Trick or Treat!

Matix went trick or treating for the first time today! Hooray hooray!

On campus they set up a costume parade/trick or treating time for the kids. It seemed like everyone had a great time. Matix is a monkey this year and Grandma Stacy made him this costume! Thanks Stacy, everyone loved it! Is he the CUTEST?! Here we are getting ready to go.

Saying hello to some friends. This is Chance, he is a Lion.

Here are a few girls from church who were princesses today.

Posing for a quick picture with UPS driver Shane. :)

Jessie with monkey Matix and Amber with fairy princess Lily.

Paul took some time from studying to go with (what a good Daddy!).

Here is a short video too... Matix sort of got the idea.

We didn't stay for the whole parade. It was hot and Matix already had a few pieces of candy and some cookies.

The last stop we went to gave him this HUGE pixie stick. It is as tall as he is. :) He doesn't really know what it is, but he was excited to get it!

We let him have a sucker after we stripped him down on our way back to the stroller.

We LOVE Trick or Treating! More festivities tomorrow too!

Smart Boy

Matix likes to call his friends and family.... only in play though. :) when we give him a phone to talk for real, he doesn't say anything. :)

Matix tries to comb his own hair too. Not very successfully, but it's cute to watch.

Check-ups

Well, not REAL check-ups... :) Paul has had a fever off and on for 2 days, so he has been checking his temperature periodically... and in true Matix fashion, Matix wants HIS temperature taken too.

Paul thought it would be fun to give him a check-up too. He listened to his heartbeat, breathing, and checked his temperature of course... and Matix LOVED it. :)

And yes, Paul is wearing his white coat. Can you tell he is excited to be a doctor?! Too bad he still has a few years of training ahead of him. :)

Fender

Sad news today... I got an email from Stacy (Paul's Mom) today saying that their dog Fender (Paul, Dale and Colleen's childhood dog) had passed away.

Fender had lived a long and happy life, up until the end. This is Lee with Fender doing one of their favorite things together, hiking. :) Fender was taking a break.

Fender had belonged to Dale (Paul's brother), but became a family dog. Everyone will miss him. Our dog Sakina (who is staying with Lee and Stacy while we are in Dominica) LOVES Fender and was never more than a foot away from him. I am sure she will miss him too. Fender was very smart and could hear food fall to the floor BEFORE it even hit. He was bigger than he thought he was and would lay on our feet (all 100+ pounds of him!). Fender loved to bark at things and was protective over his family. He loved to go for walks and hikes. He was a good dog. Good bye Fender.

Fun with Daddy

While I get lunch ready, Paul and Matix play together. This is from the other day and it went on like this for about 10 minutes...

A little distracting for me to get anything done, but how can you resist that smile?

Does this count as help?

Tonight we finished dinner a little early, so Paul was able to "help" with bath time. But when he helps, I end up looking like this:

Paul got Matix all excited and he splashed like crazy. Then he read Matix his bedtime book (it's a different book every night). Can you see how happy he is reading with DADDY?! His favorite guy in the world? So cute.

Even though there is quite the mess to clean up, and it takes longer for Matix to actually fall asleep because he was so riled up, I DO appreciate the "help". Thanks hubby. :)

Hermit Crab

On a walk we spotted a little critter on the road. He was SO tiny!

Matix thought he was the best thing ever, and wouldn't stop staring at him. I figured that since he was so little, he wouldn't pinch... so I picked him up, took this picture and sure enough, he pinched me. :)

Oh well, it was a little pinch. I dropped him and then we watched him walk away.

Morning Routine

Our morning routine goes something like this:

5am - Paul wakes up. He does yoga, takes a shower, reads his scriptures, writes in his journal, and lately, he has been making breakfast (woo hoo).

6am-ish Matix and I get up. We all eat breakfast together. When Matix wakes up he is STARVING... Check out his speed while eating oatmeal! (He gets coldish oatmeal, so it sticks together better, FYI)

6:45 - Paul and Matix brush their teeth while I clean up breakfast.

All the food and crumbs must be found by me or they will be found by ants. Yuck! Then Paul leaves for campus to study before his classes begin for the day.

7:00 - Matix likes to watch Sesame Street. He never really showed an interest in TV before, but now he watches and participates.

When they clap, he claps. When they dance, he dances. He only makes it through a few minutes, but that's okay, since I don't really like to watch that much of it anyway. :)

8:00/9:00 - Around this time Matix crashes out again. He sleeps for 2 to 3 hours usually and wakes up just before lunch.

11:50 - Paul gets out of class for lunch. Sometimes we walk to meet him, and sometimes we wait at home for him. But we always have lunch together, which is so nice. When Paul gets home he plays with Matix while I get lunch ready.

12:45 - Paul leaves to go back to class or to study, depending on the day. Matix and I play or run errands. And, on Wednesdays and Fridays we go to our play group... Which is SO nice. We love it. It is air conditioned, and Matix stays busy without needing me for about an hour or so, so I can actually SIT (what a luxury). :) Plus Matix likes to play with his friends (and with all their toys). Here are Shane and Matix at play group.

2:00/3:00 - Matix goes down for nap #2 and I catch up with everything... blogging, reading, TV, dishes, napping myself, putting away laundry, prepping dinner... it all depends on the day. Matix wakes up after an hour or 2 and we play until Paul comes home.

So now you know. :) This is what we do. I think I taught too many years in special education where schedules are SO important that I have made ours so precise, but it really works well for us. Paul does better with his studying when he has specific amounts of time to work with. Matix is SO much happier and more fun to be with when he has his naps at the right times. And I like it too. :) Who knows what will happen when the new baby comes though. :) I am sure I will have to start from scratch, but we will make it work.

Nap Time Anyone?

While playing, Matix decided he would rather take a nap. He looked around to find a blanket and paci, pulled the pillow off the couch, snuggled up and laid down. I think he is ready for his morning nap. :)

Only in Dominica

They put up these signs around campus that read, "SLOW DOWN Iguana Crossing Zone" Here is Matix with one of the signs.

Here he is running toward the pavement....

Because he saw THIS

Yuck! I do not really enjoy lizards, especially not big ones. This is a "small" iguana, not even 3 feet long, but close. :( We have seen much bigger ones, luckily not on the days that Matix was out of his stroller though, since he really likes to chase them.

Hello?

Seriously, I do NOT spend all day talking on the phone, I actually don't talk on it very much at all... It is expensive to call the states where most of my friends and family live, and all the people who are my friends here in Dominica I see on a regular basis, so there is not much need to call them either. Yet, look what Matix has learned.

When Matix gets ahold of our phone, he holds it up to his ear and tilts his head toward it a little. He has been doing this for a few weeks and the first few times he did it, I thought it was a fluke, but no. He understands that this is what you do with a phone. :) Smart little boy.

My Happy Boy

Matix is too stinkin cute for his own good. :)

We had a really good day today. He slept in an extra hour and a half this morning, but still wanted to take his normal naps (morning and afternoon). He was super giggly and silly today and has been practicing walking backwards... We didn't teach him, he just started to try it. :)

Anyway, I just love this little guy. He makes every day SO wonderful.

Mail's Here!

We got what I think was Matix's last birthday card. Hooray hooray! We check the mail at least every Monday and today Matix got a birthday card and gift from his Great Grandma Evie (Jessie's Grandma). He, as usual, was THRILLED to open it. :)

He really likes to "read" things and this was no exception. This was the first time however, that he paid any attention to the gift part of the card. He kept looking at it and shaking it around... I think perhaps I have taken him shopping with me too often! :) Notice in the last picture on the right he is looking at his money, making sure it is still there...?

Thanks Great Grandma Evie for the card and gift! We love you!

Play Group

Back when we we lived in Tempe there was a play group that a bunch of kiddos and their mom's went to... Sadly, since I was working during the time they met, I could hardly ever go :( The few times I went it was really nice though! I enjoyed talking with other moms and hearing their stories and advice. It was also nice for Matix to watch the other little kids play (he was still so small, he didn't really play with them yet)...

So when we got here to Dominica, I was so happy to find out that there were so many activities and fun things to do... BUT, they all seemed to be either all day activities or just during nap time! :( Matix is NOT a happy camper if he doesn't get his nap. So, we had to miss a lot of things that other people were doing...

Until, we decided to make a play group! :) HOORAY HOORAY for play group. Everyone here on the island (all the students and families at least) have a similar schedule in the afternoon. All the students have a 1 hour break from their classes from 12 until 1, and most families chose to eat together (we do). Paul comes home and we eat, then relax or play until 1 when he has to go back to class or study (depending on the day)...

There is a student center here and on the 3rd floor there are a bunch of games (table tennis, air hockey, pool, etc.), big screen TV's, and a bunch of couches... The best part is, it is AIR CONDITIONED! :) YAY! So we decided to meet up there every Wednesday and Friday at 1 for our play group. The kids are usually awake then, and have been fed, so they have a great time and the mom's get to sit down and talk with people who can actually talk back. :) It is so nice to be able to have a real conversation. We made our play group with the kids Matix's age in mind, but really, it is fun for everyone.

Here are some of the kiddos that have been coming to play group. Click on the pictures if you want to see them bigger, especially the collages.

Please come and join us if you can! 1:00 on the 3rd floor of the student center on Wednesdays and Fridays! :) Play group is a blast and everyone is welcome!

So Sleepy

After long days of running errands, going to the pool and/or beach, Dr. appointments, play group, etc. Matix just crashes out and sometimes doesn't make it home awake.

I LOVE this stroller. One of the features I love is how you can push a button and lay the seat all the way back. It was nice and breezy outside, so Matix took his afternoon nap on our porch while I watched TV just inside. :) I love island life.

Samuel's Birthday

On Saturday, one of Matix's friends had his 3rd birthday party at the pool. Lex came with us and wanted to push the stroller (nice break for me, and Matix LOVED that she was pushing. He kept looking at her and smiling and giggling. He was so happy. :) This picture doesn't do justice of just how pleased he really was with her coming along.

We were the first ones there and had fun playing while we waited for all the other kids to show up. There were quite a few kids, parents and other friends from church there... AND Paul came! Yay! We love it when Daddy takes little breaks from studying to come play. :)

Obviously though, the highlight for Matix was the cake! Samuel's mom baked a REALLY yummy cake and Matix ate it almost as fast as we presented it to him. :) I love Paul's expression in this picture!

This took me forever to post, but it was a great afternoon and we had such a fun time. Thanks to Andrea (Samuel's mom) for sending me some of these pictures and putting on such a fun party. Happy birthday Samuel!!!

Broken Fan

Our poor broken fan. :( A few weeks ago our tall standing fan broke. Paul forced in into a Dominican plug that it should have fit, but it didn't. :( Our landlord had just installed new fans in our bedrooms (that feel like hurricane strength!) so we didn't really need it anymore anyway, but we had left it out so we could get the plug part fixed to give away or sell later.

Well, one day Matix noticed it in the corner, knocked it over, broke the plastic base into a million pieces and made the front pop off by breaking the little plastic pieces that held it there. Definitely not the highest quality fan, but it did it's jobs... And it's not like I let him just terrorize our things, this all happened in less than 10 seconds. He knocked it toward our kitchen table and then it hit the floor and did all that damage!

Luckily, our $100 (Eastern Caribbean Dollars) fan didn't go to waste, because the front of the fan has been a huge hit with Matix. :) This is one of his new favorite (and most expensive) makeshift "toys". He spins it around on the ground, puts it on his head like a hat, uses it as a bucket to put al his other toys in, sits in it, bangs it on the walls and floor, and just generally has fun with it.

Seriously, I wish I could explain how much he loves his new toy. I think for Christmas I will get him real toys AND some random household objects and do a clinical study on what he actually likes better... :)

Baby Kisses

This is good. Matix has always liked babies, but recently he has widened his kissing subjects to babies and even pictures of babies...

I hope this phase lasts for a while. Besides it being cute, I really want him to like having a baby brother. :)

32 weeks!

This photo does better justice to my belly. :) I think maybe in the last one (from 30 weeks) the yellow shirt and the white wall didn't contrast enough to really get the full effect. So the picture on the left was 2 weeks ago. On the right is 32 weeks! Yikes I am close! :)

This pregnancy has gone by SO quickly. I think mostly because I have done so much during it. I finished out my school year teaching, packed our house, moved to Buckeye for the summer and unpacked, then packed and packed and packed again to move to Dominica, and I have been chasing after Matix all the while! :)

What Happened?!

Why is it that sometimes I look at a picture of Matix and he looks SO old?! What happened to my baby??? :(

I know this isn't the worlds best or most interesting picture, but he looks so big to me!

Jungle Boy

Paul found this stick in our yard and gave it to Matix one afternoon while waiting for dinner to be ready. Matix thought it was the BEST thing ever and ran around the yard with it... waving it and hitting the trees and grass with it... He looks like a little jungle boy! :) Now everyday since then he looks for his stick to go marching with. :) Silly little boy!

Fun with Lex

Matix and our neighbor, Lex, are best friends (or at least Matix thinks so) :) She gets home from school around 3... Sometimes Matix is still sleeping from his afternoon nap, and sometimes he is awake. Lex usually stops by to see if he is up yet.

The other day I had set up Matix's pop-up tents outside and when Lex came home, she jumped right in, MUCH to Matix's liking! :)

He followed her through the tents and copied everything she did. I don't know if you can tell because he has his paci in his mouth, but he is smiling and having the BEST time! :)

This last pic is of Matix following Lex, but I thought it turned out so funny because it just looks like Lex must have a really long body and tiny little legs... :)