Where is Gretta?

Saturday night we put the girls to bed and then Eric and I watched TV out in the living room. Just before we went to bed we went to check on the girls. Eliza was in her bed, but Gretta's blanket and pillow were missing. At first we thought she might be in our room, but she wasn't there. Then we started looking all around the house and couldn't find her anywhere!!!! Truthfully I thought for a moment we were going to have to call the police. The crazy thing is that she wouldn't have been able to get by us in the living room without us knowing. Plus all of the house doors were locked and they aren't self locking.  You have to use the key to open or lock the door. 

Finally Eric found her. She was under Eliza's bed. 

The girls are sleeping in a trundle bed. Eliza on the top and Gretta on the pull out bed. Gretta complains that Eliza likes to much light on in the room for her to sleep. I guess she took matters into her own hands. 

She got under Eliza's bed and then pulled her bed over, so it was dark. That's why we couldn't see her at first. I was just so glad we found her! It was so scary. 

Doctor Appointments

Last week was a little rough. Carli woke up Sunday night with a fever. I kept her home from school on Monday. She didn't run a fever Monday, but had a runny noes. When I went with her last week to school a lot of kids had the same runny noes, so I figured she got it from school and  I send her to school for a few hours on Tuesday and she went all morning Wednesday. Then when I picked her up on Wednesday they told me she really had a runny noes and that she had a fever of 37.5 C which is about 99.5 deg F. I think they were trying to tell me something like, "Dumb American Mom don't bring your sick kid to school!." Which is funny since I saw plenty of other sick kids when I was there (including the directors kids who had green runny noes) but then Carli got worse. Her fever came back and she woke up 3 times during the night. Plus Eliza woke up 3 times at night to tell me her ear hurt. Due to my/our lack of sleep I decided that everyone need to go to the Pediatrician. It was weird that Carli was getting better and then got worse. I was worried about her ears, or lungs and a secondary infection. I wish I had an otoscope and had brought my stethoscope. Eliza NEVER complains, so I knew that her ear really hurt. I called the Pediatrician that a few of the American Ex-Pats recommend who also happens to be in my OB's office, so I knew I could find the place. He has one receptionist who speaks English. I was able to make an appointment for that night at 7pm which was great because then Eric could come with me.

To say I was super impressed would be understatement. Dr. Christian was amazing! I have liked all of my kids Pediatricians, but his level of service was over the top. First his office has great toys for the kids. They were happy waiting and even in his office he had great toys. All of the doctors see you in their offices and only one patient at a time. They do the whole exam themselves. He was great with both kids. Eliza had thrown a fit about going to the doctor and he was great with her and she let him exam her without any problems. He even invited me to look in her ear. I have never had a doctor invite me to look in any one of my kids ears. She did have a mild ear infection and a upper respiratory infection. He told me to text him if she gets worse, but at this time didn't think she needed antibiotics.  He did write a prescription for a decongestant, noes drops, motrin and some ear numbing drops.

Carli was still more of a mystery. Her ears, and lungs were okay. He thinks she got another virus on top of the first one.

She was up Thursday and Friday night with a high fever again, but turned the corner on Saturday.

Dr. Christian gave me his office number, home number and cell phone. He told me that if they got worse over the weekend to call him at home and he could arrange to see them. He also told me to send him a text message with an update on Sunday. Carli ended up with a rash, so I emailed him pictures and he said he thought was fine and meant the end of virus.

Seriously I was impressed!  He also filled out a little passport book about each of them and put some notes about their appointment so I could take it to the doctor when we go home. He also gave me a referral for Carli for Speech Therapy with a Speech Therapist that speaks English and was trained in the US. I would agree that Carli probably needs to go, but I am trying to figure out if it's worth all the work of taking her. Nothing is very easy here. It's not like Jeni coming to my house like at home. Also I haven't been good about her wearing her hearing aids because she NEVER keeps them in. I am sure that would help too.

Catavento Cultural - Post Two

http://cataventocultural.org.br/

I didn't even get pictures of everything we saw. We watched a great 3-D movie of Rio that made me even more excited to go to Rio. There was also a rock climbing wall, but we didn't understand you needed tickets and then there were times, so it didn't work out. Gretta was pretty sad. 

This hall was everyone's favorite. Gravity experiments and bubbles!

The whole field trip cost us $5 for parking. On Saturday the Museum is free. You would have thought that it would have been over run, but it wasn't and even crazier it looked like most people inside could afford to pay to get in. 

Compared to Free day at the Museums in Chicago (or even a non-free day) it was empty!

Eric asked around at work and no one had even heard of the palace. I guess it's a hidden gem in Sao Paulo. 

Poor Carli had no idea what her dad was going to expose her to!

Look at everyone's crazy hair! 

There was also a whole floor about the evolution and the human body. The girls found this exhibit about a baby growing interesting. All that it did for me is make me realize how far I have to go. I am 4 months pregnant now, and look how small the babies are and how much they have left to grow. I am so scared about how big I am going to get!!! I think I am really almost the same size and weight I was when I delivered Gretta. 

Catavento Cultural- Post One

Saturday morning we went to the Catavento cultural. It is a Children's science museum that is located what looks like an old train station. The building was beautiful! 

Here is the website so you can check it out.

http://cataventocultural.org.br/

Before we went into the Museum we started outside looking at farm equipment, trains, wagons and a DC-3 airplane.

Papa Goodrich would be proud that it's a John Deer

Even better for Papa a DC-3

Thanks Nana!

Well remember how Gretta left her blanket on the airplane. Nana saved the day and made her a new one! Gretta had taken Eliza's blanket in the mean time and it was getting to be quite a problem (a daily fight), so Nana made Gretta a new blanket. She sent it to our house in Michigan and it arrived in our FedEX package today along with some stickers for the girls. 

Thanks Nana for saving the day!

Also in our Fed Ex package were the ballet clothes I accidentally sent to our house instead of Eric's friend, Jeremy, to bring to us. The girls were excited to get them. It was also fun to get some mail. It only took this package 3 days to get to Brazil and then 4 days to find Eric on the 27th floor of his building! Hopefully the next one will make it up the 27 floors faster next time!  

Good Thing I Have Seen These Before

Dr. Christian wrote a prescription for some numbing ear drops. He told me in his office that there would be a vial that would needed to be added to the ear drops, but I thought why is he telling me that because the pharmacist will mix it. Well I was wrong. I got to mix it at home. At least I knew what to do with the vial. 

Plus the ear drops helped Eliza!!! Yeah!

Dependent vs Independent

So I have been thinking about this last month in Brazil. One conclusion I have come to is that being such an independent person at home does not translate into independence here in Brazil. I have never been been so dependent in my whole life! I pretty much need someone help do do anything! I can take Carli to school by myself and go to the grocery story (even at the grocery story I am not always 100% sure of what I have bought), but that's about all. I can drive with the use of the GPS, but once I get where I am going then I still need help. It's an interesting position to be in since I don't really like to ask for help.
I had quite a few contractions this week and it was making me nervous, so I made an OB appointment Friday, but instead of being at the Drs office close to our house it was at her office at the Hospital. I figured the GPS would get me there, and then someone would speak English and could help me out. Eric was smarter and insisted that either he go with me or I find someone to go with me. The Primary President from Church, Reneta, was sweet and said she would go with me. At first she told me she had an appointment at the same time, but really it was at 4pm at the hospital. It was so nice of her to take me when she had to go back later!!!
Once we were there I realized that I had totally underestimated my ability to navigate the hospital by myself without any ability to speak Portuguese. I could have never done it without her!!! It's a massive complex and multiple building and different procedures for check in than I am use to. It's a good think that I brought my passport because they asked me for it two times. Security was tight! I am not sure even Eric and I could have figured it out. Luckily I have been once so next time I go back for my ultrasound I think I will be able to figure it out. Plus Eric is going to go with me because we will find out what the babies are.
The good news is the babies are doing well. I got to see them on her old school ultrasound machine. It's always fun to see them. I have started to feel them move more. She reminded me that since my uterus is going to grow so much faster this time I might have more contractions, but next time I could just call her on her cell phone if I have any questions. What level of service!
The girls also need more uniforms because it continues to be cold, and they are cold at school and could use fleece jackets. Eliza also needs a pair of pants. The uniform is super close to the church, so I know how to get there, but once I get there what am I going to do?