Love & Life in Puerto Rico

April 19, 2023April 20, 2023

Fun Things to Do with Kids in San Juan, Puerto Rico (that is not the beach)

It has been almost exactly 4 years since my last post, but not because I’ve been being lazy! Atticus turns 4 this week and my daughter, Isla, is two-and-a-half (and we’re starting potty training)! Having 2 kids and going back and forth between Arkansas and Puerto Rico while maintaining full-time jobs leaves little time for blogging- yet here I am, attempting to get it going again. 🙂

Lately, my world has revolved around the question “what can we do with our kids this weekend” and it’s been thrilling to discover so many new secrets la Isla del Encanto offers us! Having lived in Puerto Rico the past 8 years, I don’t think there’s a beach on this island we haven’t explored, and thankfully my kids are really starting to love the ocean and sand. However, it’s always such a chore to load up the chairs, ice chests, snacks, toys, floaties, towels, sunscreen, etc and by the time we get to the perfect destination, it’s almost naptime! I will eventually do a post about my favorite kid-friendly beaches on the island, but this post is dedicated to all the amazing places we’ve found that are NOT a beach- and they’re honestly just as fun and way less work.

November 7, 2019

Having a Baby in Puerto Rico

It’s been just over 6 months that we welcomed our son, Atticus Edward, into our lives and our world was forever changed. The sweetest, most loving, beautiful & happy baby boy, Atticus is the greatest joy we’ve ever known. Broc and I absolutely love being parents and are so lucky to be able to spend almost every waking moment with him! I could (and will) go on and on about all things baby A, but for this post I wanted to talk about my experience giving birth in Puerto Rico, as several people have asked me about it since he was born.

March 11, 2019March 11, 2019

Weekend in St. Croix

This past weekend, March 8-10- our 4 year anniversary- Broc and I finally got around to visiting St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. In the past we’ve always limited our island hopping to Puerto Rico, flying to Vieques and Culebra many times and exploring the main island almost every weekend. But since this was our anniversary and the last time we could really get away before baby boy comes we thought we’d venture out! And we couldn’t have been more impressed!!!

February 15, 2019February 15, 2019

38 and Pregnant

Being pregnant for the first time hasn’t been that bad. I’m bored more than anything and find myself sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing. Thankfully I’ve had a very smooth pregnancy with no morning sickness or typical symptoms but now that i’m entering my third trimester I am starting to feel the discomfort more and more- especially at night!

My last few appointments have gone really well with all the tests (glucose and thyroid are normal, etc). I’ve gained THIRTY pounds and definitely feel the extra weight in my back and feet! I’ve went to a chiropractor once and need to get on a regular schedule with that b/c I hear it also helps with labor and delivery. And this kid is measuring super big so I’m likely going to need all the help I can get in that department!

I also really want my mom and sister to be here in Puerto Rico when he is born, which is almost impossible to plan for. I feel like he’ll come early but that may just be wishful thinking. I’m about to hire a doula who I hope will help ease the stress of the unknowns and also act as a translator while I’m in the hospital. If i have to have a c-section she’ll be useless but hopefully that won’t happen!

For now, the waiting game is real and we just can’t wait to see our little boy for the first time!

Here’s a fun look back at how much I’ve grown in the past 10 weeks…

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”5″ gal_title=”10 Weeks of Baby Atticus”]

February 5, 2019February 15, 2019

Baby on the way!

The past 6 months have been the longest and fastest of my life! Ha.

I am currently 26 weeks and 3 days pregnant with a baby boy we are naming Atticus and we still can’t believe it… Finally having our first kid at 37 (me) and 41 (Broc) years of age! I’d say we’re more than ready!

We started seriously “trying” to get pregnant when we got back to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, around mid-April of 2018. Zika wasn’t really on my radar as a serious issue anymore and all I could think was “have I waited too long? do I have any eggs left?” After a few disappointing months I finally got the results we’d been waiting for!!!

June 22, 2018April 16, 2019

Playa “La Selva” – Luquillo, Puerto Rico

One of my all time favorite beaches in Puerto Rico is Playa “La Selva”, a hidden paradise far away from traffic, trash & almost every other person on the island. You can only get there by walking approximately 40 minutes east from Playa “La Pared” or having a 4×4 SUV that you don’t mind getting dirty and possibly damaged. There drive to the beach is treacherous- with giant rocks, branches and occasionally flooded creeks blocking the trail. My husband swears his late model Land Cruiser can travel through anything though, and so far we haven’t had a problem.

La Selva is located in the middle of a nature reserve (the Northeast Ecological Corridor) and is the most important turtle nesting site in the Caribbean! Although we’ve never actually seen any, we often come across areas of sand marked with flags that are known to have turtle eggs buried beneath. (Maybe one day we’ll get lucky!)

May 9, 2018May 9, 2018

How to Save Your Dog’s Life

So I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while now and should just go through old texts and emails because I’ve told it to well over 100 people. I suppose I just never wanted to jinx it and make my dog sick again by giving credit to the wrong thing, person or regimen. (A post is a post- it makes everything “official”. haha.) But it’s been almost 2 years and I can 100% say my dog does not have cancer. If he ever did is another story…

In May of 2016 my miniature schnauzer Sunny started acting a bit strange. His stomach was really “full” and his breathing a little rapid- kind of like a constant pant. I attributed it to him being hot and fat because otherwise he acted fine- and I honestly didn’t really notice it so this is speaking a bit in hindsight . Then one day he started running into walls, falling off small steps and acting completely disoriented – I was as freaked out if not more than he was and immediately called a vet in Humacao to check on this sudden blindness.

Continue reading “How to Save Your Dog’s Life”

Love & Puerto Rico

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