Long time no blog

Sometimes I lose track of the hours in the day, especially during the end of the year, and get distracted by all the small things on in my life. So here's a little glimpse of what's been going on in my life since I've been gone:

Since I last posted my family and I went to Puerto Rico during the week of Thanksgiving. It was a vacation with highs and lows, and all started with an Airbnb guest home that was not what we expected. To keep things short I’ll say the home wasn't as pictured (though we got what we paid for), the power went out more than once (this is actually normal in Puerto Rico though a lot of the businesses around the guest home had generators), a stray kitty always pooped in the flowerbed so the front porch was always smelly, and the most unfortunate: the shower water was always cold. We learned that the previous guests broke one of the showers and it was constantly dripping which caused all the hot water to be used up. However we did make the most of the house when the power was up and running but once it went out a second time towards the end of the week, we all threw in the towel and booked a hotel for the night. It definitely humbled us all. And made us appreciate our houses, consistent power, air conditioning, and hot showers.

bacalaitos, empanadas, rice, beans and mofongo!

Not to say we didn’t enjoy our vacation. We did! Michael and I got to visit Old San Juan, see my grandparents who live there, eat delicious food, and of course take Lydia to the beach for the first time. She didn’t seem that enthusiastic about the beach but absolutely loved the pool at the hotel.

Once we got home from our vacation, Michael started a new job that’s work from home all the time, and it’s been a huge blessing to have him around the house more. He's rested, we get to have lunch together almost every day, and he likes his boss. He was actually Michael’s boss a couple years ago at his old job, then he moved to a different company and reached out to Michael to see if he’d join his team. I was so happy that he was able to smoothly transition into this new job and that we can spend more time together. Periodically he will need to travel to New York, the first time he had to go there Lydia and I went with him. We stayed at my parent’s house and he commuted to the city from there, it was such a treat to spend time with my family!

Another small thing that's been going on is that we've been putting Lydia to sleep earlier and scheduling her naps. No more co-sleeping in this house! As much as we enjoyed the experience, you get to a point where you just want the bed to yourselves, and have your child in their own crib with a healthier sleep schedule. It's actually exciting because I'm getting that extra alone time during the day with her naps and of course dealing with a less cranky child during the day. A big part of why I haven't been blogging has a lot to do with the fact that I lacked the alone time to sit down and write. Alone time was so sporadic, and now it's more consistent, which means I should be back on here more!

During this transition, Michael has been such a big help and blessing. He has been putting her to bed most nights, praying with her and making her feel comfortable in the crib. It has been growing their bond too. She does fuss after he leaves the room and sometimes he’ll go back in, but she eventually falls asleep. Right now her crib is on our bedroom and when she wakes up in the middle of the night, I try to comfort her by holding her hand or if that doesn't work I'll cuddle with her. I am trying to be better with that though and teach her that she needs to put herself back to sleep.

We plan on moving her into her bedroom once Michael his office space into the basement sometime in the spring. I am hoping she loves her bedroom and won’t feel the need to sleep in ours!

Lastly, we hosted Christmas and it had a lot of fun with Michael's side of the family. I made this pear sangria, yellow rice, empanadas, cheese flan, and pumpkin bread. Michael made his famous wings and everyone brought a delicious little something-something! After we exchanged gifts, Michael shared a message the Lord placed on his heart and prayed before we all ate. We played The Game of Things and laughed up a storm! We are planning on hosting our small group on Thursday for an end of the year get together, and my parent's are visiting this upcoming weekend for New Years which we are also hosting. Lots of hosting but it's been coming with lots of help which has been much appreciated! : ) 

And the bad... I started to trim my bangs and got too carried away by cutting them too short... At this time I'm so thankful for bobby pins, headbands, and of course the fact that it'll grow back. But if that's the worst thing going on in my life, I'll be a-okay. 

Until next time my loves,

A week in Puerto Rico...

El Yunque

On Wednesday I came home from a weeklong trip to Puerto Rico with my parents, grandmother, Michael, Aria and her fiancé David. The trip had a few negative moments but overall we all made the best of our time in Puerto Rico. By "negative" I am indeed referring to the villa we stayed in. There were a lot of issues coming in and out of the villa which made it impossible for all of us to leave the house together as a family. Someone had to stay behind to let us in because between the five of us, we had one button and one key to open the gate! Michael and David were in a different villa which was about ten minutes away from us and fortunately for them they had no issues with getting in and out of their villa. The only issue they had was when they came to our villa. They had to wait for my dad to walk outside and open the gate. (Sometimes they both grew impatient and would just hop the gate!) Another hassle was finding access to quality food. The least processed foods we found were the tropical fruit and organic spring mix at the local Wal-Mart. Unfortunately my tummy paid the consequences of eating processed peanut butter. Not to mention I had no access to lactose-free yogurt or organic probiotics. The lesson I learned was to plan better when I'm traveling by bringing my own food and researching grocery stores with healthier options. Last but not least the pillows were a nightmare and I had a horrible crick in my neck the last few days we were there.

The good news is we got to drink coconut water out of a coconut:

Other exciting events:

1. The tropical weather was much needed. I was feeling pretty depressed by the weather being unnaturally cold back home, so this was definitely wonderful and I loved effortless wearing shorts & sandals in the evenings.
2. Spending time at my grandparents’ house, eating grandma's delicious arroz con gandules and hanging out with cousins. It was a nostalgic moment for me because it reminded me of when we all used to visit my grandparents when they lived in Brooklyn. Those were the days...
3. Visiting Old San Juan at night with Michael. I know it's cliché to go to Old San Juan, but it will always have a place in my heart. Perhaps it was the cobblestone roads, colorful houses, the live music or the yummy foods of the island. I don't know but I do know that it'll always be special to me!
4. My grandmother's 80th birthday party was another highlight of the trip. Though, the party seemed to go by quick it was such a delight seeing family I haven't seen in years! I loved that Michael got to meet other family members and we could celebrate together. The live music and slideshow of old pictures was also a treat!
6. Lastly Michael and David’s fascination with cracking coconuts open. On the second day we walked over to the villa’s “beach” it was actually not the real beach but the guys found a lot of coconuts that fell off the tree. After some time Michael finally cracked open a coconut and we were all able to try fresh coconut water. It was raw and yummy.

It was nice to leave the cold air of Jersey for a week, relax and get nice tan, but nothing beats the taste of natural peanut butter on toast and a comfy bed.

-Jessica