My 34th Birthday

It is 1AM as I type this. My birthday is officially over. But, it was a good first birthday in Brasil. I was greeted this morning in the kitchen with some Happy Birthday singing by my crew (minus Cass). They then presented me with some cards that Daddy had made with them (with their fingerpaints that they'd never used...what a treat). Then we were off and running to get dressed and ready to head to Goiania. We had a fun day planned there. And, I will just show you what we did in pictures...

Waiting at the Outback. Yep...good ole Outback.
Hadley being a little toot. We had to tickle her out of that. :) Sometimes it requires other measures of course, but this time some tickling did the trick.



Some shots of me and Hadley messing around.







My boy.
Hmm, what to eat? Our friends Carmen and Bia joined us for lunch...always so fun to hang out with them. They are a blast. They've lived in the states off and on for years now (hope to be moving back soon actually) and Carmen sat down and said, "Close your eyes...if you don't look around, it's like you are back there." So true. I know I'm supposed to be here and I really do like it here, but it's good to get a taste of home sometimes too. She's so funny...and can totally relate to me, even though she's Brazilian (she misses the states too).
Poor Hadley...the sweet little waitress apparently didn't notice that big display leaving my little girl out of the picture.
The staff singing to me. You actually have to show your ID here at this Outback to prove that it's your birthday before you get a free dessert. Funny huh? Oh, and yes, I was nursing Cass the whole time. Hee hee hee. I have no problems nursing in public (obviously), but it is a little weird if you think about it. :)
Eissa was so funny. I think she was a little freaked out. :) Look at her face.
Mmmm! Bia called it "perfection on a plate." :) It was dadgum good, I have to say.

Carmen, Bia, and Eissa enjoying their dessert.
We then went to the mall and walked around. Right before we walked in the mall, Joel told the kids what my present was from then and Grady told me "We're giving you sandals." That was the plan anyway, but they didn't have any of the kind I need. So, I got a book instead. That made me just as happy. It was so fun though...the kids were just thrilled about giving me a present. They get so very excited!
The children's section of the bookstore. This is my favorite part of Flamboyant (the mall). It's a GREAT bookstore. It's like walking into a Barnes and Noble in the states (yes, another taste of home). So fun to go in and sit on the couches with your drink from the coffee shop there and read. We've gotten to do that a couple of times. Ahhh. :)
Close-up of the cutest readers there. :)
Joel (in the white shirt at the counter) ordering my favorite coffee drink there at the bookstore...and yet another taste of home (and Starbuck's, but not quite). See why I like going to Goiania? :) It's rare that we go, esp. now that I'm not pregnant and don't have doctor's appointments there, but it's a nice little "vacation" when we do go.
The little girls...oh so tired.
Out cold. She fell asleep while we were still in the bookstore.
And then a glimpse at the cards they gave me.





My birthday was so great. Thank you family!! Thank you, Joel, for planning it all out for me and making it so special.

And a little business...FYI: We will be fasting the computer this week. So, if you need to get in touch with me, go to our website (EbersoleOnline.com), go to the 'contact us' page, and do what you need to do to reach me without a computer. Otherwise I will just be back online Saturday and will see you then.

I was going to have a post pre-prepared for each day scheduled to post automatically. But, I've changed my mind. There will be a very special post tomorrow and it will remain the only new post on the blog for the remainder of the week. I want everyone, even the people who don't check my blog every day, to get the chance to see it. So, stay tuned for that post and I'll see you back here on Saturday. Have a great week!

Mother's Day - The Rest of the Pictures

I told you we took a lot of pictures. But, it's time to move on. So, I'm just going to post the rest of them here. Get ready...there are LOTS to wrap it up with.

Also, today happens to be my birthday. Yep, I'm 34...moving on into the older digits, huh. We have a fun day planned. I'm sure you will be seeing pictures of it all soon. Have a great day!!








Just being goofy.
Cass going to sleep with her passy.
A look at my favorite restaurant here in Anapolis. The buffet.

The girls checking out the wine selection.
Notice the live music. It was really nice actually...he sang Brazilian stuff and also fun stuff like the Carpenters and other 70s hits. Funny thing though...we had to pay for it. Apparently that's common here...live music...customer pays. :)


It's so great having these kids, but so much work to actually go anywhere at this stage in their ages...esp. when they are getting tired. Just want to show some real pictures sometimes. They aren't smiling all the time. :)
Our kiddos crammed in the back seat. Grady and Hadley are sharing a seatbelt. Gillian, where are you gonna sit? ;)
I told the kids they need to be praying for a bigger vehicle the other night at prayer time before bed. Grady said he'd pray and it went like this: "Oh Jesus, we need a bigger car, O.K. God?" Cute. Enough said.
"We need a bigger car, Mama." :)
Where's the cat? :) Looks like a nice, cool place to rest.
Time for a nap, wouldn't you say?
The Mama and Cass photo shoot. I LOVE this shot of Cass looking up at me.







I got done asking for our picture to be taken and Joel passed out. I laid Cass down like this right beside him. He said she never made a sound, just eventually went to sleep.
This was a couple of hours later. We were about to wake her up actually so I could feed her before we went to church. Joel had gotten up about an hour before this...she just kept sleeping. She was out.

Look at that chub. I love the mouth and the little elbow dimples. ;)