Boricua en la Lima

We are heading down to Lima this Friday. Can't wait! I am trying my hardest to be focused on work for the next 4 days but it's practically impossible. We almost have our suitcase all packed (which is a huge accomplishment since it's for 3 weeks which is practically a lifetime!). Here's a video I made at Pampers.com, you could "personalize" it by adding your baby pictures on there. See if you can spot where Gabi comes up. Since she never got picked for that Pampers ad because she couldn't do the "tripod" move at that time, this is the closest she'll ever be to being in an actual Pampers commercial.

We had our ultrasound yesterday and Gabi is having a little baby brother. I don't need to tell you that Jose was over the moon. He even got to his family in Peru before I did which is amazing! Of course he's telling everyone he hasn't thought about names to not let on how excited he is, even though he's had the name since I was pregnant with Gabi! So Sebastian Bali it will be I guess, and I'm definitely going to need some hand-me-downs since I just realized we need to buy everything now for a boy!!! So Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! For those of us north I hope we don't freeze our asses tomorrow. We're supposed to get snow even though it's 65 degrees today. Global warming... Maybe tomorrow after a tryptophan induced coma (the stuff in the turkey that makes you sleepy) I'll write the story about Gabi's adventures in potty training...

Gabi has been sick as a dog in the last few days (and same goes for her mom) so her doctor recommended that we give her long warm baths so that she can drain as much mucus as possible and therefore sleep a little bit better since the poor girl has been coughing up all night which has led everyone around the house to also not sleep very well (the only one that doesn't give a hoot and can still sleep just fine is Borges). So we've had to get creative to try to get Gabi to enjoy her long time in the bath. Enjoy! I'm most impressed by her ability to "act" towards the camera and raise her eyebrows and stuff. I really think we have an actress in the making.

The last week has been more exhausting than the normal "I'm in the first trimester and I have a 2 year old daughter" mode. Too many things going on at work combined to too many things going on at home combined with a definite twist for the worse regarding the weather has left me wanting to curl up into a ball like my cat Borges and taking like a month-long nap. In any case, I survived Gabi's 2nd birthday party. Against all the experts' advice I probably invited way more people than I was supposed to, but we got really lucky and had amazing weather which made it safe to stay out in the park right next to my house where there's a lot of space for running around vs. having to herd a bunch of cats into my house which would seem tiny with the number of people I invited to the party! Here's some video of us singing happy birthday to Gabi, her getting excited about blowing the "2" candle but quickly freaking out and not wanting to have anything to do...

After weeks of no So You Think You Can Dance and only looking forward to Last Comic Standing, premiere week is finally here! My husband recently moved us from DirectTV to Dish Network (despite the fact that I endlessly bug him about it because we lost Gabi's favorite TV channel "Sprout" with the move) and so now I can actually Tivo things to both TV's in the house which means my lazy ass doesn't actually have to go down to the basement to see a recorded show. This has been a definitely plus for Dish. However, I'm still confused as to why I can't watch one show and record another, that part kinda sucks. Although now there will be so many choices in my Tivo I won't actually have to watch live TV ever again. I've even recorded several episodes of Spongebob since it seems to be the only acceptable alternative to the Sprout channel for Gabi. Which kinda makes me feel bad as a mom since I'm going from educational shows such as Sesame Street to s...

Well the one loyal reader I have (thanks Tom!) pointed out today that I haven't blogged in over a month. Part of it is exhaustion-related, this pregnancy has not been easy-peasy so far. I'm always nauseous but not nauseous enough to throw up and feel better (with the added benefits of not gaining so much weight), but that's not the worst part. The worst part is the never ending exhaustion. I just got back from California and it's taken me 3 whole days to get rid of the jet lag. I think it even took Gabi less than that! The day after I got back I couldn't even get up to go to work, I had to sit in bed with my laptop all day trying to muster enough energy to catch up on email (unsuccessfully though a meager goal that it was for a whole work day!). The exhaustion is accompanied with a constant headache which is great fun. Unfortunately the only thing I can take is Tylenol and what's the point. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against Tylenol I think they ...

I just wanted to share the good news, we are expecting baby #2!!! I'm just 4 weeks into the pregnancy but everyone keeps telling me I already have a belly, to which I say thanks for calling me fat, this belly is from baby #1 not from baby #2....

We went to Chicago this weekend with Jose's dad and sister, and then we met up with his brother and wife there in Chicago. Overall it was a really fun weekend, although dinners were a little bit stressful because of Gabi. We took off Friday and drove up early Friday morning. We made into Chicago's entrance by around noon on Friday (we gain an hour from Chicago) but of course that's when we hit sooo much traffic. When we finally made it we had lunch at Cheesecake Factory and then took the city boat tour. We had done the architecture tour a couple of years ago and of course that one was a lot more interesting, but this one was good just because of the fact that you spent so much of it out on the lake looking back into the city scape. That night Jose and I had to hit the sack early because by the time the rest of the group was ready for dinner it was too late for us to take out Gabi. Which was OK I guess because otherwise the fact that we ate so much during the weekend wo...

Which Pixar Character Are You? You are Dory. You are naive and gullible. Wait, that's a good thing. Your ability to trust any stranger is a trait not many people have, but be more cautious next time a stranger offers to buy you lunch or you might find yourself in a fishy situation. Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com What Car Would You Be? You would be a Mini Cooper. Everywhere you go, you turn heads with your charm and charisma. You're no deep thinker, but taking life seriously can be such a drag! Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

I have 5 trips in August, which I'm not very happy about, not only because it means I have to leave Gabi for all that time, but also because when the hell is one supposed to get any work done when you spend all your time on a plane? Hopefully after August is done it dies down significantly, but you never know. It seems to be so irregular! Anyway, other updates: We started trying for baby #2 last Friday, so 2 weeks from now we'll see what happens. The "girls weekend" (Gabi, my sister and me) in Indiana was very cool. We gave Gabi her first haircut (even though I'm the only one who actually notices it - I'm attaching a picture here with her an my sister), we went to the Children's Museum there which is supposed to be the best in the US and is INCREDIBLE, every 30 seconds Gabi could be heard screaming WOW! The minute we put her back in the car she feel asleep exhausted with all the stimuli! If you ever are in Indianapolis (even if you don't have children)...

" I had proven, as a very young man, that power was my weakness and my temptation. It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well”.

Last year we stumbled upon Cincy Latino by mistake, just looking for something to do on a Saturday afternoon that would keep Gabi entertained for a few hours by being out of the house (she's a social butterfly just like her mami). We discovered they had the most wonderful arepas venezolanas and we said "for sure we gotta come back next year". This year we also happened on the festival by chance, since a GRINGO (no less!) friend of ours from work told us a mere couple of days before the event (where do I live that I never see or hear any advertisement about this?). Anyway, my sister was coming from Indy so we decide to give it a try, only being able to think about those wonderful arepas from last year. Unfortunately the arepa stand wasn't there this year, but they did have a wonderful Puerto Rican food stand, which of course we enjoyed even more! However, we later found out these guys are from Miami so there's nowhere for us to find them here (why they came from...

As a marketer who's not much of a sports fan, I still say to my husband every time this ad comes on, what a GREAT ad. This is the definition of breaking through the clutter and having music SEAMLESSLY tie to your product story. Brilliant.

Gabi has been learning from her very patient dad where her eyes, nose, mouth, etc. is. In this first video she shows us she's learned very well. In these other 3 videos she shows us that her favorite thing to do these days is to "play monkey". Her favorite spot, though, is usually behind one of her parent's backs.

Well, I knew my Gabi was musical in many ways, but I assumed she would take after her mommy's passion for dancing. We discovered, however, yesterday that her true passion lies in playing the piano. I can't say I'm not saddened by her decision, given I wanted her to be a focal point of my new kids' dance academy, but I support her nonetheless, because that's what parents do, right? Suffice it to say, a piano is a WAY cooler toy than anything we have at home, so I don't think Gabi will have any issues whatsoever visiting the Escuderos again. Especially if Jero's mom makes paella again... I'm just upset that I won't be able to help her since I have no piano abilities myself, but that's where my friends Mara and Elika will come in. :)

Gabriela had her class picnic yesterday. It was the cutest thing you'll ever see. Even though my husband tried to bribe me with an iPhone, that's how bad he didn't want to go. And now that I saw Manuel's iPhone I really want one even though I know it's totally overpriced and they'll come out with a better cheaper one six months from now. Anyway, we were supposed to bring food and then a dessert. But of course we woke up so late because on weekends we like to sleep in so we're already running like an hour late for the thing and I'm fuming and we try to go to the Hyde Park Graeter's to get the ice cream cake but there's some race going on there so we have to go to the Graeter's in Mariemont and we said screw it to getting our own food we're way too late we'll throw in a couple of snacks for Gabi to make sure she at least gets to eat and we'll have ice cream cake for lunch! When we try to cut the ice cream cake we of course only...

My nephew Jake went to sleep away camp for a week last week, he's 7 going on 8. Through the summer camp administration I was able to send him emails to say hello (although he couldn't reply) and his parents were also able to send him "care packages" (I know it sounds like an exaggeration when the kid is only going away for a week but the kids probably feel pretty homesick because often times they've never been away from home for that long). Anyway, my sister decided to send him a care package on one day which contained, among other things, a disposable camera. At the end of the week when my sister went to pick him up from the camp she said "OK Jake give me the disposable camera so that we can go get it developed" to which he replies in his most deadpan "duh" attitude (seriously): "Mom, it's a DISPOSABLE camera, you take pictures and then you throw it away. Duh!". Can you believe it? Then I started thinking to a kid who's 7....