How do you measure Love?

Kids have such a unique way of looking at things. The other day Dyson told me he loved me more than a penguin. I bet your kids don't love you more than a penguin. Now I know I'm the most loved mom ever!

My girl

Right before all our friends left the island for Christmas break I had the talented Miss. Sara take Bitti's pictures. Bitti was almost 2 months old when these were taken and she was the perfect little model. She was awake during half of the shoot and slept soundly the other half.
The one above is one of my absolute favorites. Can you believe Bitti is holding her body up so good when she wasn't even 2 months! She is growing so fast and is constantly amazing me. The photographer made the cute hat she is wearing. LOVE IT!
This was Bitti's Christmas dress that her grandma bought for her. She hasn't been able to wear it to church too much because it's a little warm, but we did have her picture taken in it. During this picture Bitti was getting hungry and was trying to suck on her thumb. It kind of looks like she is belting out some Gospel tune.



What a smiley girl. I love this little angel so much. If you look closely you can see her adorable dimples. She has then in almost the places that her mom does. Although Bitti's are a little easier to see. She brings so much joy into our home and even the boys love to be around her. The boys love to take care of her and they love to snuggle her too. Jason and are so lucky to have such a wonderful family.

It's all about color!

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like a big blob of regular, ordinary, momish, blah. Well I had one of those day. In all honesty I've several of those days all in a row! I look back on my life before I had kids and what I have realized has changed the most is the attention I spend on me. Don't get me wrong, I take time for myself during the day and Jason is great about giving me time to do "my" thing, but I don't spend much, if any, time getting ready for the day. I don't do much with my hair, and I very rarely do my make up. This is largely in part to the fact that I live in a country with an insane amount of humidity so any styling done to my hair is quickly undone, and make up just melts off your face because of the heat. Even though these facts help me cope with my blahness, I still needed a jump start to my look.
So, because I have amazing friends with amazing talents (and products) I have added some color to my life! And this is what the end result is.....
I seriously LOVE this color! I wasn't sure how dark to go but I think the color I chose is really great. I actually think I'm going to keep it this color for a while. It is amazing what a little color and trim can do for one's self image. I feel like a whole new woman. Everytime I walk past a mirror I have to stop and flip my hair around a bit. A little pampering goes a long way. Jason of course loves it, but let's be honest...Jason would say it looked great if I dyed my hair blue, as long as it was what I wanted.
So here is to a new color and the feeling of being renewed.

Books, hooks, and teachers dirty looks

I really need to post new pics so my bruised face isn't the first thing you see on the blog.


Last week kind of went by in a blur. It was the last week that Jason had off school and so we spent as much time together as possible. I abused his presence by having he help me clean our bedroom, which is usually the last room on my list, and doing dishes! He was ready to go back to school this morning. haha
Dyson also started school this last week. His first day was on Friday and he was so excited he could hardly sit still. In fact he couldn't sit still at all. When you take your kids to the school for the first time they recommend that you plan on spending the first day with them and over a weeks time you gradually spend less and less time there until the child is comfortable. Well, we didn't really need to worry about that. That morning Dyson insisted on picking out his own clothes, which match, and when I asked if I could take pictures of his first day of school he told me that he didn't have time to do pictures, he was going to be late, and I don't have to take pictures of everything. Needless to say...no pics. When we got to the school we went in and Dyson immediately went to play with the other kids while Jas and I talked with the teacher about how everything would work. When I went to leave I had to beg Dyson to say goodbye and in the end all I got was wave in my direction while he looked and played with his friends. When I went to pick him up I anticipated he would be happy to see me and want to tell me all about his day. This of course was a foolish assumption on my part as I soon found out. When I walked into the class room the kids were sitting down listening to a story. Dyson saw me and before I could say anything he declared that he was in the middle of a story and he couldn't leave yet. I patiently waited for the story to end, helped him remove the Batman costume he was wearing, and gathered his belongings. We walked out the door and he ran to the car. All the while I was wondering where my hugs were and where the shouts of joy at having his mother come pick him up. But there were none of those. I finally asked if I could have a hug when we reached the car. I got a sideways hug and a "You missed me mom?" I think it's safe to say that he didn't miss me much. Which is good and bad. I'm glad that he is adjusting well, but sad that he had so much fun with his friends that he forgot I wasn't there. Oh well. It was bound to happen.
So here is to the beginning of a new school term for two of the most important men in my life. Good luch both of you. I love you tons!

Funny Story

I just thought I would share with all of you my latest clutsy moment.
Yesterday I bent down to set the phone on our coffee table, which happened to be up against the wall and near a doorway, so I could go put Rori to bed for her nap. When I tried to stand up and turn around I ran full on into the door frame and smacked the bridge of my nose.
It hurt so bad, I thought for sure I had broken my nose. Thank goodness there was no bleeding, but the pain was quite intense. I laid down pretty much all day yesterday because I had a pounding headache and I was having a hard time focusing my eyes. I was hoping that all would be normal today but no. My nose still hurts, there is a bruise on my nose where I hit it, and I have my very first black eyes! They aren't really dark, in fact most people would just assume I didn't get enough sleep, but in truth the dark circles under my eyes are purple and came from my self inflicted injury.
I would laugh at myself but my head is still pounding, and sudden movements are painful, so you my friends will have to laugh at me instead.
Enjoy


*OK, I have had a few requests for some pics of my black eyes, so here they are.
It doesn't show up in the photos very well, but these are the best I can get. You have to look really close and realize that I don't normally have dark circles under my eyes. Believe me when I say that they are in fact bruised even if YOU can't see it in the pics.

Pictures

I just wanted to post a few of the MANY pictures we have taken of our sweet Rori. She has changed so much over the past few months. She has started to develop her personality and doesn't look like a newborn anymore.
She likes to stand up on my lap and so Jas decided to see if she would stand on his hands. She was doing a really good job and can do it pretty good only she usually wants to look at the floor. I'm not sure what is so exciting about the floor, but she is always looking at it.


These next pictures are of our little girl smiling. She is so smiley (which is a change from her first days here. She was not such a happy girl then) When she smiles it is usually with her whole body. She starts out with a grin and then her smile develops through stages, and no two smiles are the same. These are all different stages of different smiles. They aren't in order but you can see what I mean.

I love this girl!
When she smiles, I can't help but join in
When these next two photos were taken she had serious red eye. It made her look like a demon baby! I obviously fixed the pics before posting then. Although it was quite funny to see.

Her hair is getting really long...on the top. She has a patch of hair on the crown of her head that goes right down the middle. Basically she has a perfect fauxhawk. This is an ok look when you are a new baby, or have really short hair, but her hair is getting too long for the look so I have been experimenting with new ones. I happen to like the wet/curly all over w/bow look. What do you think?

Before Rori was born her Nana bought her these pink scrubs in honor of her dad going to med school. The original plan was for her to wear them home from the hospital but they were too big for her. I put them on her the other day and although they are still a little big ( I had to roll the pants) I think she looks adorable! This is one of my new favorite outfits for her to be in.
She is starting to try to sit up on her own. Sometimes when I am holding her at a reclined angle she tries with all her might to sit up. She is doing good and we try to prop her up o

It looks like Rori is curtsying to me. What a lady.
I hope you all enjoyed the trip down photo lane. I have many, many more photos but we'll take it one day at a time.
So long for now!

The Front Fell Off

Explain it to me

Why is it that Ridgedon can pee in 6 pair of underwear throughout the day, but the minute it's bed time and has a diaper on he insists that he has go to the bathroom at least 10 times before he actually goes to sleep?

Looking back, Moving forward

Man, I have some updating to do. It has been a while since I posted and the last post I did wasn't much of anything. So here we go with pictures (mom you should be happy now) and a little of what we have been up too.
This is Bitti on New Year's Eve. She was being so cute and I was finally able to get a cute picture of her smile. She has been such a smiley girl but has not been very cooperative when the camera comes out. Lucky she decided to bust out the grins.

I am opposed to thumb sucking. I always have been. Neither of the boys had any inclination to adopt such habits, and even refused to take a binky. Bitti, however loves to suck. I was able to give here a binky when she was younger but as she has gotten older she has made up her mind and refuses to take it now and insists on her thumb! This is not a good thing for me, but there isn't much I can do about it since every time I put her in her bed to sleep she immediately puts her thumb in her mouth. I am still not super fond of the idea but I am a little more resigned to it, and hopefully it won't be too hard to break her of it in the future.

These are some pics of our simple Christmas celebration. We didn't do a tree this year since life got a little overwhelming when we got here. We had a week or so with Jason's parents and then the next week we had Thanksgiving, then it was finals week and then all we wanted to do was rest. With all of that going on and new baby we didn't find the time to make our tree. The boys didn't seem to mind so we didn't worry about it.
We had a very simple Christmas with only a few gifts for the kids. In fact most of the toys they got actually came from their cousins, aunts/uncles, and grandparents. They got a little box of candy from Santa, and some books and clothes and some cereal from mom and dad.
After opening presents we did what any normal family does...we went to the beach. We played in the sun and had a wonderful time.
I didn't get any pictures of us at the beach, I was too busy having fun.
Here are my adorable boys on Christmas Eve. D and Ridge are sporting their new Christmas PJs from grandma Johnson. They have a picture of a truck on the front of them but the boys insisted they were caterpillar pajamas since the legs are stripped like a caterpillar. They had fun laying on the ground and pretending to be caterpillars. Thanks grandma for the jammas.
This last picture is purely for my ego. I have been able to loose some of the weight I gained while preggo with Bitti. I have not lost quite all of it, and I am definitely not in the same shape I was before, but I am working on it and thanks to good friends who have designed a workout and some that push me to go running, I am hoping to have a "two piece bathing suit" body before my time on the island is done.

With the end of 2008 and the start of 2009, I have been looking back on the year and I am amazed at all that has happened. Spending 8 months away from my wonderful husband was definitely the hardest part of the year, but thanks to my wonderful family I was able to make it through.
Jason has done extremely well in his pursuit of his Medical Degree. I couldn't be more proud of him. He works so hard to do balance all the aspects of his life. I am truly blessed to have him in my life. This next for Jason holds many new and exciting things. He will finish his 2nd year of med school and take the USMLE Step 1. After which we will pack up and move to the area where he will complete his clinical rotations for school.
Amanda has had a year of ups and downs. Mostly ups.
I have spent most of the year in the sun. Either in Grenada or during my summer in Utah. I have not missed the cold and the snow a bit. I'll be sad to leave the island sun. This next year will bring more changes and I am looking forward to them all. I want to try to learn a new hobby or skill. I am thinking about doing some photography classes this summer or something similar. I am really sad to think of leaving all the good friends that I have made while here in Grenada.
Dyson has had some huge accomplishments this year. He has learned how to swim and is really getting the hang of reading. He can read several small books and is super excited about learning to read more. He has such an active imagination and we can't seem to keep up with him. This next year he will turn 5 and start Kindergarten in the fall. He is so excited about the prospect of going to school like the big kids. I must admit that I am excited as well. I think the structure and adventure of school will be good for him.
Ridgedon is growing so fast. He is hardly the same kid that he was at this time last year. He had teeth, which he didn't really have before, and has begun the super fun task of learning to use the toilet. He talks so much and always comes up with the funniest things to say. He is getting his imagination from his brother and the two of them can play for hours in their own little world that they create. It is so nice to have them play together. Ridge will turn 3 this summer and once we get settled I plan on enrolling him in preschool.
Aurora had a rather eventful year with being born and all. She is only 3 months old and she is already too big for me. I want her to stay small forever. But since that isn't possible I am enjoying each new stage of her development and also taking pleasure in having a little girl. She is so different from the boys and everyday holds something else new and exciting. She can roll over now from both her tummy to back and back to tummy, she gives a good effort to scoot forward, (this usually results in going backwards or in circles) and is smiling all the time. She has discovered her hands (which she puts in her mouth) and is starting to grab the toys on her play mat. She is growing like a weed and is such a wonderful baby

We have all had a good year and hope that each of you have as well. If not we certainly hope that the new year will bring you everything you desire.
Happy New Year to all, and know that we love and miss each of you.