Allie in the South of Spain

It recently got super hot again here in the south of Spain. I should never be surprised when it reaches scorching temperatures since it happens every year but I am always shocked by just how damn hot it gets. You want to know why the siesta exists? Come to Andalucia from May until October. It is just too warm to be outside between the hours of 11am and 8pm. So people are up later when it cools finally off and then sleep a bit during the afternoon. There is no other way to do it. The babies and I have been waking up earlier and going outside with Cooper to the park by my house in the morning before 10am. That way we get some time outside, he gets some exercise and we are back in before it starts to heat up too much. I appreciate at this point that they are still little and we have lots to occupy our time indoors. Kids are still in school here until the end of the month but I remember last year how unbearable it got where I was working. Thank goodness for the beach and pools! Speaki...

My freshman year of college I decided to join a sorority for many reasons I won't get into here. I dragged my then timid roommate to a meet and greet event so I wouldn't have to go alone during spring recruitment. I was immediately drawn to one table and the sisters that were there. After talking to them for a while and hearing a bit about the sisterhood I decided to go to the events being held at the Sigma Sigma Sigma house. I was there for one night before I was hooked. Joining Tri Sigma was one of the best decisions I made during college. I made some of my best friends through my sorority. It became a family and a home away from home while at college.  I took full advantage of everything this group had to offer me. As they say, you must give much to receive much. I lived in the house after studying abroad and later with more sisters my senior year, I served in various leadership positions throughout the semesters, had the best family tree, worked hard at the annual Gre...

We have survived three months!!!! I feel like we should get some kind of prize. Not that having these two adorable babies isn't a prize but having twins is tough. Having one baby is hard so two, you can imagine. This is the last month that Jose works late every day so I have been counting down the days until he is home at 300pm. Even if it isn't just to have an extra set of hands to help (which will be nice), I am looking forward to having another adult to talk to during the day. Because you can't have an update without a sleeping picture The girls are doing well. They are eating more and getting bigger. Vera weighs 4 kilos 600 grams and Laura weights 4 kilos 300 grams. We have had a lot fewer doctors' appointments but did get their vaccinations. Laura had her surgery at the beginning of the month and it went great. Her belly button looks good and she had no complications.  Staring intently  In the last month Vera and Laura have started responding a lot m...

Recently I asked my Facebook friends for suggestions for books to order for my girls and I got a lot of good ideas. Of course I remembered some of my favorites from my own childhood but was also looking for any new books that people have enjoyed reading with their kids. I have placed a few orders for books from Amazon and am discovering my preferences as a mom who will be reading and re-reading the same books over and over. Because of this, I have decided to create some posts here on my blog to review the books that I like and those that I don't (I have found that a lot of books that are considered classics really aren't that great). Maybe it will someday be a resource for other new moms looking to create a library for their baby. I love this book!!!! You need it in your life. The first book that I have chosen to write about is one that I had never heard of, I think because it might be British and might not be popular in the U.S.? But I LOVE it. Why did no one recommend ...

Last summer Jose and I did a bit of traveling even though we didn't leave Spain. July and August are unbearably hot in Seville and it is miserable to have to stay locally so we decided to get away for a while. I never actually wrote a blog post about the trip we took to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands for a week in August of 2015, so here it goes.  Las Palmas is the capital city on an island called Gran Canaria in this Spanish archipelago. After a two hour flight from Seville we landed in paradise where we stayed in a hotel right on the Canteras Beach which is famous for tourists. It was actually a lot less busy than I expected it to be which was nice. Our hotel wasn't anything fancy but it was separated from the ocean only by the long promenade or boardwalk which ran the length the beach and which we enjoyed strolling down in the evening. There were tons of restaurants and bars around us within walking distance. View from our hotel One thing we always enjoy doing wh...

This summer we are headed back to Michigan to see our family and friends! Yay! This means a trip which consists of three flights and almost an entire day of travel with our twinfants. No! The plus side of traveling with them at what will be four months old is that we don't have to pay for seats on the airplane. The down side being that they will be in our laps for lots of flight hours. I am seriously praying that they behave and don't cry the entire time. Hopefully they will sleep. Please let them sleep. For reals. Anyway, it will have been two years since we have been home by the time we get there this summer. That's a long time. To give you an idea, I have a niece who will be turning one who I haven't even met yet. There are a lot of positives about living abroad and the south of Spain is a beautiful place but often times it sucks because you miss big life events. Most recently has been a couple weddings for both family and friends. I hate it and adding little ones...

The last time we went to the neurologist we were told that we really needed to do lots of tummy time with the girls since they hadn't been lifting their heads when she did part of her examination. Luckily for us they don't exactly hate it (like I have heard from other people whose kids would just cry the whole time). They do tend to fall asleep though. I am hoping that this isn't a sign of things to come in terms of their development, hopefully they will catch up soon. It is interesting, however, to see changes over time. I am going to sort of ignore the milestones at this point but the best thing so far is seeing them both start to smile in reaction to us. Laura started first and now Vera will smile when she hears our voices or sees something she likes. It is enough to make your heart melt. We have also been wondering if our girls will have blue eyes or not. Their eyes are not the same color (surprise, surprise since they don't look anything alike). ...