Ethan and Isabeli

Sister´s night out

It was so much fun hanging out with my sisters, her guys and my guy! haha We went to this restaurant/bar that I have been a fan of for more than 10 years, called Divina Gula. The food is TDF and they have the best Caipirinha in the world! Caipirinha, is a brazilian drink made out of Vodka, lime juice, lots of ice and sugar...they blend it all in the blender and it comes to the table looking more like ice cream! Ahhh so yummy! I can´t have enough of it! Ah! I also had a shot of cachaca with honey (Divina Gula´s speciality!)... Cachaca is an alcoholic beverage made in Brazil and it´s 80% proof... so good but so strong my eyes got all watery! And no...I did not get drunk or had a hang over the next day. Eating while drinking takes care of that! I am not too much into drinks, but Champagne and Caipirinha are my weak spot!

It was so much fun... Being able to go out with friends and family WITHOUT KIDS is one of the things I miss the most about here (not to mention the food and the drinks and the music...). John enjoys it here too and his portuguese is so good... everyone comments on that. He is able to talk to everyone on his own and understand what they say and vice versa.  I am so proud of him! As for the kids, you might be wondering... My parents enjoy having them to themselves and it´s so cute... they lie down on the ground with them, my dad crawls around after isabeli and Ethan and my mom spoils them by making the food they love and watching their shows with them and singing and dancing... Isabeli is so adorable...every time she hears a beat (any beat!) she dances and claps and giggles. Too cute!

I can´t wait to have my parents home with us for a while! There is so much I want to show them (specially my dad, since my mom went last year and we were able to go places and enjoy a whole 45 days together!) This time it will be a little shorter. My dad is a doctor and was only able to take 30 days off. So we will have to rush and get a lot done in a very short of time. We leave to visit Virginia, Pensylvania and NY on the 12th of september... yah...like a said, a lot to see in a VERY short of time!  It´s never enough, is it?

Just us

John and I had an amazing time at a resort, just the 2 of us last week. We haven´t had a time for ourselves for 5 years! Damn...that´s a long time! It was like a second honeymoon. The resort was incredible! And all for ourselves! No one else was there (as this is off season and the weather wasn´t great). The food was so yummy, so fresh and made for us at the time we ordered(whatever we ordered!)... we were treated like celebrities and were able to relax and forget about the world outside that resort for a couple of days! The kids stayed with my parents and Amelia, who were so sweet offering to watch them for us. Here are some of the images I captured while there...

This is the view from the balcony of our room:

I love this picture...it´s rare for us to get a picture together, so I brought to tripod with us...haha

We played a lot of pool... we are definatelly not pros, but we had a great time and laughd a lot!

There were monkey around when it was time to eat... The cook was so used to them. He gave them bananas and they stayed by the kitchen eating them. So cute!

Can you say VACATION!?

Just a cake...

...to celebrate Isabeli´s birthday! It was a rainy and windy night...but we decided to get together and sing happy birthday to our precious little princess. She wasn´t in a good mood and it was a school night so my family just stopped by to say hello and give her a kiss and a hug. I took a few pictures, but with the lack of good lighting, I just did a few snapshots to capture the gorgeous cake my aunt made for her(from scratch!). Isn´t she an artist?

We are complete again...

...coz daddy is here!! He arrived around 5 pm yesterday and we are so excited to have him and be able to spend 2 weeks with him here, together with my family!

I will post a couple of pictures from the airport and a video of Isabeli when she first saw him again...it was too funny! She just stared at him all the way home... haha poor thing!

Download 100_0396.MOV

On his way!

My husband is on his way here to meet us! It took him a little longer than we thought but he is almost here! I just got a call from him from the Rio international airport and he has gone through customs, gotten his bags, done check in with the other airline and is patiently waiting to board and then finally see us! It´s been so long...I confess I´ve got butterflies in my tummy! hehe :) Ethan is beyond excited... He can´t wait to see his daddy! He was so bummed that he didn´t arrive yesterday as he was supposed to. His flight got canceled in Dallas and he had to stay overnight! Flying nowadays is an adventure isn´t it? When is this situation gonna be under control? What is taking our governmentS  (because same situation is happening in Brazil too!) soo long to get it figured out? Don´t know if you remember but that happened to me too on my way here...our flight got canceled after waiting 10 hours in the boarding area... We still haven´t heard from the airline about our complaints! And I am sure we never will... as there were so many other people in our exact situation!

I found a great site and wanted to share with you: http://www.flyersrights.com/ 

If you have some time, check it out! I have just read and signed the online petition:
"Airline Passenger Bill Of Rights" hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition service, at: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/airline/

I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might agree, too.  If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider signing yourself.

Here is the latest picture of my darlings! :) Patiently waiting for their daddy to give him some "snuggles". :)

How can this be? Como pode?

Isabeli is 1! How is this even possible? It seems she was just born yesterday!! My baby girl is 1 year old! She is beautiful, so smart, so independent...

My sweety! You mean the world to me! You, your brother and your dad are my dream come true...you are the family I have always wanted to have when playing with my barbies. I dreamed of you 3...so hard that it became reality!

Happy birthday! We will have a great weekend ahead of us with the arrival of your papa!  So much to celebrate! I love you more than all the stars in the sky!

Here is us the day she was born!

And here is us today!

Isabeli faz 1 aninho hj! Como e que pode? Parece ate que ela nasceu ontem! Minha menininha ja tem 1 aninho!  Ela e tao linda, tao inteligente, tao independente...

Minha docinho! Vc significa o mundo p/ mim! Vc, seu irmao e seu pai sao meu sonho que virou realidade...vcs sao a familia que eu sempre queria ter nas minhas brincadeiras de barbie. Eu sonhei vcs 3...tao forte que virou realidade!

Feliz aniversario! Nos teremos um fim de semana maravilhoso pela frente com a chegada de seu papa! Tanto que celebrar! Eu te amo mais que todas as estrelas no ceu!

Amelia

My sister Amelia arrived from Virginia last thursday! We are all so excited that we will be complete next saturday when John arrives! My whole family together again after so many years! Time to celebrate! :) And take many pictures!

We have some stuff scheduled already and one of them that both John and I are really looking forward to is a couple of days in this resort. http://www.casacaiadapousada.com.br/   For once I don´t feel stressed out thinking about being away from my kids. I know they will be safe and sound with my mom and Amelia(not to mention my dad, Grayson and Nina) taking care of them. I always freak out when I have to be away from them... but John and I need a mini vacation too! :) And it´s not that far...we can come home if they need us to.

Well, only 6 more days until John is here! Ethan has his own calendar that reads " Days until daddy arrives". He started on the 1st of august so numbers go from 1 to 11. Everyday when he wakes up, he marks one more day off. Thn he comes to me and tell me how many days until daddy arrives. He is beyond excited!

Toothfairy stopped by one more time!

Yup! She did...and Ethan is so excited about it!

He was all quiet sitting on the couch one rainy afternoon and I came close to give him "snuggles". I asked what happened and he sounded like daddy saying "nothing". Ok then... So I returned to the computer to finish proofing. Two seconds later I hear Ethan " I think my other tooth is loose!" When I went to see it...OH MY! There was already a tooth growing behind the one that was still there. Gee...what now!? The tooth he lost when we first got here was already being replaced by a beautiful sparkly-white permanent one (SO CUTE!)... I told him we could try wiggling the loose one until it came out (off?? reminder here...English is my second language!!), but he said " No mom, can you get it out(off?)?" LOL I freaked out! "no way" I said... I was shaking just thinking about it....lol You know that feeling when you scratch your nails against a chalkboard? irrrrrrrrkkkkk Yup...that one! I HATE IT! That was the feeling that came over me when he asked me to pull his tooth out. ahhhhhhh!

To make this long story short... I got a string...and you know the rest! He was totally fine! (I sure wasn´t! But had to show him I was ok! haha)

He is so excited and can´t wait to show these pictures to his friends! So, Gabi, Connor, Adam, Isabella, Luke, Aalyiah, Colton, Justin, Patrick, Dakotta, Noah, Madison, Sammy, Marea, Sydney, Dan...... here is the new Ethan!