Bright Spots

Sometimes living on "the rock" (meaning our tiny island of Dominica) can get a little isolated, a little lonely, and seemingly (and actually) so far away from my beloved Utah. The island is beautiful, and honestly we are having a great time here, but sometimes I just long for all the convenience and familiarity back in the states. There are several bright spots throughout my day that keep me sane:

1. Castle- I think this might be my favorite show. Ever. I have always liked shows like Law and Order and Cold Case a little bit, but they tend to be too dark and scary for me. Castle has all the mystery and intrigued of those shows, but with a much lighter, wittier side. Also, I love the characters so much. Castle is so funny and charming, Beckett is just amazingly smart and tough and classy all at the same time, and Ryan and Esposito might be two of my favorite people ever on TV. My neighbor has all the seasons which she graciously let me "borrow" to put on my laptop. In the last 3 weeks I've watched every episode from the last three seasons and enjoyed myself immensely.
2. Emails and Skype- There is nothing that brightens my day like an email from my friends and family back in Utah, or getting to talk with them on Skype. Modern technology is so amazing. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to email me- I seriously love it!

3. Our stroller- I totally resisted buying a jogger stroller to come here, but I am so so glad we did. It has made life about a million times easier here and I really love how easy it is to go out. I keep the basket underneath stoked with a few diapers and wipes and the nursing cover, so all I have to do is load Chase into it and we are ready to go! It handles hills and dirt roads and pot holes really well, best $150 dollars we've ever spent. Everywhere we walk here is so beautiful with all the green, beautiful flowers, gorgeous river and of course, the ocean. The stroller makes it possible for me to enjoy all this. And Chase is almost always happy when the stroller is moving.

4. Ice Cream- we always have it in our freezer. And I eat some every single day.

5. Friends- There are some wonderful ladies here on the island. I love visiting with them. It makes long days without my husband go much faster.

6. The little guy- He is so darling I could eat him. His giggle is the best thing I've ever heard. I love it when he snuggles me (which isn't too often anymore- he's too busy to cuddle). I love reading to him and seeing him get so enthralled in a book. I love watching him grab anything in view and put it right into his mouth and chomp away on it as he discovers the world. Oh I love him.

This outfit was my little brother Nate's when he was a baby.

I put Chase in it on Sunday and I thought he looked so cute.

Too much time?

I've had several people ask me what I do all day here. The answer is, well, not a whole ton. The sun comes up around 5 am and unfortunately, my baby sometimes wakes up shortly after. After we both eat breakfast I usually go out on a walk/run with Chase in the jogger. We either hike up Banana Trail, which is a steep walk up near the mountainous jungle here, or we go down by the ocean. The rest of the morning Chase usually naps, sometimes I nap too depending on what type of night he had, do dishes, read my scriptures, shower and get ready for the day, straighten up the house, look at blogs, etc. until Chase wakes up. We spend the rest of the day reading stories, playing with Chase's toys, skyping with friends and family back in the states, Chase naps again in the afternoon, we go to the grocery store most days, sometimes we visit with friends here on the island, I make dinner, etc. Ben usually comes home for dinner, but if he can't then we take it to him on campus. Chase goes down between 7-8 and then I usually have a couple hours to myself before Ben is done studying for the night. It's a pretty simple life, but I'm enjoying it.

This video might be proof that I have a little too much time on my hands, but Ben and I are just so proud of our little boy!

Sunset

We had a lovely Fathers Day. We got together with some of our friends from the branch that are in Ben's semester of school to have dinner on the beach. It was fabulous to enjoy visiting with friends and watching the beautiful sunset!

This might be my favorite part of Dominica!

Chase's New Accomplishments

Accomplishment #1: Chase is so close to sitting, so this is really like a half accomplishment. ( I will keep you all posted when the actual sitting occurs!) Chase does now have a bumbo chair (those chairs are amazing!) We never bought him one, knowing we were coming down here and wouldn't have the packing space for one. One of my friends brought one down for her baby girl who is younger than Chase and isn't quite ready for the chair yet (hence, pink chair). So they are letting us borrow it, and Chase loves it! Also, please don't report me for child services, I realize there is a warning label to never put the chair on an elevated surface. We only put him on the counter when we are standing right next to him the whole time (perfect for when I'm making bread). He seems pretty stoked about being able to sit.

Accomplishment #2: Chase wore a tie today! Technically a onesie appliqued with a tie- it was a baby gift from a neighbor right after he was born and I was so excited he finally fits into it. He seemed pretty proud of himself and I thought he looked adorable.

Fathers Day 2011

Growing up I knew I had the best dad in the world....

...now I think he's tied.

Sweet Sunday

Oh I love Sundays! Ben has the whole day to spend with Chase and me, we get to go to church and feel the spirit and interact with the other wonderful members of our branch. I love having another adult around all day to talk to! (Chase is adorable, but talking to a 5 month old all day leaves me craving adult conversation!) Today at church Ben and I both got new callings. I got called into the Primary Presidency and Ben got called to be a ward clerk.
Our branch is under the direction of the San Juan Puerto Rico Mission. The mission president came to the island today to set apart the new branch presidency. We met at the church a few hours after church and met the mission president. He then went on to set apart the new presidency. After they were set apart, he set apart Ben. The blessing was amazing. This man had never met Ben before and didn't know anything about our situation here, but the blessing he gave Ben was so specific to his needs and I think everyone in the room felt the spirit strongly. It was a great day.
Then I tried, again, to make peach cobbler. Conclusion: Peach cobbler will never be good with the canned peaches here. The peach cobbler my dad makes with my mom's home canned peaches is amazing. This cobbler just didn't measure up. Don't worry, we ate it anyway.

And just a few pictures of my little angel

For Heidi

Per Heidi's request, I'm blogging tonight. I don't have a whole ton to blog about, but here it goes!
On Friday, Chase and I took a little trip with some other women and kiddos from the branch to Fort Shirley. It's an old fort left over from when the British occupied the island. It was a 3.5 mile walk from our house and it was a super hot hot hot day. By the time we got the fort I was really feeling the heat and humidity. The view from up here was 100% worth it, gorgeous view, there was a cool breeze and shade to sit under. It really was a cool place and I'm so glad we went. If any of you come to visit us, I'll be taking you here! (But if you don't want to walk, we'll take a cab:)
And here are just a few pictures I took of Chaser last week. It was the first time he wore this outfit and I absolutely loved it and wanted to document. He is such a funny little guy right now- I'm loving the 5 month old stage!


And in case anyone has been really worried about Chase's sleeping habits (per a few older posts of frustration with that topic), overall he's doing much better. He puts himself to sleep now just fine, usually without any tears. We are still working and getting him to stay asleep- I have no clue how to do this and hope he figures it out on his own! On really hot days I strip him down to his diaper for naps, then swaddle him with his arms out. Sometimes he stays in the swaddle, some days he looks more like this:

5 Months

My little guy is 5 months old! I can hardly believe it. So far, I think this stage is my favorite. He is so fun, so interested in everything. For the first time in his life, he's okay with being set down. I can lay him down on my bed with a few toys and he'll sit there and talk to himself and play with his toys, sometimes for up to 15 minutes! (It's amazing! I can actually get something done without having a baby in one arm at all times!) He giggles all the time now, he thinks peek-a-boo is hilarious and he LOVES to see himself in the mirror. He likes bathtime now and spends the whole time with his hands all over the faucet in the sink trying to figure it out.
He's still a tiny little guy, but he is growing. He just started fitting into his 3-6 months outfits (although he's been wearing them for awhile, we didn't bring any 0-3 size clothes down here for him. Now he actually fills them out a little). I put him in a new pair of jammies last night, my mom bought these for him at Christmas and he looked so so cute, I couldn't help but document it.
He makes us so happy every day! Not that life with a baby isn't frustrating at times- (I wish he'd sleep through the night so much, what can I say? I'm tired!) But his smile makes everything worth it. I love when I go in get him in the morning and he just smiles up at me! It melts my heart and makes me care less that it's 5:30 am and I didn't get more than 3 consecutive hours of sleep all night.
We sure love our little man!

Chase's first video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoFkhkI09dU

A week ago I came across the video Ben took of Chase the night he was born. I watched it three times in a row, I couldn't believe how much he'd changed and it made me so sentimental watching that little clip of him screaming with his chin quivering. He used to do that all the time when he was brand new, I'm not sure when it disappeared, but he doesn't do it any more. I realized that was the only video we had of our sweet baby. I never think to video record him because he doesn't actually do much- but I realized that I will want to see him laying there and doing nothing but being a cute baby when he's older! So I set a goal to video him a little more. Here's the result!

Also, it should be noted that I'm extremely technologically challenged. And I figured out how to make this super elementary video by myself. It was a proud moment in the Hugo home.

The best friends a girl could ask for

I had the greatest friends growing up, two of which I'm missing a lot this week. Both of their birthdays are this week and I'm wishing I was around to celebrate with them! This post will have to make up for it!
Keely and I have been best friends since we were babies. We pretty much went through all of life together, went to preschool together and played "beach" all summer (beach is a game where you put on your swim suit, run through the sprinklers and eat pretzels on Keely's front porch, it's super fun I promise), fought and made up on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis all through elementary school, painted our nails more times than I can count, "ran away from the orphanage", played our flutes together in Jr. High, life-guarded at Cherry Hill, somehow didn't die in a car accident in high school, and both ended up at BYU. 19 months ago I said good-bye to her as she left on her mission; its the longest we've been apart in our whole lives. She came home from her mission the week after we got to Dominica- which made me so sad. I love her a whole lot and can't imagine how my life would have been without her. Caitlyn and I became friends in high school. She was nerdy like me and we bonded basically over homework and books. She fit perfectly into the Keely-Courtney friendship and I'm so glad she did! She's hilarious and smart and nice and beautiful. I think my dad is still trying to figure out how he can get her to marry one of my brothers and make her a permanent member of the family.

Happy Birthday Girls!
I love and miss you both!

I'm so glad when daddy comes home...

My little boy is absolutely crazy for his dad. We have fun together all day and Chase is usually starting to get a little fussy by dinner time. Then Ben walks through the door and this babe is all smiles! I tried to take pictures of how cute it is, but of course Chase was squirming like crazy (our camera isn't fast enough to catch movement minus blur) and mostly sees the camera and stops smiling, but believe me, it would melt your heart.



Please excuse our "white trash baby is just his diaper". If you knew how hot is was here (no air conditioning) you wouldn't judge us:) I promise, he usually wears clothes.
It was so hot on Monday that Chase and I went over to the river to cool down. The river water is so cold and clear, it's completely refreshing. And the river is gorgeous, the pictures don't do it justice. Our sweet landlord's back yard backs up onto the river and she lets us play on her property. We love it. It's super hot again today, I think Chase and I will head over right now!