HoLiDAy SEasOn TwO

HAPPY 2016!!! We are coming off of a great Christmas season. I miss it already, I love having a tree that lights up at night and smells so good, just something about snugging on the couch with a lit tree.....it's a warm my heart kind of feeling. Gemma and I made my mom's traditional "snowball cookies", she loves to help mix and loves to sit on the counter any chance she can get. Christmas morning was nice, just us. I made Darin waffles which he's been dying for but we didn't have a waffle maker, well guess what Santa brought him this year? Hahahaha!! We toasted to Christmas and had a yummy breakfast before heading off to our friends house for lunch and onto another for dinner. We went to a Christmas party the week before and Santa was there......he brought Gem a present but she didn't seem too pleased with his outfit lol. I learned at Sea World over the summer that she DOES NOT like people dressed up as things, Santa included apparently. 

We had a great New Years, spent it at the Franco's and had a nice steak dinner with all the fixings then went to watch the fireworks....Gem barely made it but she made it nonetheless. Here's a peek at our Christmas and New Year week.

HoLidAy SEasOn

We recently had "Friendsgiving" with a few of our friends the day after Thanksgiving. It was such a lovely night, with all American foods and wine, so we fully enjoyed ourselves. The busy Christmas season is around the corner and I can't wait to get our barrel we sent and wrap all the presents. Our tree this year is gorgeous! At 7ft tall, it's got a great shape and it smells awesome!

About Gem: she continues to amaze us, crazy she will be 2 next month! Her vocabulary is growing and she's super adventurous, she enjoys being a dare devil. She used to call herself "mine" but now says her name and it's probably the cutest thing i've ever heard. She loves watermelon and can't get enough of it, I think she'd eat a whole one if I let her. She loves the skateboard and running around with her friends. One of MY favorite things is time out, sounds crazy but it's pretty hilarious, she will stand in the corner and face it the whole time, when she stops crying I go get her out but it's so nice to see how she knows and respects what time out is and what it's for, she understands so much these days. She went on the boogie board for the first time and LOVED it, even after a total wipeout haha, so we'll probably get her one for Christmas too. Coloring and painting is going to be one of my favorite things i'll always remember doing with her, she's so intense coloring, holding the marker or crayon so tight and perfect only to make a tiny little dot with such concentration is so funny watching. Being thrown in the air by dad will probably be one of her favorite memories, she can't stop, just wants to be in the air again and again, at least Darin gets a good workout :)

She knows all her friends names and gets so excited if I say they're coming over or "lets go see....", I like that she's social, I hope it means she'll have some really great friends in life who she can travel the world with and make memories. Adventure should be her middle name and who better to go on those with than your friends?

JuST LikE ThAt

Officially our late summer and fall is over and just like that, we're back in Barbados from our 5 week vacation in Orlando. That was the fastest blink of an eye situation ever! We've been home for 2 weeks and I want to post before the holiday season is upon us (which it technically already is). We lived in our new place for a month before Gem and I left to head to Orlando for 5 weeks!! I usually have anxiety going back because i'm pulled so many different ways, also flying alone and having a 6hr layover with a 1yr old was also weighing on my anxiety level.  Our flight was terrific, I attempted to use the ipad before we left so she would be distracted for a little while on the flight which worked wonderfully.....now to get past the next 6hrs, including nap time. We got through customs and immigration, then security again and I walked around for 10mins and Gem was out! LUNCH TIME! I got to sit and eat sushi in peace, also had a glass of wine. The next few hours went by without a cry, without a whine, just a happy kid who enjoyed her ipad in TGI Fridays as mommy enjoyed some nice craft beers. We were headed to the gate when Gem passed out again for an afternoon nap and when she woke up, we were boarding.  The next flight went so smooth and Gem stayed happy and all that anxiety I had went out the window. I can't believe how well behaved she was, I was shocked, it was the easiest flight ever.

After arriving to Orlando, it's always nice to unpack and chill out the first day or two there so Gem can adjust, then it was off to Seaworld. We got year passes and I was so excited to bring Gem, she loves animals, loves fish, so I knew how much she'd love Seaworld! We got to see penguins, went to the Shamu show which she loved and clapped for them, laughed and smiled the whole time. She loved the big play area and all the aquariums with fish. Great start to our Orlando visit. Gem started the next week in swim lessons at South West Aquatics, 5 days a week every morning for 10mins. Being committed was a task in itself, but in the end, I think it actually help my days stay pretty calm and uneventful. I actually found myself home a lot of afternoons which was really nice. We ventured to the splashpad some days, back to Seaworld a few more times, grabbed lunch together or met up with friends. Finding fun playgrounds was something Gem enjoyed, she loves to swing and go down slides, it's nice to be outside playing so i'm all for some good playground action.

We got to see my family quite a bit. We stay with my parents (Oma & Opa), and Gem didn't take long to say both their names as well as Remie and Casper. Remie and Gem are best friends and were completely obsessed with each other the whole time we were there. Craig and Kait came every Monday to her swim lessons and then grabbed brunch with us after. It was so nice to have our families come show Gem how we were all so excited for her, cheering her on during swim. We went to Laura's place and met more dogs, Gem was in dog heaven this trip. Oma loved having Gem on the counter watching her bake and then rocking her in the evenings before bed. Opa shared ipad moments with Gem while she drank her milk and sat on the couch with him when he got home from work. He went out one night with Gem and I, we went to a skate party and then grabbed pizza on the way home.

Pumpkin patch pictures are my absolute favorite of any kid! I could go without seeing school pictures, holiday pictures, birthday pictures, first poop in the potty pictures (people actually do that), but what I can't go without is pumpkin patch pictures! I missed them last year, we got to Orlando to late, but THIS year, I made it! We planned a day with Oma, Opa, Grammie & Poppie to go see the pumpkin patch and farm animals, eat some kettle corn and go on hayrides. The Early family met us there as well and the day was so nice, family filled.

Halloween also happened while we were there. Last year Gem was to small for it so this was her first trick or treating Halloween. Teya always does these fabulous costumes so I got in on hers and we did a joint one with the 3 kids. Wendy, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell....the cutest kids on the block. Thanks Gem for all the candy! ;)

After Halloween, we flew up to Atlanta and met Darin up there. We got to spend some family time with the Doty side. We haven't seen the girls in a while and knew Joss probably couldn't travel for a bit, so we needed to make a trip. We got brunch on arrival and then headed to the Georgia Aquarium. It's so big, and the different areas are done so well. The big huge tank is amazing, it's HUGE, it's like a really big movie screen with stadium steps to sit on and enjoy the animals swimming by. The dolphin show was SO good, better than Seaworld's! Gem loved it, of course she'd clap and laugh and just smiled the whole way though....by the time that was over, Gem was over lol....her travel day had started to take a toll, it was getting late so we left and headed back to Drey and Shane's house. The next day was a leisure family day at home, we celebrated Jordis's birthday too. It's nice to see the girls get to play together and love on each other, wished we lived closer to each other so we'd have more moments like that. I grew up with my cousins all around, someday I hope Gem can enjoy the same. Grammie & Poppie left that night for their drive back to Orlando and we left the next evening. Before leaving, we brought the girls to a playground so they could run around in the fresh air, it was nice breathing fresh cool air for a change. Our trip was to short, ended too soon, but we had to get back and finish our week before leaving for Barbados.

NeW HOmE

I obvi wrote this at the beginning of september.....which was like 2 months ago lol....anyway....here's a read, i'll post more this week because a TON has happened since september :)

I meant to post my last entry weeks ago, but after Darin left for Cayman, things got a little crazy and then moving to our new place all by myself with a 1 year old and not having internet for the last two weeks made posting a little difficult. BUT......i'm here, i'm back and 80% unpacked!

With that said....PHEW, these last 3 weeks have been a tornado! Darin had to go to Cayman to help out the shop there and then from there he went to Orlando for a little over a week for work as well, so it was just Gem and I for 2.5 weeks. Normally i'd be ok (i think), it seems long and I probably would of got frustrated at some point but he left a week before we were moving into our new place and that added a whole other bag in the mix of already being a single mom for a bit. I packed slowly, every day I did a little and threw away a lot and gave away a lot. Packing with a 1.5 year old was a tad tricky, I had the back room as my room with all the boxes and kept the door closed, so I really only packed at nap time and after Gem was in bed.....talk about no downtime, holy moly!! On top of moving I also knew we couldn't sit home everyday, Gem needed to get out even if for a little bit so I made sure we had something to do every other day or so, just to keep her from getting stir crazy. Moving day came and my house was packed up, moved and unpacked in under 2 hours. I had 2 great moving men come to my rescue! Once all the boxes were in the new house and the men had left, I was just not motivated to do any unpacking. I had a friend Anna come over and she got started in the kitchen so that's where I started too. Slowly during the week with friends stopping by to lend a helping hand, room by room and box by box got cleaned out and more trash filled the dumpster. Darin wouldn't be home for another week so my goal was to get most of the unpacking done so when he got back he'd feel like he was coming home. I'm still not totally unpacked but i'm at about 80%, the rest will just come in time once I can figure out a storage plan, we're lacking on storage badly here. We've had a few people over to swim and hang on the porch and watch the sun go down, grab a bite at the golf restaurant a few steps away (oh right! i'm on a golf course and it's pretty awesome). We have our first big bbq and pool lime (party) this weekend with everyone, looking forward to a good day and lots of laughs and good food!

Gem has adjusted pretty well here, I was a little nervous at first because she was getting up real early but after trying a few things, I figured out it was the light in the am coming through the windows. No problem some blackout curtains can't fix, and ta-da :) my 8am baby is back!! Darin's now been home for a week and we're settling nicely in our new place. Happy to be here, to have all of us here and I think we'll really like it here. 

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!