Final Gustav Update

Well the hurricane has passed us and we are just feeling the side effects of it, being wind and rain. I think everything turned out awesome. We never loss power last night, and the airport here is reporting to CNN that they and the island have only received very little damage by the hurricane (trees knocked down, etc).

I think the biggest affect that hurricane had on the island was the flooding and high winds. We thought for sure that the power was going to go out, but it never did and we're all doing awesome. We actually just went to sleep at around 2am, and our boys slept through the whole thing. They actually probably liked that background sound of the rain and wind :)

So we're definitely glad the hurricane has passed and that we're all doing awesome.

Can't wait for this "LAST" semester to be over with, where we'll be able to finish the rest of school in the U.S.

Thanks everybody for your support

4th Gustav Update

well it is now 10:30 pm (central time). we are absolutely getting hammered by the strong 80 mph winds and rain. Here's a cut and paste from an article at weather.com

"Hurricane Gustav is now impacting the Cayman Islands with flash flooding rains and strong gusty winds. As of late Friday evening, there have been reports that the islands now have no power, with other reports of downed trees and high waves battering the area."

I'm glad that we are not one of those unlucky ones who doesn't have any power right now. Our lights keep flickering, which tells me our power isn't far behind.

A school official that lives by a canal here on the island, told Ryan that the water level has risen 3 feet already, which is at its max before it starts to spill over. We have also heard from that the center of the hurricane is 50 miles away above us, so its not directly hitting us...... but it definitely is letting us know that its here.

I'll post later as things progress...

3rd Gustav Update

Well... its now 8:30pm (Central) and we're pretty sure that the hurricane is here, or if not really close to us. Because the winds are crazy right now, and it is absolutely dumping rain.

We can't see anything outside, but man the sound of the rain pouring, and the trees swaying back and forth with those high winds definitely tells you what the weather is like right now. I took a gander outside the door, and all I could see were trees bending so much they were almost touching the ground, and a constant downpour of rain. Our boys have no idea what's going on, which is an awesome thing. They are both sound asleep right now, while we're downstairs trying to forget about this storm by watching movies.

I'll post more in about an hour or so.

If I don't post within a couple of hours, it means that our power has gone out. I personally don't think the power is going to stay on, because already in the last 30 min we've had our lights flicker and go out for just a seconds twice already.

So cross your fingers.

2nd Gustav Update

Its now 7:30pm (Central Time) and the National Hurricane Center just released a report stating that Hurricane Gustav is still a category 1 hurricane. It also states that the hurricane is now 90 miles away from Grand Cayman, and that the hurricane turned slightly to the right, where the center of it will now pass over or nearby the Cayman Islands.

We are expecting it to reach us in the next hour or two, but as of 30 min ago, the wind has picked up tremendously and rain is starting to dump on us.

In the same report, it also states that we will get between 12-25 inches of rain, so that should be interesting. The winds are being estimated at 80 mph for now.

For the most part, its totally dark outside now, but we can definitely hear the rain dumping outside and the trees smacking around.

In the next couple of hours we will be getting the worst of it, but hopefully we won't lose power and the boys will just sleep through it.

We'll post later as the hurricane comes closer.

Hurricane Gustav Update

Well..... we're all hanging out indoors today. We feel like we're more than ready to weather the storm. Forecasts tells us that the hurricane is suppose to hit us around 7-8 pm tonight (Central). Looks like its heading straight at us, and that it will be a Category 1 when it reaches us. Hopefully its not too bad. About an hour ago is when the weather here took a drastic change. We're starting to see high winds right now, with intermittent gusts of rain.

Will update more as the hurricane makes landfall, and as long as we still have power.

As a side note. Ryan's school has postponed the first day of classes until Sept 8, which is good news for all of us once this storm passes :)

Worst Nightmare Comes True!

We hoped that we would never have to worry about any Hurricane while we were down here. But.... unfortunately we have one heading right towards us, that is expected to hit here Friday afternoon. It doesn't look like its going to be a "serious" hurricane, but its a hurricane none the less, and that stinks!!! Right now its only a Tropical Storm, but it is expected to reach Hurricane Status by tonight or tomorrow morning. The guess is that it will reach Cayman Islands around 2pm tomorrow.

We have stocked up on nearly everything imaginable, so we're ready to weather the storm.

Keep us in your prayers, and we'll keep you guys posted. Hopefully by tomorrow night, it will all be over and done with. So that after this semester we'll finally be done and back in the States, where Ryan will begin his clinicals in Portland, Maine.

Here's some sites you can check to be up todate with the hurricane status, including live video from a couple cameras on the beach

http://www.reefgrill.com/pages/netcam.html
http://www.oceanfrontiers.com/_/CIDmm/PGNmm-webcam
http://www.crownweather.com/gustav.html

Our little actor ;)

Emmet has been pretty dramatic lately...especially fit throwing, but he's been pretty funny too. Here's our little actor in action...stunt double in his future? Maybe!

Raise the roof!

Ryan's dream came true...he taught Emmet to "raise the roof." Next up..."yeah, buddy!" Hahaha! I love this age :)

Moving to the beach!

Our lease is up the end of the month where we're living now, so my wonderful husband has been house hunting for us. Well, he delivered! He found a place right on the beach and the owner was cool enough to let us sign a 3 1/2 month lease! Most places would only settle for a full year...and I don't want to be here for that much longer...I miss our families way too much, even if it is beautiful! Today we went and saw the area and peeked in the windows of our new place and it got us SO excited to move. Ryan actually went and saw it without me (I made him take a camera though!), so it was my first time seeing it, and I couldn't be happier! It's so awesome to just walk down a little sidewalk, turn the corner and see the beach. Emmet was loving all the grassy courtyards and sidewalks. I was a little nervous about the beach...the last time we went it was a complete disaster. Both kids hated it and cried the entire time. I thought I'd take it slow and just let him lead me where he wanted to go (hand tightly held!) and he walked right on the beach down to the waters edge and would laugh every time a wave would crash on the beach...we couldn't believe it! Last trip he would scream if he got a grain of sand on him and would shake when he went close to the water. I'm in heaven! Days are going to be so much more fun now that we can spend more time on the beach and let him run in the grass. I'm already feeling less cooped up now that we will have more fun places to play outside. Where we are now our backyard is full of wildlife and the grass is like bamboo shoots! Our new place also has a really nice pool and picnic area...and even a kiddie pool! Yay! I think my favorite thing about the place is that it's closer to the main attractions and shopping, but still really private and tucked away. We took a bunch of pics so you may be scrolling for awhile :)



Our beautiful backyard...

What a view, huh!

I had to post this picture...Emmet's face just cracks me up. The whole time we were walking around he was just saying "WHOA!" and "OOOOHHHH!" Haha! I'm glad our little busy body approves :)

This is in the middle of the complex and it's all sand and lounge area...It reminds me of a postcard...nice picture taking Ry!

Courtyard and in the distance is the pool area...I guess there are actually 3 pools and a jacuzzi...they even have a fun swim up snack bar (well, bar...but only snacks and smoothies for us!).

It was so darn hot out so I thought it'd be a good time for Em to try out the kiddie pool. These are his new shades...what a stud.

I can't wait for family to come...I love picnics and swimming!

The heat got out of control and we had to take off.....poor baby Wes, what a miserable face :(

When we got home the boys needed to cool off and needed lots of refreshment...Emmet just wanted to play in the water.

What a little goof :) I wish we could move tomorrow!!!

The little man in action...

These videos were supposed to be part of the last post but I couldn't get them to load. Hope you enjoy our little rug rat scooting around the house :)

Big boy!

Weston is such a little crawler...or scooter :) Either way he is super fast and he is into everything! Everyday he gets a little stronger and a lot more efficient. I can't believe how driven this little guy is...I'm sure seeing Emmet gives him all his motivation. He goes up and down the house and by nap time he is tuckered out. I'm pretty excited about it because he is so much easier to entertain and he has been taking so much better naps. Nighttime is all the sudden horrible again...I'm pretty sure those bulging gums are the culprit. I hate teething, I will be so relieved when they both have all their teeth! I just can't believe my little baby is crawling and wanting to be a toddler already! Emmet on the other hand is LOVING his new and improved brother...so much better than that guy a few months ago that would just lay there and watch him all day! Haha :)

Why do they always find these spots!?

We may have another bear-crawler!

You can finally see his new shiny tooth! 3 more are on the way, OUCH :(

I LOVE this sweet little baby.

It's that time of night!

Every night as we're getting the boys ready for bed they both get so silly. Emmet especially gets really out of control. He'll jump up on the couch and jump from cushion to cushion, then he'll get really close to you and stiffen up and just free fall on you with his entire body! He thinks it's so funny...sometimes it really hurts though! And then he'll do absolutely EVERYTHING he knows he's not supposed to do...running around the house like a mad man and tearing it to shreds as he goes...then it ends in tears. It must be them burning off excess energy to wind down for the night...that's my guess anyway. I don't think they know how to turn off the silliness when you reach a certain point! After that he can barely keep his eyes open and he says all his good nights and it's off to bed :) It's pretty funny though!

Getting ready to free fall onto me...

I love this picture...look at that big dimple!

Naughty little monkey!

This is the life...

Well, Weston has been out of his bouncer for a little while but a couple days ago we officially retired it. So, we thought that Emmet would enjoy demolishing what was left of this poor ghetto-rigged thing. This bouncer started out being pretty cheap. I think we got it at Wal-Mart for like $20 bucks and it has paid for itself over and over again! Emmet used it, then Wes, now Emmet AGAIN! Haha! We thought for sure it would be busted after a day of Emmet playing on it, but no it's his new favorite place to lounge, eat snacks, and watch cartoons. In these pictures he had just woken up from his nap and was feeling kind of chilly so he wanted to snuggle with me...I would've loved to stay and snuggle but I had to feed Wes so I got him everything he needed (he grabbed his car on his own) and got him all bundled up with his fave blanky. He sat here for a full 30 minutes just snacking and sipping on his drink! It was absolutely hilarious...especially because he is such a fidgety little guy and NEVER sits still! What a nut.


Emmet's cars go everywhere with him...baths, restaurants...you name it!

The whole time I was snapping pictures Emmet was totally ignoring me trying to enjoy his snack...I admit I was taking a long time! So by this point he was like..."MOM, get out of my space!" Haha :)

8 months & growing like a weed!

All of the sudden we have another big boy! It came so quickly! Wes has really taken off this last month. He loves to stand (with help, of course) and we even caught him trying to pull himself up on one of our stand up toys (he wasn't quite strong enough though), he can sit up all by himself, his appetite is bigger than ever and loves to beg food off of us...luckily Emmet LOVES to share, and he is ALMOST crawling...but definitely scooting everywhere! Weston is sleeping great at night and is even starting to take a little better naps, thank goodness! We've also noticed he is getting quite the sense of humor. It's obvious they both got their dad's goofy personality and they are both so darn funny. I swear I have the giggliest boys. They laugh whether we're tickling them or scolding them! The boys are interacting more than ever. Take today for example: Emmet was taking a nap and Wes was up playing quietly for about an hour or so (I mean not a peep), then Emmet wakes up. As soon as these two make eye contact they both light up and the place turns into a zoo!!! Emmet would run around and pop up from behind his toys playing peek-a-boo and they both would just crack up! Too cute! They were both yelling, screaming, and laughing hysterically for a good hour! I can hardly wait until Wes is walking...this place is going to be outta control! It's also really fun to see their strong bond because when one is napping or out with one of us you can tell they really miss eachother...it's almost kind of sad because they just kind of scan the room and wait :( And I thought having two this close was scary...I'm SO glad it happened. These boys are two peas in a pod! I'm excited to see them grow because it just keeps getting better! I love my sweet boys so much!

So strong!

Wishing he could run around like his big bro! Soon little grasshopper!

My attempt at getting a picture of his new tooth...not quite grown in enough, but look at those big blue eyes!

When I see these rolls I just wanna run up and give him a big squeeze :)

Weekend of firsts!

This was a pretty big weekend for our Wes. He went swimming for the first time and got his very first tooth! He absolutely loved swimming! From the second we put him into the water he splashed his little heart out! Laughing and babbling the whole time, it was so funny to watch him. Ryan held him most of the time in the pool and he would get kicking and splashing so hard he would almost jump out of his arms! So of course with all that squirming you need to adjust them to get a better grip...every time Ryan would move him a little out of reach of the water so that he couldn't splash he would freak out and start screaming because he was so mad! Haha! We probably swam for about an hour and Wes went crazy the whole time. Em and I swam all around with his floaty and he loved to people watch and get tossed around. Afterwards Wes took the best nap...we need to do this everyday! And it's official that we have TWO cute water bugs!

Loving the water :)

I love all their scowly faces in this one!

FIRST TOOTH
We had been having a few rough days and nights and knew those little buggars would be coming soon! He popped one bottom one through today and I'm betting tomorrow morning his other bottom one will be here! But what I'm really excited for is those top two teeth! I can see them coming and they look HUGE, they look like two big chiclets! I can't wait...they are going to be so stinkin' cute! And then from there...more solid foods! He's going to love it!


Wes is feeling pretty good now :)

Dog-pile!

I already have the rowdiest little boys...they love to wrestle with Ryan, it's too funny. I think it must be born into them because I'm home all day with them and I definitely don't wrestle! I'm more about coloring and baking cookies...occasionally I'll get in on a tickle fight, but that's about it! I'm all girl, so how did I get surrounded by so many crazy boys! Gotta love them though...they are pretty dang adorable :)

The boys taking a little breather from wrestling with their dad.

Emmet flexing his muscles and showing off his super cool batman shirt ;)