd in just her diapers and her shoes for two hours. It was too cute for me to do anything about it.

Then we went to the Embassy Halloween party, where we got jipped on the costume contest for the second year in a row (the under 3 crowd didn't get judged this year. Figures.) But Abby had a blast. She even got a bit of candy, which Mom and Dad prompty ate for her (it didn't even make it through the ride home). And on Halloween night we went trick or treating at a couple of houses.

Besides Halloween, we've had our normal daily activities. I have my Bible study on Monday mornings and several moms with kids about Abby's age come over for that. The kids play while we do our thing. We're doing the book, The Power of a Praying Parent. Great book.

Plus Abby and I go to playgroup on Thursday mornings, and swim class on Friday mornings. I have yet to get pictures of that since I'm always in the water with Abby. Oh but she has such a great time in swim class. Mainly at her age it's splashing around and not being scared of the water, but we have a good time.

I've been working on my scrapbooking as well. I'm far behind where I want to be, but I'm gotten up to May of this year in our family album. I still haven't started Abby's baby album yet. If this class wasn't killing me, I'd be caught up by now, but oh well. I've been inviting a friend and we've been doing marathon scrapbooking sessions on Sundays after church, while Abby and Joel watch football. And sometime Joel plays football, using Abby as the football.

Abby is really growing up a ton this past month. She's at least a couple inches taller, got several more teeth, and is talking now. Real words too, not just baby babble. She's quite chatty. So far she says "shoes" and "no" for nose, which is quite different when she is saying "NO," which she also says quite well! She's really into Animals at the moment. She says "meow" for Puzza, knows that Cows moo and sheep say baa. She also likes to roar like a lion. Her only Spanish word at the moment is "papo" for pato, which is Spanish for duck. She happens to love the rubber duckies in the pool at swim class.

She's also growing quite an attitude. She wants what she wants, how she wants and when she wants it. She's also started screaming and throwing little fits. Man, I thought we had a couple more months before this started. Oh well, my little baby girl is growing up.

November has been quite a busy month as well, and will continue to be so since Thanksgiving is coming up next week. I can't believe that's already here!

Anyways, I'll keep all that to talk about in the next installment. Here are some picture to tide you over until then.

Dorothy on her cellphone?

Abby and her Toto

Keeping Daddy on the Run at the Embassy Holiday Party

Abby and Mommy

Trick or Treating

See all ya'll later!

Love,
Julie, Joel and Abby