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

Happy Easter!

Here are some pictures from

Saturday's Easter Egg Hunt:

ready, set, go!

Abby finds her egg

Mendez family Easter Pic

Abby crawling around during the games

"Nina Linda" - (pretty girl)

Abby tending bar at the Marine House

Abby's Easter bonnet

Hope you all had a very Hoppy Easter!

Love, Julie, Joel, and Abigail

April News from the Mendezes

Abby Enjoying the Grass Today

As I type this, I'm sitting outside on our patio, enjoying the beautiful sun of a warm spring day. I'm so excited that it's finally beginning to be nice weather here!

Joel's Birthday Party

March was insanely busy for us. Joel's birthday party was last weekend (he's an old coot now at 28) and that consumed much of my brain. We had over 20 folks over, and made enough food for an army. Seriously. We ate leftovers for a full week.

I've also been chin deep in my Spanish class, which I'm very happy to report will be over soon. For all you Spanish speakers . . .
"Mi rutina del martes: Normalmente, me levanto cuándo mi hija se despierta a las 6:30am. Abigail toma tetero. Después ella ve el programa Seseme Street cuando yo me baño. Leo les mensajes, miro mi agenda y juego con mi hija. Después ella se duerme y yo limpio la casa. Por la tarde, vamos al parque y caminamos por mucho tiempo; o vamos al mercado. Por la noche, preparo la cena y como la cena con mi esposo. Llamo por teléfono a mi familia, y vo veo televisión. Me acuesto a las 10:00pm." (I had to write that for my Spanish homework last week. It's great having Joel around to "help" me!)

I'm also very happy to report that I've more or less finished scrapbooking our wedding album and our Christmas album. My next big project is Abby's baby album.

Add into that Joel's job, my job writing the Embassy newsletter, church and my Bible study, plus chasing around our squealing demon, and you get the idea of what our life is like here

Speaking of Abby (because I know that's what you guys really want to hear about anyway) . . .

Our dear darling daughter is already trying to give me heart attacks by crawling up the stairs on her own. No, we did not teach her that, she figured it out by herself. And yes, tomorrow I'm off to the store to buy baby gates. That's another thing that gave me a heart attack. I had no idea how expensive those suckers are. She's pushing up to stand on her legs though she can't quite figure out what to do when she's up there. Everyone tells me she will not only be walking before her 1st birthday, but soon. Sigh. I'm really not ready for that. (Abby found a new use for the Exersaucer, above left.)

Food is our new pastime. She really L-O-V-E-S Cheerios. She would eat them all day long if I would let here. (she fell asleep eating them once, right) However, we found out that too many Cheerios causes some serious gas, which is is not a good thing in our already gas-y baby. She rather feed herself, and loves strawberries, cantaloupe, peas, pasta, chicken and hamburger. This girl can chow down.

She loves to "love" on her toys now, and is really in to hugging - at least with me and Joel. She does a whole arm wave, and has found her inner girly squeal. Abby will get right in your face and squeal as loud as she possibly can. I mentioned to Joel how loud she "talks," and he looked at me and said, "Well, honey, she's Latin." Hahaha. Yeah, us Smiths can be pretty loud, too, so I guess I better get used to it.

Abby really is a little Latina - she understands Spanish much better than English. She really responds when you say "Ven aquí" (Come here) and loves to play "¿Dónde está Abby?" (Where's Abby?) No teeth yet, and no "Mama" either, but I am getting a "Mmmmmm" when she's really upset and wants me.

April is looking to be busy as well. This weekend we have the Easter Egg Hunt at the Embassy, as well as Easter, of course. Next weekend we do the dreaded run to Aviano for more formula and diapers, then I have a scrapbooking party at my home, and Joel has a business trip for a few days at the end of the month. Maybe we'll slow down in May, but somehow I doubt it!

So, happy April to all of you!

Love,
Julie, Joel, and Abby

Mendez March Madness!

Hello All!

Isn't Abby "Adorable?"

Thank you to everyone who has already signed up with FeedBlitz so that the blog automatically goes into their in-box. (If you haven't, please do so at FeedBlitz) Also, you might want to check your "spam" area - I noticed there were several folks who are "in process" still (it doesn't let me see who), and I wouldn't want you to miss anything because the confirmation email when into your spam folder!

February flew by. Abby and I spent the first part of it sick as dogs. I finally know what real projectile baby puke looks like. Let's just say it's not pleasant. Some flu-like virus made its way around the embassy, and Abby and I were among the first to get it. I also threw my back out trying to hold her sitting up while she and I were sleeping, so I spent a couple days on some very nice anti-inflamatory muscle relaxers. Thankfully, she's doing fine now - she is in the 50th percentile on the growth chart, according to the regional doctor that came through. We will be going in again next week for another weigh-in and check up. She's eating very well, up to two or three servings of food a day. She likes mangoes, papayas, apricots, and just about everything we've tried so far. She's not a big fan of peas, but she will eat them. Next week we start on meat.

I'm back at writing the newsletter; which is going well. I met with the management at the embassy and we've worked it out to be much less stressful than it was before - yeay - and I've been given freedom to try some new things. So that's all good. I'm still plugging away at the Spanish classes. It's kindof frying my brain right now, but my teacher tells me I'm making progress. I'm still scrapbooking away, and am almost finished with the wedding album!

Abby's big news: SHE IS MOBILE. This month she is crawling EVERYWHERE. She's very good, too. Once she picks up speed I am going to be in such trouble. We've already had to rearrange our living room furniture and pile pillows around the TV so she will stop eating the power cords. (Right now she is trying to fit a monkey into her mouth all at once.) She will follow Puzza all around the house if I let her. I have to be very careful, because just this week Puzza has lost patience with her grabbing him and pulling out handfulls of fur. He swatted her one good time. Okay, she deserved it, but if he hadn't laid down right beside her she wouldn't have been tempted. So I'm constantly trying to keep them apart now, which is hard because she LOVES Puzza.

I know how he feels, she also loves to pull my hair. Ever heard the phrase, "being snatched bald?" Let me tell ya, it hurts.

Abby spent alot of time this month sticking her tongue out at everyone and everything. And when she gets tired she gets very lovey, like an affectionate drunk or something. She has to open-mouth slobber (I mean kiss) me, and then goes to Joel, and back to me, and back to Joel, and so on. It's fun, even if you end up covered in slime.

Okay, for all those who are sick of all the babytalk: we also went to Aviano this month and stocked up on everything (Abby loves grocery shopping, above left), and we've spent two Saturdays walking around downtown Zagreb and enjoying the nice weather. You guys in the US apparently stole all of our snow. We haven't had anymore at all. It's even supposed to get up to 68 degrees (F) next week. How crazy is that. It's almost already Spring, and we never even got any winter! Oh, and Joel and I had a baby-free day by ourselves too: we left Abby with the babysitter and went to a thermal spa (heated pool) and a nice lunch literally on top of this mountain. It was cool.

The other big thing this month was Fasnik. This is like Carnival or Mardi Gras for Croatians. They trick-or-treat at Fasnik, not Halloween, and they have to sing this Fasnik song before you are supposed to give them any candy. It was cute; the kids had mostly homemade costumes, with the occasional princess or freaky wig. Abby was absolutely fascinated.

Coming up in March: Joel's birthday, for which we are throwing a HUGE shindig at our house, more crawling and snuggling with Abby, learning more Spanish, that sort of thing.

Love,
Julie, Joel, and Abigail

PS. No teeth yet. No "mama" either.