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!

If your happy and you know it...

So adjusting to life down here was actually easier than I expected. I prepared myself for "tough" days, homesickness, some sadness and loneliness... and I am happy to report that all of that has really been kept to a minimum! I think that I can mostly attribute this smooth transition to working -- being Nils' nanny (although I don't really think of it as work, or myself as a nanny) and Marisol.

(Marisol loves chairs -- big and small! She loves her new arm chair that is just her size :-)

I just love being a mommy! Don't get me wrong, I have days that I get a little bored, and I am tired at the end of the day -- those 2 little pairs of legs keep me moving! But for the most part I am just very happy. We are so busy here -- there are new playgrounds to explore, new people to meet, and the weather is unbelievably nice right now. Isn't there some saying about "idle hands" or busy hands? Well, all I know is that I am usually happy when I stay busy.

(Here we are at our last "Baby Sign" class. Have I mentioned how many cool classes there are down here? We just started "Hola Baby" with Nils last week too!)

I sometimes feel a little guilty for being so happy. Why am I so lucky and blessed? But I guess being miserable never helped anyone else either! So I guess the best thing to do is try and do little things to help others every day. So there you have it. A couple of deep thoughts on happiness from D.C. (I recently read an interview article with Brad Pitt -- he says that helping others really is good for you and not at all altruistic -- and he must know what he is talking about :-)

Oh and here is a link to an article about happy people that I enjoyed.

http://www.prevention.com/cda/article/the-happiness-factor/291bb7492aea4110VgnVCM10000013281eac____/health/emotional.health/finding.happiness?cm_mmc=Mag_URL-_-2007_October-_-Health-_-The%20Happiness%20Factor

All that talking on the phone is really doing me good! :-) I guess that it isn't such a bad habit to teach Marisol -- good thing, because it is already one of her favorite things to do! So, once again family and friends -- keep in touch! It is good for all of us -- keeps us happy and healthy.

New Beginnings

It is hard to believe that we have been in Washington DC for over 2 months already! A friend recommended that I start a blog to keep everyone updated - especially since I love photos so much. So I am going to give it a try and see if I like it and keep up with it. I am a very "chronological" person though, so I want to do a concise update of our life here in photos BEFORE I post anything else.

Ok here goes.

NEW CAR

The prius has been awesome. At least we are saving money on something!

NEW HOME:

This is to show you how a whole room can become one tiny space when you move from a house to a one-bedroom condo. This is also the only space clean enough right now for me to post a picture of :-) I am also happy that we managed to recreate some of Marisol's nursery in our new home.

NEW JOB

Marisol and I are lucky enough to get to hang out with Nils every day. Marisol gets a great playmate and I get paid for basically being a mommy!

NEW SCHOOL
Mike's doing great at Georgetown, and hopefully this will lead to a great NEW JOB :-)

NEW (BOY)FRIENDS

In addition to Nils, Marisol has a new boyfriend named Daniel. They have been working on their kissing technique. Just like at home, Marisol has made more boyfriends than girlfriends!

Daniel and his Mom, Anita live in the same building as us. We feel lucky to have made such good friends that live so close to us!

NEW STEPS

Since we've been here Marisol has started walking on her own, and started to sign and say words. She is getting to be such a big girl!