Free TIme

I know it's cold back home. And whatever apprehensions I had about moving down here, weather was not one of them. I was glad to say Sayonara to winter, and Hello, to warm temperatures! 

So, in our free time on the weekends, we hang out at the pool. It's been quite warm here lately, and there is nothing quite as refreshing as taking a dip in the pool. Jealous, Arkansas?

Is it just me, or are boys just that much cuter in a pageboy hat?

In that pesky air shipment that hasn't arrived yet, are our swim diapers. So Beckham and I hang out poolside and dip are feet in, while the older boys swim. When we know we are heading home, we will dunk him in. Water logged diapers are terrible. Who wants to sit in that all day?

So long for now!

Quirks

We've been here for three weeks. We've noticed some differences. Duh, you say? Yes, I know. Obviously there is the whole language barrier, and the fact that we are living in a different culture. I get it. It's the little things that strike me as funny and well, quirky. Some are related to Brazil, others are related to the fact that we are living with dorm room quality/quantity items. 

1. Cooking has been different. It's not that it's hard, but it just takes some getting used to. I don't have my cooking stuff, which takes me out of my comfort zone, if you wish. I have two skillets. This is how we cook our meat. Utilizing both. Don't worry, these aren't ginormous hamburgers, just tiny skillets. Everything is in portuguese, which is great for language acquisition, but sometimes harder when you are looking for a particular type of meat. 

I don't have a can opener, or measuring cups. We've had to buy all the essentials, like salt and pepper, so we don't have quite the spice drawer that I had at home. Like I said, it's just taking time to acquire the basics. 

Hot dogs are basics, right? Do you see it too? They ARE orange. I had heard about this before we moved, so it wasn't so shocking. I'll admit that I haven't tried one. I've smelled them, and they smell like a hot dog. However, Cayden loves them! 

When you boil the orange hot dogs, your water changes colors! Exciting stuff, no?

2. Bathrooms. The toilets don't have tanks. All bathrooms have a drain in the floor. You flush the toilet by pushing the big silver button on the wall, and holding it down for a few seconds. 

The first week we lived here, I ran a bath for Cayden and the water was yellow. Apparently the pipes are old. Thankfully, it's only happened once. 

3. Laundry. So far, it hasn't been too bad. The washer and dryer are small. Really small. You can't put a load of towels in the dryer or it will take 6 hours to dry. Seriously. Or longer. The timer on the dryer goes up to three hours. So most people, I say most, I really have no idea, but I'm assuming here, that most dry their clothes on the racks featured on the ceiling. If you air dry your stuff for a bit, then put it in the dryer. It's much more efficient. 

4. Language. This is sort of related to cooking. Heath and I use Google Translate for a lot of stuff. I use it mostly for cooking directions on packages, when I can't decipher. It's wonderful. 

These are just a few items that I have noticed. I'm sure I will come across a few more in time!

Boa Noite!

Beckham is 7 months old Today!

Beckham is 7 months old today. Really? Look, I know I breezed right over his 6 month post, and sadly there isn't even a picture to commemorate it. We were really busy. But it's crazy to think that he will be a year old in 5 months. He could crawl at any moment (he won't, but he could), he could walk in the near future, he could start saying Mamamamama, and Dadadadada. Crazy.

Beckham for the most part is a very happy baby. See pictures below. He likes to be a part of whatever is going on (I'm not sure who he got that from **COUGH** Heath **COUGH**). He loves Cayden. period. Loves him. 

At his 6 month appointment he weighed 19.04, just a little less than Cayden was. And was 28 inches long! Yowzer! I would say that he will be tall, but the genetics in our families probably won't make that happen. He still has his allergies and I am doing what I have to do to control that. Down here, it's a little harder. There is literally a bakery on every street. And it's not like Rick's (which is lovely) but you walk into these Mom & Pop shops and every square inch is covered in some sort of baked goodness. Breads. Tarts. Pies. Cakes. Cookies. Savory Items. I digress. Back to Beck. 

Once we took Cayden to school this morning we took a few pictures. 

 He has taken the move fairly well. The problem is that we don't have much in our apartment. He only has a few places he can really be put down or in, and he doesn't like them for very long. I can't wait until our air shipment comes in so that we can get his walker and JumperRoo. WOO HOO. Sleeping is hard. We had such a good system before the move, and we haven't be able to replicate it down here. 

He currently eats baby food and cereal twice a day, although if it were up to him it would be all the time. He loves that stuff. He still nurses and we are working on taking a bottle again. For a while he decided it was in his best interest to stick to the boob. However, recently he has become a biter, and it's not a pretty situation for me. 

We are still working on sitting. He's getting better, but not to the point where you could sit him somewhere and leave him. He will still topple and smack his head on the ground, so we continue to practice. 

Beckham's hair is starting to grow back and I think his eyes are one of his best features. If you look closely they are a mixture of blue and brown. Cayden's eyes had gone completely brown by this point, so I'm hoping Beck's stay this color. 

He has recently started clapping. Not intentionally, but he claps his hands together while he lays on the floor. He is hovering between size 3 and 4 diapers. And the 6 month clothes are going to be a thing of the past soon. You can tell he works out a lot, I mean, look at those arms. Gun Show? I think it's more like a Battalion Show… 

I told Heath that we needed to start thinking about 1st birthday ideas. He said we had plenty of time. Obviously he has never perused Pinterest. HA! I know it won't be like Cayden's. We aren't near our family and I can't really go all out with the decor and such down here. I kind of hoping we'll be back in the States in June, so I can just have it up there. :o)

Beckham One Week:

Two Months:

Three Months:

Four Months:

Five Months:

Seven Months:

Sweet Baby Beck - 

How you have completed our family. Your smile and laugh are easily the best parts of my day. I love that I'm getting to spend a little more one on one time with you in the mornings. I am enamored with how much you love Cayden. I hope that you two are the best of friends as you get older. While your patience level is low, I know it's because you just want to be involved. Thank you, Beckham Connor, for being ours. 

Love, 

Mom and Dad

Cayden's First Day of Pre-K

Today was Cayden's first day at school. He woke up this morning, later than usual, thank goodness, but was roaring to go! In fact - he traipsed down the hall in just his pajama shirt. He had underwear and a t-shirt in hand. 

All weekend he has been talking about going to school. What a relief it is for him to be excited to go. Moving down here, I was worried about a few things, school being one. Not that it would be a bad school - It's wonderful! But that he wouldn't like going, and that I would be really anxious about it. I haven't been at all. Prayer goes a long way!

We arrived at school, and I took him to his classroom. I wish you could see the school. It's open-air. The classroom are inside, but the stairs and everything are open, it's really neat. We said "Hi" to his teachers and he immediately went and started playing with stuff. Great! I said "good bye" and "I'll be back later." It didn't phase him. 

After turning in paperwork, one of the workers asked me if I was staying for Adaptation. Um, no, I'm a supposed to? So I went back to Cayden's class and asked the teacher. Her response was more of a surprise - "For Cayden?" she asked. "If he was crying I would say yes, but he's fine."  Yes, he was. 

I love the packet they send home with the daily report. He's in a K2 room right now because they thought he was a little young for the K3. He seems to like it and he ate all of his food! He doesn't do that at home! The big change is that he will be going five days a week! Only half-days. I know he will love it and it will be a great transition to school down the road!

Cayden is 2.5 Years Old

It's hard for me to do "monthly" updates on Cayden. I guess once they reach a year, the updates get fewer and farther in between. Today is the day that he turns 2.5, so I made it my goal to post on the actual day. Now, if I give Beckham the same gusto, we'll be cooking with gas!

Cayden has become such a funny character lately. His vocabulary and speech have improved significantly and the oddest things will come out of his mouth. Since the move to Brazil, he asks to go to people's house on a daily basis. "NeNe's House" "Mills House" "Play Mill" "Go to Cayden's old house" 

I know this is so confusing and such a hard thing for me to explain and for him to understand. So I tell him that they all live far away and we can't go today. There is a pool here, so that helps his homesickness. :o)

Where's Cayden? I guess hiding in a suitcase full of clothes passes the time. He also hides in the closet.


One really great thing that is starting to happen around here, Cayden is really starting to want to play with Beckham. Beckham has always loved any interaction from Cayden, but just recently Cayden has started to say, "Play with Beck." 

"Cheese me, Momma!" We've been here a week, and already the playground is part of the routine. I don't mind really. It's here, the weather is nice, why not! 
He likes it pretty well, although there are never any kids there at the same timer to play. He misses Mills quite a bit. 

We've told Cayden that he is going to start going to a new school with a different teacher than Miss Kay, and he seems excited about it. We have a meeting to fill out paperwork and for Cayden to see it on Thursday, but I think he will enjoy going. I know I will. 

Cayden Likes: Fruit snacks, playing with the broom, having people chase him, playing with Beckham, orange juice, the pool, Phinneas and Ferb, clean underwear (more on that), sweets

Dislikes: eating large quantities of food, doing what you tell him to, sharing.

A few Cayden stories:

Cayden loves his Lightning McQueen and Tow-Mater underwear. If he is not wearing them, he's on the prowl trying to find them. Most of the time there is at least one pair clean, however if there are multiple pairs clean, there is trouble. He likes to do a quick change. He sees one, wears it for awhile, sees another, drops his drawers, and is ready for a new pair. UGH. Today, he did this about 5 times. I am certain I asked him, "Where are your underwear?" or "Why are you not wearing underwear?" quite a few times today. 

We went to the pool today. When we got back, we changed Cayden's clothes first, and then I proceeded to change Beckham's clothes in our room. Cayden was messing around in our bathroom, being a little too quiet. Not a good sign. I walked in to find him sitting on the floor, a Clinique foundation bottle in hand, lid tossed to the side, and a nice coating of Alabaster tint on his mouth. He had decided it looked tasty, and went in for a sample. Geez. 

He's pretty sneaking. When left alone, he has gone into the refrigerator and pulled out the eggs and taken them out of the box. He's taken all the lightbulbs from their boxes in the laundry room. There was a bag of black beans on the couch today. Let's see, what else?


He's definitely trying my patience and giving me a run for my money, each and every day, but he's 2.5, this is normal right. And darn it, if I don't love him. He wants to be Mr. Independent but still wants you around to watch him. He can listen when he wants to, and has started reading books to himself. He's quite good at The Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

Some days are hard, and I pray for patience and to see the joy, when it's hard to see behind foundation covered lips, and thankfully I can see it. 

Cayden Rhys we love you!

The First Week

On Monday we will have been here for one week! I love the complex that we live in. Having come from winter weather and freezing temperatures, it is a nice change to look out your window at green trees and feel the 85+ degree warmth on your face. 

The boys and I try to make it down to the playground once a day, sometimes twice. It's not a far walk, at all, but it's more exercise than I've had in awhile. There is a pretty steep hill on the way, so I'm sure that I will end up with toned calves soon. Too bad I can't say the same for the rest of my body. 

This is a picture of the pool from the playground. Dare I say, it almost reminds me of a resort. Ooh La la. 

This is on the path to the playground and pool area. Every morning, I think that it is such a nice walk. It isn't too warm yet, and our apartment shades most of the road. 

Beckham is getting to be such a big boy. I know I haven't given a 6 month update, sadly, I may just have to do a 7 month. He is definitely a mama's boy. He's by me all. the. time. It could be because he can't sit up on his own. 

The path up to our apartment. I love how green everything is here. 

So the week went by pretty well. Our driver took us to the store a couple of times, helped Heath buy a car, and numerous other things. Just having someone around that speaks fluent English and Portuguese has been life saving. We are now hooked up to the internet which is great because we have been able to FaceTime with a lot of our family. This weekend we ventured out on our own to Walmart and Pao de Acucar. Our rental car is a standard and I haven't driven one of those in years. YEARS! Anyway, we survived. Both places are literally less than five minutes from our home.

I know that everyone was worried about us. What would I do at home all day? Heath working a lot. There isn't much that makes me worried about whether I would be happy. My only frustration right now is that I can't communicate. I'm not sure how people can come down here and not learn Portuguese. I have to be able to know what's going on. I want to be able to read the apartment newsletter. I would like to be able to order take-out, that apparently is amazing. So after we are little more settled, and Cayden starts school, my goal is to find a tutor. 

I know that this coming week will be filled with playground visits, and a trip to the feira (market)! I can't wait to see all the produce!!

Until then - Tchau and Boa noite