Summer's here

"Sun is shining, the weather is sweet;

Make you want to move your dancing feet."

{Bob Marley}

There is nothing sweeter than enjoying time with our girls on a sweet summer day.  They bring us so much pleasure, despite all the hard work we put into each day.  Lately, I've been travelling a bit for work.  It's been fun, but it's also been hard.  It's tough not to wake up to their mischievous little laughs in the morning.  They have both learned how to undress herself already and, no, this is not a good thing.  I have woken up many a morning to find them in bed playing with a diaper, with Zoe's little tush hanging out of her barely-on pajama pants...and what does she do?  She giggles when she sees me, and politely hands me the wet diaper.  Eva is no angel either.  She is a little ball of mischief and all play.  When it's time to get her out of the crib, she lunges back down to lay down, and pretends to go back to sleep!  She does this for a few seconds until she's good and ready to get up.  Oh the joy they bring me!

We've been in Florida now for over nine months; we can't say the transition has been easy, but we can say that we are finally in a good place.  We are in our own little home now, and can finally settle down.  The neighborhood is like one out of a TV show, where every knows each other by name, and neighbors welcome us with apple pie.  We are even blessed enough to be part of a golf community (even though, for now, we won't have the luxury of playing golf for some time).

Eva, trying to bring the tree in our backyard down, one branch at a time..

while Zoe contemplates whether to stay back or join in on the fun....

The girls love all the attention they get each time they meet someone new.  Eva lights up the room with her smile as she tries to charm every person she meets, while Zoe clutches onto us tightly, fearing we're going to hand her over to a stranger.  At the beach, Eva is fearless.  She threatens to jump out of our arms and into the water when we wade in the warm ocean waters.  Zoe, however, wails each time the water splashes onto her, and won't even put her feet down on the sand.  Despite being identical twins, our two girls have very distinct personalities.

Eva - playing with sand...can't get enough of the beach!

See Eva digging into the sand, while Zoe staying safely by mama on the blanket...

We are blessed to have such sweet daughters and love every minute of parenthood.  We are also very fortunate to have the help of my dear mom these days, who is staying with us in Florida for a while until we finish getting settled in.  She has the patience of an angel, and the girls just love playing with her, and being silly.  They are not used to being around others besides us, and just love the idea of having one more person to toy with and have chase them around the house.  Eva grunts every time she hops on her little ride-a-long so that someone will push her, even though it's been weeks since she learned to push herself along...   Zoe practices her bilingual skills with my mom, as she repeats every little word and phrase she hears.  There is so much love in our home these days.  Our girls are blessed, and so are we.

my little beach bunnies and their abuelita..

take time to smell the roses

Lately, our days have been one blur after another.  So many things have changed in the last few months, it's hard to keep up with everything.  All good things, I must add.  I started a new job in March, and shortly thereafter we were in the market for a new home here in Florida.  By the end of May, we had left our apartment and moved into our new house.  It's been one week since we moved in, and it seems not one minute goes by where we are not tackling an item on our to-do list.  

We were virtually fully unpacked in three days, which is quite an accomplishment, considering we have two little ones running amuck and begging us to chase them around in circles.  On Day Three, which happened to fall on Memorial Day, we enjoyed some time off outside and broke in the backyard with a quick family BBQ.  Eva and Zoe had never had watermelon before, but dug into their slices like pros and even joined us as we ate home-made cheeseburgers.  They love being outside and can't stop staring at the trees' leaves and their shadows as they sway in the warm breeze.

Slowly, we begin to settle into our new home.  The fear of living in a two-story home steadily subsides as the girls' enthusiasm over taking the stairs on their own fades and they willingly let us accompany them as they independently crawl up the stairs and scoot themselves down as we join them.  It amazes me how fearless they are.  They run through the living room without abandon when we tell them it's time to go upstairs.  The few boxes that remain unpacked are a constant reminder of all we have left to do, but to them they are mere objects they can pat and drum on to make their own music.  

We rush to get them to bed early enough so that we have time to do more, but they are on their own schedule and in no rush to get out of the warm bubbly bath they so look forward to each day.  In the tub, they are almost impossible to control.  Zoe cracks herself up as she balances herself on one leg while reaching for her toes, and repeating 'lingle lingle' in an attempt to say 'wiggle wiggle', which is what I do with my bare toes to encourage her to tickle them.  Eva will not sit up, and instead prefers to practice swimming moves as she lays on her belly and kicks her feet as hard as she can and giggles as she splashes all over us.  Together, they are my little yogi and little swimmer, though they have no formal training...

The day is over, but there is oh so much more left to do.  Every night since we've been here we have continued our day long after the girls' is over, and not gotten into bed a minute before midnight.  I've been immersed in organizing and decorating while Victor has slowly been learning the ins and outs of home repairs; he knocked down a wall to make room for our new fridge!  Together, we make a great team.  His carefree attitude balances my over-zealous expectations.  He reminds me of how far we have come, and of how much we have done.  He lets me know it is okay if everything is not always perfect, all of the time.

We have more than earned a night off.  Tonight is about soaking it all in.  We have been through so much over the last few years, and it feels so good to finally have arrived at such a good place in our life.  It is time to take a break from the chaos that becomes of our busy days, and simply enjoy the good things in life.  In time, our new house will become our dream home, and new memories will be made here.  For the meantime, I am just going to sit back and smell the roses...and count my blessings as each new day unfolds.