Decorating the Christmas Tree

Last weekend, we decorated the Christmas tree...

About a week before the big day, Hugo and I were discussing where we should put the tree.  We don't have a lot of space, so finding the perfect spot is difficult - even with the little tree we have.  Also, last year, Fred ate quite a few ornaments and chewed through the light cords.  So, we were thinking it might be a good idea to put it up on something.

Anderson was listening to this conversation at the lunch table.  After observing our debate over building this or putting the tree on that, Anderson finally piped up.  "Why don't you just put it in my room?"

"In your bedroom?"

"No, my playroom."

"Can we move your rocking horse out so there is space?"

"NO!" (he has recently fallen in love with his horse.)  "Move my bed.  Put the tree there."  (He has a little reading nook he calls a bed.)

"Really.  You want the Christmas tree in your playroom."  Mind you, the beginning of the conversation was focused on the absolute terror he had at the mall earlier that day when he saw the big tree there.

"Yes.  Put it in my room.  It is easier."

Well...alright!  If you say so!

Even with his new found Christmas tree enthusiasm, I was still nervous to decorate.  Why?  Perhaps because this was Christmas tree decorating 2012:

Well, we got the tree out.  And Anderson was actually really excited!  See!

So, Anderson helped decorate.  At first, he just handed me the ornaments.  But eventually he put a few on himself.

After we got all done, Anderson spent the rest of the afternoon admiring his handiwork.  Seriously, he didn't get a toy out for the rest of the day.  We spent 1/3 of the time sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the room enjoying the view.  Another 1/3 was spent up close, examining each ornament.  Whoever got him the tractor ornament last year was a big hit!  Anderson has never seen mittens before, so each ornament with mittens was called an oven mit.  Snowflakes were stars.  And all the ball ornaments were soccer balls.  The last 1/3 of the time was spent lying on our backs, under the tree, looking up at the lights.

After awhile, we went to the sofa to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and sugar cookies.  He kept calling it coffee and saying he was just like Nama.

So there you have it!  Christmas tree decorating 2013!

Modern Day Miracles

The day after Mother's Day, Anderson woke up early.  I crawled in bed with him and rubbed his back until he fell asleep again.  I laid there beside him, watching him sleep with his little hands clasped under his head, and I remembered a Facebook post I had seen the day before.

Yup, I thought.  He is definitely the best thing I have ever done.

In the next heartbeat, I corrected myself.  I actually had very little to do with it.

*Editor's note: this post turned into a massively long beast. I thought about splitting it into a series, but I was afraid you wouldn't come back for the rest of the story.  So, I hope you'll stick it out.  At the end, maybe you'll consider it 10 minutes well spent?

Not all Miracles are Big and Grand
Sure, we are all familiar with some of the bigger miracles - feeding 5,000, walking on water, curing the blind.  But if a smaller miracle happened along, would we recognize it?  And it it happened today, instead of thousands of years ago, would we see it for what it was?

Does it take a lot of little miracles to add up to one big miracle?  In my case, yes.  That is what it took to get my attention.

Let me Count the Ways
Today, on Anderson's second birthday, I would like to take a look at all the miracles that have led to his existence.  I'm not saying that if these things hadn't happened he wouldn't be here today.  In some cases, that is true.  But at other times, God knew my weaknesses and helped me out in ways I couldn't appreciate (or even recognize) at the time.

1.  We Had Health Insurance
Health care in El Salvador operates at three levels: public, insurance, and private.

Public health care is free - as in 100%, don't spend a dime, free.  As such, you can image the care that is often provided.

Health insurance is offered to anyone who works for a company that pays taxes.  The employer pays 60% and the employee pays the rest.  This health care is slightly better than public.

Private care is, obviously, the best.  It is also crazy expensive.

When I became pregnant, we decided to split our health care options.  For monthly check ups, I would visit a private doctor.  I didn't have to deal with the inefficiency of the insurance system (which usually involved 6+ hour waits) on a regular basis.

However, there was no way we would be able to afford private care once it came time for Anderson's birth. We would need insurance.

Each month, employers must pay for their employee's health insurance. When they do so, we are issued a card that is good for the 30 days the employer paid for.  If the employer doesn't pay, we don't have health insurance that month.

Hugo was working for a company that was quickly going down the drain. They issued pay checks late.  They went for months without paying insurance.  They were selling off production equipment to pay vendors.  It was bad.  We were living in a constant state of unknown.  Would he have a job next week?  Would he get his next paycheck?  Would we have insurance when it came time to have the baby?

If we didn't have insurance, Anderson would have been born at the public hospital.  As in, me (with virtually no Spanish skills) in a room with hundreds of other women in various stages of labor without a single supportive husband allowed to participate.  Basically, a real bad deal.

My due date was May 21.  On May 5 (two weeks late), Hugo's boss issued the month's insurances cards.  We breathed a sigh of relief.  As long as the baby came and we was discharged before the end of the month, we would be safe.  There was no doubt in my mind that if I was still in the hospital at midnight on May 31, they would pack me (and baby) up and ship us to the public hospital.

Mind you, May was the last time the boss every issued us a health insurance card.

2.  We Had the Necessary Paperwork
The officials of El Salvador like paperwork.  Whether we are dealing with postal workers or immigration officials, there is always a million different forms we need to obtain/submit/sign/file.  Health insurance was no exception.

Possessing a health insurance card was only half the battle.  I also had to have a form called "12 Weeks."  The 12 Weeks form verified that we had paid insurance for (you guessed it) the last 12 weeks.  Without that form, I wouldn't be admitted to the insurance hospital.

A month before my delivery date, Hugo went to the insurance office to obtain my 12 Weeks.  Guess what.  Hugo's boss hadn't, in fact, paid insurance for all of the last three months.

The man at the desk simply shrugged his shoulders.  Sorry!

Hugo came home to give me the bad news.  For days, we were in a state of shock and disappointment.  What were we going to do?!

Hugo was lamenting our situation to someone at church on the following Sunday.  Carlos suggested we try again.  "Who knows?  You might get a different clerk who will let it slide."

So, Hugo tried again.  He visited the office and was relieved to see someone different standing at the desk.  He submitted my information and waited with bated breath.

The clerk entered my data into the system.  He hemmed and hawed for awhile.  Knowing his internal struggle, Hugo remained silent.  Finally, the man said, "Eh.  What the heck."  He hit print and my form came zipping out of the printer.

3.  It Was Pain Free
For you fellow moms out there, you might hate me after reading this next paragraph.

Other than ridiculous (like vomit seven times in one hour) morning sickness for about four weeks, I didn't have a single negative side effect of pregnancy.  No back aches.  No swollen feet.  No American food cravings that couldn't be met here.  Not even any stretch marks.  Nothing.  In fact, on the morning of my last doctor's appointment, the other moms in the waiting room were marveling at how normal I looked and acted.  I consider that to be pretty amazing!

Now, the next paragraph might make you think I missed out big time, but I really think it's ok.

I also never experienced a single painful contraction.  I had a c-section before they kicked in.  I was also put under for the surgery.  I didn't feel a thing.  And unlike about half of the other women on my floor recovering, I was released after 72 hours.  Many other new moms had their stay extended because of one side effect or another.  I never had any pain after the surgery.  I didn't have any complications.  

Yes, I was able to have Anderson at the insurance hospital.  And yes, it was a million times better than the public one.  However, it was a far cry from traditional American standards for childbirth practices.  Looking back, I think the above mentioned scenario is one of the few options that was available to me that wouldn't scar me for life (psychologically).

4.  Hugo Got a New Job
Job hunting is always filled with stresses, setbacks and frustrations - no matter where you live.  El Salvador is no exception.  Nepotism rules.  If you don't know someone on the inside to recommend you, you'll never get in.

This was the reality we were facing.  Hugo's current employer was bound to close the company doors any day now.  With less than two weeks until Anderson's arrival, it wasn't a good time for him to be unemployed.

One Sunday night, we were lying in bed, discussing our options.  Hugo's phone rang.  An old friend of Hugo's wanted to say hi.  During the conversation, he mentioned his boss was looking to hire someone.  Did Hugo know of anyone who might be interested?

YES!

Monday morning, Hugo went to submit his resume.  Monday afternoon, he submitted his notice to his current boss.  Tuesday morning, Hugo started his new job.  Friday afternoon, Anderson was born.

5.  Anderson Survived
At our last ultrasound, the doctor told us the umbilical cord was wrapped around Anderson's neck.  There was a very real possibility I would need a c-section.

My last doctor's appointment was scheduled for Friday morning - just three days after Hugo started his new job.  He really couldn't ask for time off already.  Would I mind going to the appointment with his mom?

We arrived at the (insurance) doctor's office at 6:30am.  At 11:30am, we were shown into her office.

She asked if I was experiencing anything different.  I mentioned Anderson's movements had changed.  He used to be a mover and shaker, kicking me all over the place.  In the last few days, his movements had been confined to just one portion of my belly.

The doctor decided to send me to the maternity hospital (yes, we have a hospital just for giving birth).  She wanted the specialists there to take a look.

We jumped in a taxi and drove across town.  After another lengthy weight, I was hooked up to some sort of machine (I don't know the medical terminology).

"Hmmm...yes...baby isn't moving very much.  Go eat lunch.  Then, come back.  Babies usually move around more after mom eats.  We'll check things again."

Considering it had been several hours since the last time I ate (a bag of chips) and I was pregnant, I went all out: double cheeseburger, large fries, two chocolate chip cookies.  Good stuff!

We returned to the hospital and saw a different doctor.  She glanced at my chart and test results, handed my paperwork back to me and said, "Go on home.  If contractions haven't started by May 29, come back.  We'll induce you.  If the baby stops moving or moves less, come back."

Now, let me tell you.  All day long, I had basically been invisible.  My mother-in-law had done most of the communicating.  She talked to the doctors.  After the meeting, I'd call Hugo.  She'd tell him everything.  He'd translate for me.  I had basically stopped trying to even listen.  

For some reason, that last sentence manage to catch my attention.  I don't know if my mother-in-law was focusing on the first part of the message and the last hadn't sunk in yet, but she started reaching for my paperwork.

I spoke up.  "The baby isn't moving much now.  That's why we were sent here in the first place."

I can't describe the look on the doctor's face.  I don't know if she was surprised to find me standing there (since I was invisible), shocked I understood, or horrified that she had almost sent me home.

She pulled me back into the office and hooked me up to a heart rate monitor.  I was, in fact, having contractions.  And with each contraction, Anderson's heart rate dropped from a normal 150 to 90 (or some such numbers...forgive me if some of the details have escaped me in the last two years!).

The doctor threw me a gown and hailed a gurney.  "You are going across the hall and having a c-section.  Now."

6.  I Survived
I went into near panic mode.  Hugo wasn't there.  He was on the other side of the city.  It would take him an hour to get there.  By then, we would be done.  

The nurse who was pushing me noticed my obvious distress.  She asked what the problem was.  I wailed, "My husband isn't here!"

She stopped the gurney and came to stand beside me.  "Your husband doesn't need to be here.  All we need to bring this baby safely into the world is you.  Getting this baby out right now needs to be your top concern. Let's get him here safe and then we'll worry about getting your husband involved."

She was right, of course.  But I continued to argue.  "My Spanish is terrible!  I need him to translate.  What if I don't understand something."

Starting to push the gurney again she said, in perfect English, "I'll stay with you through the entire thing."

And she did.  For three days.

The nurse pushed me into the operating room.  People were rushing all around me.  Someone came over and asked when I ate last.  I said, about two hours ago.  Panic, all around me.  Why?

Courtesy of about.com: "If you have food or fluid in your stomach during your surgery, you could vomit while under anesthesia.  The combination of anesthesia and intubation makes it possible for you to inhale the vomit into your lungs.  This can cause serious complications such as pneumonia.  It is best to start fasting 8-12 hours before your surgery."

Well, two hours later I woke up vomit and pneumonia free.  The nurse placed my beautiful, blue-eyed baby in my arms.

7.  Anderson Was Admitted to the Best Hospital
About two weeks after we brought Anderson home, he started projectile vomiting.  After brushing off the symptoms as normal baby behavior for a while, we finally realized something wasn't right.  Mom was here visiting and she went with me to the doctor.  The doctor took one look at Anderson, said he was dehydrated, and needed to go to the hospital.

She said, "You have insurance, right."

"Ummm...no.  Hugo changed jobs.  He was supposed to get insurance from his last employer for three months to compensate for the probationary period with his new employer.  But, the old boss didn't pay (what a surprise).  We don't have insurance right now."

I can only imagine those words coming out of her mouth were curse words of some sort.  She went back to her desk and started scribbling furiously on a piece of paper.  

"Take this to the children's hospital.  Go now."  

See, normally, we would have had to go to the public hospital.  It probably would have been days before Anderson saw a doctor.  Instead, his regular doctor wrote him a recommendation and sent him to the best hospital in the country.  When we arrived at the children's hospital, the nurses were amazed we were there.  Usually, a patient has to go to a regular hospital and then be transferred to Bloom.  How on earth did we bypass that step?!  

8.  We Weren't Stranded on the Side of the Road
My taxi driver (a friend from church) set off across town.  He was making phone calls all the while (something I was not happy about).  About halfway there, we were pulled over by police officers who were doing routine stops.  

Having no idea what was happening, they took Carlos to the back of the car and came to ask me some questions.  In my hysterical state of worry for my baby, I had no idea what the officer was saying.  Carlos was yelling something.  The officer was telling him to be quiet.  I pulled my phone out, dialed Hugo's number, and handed it to the officer.  

The officer talked to Hugo on the phone for awhile.  Finally, the released Carlos.  He got in the car and drove away.

Much later, I found out what happened.  Carlos doesn't have the proper taxi driver license plates.  Without those, you can't operate a taxi.  If you are caught doing so, the police will impound your car (and heartlessly leave you stranded on the side of the road).

Why did they have (very rare) compassion on us and let us go?

9.  Anderson Got to Stay
We arrived at the hospital.  A woman in a lab coat met us (and Hugo) at the door.  She ushered us past the waiting room, past the registration desk, and led us to a spot in the emergency room.  All those calls Carlos was making?  He was calling his ex-wife who worked at the hospital.  He told her we were coming.  Could she help us make the process faster?

A doctor came and checked Anderson out.  He said he would have to be admitted.  A nurse piped up.  "We don't have any beds available.  He'll have to go to the public hospital until one opens up."  That doctor didn't get his next sentence out.  

Another doctor came up.  "I'm discharging so and so.  Go ahead and send him home tonight."  

The nurse was flabbergasted, "But we don't release patients at night!"

"I want him to go home now."

Done.  Anderson had a bed.

10.  Everything Else Fell Into Place
For most of Anderson's stay, Hugo was going back and forth from work to the hospital.  Since I was usually the one there for most of the time, I was again worried about my Spanish.  Anderson's doctor?  From San Francisco.  Spoke perfect English.  His surgeon?  From Minnesota. Spoke perfect English.

Hugo was worried about taking time off to be with Anderson.  It is a practice that just isn't done here.  His supervisor warned him one day.  She took a day off and the boss docked her paycheck $50 (she earned $7 a day).  Hugo missed three days of work.  His paycheck?  Not affected at all.  His boss told him she wanted Hugo to worry about getting Anderson healthy, not about how he would provide for him once he was back home.

Anderson was in the hospital for eight days.  He had countless tests - x-rays, ultrasounds, blood work, etc.  Ultimately, he had surgery and four followup visits with the surgeon.  How much did we pay for all that?  $0.

I could go on and on.  I could tell you about the fact that Anderson is celebrating his second birthday and we are yet to buy him a single piece of clothing.  His entire wardrobe, for the past two years, has been comprised of gifts.  His stroller, two car seats, and vast majority of toys have been gifted as well.  Our friends and family know we are living on a very limited income and have stepped up BIG time.

I could tell you about the fact that I was unable to find an "American" crib.  The side rails of El Salvador cribs are about a foot (or more) shorter than they are supposed to be.  Never once did Anderson try to climb out or put himself in danger.

Seriously.  I could go on and on.  But I think you get the idea.  And this novel of a blog post must end somewhere.

What was the point of all that?  A combination of things.  To personally reflect on my wonderful baby boy's life.  To remind myself how much we have to be thankful for.  And most importantly, to thank God for all the many ways He has provided for us and kept us under His wing - even if we didn't appreciate His acts like we should.  

And to invite you to share in all that with us.  

Some of our favorite things...

When I sat down to post this, I realized my last post was when Anderson was 6 months old.  Wow am I behind the times!  I'll try to do better...

Fred likes to sleep in his toy box.  Note - his "toys" are the various, random things we have around the house that no one wants anymore and he is happy to chew to bits...and a few things we do like but he chews to bits anyway.

Naturally, anything Fred does...Anderson does too.

This is for those of you who don't have Facebook.  This is how Anderson tells Fred he loves him.  He also bends down and puts his face right in Fred's face so it is nice and easy to kiss him all over.

Anderson had his first ouchie worthy of a bandaid.  Mind you, this isn't the first time he has gotten hurt...just the first time he could see the scrape.  Because, you know, the four times he has sliced his head open, he couldn't see the damage.  Anyway, he had to go around telling anyone who would listen about his "ouch."  He came to tell me while I was working.  He told the lady at the store.  He told the neighbors.  Good grief.  You would have thought his leg was falling off.

1. Anderson has his own sign language. He makes up little gestures and things all on his own.  For example, when we say someone is going to take a shower, he mimics rubbing shampoo in his hair.

2. He also dips his French toast in syrup.  He won't let me drizzle it on the pieces.  No, he dips each one in a puddle of syrup...kind of like dipping his grilled cheese sandwich in ketchup.

The other day, I made the mistake of saying, "Daddy is going to take a shower," while Anderson was still at the breakfast table.  Take #1 and add #2 and you get this.

Seriously.  These two just love each other so much!  Although, the love only lasts so long.  Anderson gets angry Fred is hogging all the room in his tunnel and Fred nips Anderson's hair as he tries to crawl through.

I took Anderson to the children's museum the other day.  He loves it there.  One of the stations is a pretend grocery store.  It is great.  Everything is so lifelike.  On one of our four trips to the store, Anderson filled his cart with pastries and bananas - his two favorite things in the world.  Seriously.  He eats both of these every day.

After the museum, we had to stop by the ice cream shop.  This is how Anderson and I roll these days.  Share a banana split - two scoops of chocolate for me, one scoop of vanilla for him.  And...he gets all the whipped cream.  What a pair we make!

We tried cereal for the first time the other day.  He usually eats his cereal dry.  But, he had to be like Daddy.  I gave him a baby spoon to eat with, but it was too little.  So, I gave him a regular spoon.  Naturally, he couldn't put the baby spoon down.  He had to use both.  When the little spoon fell on the floor, he reached over and took Daddy's - used them both like chop sticks.  You can see the cereal eventually got in the way of the milk, so it had to be removed.

Alright.  That is all I have for now!

Happy Birthday Anderson!

For those of you who haven't been keeping track, yesterday was Anderson's 6 month birthday! My baby is getting so old! :(

Hugo will probably have to start working 7 days a week in December, so we decided to take advantage of one of the last "family days" available. We went to his mom's house for a bit and then we all went to a brand-new park. It was a great day!

Check out our first ever family photo! The ones that I take with my arm sticking out and our heads chopped off don't count. :)

Ever wonder where your poinsettias come from? Well...they come from tropical places like El Salvador! This poinsettia tree grows in Hugo's mom's back yard. So pretty!

The park we went to used to be a coffee finca (farm). It was huge. And gorgeous. These are coffee trees. Not really what I expected. Not sure what I expected a coffee tree to look like (I've never put a lot of thought into such things), but I didn't think it would be a 5ish foot tall bush!

These are coffee berries growing on the branch. Each berry has two beans.

The red berries are ready to be picked. All coffee is harvested by hand. Hugo's mom picks coffee for $1.25 for each 25 pounds picked. A few years ago, Hugo helped his mom. They worked as a team: she picked and he hauled the bags back to the scale. In one day, they picked 300 pounds of berries. That's straight up crazy!

This is the view from what was the finca house. Can you imagine waking up to that every morning?!

There was this crazy bungee/swing thing at the park. Pretty sure you couldn't pay me enough money to even think about doing something like that!

So, when we left the house, Hugo said, "We'll just go to my mom's for a bit. We won't be there long." Yeah right. We were there forever! As a result, we didn't even go to the park until almost 5pm. By the time we were ready to leave, it was pretty chilly. Because I didn't plan to be out so late, I didn't bring enough warm clothes for Anderson (yeah, yeah...lesson learned...bring everything, even if you don't think you'll need it). When it started to get cool, Hugo's mom raided Anderson's diaper bag and covered him with pretty much everything I had. Yeah, it was cool but I can guarantee it wasn't THIS cold!!! :)

Check out my album!

I made an album of photos from Memorial Day. The link is on the right side of this screen, under my picture. If you have facebook, you have seen most of them. If not, enjoy!

Random Photos

Here are some random photos that I thought were fun!

At night, geckos like to chill on the outside of our windows. They like warmth, and since our house is always at least 10 degrees warmer than outside, I think they like to absorb the heat. The other day, I left the windows open longer than normal. Apparently, one snuck in! I think they are so funny looking from the under-side. Kind of like alligators floating in their tanks at the zoo.

Want to guess what these are?

I'll help you out, since you'll never guess. They are oranges. Yup. Oranges. Every time Hugo eats one, it cracks me up. I mean...really...a green orange?!

Yeah...that's right...I paid $13 for a shower.

Technically, I paid $6.50 for a shower and Hugo paid $6.50 for his. If you want to get even more technical, we each paid $5 for the showers and $3 for a refill of my five gallon bottle of water.


From the beginning...


When I was still living in the USA and came to visit Hugo, we always stayed at his uncle's house. Jaime is a year older than Hugo and his wife, Nora, teaches in a remote mountain village. She lives up in the mountains during the week and comes to San Salvador on the weekends. One of my visits happened to fall on a weekend when Nora and their son would be home. Hugo and I didn't want to intrude on family time, so we decided to stay in a hotel for the weekend. Hugo mentioned that a brand new hotel had been constructed across the highway from Jaime's house. He suggested we check it out.


Upon arrival, I realized it was the strangest hotel I had ever been to. It was designed like townhomes. We pulled into a garage and went up a flight of stairs to the room. There wasn't a front desk to check in at. We spent the first few minutes checking out the room and trying to get the lay of the land. It was indeed a new, clean establishment. A few things seemed a bit odd...like the floor to ceiling, wall to wall mirrors around the bed. Before I could ponder the implications of that, there was a knock at the door. Hugo tried to open it, but it was locked from the outside. We couldn't figure out what we were supposed to do...the knocking continued. Finally, we noticed a small sliding door. Hugo slid it open and a hand instantly poked through the opening. A voice asked, "Do you want the entire night or just the hour?" Hugo looked at me with shock. I'm sure my face registered the same emotion. Hugo informed the disembodied hand that we would be staying for the night. Hugo paid, the hand gave him two towels and a bottle of water in return. When Hugo finished the exchange, he found me standing on the bed...inspecting the lightbulb. When he asked me what I was doing, I told him I was searching for hidden cameras. He told me I was crazy. I told him that any place that charged by the night was skeevy enough to do something like hide cameras. After I determined the lightbulb was just a lightbulb, I crawled under the covers. Hugo asked what I was doing. I told him I was changing into my pjs. He asked why I was doing it under the blankets. I said, "just because I didn't find a camera doesn't mean there isn't one." I was totally creaped out. The fact that the TV had three channels...all showing porn...didn't help things. I don't think I slept a wink that night. Luckily, Hugo suggested we pack up and head out first thing in the morning. Duh...like I was actually going to stay there any second longer than necessary.

Fast forward to current day...

We had an entire week of rain and, thus, flooding. There was tons of damage to roads, bridges, houses and...water treatment plants. We had three days without water. It was perhaps the longest three days of my life. I had a five-gallon bottle of water saved for just such an occasion (we regularly loose water...but usually only for a few hours). However, those measly five gallons didn't last long. I tolerated it as long as possible, but finally I cracked. I needed water. I needed a shower. So what did we do? We went to the "sex hotel" (as we had affectionately started calling it when we drove by each day) and paid for an hour. Apparently, sex hotels aren't recession proof...prices had gone up. An hour cost us $13 (I think the last time, the rate was like $6). Thus...a $13 shower. But let me tell you...it was well worth the $13.

Sunday Afternoon Fieldtrip

On Sunday, we went on a fieldtrip to a park. This huge, beautiful park was located right in the center of the city. It was so amazing...lots of trees, lots of flowers, and a winding path through it all.

Anderson loves him his stroller!

The day before, Daddy had an allergic reaction to something he ate. He had big, red welts on his face and wasn't too excited about taking pictures. :(

The trees were amazing. I have never seen trees so tall.

And check out the bark. Doesn't it look like it is painted?

Overall, another great family day!

How productive were you this week?

I have had a mountain of dirty laundry pretty much since I came back from the good ol' US of A. I haven't been able to get caught up...and it's been driving me crazy. Finally, I cracked. I called Hugo's mom to come take care of Anderson on Thursday so I could at least make a dent in the pile. I'm proud to say...I finished it all! In one day. EIGHT hours of laundry. By hand. Yeah...my arm felt like it was going to fall off.

I washed all of these...
You can't really see it, but that is 12 pairs of jeans.

I also did all of these (they weren't dry yet). Plus, the 20 pairs of socks and 15 undershirts that I had already put away.

Just thought I would brag about my productivity a little. :)

Little Hugo!

Look at little Hugo! This is a picture of Hugo's 9th grade graduation. He is the 5th guy from the left in the front row. His uncle Jaime (a year older, but in the same grade) is the 3rd guy from the left. Hugo's aunt, Maritza, is the 5th from the left in the back row (a year younger, but in the same grade too!).