Happy 4 years!

It is hard to believe that Luke and I have been married for 4 years.  We have had lots of adventures and been able to travel all over the world and now have a bouncing baby boy!  I can't believe in those four years we have been to 8 countries, lived in three, found jobs and have had our family grow.

Yaya and Bear were in town on the day so we had a baby sitter and were able to go to the movies and out to dinner.  We ended up seeing the new Johnny Depp movie and thought it was pretty good and went out for drinks afterward.

We also, in theme from last year decided to buy a table for ourselves as an anniversary present for one another.  We love it and are excited to add it to our collection!  :)

Martin Family Holiday

Since the arrival of Baby O we have been really lucky to have lots of visitors - and most recently, Yaya and Bear came down to visit.

We had a great time and spent the first half of their visit in La Ceiba.  Yaya and Bear had a great time with Owen and he had a lot of fun with them.  Owen's new favorite sleeping spot was on Bear's tummy and he let us know it.  :)  Yaya was also very excited about his red hair and had a lot of fun talking and reading to baby O.

After a couple nights in Ceiba - we headed to Roatan and had a great time exploring the island with Yaya and Bear.  Luke was able to convince them to go snorkeling and they handled it like a champ.  We also had a lot of fun just hanging out and drinking wine while looking at the tropical waters.  Not a bad life.

For my upcoming birthday, they were super sweet and bought Luke and I a package to swim with the dolphins.  We spent half and hour with a trainer and a dolphin and got to watch them do tricks and pet them.  Our dolphin's name was Bailey and was very playful.  It was fun to pet her and watch her swim around. 

The second half of the tour was snorkeling with about 20 dolphins in the enclosure.  It was really fun but the only thing that we wish we could have improved was the visibility.  You would swim around and them all the sudden have three dolphins underneath you.  It was amazing to see what powerful swimmers they are and cool to see them swim around with each other.  

Sadly, Yaya and Bear had to leave almost as soon as they got here but it was a great holiday!  We can't wait to see them at Christmas time!

Baby O hits the 2 month mark!

Sorry it has been awhile since I have updated.  We have been pretty busy.  :)

Owen has reached two months and we couldn't be happier.  He is starting to be a lot more interactive and having a great time playing with all of us.  Some of his favorite games include standing on our stomachs and listening to his dad's really high pitched voice.  He also doesn't mind being cheered on with whatever he does.

His head control is getting a lot better and he has started to try his Bumbo chair a little more (only with our hands right there) but he enjoys it a lot.

Along with two months comes his vaccinations.  Poor baby handled it like a champ but Luke and I had never heard him cry like that before.  He hasn't had any side effects which is a relief for us.

We made it to the embassy and applied for his Report of Birth Abroad and his Passport.  I won't go into the details but it was an adventure and we should be receiving his documents in 3-4 weeks!  It feels really good to have all of the paper work done and to know that Owen will be set for Christmas when we fly back home.  I know a lot of people stateside who are really excited to meet him.  :)

Copan Ruinas and Family Adventures

We have been busy over here in the Martin Martin household!  The move is finished and we still love the new place.  Luke, Owen and I are often just sitting on the patio in our new hammock hanging out in the late afternoons.

Hammock time!

For my parent's last hurrah, we decided that it would be fun to visit the city Copan Ruinas and check out the Maya ruins there along with Macaw Mountain (since Poppy is obsessed with Macaws).  We are very thankful to have a car and were able to drive there in about 5 hours.  Owen was a champ and slept the whole time.  We are very thankful to have a baby who enjoys sleeping in the car - makes our road trips much easier.

We loved the city right from when we pulled in with the cobblestone streets.  It was very colonial and just felt very safe.  Sadly, a lot of places you visit in Honduras you will find yourself looking over your shoulder, but here I felt completely at peace which was nice.  We stayed at a hotel called Terramaya and couldn't have been happier.  If we ever go back we will be sure to stay there again.  It was a small hotel (only 6 rooms) and the staff/feel of the place was great. We were also able to check out some of the fun restaurants and loved the one that made their own cheese.

 Walking to lunch

 Chill-axing with dad in the hotel

The first day we went to the Maya ruins (apparently you are supposed to say Maya versus Mayan because Mayan refers to the language).  Nonny insisted we get a tour guide and it was totally worth it, we learned a lot and he was really patient with us and baby O (who again was a rock star in the front pack).  The ruins were great and we had a lot of fun walking around and checking out all of the different buildings and sculptures.  I really liked the ball court (mostly because of the movie El Dorado).  The ruins are also popular because of the Macaw population there.  It was fun to see the giant red birds hanging out. 

The next day we headed up to Macaw Mountain where we got to see all the birds.  Poppy was in heaven but feeling under the weather.  It was nice to walk around in the shade and actually feel cool.  We did think it was interesting the MM seemed to be much more crowded than the ruins, but it made sense when you saw all the kiddos walking around.  The best part of the hike was at the end where you could hold all different kinds of birds.  The only one that you weren't allowed to hold was the Toucan because apparently they are mean.  We had a lot of fun holding the different birds and then went on our way.

After Copan we stayed in San Pedro Sula for a night before saying goodbye to my parents.  We were planning on hitting up the embassy the next day but we received an email from our friend who told us that the embassy would be closed for two weeks (for no apparent reason).  We were very thankful that she let us know so we didn't spend all day waiting for nothing. 

 We were all very sad when my parents and pretty scared when we got home realizing we were on our own with baby O.  However, he was a champ and took it easy on us.  Owen is fabulous and almost two months old which is hard to believe.  We had a doctor's appointment and he is now 8 lbs. 10 ounces and 21 inches long.  He still has a large head but his body is finally catching up to it.  We went and got his passport photos taken and they are pretty cute.  Well, I am bias and think all of his photos are awesome.

We also went and checked out the Dole walking path that is right next to our house.  Erika had mentioned it last year as a place she would sometimes go running.  We walked over and flashed our Dole ID and were able to get in no problem.  We walked around and had a great time with baby O.    The next day we were a little braver and decided to take the dogs with us, again, no problem and the dogs got to run around off leash in the park.  We have been doing that daily now in the afternoon and trying to walk at least two miles a day.  It is nice for us, the dogs and Owen.  Hopefully we will be able to talk to the guard about letting Loli (our nanny) be able to take Owen over there if she wants.

Happy 4th of July!

Sorry for the long post but I think that is bringing you up to date!  :)  We are excited for Luke's parents to be here soon and after that Jessica and David are heading down.  Anyway, love you all and I will post soon!  Cheers.