Monday, June 30, 2008
Catching up
I'm quite behind again on my blog updating. This seems to becoming the story of my life. But anyways we've had important fun things happening and I feel I need to give them there due.
First we have the birthday boys. That was the week we lost internet connection. Jackson was greeted birthday morning with 36 balloons all over the bedroom, presents and breakfast in bed , which was his favorite; "fast oatmeal" (instant for all you lay people!). He was very pleased with all his gifts and spent the rest of the day as "toy dictator" which grated our nerves a bit! As requested by the birthday boy, we had dinner at McDonalds followed by a sand castle birthday cake and ice cream with new friends we met visiting the island from Texas. The Walkers were such a fantastic family! Our boys instantly meshed and had a wonderful time together. We hope to get to Houston someday and visit them. So after cake and ice cream we had a water balloon fight and a night swim. Though mom was wrecked by the tough personalities of the day, Jackson declared it a great birthday!
The very next day, Asher turned One! Amazing that this day has come already! But poor baby Asher had been spiking a fever for several days including the birthday, so celebrations got put on hold until he felt better, and he spent the day being pitiful! The fever broke the very next day, but we decided to put off the traditional first birthday cake till Grammy and Boppa arrived that very weekend. We he finally got his cake, Asher did not disappoint, he dove right in and enjoyed every bit ( that is hands down my most favorite part of the 1st birthday!)!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Looking back at the last 6 weeks.
I've been trying to post this slide show for about a month now. Our Internet connection at the rental home has been very sporadic. We began with nothing for several weeks, then we finally received the software from our cell phone co. to access the web via our cell phones. Though we were excited that we no longer had to take the laptop to a nearby park, and sit at a bench to get a signal, we were very disappointed with the speed, or lack there of. Anyways that ended up not working out. And we lost internet again for about a week. Hence no post of the birthdays. But we now have a much better connection thanks to our kind neighbors who gave us permission to use there wireless modem. I literally tried uploading this slide show about 5 times, each time taking several hours, that's how slow it was. It would always freeze up towards the end. So I made it shorter and finally it works!
Its funny to look at these pictures, that were taken only 6 weeks ago, and think about how much has changed. For one, we are a lot tanner. We were fresh from Oregon, with our pale, white, haven't seen the sun in 6 months, skin! Adams parents were so kind to fly with us to Puerto Rico and help us get settled, though I feel like they got shafted with not the best quality experience here. We did get to see a few sites with them, which was wonderful, but it was interspersed with 2 very long trips to Walmart (we're talking about 3 hours each), getting lost a lot, not to mention wandering around Old San Juan, overheated and dehydrated, looking for a parking spot. Everything was so new, and we were very naive to what was required to navigate this city. Needless to say, after our few experiences venturing out, I was very frazzled, and vowed to never go again. Well I think I'm over that now! I willing to navigate the city on my own, with a good map and a lot of planning ahead ( I still prefer to be with Adam), not to mention a continuous prayer in my heart. Living here requires a different perspective, than I've had in the past. RELAX, and enjoy the adventure, is how I'd sum it up! Adam and I find ourselves laughing often at the things that would have driven us crazy!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
34 Years Strong
2 days ago my parents celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary. That's right, THIRTY-FOUR YEARS! I just wanted to share my gratitude for the example they set for Adam, my sister and I. As all of you who are hitched know, marriage takes work, dedication, loyalty, love, compassion, understanding... and the list goes on. 34 years of persevering in those qualities to make a marriage work is phenomenal. But my parents don't just make it work, they actually still love each other, enjoy being together, and plan there life around the priorities they both share. They really are so cute! That is the example I want to follow, thanks Mom and Dad, for this special gift of your example you've given to us. I cherish it, and love you so much!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
2 days till 4
Ahhhh, baby Jack... Jackson's 4th birthday is in 2 days. I thought I'd take a moment to catch up on memories of him these past 4 years. We were very excited to have another baby and got pregnant very quickly. My pregnancy with Jackson was excellent, and definitely my best! I felt great, hardly ever sick and labor/delivery was a breeze. At one point the doc told me to stop pushing because he was coming so fast. He weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 21 inches long. I just have lots of memories of feeling very confident and happy with the whole process and the time period. Jackson was a great nurser and slept ok, though he had a hard time going back to sleep after the midnight feedings. I did find my patience at these moments to be thinner than ever! I over-stressed about not getting enough sleep and having to care for 2 in the morning. Even though our life was challenging with Adam in summer school and me taking care of 2 babies, Jackson was the oil that filled my lamp! He was described very early by many as angelic. Thats exactly what he was a sweet angel baby! At about four months old he got very sick, and was actually hospitalized for several days. After blood cultures and a spinal tap (yikes!) it was decided he had a nasty virus. Nursing ended about a month later, but I was grateful for the time we did get in with nursing. I decided with this baby that I was going to hold him as much as I could. If it was dinner time, and Jackson was fussy, everything would stop and I would hold Jackson. I'd rock him to sleep, any chance I got, I wanted to spend it holding my sweet angelic baby. That backfired a bit, when his sleeping patterns were not so good. But we found a healthy balance. At about 7 months we moved in Adam's parents to prepare financially for Optometry school. Then I was competing with Grandma to hold the baby!! Jackson was the most physical of all my babies, crawling, well before 12 months, yet not walking till much later! With Jackson I wasn't a new mom anymore. I felt confident, and that helped me enjoy the experience more!
Soon after Jackson turned one, we moved to Oregon to begin Opt. school. I have to say, this time period is a bit hazy for me. So much going on with a big move, and getting settled. It seems like with Jackson, it was more of the same angelic baby. He still loved to be held and was very content to sit back in my arms. I remember being so grateful, for him, and the joy he brought me, even though life was really tough getting use to school. He was just such a good, good baby! Good eater, good sleeper, definitely a mama's boy ( I relished that!) Didn't walk till about 15-16 months, but took off fast with confidence once he got started. I think it helped to have an older brother to follow around. This baby seemed to have no physical fears (and still doesn't). He loved to climb and explore. One afternoon, when Jackson was about 18 months we put him down for a nap upstairs and we went down stairs to watch TV. Just a few minutes later, here comes Jackson strolling into the living room! We were shocked(Porter never did that)! That was the beginning of daring physical activity. He would also make the funniest faces. Much of our pictures of Jack at that time are of him doing an over exaggerated "cheese" smile! He started talking a lot too. Berries were "dubbies." Elmo: "Melmo" Ernie: "Nina" and many more. Oh the fun times! I long to go back and hold that baby Jack-Jack one more day.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
We live here!
We still can't believe it! We take our family walk on the beach almost every night and still have to pinch ourselves; we live here! Getting to Puerto Rico was interesting to say the least. Between forgotten luggage, delayed flights ALL NIGHT TRAVELING WITH 3 KIDS! Its amazing we didn't loose our minds, though maybe we're a little crazy for doing this in the first place. And to give the kids credit, they have been AMAZING! But we're here, we're happy and healthy, and counting our blessing everyday for what an amazing experience this has all been. Puerto Rican culture is very different from what we know, if you ever lived in a Latin country, you'd understand, the chaos. PURE CHAOS! Its crowded, dysfunctional, slow, but so friendly, generous, happy!
Adam is thoroughly enjoying clinic. Unfortunately, he sees a lot of disease. The traditional food of Puerto Rico involves lots of frying, which means high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and finally much eye disease. Good for Adam bad for Puerto Rico. But oh the food is so good!!! The mofungo, tostonas, (both made from plantains), I can see why they don't give it up. His commute is big. But he still gets home to us by 5:30 at the latest (can't beat that!).
The boys and I spend our days poolside...sipping pina coladas...ok, ok, its not that glamorous. Our complex is barely a year old, it has 5 pools all which are very different but extremely kid friendly. We're located in a town called Loiza about an hour from San Juan. The complex is very much a vacation destination for the wealthy of San Juan. Close enough for weekend getaways. So its very quiet during the week and very lively on the weekends. We're a one car family right now, so the boys and I stay at the complex all day. This has been very life changing for me. If you know me, you'll know I like to go go go. Not so here. We stick close to home here. We do spend our mornings at the pool, swimming, playing enjoying each other, then head indoors for the afternoon. The sun is just way too intense to be out all day. I've had to get creative with our days to keeping them from getting monotonous (yes the pool can get monotonous). Its been a good challenge for me and the kids and has strengthened us greatly.
Our weekends have been fantastic. Adam is so carefree and energized to explore!
A list of what we've done:
El Junque Rainforest Hike
Tour of El Morro Fort in Old San Juan
7 Seas Beach
Ferry Boat to Vieques Island
And much more still to do.! We recognize that life will never be as simple and carefree as it is now. No bill, projects, studying, network TV or any other distractions. Just family time all the time. We're so grateful to have this opportunity!
We just got the Internet last week, and not a very good connection I might add. I'll do my best to keep updating. I will say that I re-enter the world wide web with trepidation . This is one of those distractions I was a bit happy to not have. But this is also journaling and necessary so its my challenge to moderate myself.
One last thing I have no idea why this is underlined and I don't know how to turn it off! Any clues?
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