Baby's Nursery + 3rd Shower!

I was supposed to continue with the Summer 2010 update, but I will probably move on...

Dave and I are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Baby S. (scheduled for October 23). We are ready (as ready as we can be)! Here are some pictures of Baby S.'s nursery. I guess if you want to find a "theme," it'd have to be "Dots, Letters, Numbers and Fun Colors." Is that a theme? I don't know. But we like it. We hope Baby S. likes it too since that is where he/she will be moving after upgrading from the tiny studio he/she has been living for the past nine months!

My sister Tere (Tia Tere) painted this cute bear for the room.

My mom made the curtain valance and the matching pillow cases.

The wall decorations were made by yours truly (found the idea online, since I'm not very creative).

Changing table + shelves.

I love the little picture friends!

On another Baby S.-related note, we were blessed by yet another Baby Shower! The first one was back in late July, given by wonderful friends and family. Then, in early September, Dave's friends from University Park Elementary, gave us another one and showered us with tons of gifts! Yesterday, came Shower # 3! Dave's friends at Hyattsville Elementary, gave us more gifts, love, and an amazing cake! Here is a picture of my mom (who arrived here last Friday) and me opening their generous gifts! We are extremely blessed to have so many people who love us and our baby!

Summer 2010 Recap - Part I

It is confirmed... I'm a horrible blogger! Oh, well. Here is my attempt at giving a little review of our summer.

In late June my friends threw me a wonderful Baby Shower. It was earlier than usual (8th month I guess), but I wanted my mom to be a part of it so we had to do before July, 4th when she left. Many wonderful ladies came and they truly showered me and our little one with tons of gifts and love!

Naajie, Becca & Janet holding baby Charlotte

Jane (fellow Towson graduate), Maggie (my wonderful mentor) & Sheila (adopted mentor)

My sweet friend Jan (another Towson casualty, I mean graduate)

Jane together with Lauren and Lori, who are both expecting too!

Bobbi y mi mama :0

There are way too many gift pictures. Here is one representing the rest.


In late July we had a blast spending a weekend with some very cool friends in Massanutten, VA. The Wilcox and Marcantonio families spent a week at this gorgeous resort and decided to have a little more company (in case they were getting bored with all five kiddos) and invited us and the Averills. We were blessed with very nice weather, a refreshing pool and ice cream. What else could you ask for? Their cool company, of course!

Annie and Cara holding baby Nate and Esme

The dads at the ice cream place

Emma and I reading a story

Not many people probably remember, but this summer was the Soccer World Cup. Remember? South Africa? Argentina NOT winning? There you go, now you remember! In any event, we did have fun watching games with the Campins and the last sad game against Germany with my bro-in-law and his sweet baby girl Lulu.



Lulu waving the Argentina flag.

This concludes the first installment of Summer 2010 Recap. Who knows, I may write the next one before Thanksgiving!

Auto Nuevo

Despues de pasar cuatro meses compartiendo un auto, Dios nos dio la oportunidad de comprar una hermosa van al estar anticipando la llegada de Baby Spitzberg. Vivir en las suburbias de Washington, DC hacen casi imposible vivir sin auto, asi que estamos mas que agradecidos por el nuevo (para nosotros ya que es usado) auto. Aca estan un par de fotos en la puerta de la concesionaria.

Reviving the Blog

In an effort to inform friends and family of what we are up to, I'm reviving this blog. Our first child will be arriving in October (yeah!!) and I have a hunch we will be taking many pictures of him/her. I hope this will be a media to share about our lives and our small, but growing family. As way of review, this is what we've been up to:

* Back in September 2009, we moved into our very own first home!



* Dave, his mom, and I went to Argentina for one week (in March) to celebrate my niece, Jimena's, 15th birthday.



* My mom came back with us to stay for 3 months (we miss her so)



* I graduated from Towson with an Elementary / Special Education Degree (very grateful to God for having accomplished this goal)





* Dave is getting in touch with his inner Hispanic man and joined a Latin band (The Mauricio Valerde Band) - Mama Carmen is in the picture because she is an honorary member.



* Our niece Lulu is growing and getting even more incredibly sweet, smiley, and just too darn cute! - Here she is showing off her hula skirt to celebrate her dada's birthday.



* Our baby is growing...



As you can see we are living a full, blessed life.

We are here and are moving...

Sorry for the long post hiatus (thanks Janet for the shoutout). The reason for the lack of posting is two-fold. The main contributor (aka Dave) has his own blog and abandoned me. If you want to catch up with his own adventures, here is the link. As far as me, I've been working on our new Mac blog and have taken too long to figure things out. But, I'm glad to announce that the new blog is up! So from now on, you can read about our lives here.
Amigos y familia, hemos cambiado nuestro blog y desde hoy van a tener que visitarnos aca: http://web.mac.com/daspitz/Site/Blog/Blog.html. Esperamos que les guste el nuevo estilo de blogear!!

The Lady of Song

If you have never heard of Ella Fitzgerald you are missing out on an amazing jazz singer!! Talk about scat! Dave and I had the privilege of going to see Ella at Arena Stage. Unfortunately, tomorrow is the last show and they are sold out, so if you hadn't seen it you've missed out :(

But, we had a wonderful time. The woman who played Ella is extremely talented. I had goosebumps during most of the show.
I am so grateful for all the opportunities we get to experience art in this area: museums, theaters, free events... DC (well, Virginia in this case since Arena's temporary home is in Crytal City) has a lot to offer and you can make some cool memories! So, go ahead go to DC and have fun!








El viernes, Dave y yo fuimos a ver el espectaculo Ella en un teatro en DC. Ella es un show basado en la cantante de jazz Ella Fitzgerald, que es increible! La actriz/cantante que interpretaba a Ella es impresionante, se me ponia la piel de gallina cuando cantaba!
Vivir tan cerquita de DC es buenisimo porque siempre hay shows para ver y sin tener que gastar mucha plata. Por empezar los museos son gratis, despues siempre hay eventos a bajos precios o gratis. Como Dave trabaja en el verano en la colonia de vacaciones artisticas en Arena Stage, nos dieron dos entradas gratarola!! Bueno, si nunca escucharon a Ella Fitzgerald, no pierdan mas tiempo y bajense una cancion o comprense todo un CD! Vale la pena!

Dia de San Valentin & Eclipse Lunar Total

Simple, sencillo, sin mucha fanfarra. Asi fue nuestro primer Dia de San Valentin como casados. Y es la mejor manera que lo podriamos haber pasado! La noche anterior yo decore nuestro depto. con un poco de guirnaldas con corazones y diferentes notas para Dave diciendole como lo quiero, lo agradecida que estoy que Dios nos trajo juntos, etc. Todo muy sweet (casi empalagozo, pero esa es la naturaleza del dia, vio?). Despues me fui a trabajar como todos los jueves, y cuando volvi del trabajo, Dave me estaba esperando como un gran asador, haciendo vacio y chorizos! Que genio! Lo mejor de todo esto es que Dave tuvo que comprar la carne en un almacen latino con un chico que no habla ni j de Ingles. Parece que se arreglaron bien. Dave me conto que le dijo a Jose: "Um, yo mira" (indicando que queria ver la nerca antes de comprar!). Despues yo prepare una "mixta" y a festejar! Ah, tambien me regalo unas hermosas flores, y una tarjeta de I-tunes para bajarnos buenas canciones! Yo le regale un libro sobre el "otro" Steve (Wozniak) que creo el imperio Mac! Obviamente, Dave estuvo muy agradecido. Como veran, si no fuera porque nosotros creemos en Jesucristo, mi maridito tendria un altar con una manzana y la foto de Steve Jobs!

Zoom en el asadito

En otras noticias, ayer (miercoles 20/2) hubo un eclipse lunar total a eso de las 10 y algo de la noche. Supuestamente se podia ver desde los dos hemisferios, asi que ustedes alla en el Sur me cuentan si lo vieron, OK? Nosotros tratamos de sacar fotos y obvio no salieron muy bien. Pero estuvo bueno ver el eclipse. Yo nunca habia visto uno.

Aca es cuando empezo...

Cuando estaba por terminar ...

Una vez que toda la Luna estaba cubierta por la sombra (o penumbra, no me acuerdo cual es cual), ya no podiamos sacar fotos. La Luna se volvio como rojiza o violetiza (existe esa palabra?).

Bueno, voy a tratar de postear mas seguido, despues de que cierta persona, amiga mia que no quiero nombrar (ejem, Ceci) me escracho como a de la Rua en el 2001! Asi que ya estare posteando en que andamos.

Generosity, wii on the Road, Birthday, Mari, & Brew Crew

Right now I (Dave) have a heavy heart ... whatever that means. I am just aware of friends who are experiencing pain and loss that I can't comprehend. Below is a recap of our weekend ... it is a little random and brief. I guess I'm writing this intro more for me, but for all the things that are written below, I think it's important to remember who God is and what He has done. I want to remind myself that God exists, He sent His Son to die for my sins, and that He rewards those who seek Him. God has been very good to Mari and me this week, and I need to remember that His goodness is not dependent on cool gifts or fun weekends.

Due to the generosity of my Mom, Mari and I were able to avoid transferring to windows vista. We purchased a new apple iMac. Thank you Mom for this great gift!!!! We also used gift certificates that we received from my Dad's friends. Back in July my Dad threw a party for Mari &myself. The people who attended also contributed to our new iMac. So, thank you Dad and V also for throwing the party!

Here's my cute Mom w/ a great smile. We had lunch together at Panera after Church.

Here it is ... Mari likes the screen savers.

On Friday Mari and I headed over to Gene's house to hang out and play the wii.

Here are two of God's great creations ... the wii and fire.

February 9th was my Dad's birthday, but Mari and I drove up to see him on Sunday. We had a great time.

My Dad plays the saxophone and I teach trumpet, so we played "Old Joe Clark," a song my students performed at a recent concert.

Mari and Cleo pose for the camera.

One of the cool things about my wife is that she irons our sheets ... and pillow cases.

One of the women in our Care Group has a niece who has cancer. Just wanted to solicit your prayers for the Brewer family.

Weekend Update ...

Friday night before the ONE meeting we had our Care Group over for wii and bring your own dinner.

Here we see Jason, Juliana, Hye Joon and Scott playing tennis.

Here is Annabel watching tennis. She took a break to give everyone an opportunity to play.

On Sunday I had the privelege of playing drums w/ Roger and John.

This is me wishing Mari was with me.

Representando a Argentina!!

Most of this post will be in Spanish, so pick up a dictionary and enjoy!!

Ayer Dave y yo fuimos a ver un partido de basketball. No cualquier partido, sino que los Spurs de San Antonio, con el grande Manu Ginobili (y tambien Fabricio Oberto!). Que forma de representar a la Madre Patria!! Estaban jugando con los Wizards de aca (Washington, DC).

En fin, conseguimos las entradas re-baratas porque era "college night" - noche universitaria. Estabamos donde el diablo perdio el poncho, pero la vista no era mala y el partido y la emocion eran las mismas. En las fotos pueden ver donde estabamos nostros en comparacion con la cancha.

En fin, la pasamos barbaro. Yo me fui vestida con ropa comun pero en la cartera me lleve la camiseta de Argentina (obvio). Llegamos a nuestros asientos y este pibe tenia una cara de Argentino que lo mataba. Me mira y me dice: "Vos sos de Argentina?" "Obviously", le conteste! Me puse la camiseta y a empezar a alentar el equipo que aca representa el Estado de la "Estrella Solitaria (Texas)", pero que para cada Argentino presente nos representa a nosotros. Asi que entre el pibe Argentino (que se llama Ignacio - te mando saludos se lees esto) a gritar con todo y a tratar de sacarle una foto al jugador que nos hace tan orgullosos! "Dale Manu!! Aguante Manu!!" Dave no se junto a los cantitos, el hinchaba por los Wizards. Amargo!! Pero igual lo quiero!!
Bueno, Manu se paso todo el partido. No anoto muchos tantos, pero le hizo unos pases increibles a Duncan que es este morocho que mide mil metros! En la segunda foto lo pueden ver a Manu haciendo un tiro libre. El partido fue y vino toda la noche, siempre estaban a unos 2 o 3 puntos de diferencia. Hasta que llegaron los ultimos minutos del partido. Los Spurs se pusieron las re-pilas y la defensa de los Wizards se fue a dormir or algo asi! El partido termino 77-85. Mi marido quiere que clarifique que lo que desalento a los Wizards fue un foul que fue mal cobrado en contra de ellos. Pero cuando llego el final, los Spurs ganaron y los Wizards perdieron. A llorar a la Chacarita!! :)
Bueno para mi fue mas que un partido, no se me dio un sentido de Argentinidad muy grande (musiquita de fondo con bombos y todo!). Fue re-lindo estar viendo a dos Argentinos triunfando en la NBA. Lo mejor tambien fue hablar con otros Argentinos, ya que no tengo la oportunidad de hacer eso muy seguido. Cuando salimos del estadio, este chicho Americano, me dice: "Great shirt! Me encanta el futbol Argentino y los Spurs!" Yes!! Y despues como para terminar la noche con broche de oro en le medio de la calle M, un grupo de Argentos con banderas y remeras sacandose fotos! Asi que Dave y yo nos sacamos una foto con ellos tambien. Si estan leyendo esto les mando saludos! Es una familia militar que estan aca por dos anos. Esperamos poder juntarnos y hacer un asadito por estos pagos.
Bueno, fue una muy linda experiencia! Ahora hay que esperar hasta Septiembre cuando empieza la temporada de futbol ya que los D.C. United (el unico equipo del estado, si uno por estado solamente!) compro a Marcelito Gallardo!! Asi que obviously, los vamos a ir a ver! Bueno, eso es todo por estos pagos. Esperamos que esten disfrutando el verano, nosotros no estamos teniendo unos dias muy frios que digamos. Aguante el calentamiento global!! Just kidding! (de mentirita!)


Short summary: Dave and I went to see the Spurs against the Wizards, primarily because Manu Ginobili (great player) is from Argentina. So is Fabricio Oberto, but he's not as famous or good. We had a wonderful time. For me it was more an "Argentina" game. I guess it was the same for a bunch of other people, who were there representing our country with jerseys and flags (like the family in the picture). The Spurs won 85-77. My husband wanted me to make clear that the the ref made a bad call on the Wizards towards the end of the game and that demoralized them. All I have to say is tough! So that you can see how my hubby spoils me even when I cheer for another team, look at the "rock" he got me. It shines in the dark! Just like the man who was selling them said: "Bling, bling, bling, men make sure where your lady's at!" Here are the pics of Mr. Bling and myself showing off the rock!

My man will always know where I'm at!