Moving In

We got all dressed up and went out to eat on Thursday night.

Here are some pictures of stuff being moved in and of the kids excited to see their toys.

Darton enjoying his 1st Presidente.

Darton was really sick today, but Scotty found some rub similar to Vick's but less potent that is helping him breath. He's now 26" long and 15 1/2 lbs! Yes, he's growing fast. The reason:

at every meal he screams at us to give him food! And I'm not kidding either. Daddy has to remove him from the dinner table and take him outside to see the traffic to get his mind OFF of the food (at least this is the method since we've been eating out for the past 5 weeks). He gets seriously irrational about it all. It's quite humorous.

The Dominicans are CRAZY about children and everyone has something to say about our 2. Usually they say "Que lindo!" (how cute) and/or "Te bendiga" (bless them). It is very sweet until they want to "help," which can end up being more work for mom than wanted. Everyone wants to pick up Adeline and touch Darton. We were told by a checker, in Spanish, that Darton shouldn't put his hands in his mouth. I didn't see her point until tonight when everyone was touching Darton's hands! We'd rather be in a place where kids are loved than not though.

Our Stuff has Arrived!

The moving company dropped off our stuff today at the new apartment. We are worn out from today and tomorrow involves lots of shopping (groceries, curtains, water dispenser, etc) and unpacking more boxes. We'll live in the hotel though until the apartment is more in order. We're ready to get out of the Fiesta though b/c we've been sick ever since we got here. There's visible mold from water on the carpet, the kids' room is a smoking one, and the air flow just isn't that good. So we've been sick since the first night and poor Darton is having a hard time breathing especially at night and Adeline is having coughing fits. We got her some medicine tonight to see if it helps. There are Gentle Vapor plug-ins made to help breathing at night and they do help Darton, but we've ran out. So I got to do some hard looking and if no luck I'll get the padres to get us some. I'll update with pics this wkend.

A Week in Review

On Thursday we met up with Kathryn and the kids for a ride on the train at the Botanical Gardens.

We have made new friends here at Fiesta and coincidentally they work for Barrick. I ran into Greg, Sue, Kelsie (10), Darcy(9), and Joanna (5) the first night here at the hotel and recognized them from the Embajador. That is when I found out that they too work for Barrick, but Greg stays in the city to do his work. They are here for only a short time before heading to Vancouver to work for 2yrs before moving to the DR.

Adeline can now put on and take off her panties and had done so before we left for dinner Wednesday night. She felt a little different running down the hall to the elevator and abruptly stopped us with a suprise look on her face and said "panties!" It was pretty funny.

Kelsie, Darcy, & Joanna or "The Girls" as Adeline calls them have been a HUGE blessing. We go to the pool together and tomorrow will be shopping and eating lunch together. Yesterday our 2 families went to Juan Dolio to spend a day at the beach. Adeline spent most of the day with Kelsie. The girls are proficient swimmers - they have grown up on the beaches of Papua New Guinea were they have lived for the past 6years.

The funny moment of the day -

Scotty was getting a massage on the beach when a helicopter landed within 20meters of the small cabana he was under. For the next few minutes he was literally sandblasted and as we looked down the beach to see if he was ok we saw that he was holding on to the massage table for dear life. He had just layed down long enough to have oil put on his back before the helicopter landed. The oil made for a great adhesive for the sane and for the next 15 minute the lady was not only working out his knots, but also giving him one heck of an exfoliation. His poor back is still red today.

We drank from and ate coconut - a new experience for the Geer family.

Today we ate a delicious lunch with Denny, Cynthia, and Liah after church. Today's funny moment was Adeline pooping in her panties, taking them off, dumping the poop into the potty, washing her panties in the potty, and then bringing us her wet panties while we were finishing up dessert. I don't know if this is a good thing or not....

We should be moving into our apartment this week! Real life here we come.

Hotel Move

ABOVE: A scary view this week from the hotel...tornado?

A week ago today El Embajodor Hotel was turned upside down for Dominican Moda (Fashion Week). Monday night there was a party from 10p-1am that had music so loud it shook our windows. So on Tuesday we packed up our bags and moved down the street to Domincan Fiesta.

This is the Embajador and whenever Adeline saw it as we drove down the street she would say "home."

Embajador Employee

The Fiesta has a kiddie pool - YEAH! Going to the pool is much more fun and easy now.

Darton is entertained by eating the closest thing I could find to teething food - pre-made toast.

Weekend

The Lord has graciously let us enjoy so many pleasures here on earth, and yesterday, Saturday, no exception. Scott and I enjoyed a massage at a spa/salon while Denny & Cynthia watched the children.

Going to a spa for the first time can be intimidating...but try going to one for the first time and everyone speaks only Spanish! You ask yourself "you want me to do what...and I'm suppose to go where?" Afterwards I found out Scott enjoyed himself in the sauna while I was waiting for him in the lobby b/c that's what he thought she told him to do. One of us screwed up in our interpretation and he definately got the better end of it.

Today we enjoyed eating at SUM (pastries & sandwiches) for lunch with our friends Denny, Cynthia, and Liah...really they are family now more than friends. Scott took Adeline to the restroom during lunch (after I had taken her 3times already) and he had a funny story to tell when he returned.

Taking a toddler or someone who can not touch the ground while they use the restroom is an awful experience here. Denny & Cynthia told us today to NEVER place Adeline on the toilet...with or without paper. Toddlers here just learn to be held in the air...which we've done...but I told Denny, try holding an infant while also holding your 2yr hold in the air to use the potty!

So anyways..Scott's story...one stall was full and the other had no tp. He did his best to ask the man for tp and he said a little while later the man handed him a huge wad of it. Well at least he got his point across.

Scott is at church right now. This morning the wife of the pastor from the church in Cotui (where we'd like to move to) was at church and tonight her husband was going to be there. We were very excited that God put them in our pathway.

Darton turned 6 months yesterday!

Adeline's Friends

Embajador Employees...everyone loves the kids.

It is always a highlight in our day when we get to play with Georgie & Jessie (their mom's name is Claire). They are staying at the hotel as well, but are in the process of moving into their apartment. Adeline didn't know she could pose for a picture until she met them!

Yesterday we had planned to go the the Botanical Gardens with Kathryn & her kids, but the rain sent us to the Acropolis Mall instead. It was a very nice mall that made me feel much more at home (in Dallas anyways).

Today, the kids and I endured the heat and walked to a bookstore about 5-10 minutes away. It was our first time to do this, but a friend loaned us a stroller which made the trip easier. The sidewalks aren't always stroller friendly though. I'll be glad to have my jogger soon w/the all-terrain wheels :). I bought Adeline a kitchen set at the bkstore...I've been looking for one of these sets for the last 6mths!

Adeline showing Georgie her friends in Elko. Georgie was very impressed Adeline had so many :)

Enjoying Friends

Last week was definately a crazy one as a mommy, but we did also get to visit friends. On Thursday we went to the house of Kathryn & David Montero w/her 2 kids Jonathan 18mths and Katie 3mths. They also invited us their church's family day which was a fun time in the countryside.

Adeline daily asks for where different members of her family are that she spent 3 weeks with in Dallas. The question is "Where __________ is?" (mamommie, gdad, papa, mama, isaac, nonna, poppa, stepne, ndrew).

On Monday while she was standing on our bed, she gasped and said "Wannee" (water). It was the first time she realized she could see the ocean from our room. When we pull up to the hotel she says "home." Poor thing is in for a surprise when we move into an apartment. Our daily view for the past week has been a U.S. Navy ship going back and forth along the coast. We heard they were here to help with medical needs for the poor. Phew! We thought we were in for an invasion! (D.R. history leasson: the U.S. invaded the DR twice in the 20th century).

Darton will be 6mths on Saturday and yesterday he started rolling from his back to his tummy and then back again. We now have a mobile baby. I started feeding him cereal and anything that can easily dissolve in his mouth when we're at the dinner table. He thinks he HAS to eat when we're eating or drinking. I've yet to find jarred vegetables in baby food for him, only fruit, which I thought was strange.

Last Friday and this past Monday we went shopping to the nearest mall and grocery store (mercado). They are in the same building, which makes things nice and easy. Our taxi driver went the extra mile though and was my nanny while I went shopping. He pushes the cart, carries the bags, and holds Adeline's hand. It was awesome!

On Sunday we spent the day at Tio Denny and Cynthia's. We had a run-in with KFC when they took 2hrs to deliver our lunch! We got an extra meal out of it though :). We had fun playing with their beagle puppies (maybe we'll make a home for one) and the wigs they had for a game at church. Adeline played peek-a-boo with the puppy (he's under her dress).

Scotty came home for the night and will take off about 5a. So I'll end here to spend time with the hubby before he falls asleep.

Just One of "Dem" days

Although today is Wednesday, I'm just now getting to write about our wonderful Monday :)

It was just one of them days when just about everything happened. My daughter managed to use the restroom on everything between the room, the park, and the pool. We went through about 4 pairs of panties in 30 minutes and had to tell multiple people that there was urine that needed to be cleaned up. Lunch took 45 minutes for a sandwich and so Adeline managed to use the restroom on the seat cushion during that time. But before all of this occurred, Adeline locked herself into the hotel room! The door to the outside was deadbolted from the night before and there is only a door knob on one side of the door for the doors that connect our rooms. Ten minutes went by with my naked daughter crying "help" and saying "poop" in order for me to get her out of there before I realized no one was coming and I was going to have to do something about it. Luckily I had my Swiss army knife and I unscrewed the door knob.

I thought that this experience called for a frozen lemonada at the poolside. After nap time we headed back down to the pool for the best experience of our Monday - diarrhea in the pool. No that wasn't just a leaf hanging from my daughter's rearend! Probably a result of her insisting on drinking copious amounts of bath and pool water in spite of my pleas.

And let's not forget that she had to go to the restroom 4 TIMES at dinner. For those potty training or have potty trained while also having a infant in your arms you know why I feel the need to tell my story :).

Tuesday morning we went to a friend's house - Anamaria & Maria Fernanda. In the afternoon Adeline got a busted lip and uppergum that produced the most blood in an accident she's had in her 2 years of life. Oh...but that wasn't all. While outside (coming from the restroom of course) Adeline playfully and unknowingly hit a thorn bush and got a nice little cut across the palm of her hand. At that point I just had to laugh...poor thing.