Halloween Photos

Because I Have So Much Extra Time...

I decided to start a second blog: See Abby Run

Running has always been a goal of mine, but now I am making it a priority. This blog is a way for me to stay focused on my training plans, goals, and keep myself honest on my progress. Feel free to come on over and cheer me on! I can could use it!

Pride calleth

So I don't post here anymore. I've left that task to my immensely capable wife, who takes care of our updates here. But an event took place last Sunday that has inspired me to take up the quill and scroll to record for posterity: Noah's first competitive sports event.

Now, I was no soccer boy. I was a baseball boy who took up basketball later in childhood. But I get soccer. Especially here and now, in Brazil. Literally everyone plays soccer here. At least all the kids. But the weekend warrior middle-aged (and older) men get out and play on the weekends too. It's a culture where it's inescapable. So there has never been any question about what sport Noah would take part in here. He's been taking soccer lessons for two years.

But Sunday was his first competitive game. His 6-and-under team of mostly Brazilians (and a couple of Argentines) against a 6-and-under team of Brazilians from just around the corner. And guess what? Noah's team won. Big deal, you're thinking. Somebody had to win. But get this. Our little gringo showed those big, bad futbol-playing Brasileiros how a gringo on a mission plays. Noah scored the first goal of the game and later added a second goal in his team's 4-2 win.

Photo Session Sneak Peek

We had a mini photo session with the kiddos on Sunday. I've been wanting have new photos taken since Stella was born, but wanted to do it closer to December so I could hopefully get a Christmas card out of it! Karin, our photographer, was late and Stella was not so happy half an hour after the original scheduled start, but the few pics I've seen turned out very cute. I love that I feel like these look like our kids...you know, without the stuffy outfits and fake background. These are our kiddos in their element and these are the moments I wanted to capture. I can't wait to do it again (when Stella's sitting up and has a larger "happy window" to work with)!

This Our (Littlest) Girl

She's sweet, right?
She's also a maniac
She rolls both ways
Scoots across her crib
Babbles at us
Smiles at Noah and Sophie like they hung the moon
Grabs at her toys (and Paul's glasses)
Starting to organize her naps during the day (at 9, 1, and a cat nap at 5)
However...She DOES. NOT. SLEEP. AT. NIGHT.

I love her. So very much. But not so very much at 11, 1, 3, 4, and 5. Seriously.
I clearly need some help in that department.
*sigh*
She is sweet though.

It's An Obsession

Some of you may know that soccer is pretty big in Brazil.
Pretty big in this house too.
Noah was obsessed with the World Cup.
He can recite most of the game scores. And teams. And players. Still.
Now he can't stop thinking about Brazil's soccer teams.
He spends Saturdays organizing his stickers, memorizing players, and generally making the rest of us realize how bad our memories are.
I wonder if his love will continue when we leave Brazil? I don't think we'll make it to the next world cup in 2014 in Brazil. It would be pretty cool if we did though!

Look at Me!

Hi Mama

What, you thought I was sleeping?
Why would I do that?
There's so much to see
So much to do
Who has time for sleeping?

Four Day Weekend

When we first arrived in Brazil we rarely spent a long weekend at home.

Guaruja. Campos do Jordao. Campineas.

They all called our name.

It was all about discovering a new country.

Not so much these days.

A sweet one named Stella changed that for us.

Our discoveries are a little more local these days.

This weekend I discovered Stella likes to play in her crib rather than sleep.

She can peek out above the crib bumper.

Where is my newborn?!

Found out Sophie is obsessed with all things Parisian. Especially the Eiffel Tower.

Noah can spend hours researching, drawing, and explaining different country's flags.

We hung out at home.

We had dinner with friends three out of the four nights.

We left Portal once for a really awesome book store, lunch, and the LEGO store.

I ran 2.5 miles for the first time since Miss Stella arrived.

Paul did lots of hard work and took afternoon naps.

Our friend cooked us a Thai dinner.

It was a great weekend!

Nanny Drama

I feel guilty even complaining about problems associated with a nanny because I know how lucky we are to even have this childcare option, but holy cow! I can't take the nannies any more!

A few weeks ago we let our nanny of two years go. It was a tough decision, but ultimately one that had to be made because of personal problems she was having that interfered with her ability to devote the time and attention to our kids. So the following day our new nanny, S, started. Things seemed okay at first (as they always do!) but quickly things have deteriorated. Just today, I couldn't find her when I needed to leave to go work out, she was crying/talking loudly locked in the bathroom on her cell phone, she took my In Style magazine and was reading it and left it in her bathroom (while on duty), gabbed on her cell phone the entire time she walked Stella, and disappeared from 5-7 leaving me solo with the three kids. I know, these seem like good problems to have, but we are paying this woman to work the hours required and complete the tasks assigned. She cannot do it! So tomorrow I'm going to let her go. We've had her less than 30 days so we can get away with only paying her for her work (not vacation, etc...). The timing, however, is terrible-Paul's gone for the next f0ur days and then I leave for the States on Sunday, leaving Noah, Sophie, and Paul flying solo. I have another interview lined up right after I can the other one, so we'll see...fingers crossed!

Because I'm So Very Tired

All I've got is some pictures at the moment...but they're awfully sweet!

Happy Two Months Baby Girl!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Houdini

Stella is our resident magician. You put her down in one spot only to find her upside down facing the other direction. She's on her belly and two minutes later screaming because she's on her back. We finally stopped putting any type of blanket in her crib as she seemed to getting a little too friendly with the game "Peek-a-Boo". There have been a few mornings I find her like this when I wake up:


Only her knees-red and chapped-give us clues that she is the one performing these tricks!


She was two months on the 4th of September, but she's starting to remind me of a 4 or 5 month old!

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!