Lucky Father

I am a lucky father. Not only do I have the best wife in the whole world, I have the cutest, smartest daughter as well. I am really thankful God has given me the opportunity to work from home and that I can spend so much time with my baby.

Paige went back to school last week and I have been able to take Evie to work with me... well, work is a few steps from the bathroom, very convenient. ;)

She sits on my lap as I go through meetings on the phone and work on things on the computer. She will cry when she needs food, a diaper change or when my attention has been taken by the computer or the phone for too long...

She keeps daddy company... 

Papai Doidão

Things I learned while on maternity leave

And the count down begins... exactly one more week before I venture back to work.  Oh brother.

If I hear a stay at home mom complain ever again I think I might blow a casket.  Now that I have experienced a bit of their everyday life I just don't get why some are so mad at the world (now I am not talking about all stay at home moms... some appreciate it).  Maybe they get bored or maybe they fight with their husbands..who really knows?  All I know is that the past 12 weeks could have possibly been the best 12 weeks of my life.  Ever since I can remember I have worked.  Either I was in school full time or working full time.  Right after I graduated I began teaching and never thought twice about it.  It was just so natural to have a job.  Now don't get me wrong.  I really think I was created to work (in some sort of fashion) but boy has it been nice to take a break.

Now I know what some of you are thinking..."but you are a teacher and you get so much vacation!"  I mean really are you serious?  My vacations consist of getting things ready for the school year AND I don't even get paid to do it.  I remember last summer I got called into school several times to "finish" things up.  And don't worry I make up for all that vacation time before and after school during the actual school year.  

There are some major reforms that need to happen in education and with teachers.  I could go on and on in this area but I won't.  If you disagree with how much a teacher does I can let you have a conversation with my long term sub.  She has already called me several times in tears over what happens to a teacher.  

Lesson #1-appreciate your teachers.  Give them gifts and thank you notes.  They do more than you will ever know for your children.

Lesson#2- Thank God for where he has you... at home or at work.

As I said the past 12 weeks could have possibly been the best time in my life.  I have to give little Evie credit, it was all because of her.  She has been amazing.  Even her cries are beautiful.  She has been sleeping for about 9 1/2 hours every night and some days she makes it without ever getting upset.  

Lesson #3- the love of a baby could possibly be the closes we get to being with God while on Earth.  

Enzo has been the best Daddy I could possibly ask for.  He argues with me over who gets to clean the poopy diapers.

Lesson #4- marry well.  

When I entered parenthood I really had no idea what I was doing and I have discovered no one else does either.  Everyone has an opinion from breast feeding to vaccinations.  Don't listen to them.  Mother's intuition is stronger than you think.

Lesson #5-Smile when people give you their opinion and move on.

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

Evie and I  celebrate our first Mother's Day together!  We did this by Enzo taking us to the Watershed restaurant in Decatur (place owned by the Indigo Girls... one of my favorite bands).  I know the picture isn't very good of Evie but it was the only one of us together!  I must say my baby is sooo good out in public.  We even saw some people whispering about her and then finally they came over to tell us that she was the most beautiful baby they had ever seen!  I told them I thought so too!  Oh and we also had her baby dedication Sunday at church!  

Evie's Smile

Sem Palavras ... Speechless...

10 Weeks old today!

Today Evie turned 10 weeks old and we welcomed it in with Vaccinations! She did great.  When we got there the doctor was blown away by how alert she was.  She said she hadn't seen a baby this alert before.  She said "Look at that neck control!"  I know I am joining all other parents in bragging about their child but I have to say she really came out of the womb this alert and moving her neck like a 6 month old baby!  It has been unbelievable.  Here  are some things we have discovered are Evie's favorites in the past two months:

1. ceiling fans

2. sitting on the end of our knees facing the rest of the world bouncing up and down.

3. bouncy chair and swing

4. BATH TIME! 

5.  Being involved in conversations

6. Enzo playing the guitar to her (quick way to get her to stop crying)

7. Lotion being rubbed on massaged on her body

8. sleep on our chest

9. laying between us on our bed

10. loves diaper changes

11. Mornings are her favorite time of the day(everyday she wakes up and talks to herself and waits patiently for mommy and daddy to wake up)

Poor Evie thinks she is being nice to her!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday!  On Saturday we celebrated so here are some pics!

Blood Boiling

There are things that happen in this world that honestly make my blood boil.  Sometimes I have conversations with people or see some things on other people blogs that I just want to write a blog in retaliation.  argh.  How can people really think the things they do are okay?  I don't even think they see it.  Maybe one day I will have the courage to write about these things but right now I just can't.  I know it will spark anger and I just don't think some people can handle the truth.  All I can say is that don't put all your eggs into a basket when it comes to looking at leaders  in ministry and finances.  Wow.  Please don't. You will be a  very disappointed person if you do.  Look at Jesus.  He won't disappoint you.

Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Thiago "Pinta" Cury!

I have been meaning to blog about this but I keep forgetting... On April 18th we ventured to Killen, AL.  to celebrate the union of Robin and Pinta.  Honestly, I was really scared for them because NOTHING was coming together for their wedding.  Poor things...  But God took care of them and everything finally came together.  Robin and Pinta hold a special place in our hearts because she is American and he is Brazilian.  I was Robin's friend and Pinta was Enzo's friend.  It is great to see two friends getting married who are going through similar things.  

Also, it was Evie's first out of town trip.  She was amazing.  She also started sleeping 8 hours during the night on this trip!  Thank God.  I don't know if I was created to be up so much during the night.  Oh and maybe soon I can get a picture of us from the wedding.  I think the photographer took a picture.. I can't believe we didn't take one with our own camera!

Evie loves her Feet / Evie ama os pezinhos

Evie and her Swing

Other happenings during the month of April

Evie's First Easter

Evie becomes Brazilian

On April 6th we headed to the Brazilian Consulate  to get Evie's Brazilian citizenship and passport.  We got there with no problem...the location is awesome, right off of the highway.   As we got there I was very surprised by the number of babies in the waiting area,  They were all babies with both parents being Brazilian.  I was the only Caucasian American in the entire place.  I felt like I was back in Brazil.  We waited for only a short period of time before we were called back..which I must say is impressive for Brazilians.  Surprisingly, Enzo and I had brought all the paperwork needed to Evie's documents.  I am always afraid that we are forgetting something important and that we would have to go back.  Well actually we did forget one thing but it didn't hinder Evie from getting her documents...Enzo and I never registered our marriage in Brazil which causes all of Evie's Brazilian paper work to have my maiden name on it instead of my married name.  It isn't that big of a deal because now all we need to do is go register our marriage in Brazil and then just have her Brazilian birth certificate changed. Oh and I must say, I have never seen such a cute passport!  The picture on it is her little 4 week old face smiling!  Even if something happens to where she didn't use it is it still will be such a sweet memory! 

Weekend Summary

This weekend was very eventful for little Evie.  Friday night she went to her first Easter egg hunt, Saturday she went to celebrate my friend Kristy's birthday at Piedmont Park, Saturday night her Grandaddy became the first one ever to babysit her while we celebrated our 3 year anniversary, and this morning she woke up and went to church for the first time.  

Here is a picture my friend Kristy captured while at the park.

3 year wedding anniversary is tomorrow and I have no gift!

Tomorrow marks 3 years of being married to Enzo.  Some of you might be confused because you might remember us getting married during the summer on the beach.  Well we did but if you remember we also got married in the courthouse 2 months prior. Here we are...a few pounds lighter and 3 years less wise.

Happy Easter/Feliz Pascoa!!!

Happy St. Patricks Day but most importantly Happy "Enzo lives in the US" day!

Today marks the 3 year anniversary of Enzo packing his bags (actually it was only one bag and it wasn't even filled) and leaving behind everything that was familiar to him from his entire life.  It is a special day but it is also a reminder to us both of everything that is still found in Brazil.  

Growing up, I never thought I would get married.  Honestly, I was a strange child.  I never played with baby dolls with the hope that one day I would be a mommy and I for sure never thought  would ever meet someone who I would want to spend the rest of my life with.  I think I was perfectly content with dating and never settling down.  Thank goodness God had other plans.  With this being said, not only did I meet someone, I actually met someone who was willing to give up everything in his life just to be with me.  This definitely makes our love worth something.  

In a way, March 17th is a bigger holiday for us than any Valentine's day or anniversary.  It is the day my groom swam a deep ocean just to be with me.

Here is a toast to 3 years of being together and here is another toast to the previous 3 years before March 17, 2006 of fighting all odds.  

Evelyn's One Week Photo Shoot

A friend from high school has a great photography company (www.ninemusesphotography.com). She came over and did an incredible job with capturing our little Evie's beauty! She was also there for the birth of Evie. We haven't gotten the labor and delivery pictures yet but I probably won't post most of those! They might be a bit too graphic for our rate G blog! We got a sneak peak of those last week and they were amazing. Poor Jessica (my friend who is the photographer) was possibly traumatized due to my epidural not working. I don't know if she will ever want to do live birth photography again!

Uma amiga do segundo grau é fotógrafa (http://www.ninemusesphotography.com). Ela veio visitar e fez um ótimo trabalho ao fotografar a beleza da nossa Evie. Ela também estava no nascimento da Evie. Ainda não recebemos as fotos do parto, mas acho que não vamos postar muitas dessas fotos de qualquer maneira. Elas podem ser um pouco "fortes" para o nosso blog de "classificação livre"! A nossa amiga (Jessica Patterson) nos mostrou algumas dessas fotos semana passada e elas ficaram fantásticas. Coitada da Jessica (nossa amiga que fotografou tudo), ela deve ter ficado traumatizada depois que a anestesia não funcionou. Eu tenho minhas dúvidas se ela vai querer fotografar partos depois dessa... ;)

Maternity Leave

I love being at home with my new baby. She is perfect. Chores and such don't get done because all I want to do it hold her. Enzo is the same way. Luckily, he works from home. Sometimes during his meetings he holds her in one arm and the phone on the other. Tonight we went to Blockbuster to rent a movie. When we got home we decided not to watch the movie and just sit and watch her instead. It is much better than any movie. I wish maternity leave could last forever. Unfortunately, it won't and eventually I will have to immerse myself back into the world of teaching. We have a great church family who keeps supplying us with food so I don't even have to cook....I just hold my baby. Thank God for times like these. I know it won't last forever but we are trying to savor every moment. This is better than any vacation could ever be.

Evelyn at the Hospital - February 27, 2009

Evie Waking Up - Evie Acordando

Evie's Belly Button and her First Booger

Today we took Evie to the pediatrician for the first time.

Her belly button fell off there (at only 4 days old) and as a plus: when we got home we saw her first booger...

;)

Greencard, again!! :)

I got a letter from USCIS in the mail today congratulating me that I got my unconditional permanent resident card (valid for 10 years). Now I want to start looking for info on the US citizenship test/process so I can know exactly when to apply so I can become an American ("I will be proud to be an American!). That would also help having my mom here to help with the baby.


God is amazing: in the same week I get my sweet Evie, I also get a document that will allow me to stay here with her. :)