Bub's First Hanukkah!

I have to admit I haven't had any particularly special Hanukkahs for probably 8 or 9 years. Being far from family, whether in New York City or Manaus, made the holiday much less fun for me. Not to mention, it's hard to have presents for 8 nights when your mom is hundreds of miles away! ;)
Now that we have a little boy to share the holidays with, they're automatically so much more fun! Last night was Bubba's first night of Hanukkah. He didn't seem too excited, but we were plenty excited for him. We put his presents all around him and let him crawl to the one he wanted to open. He mostly just patted the wrapping paper and tried to eat the tag and ribbon, but we had a good time watching him.

Yummy present

Happy Holidays to all of you! We hope they are filled with lots of joy and love wherever you may be.

Box of Fun

Bubba has had us laughing right along with him for months now, but we still get a kick out of making him laugh daily. He's especially fond of playing peek-a-boo, loves when we bark like a dog, and giggles when getting his belly and back kissed. We've recently discovered his fascination with boxes and laundry baskets. Who needs expensive toys when you've got something as fun as this?!

First time playing in a box with Daddy

I know I am biased, but isn't that laugh just the sweetest sound ever?

Still catchin' up

Alright, well I've caught you up to the part where we move to Oregon, right? Only 4 more months to go!
One of the reasons we moved here was to be closer to Jay's brother and his family. We visited for about a week one time several years ago, and thanks to our adorable toddler niece, we have felt pulled to come back ever since. She is no longer a tot and is in fact already in kindergarten, but she is still as charming as she was at 2! She is absolutely in love with her little cousin Elijah, and even brought his picture to school as one of her 3 favorite things. How sweet is that? She loves holding him, kissing him, and playing with him. I'm sure she'll be getting him into trouble in no time!

Cousin love, first day meeting each other

While having a baby in tow can make some things more of a drag, having a baby at the holidays is awesome. It's so much fun to have a real reason to go all out decorating the house or partaking in the season's activities that are normally suited to kids. I think there is also something really special about making memories with your kids that are the same memories you had growing up- like going to the pumpkin farm. Even if he didn't really know where we were at only 5 months, he still seemed to be happy walking around the fields with us, playing with family, and riding the hay ride. Mommy even went in her first corn maze!

A few weeks later, we met the family at another cool place with Halloween arts and crafts for the kids, face painting, and even a small pumpkin patch. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon with our lil moo cow.

We've also been fortunate to have some visitors here in Beaverton. Both Jay's parents and my mom have already come to visit us. We proudly drove them around in our new-to-us car, another perk of living in the burbs. We checked out some trails, the Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, and some downtown spots with them when we weren't oohing and ahhing over the baby boy. 

Bath time with PurPur and Gramps

Mumsey's in da house!

 Japanese Garden in Portland

The Rose Garden

We also were graced with the presence of my oldest best friend Amy, better known as Boppa. We've been trying to get together forever but something always came up that prevented us from reuniting. Finally the stars aligned, and we had a super fun week exploring new restaurants in the city and remembering the good ol' days like only old friends can do. It was really nice for me to have a best friend around since we don't know many people here and being at home with a baby can be quite isolating. Having her here also made me remember that I'm still *me* even with a baby. Thanks, Boppa! 

Girls Night Out in Portland-

So much fun, too much eating! :)

She came at the perfect time to see the leaves.

Lunch in the city

 Photo shoot at the park

Elijah's first time in a swing..weeeeee!

Looking back over these pictures, it's amazing to see how much our little guy has changed and grown since we moved. We've seen him learn to roll over both directions, sit up unassisted, pull himself up on us, and be able to sit in a cart at the store or a high chair at restaurants. He's constantly adding new expressions, sounds, and laughs to his repertoire, and we fall even more in love with him every day. He is a happy, smiley little baby who flirts with strangers and squeals in delight when you play peek-a-boo. He's just about as perfect as it gets.

Just don't ask me if he's sleeping through the night yet ;)

Catchin' up

I know, I know. It's been forever since my last blog post, right? Well, I don't have any excuses... unless you count the stressful international move, followed by a move to a new city, and having an active little baby. To be honest, he started out this process "little" at only 2 months and is now my big 7 month old boy. Wow, I guess I have neglected this blog for a long time!

So for anyone who reads this and doesn't yet know, we made the decision to move back to the United States shortly after Elijah was born. We didn't plan on returning so soon, but due to a family health issue in the states, we fast-tracked it back. It was also rather trying going through the normal things that happen with a newborn- all the doctor appointments, filing his birth certificate, adding him to insurance, etc- while being in a foreign country with a foreign language. Our friends of course were helpful when they could be, but getting things done with a tiny baby who eats every 2 hours all with no car in sweaty hot weather was just not fun. So in the end, we donated tons of our stuff to friends and sold the bigger things to the tenant who took our place. Then we took 3 flights from Manaus to Panama to Los Angeles to Phoenix with our sweet baby boy who barely made a peep the whole 18 hours! Who would complain when you're being held the entire time by Mamae or Papai?

Our happy little trooper

Soooo giddy when we got to baggage at LAX :)

We spent a month or so in Phoenix showing off our little babe to his new family, and Jay and I partook in the splendor of driving a car to Fry's Marketplace! For anyone who doesn't know, that is a massive grocery store with every single thing you could possibly need or want, from baby wipes and fresh sliced Muenster cheese to fresh flowers and Starbucks. I think Jay actually went almost every morning just because he could. Sometimes it really is the little things that make all the difference :)

Speaking of little things... our baby boy loved spending time with his family there--

Crazy Uncle Aaron- Shhh, don't show Daddy!

Sleepy boy at the track in Cali

So happy with his Mumsey :)

Love at first sight for Daphne

He also spent lots of time with his grandparents on Jay's side, too, but they took all the pics with their camera so no pics from me :(  

The time went by too fast for me in AZ, but we managed to do a few fun things besides shush Elijah to sleep and walk him around all. the. time. 

Daddy was a master shush-er and walker

First Cardinals' training camp at 2.5 months,
daytrip to Flagstaff, AZ

I think he liked it!

Road-trip to visit friends in California!!!

Pit stop for a feeding and new diaper. Almost there!!

 Everyone imitating Elijah's thumb-sucking

A new way to go to the beach for me- 

no swimsuit, no tanning, no reading,

just sitting under a tent trying to keep sand 

from blowing in the baby's face.

OK, so it wasn't all that bad!

While I was sad to see the time in AZ coming to an end, we were both excited to be starting a new chapter of our life in a new place. We shipped off more boxes, packed our bags yet again, said more goodbyes, and loaded up the baby in the middle of the night to get to the airport on time. Fortunately for us, after so many long flights over the past 2 years, this 2.5 hour flight to Portland, OR, just flew by!

To be continued.... (I promise!)

One day to spare...

With one business day to spare before our big trip, we received Elijah's American passport! Hallelujah! We have been planning our trip back to the states since the beginning of June, and we took a bit of a gamble by buying our tickets back then without having the baby's passports. The prices were looking ridiculous the longer we waited, so we decided to get them and roll the dice.
We wouldn't be allowed to leave the country if Elijah didn't have both passports, so once we started planning our trip, we had to act fast. The Brazilian passport took much less time, though was quite a hassle regardless, but the American one had a 3 - 4 week window to arrive. We didn't start getting too nervous about it until this week, and Jay was very vigilant about repeatedly calling the American consulate to check if it came. After our unlucky experiences in general with bureaucratic things (hello visa), we sort of figured it would come at the last minute. And thank goodness it did, not a minute too late!!!
Now we can officially begin packing up the house, though I of course started my part a while ago. While we are grateful for our experiences here in Manaus, we are looking forward to seeing our family and giving Elijah the chance to be closer to his extended family. We know everyone is anxious to meet our lil Bubba, and we're just as anxious to see them, too.

He's ready for that Arizona sun :D

Festa Junina at the Aeroclube

We just got back from Elijah's first Festa Junina, and I think he had a little too much fun. He was so content  being outside, listening to music, seeing new people, and feeling the breeze blow in his face that he stayed awake the whole time we were there. Granted, it was only a few hours, but in baby time, that is an eternity. Jay is in the bedroom paying the price with our overly tired boy who needs to sleep but is resisting with all 12 pounds of him, but we both agree that it was worth it!
Festa Junina is a fun holiday that involves dressing up like country folk, doing square dances, eating traditional foods, and usually includes a bon fire and fake wedding.

Gloria (the bride), Debora, and me caipira-style

We didn't get to see or do all of that this year cause we left before the party ended, but we still had a lot of fun. It was hosted at the Aeroclube here in Manaus, and we were lucky enough to get a show of professional parachutists jumping. They made it look so easy, and now Jay and I both have something to add to our bucket lists.

The sky made a beautiful background for these jumpers.

We were so lucky to have had such beautiful weather this afternoon while we were there. I figured it would be hot and sweaty like usual, but it was absolutely gorgeous. Not too sunny, very breezy, and no bugs! What more could you want? I know Elijah was enjoying himself. 

Daddy and Bubba chillin

<3

Love this face! Look at that stink eye...

Now that's more like it.

Check out the glowing sunset. 

Elijah got a little grumpier (aka tired) as the day turned to night, and Mommy had to do some samba-ing with him. He really seems to like samba, and although it didn't put him to sleep this time, he stopped fussing for a bit. 

We didn't stay much longer after this since the little guy was gonna need to eat soon. On a side note, he now eats every 3 hours instead of 2, and it is amazing what a difference that makes! We actually get to do stuff now without being in such a rush, as you can see from this blog. 

All three of us had a really nice time today, and it was a fun way to celebrate Festa Junina and our own 4th of July! A Happy and Safe Fourth of July to you!