Bye Bye Momma :(

Goofball!

So we've had a wonderful time this past week while my Mom has been here! I have loved having another little piece of my heart from home here with me and Isaiah has been loving having his Mimi here to play with! I have a ton of pictures on this blog because I was trying to take a lot to document our time while Mom was here, so I'll include some details of our week and hope you enjoy the pictures!

Thursday evening, Josh decided to take the evening off and we took Mom out to dinner for Italian food at Ciao!

Isaiah playing peek-a-boo with his napkin

Mom and Josh

Me and my Momma

On Friday, we decided to meet up with some friends at the pool at Frigate Bay. Mom and I headed over with Isaiah and met up with Jennifer and Elijah (Isaiah's newest play buddy!) and then Kristen and Brody also joined us. It was fun for Mom to get to meet and spend time with some of our friends while she was here and we had a nice relaxing time at the pool. Isaiah was getting tired, so we only stayed for a little while and headed home for lunch and spent a lazy afternoon hanging around the apartment attempting to get Isaiah to take a nap!

Silly boy

On Saturday I took Mom down to Port Zante to do a little shopping. Mom wanted a St. Kitts T-shirt and we found her a really pretty purple one! She also bought St. Kitts hats for Isaiah, Ella, and Lydia which should be cute if they all wear them in Ocean City this summer! Isaiah's is a really cute yellow bucket hat with turtles and dolphins on the side. There was only one small cruise ship in port, so it wasn't very busy and we had a really nice time just chatting and shopping around. I bought Josh a new pair of shorts and I got a couple of cover-up dresses to wear when we go to the beach/pool. We came home from port and got ready for the beach and met my friends, Jakki and Emily, at Rituals (a new coffee shop type restaurant in Frigate Bay) for lunch. After we had lunch, we went to the Marriott beach again for a little relaxation. We had a nice time there for a couple of hours and then headed home to get cleaned up before dinner. We went to Jakki and Joe's for a BBQ with some church friends and had a really nice evening.

Elijah and Isaiah playing at Jakki and Joe's on Saturday

On Sunday, we all went to church together. Mom was really impressed with our church group and really liked the sermon. Since before we came to St. Kitts our church group has been watching sermons by Ben Stuart from Breakaway Ministries and we've really been enjoying what he has to say! When we got home from church, Mom wasn't feeling well and we think she had a low-grade fever, so she decided to stay home and sleep while Isaiah and I went to the beach. Isaiah took a nap after church and when he woke up we went to Reggae with Jakki and met up with Erin, Harley, & Damon and shortly after we got there Jen, Jason, & Ava also showed up. When we got home, Mom was feeling better and had even cleaned up the apartment! We hosted Bible study at our place and had a nice time in fellowship together and in our study.

Isaiah in his new hat and ready for the beach!

Isaiah and Ava playing at Reggae

Damon's best "Cheese"

Then Isaiah gave me a good "cheese" too!

On Monday morning, Mom went with Isaiah and I to run some errands. Our toilet seat had cracked over the weekend, so Mom got to go with me to our local "hardware" store type place (which people tell me is the closest thing to a Wal-Mart we have and let me tell you....I don't think it's close at all!) and we did find a toilet seat! Then we made a quick stop at the grocery store to get a few essentials. We headed down again to the Marriott beach after we ate some lunch. Jessie and Beau and Kristen and Brody came for a little bit, which was fun. Isaiah ended up falling asleep on my chest at the beach, so Mom and I both got to take a little afternoon nap, which was really nice! We came home and made a nice dinner and then Mom went with me to my choir rehearsal. She really enjoyed it and even sang along a little bit. It was nice for me to have her there and it was nice for her to get to see what I've been spending my Monday nights doing since January!

Isaiah giving Beau kisses on his head

Sandy Goatee

Yesterday we got ready after breakfast and headed out to Reggae beach for the day. It was a gorgeous day and Reggae was the PERFECT place to spend Mom's last full day here with us. Isaiah was pretty well behaved and spent most of the morning playing in the sand between our chairs. We all took a dip in the cool water, which felt great because it's been SO HOT for the past 2 weeks! When we got out of the water, I wrapped Isaiah in a towel and he fell asleep on my within about 2 minutes. He slept for almost 2 hours and Mom and I again got to just relax, talk, and enjoy the beautiful scenery around us. When Isaiah woke up, we headed to the beach bar/restaurant and ordered some lunch. Isaiah was a little impatient because his crunchies kept blowing off his tray, but once his food arrived he was a happy boy! We came home, got cleaned up, and I put together stuffed shells for dinner. We then headed to Ross and walked down the 'Stairway to the Sea' to look for some shells for Mom to take home. It was definitely worth the steep walk through the trees to get to the ocean as it washes up on the pretty rocks. We spent a little time there taking in the views and then headed up to meet Josh and head home.

Trying to pull the umbrella out of the ground!

Sleeping on Mommy at Reggae

The view from our beach chairs

Isaiah's new sandals from his Grammy Lynne

Goofing around waiting for our food

Mimi and Isaiah at lunch

When we got up today, we got ready after breakfast and headed down to the Marriott to swim in the pool for a little bit. Isaiah was getting fussy, so we didn't stay too long. We came home, got showered, ate some lunch, and Mom finished packing. We left here and went to Port and I took Mom to Scoops which is a little place where they sell homemade ice cream. Then we drove to the airport. Isaiah fell asleep in the car and slept through getting him out of the carseat and putting him in the stroller and slept the entire time in the airport. We waited with Mom while she checked her bags and paid her departure tax and then said good-bye before she headed up the stairs to security. I cried the whole way home. I felt a little more whole having her here with me the past week and she definitely took part of my heart back to PA with her. She should be in San Juan now and I'm just praying that she makes it all the way home without any problems!

Even though Mom went home today, I think she'll be back soon to visit her new man!

Isaiah sleeping in his stroller at the Airport

Hope you enjoy the pictures and are having a great week! Love to all at home! We miss you!

Mom's visit so far...

Mimi and Isaiah on the catamaran

So....my Mom arrived on Tuesday afternoon without any trouble getting here. Isaiah and I got to the airport, I got him in the stroller, and we headed up to meet her. We only had to wait about 10 minutes and there she was!!! We came back to our place for her to unpack and then headed out to get groceries and pick Josh up at school. We came back to our apartment and made some dinner and just hung out. Mom was pretty wiped out from her day of traveling, but Isaiah wasn't ready for bed. Mom and Josh went to sleep, but I was up with Isaiah until 11:30pm when he finally decided he was sleepy enough!!!

Our Catamaran "Falcon"

Yesterday we got to celebrate Mom's birthday with a catamaran trip!!! Mom, Isaiah, and I left Port Zante at 10am on a 4 hour snorkel trip up the coast. We got to take a dip in the water and Mom and I took turns with Isaiah, so we each got to snorkel a little bit, but we spent most of our 4 hours just being thankful to be spending the day together out on the beautiful blue-green water of the Caribbean! Isaiah took a little nap on the way out and after our snorkel stop, we had a light lunch on the boat. On the trip back to port we spent a good part of it out on the nets on the front of the catamaran. Isaiah liked looking through the net to see the water passing underneath us and once when I decided to tickle him, he opened his mouth to laugh and we lost a binky in the ocean!!! We had a wonderful time and it was a gorgeous day! It would've been completely perfect if Josh could've joined us!

Isaiah ready to swim in the floaty from his Grammy and swimmies from his Mimi

Last night Mom went to worship practice with Isaiah and I while Josh studied at school. Alexa made dinner for everyone before practice and it was delicious! We had a good practice, although I was a little nervous since it was my first time picking the songs and leading them, but I think we did all right. Hopefully everything will go well for us on Sunday!!!

A view of Nevis from our catamaran

Today, Mom and I took Isaiah to the beach at the Marriott. We such a great day! We spent some time lounging on the beach and watching Isaiah run around, spent some time with Isaiah in the ocean and then Mom and I got to relax while Isaiah took a 2 hour nap on my lap! When he finally woke up at almost 2:00, we headed to the Pizza Shak and got some pizza and tropical smoothies for lunch! Now we're home and have had our showers and are now relaxing in the cold A/C. Mom is taking a nap and Josh just got home from school, so we're going to relax a bit and then we're taking Mom out to dinner at an Italian place we really like! Josh is taking the evening off, so we're all looking forward to spending some time together.

Mimi and Isaiah at the Pizza Shak

I'm loving having Mom here with me and Isaiah is definitely loving the extra attention from his Mimi! It took him about 3 hours on Tuesday when she first got here to make up with her and now they're best buddies! I'll try to post some more pictures of her visit very soon!

Mom's visit (and our first since moving)= T minus 2 days and counting....

My boys= The 2 loves of my life!

So...obviously I'm super-excited for my Mom to be coming this week. Josh is really excited too and if Isaiah could understand the concept that Mimi will be HERE in just about 50 hours, I'm sure he'd be really excited too! Josh has an exam on Wednesday, so I think he's happy that I'll have something to look forward to and help occupy my time. Neither of us can believe it's time for Mom's visit already....5 1/2 weeks seemed like a long time when we came back in January and it feels like we've only been gone a couple of weeks and 5 weeks are gone already! I guess maybe it's really true what people have told us that first semester goes slow, but the rest fly by! Hopefully that means we'll be headed back to the states and closer to home for good before too long!

Isaiah reading a book IN his toybox!

The big news this week was the our landlord found us a WINDOW FOR THE CAR! It's been almost a month since our car was vandalized and we haven't been able to locate a window on the island and to finally have one in the car is an answer to prayer! We got the window on Thursday and the garage we usually take the car too was able to install it for us on Friday. Our friend Kristen was a huge help in picking us up when we dropped off the car and then taking us back to pick it up in the afternoon when the installation was finished! I appreciated your help so much Kristen!!!

A random family of sheep that have grazed in our yard twice this past week

Anyway...let's start at the beginning. We were a little lazy this week, so I'll see what I can remember of what we've done the past few days. Wednesday we just spent the day at home and I cleaned. Josh had people over to our place in the afternoon to make cookies for their parasitology presentation. Don't worry...they didn't put parasites in the cookies! They just wanted to butter up their classmates who were responsible for grading their project! Isaiah and I left while the cookies were still being made and picked up the pizza for our weekly dinner before worship team practice. We also went and picked up Alexa and Ellen, 2 worship team members who live close to campus and don't have their own cars. We had a nice dinner together and I think we all enjoy the time to relax and fellowship with one another before practice. Isaiah behaved really well and Josh was all done making cookies by the time we got home!

A view down the peninsula from the Marriott Beach

On Thursday, Josh took the car and met our landlord, Shaun, at the local junkyard to try to locate a window. The guys at the junkyard hadn't been able to make a match from the make/model/year and chassis number alone, but thought maybe they could find something if they could take a look at the car. No such luck! There wasn't a window there to fit. They had a passenger window to fit our car, but we needed a driver's side window! Josh then came home to grab something to eat and I drove him then to the post office to pick up a package we had received. Josh's cousin, Jessica, sent Josh vegan cupcakes from his favorite place in Pittsburgh called Dozen and they arrived Thursday. Then we took Josh to school and dropped him off and Isaiah and I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner. We got a message from our landlord in the afternoon to say that he had found someone who did have a window for our car. Shaun took the liberty of having it delivered to his office at work, paid for it, and delivered it to me at home! He told us not to pay him for it until we were sure it fit....his efforts were truly a blessing to us!

Isaiah and his sandy butt taking a walk on the beach

Thursday evening we hosted FIESTA NIGHT at our casa for friends of ours to come over. We had a really great time and along with mexican food, I also made a cake to celebrate our friend, Kristen's 23rd birthday which was on Monday! Most people brought something with them to contribute to dinner and it was nice to have a chance to relax and hang out and share some great food. There aren't any mexican restaurants on the island and we all terribly miss mexican food from home! Josh and his classmates were late as their TA session was an hour longer than usual, so it was a little stressful trying to prepare things and play host and keep at least one eye on Isaiah at all times, but everyone helped me with things and overall I think everyone had a really great time together!

Isaiah and Emily at the beach Saturday

On Friday, we got the window put in the car. Kristen and Brody picked us up at the garage when we dropped it off and we went with them to Reggae beach for a couple of hours where we met Jessie and Beau and Andrew's sister and her family that are visiting until Wednesday. The kids had a good time at the beach and they all enjoyed a little time in the water when us Mommies got too hot in the sun! We headed home when the boys seemed to be getting antsy, but the car wasn't ready yet, so Kristen offered to hang out for a bit until it was finished, so she and Brody came to our apartment for about an hour until the car was finished and then she took us to pick it up.

Completely COVERED in sand!

Yesterday Isaiah and I met Jakki for lunch at the Marriott and then spent a couple of hours at the beach there. We also met Emily for some beach time. Isaiah was his usual self running around and rolling in the sand getting completely covered in it! He was getting tired though, so every once in a while he'd lay down on his stomach with his cheek on the sand like he was going to fall asleep right there! I eventually stripped him down because he was so sandy and took his cute little naked butt to the shower there at the beach and completely washed him off and he ended up then falling asleep while I was holding him at the beach. He took about a 3 hour nap when we got home. We went to church this morning and then Josh headed to school and I think Isaiah and I are just going to hang out here for the afternoon, watch some olympics, and just relax before we go to our Bible studies this evening.

Don't you want to give me a big old hug Mom?

I'm happy to report that Aunt Karen is out of the hospital and feeling much better now and my Pap (Mack) got home from Pennknoll safe and sound yesterday, so I thank you for your prayers! Hope everyone is well at home and Mom will probably be HERE the next time I post! YAY! :)

1 week until My Mom comes to visit!!!

Smiling because he's sandy!

I'm so excited that one week from today my Mom will be here to visit with us for 8 days and to celebrate her Birthday while she's here! I'm very much looking forward to having our first visitor from home to be able to really share what our new life is like here on St. Kitts! Isaiah and I have been keeping busy as usual or trying to anyway! Last weekend, we went to the beach with Jakki, Jim, and Elena, and met up with Jen, Ava, Harley, Damon, Kori, and Emily while we were there! Isaiah and I enjoyed lunch at the beach bar (he ate an entire hotdog, some french fry bites, all of the black beans off my salad, and some of his hot dog roll!). I'm telling you....Isaiah is going to be eating us out of house and home by the time he hits kindergarten and I have the feeling I may have to force him to get a job by the time he's 10 to help pay for groceries!!! We had a good time and the kids enjoyed discovering the paddle boat together! Isaiah also had fun playing with Elena's snorkel gear!

Ava, Damon, and Zay on the paddleboat at Reggae beach

Stealing Elena's fins

On Thursday last week Isaiah and I headed to campus in the afternoon for a meeting and then had about an hour to kill while Josh was at a TA session. I wasn't sure how to keep Isaiah busy, but we decided to head to the prep school and see if we could find something to do! I decided to take Isaiah on the little kid swingset, but we had some issues because the hooks on the baby swing are broken! He played in the little treehouse a bit when I'd lift him up and liked the steering wheel on the wall. He'd twist it back and forth and make his "vroom, vroom" noises! He did enjoy the slide in there, but when he started going for the sandbox I decided we needed a change! They have a huge playplace that the kids can crawl through, so I decided to take Isaiah in to see if there were things he could play at. He ended up having a fantastic time! I could crawl through the stuff with him (although I didn't let him go too high up incase I would get stuck!) and he loved it when I'd chase him through something or run ahead and then he'd have to find me. He's getting to be so much fun to play with these days!!! When I told him we had to get his shoes on and go pick up Daddy he kept running away from me and crawling some more, so I think he had a great time!

Isaiah being silly with 2 hats on!

Friday night, we got Indian takeout and ate at Jakki and Joe's place. It was nice to spend some time with them. With Jakki teaching 5 days a week now Isaiah and I are really missing having her to do things with on the weekdays and I miss just getting to visit with my friend, so it was great to see them and be able to relax and just hang out!

Cutie pie

Josh headed to school on Saturday at 8am and was there pretty much all day. Isaiah and I spent the morning at home, but took a trip to Port after lunch with Jakki to shop for a few things and to visit the ice cream shop at Port! It was nice to get out of the house and do something different than going to the beach or pool and Isaiah was really well behaved in his stroller during the trip! Saturday evening we had our Bible studies since the Superbowl was on Sunday this week. Josh took Isaiah along with him to hang out with the guys. I am really enjoying our women's Bible study going through the book of Daniel. I'm getting more into every week and am really excited to be part of it along with the other ladies who are doing it too!

I'm ready for my closeup Mom!

Sunday we all went to church together. A new professor, Jason Johnson, and his wife, Jennifer came to church and brought their son, Eli, who is 20 months old along with them. He and Isaiah were like two peas in a pod playing with toys, sharing snacks, and running in and out the whole time. I think it'll be really nice for Isaiah to have someone close in age, but a little older than him around and hopefully we'll get to hang out with Eli and Jennifer more as they adjust to their new life here. I invited Jennifer along to our Mommy and Me group that we've been going to the past few weeks, so hopefully the boys will be able to have some fun together this Thursday! Isaiah and I just chilled out the rest of the day and spent a quiet evening here with Josh when he got home from studying at school all day!

Dismantling the obstacle course at the Royal St. Kitts

Yesterday, Isaiah and I went with Kristen and Brody down to Jessie's place at Sealofts and took a dip in the pool. After the pool, we let the kids play and run around in the grassy area up by the ocean. It was a nice day and the breeze by the water was great! We went and got lunch at a new coffee shop just down the street from Jessie's and really liked it! Isaiah had a cheese panini and ate pretty well for having to sit on my lap to eat it! We came back and Isaiah went down for a nap around 1:30 and slept until Josh got home at 5:15!!! I think this cold and teething at the same time is really making him tired lately! He's been asleep now for about an hour and I hope he takes a good nap. He was up for 7 hours before he fell asleep, so he should be tired and in need of some good sleep!

Isaiah running around the grounds at the Royal St. Kitts during

our Mommy and Me time at the Pool

I hope everyone is doing well at home. My Pap, Mack, is set to come home from Pennknoll on Saturday, so I'm excited for him to be back at home where he belongs! Prayers for his transition back to home would be great! I also talked to my Mom this morning and my Aunt Karen is in the hospital for diverticulitis. She's been in a good amount of pain, so prayers for her healing and comfort would be appreciated! We miss you all at home and can't wait to see you again in April! XOXO