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!

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