We are more than blessed and have angels surrounding us. It will be more than evident as you keep reading. First, some exciting news:
February 7- an easy day to remember because it is both my Dad's and Grandpa's birthday- was our half way mark for baby number two, which puts us at June 27th for the due date- Grandma Cutler's birthday! We went for our only doctor's appointment on the island and only because I wanted to know the gender of the baby. I'm a bit hesitant of the medical care here and am bitter that we could be getting free health insurance in the states and have to pay for useless visits here. I still pray I don't eat my words, but so far, so good. The baby is healthy as all signs will tell. The head is of normal size and was unmistakably a boy. He kicks freely and often, for which I am grateful. Any signs of a healthy baby makes me a happy and relieved momma. Besides that, Austin has at least been checking my blood pressure, which is happily low and looking good.
Eden is excited for her little baby brother and is starting to grasp that she is the big sister. She doesn't let me forget that I have a baby inside my big tummy either. We rarely go to the beach, but this was a grand occasion... Eden was terrified of the stormy ocean. The day we went was rainy and windy, but still she brags about finding seashells on the beach with mom :) How cool that we could walk here.
Our apartment has been the best thing. Not only does Eden have lots of places to play 'hide-and-go-seek,' but we have loved being able to actually go outside. There are beautiful, well kept grounds here: lots of paths to walk and a big pool for Eden to swim in. She is getting pretty brave and loves to walk around on her hands while her feet float and blow bubbles. We are going to miss this. Amazingly- and seriously, I mean MIRACULOUSLY- we still have not had to turn on the AC since moving here. In fact, we have actually been cold more than once and had to shut the windows. I can't believe it. That really is a blessing in itself because we don't have to pay for the AC usage and are still completely comfortable.
Eden has quite the personality. It is such a delight to have her around and to watch her develop. Having Austin home more this semester has been awesome; she loves her daddy. I mean LOVES. Mom might be needed for snuggles and food, but dad is FUN. I would easily call her Eden's besty. It's embarrassing to admit (but I blame Austin) yet too funny not to tell; Eden has discovered that magical things happen when you pull daddy's finger. Her favorite thing lately is to scrunch up her little nose, point her finger, and yell, "EEWWWW!!! SICK!" and giggle uncontrollably. That's not the best thing for a little princess to be saying, but it is pretty cute. And besides Daddy, one of Eden's books from Grandma talks about a little dirty duck.. EWW is right.
As you can see, she is Austin's little shadow. She looks just like him with his glasses and on the computer. Don't let all that fool you- Eden is still very much a girl. She has been walking around with a mirror and lip gloss for a day straight now and loves to show off her hair. She'll walk around in her church shoes just to be pretty and has to do her own nails now when we paint them. Ooh... that's a bit scary, but she's not bad for a 2 year old. If she had her choice, her fingers would be blue, but even I can't let her get away with that on her own yet.
For a test week and a school day, we tried to make the birthday as good as it could have been. Eden helped me make Daddy a chocolate cake- which she FINALLY got to eat- and we splurged on ice-cream- a real treat.
Eden got daddy a bottle of Root Beer and wrapped it with shopping bags, stars, and paint. It was a sight to see. Oh! and we surprised Austin with pizza. Again, a big treat. With Eden, Austin's birthday lasted all week. She wanted to keep singing and eating cake. You would have thought it was her birthday with how excited she was!
As you can see, it is a present every day to be living in our apartment. We really are spoiled. Here are a few more pictures so you can appreciate just how lucky we are:
I'll pause so you can admire the rest of the house like I do.
It's beautiful. Clean. Bug free. And complete with dishwasher, disposal, and washer/dryer. I can't tell you how much of a better housewife and cook I am with a real kitchen and accessories. It's unbelievable. And I'm letting it all sink in while I can since Austin says we won't ever live in a place this nice again (at least for a very long time). After seeing what rent costs in the states, I'm starting to believe it too. We just settled on our housing for Maine. It's a mile away from school and has the important things, but is unfurnished. It'll be a chore to put together, but we are in good hands since the Hickman's are already there and ready to help. It's hard to believe that we are grown up. I still feel like I'm playing house and dress up.This is the upstairs... which is likewise beautiful, but we never use. I'll say it again: we are so spoiled. We owe a lot to the kindness of our landlords and the missionaries. There are true angels around us and tender mercies every day.
Besides all the miracles and blessings that I've already mentioned: healthy baby, happy family, not needing AC, how nice we are living... here is another to add to the list:
On my way home from a Primary activity last week, I stopped at the grocery store before heading home. It was 8:00 at night and dark outside and there was a crazy man at the store trying to talk to me. I'm not the only one he was approaching, but I nonetheless wanted to leave as soon as possible. It was a miracle that our car started for me to get away, especially since the windows are always down and prone to vulnerability. Eden was with me too and such a trooper, as always. I have put her through a lot in our experiences here. A little more than half way home, our car- which hasn't been working well lately- started to make a grinding noise as if something got stuck underneath it. At that point, I was going uphill with no place to pull over and just prayed it would make it. At the top of the hill, the sound stopped, which I was relieved, but falsely so. Quickly the car stopped responding to the gas, and basically turned off. The wheel mostly locked and I was afraid the brakes would go out with how it felt. Remember, I was at the top of the hill and ready to go down a steep curve, around a roundabout, and on from there. Angels again were driving the car. It was as if someone else were driving for me. I couldn't turn the wheel, but for some reason, it turned just where I needed to go. Somehow, the car coasted almost all the way home and to a perfectly safe spot where I could pull off to the side. There are only two roads in all of St. Kitts (that I can think of) with somewhat of a shoulder or place to pull off to the side. Those are the two places that our car has broken down. If that's not a miracle, please tell me what is.
Our kind missionaries were able to come pick Eden and I up with our groceries and even carried them up to the 3rd floor for us. If that's not enough, our kind home teacher left work to come tow the car back to the apartment parking lot the next day. Brother Gonzalez is was another angel for us this week and stands as a true example of how to serve selflessly and be a good home teacher. When he found out that our car broke down, he was mad that I didn't call him that night- what a good guy. He checked as much as he could for us: added oil, water, and even took the battery out of his own car to try to directly jump ours. When none of that worked, he towed us away by his small car that reminded me of the the little engine that could. He even came back with a mechanic to give us a second opinion without me even asking. We are so grateful.
So our car... it's dead. And it's our fault. We ran it out of oil and water and maybe killed the battery in the process. That's what we get for not caring about our junky to begin with, island car and not taking the time to get it checked. Sadly, the oil light never came on to warn us, but we knew better. Oh well.... it's better off dead. It was killing us every time we drove it.
Though I wish we could get sell that car for something, I'd almost pay to get rid of it.
Anyway, I can't count the people who have helped us lately and I thank heaven for keeping us safe. Driving in St. Kitts at night is bad enough when you have a car that works.
So, our adventures continue day by day. You never know what life will bring, but one thing is for sure: we are so blessed.
