Gearing up for winter

Weather turns colder each day and we get ready for winter. Some, more than others :)

There are some firsts in our house as well. For once, Ami tried her first solid food! We started with sweet potato (not shown here due to a BIG cleaning event after the meal :)  ). Ami seems to really love apples and tea. Other than that, she's more than happy to enjoy her milk. She also started sitting without support pretty well. If there is nothing to distract her she can sit for minutes. the problem is that this beautiful world is full of exciting toys so, in her efforts to put everything in her mouth she looses her balance and falls on her side. Cutest little falls !

And, the first scrunchy in Ami's hair!

 The sisters started playing together more and more. We're past the cuddly hugs and kisses, they're playing together with toys and Catalina could not be a better, more loving sister. She reads to Ami, she lets her play with her toys (even put them in her mouth!), she never complains when Ami pulls at her hair or scratches her. My heart melts when I see them!

Let love and happiness surround us as we get ready for Ami's first Thanksgiving!

Love messages

It took a lot to keep me going after the dark elections we had. I looked everywhere for signs of hope and love. I found several, I took comfort in the pain other felt besides me.
This, big on a wall at work:

And then, a letter from a teacher to her students. Something for all small kids to remember:

There is hope, and as long as we have our hearts open and our mind bright and not darken by hate, we can pull through!

US Presidential Election

2016 was the first year we voted in United States. I was excited. Hillary Clinton was projected to be the first female president. I liked her a lot and she ran against a monkey of a man. It was a clear, easy win. Catalina was excited too.

We were all ready!

We were excited. We made popcorn to watch the results coming in. And then it all turned dark. Nobody knows how exactly happened, but the orange monkey won. It was horrible. I had to explain to Catalina why the bad guy won. I was upset and our of shape for a week. It's starting to set in now, and nobody knows exactly what will happen. We have a shameless man for a president. We'll survive, so maybe this was a lesson for Catalina. Rise above everything and everyone. It will get better and you'll have another chance in 4 years.

May love and good prevail. Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. We need to surround ourselves with happiness and hope!

Halloween 2016

Halloween is a day a year, but the celebrations start early and this particular state of mind counts more to me than the evening of candy (I enjoy that enormously too!).

We started with Catalina's school "build a scarecrow" night. We had so much fun the year before! I knew a little something grows inside me, Catalina was extremely happy and we made a nice scarecrow. We were excited this year too, but a lot changes when a little baby is in tow! We tried to prepare, to come up with ideas on what to make, but came up with...nothing. One hour before the vent started we decided to make the head at home as we imagined that with Ami we won't be able to do much at school. We found a pink wig in the house and here it all started: Introducing Pinkalicious!

Plenty of pink receiving blankets for the head and body; swimming noodles for legs and arms; pink socks and gloves for feet and hands. And of course, Catalina's beautiful artwork for her make up. We declared it a total success!!

To be in line with all the celebrations, Catalina decorated our house with paintings. I have to say I was speechless! My girl is quite talented!!!

 And few Halloween parties followed. Party at Dana and Gabi:

Mom, what is this big, ugly thing?

The parade at Catalina's school was followed by a cute in class party. Ami came for the parade dressed in Catalina's old costume, a cute flower

 Wrap me in toilet paper as a mummy game:

Cutest mummy EVER!

And then it was time for the real Halloween! Catalina wanted to be a witch, she wore the costume for the school party so I was sure she'll want smth different. Nope! Witch all the way. Mommy was a witch too :). Amy had a bulky seahorse costume that she kept on for maybe 10 minutes.

Dressing up, candy and parties...I am really getting into the Halloween spirit. Just to think that years back when I first came to US I could not understand people getting excited about it. It's all about the chocolate, baby!!

Falling

It's funny to me how Americans call it fall, and British call it autumn. Is it because the leaves are falling? Is it because we fall into the cold weather? Too much philosophy here I guess. Either way, we starting falling deep into fall without noticing.
After Ami's baptism things started rolling really fast. Our usual farm hoping had only one farm this year, so Ami's pictures with the pumpkins were sort of accidental. A trip to pick up apples turned into our first and last farm visit of the season.

Having bunica Milica with us meant that Catalina was picked up from school every day. Ami joined us in some of these trips, making Catalina VERY proud to show off her baby sister.

We were quite busy so we did not travel too much with bunica. The farthest outing: downtown Philadelphia. We got a beautiful day and we had a peaceful, sunny afternoon. Catalina picked up chestnuts and we just walked around beautiful buildings.