Black Friday

Oh boy... so my crazy husband went out at 4 AM this morning to get a new TV... And he came home with exactly what he wanted and then some :)  The story of our old huge TV was that it was free but Bugga has taken the liberty into thinking that it's his play toy.  So Gaetan thought that it would be nice to get a flat screen we could mount on the wall so that Bugga didn't have free reign on it.  While Daddy was putting things together today Bugga was being a big boy helper and helping screw some things in.  :)

The triple chocolate truffle cake was a HUGE success!  :)  It was REALLY rich and chocolately and I will definitely be making it again.  I would show pictures but it's gone already... haha.  I also did get a chance to bake that pumpkin to make the pumpkin soup for tomorrow!  It warmed up the place and made it smell extra delicious.

Thanksgiving was a real treat.  It was nice to have a house full of the family and their families as well.  The only person we were missing was Jon... but he will be home for Christmas!

Since it's my birthday tomorrow I've been getting lots of fun things!  I have gotten a TON of organizing bins... which probably doesn't seem that exciting, but when you have the nesting fever like I do it's GREAT.  I also have some new pots and pans coming!  Whoo!!

This break has been great... but fast.  The weather is finally starting to feel like November weather, so we're just waiting for the snow now!

JVG

The start of our Thanksgiving break

WHEW.  Today was an exhausting one!  I find that breaks/vacations are busier then everyday life and you end up more tired at the end of them then when you began!  Today was BUSY.  We got some more cloth diapers (yay!)  Fun colors and some more hemp inserts too for night time.  I know cloth diapers probably shouldn't make me this excited but they are awesome and I will highly recommend them to anybody thinking about them.  (or not thinking about them).  I also found out that this place Ecobuns.com has re-useable nursing pads!  I might have to invest in some of those in a few months... :)

After we got some more diapers we came home for a quick nap and then we were up and getting ready for my ultrasound.  Drinking 32 oz of water doesn't sound like it should be that hard (which it isn't) it's the aftermath of not getting to pee.  But I did a lot better than last time and held it. 

The ultrasound result:  (drumroll please)  It looks to be a girl!  She was very calm through the whole thing and sat still so that the tech could get all the images she needed to make sure she was healthy.  Which is more than I can say for Tristan... he wouldn't sit still for anything!  But... Lucy (which is the name we've decided on) was very modest and sat with her legs crossed through most of the exam... but we did get a few shots of her and it looked like she was negative for boy parts.  We are very excited about having a little girl and I know that Tristan is going to be a GREAT older brother.

Gaetan's mom came out of the ultrasound... as she was here for the last one.  She was SO EXCITED.  We were very surprised that she made it through the ultrasound without crying... but as soon as we left the office the water works came out.  :)  Love Oma for all her passion and love for her grandkids!

We of course had to celebrate... so we had a delicious lunch/dinner and got Tristan a CRAP ton of winter clothes.  Old Navy was having a sale... :)  And we of course had to get little Lu a few cutesy onesies... brown polka dots and another one was pink stripes.  I love me some pink, but I would prefer not to have her whole wardrobe dominated by that one color!

After all that I went to give a lesson and by the time we got home it was almost time for Bugga to go to sleep.  Whew.  What an exciting/busy day!

There are a handful of things we are hoping to do this week.  Bugga and I already made some blueberry muffins... am hoping to bake a pumpkin so I can make some more pumpkin soup.  Also, there is this triple chocolate truffle cake that I've been meaning to try :)  Will have to let you all know how those turn out.  And of course there is Thanksgiving with the fam!  We are going to my parents, and Gaetan's parents are coming and Holly and her family are coming too!  It will be a FULL HOUSE.

Looking forward to this break and all this time with my husband.  :)

JVG

Busy weekend

So this past weekend we had lots going on!  We had Contra-Mestre Carcara out from Rochester, NY to do a weekend full of workshops.  Needless to say we are very tired today.  :)  We had the privilege of housing him though, which was nice to be able to hang out with him in a non-capo setting.  We also got to have our friends Ashley and Sunil stay with us a night because of the workshops.

I finally watched the Celebration of Life Ceremony for Ezra Matthews.  I was a hit hesitant to watch it, because of the tenderness of the subject, but I did and I am glad for it.  It gave me really nice closure and the service the held was beautiful. They really did honor Ezra's short but very impactful life.  It's very humbling knowing that you can learn so much from a 2 year old who was sick for more than half his life.  One of the points that was made that I liked was how we can look to God and the cross in all this chaos.  How God took the most heinous and embarressing way to die in that day and turned it into the most beautiful and the strongest expression of love today.  How even though this cancer took Ezra at such a young age that we can look at all the love and joy he brought despite of it all.  :)

Tristan is still learning more and more everyday.  He will bring me clothes from my dresser, and when I ask him to put it back and shut the drawer he understands and does it.  :)  He also puts his hands in the air with a confused look on his face when you ask him a question he doesn't... 'I dunno!' hahaha.

For all our capo readers he threw a meia lua de compasso today! Very cute.  He also took both of our phones and put them up to both of his ears and starting jabbering away like he was on a very important phone call.  I love this dude very much.  He is now into pointing at my belly and trying to give it kisses.

Tomorrow will be an exciting day for us!  We have our ultrasound scheduled for the afternoon and hopefully we can see if it's a boy or a girl!  :)

JVG

A Time to Reflect

So we finished reading 'Crazy Love' which was a GREAT book.  I highly recommend it to anybody who is looking for a book, or wants to be challenged.  Like I said before, there isn't anything in there new that I haven't heard before, but for some reason this time it hit me differently.  It really challenged what it meant for me to be a Christian and how I can help others.

Also, that blog I told you about www.thematthewsstory.com about the family with the little boy with neuroblastoma... he passed away about a week ago.  I was doing really well with reading about the progress and not getting super emotional about it.  Praying for them everytime I thought of them (which was often, and pretty much anytime I looked at Tristan).  And I asked myself why I was so upset about this particular story.  There are so many hurts in this world, I have been praying about why God has put this one on my heart.  And why it has had such an affect.  It has really helped me see how short and temporary our lives are here and how we need to live them to the fullest.  To help EVERYBODY in need and to love on them.  They are going to start a foundation for neuroblastoma in a little while after they recover... if that is possible!  But I want to be apart of helping in some way... I will keep you updated on how we can all help.  Their story of faith and how they moved through this process has been inspiring and has really helped me with my perspective.

JVG

Busy week!

I feel like this week is full of fun things!  We have a lot of appointments going on... Friday is just a normal routine check up, but hopefully Saturday we will have an ultra sound so we can determine what sex the baby is!  :)  yay!

Also this weekend we have CM Carcara coming out from NY and he is staying with us to do some workshops.  Which is going to be great!  That means we get Gato and Ratinha to stay with us too!  Full house!

I forgot to write about my fun date Gaetan took me on last week.  We went to a fancy-schmancy restaurant with Ratinha for an early birthday.  We went to the 1913 room.  Here are pictures of our first courses, and desserts.  I forgot to take pictures of our entrees because we ate them too quickly!  I forgot to take pictures of us... oops!  But that mean that Ashley stayed with us a few days, which was nice because we miss having them around the corner!

Bugga is learning more and more everyday.  It's amazing what you can pour into them... and kinda scary.  I pray everyday (pretty much all day!) that I am pouring into him godly virtues and a heart for Jesus!

JVG

Detroit Zoo

We spent this past weekend with Gaetan's parents.  We went to the Detroit Zoo on Saturday!  Bugga had a TON of fun walking around and looking at all the animals.  He was such a trooper... he pushed the stroller for almost as long as he rode in it!  We were in there for 2 hours and realized that we weren't half way yet... it's a LARGE zoo.  The weather was a little brisk, but it was nice.  Here are some pics!

Bugga update

Just a quick note to let you all know how adorable Tristan is!  hahaha

-He now puts his toys away... cute right?  In his toy chest.
-He also has learned how to open our DVD cupboard, which has a latch and can open the cases and put them back in.
-He's all about giving Momma kisses now :)
-Whenever he sees my belly he always points at it and smiles... then wants to poke it.
-He has learned how to move objects closer to something that he wants to climb on and then uses it to get stuff... like turn the light switch on and off or get other things I have intentionally put higher so he can't 'get'.  Right...
-When it gets later and he gets a little more tired he'll spin in circles until he falls down...

He's just my little sponge that absorbs everything!

JVG

Getting kicked...

Well, for a little while I wasn't feeling very pregnant.  Life was back to 'normal' as it goes... not feeling extra tired or getting sick.  But then yesterday this baby decided it was time to start kicking something fierce and hasn't really stopped since then!  :) Exciting!  I know that Gaetan was excited to feel the movement.

Also... i used to like day lights savings time until I had a baby.  It doesn't really affect them so much... so now Tristan gets up EARLY.  hahaha.  Love it though.

JVG

A Better Week

So this week I have been praying a lot for peace as a whole.  I have definitely been more at peace this week, praise God!  :)  I know the prayer has been helping a lot, but in the book 'Crazy Love' they are talking about what it means to love to Jesus.  Its very hard to explain what I experienced this week and what types of things I'm learning, but they are all great.  Some of them are hard to swallow because it points out a lot of short comings and selfish desires in my life... but through the refining process I am coming out better than ever.  :)

Tristan is now giving me lots of kisses... which is probably one of the most adorable things ever.  I just think of how much I love my son, and how much I will never be able to fully understand or comprehend what God did for us by sending His ONLY son.  To think about that... knowing that Tristan would be the only child I could have and sending him to a world that hated, mocked and harmed him, just breaks my heart.  I know that God doesn't mean for His love to be a mystery, but it has to be for us because of our human nature and because of the faith it then requires to follow Him.

So thank you God for a good week.  :)  I know all of them can't be good, but I do praise you and recognize you when I have them.

JVG

Turning into such a big boy!

As many of you have noticed a lot of my blog is about Tristan.  I mean, he is my whole entire day pretty much :).  He is turning into such a little boy.  I still call him my little baby, but I know that he's not.  He's learned how to do stairs, both up and down and use the railing if need be.  He LOVES being outside and 'exploring' the apartment complex.  Mostly chasing geese :)  He has just started doing this cute little samba dance step while he turns himself in circles, while of course laughing and clapping for himself.  He is at the point now where he wants to eat everything we are eating, even if he's just eaten a full meal.  Turns out the boy likes cucumber sandwiches... who knew?  Today he was eating one of the cucumbers and about an hour later he smiled at me and the skin of the cucumber was lining his teeth like braces.. silly boy!  :)  Love him to pieces though.

We are also at an experimental point.  He now spanks us back when we do something that he finds 'displeasing.'  I'm glad that he has the correlation between the two, but unhappy that he is hitting.  So this week we are trying a different method of discipline.  Will let you know how that goes.  Already today he has hit less often, but it has taken some serious persistance to have him not do things that could potentially harm him.  Any suggestion out there on what to do?

I am feeling much better.  Been praying hard for strength and to know that I need all the help I can get!  haha.  Today was beautiful weather so we got to play a bit outside, which I know he really liked.  Until next time!

JVG