90 Degrees + Little Baby = Goodbye Hair

I chopped it all off today. I just couldn't stand wearing my hair in ponytails every day. Plus, I'm at the postpartum stage of extreme hair loss. It's ALL falling out.


Anyway, I went in with a picture of this funky haircut that I absolutely LOVED. The ends were all choppy and the do a bit manga-esque. I came out with the same haircut I got while in college! I don't get it. The picture I took in at that time was completely different (and was different from the haircut they gave me then as well). I swear to god, no matter what picture I show them, I end up with the same two haircuts - "The Long One", and "The Short One". I thought it might be the language barrier, so I make sure to use visual aids now. Nope. It has nothing to do with language. My hair only can be cut two ways.

Luckily for me, I quite like the haircut (plus, I'm used to it). Alex's mother, however, apparently does not. She didn't say she didn't like it. She didn't have to. She didn't say ANYTHING. Not one word. Now, this is a dead give-away that you don't like something - when a friend does something drastic and you pretend you don't even notice it. C'mon! At least make a comment like, "Couldn't take the heat, eh?" or "Wow, you cut a lot off!" something! Acknowledge it, for god's sake. Its funny - people's futile attempts to be polite.

So, now I've got a short haircut. Next step: backyard with wading pool and freshly squeezed lemonade. Hey, one can dream, right?

P.S. If you don't like my haircut, you don't have to say anything just to "acknowledge it". I'm onto you. ;-)

Cure for the Big Blahs

I couldn't resist. This isn't the best quality, but I caught her laughing on film.

¡A la Playa!

We went to the beach yesterday evening with our friends, Bradford and Bea and their daughters, Julia and Anna. It was the first time Arabella touched sand. She seemed more interested in Anna's toys, though.

Since she's still too young for sunscreen, we were careful to go when the sun's bite wasn't as strong. We call Bella our "vampire child" since the bright sunlight makes her writher and squirm (I think she is truly meant to grow up in Seattle). At 6:30, however, it was still in the low 80's, so we spent our short visit there under a nice big beach umbrella while Julia ran around kicking up sand and causing the men to worry about their nice, clean cars.

After about 30 minutes beach time, we treated outselves to horchatas and made it home in time for a Alex to read a bedtime story.

All in all it was a nice, relaxing Sunday afternoon in Valencia.

What an Onlooker Sees

I've been waiting all week long for something interesting to happen, which would, in turn, give me a good story to post. Well… Still waiting... When I got to thinking, however, I realized that plenty has happened, just not to me.

I'm just going to give you a quick recap of the week through the eyes of an onlooker....Geoffy and some of his friends started a web series! It's called "Casanovas" and it's HILARIOUS! You can view it by following this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyPeptZd38w For those of you who don't know, my brother is a producer/director/writer/actor... I suppose a little bit of all down in Los Angeles. He and his buddies come up with some pretty funny stuff. Check it out. (p.s. I hope it's ok, Geoff, that I posted this pic here without permission) Arabella has entered into the "Try to Fit EVERYTHING in My Mouth" stage. She's also drooling non-stop. Guess those teeth are starting to push up. She made a new friend this week too (courtesy of Aunt Tammy)! Her name is Penélope and she's a bunny. The poor thing now constantly has wet ears.
On a sad note, one of my friends suffered a miscarriage this past week. This is now the THIRD friend of mine who’s suffered a miscarriage in the past six months. I too went through the same experience before I got pregnant with Arabella, and I know how difficult it can be. If one of your friends goes through this, make sure to give her plenty of extra squeezes, and just be there if she needs you. Even if she says she's fine - be there. It's a lot harder to go through than it seems.

Lastly, staying true to the onlooker I've been, I secretly (and very poorly, I might add) videotaped Arabella listening to Alex singing his version of "Boom Boom Ain't it Great to be Crazy": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj9OeP_I6jI. She LOVES this song (the original AND Alex's version). “AT LAST! MWUAH HA HA! BEHOLD the key to smiling for the camera and cranky moments!!!” It's true that we probably are a real sight as we walk down the street bobbing our heads and making overly animated faces as we sing. Whatever. Gotta abide by to the song.

Diaper Madness!

Hello, my names is Sarah and I'm officially a cloth-diaper junkie. "A what?!" you may ask. "Booze, I understand, it can have it's highs, but diapers?? Diapers stink. They hold pooh. They are yuc -ky!"

I bet you never even thought that one could LIKE diapers, did ya? Well one can. And I'm not the only one. There's an entire underground world here of families that use and LOVE cloth diapers, and I mean LOVE them (well, come to think of it, we may be teetering on the edge of an addiction) Yesterday, while Arabella was taking a nap, I "stumbled" upon the Goodmama diaper site http://www.thegoodmama.com/ whose owner just "happened" to be stocking her supply. I was in good company. At one point, just before this work-at-home mom posted her fluffy goodness, there were over 700 people "stalking" her site - 700 other cloth-diapering moms, hoping to score one of the most coveted diapers on the market. These are the Holy Grail of diapers. They sell out the second they are stocked. Women wait all day long hoping to score a beautifully decorated, extra absorbent, all natural, super squishy gem. After pressing "Refresh" like mad while the site is down, the games begin. It almost feels like that show, "Supermarket Sweep", but a virtual version. You just try to find any diaper that you fancy, and then starting hitting the "Check Out" button as fast as you can.

Once the chaos subsided, and I could, once again, feel my fingertips, I found myself with an empty cart. I didn't get the diaper I wanted (above), or any other diaper, for that matter, because the website crashed about a million times, and when I eventually got to the final stage of checking out, the "OUT OF STOCK" button appeared. GRRRR. Luckily, at that very moment, the Muttaqin site, http://www.muttaqinbaby.com/, home of Goodmama’s rival, and the other most desired diaper, stocked, and I was able to score three!

I know how crazy this sounds. Six months ago, I would have thought that these women are out of their minds. Well, maybe we are, but we’re sure having fun!

If you're interested in cloth diapering, check out the site: www.twoweekwait.com/preg/community/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=55

From Monterey to Valencia

So, my mom left last Tuesday, but instead of mourning her departure by sitting around eating the two tons of jellybellies she brought me, I was jolted out of my potential stupor with a rush of visits all in one week! It's funny how things happen that way. I can go months without a real social engagement to plan around and then, BOOM! I can hardly fit everything in. Love it!



First we were graced with the company of beautiful Autumn and her husband, Jaimeson, who are on their honeymoon, travelling the world. I do mean "the world" they've been on the go since January. They were here with us for a couple days and we spent the time strolling around through the city (with Arabella in tow, of course) and just doing some good old fashion hanging out. Phoebe will be happy to know that they also did their fair share of tooting Portland's horn.

Two days later, a bunch of fellow ISMers showed up here in Valencia eager to meet the new little Polo Bunch. Two of my very first kindergarten students, Suraya and Izzie, along with their moms, Marie and Melinda, and Izzie's big sis, Jacque, landed in Valencia for a quick visit and some super speedy catch-up time. Has it really been five years? My, oh my how quickly time goes by. We were also spoiled with some beautiful baby gifts, and Marie was even able to bring me the soul and spirit of two other crazy partners in crime from good ol' Monterey, Taylor and Esther. Thanks again for the wonderful goodies!


What a week! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of anyone! Can you believe that?? I was so busy, I forgot to pack the camera. GRRR! Of course I can post a picture of Arabella, though. We all know that she's the real reason anyone ever reads this blog anyway!

"I'm Learning so Much from You!"

My mom left yesterday and we are all sad around here. We spent a fantastic three weeks together singing silly songs, making faces, and getting down on the floor to do some tummy time.

Arabella learned many new things from her like the song, "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". She also did her fair share of teaching as well. She went over the complexities of how to stick BOTH hands in your mouth at the same time, how to do the robot dance and she taught her the basics of back crawling. My mom was constantly amazed by these complicated maneuvers.

Now we’re back to “lo normal” once again, so I have to start getting used to doing all the chores that my mom took over while she was here. DOH! I’m not looking forward to changing that damn cat box.

Thanks, Mom, for such a great visit! We love you!

Simply Divine

Two weekends ago we all packed up the cars and went to visit a monastery in Sigena, Spain where Alex's sister, Irene, is a nun. It was Irene's first encounter with Arabella and it was divine. My mom loved meeting Irene and was very interested in how the sisters live, what they do, etc. Their way of life is very different from the nuns that most of us imagine: singing, wearing black and white and helping unfortunate souls. These sisters do sing and believe that they help unfortunate souls, but more through prayer than action. Their days are mostly spent in solitude. They work silently, eat silently and silently pray. They are more like monks than nuns, hence the term "monastery" rather than "convent".

Alex's mother is a devout catholic and, although she is obviously proud to have a daughter as a nun, it is also quite clear that she misses her daughter madly. Visiting her is always bitter sweet, and now with her new little niece, it was a very emotional time.

It was nice to get out of the city and be around the bugs, birds and stars for a few days. Arabella, of course, was a little angel. The habit scared the bejesus out of her at the beginning, I think, but she bonded with her Tia Irene before the weekend was up.

It was, what I would call, a "religious experience".