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Lucky number 13 was quite a ride, just not the one I thought it would be.
I believe the way we rang in the New Year should have been a clue that this would be a relatively calm one.
We started 2013 the same way we ended its predecessor, in front of a fire place on a llama farm in Asheville surround by 3 of or 4 kids.
We fulfilled Eli’s dream to be a llama farmer.
and managed to convince the animals we were one of them.
We even squeezed in a visit with our NC cousins.
Then it was back to sunny SOFLA for my gorgeous niece’s wedding
My girls are the non-gansta’ ones.
and then began what would be the theme of the year, BABIES!
Noah – waited 42 weeks and 3 days to make his grand entrance. His mama fought the “law” and won, delivering naturally with one of our back-up hospital practices.
and Maximus 2VBAC at home. I had the pleasure of attending both VBACs.
While I am sure you get the point, I can’t help but share this little man. Born more aware than some grown-ups I know.
Calder was one of 3 babies born in 16 hours. They had perfect timing and I made every single one.
and that was only January.
February brought about about my biggest babies 22nd Birthday
More baby-babies, and an amazing opportunity were born.
(This one has generally been a secret by contract)
The staff of The Palms Birth House was contracted to make a pilot for a docu-series (just a classier name for reality show.) At the very first filmed birth we had another very first. Two babies born in side by side rooms within minutes of each other. It made great footage.
March was filled with music. We attended the Winter Music Conference and even got a ride as VIPs on the Red Bull party boat.
and then of course… more babies
April brought the opportunity to see the documentary about birth legend Ina Mae Gaskin and see her speak in person.
We also got to eat tacos out of a truck. It was awesome
Then celebrated Zach’s 42nd birthday by taking a cruise without children. If that wasn’t enough of a gift, he got to deal with me on oversized drinks and my win at all costs personality during cheesy cruise ship game nights.
May brought more babies and more filming and the show got a name!
In May I got a new car, I call it my 5th child. The fur-kids love it too!
and The Palms celebrated our 1 year anniversary of babies, babies babies!
Daphne choose July as the month to cut off all her hair for donation.
and I bought a bus…
you can read what THAT is all about here but in short it is a mobile unit for prenatal care to the underserved areas of South Florida.
Then the yearly trip to Bimini where I got to do this!
and Lorie and I got some much needed time off:
In August ELi got his first paying job! yeah….
I got to play with more babies,
and I celebrated 10 years as a Florida Licensed Midwife! (with a shell of course)
September was a blur of birthdays that led straight in to Halloween, or so it felt.
I celebrated my 10th annual 29th birthday on Noveber 21 with friends. 
and Thanksgiving with (most of) my family
New Year’s Eve also meant our 15 year anniversary. So a quiet dinner and then out to party with the rest of the world.
Zach is still learning to smile with his braces.
It was a pretty cool year. My lucky number 13 didn’t disappoint. As for the TV show there wasn’t enough table throwing I guess/ But we are still working on it. Happy 2014!
Yes I am late in posting my year in review. It wouldn’t be authentically me if it had been on time. I warn you…It’s a year worth of events.
January 2012 (and our anniversary is Dec. 31) was brought in with my extended family in Havana, Cuba. I was like a kid in a candy store with all the beautiful cars.
El Moro by night as we left the Festival de la Virgen.
In February I became the mother of an “official adult” when my son turned 21.
Can you tell?
March was full of babies, and we got a write up in The Sun Sentinal:
I also took up the ukelele
and bought a giant flamingo… all on the same trip to Gainesville
April meant a trip to NYC to help a friend move and follow his dream of being a NYC comic on late night…. well we got to walk by it anyways.
I got back just in time to celebrate my husband’s, Zach, 40th. What a party animal!
May meant more babies…
Oh I won $300 on a $3 bet and walked away with it!
and we started Fondle Flamingo Friday
June brought the official state licensing of our Birth Center and our First baby was born June 22, 2012, followed by another 2 hours later!! all on my dad’s birthday!
Of course I missed the first birth at the center since I was at the home birth of that gorgeous little girl!
Then off to Bimini for the offical celebration of my hubby’s 40th as well as that of the highschool gang reunion.
No matter how many times I see it, I can’t believe the view from my parents back door.
We even went in search of dolphins. All we found was lot of empty beer bottles and a nasty sunburn.
It was awesome hanging with the old gang (of which I am youngest,) and was hard to leave.
Although my office staff claims I never really came back, whatever that means…
Lucky me, I returned 2 weeks later for our annual 4th of July in Bimini. Where we show our love for our country, by blowing up a little piece of another.
I dragged my business partner along for the ride,doesn’t she look disappointed?
It was a trail run for our big October trip to Bali. Except this time, we let the boys join us too.
Here is a rare picture of my dad. He is anti-camera.
Then it was back to the States and the Birth House for some more babies. They are lucky they are cute and lovable, or I’d never come back!
Then in August I was off to exotic New Jersey for my nephew Scott’s wedding. I think he was a little afraid of the crazy Cuban side of the family getting a little out of hand. It all started out very classy.
But after one too many of these…
We stole Donald Trump’s golf cart
then had a little more of this
Then I danced in the Trump fountain (I was told that he hates that)
THe next day’s photos aren’t nearly as cute….
September. Ah… two birthdays. Eli turned 13 and Ella 9. Also Ella and Daphne started “real school.” They are loving the Montessori program.
We also rescued 13 kittens from an irresponsible crazy cat lady. 10 survived and were all place in great homes. One with us.
Death by kittens
and of course, more babies
September also hatched a plan to raise money for Bumi Sehat (the clinic in Bali we were to visit) by wearing horse heads.
We put out the call and $25 at a time we raised $2500. You can read a little more about Bumi here. http://www.facebook.com/bumisehat (their main website is down right now)
Then just 14 days before our departure a huge glitch, our flight was canceled, and we had to scramble to find a flight. Note: travelocity SUCKS! After 7 hours on the phone (no exaggeration) we got new tickets through a different agency. The route was screwy but at least we would get there. By the way, this is all doom and gloom for someone that is afraid to fly.
As we prepared for Bali, October 2nd brought great news that our newest family member was born.
and then came the day!
A late night run to cash a check, since I had forgotten to get out money to take, and a farewell Bula with my man and off I went!
After 37 hours, a stop in Houston, Moscow, and Singapore
we arrived in BALI!
You can read all about our adventure in my previous posts, but you probably don’t care. Although it did involve a naked plane passenger on our return flight.
I returned just in time for my favorite holiday Halloween. Because I had to costume shop in Bali, we went with a Hindu theme.
November brought the Presidential Election. I pledged to drive anyone who needed a ride to the polls. I even drove a republican. Of course, I gave her a slow ride and a long speech.
In November I also I celebrated my 9th annual 29th birthday.
and then again a few days later, as my sister and I had a joint party, her birthday is the 17th, mine the 21st.
Of course our littlest birthday girl turned 7 on the 26th. But poor Daphne was sick on her birthday, so we stayed home and made scarfs our of old t-shirts.
and then on the last day of the month Lola came home to live with her new family.
December…
First off if you are still reading this you are either very bored or a psych major taking notes for your dissertation.
We welcomed a very special baby on 12.12.12 (her mommy is part of the Palms family)
Santa visited the Birth house
And we had our family Noche Buena (Cuban Christmas eve) celebration.
Then off to Asheville to celebrate the New Year and our Anniversary. Of course who had the same idea?
My Business partner in crime.. Lorie McCoy! Oh and we found a Kava bar in Asheville.
We have got to stop meeting this way.
Zach and I surprised the kids by staying on a llama and goat farm.
Zach and I celebrated our 14th anniversary by throwing ourselves down an Icy mountain.
and greeted the New Year by a quiet fire.
Well thanks for hanging in there folks. If this coming year is half as amazing as the last my lucky number 13 will prove itself again.
Due to lack of internet and sheer exhaustion, I am blending the last 2 days in to one post.
I am sure you are so disappointed… wait they haven’t come out with sarcasm font yet, have they?
Day 3
So Thursday was our last planned day in Seminyak. We took the morning to enjoy the private villa and pack. I even snuck in some skinny dipping in the pool while Lorie showered. Once we began to place all the things we had purchased in our cases it became abundantly clear that we had a problem, a shopping problem. How could you not? Seminyak has so many shops sporting beautiful clothing, cheap! As our transport to Ubud loaded the van, we kept telling ourselves that it only looked like a lot because of the donations for Bumi Sehat, the one medium sized suitcase out of 6…. yeah not so much.
The road to Ubud was congested, as has been the case with every other road we have seen. Our trip took 2.5 hours; about an hour longer than the projected time. Fortunately for us, Bali time is a lot like Cuban time and even though we arrived 30 minutes late, we were an hour early. I was actually kind of nervous. I mean, I had traveled literally, half way around the world to learn from Robin Lim, a per I so admire, and I was about to meet her. What was she going to be like? Was she going to live up to my expectations? Would she be someone who talked a good game but in the end was all words? When she arrived to our group of 50 women it became clear, my journey, my pilgrimage of sorts, was all worth it. She truly was that person I so admired. To become a little “woo woo” for a moment, she had a truly awesome, clear and genuine energy and spirit. I think the best part of this day was giving her the donations we had collected such as over $800 in breast pumps from Spectra Pumps, and prenatal vitamins. And of course telling her about Horse-heading for Birth. I kind of held my breath on that one, not knowing what a sane person’s reaction was going to be. Ibu Robin began laughing and stated she could wait to see the photos, and she wanted to do it too. This women is my hero!
Day 4:
Let me keep this short. We started the day dancing with the Monkeys in the forest and finished it with having our feet cuticle removed by flesh eating fish. Somewhere in between those two things, we learned a lot about ourselves and our birth work and Robin Lim referred to us as “the horse people,” making this totally my kind of day.
What a Wonderful World, Indeed 