The last days

Not much to say here without getting all sappy. Still no luck on the videos. We are so VERY sad to leave, and will be so happy to be home. Torn.

So Embarrassing

The other evening the girls and I went on a walk. They had been playing hard in the ocean again that day so we took the stroller for when they needed to ride. Leah also wanted to take her favorite baby! She and Kate decided to buckle the baby in and let her ride for a while. They both held on to the sides of the stroller and pushed their baby into town! We went to the little gas station and got a treat, then they were ready to ride for a bit. We walked up to the school and watched the kids practice their music for a bit and started back toward home. The evenings here are so wonderful. Everyone comes out of their houses and the narrow streets are filled with people! Leah and Kate were ready to walk again, hopped out of the stroller and buckled baby in. As they were getting her situated Dave came by on the golf cart. They were so excited(they both LOVE riding on the golf cart) and hoped right in. The street was busy and traffic was waiting for them to jump in. I told Dave I would rather walk and continued on my way. Everyone is so friendly here, they wave, they say hi and ask how you are. But this night they seemed a little overly friendly, walking right up to me. I took a while for me to realize that I was pushing the stroller like this....

complete with a small "native" baby doll. I could have cried! They must have been thinking, "That poor girl!" Now keep in mind how small this Island is...VERY SMALL. I am sure everyone knows who I am now and will be glad to hear I am off the Island tomorrow!

SO LAZY!!!!

I have been so lazy. This is bad. The shock that is coming in less than a week. Oh man. I feel like we are starting to say our goodbyes. It's very hard but I think the kids will also be happy to be back to their rooms, beds, and things. They have grown up so much in the 5 short weeks we have been here. Priceless time we will cherish forever! More on that later. For now a few more pictures. Video is not uploading the way it should. I am really bummed- we have some GREAT videos. I will try to work on it again today!

Are you sick of beach photos yet?

These are a couple random shots of the walk in to Grandfather beach from a few days ago.

18(ish) months

Ok, Kate is now 19 months. So I missed the big year and a half update. Now that I am just sitting around relaxing all day I have plenty of time to do it. All the things I want to remember about Kate at 19 months.

SHE IS SO SWEET!

This is her "Bear". Kate loves him and takes VERY good care of him. Puts him to bed every night. Feeds him snacks. Nurses him. And is showing him the ocean in the bottom picture.

Kates language is exploding right now. She repeats EVERYTHING you say. I love listening to her speak Portuguese with Dave and Leah. And she absolutely LOVES to sing. This girl is ALWAYS singing. She wakes up singing in the morning and falls asleep singing at night. ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle,  Black Sheep, Bitsy Spider, and many random Portuguese songs that I don't know the names of. I keep trying to get her singing on video but her fascination with the camera prevents this!

She counts all the time too. Counts the trees, the toys, the pieces of peanut butter sandwich on her plate. She has 1-10 down pat in both languages but after that it becomes an adorable blur of English and Portuguese from 11-20. Again I need video to capture the cuteness. Working on it!

Another reader. I wondered if Kate would share Leah's obsession with books. She does! Kate loves to read. She will sit and listen to as many books as you will read to her. She has many of her favorites memorized and likes to "read" them to us. Kate is quickly learning her alphabet and staring to learn the sounds the letters make now too. I never realized how much I would enjoy this part of parenting. It's so deeply rewarding for me.

I am still nursing Kate. She is very different form Leah in this regard. When Leah was about 16 months old she just decided one day she didn't want to nurse anymore. The next few days were VERY painful!
Kate on the other hand will nurse for an hour at a time if I let her. She has no plans for slowing down or quitting anytime soon. It's nice for me, it makes me relax and enjoy time together. I usually read a book to Leah or one for myself while she nurses. The house is almost always a disaster.

This trip Kate has become very close to her Grandmothers. We are so very lucky they were both able to join us again this year. I really have no idea how we could pull this trip off without them! It's going to be a hard transition for both girls when we return home.

This morning on the beach.