When someone asks me......what is the best present I have ever gotten for Christmas?!?!

Here is the answer...

26 months: Land of Sunshine

Noah, Noah...if you only knew how much mommy and daddy care about you and your bright future! As we talk and talk and talk some more about what to do and not to do around daycare, and pre-school, and pre-K, and all that, as we try to decide whether you have been challenged enough where you are, or whether we are paying for the best that you can get (because you deserve no less than that)...so many questions come to our minds. How do we know what is best for you?

Mommy had breakfast with her two best friends today (Lori, thank you for reminding me I had to put something here soon!), we had even more conversations around this topic.

Filho, the more I talk about it, the more I realize your father and I don't know, to be truly honest with you, how to define best in this situation.

Sometimes I feel like we are overthinking the matter, and that we should just let you be a kid, play and be the happy toddler that you are. But then we start debating whether we might be wasting precisous opportunities for you to learn so many new things (that I think you will learn one way or another anyway!)

Yes, I am confusing, I know. I also think that!

How do I know, filho, whether you should stay where you are, or whether you should go to a school for gifted kids? How do I know what will make you the happiest? How do I know your dad and I are giving you the best you can possibly get from an education standpoint?

My sister and a friend once told me that you are truly gifted, so really, it does not matter what we do or when, you will learn things at your own pace. And I think I believe that too.

So, as we ask ourselves all these questions, wishing and praying to God for an answer, you grow in front of our eyes to being such a happy and spirited toddler.

You can create your own logic and you can make full sentences and come up with your own conclusions at this point. You can give the best hugs and kisses a mom can ask for. You have the biggest heart I have ever seen. And of course, I can't help mentioning that you also can push our buttons like no one else can. Your dad and I can't cease to be amazed by all the things that you learn and demonstrate every day. You teach us so much every minute of any given day. We are so truly blessed by your company.

Tonight, as I walk to our favorite Chinese place to get our take out dinner with you, the lady hands you a fortune cookie. You get all excited, as usual, like it is the best thing she could have ever done to anyone (that is how you lighten up the lives of everyone you touch), and as I grab the piece of paper from inside the cookie, there it says: "You are heading for a land of sunshine." That is right, filho. It does not really matter...you have a bright future ahead of you. And we want you to know, that right or wrong, your father and I will ALWAYS be there for you. This is called unconditional love, filho. Happy 26-month birthday. Te amo muito!

Sorry for taking so long to be back!

We are back!!!
My friend Lori told me today: "You have got to put something in there! I have been checking on it every day! We are waiting for something!"
It has been a crazy month, with the move, and the new job finally picking up, and all the year-end activities...but there are no excuses to not be here telling you guys about all the things that are going on...that is the purpose of the blog, right?
Ok, we are back, and I will be here more often.
I owe you all pictures of the new house...working on that!!
Love you all!!!

We have finally moved!!!!

Friends and family, we are here! At the new house!
I am sorry we have not written in a while, but we have been really busy packing and moving!
Noah is exstatic! He went from not wanting to come home to not wanting to leave the "casa nova" at all! We took him to see Aunt Fabi yesterday for a few hours so that mommy and daddy could do some serious unpacking...and when I called to check on him: "Noah wants to go to casa nova, mommy!" Soooo cute!
Oliver loves is too, but there is not much awareness there, I don't think. He is happy as long as we are happy...and as long as his nigh-night is here, and yes, Oliver, your frozen milk is in the new freezer! ;-)
The house is so empty, but so full at the same time! We are sooooo happy to start our new journey here, the four of us.
I will have pictures later this week!!!
Love you!

You are 5-months old already!!!

Filho, amor da minha vida, you are 5 months already!

You are almost sitting without help of your worm. Today you were playing inside it and I laughed, and you immediately turned around on your own to look at me.

It took a while for Miss Claire to tell us, but you are already rolling over. You have not done it for daddy and I yet though...that is ok, it will come!

You are the happiest baby we have ever met. All we need to do is look at you, and you open the biggest smile, brightening the place and making everyone around you happy.

Today you went to work with me, and everyone there was in love with you (of course). We spent a couple of hours there, and then went home. You are not feeling too well, but you still smile. If only all mommies in the world had an easy one like you!

You came to our lives to bring so much happiness, Oliver. And it is so peaceful with you around.

Mommy wants you to know that she will always be here for you, always. I love you so much it hurts.

You are growing so fast. This week you did not want to eat jar food, and it is ok. Take your time...we are by no means rushing you, filho. You can stay this little for as long as you want...

Thank you for choosing us as your family, little angel. We feel truly blessed.

Your brother clearly does not know what it is to live without you...and neither do we.

Daddy and I have not been on the beach for a while, but looking at your face gives us the same peace as when we used to be able to sit and watch the ocean.

I love you, love you, love you, filho. Thanks for being part of me, part of my life, for being mine.

Te amo mais que a vida...

So good to have friends to laugh and play and cry with...

Trick or Treating at the Mall with our Friends

Our visit to Anderson Orchard's Pumpkin Patch

We got to visit Anderson Orchard the weekend of the 20th, when Noah got sick, and we had a blast! Marcio and I were a little disappointed at what was left of the pumpink patch, but I guess we are just new parents trying to learn things to do with the kids, and now we know that it was probably too late if we really wanted to see the pumpkins on the patch...oh, well, next year we will try to get there earlier!

Noah and Oliver really enjoyed the day, though.

Noah was amazed with all the pumpkins, and wanted to bring them all home to make Jack-O-Lantens, like he calls them. He really liked the raspberries too, and ended up having lots of them with aunt Fabi. That's why we thought he was sick, but it ended up being the stomach flu.

Noah even made a new friend, who asked us to take a picture of her with him!!!

Noah enjoyed picking a pumpkin and weighing it with daddy.

Oliver liked to see all the people around, but was not specially thrilled with being put in the middle of all those huge pumpkins. He was probably wondering what in the world was going on! Happy Fall Everyone!!

Yes, yes, we are back! With a new house!!!

So much going on lately! I promise I will be back for good now and will write more often.

We closed on the house yesterday!!!! We are so proud and so excited!
We took the boys to the house after we picked them up from daycare, so that they could see the house and get the chance to feel as proud as we were.
Noah is excited about his new house. Oliver just kept looking at all that white on the walls! Yes, boys, we are going to start a new life in this house, and we will be very happy. I hope you guys are as proud of our home as I am, and that you always want to come back to it. Marcio and I want the house full of friends, always, just like my parents home when Fabi and I were growing up.
I did not feel well all day yesterday and got a chance to puke in our new bathroom…I probably got the mild version of what Noah had last week. Oliver was also sick on Monday. We both threw up only once though, and we are doing just fine! I went to bed at 8:30 last night, exhausted.

Noah seems to be doing fine, recovering really well. He is eating well and with lots of energy as usual. Talking like it’s going out of style. He turned 25 months last week, and with that came the famous “WHY?”, so now everything is why?, oh, Lord! There is a why for everything! The latest one this morning:
Noah: Mommy, watcha doing?
Mommy: Drying my hair, Noah
Noah: Why?
Mommy: Because it is wet.
Noah: Why?
Mommy: Because I washed it.
Noah: Why?
Mommy: Because it was dirty.
Noah: Ok…(as he leaves the bathroom to go ask dad some more questions…)

The other famous one when he wants to bargain is: “Noah does xyz pouquinho (a little bit) and come back, ok?” He cracks me up, as he talks really fast so that I don’t have time to argue and make him not do whatever he wants to do!
He is so funny, though. He loves singing. The latest ones are Bah, bah, black sheep, ABC. He also loves Pink by Aerosmith and Big Girls don’t Cry by Fergie (yes, thanks to aunt Fabi and uncle Tim)
He loves talking to his little brother and reading to him. This morning I caught him showing Oliver the Bed Bath and Beyond add, too funny! He loves holding and hugging Oliver, who is always smiling at him. He loves playing with his tchoo tchoo train. No one can get close to the table or put anything on it, otherwise they hear a nice: "Take it out!"

Noah is a sweetheart. Lots of energy, though. Hard to keep up with him! Our friend Lori keeps telling me she does not envy me for having to discipline a super bright and spirited kid like Noah. She is right, it is tough, the kid is smart. He challenges us in so many ways, he does not cease to amuse me. But you know, with all the frustration that comes with raising a super bright kid, comes the rewarding feeling of accomplishment too. He teaches us so much every day. Noah, filho, I want you to know you teach me more than I will ever be able to teach you! I love you with all my heart! And I am really sorry if mom is not able to keep up with you. That is why I am so thankful for my job, so that I can continue to pay for you to be in such good hands. Thanks Miss Melissa, Miss Brooke and Miss Amber for all that you do.

Oliver is enjoying daycare, and he loves Claire and Keri. His friend for life Kelly started at daycare this week, so he is really happy about that! He has been grabbing things and bringing them to his mouth. He is almost sitting up! Oliver is a happy baby, always smiling and bringing joy to our lives.
Oh, forgot to mention we started on squash this week, and Oliver seems to like it!
So now he is having rice cereal with Miss Claire in the morning and squash with mommy at dinner time. Such a big boy! Time is going by so fast!

Back to the house…the painters start tomorrow. Marcio is meeting them there today to give them the colors for each room. We already measured all the windows and will be ordering the blinds soon (urgh, they are expensive!). My superintendent probably hates me, really hates me. I just called him. I keep finding all these little things with the house…but hey, it is OUR HOUSE, right? Poor guy, he deserves heaven after putting up with me for 6 months. When Marcio wants him to do something for him, Marcio goes: “You better do it while I am asking, before you have to deal with Ana Paula!” Nice, Marcio, nice!