New House - The Joys and Frustrations

So we've been completely out of commission this past month, but some of you might not know the reason why is because we moved into a new house. When we found out we were pregnant with Baby Girl #2 (yes, we just found out we're having another girl!) we really wanted to look into moving into a bigger house. So, after lots of looking, we bought a rambler in Maple Grove and just moved in at the end of June. It's a 4 bedroom/3ba, with 3 bedrooms on one level (my main concern.) It has more space than we need for now, but we'll hopefully be able to grow into it as the kids get older.

We weren't sure up until June 13 if we were going to close on the new house, as we decided to rent our townhouse rather than sell it in this housing market, and we didn't have renters until June 13. As you can imagine, it was pretty stressful. So, after we had a signed lease, we had just under 2 weeks to pack everything up to prep for our move. Below are some pictures of Camila enjoying herself in the new place.

Camila has been having a lot of fun running around the new house. Since it's a rambler (and more sq ft than our townhouse) she can run and run to her heart's content. Here she is playing with the railing that separates the kitchen from the tv room.

Just a misc picture of her playing on the couch. One of the reasons we wanted to move is to have a yard for Camila (and the new baby) to play in. Camila had a blast playing with the garden hose. As you can see, she is soaking wet. She couldn't get enough of it!

We've had quite a few unexpected, unpleasant surprises after we moved into the new house. First, the garage door broke after just 1 1/2 weeks. Then this weekend Fabricio and my dad got up on the roof to clean the gutters, and noticed that they are about to fall off. The gutters are attached with insufficiently sized screws, and only at random spacing (some are 6 feet apart!) It seems that the previous owner wasn't good about doing things completely. Most things in this house seem to be "half done" or "just good enough". Also, we're dealing with a very strong musty smell in the basement, so we bought a humidifier to tackle that. We're actually considering buying another one, since it's still pretty musty downstairs (and parts of upstairs too.) In addition to that, we have to get the fireplace cleaned and will have the ducts cleaned as well, as the previous owners smoked and we want to make sure that there is no leftover smell. Fortunately Fabricio got a teaching position at Mpls Tech College for 2 nights a week, so the extra income will help cover these unexpected home repair/maintenance costs!

I've been remiss...

In posting our news. So I'll let Camila share with everyone.

We're due with Baby Nunez #2 on Nov 14. I'm currently 17 1/2 weeks! All appts have checked out great, and we've gotten a few sneak peeks at the baby. :)

I just have to say that this pregnancy has been completely different than it was with Camila. I had horrible nausea - all day sickness until about 14 weeks (I never threw up with Camila.) Now it's severe heartburn, so bad I've thrown up a few times. Yuck. My OB recommended I start taking Zantac, so hopefully that helps. Sometimes it feels like I have a beach ball stuck in my throat. It's given me a new appreciation for what Camila went through as a baby -- heartburn sucks, I can't imagine what acid reflux feels like!

Misc pictures

Just a couple of random pictures. I was home today with Camila, as she came down with strep. We had rough weekend with her -- she had a 102 fever, was really cranky & irritable, and worst of all, she didn't want to bear weight on her legs after waking up in the morning (but then she'd be fine). We gave it a few days thinking she was just experiencing muscle soreness, but after her fever broke Monday and she was still having trouble bearing weight, we took her in to the Pedi, having no clue what it could have been. After a few doses of Amox, she's back to her regular self!

Of course we're proud too, b/c at her appt the dr commented how "smart" she is. She said that while we probably think she tells that to every parent, she's particularly impressed with how Camila blows air whenever she sees a candle or flame. I guess that usually comes around 3. That makes me an even prouder Mommy since Camila has been doing that since she was 14 months! (Although the dr was probably just saying that to make us feel good.) ;)

Also, I'll have to write down the words/phrases she knows, but my best guess is around 60 words/phrases. Most in English, but several in Spanish. Just this week she's gone through a language explosion -- for example, yesterday "help" turned into "help me". :) However, she's definitely stubborn, which I have to admit comes from Fabricio -- and me!

Is this my picky eater?

So imagine our surprise tonight when Camila saw Fabricio grab a raw green pepper, and ask for one. She's eaten little diced pieces, but never a whole slice. Is this our picky eater we see munching on 2 slices before dinner?

And here she is eating lasagna - more than she's ever eaten. (And being silly making her squinty-eye face.) Some nights she just surprises us with how much she'll eat. Other days she surprises us in a negative way - yesterday she threw a temper tantrum b/c she didn't want to try her yogurt. I think it's b/c it was a different color than she was used to (mixed berries).

I bought this flower headband for Easter, but she likes to wear it on her forehead or over her eyes. I like this picture b/c she looks so much like she did when she was a baby (you can tell she's getting tired.) Whereas below, she looks like the little toddler she's become.

Just posing for the camera.

ANother eating pic - but this is applesauce - one of her favorites. Too bad it creates quite the sticky mess! :)

Her language skills continue to explode. This weekend she started giving Fabricio and I commands - "stay there mama" (complete with hand motion), and "lay down daddy". (Why am I mama and not mommy, yet he's daddy?) Fabricio's favorite is "no, no daddy", which he gets a lot when he's pestering her. Oh, and "come here" also complete with the hand motion.

She's also learned many new words, such as bus, plane (whenever she hears a plane she looks up at the sky), toes, face, legs, chocolate, upstairs, downstairs, outside, high chair. Now if only we could get her to listen better to us. We struggle with her a lot; she likes to test us as often as she can. We're trying to be firmer with her, but not make her feel like we're constantly scolding her (which sometimes it feels like that.) She's just notorious for throwing a temper tantrum whenever she doesn't get what she wants, when she wants.... ;)

Catching up

Things have been pretty busy around here, so I haven't had much time to update the blog.

Camila's language is surprising us. She learning several words/phrases each week, the newest being "help", "thank you", face, and I got it. The funniest one is water, which she pronounces "mano". Not sure how that happened. She's doing well at understanding us both in English and Spanish, and understands some words that we haven't made a point to teach her (like "brazo" for arm.)

She's been fighting a cold for the last 1 1/2 weeks, so her napping and wake up time has been unpredictable, but she seems to be feeling better. Her eating is back and forth too. Yesterday at Chipotle she literally ate everything we put in front of her, including chips and salsa. But for dinner, she didn't want anything.

Below are just a couple of pictures from Fabricio's graduation. The ceremony was good (but long!) He still needs to defend his dissertation, but he and his advisor plan for that in the next month. He's almost there!!

A random shot of Camila coloring her face (this time with a brown crayon, which looks like she has chocolate all over her face.)

And just some pictures of her playing on her horsie, drinking "mano". Santa gave her this for Christmas, but she's only really started to enjoy it recently. She's figured out how to make it bounce on her own.