Week Thirty-Four . . .

Week 34 brought a quick visit from Pablo's sisters who really loved rubbing my big belly and got all giggly when they felt him move!


And yes, I know the following photo is horrible quality. But what do you expect from a half-in-the-bag tourist with really thick glasses stumbling out of a nearby restaurant? She was the best we could do to get our photo taken, and really, at first she was so confused she thought we wanted to take a photo of her. Ummmm, we probably should have known right them that this kodak moment would not be captured well. Nevertheless, here we are in the Marina before Claudia and Lupe took off on Wednesday evening!


And of course, our 34-week appt this morning. All is well (at least on the inside). I have a few complaints on the outside but I suppose that is normal as the end nears! We've got a name all picked out (Daniel and David, no telling!!!!) and we're on wedding break until March so I've got the next month and a week to do my best to get ahead with work so the spring Craze (14 weeks of weddings in a row!) will be as easy on us as possible with a new little one around the house!


Soph seems to be taking this all in stride, and we just hope that her easy-going-ness continues once the little guy comes home! We keep telling her that all her grandparents are coming soon to play with her (so hoping they ignore the new baby for at least a while so Soph actually thinks we were telling the truth!) As long as she has sand toys/dollhouse/hopscotch/puzzles/books, etc. she seems to occupy herself quite well, so hoping that continues!

Thirty-three weeks!

Lots to update on - Christmas, New Years and so much more (including um, embarrassingly, photos from our trip home last summer). But my protruding stomach doesn't really allow me to ignore the fact that these photos are like a ticking time bomb (with only a little over a month left to go!)

While I was home for Christmas, I received lots of comments about how my stomach didn't appear to be 30 weeks prego. Well, no fear my concerned loved ones, in the last two weeks my tummy has exploded. I think it has grown by the day. Literally. So here you go - at thirty-three weeks!

Thanksgiving 2010

We celebrated Thanksgiving a day late, but the date difference didn't make it any less special and fun! A small group of friends came over and we feasted on turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, all the trimmings and pumpkin pie! (For the record, I've never liked pumpkin pie in my entire life, but this year, I ate about four pieces - not that anyone's counting - and then mayyyybe one more for breakfast. I'm not 100% sure if all of a sudden pumkin pie is great or perhaps I never actually tried it before but just looked at it and assumed I wouldn't like it. Maybe it is pregnancy taste buds (do those exist?) or it could have just been this specific pumkin pie. But it tasted like pure heaven.) Anyhoo, anyone who makes a killer pumpkin pie is definitely welcome to try it out on me! We can test my theories above and find out if my newfound love of pumkin pie continues or if it was just a one-time-thing!

After we were all stuffed, a Wii bowling tournament ensued - with the adults cheering, the "middle kids" playing and the youngest just kind of screaming and jumping around from all the excitement!

Twenty-six weeks and counting!

We had an appointment yesterday with my ob and brought home some very sketchy looking photos of our soon-to-be-new-baby! While I very clearly can pick out the head, nose and spinal cord, the rest is really a great big blur! Nevertheless, I happen to have a dad who knows how to spot the littlest detail on these things, so for his viewing pleasure (and that of anyone within a few feet of him to whom he can be a know-it-all and explain all the blur) - a few shots from our ultrasound yesterday! (And apologies in advance for the discoloration. I was too lazy to scan and just photographed the images; my lighting was not the best off the shiny glaring ultrasound paper!)





And a few photos of the transformation of what used to be Sophia's room and now will be a shared room (until either they are too big to share a room or Pablo and I figure out how to fit a growing family into a static home)!





And here was a little surprise we found on top of Sophia's closet as we cleaned away! Wonder how long we've shared our home with him? He was NOT happy to be evicted!


The room is just about done as we've gotten even more completed in the last day or two (since these photos were taken) so stay tuned, and we'll post more photos soon!

Life's Quirks

Back in the day . . . (and by that I mean about two and a half years ago), grocery shopping took under an hour. And that was groceries for a week. With a few extras thrown in from the fun accessories/house/plant/makeup aisles of Walmart.

Today . . . (and by that I mean this past Sunday), grocery shopping took about two and a half hours. No special treats. Not even a gander at the accessories/house/plant/makeup aisles.

I usually am a fan of Walmart, however, they have possibly made shopping MORE difficult and time-consuming (which results in LESS purchases as I leave sans the fun stuff from the accessories/house/plant/makeup aisles) when they introduced to my world the MINI SHOPPING CART.


Aaaaah, the good ole days when the only carts were for big people.

Day of the Dead 2010

This was the first year we celebrated Day of the Dead with Sophia. In past years, she just seemed too young to really understand (and frankly, when something isn't necessary around here during high wedding season, it sometimes just doesn't get done!) This year, though, we spent so much time with her Halloween party, trick-or-treating and pumkin-carving, that Pablo and I both really wanted to make sure to dedicate some time to the November 2nd Mexican celebration of Day of the Dead.


This day, if witnessed in some of the more colonial cities in Mexico, is truly amazing! (Puerto Vallarta, being so Americanized does about 70% Halloween and 30% Day of the Dead, so in order for Soph to really learn about it, we have to make sure and honor the day at home.) On November 2nd, families build little "altars" in their homes and on the streets in dedication of their loved ones who have passed away. It isn't a cult-type altar - haha - we aren't trying to bring them back - it is just a special day to remember them and honor their lives. The altars can become really elaborate (for those who have loooots of time on their hands)! Ours was simple but Sophia was really excited about it, so I'm glad we did it with her!

On our little altar, we placed a photo of my Jung Grandparents and photos of Pablo's grandparents who have all passed away. The only picture missing was a photo of my Dad's dad who died when he was a teenager, but well, that was before digital times and no photo was easily available to email. (Will need to work ahead on that for next year!)


We hung papel picado (decoratively cut tissue paper) around the edge of the altar and decorated with bright flowers and a hanging calavera (dancing skeleton) mobile. Soph also brought home from school a calavera head "worksheet" decorated with glitter yesterday, so that also got hung proudly next to the altar. Last but not least, a Pan de Muertos, famous all over Mexico in early November. This is a sweet bread that is only made for this particular day!



(Soph was quite frankly very interested in the Pan de Muertos and thought her finger should be permanently placed in the sugar coating.)




Oh, and this morning when Soph woke up to find the Pan de Muertos missing from the altar, she assumed that the grandparents had eaten it all up! (And they hadn't even shared with her - which brought tears and a minor meltdown. Whatever will happen when Santa eats all the cookies and drinks up all the milk!?!)

Alright, that wraps it up for end-of-October-beginning-of-November celebrations! We have three weddings in the next week so we'll be absent until mid-November when I'm sure we'll be back to try to put together a quazi-Thanksgiving dinner! Aaaah, what I wouldn't do for a stuffed turkey right now.

Halloween 2010 - The Flight of a Butterfly

Sophia's third Halloween began with the Carving of the Pumpkin on Wednesday evening! This was her first Jack O' Lantern (and Pablo's too)! They both were a little grossed out by the inside, and Soph quickly switched to cleaning out the little guy with a spoon! Such a princess!









The Carving of the Pumpkin was followed by the Evening of Costumes at her school on Friday! We woke her from her nap to get all dressed up - crossing both fingers and toes that the butterfly costume would be appealing to her that particular evening. We dressed her with success (well, bribing with chocolate, really), but success nevertheless and off to the school party we went!


One parade of costumes, one dance, one ceramic painting, one pretend pond fishing, one texture experimenting (with pasta) and one prize raffle, one snack and two hours later - we were on our way home! (Oh, and yes, the wings did come off about halfway through the party!)






The Halloween party was our third group activity at school and Soph continues to be the same in large groups - fingers in the mouth, clammed up not speaking a word and clinging to our legs! She's usually so rambunctious, so babbly and so smily that it is strange to see her like that! Perhaps she'll be shy in front of large groups or maybe its something she'll grow out of - only time will tell!

On Sunday, Soph dressed in her pumpkin shirt from Grandma Crawford in preparation for the fun day ahead!


Trick or Treating for our third year was the best by far! We headed to the Marina boardwalk (not a bad place to trick or treat!), and Soph started out quiet and reserved but soon enough warmed up to the whole concept of smiling for sweets! As in past years, the other girls in our group dove right in to their candy and Soph didn't even pay any attention. At the end of the night I told her she could choose one piece. She pulled out a little bag of mini-marshmallows and chewed happily away! I saved her three pieces and gave the rest away over the past couple days. She has no idea and doesn't miss it at all! (Hoping this will be a trend for years to come although I do have my doubts!)








Aaaah! Halloween success!

The decorations came down, the pumpkin got tossed (and just in time) and Halloween was officially over as of Monday morning. But the week's celebration was just half-way through - Nov 2nd is Day of the Dead in Mexico, and lucky little Soph gets to learn about both cultures, both celebrations! So onward we went - stay tuned . . .