Silly Pili

Italo's mom has a friend here in Chile named Pili.  She became a Christian shortly after his parents arrived in Chile and has been a dear friend to Mom and Dad and also to Italo when they moved to Chile.  At the time of their relocation Italo was about 15 or 16 yrs old and really bonded with Pili.  On my first visit to Chile, she was SO sweet to me and said that she had prayed for me for years.  Of course she did not know who she was praying for but she was faithful to pray for a wife for her friend Italo.  I felt so priveledged when she told me that and really felt that quite often during our honeymoon as we meet different people during out stay.  I am sure it is a little wierd to Pili that we came back to Chile with 2 more people in our family than the first time we came here but she is still so sweet and gives great hugs when you see her. 

At the birthday party for Dad on Saturday, Pili came to the party and when Italo introduced Annabelle to Pili he did so by saying her name was Silly Pili (Pilly).  The name stuck and Annabelle has asked about several times since they first met.  On Sunday I got the priveledge of meeting her granddaughter who is about 5 1/2 months old and is a true doll.  She is very cuddly and sooooo cute.  Her name is Emilia (pronced Amelia) and it is has been very fun to talk to her Mommy about raising babies in Chile.  Natalia got married and within a year was pregnant with their first child.  She said all she ever wanted was to be a Mommy and wants 5 kids by the time all is said and done.  She and her family live with her parents, Silly Pili REALLY spoils her little granddaughter. 

 

Her room is truly made for a Princess.  The little crib is decked out in beautiful blankets and a canopy.  She let us borrow the bed for Maggie to sleep in and Nati was very suprised Maggie would go to sleep anywhere we put her.  Maggie is always a very easy baby to put to sleep but because she was not feeling well, she was even easier.  So Nati asked me how I got her to sleep and I told her that I contiioned Maggie from a young age that once the door closed for a nap or for bedtime, it did not open again until it was time to get up.  Natalie was very eager to learn more but Silly Pili wanted nothing to do with such TORTURE!  It was really funny. 

The property that Pili and her family lives on is gorgeous and we were able to get lots of fun pictures of Annabelle.  

    

When we arrived, we were invited to go outside to eat some appetizers and everyone was beyond amazed that I would take my girls out in the fall/winter weather with bare legs.  Everyone was very concerned and finally brought me some tights and a coat for Maggie.  I think they all felt much better once she was decked out right for the weather.  I was glad too because it was a lot colder than I thought it would be and did not know we would be outside.  However, I had a lot of worried moms to take care of the girls!

After Maggie woke up from her nap we tried to get some family photos and I did not put the warm wardrobe back on and Nati and Pili were cringing the whole time.  Finally Nati brought me the coat and put it on Maggie saying she just HAD to wear it!  It made me laugh but I really thought it was super sweet of her to care for my little girl like that.  The family photos did not turn out very well but the new picture at the top is from the attempts.  As Italo said, at least we were all in the Picture ;)

That evening Nati and her family came over with a lot of other folks from the church and "watched" a soccer game and ate some Completos (Hot Dogs).  No one but Italo and I actually watched the game but they all enjoyed their food, friends and good conversation.  Nati actually speaks VERY good english and I really enjoyed chatting with her about kids.  She really liked all the modern ways of doing things with kids including keeping them on a schedule and NOT feeding them Coca Cola in their bottles but those around her thought she was peculiar.  It is quite remarakable how different even the smallest things are in regard to babies and it was very nice for me to take a step back and see what other people thing is normal. 

 Besides the conversation with Nati, I also really enjoyed my first taste of a Chilean Hot Dog-Completo.  It was different and ingredients I would have never thought belonged together but it was quite good.  The Completo is made with a large roll and a hot dog complete with Avocado, Tomatoes and Mayonaise.  YUMMY