BABY SHOWER ToDaY!!!

We're in Miami!

I knew I had arrived in Florida the second the stewardess opened the plane doors;This HOT, HUMID, MUGGY air flooded the plane. As it wrapped around me, I could almost hear the song...Welcome to Miami, Bienvenidos a MIAMI...even though I was in Ft. Lauderdale.



I scanned the area as I walked out of the terminal for any familiar faces for what seemed like forever . Right in front of me I saw my Dad, Mom, and Snoopy waiting, as if they had never left the airport when they dropped me off a couple weeks ago when I was going to Austin. It was so nice to be back...it felt like home already and I hadn't even left the airport.



We went straight home, after a little snack, I went to the beauty salon. I was in dire need of work. My hands and feet looked worse than when I was working the fields in Panama. I didn't understand how that could be!!??!?! My hair needed a lot of work too. It had been about 6 months since it had seen/visited any salon. I came out a new woman from Beauty Secret with a couple new friends too who were intrigued with the story of how I found out I was pregnant.



When I came home, my mom and I went to the other ABUELOS house to visit. Just as my parents were dying to see my stomach and how much it had grown, I thought that Peter's parents were just as curious. The visit was a little longer than all of our curfew's but Abuela Veronica got to feel the baby move for the first time.



Wednesday was spent working on Baby Shower arrangements and Checking out Babies R us IN PERSON for the first time. That place is mesmerizing. The next thing is always cuter than the previous and some are downright uselessly adorable! One thing all things have in common is: IT IS ALL EXPENSIVE. It's almost like Michael's' and Pearls, you can easily find yourself spending HUNDREDS of dollars in minutes.



Wednesday evening I spent with a family whose kids I taught swim lessons to last summer. Telling Maria the story of everything that went down in the last couple months, I relived lots of memories and emotions. My eyes watered and I felt my throat tightening as I retold the 1st Gyno visit appointment, where I found out everything. The story brought her to tears as well. During and after dinner, she told me that she loved being a mother and that it was the best and most vulnerable feeling ever. When I left, I texted Peter and told him how excited I was to see how our LItTlE PeRsOn would be....



Before leaving the Key I made one last stop at Angela's new apartment with "sandpaper" wallpaper. She showed me around the place and they we talked a little while her butter drunken tilapia finished baking in the oven. When she served Andrew and herself that heart attack of a meal, I said my good-byes and headed home.



Thursday was a day of appointments and shopping. It started with an early Gyno visit. When I first got to Miami, I had visited with Dr. Nikitin in South Miami. Since I now have a new doctor in Austin, I needed to get my final check up with him, get some results from tests, and gather my complete medical file to take to my new doctor. I found out that you are actually pregnant for 1o months! It is a cultural myth that women are pregnant for 9 months. It is actually 9 moon cycles, which a moon cycle is longer than a calendar month. I am officially 25 weeks, which means 6 months--a week short of being in the 3rd trimester where my baby will enter VIABLE FETUS status.



Target and Michael's sucked us in for a couple hours after Sushi Maki lunch. With Baby shower games, gifts, and decorations on our mind, we walked around in circles. Finally we broke free and rushed over to the Dentist, the second appointment of the day. The appointment was short and quick but the "Weren't you in the Peace Corps?" and "When did you find out?" questions kept me there a little longer. Party City awaited me and my mother for some finally decorations.



FINALLY, we made it home! Exhausted, I tried to read for a little in the backyard with Snoopy. Manuela and I walked to Blockbuster with snoopy to rent a movie, Ghost of Girlfriend's Past (which was great!). Angela came by too and together we watched it. Unfortunately we ate all the popcorn in the previews so we were left with our tears and buggers the rest of the movie. There were times where we would look around and see the one next to us sobbing more than the other!

Today, Friday-- I have one doctor's appointment to get out of the way...work on finishing touches of the Baby Shower, and try and meet up with Marin, a friend from Peace Corps Panama who took her first vacation this week and is visiting her parents here in Miami! Then I have to get ready: Finally Peter arrives in Miami!

Way too much has happend in the last 2 weeks!

Since the last post, we have moved into a NEW APARTMENT: Mesa Verde. It is right across from Peter's work. We are on a first floor, right in front of the pool and next to the Offices/Gym/Mail areas. We still have a lot of organizing to do but I am super excited to play Martha Stewart with the help of Target.

Last weekend was labor day weekend.We started off the weekend by going to Town Lake for a nice stroll around the park. After doing a little exercise, we went to Mesa Verde to sign papers for the new Lease. That afternoon we caught the 1st UF football game of the season where the gators obliterated some team 62-3...

Sunday we visited the Alamo with some of Peter's friends from work. The Alamo is in San Antonio, about 2 hours away. It was definitely a lot different than we expected! It was interesting to see how celebrated the loss has been throughout the years.

On Labor day we got up early to Volunteer at the Austin Triathlon in Downtown Austin. It was very exciting to see all racers but part of me just wanted to get out there and run! Being on the cheering/support side of triathlons and races in general makes you appreciate racing SO MUCH MORE! At our water stop, there was another pregnant lady. She was about 8 1/2 months and looked great. I got to talk with her about healthy tips for pregnancy. She suggested I look into doing some classes, Bradley Method, with Peter to prepare for delivery.

Last week was pretty busy for me with tutoring appointments. As of right now, I have 3 students, 2 of which i meet with twice a week. For now, this is tutoring job is working out great because it flexible and gives me the freedom to do other things that I want to do, like walk/jog around Town Lake.

Friday was a BIG DAY, Peter and I went to the doctor for the first time together! I think we picked our doctor here in Austin: Dr. Eng. She delivers in St. David's Hospital. At the appointment, Peter got to see the ultrasound of the baby =). As usual, he was moving around like crazy in there.

After the Doctor's appointment, the official speed packing began! The UHaul was rented for Friday-Saturday evenings. With the help of Ashish and Travis, we were able to get most of our stuff moved. Coincidental, both of them were also moving this weekend, so Peter helped them move into their place this weekend as well.
As if emptying 3 apartments and filling 1 apartment and 1 house wasn't enough, the three crazy boys decided to go run a 10k in San Marcos at 8am on Saturday morning. It was a beautiful day for a run...NOT! It was pouring! Once again, I was spectating...not FUN, especially in the rain.

From 0909 Valeria Moved to Austin

Yesterday, Sunday, we finished cleaning out Peter's Monte Vista Apartment. At 6pm Peter handed over his keys...and said good-bye to Monte Vista.

From 0909 Valeria Moved to Austin

We hope you have enjoyed the updates. Peter and I have been super busy but we have made sure to take pictures of everything we are doing so that all of you can stay up-to-date with our lives!

We miss you all!

You have seen a couple of these pictures but there are newer ones of the move and the other activities in the past 2 weeks...Enjoy

My Tummy...

So for those of you who have been wondering if my stomach is showing, I took some pictures this morning before we went to workout at the gym.
(this by the way is my favorite running outfit, it's the one I used for the Miami ING Half marathon January of this year.)

Peter ran on the treadmill and I glided, whatever it is that you do when you are on the elliptical. It was a great morning. Peter was sweating like a race horse, and I was just sliding along...hehe. The doctor said that it's okay to run but I'd rather not since my stomach bounces up and down a lot.

Don't worry---just because i'm saying that I'd rather NOT run, I'm not SICK I promise.
I just feel that for right now, it's okay not to run. I'm giving my knees a well deserved break.

This is Peter and me after our workout this morning!

Hope you guys all have a great day =)

Versión en español:

Me tome unas fotos esta mañana antes de ir al gimnasio para que pudieran ver como va mi barriguita creciendo. Peter corrió en la trotadora y yo use el elíptico. Aunque el doctor dijo que podía seguir corriendo, me da cosa cuando me siento la barriga saltando tanto. Creo que me puedo tomar un descanso de correr. Mis rodillas se lo merecen después de todo el millaje que les he metido. Sigo haciendo ejercicio para asegurarme que la salud mía y la del bebe sigan bien.

Bueno los quiero mucho, espero que tengan un buen día!

JEEP for JETTA

I forgot to mention a HUGE CHANGE that happened on Monday. Peter exchanged the Jeep for a Jetta. This was a BIG sacrifice he made giving up his jeep and made me PROMISE that I would get him one in a couple years. What he doesn't realize is HOW MUCH I LOVE THE JEEP TOO! I will get US one as soon as POSSIBLE.

The New FAMILY CAR!

On Monday, Peter called Pedro (dad) to apologize for making him sacrifice his jeep 25 years ago. He now understands how much his father loves him...

Hiring myself!

I've been in Austin now for a couple days. As I drive around with Peter, it feels like just yesterday I was here visiting him. It's hard to believe that I'm LIVING here now.

I've been busy looking for apartments while Peter's at work and trying to organize my life a little. I have also been job-hunting...which has turned out to be a little more difficult than I thought or hoped it would be. I haven't looked EVERYWHERE but I have looked into working in place in the area of where we plan on living. I do want to make money to CONTRIBUTE to my FAMILY =), but can't seem to find exactly what I can do. I posted some things on Craig's list and I've gotten some emails for tutoring, but that's as far as that has gone.

In the applications they always ask, "why do you want to work here?". Truth is, I have NO ANSWER. I DON'T want to work there because I have more important things to do with my time right now.. I don't want to keep applying to pointless jobs that in the end will lead me no where for a few more dollars.

As I drove by Barnes & Nobles, I thought it would be a great (inspirational) environment to work in. Though it would be another job that would lead no where in the end, I thought, it wouldn't hurt to see if they are hiring. Deciding to stop at Barnes&Nobles was just what I needed! In front of the Customer Service desk (where I picked up an application) there was a table with a little sign "Writers' Resources". Some of the titles of the books on that table were: The Power to Write by Caroline Joy Adams, How to Write What You Want & Sell it by Skip Press, and Write it Down, Make it Happen-Knowing What You Want & Getting it by Henriette Anne Klauser.
I forgot everything I had to do and found myself skimming through all 3 books at the same time. My eyes couldn't even keep up. I realized that don't want a pointless job, I want to write.

The Intro to The Power of Writing read: "What if, starting right now, you could take those glimmers of ideas that are swirling around in your mind & begin transforming them into powerfully told, intriguing stories, based on compiling real-life experiences...? If that is what you're secretly (or perhaps not so secretly) wishing you could easily do, you are definitely at the right place." As I read these words, I felt as though she was really talking to me, which I'm sure was her purpose, and her plan worked!

I have always loved writing, though most of what I've written is scattered throughout textbook margins, school notebooks, and millions of journals. Now, I want to write this book, not only for me, but for my son. I want to write about how life prepared me to answer the most important, unexpected, difficult, and life-changing call, the call to be his mom.

I owe it to myself to fully commit to this process and "make it happen", like Klauser wrote about in her book. I have always set goals for myself and accomplished them...I have even accomplished things I never thought I would do.

I am aware that when I finish, this book might never end up on a bookshelf of Barnes&Nobles or even of a tiny Book store, but it will be on MY BOOKSHELF! I can only dream right now of the day when I walk into Barnes& Nobles and see it on a table or walk by a book store at the airport and see it through the window.

Enough dreaming.This is my time to write...