Monday, October 20, 2008

Frustrated

Yes, that's a good title for this update. This morning we got a call from the clinic and they had to cancel our ultrasound for tomorrow because the machine broke. Then they gave us another number to call to check to see if they had any openings.....well, that Dr. is on vacation this week. I just shook my head and said, "Well, that's Brazil for ya!". I wasn't even too upset yet. Yet, being the important word here.

I started thinking, hmmm, I'm going to be in the US, maybe I can just get an ultrasound done there. So I called my friend Tara and she gave me the number to a friend of her's that's a PA and works in an OB/GYN office. I called the PA and she said they could do it, but that it costs about $480. (I almost choked when she said that!) $480!!! I had no idea they would be that expensive out-of-pocket. I was thinking maybe $200. So, there went that great idea, and that's when the tears came.

It can get soooo frustrating here. Nothing seems to work smoothly here, and if it does, it's an exception. So it was just one more thing to be frustrated about. So, I locked the door to the room I was in, cried a little, talked a lot to God, and threw myself a little pity-party.

When I came out of the room and Renato saw me, he knew he needed to get into action. (Have I mentioned before how wonderful my husband is???) He started calling around to all the cities close to us to get an ultrasound....for this week. I didn't think it was possible, but my God is good! (And my husband is awesome! He has to call for all of my "womanly" appointments because I can't speak Portuguese. AND he never, ever complains. Yes, my husband is awesome!!!)

Not only did we get an appointment for Friday morning before we leave, but....get this....it's totally God......IT'S FREE!!!!!!!!!! Yes, that's right. I mentioned in the previous post about having to pay for the one scheduled on Tuesday, but this one is within our insurance boundaries and is therefore....FREE! Yes, I am blessed by an incredible God who knows my heart and my frustrations. Thank you Lord!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

An Exciting Week Ahead!!!

Well, it's a lazy Sunday afternoon here in Brazil. It did cool off a bit the past two days and has been a little rainy, so the weather has been much more to my liking. It's supposed to stay in the 80's all week.....and I love the 80's!

We've got some pretty exciting events taking place this week. FIRST......our ultrasound is Tuesday morning! YAY!!! I'm praying really hard that the baby is cooperative and shows us if she's a girl, or he's a boy. :) The stinky part is that we thought our insurance covered this ultrasound....and it does, but only if you do it at the hospital, and they only do them a few days a month. Since "exciting event #3" is coming up, we weren't able to get a "free" ultrasound, we have to pay for one....and not even a really cool one, like a 3-D one. Just a regular old one....that from our experience last time, takes really bad pictures and you can't even really make out the baby in them. But like I said before, the real excitement is finding out if it's a boy or a girl!

Exciting event #2--OK, so this one isn't nearly so exciting, it's just another Dr. appt on Thursday morning, but I get excited every time I get to hear the baby's heartbeat.

And the MAJOR Exciting Event #3 is......we're leaving for the U.S. on Friday night!!!! Ok, really it'll be Saturday morning, because our plane leaves at 12:50 AM...yes, you heard me correctly. At about 1 o'clock in the morning, we'll be getting on a plane headed towards Dallas. From Dallas, we move on towards Chicago, and then we SIT ON OUR BE-HINDS FOR 8 HOURS WAITING FOR OUR NEXT PLANE TO FARGO, ND. Yeah, I'm not very excited about the 8 hour long lay-over in Chicago. Especially with Camden.

I don't know about you other moms out there, but I remember the days very fondly, when I was traveling without a child. I had a ritual every time. I'd of course bring a new novel/book along for the trip, but then I'd also stop at an airport bookstore and purchase a new magazine to browse through at my leisure on the trip as well. Now....I don't even think about bringing anything along to entertain me....nope, my entertainment is my 20 month old running around all over the place and TRYING to keep him entertained.

SO, this week will be exciting, and also busy trying to pack and come up with ways to keep Camden occupied...on the flights, and on our lay-overs. If any of you have any great travel tips, please let me know!!!

SO, USA, here we come! Starbucks and Pumpkin Spice Lattes, and White Chocolate Peppermint Mochas, here I come! Mexican food and Chinese food, here we come! (Can you tell we're excited about the food???) But, the most exciting part is seeing my family again and our friends. We'll be spending most of our month long trip in North Dakota with my fam, then we'll take a road trip down to Colorado for a week or so.

I'll be keeping you updated throughout the week, once we get back from our ultrasound. And seriously....if you have any travling tips for a 20mo. old, please leave a comment!!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Sometimes, You Just Gotta Laugh

Ok, I need to type this up quickly before I forget, or life gets in the way.....

The past 2 days here in Brazil, summer has shown up. It's gotten hot, and very quickly. It's been in the 90's the past 2 days, and I haven't been very happy about it. Pregnancy and heat just don't seem to go very well together. We do have a few air conditioners in a few rooms, and a few ceiling fans, but of course, never in the rooms where you need them, when you need them.

While I have complained, Camden has been a trooper. As you can tell from the previous post, we just get out the hose and play in the cold water. He loves it! Well, tonight when he's trying to sleep, it's a little bit of a different story. Usually Camden is a champion sleeper. He sleeps consistently 12+ hrs a night, plus a long nap during the afternoon. I really can't complain at all. He's always been a good sleeper. But of course, some things get in the way of sleep sometimes, like colds, fevers, vomit, and now, the heat.

About an hour ago I hear Camden crying. I went into his room, which has the ceiling fan going full blast, and it was still super hot. When I picked him up he was sweating. He had a onsie on, so I took that off and just left him in his diaper. I left and thought he'd be off to dream land.....not so much. I went in one other time a few minutes later, and nothing was wrong...he was just hot.

I've got the monitor on while I'm sitting here on the computer listening for him. Well, just a few minutes ago I heard him kinda talking and whining. I thought I'd just wait it out. Then he started calling for me. Not crying, just yelling, "MaMae" (mama in Portuguese), "MaMae". So I decided to go check it out, probably give him a few stern words of "Camden! It's na-night time. NA-NIGHT!" And then leave....that was my plan...and I was a little aggitated that he wasn't sleeping yet.

I turned on the lights in the room beside his, because I cannot see at all in the dark. When I opened the door, he was sitting on his bed. I went over to him and started to tell him to go to sleep, and lay him back down. As I was laying him down, he said "MaMae" again, and handed my something. His Diaper! Yes, I guess he really was hot! And I couldn't help but start laughing, because it was just one of those funny moments. Then of course, he thought it was REALLY funny. I tried to regain composure and put on a new diaper and tell him that's a "No, NO!". Then I found a light pair of shorts to put on over his diaper, to help with the naked baby syndrome. :) At least he "told" me what he did!!!

I pray that he can go to sleep now and cool off a little.....and of course keep his diaper on throughout the night. Otherwise, that could be one big mess in the morning!

Wordless Wednesday

Cooling off when the weather in Brazil heats up!!





Monday, October 13, 2008

Menu Plan Monday



Good morning! After another busy weekend, it's time to think again about the week ahead, and what I'm going to feed my family. It was kinda nice last week not having to cook everyday, but I know that I didn't eat as healthy as I usually do. Of course I'm soooo happy to have my husband back. Since last fall, neither one of us has worked out of the home, so we've pretty much been "together" for a year now, and it's been such a blessing. So it really stinks when he's traveling. But, we're back to normal now, at least for 2 weeks. Back to the routine!

Monday- Rice, Beans, Grilled Steak, Salad with tomatoes

Tuesday- Baked Potatoes, Baked Chicken, Salad with fresh beets and carrots

Wednesday- Baked Eggplant Parmesan, Rice, Salad

Thursday- Rice, Beans, Beef, Veggies

Friday- Alfredo Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Monday, October 6, 2008

No Menu Plan Monday This Week

That's right, I get the week off from Menu Planning! My Hubby is gone for most of the week on a business trip, so it's just me and Camden to fend for ourselves. I have enough left-overs and other random things I can throw together, that it'll just be a last minute thing for most meals. (Plus, the bakery is just a few steps away from our house, if need be.) :) SO, I get the week off, but to confess, I'd much rather have my husband home with me then have the week off. It's always a struggle with Renato being gone here in Brazil. I have no car (not that I'd really drive it anywhere anyway), and I don't speak the language well enough to really venture out too far. We do take walks (weather permitting....today is a rainy day), and I have my English students that come to the house, but that's about it.

Exciting news though....yesterday we finally connected with a couple that knew Renato when we were in Colorado. We had run into the husband, Daniel, a few times around town, but I couldn't place him or remember him. Yesterday they invited us to their little girl's 2nd birthday party. As soon as I saw the wife, Jana Ina, I remembered them. They were even at our wedding, and she was pregnant with their first daughter at the wedding! They both speak English very well and they have 2 girls, 2 and 4 years, and they live only a couple blocks away from us. Praise God! We're looking forward to being able to connect more and Jana Ina and I talked about walking together, so that's super exciting.

So Praise God, we finally connected with another couple our age and in the same stage of life we are in.....AND they speak English. A huge blessing indeed!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Wordless Wednesday







Some pics of Camden and Daddy in a city close to us called Piracicaba. It was a beautiful day!