Our First Adventures

We've had several fun adventures in the days we've been here. On Sunday, Shelley wasn't feeling well, so Rick Jett Theo and I all went to church.  It was a lovely walk there.  (have I mentioned how wonderful the warm weather is?) Unfortunately, Theo was already tired by the time we got there, so he was a bit moody for the three hour block of classes.

It was great having Rick introduce me to everyone there.  I felt a little foolish just smiling and sitting there since I couldn't understand a word anyone said. But they were all so gracious and sweet, especially to Theo. Man, Theo is quite a hard name for them to say.  They made a joke of trying to pronounce it properly, biting their tongues and giggling.  It was great.

My favorite part were all the besos. Everyone greets each other with a kiss on the cheek.  I had remembered Shelley being surprised by it when she first moved here, so I felt a little more prepared.  While Theo and I were wandering the halls during sacrament meeting, and old woman came up to admire Theo, and turned to ask me a question.  In English I said, "I don't speak Spanish." And with a huge smile she gave me a hug and a kiss.  That was my favorite.

It's been interesting adjusting to Allison/Argentina time.  Theo still gets up at 7, which means I still get up. But the rest of the house sleeps until 9 or 10.  The AM is slow and easy going.  We don't end up eating dinner until 7 or later. And Theo has gone to bed at 9ish every night (which is annoying that he still wakes up at 7!).  Thank goodness I have a sister who encourages me to lay down during the day. Being pregnant is the best excuse ever.

As pictured above, the "Kirby face" is quite popular here. That's because Kirby the video game, along with Mario Galaxy that we brought to share, are popular activities for the boys.  Theo would watch it all day if we let him, and I've heard Jett say that he likes to play video games three times a day.  Don't we all?

Good thing there are also bunches of fun toys to play with!  And Jett has been such a nice cousin to share his toys and his space.  They sleep in the same room, and it has worked better than I could have hoped.

These boys are so cute together.  It's hard every morning when Theo wakes up and all he wants is cereal and his friend Jett.  He'll walk through the house, cup his hands around his mouth and yell, "Jett!  Where are you?"

He will also do this for Shelley, but what he calls her varies.  Sometimes he'll call her Shelley, but most of the time he has been calling her Mama.  It's pretty confusing having two mamas in the house.  Once, I was in the kitchen when everyone else was in the play room.  I heard Theo yelling, "Mama!  Mama!" and I kept answering him and telling him to come to me.  After a while, I finally went to him, only to see him staring straight at Shelley and yelling to her.  When I got her to turn around, he could finally ask her what he wanted.  I think this is so cute, and I hope he doesn't miss his other mama too much when we have to go.

We went to the little China Town yesterday, and it was quite the adventure. We all squeezed into the back of a taxi and rode down there.  Theo started the trip on my lap, but wanted to sit next to his cousin.  We passed some sweet statues that I can't wait to go visit.

When we got there, we walked past some pretty sweet stores.  Shelley was a lovely Mama, and bought Jett a rubber snake, and Theo a jingle bell shaker.  Theo made beautiful sounds as we drove over the uneven sidewalks in his stroller.

We went there for the express purpose of loading up on peanut butter that is as close to American style as they can find here.  We walked around some, and then hopped back in a taxi.  The ride home was more quite since we were all hot and tired, but Jett and Theo laughed and giggled as Jett had the snake bite Theo's finger.  They are such cute cousins!

One of the best adventures is getting to enjoy Mora.  She came back from doggy vacation a few days ago, but she has had to stay out on the balcony while some flea medicine was working on her.  Today was her first day back inside, and we all had a wonderful time.  Above, she is relaxing on the couch, while Theo bends down to say ,"hi." over and over and over.  It's very sweet.  I was worried that one might overwhelm the other, but they are friendly, and stay out of each others' way for the most part. Theo always likes to have her around, and she likes to lick his tasty fingers. I think this will be a wonderful friendship.

We made it after all!

Theo and I are here in South America, partying with my sister Shelley and her husband and son.  I can't believe this is real life!

Our journey down here had a rocky start.  We flew out of New York City, so Corbin was lovely and drove us the four or five hours down. But as we were entering the city, the crazy snowy conditions caused us to check up on the flight.  Turns out, everything for the rest of the day was canceled.  NOOO!!

So we ended up driving in terribly snow and traffic for six more hours until we got to our hotel.  Corbin ended up missing his first day of school the next day. But the next morning was spent relaxing and trying to store up energy for the days travels.

Corbin dropped us off at the airport around three o'clock (he wanted to make sure and get out of the city before rush hour and nightfall).  After a teary goodbye, Theo and I were on our own.  We wandered the airport killing time until our flight at 10:30 ish. 

Theo had a great time walking around on the moving sidewalk things, pushing his stroller, and charming every person we passed. He even conned a sweet Brazilian family out of a whole cup of mixed fruit and a granola bar. They even pulled out pens and drew him pictures.  There were so many sweet people who were tender mercies in my long day.

And I am giving a special shout out to Whitney for letting me use her baby leash.  I don't know what I would have done without it, because it gave him just enough freedom to not feel trapped, but it let me reighn him in when he wanted to run in every single direction at once.  So thanks for saving me, Whitney!

When we finally got on the plane, Theo slept the whole night (thank goodness!) There was some shifting every few hours, but I couldn't have asked for more.  When he woke up, we spent the rest of the flight eating and watching movies.  The flight attendants were so sweet and gave him extra juice and yogurt through the flight.

Theo was a super champion through all the driving, waiting, and even flying.  So by the time we got off the plane and made our way through customs, he was a crab.  And of course I was low on energy to deal with him, but I couldn't be mad since he had been so good for the past 36 hours.  But we made it out alive, and Shelley and Jett were waiting for us with sweet smiles and nice cold bottles of water. 

Only as Theo and I were waiting to pick up our bag did I realize it was his second birthday!  The only celebration he got the whole day was a "happy birthday" and a kiss in that moment.  But he didn't care, so neither did I.

We spent the rest of the day letting the kids play and vegging.  We walked down the block to their huge mall and got some Wendy's, and Jett got to show Theo the enormous play place.  I think Theo wasn't quite big enough or emotionally prepared for it.  Our outing didn't last too long.

Anyways, it has been so fun being here with the Allisons and getting to experience a little of the Argentinian life. 

And by the way, one of the best parts is, it's not covered in a foot of snow!  I wore shorts today!  I can't wait to soak it all in!

Why hello, little baby

 

 Today, we had our first appointment with the midwives.  I thought we would only get to hear the heartbeat, but we had a surprise ultrasound! 

It was so wonderful getting to see the little baby in there, and it made it so much more real! That little guy or gal was really grooving in there.  It was so cute to see it squirm and stretch.

Since today marks the beginning of my second trimester, I feel like I've gotten over the yucky sick part of being pregnant.  

And only a handful of days before Theo and I ship out for Argentina!  I'm trying to psychologically coach myself for dealing with a toddler alone on a 24 hour travel day.  But it will be worth it.  We're so excited!  And Corbin is excited to finally be able to get some work done. He's done such a great job of taking care of us during this break, I'm sure he'll count it as a break to go back to school.