Daddy & Me Time

Just feeling the love for my boys today....aren't they cute? This photo was taken on our last trip to Miami. As I have mentioned before Luka is in love with planes at the moment and this was the perfect way for JJ to bond with his son over jet engines.

Feliz Dia Da Mulher

Today is the International Day of the Woman...well, at least that is what they told me at Luka's school when I picked him up today and he enthusiastically greeted me with this beautiful painting. It is the first bouquet I receive from Luka ♥

In celebration of all the special women in Luka's life I wanted to share the painting with all of you. He sends a special hug to all his omas, abuelas, tias and aunts!

Hanging Art with Hangers....Genius

After almost 3 months of not checking on my favorite blogs this morning I found some time to browse....I forgot how much I love them and how much inspiration I get from them. Here is a photo of a great idea....isn't it a cool way to hang up posters or maybe art from the kids. It has such a great vintage feel. The fabulous orange couch also adds to the whole style.

Our Baby - 29 Weeks

Well, we are officially in the home stretch now. There is no denying that I am pregnant and at 7 months and 1 week I am officially into my third trimester. I am feeling okay, but the nausea and food aversions are still there. I was not one of the lucky ones where those symptoms disappear after the first trimester. But I feel 100% better than the first couple of months...thank goodness.

We still don't know if it is a boy or girl and hopefully we won't find out until the big day, but there are many people that have their own scientific theories about what it is. A co-worker of JJ saw me today and she asked me a couple of questions about my freckles and skin and she said she knows. She claims she had a genetics teacher that taught her this "method" and she has never been wrong. We asked her not to tell us, but write it down and seal it in an envelope...so we can see if she was correct. In Miami people were always looking at my belly and saying it is a girl. What do you think? Isn't it fun not to know!

I will leave you with these photos of our "baby face" that were taken yesterday. They are not super clear, but if you stand back and take a look you can see our baby. Isn't she/he cute?

Luka's Drawing of His Grandparents

A few weeks ago JJ and I had to go to the bank with my parents. Luka came along for the ride and we had to keep him entertained so I asked him to draw a picture of Grandma & Grandpa. Well this was his interpretation and he was very specific about who was who. It was very cute....what do you think? Better yet...what do my parents think?

Happy Anniversary Baby

On February 19th JJ and I celebrated our 4th Wedding Anniversary (Yeah, I am a little late on the post). I can't believe how time flies....but I guess that happens when you are having fun...or at least that is what they say.

These four years have been amazing and I can honestly say that they have been an adventure! I love you baby and I can't wait for the next four years, and the ones after that, then the ones after that. Who knows where our "adventure" will take us, but there is no one else I would want as my co-pilot.

Aren't these pictures cute? Well, there is a story to them...ever since I can remember I have been trying to get JJ into a photo booth with me and take these type of tacky photos. Finally on February 19th this year we were at the museum with Luka and I spotted one. I think he indulged me because it was our anniversary. I don't know about you, but I love them.

Thank You Joey

I have this wonderful friend that is a very talented photographer - Jose Chambrot. He took the photos at our baby shower and they are beautiful. You can see them if you click here. For those of you that attended there are many gorgeous photos you might like...especially of some of your little ones.

If you would like Joey to photograph your next party or event send him and email at me@josechambrot.com.

Thank you again Joey for capturing the day!

Say Cheese

Finally....the photos from the trip have been sorted and organized. Since I didn't take too many photos I had to gather them from friends and family. We ended up with some really great photos that captured most of the things we did on our trip.

From going to the beach with family to build sand castles to shopping at Best Buy with Luka and let's not forget Luka's passion these days....watching for planes at MIA. This boy is really obsessed with planes, so much so that when we landed in Mozambique (mind you, the 3rd plane in 40 hours) he exclaimed, "Mami, I want to go on ANOTHER plane!"

Click here to see all of our albums.

Enjoy!

PS If you click on the image above it will become larger and you will be able to see that Miami is spelled out with all of our photos. Pretty cool, huh. Well it is very easy to do with a FREE program called Shape Collage. Click here to download it.

We are heading home...

Currently in transit from Miami to Maputo. We had a great time in Miami, but after 6 weeks we are looking forward to landing in our own beds in about 2o hours. I can't wait to catch everyone up on our trip....

I apologize for the lack of posts, but we didn't have a very reliable internet connection while in Miami. We were using the free wifi from the City of Miami Beach and it seemed like there we only a couple of hours a day when it would actually work.

More to come on the trip soon...

The Perfect Afternoon Lunch

My friend Wendy is the ultimate host and I have always been in awe of her parties. Well, this past weekend I was able to experience one her events first hand. She hosted a lunch in honor of....me! Thanks Wendy. The party and the details were amazing.

I also want to thank all the girls that went. We really had a great time catching up and making our own jewelry. Here are some of the pics and details:

Here you see Wendy at work...

The beautiful cake...

The beads for our jewelry making...

One of the bracelets we made (Lina's)...

When Luka arrived he joined in the fun too...

For more pictures from the day's festivities click here.

Happy Valentine's Day

This morning I woke up next to my two favorite boys in the world and with a kick in my belly and I couldn't help but think that this is the best Valentine's Day I have ever had. I didn't go on a romantic date with JJ or open a box of chocolates, but I spent the day with my favorite boys and some great friends.

We went to the zoo and got really close to some giraffes. It was amazing. I mean we have seen tons of giraffes in South Africa, but we have never been this close and have them feed from our hands...not to mention have them lick our hands and arms! Luka's face was worth every penny we paid to go to the zoo...PRICELESS.

We shared this zoo date with our friends Wendy & Brandon and then Wendy made a fabulous dinner. She even made felt hearts for everyone to wear...alla Julie & Julia...did you see the movie?

The Happiest Place on Earth...Even with the Rain

We spent the day at the Magic Kingdom and we had a great time despite the non-stop rain. Luka really got a kick out of all the characters and some of the rides. His favorite rides were Alladin's Carpet Ride and Dumbo. I think he rode those rides a combined 5 times!

But by far the highlight of the day was meeting Minnie & Mickey. He couldn't believe it. He was totally smitten with Minnie's kiss.

For more photos from our Orlando visit click here.

Baby van Herksen @ 25 weeks

Here is a photo of what our little one looks like at 25 weeks. I still think he or she looks like JJ...

We have come a long way baby!

OMG. I usually delete forwarded emails...but this one I had to take a moment and breathe...then laugh...then get a little angry...then laugh again. Can you believe this is an actual article from Good Housekeeping (May 1955)? It is amazing to see how far "we" have come in the last fifty years, but it just goes to show what kind of craziness women had to tolerate and deal with. My favorite ones are "his topics of conversation are more important than yours" and "a good wife always knows her place." Oh, but "take 15 minutes to relax and put yourself together before he gets home to look refreshed" is also a pisser!

I hope JJ doesn't get any ideas...I know you won't honey! But some of these things I already do, right?...ha ha ha.

If you click on the image above you will be able to see a larger version of the article.

Scenes from Miami

Photo: Luka at Annie's house....yes, this is at a friend's house. She has a professional playground at home!

I have been in Miami for over one week, and things have been a whirlwind. Running after Luka 24/7 has left little time for photos or downtime to catch up on the blog. He is asleep right now and I am awake...which is rare these days.

We have spent most of our time with family and friends in home, parks and the beach. We are saving all the extra special outings like the zoo, Disney, etc. for when daddy arrives in 8 days!

I have not taken out my camera once since I got here...yes, I know that is bad...but I haven't had the time or the hands for the camera. Luckily some friends have sent me photos and my father took some photos yesterday.

Here you see Luka at the St. Francis (my uncle's church) FunFest...he really wanted to get his face painted. He thinks it was a Spiderman...we didn't have the heart to tell him it was a baseball. Note: Luka had never seen a baseball.

This is Evan...my newest nephew! He is such a good baby:

Here we all are trying to play bingo...word to the wise...not a good idea with two toddlers. They just wanted to punch all the numbers and I couldn't keep track. It was very funny!

Help Haiti

Everyone can help. Please remember how lucky you are if you are reading this. There are thousands of people that are not as fortunate as us that are in dire need of our help:

To donate to the Red Cross click here.

Beware of the Lions & Poop

Recently a friend of mine traveled around Mozambique and came across this warning in his travels. I found it quite amusing and a little scary. Thanks Bastiaan for the photo!

I can't believe they referred to lion "shit."

If you click on the photo you can see it larger and read the memo.

21 Weeks

This week I went for check-up at the doctor and we took some pictures of the baby. We wanted to make sure we were both doing okay for the long flight ahead of us in just a couple of days. Luka and I (+baby) will be flying to Miami to visit la familia.

Well, here is Baby van Herksen. We still don't know if it is a boy or girl. I had to keep reminding the doctor NOT to tell me what it was. He knew right away...but I kept closing my eyes just in case I would see something that gave it away. JJ and I are really excited about the surprise. Do you think it looks like a boy or girl? Everyone keeps telling me they think it is a girl..but we have NO idea.

He/she was feeling a little social...in the photo you can see the baby sort of waving its hand. The doctor did say that it was a nice size baby and that I shouldn't expect a tiny baby at delivery....oh goodness! But we are both doing great. The baby passed all the tests we got an "okay" to fly.

My next post will probably be from Miami....

Luka's "Shape" Period

Many artists go through "periods." It is defined a phase in the development of the work of an artist, groups of artists or art movement. Well, I don't know if this is an art movement....But just as Picasso had his Blue Period, Luka is going through his Shape Period.

Recently we started learning and practicing shapes at home with games and on the chalkboard. Last week he wanted to paint the shapes and this is was the result. Isn't it great? In the first one you can see his attempt at making squares and the second painting is Luka's interpretation of circles. I think in this one he really let his creative juices flow and the result was an abstract face. Do you see it?

Well, we are very proud of our budding artist. Dad, this is especially for you since I know you love to see Luka's work.

For the record, Luka did EVERYTHING on his own except writing his name Luka on the paper.

New Friends New School

Luka started a new school this week. Due to scheduling issues we had to find him another school. We got lucky and he was able to join some of his friends at Nyoxani - a Mozambican/Portuguese Pre-School. One of his friends that goes there is Tendai. We met Tendai a couple of weeks ago and they are like two peas in a pod. Tendai is a little younger, but I think Luka likes acting like his big brother.

Here they are strutting their stuff and their backpacks.

Don't you love Tendai's boots?

For more photos from Luka's first days at this school click here.