Vale!

Hola la familia!

We cannot tell you enough how much we, especially Sofia, love all the blog posts! And we are very glad to hear that both Isabella and Cecilia are doing well after their respective surgery and food poisoning.

I am sorry about the attempted video posting of Sofia praying, bouncing, and dancing ballet. I believe it would not work because it was too long.

The latest update on our travels: we are currently in Madrid and are rounding up the last of our time in Spain. We left Salamanca on March 16th and traveled to Sevilla for a few days. Sevilla es que bonita! Tropical and sunny - our favorite combination! We arrived in Madrid on the 21st and will be here until April 4th when we begin our return journey to the United States!

Anyways, here are the latest pictures of the Lantigua's (mostly Sofia) from February and some March. Contrary to reality, Sofia looks sad in some of these pictures. She is unlike her cousin Isabella when it comes to hamming it up for the camera. She, like Cecilia, just likes to look at the pictures and videos of herself. :) Also, St. Patrick's Day is not celebrated in Spain, unless by the Americans in Spain, so unfortunately we totally forgot and did not wear green.

We begin with the most recent pregnant lady pictures. Everything is going well with the pregnancy thus far. The baby moves alot and I am definitely growing! It has been difficult to put on weight since I have been walking so much (I was finally able to weigh myself in Madrid), but you would never know looking at the rate my belly is growing.I am very excited though to get home and have my 20 week ultrasound (really at 24 weeks) with my midwife! It is scheduled for April 6th. Any guesses? Boy or girl?

19 weeks in Fatima (the sun was so bright I could not open my eyes)

22 weeks in Sevilla

And now we continue with February through March pictures

Here David was flipping through the channels one evening and came across a beautiful concert with a full orchestra on TV. Sofia was immediately mesmerized by the various instruments and then the ballet company that accompanied it!

Sofia's first trip on a public bus in Spain. She was very excited! She thought that the handicap sign on the bus was a robot.

The beautiful rose David gave me for Valentine's Day

I don't like this picture but regardless I wanted to share it. One morning when I was cooking omeletes with spinanch and cheese I came across this three leaf clover in the spinanch bag!

Sofia sleeping in one of her many strange positions.

Sofia calls this time "working like Daddy". She is very interested in doing everything like Mommy and Daddy!

When we were in Fatima, one of the shop owners gave Sofia a rosary as a gift. She told Sofia she could wear it around her neck like a necklace. Now I typically object to this but being that the I did not want to insult this woman, the customs are different in Portugal and Spain, and I know that Sofia does not mean any harm by it, I only let her wear this rosary. Thankfully, she wears it with reverence and does not play with it like she does my necklaces. Nevertheless, I think she looks very pretty in this picture.

One of our last weekends in Salamanca, the sun came out and we took Sofia to a big park. There was a pond nearby with ducks (the first she has seen since we were in Florida for Christmas!) and she kept saying, "Pond, like Joe-Joe, pan, duckies, like Joe-Joe."

I think these next couple of pictures are so sad because she looks so lonely sitting at the end of the slide. She misses her family and friends.

Sofia's tunnel. It is "shippery" (slippery)

Driving the boat which she thought had a hammock attached to it. She kept telling me, "Fia hammock, like Bella and Nana (Christina)."

This picture definitely needs explanation since she looks like Tarzan. We could see the moon, "la luna", from our front balcony one evening and I wanted to take her to the window to see it but she was naked (as she sometimes likes to run around after I change her from her clothes to her pajamas). So I grabbed her blanket and wrapped it around her and then took her to the window. She must have really liked this because now she will take the blanket, wrap it around herself (or ask me to), run to the window, and say "la luna!".

Brushing her teeth like a big girl

Her last time at the playground near our apartment

Surprisingly, in Salamanca there is a 50's Rock burger restaurant! We joked the whole time we were in Salamanca that before we left we should eat there. And we did! It was decorated with pictures of the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and many other artists from the 50's. We felt like we were in America again, especially with the huge picture of New York City on the wall, except when we read the menu......todo en espanol! Of course the burger selection also had to include a burger made with eggs and ham (yuck).

I just had to enjoy a strawberry shake with my burger! If you are going to splurge, do it right! Sofia totally agrees as she tries to get her straw in it.

"Angels are singing up there!"

Sofia fell into the table (behind her in this picture)and got her first big "bo-bo". Pobrecita! We had to put a band-aid on it and she was not sure what to think of it.

Sofia is quite the character and has come up with new ways to entertain herself lately. One particular afternoon she decided to wrap her bib around her head. When we asked what she was doing she replied, "Fia hat, Fia silly."

Sofia playing with dominoes. She was so impressed with the video of Cecilia building blocks that whenever she plays with her own she says, "Fia build tower like YaYa! Uh-oh!"

My attempt to get her to smile for the camera. I told her, "Sofia, show me your teeth!"

Sofia tends to make a mess of her clothes whenever she eats and I cannot let her eat shirtless because it is too cold in the apartment. So one evening, I put one of my dirty shirts on her and rolled up the sleeves for her to eat in. She was very amused!

Finally, here are a couple of pictures of when we checked out of our apartment in Salamanca. Here David is with the owner of our apartment, Pilar. She was a very sweet woman.

Good-bye Salamanca!

(Note: my bangs are not really this short...they got brushed to the side.)

Well that wraps it up! We might not post again on this blog (except some videos I want to share) until we get back to the states since we have so many blog posts to catch up on on our Salamanca blog before we leave in less than two weeks. So until our next post or conversation, we love and miss all of you! We can't wait to see the Tompkins in Florida for Easter!

Hasta luego!