Summer again!!!

So, I don't know if you could tell from my blogs in December... but I was getting a little jealous of all of you who live in four season places. More depressed, than jealous really. Isn't that ironic? Usually I get down in the winter months BECAUSE of the snow and not enough sunlight!

The holidays just didn't feel the same without the seasons changing. My sweet hubby even made me a snow man from the snow cone machine to make me feel better! haha, how ironic again?!

Well, I am finally out of that downer mood and guess what? Yesterday I woke up to the birds singing and the sun shining and it felt great! It is a balmy 80 degrees. I am back to my love for summer again. I think the flowers in my background is a pretty good description of my feelings about it all... that and that's the most Valentin-y this blog is going to get! Im not one for hearts and roses all over the place.

So pretty much I am ready for a bbq and some camping... anybody game?

I am pretty sure the only individuals who read my blog are my friends and fam., so here is your invite to come visit me and escape the winter snow!

Argh

Why can't I find the option to change my font colors!?

Help?

365 days in Mexico

One year ago from January 12, Ryan and I came to live in Queretaro, Mexico.

I can hardly believe that we have been here a full year. It has been such a fun and interesting experience. After having this epiphany, Ryan and I started reflecting over the year...
here are some of our Mexican highlights and things that we have learned while being down here

1. I think one of my favorite things about Mexico, which I relive each week, is the ridiculously inexpensive food at the outdoor Market. I love bringing home 2-4 bags of delicious fruits, veggies and fresh chicken for only $15. It really just makes my day every week.

2. Tacos al Pastor- These are my and Ryan's favorite Mexican dishes! Tacos al Pastor are made with tasty pork smothered in seasoning, slow cooked on a rotisserie and then sliced into a hot, fresh, greasy tortilla. Finally topped with cilantro, yummy hot salsa, onions and pinneapple. Heaven!

3. Watching Ryan learn Spanish and adapting to the Latin culture. I think he has more patience with some of the cultural isms than I do. (Ps, Thanks babe for all the mutual giggles while learning this language. Example, using "azteca" for "estaca" throughout an entire meeting or the infamous "pajero" en vez de "pajaro" at girls' camp! haha, never gets old! ... oh yeah, and como va tu oyo?)

4. Learning to pay electric bills five days before it's due. If not, they shut off your electricity for days!! Refer to past post for details

5. Realizing that Google Maps for Mexico is completely off and ends up sending you in all directions. I refuse to use it anymore.

6. Understanding what a guiso is. The typical Queretana comida.

7. Avoiding taxibuses like the plague! They are the most reckless drivers and every time I am driving near one of these beasts I realize that I am holding my breath and clenching the steering wheel.

8. Accepting the fact that the work day doesn't end until 7 pm or later for most. So when Ryan has meetings going into the night, don't get frustrated...

9. As much as Mexico City is great with what it has to offer... my motto is "get in, get out, get on with your life" for this place. There are sooo many people, traffic's crazy, and you don't want to get stuck in the wrong places.

10. I ironically enjoy the well known fact that the Narcos families tend to live in Queretaro. That's why it's nice and quiet here, nobody wants to get things wriled up... it's a family sort of town

11. Don't take your shoes off. Barefeet doesn't exist here... (You'll get weird looks if you attempt it)

12. Dressing normal here is dressing up for me normally

13. There is a ridiculous amount and variety of chilies here and I think they are eaten at just about every meal!

14. C on the water faucet doesn't mean cold...

15. You will not find Halls cough drops in the pharmacy section, but in the candy section of the grocery stores

16. Driving isms:
Emergency Flashers don't mean emergency, it means there is traffic ahead.
People will turn right/left from any lane
Don't worry if you see police lights behind you, the police keep their lights on all the time

Im sure we could come up with a bunch more... but I think this is a decent start.

Week 29

Just a couple pics from yesterday's appt. Again, he was face down and scrunched up. Sorry no great pictures. He is growing big and doesn't have as much space as he used to. Dr said he was about 1.4 kg (which is 3.1 pounds)!

Doodle all balled up

(His head is on the right and the Dr. is checking

his food supply)

And this my friends is a part of the reason why we can't see his face.

He made little fists and hid his face behind them.

I think he wants to keep us in suspense and make a grand debut in a few months!

What a tease.

What the?

Most of the time I can't believe I am pregnant. In fact, almost every morning I forget that I have a belly. It's quite the shocker when I look myself in the mirror. Doodle moves quite a bit though to remind me he's around and growing. I love that.

Why is it that I still don't feel that pregnant even though I am further along? Don't get me wrong, the baby kicks, acid reflux, and throwing up in my mouth never ceases, but the fact that I will have a baby in three months still seems out of this world.

Maybe I am just in a daze in my life... I still can't believe it's Christmas time and it's 3 days before the big day! I have baked well over 400 cookies in the past three weeks, read Christmas stories, spent nights decorating and doing Christmas crafts with Ryan, listened to hours of Christmas music, watched Christmas movies, gone to Christmas parties and plays and have been spending extra time on the people around me in various ways... and yet I still can't believe it's Christmas! Ryan has even been giving me the 12 days of Christmas this year! Maybe it's the swaying palm trees and the lack of decor around town that is throwing me off. Still, I am trying to absorb and think about Christ and Christmas, culturally, as much as I can. I love this time of year and I don't want it slipping by without a good fight!

A Moment of Kahn

For those of you who don't know this, there is a common family heritage among the female members of my Mother's side of the family. It's called ridiculously strong women... (emphasis can be put on ridiculous in certain situations). My Great Grandmother Kahn being the one who carries this trait strongest. When we went to Grandma Kahn's house as a girl we were expected to sit quietly on her couch listening to conversation or to go outside. Even though she can be a tough cookie, I never thought of her as mean, on the contrary, I absolutely adore this woman. BUT you could not pay me to cross her!

So the qualities of such a personality trait sometimes include the words, spitfire, sassy, stubborn/unbreakable, opinionated/sure, and most often loud. Though the trait can be a weakness it has also been a strength from past experiences. After all my Great Grandmother is in her 90s and I think the only thing that will break her is her own body not cooperating to her mind's demands.

This trait has definitely trickled down the bloodline and with a latin background (meet a latin woman to know what I am talking about here) on my fathers side and the Kahn trait on my Mother's, I am bound to have moments of being a ridiculously strong woman.

So now that you know what a "Kahn (maybe I should say Harde since that is my Great Grandmother's maiden name) Moment" is... I can tell you that I had a moment of it last week. Ryan and I went to the Nutcracker ballet here in Queretaro. The ballet was accompanied by a children's choir and the Orchestra Filarmonica. It was a fabulous show and exceeded my expectations. Their was a lot of talent and many many hours had obviously been put into the music, costumes, dance, and props. I always think it's a good sign when the orchestra starts playing and you have to make a double take to make sure the musicians are playing live and it is not a recording you hear.

Well, I loved the entire performance, but was very disappointed with the audience! In my defense, I really did try to ignore the heels going up and down the passageways during the show, the chatter during the scenes and the random scattered applause at mere music pauses... but the end was unacceptable in my opinion. At the end of the performance the dancers, choir and orchestra were given different spotlights, of course so that we could applaud them. You cannot imagine what happened... maybe only half of the people there applauded! No whistles, no standing, no woots .... there was hardly even an applause. In fact several groups of people got up and left prematurely, when they were supposed to be applauding. I felt so embarrassed! I couldn't believe it so of course I can't keep my mouth shut and start bursting out words of disappointment. I just couldn't stop going off on how horrible our audience was and I kept glaring at the young adolescents sitting in front of me that stared at the stage with crossed arms (I can understand this behavior a little better if their was disorganization and bad planning, but this performance was wonderful and the tickets were very inexpensive!). I was so upset and it wasn't until Ryan started telling me to keep it down and nudging me to let it go that I realized... ops I had a Kahn moment.

Yup, that's how it goes... you start getting loud, animated, passionate, and can't let it go. At least glaring was the most I did... but I got a pretty mean glare.

Just saying... sometimes I try to keep this Kahn trait in check... but sometimes it just can't mask itself! and sometimes I think people just need to hear it.

Am I ridiculous sometimes? Yes, very. Are some of the woman in my family ridiculous at times? Yes, they have their moments. But I do love how strong the women can be in my family, so here is a shout out to them!

Doodle

Okay, so I decided that it's about time I add photos of Doodle... (I need to do more shout-outs for this favorite tyke of mine!)

I can't find week 16 photos, which is a bummer cause those were the best ones. and our doc

only gave us the video and not the MP3 pics from this last visit, week 24:(

I will add the others as soon as I can!

Here is week 6 of our little bug

This is week 11, now more like an alien than a bug

I wish I had week 16! This is when he starts looking more like a baby!

This is week 20, of course I had to put a crotch shot up... finding out the sex was a highlight at this u/s

Another week 20, he was nuzzled down so we couldn't get a very good shot of his profile:(

Here is a pose of his meaty thigh though

So like I said, I don't have week 24 in picture form:( The little squirt took the same position as week 20s though, so again we haven't had a shot of his profile in a while!

Instead, here is a pic of the lovely stomach instead...

24 w 2 d

So Doodle still doesn't have an official name. But, he is full of personality and moves uncontrollably sometimes. Ryan has been feeling him a lot lately. I can feel his little hiccups, but my favorite is when he bounces on my bladder like a trampoline!

haha, I really have liked second trimester! Other than occasional nausea and maybe a little more emotional temperament, there have only been highlights the past couple of months!