Doctor's Visit

Yesterday I stayed home from work and took the baby to the doctor. We were behind - his three-month appointment was supposed to be around the 6th, but time has been so scarce lately, not to mention money (as usual!). The doctor said he's perfect. His tear ducts are still blocked, though, so I will have to bring him to an eye doctor to check it out. Also, he needs to get more food. Of course this has me worried... I've noticed for the past few days that his diapers aren't very wet. Of course I suppose this has to do with not getting quite enough milk, but of course I am worried again about failure to thrive and CF and all that. I don't know why I can't quite believe the tests that came back negative. I can't believe I am such a nervous Nelly about my kids - I never wanted to be like that. Anyway, the doctor was fine and excited about his progress in terms of his motor skills. He got vaccinated for meningitis, too, so was a little fussy last night. Good thing is that the Tempra we gave him made him sleepy and he slept pretty well. I am a little frustrated by the fact that he was such a good eater and now seems to be rejecting the bottle. I think it may have to do with the fact that I am back to work and he misses me. Agustin never really did, but Nicolas cries nonstop every Monday. I feel so guilty, like I am a terrible mom...

On another note, poor Bati isn't so happy in IA. He is going to ask for a transfer, because of reasons I won't go into here. I just wish he were having a better time.

My heart feels so heavy right now. I'm glad it's Friday and I will have all weekend to spend with the kids.

Creatures of Habit

There’s something to be said for falling into a routine. Before I had kids, I felt like this was the curse of getting old – having a daily routine. I’d remember doing my neighbor’s paper route and feeling sorry for the older couples who would wait for their morning paper to arrive every day at the same time. They would get so upset if you were even minutes late. My father-in-law has always said we are creatures of habit, but I never wanted to believe him. I kept busy, mixed things up, didn’t want to fall into a rut. Then my first child came along and spontaneity became chaos. It took us a while to establish a routine, and then came the second and the routine was disrupted again. But these last few months with my two kids felt so right once we got back into the routine: get up, make bottles, get clothes for the day ready, make beds, get dressed, eat breakfast, bath for the smallest, and then the playing begins… I felt so calm, so… capable, like now I could truly do anything if I could handle this growing family. Now I’m back to work and the routine (at least mine) has been broken, and once again I feel like I’m free falling…

and another

I can't just put one picture up. I have to add this, too.

Candy for Your Eyes

Here's my little one. Had to get a picture up since Agustin already has a couple.

Things to do:

(UPDATE 7/6: So, I got through the laundry, but of course have more piled up. Maybe not a great thing to have on a to-do list. I scrubbed one wall, but that pencil is NOT coming off so easily. I guess I'm just getting used to having it there. Did our sales tax forms but not the income tax forms yet. Went to the doctor with baby but need to go again soon. Raked leaves, but again, there are more... and last but not least, I did manage to get over to La Braisilia. I got one more box out of there, got the electricity turned on, saw that at least there are no mice or cockroaches. It's a huge, daunting task, let me tell you.)

1. put away laundry
2. pack up maternity clothes
3. scrub (5) walls... Agustin got loose with a pencil
4. develop pictures
5. schedule doctor and dentist appointments and make time to actually keep them
6. go to the post office
7. wash car
8. rake leaves in back yard... happy to be next to the park, not liking the shedding eucalyptus
9. fill out tax forms for our local taxes... HUGE headache since when we moved everything was misplaced
10. go over to La Brasilia and clean some things out, dust, vacuum, etc. Poor neglected little apartment.

I'll keep you updated on the ones (if any) I get through. (I tend to spend more time writing to-do lists than actually doing the things on them!)

What I'm Reading

I recently finished The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Before that it was Caramba! by Nina Marie Martinez (not to my liking at all - it felt completely contrived, and the author did a terrible job of incorporating magic realism into the plat. The characters were very flat, and when she tried to get them to do something out-of-character, it felt unreal. Total pop culture overload - gay/transvestite hairdressers, the macho Mexican mujeriego, two best friends - one with a phobia, prom-like dances, evangelical mariachi bands, prisoners on parole for drug dealing...just too much squeezed into an already poorly written novel). I really enjoyed Kite Runner, though. I like that kind of story, especially the ones that make me cry or feel complete despair (I know, it’s masochistic). I can’t imagine what it would be like coming back to your home country after so many years and finding it reduced to rubble.

Another recent read is The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst. Andrés picked this one up for me while he was in Tampa, and I loved it so much I read it in one sitting (really really late at night of course). It is the story of a man who loses his young wife and, while trying to deal with the loss, makes some discoveries of his own. The best part was the whole talking dogs angle - horrifying. (It sounds strange - I know, talking dogs? Not usually what I read. But it was so believable and well written that I cried at the end for Lorelei) A very poignant story, written in beautiful, flowing prose. One of my favorite all-time reads.

Oh, and I’ve also recently read Around the World in 80 Dates by Jennifer Cox, an ebook I bought for Andrés’ palm. I never thought I’d like an ebook, but it was nice to always have it around. I could pull it out while in line at the supermarket, or on break at work, or sitting in the parking lot of the department store with two sleeping kids. The book itself wasn’t so great - pure chick lit and a really light read. I was expecting more of a travelogue, but mostly she just talks about the dating scene (something I am not familiar with and not really interested in). Anyway, perfect ebook material. I’ve also got Bill Bryson’s A Short History on Nearly Everything on ebook. A lot of interesting facts and figures that can be instantly bookmarked with the touch of the stylus.

Currently I am reading Mosaic by Soheir Khashoggi. 5 don’t think it’s got a U.S. printing yet, and my version is actually in Spanish. I’m halfway through it and at a point where the author just seems to be saying the same things over and over again. It’s about a woman whose husband, from Jordan, kidnaps their two youngest children and brings them to Jordan to protect them from Western culture. I thought it would be more about the arguments behind the kidnapping (homosexuality, cultural decadence) and also more of a travelogue, but so far it’s just about the main character sitting at home waiting for her husband to call with news of their children. I’m stuck where she has hired someone to help her kidnap them back.

We’ve got the CEC-EPN library up and running, so I’ve decided to check out my allotted books. I chose The Chamber by John Grisham (an easy read, something to pass the time) and Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt, which I hope will be more riveting.
As you can see, after nine months of not having the concentration needed to read, I’m trying to catch up.

World Cup...Go Ecuador!!!!

Something else I should mention...
The World Cup has already gotten underway in Germany, and there is World Cup fever everywhere in Ecuador, since our national team is participating for the second time in a row, and this time has gone on to the next round of finals. Everyone is very excited about tomorrow's game vs. England. Should be fun.

On a different note, I'm having a bit of homesickness today, since I just heard from my mother and once again, as expected, everyone is up at the lake. what I wouldn't give to be on Lake Pokegama with them...DH (dear husband) is planning a trip at Christmas but more snow! No thanks. I'd rather get sunburnt. Of course I need to do some serious dieting before the swim suit goes on...I've got this great blog with South Beach Diet recipes taht I think the whole family will be trying...

weekend woes

Here I am again, at work on a Saturday. After three months of maternity leave, you'd think I'd not mind getting away from it all for a bit. That's not true, though, since weekends really should be for the family. I don't mind working weekdays, actually love it because the being cooped up in the house with two little ones can just about make me lose my mind, but weekends are a time to relax, rest, get things done, clean the house, play outside with the kids at a LEISURELY pace, go shopping (yah!)... not work. We're here administering the toefl exam, interesting but not what I want to do on a Saturday for FIVE or SIX hours.
Back to my blogging escapades. I have found bloglines, which is great. I've been figuring out how to add some cool stuff like random books from my library on my blog. It's looking better and better each day. I'm working out how to link within a text, too. All I really need now is to get some pictures up of the new addition to the family!

Pigeons be gone

Yes. We have a pigeon problem. These birds are the rats of the bird world. Rodents. They sweep in off the rooftops and cast shadows over my windows, creating a Hitchcock-type effect throughout the house. They sit in our window boxes and hanging plants and destroy the flowers. What to do? I found this solution on the blog Boing Boing and was thrilled to realize that I am not the only one with this problem. Now... do they ship overseas?

Who am i kidding?

I've been playing around with blogrolling and some other search button thing, of which I forgot the name, and nothing is publishing or working. Even my last post didn't publish. Is this a lost cause for me? Why am I so techologically challenged? I feel completely out of the loop...

Did I Say Procrastinate?

I didn't, but that's what has happened. I said I was consumed with the drive to write, that I could think of nothing else, but then beautiful baby boy comes along and writing has been put on the back burner. Although, I am here, right? Which means that the writing monster is starting to stir...