Powder Room Door

We are in the beginnings of a blizzard.  I can hardly believe it.  Not a flake to be found so far this winter, and now, a full on blizzard, and not of the delicious Oreo variety, hee hee!

So, I walk in the door and what do I spy?  Why the cutest Papa adoration happening right before my very eyes, and it was not of the usual Hugo kind.  It was Miss Marlo adoring her Papa while *sitting* on a stair step like a big little girl.  Love her.  She was even swinging her feet back and forth while chirping away. 

Look at that cute flower clip in her hair.  It was amazing that she left it in for nearly 20 minutes.

Here she is, back to adoring her Papa's every move.

 In this shot she was saying something to me.  I'd love to share, but missed out on the translation myself...  One day soon we'll know all her thoughts and then some.  Can't wait.

Out of no where (or maybe the living room), Sabine showed up to adore her Papa right along with her big sister (I might have helped Sabine into position).  Look at Marlo eyeing up that drill.  Normally, she would have been all over it.  I began to wonder if she was stuck on her stair step.  For one so bold, she can be surprisingly tentative, like in progressing out of her particular physical position.

Marlo noticed me again and began to clap.  She loves it when I tell her she is a good girl!  Claps and claps her wee hands together.

Then Sabine looked at the camera, so I had to share.  They look so grown-up, sitting there like little birds on our stair steps.

And then the girls blinked at the same time and naturally, my mad photog skills caught it!

Sabine talking and Marlo showing off her mad clapping skills once more.  This girl loves to clap.

Eventually, Brave and Bold Sabine crawled off to find her bottle,  Marlo just couldn't keep her eyes off Papa.

Or was she really, truly, stuck?

The hanging of the door, after sooooo many years of not having a powder room door, was just so completely riveting, that it completely captured the attention of our 13 month old daughter for like... forever.

But then the door wouldn't shut.

Turns out it's off by a smidge.

We need to buy a band saw now.

So the door will close you know.

A powder room with a door that sorta closes and which has missing panes of see (blink) through (blink, blink) glass, is well, kinda sorta like a powder room with no door.

*Marlo was indeed stuck by the way.  I finally coaxed her to slide off her one stair step onto her padded bum all by herself.  Silly girl.

*I also must confess that it was my idea to reuse this glass paned door.  It used to lead out onto the veranda before we installed the doors in the arches last January.  I couldn't have the house part with them, we have a pair and I hope to think up a home for the second door.  Did I just hear my sweet husband curse my name???  I need some inspiration about the glass and the privacy issues.  Any ideas?

Hot and Miserable

Sunday found me to be hot and miserable. This sinus cold of mine is lingering and I am uncomfortable. We left church after sacrament so that I could rest. Cesar and Hugo watched baseball and played silly games on the couch. I tried to knit. I tried to sleep. I tried to be anything but the hot and miserable that I was.

Sheri and Paul needed their car battery charged and knocked at the door in search of tools for borrowing. We three ventured outside to the shed. The sunshine was beautiful. It reminded me of last August. How the summer days are quickly ticking by and I have hardly photographed any flowers. How with the late summer days slipping past last year, I feared and wondered what I might possibly take pictures of, or write about, with the approaching short, dark days of winter. This year, this August, I am happily lost in my missing calendar days. Can't wait for fall and it's exciting promises. I feel sorry for Hugo that he hasn't had as much pool time or playdate magic this summer as last. It has been the summer of the rain. I am so completely excited for this coming late fall and early winter to arrive! Oh, many rooms in the house need to be sorted, there are big purchases to be made and the ever expanding to-do list emptied, but I am excited. Our family is going to change so very, very much. I still can't hardly believe it's happening.

Our Hugo will be a big brother.

A women told me today, that he needed an "I'm a Big Brother" t-shirt. What came to my mind, was one of those "2 Sisters for Sale" shirts! I think it's more our Hugo's speed.

Hugo loves his Poppa.

I'm curious how the sharing of his Poppa will go. I wonder if Hugo and his Poppa will begin enjoying more alone time together while I stay at home with the girls. I'll miss our dump runs. Isn't that silly? Who would ever think that I'd miss a trip to the dump? But I will. We five wont fit in the truck all together until the kids are out of car seats. That's a looooong time from now!

I love my two boys. One tall and one short, both are strong and brave.

Here we three are this Sunday afternoon. The boys looking sunny and happy and I looking very much the hot and miserable that I feel. Yet inside, I feel very happily lost in the countdown to our expanding family. Can't wait!

Playdate Thursday

Our monsoon season held its breath long enough for us to enjoy a beautiful day at the park. Woo hoo! I am a person who likes rain but, boy oh boy, have we ever been experiencing rainy weather. Thoughts have been wandering through my mind of the possibility that we would never see the sun this summer, or experience any heat. Since I'm pregnant, the cool temps have been nice. On the other hand, I want to wear my cute maternity bathing suits! I've been all prepared for another summer at our kiddie pool but, I'm not sure if they are even opening this year. This morning calls were made and a trip to the park was planned while the sun shone.

We have missed this darling face! Amy and Hannah beat us to the park. Hugo could-not-wait for me to unbuckle him from his car seat so he could greet the girls! They ran up to us and hugged and helloed, it was very sweet.


Jan and Kenny soon arrived. We learned that their plans of traveling home to Korea have fallen through due to the swine flu scare. Sad for them, more friends for us!


The kids spied a Sheriff's speed boat pulling up to the dock. We all held hands and walked over to the cliff edge for a closer look. We waved and gawked and then ran back to the slides. Without our realizing it, the man who had been driving the boat followed close behind us. He produced a small bag from his pocket and began handing out Junior Deputy Sheriff's badges to the kids. Their grins stretched from ear to ear as one by one the mom's pinned on their new police badge.

Miss Amy and Hugo posed so sweetly together.

Who knew a sewer grate would offer up so much fun and occupy so very much of their attention? Tales were overheard of man eating crocodiles and sharks down in the hole. Have I mentioned the loveliness of my son's blossoming imagination? I love to listen in on his new make believe games and feed them with tales of bear hunts and other fun things while preparing for bedtime. Bear hunts before bedtime?? You might be thinking me mad but... My little boy believes we must be very, very quiet you see, so that the bear cannot hear us. We tip toe up the creaky stairs and talk only in hushed whispers with one another. We must change out of our stinky clothes and scrub our stinky teeth and empty our stinky bladders so that the bear cannot smell us. Last but not least, we must say our prayer and turn out the lights so that the bear cannot see us. It is a true simple pleasure and it works for my little boy.

The End

Rain, Rain and More Rain

Rain, rain go away, come again another day. I realize that it's spring but we have had a lot of rain lately. Seems as though it has rained about every other day for the past two weeks. The earth is loving it. My garden is coming alive with crocus, daffodils, tulips, pansies, johnny jump ups, iris, and the forsythia is budding. I need to divide and transplant flower beds this year but some sunshine would sure make the job much more enjoyable.

Hugo's birthday is around the corner and we would like to have a bar-b-que for our family and friends. I had been intending on delaying the festivities for a week or two in hopes of better weather. Two nights ago Cesar suggested that we host the party next weekend because his weekend looks free. I love the fact that his weekend looks free but now I feel a bit in panic mode that I wont be able to do all that I had in mind. Hugo is only going to be two, I wasn't planning on going crazy, promise. There are just a few details that I would like to make special, the invitation being one of them. My sister Millie gave me an idea for a circus tent invite. It even has a little, removable "admit one" ticket in a pocket on the front of the tent. I hope I can make the cake. It is a lion and the idea comes from Martha Stewart online. So cute, cute! And Hugo loves to roar like a fierce lion! We like to make little claw motions too. I could still make the invites this weekend but then our friends wont have any response time. Only show up and eat time ... if they don't already have plans.

Old Photos

We woke to a light sprinkling of rain this morning. Rodrigo and Annabelle didn't need any coaxing at all to go out and potty, thank heavens. Maybe two hours later I happened to glance out the window and low and behold, it was snowing! Massive, fluffy flakes were falling as quickly as they could past the window. I was completely surprised. Hugo was at my side, I lifted him up so we could talk about the snow. He loves to say the word snow, but it sounds about the same as his other fave, no. A bit stretched out on the o sound. I dialed up Cesar but no snow was falling in Manhattan. He suggested I take Hugo out to play but we were already preparing for friends to come over. Then as quickly as it appeared, the snow returned to rain. The decision was made for us. We would remain indoors for the day.

The photos I am sharing are both from last week. The first was Sunday, Easter afternoon. We were at Cesar's parents in Providence. It was Hugo's first egg hunt and he was a natural. He passed up containers of bubbles, pixie stixs, chocolate bunny suckers and Old Maid cards I had randomly strewn in the grass. His only interest was the egg. He had no idea that there happened to be candy and small toys tucked inside. He simply wanted the eggs. All colors, any color, it didn't matter. Just eggs. Joining in on the hunt were two of his older Baptista cousins, Charles and Sofia. They were both super in making sure that Hugo had fun and had plenty of eggs in his basket. Very nice. My second photo was taken this past Thursday in our yard. I chose this to share because my son looks so free to me and that all is possible for him. The world is within his reach. I think the life trick here, is that as he matures, we must remember to not get in his way so much.

Sunshine

The sun shone down upon us today which encouraged Hugo and I to play outdoors all day. How nice! Only one small puddle was left for Master Hugo to jump in and yet he still managed to go through three pairs of pants and two pairs of socks. He was simply a disaster by the time Cesar came home.

It wasn't all play outdoors for me. It was yard work disgusied as play for Hugo which in turn, became play for me. I always forget how exciting those first few spring days can be while working in the yard. The winter winds and snow were very hard on the trees this year. Large limbs to small branches and twigs were everywhere. Our cedars and lilacs sustained the most damage. I thought I would rake a small area of new grass free of a light covering of burnt orange pine needles, pine cones and other debris. I ended up raking the grass, flower beds, a portion of the gravel driveway, the grass in front of our house and two brick staircases. I made Cesar walk the yard with me so that I could toot my own horn loud and proud! Now I need a good, long soak in a hot tub.

Our Rainy Day

Today is a pajama day. Outside the rain is coming down and the chill goes to my bones as I open the door for the dogs. I have to use my mean voice to get Bella to venture out past the waterfall that is pouring from the roof. We have no gutters. She quickly pees and tries to run back inside without my noticing but I'm on to her naughty girl dog ways. I know she has yet more business to finish out there. Rodrigo on the other hand takes his sweet natured time leaving me to shiver in the half opened doorway.

I wish that today really would be a pajama day but no, it is Playdate Friday. One of the mothers called around yesterday to make sure we were all coming. We meet at our church during the cold of winter and on rainy summer days too. There is a gymnasium inside where the children can ride on toys, holler, play tag, holler,and toss balls around while yet hollering somemore. They eat their lunch in the gym. Sometimes they will eat their lunch. Usally they check out what all their friends have got and never eat a drop their own mother prepared for them. You know how the grass is always greener ... I wonder if we should'nt simply set up a "food table" where we could orderly dump all the lunches for the kids. Cheese sticks in one area, fruit in another, then sandwiches, and yogurt, cracker jacks, Pirate Booty, cookies, etc could round it all up at the end. Oh, we would also need a spot for their tippy cups and juice boxes. I suppose with that effort the children would then want what had been theirs to begin with!