Te amamos mas que nunca.

Katrina and I made a special breakfast for the love of our life yesterday. He was VERY touched by the extra touches of love (the only thing missing was a bit of salt!). Te amamos, Panchito y Papa, mas que nunca. (We love you, Panchito and Papa, more than ever.)

Fun with Water (at least for Katrina!)

Katrina has found that she LOVES playing with water. She started in the kitchen sink, but after her uncle showed her how to use the sprayer, I decided a tub on the floor was a better idea!

So, almost every day, at least one time, she asks to get out her bathtub toys and wants to play in the water.

Today, I added some soap to the water and before too long, she was bathing herself. "Barriga, manos, Mamá." TRANSLATION: I am washing my tummy (barriga) with my hands (manos), Mamá.

When she looked at me with this face, I couldn't help but want to put even more bubbles into the tub. She is the cutest thing ever. We are enjoying her so much each day and making a mess (or should I say cleaning the mess?) with water on the kitchen floor is nothing compared to the joy we experience having her in our family.

Proud to be an American... Almost

Panchito went to Minneapolis yesterday for his citizenship interview. After studying 96 questions about American history since July, they asked him 5 questions. They dictated to him the following sentence, "He knows how to ride a bike." He is not complaining, however, because, he passed! He told me they asked him if he wanted to change his name. If he wanted to, now was the time. So, he decided to make a distinctive change, to give himself an American name. He changed his name to Frank Durán. He was just kidding! They did ask him if he wanted to change his name and he did change it, but not to Frank. He simply dropped his mother's maiden name off the end of his name (they use the mother's maiden name in Venezuela after the first, middle and last names -- therefore on Katrina's Venezuelan documents she is Katrina Suzanne Durán Gehring). So now his official American name is Francisco Jose Durán. Anyway, we are EXTREMELY proud of him and wanted to share the good news with you. We will let you know when he has the "Oath Ceremony" and everything becomes official.

What a gal!

Katrina has enjoyed cleaning very much. Last week I was washing the patio doors and guess who wanted to help? She did a great job until she used her hand to wipe up what she did not get with the paper towel. I am secretly VERY happy that at least up until now, she really enjoys having things neat and orderly. I am VERY much that way, for those who know me, that should not be a surprise, and to have a daughter with the same tendencies in this area is fun for me. I have a good time when I am cleaning and organizing the house and having Katrina by my side while I do it makes it even more fun.

Talk about fine dining... I think it is fun to "mix it up a bit" and let Katrina eat in different places. This fine morning I set up a VERY fancy dining experience for her: laundry basket tipped upside down with a dish towel as a tablecloth and her stool for the bathroom as the chair. She loved it. As I look at the picture it reminds me of Panchito and my first meal in our first apartment after we were married. We did not have a table yet so I set up a large box, put a tablecloth on it (of course I had tablecloths, just no table!) and we ate our first dinner in our apartment sitting on the floor. It was VERY romantic and a GREAT memory. I plan to make memories like these two for my family for a long time. It makes the hum-drum days of winter seem much more enjoyable and entertaining, right?

A woman of routine

Katrina has gotten into routine lately that when Papa is home, she gets to watch a "licula."(TRANSLATION: movie). It is really "pelicula" but she says it SO cute! Anyway, she asks all morning if she can watch "Elmo" and when I look at her, I don't even need to say no, she quickly says, "Papa." So, when he comes home for lunch, as is his custom every day (aren't we blessed with the greatest husband and dad?), we eat lunch together and then she and Papa come downstairs, he wraps her up in a blanket and she watches Elmo before she takes a nap. How cozy. Mama has been getting in on the cozy-action too, wrapping herself in a blanket and watching Elmo next to Katrina. He is a funny character, that Elmo.

Our Social Butterfly

Katrina has been a VERY social girl from the get-go. She LOVES to be around other people. Just so you get the idea, if the mailman has a package too large for the mailbox and brings it to the door, Katrina is upset when he leaves! So, we have done our best to facilitate social activities into her days, but sometimes we simply cannot plan another play date or trip to the gym. On occasions like these, we take advantage of all of her stuffed animals and dolls.

Saturday I went out to lunch with a dear friend and Panchito stayed home with Katrina. She was supposed to be napping, but woke up early and was still a bit tired. Panchito played with her for quite a while in our bed with her two pals, Elmo and Joey (a puppet from a 4-year old Sunday School class we taught before she was born). When I came home she could not wait to tell me all about the resting time she had with Elmo and Joey.

On Monday of this week Katrina awoke wanting pancakes for breakfast. Elmo was demanding them as well! So, we set up a placemat and plate and glass for Elmo. He even used a bib because we weren't sure how good of an eater he is! Katrina had a ball and I must admit, it was fun having two kids for a little while, even if one of them has red fur!

Later that same morning, Katrina wanted some cheese. She is not someone who likes to eat alone. You will most likely never find her in her adult years eating alone at Texas Roadhouse. If she has to go alone, she will for sure look for someone else sitting alone and join them. Anyway, she wanted to eat her cheese with Buo (Owl) in the bathroom. Not my first choice for her dining, but what can you do with an independent almost two-year old? I love my days with our social butterfly! Her papa says that now he has two social-lites in the family to contend with. The worst, according to him, is Sundays. If it isn't me talking with someone after the service, its her! Secretly he loves it!

Enjoying being the Mom of One

Last year we lost two babies early in the pregnancies. This past week would have been the due date for the first baby we lost and it was a tough week. During this time I ran across a story about a king who went into his garden and found all his plants and trees droopy and weary. He began asking them what was wrong. The oak tree was not happy because he did not produce anything that anyone could eat. The grape vine was upset because he was all spread out and did not stand up straight. Finally the king came to a beautiful little lavender flower that stood with it's head up, happy to be who he was. When the king asked him why he was so happy he replied that if the king would have wanted him to be a tall oak tree, he would have planted an oak tree. And if the king would have wanted him to be a grape vine, he would have planted another grape vine. But, the king obviously wanted him to be a lavender and so he was determined to be the BEST lavender he could be. That little story spoke volumes to my attitude. We would love it if the Lord chose to bless our family with more children, but right now I need to focus on being the BEST wife and mom to Panchito and Katrina because that is what the Lord intended for this time. I would like to tell you that after reading the story and having the "revelation" from the Lord my days have been SO full of joy, etc. They have not. But, I have purposed in my heart to be thankful for these days ordained to be the wife of Panchito and the mom of Katrina. All of that said, yesterday Katrina and I spent the entire day at home, enjoying one another. We wore our pjs almost all day and as I did some household chores, she helped and we had so much fun. I changed the sheets on our bed and after I put the flat sheet on Katrina wanted to get onto the bed. So, I got her up there and we laid and played there for about 45 minutes. Then, she made herself a bed on the floor and pretended to sleep (pretend sleeping for her is pretty cute, as you will see in the first picture!). She also wanted to wear a kitchen towel around her waist for some of the day, which was also adorable. It was a nice time and a great way to enjoy being the mom of one! Days like this remind me that this is the life I have always dreamed of and to pine away after a new dream would be wrong because I would not be living the dream the Lord has given me for today.

Divirtiéndose en el gimnasio

There is a new gym in town called Buzee Bodeez (pronounced Busy Bodies). Katrina and I have been there quite often. She really enjoys all of the activities. Katrina speaks mainly Spanish at home (and wherever she is, really). I have put the translations there for those of you might need them. :-)

“Dale, metela alli.”

(TRANSLATION: Come on, put it in the hoop.”)

“Soy buena en eso.”

(TRANSLATION: “I’m a pretty good shot!”)

“Poco a poco, verdad, Mamá?”

(TRANSLATION: “Little by little, right, Mamá?”)

“Mirame a mi.”

(TRANSLATION: “Look at me.”)

“Ai yai yai. Este asusta… Tengo tiempo guindando aqui; me pregunto cuanto me mido ahora.”

(TRANSLATION: “Whoa. This is a bit scary… I have been hanging here quite a while; I wonder how tall I am now.” )

“Toma la foto y despues hago los trucos.”

(TRANSLATION: “Take the picture and then I’ll l do the tricks.”)

Things that got me through 2007...

One of my friends blogged the things that got her through 2007 because her friend had done it. So, here I am, doing the same thing. Of course God, Panchito and Katrina top off the list, but here goes... * Dora yogurt (for Katrina, not me!) * Kleenexes * Country music (specifically Different World Bucky Covington) * Coca-Cola I guess my life is pretty boring since I didn't need much to get me through the year!

A Good Way to Start 2008

Happy New Year!

Katrina put my hat and scarf on and pranced around the house singing joyfully.

Katrina eating her first "go-gurt" from ALDI today where she proved a great "helper."

Today we went grocery shopping at ALDI. I have found in the past few months that our grocery bills are WAY less if I am able to purchase a bulk of our groceries at ALDI. Well, needless to say, it is not a good place to take an almost-two-year-old. But, when there is no bread, no tortillas and no spaghetti sauce in the house, things are dire and you will do just about anything.

So, we went to ALDI. She did an excellent job in the cart and the check-out girl was overly gracious and used the cart that Katrina was already in to load our groceries. Then comes the fun part: putting the groceries that have been thrown into the cart in a VERY haphazard way into bags or boxes. Well, Katrina wanted to help. In fact she even said, "Help" in the cutest voice you can think of. So, being the "let's stop and smell the roses" Mom that I want to be in 2008, I let her help with 100% of the groceries. I sidled the cart up to the counter and handed her each item (all 100 of them, or at least it seemed!) and she did her best to toss it into the box I designated for it. I got LOTS of stares and many smiles, but it was worth it. Katrina was SO proud of herself and I was proud of myself too. Who cares if we were there for 20 minutes longer than we needed to be? It was worth it to allow her to feel like a helper. Then I out-did myself and took her to PetSmart. She gets SO excited when we are driving in the parking lot of that place! Unfortunately today there were no cats, but there was a dog getting a haircut so it was worth the 10 minute walk-through, saying "hello" and "bye" to each and every gerbil, hamster and guinea pig. I love Katrina dearly and today was a day that started out rough (she awoke for the day at 3:45 AM for reasons we are still not aware of), but ended GREAT! We made some wonderful memories. She is getting so big and I don't want these days to pass me by without creating memories like today.