For a moment

For a moment there I thought things just might be settling down.

The morning started out great. I finally went for a run on the running path by our house. Afton decided to wake up at 7 a.m. this morning so we had a quick breakfast and took off for our run. The best thing about the path is that there is some serious encouragment to run the whole distance. It's only 1.5 miles but at the end there is an awesome play ground that Afton loved. So I ran 1.5 there, played for a while with Afton at the park, and then ran the 1.5 miles back.

After running we ran an errand with a friend and then came home. It was getting close to nap time when we got back and Afton was starting to get cranky. I was carry a lot of groceries and was trying to get her to walk up the stairs on her own and she was crying and whining because she wanted me to carry. We were almost to our door and she threw a tantrum on the steps. She sat down and threw her arms and heads forward and accidentally smacked her head on the tile steps. I knew something was up when her cry was a little different and wondered if she had just hit her head right and gotten a mild concussion. I monitored her for a while. She was a little fussy but nothing that would concern me. We went to the playground in our complex and then when I thought we were in the clear, she threw up like 4 times in a row. It was a lot. I still can't figure out how that much stuff fits in such a little body. Both her and I were covered. We went home, after calling Logan to come help, and I walked into the laundry room and feel water all over the floor. I look down and sure enough, our washer leaked everywhere. So we have throw up clothes and no washer to clean them. Best part, we call our landlord and he tells us there's nothing he can do for a couple weeks. Worst landlord ever!!! So we ask him if there's someone we can call to come fix it and his response. "I've never had problems with it before, you need to stop over using and overloading the equipment." So apparently it is my fault that the fridge and washer broke but it has nothing to do with the fact that they are both like a gazillion years old. After all this happens Logan is using his new laptop from HELL and what happens, a pixel goes out. Of course the warranty only replaces your laptop if 2 pixels go out. It's so ridiculous that we just have to laugh about all this stuff... except the whole afton hurting her head part. Ahh this place is wild, but regardless of everything, we're having a good time and loving life here is PR.

The toddler play set
The mansion playground!

Hato Rey

The running path. It was a really nice view.

Our apartment complex from the path.

And at the begining there is a lot of trash. :( So sad. This is actually an estuary but it doesn't seem to be kept up very well.

And lots and lots of Iguanas. Some of them are flourescent green.

And today was a battle to keep her diaper on. Everyday is something new. Sometimes it's her pants, her shoes, her bow (actually everyday is a bow battle day so I gave up.). But today she didn't want to wear her diaper. I kept telling her, "If you don't want to wear your diaper, you have to pee pee in the potty." Let's hope that works.

A sneak peak

Warning... Here are just a few pictures of our so far, very white apartment. They are pre any decorations and sadly I still really haven't put any up. It's pretty hard decorating when all the walls are cement and you're poor students that can't afford to decorate!

This is our building. We are in Penthouse 1. It feels so luxurious saying that but really it's not that luxurious. It is nice though. Pretty much the whole "penthouse" part just means that we have a staircase that leads to a rooftop part that is ours. We do love that part... having the rooftop and room up there is nice!

The new swagger wagon. When we bought this I text me dad that we bought a swagger wagon... he had no idea what that was. We got this baby for 3,000. Hopefully it will keep running. We have to admit.... we're kinda loving the whole van part. Being able to change diapers easily. We have tons of room. We can take a seat out and fit more stuff. If we'd had a different car, we would have had problems buying and moving some of the furniture we've gotten. I love that I can move around in it easily... it's pretty much been awesome. We totally get why people like vans! We also figured it would be better to have so when people come to visit they
won't have to rent a car... we have plenty of room for visitors in our ride!
Part of one of the playgrounds. Our complex is actually pretty small but still has 3 playgrounds. This one is my favorite because it's in the shade and right up against the jungly part near the river.

Afton loves these swings!

Dream come true. I love teeter totters and you never see them any more! When we go on it Logan sits on oneside and Afton and I pair up on the other.


The very white kitchen and new very small fridge.

This apartment came partially furnished... it actually came completely furnished but we asked the landlord to take somestuff. Some of the modern pieces we knew would not survive Afton or Afton would not survive them. This couch came with the place and we are loving it. However, I have to clean it alot.... who buys white couches??!! Any tips on cleaning leather?

I would also like to add that today was my first day not having to kill and clean up ants. There's just no getting rid of them here!

Oh Baby!

There is a family moving out of our ward and luckily for us we have been able to purchase a few necessities from them. By necessities, I also mean toys. Because lets face it, kids need toys! Or probably more accurately, adults need kids to have toys to keep them occupied and entertained! Anyway, they were selling toys and I was able to buy a little baby doll set with a stroller, carrier, cradle, and baby. I wasn't sure if Afton would really be into the whole Baby doll stuff but it was a good deal and some toys that she just might like. I brought it home and just put it in her bedroom in a pile to deal with later. A few minutes later I hear "Hi baby! Oh baby, nice baby. Ok baby go night night." I walk around the corner and Afton is loving her baby and putting it in the carrier and swinging it and then she put it in the stroller and started pushing it around everywhere. Both Logan and I could help but laugh and awwh at such an adorable sight. She loves it. Such a girly girl. Where did she get that from? Now everytime it's time to get ready for bed, she goes to get her baby to put to sleep too.

First Day of School.

Logan is probably way to old for me to be making him do this! It's like the first day of school in elementary all over again. We would always take pictures! But, I made him take pictures anyway. Wednesday the 4th was Logans first day of classes but he had actually been at school everyday since the Friday before. Friday he had orientation all day, then Monday he had to go to get everything set up and get his books etc. and it took all day, then Tuesday was registration that took all day. He was excited for Wednesday... to finally get started and start as he said "moving forward."




I love that here his name is legally different than on the mainland. They, in true Latin culture, include the mothers maden name. Just to embarress my dad, I'll tell a little story. On looking through some correspondence we had recieved from UPR, my dad asked me "so peep,(what he calls me), what's a pagliero?" (pronouncing the G, when it's supposed to be silent.) My response, "a person." It gave me a good laugh.

Saturday

We went to the beach. We decided that Logan probably will started getting very swamped at school so we better get in as many beach days as possible. This time we went to a beach in San Juan. It was beautiful and clean. We liked that there were no waves. Afton loved sitting in the shallow water and picking up, examining and then throwing all the rocks and seashells she could find. She can already tell the difference between seashells and rocks. Am I totally weird for thinking that's pretty amazing for such a little kid to know that. Everyday she blows me away with how much she know's and learns so fast.



This is the view I had from where I laid and read Dickens, Great Expectations. I love reading on the beach but find it hard to do with a kid! I have to say there are a few things that I am really loving about PR beaches. 1- the warmer water... I love getting in and swimming around. In San Diego I usually felt like I was swimming with icecubes! 2- I love, love, that there are palm tree's on every beach. You can literally hook up hammocks anywhere on the beach. I love that you can be at the beach in the shade without an umbrella, away from the burning hot sand. It's so nice to be able to enjoy the sun but escape it when you want to and still be feet away from the water. So nice!! It's pretty great. 3- The water is so clear. Somehow our snorkeling goggles didn't make it into our boxes that we shipped. Our first trip we were able to borrow Jake and Heathers but this time we didn't have any. But don't worry, their in the mail on thier way here. Hopefully we'll be able to snorkel our next beach trip.

Logan and Afton picking through the sand. That must be where she gets it.... like father, like daughter! :)

And of course... I had fresh food to come home to after the beach. we were able to finally get groceries Friday night. It felt so good!!!

Today

Kind of had a bit of a rough start. We've been having a lot of days like that lately. Afton's been unusually fussy, whiny, and needy in the mornings. It almost doesn't feel right saying "unusually" because it's become the norm lately. Not sure what to do about it. This move definitely hasn't been easy on her. But each day gets better. I can see improvements the more and more we get into a routine and make this place our home. Here are pictures of the upside of today.





Don't mind our unfinished rooftop. We have to wait until september for it to be finished and sealed, when the rainy season is over. Regardless of how it looks, it still makes a great place to make bubbles. ;)

What a week!

Soon after I posted my last post, Logans brand new, 29 day old laptop for school crashed. And I mean crashed... the hard drive is gone! Of course it was a couple of hours after he loaded a 1,000 dollars worth of books for school onto it! It was quite the day. If I can make one recommendation... do not ever buy an HP! Their costumer service is awful!!! It took Logan 3 hours on the phone with HP workers before they would finally let him speak to a case managerng. That was after a couple of them "accidentally" hung up on him forcing him to go through the whole phone tree process again. Finally once he got to the case manager, he was told the only thing they could do was send him a box to ship his computer to them to be fixed, not replaced, fixed. And they would need our creditcard information to have on hand for that!? Oh and it will take about 3 weeks. He patiently explained to them that everything at his school is digital.... the books, the powerpoints, handouts, and the notes he takes are all done on a computer and that he can't be without his laptop for 3 weeks! So since HP stinks, Logan will be using my laptop for the next 3 weeks while his is "being fixed." Literally that means I have very limited time, since he takes it to school and has to use it after and before school to study. So... that blogging I had promised everybody, just might not get done as fast as I had hoped.

We had a couple of other eventful happenings. Our fridge broke the night we moved into the apartment, of course right after we had gone to costco and purchased a bunch of groceries. That was our second set of food to throw away! Yes our second set. Our first set we bought when we arrived in PR and at the Butlers house to stay. We bought groceries and got home and went to put our food away and realized their fridge had broken sometime while they were gone. Everything was rotten and moldy! haha. That was a big clean up! Anyway, We have been without a fridge this whole time. Finally our landlord found one and let us know it was being delivered on Tuesday. Tuesday rolled around, the fridge arrived and the workers said they couldn't get it in. (I think it's safe to say that they are not paid per delivery but by the hour.) They wouldn't even try. The fridge was the same size as the fridge already in our house!!! I won't go into detail about their lameness but it was pretty pathetic and I was pretty disappointed to once again be without a fridge. The next day we text our landlord and asked what he was planning and on doing and his response was "do you think you could wait a month and a half until I have more time?" Ummm, let me think about that one.... NO! We put our foot down and he found us a new fridge that was finally delivered on Friday!!! It's much smaller, has no ice maker, or water filter like the one before but sometimes you just have to make do. So far it has been fine. We're just happy to have fresh food to eat, no pop tarts and crackers! We're crossing our fingers that this fridge doesn't break anytime soon!!

Logan and Afton building a block tower while I made dinner. I found those blocks at Burlington Coat Factory for 15.00 bucks!

Finally... our first real cooked dinner since arriving in PR! It's about time. We felt it was picture worthy considering the circumstance!



Parmesean stuffed chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy with a salad.....mmmm. It tasted better than it probably actually was!



We also just finally purchased chairs. Up until now we have been eating on the floor. Not fun when you have a two year old! I couldn't get her to stay put and ended up having a huge mess to clean up after every eating session. It usually looked something like this...


We've slowly been rounding things up by using Clasificados.com. It's pretty much the Puerto rican version of Craigslist. We found our car and looked for apartments on that website. It was been great. Our table and and chairs were also found that way. So if you plan on moving to PR anytime soon, you'll know where to find stuff.