Where did my baby go?

Well, we did it. We signed Caden up for Preschool. It is extremely expensive and as we drove him to school this morning I had my doubts, but I think we made the right decision. He has a wonderful teacher and even though the instruction is mostly in English, I think this is the only way he will learn Spanish.
I don't know if it is the uniform, but he looks so old to me. He was so brave. On the way to school we told him the word for bathroom and I explained to him that he would need to raise his hand and tell his teacher if he needed to go. When it was finally time for us to part he turned and cuddled up with me and said, "What is the word for bathroom again?" Sweetest parting words ever.
Connor was pretty sad to see him go. Ok, he was probably just really tired because we had to wake him up early. We went home and played together and then Connor took a great nap so Mom could exercise. This might just work out perfectly!

UPDATE: Day two of preschool Caden screamed and cried. I also cried as I drove home after abandoning my poor child. Why is motherhood such an emotional, guilt-ridden roller coaster? I am now afraid that I ruined him forever and Tom and I just lost a thousand bucks.

He likes to move it move it

Today at church the youth sang "Army of Helaman." Connor stood up on the bench and started shaking his booty. It reminded me of this video. Watch out 'So You Think You Can Dance?' we have a future star on our hands!

Chiminike

We were planning to go to the Valle de Angeles (Valley of Angels) last weekend but we planned poorly and did not end up having enough time. Luckily, plan B was the Chiminike Children's Museum. It turns out it is really close to our house and our kids had a lot of fun. It is a lot like Discovery Gateway but without the millions of children that always seem to be there. Caden has been very imaginative lately. Every night Tom and I have to tell him a story and he loves stories that involve knights and magical places. He was pretty excited to take a picture as a knight in shining armor.
This was the water area. Tom was having more fun than the kids. He can't wait until our kids are older and can actually understand all of the scientific stuff he tries to explain to them. (He always gets frustrated when I make up scientific answers just to appease/quiet Caden...let's just say I never got a solid foundation in Science)
Connor mostly gets into mischief. His favorite part was running up and down the hallways between exhibits. Honduran women love Connor. They always touch his hair and play with him. I am afraid that he is going to start thinking his name is Lindo. Every single person here says "Que lindo!" to him. I think it means 'how pretty!'
We got to eat lunch in a train car. We are waving from the window.
Caden always sticks out his tongue when he is focusing. He and his dad had a lot of fun at this museum. Until he encountered a giant nose that sneezed right as he was passing by. He calls it an elephant and will be forever terrified of it. I guess we won't be going in to the cuerpo room anytime soon. We will, however, definitely be going back to this museum. It was a lot of fun.

I love my husband!

This picture has nothing to do with the title of my post, but I love this picture of Connor. I love it when I manage to capture a look or a face that my kids make frequently. This is a classic Connor face and it makes me smile every time.

My sweet husband has put up with a lot lately. More than a few times this past week I have asked him (while sobbing) to take me home. He lovingly replies that if that is what I really want we can make it work. He is also very patient with my precious three-year-old. I brought a very small, wooden cement truck for them to put together. Lets just say small wooden parts, detailed instructions and an impatient three-year-old do not always make the most pleasant family home evening. Props to Tom for never getting frustrated.
I love Tom for many reasons but here is an example of one of them. While we are very happy with our current living conditions there are a few downsides. Apparently dishwashers are not common here, so we will be enjoying the privilege of washing our dishes by hand (or purchasing large amounts of paper products) for the next year. Tom has been so nice to do the dishes often, but this just made me laugh. He managed to fit more dishes into that little thing (I don't even know what they are called-this is SO two decades ago!) than I think I could fit into a dishwasher. Thanks Tom! The adventure for you might just be putting up with an emotional wife...and keeping the dishes clean (of course).

Every Suitcase Unpacked

I never thought I would be so happy to see furniture. It turns out that it is pretty nice furniture as well. This is a view of the dining room. I really love this big table.
This is our kitchen. We have a lot of space but not a lot of storage. The storage that we do have is close to the ground. Anyone with a 15 month old knows why this is problematic.
Random picture. This is at the little playground at the mall. Caden loves to jump from high places. I feel like we have a broken limb in our future. (It might be Connor's because he often times is not careful about what he jumps on)
I had to include this picture. I love Connor's little face. It looks like pure joy. (Perhaps it is the look of liberation from a tiny apartment...yes, I have also probably made that face a few times this week) Seriously, he is so cute. He does this often and screams really loud (I have a feeling that our new neighbors are already annoyed). Our neighbors are actually Americans. I wanted to run out and hug them when I heard them speaking English.
This is our formal living room/put random stuff that has yet to find a place in the house room. The stove that came with our furniture was a gas stove and the house is hooked up for electric so we had to buy a new one. We bought it, hauled it all the way home through traffic, just to realize that it did not come with the cord to plug it in. Tom knew how desperate I was to finally be able to cook food for our family so he went all the way back and finally found one (it only took two hours). On the way back from the mall (the first time) we were stopped by the police for the second time since we have been here. I feel like we are being racially profiled and it feels very uncomfortable to be on this side of it. Luckily both times they were very nice but it still stresses me out.

Frustration, patience, and a shortened life

Frustration might be understating my current mood. Lets just say I have threatened to get on an airplane and fly home no less than 40 times today. Last Thursday we were told our house would be available and we could get the keys the following day. We were also told that the house was fully furnished (wait, we have a truckload of furniture that is supposed to be here already). Naturally, I started packing up the apartment.
*Friday-Sorry, the keys will come tomorrow and oops, it's not furnished. Oh and by the way, the furniture is still in Guatemala. (Keep in mind they have had over a month to get the furniture to Honduras) Breathe Lisa, Breathe.
*Saturday-We actually get the keys. Furniture leaves Guatemala City and if everything goes well it should be here on
*Monday. Monday-Furniture gets through customs and should arrive that evening. This is truly a miracle.
*Tuesday-Moving Day! Oh wait, apparently they have to go to another customs office in the city to pay some fee. (Apparently when they go through customs they push a button and if the light turns green they get to pass, if it turns red they have to search everything.) They get a red light and spend several hours searching but it should still arrive this evening.
*Wednesday-Moving Day! What? Are you kidding me? The truck's gas cap was stolen so it is still sitting at customs. How hard can it be to get a new gas cap!? Hours of waiting and frustration...still no furniture.
*Thursday-Moving Day! It remains to be seen, I have my doubts.


One would think that a three-year-old would be a sufficient instrument for teaching a woman patience but now I get Honduras as well. Apparently everything here is relaxed and happens when it happens. They will say that someone is coming on Tuesday to install the Internet, but they mean that someone will come sometime in the next two weeks. I will either return to the U.S. a very patient woman or a very wrinkly, gray-haired cynical woman. The jury is still out.



Although I am slightly embarassed to admit this, back in the U.S. I took Caden to McDonalds(or Dick Donalds as he calls it) on more than a few occassions. However, I never let him get french fries. It was always apples and chocolate milk. Here in Honduras there is no healthy option. All of my hard work has been erased. The only choice here is french fries and soda.(luckily they hate soda) Because we have been living in limbo for the past few days we have consumed a ridiculous amount of french fries and other unhealthy junk. I am beginning to think I will have a heart attack before this furniture is ever delivered to my house.


I apologize for the rant but that was very therapeautic.

Lesson learned

I knew when I signed on for this little adventure that there would be many things that I would need to adjust to. This is one of them. In the public restrooms (at least the ones I have been to so far) they have one toilet paper dispenser. You have to get your toilet paper before you enter the stall. The problem is that the toilet paper dispenser looks quite similar to a paper towel dispenser. This lesson was learned the hard way. Too bad I don't know how to say "CAN ANYONE GET ME SOME TOILET PAPER" in Spanish. Oh well. Lesson learned.

Things that I love about Honduras (so far)

1-Maids.
2-Normal sized mannequins (we're talking size 8!)
3-Produce. I don't know why it tastes better, but all of the fruit tastes fresher
and sweeter.
4-Maids.
5-Members of the Church. I lived in a pretty amazing ward in Utah, but I have
never felt as welcomed and loved as I did yesterday. I could not
communicate very well with them but they still found a way to make me feel
completely comfortable.
6-Kindness of strangers. We were at the mall playing in a little play area and there were several kids with balloons. Connor loves balloons and with great persistence tried to obtain one of these balloons. Of course I stopped him every time. As one little girl was leaving her mom made her give Connor her balloon. I reluctantly accepted and that poor girl cried as her mom pulled her away. I felt horrible, but I wondered if I am doing enough to teach my children to be kind and giving.
7- Have I mentioned the amazing maids? Tom and I have not decided if we are going to have a maid when we move to the house (we totally will, I just need to convince him) but the sweet maids at this apartment make my day. It may just be that I am desperate for adult conversation but I really enjoy speaking in broken Spanish to these kind women.

Beautiful City

The view from the park. I love how green it is here.

El Parque Espana

We have been spending a lot of time at this park lately. Connor loves to eat dirt. I try to stop him but sometimes I just don't have the energy.
It doesn't have a playground but these tile ramps make a decent slide.
I love Caden's face in this picture. Lately he has been questioning my intelligence and authority and this face pretty much says it all. He thinks our apartment is Honduras and he does not believe me when I tell him that we are still in Honduras when we go to the park.
His favorite thing to do is play soccer with me. I am pretty self-conscious about my soccer skills when there are Hondurans around. I am pretty sure I look like a fool most of the time; good thing I don't understand what they are saying.

For the Grandmas

Connor is getting more and more mobile. He is also getting more and more mischievous.




I taught Caden this song (I learned it as a child from our good friend Barney) and he won't stop singing it. I think he thinks he has learned Spanish now. We still have some work to do.

LOST

I am thinking about starting to watch the TV series LOST for two reasons: 1) It is one of the few shows available on Netflix down here 2) Whenever we leave our apartment we find ourselves completely LOST! On Friday we went to the Mall that is a mile away from our apartment. It took 45 minutes to get there and an hour and a half to return...why? We got lost.
On Saturday we decided to go to the temple site and drive by our new house. It should only take 15-20 minutes to get there. It took us an hour and a half...why? We got lost.
On Sunday we decided to go watch General Conference. We were told that our new ward would be watching it with the Stake. Surprisingly it only took us 45 minutes to find the stake center. We took turns watching the session(Conference just isn't the same with children), but it turns out our ward was not there. In between sessions we decided to find our ward. Two and a half hours later, plus one flat tire, we finally found it...why? We got incredibly lost. We also saw some of the poorer parts of Tegucigalpa.
This city is beautiful but the roads are ridiculous. Apparently I need to get used to being lost.

p.s. Conference is better if you understand the language.

Our Lovely Apartment

One of the blessings of living in BYU approved housing is that it prepares you for the many experiences your future might hold. My sophomore year we lived in an apartment with a miniature kitchen. Surely it was to prepare me for this apartment. Miniature appliances are cute for about 2 minutes and then they are just annoying. Thank you Southridge, you made this adjustment that much easier.
This is our living room. Two toddlers and I spend all day in this room. Don't worry, it doesn't get crowded.

This is where we eat our awesome meals that I prepare in the miniature kitchen. Our menu includes: frozen waffles, sandwiches, spaghetti, frozen waffles, sandwiches and spaghetti. I wonder why my boys are always bouncing off the walls?

A few pictures

Swimming at the pool in Houston. This is still Caden's favorite part of the trip thus far. His lips were blue and we still had to force him out of the pool.

Connor on the airplane. He did pretty well on both legs of the journey. He had fluid in his ears so he cried a little bit. On the way to Houston we had to walk him up and down the aisle a few times and everybody looked very annoyed. On the way to Honduras we did it as well but everyone smiled and played with him. I'm beginning to see a trend.

Tom and Caden on the airplane. Caden was a champ. Thank heavens he is easily entertained by television and legos (thanks Grandma Trish!).

This is in the parking lot in Salt Lake City. It is dark but there are 16 suitcases on those 2 carts. If only we could have brought our wonderful mothers the whole way...it would have been much easier!