coffee n' milk

Memories.....we won't say "Good Bye"!

2010-03-07T01:58:00.000-08:00

I've spent the last 4 years in this house; come tomorrow i will be leaving this place for good. Though our time here has been pretty rough both physically and mentally, i have a lot of very fond memories of my time here, mostly thanks to the wonderful, a be it a little crazy (for having lived here in these conditions) people i had the honor to share this period of time with, both those who lived here and those who visited, some of whom became my very dear friends, all of which have help change me for the better (i hope) in some way. Here are pictures of those people and some of the highlights of these years. I dedicate this post to the friends i love and miss the most: To James-Miracle and family, Dan, Mari , Marianne and Claire....and the rest of you Enjoy

2010-03-06T07:44:00.000-08:00

This last week has been pretty nasty and stressful as first Mike then Maya and I were sick with the fever and the flu, then this morning Maya woke up and vomited and has been doing so all day so it looks like she has a tummy bug. Plus i haven't quite finished packing and i'm leaving Monday. It seems like everything bad is happening all at once and at such a bad time. So i was a bit frustrated today and not in the best of moods; I went to do some laundry and i found this "translation" on the back of a fabric softener...i have no idea what they meant to say but needless to say it made me laugh which brought my spirits up and made my day. Hope it can do the same for you...and pls pray Maya gets better and i can be ready by Monday.

Abominable Snowmen

2010-03-02T03:28:00.000-08:00

Snowman N°3: The Work of Art. I have to say this one is the most snowmanish of all...also that big snow balls weigh a ton and my arms hurt me the next day after hoisting them one on top of the other.

Maya wanted his carrot nose.

That night it snowed so much that the next day Maya couldn't walk as the snow was to high (it also ruined our snowman).

If you look closely at this photo you can see her shape where she fell face forward into the snow

Thinking"Mom, i'm not sure i really like all this white stuff. Can we go back inside and watch Treasure Attic"

Snowman N°2: The Cute Alien.
ISN'T HE CUTE?

Maya's self appointed job was to taste the snow,and she did it with relish.

He's so good looking even our cat couldn't resist taking a closer look at him.

Snowman N°1: The Test Run. As you can see i didn't have much snow to work with and even less of Maya' patience, so he was sort of thrown together. Luckily i found an old pot and a triangle shaped rock which helped to make him look somewhat like a snowman.

This year, for the first time in many many years, i went out to play in the snow and along with Maya made 3 snowmen. These are the results.

Cuddles with mommy

2010-03-02T03:18:00.000-08:00

I LOVE MY BABY!

Toboganning

2010-03-02T02:33:00.000-08:00

randomness from December-Febuary

2010-02-25T01:22:00.000-08:00

Maya' hair is super short in most of these photos because nonna Abigail decided we needed to cut it to strengthen it. For the first few weeks after she looked like a little boy. Thank God now her cute little curls are coming back.

Carnevale

2010-02-24T07:22:00.000-08:00

We went out with some friends to a carnival parade. It was freezing and after an hour we couldn't feel our extremities. Maya was amazed by all that was going on, she kept looking around with this puzzled expression as people sprayed and through confetti on each other. But she loved seeing all the kids dressed up and once we let her out of the buggy she seamed to really enjoy herself walking around amongst all the hubbub making new friends, so that made it worth it.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-28T03:41:00.001-08:00

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow

2009-12-28T02:16:00.000-08:00

Christmas angel

2009-12-28T02:01:00.000-08:00

random pics of december

2009-12-28T01:27:00.000-08:00

nature walk

2009-12-27T07:48:00.000-08:00

The party

2009-11-29T12:55:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Maya's birthday a couple of days after the actual date and and had some friends come over. Gin and i stayed up till 1 the night before preparing the cakes and decorations. Though not everyone we invited showed up, it was still lots of fun. Big thank you to mom, Gin, Claire and Arthur for your help in making it a great party.

What I love most about Maya

2009-11-12T06:36:00.000-08:00

"And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in <..>her eyes" ~Lord Byron ~

It's hard for me to say what i like most about my baby, as to me she's absolutly perfect. Though not flawless, I'm sure, I wouldn't change a thing. But if i had to choose a part of her it would be her eyes. She has the most amazing eyes, you could stare in them for hours, so beautiful, intense and expressive. The colour hasn't set yet so they are a unique mixture of dark and light. They light up when she smiles and always seem to have a mischievous twinkle in them. Just one look from her makes my heart melt and takes my breath away.

Today 12 months old

2009-11-12T06:35:00.000-08:00

Review of the past year

2009-11-12T04:58:00.000-08:00

11 months

10 months

9 months

8 months

7 months

6 months

5 months

4 months

3 months (note her foolish rascal side already showing)

2 months

1 month

Coming home from the hospital 2days old

12 months ago

2009-11-12T04:36:00.000-08:00

Maya' first steps

2009-11-02T00:44:00.000-08:00

Trick or Treat

2009-10-31T14:02:00.001-07:00

2009-10-15T03:05:00.000-07:00

Autumn

2009-10-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

Trip to Germany part 2

2009-10-14T05:29:00.000-07:00

Trip home

still so happy even if we had to wake her at 5 am

Last Day

Taco night

First cut

2009-09-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

The other day Maya knocked over a glass cup while playing on the floor and somehow cut herself before i managed to get to her...it wouldn't stop bleeding for the longest time and i had to put 4 bandaids over it. She didn't cry though, to the contrary she seemed a little confused about the fuss I was making over her and just wanted to get back to playing. She had fun using her bandaid as a chew toy and trying to take it off.
Anyhow the cut healed up really quickly, and is now all gone, thank the Lord!

2009-09-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

First time clapping

Trip to Germany part 1

2009-09-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

Day 12: Indoor play ground. Great place lots of fun even for adults. You go inside with socks only and you're not allowed to bring food so everything is really clean and Maya had lots of fun crawling everywhere.

She loved exploring and learned to climb up the ladders all by her self

Maya loved these pools with balls it was her haven

Good german breakfast

Day 8: Swimming at a lake.

Days 6-7: Visited relatives in south Germany, a 6 hour drive one way. Wasn't as bad as i expected, Maya was very good only got restless a few times, though mike took care of her for most of the trip.
Mike' Grandma and great aunts

Mike's uncle, aunt and cousin (Look how short mike is in comparison)

reading while Maya took her morning nap

looking at old photos

Day 4:Dinner with friends

Maya got a really bad cold and cough, poor baby, she was sick for almost the whole first week. It was really cold there and i wasn't very prepared. At least i know for next time...

Day 3: More fun and games + breakfast at the Ikea with Anna

At the Ikea

Day 2: kids play ground

Day 1: Travel

Tired after a long morning of travels

At the airport in Germany

Maya's first plane ride... she was really good, slept most of the trip and befriended the two young guys sitting in the seat in front of us.

So we are now back from our trip and missing everyone and all the fun and movement we were able to have there. Thank you all so much 4 making our stay there so fulfilling (specially you Anna for driving us around everywhere). We love you and hope to see you all soon.

First phone call

2009-08-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

This generation starts early at everything. Maya here is on the phone with her cousin, she really liked listening to her talk and answering back and would'nt let us hang up for quite a while. If she continues at this rate by the time she's 5 she'll be racking up hundreds of euros worth of phone bill. Yikes!

Leaving on a jet plane

2009-08-27T04:36:00.000-07:00

In just a few days we will be flying to Germany to visit our family there. I'm quite worried about how the trip will go because although it's only a 1 and a half hour flight it's very early and Maya will probably be quite tired, she also a super active child and just doesn't stay still for a second. So i'm already stressed by the thought of trying to entertain her plus keep her quite for the duration of the flight. So if you have any tips, ideas or know of any good-child-safe sleeping pills/tranquilizers PLEASE let me know. Anyway this is an article i recently read about someone in my very same predicament. Enjoy, and do keep us in your prayers!

A few for fun

Terror on flight 611

By Dave Barry, Miami Herald

Recently, my wife and I took our 8-month-old daughter on a trip involving five plane flights in one week. Many people would be reluctant to travel with a baby that small. An intelligent person, or even a reasonably bright fungus, would know that two people cannot possibly carry both a baby and all the supplies the baby needs, including stroller, car seat, clothes, diapers, industrial-sized bale of wipes, stuffed bear, stuffed tiger, stuffed frog, etc. The total weight of all these supplies can be hundreds of times the weight of the actual baby.

We were one of those traveling families you see getting on planes—the kind where you don't actually see the people, just this mound of baby equipment shuffling slowly down the aisle toward you. This sight is always hugely popular with the other passengers, some of whom will yank open the emergency exits and dive out of the plane. Because they know what babies do on planes: They stand on their parents' laps and stick their heads up over the seats, so they can get maximum range when they shriek. On a baby-intensive airplane, you see shrieking baby heads constantly popping up all over, like prairie dogs from hell.

As a parent in this situation, your fervent hope is that the other babies on the plane will shriek louder than yours, thereby diverting passenger hatred away from you.

The trick for keeping your baby from crying on the plane is to come up with a new activity each time the baby gets bored. A standard baby gets bored every 15 seconds, so on a four-hour flight, you, as a parent, need to come up with 960 different activities. By the third hour of the flight, your standards are pretty low. Baby wants to crawl into the cockpit and bite the navigator on the ankle? Whatever baby wants!

Here's what a stupid parent I am: On our first flight, I brought two newspapers on board. I did not read one word of either one. What I read was a book called Farm Faces, which is made entirely of cloth. There's a cow on the cover, and each page has a new animal. Here's the entire text: "chick," "lamb," "pig," "duck," "horse," "worm." I read this book to my daughter maybe 40 times, using a dramatic and excited voice to show her how fascinating it was. I mean, talk about a surprise plot twist! I NEVER would have guessed "worm"!

It goes without saying that your baby will poop massively on the plane. Each year, more baby poop is produced on airplanes than in all of Portugal. Fortunately, most planes have a little changing shelf in the bathroom, which is the perfect size for a baby, provided that it is a baby gerbil.

You know what we need? We need an airline just for people with babies. The planes would not have seats: Everyone would squat on the floor. The preflight safety lecture would consist of a demonstration of how to get a Lego out of a child's mouth. The in-flight meal would be Cheerios. If the noise reached a certain decibel level, plastic tubes would automatically pop out of the ceiling to dispense tranquilizer to the parents.

2009-08-17T23:22:00.000-07:00

Out and about

2009-08-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

Listening to music with Gioby on the way home
Eating chips

Maya and Alisa

9 months...and finally enough hair to make a ponytail

2009-08-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

Watching treasure attic

Foolish baby

isn't she so big and beautiful?

A day at the water park

2009-07-28T06:53:00.000-07:00

Fun in the sun! (June-July)

2009-07-28T02:43:00.000-07:00

An evening at a go-cart track with aunty Cristin and Uncle Sammy

singing in the shower

with cousin Jessica

Lele and Nettes

Maya and Jeanette................. Heavenly eyes!

eating daddy's sandwhich

Funny

2009-06-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

Summer time

2009-05-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

Maya's first bikini shots.....

Lizzy's birthday

2009-05-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

My beautiful wife had her birthday the other day, and we went out to eat pizza and go gocarting. Thank you my love for all you do for me, for putting up with so much yet still holding on. I hope this year brings you the desires of your heart! You're the best second half a man could wish for and I'm happy that man is me.

Video clips

2009-05-17T03:46:00.000-07:00

Maya watching treasure attic, she'll sit and watch even 2 in a row, she loves the songs.

My first mothers day

2009-05-10T03:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers Day

2009-05-10T01:17:00.000-07:00

OUR MOTHER
When the morning stars together sang,
And God planted the Earth,
And divided land from seven seas,
And gave to all things birth;

And when He fashioned humankind,
And creatures great and small,
Six young ones then He also made--
His loving children all.

Said He, "What one thing meets their need?
Each differs from the other."
Then stood a saint, with gentle heart,
And said, "They need a mother."

"For life shall take its toll on them,
Of woe and pain and sorrow.
And oft' only a mother's love
Can bring hope for tomorrow.

"Give her a heart of patience full,
And hope never abated,
That they might know Your and her love
Are very close related.

"And last, but then by no means least,
Give her a love for Thee,
A trust that hardship cannot shake,
That she might faithful be."

God thought this very wise advice;
He would not have another.
So on this special day was born
This precious gift, OUR MOTHER.
--Sue ( Rhymes from Our Times)

Anna's visit

2009-05-02T01:48:00.000-07:00

more to come...

April showers bring May flowers

2009-05-02T01:06:00.000-07:00

Randomness

2009-05-01T14:23:00.000-07:00

At the mall...

2009-05-01T12:27:00.000-07:00

On a rainy day

2009-04-29T12:24:00.001-07:00

2009-04-29T12:24:00.000-07:00

Much has happened since i last blogged. For starters spring has finally decided to grace us with her presence, I'm so happy about that as this winter has lasted for more then necessary. Maya is getting bigger by the day, and is making so much progress, she's starting to sit up by her self, eat solids (though not very much), responds to her name, imitate the sounds and faces you make to her, and is for the most part a very good and happy girl . Most important of all, Anna and the kids were finally able to come for a visit and meet Maya. It was fun having them here, the kids are so beautiful, and Maya loved being around them. We did not manage to do all we had planed to do with them, but all in all we had a good time and even managed to go sight seeing in Milano, with three kids and a baby (impressive, huh!). So i'll post a bunch of random photos from this last month (don't have many from Anna's visit as they accidentaly got deleted, i'll post more once i get them from her again). Ya'll take care, and enjoy.

School Time....

2009-03-26T00:46:00.000-07:00

4 months

2009-03-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Not much is happening here that is worthy to be told. Maya and i will be alone for a week as we saw Mike off to the airport yesterday he went to Spain for a teachers seminar.We are all fine, Maya is getting bigger and bigger, always the joy of our lives, today she turned 4 months. She's learning to sit up by her self and started teething too. She's such a daddy' girl, totally in love with Mike, as soon as she hears his voice she always gets so excited, and immediately wants him to pick her up and play, it's really cute to watch them together.

New cousin

2009-03-05T08:10:00.000-08:00

We now have a new cousin, Jessica, congratulations Nemas and Faye on your new baby, we love you. (i'll post a pic as soon as i get one, in the meanwhile here are some new pics of Maya)

Noa's ark
Watching a movie

SO CUTE

2009-02-20T04:34:00.000-08:00

I found these two pics on my moms facebook...and had to post them as Maya looks so cute in them, enjoy!

Look I can hold things!

2009-02-19T05:18:00.000-08:00

The tummy bug

2009-02-19T05:06:00.001-08:00

My poor baby has been sick these past few days with a tummy bug, she isn't eating much and throws up a lot, pls pray she gets better asap!

She's such a fighter, always smiling no matter what.

Oh who will be our Valentine?

2009-02-18T12:52:00.000-08:00

Story time

2009-02-18T12:49:00.001-08:00

We are friends...Maya and Evelyn

2009-02-18T12:45:00.000-08:00

3 months

2009-02-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

Bath time

Waiting patiently for mommy to finish making her bed

Cousins

2009-02-11T03:17:00.000-08:00

Nonni e nipoti

Maya met two of her cousins, Jeanette and Gabriele, who came on a family visit for winter hollidays. Jeanette really liked her and wanted to take her home, Lele wants a baby horse, instead of the baby sister that his mom's pregnant with (oh well...good luck with that!).

YUMMY...my first ice-cream!

2009-02-11T03:02:00.000-08:00

This will not become a habbit, but she looks so cute.

CUDDLES

2009-02-11T02:57:00.000-08:00

Maya's many smiles

2009-02-11T02:22:00.000-08:00

A smile is a curve that can set a lot of things straight!

Dear Family and friends, hope you're having a good day. Remember to smile!

Back home again

2009-02-08T04:59:00.000-08:00

We've finally come home to milano again much to Mike' delight, out of Maya's 11 weeks of life he's only been with us for 3. Mike made our room really nice, once we've set up the baby corner i'll post some pics. It's still really cold here, though our room is very worm the rest of the house is quite cool so pls pray we don't get sick. It was really nice to be at my parents place for awile , I'm happy i had Maya there as everything was really relaxing, and they were such a big help, we'll miss them. Lots of things have changed in the home, some dear friends had to move on, and the house seams so quiet with out them. Another couple joined us and they have a little girl three weeks older then Maya, so she now has a play mate. Maya´s getting quite big and heavy, she already weighs over 6 kg and is 60 cm long. She's such a happy baby always smiling at people, you just have to say "hello" and she breaks out into a huge smile. Oh and i did her astral chart she's a triple scorpio and triple sagittarius (uh oh...).

Here are some pics from this last month.

G.dog n' Fly Girl

2009-01-02T06:56:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everybody

2009-01-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

This was by far the best NY party i've been to, it was incredibly diverting. We'll miss all those of you who are leaving so much.

Maya's party dress that nonna and aunty Gin gave her for Christmas

mike trying to put her back to sleep....she stayed wide awake for another 2 hours

Maya and daddy having quality time, she's alway so smiley in the morning.

Here are some pics of our wild party which Maya attended for a little while...she was so perplexed with all the noise we were making but was thrilled when we started dancing with her. Oh and the night befor she slept through the whole night for the first time, from 12pm till 7, 30 am and then again on the 31st she slept from 12,30pm till 8,30am. I'm so proud, she's such a good baby!

Grumpy Christmas Angel

2008-12-25T07:11:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T06:59:00.000-08:00

To each of you dear family and friends who can't be here with us today, we wish you a very Merry Christmas, may all your wishes come true!

2008-12-17T13:28:00.000-08:00

One month party

2008-12-17T13:17:00.000-08:00

oh she's getting so big...sigh!

From 2 to 4 weeks

2008-12-13T09:44:00.000-08:00

Sorry i haven't had much time to post stuff. Here are a few pics of Maya, though they don't do her justice since she's not really photogenic, she hates the camera,lol. She's getting really big and chubby, and she's such a good baby, for my sanity's sake i'm very thankful for that since i have to be with her almost all day, i still manage to have a life and a little free time.

2 weeks old

2008-11-27T14:06:00.000-08:00

this is such an interesting book!

Daddy's girl

2008-11-27T13:58:00.000-08:00

We really love and miss you!

Our Little Family

2008-11-27T13:56:00.000-08:00

more on the baby

2008-11-27T13:30:00.000-08:00

under the blanket that nonna and mommy made for me

my favourite aunt, Tanya

bath time

look at my big muscles

i think i ate too much, again!

look how long i am

5 days old

3days old

coming home from the hospital (two days old)

THE BABY IS HERE

2008-11-27T12:55:00.000-08:00

Nonna orgoliosa (both mom and mike were able to be in the delivery room with me TTL, they were such a big help)

Safe in the arms of daddy

With Mike's Dad and brother, Dan

with my parents and brother

Sucking her left thumb like a good Davolio

Peace after the storm (isn't she beautiful for a new born?!)

So she has finaly arrived Maya Alyssa Orwoll born on the 12 of November at 9.40 am, 320kg and 51cm, after 12 hours of hard labour, but she's worth it. Welcome to the world my love!
(P.S.:Sorry i know this post is extreamly late but you know how it is being a new mom and all..he he)

more wedding pics

2008-10-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

Our family

Us w/ Nemas Faye and kiddos

The awesome men i have in my life!

Check out the belly!!!

The Legal Wedding

2008-10-14T06:07:00.000-07:00

On the 27th of September, Mike and I tied the proverbial knot. The wedding was held at my parents place and it was nice and simple with only family present. Mike's mom and brother, Dan, were able to come too, we were really happy for that, though we missed not having the rest of his family present. My sister Virginia took 3 days to prepare the food which was delicious (thanks again for that, Gin!). Hopefully we'll have another one next year, which will be more of a celebration, so we can have more friends and loved ones attending....and so i can wear a wedding dress...sigh!

At the office

Us with my sisters Tanya (left)and Virginia(right)...aren't they beautiful?!

Thank you so much mommy and papi for making this day so wonderful, for all the time and work you put into it. It meant everything to us. We love you!

more on the baby shower...

2008-10-14T05:53:00.001-07:00

Feed the "baby"

Marianne's beautiful butterfly

Pin the baby in the tummy

Uh oh..where's the mommy?!

Baby Shower

2008-10-14T05:10:00.000-07:00

So while we're waiting for the baby to arrive (only 21 days away), here are some pics from the baby shower we held in mid September. Everyone who participated had to have something pink on them...

Rowan

Put the diaper on the baby!

Danilo, Peter and Johnny....looking kind of bored....oh well

everybody being happy...

We're all in this together...

2008-10-14T01:42:00.000-07:00

So we too have now joined the host of parents who create blogs to document, for the world to see, the growth of their offspring.... this blog is for Maya and her future brothers and sisters!
ENJOY
P.S.:And, to not bore our kind visitors with only baby talk and photos, we will also post about random happenings in our life as well:-)