Blog Archive

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

A Very Happy New Year!


Meant to get a post out sooner but we've been a bit busy lately.  Our little one has crossed a few more milestones since our last update:  she turned a month old, and celebrated her first Christmas and New Year's Eve party. It's been a big month for our little girl! 

We're all just plugging along for the most part, taking it day by day.  Lots of help with Grandma Belle, Aunt Sandra and the newly arrived Auntie Briggie on hand to help out when needed.  Gabs definitely runs the show and our schedules are made around her moods.  Just got her in a sling which helps out a bunch.  Now we can treck around with hands free.  Added benefit is that she tends to fall asleep immediately after going in.  

We got to test out the longevity of the sling sleep last night as we headed out first to a friends house then on to the beach for a bonfire to ring in the new year.  Gabs slept like a champ the whole time snug as a bug nestled in her sling with everyone showering her with compliments.  

All in all a pretty mellow night sitting in the moonlight with some of our closest friends and family with close to 20 bonfires burning up and down the beach.  A few fireworks even lit up the sky as as we rang in the new year.  

So from all of us to all of you, here's wishing a very happy new year!  

Here's a few more pics of our little (but getting bigger every day) girl







Gabi at around four weeks.  Every day she getts bigger and bigger. 






Gabi at four weeks cuddle time with Gma Belle in her preferred position.  She prefers the over the left shoulder hold to all other and when you try to switch it up she'll let you know right quick that it's not gonna fly.  I'm going to have to figure out a way to get her on the other side or risk ending up like a hunchback with one ginormous shoulder.



December 21st brought the winter solstice to the beach and we decided to have a little ceremony and create "straw men" on which we pinned our hopes and fears to send into the heavens, releasing both the positive and negative with the winters climax behind us.  

Turns out the straw men became the size of actual men which when planted into the sand at sundown attracted quite a bit of attention. Soon our little group of 5 or so adults and a few kids grew much larger As our men made from palm leaves complete with coconut heads caused passersby to stop by and inquire about our activities.   All were invited to add their own wishes and fears to the men to burn. After the sun set the figures were set ablaze and we all stayed into the night sitting by the light of the fire until all the embers died down.  Hands down the coolest solstice celebration to date!



Setting up the tropical strawmen


Completed with all our hopes and fears ready to be set free


Ready, set, time to let go!



Solstice Sunset





Christmas eve was spent at a home of good friends, eating good food, and feeling very merry.  It was an international bunch: American, Costa Rican, Swiss, French, and the likes.  Presents were handed out and Gabi scored a bunch.  Though we're far from home and many of the people that we love this year, a good christmas eve was had by all.  


Gabi on Santa (aka her godfather's) lap






When I was about eight months pregnant we went to watch the sea turtles arriving to lay their eggs on the beach.  It was grey rainy afternoon and as pregnant as I was I really felt for the turtles as they dragged their selves up the beach to lay their eggs.  

Now here it is two months later, which just happens to be Gabi's one month birthday and we're back with our baby to watch baby turtles hatch from the same beach!

We woke at 4:30 in the morning and made it to the beach for sunrise as the little baby turtles clawed their way out of their nests under the sand and made their way down the beach to the waves.




Sunrise at Playa Ostional



Jeff and Gabi at sunrise


Right before we were about to leave I spotted a tiny turtle poking its nose out of the sand and sat down next to him/her to watch the "birth."  As I sat there more little turtles started coming out behind.  Turns out it was a nest of around 5 or 6 of them.  Words can't describe being there alone as the sun rose over the beach, sitting next to them watching as they took their first breath.










Happy one month to our sweet Gabriela.  
Hope that the rest of your months continue to be as blessed as this first one.  





From the get go whenever a true meltdown was upon us the final resort, and true sure thing was a swinging of the car seat back and forth by dad.  But as Gabi's getting bigger by the day this has turned into quite the aerobic exercise...or weight training program which can be pretty tiring at 3am.  Solved the problem by adding attachments to the car seat to make Gabi her very own personalized swing.  Rock-a-by Gabriela and Merry Christmas mom and dad!



Quiet time with mom.  Gabi @ 1 month



Been trying to get a video up but though we think she's adorable, for the most part Gabi's been pretty inactive (not counting burping, hiccuping, crying, etc)  Not too much in the way of oscar winning filmmaking.  However this last week she's really started to look around, smile, and make some new sounds.  So we present Gabriela Pines in her first film debut!