1. 15 May


    momentitos


    1) here mama

    2) very Us

    3) new art on cafe walls

    4) morning snuggles

    5) from our rooftop

    6) real roses on my birthday cake care of our sweet  neighbor

    7) hired help 

     

  2. 13 May


    this is very everyday mama these days. jeans, boots, big earings and a button up shirt of some sort. missing a scarf, with the milk producing ladies still on high function i typically have a trusty scarf to hide their emensity.  i recently read an article about how important it is to you and your kids for you to let yourself be photographed and posted just as much as you do them. it truly is so easy to lose your identity in this whole experience.  i think i am guilty of hiding behind the camera for fear that belly or arms or whatever i am going on about in my mind on that given day will show face. but here i am, in front of a mural of a woman picking coffee cherries. she picks it, i slang it. i bet she doesn´t worry about her belly pouching… she is probably more worried that her baby is stealing those beans and she wont make a days work. tit for tat. i also read , “the grass is always greener where you water it” in the bathroom this AM. so, high five mural lady, you fight your battles and i´ll fight mine let me know if you need help. solidarity mama style,  let´s do this.

    this is very everyday mama these days. jeans, boots, big earings and a button up shirt of some sort. missing a scarf, with the milk producing ladies still on high function i typically have a trusty scarf to hide their emensity.  i recently read an article about how important it is to you and your kids for you to let yourself be photographed and posted just as much as you do them. it truly is so easy to lose your identity in this whole experience.  i think i am guilty of hiding behind the camera for fear that belly or arms or whatever i am going on about in my mind on that given day will show face. but here i am, in front of a mural of a woman picking coffee cherries. she picks it, i slang it. i bet she doesn´t worry about her belly pouching… she is probably more worried that her baby is stealing those beans and she wont make a days work. tit for tat. i also read , “the grass is always greener where you water it” in the bathroom this AM. so, high five mural lady, you fight your battles and i´ll fight mine let me know if you need help. solidarity mama style,  let´s do this.

     

  3. 10 May


    the loot

    we had some very wonderful friends come down last month (whom look quite cute with our kids i may add) and they were kind enough to bring down a suitcase, i kid you not, 1 full suitcase of spiderman´s, art supplies and people magazines (priorities) from my lovely friends and family back home. opening THE SUITCASE was like Christmas and birthdays all done up in one fun afternoon followed by the kids´ intense love for our new amigos after that thinking that everything was from them (we worked that out don´t worry)! anyway here is my internet THANK YOU to all parties involved! you guys are the best and we especially love our pen pal letters, drawings and gifts. also be sure to check your mail hopefully there will be some return pen pal coorespondence popping by soon! again, thanks so much! 

     

  4. 8 May


    mid week cute juice

    strawberry shortface

    photos taken by my superfriend Chelsey who would probably really appreciate it if i edited them but i think that the baby is cute either way!! thanks!

     

  5. 7 May


    this one is for my mama. here is your 31 year old daughter. i love you.  words on Us (the papas) in coming days… 

    this one is for my mama. here is your 31 year old daughter. i love you. 

    words on Us (the papas) in coming days… 

     

  6. 7 May


    feeding the palomas

    feeding the palomas

     

  7. 7 May


    we go kinda often…pretty big fans.

     

  8. 7 May


    Big Brother lately

    so my baby boy, you are like this bona fide person now, and how fun it is! amazingly you still love your baby sister and have taken on a new morning habit where when i go in to wake you up  and you return my request of getting out of bed with a question: “is vita awake?”. if so you are up and rolling, but if not you say to me “tell me when she gets up” and pull the covers back up and roll over to continue that warm morning hazy sleep. i assume your resaoning is that there isn´t any action until she arrives to the party. it is pretty darn sweet and pretty much sums up yours and her relationship. we are starting to see hints of “mama vita is bothering me” but overall you guys are a team.

    you have new big person routines now, you get up, pick out and put on your clothes (sometimes with a fight, sometimes wiht a smile you are 3 after all). then you make your bed (sort of) and eat your choice of always the same cereal with raisins and bananas and strawberries if you remembered to buy them mama. if i don´t remember to buy your favorite fruit at the market you kindly remind me that it is okay and that i can buy them later in the afternoon. your teacher also sent me a note from school kindly reminding me that you had reminded her that you prefer fruit with your morning snack at break. so, thank you for that sweet one. 

    you have learned to control the spice side of your sugar coated self which has been so great for all of us especially you who really just wants to help and play. each day when you come home from school you tell me the days events, usually some sort of gossip surrounding which of your friends did hit or behave poorly to another one of your friends, or whom broke which plate, and then it is always followed up with the reassurance that you in fact did not hit your friends. skeptical over if this was the real deal i called your teacher to see how you were doing and tickle me pink you did in fact teach yourself that it makes your friends really sad when you hit (kick, spit, bite or push) them and you have left those habits to the other 2 year olds now that you are a big bad 3 and a half year old. good on you son, you truly are a gem! 

    i really enjoy our dialog now that you tell me all of your thoughts and opinions and curiosities, even in those rough mama times where patience runs low you are so understanding when i ask you for just a couple of quiet moments. you truly do love your mama, just as i brought you up to do (self high five). sometimes i sit back and wish it would stay how it is right now forever even though i know it wont. 

    that pretty much sums you up these days, oh and you have mentioned about 30 times now that you are in fact a big boy and now you can do ballet with your papa. (pretty sure this is what he and his friend who is a girl at school think that it means to be big…the ability to take ballet class) i am not so sure what he is going to think of that plan having grown up in not so liberal guatemala i think it is safe to assume that he did not ever once attend a ballet class as a little boy, but i promise we will ask him if he wants to. i bet he will try and convince you to play soccer in tutus. i will have to document that for sure.

    for the record the only current picture of 3 1/2 year old you is the first. the horrible picture of pictures on a wall is our shrine of stateside pen pal letters that we look at and talk about each night. the Mexico beach pictures are from last september but papa was hoarding them on his phone and forgot to send them becuase he is a meanie. the phrase “friend who is a girl” is not mine i stole it from this really funny blog http://lazydad.tumblr.com/ but is so much more appropo than girlfriend these days. 

     

  9. 7 May


    babygirl lately

    as we approach the 1 1/2 year mark things are really shaking up. we see how you are very different from your big brother, and you are begining to exercise your “independence” by way of defiance and voice! you eat like a perfet angel in your high chair and when you are done you say “graaaciaaa” and stand up and throw things and want down as if you have been possesed by the power of a full belly. when i come through the door from the cafe you run to me saying “mamaaaaa!” and we hug, but if I don ¨t plug a boob on you I get the floppy fish version of your temper which is charged and ready for use on demand.  Overall still sweet as pie with those big brown eyes and long thick lashes that melt hearts daily only now you also steal minds with your baby wit. you are turning out splendidly you and amazingly original! 

    your hair is finally getting long enough to put in clips and ties a situation of which your mama (and babysitters) love and your your Papa destests. i see foreshadowing there, but we will leave that sitation aside for now…

    current passions: talking passionately in gibberish, talking on the phone in gibberish, corn tortillas, corn on the cob, corn in anything (you are guatemalan after all) coloring and stickers on everything, dancing and singing at all times, going for long walks, lola never gets old, your papa, doing whatever your big brother does including pretending to go to the bathroom (fingers crossed!) 

    current problems: no one understands your talking but we all pretend to, no going outside alone, lola is a giant and you can´t seem to work out how to play together leading to an overemotional trampling, no one will let you eat markers, crayons, sizzors or paint. also, stickers are not edible. the herb garden  (RIP) is for looking at not digging in…not to mention you can´t eat the dirt.

    current toddler motto: if i can´t stick my hand in it then put it or my hand in my mouth what is the point anyway there really is no reason to live now give me the boob.

     

  10. 6 Apr


    on birthdays… i liked this quote. it reminds me of my “be brave and be kind” mantra, i think this is a good way to evolve the idea…   today is my birthday. i am 31. i have a college degree in nothing that i am not using but am still paying for. i do not own a house. i am not contemplating my masters degree while i work my way to my next promotion.  i have not lost all the weight i had hoped to, or mabye is expected of me to have lost post baby. i have no plane ticket to go somewhere awesome this or next year. i am just here.  what does here look like today? happiness. i am the kind of happy where you worry that things are too good to be true and that this has to be the good bit and the bad stuff is emenent. i am not happy ALL THE TIME, in fact i lose my shit just about daily and cry over something weekly but overall there is that life is good feeling. i feel none of that expectation listed above. what i do feel is a steady flow of great ideas and long term plans that come and go, waiting for timing and opportunity to meet up. will we expand the business? hopefully we will be so lucky in our venture. will we buy or build a house like you are supposed to, probably.  more kids? maybe. who knows, i love the non commitment while being commited to the current plan. i am finding that it is the perfect balance of security and spontenaity for me.  so, here is what 30 year old me does know, listen up and take notes future self. what i do have are slow snuggles in the morning breastfeeding my babygirl. breakfast with Pidermans and kissing my 3 year old off to school. a slow cup of cafe con leche every day that makes it all worth it (maybe that is shallow but it is just that damn good my coffee). yoga in a tiny wooden attic. working with a hand picked crew of employees that i get to both teach and learn from about life, love, strife and this strange guatemalan business world.  a few hours at lunchtime to be with my babies. slow evenings cooking, snuggling, singing, cleaning, decompressing. 6-8 hours of (broken but promising) sleep. a relationship that is far from perfect but growing all the time. friendships near and far that balance each other out. a life that is very slowly evolving in which most days i learn something about myself and others and often i am able to give back what i have taken in from my experience. to me, these are the important things. i feel the most content with the awarenss to know that today, in my first day of my 31st year, this is what makes me happy. my family, my work, my friends and being a part of these special connections. i am in this super special secret club that exsists of all the people close to me. we laugh, we cry, we fight, we learn, we forgive, we move through uncomfortable and inevitable tragedy into humbleness and eventually growth.  when we come upon people who don´t fit in or understand we smile and say thanks for playing, have a nice day, carry on with your life and i will with mine.  so, “self help 30´s” as i have coined them, after our first year traveling together i tell you i am in! i love this stage, i hope to remember it as so and use this to give me strength in coming years. consider it documented.   Love and birthday hugs, Me

    on birthdays…
    i liked this quote. it reminds me of my “be brave and be kind” mantra, i think this is a good way to evolve the idea…
     
    today is my birthday. i am 31. i have a college degree in nothing that i am not using but am still paying for. i do not own a house. i am not contemplating my masters degree while i work my way to my next promotion.  i have not lost all the weight i had hoped to, or mabye is expected of me to have lost post baby. i have no plane ticket to go somewhere awesome this or next year. i am just here. 
    what does here look like today? happiness. i am the kind of happy where you worry that things are too good to be true and that this has to be the good bit and the bad stuff is emenent. i am not happy ALL THE TIME, in fact i lose my shit just about daily and cry over something weekly but overall there is that life is good feeling. i feel none of that expectation listed above. what i do feel is a steady flow of great ideas and long term plans that come and go, waiting for timing and opportunity to meet up. will we expand the business? hopefully we will be so lucky in our venture. will we buy or build a house like you are supposed to, probably.  more kids? maybe. who knows, i love the non commitment while being commited to the current plan. i am finding that it is the perfect balance of security and spontenaity for me. 
    so, here is what 30 year old me does know, listen up and take notes future self. what i do have are slow snuggles in the morning breastfeeding my babygirl. breakfast with Pidermans and kissing my 3 year old off to school. a slow cup of cafe con leche every day that makes it all worth it (maybe that is shallow but it is just that damn good my coffee). yoga in a tiny wooden attic. working with a hand picked crew of employees that i get to both teach and learn from about life, love, strife and this strange guatemalan business world.  a few hours at lunchtime to be with my babies. slow evenings cooking, snuggling, singing, cleaning, decompressing. 6-8 hours of (broken but promising) sleep. a relationship that is far from perfect but growing all the time. friendships near and far that balance each other out. a life that is very slowly evolving in which most days i learn something about myself and others and often i am able to give back what i have taken in from my experience. to me, these are the important things. i feel the most content with the awarenss to know that today, in my first day of my 31st year, this is what makes me happy. my family, my work, my friends and being a part of these special connections. i am in this super special secret club that exsists of all the people close to me. we laugh, we cry, we fight, we learn, we forgive, we move through uncomfortable and inevitable tragedy into humbleness and eventually growth.  when we come upon people who don´t fit in or understand we smile and say thanks for playing, have a nice day, carry on with your life and i will with mine. 
    so, “self help 30´s” as i have coined them, after our first year traveling together i tell you i am in! i love this stage, i hope to remember it as so and use this to give me strength in coming years. consider it documented.
     
    Love and birthday hugs,
    Me

    (Source: thepreppyyogini, via dailylovedose)

     

  11. 1 Apr


    the latest in no particular order…
    we are getting back on track after holy week or easter week which lasts from wednesday to sunday here *woot woot*  papa was home and it was lovely. we camped out at grandpa´s house and let the kids run wild with him and tia beba (aunt shirley) and enjoyed some couch time ourselves. we ate home grown chicken from grandpa´s coop, special easter bread along with a sweet garbanzo dish that grandpa made himself both of which are traditional for easter here. being an avid catholic i think it´s safe to say that easter week is grandpa´s favorite holiday :) no eggs or bunnies down here and i think i can speak for both of us that we were kind of happy to not have had an out of house agenda…maybe next year.
     
    big brother is aproaching the 3 1/2 year mark so he is sloppily independent and loudly opinionated. he is all potty trianed though chooses in the moment wheather or not he wants to make it to the bathroom to do his business (sigh) and we are still washing lots of sheets. he is also really communicative about nice things like “mama your shirt is really pretty” and lots of “i love you mamas” which make the first part of this paragraph tolerable. oh and of course there are all the other exciting landmarks that are hugely boring for the general population like letters, remembering and singing (over and over again) songs, numbers, colors etc. 
    sweet baby girl is full on walking, falling, walking, curious head tilt, laugh, back up and at it. now that her little personality is showing light she is a little class clown this one. she loves to give pretend tickles and pretend bites with a cackle afterwards to show you she is joking. she is famous for pretending to go into an off limits area (outside or the garage alone) waving good bye and throwing kisses with a smirk to get a laugh out of us. just as a little sister is destined to be she LOVES her little brother and luckily it is mutual so we enjoy little moments of sibling hugs and kisses and “i help you” like pictured above.  
    adult updates coming soon, it may or may not be someones birthday this week (hint hint wink) so obviously the need for a reflective sort of post. as always no promises :) 
    happy monday all,
    Us

     

  12. 26 Mar


    oh hello there. things down here have been an adventure as always. baby girl is sick, got the cough, so we have been sleeping vertical the past couple of nights. big brother is on vacation from school this week for holy week so he is driving me crazy  helping me around the house and with his saaak (sick) little sis. papa bear comes home tomorrow and we have 4 days off together, hallelujah! oh except for that cafe we own that never shuts down. seriously reconsidering a sched revamp. i kid, i´m just tired which is making it hard to remember that greatful speech i gave a couple weeks back.  rainy season is presenting herself a little early this year and the earth moved once again yesterday giving us a medium sized earthquake. somewhere somehow in the middle of this i am feeling like i got this. this round anyway. bring it on world! happy crazy holy week, Us 

    oh hello there.

    things down here have been an adventure as always. baby girl is sick, got the cough, so we have been sleeping vertical the past couple of nights. big brother is on vacation from school this week for holy week so he is driving me crazy  helping me around the house and with his saaak (sick) little sis. papa bear comes home tomorrow and we have 4 days off together, hallelujah! oh except for that cafe we own that never shuts down. seriously reconsidering a sched revamp. i kid, i´m just tired which is making it hard to remember that greatful speech i gave a couple weeks back.  rainy season is presenting herself a little early this year and the earth moved once again yesterday giving us a medium sized earthquake. somewhere somehow in the middle of this i am feeling like i got this. this round anyway. bring it on world!

    happy crazy holy week,

    Us 

     

  13. 13 Mar


    vacaciones

    when i first moved to Guatemala i put myself smack dab in the middle of a hot ass jungle on a river. it was amazing and everything i had hoped it to be and about a year later (after some back and forth 20 somethings soul searching) i moved into the city and though i have taken a couple trips to go visit it has been years now since i ventured over to my original guate stomping grounds.

    don´t get me wrong i love our Guate style city life but it was time to get out! that and convieniently it is where Papa’s current work site is. on that thought we packed up the car and drove 7 hours east with the littles. we went to a new area to explore (for me) and let me tell you if you are traveling to Guatemala you can pass on Zacapa. you can always bank on Guatemala to be beautiful but in the valley stayed in it was hot, hot, hot, there is lots of money of which you simply don´t ask where it comes from (i will leave opinion and politics for another blog), lots of firearms, desert style tan rolling hillsides, cheap beer, good greasy salty food and POOLS!!  i feel like we went to Texas (no offense Texas) we, of course had a blast but that is because, well, we are Us. 

    also i had to get a shot of that coconut with a heart shaped straw hole for my mama. she is always sending me home with heart shaped river rocks to add to my 50 lbs of airport bag. i kid, we love it and have a small collection in our “garden” of which the kiddos play with often. when the lady with the machete cut this out like no pasa nada (ain´t no thang) i immediately thought of my dear mama. love ya mom!

    bueno,

    good to be back (sort of)

    Us

     

  14. 12 Mar


    and we is back. a whole lotta this last week. pack ‘em in and off to…the pool, the museum, just a windy drive to get some lunch or hope for a nap and a peaceful moment. i took very few pictures (a sign of true disconnect and enjoyment if you ask me) and they will show up sometime. for now we settle back in to routines with an appreciation of our week together as a family in the hot sunshine of eastern Guatemala.  Us

    and we is back.

    a whole lotta this last week. pack ‘em in and off to…the pool, the museum, just a windy drive to get some lunch or hope for a nap and a peaceful moment. i took very few pictures (a sign of true disconnect and enjoyment if you ask me) and they will show up sometime. for now we settle back in to routines with an appreciation of our week together as a family in the hot sunshine of eastern Guatemala. 

    Us

     

  15. 6 Mar


    mid week cute juice

    enough mom!