going on 5 weeks

its been a while since my last post, things here have been moving quickly so an update is overdue. chico seems to get hungry every time we get to the internet cafe and typing while breast feeding is something that requires a bit of finesse to keep from getting milk all over the keys and or an indecent exposure citation.

the labor and delivery all went as well as we ever could have hopped for. after a day swimming and cannon balls in the pool we spent the evening at home eating cake and watching Scarface (of all things!). around 1:30am i woke up feeling a slight tummy ache, took a bath, and we started to realize i was maybe in labor. Pollo and i had been practicing hypnobirthing, a kind of self hypnosis and natural birthing method, which stresses that labor doesn't need to be a pain-full experience (amongst other things) and it really worked for us. we had planned to wait the labor out at home until the contractions were close together, which we figured would take at least 6 or 8 hours. around 2:30, after an hour of noticing something was going on, they we recoming so close together we decided it was time to call our trusty cab driver and make our way to san jose to the clinic. Pollo threw our snacks and baby clothes into our backpack, and always the comedian put on his snorkel and got into the still full bath tub, submerging his head and paddling around. They say laughter is the best medicine and i would have to agree, the entire scene was so silly! iwish we had it on camera. He than went down the mountain that was our driveway to let the cab in the gate. A neighbors guard dog stopped him mid way resulting in a mexican stand off of sorts, but after all he made it to the gate and back up the hill. on our way out the door we tipped over a big jar or pickled jalapenos all over the kitchen floor but that was no time for cleaning we left it for the friendly ants we love so much. I jumped,or rather eased, into the back seat of the cab with pollo and away we went.

laying with my head in pollos lap, the cab made its way down the pothole filled road, over speed bumps, through the winding mountains and into the capital city where the driver became completely lost in the seemingly endless shanty suburban sprawl. while he called friends and asked for directions, i was becoming increasingly aware that chico was about to arrive and Pollo understanding the urgency of the situation (and my hair pulling) repeatedly asked the driver "poco mass rapido por faavor?!" Although one might expect things to have been rather...frantic in this moment of near automotive delivery,we were all in surprisingly good humor.

moments latter i saw the the bright lights of the Hospital and Hotel Catholic and the driver opened my door revealing the waiting wheelchair and my underwear and spread legs to the world. oh well, these are not times for modesty. I finished my contraction, and we made our way inside. chico was ready to arrive!

Pollo was there with me the entire time, my support, my comedian, my translator. Our dr arrived in his pajamas just in time and moments later Pollo announced 'Its a girl!" She cried, we held her slippery little self, and pollo cut the cord. It was love at first sight.

We all climbed into bed (the three of us that is, the nurses and dr left) and broke out the breakfast. It was a great morning. She was born an hour after we arrived at the hospital, exactly at dawn, and we named her Saule meaning sun in Lithuanian.

A nun and a priest came and blessed her, hey the more blessings the better when you're an hour old. We watched the closing ceremony of the Olympics, they told us we could go home after just a few hours but with air conditioning and a bed that goes up and down, why rush (or endure another taxi ride so soon)? we all spent the night in bed together watching each other and pollo and i had our first attempts at changing diapers and clothes, which saule was very patient for (we have since perfected the art and are more like a race car pit mechanics).

A few days later it was time to move houses,to a place near the beach where we would be staying the next few weeks.Pollo rented a car and we loaded up , the ride was all to silly with pollo going the wrong way up one ways all over the country.

mom and dad came for a visit last week and we had a great time, and we are expeciting pollos family this week. ok shes up and im sleepy. more to come soon.

first few days!

here she is again

im typing one handed so a quick one.

Saule is doing great, so are we, a few pictures, there are more on the link from the last blog post, and more to come soon. Love getting emails and calls from you all.

KISSES!

Chicolini is here!!!

The miracle have happened! Girl Chicolini, now also known as Saule Poppy is here. Freshly cooked parents feel good and proud of the hard work which happened in the night of 24thof August. Exact time of the final moment was 5:47 (san jose time). Saule is very strong as well as healthy, weighting 3.35 (7lb 6oz) and reaching 51cm (21.25 inches) in her first yoga stretching session.. Some pics are HERE

and a video here!

Another few days in Atenas

Look what we found! We stuck him in our blender so we could watch him for a while, and became so found of him we named him Gwynchgwald meaning ¨white hawk¨. We didnt add him to our smoothie after all, and set him free in the yard.

Just a few pictures of the animals andus hanging out around our house. I love this last bird, which glows in the sun light and sat very still for POllo for his picture to be taken. How nice :)

Atenas

Well here we are, back in town for more watermelon and ice. Just a few pictures to share. This is our local bus stop. And the main street in town. It has a small market that sells meats and vegis, and a few food stalls that smell great but we havent tried as of yet. Next trip.


These two dogs live in a cage at the bottom of our driveway. They are oh so sweet and i really wish i could steal them to our yard. Any one out there need another dog?

Pollo made pancakes (crepes) from his grandmothers recipe. yum yum were they good! We filled them with hunny and ate them in the early morning sun on our deck over looking the rainforest with fresh ice cold water mellon juice. Need i say more?

This motorcycle was cool, for all you biker dudes reaing this. ANd a noni fruit i picked in our yard, they say its a the CURE ALL of everything. heck.... ill try it... And this picture of the tree is a tree with a hummer in it! Ok a humming bird but he sounds like a hummer! Look close, he is very small!

And yes, there i am bird watching.. tracking our grey necked wood rails....and there is our friendly neighborhood toad, who lives in a cool little root ball near our drive way. She has the right idea for the midday heat.

Another week in Atenas

Well here we are, another few days have past, nothing to exciting is going on here, no this wont be a WE HAD THE BABY post...sorry to disappoint you all...... just enjoying the pool, the animals, the tropical weather.

I gave Pollo a hair cut, it took a few hours to take off a few inches, but after all it doesn't look to bad... ok so it doesn't look to good either but with big blue eyes like those no one will notice if one side is shorter in front....


The Ants keep marching even with Adolpho up all night running around the floor after them. The vultures have decided to move closer and closer to our house, as we get a little lazy about how far we can throw the trash. That's ok, we like to watch them and this morning one was perched right on our razor wire fence sunning his wings. Pollo is the next Steve Erwin and snuk out for a couple really nice pictures. WHAT A BEAUTY!
The watermelon juices and baked goods keep coming, what else are we supposed to do these days other than eat, sleep, and watch the Olympics (which we do every night starting at 3am)? Pollo made an excellent batch of fresh gingerbread cookies (ok so they look like something you might find in a cow pasture but they taste amazing!), and we finished 2 double batches of tapioca and a double batch of rice pudding since the last blog post. But don't worry, we do hike down to the pool everyday to do our laps, i think its the walk back up the driveway that is the best part of the work out, but the pool is fun too!

So life here is filled with good books, good food, and lots of time together in the quiet of nature, which is exactly what we were both praying for this time last year as we got up for yet another morning of work on the cape, and we are grateful for every second here. Although We are increasingly excited for the arrival of chicolini.

Here is a our little house on the hilltop, its very cute and quaint even if it is surrounded by a ten foot tall concrete wall and razor wire fence. There are a few other critters who share our little yard, wish we could show you the giant toads at night and the bats, but its always pouring rain when they come out. Wish you were all here to enjoy it with us.... but don't worry, we will enjoy it for you too!

Miss you all! Sending our love!

Our house mates....

This is our pet Adolpho 2, we are training him to hunt the endless ants that come to our blender in search of fruit juice. So far he is doing a good job. Sadly Adolpho 1 was killed by a freak spider web accident but pollo sang him a soulful Ave maria and buried him in the yard. We have high hopes for his successor. See how he holds on to he blender cord! So cute!

These are the vultures who are living just outside our front gate. They loved the calamari and trash we left them over the past week. It is very nice to watch them fly all around each day riding the updrafts from the valley. They dont as of yet have names.....

This little lizard gave me the fright of my life when he somehow fell into the pool and decided to use me as his life raft. There i was reading my book when suddenly i felt something climbing up my back and into my hair! AHHHHH!!!! I threw my book in the water and screamed for Pollo who came running like I was on fire. Luckily i wasn't on fire, it was just this tiny chap, who pollo fished out and put on the shore. As soon as he did the little bugger jumped right back on the raft and made an island from chicolinis bump! Very cute.

Pollo flys a kite, priceless!

Yesterday afternoon was the only day in weeks that the late afternoon didn't bring a good strongwind and rain shower. Sadly Pollos kite flying didn't exactly get off the ground so to speak, even with me standing on the cliff above throwing the kite. BUT the sight of Pollo running around pants-less amongst the mango and palmtrees made the entire afternoon worthwhile.