For Whit

He does this crazy-cute-one-eye-squished-thing these days when he smiles! Way cute!

The 7 Wonders

David is teaching World History right now and recently gave out a project to his students. They were to create one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.
(I had to look them up, because I wasn't quite sure what they were. Shame on my history teacher!! )

His students worked really, really hard and did a great job!

They are:

The Great Pyramid of Giza



The Hanging Gardens of Babylon



The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus


Statue of Zeus at Olympia



Mausoleum of Halicarnassus



Colossus of Rhodes



Lighthouse at Alexandria


>

The Great Wall isn't an ancient wonder of the world, but David needed an extra one due to his class size!




And there you go. I hope you are now more educated about the 7 ancient wonders of the world.

My To Do List

We are preparing to come home on Thursday - which obviously we are really excited about! But we have so much to do until then. Here's my To Do List:

- Go to NCA and get the note from the lawyer in order to get Beckett's exit visa
- Make mashed potatoes for the NCA Christmas party
- Attempt to get my hair cut
- Get some fun Nica presents for the fam back home
- Make brownies for the cooks at NCA
- Go to Metro Centro to get Beckett's exit visa
- Think about and then pack what should go in the diaper bag for the plane ride home
- Pack for myself and Beckett
- Take a shower
- Make some baby food

When I type this out, it doesn't seem like too much! But since living here, I've learned everything takes longer than what you think! So, I should stop blogging and get started!

El Crucero

Aren't these flowers gorgeous??? They grow in a town called El Crucero. It's a bit higher in altitude than Managua, so these flowers flourish there. When you are in the town, you see them everywhere!

I was telling Chilo (a sweet lady that works for NCA) that we were in El Crucero this past Saturday and that we saw these flowers everywhere. A sea of blue! She's from El Crucero and said she would cut us some!

What a great gift!

Luke and Gracie!

In my craziness, I forgot to post this! So here it is now!

When I found out I was pregnant, most of my friends were not pregnant and didn't have kids. Except for sweet Sara, but she was a seasoned mom with a 2 year old (oh and also Missy)! However, it seemed like right after I found out I was pregnant, several of my good friends also got pregnant(Michelle, Tess, Courtney Jackie, Abby, and on and on)! That was a blessing to me! and I was so thankful in being able to share the experiences of pregnancy and mommyhood with my friends!

The sweetest news to me; however, was when I heard that my best friend (for over 24 years) was pregnant with twins! Julie has been beyond a wonderful friend to me for such a long time. I've always said that Julie knew how to love and care for me the way I needed love and care. She would love me by feeding me, giving me candy, cooking for me, laughing with me, not making me talk if I didn't want to, giving me some help in Senior English class, living with me in college, letting me wear her clothes, etc., etc. Regardless of where we live and how terrible we are at keeping in touch, I will always consider Julie one of my best friends!

Anyways, all that being said, we are so excited that she has her sweet twins now - Luke and Gracie! I love that her babies and Beckett aren't that far apart in age! Hopefully they will be lifelong friends, just like her and I!

So big!

Beckett taking a bath in a kitchen pot in San Juan del Sur!


Beckett is 7 months old today! This month has been a month of so many changes! Here's a list of some of the things he's doing!

- He can army crawl and get himself basically anywhere he wants to go!
- He can go from laying on his tummy to a sitting position!
- He can almost pull himself up into the standing position.
- He's eating a ton these days! His favorites are bananas, applesauce, and sweet potatoes! He recently ate some prunes and loved them! That seems weird to me, but whatever!!
- He is babbling more and more and laughing more too!
- He's become a big flirt and loves attention from anyone and everyone!
- He's also learned how to throw a bit of a fit. He'll arch is back and throw his head back in anger. It's cute now, but I'm sure it won't be soon! We're trying to put a stop to it!
- He's got 2 bottom teeth and I think 2 more are comin'!
-And as always, he is being so so cute!

We go back to the doctor for his 7 month checkup next week. I feel like he's gained 3 pounds in this month, but we'll see!
(Side note: Babies go see the pediatrician every month until they are 1 year old here. Since it's not too terribly expensive, I like going and seeing all his stats!)



Swimming with the parentals!

17 years

I miss my Dad. 17 years ago he passed away. I can hardly believe it has been 17 years. I've lived more of my life without him, than with him.


My Dad was great and I loved him so. He was kind and quiet, an avid sports fan, a fluffy pillow, a patient teacher and more.


I can remember throwing the baseball around with him. I remember him standing behind the sideline fence during my softball games. I remember lying on the carpet with him while we watched golf. I can remember the feel of his face and his smell. I remember taking walks and bike rides with him. I can see the look on his face when he was mad and happy.


I miss that face, that laugh, his words of wisdom.


I wish that he was here. I wish that he knew Beckett and Beckett knew him. I wish he was at home with my mom watching TV. I wish I could call him and hear his voice.


I know that it's only sad for me and not him. I don't know how Heaven works, but I know he is there. He's not sad, he is whole and complete and healed and better.


What a glorious day it will be when we are reunited!




I know that I usually write just fun little tidbits about Beckett or life in Nicaragua on this blog, but today I just wanted to write about him. Not typical Kristina, huh?