Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family research

hmmm... So this was kind of funny! I saw this on someone else's blog and decided to try it. What do you think? Everyone thinks Marisol looks like Mike, so this made me feel like there is some hope that she got some "Mommy genes" too! :-) ok, so I have too much time on my hands. Actually I don't, I just need to go to bed!

National Tree

We had a really fun evening on Friday. We went to see the National Christmas tree and some of the decorations around the city. It was a nice relaxed time and we got some food and hot chocolate to warm up afterwards. It made me appreciate how when you live somewhere you can do something fun for an hour or two and not feel the need to cram in a lot more like you feel the need to do when you visit a place!

Planets Aligned

We had a great day today. Well, I did anyways. The day passed by quickly and with lots of fun. We got out to the playground, came back to our apartment, both kids ate well, napped well, and I got to talk to other adults. We got fresh air, I got some exercise, and I'm almost ready for Christmas (which is only 2 short weeks away!) Anyways, you have to love days like this. There was nothing extraordinary about it, but it was just nice and sometimes that is even better. And they don't come so often... only when the planets are perfectly aligned!


Marisol after a long, hard day of hanging out with the boys.

Marisol Update

One of Marisol's favorite things to do lately is to be "in" something -

laundry baskets, diaper baskets, toys, mommy's underwear "drawer", the pack n' play. It is even more fun if she can get covered up!

Her favorite word is still "Bye bye" but we are adding quite a few more to the repertoire. One of our favorites is "push" - she often will say it while pushing Nils (or mommy, or daddy, or the kitty)! It is funny in a way, but we try to remind her that she doesn't like it when Nils pushes her! Nils has been very loving this week and bringing lots of toys to Marisol (especially when she is sad). Last week when she wanted a car he had she pleaded with him "please please please!" but he was unmoved. This week he has been much more generous bringing her cars, the ball popper, books, you name it. Marisol even said thank you one time!

We are also trying to get her to wear a barrette in her hair (so mommy doesn't have to think about cutting it yet). We have had mixed results. Marisol isn't sure that she likes them yet -- and Nils definitely doesn't like them!

We had our last Spanish class today and it was so fun. We have a lot of cute video clips to share, so when Mike is done with finals (Friday, yay!) he will have time to upload them. We have recovered from our fun Thanksgiving and are getting in the holiday spirit here. We can't wait for Christmas!

Merry Thanksgiving.... ummm... Happy Christmas... errr... I mean Happy Thanksgiving!!

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. We went home as a family for the first time since we have moved. I can hardly believe that we have been here for four months already (I had to count again to make sure!) Anyways, we were very lucky to see both of our families and a couple of friends. Marisol got to see her cousins and a couple of old boyfriends :-)












Hanging out with my cool older cousins.

Marisol also had her first "Christmas morning" on Thanksgiving day. My parents gave her the "Big" gifts that would be too difficult to take to Florida (where we will be meeting them 2 days after Christmas).

Riding my new talking pony!

I love to sit in things and get covered up!


I love my new mega blocks! Note: It is just like Christmas morning because Mommy is in her PJs!

Hanging out with the Mays. We ate tons of good food!

Chillin' with my Rochester boyfriends, Robbie and Bennett.... Can't wait to see more at Christmas time (Dommy and Sammy!)

It was a long car ride but I was a trooper. Good thing I brought my sunglasses - I hate it when then sut gets in my eyes.

I was so tired after that long weekend... this book was also a good sunshade while I took a snooze :-)

Book Reviews

I recently read this book ("Pushed" by Jennifer Block) and it was very interesting. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in childbirth at all. The author basically gives us a view into childbirth across America. Some of the stories in here are pretty unbelievable. I knew that I was lucky to have such a good birth experience, but I don't think that I realized exactly how lucky. (Thank you Evelyn for recommending it to me!)

I also just read a book called "Unconditional Parenting" by Alfie Kohn that I found very interesting too. He makes a case not only against all forms of punishment (including "time-outs) but also against rewards (including praise). He cites studies that show that these methods are basically not effective and even worse that they can be harmful. You may be wondering what to do in place of these things -- and even the author doesn't just give you an easy answer. His main idea is to use "love and reason" with our children. A little tough when you are dealing with a screaming toddler or an irrational preschooler I'm sure... but I think in the end it may pay off. It may sound a little crazy but read it for yourself -- a lot of it makes a lot of sense!

That's all for now from your friendly "Bookworm". :-)

Trick or Treat!

Little Cow Marisol and Little Leapard Nils

Halloween was so much fun! Marisol wore her costume all day long. She was a cow and Nils was a leopard (or cheetah, you can pick your large feline of choice).

Who knew that cows and leapards got along so well?

I'm a pink cow running around on two feet!

In the morning we had Spanish class with Nils and in the afternoon we went to a neighborhood party at a playground. It was so fun to see all of the kids dressed up. And it was sponsored by a local grocery store and starbucks so there was lots of yummy food!

Moooo! Cheese pizza!

Halloween is so great! When else do get to see a cow, a fireman, and a skeleton at the playground??

We love Halloween! (Can you hear us screeching?)

In the evening Mike, Marisol and I went around to some of the condos in our building. It was a lot of fun. But the funniest part was that 4 or 5 people put candy out on chairs or on the floor with signs that said "Help yourself!" Those people obviously don't have the Halloween spirit! But Mike and I enjoyed it for the candy.... which is all gone now! We are looking forward to many more fun Trick or Treating outings in the years to come.

Daddy (tries to) teach(es) <<-- (you choose!)

Marisol how not to be greedy... even when the neighbors aren't there to see us!

Why do I get cheese and tomatoes when mommy and daddy get that fun looking stuff in the shiny wrappers??

October -- The month of visitors!

So October has been a very fun month for us. We had visitors 3 weekends in a row. First my parents came to visit us on Columbus day weekend. We had lots of fun going on walks, our last baby sign class at the zoo, eating at the Cheese cake factory for dinner and doing a walking tour of the monuments downtown.

Marisol and Grandpa navigate the new WWII memorial.

Tall, short, short!

Grandma, Grandpa and Marisol

The next weekend our friend Amy made the drive from Rochester to D.C. just to visit us. We had fun walking around M street (and resisted buying anything!), going on the "Duck Tour" and eating at Union station. The duck tour was really cool -- it is on an authentic amphibious vehicle from WWII and goes on the streets of DC and on the Potomac river.

Amy and Marisol in front of the Kennedy Center.

Motion shot! Zooming along on the duck tour.

Marisol and Amy having fun together.

Last weekend we had visitors from Rochester and Chicago -- Mike's parents and sister Stacie, and his sister Stephanie, her husband John, and their son (our nephew) Will. We also had a very fun weekend walking around The Mall, eating out, celebrating GG's birthday, and just hanging out. It was great to have the whole fam together!

Will and Marisol snooze while the rest of the family tours on foot.

The "May" Girls

GG, Stephanie, Stacie, Susan

Marisol

BG with grandchildren, Marisol and Will

So we have had a great month! We were pretty tired afterwards but give us one weekend to rest and we will be ready for more visitors! :-) So please let us know if you ever want to come on down. Washington is a great place to visit and we would love to have you. Thank you friends and family for making October so much fun!