May Mendez Update

Happy May to Everyone!

I have tons of stories I could tell you, but truthfully, I'm just too tired. The girls both decided to go on a sleeping strike for the past few weeks and I'm wiped out. So in the meantime, here is our month in pictures:

Lily's Baby Dedication in Miami

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Decorating Easter Cookies (on a play date with her friend)

Easter Baskets

Easter Morning in our Easter Outfits

Our Easter Egg Hunt in the Backyard

I had this great idea to take cute pictures of the girls and frame them for Father's Day for Joel. You can see how that turned out.

At the Vendimia (Wine Festival) in Santiago.

Okay, that's it for now. I'm off to attempt to get some sleep.

Love to all,

Julie, Joel, Abby, and Lily

Update on Cruise

Here is a quick tour of the highlights of our South American cruise:

The "Happy" Cruisin' Family

Boarding the Ship in Valpariso, Chile

in La Serena, Chile

In Front of Our Ship in La Serena, Chile

On the Promenade Deck in La Serena, Chile

In Front of Some Random (but Apparently Important)

Church in the Middle of NOWHERE near

Arica, Chile

(notice the desert in the background)

in Lima, Puru

Formal Night Dinner

in Manta, Ecuador buying Authentic Panama Hats
(which are not made in Panama, by the way)


At the Bazaar in Manta, Ecuador


Listening to the String Quartet


The Waiters Spoiling Abby Rotten

The Waiters Singing to Joel
and Embaresssing Him as Much as Possible
on His 30th Birthday

Lily at a Wine Tasting Seminar on the Ship

Arriving in Cartegena, Colombia

In a Hotel Pool in Cartegena, Colombia - it was H-O-T.

Abby and Joel with the Captains of the Ship

Lily at 9 (and 8 months)

Okay, okay, guys. Yes, I took an entire month off from posting on the blog. It got a little crazy around here. So here is my update on Lily.

At 8 months:

• Lily claps her hands and says something that sounds like "yeay."
• She makes the "come here" hand motion.
• She likes to eat paper.
• She has two new teeth (that she got within four days of each other!).
• She really hates having her face washed. Or changing her clothes.
• She really wants to take off after her sister, but hasn't figured out how . . . yet.
• She wants her mommy.
• When in doubt, she still wants her mommy. Iris (the housekeeper) is a close second. Daddy will do when neither of those are available.
• Lily is a sensitive/touchy soul, and she likes what she likes when she likes and how she likes it.
• When she chooses to bestow a smile on you, your heart will just melt. It might be a hard-won smile (especially if you are not her mommy- see above), but definitely worth it.
  

And Lily at 9 months:

• Oh, how Lily loves to play! She is fascinated by her little toys!
• She gets into e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. I don't even know how she does it. She's a sneaky little booger.
• She still has just two teeth. We thought she was getting more, but she psyched us out.
• Lily loved the string quartet on the cruise. She would be fussy, and soon as we found them, she would quiet down and listen. Joel and I are sure she's going to be a cellist when she grows up.
• She doesn't really crawl, per se. What she does do is scoot across the floor sitting on her hiney. It's the funniest thing.
• She waves to you and says, "hi-yi-yi-yi-yi" (and won't stop until you wave and say "hi" back.)
• She's eating really well. Fruits, some veggies, and crackers, etc. Eats like a little horse. And still nursing like a champ.
• Lily loves to sing! She will "la la la la" right along with you. We often have impromptu Wiggles concerts in the middle of our living room. I'm so glad my musical tendencies have rubbed off on the girls.

Okay, that's it for now. Someone has decided that they don't feel like sleeping tonight, and so I've got to go back to being the milk machine.

Love,

Julie

Abby at 32 Months

So, a couple funny Abby-isms for you:


Abby has started to get upset when either Joel and I leave to go to work (I "work" at Starbucks, hahaha). How do you explain the concept of a job to a 2 1/2 year old? Well, our housekeeper, Iris, had the brilliant answer to put it on Abby's level.

Now Abby asks where Daddy is and I answer that Daddy's working; Abby will say, "Daddy works for chocolates." Yup. Daddy slaves away all day so Abby can have chocolates. (That's her reward for caca on the potty, so the joke is even funnier if you're here dealing with that insanity.)

I get such a kick out of Abby logic.

Oh, here's another one. Iris has told Abby that a frog lives under the sink (or bathtub or any kind of drain) and drinks the water. Because if you listen carefully you can hear him swallow "Glub glub glub" (the sound of the water going down the pipes). It took me weeks to figure out why Abby kept talking about a frog every time I took her to the sink to wash her hands. She kept wanting to look down the drain, and she often tells me she can see the frog. Lately she's starting to tell me more about the imaginary frog under the sink, like "he's thirsty" and stuff like that. Amazing little girl imagination.


I'm happy to report that Abby loves her new school so far. One of her teachers was her teacher during the summer session in January, so that helps as well. And she actually did pretty well yesterday - which was her first "full" day of school (four hours) and no nap. Right now she's in the afternoon session and on the wait list for the morning session, hence the no nap. She'll only really be in school for a week and a half this month due to our vacation, we're hoping there is a cancellation next month and we we get back she can go directly into the morning session. Many of her little playground friends are in the morning class. Joel and I are both thrilled to have her there because she needs the constant interaction of other kids.

Okay, I've already used up all of my good pictures of Abby from February, so y'all will just have to wait until next month for more.

Love,

Julie

March Madness in the Mendez Household

Hello all!

Wow, where in the world do I start?

January was a busy month. Abby started in her new preschool - she took the summer session and loved it. I'm liking it more too; it's closer to our house so I can (almost) take Abby to/from in the jogging stroller.

We spent a ton of time hanging out in our little splash pool and BBQ-ing with friends.

That's about all I can remember from January. It was friggin' hot; I tried to get as much work done as I could while Abby was in school, and I prepared for my trip back to the US the first work in February.

Yes, I ended up having to go to Miami for medical tests in February. Don't worry, it turned out to be completely nothing except for a trigger-happy doctor in Santiago. It was a blessing that I got to go to the US for a second opinion because otherwise I would have ended up having major
surgery and major recuperation just because that particular doctor apparently doesn't believe in physical therapy. Another way that trip was a blessing is that Lily and I got a free week in Miami out of it. I did "multiple" runs to Target, Walmart, Old Navy, BabiesRUs, etc. The girls are now stocked in the next size up of winter clothes and shoes, and all that good stuff. And we got completely spoiled by the whole Mendez clan. I don't think Lily was ever put down. Heck, I only got to hold her myself when she wanted to eat.

While we were in the US, Joel and Abby hosted a Super Bowl party here at our house in Chile. Joel was "super" excited because it's the first time in five years that we've been on the same side of the planet and close to the same time zone as the Super Bowl. Our friends brought their little girl along, and she and Abby played in the pool during the game, and played together late into the night.

The rest of February we spent, um . . . surviving Abby not being in school. And attempting to convince Abby that she wants to be potty trained. Because she knows how, she just doesn't want to. And I'm going gray under my hair dye from dealing with the process. Abby apparently has a latent stubborn streak. I, angel that I am, have no idea where she got that trait. None at all. But as stubborn as she can be, Abby is no match for the reward of both stickers and M&Ms. Now we are having more successes than not, but I'm not ready to declare that I've won that war just yet.
Abby starts school tomorrow and we are all thrilled. Abby loves school more than we love her being in school. She LOVES it. I'm really hoping she loves her new classroom and teachers.

Here's a picture of my favorite Valentines.

So, what is on the schedule for March, you ask? Funny you should mention that.

We're going on a cruise!

Yup, Joel and I have been talking for months about how we might use our R&R time this year, and when he can and can't get off work, and all the complications of traveling with two small travelers internationally. But the option of this cruise just fell in our laps and we are jumping on it. It's a two week cruise, leaving from Valpariso, Chile and heading up the South American coast and ending up in Fort Lauderdale, FL! So at the end we'll get to see the Mendez clan for a few days, before we head back. It's a golden opportunity that we'll probably never ever get to do again. But here's the kicker. It leaves in two weeks! Yup, I have to get the entire family ready in less than two weeks. I know I'm crazy, but I guess it's a good thing I thrive on challenges.

Other than that, my business is picking up quite a bit, I'm going to an all day scrap-athon this Saturday, and Joel will probably be working sixty hour weeks to make up for taking three weeks off of work. I started on a Spring Cleaning (well, our "fall" but you get the idea) kick before the whole cruise thing started, so I'm attempting to get that done before we go as well. And Lily, bless her, will probably be taking over the house - she's just a week or two from crawling, if you ask me.

So, please don't get upset if we aren't that easy to communicate with in the next month. I don't know how much we'll be on the Internet. By the time we get back in April, we should be able to finally settle into a more normal routine.

Love to all!

Julie, Joel, Abby, and Lily

Lily at 7 months

Hi all. This is just a quick post to celebrate Lily at 7 months!

Lily is so awesome now. She clapped her hands by herself yesterday. Of course I haven't been able to get her to repeat it again, but it was so cute.

She also plays a game with Abby. This is how it goes:

Abby screams in Lily's face. Lily laughs her head off. Lily screams in Abby's face. Both Lily and Abby laugh their heads off.

It is apparently even more fun to play in the car. At the top of their lungs.

And while Joel and I are reaching for the Tylenol, the girls are giggling madly in the backseat. Kind of makes it hard to get upset with them.

Another cute Lily thing: Earlier this week, Lily was hanging out in the living room in just her diaper (she had just drooled through her shirt and I hadn't gotten around to putting a new one on). And she started laughing at something. And her entire body was jiggling with her laughter. Like the poem says about Santa, her belly "shook when (she) laughed like a bowlful of jelly." It just cracked me up.

Lily looks like a tiny little roly-poly. We look at her and think she's such a little gorda (that's like calling someone "fatty," but it's an affectionate term) because of all of her rolls. But then I get her weighed and she's just in the 25% percentile for weight (50% for height) so she's really not that big. She weighs less than Abby did at that age even. She just eats like a linebacker and has rolls like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Lily is quite vocal and stays quite opinionated. Lily's quick to yell at Abby when she starts bugging her. If you don't feed her fast enough; she will tell you. If you don't pick her up fast enough; she will tell you. I know that might sound as if I'm being negative, but actually I appreciate it. You always know where you stand with Lily. And as quick as she is to tell you what she doesn't like, she's also very quick to dole out the love and affection. She is great about giving hugs and kisses to people she's comfortable with.

We're pretty sure we're moving into teething now. Lily's regular drool has turned into a running faucet. Just this morning I had to get a towel to completely wipe her face down- it was like someone had poured a glass of water on her front. And she's getting really clingy. She's getting very difficult to put to bed, and last night refused to go to Joel at all (maybe he smelled funny, dunno). So it's time for me to dig out the teethers and put them in the freezer and find the teething tablets to give her.

It seems like Lily is going to end up being just as social as Abby. She LOVES going to the playground with Abby and the housekeeper, Iris. (Iris loves to take Lily to show off, because according to her, we have the cutest girls in the subdivision. Well, duh.) While Abby is running amok with the bigger kids, Lily sits on the ground with three other little ones and attempts to eat the grass. According to Iris, she's getting quite fast at pulling up the grass and getting it into her mouth. I guess she needs a little bit more roughage in her diet, huh?

(Lily at the Children's Museum)

So, we've been able to make it seven months breastfeeding and still going strong on that. And Lily loved to eat food and gnaw on those little Gerber baby cookies. So far, the only thing she absolutely refuses to eat is brown rice. That might be because I made it (the housekeeper tends to be a little too generous with the salt).

Okay, I've blathered enough for this post. Talk to all of you soon!

(just because I like this picture)

Love,

Julie

Abby at 31 Months

Okay, since I only wrote about Abby last time, this time you're going to get pictures!

Abby after preschool in January. Apparently they learned about "Indians" that day.

Abby and Daddy play in her tent.

A little bit of Valentine love for ya. (And to fulfill a request for more pictures of the girls together.)

Below are pictures of Abby at the Children's Museum (we went yesterday).

Playing with the bubbles.
Abby and her friend, Asher, counting "bugs."

And a final wave goodbye!

Love,

Julie

February Mendez News

Hey there everyone.

I've gotten several very concerned emails about not updating the blog at the beginning of February with family news. My apologies, it's been NUTSO here. On top of all the nuttiness, Abby's been out of school on summer break, and well, getting anything done if she's home is impossible. (Right now she's down for a nap, so I'm attempting to catch up on work that I'm dreadfully behind on.)

So, since it's already so close to the end of the month, I'm just going to do a 2-month update at the beginning of March. Just wanted to let you all know.

Love,

Julie