Pictures and such.

Guess what I am doing this very moment? Eating peanut butter slathered on whole wheat bread. Heaven has come down. No, I am not pregnant. I just haven't had peanut butter since I left the states. It's not as popular here and after the peanut scare in the Spring I was too nervous to buy it. I have been craving it lately and when I was at the store it was calling my name. I actually never even looked at the price. It's entirely possible that I paid $12 for it or something ridiculous. But, it sure is worth it!

We have hardly seen the sun for a week. Everytime it peeks through the clouds and I actually think I might get a chance to put some clothes out to dry, it turns to this in about 15 minutes:
Last week we had clothes drying all over the house.


We have had some trouble our freezer. Human stupidity, really. It's a bottom drawer freezer and unlike my friend Kelly's that has this annoying beep telling you the door has been open too long, we have nothing warning us that calamity is just hours away after we go to bed. So, not once, not twice, but three times everything in our freezer has defrosted overnight. Are we dumb or what? I guess we are actually "insane" because I heard that the definition of insane is making the same mistake over again without fixing your error. Yep, that's us.

So, today I turned thawed out spinach and broken eggs (another story) into a quiche. And, thawed out frozen veggies and chicken into chicken pot pie. I am either working my way from insanity to genuis, or we might all get sick from food poisoning...I'll let you know.

Eric's dad, stepmom, brother and stepbrother are coming for a visit this Saturday. They live in Providence, RI and we are super excited about seeing them. I am certain Papi Orlando is even MORE excited about seeing his grandson. AND, little E's 2nd birhtday is just a week away! Oh the fun we are going to have with Elmo at our side! Stay tuned.

I am going to post some pictures from the past week since I noticed my blog has been word-heavy recently. We haven't really taken any that are very exciting, but at least you can see our smiling faces!

Art fun with cousin Emily.

Trying to get two kids eating cheerios and watching cartoons to smile for the camera at the same time was a bad idea. They are still super cute cousins, though.

This is Paula's signature face.

Some of the bags I made for friends to take back to the states. See the last post for more info.

Sitting on the potty reading. No actual action has taken place, but he wants to practice a lot.

Making cookies with his new best friend Ashley, who is the greatest babysitter ever! She and her family just moved here, so we are all "adjusting" together.

Six Months In

That's right...we've been here six months already and it feels like such a great milestone to celebrate. The newness of our new life has worn off, the good as well as the bad. We are settled. What a thing to finally say after many months of transition that started well before we arrived in the Caribbean.

A new season has come and gone, and although we don't have winter and spring or summer and fall there is a dry and a rainy season. As I write this we are being pounded with rain for the __th day in a row...seriously, I have stopped counting. All I know is that it's really tough to do laundry in this weather when you rely on the sun to dry your clothes. And, our street is literally an impassable lake at the moment. Hopefullly, our first hurricane season, which starts June 1st, will be q-u-i-e-t.

I have so many emotions and thoughts swirling around in my head as I think about our last six months. It has been a growing experience for our family and for me personally. The first few months were some of the toughest months of my life. The transition here was a lot more difficult than I had expected. It wasn't so much the lack of water or electricity during the day, the adjustment to living so close to family (and latino family for that matter) or the change in our environment. I think the move brought up a lot of discontent in me that I had been able to suppress for awhile. That and a total lack of freedom resulted in behavior I am neither proud of or want to visit again. BUT, and that is the key word, growth comes from struggle. At the end of my emotional rope I started crying out to God for some relief and it came. Thank God for it. I am determined to hang on tight to Him through prayer and never to visit those darker days again. I am actually looking ahead with a smile on my face instead of wishing I could be anywhere but here. And, I realized last Sunday while singing a simple song at church with the words, "Gracias, gracias mi señor, gracias mi señor Jesus," that for the first time in six months I was glad to be living here.

We are all doing really well. Eric is busy and thriving at work. Failing students in his classes, haha. We just celebrated his birthday this Tuesday and I made Strawberry Shortcake with strawberries from Jarabacoa in the mountains.

Little Eric is talking up a storm in Spanish...not so much in English, although he understands EVERYTHING in both languages. It's so cute to here him talk in Spanish, but I am hoping he catches up in English soon or he'll be teaching me Spanish! He is getting ready to celebrate his 2nd birthday with help from Elmo and a visit from his family in Providence (Eric's dad, stepmom, brother and stepbrother are coming to visit). He is CRAZY for cars ("carro" is what he says) and his trains ("choo-choo"). He pretty much plays with them all day linking them together to make a long choo-choo out of them. Can you guess what we are planning on getting him for his birthday?

I have met some great new friends, who at times have been lifesavers, through my Bible study with American women. It's such a nice feeling to know you have friends to call on when you need a little break...from the culture, motherhood, your family, etc. Many of them are doing some amazing work with various ministry projects around the area. One project in particular has been special to me as I have been able to volunteer little bits of time when I can. My friend, Ina (who actually worked in minstry in NE) has a special ministry to women who are making necklaces and small sewing projects to sell. Ina sells what the women make to visiting groups and is hoping to start shipping some things over to the states to sell there. All of the money goes back to these women. It has literally changed some of their lives. I have developed a pattern for an easy bag that you wear across your chest that they can sew (thanks to Stacey and Anne for the bag they brought me from Turkey). And, I have been sewing a few (12 to be exact) for my missionary friends to take back with them to the states as gifts. I never thought sewing would be something I could use to serve others, but it seems to be something God is using.

We are still looking for a church. We have been to several and like some of them, but just haven't found the right one for us yet. Eric is doing a lot better about being in Sunday School, which is g-r-e-a-t. I actually don't dread Sunday mornings anymore.

We have been able to see some of the island and are looking forward to taking a trip back to our favorite beach, Las Terrenas, when Eric's family gets here for a short weekend jaunt. If it stops raining we might head to the mountains this weekend. I was planning to go to the Zoo tomorrow with Eric's colegio class, but since it looks like more rain it was cancelled and that means a stir crazy day is ahead of us.

Life is good, but man we still miss friends and family in the states like crazy! Well, six down...who knows how many more are ahead of us on this crazy Caribbean tour!

Felicidades a mi esposo.

Eric had a big night last night. Well, I guess we all had a big night last night because we got to be the proud family. He has started an institute in the University where he teaches to facilitate structual engineering projects and research in Latin America. Last night was the inaguration of the institute culminating a couple of years of visioncasting and a lot of hard work once we got to the country up to this point. He is amazed at how easily it has all come together and has a graduate student and two interns working with him. There are so many other types of engineering projects he could be working on and a lot more moneymaking ventures he could spend his time doing, but he feels very strongly that a research institute like this is the most meaningful way he can spend his time and one that has the potential to make a lasting impact on the country. I'm so proud of how focused he is and how hard he works to do what he envisions. He has that amazing ability to have an idea and put it into motion. I'm sure the institute will be beneficial to the structural advancement of the country.

And, the event was also attended by the former president of the Dominican Republic, whom I got to meet. That was kind of exciting.

Ok...done bragging about my man.

Making his big presentation.

Eric with some of his students.

Edi (Eric's mom), Eric, me and Zoila (Eric's sister)

Eric and his mom with Ipolito Mejia, the former president of the Dominican Republic. He seemed like a really nice guy.

Mama's Got A Brand New Do.

I spent Mother's Day morning in the salon getting my hair "fixed". I had two colors going on and it didn't look all that great. I have had a hard time with my hair color since I've been here and finally found someone who can help. Hair color down here has a lot of red in it and tends to be a lot darker than in the U.S., so it's just been hard to find a color that works. I like the new color and am so glad to find someone who knows how to handle my hair. While I was at it I decided to live a little crazy and get it blown out and styled. Getting your hair blown straight is a big thing here and women go to the salon a couple of times a week to get a "manseca". I did it once when we first got here and then again yesterday. It's fun to have something different. I would probably do it more often, but it hurts like a mother! I have to put my hand over my ears and my forehead to keep from getting burned. I don't know how other women can handle the pain twice a week. So, I thought I would share my new do before I wash it in a couple of days and go back to curly-Karin.

Oh...and as a Mother's Day treat to myself I got a manicure and a pedicure!

Just another day...

Yesterday was one those totally mundane stay-at-home days and yet I was totally exhausted by naptime...and there are a lot of hours left in the day after naptime. My day started at 6:15 thanks to my little alarm clock that wakes me up with a very insistent string of mama's. I made muffins for Eric to take to work to impress his co-workers (apparently they chanted my name over and over, which is guy-speak for they liked them), washed and hung two loads of laundry on the roof, fed and dressed Little E, swept up cracker and cereal crumbs from breakfast, washed a mountain of dishes and started preparing lunch before 10:30 a.m. I'm tired just looking at the list. I did get a chance to sew this for Eric's bed:

And, I learned how to make a matching fitted crib sheet from this awesome website. I love finding free patterns, since it would cost a fortune to buy and ship patterns here. Anyone know of a pajama bottom pattern for a toddler? I would love a free one because I was going nuts with all of the cheap fun fabric at my new favorite store!

After naptime and two power outtages later I declared it was time to take a walk. Little E and I put our shoes on and walked to the neighborhood ice cream store. I am loving the ice cream here, although my hips not so much. The local ice cream franchises are located all throughout the city, so you are never too far away from one. I compare it to how you can find a Starbuck's on just about every block in Boston...oh, how I miss my friend Tall Nonfat Latte. Anyway, our closest Bon is close enough of a walk that Little E can hold my hand and walk on his own. So, while we were there eating our ice cream I kept seeing this little boy of about 7 or 8 looking through the window asking for money and just kind of hanging around Bon to see what he might make from the spare change handed to him. On the way out I bought an ice cream bar, handed it to Eric and told him to give it to the little boy. I also gave him some change and asked him if he went to school. He told me he did in the morning and I told him that was good and he should keep going. He thanked us, sat down on the curb and started eating his ice cream as we walked home. Even though he didn't have any idea what was going on, I wanted Eric to be involved with helping this little boy because it's really never to early to learn how to serve.

When we got home I discovered we had both electricity AND water. What a treat!!! I cut up the fruit I had bought at the store. A canteloupe, papaya and pineapple all for $3.65...can you believe it! Gotta love that caribbean fruit!
And, then just as I was settling in with Little E on the bed before bedtime thinking I had made it and I relaxation was within reach...my mother-in-law came over and Eric called letting me know he was bringing a friend home for sandwiches. Ah, a mother just really never gets to rest, you know.

Here is the view of the ocean from our roof. See, we do have an ocean view!

This is a view from the roof.

Twitter is distracting me.

I've been distracted from blogging and I blame it on Twitter. I decided to try it out and for the last week I've been updating a couple of times a day and checking in to see what my Twitter-friends are up to. I'm not sure what I think about it. I don't have a laptop available to me all day, nor am I able to send text messages from my cell phone here, so I kind of have to make an effort to get to the room log back on and send an update. It's fun to know what people are up to at that moment, but I'm not sure about it because I think to be a twitter-er it has to kind of become a part of your routine. Hmmm. Have to think a little more about that one.

AND, I think it is really slowing down the blog traffic. I have noticed my blog-friends aren't updating as often, and I miss that. I look forward to logging into Google Reader each day to see what new posts have arrived. It feels like getting mail to me, especially since we don't get mail here. I want my blog to remain a priority, since it is the primary way we are keeping people in our lives across the sea updated.

Well anyway, here is an update from our house:

Little E is LOVING school and learning sooooo much. I really can't believe how much! He says all kinds of things in Spanish and some things in English. BUT, the best part and the part that amazes me the most is that he UNDERSTANDS everything in both languages. How that is possible for someone who can't put more than two intelligible words together is beyond me. But, hallelujah, we are raising a bi-lingual kid! He says, "hola", "agua", "eso es..." (this is), "si", "seee" (which is for silla (chair)). And, in English he says, "bye-bye", "nigh-nigh", "who" (juice), "this is", "choo-choo" (which he is enamored with right now!)...and a whole lotta animal names and sounds. And, of course, "Elmo", which he asks for all day.

He is also becoming more "able" in a lot of ways. He likes to draw with pencils, markers, crayons. And, we did a bit of painting and gluing yesterday to make a collage. He likes to play with play-dough and in his sandbox on the balcony (which is actually filled with dry oatmeal...thanks for the brilliant idea Kellie!) He is turning two in a month and he is going to get a tricycle from his Abuelo Orlando, so that will be fun to go to the park with.

AND, I am very proud to report that he drank an entire glass of milk (with only the slightest amount of Nesquik) for lunch today!!!!! I found the perfect "milk" cup for him to drink out of and it has made all the difference. He just needed to not see what he was drinking. Today was the first day he has had some with his meal, so I am hoping it's all down hill from here!!

Well, I have to go because he is down for a nap and I am itching to get sewing. I am praying this is a long-nap-day, because I have some fun projects I have been waiting to match up with fabric. I finally got down to Almacenes El Canal to immerse myself in fabric heaven. They have every kind of fabric I could imagine and the prices are amazing. So, I am off to start sewing a new sheet/blanket for Eric's crib, a fitted crib sheet and pillowcase to match, and an apron for me. I'll post pictures soon.

Creepy-Crawly Things

I have had a few personal encounters with "the adventures of island living" over the past couple of days that I thought are worth sharing. This morning I found a tarantula the size of my hand in a cupboard clinging the wall. YIKES! Good thing I have made friends with the guard of our building. I yelled down from the balcony, "Alex, por favor, ayudame!!" Which means, "Help me, please!!" He graciously came upstairs and tore through the cupboard, having the pull the fridge out from the wall before killing it and saving little Eric and I from death. Well, at least it felt like we skirted death!

And, this past weekend while we were at Eric's grandparents I found a lizard in my cosmetic bag! One of Eric's cousins, Danny, came to my rescue and chased it out of the house, but not after I shrieked a few times and jumped up on the bed. Another cousin, Grace asked me if I was scared of lizards, kind of half laughing. I very promptly and without any shame told her I was, but not quite as scared as frogs (it's personal thing with me).

I have a serious case of the heebie-jeebies right now and get an adrenaline rush everytime I open a cabinet or closet. What else could be lurking around waiting to be discovered? I don't even want to think about it!