Flashback!

Update on the Poodie

Wyatt was sooooo sick this entire week. I mean, the kid's nose ran like it was responsible for creating all the boogers in the Northern Hemisphere. I assumed it was some kind of allergy since he's ridiculously prone to faucet nose, but I tried absolutely every kind of over the counter drug I could get my hands on and nothing worked for him. Poor dude. Yesterday, it got so bad that one of his eyes was completely bloodshot and only half open. He finally woke up this morning feeling a little better. I was worried we were going to be hospital bound this morning had things not turned around. We're pretty sure he's allergic to grass. He usually gets allergies the entire day after he plays outside. Last week, I let him stay out there one evening while Brent cut the grass, and this ongoing sickness ensued the following morning. I'm not completely certain its grass, but I'm sure we are bound for some allergy testing here in the near future.

My nugget boy is just as quirky as ever. One of his latest habits has become a mystery because I can't figure out where he got it from. Anytime Wyatt walks by one of our incessantly running box fans, he kneels by it and screams "Misterrrrrrrrr Dohdahhhhhhhhhhh!" The churning fan blades make his voice sound kinda funny which is why he does it so much. However, I want to know who the hell is Mister Dohdah?! I just can't figure it out!

This is how Wyatt puts together a puzzle:

He's also been really testing boundaries which just sucks because I have to stay on top of disciplining him. It's my least favorite part of parenting the twinks and I can't handle this new talking back phase! Anyway, when I get really serious with the dude because he did something rotten and probably raise my voice unnecessarily (even though I hate admitting that) to ask him why he did it, he gets real nervous and starts stuttering about freaking triangles. He even makes his fingers into the shape of a triangle and says, "Seeeeee!" (This is in addition to the fact that he already likes to smile like a triangle.) I don't understand what the deal is with him and triangles. He's cuckoo.

Poodie doesn't like honey. Out of everything he's ever eaten, honey is the only thing he will purposefully avoid. Isn't that weird? He'll even eat wasabi. Won't eat the honey.



Most of his little quirks are endearing. Sometimes the triangle phenomenon frustrates me, but nothing gets under my skin like he does when he is bored and can't decide whether to get on our bed, our stay on the floor. He grabs huge chunks of the blanket and pulls it towards him to help himself get up, shifting everything on the bed as he does this. But then he'll stop and hang there with chunks of blanket still in hand - torso on the bed and legs hanging off. Ohhh! It drives me pet-peevingly insane! I'm always telling that kid, "On or off the bed!" But it's just one of those things he does without thinking.

He still thrives on being a helper. He always stands the proudest when you praise him for being a great helper. Unless he's in a bad mood, you can count on the little dude to help out with anything. Nugget boy. He's loving dinosaurs right now and his favorite movie is the old school Winnie the Pooh. It calms him down like no other. Love my poods.

Beach Day!

Catching Up!

I am in a blogging funk. I ain't gonna lie. I haven't been updating precious nugget nuances and even been pretending that I don't have a blog because I've felt so bad about neglecting their stories. I really want to get back on track. These kids are growing exponentially - mentally. They used to say shocking things that I could grasp out of the air and remember . But lately, almost everything that they say astounds me with their vocabulary and intelligence. I have two really smart cookies and I'm having a hard time staying one step ahead of them these days. I can't imagine what it's going to be like when they are teenagers.

Anyway, I'm just going to catch up quickly by posting a ton of pics. We've been busy these last few weeks and also had a great mother's day weekend with family! I hope you all did too!

Happy Mother's Day!

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

I was so excited the morning we arrived in Jamaica because I had always wanted to go. Though, it was not what I expected at all and was completely shocked by the poverty. Seeing how these people and animals live was just nightmarish and stressful. We did the Bob Marley tour and got a very ethnic and cultural Jamaican experience to say the least. There were only 4 other couples on the tour and we had no idea what to expect.

We headed through Fern Gully which was really cool. It was a deep washed out river bed in the middle of the rainforest that they had turned into a road. It was dark because the forest was so lush with plants and it was also a good 15 degrees cooler than anywhere else on the island. I still haven't forgotten they way it smelled. I bet it was the cleanest and purest air I have ever breathed!

After a pretty long time, we finally pulled over at this random "bar" to stop and get drinks before roadtripping it the rest of the way to Bob Marley's house. It was super creepy. Seriously, it was like some jeri-rigged tile bar in someone's backyard. There were chickens and random scary local people. One really dirty dude had a machette. I just wanted to get back on the bus and hide under my seat. I wasn't prepared. Brent was fine though and even ordered Jamaican beer. Drink up, dude - you're on your own.

After what seemed pretty much forever, we got back on the bus and after another eternity, we finally got to Bob Marley's house. Inside the gates of his estate, there were dudes with guns. Big ones. There was also a window where you could place your order for marijuana. The Jamaican government legalized marijuana inside the property. Outside of the gates, weed is illegal.

Anyway, we were escorted into a bar that was packed full of people smoking weed. Some of the couples on our tour couldn't have been more offended! I kinda felt a little bit bad for them because they were so uncomfortable, but they needed to chill out too. For one, it was a Bob Marley tour - what were they expecting?! (That's like going deep sea fishing and hating all the people that fish!) Plus, it was legal on the property; nobody was doing anything wrong. For three, you know Bob would have wanted it that way!

Then, we met our tour guide who was also high as a kite!

His name was Captain Crazy and he had funniest laugh on the planet. Next, we toured Bob's grandmother's home which is now a museum of all his platinum and gold records. We saw his mother's tomb, walked through the tiny home where Bob grew up, saw his meditation rock, and Bob's actual tomb.

I was so overwhelmed just from the entire day that I just wanted to go back to the boat. When we finally rounded everyone up and got back on the bus, I was so relieved. It seemed like all the couples were angry for one reason or another - they were pissed about the weed, they were fighting with each other, or they were so far gone on the sticky icky that they probably didn't even know where they were.

It was so uncomfortable and I just kept praying that the bus driver would haul tail and get us back quickly! Bad luck for me though because the tour guide decided to stop at that same nasty random "bar" again for us to try some local jerk food. I didn't want to eat H1N1 or whatever scurvied crap they were serving with these 8 other really pissed off people. Everyone ate in total silence! Can you believe that?! Well, except for Brent who fell into a fit of giggles when he realized his jerk was nothing but chicken bones and chunks of back fat.

Eventually, we got back to the boat. I was on third-world overload and just wanted to suck my thumb. We couldn't even get our brains around what had just happened and it took me a few days to fully digest it. Brent and I both look back on that day as the highlight AND lowlight of our cruise. That night, we went to an ice show which felt like an American cleansing. I love the United States!

Labadee and Grand Cayman

Alright, I'm gonna go out of order for a second just because Jamaica needs it's own post. We were in Haiti on Day 3 and Cayman on Day 5. Haiti was gorgeous! It’s the first island in the Caribbean that I went to that wasn't completely flat. It's a pretty good sized mountain that comes straight up out of the ocean and the top of it was actually in the clouds. We were in awe the whole day!

In the morning, we walked over to Dragon's Breath Point which is the landmark of Labadee. The rocks were worn down from the ocean in a certain way that it sounded like a breathing dragon when the waves hit up against it. It was pretty neat. After that, we were off to zipline. Supposedly, it's the world’s longest zipline over water which was pretty cool. I was scared to death when I was standing on the platform waiting to go down.


After that, we went back to the boat to change and eat lunch before heading back out to the artisan market. Brent had only been out of the country once before, so he was pretty shocked to see all the pushy vendors. He handled it really well though; I can only deal with it for short time before I start feeling overwhelmed, hyperventilaty and unsafe. For me, the aggressive hustling kinda puts a foul in the party!

So, skipping to Day 5, we docked in Grand Cayman. I had been there once before as a teenager - it was actually the first place I ever drove a car (and on the opposite side of the road too!) and it was as nice as I had remembered. Although Grand Cayman is still a much poorer country than the United States, it was so refreshing to be there after the poverty we had experienced in Jamaica. Brent and I did a snorkel tour that included Stingray City. Stingray City is really cool if you haven't seen it before. It's on a sandbar where local fisherman used to stop to clean their fish. Because they would throw the fish guts or whatever back into the water, the stingrays became friendly towards the fisherman and tame over the years. Legend says, you get seven years of good luck for kissing a stingray.

I'm a total wimp when it comes to big ass wild stingrays. When I visited before, I got a pretty good sized hickey on my leg from a stingray looking for food. This time, I only got in the water long enough to kiss one and get the hell out of there so I could laugh at Brent from the safety of the boat! He did better than me though. He was in there for awhile trying to feed them squid out of his hands. They are a good 4-6 feet across and can totally get overwhelming and pushy when they think you have food. Brent dropped a piece of squid and one of the stingrays started circling his legs. He thought the thing was going to stab him in the balls with its barb. We had a really good time though and will probably try to visit the Cayman Islands again in the future.

Videos - Days 1 & 2

These are a few videos from our first two days on the boat. The first one is our room. (Snookie - I'm posting this one especially for you.) If you who haven't cruised before, this bathroom was really nice on the scale of boat bathrooms. Please believe that a shower door is luxury!



One of the first things we did on day 2 was check out the ice skating rink! I didn't even know that Brent had never been ice skating before! He was excited but the second I put on skates and stepped on the ice, I remembered how bad I sucked at it. Brent had fun. This is a video of him gettin his fancy feet on!



This was one of the contestants in the Sexy Legs contest. I love these videos because it takes me right back to that ship when I watch them. Brent and I have never gotten to let go of our responsibilities like we did on that trip. We were pretty much giddy the entire time!

Freedom of the Seas - Western Caribbean

Okay, I'm finally getting around to posting about the cruise. Truthfully, I had a pretty hard time this week adjusting back to reality. Luckily, Brent and I are getting pretty close to narrowing down our next one so it will be awesome to have another one to look forward to!

Anyway, our cruise left out of Port Canaveral so we had a tiny road trip to make before we got to the boat. It killed me to say goodbye to the kids. I bribed them a ton and promised them that we would bring them back good surprises. They didn't seem to mind that we were leaving either. Callie pretty much dragged me out the front door so that I would hurry back home with her surprises. I left them both one present to open every morning for each day that we were gone. It helped so much because they thought it was special like Christmas or something and barely missed us at all. We were able to video skype each morning while we were away so seeing them and how much fun they were having with my parents help me relax and have fun myself. It couldn't have worked out more perfectly!

We really had the best vacation ever! I think I got Brent addicted to cruising too. It’s so nice because people take care of you and the only thing we had to do was find the motivation to get up and eat food that was already prepared for us. We cruised on the Freedom of the Seas which is the second largest ship in the world. We had a balcony room too which was incredible. We spent most of that first night and following day exploring the ship. It was so huge!

Our second night was formal night which was nice because Brent and I only rarely get the opportunity to dress up for each other. They had a champagne party on promenade that night that was so much fun. We crashed knowing we had to get up early to zipline in Haiti.