Here are the updates, though:
1. Vanessa:
Vanessa is almost a year old and she is the craziest person I know - really. I spend about 3 - 4 hours a day with her but during those hours I experience - daily - all possible emotions. I love her so so so much and cannot imagine my life without her - Just like I cannot imagine my life without Matt.
Her skills
She is not walking yet - hates standing up - but jogging on her knees is quite the skill. She also dances to anything she hears that has a beat to it - specially heavy rock - (she must have gotten that from Matt) - but you name it... Elmo's song, happy birthday, church hymns (yes, at sacrament meeting), ringtones, humming, tapping fingers on the table or her bottle while she eats... etc.
As far as languages go (or talking - I should say) ... Spanish is beating English for now (yay!). She's good with words like "Tete" ("Bottle"), "No" (both in Spanish and English and both ONLY at her convenience,), "Ten" (in Spanish meaning"here" when she wants to hand you something - like crumbs found on the ground-) and screaming "Mamaaaaa" when she really hates something (something, not her mama).
Her weaknesses
Vanessa is developing an attitude problem at a very young age. She thinks she is "the last Coke in the desert" for which, as her mom, I don't blame her. Slightly disliking something , however, becomes a very dramatic problem.
Also, other than the word "No" (which I'm almost positive she means it in Spanish), Vane does not know any word in English. Sorry.
Her fears
Nothing scares Vane more than the following (panicking signs followed by her most desperate dry cry are the symptoms):
The hair dryer sound - like when it's turned on :) - (this is drastically affecting me).
The ice maker sound - like when you push to get ice- (this is drastically affecting Matt).
The Vacuum sound - (this has given me the perfect excuse to avoid this boring household shore).
This is our almost year old Vane - whose first birthday we will be celebrating in Vermont /New York on July 9th.
2. Simon/Violet
We don't really know much about him/her but the creature is coming to town for Thanksgiving. Yes, we will have one of those families like the ones in real life (couple parents + couple children + dog + cat) in November - minus the cat and the dog. Thanks to my "awesomest" Doctor, I have already seen him/her a couple times (same number of times I've heard his/her heart) but only this week (July 1st to be more exact) we will find out whether it is Simon or Violet with the official ultrasound.
3. Matt and I
Besides our family growing as indicated above, we are just the same. Only happier, more excited and... more scared.
Matt
Matt just finished his 3-year provisional period teaching at Jordan School District. This coming school year he will not only be an official teacher who does not need more testing and supervision (there's an actual word in the school teaching jargon that describes this phenomenon... Dangit!... I keep forgetting it) but he will be the Special Ed team lead at his school. I'm really happy and proud of him. This is huge and great opportunity in his career.
On a less professional side in his life, Matt keeps drumming, playing Halo 3 (and some other stupid video games - well... until the day before yesterday when his Xbox died), loving the Yankees and loving Mike Patton (oh gosh!).
Vivi
As for me... Not much... My life is very different to what it was a year ago but it's not really because I have changed but rather because my surroundings have changed substantially. Now... if you want to talk about internal changes a/effecting the external... I guess there's one: I've gained 60 pounds since I got married :). The first 30 pounds were just gained along with many uncontrolled tasting pleasures during my first two years here in the US. Now, the second 30... - 31 to be more exact - have a proper name: "Vanessa". Since Vane, I've lost ONE stupid pound and have no hope or interest in losing ONE more in the next 7 months or before Simon/Violet is born - Just putting that out there for those of you who have not seen me in 3 years or more so don't be shocked :). Plus... I'm still gorgeous, hot and smart... and humble too :).
On the other hand... I'm in the middle of my third full summer at APX Alarm. The job never gets easy but working for this company is one of those things I am just proud of. The company keeps getting better and better and that only makes me happier and happier.
After graduating from my MBA I definitely found some more free time and Matt helped me to catch up with many TV shows. The list started with Lost (but I lost it after season 3), Degrassi the next generation, My Name is Earl, Modern Family and all the last Bachelors and Bachelorettes.
LingoKids
Finally, since growing a family is not quite cheap and I insist in goals different to being a home-stay- mom (nothing bad with that, just not me), Matt and I started looking into some options to generate some extra income (aside our normal jobs). After some time of research, savings and multiple plans... we decided to go with a daycare idea where my aunt will be taking care of children - including Vanessa and Simon/Violet (she's our main partner) and Matt will be doing some after school tutoring - and where my mom and I are the "pushers" and moral support for both of them, of course :) -. We have the house, are in the middle of the licensing/permitting process and close to start the advertising part... so we hope to be up and running sometime in August but... still... please pray for us :).
