Update

Miami update... So after a mini meltdown, a few prayers, a couple emails and phone calls, we may have found a place. :) Hooray! My fingers are still crossed that a few little bumps will be ironed out after the potential future landlady emails me back. I have not yet signed a lease or anything, but if all goes well we will be living about 3 miles from the main campus, and just as close to a few of the hospitals Paul will be doing some of his rotations at. More details on the place once I for sure know that it's ours! :) I am so thankful for both Paul's family and my family for helping us out so much with this whole thing (emotionally and financially). Thank you! You know who you are! :)

In other news, Paul had his first experience at Princess Margaret Hospital in Roseau today. He left early this morning, dressed up with his white coat and stethoscope, ready for the almost hour drive down to the capital city. He was there all day and came home after the boys had already gone to bed. Paul had a great time and said he had some interesting experiences. Part of the day the doctor they were following would read a bit of the patient's file, then ask if any of the students knew what illness they thought the patient had, or what medicines they should prescribe, and many other questions like that. Paul (and if you know Paul, this shouldn't surprise you) was eager to answer and got all the questions right! Yay Paul! Sometimes I think people expect him not to have a good answer since he is so silly most of the time, but he really knows his stuff! The doctor was really impressed with him, and so was I when he told me all about his day.

The boys and I are really looking forward to tomorrow so we can have more time with Paul. Fridays are especially great since Paul usually meets us at the pool, and we go for ice cream on our way home. The boys both really love ice cream. We made our root beer floats with haagen dazs vanilla and fudge brownie! Yum! In both pictures Matix is trying so hard to do exactly what Paul does. So cute.

Hawken was just ravenous! He could hardly swallow the first bite before he came back for another. This was his first time with ice cream.

the hunt...

We have been on the housing hunt for the past few weeks... Although I am excited about the move and living some place new, this whole process is turning out to be quite the pain in the "bum-bum" (as Matix says)! I have had some good leads, and then they end up being duds. What was listed as a 1 bedroom is really a studio, or the rent is within our price range only during the "off-season" and will increase (out of our price range) as soon as we need it, or children are not welcome (what?!), or it's only for adults over the age of 55... Arrg! I have called and emailed about a million landlords, apartment managers, and home owners.

Really, look at us. We are a nice little family of 4. I will keep the house clean, the boys are good little boys, we only want to stay for a little while anyway... We are not being very picky, we're even contemplating a 1 bedroom just to widen the search. Please, SOMEONE, rent us a place! And Kelly, I don't want to hear anything about Michigan. :)

Sleepy Sunday

Notice anything funny in the background of this picture? It's Hawken, sleeping in the sacrament meeting room at church.

Cute.

Matix likes to get in on the sleeping action at church too. Sweet little angel babies. :)

here's to silly...

After dinner is bath time (which is usually VERY necessary) and after a bath the boys brush their teeth. After handing the boys their toothbrushes, they ran out into the living room and this is how I found them.

This is Paul's pillow. It is very comfy... The boys think so too. :)

Silly boys! They are SO entertaining. I had no idea how boring my life was until I had these two little guys running around making me giggle to myself (or out loud) all day long.

Tace

My friend Tracy came over to hang out with me. But Matix and Shane had other plans. They ended up playing hide and seek with her and then snuggling...

Although Matix still LOVES Kristy Cook (his first nursery teacher at church) who he calls "Coooooook!", I am happy that Tracy is his new one. They already get along famously. :) Matix calls her "Tace". Cute.

walking update

Here are some clips of Hawken from the past few weeks. He is walking SO much now. He hardly ever crawls anymore, even outside, on uneven surfaces, in new places, with or without shoes. Thanks to Kelly for the world's smallest pair of crocs. What a big boy! :)

trouble

This is what happens when I let them "do their own thing", as Paul says for me to do... Here you go Daddy. Here are your little mischievous boys. :)

playing

Where is Matix...???

There he is!

free trip

We went on the beginning of the semester FREE RSO trip to Roseau to go grocery shopping. This was the first time I went with them because they agreed that if I rounded up enough people, we could get 1 bus to come back early. Usually the spouses that go on this trip spend all day (8am to 3 or 4pm) there, and I can't do that with 2 sleepy, hungry, or bored little boys. :) Anyway, I got 6 other adults (many with their kids in tow) in on it. Hawken fell asleep going there and coming back. Tracy and I chatted and chatted and chatted (she and I are apparently the SAME person). Matix and Lexi, always imitating the other and being so silly.

We bought tons of things at, my favorite, Save-A-Lot and a delicious pineapple from the market. It was the fastest trip ever and we all got home before lunch... which is quite an accomplishment because it takes about an hour to drive there, and another back. Our bus was full to the brim on the drive home, but totally worth it. I bought enough peanut butter, jelly, oatmeal, ground turkey, black beans, pasta, and pasta sauce to make it until we leave (I hope). Those are all things we eat a lot of and Paul and I had counted it out the night before. We will see if we were good with our estimates.

Last BBQ

At the beginning of each semester there is a welcome BBQ for the students (and families). I wanted a picture to commemorate the event.

This is our last BBQ here. I can hardly believe we have been here since August of 2009... Matix was almost 11 months old, I was 5 months pregnant with Hawken, Paul was about to begin his long journey of medical school, and I was still in shock from moving to a foreign country. I still remember packing and planning to leave Arizona in preparation to move to Dominica. Now this is home. How strange to think that in less than 3 months, we will be calling Miami "home".

Purple Turtle Beach

This was one of the many adventures we went on during the break. We went to Purple Turtle Beach with a bunch of friends. Matix watching his friend Shane and mom Kelly getting into the transport.

There was a little gazebo there for us to leave all our things in (just in case it rained, but it didn't). So cute. You can see most of our group here.

The best part about this beach is the rope swing. It was SO much fun! Here is Paul way out over the water.

Matix enjoyed the ocean in his little inner tube.

Hawken mostly played on the beach with his friend Aaron, eating sand as usual.

Then we went snorkeling. Yes, even I went snorkeling. Paul took a picture of me and said "Look snorkely..." So here I am, "looking snorkely". :)

Here is a video of the rope swing and then snorkeling. There were sand dollars everywhere and I was obsessed with Paul getting me one.

Showing Matix the doves inside of the sand dollars.

Here is Paul just after the jellyfish sting. Poor Paul. It took a long time for his arm to feel better.

Luckily, he (and we) still had a wonderful time. Purple Turtle Beach is definitely one of my favorites.

fancy

In the States, aren't Mercedes brand vehicles fancy?? Well, in Dominica they are dump trucks, garbage trucks and other less than fancy vehicles... I just find it funny whenever I see one coming to get my trash or towing a pile of junk away. :)

no thank you.

We all know how much Matix loves to dress himself up. Most every morning he picks out what he wants to wear and he usually looks ridiculous! But I love it! :) Well, here is what Hawken thinks of Matix's style choices....

Matix put this necklace on Hawken and he tried SO hard to get it off. Glaring at Matix the whole time.

new friends

This is Lexi. She is the daughter of Jamie... I knew Jamie back when we both lived in Fort Collins Colorado. We weren't friends then (sadly), but are now. :) And our kids are 1 year apart and have become fast friends. Matix loves playing with Lexi. Here they are being super heros. Cute huh?

Finger Painting

Painting... Fun for babies and big boys alike. I am always amazed at how quickly they can get completely messy. I swear I was supervising... :)

Matix's 2nd Birthday Party

Matix had his party on Saturday at the pool. It was a really fun. His friends came, we played games, ate cupcakes and treats, and of course, went swimming, what more could a little boy want? :) So far Matix has had all of his birthdays here in Dominica. What a fun thing to remember.

Matix had lots of friends bring him gifts. Had thought that was pretty fun. Thanks guys!

Paul and I got him this real soccer ball. He and Hawken had to try it out right away.

The game we played was very simple. I dumped a bag of little rasta basketballs in the pool (about 30 of them) and told all the kids they had 1 minute to get them all out and into a basket. They went crazy! It was pure chaos! Giggles and screams of happiness all day long.

Then they got to pick a prize. We played the game tons of times until every kid thought they had enough prizes. :)

We decorated cupcakes too. Matix and his friends thought this was great fun. I like it a lot better than doing just 1 cake. This is less mess and everyone gets what they want. I love it. :)

We sang happy birthday to Matix and there was NO crying! Hooray! Normally he doesn't like the song sung at all, but with the cupcake in front of him, he did great. :) I think he thought we were going to say prayers right then... You can see him folding his arms. Cute.

Yummy cupcakes!

Matix spent some time trying on all the shoes of the other kids (a favorite past time of his) and splashing in the puddles with his best buddy Shane.

Family shot. Of course. :)

Happy Birthday silly boy! I'm so happy you loved your party!

Matix is 2!!!

Today, Matix Brackenbury Berg is 2 years old!!! Our sweet baby boy is growing up SO quickly. He is a great big brother and a wonderful son. We are so happy he is ours!

Today was filled with fun birthday things. The day started of with opening cards and presents from all the grandparents. Thank you to everyone for remembering our little guy. Matix loves reading his cards or "ill books" (little books) as he calls them.

Hawken got Matix this little alligator car. Such a thoughtful brother! :)

Matix also got a little Curious George monkey from Grandma Stacy and although he was VERY excited about it...

...Hawken claimed him as his own.

George even joined us for breakfast. :)

We ate all of Matix's favorites today... We had oatmeal with peaches for breakfast, mac and cheese with peas for lunch, and spaghetti with LOTS of cheese and french bread for dinner... followed by cupcakes for dessert, after which Matix ever so politely said "pease, more?" We sang him happy birthday (again) and he danced and blew out his candle.

During the day we went to Sister's Beach with some friends. Although he had a few needing a nap melt downs, he still had fun. :)

Matix is such a fun little boy. We are so proud of all his accomplishments. He is getting more and more like Paul everyday and will do all kinds of crazy daring things. He is a BOY and can get dirty in an eighth of a second, even if I am watching him. He is a clown and always wants to make people laugh, especially his brother.

He is not potty trained, but will ask to go on the toilet sometimes... It's a start. He will eat anything, but after he tastes it, if he doesn't like it, he will say "no way!!". He talks a lot, but still says tons of things that no one understands. His favorite toys are cars, balls, his ride on truck, and his baby doll stroller. He loves to swim (ocean or pool) with his little inner tube. He loves to go for walks and to be outside. Matix still is super snuggly and wants hugs and kisses all the time. He asks to say prayers, even if we just did, he likes an extra one every now and then. He loves his friends and his little brother. He is sometimes a Momma's boy, but thinks his Daddy is the best...thing...ever!

We love you so much Matix. 2 years ago our dreams came true when our first baby boy was born.