Brandon's Puppy

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Just a few things that I'm thankful for this year:

My wonderful husband and amazing little boy.
The other little boy that is on his way, and the smooth pregnancy I've had so far.
Our new home- It still needs some work, but it's ours, and I'm so very thankful we were able to buy it.
My sister's safe return from Virginia.
My family and their health, especially my great-uncle who is now cancer free.
My two beautiful nephews Tyler and Maxx, born earlier this year.
My friends- I know I can count on them not just for good times, but when times are tough too.
My new job-I didn't really know how it would go leaving a job I was at for 11 years, but I am absolutely sure I made the right decision.
That same employer that allows me to go to school for free. And I've got one class left-YAY!
Our country- there's nothing like it. And the service men and women who ensure that it remains so.

Have a absolutely blessed Thanksgiving everyone.

Happy 50th!

Happy 50th Birthday to my friend and fellow Babalu contributor George, aka Pitbull.
Te estas poniendo viejo, mi amigo...

Here he is doing two of his favorite things: Enjoying a good scotch, and smoking.

Love you, man!

Quick pregnancy/baby update

Went to the doctor Friday afternoon. All is well, I've gained 6 pounds total (woohoo!). BP is good, pulse is good, baby's pulse is good, urine is good/negative. Doc checked me for swelling because of my pre-eclampsia history: no sign of swelling. I take the glucose test on my next visit at 29 weeks on December 8th, and he's working on getting me a 3D ultrasound, so I can see this little one and what he really looks like.
That's it for now. Busy day at work so I'll try to get back later on tonight.
Have a great day!

OH YEAH...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TWO VERY SPECIAL PEOPLE IN MY LIFE: MY STEPBROTHER LUIS AND MY GREAT-AUNT ONDINA!! LOVE YOU BOTH!! XOXO

Veteran's Day

Some of you may have the day off. Some of you may be at work, wishing you had the day off. Whichever one it is, take a moment over the weekend to read this and thank our service men and women for the freedoms we so often take for granted.

(Source)

Happy Birthday

To my friend CalTechGirl, who hits the big 3-0 today. As we say in Spanish, "ya llegastes a los "tas", y de ahí uno no sale". (translation, though it won't make much sense in English: You've gotten to the "tas", from which you never get out).

LOVE YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Can't think of a witty title right now...

So here's the little update I've been promising.

Eric, my mother-in-law and I went to see Eric Clapton at the American Airlines Arena on October 23rd. The show was great! My husband is a HUGE fan, and was thrilled to be there. He sang both classic and newer songs, but to be honest, I'm drawing a blank right now so I can't tell you what he sang. i don't know if to blame it on "pregnancy-brain" or "old age" (I'll be 30 in less than a month). Anyway, I do vividly remember that the last song was "Cocaine", which ROCKED! I love going to these kinds of concerts because you really see why these artists are called legends. And the coolest thing? Clapton was wearing a guayabera! Sorry, couldn't get the right setting on the camera, but it's somewhat visible. Take my word for it though, that's what it was.

On Saturday, October 28th, we took Brandon to MetroBoo at the Miami Metrozoo. It's a really cute event where certain parts of the zoo have little booths sponsored by local companies and the kids get to go tick-or-treating from booth to booth. Half of our visit consisted of finding cover from the rain, there were passing showers for most of the afternoon. But once it cleared up, we walked around for a while and saw some of the animals: the Malayan Tapirs, real and pretend camels, real and pretend hippos, real and pretend elephants (sorry again, didn't take any worthwhile pictures of elephants), and some very cute creatures like baby sea otters and meerkats. Seriously, how cute is that meerkat?! I wanted to bring him home. Speaking of home, the zoo is less than ten minutes from our house, but Brandon was asleep by the time we parked in our driveway. He had an awesome time!

The next night, we went with our friends Vivian and Martin and their two daughters to the Halloween event at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum. We had never been there during Halloween, I didn't even know they had a holiday event. The kids had fun, and even got a little scared when we went through the haunted passenger train. Unfortunately they were a bit disappointed when the link train derailed twice and we opted not to ride it. Oh well, these things happen.

I had class on Halloween (UGH!) and couldn't play hooky because of an exam, but I was able to make it in time to go out trick or treating with Brandon. The aforementioned friends had their annual Halloween party, so we headed over there, walked around the neighborhood, then went back to their house for the kids to burn off some energy before heading home.

So there you have it, the recap of the last two weeks. And now, just because...

Look at Brandon coloring INSIDE the lines. No, that was not me...it was all him! I'm so proud!

And really, how cute is my nephew Maxx? I can't believe he'll already be two months next Monday. And even more unbelievable is that in three months, the little bean will be here!

That's it for now, see y'all later!

Warning: Cuteness ahead!

Hi, everyone.
Sorry I was not around this weekend...a friend of mine experienced something quite terrible, which I'd rather not share as it is her story, not mine. I was quite distraught over the weekend and did not really want to do much, including but not limited to, blogging. Things are slowly getting better, but it will take some time. I do owe you all some updates. I will try to get to them tomorrow. But for now, I give you the wonderful images below: Brandon's very first school pictures! That big grin can cheer anyone up!

The clock, it keeps in tickin'....

Happy Thursday, all!

I have many stories to share...a couple of things about the Eric Clapton concert we went to on October 23; the fun weekend we had before Halloween where we took Brandon to several holiday activities around town; pictures of him trick or treating on Tuesday; and some this-and-that. Alas, time is not on my side, and I've not had a chance to share with you, my loyal readers, these wonderful little tidbits. I shall fill you in over the weekend, as for the first time in quite a few weeks, we shall do nothing but stay in and tidy up around the house, maybe even do some baby-related preparations. We do have a birthday party for this little guy (who is not so little anymore) to attend on Sunday, but other than I'll be playing Susy Homemaker all weekend. So stay tuned!

Castro is alive, and was in Miami last night...

Just kidding!

Check out my friend Omar's Halloween costume.

I think it would have been better with a hint of death about him...What do you think?