Getting Ready for Willow

So yesterday E and I started working on Willow's room. We unpacked some of the items we bought, arranged her furniture and started decorating of course. Here are some pics of the early stages of our work. She is going to have oodles and oodles of butterflies in her room!! There will be more pics to come of course so stay tuned. :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Winter Solstice

Today is the shortest day of the year or as some people remind me the LONGEST NIGHT. Kind of a glass 1/2 empty or 1/2 full scenerio huh?

However, today is also my parents 43rd Anniversary! What were you doing 43 years ago today? As I am a little younger than that my memory is a little hazy . . .

Congratulations Mom and Dad. Your marriage and relationship are an inspiration to both of us.

I looked online to see what the present is for 43 years of marrige and it says Travel. I think this is approprate as looking into your future I see some upcoming travel in April of next year. So I think you will get to celebrate in style. I also looked forward to the gift for 44 years of marriage (planning ahead). According to the website I was on you buy groceries to celebrate 44 years of marriage. Groceries for 44 years of marriage am I wrong or does this seem like the worst gift ever? I am thinking it is good I looked ahead cause we need a year to plan something more special and exciting than buying groceries. :)

Congrats! Love you both!!!


PS. I included a link to the site in case you think I am making this stuff up. Note I am not that creative. :)

http://marriage.about.com/cs/anniversaries/a/wedannivideas_5.htm

It's a girl!

We had our 20 week ultrasound this week and found out the wonderfully fantastic news that we are going to have a little girl!!! She was very photogenic during our appointment and at one point turned toward us and kept opening and closing her mouth. She was swallowing but it looked just like she was talking to us. Below are some pics of my baby bump and our little Willow!

The 5 month bump
Willow trying to find her thumb

Willow striking a pose

More Willow

One happy little girl!

I have been Mooned!

The Rowdy Bunch
Myself, Nancy, Lisa, Kiera

If you have had any contact with the media (newspapers, magazines, TV) I think you may have heard about the release of the second movie in the Twilight saga, New Moon!

Again this year we attended the midnight showing for the movie. We had 14 people in total for our group! It was a wonderful time! I thought it was hilarious that the teenagers were hushing this group of 30 year olds as we were being too noisy during the movie (you know who you are Nancy and Lisa). :)

Some of my favorite parts for the evening

1. Lisa screaming "I love Jacob" at the opening credits
2. Nancy's reactions through the entire movie (especially when Jacob had his shirt off)
3. Edward saying "Marry Me" and someone (not in our group) yelling "YES"

I am not sure but I think that this will be my last midnight show for a while. I can foresee that I may be a little busy next year at this time. :)

No Whining

So last Friday we had a wine tasting party as a Thank You for the three students that we have had at our clinic. Tori and Dawn will finish their clinical rotation next week after 14 weeks with Modern PT. Justin will finish his 9 week rotation the first week of December.

The food for the evening was Italian including Chicken Spedini from Garozzos and Chicken Diavolo from Accurso's. However, the guests also brought wonderful appetizers, salads, and deserts. No one went away hungry. :)

We also had chardonay, syrah, merlot, and cabarnet grape juices to taste for those like myself who didn't partake in the wine tasting.

There were about 40 people in total at the party and it went into the wee hours of the morning. I had to turn in early however. Myself and my little baby need our sleep.

Unfortunately in the hustle and bustle of the evening I did not get pics. However, here are some pics we took before the festivities began. :) I would like to Thank Bellini for graciously posing for the pics! What a ham!

Happy BDay Daddy-o

Happy Birthday to one of the greatest men I know (I would have said the greatest but E is reading this d-oh)! Hope your day is filled with laughter, love, happiness, and most importantly lots of good food! Sorry I could not be there in person but myself and little bean (the baby) are thinking of you. :)

Here are some things I just learned about you via your zodiac sign Scorpio.

• You have a sensitive and imaginative nature. Sensitive is a definite as you are one of the most caring people I know. Imaginative also definite as you make up some of the craziest stories/jokes ever!
• There is an ageless quality about scorpios. Well you did just get one year older today, but you are still goofy, young and vibrant in my eyes. I would say affirmative to the agelessness as well!
• They need to be vigilant about their eating habits if they want to stay slim (no kidding it really says this!?!). Well Dad is vigilant about his eating. He loves to eat! All kidding aside he has always lived a very healthy lifestyle and he looks fantastic!
  
• They don't believe in doing anything the easy way and will make sacrifices to make their dreams come true. Absolutely. He is stubborn and one heck of a fighter (in the noblest sense of course)!
  

Best wishes for today and many wonderful birthdays to come!

Love you lots!

Amy

Frosty

Good Morning to all from chilly Kansas City! I was up early this morning doing some cleaning when I looked outside and noticed the frost and steam rising from the pond. It was beautiful so I snapped some quick pics. Sorry there a little shaky/blurry it was COLD outside!!! I am not sure whether or not this was the first frost for us this Fall, but it is the first one I have been up early enough to witness. I thought I would share my pics with you. Hope you are all enjoying some beautiful Fall weather as well.

Hello Baby

Wonderful news from the Azevedo family. We are going to have a little bundle of joy around mid April. Gender to be announced in the weeks to come . . .

Here are the first and second bunch of ultra sound pics we have of our little one.

8 weeks - Our little one is hanging upside down like a bat. Very appropriate for Halloween.

8 weeks- Still upside down. The little round object beside the baby is the yolk sac.

12 weeks - The placenta is at the top of the screen and our little one is laying on the bottom on their side. The head is at the left side of the screen. The arms are to the right at the top and bottom of the abdomen and at the far right the legs.

12 weeks - Same view as above. Just with a little more arm and leg movement.

12 weeks - The face (eyes, nose and mouth)

The official and fancy ultrasound will be in 3 more weeks. So more pics to come.

American Royal BBQ

So this is my favorite time of year! Fall. The time when the trees are changing colors and the weather is getting cooler. Here in KC this is also the time for barbecue. There is a wonderful smoky aroma in the air at night. It is wonderful! This is definitely not the time of year for vegetarians. :)

So Modern PT sponsored a local BBQ team this year! They are "Howlin Wolfe's BBQ". Last Friday night we went out to support them (or more accurately sample their food). From what everyone told me the barbecue was great! Here are some pics of their set up and our logo on their banner. The pics were taken on Tony's blackberry at night so the quality is a little less than Esteban's normal but it is enough to get the picture (literally). Happy Fall to all!

Howlin Wolfe's BBQ Central

Lisa and myself posing as usual :)

Coop's photo shoot

So Cooper had his first official Uncle E photo shoot last weekend. There are tons of good pics from the weekend but in the interest of brevity I selected a few of my favs. Hope you all enjoy!

Hey Daddy What'cha Laughing At?

The Milk Block

Striking a pose with Aunt A

Momma and baby

Ready for the road

Coop singing opera

The opera was a tragedy. He really gets into his work.

Look at all that hair! :)

Guess Who Came for Dinner

So to end a great day yesterday Jessica, Steve and Cooper joined us for dinner last night. The meal was delicious (the best thin crust pizza Dominos has to offer), but the company was even better. :)

Deep Brain Stimulators and Punk Rock Hair

That is my theme for the day yesterday! :) Mom had her surgery yesterday to implant a new generator for her deep brain stimulators. This is the latest and greatest model that Medtronic has to offer so maybe Bionic Brain should be now added to the "theme". :) Mom, Dad, Steve, and I all arrived at the hospital in the wee hours of the morning (5 am anyone?) . . . She met with her doctors and nurses and then went in for surgery. She came through the surgery with flying colors (of course) with only a 6 inch incision on the right side of her head and another incision on her chest. This whole brain surgery thing is definitely not for sissys. With the betadine on her hair/sclap and blood from her incision she had streaks of red and yellow in her hair. A very punk rock look if you ask me. Kind of a rebel with a cause. They did turn her stimulator on very low, but by the time she got home she was moving better than she has been in months. Next week she gets her stimulator reprogrammed so stay tuned for more exciting updates. Thanks all for all the well wishes and positive thoughts!

Totally Tubular

Hello all! I have been a little lazy lately with the posts! It has been a beautiful August here in Kansas City! E and I are preparing to make a trip to Phoenix next week so watch for the upcoming posts and pics from that trip. :) I do need to catch you all up on the latest crop formations as their have been some very cool new ones. However, today I am attaching a picture of Morning Glory clouds. These cloud formations can grow to 600 miles long! I have never seen anything like them! Spectacular! For more information you can check out the link at http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/08/morninggloryclouds/

New Pics

Hello to all! It has been a while since I posted. I have not yet traveled to Arizona to see cute little Cooper but I do have some new pics! So of course I have to share them with you all! E and I will be in Arizona the first weekend in September and we are very excited to meet our new nephew and of course see the rest of the family as well! :)

Can't stay awake

What's up?

Grandma Tish and Cooper

Steve and Cooper

Da Boys! I love this pic!

Grandma Jean and Cooper

Jessica and Cooper

Momma and baby

Grandpa Bruce and Cooper

Cali and Cooper :)

SHHH Baby Sleeping

Here is a picture of Cooper after his first bath! That bath stuff is some pretty hard work! Looks like he is resting very well! What a cute little burrito baby!

Coopers first picture

Stop the press the first pic of Cooper is just in! When my dad came and took the first pic of me I think I started crying and then the nurse got mad at him and kicked him out of the nursery. Not so with Cooper! I think he is striking a pose already! More to pics to come!

Cooper

Baby Cooper made his appearance in the world last night! No pictures yet but many to follow don't worry. I have been told mother and baby are doing well. I think his stats were 19 1/2 inches and 7 pounds 6 oz. Congratulations Jessica and Steve! And welcome to the world little Coop!

New Kachina Doll

Never fails I upload tons of pics from Canada and forgot to put one of the most important ones. E and I found this cool store in Canada with Native American art. We purchased this amazing modern katchina doll and had it shipped to us in KC. It just arrived Friday and I have already put it in our display case.


Here is a quick pic I took of him. I know when Esteban gets home there will be more pics and better quality of course. Anyway he is absolutely amazing in my opinion! I need to think of a name for him. Any suggestions?

Toronto

I told you July was busy!! Esteban, Laura, and I went to Toronto for a conference thin an attempt to sell brochures for our company OEA. We had a great time with the trip but were not so successful in the selling department.

Some things I learned about Toronto. It is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world. It has the most skyscrapers I have ever seen. The buildings are mostly made of glass as glass is more energy efficient. It is a very green city. Instead of billboards they have advertisements along the road made from different colored flowers that are strategically planted. Finally, it is touted as one of the cleanest cities. However, when we were there they sanitation engineers were on strike and had been for about 5-6 weeks. I found this fascinating and therefore took many pictures of trash. I got a great one of a garbage truck with its logo on the side "Making the City Better" driving away from a huge bunch of trash, but it was too dark and didn't turn out. I am going to have Esteban try his photoshop magic on it later.

Our new OEA booth

View from our hotel room

Laura and Esteban

Got Trash?

Biker art

Graffiti

The Toronto Skyline

E and I standing next to the sign displaying the vendors for the conference. Our company logo is on the second row from the bottom and two over from the left. :)