Backside

I have a feeling these are going to be the only photos I can get of Belle for awhile. She is working out non stop!

Turns out Belle had an ear infection so now she is antibiotics and feeling much better.

I am off to Dallas today for a bachelorette party and Nana gets to watch little one while I am away. I am going to miss the stinker!!

Tchau,
Sara

Flight Home

Well I made it.... barely. No time to write about the horrifying experience. I seriously might have post traumatic stress syndrome.... really. It was that bad.

8 Month Photo Shoot

Forgot to post this the other day!! This was probably the most challenging photoshoot and I wish that I had a studio for her to run around in with perfect lighting :) So here are some of the good the bad and the ugly!

Love her teethy smile.

Look what I can do!

Love tipping over her basket of toys :)

Crawling toward mom... well the flowers. 

More interested in pulling up trying to stand.

Sitting on dad's shoulders and grabing onto his hair like handles.

Probably the best photo I have of her next to her Winnie.

Tchau,

Sara

Book Time

Belle reading with her daddy. Reading is the only time that she will sits still these days. She loves the books that have peek a boo flaps or little texture spots. Now she is at the age where she wants to turn the pages but doesn't really understand that my voice goes along with the book. She also loves the voice recording book she got from her ggma and ggpa for Christmas. Reading time only ends when she starts to eat the pages! I will be bringing books on the flight to hopefully calm her down a little bit. Maybe she will love the tv?? Fingers crossed!

Tchau,
Sara

Back to One Maid

Well I finally got the guts to fire the extra maid! I ended up having to do it in person since my plan to fire her over a text message backfired because I realized she leaves her work clothes at my house :( She didn't really take it to well even though I paid her for an extra day and a little bit more for the dentist she needed to see. No screaming and yelling but no goodbye when she left the house either.

I feel bad because she really does need a job but honestly she sucked and I would have fired her anyway. Today was her third day and she was asking to leave early.... again. Whatever. Nate liked her because she didn't move his flip-flops to the closet where they belong but left them by the door.

Off to go pack. I leave for the US in two days. More on that later if I can ever get my eye to stop twitching due to nerves about flying solo with Belle.

Tchau,
Sara

Dogs in the Mall

In the mall closest to our house the allow dogs to be everywhere. They even allow them on the elevators! It's so crazy to see everyone walking their little yapper inside. Only in Brasil!

Tchau,
Sara

Got Mail!

We got mail!! Grandma sent me two things- a postcard, which brings me back to the days my brother and I would wait for the mail to see if we have a new one waiting for us, and a letter. She sent the postcard out on March 21st and the letter on March 27th... We received them both on the same day :) April 5th.

I guess I could have been sooner since I didn't check the mail this week but I am would trust the latter time over an early one.

Love getting mail and I am so glad that we live in Rio now where the mail is a little bit more reliable! Now I just need to figure out how to send you all mail :)

Tchau,
Sara

Jammy Day

Belle's new jammies are so cute that I didn't want to change her out of them this morning! 

We have made the switch from the footied onsies to the 2 piece separate because she is just too long! These are 12 months and seem to work great with a little room to grow :)

Tchau,

Sara

Tale of Two Maids

Would you clean this up? or pay someone else too.... exactly why I pay someone :)

Right now I am in the process of trying to find someone who is great cleaning the house and great with Belle. I know, I know I am ridiculous but being in a random country with zero family takes a toll! Not to mention no dishwasher, less than average washer/dryer, everything molds, and having to make all my own baby food.

Needless to say I am exhausted just keeping up with Belle and all her meals. It seems that she likes a food for one minute but then hates it the next. Then one minute she wants to feed herself and the next she wants me to feed her. I can't win right now! I pull stuff out of the fridge at the speed of light just trying to find something she will like. By then end of the meal it's like a bomb went off....

In Brazil maids and nannies are entitled to benefits when they work more than two days for someone. This means that when we have someone working for us we will be supporting all the health benefits, retirement, sick pay, sick days, holidays, and paid vacation. These are some of the reasons we hesitated on hiring someone full time. Turns out the more we looked into the subject we found that you spend less to have a maid everyday than you would for just 3 days.

I found a girl that I liked to come and work for us but it turns out she can't work 5 days a week which is what I wanted. Well I found another girl to come in so I could see if I liked her... without firing the other maid. Then it turns out that I don't really like her and I would rather have the number 1 maid work 4 days for me than not at all.

What a mess.

This week the two different maids are cleaning my house while I delicately tiptoe around the hiring and firing. Not really speaking Portuguese leaves both women up for confusion.

Toady though I made the decision to hire Number 1 maid, Rosa, and fire the number 2 maid which has only worked for me once and who thinks that she will be working for me full time. During my talk with Rosa today she is absolutely thrilled to be working for me :) and she loves loves loves Belle. Now I have two days to figure out how I am going to gently fire the other girl... oh my.

Do I fire her at the beginning of the day? The middle? The end? Oh crap.... what have I done! See what little sleep does to me. I bet that none of you feel sorry for me one bit. I don't blame you at all because I judge myself as well. I find it hard to believe that I have a maid full time yet I really can't find the time to shower everyday. Sleep when the baby sleeps so when does the shower come in?? Just sayin.

Well off to sleep while I can and hope that Belle has a good night. Last night was another war zone with her waking every two hours. Poor girl.

Tchau,
Sara

Can Belle Catch a Break?

A decent post is long overdue but I am seriously hanging by a thread! Belle is more mobile than ever and with all the teething, she has been doing little sleeping. Last night was the worst night in the past month and we were up every two hours. I actually fell asleep holding her in the rocker which I haven't done since she was first born! Finally the top left tooth is coming in and it's giving Belle quite a bit of pain. She also started to get a little stuffy nose :( which makes life even more difficult for her and me!

I just keep saying life will get back to normal once the teething is done but what is normal these days? I should just be going with the moment because nothing is normal or ever will be!

Normal these days:
Belle doesn't sleep through the night anymore and usually has at least one waking in the middle of the night for a little comfort or ibuprofen. She wakes up really early around 5am and sometimes even earlier.... no matter what time I put her to bed these things don't change.

She is very clingy and just overall hurting. For the month she now has 7 teeth and the 8th is working it's way out. I just feel so bad for her and there is nothing that I can do really. I give her frozen things to chew on which helps for an hour or so, oralgel for babies she hates, the natural teething tablets don't seem to touch her, and ibuprofen I can only give so much of. One thing I have yet to try are the amber teething necklaces that supposedly have analgesic properties... unfortunately you can't buy them in Brazil so I will just have to wait for my next visit home in two weeks. By then maybe she will have all of her teeth!

Tchau,
Sara