Baby's First Christmas!

We celebrated Eli's first Christmas in our native Puerto Rico! And what a wonderful time we had! I still believe there is no Christmas like the ones in Puerto Rico.

Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Old San Juan

The celebration started with our traditional dinner/party on Christmas Eve, or as we call it, Noche Buena. This year, the gathering was at my parents. We had a blast with family and friends, good food (arroz con gandules, pernil, potato salad, jamón con piña, and even tembleque) and coquito (a traditional Christmas drink made with cream of coconut).  At one point, we all gathered around the piano and started singing parrandas - Puerto Rican Christmas music- and playing instruments like maracas, pandereta, güiro and piano. Eli wore a beautiful red dress in which she looked absolutely stunning.

Eli in her amazing red dress for Noche Buena

After the party was over, my parents went to Misa de Gallo at 11:00 p.m. while we stayed at home waiting for them to come back. Our family's tradition is to open gifts after midnight in our pj's around the tree. But this year, I was so tired and my parents got home later than we expected, that I decided to go to bed as Eli had been sleeping for a while.

So, we opened gifts on Christmas morning before going to Church. I woke up at 8:00 a.m., fed Eli and made breakfast for the whole family. I looked up a recipe for French Toast Waffles, which turned out really yummy. After Church, Eli, or rather we helped her, opened her gifts. She got some cool toys, cute clothes and stuffed animals! It was great to see her expression when she saw her gifts. However, the greatest gift of all was spending her first Christmas with her, dh, sisters, my parents and my in-laws. I couldn't have asked for anything better!

 

 

But, I also remember the real meaning of Christmas: the birth of Jesus, our savior.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (KJB)

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The earth is shaking

Puerto Rico shook three times in less than 10 minutes last Saturday during the early morning hours, a little after 2:00 a.m.

The first seismic activity happened at 2:06 a.m. with an intensity of 5.1 on the scale. The center was on Western Puerto Rico, but it was felt all throughout the Island. Three minutes later, another quake shook the Island, with an intensity of 5.3.  And then, just five minutes later, the earth shook one more time, but at a lesser intensity. However, all three of the earthquakes were felt throughout the Island.

I was awake when the earthquakes happened as were my mom and my youngest sister. We were talking in the kitchen when all of a sudden I felt dizzy and my sister was feeling nauseous. I told my mom that it was a different kind of dizziness as I felt it coming in waves and not constant as when I have a hypoglycemia episode.  But we just ignored it. I went to the bathroom and my mom comes running and knocking on the door asking if I had felt it. My reaction was: felt what? My sister, who was white as a paper, said the earthquake. Honestly, I didn't feel it while I was in the bathroom, but just as I was processing what they were saying to me, the whole house started to shake and the things that my mom has on top of the piano, started moving. I looked past the piano and I could see the tree swaying and then it hit me! My mom and sister got scared again, Pokey (our African Grey parrot) got scared and Eli woke up and started crying. My reaction was to run to the room to grab her. Just then it stopped shaking, but honestly, I couldn't stop. All I could think about was if there have been two in a row, there must be a bigger one coming right behind.

I tried going to bed, but all I could think of was how to react if another one came; what to do with Eli; how DH was far away in NJ still; and what if there was a big one. These events made me realize that many Puerto Ricans are not ready to face an earthquake. There is conflicting information of what to do in case of one. Also, many of us do not have first aid kits and emergency provisions like medicines, water, food for animals, and canned foods. Here is a link of what to do before,during and after an earthquake.

The best thing to do is to STAY INFORMED!  

Heading home...

Eli and I headed home, back to Puerto Rico, for the Holidays last week.  Since DH still had some work left for school, we were traveling alone and we would fly later on. Needless to say, the days leading up to the plane ride had me nervous and scared that something would go wrong. Nonetheless, everything went well.

Our day started at 4 a.m. when I woke up to get ready. Our flight was schedule to leave at 7:40 a.m. plus the hour-long ride to the airport warranted such an early wake up time. I got everything ready, DH warmed the car, and minutes before heading down to the car, I woke up Eli so that she would stay asleep during the ride. That did not work. Halfway through we had to stop so I could feed her. Once she was happy, we renewed our trip. We arrived at the airport around 5:30 a.m.

Then, the worry was how do I get through security with a diaper bag, a stroller and a baby? (We had checked-in as luggage her car seat, thankfully) It went really smooth as we had watched a video of how to pass through security when traveling alone with a child. I think, the time and that there was not a lot of people, helped immensely. My biggest concern was with her baby food and water for formula, but after I declared that I had it on my bag and they scanned it, we had no problems. It took longer for them to scan the stroller as it did not fit through the security scanner belt. After that was all done, we were headed to the gate.

There we waited patiently for the boarding process. I knew I wanted to be one of the first ones in as I was alone with Eli. However, people started to gather around the gate door as soon as the flight was called making it really difficult to get in line. I have to say that is one of my biggest pet peeves: why can't people wait for their own turn???? Thankfully, after first class passengers were called, the airline's personnel were really strict with the boarding pattern and allowed passengers with children on board first. So, Eli and I headed to our seat.

After take-off, I was much more relaxed as Eli fell asleep on my arms and only woke up to eat and play for a while. She was so good, that she even wanted to look out the window during landing! How sweet was to look out the window with my daughter and see our beautiful island of Puerto Rico!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

At the F household! 

Family and friends who know me, know that I love Christmas. I love everything that it stands for: the birth of Jesus Christ, our savior; quality time with family; the happiness that can be felt in the environment; traditional Puerto Rican Christmas-time music; our Christmas dishes; and decorating the house and tree which brings that certain something to my every day.

So, finally today, after starting the day after Thanksgiving, I finished the decorations in our apartment up to the last wrapped present! Even though this year I have not been as excited, the change of color and seeing everything put up, brings a smile to my face.

Among the things I set up, I tackled a DIY wreath that I found on Pinterest. It took me a few days between working on the project and everything else that I have to take care of, but I think it came out beautifully and it looks gorgeous on our door.

What does everyone think? Apart from the time it took, it was fairly easy to make.

First, make circles out of felt. The tutorial I found here.

Then, fold the circles in half and then in half again forming little rosettes. Pin each rosette to a foam wreath circle or make your own from a foam tube found at the plumbing section at Lowe's or Home Depot. It will start to look something like this. 

And this is how it looked halfway through.  When I was done, I decided that I wanted to add a touch of Christmas, so I got really cheap poinsettias from Walmart and pinned them to the wreath, thus the finished product you saw above.

Along with the wreath, we also set up our mini tree, the little town we started creating last year and our dining table. Hope you enjoy the pics and get a little bit more into the Christmas Spirit! 

 Our tree! Now it looks more complete since it has the gifts around it.

 Doesn't the little town look great?

And our festive table. 

Happy Holidays!!!

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Shopping on Black Friday?!

(The past few days have been hectic in the Figueroa household. Eli's sleeping pattern and habits have changed since she turned 6 months old and we are still working on figuring them out. Bear with me as I try to update the blog whenever I have a chance. Thanks)

I had done Black Friday shopping once before in Puerto Rico with my good friend and comadre Maura.  I swore I would never do it again until this year.  The friends with whom we spent Thanksgiving decided they wanted to do some Black Friday Shopping (something they had never done before) at some outlet mall near their house. After giving it much thought, I decided to go. It couldn't hurt, right?

This year the sales started early, very early. The outlet would be opening at 10:00 pm on THANKSGIVING DAY!! Yes, you read correctly on Thursday, not Friday. Wonder why the sale does not changes name now to Black Thursday or something along those lines as I kept reading in the news about earlier opening times. So we headed to the mall a little after 10. The ride over there was smooth without too much traffic. So we thought that maybe there was not a lot of people out. (But we passed a Toys R Us/Babies R Us store which was packed and had long lines). How wrong were we when we got to the mall - there were people already leaving with their hands full of bags from different stores! We even saw one guy carry 6-7 bags just from the Tommy Hilfiger outlet. It was not even 11:00 pm! We thought we were late and all the good sales were over. However, we did score some great deals even after my friends had to stand in line outside the Coach outlet in the cold.

Here are some of the deals we found: Coach had everything on sale plus an additional 30% of your purchase, Van Heusen had great sales as well including triple savings, Polo Ralph Lauren had 30% off throughout the store, Brooks Brothers had button up shirts for $30 (sale price for these shirts is buy 3 for $190 ish), Carter's had 50% off throughout the store plus door busters like $5 fleece sweaters that retail for $22 a piece.  All of us got the gifts we needed at awesome prices! The best part was seeing the amount saved on each other's receipts. In the end, everything went smooth without any violent incident or an insane amount of people, which made me glad to have made the decision to go.

However, I saw on the news all the violent incidents during Black Friday throughout the States and even in Puerto Rico. I don't see the need to take out your pepper spray to fight over a video game console or to fight with people over electronics when you are only saving maybe $90. I even saw on the news how there were people waiting for shoppers to come out of the stores to rob them at gun point on the parking lots. Do we have to reach these extremes? What about respect to human life? In the end, is it worth it going through all that trouble?

I am thankful for...

(I had meant to post this a few days ago, but the camera was not cooperating and I was out of town).

This amazing year and the chance to experience it with my family, including our new bundle of joy.

The ability to spend six months with our beautiful daughter and getting to experience all of her milestones, smiles, silly faces, eating solids for the first time, among other things.

My amazing husband and for all of his support.

The new friends we have made since we moved out of Puerto Rico.

Completing my LL.M. all while I was pregnant during the whole academic year and taking finals and papers just after giving birth to our daughter.

For all the trials and tribulations we have experienced, which have made us stronger and helped us grow immensely.

And for having great friends, almost like family, near us with whom to spend our Thanksgiving Day. Thanks to them, we got to experience Thanksgiving in a traditional Puerto Rican way, like we did at home. In addition, this was Eli's first Thanksgiving Day; though not with my family, it was with very good friends that reminded us of home. Thank you Lord for every new day you give us and all the new experiences!

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."  Psalm 107:1

Here are some pictures of our lovely Thanksgiving Day. 

 

We got up early to cook a ham in a pineapple glaze that we love in Puerto Rico: jamón con piña. For being my first time, it turn out great! 

While the ham was in the oven,  I decided to make a good Thanksgiving Day breakfast: pumpkin spice pancakes!

They were delicious! In the mean time, we all sat to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade as is tradition. Never again are we going to NYC to watch live. Ask me why. 

This was the amazing Thanksgiving Dinner made of: arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas), jamón con piña, pavo (turkey), pernil (pork), yuca al ajillo and salad. All traditional Puerto Rican dishes.  For dessert, there was ricotta cheesecake, pecan pie, homemade pastelillos de guayaba and gelatto.

And Eli had so much fun during her First Thanksgiving! She had her own dinner: sweet potatoes.

1,011 and not even December?!

That is the number of violent deaths in Puerto Rico at the time I'm writing this: record breaking statistics.  Like the slogan of a campaign a few years ago stated, all I can think is: Qué nos pasa Puerto Rico? (What is happening to us Puerto Rico?)

The current situation is out of control. Twelve homicides just over the weekend, which are not really surprising, but the fact that those twelve elevated the statistics to more than one thousand.  And what makes it worse is the increasing trend of homicides during the day, or like we say a plena luz del día. I remember the time where most homicides were committed during the night hours and when criminals used to hide in order to commit whatever crime. Now it is a different story and they have no respect for innocent lives.

It is truly sad the stories I hear or see on the news. A few weeks ago, I was appalled when reading on Facebook how one of my friends and colleagues witnessed first hand what I just mentioned. She was driving during the day in a highway when out of nowhere she heard strange sounds. When she looked over the rear-view mirror, she realized the sounds were gun shots from one car to another right then and there. She reacted quickly by going as far right as possible and ducking in her car until everything was over. That story was all over the news: an innocent little girl was rushed to the hospital because she had received a gun shot wound. In the car, there was also a four month old baby. What evil or wrong had they done? But the criminals, that were probably after someone else, did not care.

News like this is why I strongly believe in the rehabilitation of criminals. Many of these criminals are recidivists, committing crime after crime. Why? Because the prison system did not do its job, i.e., prisons were created in the 19th Century to reform the old punishment system of torture and physical punishment and turn it into a rehabilitative system. Michel Focault  Professor James Gilligan suggests, and I concur, that the government and society need to understand where does violent behavior come from and treated it as a mental health problem in order to prevent violence. If we did this, less people would become violent over time, thus reducing violent crimes. I wouldn't be surprised if we asked all these criminals in Puerto Rico about their past and conclude that they themselves were victims of violence, abuse or other similar behavior, which is why they in turn react the same way. 

The fact is that something needs to be done. It is clear that there is a problem and until it is not addressed, it will go on. I just will continue to pray everyday for my family and loved ones. God bless you all!

Weekend survivor

I can honestly say I, or rather Eli and I, survived the weekend alone: all four days of it! DH was away on a conference sponsored by the Seminary since Thursday so Eli and I had four days ALL to ourselves. And let me tell you, I was not really looking forward to it as Eli had been going through the growth spurt-teething stage, not being happy, was very clingy all the time and stopped self soothing and falling asleep on her own which she had been doing for four months now.

The first two days were tough: she kept waking up during the night and kept being really difficult when it came time to nap and sleep. I was on tears a couple of times out of frustration and when DH would call, I think he could notice it on my tone. That is how I spent Thursday and Friday. Thank God for Friday evening when a very good friend of ours, who also lives in NJ, called me to invite us for the fight on Saturday night. I gladly accepted the invitation. It took me three hours to get everything ready and head out the door, but we did it.

Saturday and Sunday were better because I had a lot of help, but she was still waking up twice or three times during the night. Up to that point, I had been sleeping about five hours straight -I had been sleeping a good eight hours each night since Eli was sleeping 11-12 hours- so it was heaven when my friend offered to help me Saturday night so I could sleep. I still woke up a few times to check up on them, but it was much needed rest!

And finally Sunday, our little pumpkin turned six months so we had to do something to celebrate: I baked a half Red Velvet Cake for her Half-Birthday! (the other half we used it to celebrate Eli's half-birthday the next day with DH). Still can't believe how fast she is growing up!

Her half cake!

 

 

She is 6 months! We love you

Inhumane treatment?

The past few days, the news have been filled with legal events like the guilty verdict against MJ's doctor or some more perturbing like the whole Penn State issue. However, the one that struck me the most was the death of 8 Puertorrican inmates while they were being transported back to prison from the Courthouse. Why? Because the way they died was not even how animals should die. Judging from the comments made by neighbors that risked their lives to try and save these people, it seems they were left to die.

Some may jump at the word PEOPLE. Yes, just because they are inmates (included one that was just released by court since the debt that had put him in jail in the first place was paid), it doesn't mean that they are ALL bad or evil and that they are not PEOPLE. Some become criminals due to the economy, others have an addiction and do anything to keep it up (which in my opinion, should be treated as a medical condition and give them treatment to get them better), and others become criminals after they have been abused, mistreated or gone through some sort of trauma in their lives.

According to statements made by the Department of Justice, there is a protocol that correctional officers must follow in situations like these. Said protocol was not followed. First of all, due to recent rainfall one of the rivers in the Island was overflowed making it difficult to go through (I should say impossible), however, the correctional officers that were driving decided it was the fastest way to go through, and made a bad choice. I would say this qualifies as negligent or driving recklessly, falling under the crime of negligent homicide in PR's Penal Code. And second, they were handcuffed and chained by their legs to their seats which made it impossible for them to swim or try to stay afloat when the river hit the van that was transporting them. And third, when the neighbors risked their lives and tried to break the top of the van, the officers did not want to undue the cuffs for fear of escape. Seriously? These are some Pictures of the incident published in a local newspaper.

As a lawyer, we are taught about the presumption of innocence as one of the most important constitutional rights we have. Thus, I will not conclude that they are guilty because there are two sides to every story. But I do believe that this tragedy could have been avoided or at least, they could have been saved if only they were set free from the restraints.

Laughter is the BEST medicine!

Have you heard that saying? If not, let me tell you, every bit of it is TRUE!

I have been feeling down these past few days and with reason I would say. But yesterday afternoon, for the 10-15 minutes that my daughter was laughing with me, everything seemed to go away. And how could it not? If you see the smile and laughter that my daughter has I'm sure all your problems or whatever is troubling you, would also go away. That was the highlight of my day: laughing with her and seeing her so happy. Did I mention that I love her to pieces?

I would also like to thank to everyone who reached out to me after the last post. Your comments were greatly appreciated.

THANK YOU!

P.S. Don't forget to check out my store for all your Holiday shopping! 

God Bless!

Why are you holding up the line?

I used to be one of those: people that make faces or get exasperated when someone in front of you, be it at the supermarket, stores or wherever, holds the line without knowing the real reason for it. Today, I was one of those that held up the line at the supermarket. Doesn't life have a funny sense of humor?

I, like many people, always vowed to not use Governmental help; that I would always work for everything and there would be no need.  Sure, I even have thought that some people that seek this assistance are just lazy or are trying to take advantage of the system by lying or having babies left and right. Guess what? We have had to seek Government assistance and the least thing we are is lazy people.

I am not going to lie. I have struggled with this everyday since August. How can someone with so much studies and titles be seeking for help? Well, I have titles and studies and I am admitted to practice in P.R., but not in the States; my husband is studying full-time at the Seminary and works in whatever little extra time he has; we have a baby; and I cannot even find a job as a paralegal, nanny at daycare or in photography, which are the things I know. This was not how it was supposed to be - at least in my mind! I would graduate from my LL.M., take my Bar, and within a few months I would be working and cashing in the money. Not anymore. We were working on our budget the other day and we realized that it barely leaves us anything to buy groceries, let alone other things that are necessary.

This said, we applied for WIC since I am breastfeeding and we qualified. Thanks to WIC, I was able to buy some groceries today and saved almost $50. However, that made me hold the line. And I had people after me, making faces and talking among themselves as I tried to do everything as fast as I could. Interestingly enough the hold up was not due to me being slow, but the cash register registering the WIC checks. I was hurt and felt embarrassed by holding up the line, but then and there I realized the mistake I made many times before:  talking without knowing the truth behind it (like the people on line were doing): that even though I have applied to MANY jobs, I'm struggling to find a job in this tough economy and the only way to provide for my family for the time being, is to get on Government assistance.

So, the teaching (or moraleja like we say in Spanish): not everyone on Government help, is lazy or is trying to take advantage of the program and other taxpayer's money. Some people are really struggling and trying to make ends meet. And as soon as I am able to, I will stop using the help because I still believe that God has a purpose in all of this and I will find a job soon (even though sometimes I struggle and think that God has forgotten about us).

Too bad it does not rain Money. 

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"Run, Forrest, Run!"

That is how I feel every time I get on the treadmill; like my inner voice is shouting at me words of encouragement so I don't give up and I reach my goal. (If you have never seen Forrest Gump with Tom Hanks, you should. It's a classic!)

I was never much of a runner when I was growing up. Who am I kidding? I was never an athlete growing up, except for dancing. My asthma would always get in the way and I would feel like I couldn't breathe just a few minutes after I started running. With the dancing, I would sometimes run out of breath, but the stopping between exercises would help me to catch it back. But running the two required miles during physical education at school, that was almost impossible for me. I would always be one of the last ones to finish.

Now, it is a different story. I had decided a month or two ago that I would re-start with P90X which I had been doing before getting pregnant. However, having an infant makes it almost impossible to keep up with the rigor of the program and the hour-long workouts. So I decided that I would set a different weight loss goal: to run a mile in 9-10 minutes. I asked DH, who was teaching English at a specialized school that focused on sports, how were his kids doing. He told me that they would run a mile in 8 minutes, but for me, that seemed a little extreme. So I set up the aforementioned goal.

Running has always been hard, but I focus on my goal and that keeps me going. Also, I am in much better condition than before and don't get asthma as often. I am so excited because I started last week and ran a mile in 14:31 minutes and already today (just the third time running), I managed to cut back the time almost 50 seconds to 13:33 minutes!! Yay me! It is pretty exciting and it's a much easier goal to accomplish, plus it helps me loose the weight. I still go to zumba twice as well. So soon I will shed those last pregnancy pounds and hopefully look and feel great again!

      "The first requisite of success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies 

to one problem without growing weary."
Thomas Edison

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Got spurt?

According to different sources, babies grow through major periods of growth during their first year known as growth spurts. Typically, the baby will experience this at 1 week, 6 weeks, 3 months, 4 months, 6 months and 9 months. (However, keep in mind that every baby is different, so these dates have a margin of error). Nursing moms will experience a sudden increase of milk due to the increased milk intakes of their babies. Did I mention that moms will also experience increased tiredness and lack of sleep? Oh, and this goes for bottle-fed babies as well.

Miss Eli is going through her 6 months growth spurt. And let me tell you, it is kicking my butt! She had been STTN (sleeping through the night) since she was around 6 weeks old; I mean, REALLY sleeping through the night - up to 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep. But this week..OH, THIS week has been tough on DH and me. She has been waking up from 12-1am screaming, not crying, for food. And yesterday she hit it out of the ballpark: she woke up at 12am and then at 3:30am screaming for food. Needless to say, DH and I had little energy for the day today. And not only does she eat A LOT at night, but she has been nursing way more during the day. What helps me get through this is that I know that this too shall pass!

With Eli's behavior, I had been debating the past couple of days whether to start her on solids or not. I really wanted to wait until she hit the 6 month mark, but decided it was best to start her on cereal. She seems ready and sometimes is not satisfied with milk alone. So yesterday was that day: her first try of rice cereal! It was more the cereal that got all over her face than what she ate LOL. But, all in all, we think it went well. After the little bit of cereal she had, she took the longest nap ever..I think it lasted about 3 hours!

Doesn't it look like doll food? It all feels so tiny, it felt like it was pretend.

Her initial reaction

Mom, this is what I think of your cereal! LOL

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Ready, set... ROLL!

That is what Miss Eli has been doing these days. And she has mastered it! Did I mention that she will be six months soon?! I am so NOT ready for her to be mobile, yet she is already there.

Today I had her on her gym and she started rolling to her belly, then to her back again, then to her belly and then to her back again. And guess what?! She had rolled off the mat and was in the middle of the living room! All the while, she looked a me laughing like she had accomplished something great (which indeed she has done), but I am NOT ready for it. I guess I have to deal with it and start baby proofing the house and maybe getting some gates to limit her moving space. That also means that I have to vacuum every day now because she is also at the stage where she tries to put anything and everything in her mouth. She even rolled the other way, got closer to the tv stand furniture and managed to grab the Wii remote and was about to put it in her mouth. All this within 2 seconds I might add.

Oh, the joys of motherhood! I do LOVE it!

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'Till Death do You Apart?

The buzz these past few days has been about the lightning-short marriage of Kim Kardashian to NBA star, Kris Humphries. The shocker: only 72 days of married life after a wedding that reportedly cost $10 million. Did it come as a shock to me? Nope. It was all a fiasco during the weeks prior to the big event, plus they apparently made a lot of money from it. Then again, that is what reality stars do and what snags all the "good" ratings. However, I do think the divorce and the surrounding spectacle is a total disgrace to the sanctity of marriage.

I believe that when 2 people are totally in love, they have the right to start the next step of their lives together as a married couple. And as cliché as I may sound right now, I do believe that marriage is forever; maybe because I am a devout Catholic or just because I am a hopeless romantic. Nonetheless, I view marriage as something very serious and not something to be taken lightly. Thus, my feelings towards this whole fiasco.

Then people wonder why divorce statistics are so high. If many are entering into marriage just to have the lavish WEDDING, it is obvious, in my opinion, that the marriage is not going to last. People should enter into marriage with the knowledge that it takes constant work, compromise, communication and respect. After all, it is the union of two very different people with different views and upbringings, into a single unit. Thus the promise to respect each other and be with each other in good and bad times.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!

For us, Halloween came and went without much. And to think that I was so excited for Eli's FIRST Halloween so that in the end we could only get 1 good pic of her in her costume and lots of candy and no trickortreaters. You know how babies can get overtired if they miss a nap or if you don't ready the signs and they stay up for longer than normal? Well, that is what happened to us yesterday. She missed one nap and the usually happy, smiley girl turned into a screaming baby until I finally got her to sleep. On the other hand, I think it was best that way since no kids showed up so she would have been all dressed up for nothing. sigh*

Nonetheless, I was determined to get a good picture of her costume. So today I set up my camera, opened the curtains to get as much natural light as possible and got her in her costume again. I managed to get some great shots of her! I also set up to do the unthinkable task: open and clean the insides of the huge pumpkin we had gotten at the pumpkin patch weeks ago! It had been sitting in our kitchen since we got home that day because I honestly couldn't bring myself to do it. I also did the set up for that pic as well. Thanks to my May mommies for the inspiration!

I think the pics came out great. What do you guys think?

Do you like my costume?

Let it snow!

Last night we were so excited carving our pumpkin, only to wake up today to SNOW! Yes, snow in October! Halloween is not even here, yet the ground is all covered in white and it is freezing! Thank God for heating!

Don't get me wrong, though. I think that snow falling is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. And the scenery is absolutely gorgeous: green and orange trees covered in frost with a white ground underneath.

But come on, in October!?! Last year we were tired by the Snow in February and it only started snowing the day after Christmas. Can you imagine this year? And then people ask what is Global Warming!? Also, when you add the factors pregnant, walking and NYC to last year's winter the outcome was not pretty at times. Just imagine all the gray/black slush in the streets while a heavily pregnant woman is trying to make her way to class. Ay bendito!

The stairs of our building

On the other hand, I am kind of excited for this is Miss Eli's first snow! I just think that when she is old enough to read her Baby Book she will not believe that under the heading first snow, it will say October 29th, 2011! Or maybe she will? Who knows with Global Warming.

Since today is a Snow/Stay inside kind of day, I decided that I needed to bake something that smells as Fall. So I went into my recipe list and found this one for Pumpkin Banana Bread, low in calories! I ended up making a few variations, like only using one ripe banana and using whole wheat pastry flour instead of whole wheat flour.  And let me tell you, it did smell like Fall and tasted even better! :)

Getting ready!

Doesn't it look yum?

Pumpkin time!

Believe it or not, today we carved our first pumpkin (well, more like I carved our first pumpkin!). Yup, we don't have this tradition in Puerto Rico although a very small minority may do it. The thing is, Puertorrican pumpkins are not like the orange pumpkins in the States. Our pumpkins are greenish in color, that look more like this. 

I was very excited to finally get to carve a pumpkin. I had bought the little pumpkin carving kit like 2 years ago, ever since we got married, but DH (dear husband) was not to fond of the idea LOL! But tonight he saw that I was down and were not doing anything, so he asked me if we wanted to. That really cheered me up! Downside: I had to do all the dirty job: transfer the pattern and make the actual carving. In the end, it was all worth it because I had fun and the pumpkin does not look bad at all. :)

Pumpkin and materials

DH helped with cleaning the pumpkin seeds

I finished carving pumpkin from the inside to make it easier while carving the design.

Transferring the design. I ended up free drawing part of it because the design was bigger than the pumpkin!

This is the finished pumpkin!

I had gotten a light that changes colors; it turns pink, blue and green! 

Tourists

It has been a few days since my last entry. Well, we have been busy touring and sightseeing with our dear friend, Maura, who came to visit us from P.R. And she came at a great time: reading week (which means more free time for me though not so much for DH), October (not too hot, not too cold), Fall (the beautiful trees changing color), and the time in my life where I am SAHM (stay at home mom). The only negative thing  is that I have not been able to continue my P90X workouts or eat as healthy as we (or rather I) was trying to. But we still managed some exercise or activity, so I don't feel that guilty.

I went to pick her up at Penn Station in Manhattan and from there took her to our old neighborhood in SoHo. She had her first slice of NY pizza and she loved it! Did I mention that she had never been to NY?! So that was awesome! We also did some walking around SoHo and its many boutiques, even by DASH which is totally off limits to normal people like us! Afterwards, we stopped by Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken to buy some canolis and biscottis. YUM!

The next day, we went to the Statue of Liberty which is something that all tourist should do. If you have not, you must at least once and get up to the pedestal. The view is all WORTH IT! Before you die of a heart attack, we went from NJ so it was waaayyy easier and almost no lines! You could see the excitement in her face when the ferry was approaching the island. And even more when we were at the security checkpoint at the entrance to the pedestal and museum. ...and then it was time to climb up to the pedestal, all 153 steps of it!! (to be honest, we were given the option to take the elevator, but I wanted her to have the whole experience, so we were brave and got to the top!)

We were out of breath, but it was a nice exercise LOL. The view up there was beautiful and breathtaking, plus the day was as clear as ever. We got some nice shots with the Manhattan skyline as backdrop.

Moi at the Statue of Liberty

And today, we went to Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, or rather where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed. Anybody know when each were signed? :) The tour at Independence Hall explains all of that history and more, including the infamous room where the documents were signed and the original chair in which Washington sat presiding the Constitutional Convention.

City Hall

LOVE park

Liberty Bell

Independence Mall

All in all, we have had a lot of fun! In addition, Eli has been going to all this national monuments and experiencing more history than hubby and me at her age. She probably won't remember, but she will have the pics and we will try to keep teaching her about history and culture as she grows up.

Eli and DH at Independence Mall

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