Jumping Back on the Blogging Wagon

Well, by now most of you have read my excuses for not posting...mostly horrible morning sickness that kept my in the fetal position October-December. However, it's a new year, a new trimester, and we are safely back in Sao Paulo so I feel ready to begin posting again. I'm sure you all are relieved *wink, wink*.

We had a great visit with family in December. We flew to Bogota, Columbia for two days before heading onto D.C. Bogota is pretty much the half way point between Sao Paulo and D.C. so it broke our ten hour flight more or less into two five hour flights which was way more manageable with the kids. Plus, the Columbia's national airline Avianca is great to fly on! The seats were spacious (by comparison), the flights arrived on time or early, the staff pleasant, and the kids had a touch screen in front of them that played movies, television, and video games-a welcome distraction! While in Columbia we visited The Gold Museum and hired a driver to take us around Bogota. We visited Montserrat via trolley and could see the entire city of Bogota from there and drove through La Candalaria.

It was a fun detour. Sophie enjoyed the drug sniffing dogs that were EVERYWHERE. The people were friendly (minus our friends at the immigration counter) and the hotel was new, clean, and comfortable. We may book this route another time.

We flew into D.C. amazingly just 24 hours after the huge snow storm hit. Another round of applause for Avianca airlines! We even arrived early. It was only after the baggage carousel broke with our luggage down below that we were delayed!

Seeing family and friends was, of course, wonderful. So was speaking English everywhere we went...I felt so smart and capable! Target, too, was no disappointment. It was hard to leave after three weeks. The kids are getting more vocal about wanting to stay in Virginia and visit family in Austin and Colorado...we'll see what the next few years hold.

We arrived back in Sao Paulo last Friday after a one day layover in Bogota. The kids are happy to be back. Their friends have all returned and they are enjoying spending long hours outside in the sunshine-something that was unthinkable in frigid D.C. After five weeks off they head back to school on the 26th. We are getting back into the swing of early bedtimes and household routines.

Paul left for Greece today. He's taking 31 middle schoolers on a 9 day tour of the country...nice job, right?! He's worked hard to make this trip happen and I know he will have a great time.

As for me, I'm approaching my 18th week of pregnancy though I am, for the most part, still wearing my normal clothing. I thought the second I saw the positive line I'd have to move into maternity by baby number three...I think the morning sickness has helped everything fit a bit longer! We believe we are having a girl by the last ultrasound we had, but should know for sure in the next few weeks.

Carnaval is only three short weeks away, but I think we're staying put. Instead of traveling we plan to rest, relax, and continue working on making our new apartment home. I have pictures I want to share, but our computer isn't cooperating and without Paul I'm not sure how to get them onto here any other way. Pictures to follow!

I promise more regular updates from now on!