Some Joys in Life

Swim Diapers:

The things you find when you begin to pack up your home…again:

(did we EVER use these while here in CR??  no.  makes me wonder why i packed them.)

We’re seeing a pattern here…some of you might remember this picture from when we packed up our things in Abilene.  A house in disarray from being packed is clearly like HEAVEN for Cailyn…it was then, and it has proven true again!  There’s something about parading around in goggles that gives this child joy.

A cheap popsicle from the ice cream man:

Trampolines at the zoo (yeah…we know that’s not normal, but we live in CR, remember?)

*clearly our child is not a risk-taker…if you can call standing up on a trampoline with a safety net a risk.  her friend, Lucas, had a blast (obviously you can tell that from the picture), but Cailyn never stood up once.  to her defense, she was squealing with joy the entire time she was crawling around.  you gotta give it to her…she didn’t push her limits and still had a great time.

These are just a few of the things bringing joy into our lives these days.  We realize day after day that God could not have blessed us more with our sweet, Cailyn Joy Thompson.

Happy Valentine’s Day 2009!

Well, all of these pictures were actually taken yesterday, because we dressed up for school and I decided to make our fun valentine cupcakes that we were sent in our package so that I could completely enjoy them today (no baking involved).  So, normally Cailyn gets really excited after she is dressed for school, because she is so proud of how she looks.  Her routine is, clothes, shoes, I do her hair, and then, GO SHOW DADDY!  She always runs into whichever room she is saying, “Daddy, Look!” or “Daddy, dress!”  depending on what she is wearing.  Yeah, I realize it’s a bit early to be feeling so good about how she looks.  For now…it’s just funny, and Justin is the only man in her life that she cares to show off for.  That’s good for now!

So, yesterday, I was putting all of her valentine’s clothes on her, and as I was putting her hair up, I said, “ok, I am going to go and get the camera so that we can take a picture of you in your valentine clothes, so don’t go too far.”  So, the minute I was done, I ran to grab the camera for fear that my prime photo opportunities would be over if she decided to leave her room, but when I got back…this is what I was greeted with…

“Cheese!  Clothes!”

yes, she’s proud…

As I said, I made fun Valentine cupcakes yesterday.  Uh…please do not look too closely at the decorations I drew on top.  I would not be over exaggerating if I said I am HORRIBLE at arts/crafts.  Anyway, it was fun.  What comes next is the story (in pictures and words) of a sweet little girl named Cailyn, who had just woken up from a 1-hr. afternoon nap (normal for her is 2.5-3 hrs.), who was being treated to a cupcake that her mom had just made.  I am sure you can all imagine that this story does not end well.  Follow the pictures to find out…

The delicious cupcakes…

Cupcake #1…we’re excited!

Cailyn still testing out the waters…or so I thought…by mainly just eating the icing.

me: “Cailyn, baby, don’t just eat the icing.  You will finish the icing and not have any left for the rest of your cupcake.  Take a BITE of the whole thing.”

C: in her mind…”hmmm…ok…I’ll try that.”

Cailyn…taking a bite.

Oh no…because mom said to take a bite, the entire cupcake crumbled.  Heaven forbid she have to eat a crmbled cupcake.  Crying commenced (think: 1 HOUR NAP!).

me: “Cailyn, it’s ok.  Look, it is still good!” (I take a small bite of a crumble to prove it)

C: Cry, Cry, Cry.  “Mo Cucake!”  (and then she hands the crumbs to me as if to say, I don’t even want to see that mess!)

Crumbled Cupcake (still good, might I add)

me: “Ok, Cailyn.  Listen.  Look at mommy.  You can have ONE more cupcake.  If you just eat the icing and you don’t want the rest, that does NOT mean you can have a new cupcake after that.  Do you understand?  You can just have ONE MORE.”

C: “ooookaaaaay” (her ok’s are always long and drawn out for some reason…no, she wasn’t being sarcastic…haha)

me: again…”ok, I am going to get you ONE more.”

Cupcake #2

Cailyn, once again, enjoying ONLY the icing on her 2nd cupcake as I say,

“Cailyn, remember.  When you finish this, you cannot have any more.”

she shakes her head “yes” as if she fully understands what she is choosing…

Cailyn checking to see if she had gotten all of the icing possible off of the top of her cupcake…

The remains of Cupcake #2…

C: hands me cupcake #2 and says “Mo cucake” while pointing to the group on our kitchen counter.

me: uh…seriously? “Cailyn, sweetie.  Mommy told you no more after this one.  If you just want the icing, your cupcake is all gone really fast.”

C: lip puckers

me: “Cailyn, would you like some more bites of your cupcake here that you didn’t finish?”

C: “NOOO!  Más! Peeeees! Mo cucake!” Cry, Cry, Cry, Cry, Pointing to cupcakes

Cailyn…crying for more cupcake…

The rest of our afternoon reflected much of how she looks above.  Once dinner hit, she was fine, but I hate 1 hour naps!

Honestly, it was all pretty funny.  I guess they have to learn the consequences of their choices some time, right?  (hers being that she only wanted the icing, and therefore cupcake eating joy lasts like 2 minutes).

I pray you all feel and are able to give much LOVE today!

Still Here

So, we’re still here.  Yes, in Costa Rica.  Remember us?  I haven’t posted in a while, so I thought I would check in for all of you that keep up with us here.

Basically, life has been full of school and more school.  We really haven’t been up to much lately.  We have been blessed to have had time with several of our friends here doing different things around town.  So, not much more to say about that.

I have had some intense thoughts about North American food lately…I have to say I miss it terribly.  I have started a list of food that I hope I can eat when we come back to the States at the end of April.  One of the things I have missed here is a good roast with carrots and potatoes….like from a slow cooker.  We don’t have one of those.  So, one of my friends that goes to school with me here knew about how I have been missing food from home, and she and her husband invited us over for ROAST the other night!  She bought a slow cooker here, and they were kind enough to feed us a meal that tasted like it was from somewhere in the south of the States.  A-MA-ZING!

Cailyn has been continuing to amaze us as she grows and learns more and more each day.  We have taught her to either say “No Thanks” or “Please Don’t” when she doesn’t like something or want a certain thing.  Much sweeter words than “AAAAAAHHHHH, NOOOOOOOO!”  So, she now uses “Please Don’t” any time she doesn’t want to do what we are telling her to do.   We still need to work on when to use that and when she has no choice in the matter.  We’re getting there.

She no longer cries when we drop her off at school.  That’s nice.  She used to be the WORST kid, but now she comforts her friends who cry.  We’ve come so far!

Here are some pictures we’ve captured lately.  Nothing specific…just random moments.

Watching a movie…a favorite past time

Vegging out…also a favorite past time

This child can find any comfortable coloring position…it’s a talent

Studying daddy’s spanish, grammar book…she might pass mom up soon.

Well, hope everyone is doing well.  We love hearing from those of you who comment to us here and other places.  Please continue praying for us as we finish school this trimester.  Baby T is still growing and healthy…thanks to those who have checked up on us.

Always Busy

So, we have some random pictures of Cailyn I thought I would share.  She is constantly busy doing soemthing, and we are definitely in the “It’s quiet, where’s Cailyn?” stage.  So, enjoy seeing what she’s been up to recently:

Beware:  Will walk around with tape on her nose for a good hour.

The legs of her pajamas have never fit her thighs better!

She was only upset due to the fact that I took the lip gloss away when I found her.  So sad.

Wow, really makes me question my pants size…ouch.

Can be found reading a good book often.

And yes, despite having to chase her down every once in a while, we wouldn’t trade her for the world!

Family Visit: Alison’s Family (part III of III)

Time with my family brought more fun.  We chose to stay in town with them as opposed to traveling, and we were glad to have time to share with them some of the things we do on a regular basis.  Each night, Honey and Daddy-O sang with Cailyn in bed as she went to sleep (a treat for everyone in my family…including me and justin!).  We wondered how spoiled she would be when they left, because her bed-time routine is MUCH shorter with us on a regular basis.  But, despite the royal treatment she got with her grandparents, she went to bed last night very well.

My mom saved some small gifts for Cailyn to open each day even after Christmas, so Cailyn loved getting a new present each day.  I guess this is one of the perks of having grandparents that live so far away and come so far to see you.  So, here she is opening one of the gifts.

Reading with Honey…a favorite activity.

Basically, going to the park is a frequent activity of ours.

Showing Daddy-O how we are totally big enough to do EVERYTHING at the park ALONE!

We headed to the Children’s Museum here in San Jose this past Monday with the Davidsons and Mark.  The kids had fun, and we enjoyed our time with family and teammates.

kissing the pig…

yeah, not sure what these masks were symbolizing…we were laughing to much to read the sign at the museum.  nice one, dad!

group shot in the train…

learning how bananas are grown, cleaned, and packaged.  basically, the kids only liked the part about the water…

music!

very silly mark…

Nice photo just as our family left.

We had a great time with my parents.  We got to take them to the grocery stores we shop at, the food market on Saturday morning where we buy our fruits and veggies, the parks we like to play at, our school, down town for some souvenir shopping, and our favorite restaurant here, Inka Grill, a peruvian cuisine (IT’S AMAZING).  We loved having them visit.

Thanks, mom, dad, and Hannah for all of the wonderful gifts, the quality time spent, the help financially, the loving you gave Cailyn, the parenting break you gave us , and the laughter.  We loved it all!

And…the marathon post(s) are over!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!