I hereby declare...

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen..."

I did it!  After 17 years, 1 month, and 2 days later- I took an oath of allegiance to be a citizen of the United States.  'Yay for me!'

I am so glad to join the blue passport team :)  And of course, I'm extremely excited to be able to vote!

My mom and I got to spend the day together, that made it that much more special :)

Sighing and Smiling

Oh, I heaved a great big sigh as I watched Joe guzzle down his milk from a bottle.  It was a beautiful sight to behold, since Joe had taken a 2 month hiatus in drinking milk from the bottle.  I've had a huge day working and this was just the kind of relief I needed to keep me going!

Joel's work was equally, if not more, exhausting.  Patients, papers, patients, papers, gotta have patience with the patients....arghh!!!  "I'm just trying to catch some air" was one of the first things he said to me when I picked him up at work.  I saw him do the sigh-smile combo while wrestling with Joe.  I guess that moment did it for him.

And before his litany of "ba-ba-ba-ba-ba" as I help him get to bed, Joe tends to heave a sigh.  I can tell he is happy and content as he talks out the day's events and sings along to his lullaby.  After a tough day of crawling, growing, and playing, he must be glad to get some rest.  

Relief in the form of a **sigh** comes naturally after doing a full day's work--so should a smile be equally appropriate after realizing all that you've accomplished.  Sighing out.

"3 for 3"

Days seem to crawl, yet weeks  seem to fly!  Today marks my 3rd day working for LBAA.  It seems like I have spent a lot of energy trying to get the big huge ball (of recruiting) rolling- and honestly, I think I'm still pushing it along to gain momentum!  

Also, Joel and I have been diligent about going on our weekly dates- and this is our

3rd week in a row to do so.  This romantic outing is made possible by his sister, Vanessa, who stays in our home with baby Joe while we go out.

A little tidbit about tonight's date:  We went to UNO's pizza in Bethesda- the same place where we had our first date!  We even got to sit in the same booth :)  The food was great, the company delightful, and to add cherry on top- our server thought we were only "dating."  When I clarified that, "Yes, I am waiting for my husband", he was taken aback!  He said he saw us holding hands and assumed we were only dating.  Ha!  Little does he know....

As for the last 3rd, it's hard to believe that we came back from the Philippines a month and a half ago- we came back on July 3rd to be exact.  I know you've heard of our trip, but now you get to see our trip!  FYI: baby Joe and I went to the Philippines for a month this summer for the Velasco family reunion.  Joel was not able to come this time because of work schedule.  Darn!  Maybe in three years?  

"NBOTB"

New Bears on the Block

It's tough enough to keep up with our lives, so, ironically, we thought we'd add the element of "blogging"- with hopes to tie it all together.

I am Kristine, "mama bear", and also the main blogger.  Hence, details of events you will read will be through my POV for the most part.  I am a stay at home mom, mostly occupying my days with household stuff with my favorites being budgeting and organizing :)  I also work for LBAA (Long Branch Athletic Association) as a recruiter of Volunteers and Director for their after school programs.  LBAA is a recent added adventure to our lives, and I'm really looking forward to the upcoming school year!

Joel is the "papa bear" of the home.  As of September, he will be working full time, taking 10 credits at UMD, still be a husband, and still be a dad.  With a full plate, Joel still makes time for the important things, namely, dating his wife, playing with baby Joe,  jammin on the guitar and practicing Kung Fu.  Needless to say, after a one year sabbatical, Joel is rearing for a great year at UMD to work on his Kinesiology major!

And finally, the reason most of you are probably keeping up with this blog, is Joseph, baby Joe, our "baby Bear"!  He will be one year old in October- and yet, in his young life, he has travelled halfway across the globe, crawled to forbidden places (i.e. under the bed), and eaten mysterious things (too mysterious to mention).  He is great little guy with a contagious smile!  His recent tricks include: standing up during bathtime and turning on the shower function, handing toys to share, cruising proudly with one hand, and feeding Dada some of his treats.

This marks the official jump off point for our blogging days!  Hope you enjoy getting a glimpse of our day-to-day because we sure enjoy living it moment by moment!