Boricua en la Lima

I installed TruPhone for my trip to Peru so that I could call back to the US (dad, mom, sister) without having to pay the outrageous prices AT&T charges for international roaming calls (and don't even get me started on international roaming DATA plans!). Anyway, today I was talking about it to a friend of mine at work who's an iPhone "buddy" and convinced him to download it on his phone. Lo and behold when I get home from work I get an email saying they announced that they have just partnered with Skype to offer Skype services via the TruPhone application . The best just keep getting better, don't they? And like my friend B. said, you can't beat free! So if you haven't checked out TruPhone yet, I definitely think it's worth the search on the iPhone App Store.

I got home before it was dark today and decided to take the baby-and the Maclaren -for a spin today. The baby was in complete awe, wondering what this "new" environment that I had exposed him to was. I had put a hat on his head right before leaving and he started trying to take it off until I started walking and he was in such awe he stayed with his hand on the hat the whole 30 minutes we were walking for. We stayed close to the house because I wasn't sure it would start raining or be too dark or get too cold. But it was so amazing to take in the fresh air. I hadn't been for a walk pushing a stroller since right before going back to work which was end of July. On a separate note, it's the first time I take the Maclaren Volo for a spin (I got a solid brown color not the one picture above) and it was so light and smooth I could actually jog while pushing it. But then again who would be crazy enough to want to do such a thing?! No, seriously, I did run for about hal...

The little guy is already a tech freak. He loves when I have pandora radio going in my iphone, especially jack Johnson or coldplay. He also loves these little Peruvian good luck beans that are hanging from my blackberry. And finally he loves my new nikon cool pix which makes taking a picture of him without him moving straight towards the camera very difficult.

The poor guy is looking outside as if trapped in the boring jail that is his home because his parents are warm blooded people and cannot be bothered to go outside in 20 degree weather. I know there are places a lot colder than this but you must remember we are from Puerto Rico and Peru. Don't worry baby. Only one more month till spring. And we've bought you a nice maclaren stroller for those long walks to the park (given every other stroller he's inherited from his sister and they're all falling apart on the poor guy).  Soon. That's what I keep telling myself. Soon.

I've been trying to figure out the best way to do mobile blogging from my iphone which also lets me post pictures along with my post. I think I may have found it.

I'm watching sebastian enjoy one of the toys gabi had gotten from titi ge on her first birthday and I have to say it's so much fun to see him discover toys for the first time as if they were also new to him. Also to see him trying to learn how to turn the toys on and off, and also learning the wrong uses of the toy like sticking a utensil down a ball chute. ;)

We just had a huge scare with the baby tonight which hopefully will turn out ok in the end. Turns out that lately there are some nights where he drinks his bottle so fast and furious that he kinda gags on it and ends up eventually throwing up, we don't think it's left over from his reflux days because otherwise it would be more consistent and it's always just that last bottle at night before he goes to bed.  Needless to say we've been doing a lot of laundry lately. Anyway, today we had a crazy scare. The baby starts throwing up but it seems that maybe more than normal and I guess he's been coughing a lot lately cause he seems to have a cold so that may be adding to the intensity of the throwing up.  But at some point I look at him and his right eye is all reddish and it actually starts tearing up but red bloody tears that then start running down his cheek.  So my husband who is a bit of a freak out starts saying "what's happening, what's happening"...

Here are a few of Sebastian's firsts along with a picture of him holding up his bottle, which he has recently mastered: Born: 4/9/08 Went home: 4/12/08 First EARTHQUAKE!!! 4/18/08 Umbilical chord fell off: 4/20/08 First bath: 4/21/08 First smile: 6 weeks Found thumb: 12 weeks First airpline ride: 6/12/08 (from Dayton, OH to Branford, CT) First movie: 6/15/08 (Sex and the City - please don't call Child Services!) First subway ride: 7/4/08 (Washington, DC) First time at the beach: 7/21/08 (Puerto Rico) Started day care: 7/29/08 Flipped on his belly: 7/30/08 First baseball game: 9/5/08 (Reds vs. Cubs -- we had to leave early because it was raining. It was also Gabi's first baseball game) "Army crawl": October 2008 First tooth: early February 2009 Saying "uh oh": early February 2009 Can hold up his own bottle: early February 2009 Can wave and say "bye bye": February 2009 (it's been a busy month for him!) First surgery: July 1st, 2009

Sebastian woke us up at 4 am and didn't want to go to sleep even after giving him TWO whole bottles of formula. This morning I needed to show up to work a little bit early (around 8:30 am) and I go get myself a coffee downstairs cause I didn't have enough time for Drive-Thru Dunkin Donuts. As I get my capuccino I go over to the condiments table and open up my two packets of Splenda but instead of pouring it into the coffee I start pouring it into the trash. At the same time and old co-worker walks up to me and notices what I'm doing and says: J: "Ivette what are you doing?" Me: "Oh, I'm pouring sugar into the trash." J: "I can see that. But why?" Me: "Cause I haven't slept!" Now my contact went up way into my eye (I only wear a contact in one eye I know it's weird but I had LASIK a while ago) so now I can barely see what I'm typing.  I guess that just means more coffee is in my future...

Gabi: "Mami, where are you from?" Mami: "Puerto Rico" Gabi: "Papi, where are you from?" Papi: "Peru" Mami: "Gabi, where are YOU from?" Gabi: "The Sunshine Room"

I am on the airplane on my way to new haven to visit my sister and surprise my dad since I wasn't able to see them for Xmas. Which I guess means I should wait to publish this until my dad has actually landed and I've given him the surprise. We meant to bring sebastian as well but he is pretty sick at home with what seems like a terrible cold if not something worse than that so I felt terrible about bringing him on the plane. Although sadly I must admit traveling alone with one kid seems like a breeze compared to traveling with two. I miss the little guy terribly though, and I'm sad my sister and nephew and dad won't get to spend time with him. It's been miserably cold in Cincinnati, as in I don't wish this cold upon anyone, including my worst enemy. I complained about the damn cold to the pediatrician yesterday when she saw sebastian but she actually said in weather as cold as this bacteria in fact die off and people tend to get less sick. I don't know if I...

It seems that I only have time to write when I'm packing to go somewhere for the holidays and blogging seems like the best way to procrastinate. We are leaving for Peru on Thursday morning and somehow it feels like I actually pulled off the pre-holiday madness that includes making Christmas goodies, something I'm terrible at, packing for three weeks, beautifying myself, doing work and school holiday parties, filling out Christmas cards...all these things on top of working and parenting full time. No wonder people are stressed over the holidays. In any case, I've got one more day to go and a hell of a trip and back. We have a 6 hour layover on our way down and a horrifying 16 hour layover on our way back, both in the worst airport in the US, Miami. So if I don't get to write while on vacation, have a wonderful Xmas and a very happy new year. Here's to a healthier, wealthier 2009. :)

Well I'm in the flurry of activity leading up to leaving for Connecticut tomorrow. I'm almost ready for the 5K race I just need to do a 2 mile run today (which hopefully I can do at work while things are slow) and then pack 4 people into two tiny suitcases. Easy peasy. I'm super sore from doing spinning for the first time ever on Sunday so I need some Ben-Gay before the race too! And then after that I can hopefully relax and enjoy being with family. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Despite my hesitation due to a 13 mile walk my sister and I did 3 years ago which I swore I'd never do again, my sister convinced me to join her for a 5K in Connecticut on Thanksgiving Day this year. I figured the only way I would actually follow through with my exercise regimen was to have something to train for. So I've been training pretty good, and on Monday I actually had some time off at the office in between meetings so I decided to go for a run outside along the river, since it was such nice weather (now it's totally freezing here so I'm sure those days are behind me). I used the shoes that I got from Jose for my bday since those are the ones I usually keep at work. I'd used them a couple of times before, although mostly for the elliptical or treadmill at the office gym. So I'm chugging along and my feet are kinda hurting which I figured was because I was wearing short socks. When I stopped at the mid way point (thanks to my imapmyrun program on m...

Johnson, Aimee Burt, 88, died Thursday, October 30, 2008 at her home in Bella Vista, Arkansas. Rosary, 7:00 P.M., Tuesday, November 4; Funeral Mass, 10:00 A.M., Wednesday, November 5, both at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. Aimee was born April 6, 1920 in Basseterre, St. Kitts, West Indies. She moved to Bella Vista from Wichita in June of 2008. She was a devoted Catholic, loved people, reading, dancing, and was a member of the Red Hat Society. Preceded in death by her parents; husband, Arvid; one brother, and a great-grandchild. Survivors: sons, Jan and wife, Marisela, of Granite Bay, CA, Steven and wife, Brenda, of Douglass; daughters, Jennifer Horsley and husband, Harvey, of Bella Vista, AR, Teresa Cunningham and husband, Charles, of Oakton, VA; 20 grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren; 1 great-great-granddaughter.

Last Friday I went with my friend Jamie to the So You Think You Can Dance tour stop at the Bank of Kentucky Center close to Cincinnati. I have to say this was the best show yet and I've been to all three live tours! The level of dancing was definitely better and more importantly the number of good dances was higher than ever! I almost didn't go because now I have two kids at home and it's always hard for my husband to take care of them especially at the "witching hour" as we like to call it, but I was sure glad I did! My favorite part was two old ladies sitting next to me, one had a super zoom camera that I must get for Xmas, she kept taking pictures of every single dance and showing them to her girlfriend. And then every time there was a sappy story they would be crying in 5 seconds flat. I asked my friend Jamie "do you think that's how we'll be 20 years from now?". I didn't even have to ask cause I already know the answer. Yep, that'll ...

Gabi's officially in "freeschool" as she likes to call pre-school. And God knows it's certainly not FREE! Yep, don't know where the time went. Yep, it's the oldest cliche in the book, but when the hell did my daughter turn 3? When did 3 years go by in this roller coaster of an experience they call parenting? Here are a couple of pictures from her 3rd bday party. We had it at the park next to our house and we got Mr. Cowpie to bring their petting zoo/pony rides. Gabi LOVED the petting zoo, and she'd gotten a real kids digital camera from her "motorcycle grandpa", so she was snapping pictures like the paparazzi that she enjoys to be (just like mama). The pony ride...not so much, she enjoyed LEADING the pony by the rope (like the dictator that she is), but not getting on top of the pony to ride it even though EVERY OTHER KID IN THE BIRTHDAY PARTY BIGGER OR SMALLER THAN HER DARED GET ON IT. I even got on top of the stupid pony and made a fool ...

Just found this great free app on the iPhone called Trail Guru, check my first run out! with Paloma (Running) | Cincinnati, OH 45208, USA

By some miracle of nature both kids went down for a nap at the same time today. And it's been almost 2 hours and they're both still sleeping! And since my husband has been glued to the TV with the Ryder Cup for the last 72 hours I said I'll be right back I need to try to find some jeans that don't make me look like a hobo at Gap. Gap is still without power (at least the one by my house) which made for an interesting fitting room experience. There's plenty of natural light that wasn't the problem, but the heat was killing me. However, I did find a great pair of jeans (thank God for Curvy) and also 4 shirts on sale so I was a happy camper! And I got a Kroger shopping trip in there as well which says a lot about my awesome time management skills. Whatevs! By the way, they must be giving stuff away at Kroger or something because the lines are crazy. I also paid back the 6 bags of ice I stole after the power outage last Sunday. I said I would I'm not a th...

I found this great quote in the " BabyGuide " magazine which I stole from the pediatrician's office.  I just had to put it up here because I loved it so much. A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bank rolls smaller, homes happier, the past forgotten and the future worth living. And on that note I'm going to home to see my babies.