EASTER VACATION- in MIAMI!!!

We are back!
Well, I guess I should say, We've been back in a LA for a couple days now...hahah, But I've been too tired to post. Here's the play by play of our trip!

From 1104 Easter Vacation

A little over a week ago we took the RED EYE to Miami. We left LA Thursday at 10ish pm. This was the first time that Nico was old enough to be aware and scared during the flight. He was actually really nervous during TAKE OFF, especially when the lights were turned off in the cabin, and there was NOTHING to look at through the window. Fortunate he calmed down and we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale 5 exhausting hours later (Friday Morning). Nico slept for about 3 1/2 of those, but neither Peter nor I were able to. We each dosed a little but never really got rest.

While waiting for my sister to arrive, I bumped into a college friend and her boyfriend at the airport---SMALL WORLD eyy!

Manuela arrived with a car full of toy, books, activity books, balls, and snacks for Nico. Though all we wanted to do was pass out, we made a pit stop at a little Cuban restaurant near Tia's apartmentand then checked out her place(super organized of course) ....WHICH was BEAUTIFUL, with tennis courts, 2 lakes (with DUCKS!), a pool, gym, and a walking path. We also got an express tour of Nova's campus. No wonder Tia hasn't come to visit...her little life in Nova looks so nice!

From 1104 Easter Vacation

Mommy, daddy, and Nico took a nap on the way from FLL to MIA. Daddy and Mommy continued their nap for 4 more hours while Nico entertained the abuelos at my house.

From 1104 Easter Vacation

For Lunch we headed to CAYO ESQUIVEL, my dad's favorite fish restaurant in Miami, where we met up with Todd, Vivi, and Juan. THE FOOD WAS DELICIOUS!!!

In the parking lot we did the shipment switch(all our luggage) and headed over to the Flores Abuelos' house----during which time, NICO took another nap!

I went on a run after getting in the pool while Peter play Basketball with some friends and cousins at a nearby school. Though it was humid, I felt great on the run!

From 1104 Easter Vacation

After putting Nico to sleep, Mommy and Daddy went out! We celebrated Juan's Birthday at Lolita in Brickell...LOADS OF FUN!!

From 1104 dinner guests, babysitting, Enotes

From 1104 Easter vacation outings and fiestas

SATURDAY-

Rough morning after celebrating Juan's Birthday---we're not as young as we used to be.Those days of partying all night and getting up for a 12mile run at 6 am are LONG GONE!

From Drop Box

Peter went Fishing with Todd and Nico and I hung out with the Flores Abuelos and then went to Fairchild Tropical Gardens with my mom, Florence (peter's grandma), and Vivi. I had never walked around Fairchild! Last time I went was for Kelly and Josh's wedding, but I didn't really walk around the park. Nico loved walking around and checking out all the leaves and flowers.

When we got back, we hung out the rest of the afternoon at the Flores's home. Todd, Forman, Tio Tony, Abuela (Eneida), my Sister and Dad, and the Barreras family came over. The guys played basketball and some of us (Nico and I) got in the Pool!!!

From 1104 Easter Vacation

From 1104 Easter Vacation

From 1104 Easter Vacation

From 1104 Easter Vacation

After some Easter egg painting with Nico's Primitos, Aiden and Jules, we got ready for our SECOND OUTING: Blue Martini with Todd and Antu---another great night!

From 1104 Easter vacation outings and fiestas

SUNDAY

HAPPY EASTER

From 1104 Pre-Easter foto shoot

We woke up to BEAUTIFUL EASTER BASKETS EVERYWHERE! The easter bunny at the Flores' is super nice! Vivi and Yesenia surprised Nico with LOTS of goodies!!! We ate a yummy breakfast and got ready for Mass at STA. Luz Mila was there too!

Then we went to Patricia's house (Peter's aunt) for some AWESOME FOOD, Family,

From 1104 Easter Vacation

and LOADS OF EASTER EGGS. Nico got to go on his first Easter Egg Hunt! Last year he slept right through it! He didn't really hunt so much as INVESTIGATE each egg.

But had a great time!

He was very puzzled by the fact that every time he picked up eggs from an area and turned around...there were MORE.....(work of the abuelos all setting it up for Nico to PICK UP MORE eggs).

In the end, we left the eggs with Peter's cousin who's a teacher and was going to use them as prizes in her class.

We left around 7:30pm....but the party wasn't over. Nico's visitor calendar had one more party stop. We made the Switch from the Flores' home to my home. Juan's parents, the Tafachi Family, and Andrea Portillo were awaiting Nico's arrival.

MONDAY

Peter and I slept in while TIA tortured NICO!

From 1104 Easter Vacation

....Just kidding, she also read and played with him...hahaa

From 1104 Easter Vacation

When we FINALLY got up, we went on a nice and humid 6 mile run in south Miami. After Lunch we rounded the troops (all the abuelos and Tia) and headed to Key Biscayne for a BEACH DAY(afternoon)!

From 1104 Easter Vacation

From 1104 Easter Vacation

From 1104 Easter Vacation

On the way home we stoped by Angela and Andrew's new house---they're renting but it's still a house! It was adorable!!

We went to the movies at night to watch RIO....I thought it was really funny but the best part was the 3D glasses that we kept, lol...but they don't work outside the theater. =(

From 1104 Easter Vacation

TUESDAY

Pampered myself at the Beauty secret, getting a Mani/ Pedi/ and Haircut! I felt like such a girl =)

From 1104 Easter Vacation

Barbie came over and we hung out, had lunch, and caught up on life. She opened her own dance studio, All Access Dance Studio, almost a year ago and was telling me all about it. She is such an inspiration!

From 1104 Easter Vacation

We had a chill afternoon while Nico napped at my house. We hung out at Peter's pool, soaked in the sun, and mentally prepared ourselves for TITO's bootcamp workout. It was really hard. I was sore until Thursday!

After a "sink shower" we went over to Sunset Place for dinner.

From 1104 Easter Vacation

From 1104 Easter Vacation

Our goal was Cool de Sac, ingenious place I might add, but they closed too early, so we ended up eating in Spiltsville...which was DELISH!

We had a big good bye dinner crew: Jeanette, Carlos, Anthony, Yesenia, Manuela, the Flores Abuelos, and the Rodriguez Abuelos!

WEDNESDAY- Travel day again. By 5:38am we were on the road and heading over to FLL airport to catch our flight back to LA. Alyssa and Lorena Picked us up at the airport!

It was so NICE TO BE HOME, but we were exhausted. Peter was supposed to work half a day but didn't really manage to keep his eyes open. I reorganized Nico's room to fit all his NEW CLOTHES AND TOYS and then started unpacking my clothes (NO NEW CLOTHES or TOYS FOR ME).

Nico's Second Vacation in Miami was great! This trip was number 8 for Nico before even being 16 months of age! There are still so many places to go, people to visit. Next stop...I HOPE...is Austin,Tx!

We miss you all in Miami, thank you for making Nico's trip SO SPECIAL!!!

SPECIAL SURPRISE

The other day I came home to a little bubble wrapped package at the door with Peter's name on it. Curiosity killed the cat...and yes, I opened it!

And it was a GIFT FOR ME!

A beautiful mug!!!! A gift for No reason! I loved it!!!

Baby Friends and Adult Friends packed our weekend with Activities

Saturday

Playdate/babysitting duty-in the morning Nico and I hung out with Andreas, one of Nico's friends. We went for a walk around the complex...

From 1104 dinner guests, babysitting, Enotes

We played at the sandbox...

From 1104 dinner guests, babysitting, Enotes

we ate yummy breakfast....

From 1104 dinner guests, babysitting, Enotes

and I tried to put them down for a NAP...which Andreas was all about...but Nico didn't really support the idea....

From 1104 dinner guests, babysitting, Enotes

Before Andreas got picked up, they discussed what their plans were for the week...
Since he didn't nap in the morning, he took a short little nap as we walked to the pool. I got to TAN for 12 WHOLE MINUTES!!!!

If you don't see the slideshow above, click here.

Then, we hurried over to meet up with the Cuban Lampoon Family Vacation, the Caraballo family--the whole gang, was in town to watch the screening of Chris's movie, The History of SpaceFlight. Nico and I stayed outside of the screening most of the time--because some shhhusshhhers were being really annoying, lol. The other films were kinda gruesome and depressing so it didn't matter anyway. We had loads of fun out there trying to scheme with Alina and Olgi on how to get more

From Caraballos, Beach, big boy sitting VOTING cards to get Chris's movie the 'audience's choice award' plus, Nico found the voting pencils (and box) extremely entertaining.

From Caraballos, Beach, big boy sitting

Proceeding the show, there was a lovely reception on USC campus infront of the theater and then a PACHANGA* at Chris's apartment, where his family made delicious food. We came home way past Nico's bedtime, but had a great day!

From Caraballos, Beach, big boy sitting

(yes Nico wore a Guayabera)

Sunday we went for a great 6 mile run! I got to run on the shore---with my shoes off---IN THE WATER, for the first time! It was GLORIOUS! Peter pushed Nico so that I could have that moment...lol. It was nice and sunny, and as usual, Nico loved the run.

From Caraballos, Beach, big boy sitting

Nico and I then went to Patti's house (the babysitter) to celebrate her daughter's birthday! We had lots of YUMMY FOOD and Nico was super excited about all the BALLOONS that were there.
We came home and hung out at the beach a little but unfortunately by the time Nico and I met up with Charlie and Daddy, it was already cloudy =(.

At 5pm we were ready for EASTER Family Shots. We got together with Alyssa, Lorena, Alberto, Brenda, Mia, Roberto, Leanne, and Aaron at our complex to take some pictures and enjoy some delicious pasta salad that Alyssa made. I brought some wine, kettle corn, and chicken pesto to complete our "dinner- potluck". The kiddos decided that the party was over, so we all headed home, with a couple new laughs, some great new pictures, and some more memories to add to OUR LA LIVING repertoire.

Here is the link to the Pre-Easter Photo Album if you don't see the slideshow below.

*For those Gringos reading this, PACHANGA- is a latin style party---aka, lots of people talking very loudly about a bunch of different things, at the same time, and an incredible large about of really scrumptious food/desserts/snacks.

London Marathon

Tio Ashish ran the London Marathon this morning in a time of 2:38:12

We are very proud of him!!

Work- update

In January I applied for the LIS-Learning Instructor Supervisor. Since then I had been doing office hours, "training" with the LIS who was leaving, and helping out with the transition. I never thought I had the job for sure since they were looking for someone full-time and I can't work full time for 2 reasons 1- Nico starts daycare in July and 2-my Berlitz teaching schedule is really PACKED due to the lack of teachers for the next 6 weeks...and so If I got the position, they would need to replace me in the programs(and there is no one to replace me).

A couple days ago (WEDNESDAY), while at the office, IN PASSING, the director just mentioned...that I was no longer being considered for the position.

Yesterday was my last day at Berlitz (in the office)--a little sad for me. As I walked out, I got a simple--articulated Thank You from the director, who was on the phone and couldn't put the person on Hold for a second to SAY Bye. I know that I made a difference while I was there for the teachers and the students especially--I wasn't asking for a goodbye party or a parade, just for a simple...we are going to miss you or thanks for all the work you did to make OUR lives easier--Maybe that's too much to ask for.

Unfortunately, in the time I was there, I saw things that I didn't really like but I was willing to work anyway because I knew that I could improve upon those aspects and potentially FIX those things. However, in the end, it's better that I didn't get the job, cause it wasn't the right place for me.

I need to be somewhere that is looking for a hardworking self-motivated employee who takes opportunities to improve the environment around--not just focus on completing the minimum requirements in the job description. I want to work at a place that expects their employees to think outside the box, be creative, and really believe in the overall mission of the company.

I am a loyal, hard worker who doesn't take extended bathroom breaks or continually text- messages with friends during time that I'm being PAID to work. I work efficiently and quickly to do as much as I can and be as HELPFUL and PRODUCTIVE as possible.

While at the center, I went beyond my duties to assist other employees and students and tried to organize and update files & information to improve the activity flow of the center in General. I created a google group for the teachers to interact, exchange experiences, and connected to other teachers at the center (since most teachers don't even know who the other teachers at the center are--due to the varying schedules). I also proposed, set up , and prepared a "Conversational Session" Project for students so that they could practice their target languages outside the "classroom setting" at a restaurant.

But anyhow...What I can take from this experience and this time? (i'm gonna try to keep these as positive as possible)

• organization makes a WORLD of difference.
• BAND-AIDs as a SHORT-term fix can lead to HEMORRHAGING in the LONG-term
• some people notice when you care and listen honestly.
• NOT all companies have HIGH expectations, some just want to GET BY.
• My high school cross-country shirt from freshman year said "Hard work is the minimum expected not the maximum". Unfortunately--that work ethic wasn't instilled in EVERYONE who has a job--Some people just sneak through the system--and manage to keep their jobs.

So for the next 6 weeks i'll still be working for Berlitz, teaching part-time, an FBI program and at the New Zealand Consulate, but hopefully after that, I'll have found something else--more regular, with a different company.

Today I took care of one of Nico's friends, Andreas. He got here at 7:45am. We have had a great time. We played, went for a stroll in the double bike trailer, ate yummy snacks, played in the "sandbox", and are currently taking a nap! It took a while to get them (namely Nico) down, i'm not gonna lie--that part was hard. But the rest was smooth sailing. I wouldn't mind hanging out with these little men on a regular basis... Patty (Nico's sitter) has it made! She's in the right business.

I'm not back at square one--but pretty close to it...hahaha,lol. Any Ideas???

15 months old!

Happy 15 months Pumpkin Head!

From 1104 Laundry-Tomas's Bday

At 11am I realized that I had left the house this morning without wishing my BABY a happy GOLDEN birthday! His next golden birthday will be when he turns 15 years old!!

I am such a proud momma. I will post later about my work situation but I was telling Peter yesterday that it wouldn't be FAIR if my work situation had worked out since I have EVERYTHING else-- A beautiful, smart amazing, lovable baby head and husband, lots of mommy/baby friends, I live in a breath-taking place(except for crazy Jerry Springer neighbors), I am able to run and I'm improving everyday--inching closer to the runner with-in, i have close friends both near and really FAR, and a supportive and loving family (who is waiting for us with open arms for Easter next weekend).

Nico's Stats for 15 months will be filled in on Monday after his 15month check up =).

Motor Skills- He has really started to pick up the sign-language thing! He signs for LECHE, MAS, DIAPER, CHANGE, and his latest--LAVA (for washing his hands). Peter has really done a great job with Nico and being consistent with the different signs. MY BABY IS SO SMART--but i guess every mom thinks so, right, lol. On another note, he is really good a dribbling the soccer ball---especially down the hallway. He's got the walking thing down! He is even trying to figure out the running thing now--YAYYY!

Language skills- Nico has always been every vocal. Great with the baby talk, even carrying on with his own conversations--in his own language. BUT NOW---WE HAVE WORDS: We have BALL and what seems to be CAR.

Teeth- YES more are coming out still! He has 12 completely out and 1 or 2 creeping out.

Sleeping habits: Sleeping through the night unless he pees too much and it leeks out of his diaper...and onto his clothes, and wakes him up! Peter and I have been very pround of the fact that we have gotten our child on somewhat of a schedule...especially since we were and still are the most un-monotonous, schedule following people. But for the sake of our since, we have made it a point to respect his bedtime schedule and his NAP schedule (for the most part, hahaha).

Eating habits: he has gotten a little pickier and less focused when it comes to eating. But he looks ADORABLE when he chews on those chicken nuggets and string cheese (2 of his favorite things right now).

Other updates:

• He really LOVES BALLOONS. It is almost an unhealthy obsession that I need to keep an eye on, lol.
• He LOVES sharing, to the point that he almost SHOVES food and toys into other kids and people's faces....but at least it's better than having a little selfish brat--hahaha.
• He is very sensitive. He really gets his feelings hurt and still curls his lip like he did when he was an ity-bitty baby. These days, however, it no longer shakes like it used to. But it still crumbles my heart.
• He is very independent. Actually only needs me to fill his bottle with milk--if he could reach the milk in the fridge, he'd probably ask me to move out of HIS apartment, J/K! But for real, he wants to do everything BY HIMSELF.
• He is REALLY CURIOUS. I know i've said this before, but he is really interested in seeing HOW things work. His fine motor skills are really well developed for his age.
• We've been practicing MAMA and DADA- So when I say MAMA I point at myself and when I say Nico I point at him. Recently, he's been saying MAMA and he points at himself---because that's what I've been doing...hahaha. IT'S SO CUTE I want to bite his finger off...I'm really just kidding.

From 1104 the stelzer's VISIT!

What else can I say! I love this little man!

From 1104 Laundry-Tomas's Bday

Happy 15 Months mi Rey!