A final good-bye to my dear ABUELITA AURITA

Sophia and I just returned from our trip to Bogota, Colombia this past Sunday. It was a trip mixed with joy and sadness, due to the fact that we had to say good bye to my grandmother, Aurita. She was very sick, and what started with Alzheimer's, ended with countless infections and a very rough last couple of days. I still am very thankful to God for giving me the chance to see her before she passed away. She was such a wonderful human being, one to admire and follow by example. I only have good memories of her; all filled with endless love and devotion to her family. Hens that in the midst of her final good byes to her, my brother and I were so blessed to share with all our family the impeccable being that she was. It was a mix of tears and laughs, as we celebrated her life, and cried her death. My prayers will always be heard by her, now that she's finally resting in peace, by the side of the love of her life, my grandfather Efrain. God bless you both, always.

Welcoming family from New Orleans

Last Sunday, Dave's family from New Orleans was evacuated due to the unwanted visit of Hurricane Gustav. We had five of them stay at our house, and 6 others stayed with my in-laws and sister in law. It was unexpected, but it was welcoming. I actually hadn't seen them since my sister-in-law's wedding back in 2002! So, it was very nice to see them again. None of them had met Sophia, of course, and she was over herself with the amount of attention she got from everyone. 

It was a bit odd because Dave and I had been planning to go visit them this labor day weekend... well, we cancelled due to the hurricane, and they came to us. I am very happy no major damage was done to the city of New Orleans (at least, nothing even close to Katrina three years ago), and that they were able to return safely to their homes. Plus, I'm very glad Sophia got to meet more family, who were wonderful and sweet to her throughout. Dave's aunt, Fay, is actually very sick, and we got to see her as well. 

Sophia and her friend, Cooper

Cooper and Sophia are only 2 days apart (Sophia was born April 2nd, Cooper on the 4th), and they are soooo cute together! Also, the gender difference is so apparent between the two! Sophia is all girl, and Cooper is all boy... Last weekend they had a chance to interact and play together, and us parents had a blast just watching them.

Here are some pics to show how much they liked each other! By the way, Cooper is such a sweet and happy little boy; he kept trying to hug Sophia, but she ended up falling because he hugged her so tight and strongly! He just couldn't help himself... he is so cute.

So much fun, such good friends

This past weekend, we had the pleasure to host our friends in our new house! Dave and I were so happy to welcome Natalia one of my best friends from Colombia, and Patrick, Stephanie and Cooper Kisgen to stay with us. It was a wonderful couple of days! The Kisgens stayed only the weekend (hopefully next time they can stay longer!), and Natalia stayed through thursday. Saturday we had a dinner party and more friends arrived; Tony and Tasha, Daniel, my in-laws, Thomas and Jen, and Stephanie's parents joined us to eat a delicious meal Dave and Dianne prepared. We ate BBQ chicken, jumbalaya, and potato salad... yumm! It was awesome, like always. Can't complain, my husband cooks incredible!

Unfortunately, the weather was horrible! All the rain that didn't fall in the summer, came this past five days! So, we had to improvise a little. We did take Natalia to the GA Aquarium, Coca-Cola museum, art Museum, and the Mall and Ikea for some shopping. All in all, it was a lot of fun! Wish good times didn't go by so fast! We feel very lucky to have such great friends and we look forward to welcoming them and others again into our home.

NEW HORIZONS

AS Sophia gets older, I have been going crazy thinking what kind of job I can do when she's ready to start school, and that will allow me to raise our second kid (Not sure yet when he or she will make an appearance). Well, after going through some major depressive stages (not really, but...) I have decided I will start one of my dream careers... I am working hard to become a Children and Family Photographer.  I occurred to me this is something I've been longing to do ever since I got my first film camera, probably when I was ten years old. And now, my poor computer is about to blow because I have over 7000 pictures, most of which are Sophia's. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on regarding professional picture-taking, and have been studying hard on how to start my own business. It's been a dream of ours to have our own business, and I am lucky to have the most supportive husband of all. My family has been extraordinary as well, and with my brother's design talent, I think we can really pull this off! 

Hereis one of the photos I've taken of Sophia; keep in mind, this was taken in full manual settings, and I was understanding everything that appears in the bottom of the camera's screen! This is a huge accomplishment for me, and I am very excited to keep this dream going. Will keep you posted on my progress. 

The start of 2008's second half

Wow, it's crazy to think just how fast this year has gone by. I've been a stay-at-home mom for almost 9 months now, and I've had a blast spending all this time with Sophia, watching her grow and become her own little person. Dave and I were musing yesterday about how much we adore her; she has such a fun and outgoing personality, and every day she discovers something new and wonderful about the world around her. 

She loves her Baby Einstein DVDs, specially the sign language ones, which by the way, she's learned quite well! Since I speak to her in spanish most of the time, and Dave does the english, she has found sign language to be a much better form of communication than those other two complex languages. She signs ball, milk, tree, daddy, flower. Spoken words, she says Daddy more clearly than anything else, "wuau wuau" (dog), duck, ya (now), and she makes funny sounds to indicate what she wants, for example "Mmmm" meaning food or strawberries, her favorite fruit, and "grrrr" which means lion.

She runs all over the house, loves her Nana and Grandad's house, and gets so excited when she hears the computer ring because her Abuelitos are waiting on the other side of the screen.

She is the most wonderful little girl and we thank God every day for her. 

Here is a picture I took of her on Friday, when she decided to lay on the floor and laugh hysterically at me. 

Sophia turns 16 months!!!

By Popular Demand, here are the Latest pictures of our house and Sophia

We've become part of the Iphone-crazy generation!

Yesterday, Dave and I subdued to the iphone craziness that's taken over America! And believe me, it's all worth it... this little piece of technology is just amazing. It's basically a little computer in the palm of your hands. We have so much to learn about it still, and I'm sure it will give us much to do on our free time  :)

Our brand new blog!

Ok, so thanks to Stephanie, I am now going to try and post this blog with updates, pictures, etc. This is my first, so I'm just trying it out! Hopefully the second one will be better.

I'm excited about this! Thanks again Steph for the idea. I hope I can keep up with it.  :)