Sisters

Three

Paul and I debated A LOT about whether or not we were going to have a third baby. Not Stella, of course, just a third in general...It was a really, really tough decision. We love Noah and Sophie so much and we both felt so blessed that they were healthy, creative, intelligent children-we didn't want to "press our luck" in that area. In the end, we did (obviously) and wound up with Miss Stella. I couldn't be happier-three children feels way more right than two ever did. By seven thirty each night (when they are all happily asleep in bed) all I can think is, "I love my life". Every single day. How many people go to bed feeling that way every night? What a gift Stella has given us!

She's on the Move

I can't believe Stella will be two months on Sunday! She's a total joy (and more so everyday) and I love seeing her personality emerging. That being said, I'm not ready for it to go by so fast. Last night around 2 a.m. I heard Stella crying. I went in to check on her and found her on her back staring at me. She's a tummy sleeper and she had managed to flip herself over-clearly scaring herself in the process! This morning as she was on her playmat I noticed she was trying to roll from her back to her tummy. I was "interviewing" her about it when she did it! And I captured it on camera! I can't believe it. Slow down, baby girl!

Open House V.2

For all of our friends and family...this is our school! This was used for the Lower School Open House last week. Enjoy!


Open House V.2

Just Like Any Other Weekend...Plus the Babe

Around these parts we spend lots and lots of weekends just like this...


Stella's a new addition to the routine, but she's learning quickly!

Baby's Got Back

I dabbled in cloth diapering for Noah and Sophie, but was never fully committed. This time around I've started cloth diapering Stella from the get go. We use mostly prefolds and covers and I find it to be oddly enjoyable to cloth diaper. I even insist on doing the diaper laundry in the house (though none of the other laundry). I can't explain why it brings me joy, but I can explain why we do it! Look here for more info...The gross out factor isn't really there since she's exclusively breastfed and I find diapers made of petroleum, polyethylene, wood pulp, gel, polypropylene, and perfume to be much more disturbing. Stella wasn't too pleased with the cloth diapering initially, but once I added a fleece liner to her dipe she was much happier! I think we're on a roll now!

Much cuter than plastic diapers, right?
Besides, would you want to wear plastic underwear?

Little Sister

This is what you end up with when your big sister dresses you...summer dress, pajama onesie, and striped leggings.




Sophie also came up with a coordinating outfit for herself :)

Stella Smiles

Stella's a smiley girl these days...



Here's Sophie at the same age...what do you think? Do they look alike?

And Noah smiling? We didn't have a digital camera then!

Sophie's Arm Update

We found out late last week that Sophie will need follow up surgery on her left arm. In April Sophie fell off a trampoline at a friend's house and broke her left elbow. They placed pins and she had a cast for over six weeks, but unfortunately multiple x-rays and an MRI have shown there is still a large gap in her bone. The doctor's next plan of attack is to remove bone from Sophie's hip and use it to make a "cement" to fill the gap in her elbow. Unbelievably, Paul had the same surgery as a kid. We should know the surgery date by the end of the week and we'll keep everyone posted.

Back into the Baby World

After several years of no babies we're back in full baby mode around these parts. Words like "swaddling", "nursing", "diapers", and "please God let her go to sleep" are taking center stage. It's a change, for sure! Paul and I struggle a bit to embrace this change sometimes. It is hard when sweet Stella doesn't want to go down for the night until 12:30 and the other two are up at 6:30 (or earlier, Mr. Noah). I keep telling myself (over and over and over) these times are fleeting and to embrace the fuzzy newborn head, the first smiles, the "aaagggaaa" sounds, and the baby smells. It doesn't always work, but I'm trying.

Just So Stella Will Wake Up

I've decided to actually try and write on this blog because I need Stella to wake up. She didn't really nurse this morning when she woke up and so now, three hours later, I. NEED. HER. TO. WAKE. UP. I'm in pain. The only surefire way to make her wake up is to start doing something that I would like to finish. Once I start she is guaranteed to wake up immediately. Let's see how far I get writing to test my theory!

So, since it has been awhile....

On July 4, 2010 Stella Jane Kasky was born into my hands here at home. All nine pounds of her. It was an incredible experience and one I wish I could do over ten times. Except I don't want ten more children. According to Paul, I wasn't begging to do it all over again at the time, but now, six weeks later I think I would in a heartbeat. Except I won't.

We're adjusting okay-granted with a lot of help. It makes me really nervous to have all three children by myself at home. Noah and Sophie are less needy overall but they still need lots of time and attention-bedtime stories, homework help, games of Uno, etc...and I can't always do that with them. For that, I feel pretty terrible right now. I am hoping (maybe too optimistically) that once Stella is a tiny bit older and on more of a schedule it will get easier. I could be dreaming.

The kids are great with her-they love to lay on the blanket with her and coo in her face. It is awfully cute until she is MAD that they are in her face! Sophie likes to help with every diaper change and has begun insisting that I use the cloth diapers on her. Noah is great at getting smile from her. I can't wait until she can crawl around after them and giggle at their tricks. I think that is the best part of having multiple children-seeing them love on one another.

Noah started first grade and seems to love it. He's reading like crazy and writes stories every day at school. Sophie is a K-4 this year and already building words like mat, cat, Sam, etc...She's very proud of her work!

Paul started back at school and while busy, seems to be enjoying school so far. Stella can be a bit of a challenge at times (what with all the crying and all) so I wonder if Paul secretly enjoys heading off each morning. I'm off until late January and doing well with it most of the time. Of course, our nanny is here each day to help and let me sneak out for yoga or a run so it is a nice situation.

I'm going to make a commitment to get SOMETHING up here each day. It may just be a picture, but as someone pointed out, this is a great memory for our family and I want to add to it! So, check back. And she's up. Fool proof, I tell you!

World Cup Fever

Just about all you can here during the Brazil games is the sound of the vuvuzela

As we wait for Miss Stella to arrive, we've at least had the World Cup to keep us entertained. The past two weeks have been filled with game after game. Of course, the U.S. and Brazil games are our favorite, but I think Noah and Paul have watched most of the games that are on. Almost all kids here (and adults too!) are crazy about the World Cup album, where they collect stickers of the players on each team, the stadiums, the team photos, etc...Noah started his in mid-April and has collected 630 stickers for his album and only needs 8 more to complete the whole thing. Noah has a pretty good memory, and after nearly 3 months of studying the teams he has a good feel for most of the players. He's really enjoying the World Cup! Watching in Brazil is fun too-no matter when the game is, everything comes to a complete standstill. The city is nearly silent as everyone is completely focused on the game. Even Sophie's ballet class was canceled due to the game last week! I think the World Cup goes through July 11th-here's hoping Stella has made her appearance by then-I'm not sure what we'd do with all the time if the World Cup is over AND she's not here!!

Noah loving the vuvuzela

Sophie chose blue nail polish to show her support for both the U.S. and Brazil...I'm not even kidding!

Wrapping Up the Year and Some Changes for Next Year

We're just about finished for the 2009-2010 school year! Thursday (6/10) is the last day of school for students and we teachers finish on the 11th. It has been a little difficult for me to keep up these last few weeks as I approach the end of the school year and the end of this pregnancy at the same time, but I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel! Our June-July break isn't especially long, but coupled with our other 6 week break in December and January we really can't complain. Obviously we'll have our hands full with Miss Stella's arrival at some point in June (I can't wrap my head around the possibility of early July quite yet), my mom arrives July 7th and Paul and Noah are off to Peru mid-July. Ryan will come back with Paul and Noah and be here the remainder of the break. It seems like it will fly by! Before we know it we'll be starting back to school and I'll be the mother of both a first grader, a K-4 preschooler, and a newborn! Crazy! The good news for me is that I'll have ample time to adjust to these roles-at least compared to Noah and Sophie's births. With both Noah and Sophie I had to head back to work 6 weeks post partum and though Noah's birth came near the end of the school year it still wasn't ideal. This time, assuming I have this baby near the end of June, I should be off through the end of January. Seven months! Brazil has great maternity leave benefits (at least compared to the other countries in the Americas).
As it stands right now, I'll get 4 months off for maternity leave, 30 days of vacation (since the baby is coming over vacation), 15 days for breastfeeding, and I'm set to return December 9th. I think school finishes just over a week later and rather than disrupt breastfeeding, etc...I'm just going to take that week unpaid. Second semester starts near the end of January so at that point Stella and I will have had 7 wonderful (paid!) months to get to know each other. Of course, I don't think going back to work with small kids is ever ideal or easy, but we have it pretty good. I still will be only 5 minutes from home and at school all day with Noah and Sophie. Our same nanny will watch Stella until I return home around 4.
Next year I will not return to work as a classroom teacher. Due to strange circumstances (another third grade teacher and I are due with in days of each other) my principal has asked me to return in a reading support and literacy coaching position. I'm excited about that opportunity and I think it will allow me to ease back into the working world, rather than diving head first into report cards, parent conferences, etc...right away. I'm really looking forward to the changes ahead...I think they'll be good for all of us! Paul's a little jealous, but while I'm at home holding down the fort, his next seven months include Peru, Paris, the States, and Italy so I don't feel too bad!

Just One Thing Missing

We have a few more things to do, but for the most part we're ready for Stella's arrival! I'll be nearly 38 weeks when the school year ends (3 weeks from today!) and I am really hoping to have a few weeks to just relax and spend time with our family of four before Stella girl makes her grand entrance. We'll see! I think, all things considered, we were able to put together a pretty sweet nursery for her-my class bought the awesome pink chair for her room. We just need one more addition now!

No excuses

I don't know what it is about blogging these days...well, I'm tired for one-but really, the day to day things that were so exciting last year are so mundane now. What was "our new life" as become "our normal life" and I sometimes have trouble recognizing the unique and special day to day occurrences worthy of blogging about. I really want to be better-especially with Stella girl set to debut in less than two months!

So, what's the latest? I realized I haven't blogged since March so I really have an entire month to fill you in on!

April Highlights:

• Portal Easter and Egg Hunt

This was super fun again this year. The Portal is just such a great place to live-we gathered all the kids together and had two egg hunts going (thanks to the men folk!). One for the toddling crowd and one for the running crowd. I think both groups were pleased. I MUST find a way to get Easter baskets here-Noah and Sophie hunting with plastic grocery bags is just plain ugly. We have ours packed away somewhere but it may be easier to just buy another few. Either that or we can start celebrating Easter Brazilian style where we just give a large chocolate egg to each kiddo. I don't think they'd be disappointed with that option either-especially because some of the other basket goodies-grass, candy, and spring-type toys are hard to find here.

• Sophie's broken arm-not a highlight, but definitely a major part of our month

Sophie was at a playdate one afternoon and she and the other girls were jumping off a trampoline. She had done it quite a few times before the fateful leap-her foot got caught and she landed on her left arm. Poor girl smashed her elbow "como un biscoito" (like a cookie). It required surgery, two pins, and an overnight stay in the hospital. She's in a cast from her upper arm to her wrist and sling for the next month or so (6 weeks total). Poor thing! However, she is really amazing in how she's handled everything. She's happy and pretty much her normal self most of the time. She does get frustrated, but thankfully those moments are few and far between.

Our school was amazingly supportive through that whole ordeal. My principal in particular spent the majority of the evening at the hospital with me (Paul was taxiing home from a far away softball tournament). She translated as needed and generally made me feel much more at ease. Our nanny and neighbors made sure Noah was cared for and got off to school the next day. We live far away from family, but our support system here is really fantastic.

• Noah's 6!!

Poor guy had his sixth birthday a few days after Sophie's accident. We enjoyed Pasta Night at Portal (someday Pasta Night will get its own post!) and cake. We celebrated in his classroom, and this Saturday we're having a Lego Party for ten kiddos. Should be a fun time!

• Plane tickets

We will not coming home in June (something about a woman nine months pregnant and a 10 hour flight makes people nervous) but we bought tickets home in December. We plan on spending three weeks in the States-a week in Colorado with Paul's family, a week in Austin with my dad and family, and a week in Orlando with my mom and family joining us. I am contemplating running the Disney half marathon (its the same weekend) but that may just be my crazy pregnancy brain talking!

So there' s the month of April! May will be spent preparing for baby Stella's arrival (we have LOTS to do!) and wrapping up the school year. Check back soon for a recap of Noah's Lego birthday and pictures!!

What's in a Name?

A Starbucks barrista's attempt to understand the name "Paul" on our order

Picking out baby names is just about my favorite part about having a baby-except for actually having the baby! I look at baby names even when I'm not pregnant and frequent websites like nameberry.com and nymbler.com to follow the baby naming trends. So, of course, I started thinking about baby names about 2 minutes after I got the positive test! However, for two teachers, naming a child is hard! We've had lots of students between us and some names leave us with not so fond associations. This time we've also had to figure what names work decently in both Portuguese and English. Of course, we have no idea how long we'll be here, but we do need to be mindful of how common names can have different associations in other languages. For example, the classics Ruth and Rosie are pronounced hoo-chee and ho-sie respectively in Brazil-not the image we're going for! One of our favorites, Annabel, is a type of wedge heel in Portuguese and that makes us reluctant to use it. So now we're focused on a name that works in both languages easily and I think we've found our winner. Right now (and we've been known to change this at the last minute) we're planning on naming this baby girl Stella. Stella's been one of my favorites since I had Sophie and the fact that it is a known name in English and Portuguese is a bonus. Never mind that Tori Spelling used it-and we're certainly not following Ellen Pompeo's lead and using Stella Luna (a favorite read aloud around here!). We have a middle name picked out but we're still fine tuning a part of it so we'll keep that quiet for now. As of now, come June we'll have Noah, Sophie, and Stella Kasky!

Indulgences

I traveled to Santa Luiza market the other week to gather a few goodies for our family. I'd never been before, but I'd heard the rumors of marshmallows! instant oatmeal! goldfish crackers! so I decided to check it out. It was pretty good-I found everything I'd heard about and more. Of course, I think I paid $9 for a package of instant oatmeal, but for a special treat it was worth it. Just look at his face!

Six Months and Counting!

I am a terrible blogger. I don't know what has stolen my blogging mojo, but clearly it is gone! I don't know if it is the constant nausea (I mean, REALLY...nauseous at 6 months still?), the brain cells that this little girl is zapping, or the fact that things have been awfully low key around here lately-but I have nothing to write about.

I can tell you the pregnancy is going well. I'm 26 weeks so I feel like I can start counting backwards now-14 weeks more or less until we meet this little girl! I am seeing an English speaking midwife and Paul and I are considering all of our birthing options here in Sao Paulo so we can avoid being included in the 90% c-section rate in Brazil. We're starting to get the babe's room ready and I think we've picked a name. I recently started a yoga class twice a week and I'm indulging in a weekly home massage. I can't really complain-other than the nausea, things are more and less great! I'm hoping little to no weight gain so far will help post partum so I don't feel the need to schedule my mommy makeover (that's usually free with the c-section here) right away! Anyway, things are moving along...

The kids are good. Noah's loving the kindergarten program and finally starting to challenge himself with new activities and "work" (a Montessori term) at school. Sophie is about the happiest little girl around and madly in love with her teacher. She's starting to show an interest in writing words like her big brother and is perfecting her baby knowledge. I think she'll be a big help when this little girl arrives.

We don't really have any vacations second semester so we're pretty much vacationing at Club Portal (home!) as the weather permits. Tomorrow's the first day of fall and we're starting to feel a shift in the weather. It's been warm and sunny during the day and cool in the evening. Pretty much perfect.

I have every intention of being a better blogger so keep checking back!

Picture Updates

Valentine's Day Murder Mystery Date (we're in character!)

Toothless Wonder

What? You don't swim with flippers?

Cutie Pie Christmas Concert

Tooth Fairy is getting a workout at this house!

Sophie's fourth birthday celebrated Hawaiian style

The Portal Gang

This and That

So...where we left off:
Paul returned safely from his awesome trip to Greece! The kids were so very excited to see him (me too!) and we all quickly returned to school/work routines more or less peacefully.

We are in our new apartment (same complex, different building). The apartment is larger and the style is more comfortable for us. The kids still share a room leavifng us with a play room, a room for the baby, and our bedroom. We ordered some new living room furniture and we're slowly starting to get things up on the walls. By the time the babe arrives we should have it more or less done.

Soph had a birthday! We celebrated her fourth birthday on January 31st Hawaiian style. She is very proud to be four and is already counting the days until she hits four and a half! She and Noah seem to be playing together more and more frequently and I am constantly amazed at the patience he (mostly) has for teaching her games like Uno or helping her with a puzzle. They've also gotten pretty good and combining their loves creating games like "Let's be pirates on a ship and you can bring your baby along". Most days they are a pretty good team!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today! The baby looked great-everything as it should be-and we determined it is definitely a GIRL! Noah and Sophie were a bit disappointed this morning-they had their hearts set on a little brother-but by this evening they seemed to be okay with a little sister. We think we have a name picked out-something that works well in English and Portuguese-but I think we'll test it out for a few weeks before revealing it!

We're off this week Carnaval. We decided to stay around this week (barring any last minute trips to the beach) and spend the time enjoying "Club Portal"-the pools, the restaurant, and the lack of traffic and crowds makes it a good option! This way we can spend a little extra on the baby's room and our apartment :)

Pictures of all the latest happenings coming tomorrow! The heat has worn me out for the day!

Perks of the job

So when we came to Sao Paulo, we figured we'd get a great international experience. Little did I know how international the experience would be.

At the end of last school year, I decided that the history portion of my Humanities class was a little bit shortchanged. Not that the curriculum is bad (it's not great...), but more to the point, it's pretty difficult to make 2000 year old history relevant sometimes. So I approached my principal about creating an international trip. The discussions started innocently enough (we were actually poolside at the club, sipping caiparinhas at the time), but culminated in a 9-day trip to Greece that I just returned from. For me, the trip was in many ways a dream-come-true. As a history guy, seeing sites that are more than 3500 years old... artifacts over 8000 years old... it was amazing. But it was so much more than I bargained for. While we didn't go island-hopping or visit the northern peninsulas of Greece, we did spend 8 days primarily in Athens and the Peloponnese. Sure, we headed up to Delphi and down to Cape Sounion for the Temple of Poseidon, but every stop along the way was an amazing, beautiful and rewarding experience. To be sure, Greece is among the most beautiful places I've ever been. As we all know, photos hardly do justice to beauty. But in this case, it's particularly true.
The Parthenon in Athens
With my fellow teachers in Delphi
In Corinth

Paul's Coming Home

Cost of replacing the car battery (that died while Paul was gone): R$300
Cost of replacing the kids' bedroom rug (that mildewed in the flood while Paul was gone): R$150
Cost of running the fan (to dry the mattress that was soaked while Paul was gone): R$86
Cost of paying the babysitter (for 2 hours of sanity while Paul was gone): R$20
Cost of internet groceries (to avoid the store with two kiddos while Paul was gone): R$250

Paul coming home tomorrow: PRICELESS

So...um, the update from Friday was really optimistic. Things WERE going well. Then Saturday came. During a bad rainstorm (that came on suddenly) the kids and I ended up getting stuck in not one, but two elevators when the power went out. It wasn't for long, but scary nonetheless. When we made it home we found the kids room was flooded with water-Noah's mattress was soaked, his quilt, the floor, even Sophie's clothes in her closet-which had been left open when I came home to fetch bathing suits (see, the rain really did come on suddenly!)-were drenched. Oh, it was a mess! I spent most of the afternoon drying water off the floor and rearranging furniture to let everything dry out. Bedtime couldn't come soon enough!

This morning, our first day back to school with students, I found the car battery dead. I managed to get a ride with friends and make it to school just in time to greet my new students and kiss the sea of parents outside my door. We knew the car was acting funny, but we thought it would make it until Paul returned. Almost...

Anyway, despite the chaos of the last few days we survived. But we're definitely ready for Paul to come home! He'll be home late tomorrow night and we'll all be waiting!

**On a side note, after all of my whining, please pray for my good friend Diane's husband Mark. He is works for the Fairfax County Police Department and they are working in Haiti right now. Last weekend Mark fell onto a pipe sticking out of a wall and broke his rib. He's been on the USS Comfort so they can run tests and rule out any internal injuries. So far, it looks like he'll be able to stay with his team and continue working in Haiti. You can see an great video on the work they are doing here.

Paul's adventures

For those interested in keeping up with Paul's adventures in Greece check out Graded Goes Greece

We've heard from Paul a few times via email. Noah's written him a sweet email back while Sophie is content to tell daddy about her ballet leotard in great detail and kindly ask if we can buy yet another next time we're back in Virginia. True to their personalities!

All is well here. I'll be the first to admit I've had Katty here most of the day (I went back to work on Thursday) only leaving me with the 4-8 shift. The kids have been really good, and thankfully, very tired! I'm heading into the difficult stretch now-a 3 day weekend with rain predicted for all three days. I checked out 12 books from our school library this afternoon and I've already started my lists of fun activities to fill the time. I've also made peace with the fact that the kiddos may watch a little more television this weekend.

I am already a little worried about what could happen next year if I am faced with 10 days and three kids! My two seem pretty easy by that comparison. Oh well, I'll start strategizing next year. For now, things are good!

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!

Paul wrote this a month ago, but it is better than nothing!! I'm finally starting to feel human again, so I will get some posts up....but for now, here's a short update!


Ok, so it's been almost a month since our last post. That's not good. But really, life's been moving along at a pretty normal pace lately, so I guess we just haven't felt the need to share so much.

Ok, I lied. Life is not moving along normally. Since our beach weekend, the following events have occurred:

1) I went to Nosso Recanto for the second time - the mountain camp retreat where the Brazilian international private schools all go to play their season-ending tournaments. It's really what we gear up for all year long. For our sports fans out there, I'll tell you how the tourney went for my boys basketball team. It was an 8-team tournament that was divided into two 4-team brackets. We had a round-robin within the bracket and went 2-1, losing only to the gigantic St. Paul's Lions. It was a nine point loss, but in many ways it was closer than that.

As the #2 seed, we had to play the undefeated #1 seed from the other bracket - Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro. We beat them by a few in a very close game.

That victory put us in the final against... that same St. Paul's Team that beat us before. Well, they beat us again. It was a bit of a disappointment, as we'd beaten them during the regular season and really felt like we could win the championship. But they have a 6'5" big guy who just dominated inside and we didn't have an answer for that. So we came home with 2nd place.

2) We signed a lease to move into a new apartment in less than two weeks. When we moved the kids into separate rooms a few months ago, we lost the playroom in our relatively small 3-bedroom apartment. Coupled with the fact that it's been colder and rainier this year than it was last year, keeping us inside a bit more and infecting us with a bit of cabin fever, we decided that we needed more space. So we're moving up the hill in the same complex (Portal do Morumbi) into a building with larger, 4-bedroom apartments. We'll be going from less than 1500 square feet to over 2100. This will definitely be more comfortable for us.

3) If moving into a new apartment in December of our 2nd year wasn't enough of an indication, we've decided to stay in Sao Paulo and at Escola Graduada for another year. The intial contract was for two years, but now we can go year-to-year. There are so many good reasons to stay here at this point. It's a great place to live for the kids.... they have a nanny and a gigantic park as their backyard. They can take swimming lessons, soccer class (Noah), ballet (Sophie) and play with their friends all day every day. After school, of course. The kids are getting a top-notch education. Abby and I have excellent jobs where we feel appreciated and valued (most of the time, anyway). Not to mention...

4) We're having another one.

No, not another caipirinha (although that's generally not a bad idea). Abby's pregnant! #3. The last one.

She's been to the doctor and we've seen it on ultrasound. We're obviously very excited and can't wait to meet the new little one. The only question now is whether or not we find out what we're having. Abby says yes, I say no. We found out with both Noah and Sophie ahead of time. The only experience we haven't had is not finding out. Abby's approaching this very practically and just wants to be able to shop in the States. But seriously... it's much more fun to wait and see, right?

So there you have it. We haven't posted anything in almost a month because, let's face it, Abby is the primary poster around here. And frankly, she's felt too sick to sit in front of a computer screen and write. She's been much more nauseous and throw-uppy with this one. Gross for me, but really unpleasant and uncomfortable for her. So while your tendency might be to feel sorry for me.... ok, not at all. But you should send her an email or give her a call and make her feel better.

Now we're getting ready to head off to Buenos Aires for a 4-day holiday (as they say in this part of the world. Or do they?). We're excited to get out of Sao Paulo for a few days and make some memories as a family. We'll let you know how it goes once we get back. Hopefully not a month after we get back.