Living with the Joys

MASTER ELETRÔNICOS

2010-04-27T18:56:00.001-07:00

It's amazing what a simple idea can become! From the simple idea of opening a store, came a huge change in our lives of moving to a different city and going through all the changes we've been through. I'm very proud of my husband for facing the challenges with his head held high and being so brave while going to the unknown! I'm so proud to see what a successful businessman he has become! I'm also excited that we now have an add of our store on the local TV!! I just don't appear because i didn't know they were going to record that day, and I forgot to use my uniforme, so i figured it wouldn't be cool! Anyway, the add has been on for a week and we already feel the difference!! Amazing the influence tv has!

FRIENDS

2010-04-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

i would like to use this post to ask for your advice. i've found myself in an odd situation. It seems i've forgotten how to make new friends!! When i first arrived in rio grande i was caught up in my own little problems and had no desire whatsoever to make the effort of finding new friends. But now that i'm over with some of my issues, i would love to have friends to visit and have them come over to my place, or plan an outing with. You know, those normal things you do with friends! The people we know here now are single and it's hard sometimes to relate with since we don't have that much incomun anymore. So there you have it. What should i do to make new friends? Any advice? I'd honestly love to hear it!!

no title

2010-04-01T22:58:00.000-07:00

Time flies by!! I know everyone keeps saying that, but it seems that ever-so-often i'm made aware of this very truth. Looking through some pictures of Julia as a baby today, just shocked me again. It's amazing how quickly one can forget how small ones baby really was!! And now i find myself with a soon-to-be ''independent'' toddler!! When did that happen??!!

Oh! So many regrets! I know that sounds awful, being that she's only 23 months old, but it's true! Where to begin?I regret not taking enough pictures... i regret not completing the baby's first year calendar my mom gave me...not keeping a diary...and most of all for being frustrated with myself for not being the mommy i always imagined myself being!! WOW!! it feels great just admiting to that! And until recently, i'd been caring this weight of frustrations of my own imperfections as a mommy, until i learned a wonderful truth. It may sound simple to you, but it has been an everyday learning process for me. And it is: to live one day at a time! To concure one challenge at a time! No need to create this elution of a perfect scenario (house perfectly organized while the child plays quietly and perfectly in her room)!! In truth, that elution is what brought the feeling of frustration for not making that scenario true!! So my motto now is to: enjoy these rapidly changing phases in my little girls life! The house will always have to be cleaned and cloths will always have to be washed, but these moments in our lives will go flying by. And one regret i don't ever want to have, is letting these sweet moments of so many daily changes in Julia's life, to go by unnoticed! Loving Julia for the person she is and is becoming is my new motto!! The other frustrations regarding the calendar and pictures, are inevitable....i guess i'll have to try harder with the next one...

potty training continued...

2010-03-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

well, the reason i haven't given a closure to my potty training posts since January 27th, is because nothing in terms of potty training was done! To tell you the truth i really don't know for what reason exactly it happened, but my little girl started to simply HATE, (yes, hate is the correct word) sitting on the piniquinho or any word related to xixi and the such!! So one day while sitting on the bathroom floor watching Julia crying or rather screaming, i decided to let it go and give it some more time. So, we went on vacation in February and I just accepted the fact that it wasn't time for potty training yet.
However, I started noticing that Julia seemed to get frustrated at times with her diaper in our hot summer days and she would often try to take her diaper off. I felt that that was my sign to try the big task again. Once settled at home after over a month away, i decided to take up the challenge once more. This time i was psycologically prepared for the many 'accidents' to come and had my rag and detergent-hylex water prepared before-hand. I was ready! On Monday, March 22nd as soon as she woke up, i took her diaper off. Yes, all my preperation was needed as many accidents did happen, however this time it wasn't such a big deal as I had my mind set for the task. She still, however, didn't want to go anywhere near the piniquinho. Tuesday came along with hopes reneiwed as I got to stay home all day Tuesday. I then took my time sitting on the bathroom floor reading stories from her favorite books there, and slowly she started to like the whole idea again. That day, she actually did xixi in the piniquinho!!!!!! I could hardly believe my eyes!!!! It truely is a satisfactory feeling, believe me! And to my suprise and joy today she did coco too!! Although we still have some occational 'accidents' and tantrums, i think we are on the path to a successful potty training experience number 2! I think this time there is no going back...or at least i hope not!!

potty training - DAY #2

2010-01-27T04:29:00.000-08:00

Day #2 went by very fast. In the morning very few accidents happened, but nothing was done in the toilet, :- ( . In the afternoon we took the last trace of company from the weekend (tia Mara) to the bus station in Pelotas and than went off to Bagé to visit one of Neval's clients there. Since we were in the car most of the day, Julia spent the rest of the day with a diaper on. We got home at about 10:30pm and Julia was already asleep.

that was it for day #2.

more to come!

potty training - DAY 1

2010-01-26T03:28:00.000-08:00

Yes, yesterday i decided to start potty training oficially. Last week i took Julia's diaper off a few times during the day and let her see what it feels like without one. It seemed to go well.

The morning started out okay. I explained to her that she should call mommy whenever she needed to go xixi or coco. At one point she actually called me to the bathroom, only to sit on the piniquinho and do nothing. I figuered that was a great start. In the afternoon things started to change. Julia started getting annoyed at me for calling her to the bathroom all the time. Whenever i said 'xixi' she whould say very emphatically 'NO!!!'

Than the first episode happened. I was cleaning the room with her playing around me and she suddenly said 'xixi mommy' and kept pointing to the floor. Sure enough there was a little puddle of xixi on the floor and her panties were completly wet! No problem right, that's part of it! Later on in the day, i was cleaning something else and felt a strange smell. That was when i put my hand lightly on her panties and felt a round ball....yes, coco!!!! Thankfully it wasn't runny!!..hehehe. That was episode #2. Than came #3. I found Julia sitting on our guest's bed looking very guilty...she was going xixi!!!

Well, DAY #1 didn't seem very promising, but we can't give up, right!!

Another great day at the beach!

2010-01-16T17:33:00.000-08:00

Little Angel

2010-01-13T07:28:00.000-08:00

I've always thought that kids sleeping with teddy bears was so cute, but never had the courage to give one to Julia just because I was afraid it would distract her instead of help her sleep. Well, one day I was going through her stuffed animals and found such cute ones that I decided to give it a try. Turns out, she really likes it!! Although some days it does seem to distract her somewhat, other days it seems to help her cuddle in bed! Thus the picture to show you her new friend. I present to you "Mr. Quack"!

summer = company

2010-01-12T04:53:00.000-08:00

The pictures above are of the first Saturday in summer that we went to the beach. It was so much fun because we decided to go about 4:30 and after putting everything together got there about 5:30. It was great!! Julia had a lot of fun, and since there was some wind, i just let her go in the water with her clothes on...she had a blast!

Summer has come and with it the certainty that there will be lots of company! Living in a beach town has many advantages, and one of them is that you suddenly become everyone's best friend!! My last year's experience was very stressful because besides having company all the time, i already had people living at home with me, so having other people come was just overwelming. But this year is different, and i have decided to be the best host i can possibly be with NO complaining!!!

So, as i was saying, we have a full weekend ahead of us. On thursday Luiz (neval's first spanish teacher which became our friend and also worked at Global Way with us) and his daughter are arriving, as well as Gel, Fabe and from what Gel said, his car is coming full, so I'm supposing + 3. That's just on Thursday. On Friday, neval's nephew Matheus is coming with his girlfriend. On Saturday we are expecting 2 more family's of 4 people each...besides that we had another 'great' friend call and ask if we were going to be home on the carnaval in february and if not, if he could use our house! He also asked if we would be home THIS weekend...hahahha..that one neval was able to get out of!!! As you can see, i have a lot to prepare for! On the weekend after this one, we already have another family booked from Friday through Tuesday! That is of course the first family we know of... from the looks of things, you never know who could show up!! I honestly wish it were my family coming instead. Any of you intrested?! Love to have you here!!

bye for now, got lots of work to do!!

First Post of the Year!

2010-01-10T17:11:00.000-08:00

Well, this is another attempt to make this blogging thing actually work! I've discovered a few things about myself that help explain why i never really kept on with my blog. The first reason is that i generally have a hard time keeping up with something i've started. Like reading a book without stopping it to start another one that for that specific moment looks more attractive. Or staying for a whole year at a gym, and actually going regularly, or even doing exercises at home for that matter. So blogging was another one of my 'uncontinued' things.

But now we are in 2010, and with a new year there are always new ideas, new goals, new hopes, new everything! So, hopefully this time, i'll actually stick with this project, not for myself, but mostly for my daughter, so that the cute things she does everyday, and the new words she says, or new things she learns will not be kept just for me, but be shown off to her tias and grandma (to which this blog is really for)! I know it is time-consuming to stop and read blogs ( i know it because it's hard for me too) but whenever you do have the time, i'd love for you girls to see new pictures of her, and love her for the cute things she does and now says too!

love you all

patricia

Two favorite people

2009-04-04T14:17:00.000-07:00

Though it's strange to have two blogs in the same day, I decided to do it this way since one is thoughts from the heart, and this is evidence that despite those yukky feelings i DO have GREAT things to be greatful for. And two among those are these two beautiful people I have in my life, first my awesome husband, and second this little beautiful girl that has definitly brought us so much joy! This is one of Julia's favorite games. It also gives Mommy a lot more work...as you can see though, she thinks it's a lot of fun!! She also absolutely LOVES the Barney DVD!!

This is when we were at Grandma's house...she liked to play the piano and help make the bed with Grandma!!

Isn't she just plane beautiful!!

ALONE

2009-04-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

ALONE is the word that best describes me at this time in my life. Living in Camaquã I was surrounded by friends and people ALL THE TIME in my house, and I honestly had had enough of that. Well, now i've come to the complete opposite which isn't so great either. The deepest conversations I have had nowadays are with my 11 month old like: "Let's watch Barney", than go on to sing along the Barney DVD. Or else, "Pumpkin, it's nap time", than go on to hear some tiarsome(sorry, bad spelling) tears from a little girl who doesn't like naps!! I feel the need to have some sort of outlet, but can't seem to have found one right now, and once my husband gets home, he needs to have his time with Little Miss, and once she's in bed, neither of us have the energy to get into deep conversations! Funny thing is that writing this I've stopped to realize how many hours a day I actually spend all by myself!! My husband leaves home for work around 8:30 and has half hour lunch, which I'm SO greatful he comes home to, than he only comes home at around 7:30-8pm. And in the mean time I'm running around the house trying to keep up with my little girl who's climbing everything and crawling everywhere, while trying to keep the house livable. You would think that after spending so many hours alone, I'd be thriving to see people and 'get out there', but I've found that the more time alone I am, the more I want to 'hide', it's just that I haven't had the gutts nor the desire to go out there and talk to people.
Alone is not the only word that describes me now; LOST is a good one too. At the end of the day, i look at the diapers I've changed, the floors I've swepped 'again' and the food I've made 'again' and the time I spent washing dishes and washing and hanging and folding clothes 'again' and the times I had to stop everything to hold a crying baby, and the times I had to feed and bathe and put down for a nap and everything else you have to do with a baby, and it all feels like I'm going in circles, because I know that once I wake up, I'll have exactly the same tasks 'again'. Don't get me wrong, I'm VERY grateful for being able to be the one to care for my little girl and see her growing out of each fase, but should I be satisfied with that and ONLY that>:: I really don't know. It's really hard sometimes to see the big picture of things, like raising a child. The everyday tasks seem to shadow the influence I'm actually having in her life. I know this blog isn't making sense at all, it isn't making any sense to me either. I guess I should just stop here. i don't know if writing down these thoughts really help or make me feel sorry for myself...don't want that!!!

rushing the writing

2009-03-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

It has been three months since my last, which in a sense is very embarrassing, but if you'd take a peek into my current internet situation, you'd see why! Let me explain. When we first moved to Rio Grande, we decided not to put internet in our home so we wouldn't have that extra expense since it would only be for my use, and when I wanted to access the internet, I'd go to the store downtown and use it. The only little problem we didn't think of at the time, was that with a 10 month old baby, it's not that simple!! When I do get a chance to go to the store, I have to be lucky enough to have no clients being assisted which gives me the chance to use the computer. At the same time, my husband has to be free enough to hold Julia while I use the computer, because all she wants to do is type WITH mommy!! So, as you can see, by the time I'm able to use the computer, all I can really do is check my email and my family blogs quickly and that's it! As I speak, my little girl needs....maybe I'll get the chance soon to put pictures of her!!

julia 7 months!!!

2008-12-11T09:39:00.001-08:00

She brings us so much joy...just like her name says!!

first time at the beach!

2008-11-10T17:35:00.000-08:00

this is julia's first time at the beach! it was a chilly day, so we couldn't put her in the water llike we wanted to,( poor child - crazy parents)!

7 days to 6 months

2008-11-03T12:31:00.000-08:00

It`s hard to believe that my little girl is almost 6 months old! She is absolutly awesome, sweet, smily and simply beautiful!! Here is Julia Joy, 6 months old!!

Master Eletrônicos

2008-11-03T12:15:00.000-08:00

Master Eletrônicos is the name of our new electronics store in the city of Rio Grande!! So yes, we have finally moved to our new town and now we are adapting to our new city, house, and routine! It has almost been a year since Neval first had the idea to open a store and expand his business and we have been very anxious for it to become reality, and it finally has and we are SO excited to see how everything is coming into place so smoothly! In the 15 days we`ve been here the store is practically open and our house practically organized!

Above are some pictures of this new adventure in our lives! As you can see there aren`t any products set out yet since we just finished remodeling the store.

Julia 4 e 1/2

2008-09-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

p.s. she is crying on picture number 4 because she doesn't like to put clothes on after baths. Basically she cries after every bath, just when i start putting clothes on!! Any suggestion as to how to take that trauma away are all very welcome!

Pictures!

2008-08-19T14:39:00.001-07:00

Our little girl turned 3 months on the 10th! We are loving her each day more! Isn't she beautiful??!!!

3 years of pure bliss ;)

2008-08-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Neval and I completed 3 years of marriage and the first with our little one! At lunch time Neval surprised me with a photo booklet (a booklet where the photos are printed directly on the pages) telling the story of the most recent consequence of our marriage, Julia!! To me one special aspects of his gift was the fact that he ordered it in mid July, and for my husband who does EVERYTHING last minute I was really honored! On the other hand, I who usually do things before hand, set out 'on the day of' desperate, trying to find something special and meaningful,but came up with a nice wallet...at least he seemed to like it!
We went out to our favorite restaurant in town Bartz and enjoyed a wonderful meal! Tia Reesha babysat since the restaurant is next door to her house and any emergency we wouldn't be far. It was a wonderful day, and made me reflect once more, upon how happy I am with my choice of a husband and what a wonderful guy he really is!! He is so thoughtful and is always finding new ways to please me, which in consequence makes me find new ways to please him!! I praise God for our marriage!!

new toy

2008-08-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

Daddy brought home yesterday a surprise for baby Julia! I don't know the name of it, but we could tell she really liked it. The middle object is a mirror, and we laughed so hard the first time she saw it because she immedietly started smiling at it and making goo sounds to it as you'll see in the video!

sound asleep

2008-07-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

Since last Friday, my in-laws have been staying with us. The reason is that my father-in-law will have to go through a delicate surgery this next Monday(please keep him in your prayers), and since they live out in a farm, we thought best they stay in the city for security reasons. Anyway, while I was rushing around helping the cleaning lady with the house, my in-laws were so kind as to take care of my little girl. At one point, this is how I found all three of them in the living room...it was too sweet to pass!

enjoying my baby!

2008-07-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

In these 2 months and 19 days of being a mom, I have 3 daily goals: 1) make my bed, 2) wash the lunch dishes, and most importantly 3) enjoy every second with my little Julia! I confess that they're not easy goals either, and I call them 'goals' because they don't happen naturetly, I have to work on them daily. Every morning I remind myself (while staring at my dirty house), that this fase will also pass, and soon I'll be looking at pictures and remembering how little my baby was, and how wonderful it was to have her in my arms. So I hold her even closer, give her lots of kisses and ignore all the mess that I know I don't have time to clean. But today I'm extra happy because besides enjoying my little girls, at this very moment there is a lady cleaning my house!!! Hurray!!! Which means I can sit here with no guilt and know that at least someone is working!! lol!

eating a tangerine

2008-07-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

my daddy loves putting different foods in my mouth, just to see my reaction!!

At the hospital 2

2008-07-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

happy days

2008-07-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

After those sad days, we've been enjoying seeing our baby doing so well! This is Julia today!

Taking a BATH

2008-07-25T10:27:00.000-07:00

The Thumb

2008-07-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

This is Julia trying to suck on her thumb, the only finger available in that hand!

At the Hospital

2008-07-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures of the time Julia spent at the hospital. We are very glad that those five days are now gone and that our little one is doing so well! Praise God...and thanks to all of you who remembered her in your prayers!

Julia wanting to nurse

2008-07-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

This is Julia's way to show me she wants to nurse! If you listen closely, you'll also hear her grand finally! So cute this girl!!

2008-06-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

Today, this beautiful couple is completing 40 years of marriage, and I'm proud to say they are MY parents!! Since I've been married, I've realized what a great example of a successful marriage they really are! Their way of life and the advices they gave are still strongly ingrained in my mind, and it has helped my a number of times in my own marriage. So I'd just like to say thank you for your example and for giving me the tools to have a successful marriage! I love you guys so much!! CONGRATULATIONS!

First Blog

2008-06-28T17:04:00.000-07:00

I have finally joined the blogging family! Although it has taken me a while, it only now felt like the right time because now I have a GREAT reason to share what's going on with my life. Not that I didn't have anything to share before, but I feel like now I want people to know what to me are magical events that happen with my little one every day! And since I have so much of my family living far away, I feel that by writing about her and showing little pictures or movies, that you too will be able to participate in her young life! So, ENJOY!