Easter

Easter was definitely different here in the D.R. I realized that I probably wouldn't be able to find Easter candy down here but thankfully I had my friend Holly coming to visit a couple of weeks before. She was very sweet and brought us a lot of candy to enjoy. 

Nathan got the week off of school and Jake also had a short week. That allowed for a little Easter fun. I had hoped to make some Easter cookies but I realized once at the store that there was no food coloring and the only sprinkles they had were dinosaur shapes. We made the best of it. 

Nathan thought it would be a good idea to leave out a treat for the bunny. We left him a cookie and a carrot. I am happy to report that the bunny seemed pleased. He left us some treats and a few scriptures to read. I will say he did leave a mess though. He had dirty feet and let bunny tracks all over our house!

Fridays

Friday's around here are always an exciting day. Not only is it the weekend but it is the day that dad comes home. The is usually 2.5 hours between picking up Nathan from school and Jake walking through the door. On these day's I have to keep the boy's occupied otherwise I am pretty sure they may explode. Most of the time we go out into the courtyard and run races. It is fun to see Nathan and Andy interact. Nathan is a pretty crazy kid but when it comes to Andy he is so gentle. If Andy falls over or trips he will always stop to check on him to make sure he is ok. It is always fun to see them run around and every so often as we are out Jake will get him and they will both come screaming. I can say they are a pretty sweet welcoming committee.

Dad Time

Around here dad time is VERY limited. The boys like to make the best of that time. 

Sunrise

One thing that I have learned as a mom is that sleep is something that you won't ever get much of. Before I had babies I though waking up at 6:30 was an early morning. I now find it a very very exciting thing if I sleep past 6:30. That being said I feel we have utilized our time well while we are here living on the beach. A few of the extra early mornings I have decided to take the boys out so we can watch the sunrise over the ocean. It has proven to be something that we enjoy.

My school Boy

I am finally getting my act together and blogging. I thought I would be so good and posting but I am definitely out of the habit. So today we shall play a little catch up.

Nathan starting school was one of the big changes when we moved down here. In Elko I had worked with Nate as well as done Mommy School with a few of our friends. When we made the decision to move here we were told that it would be best for him to start as soon as possible so he could be caught up. Down here people start their kids in preschool at 2. 

It had definitely been a big adjustment for Andy and I. I was sad my little boy was growing up but I am more upset about how much I missed him during the day. He is my little buddy and I have been a little lost without him. Andy also lost his best friend during the day.

Nathan on the other hand has loved every moment of it. He is going to a private school. There are 9 kids in his class. It's very fun because it is so diverse. Several of the children are Dominican but there are also many from Europe. There is also another little boy from the U.S. For the kids the common language is English but most have other first languages such as Spanish and German. I am amazed how fast he is picking up so many different words. He is already speaking more Spanish than I know. There is a teacher and an assistant that are both wonderful. I am happy to say that he actually learned something from me. By the end of the first month his teacher let me know that he is working at the same level as the other kids that have been in school since they were 2. Now after 2 months he has started reading and he has already passed off 3 reading books.

It has been so much fun to see him learn and grow. I get a little emotional when I start to wonder where my sweet baby has gone. I also get very proud of the sweet boy that I see growing up before me.

Nathan's first day of school

Nathan's first day with his new uniform

Nathans first passed off reading book!

Sand Baby

 

 Living by the beach is definitely and adventure with two little boys. The one thing I am having a hard time with is the mess. Not matter if the floor is swept several times a day there is also sand on the ground. When it comes to the boy's I am in a whole new world of dirty. Andy thinks the greatest thing in the world is to roll around in the sand. I guess it's alright if you get a happy baby in the end.

Life as we know it...

 

Well we made it. Sorry for the delay in blogging. We are still in transition right now. There are still a few kinks to work out before I can say we are completely settled.

So... where to start... I really don't know what everyone is wanting to hear about so I guess I will give a quick run through of our first couple of weeks. If you have any requests please comment. Otherwise I will only post boring and lame things that will make you stop reading this ;)

Alrighty now...we flew out of Salt Lake on a very late night. The first flight was kind of rough. Andy didn't want to sleep and he ended up crying for a while which was unfortunate. Thankfully exhaustion finally kicked in and he fell asleep for the last few hours of our flight into NY. Once in NY we had just a little time to make our connection. That was stressful but good because once we were on the other plane the boy's both crashed and slept until shortly before we landed in the DR. We flew to Santo Domingo on the south side of the island because we needed to go to the consulate as part of our immigration process. We spent a night in Santo Domingo and then after a busy morning running around town we took a 5 hour taxi ride up to the north coast. This was not my favorite part of the trip but thankfully the kids were still pretty beat from all of the traveling and they slept for over 3 hours of the ride. We ended up in Sousa at a resort where we got to stay until we found our apartment.

For a few days we got to go around and look at beautiful apartments. I seriously felt like we were on an episode of house hunters international. One was huge and beautiful. It was on a private beach and had an infinity pool. The other was nicely furnished and had a large kitchen. Then there was a nice apartment that was in a beautiful community that was a good deal. I have watched that show so many times and wondered what would make them choose one apartment over the other. Well now I know. Though the first place was a total dream it really wasn't kid friendly and we decided that the best place was actually the cheapest. So it was a win win and now I have lived my HGTV fantasy.

Our biggest issue about moving into the apartment was that it wasn't available for a couple of weeks. This was not ideal simply because living at a resort with 2 small kids in 1 room for more than a few days is pretty miserable. Add to that no laundry and no car and you have a grumpy and smelly family. Thankfully our relocation helper Joanne was able to work out a deal with the apartments and get us into a 2 bedroom apartment until our 3 bedroom apartment opens up. In another week we will move into our apartment. We will still be in the same complex just a different place. So though we are here we don't really feel like we can completely unpack and get ourselves settled in.

Once we got into the apartment we spent a day or two getting a few things worked out and going grocery shopping. Once that was taken care of Jake headed off to work (which if you didn't know is 3 hours away and he will be gone 4 day's a week). Lucky for me I wasn't to be alone for long. The morning that Jake left my friend Stacey flew in to stay for a few weeks. Back when we were making the decision to move we knew that this would be a difficult time for me and the kids and we though it would be a good idea to have someone to help me. Lucky for me I have a good friend that was available to come and stay with me for a month. That way I wouldn't be alone. This would turn out to be a fantastic idea because unlucky for me I totally threw out my back this last week and I am on doctors orders not to carry anything heavy...like a baby :) So Stacey has been mommy number 2 for that last few days and I am very thankful for her.

Well there are many other things to share but they will have to be shared another night. Things such as the beach, sand, valentines and buying a car are all soon to come. Also if you want to see more pictures I post to Instagram a lot. I am private but if I know you and you request I will add you. Now to the pictures.

The boy's the day after we got into the apartment.

There are a lot of pretty plants to enjoy here. I may just do and whole post on flowers.

We consider the weekends with Jake to be very important. The major things on our agenda are playing with dad and making sure every moment is spent well. That means lots of swimming and no working.

This is the view from our current apartment. Pretty nice.

 

 

I found this overhead shot online.