More fun with Daddy!

Today we had a great family outing :)  

We went to the home of Gladys Busby.  

She is a very sweet local woman we know from church.  

We've adopted her as our Caribbean Grandma.

Anyway, we've been wanting to learn how to make some local foods and she happends to be an excellent cook.  So she had us over this morning to make Johnny Cakes.  

They turned out GREAT!  We are excited to try them on our own. 

We had a great with her!

We've also gone to the little park near our house so Holdyn could release some energy.

Here is the bathing beauty sporting her floaties at the kiddie pool. 

We sure love having daddy around to do this stuff with us!!

The Caribbean Toddler Bed

Here it is!! It can be hard and expensive to find cribs/beds here on the island. So thanks to the Spouses Org. (through the school) we can get the hand-be-downs.  Which are always greatly appreciated!! This Toddler Bed has been through 6 Medical student families. We were fortunate enough to score it from Nicole:)  Notice the bottom legs of the bed.... they broke off somewhere along the way, so we've got it sitting up on two step stools and Ben also added the board along the side (With zip ties) so that Holdyn doesn't roll out :)   So far Holdyn LOVES it!  We also got the little black puzzle foam mat thing to go around the edges of her bed. Now, if she rolls out she won't land with a splat on the tile floor.  She goes to bed much better than we expected!  Hopefully the next kid adjusts to changes as good as little Holdyn!  

St. Maarten wildlife

Since Ben has been our designated driver I've had my camera out and ready to catch the random wildlife that you see on the roads of St. Maarten.  We saw all of these animals yesterday on a short drive, within a half hour of eachother :)

Our first stop was just out of our driveway.... we see these birds quite regularly.  I don't know what they are really called but we refer to them as "Larry Birds."

Here is one of the many random pigs resting in the mud.  This is just outside of a store we visit often called 1234 and more.

Here is another pig on the run.... this was as close as we could get.

Our next exibit is our little monkey, Holdyn.  We have seen a real wild monkey, but they are pretty rare.  This is also as close as I dare get... hee hee.

This is a common scene.... goats!  We probably passed 30 before I got this shot. There is a road that goes over the hill from Philipsburg that we call "Goat Hill" because there are always goats chillin on the roadsides.... and sometimes running down the middle of the road.

Look close, YES, this is a dog inside the restraunt.  This is also VERY common. Dogs are everywhere and often times they come up to you while you are sitting at a restraunt trying to eat.  Now, I'm not against dogs... but this is a bit out of control!  I'm not a fan of stray, nasty, island dogs.... especially while I'm trying to eat!

Here is what is called a "chuck"  it is half chicken and half duck.  This was in the parking lot of the church.  Pretty ugly if you ask me.  But the locals say they are good eatin.

And last, but not least.... the chickens! These can also be found everywhere.  This one just visited Kwik Bargains and was on his way out.....after being chased a bit, by the workers.

Well, there are many more odd and random animals running around, but this was what we caught on our little drive :) Hope you enjoy!

It's all about Holdyn

Holdyn has been loving having the attn of her daddy.  She just graduated from the port-o-crib...yes she is almost two and has only slept in a port-o-crib.  She has always been a great sleeper and never complained :)  Anyway, she is handling the switch very well!  

She also has been loving her crayons..... the chair apparantly needed a little more purple :)

This morning we were all awake a little before 6am... I know... even ME!  Ben is the morning person, but you don't see me up that early very often.  Since we were all up we decided to go fishing.  As you can see Holdyn is quite the helper.  She was great at spotting the fishies under the docks.

We even caught one today.... I didn't get a very good picture of it, I was videotaping Ben reel it in.  We sure had a great time.  It was the first time in awhile, that I'd accomplished soo much before 9am.  We went fishing, came back had breakfast and went upstairs and went swimming because it was soo warm outside.  I was ready for lunch and a nap by 10.  Good thing Ben was here to keep playing with Holdyn while I got in a much needed snooze.

Don't be Jealous.....

What do you get when you put Daddy Ben, Prego Jill, and 21 month old Holdyn in this Tinsy Suzuki......SQUISHED!  (When Ben and I were both in it our shoulders touched eachothers in the middle and also our doors. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of us all in it.... it was quite comical. I'd get the giggles every time we got in to go anywhere.) This was our replacement car for about a day..... it ran well.... we just felt like we should have our feet running beneath the car going up the hills :)   Luckily, we upgraded to the much roomier Hyundai Getz, hopefully we can keep it until we leave.  

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly!!!

THE GOOD....

**Ben is finished with his 4th semester of Medical school HOORAY!!!  We are just waiting for his Pharmacology Shelf exam score to come sometime next week.  He did well in all of his other classes!  Way to go BABE!!!  We have him all to ourselves for about 2 and a half weeks YIPPEE!!!

**Ben finally got to go meet Ms. Janga, the midwife.  I had an appt today.  I guess I just need to take someone with me to each appt.  She is much friendlier when it isn't just me there.  Things are also looking good for the moment with the pregnancy :)  Kimber is a kicker for sure!  I think she is going to be a spazz just like her big sister Holdy-Locks.  

This is a picture of the hospital that I took while driving from our appt. today.  I'll try to get some better ones.  It really isn't the 'nicest' hospital I've been in, but a hospital nonetheless.

**Holdyn keeps wanting to sit on the potty :)  We haven't even begun to formally potty train her, but she LOVES to sit and pee pee on the potty.  She is especially good at getting the toilet paper and wiping her back, then flushing... it is great!  Hopefully, she continues to love it!!  

THE BAD.....

--Our leased/rental car has been in the shop 3 times during the last two weeks and it still doesn't run.  Since I'm the one who is driving it most of the time and I'm now over 7 months pregnant and have a 20 month old hooligan joint to my side.... I haven't dared venture out on my own in fear that it will die on me.  (If you've been here, or any Caribbean island you know there aren't many places to 'pull over' on a lot of the roads)  So I've been avoiding going anywhere all together.  We should be getting a different car sometime today though :) I just hope the A/C works as good as the older car!

--Our Neighbor's left early this morning.  They have

 three little kids who Holdyn LOVES to play with.... she's been running out our door and knocking on theirs and nobody is there... it is pretty sad!  Hopefully she realizes how fun I am :)

The UGLY.....

--I've been almost flat on my back since Sunday afternoon with a HORRIBLE Ear infection.  I had no idea how painful those things are!  I am finally feeling a bit better. I am still finishing up 2 anti-biotic treatments and I can't hear a thing out of my right ear. It is draining some nasty stuff though :)  It just started aching a little Sunday after church, but by Sunday night I was cringing in pain, and nearly in tears!  Monday Morning we went into the Dr. and it was pretty swollen.  The pain was awful, and being pregnant you can only take Tylenol for it.... which didn't seem to help during the first few days!  Anyway, I had pain shooting through my jaw, cheek, and all around the outside of my ear.  I was pretty miserable. It was even hard to eat anything because I couldn't chew.... all I wanted was A WENDY's FROSTY.... is that too much to ask?!  Thanks to some brave friends and neighbors who helped take Holdyn and sneak me in some numbing drops so Ben could study and take his final exams!  Poor Ben couldn't focus like he

 wanted to with me miserable..... but we made the best of it!

**On a different note, Holdyn LOVES to get into the post-it notes and these little marker note paper-things :)  The other day I found her with them stuck all over the floors, walls, and her cheeks..... if you can't beat them..... join'em!

A bit of this and a bit of that....

Things are going pretty good for us.  I'm still trying to "take it easy" and Ben has been studying like crazy for these last 7 exams within 2 weeks.  I'm not sure who made their schedule, but they weren't thinking very clearly.  Anyway, he's got two weeks of studying and exams then we'll have him home for about 2 weeks!  We are excited for that day to come.  He has been workingsoo hard and we've hardly seen him.... but he does take over Holdyn, and the dishes, and pretty much everything else when he is home.... Which I REALLY appreciate.

So with that said, here are a few pictures....

We went to a huge BBQ put on by a friend in Ben's class.  Ben challenged

Ceaser to an apple pie contest..... His turned out great!  There was no 

official Winner, since both pies turned out great.

Here is Caeser with Holdyn.  She absolutely LOVES him.  We almost had him sold on taking her home.  She was his shadow during the entire BBQ.

Today after Ben's exams, he took the afternoon off.  He came with me to do some of the shopping.... which was very nice!  Plus the car stopped about 5 times on the way home... so I was glad he was there.... it is now in the shop... hopefully we will have it back soon.

After that, we came home and went swimming upstairs.  Holdyn loved being out and I loved hanging out with Ben most of the day :)

Here is Ben and Holdyn.... loving the water.  

Anyway, we're doing good and anxiously waiting for this semester to end so he can start his 5th and final semester here on the island.