Moved!

So far everything has gone on schedule! The movers packed up everything in our house then waited until the morning to drive to Rio and start unloading into our new place.

When the movers showed up, all two of them, they were pretty pissed at how much stuff we had. Despite several attempts to have the company do an evaluation of our house before the move, the company insisted they knew what they were doing. Poor guys, I would be so made at my employer. Two more guys showed up late in the day to help move all the packed boxes to the truck. Good thing since our elevator was broken again (thank god we are moving from the money pit).

Total time to pack up our apartment and pack the boxes in the truck was a little over 12 hours. Makes for a long day for the movers!

Our stuff in the new place!

The last items on the list include SKY cable and internet with NET which both have already shown up on time. SKY let us bring our old cable boxes to the new place and is being set up now. NET, which boasts fast internet than what we previously had and is cheaper, seems to be having problems setting up our router. No worries. I am just soooo happy our stuff made it on time and that both service companies showed up when they said that they would.

The cable is working!!

Life is great in Barra.

Nate will be flying in Houston this Sunday for meetings then fly into Tulsa on next Saturday and will stay in the US until mid January when we both will go back to our new home in Barra Rio!! Yeah- cannot wait!!!

Tchau,

Sara

Christmas Card

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Coming to your mailbox soon!

Tchau,
Sara

4 Month Photo Shoot

Where did my little Belle go? She really is so amazing. The past two night she started sleeping through the night. Her bedtime is around 630 but sometimes 7 and sometimes 6. She wakes up once to eat and then wakes up for the day around 630 or 7 am. It's completely ok with me since I get a 6 hour stretch somewhere in the night!! I know that maybe it won't last and that's ok because I am soooo refreshed right now!

I was talking to my mom the other day and sometimes when you hold her you just want to squeeze her so tight because you love her so much! It's like in Of Mice and Men when he kills the rabbit. Of course I won't harm Belle ever but just to give you an idea of how huggable she is!

What she is doing these days:

She isn't on any sort of schedule these days. When she is hungry she eats and when she is tried she sleeps. The hard part comes in play when I try to read her cues.

Usually her feeding is every 2 1/2 hrs to 3 hrs

Her sleep is about every 2hrs of awake time but she has started to tolerate longer periods of being awake without fussing.

She watches everything you do and stares intently at you when your eating

She drools so much that I have to change her outfit!

She blows raspberries all the time and then laughs.

I can get her to belly laugh by tickling her tummy

We read together and she helps turn the pages... well she really just wants to put them in her mouth

She can grab things with more purpose that before

Her hair is getting thicker and blonder

That seems to be about it for now. Everyday I feel that she is growing so fast and I can't imagine how much Nate will be amazed at her growth. He should be coming into town next Saturday to be with us until mid January! He will get some good daddy time in then. I can't wait to see her smile ear to ear when he gets here. Gosh I miss that boy! Only one more week and a couple of days!

Tchau,

Sara

Thumb

Let the thumb sucking begin! She hasn't taken a pacifier in weeks but she is almost replacing it with her thumb :)

Turns out her dad did the same thing when he was little. I hope this helps her soothe herself if she gets upset!

Tchau,
Sara

More Tummy Time

This is what tummy time has turned into :) Lots of confused looks and acts of swimming.... no rolling

One day soon she will be mobile and I will be chasing her around the house. Until then I am going to enjoy the quiet moments!

Tchau,

Sara

Mistakes

Being back in the US after being in Brazil there are some mistakes that I generally make all the time! Here is a list of the top 5:

1. Right after I land I head to the Starbucks. Not necessarily for the coffee but for the 'to go' convenience. Anyway I have the hardest time pronouncing Grande and Vente in Italian... I pronounce it in Portuguese (Granjeee and Venchee) then get a crazy look. Now I have just started saying medium and large to avoid the confusion on both sides.

2. Drive like I own the road and rules don't apply. This always happens when I go to make a turn and I squeeze into the lane with the person. Usually results in 'what the f*^&' looks from people and luckily not a ticket. I am waiting for the day to come though.

3. Forget the name of Diet Coke and ask for a Coke Light instead and then tell the waiter Obrigada (Thank you) while continuing to look at my menu. Ooops. Wait for it. Wait for it. OK realize that the waiter is still standing at the table waiting for a real answer to his question. 

Which leads me into number

4. Talk in Portuguese to all service workers.... not a shining moment. I am so used to speaking Portuguese to everyone except my husband and a few close friends. All strangers get thrown into this category but the service workers get the brunt of my mistakes.

5. After I get over trying to use Portuguese all the time I switch to non-stop English. I talk everyone's ear off. I know when this happens cause I will wake up the next morning with a sore throat! Ahhhh dinner with friends is miserable the next day!!

What are so mistakes you make when you land in your home country? Please tell me I am not the only loose screw out there!

Tchau,

Sara

Apartment Update

Today Nate should be picking up the keys to our place and signing the contract!! We have also nailed down the movers to pack up our stuff at the end of the week and move it by the weekend. Fingers crossed that all this really gets done as scheduled.

I hate not being there to help but then again what would I do?

Tchau,
Sara

Rollin Rollin Rollin....

Get those dogies rollin :) ahhh my baby girl finally rolled from back to front.... and I missed it... three times!!

I put her on her play mat to take a shower and when I got out she was on her tummy. Then I put her back on her back and decided to just watch her out of the corner of my eye to see if she would again. Of course she did but I glanced away for one second.

After a week of watching her like a hawk, because I knew that it was coming, she goes and does it with out me.

I guess the first of many. Now she is taking her rolling and moving to the crib with her. I fear that I this will be another reason for my sleepless nights! I am thankful that she is putting herself to sleep for naps though and actually staying asleep.

Where did my baby go? I need another one :)

Tchau,
Sara

Belle and Her Skirt

What she looks like when she wears a skirt...

Hey everyone look at my diaper!

 What she should look like!!

My hand just doesn't taste as good without my skirt.

Ahhhh- Nate wants me to start correcting her on this one!! She can do it for now but when she starts school she will need to stop :)

Tchau,

Sara

Belle's Play Mat

I hesitate to buy too much for Belle since we are only going to be here a couple of months and we won't be able to take everything back with us. This play mat has turned out to be amazing! She loves everything about it and even started to cry when the music went out one day. 

She get soooo much holding time that I am afraid the doctor will wonder why she can't roll over yet. Well, she has gone from tummy to back but now that she likes tummy time she just stays there. I am working with her to roll from back to front. She gets half way there and sort of stops. 

So much to look at- Mom your going to give me seizure! 

What to grab at next?

I see you :)

Her famous half roll.

Mid roll she notices her hands which I thought she already found. Guess not.

Fascinated with both hands! 

Half rolling the other way.

She is just so happy!!

Hope everyone had a great week!! 

Tchau,

Sara