Introducing Joana

Welcome to the world, darling, mommy and daddy were dying to meet you and now we are thrilled you are finally here in perfect health and cute as a button :)

Important facts about our little princess:

Full name: Joana Victoria Paulino Osborne

Nickname: Jojo

Date and time: Born on April 25th, 2008 (Portugal's National Freedom Day) at 7:07 in the morning (lucky number 7!!)

Sign: Taurus (two against one in the house now...go girls!!)

Weight and length - 7.12 pounds (3.2 kilos), 19.5 inches long (49.53 centimeters)

Hair - brown.

Eyes - possibly green but it is not clear yet.

Appearance - ADORABLE!

Mood - calm and easy going.

Early achievements - Doesn't cry much, likes to be talked to, and learned how to breast feed quite quickly. :)

Baby Joana's Butterfly Room

Here is our baby Joana's room.

There is obviously a picture of her closet that has more clothes than mine!! And yes,....lots of pink.

I will make sure that the next blog has her first pictures as she is getting ready to greet the world in about two weeks!!

And now Texas

Here is our new house in Terrell, Texas, about 20 minutes from Dallas. We are renting it for as long as we need until we find our dream home. And yes, that's our dog posing in front of the house...showoff!! We are excited to start this new stage of our lives in Texas and have a great feeling that raising our new family here will be a very positive experience.

Katrina's Aftermath

This is how most of the city looked, especially in the Lakeview area, Midcity, and the 9th Ward.

The kid carrying the kittens attends Jesuit High School, where I teach English and Spanish. The school was also affected with almost 8 feet of water and many teachers and students' families lost everything. Many of our students, though, were absolute heroes rescuing people and pets during and after the storm.

The Katrina woes

On August 28th, 2005 Katrina, a Category 3 Hurrican hit the Gulf Coast and affected New Orleans in a manner that will be remembered for ever. This was our house in Marrero, Louisiana all boarded up and ready for Hurricane Katrina. We were very lucky. W

e only had roof damage and the house did not flood at all. However, only a few blocks behind us, closer to the back of the neighborhood, many houses were flooded and seriously damaged. Amongst them, John's grandmother's house, Mawmaw O.

We went through Katrina at Uncle Terry's and Aunt Denise's house 25 minutes away from our house. Two weeks with no running water and one generator and LOADS of food taken from all the fridges of his relatives' houses in the neighborhood.

We are very thankful our house was spared...the same couldn't be said for the rest of the city though.

By August 31, 2005, this is what it looked like. 80% of the city was flooded, with some parts under 15 feet (4.5 m) of water. The city had gone through the worst disaster in recent history, but it pulled through, recovered and has risen for the water a better city.

Vacations in Portimao, Portugal

This post is to show the beauty of the scenery of my home town, Portimao, in Portugal. The pictures were taken on our winter vacation there.

To those who are gone

This post is in memory of my grandparents, John's grandfathers and my uncle João. The first picture is of my Uncle and Godfather João, who passed away last year; and the second one is of vovó Maria, who passed away about three years ago. I was unable to share my wedding and now the birth of my first child with any of my grandparents. I know, however, that they are watching from above and they will be baby Joana's guardian angels :)

Being Pregnant

Thank you to my "sissy" and my mother-in-law for organizing such a great baby shower. I was seven months pregnant and was able to see everyone in the family at this party. I had a great time!!

Jennifer had a cake baked with a butterfly which was the theme for the Baby Shower and also the theme for Joana's room.

The last picture has grandma Whitney and Ms. Pat (mother-in-law) tickling me from behind ahahaha!!

Our Wedding

Here are some of our wedding pictures. The first one was taken at my friend Danielle's house who offered her house for us to dress for the wedding.

The picture has my mother and father all dressed up and ready to give their "little girl" away.

The second picture has all my maids of honor: (from left to right - Kika, my best friend in Portugal, my maid of honor and an extraordinary person; Jennifer, my creative and beautiful sister-in-law; Sarah, my best friend in the US, and the funniest person of the group; and Jenica an incredibly loving friend.)

Then there is a picture of John and I dancing our first dance. LOVE THIS PICTURE!!

The fourth picture has my dad walking me to the limo to go to the church and gives a good shot of my beautiful wedding dress.

And lastly, the picture with all the bridesmaids and groomsmen. From left to right: Muggy, Jason, Jorge, Gary, Sammy, Dylan, Tyler, John and I, Sarah, Jenica, Jennifer and Kika.

Our Pets

Here is Ezra, our cat, who passed away three weeks after Hurricane Katrina. She was quite a territorial cat but very loving :)

And then there is our famous Ozzy as a puppy and during Christmas with Tyler. He is an 80 pound dog loved by all kids and adults. He is the best pet EVER!! Playful, goofy, protective, and very intelligent :)

Dauzat Family

This is Jennifer, my "sissy" (sister-in-law). I picked this picture because they all look so fancy and adorable. In the picture you can see Joey, her husband, Tyler on the left (11 years old) and Dylan on the right (6 years old).

Mom

This is John's mom, Patricia! Gorgeous!! She doesn't even look like his mom, does she?? This picture was taken at our wedding and she looks stunning in that dress (which I helped pick, by the way). We love you mom!!

It is difficult to imagine that this loving face could actually wear a cop's uniform, but it is true. Ms. Pat works as a police officer at the local jail in Gretna, on the Westbank in New Orleans, La.

I am lucky to have such an easy-going, fun-loving, caring mother-in-law.

Dad and granddog

John's dad, Johnny with our loveable dog. They LOVE eachother and this is how they hang out at our house. As you can see, the dog lies on the couch while dad sits on the floor...amazing, huh?

He is a hardworking welder in New Orleans, La. but his passions lie in the hunting and fishing world. In fact, if he could do that for a living, I know he would.

Paulino Family

Here is my mom, Victoria, my dad, Jorge, and my crazy brother Jorge Miguel.

Mom is an English teacher and dad and brother work together as lawyers.

My parents have been everything to me and I love them dearly. I respect them tremendously and hope to be half as good a parent to our new child as they were to me. Thank you for everything you have taught and for all the lessons I will still learn under your guidance. I was blessed to have you as parents.

My brother is unique :) He has a savvy, dark sense of humor and though at times he seems detached from the world, he has a heart of gold, he is incredibly intelligent and has turned out to be quite an exquisite cook.

John and I

This first post is to introduce our families. We included some of the people that mean the most to us. But first, my husband, of course, who I met in Kenner, Louisiana at a Sushi restaurant on April 19, 2001. I thought he was very attractive then and I think he is even more attractive now. He is my best friend and I love him dearly.