Gretta's Baptismal Dress Pictures

Gretta turned 8 on December 15th and has decided to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She didn't want to get baptized here in Brazil, so we are waiting until we go home and she will get baptized on February 15th. I wanted to make some invitations to give our family and friends about her baptism. The picture I originally wasn't going to use wasn't high enough resolution for the invitations. I was sad I left her baptismal dress at home in Michigan. Teresa once again saved the day. While Eric and I went to the Temple on Saturday she came over to watch the girls and brought Alanna's baptismal dress and did Gretta's hair and went downstairs and took pictures of her in Alanna's dress. They turned out super cute and I was able to use one of them in the invitation. 

Teresa really has been such a blessing to us. Alanna is getting baptized the Saturday.

Kids At Play

Lets just say that with mom hardly able to move and the kids on summer vacation here in Brazil there has been way more TV watching than I would like to admit. We are so glad Aunt Anna is coming to save us next week! 

This is how I found the girls after Carli's nap. Eating popcorn and watching TV on the Ipad. 

Then a little while later they brought Carli to me and told me they had eaten some ice cream and she needed a bath. LOL. Look at the cute chocolaty goodness face. 

The girls got the ice cream out all by themselves and even plugged in the Ipad to keep watching it because the battery was low. They are pretty resource full. 

Eric was on his way home "early" tonight after a work get together, but he hit traffic (a very usual occurrence in Sao Paulo) and it took him more than 1 hour to make it less than 5K. 

Usually I don't worry about him but once I realized it had been almost 1 1/2 since he called and said he was headed home and his phone was going straight to voice mail. I did panic a bit hoping he didn't get car jacked on the way home. It's been known to happen in Brazil. I decided if he wasn't home by 8:30 I was going to either call our friend who does security at the US Consulate or the emergency person for work. Luckily he walked in the door at 8:15. 

We were all so glad to see him!!!!

We are glad Aunt Anna is coming to enjoy some sunshine in Brazil and help me do a few fun things with the girls before our Brazil Adventure comes to an end. 

I have to admit I am a little sad to be coming home. I have really enjoyed our time here and feel like in someways we are just getting the hang of things. If I wasn't so SUPER pregnant and getting bigger and bigger by the day I would be happy to stay a few more months. 

I will always have fond memories of this big adventure:)

Bag Fun

When Dennis and Linda came to visit in November they brought some crafts for the girls. The fabric markers have been a big success. Each girl has made their own bag, well Gretta made Carli's too. 

Gretta even wrote Carli's name in her best "Portuguese". She thinks cursive is "Portuguese" because they learn cursive much earlier than at home and also everyone has beautiful penmanship. That's a lost art in the US. 

30 Weeks

Here I am 30 weeks pregnant! 10 weeks to go, but I am assuming it's really only single digit weeks unless I am as awesome as my friend Bridgette who carried her twins to 40 weeks. I am officially as big as I was when I delivered Carli (or at least weight the same.) I went to Maternal Fetal Medicine this week and they estimated by ultrasound that both babies weight about 3.75 lbs.
On a side note I wonder if my nice tan will last until their delivery since we are headed home soon to a snowy, freezing cold winter in Michigan!

Around the House

I found these pictures on my camera. Looks like someone was having fun taking pictures. 

Poor little Carli, we are having a hard time training her bangs to stay back. She always looks like a shaggy dog unless I can get her to keep a ponytail in. 

New Glasses

We picked up Gretta's glasses today. She is so excited! Doesn't she look so grown up in this picture:) I can't believe my first baby is getting so old. 

Eliza's Second Lost Tooth

Eliza is growing up too! She lost her second tooth here in Brazil. I knew it was loose, but Eliza wouldn't let me touch it. Then on Wednesday morning Eliza showed her and she just pulled it out. I think it was a shock to Eliza. She is holding on to the tooth until we get home to give it to the Tooth Fairy. She says she wasn't American money.