Final week in Paradise

"I'm going to get your soother Cally "

"Can I play with the Ipad too?"

Cool Sairalyn

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Well Eric did it! He passed and we our now on too our next adventure. This past week, Eric wrote his big exam that determined whether we leave Saba or not. Let’s just say we are leaving and he rocked it! Not that I had any doubts that he wouldn’t, but I guess you always have that little feeling in you…what if he doesn’t.

The girls have very much been enjoying having Eric home. Cally will grab Eric’s hand and say “walk Da” and it is very cute. It is one of her most favorite thing to do since Eric doesn’t have to go to school right now. While Eric takes the girls it gives me a chance to get a few things done around the house that hasn’t been as easy with mobile busy children.

Coloring with Daddy

So today we spent most of the day rummaging through clothes and seeing what needs to come back and what doesn’t. I have to say we brought a lot of stuff, wow! And not much of it is coming back. I am a little nervous as to what we can leave and what really has to come but I guess if we have forgotten anything there are always stores in Phoenix.

I am excited to get to Phoenix next weekend and can’t wait. But I am even more excited that the Chaney’s are coming back to Saba to help us move back. I was getting very nervous as to how we were going to leave this rock with all our belonging plus 2 children. There was just so much and I was beginning to think that it was just never going to get done. It is nice that we don’t have to totally clear the house out and we just have to pack and get rid of whatever we brought which makes it a little better, but looking around there just seems to be so much stuff.

I am a little nervous as to where we will be next but I think if I can do Saba I can pretty much adapt and go anywhere. It will just take time to get into a family routine and making sure that everything is taken care of. Finding out where then nearest store is, are we going to have a vehicle and just doing our day-to-day things while Eric does his clinical rotations. I am trying to prepare myself that there will be days we won’t even see Eric, which is going to be really weird. I am sure he will be up and out the door before we are even up and coming home once we are in bed. So I guess only time will tell how things will go and I will just have to roll with it when it gets here.

Christmas is just around the corner, which means we will be seeing family in Phoenix! Whoo hoo. It also means that our baby girl will soon be 1. Sairalyn has grown so much these past few months. She is now pulling herself along the furniture trying to walk , standing up and trying to do everything her big sister does. She isn’t really interested in walking while we hold her hands as I think she knows she can get around faster crawling. I am sure in the New Year she will be up and walking and realizing that if she does this she will be able to keep up with her big sister.  Sairalyn’s word are starting to come she can say : “Mom”, “Da da” , “oh pay” (which she says when she see’s a puppy). Sairalyn also likes to blow kisses and wave when we say goodbye to people in the store or on a walk. She is one very sweet little girl.

Dancing with her hippo

Cally has been a very cute caring little girl. She loves dancing to her movies when the songs come on but the one that she has really been enjoying is her “Joji the Christmas Hippo” movie that came with the music discs family sent last Christmas. I can’t say that it is one of my favorite movies but seeing her smile and dance I can get over how awful the video really is.

Well I think that is it for now. I am going to hit the sack so I have energy to keep up with these girls and get more stuff packed in the morning. There will be more too come soon as I am sure I will blog about someone’s first birthday.  Later…….

Birthday Babe!!

Cally opening presents 

"blowing out the candles"

This past weekend we celebrated Cally 2^nd birthday. We did a family party as I was not feeling very energetic to have a big party again this year. We started the day by opening birthday presents and then heading of too sewing. We then came home for lunch and a much needed nap. Then we had a skype date with G & G so that they could sing Cally “Happy Birthday” and Cally could show off some of her birthday gifts.  Cally very much is enjoying the plastic animals we got her and the Strawberry Shortcake video that was sent in the birthday package from family back home. We have been watching that video at least 3-5 times a day it seems…whatever makes her happy.

Cally's cake 

Right now Sairalyn is cutting some teeth so she hasn’t totally been herself. She is very interested in everything her sister is doing. She loves to play with the animals that Cally got for her birthday. Sometime Cally doesn’t want to share but if I ask her she will bring Sairalyn one to play with. Sairalyn has started to notice when people leave the room or the house and will put up her hands and look like she is saying:  “where did they go?” She does this almost every time Cally goes down for a nap. If I say, “Cally is sleeping”, she will crawl to Cally's door and pound on it or just sit beside the door and waits.

I can’t believe how fast October went! Which means we only have 44 days left on Saba (Not that I have been counting ) . Eric has been working very hard this semester to make sure that he does well and passes the exit exam. It is hard to believe that we will soon be leaving this island and heading into a new direction. Not sure where that will be yet but Phoenix is going to be great for the little bit that we are there for. I can’t wait to take the girls to the park, shopping, walks. I know that there will be stuff that I will miss here, but there will be so many things to do and see in Phoenix.

Cally ready to go trick or treating

Sister Hugs

refreshments in our costumes

I took the kids out trick or treating and Cally had a ton of fun. Once she realized she was getting things in her bag she thought it was great. There was a Halloween party in windward side but lugging two children all that way I thought would be a lot of work. We ended up just going to a couple of the stores down here in The Bottom and that was just enough for Cally (and myself) Cally was quite pleased to be wearing her monster back pack along with her Scottie Pippen dress.  The girls were dressed as Bulls fans for  their first and last Saba Halloween. She ended up with a pretty good haul even though we only went to 3 places.

I feel bad I have been feeling a little tired and lazy this week so we haven’t gone on our morning walks yet at all. I am having a hard time getting the kids out the door before they fall apart and are tired. I will have to try a little earlier in the morning before the crabbies start. We have been going on some evening walk just quickly to get some air and get Cally out for a bit. Cally especially likes it when we go and see the guinea pigs. We usually have to go and see them before supper or we miss out on seeing them.

I have been having a lot of fun taking the girls to sewing on Fridays. I am actually working on a special project that everybody will see eventually. I just hope that I can get it done before we leave Saba. I might just have to invest in a sewing machine once we leave here as I am having lots of fun making little projects. I had no idea it would be so much fun and I actually find it a great way to relax and keep myself busy when the kids are asleep, that is as long as I have finished my household chores.

 Well I  think that is it for now. Until our next event or I feel that there is something to talk about I will be back to let you all know. Thanks for reading and seeing what we are up too!

Growing girls

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With Thanksgiving around the corner it sure is making me feel a tad homesick. I know my family will be doing their yearly ritual of going to Banff and spending Thanksgiving there. It sure would be nice to join them but I know we will have a great last Thanksgiving here. Last year My parents were here for Thanksgiving and we cooked a nice thanksgiving dinner…well actually my parents did!!  Not sure if mine will be quite the same but we will see!

Ready for a walk

It has been a very busy crazy last few weeks. Sairalyn has mastered crawling and has no troubles getting around. Cally sure thinks it is funny that her sister can crawl and come and get her now. I am not sure she was ready for the fact that it meant she would be able to get the toys from her !  Cally is getting better at sharing and loving the fact that her sister is a little more interactive instead of just laying on the floor. This now means we can no longer leave the front door open so Cally can play on the porch.

We hadn’t been going on or morning walks the past few weeks because Sairalyn had been getting up early and falling asleep before I could get us ready to go. But we went today to Cally’s favorite place the look out by the ocean and played and had morning coffee. Cally loves going to play there so she can run around and play peek –a-boo behind the weeds and run down the hill and have mom chase her. The past few times there has been a puddle in the gazebo because of the morning rain and Cally loves to take her shoes off and splash in the water. When we go for a walk we usually have to bring a few guys along for the ride, today Cally decided Snuffy, Elmo and Pooh would be coming and she even shared one with her sister for the walk.

Sisters playing at the look out

Playing with her special guys at the lookout

watching her sister play

Jungle Flowers

Showing flowers

Puddle splashing

Last Friday we finally got out to celebrate Eric’ s birthday. We had a friend come and look after the girls and we had a date at the Queen’s Garden Resort. It was magnificent food and we were stuffed when we got back. But our newest discovery when walking up to Queens was the guinea pigs that are all over on one side of the road in the jungle. Of course to us this was weird since we se them in pet stores. I am not sure why there were so many or what they were for…..and I am not sure that I want to know. We plan on taking the girls for a walk to see them some evening, as they seem to come out at around 6 pm.

Cheerio sharing

We are only a few weeks away now from Cally’s 2^nd birthday. I don’t think we are going to do anything very big. We will just do family cake and presents after supper, I am not sure I would have enough energy to do a big party again like last year. I know that it won’t matter to Cally what we do so I think I am just going to go simple. Since we can’t buy much here we had to make sure that we thought ahead and ordered stuff to get here in time. I will give you all a birthday update when the time comes on how it all turns out. Here’s to hoping Cally likes it.

Saba washing machine

I know people must wonder why I am so happy that I get the laundry out in the morning or even get it out at all. Or the reason why it may be one of my most complained about chores here. I am not sure if we every explained how washing your clothes are done here. We have a washing machine that is called a Danby twin tub washing machine. (Thanks goodness b/c we were hand washing all the clothes before we received this). So laundry is a process, water is very valuable here so we had to figure out a way to do laundry with out wasting too much. So it starts out by manually filling the washing machine with buckets of water until you require enough to make it cover the clothes and enough to slosh around. Then you turn the dial and wait for it to be done, 15 minutes is the longest cycle. Then you put all the wet clothes that have come out of the washing part and put manually into the spinner. In order to save water I put the hose that drains the water back into the washer and save the water for one more wash load. After I spin the wash water off I get a clean bucket and pour it into the spinner and let it sit on the clothes, after a few minutes or when the water starts running out of the drain tube I will turn the spinner on and spin out the clothes saving the rinse water by putting it in the bucket when it drains. So this is what I must do for every load and if the wash water is getting too gross I will empty some out and add more clean water if there is more to do. This is then followed by hanging all the clothes out on a line because most places do not have dryers because the cost of using one here is crazy. So once I get 4 peoples clothes washed that is pretty much the morning done. I got into a good routine on how to do it quickly but it is still a process, and when you have a toddler and a crawling baby the process seems to be taking a little longer. I can’t wait for December when I can use a “real” washer and dryer and have the laundry done in half the time. So that is pretty much my day if it is a laundry day! Although I can’t imagine doing it the way I was when we first got here, hand washing all the clothes in buckets.

Other than that I have just been trying to stay busy and make sure everything is taken care of. Now that we have a little bit more of a mobile baby some tasks are getting a little harder. Sairalyn likes to come help in the kitchen when I am making supper and our kitchen is not really child proof. She also likes to help when doing laundry by pulling herself up on the rinse bucket that I use when doing laundry. So this either means I do laundry when both kids are napping, which hasn’t been happening lately, or Sairalyn has to play with toys in her crib and I do it once Cally falls asleep.  But we manage I usually wait till Eric gets home and he will amuse and play with the girls while I get supper cooked and ready to go.

So since this is kind of about Thanksgiving I should probably give thanks to some things. I am thankful for my family, our extended families and friends for all their support in this journey that we have been on. I know without them this would not be an easy experience. Having their encouragement, listening ear when frustrated, help when needed I am not sure where we would be so….Thank you!!

The Home Stretch

Girls in their St.Maarten dresses

Learning time for Sairalyn

Cally and her stylish do!

Cally sorting diapers 

Well despite how tired I am some days; looking after the girls and taking care of things around the house, I am enjoying this last semester.  I have been trying not to complain too much about things and just go with how the girls are feeling. We have good days and some not so good days, but the good out weigh the bad.

Sairalyn wide awake for snuggles with Daddy

Our day usually starts at about 6-6:30 where Sairalyn will stare at us from her crib and make some small noise until I get my lazy butt out of bed.  She is a very happy baby in the morning, especially when we get her and bring her in to our bed after being changed.  After a few minutes of this, big sister Cally usually wakes up and we go in and greet her and then we all get up and come out and play.  Cally likes to go and find her dad in the bed and finds it very funny to get into bed and lay where I should be. This also usually means she wants her sister to lie beside her also in the bed. We then get up, and usually get a drink, followed by putting on some kids show....lately it has been Dora.  We relax for a bit and Cally helps Dad get ready for the day by helping pick out his clothes and making sure Eric is all ready for school.  Eric then sits with Cally and they have their morning cereal together while I give Sairalyn a bottle and make coffees and Eric’s mid morning snack for school.  Eric will putter around getting ready and then when it is time to leave ask Cally for a good-bye hug and kiss after he gives both Sairalyn and I a kiss of course.  Cally thinks it s hilarious to run away from Daddy when he has to go and waits to see if he will come chase her for a kiss.  It is pretty cute and it usually ends with Cally running and giving Eric a kiss in the door way and saying “bye”.
Then the girls get ready for a mid morning walk, which usually means going to the look out by the ocean and running around for a bit.  This is Cally’s favorite place to get rid of some energy and laugh and run around.  We walk home and have a snack and a drink.  Then hopefully it is time for them both to have a morning nap.  Sometimes only one has a morning nap and that is when I find it most tiring.  Around 1:00pm, Eric comes home for a quick lunch and a cuddle/play with his girls before he heads back for a few more hours of school. After school, Eric will come home and hopefully supper is ready (sometimes I just don’t get that far but have something in mind).  If supper isn’t ready Eric will play with the girls until it is and then we all sit and eat dinner.
After dinner we usually go on our nightly walk before bath and bed and say “hi” to the people in the neighborhood but mostly to the chickens and cow that we see along our route.  We then come home and get the girls ready for a bath; Cally and Sairalyn have a lot of fun having a bath together.  I can’t wait to be in Phoenix with a big bathtub because right now they are bathing in a big red plastic tub together.  After bath we get jammies on, and Eric gets ready once again to head to school to study for the evening.  I get the kids ready for bed and do our routine and hopefully I can get the kids asleep by 8:00.

Every Friday for 4^th and 5^th semester I have been going to the SOS sewing group.  Who knew that I would enjoy sewing and making things……mostly for the girls.  I would have to thanks Alicia and Amy for helping me out on my projects.  My first project was Cally’s Winnie the Pooh blanket and I am now making Sairalyn a rag quilt.  The girls come with me on Fridays to the school where sewing is held.  Cally loves to go up to sewing and seeing the other ladies that are sewing.  There is a box of toys so the girls usually just play on the floor and make a mess.  Sairalyn usually scoots along the floor to get the things she wants, although today I saw her take her first few crawling steps on the floor.  It won’t be long till she is crawling and chasing her sister!
I think Cally will very much like it when her sister can play with her a little better.  Lately she hasn’t liked her sister getting into the toys that she is playing with, and will find he something else to play with, that Sairalyn doesn’t find very interesting.  The one thing that Sairalyn will scoot for very fast is the container of Cally’s crayons!  She is very proud if she can get to them and get some in her mouth before Cally gets upset.

Cooling off in the pool

Sairalyn rolling with the ipad

Honors Society Night

Well I think that is all for now, our time on Saba is coming close to an end, it was three more months on September 15^th. It is hard to believe that we have already been here for 17 months.  A lot has happened on this journey and I wouldn’t change it for the world.  We are looking forward to the next chapter to come after we leave the Caribbean.  We miss everyone and think about our friends and family often.  We are looking forward to the days when we are a little closer.

Final Semester Break

Cally leading her daddy through the jungle

Well this last break has gone by fast and we have been enjoying the time having Eric home.  We have been enjoying going on daily walks, playing with and singing with the girls.  We enjoyed having family eggy breakfast every morning, going for long walks, having family nap time, coloring many pictures and cuddling our girls when they get tired.  Our main objective during the break was to just relax and go with what we were feeling like doing for the day.  It has been a very nice quiet break but it always seems to go by very fast.

Cally has become quite the funny character.  She loves to make funny faces in the mirror, dance to Elmo, sing songs and try to help her sister do things that she is doing.  Cally also enjoys going for walks in the double stroller with Sairalyn and, of course, having her Elmo at her side.  Cally is very much in love with Elmo…have you guessed?  She loves her movies too.  Her favourite movie right now is Sesame Street: ‘Follow That Bird’.  Cally loves to be outside. It will be nice to, hopefully one day, have a back yard without rusty, jagged garbage or an overgrown jungle, for the girls to run around and play in.

Sairalyn is growing very fast…much faster than we would like her too!!  She has outgrown her vast size 2 diaper supply.  She is beginning to eat some finger foods.  She is sitting up all by herself now, and is almost about to crawl. She rocks on her hands and knees but hasn’t got much further than that.  She has mastered rolling so that is how she gets around the room.  It is hard to believe how fast these two little girls are growing.  We will soon have a 2yr old and a 1 yr old….crazy.

Eric is about to start 5^th semester.  So that means our time on Saba is almost done.  We are hoping this semester won’t be too hard and that Eric will finish his Saba journey with top marks.  It has gone by very fast, but I guess that is what happens when you are busy with kids everyday.  We are looking forward to the next journey after we leave here and where it will lead us.  It should be a great new family adventure come the new year.

We will be going to Phoenix after we leave Saba.  Eric will have about 4 months to study for the USMLE Step 1 board exam and also write a research paper before he can move onto clinicals.   We will have to spend a few weeks in Canada prior to Eric beginning clinicals, because of visa issues.  We don’t know where we will be going after we leave there.  It will be nice to have some more fun in the sun in Phoenix and get prepared for the next big move wherever that may take us.

Well that is it from the Keil’s for now.  We will try to keep you all informed as things happen.  We will just be enjoying our last bit of time on Saba until we know where we will be afterwards.

Enjoy some pictures!

Cally blowing out the candle on Eric's birthday cake

Sairalyn likes her Jolly-Jumper

Sairalyn getting some Vitamin D on the porch

Cally being a helpful big sister

Sairalyn in her UofS onesie

Sairalyn getting exposed to her parents favourite sport

Cally in her Scottie Pippen dress

Sairalyn in one of her Michael Jordan onesies

Cally admiring her new Winnie the Pooh quilt that Julia made

Cally rocking out in daddy's headphones

Late night with Sairalyn

The family on the way down The Ladder

Cally and daddy down by the ocean

Julia and Sairalyn on the way back up The Ladder

Pool time on the porch

Cally is very proud of her Elmo

Elmo finally arrived on Saba

Another late night photo opportunity for Sairalyn and her dad

3rd and Goal

Seeing my Sairalyn after 3 weeks!

As I'm about to start the fourth semester on Saba, I thought I'd better write a posting.  I've had over three weeks off now, and they have flown by.  Being able to spend everyday with my girls has been awesome, although I did not anticipate how much energy is needed in order to take care of these two special girls.  I have to hand it Julia for doing it so well on her own the last few months.  What she does everyday, including making meals for me, I will never be able to express how much I appreciate her.  Thanks Hunners!

Sairalyn has grown....and grown.  She is a lot chubbier than Cally was, maybe it's because all she does is eat!  She is a happy and beautiful.  She is developing quickly now.  She smiles with her entire body and just tonight she has started to laugh.  Sairalyn seems to need more attention than Cally did too.  She gets lonely quickly and loves it when her mom, dad or sister talks with her.  She really loves being sang to as well...both my girls have to listen to my wuss music.  She is really close to sitting (with assistance) and can almost turn from her back to her tummy.  She frequently sleeps on her side and loves her soother.  She has been our wonderful, surprise gift that we are thankful for everyday.

Rob and Sairalyn

Callypso being funny

Cally has also grown up.  She has gotten tall and is pretty skinny.  Cally is the most unselfish, caring, understanding, funny character.  She does not have any jealousy towards her sister at all.  Sairalyn probably gets at least a dozen kisses on the top of her head from Cally everyday.  Cally is beginning to pretend play with her stuffed animals.  She really likes coloring too (although we had to take the crayons away from her today because she wouldn't stop chewing on them).  Her canine teeth are coming in right now and her mouth has been really sore.  She also loves her books and pretends to read them aloud.  Her favorite movies are Winnie the Pooh and Bobs and Lolo.  She is the best sleeper a parent could ask for too.  We love her so much and are very proud of our 'big sister'.

Lynn and Cally after her bath

Third semester for me was very tough.  I studied so hard that I physically hurt myself.  I was physically inactive from the middle of February till after exams and that was a mistake.  I developed piriformis syndrome (sciatica) during finals and let me tell you, IT HURTS.  The first few days after exams, I could barely move without severe shooting pains running down my left leg.  Drugs, stretching and walking were the answer.  I stretched so intensely that I aggravated my right knee injury (which progressed further while carrying Callypso so much on St. Maarten)  Our furniture doesn't help either, and it still will bug me after sitting for awhile.  Anyways, enough about the decline of my physical condition.  As I've said, school has been tough, but it's not impossible.  I've done well.  I'm not getting A's anymore, but I'm pretty close.  I'm still near the top of the class in most subjects, although not as high as I was in the first two semesters.  I have to give Julia a lot of the credit for allowing me to study as much as I need to.  I'm sad to see friends of mine not passing classes and either having to repeat them or having to leave Saba altogether.  Saba is a tough school, tougher than most American Med Schools (I'm told).  We need to get 75% to pass the class.  It's scary sometimes because the instruction can be quite poor and we end up learning everything on our own.  Fourth semester will really begin to teach us more clinically relevant information...finally.  Needless to say, I'm looking forward to it.

Resting after walking down to Well's Bay

Kate and the girls

We saw a lot of visitors last semester, which we won't see in fourth.  Julia's mom, Lynn stayed with us for three weeks in January and February.  Both Julia's sister Kate and brother Rob and his girlfriend Lisa came as well.  It's neat to have them here and show them how we are living and how it's different than living in Canada.  It was special for me to see my family come during this last break.  My mom stayed with us for a week and my brother Jon and his family came down at the same time.  They really liked Saba, especially the hiking....well, Taryn didn't like it as much.  My mom, Peggy, had never been outside of North America before.  Everyone liked seeing the girls, especially Grandma.  It was fun seeing our nieces Taryn and Nicola too!  They got big.  After a week on Saba, they treated us to a week of luxurious living on St Maarten.  They rented a four bedroom villa (mansion) that had it's own pool and was a two minute walk from the ocean.  Wow.  We were even lucky enough to shop at an actual grocery store and even ate at McDonalds (gasp).  We went to the zoo and the butterfly farm (way more fun than it sounds).  The best part was spending time with everyone.  Liz and Jon are great and we cannot thank them enough for including us.  Cally loves her cousins.  She really took to Uncle Jon and Auntie Liz as well.  We are really going to miss them, like we miss everyone else.  It's hard to think that it'll be another eight months before we may see anyone else.

Flowers!

What to buy on our night out? Diapers!

Cally loves Sairalyn

Skype date time!

Cally likes Sairalyn's Pooh Bear Beanie

Sairalyn in the pea pod outside

Cally getting some work done

Sairalyn kind of looks like a cartoon animal sometimes

Grandma Peggy with a chubby baby

Cally and the cousins

Sairalyn and Snuffy

The family at the Saba beach

Sairalyn and Cally in the ocean

Cally ready for a swim in the pool

At the villa

Grandma and her baby at the butterfly farm

Sairalyn in the pool

Cally and her mom in the pool

Cally trying a (virgin) margarita

Bye Bye!

Anyways, we miss our family and friends a lot and we would love to hear from everyone.  We are on Skype almost everyday or feel free to send us an email.