An update two months later....

My sincere apologies to my few loyal readers who may have been checking in to this blog for the past couple of months to find absolutely NO activity.  I have many reasons for my absence, the main one being.........

I'm pregnant with Baby #2!

We found out on July 13th and I just couldn't bring myself to keep posting throughout our "secret" period of waiting out the first trimester.  I did confess to coworkers and some friends and family throughout the summer for various reasons, but I didn't want to make it 100% public on the interwebs until we were absolutely sure that this was a viable pregnancy and that we were out of the woods in terms of threat of miscarriage.

I did snap this picture of Manuela and her hilarious reaction to the positive pregnancy test:

I'm now a couple of weeks into my 2nd trimester and feeling great.  I had a pretty good first trimester with very little nausea.  I was very nervous about miscarrying given that I had a quick and  tightly scheduled trip to the U.S., alone with Manuela, mainly for work, during my 10th week of pregnancy.  In order to go into the trip armed with a little assurance that everything was going to be OK, I went to the hospital during my 8th week, claiming cramping symptoms, in order to get an ultrasound.  Unfortunately, these are the kinds of dishonest tricks you have to pull in the public health system, despite my request to have an ultrasound before my trip, which they were unfortunately completely inflexible on.  Otherwise, I would have had to pay 120 Euros for an "off schedule" ultrasound at a private clinic.  I was able to see the baby's heartbeat and was told everything looked really good, and that was all I needed to make it through my trip, and last until September 5th when we had our 12 week ultrasound (the first you get through Spain's public health system).  I understand why the system has to be inflexible, given recent government cuts in public health, but it really is a shame that they don't offer women who have suffered previous miscarriages, the choice to have an earlier ultrasound, if only for the psychological peace of mind.

Our trip home was a whirlwind but we managed to get some great quality time in with most of my family and a few friends.  Manuela did great on both long trips except for one little bout of cabin fever in which she was trying to convince me to jump off the plane with her.  Luckily, some Mickey Mouse stickers provided a great distraction.

somewhere over the Atlantic

visiting a lemonade stand in my hometown with my mother,
who was #1 caretaker for Manuela on this trip while I was working,
very special bonding time for both of them!

with my sister and niece at my grandfather's 90th birthday party

with my father and grandfather

Prior to our trip in the U.S. we spent a week in Órgiva, with Manuela's grandparents.  It was a very relaxing week, filled with little else but soaking in the pool of our rental house and exploring nearby Alpujarran villages.

in Pampaneira

Manuela conquered her fear of water!

Another big reason why I have been neglecting this blog is work.  We've had some major restructuring in the past couple of months which aside from being emotionally stressful, means I am now even busier than I have ever been, and will continue to be so until my maternity leave in March.  The little down time I now have feels like my only precious time with Manuela, especially now that we have less than six months before our worlds get rocked and she's no longer my only baby.  I may still blog when inspiration hits or I feel I have something important to share, but don't expect a daily post.  I am now much more inspired to spend my free time playing dolls, going to the park, or coloring pictures of Elmo and friends.

I have unfortunately also been slacking on my 52 Weeks with Manuela project but may still be able to pull something together.  I began the tradition last year of creating an annual photo slideshow ("a year in pictures" of sorts) so will probably do something similar for her 2nd birthday, which is just a month away now!  We're going with a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme complete with a hot dog bar (get it?!)

In other news, Manuela began her 2nd year of preschool/daycare and is doing great so far!  She's at the same place, right behind our house, but has a sweet, new teacher this year who she really likes.  We decided to include lunch in her daily school routine which has been a great decision.  She's finally eating a balanced meal for lunch and we (well, Dani, since he is in charge of lunch while I am at work) no longer have to stress about getting a proper meal into her when she comes out of school wanting nothing more than a bottle and nap.  This makes much more sense.  Let's just pray she stays free of viruses this winter because a repeat of last winter's bronchitis bouts would not be fun for anyone.

Well, I think that's it for me for now, hasta pronto and thanks for catching up with me!