KaDOomeNT & TiNGs

We are just now slowing down from all the festivities of the last 2 months. We came home from Abaco as you know and 2 weeks later Laura arrived for her 3 week stay. We had a blast while Laura was here, I think it was the best Barbados trip she's ever been on. She had great weather, great parties, tons of adventures and awesome food for 3 whole weeks!! Kadooment time was upon us and before Laura arrived we booked ourselves to attend 7 parties within 9 days.....you can't imagine how much hard work that was until you've lived it. Fun is an understatement, it's more like the most epic week ever in the history of ever! We did 2 booze cruises and the weather was perfect, the water was perfect, the music and drinks were flowing and the people were dancing and having a time! We did Foreday (J'ouvert) with MixNutz and that was Friday night from 11:59pm through until Saturday at 6am....paint, mud, rum punch and wee-wee trucks at all hours of the morning, talked about mashed up. The Beach House party was a normal hours, outdoor party with DJ Private Ryan (if ya dun know him, ya bess get his podcast), free food and drinks all night......oh and rain, that was unexpected but so were my sandals turned 4 inch wedge shoes at the end of the night, nasty, horrible weather for an outdoor party. Nonetheless, we danced and sang and partied in the rain! We had a few beach days and one of Laura's favorite is JuJu's Beach up west. She got to snorkel with turtles from shore, touched them, swam with them and took video of it all.....the water was perfect visibility for swimming with turtles. Kadooment morning was a bit crazy as always, we were running a little late, and if anything starts "on time" here, it's Kadooment.....well, not this year lol, it started over an hour late so we were technically early haha. We had a few costume malfunctions in the morning but we rigged ways to fix things on the go, had a little sprinkle of rain to cool off the early morning, and then it was time! Time to follow the music trucks and drink trucks and jump, chip, wuk up and such down de road. Kadooment is one of my favorite days of the year, the colors, the people, the music, the vibe just all in one huge parade of a day, it's truly amazing to be a part of it. I'm so glad Laura got to experience ALL of Kadooment this year, now when I reminisce later in life, I can with her :) Laura's "man friend" Dylan came, he got to experience all of this as well, minus 3 of the parties he wasn't here for....BUT, I think in his short 5 days here, he did more than anyone else has done in a week or more. We literally ate at all our favorite places, went to all of our favorite beaches, he jumped Kadooment, went on a booze cruise, dove a shipwreck, swam with turtles.....I mean you name it and he did it, all in 5 days which is completely crazy!

So Laura and Dylan left, then it was time to settle our living arrangement starting in September. We met with our new landlords, have put our deposits and such down and signed the lease. We have 2 weeks to pack up the house and move. Only problem is....Darin works all day and he leaves tomorrow. I've been packing during the day for the last week and throwing tons away, also selling a bunch of stuff, hired movers for the day of (since Darin won't be here), and now just stressing about being there a week before Darin gets back. It's crazy he leaves tomorrow and will never come back to this home we've been in for 2 years, he comes home to a new home. In my packing i've already cried in Gem's room, it's sad to think she's leaving the first home she knows, her first room, the only place she knows. She does all these cute things because she knows where everything is and soon she won't. When I ask if she wants to brush her teeth, she goes right to the bathroom, if she's tired she goes to the stairs and waits for someone to take her upstairs, at bathtime she goes to her room, gets her towel and meets me in our bathroom, all those little things she does are so cute.....I hope she adjusts well in the new place.

We booked our tickets to go home in October and booked her first swimming lessons as well! I'm so excited for her to swim, she wants to so bad but obviously she can't. Our new place has a pool so we plan on fully enjoying it during the day and Gem to be a little fishy in no time! I think she's going to do awesome!

SuMMeR TiMe

June:
Can't believe it's almost been 2 months since my last post!! Whoops! Let me get started....Darin's permit is up in September and since we're still here and haven't heard anything about leaving, we're assuming another year or so here in Barbados. Our landlords at our home here have given us a time frame and need us gone soon (not because we are bad tenants but for other reasons haha)....so now we're eagerly on the hunt for a new home.....and it's madness! Between Gem, a new business, visitors coming soon, vacation coming up, Darin's traveling....this blog has been sadly last on my list of things to do.

Did "a new business" catch your eye? Let me elaborate for ya. For the last few months i've started working on opening a business with a friend and it's become something more than I dreamed it would be. We haven't had any business yet but that's because we're focusing on making it so amazing and don't want to offer anything to the world until we're ready (prob another 6 or so months). Doing this has kept me busier than ever before, I wake up thinking about it and go to sleep thinking about it, thinking about what to change, ways to make it better, adding things as I learn more and more.....it's become my second baby pretty much and seems like it will also take some time before it's out for the world. This has kept my days busy and full, every min i'm not doing something with Gem, i'm working on the business stuff. We have a mentor who's amazing and helping us every step of the way as well, glad we have someone to keep us on the right track and encourage us.

July:
We just got back from a week in Abaco with 16 other friends! 2 houses, 1 boat, 3 golf carts and 1 pair of missing flip flops later, we're home safe! Gem was dropped off in Miami and taken to Orlando for the week while we were in Abaco. She stayed with our parents and i'm pretty sure she had just as fun of a week as Darin and I did. She went on play dates, went to parks, splash pads, shopping, played with her aunts and uncle, grandparents, dogs, cats and had her 18 month dr appointment. 

Gem is 29" tall and weighs 25lbs! Guess we should drop the "peanut" nickname since she's no peanut anymore :( Her eyes are turning more green these days then staying blue, which is ok with me. She's smart and funny and we love her personality! She love kids and people and still loves the beach! Her hair is getting so long but it's so curly you'd never know it. We can't wait until our visit in October, Gem will be in swim lessons and then we'll follow up here once a week. I want her to continue to swim so i'm doing my best to find a new home with a pool and it's not so easy, but there are options so we'll see. 


Here's a few pics from June and July....
*we had our 5 year anniversary 
*yes, I went blonde :) 
*bum pics are from July 4th in Abaco :)

15 MonTHs!

Things have been quite busy around here. Darin's been traveling a lot, i've been helping a friend with her business, all the launch parties for kadooment are happening and costumes are coming out......it's just been a crazy month needless to say. We're jumping Kadooment this year again! Our costumes ordered and all!! Laura will be here and we got her costume ordered as well! This year Kadooment season has been a lot of fun and only going to get better as July comes around! 

Gemma has been keeping us on our toes....she's figured out to open the pantry when she wants something, or if I ask if she's tired she goes to the stairs, if she wants something on like her shades she brings them to us, we can always tell when a cat or dog is on tv because she freaks out, it's always the little things she does that i'm so impressed by, like how she knows to hold onto me when she's putting shorts or pants on and stands on one leg lol I don't know why it's so neat, it just is, trust me! We've moved from baby snacks to big kid snacks....no more bottles either, and she's almost mastered the stairs. She's into everything that's NOT a toy, like boxes I bring home from a store similar to Costco, those are her favorite!! I'm pretty sure her favorite part of the day is eating breakfast and seeing Darin come home after work (she does this crazy dance)....we still play with the neighborhood kids a few nights a week and she loves that as well, the big kids don't seem to mind either. Her new favorite show is Bubble Guppies, she says bubble bubble bubble over and over when it comes on, it's pretty funny watching her. She continues to chat and go on about stuff so much, that I wish I had earplugs sometimes lol.

She had her first "sick" experience 2 weeks ago, while Darin was gone, of course it happens then. She ran a super high fever and slept in my bed so I could keep an eye on her temp. I sent the dr a text (yes, you can do that here) and she let me know what to do and if I needed to come in and to text her if it got any higher or it lingered. Her temp did go down but stayed a low grade so we had a few good naps in the a/c the next day and then later I wrote the dr and we were told to come in the following day. Gem had a bacterial throat infection!! Some puss in her throat even! So, off to get some antibiotics we went....her temp broke within an hour of her new meds and she was well on her way to recovery. Seeing an uncomfortable sick miserable baby is no fun, you only know worry and exhaustion at that point. Gem is no snugger so I was sure the few snugs she offered that day, I made plenty of room on the couch for. 

BuNNy EarS

Easter was a few weeks ago but there's been tons going on since then. Over the Easter weekend we stayed up in Bathsheba, we've stayed there the last 3 Easters (since we've lived in Barbados). It's always so nice to get away to that side of the island and relax in the hammock on the deck overlooking the ocean and surf break. Last year gem was so little still and to have her walking around this year was SO WEIRD! We had a nice 4 days with good friends, food and memories that we'll keep forever. 

A weDDiNG aNd CanAdA

I was supposed to be in Orlando for 2 weeks, it turned into 5! I love how that happens but I also loathe it. I love it because I get to see my family and friends longer but that just means I have to spend more money and that part I loathe. There were a few reasons for me staying longer than I did. My parents closed on their new house so I wanted to be there and help move in, I also hadn't seen the property since it was just dirt. Darin had to leave but was coming back a week after I was supposed to leave so I just decided to stay and go back with him, plus Gemma is at a really cool age, her walking is getting really good (oh yea, she's walking....since 11 months but it wasn't all that great, i'd say 50/50, she'd walk or crawl, decisions decisions) and she's a lot of fun, so I wanted our family to enjoy her as much as possible. 

My brother got married the end of January, and we couldn't miss that for the world. It was a very sweet ceremony and you could see the love between Craig and Kait the whole time. What a cool experience sitting in the front row watching my brother get married. For sure I thought i'd cry but I held it together pretty well. Kait's dress was so incredibly pretty, it was perfect on her.....when she was getting ready you could see the excitement on her face just being in her dress, she loved it! The reception was a fun one with lots of dancing and having a photo booth was a bonus! We had a lot of our family come and it was so great to see all of them and spend sometime with them during their visit. Kait seems to fit in great with our oh so large family....you'd think it would scare some (i'm pretty sure it scared Darin lol), but Kait doesn't seem to mind, I think she likes it :) I'm so happy for my brother, that he found someone like Kait to share his life with and make great memories with in the future, i'm glad I get to make memories as well with our new sister! Congrats to Kait and Craig, love you both! xx

The week after the wedding I ventured up to CANADA!! I have a friend who lives up in Vancouver and since I haven't been to Canada before, I figured it was the perfect time to get a trip in! Gem stayed with her grandparents so I could go enjoy time with Jen. Vancouver is a great city, lots to see and lots to do and only an hour drive from Whistler!! I'll be going back to ski for sure and go to the tube park! They had a weird winter so there wasn't much snow except for what was on the mountain. We sat and ate lunch out on a patio of a cool restaurant at the bottom and watched people wipe out coming down the mountain.....something the nice heaters and a few cold beers made super funny! It was cold in Vancouver but nothing like I thought it would be....you could get away with a long sleeve shirt and a jacket and be just fine, I was expecting layers and layers but that didn't happen lol. I got to go to my first hockey game which was so fun, but they lost :( Got to visit a few of Jen's usual spots, a few lounges, fun bars and restaurants. I was really excited to have a Tim's coffee everyday and also poutine (which is fries with chunks of cheese curds and gravy, sounds super gross, but it's super awesome). It was a great 5 days and so nice to spend time with Jen, hope to make it back soon!!

Upon my arrival home, it was time to help my parents move, so every day after my mom got off work (11:30am), we'd load up the car while Gem was napping and when she woke up we'd take the 30 min journey out to the new house and unload the car, do something at the house, wait for furniture, alarm people or someone and make it back in time for dinner either at their old place or at my grandma's house. So....that was a fun week. Darin came in again that Friday afternoon and had the weekend to spend with us before he had to go to meetings starting the next week, every day for work. 

As always the weeks went by super fast but we were ready to leave and get back home to barbados. It's nice after being so busy and visiting so much with people to sit and do nothing again lol. It's nice to get back to our routine and have it be just us again. I miss our evening walks to watch the sunset on the ocean....reminds me everyday why I love living here. We have a few things coming up that we're looking forward to and the first is Easter week in Bathsheba! We've gone every year since moving here and it's a great little escape that sort of gets you rested before the crazy summer starts with all the Kadooment crazy events. This year in Bathsheba should be fun with Gemma since she's old enough to play with the kids and not have to just sit in a bouncy seat on the beach like last year, I think she'll fully enjoy it and that means a good night sleep for an exhausted 1 yr old every night, SCORE for mom and dad!!!  

About Gem:

*loves playing with the neighborhood kids and her own ride on toy

*skateboarding with daddy

*picking up and bringing you invisible things

*giving "closed mouth" kisses and says mmmmmmmuh doing it

*sometimes she says "thank you" lol, it's funny

*still really loves bathtime and sleeping

*her "pretending" is really fun to watch

*she's completely on the move, walks/runs everywhere, the beach is the best to watch    her walk around on....she looks like she's had one too many daiquiris hahaha

*says her version of kitty, dog, woof and a pig oink which is hilarious