Seriously? My eyes are closed!

Imagine my disappointment when I found out there was indeed a picture of me (with more than a tiny speck that I claimed to be the back of my head) and the President, but my eyes are closed! What a bummer.

Omama

Gabriela loved the State of the Union Address. She pointed to the television and said "OMAMA" over and over again. And every time the applause started, she excitedly joined in, and even cheered. It was too funny. Little kids just love clapping :)

Gabriela the Magician

The other night at dinner, Gabriela suddenly got very excited. She was making a very expressive half questioning, half sneaky look and intently doing the "where" sign. I had no idea what she was trying to say, so I asked... "Where? Where's what? Show Mommy." And then she dramatically unveiled the dried cranberry she had hidden up her sleeve.

Indoor Play Date

It's tricky coming up with fun ways to spend the day with an energetic toddler when it's so cold outside! Gabriela and her friend Keady had a play date at an indoor kid gym on Sunday, and boy was it a hit!

The girls spent nearly two hours running around, shooting hoops, playing in the colored balls, bouncing on the trampoline, going down slides, climbing around, and just having a blast together!

When we first arrived, Gabriela was a little nervous with all the noise and kids, since she'd just woken up from a shorter than usual nap. Whenever I asked her if she wanted to try something out, she'd say no and wouldn't let me put her down. Then Keady arrived. Gabriela got the biggest smile on her face, got right down and rushed over. She exclaimed, "Keady!!!" and waved hello and smiled even bigger : )
It's so sweet to see how much these two love each other! They have been friends since Gabriela was 4 months old!

Gabriela passed out around 6 pm, she was so worn out from all that playing. The girls really enjoyed themselves. We might have to come back to this place, or explore others that are also close by.

Good Mail from Nana Part 2

We are so lucky Nana accepts special requests! Here are Gabriela and I in our new matching aprons!!! Gabriela loves to "do the dishes". When she gets her apron on, she immediately tries to push a chair to the sink. She is constantly asking for water at the sink "aguaaguaaguaagua" and bubbles and then she insists on drinking the dish water from something impossible like a bottle lid or ittie bittie spoon. She has a blast every time!We are going to get tons of use out of our new aprons! Thanks, Nana!

Good Mail from Nana

We got a great package in the mail from Nana yesterday. Here's one of the items Gabriela got. A beautiful new sweater! It's so stylish with the 3/4 sleeves! More to come.

Why Hello, Mr. President

Unfortunately, of all the pictures that were taken, this is the only one that I'm actually in. That's the back of my head. I know you are really impressed ;)


Last Monday was supposed to be a holiday. I knew I'd have to go in to get an update on the Haiti earthquake and send out some communications to the American Red Cross chapter caseworkers, so I went in early. But we had received a scheduler for a mandatory planning meeting to review the impact this disaster response was going to have on our International Services department.

I walk into the building and kind of do a double take. Secret Service agents at the American Red Cross? noooooo. Why would they be here? There were just one or two, so I figured I had been mistaken.

Later that morning there were more and more. Pretty soon, they were checking my name on a list before letting me into the very area that I go to work regularly. huh??

The pieces started falling together when they made us leave all our belongings in room and had us all exit into a conference room while the area was thoroughly checked. Then we were able to re-enter through a metal detector and were each individually checked. We waited at our stations, trying to get work done, still not 100% sure it would actually be THE PRESIDENT, but possibly someone else high up on the ladder.

Suddenly reporters came running in to set up all their equipment -cameras, lights, microphones, etc. And in walked our President and First Lady.

We were advised before they came in to keep working, stay focused (cos, you know, it's just the President). But immediately he warmly greeted people, thanked us for our hard work, and shook hands and spoke for a few minutes with everyone.

They were both amazing. It was such a surreal experience. Anytime you're working really hard at something, it feels good for your efforts to be recognized. You really feel good when the President stops by to say hello and tell you you're doing excellent work! And, he even said my name correctly!!! Bonus points, Mr. President!

After they left I had to call Lane to tell him.... 'Uh, I just shook hands with the PRESIDENT!' I'd say it was worth coming in to work on a holiday.

Quick Update

I've been working longer than normal hours, and all through last weekend due to the earthquake in Haiti, which is the reason our blog is getting behind. It's go, go, go all through the day and I don't have a moment to realize how tired I am until I sit down at home. Last night I went to bed with Gabriela at 8. At least I have that luxury. Other people in my department are working much harder and longer hours than I am.

Anyway, soon I hope to post a little more about meeting President Obama (!!!) and Gabriela's 18 month update. If I get really fancy, I might even do some video catch up.

18 months old!

As she picks up the bowl to bring it to me and ask for MORE!

She takes her job of licking the bowl extremely seriously.

Rockin' some Crazy Hair

Gabriela and Daddy with her new year's hat.

Somehow our tiny precious little baby turned into a spunky, adorable RUNNING toddler! I can't believe Gabriela is one-and-a-half! How did this happen?!?!

Gabriela's latest hobby is coloring. We gave her a pencil one day and she had so much to write, we decided it was time to get her some crayons. She loves it! She says "color" and is always asking to draw. When she writes, she sometimes says "Circle" and draws in a circle-ish manner. Gabriela can repeat names of colors too. I can't tell which she enjoys more though - actually coloring or putting all the crayons back into their case neatly, pointing in all the same direction!

She also loves puzzle time. Gabriela has a puzzle with all the letters of the alphabet and she can do it all by herself! Some letters are a little tricky, and she will do her "help" sign when she needs a little assistance figuring it out.

This month we had our first blood injury with Gabriela. She had her apron on (or "api" as she likes to call it) and was standing on a chair, helping mommy make brownies when she slipped off. Of course, I caught her on the way down with my jedi-mommy reflexes, but not before she bit her tongue. I couldn't immediately tell that she bit her tongue, because all I could see in her mouth and dribbling down her chin was blood. We stayed calm, Lane discovered the cause of the injury, and I took Gabriela in the bathroom to show her how fun it is to rinse out your mouth and spit out water. She immediately forgot about her injury, and then we let her lick out the brownie bowl. Now she is always asking to do it - she says "agua", closes her mouth, sticks out her lips points to the sink, and starts swishing.

Gabriela likes to point at the dinner table and say daddy, mommy, "Lah-lah" or sometimes "Bah-lah" She will say her name if you ask her what her name is, or if she sees a picture of herself or her reflection in the mirror.

She is a real trickster with her appetite. I guess this is common for toddlers. Sometimes she will eat thai food, or gorgonzola crackers, or salmon, and we recently discovered that she loves balsamic vinaigrette. But other times she only wants to eat cereal. Last night she had three (toddler sized) bowls of cereal and a huge handful of blueberries for dinner. She picks up her bowl, shows it to me, and says "ahhwanMORE".

Gabriela continues to love reading. But she also loves to go bye-bye. The other day we were home together and apparently, things weren't happening enough for her. She started saying "go! bye-bye!" Then she pointed to her coat and said "coat" and tried putting it on by herself. Next, she opened her diaper bag and put a hairbrush and some books inside and started dragging it to the door. um, I got the hint. I can't wait for the weather to get warmer so we can start going to the park and the zoo again.

Gabriela is a little social butterfly. She waves and says hello to everyone. She gets everyone to smile. How could they not?

Gabriela Makes a Pizza

After reading a friend's post about recent homemade pizza making adventures, I was inspired to let Gabriela make her first pizza. When we were kids we always made pizza on the weekends and the kids made little personal sized pizzas with their own toppings.

Gabriela got her apron on, stood up on the chair, and was ready to start cooking. She concentrated very hard on spreading out the dough.

Then spread on the tomato sauce,

And spread out the dough some more.

Time for cheese!

Lots of cheese

And when you think Mom isn't looking, take a big bite of cheese!

Anxiously awaiting the finished product. Since Christmas, anything that goes in the oven is a COOKIE, according to Gabriela.

Ta-da! Gabriela's first pizza!

Enjoy!!

And, just for fun, here's the big-kid version.

Tamale Madness

The day after Christmas we got up bright and early to head down to California, MD for some post Christmas Tamale Madness with the Sylvester Family.

Chance and Jackson hanging out while Christianne is hard at work making a corn husk doll. She said Nana taught her how, and while we were there she made one for me, Cynthia, AND Jen!!
Cousins! Apparently, I should have been wearing an apron too! I'm all full of masa flour.
Believe it or not, I was the tamale teacher! Here is Jen with her first tamale!
Michele was a great helper! She grabbed the hojas for me and spooned on the masa.


Here's the finished product! We also feasted on rice and beans and some awesome corn chowder that Jen and Chris made. It was such a nice day with our cousins! We split the tamales and each took home a supply of masa flour, hojas, and prepared meat so we can make more at home.

Christmas Day!

Christmas morning Auntie Cynthia and I woke up early to clean up the kitchen and make a delicious gluten-free berry coffee cake. Gabriela slept in until 9 am. She didn't really get the big fuss about Christmas morning.

Gabriela is enjoying some of her stocking stuffers. But notice the cereal in her hand. We think she was more interested in cereal and blueberries than presents.
Christianne and her stocking loot. She got tons of pedicure supplies, lip gloss, travel mirror, fancy pens, chocolate and other sweets, a make up bag, and some fun card games.
Funky socks from Auntie Cynthia.
Gabriela loved her trucks!!
She climbed up on a chair and helped herself to a Christmas morning cookie snack.

We made some breakfast potatoes and eggs to enjoy along side our coffee cake when all the present opening was done and spent the day relaxing, talking with family on the phone, and playing a very suspenseful game of Phase 10.

Christmas dinner was a fabulous spread of Mexican food - carnitas, rice and beans, fresh salsa, and all the fixings. mmmm. We were so anxious to eat it all, we forgot to take photos.
We ended the day with pedicures. I think Christianne had the most fun giving Uncle Lane his bright pink pedicure, which he still has, by the way.

Decorating Sugar Cookies

On Christmas Eve, we decorated sugar cookies. We are obviously not professionals, but we sure had a good time. Notice Gabriela in this pic. She was a little tired and missed out on the fun this year.

I couldn't, for the life of me, find our scissors to cut tiny holes in the ziploc baggies for piping the frosting.




This angel that Christianne made was, hands down, the cutest cookie of the bunch! We loved her so much!
A couple days later, I happened to check Taija's blog, only to view these masterpieces She's had a little more practice than us! When I showed Christianne these beauties, her response was: "Well, Auntie, she probably had scissors!" Gotta love it.

Why you didn't get a Christmas Card

We thought it would be a nice idea to take a family photo at the Botanical Gardens for the Christmas cards we never sent out. Here's one of the attempts.