Happy New Year!

We wanted to wish our readers (made up of friends and family who can't get enough of Gabriela) a very Happy New Year! Mommy and Papa Sousa have been rather delinquent in keeping up with their posts this year. For that, we apologize. Somewhere in between balancing our two careers and raising this ever more amazing little girl, we forgot to share more of her with all of you. Check back regularly for updates!
We hope that 2009 brings you all peace, love and prosperity. The Sousas eagerly await the return of Maria's brother, Captain Joseph Kilner in a few weeks from his second tour of duty in Iraq and thank God for keeping him safe while he was in service to our country. We hopefully look forward to a year of fewer (if any) government bailouts. Papa Sousa hopes the Mets won't choke and miss the playoffs for the third year in a row. Mommy Sousa looks forward to the many laughs that our soon-to-be two year old will provide us with on a daily basis. Gabriela hopes that 2009 brings her enough time in the day to play with all of her toys and read the New York Times cover to cover daily. (Isn't that a pre-requisite for getting into Princeton?)

Thanks for your comments, for taking an interest in our little girl and for sharing in her 17 1/2 months via this blog!

Happy New Year, Feliz Ano Novo, Feliz Año Nuevo, Felice Anno Nuovo and Ath Bhliain Faoi Mhaise!

-The Sousa Family

Getting ready for Christmas

Decked out for Christmas, Gabriela is very excited to pose for this picture! We Sousas have had a very busy month, but we're happy, healthy and counting down the days 'til Christmas.

Baby Driver on the Loose...

So, even though Gabriela is 14 years and 8 months away from getting her driver's permit, we decided to let her have at it at the wheel this weekend. Sadly, her getaway efforts were curtailed by the quick thinking police....they let her off with a warning..because she was just so darn cute.....

"Cops??? No!!! Well, at least I don't have a record"

Gabriela Voted....Did You?

It's Election Day, also known as one of Papa Sousa's favorite days of the year. So, we three Sousas cast our votes at lunch time and encountered no line at our polling place. We were unsuccessful in convincing the election officials to let Gabriela cast a ballot. But when the 2028 Presidential Election comes around, she'll be exercising her right to vote!

Happy Halloween 2008

Gabriela enjoyed watching all of the other kids and parents dressed up for Halloween. We went to Eastern Market for Hilloween and took notes for next year when Gabriela will actually be old enough to go trick-or-treating, ride the carousel and play in the moonbounce.

15 month check-up

This post is long overdue because Gabriela is 15 1/2 months now... but Gabriela impressed the doctor at her 15 month check-up with how tall she had grown and with all the words she knows. As Mommy told the doctor some of the new words in Gabriela's vocabulary, Gabriela would repeat them back to the doctor. For some words like "shoes" and "nose" she pointed to the matching items as well.

Our little baby girl measured 22.5 lbs. and 32 inches TALL! Here's a picture of her getting geared up for Halloween...

8-1....

We live in Washington, D.C. and lately...it seems like all of the Redskins fans believe they've already won the Super Bowl, even though we're a little more than halfway through the NFL regular season.

Gabriela would like to remind everyone that the New York Giants (more accurately the East Rutherford, NJ Giants) are 8-1.....and they beat the Redskins in the first game of the season. Stay tuned, they'll play each other again on 11/30/2008.

Go Giants!
(Disclaimer: Shameless Exploitation of children in team colors and/or team hats is every father's God-given right. Please see: How to Make Your Kids Cheer for Your Favorite Sports Teams)

Birthday Greetings from Gabriela

Yesterday I tried to get Gabriela to pose for a photo, but I wasn't very successful. She wanted to wish her Aunt Antoinette and her Uncle Joey a very Happy Birthday and since she can't say "Happy Birthday" yet I decided to make a sign for her to hold. As you can see from the photos she wouldn't stop moving! She was saying "cheese" and giggling the whole time, but I couldn't get a perfect shot of her holding the sign... oh well!

Antoinette and Joey we miss you and we love you and we were thinking of you on your birthday yesterday. We can't wait 'til the next time we get to see you. Love and hugs and kisses from DC. Happy Birthday, Love Gabriela.

Portugal Part 1

As we recover from jet-lag we thought we'd post a few photos of our great trip to Portugal! and Spain! More to come soon!

Gabriela got to sleep in a bassinet hanging on the wall of the plane... who knew they had these?

Gabriela, the world traveler.

First glass of wine in Spain (Mama's glass)
(Note: No babies consumed wine in the taking of the above photograph)

Mama and Gabriela, relieved to have finally arrived in Portugal.

Under the lemon trees in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard.

Gabriela's first of many 'bolo de arroz' -- rice cake!

A beautiful day at the beach in Povoa de Varzim!

Papa and Gabriela posing at the cafe in Prado.

One of many family photos with an amazing backdrop

Gabriela couldn't get over the family resemblance between Grandpa Sousa and his brothers.


We met Papa's cousin Carla and her daughter Iris... Gabriela in 2 years! The girls have the same hair color, eye color, complexion and build!

Gabriela and Papa's second cousin Diana... family resemblence?

And we enjoyed many great views and visited LOTS of beautiful churches...

The Sousas are leaving on a Jet Plane.....

So, we leave for Spain and Portugal tomorrow for Gabriela's first visit to Europe and Mommy's first visit to Portugal. We're flying to Madrid for a day and then headed to the Sousa Family Compound in Vila de Prado for two weeks. We're very excited to see Grandma and Grandpa Sousa, all of Jose's aunts, uncles and cousins who haven't seen him in seven years, and many great sites throughout the two countries.

We'll update the blog when we return with many photos and updates!

See you all soon.

Papa & Mommy Sousa

Daddy, do we have enough Euros to buy me lots of toys and pretty clothes in Portugal?

Point me in the direction of the plane please...

1 and 100

Today Gabriela's great-great-grandmother (Maria's paternal great-grandmother) turns 100 years old! Happy 100th Birthday, Nanny Blair! We love you so much and are blessed by your presence in our lives! We cherish every visit with you!

July 12th - Happy 1st Birthday Gabriela Maria!

Our little princess Gabriela turned 1 on July 12. We had two birthday cake celebrations that day with lots of family and friends around to help us celebrate. We have thoroughly enjoyed the many adventures we've shared as a family this past year and are so proud of our beautiful baby girl.

More birthday pics and video here!

Welcome Justina Martha!

Maria's 1st cousin, Diana gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl today (today is also Aunt Brigid's 9th birthday!)! Justina Martha is 8lbs. 13oz. (the same size as Gabriela when she was born) and 20in. tall. We can't wait to meet you and to see pictures of you! Welcome to the world, little one! Congratulations, Diana and Woody!

Happy 4th of July!

Gabriela celebrated her first 4th of July with a very fun, kid-friendly parade in the morning, then a nice long nap followed by the Heritage party and fireworks viewed from the rooftop terrace! Gabriela's due date was July 4th last year so Mommy was very happy to be holding her baby girl for this year's celebration!



along the parade route

on the roof with Daddy

watching the fireworks

Pretty rainbow... Pretty girl

Gabriela and Mommy saw a beautiful double rainbow in the evening when it was still drizzling outside and the sun was out too!

And here's a new video of some of Gabriela's new tricks. All of Mommy's italian relatives will recognize the first sign that Gabriela does when she's "all done."

Little Cruiser

At 11 1/2 months old Gabriela is a pro at crawling and almost walking too! This past weekend we attended our Kilner family reunion where we saw lots of family, many of whom Gabriela was meeting for the first time. She loved falling asleep in Uncle Chris' arms after a long and very exciting day. We celebrated daddy's 1st Father's Day with a relaxing morning at home and then yesterday mommy and daddy celebrated our 2nd anniversary with a night out, just the two of us. It's been a wonderful 2nd year of marriage... and now we're counting down the days 'til our little princess turns ONE!