First Loose Tooth

I can't believe that I have a kid old enough to have a loose tooth! Brayden's finger has been in his mouth playing around with his first loose tooth for the past two days. He is so desperate to have it fall out so he can get his greedy little fingers on the money the tooth fairy promises to leave in exchange.
It was quite the traumatic event actually, discovering that it was loose. He was biting down on something hard and it flew out of the mouth from the pressure of his teeth. At the same time his tooth loosened more then it was already and he thought it was his tooth that flew out of his mouth! He was bleeding a little bit from the amount that his little tooth ripped out which only added to his fear. He was trying to feel his tooth with his tongue but it was loose enough to be pushed forward more then his other teeth which reconfirmed in his mind his tooth flew out of his mouth. He didn't know what to do and came running to find me with a bloody mouth telling me he broke his tooth off. I didn't know what to think or what trouble he was getting himself into. I gave him a kleenex to wipe his blood and asked him to calm down and tell me what was going on. He said that he was biting on one of dad's bullets (to his air soft gun) and it was too hard so his tooth broke off. I asked which tooth and he said the front one. I was confused since I could see it there so I took a look and wiggled it and then his fear went immediately to excitement. He wanted me on the phone texting all my friends to tell them, he even let one of his classmates wiggle his tooth (gross, I know). When we go swimming after school he stops mid swim to make sure his tooth is still there.
I can't remember how long these teeth take to fall out but my guess is the poor guy is going to be waiting a while. We shall see. For now he's just wiggling it as much as he can remember too. He even attempted to eat an apple for breakfast to get it out but 2 bites in he decided it was a bad idea and it mostly just hurt.
So exciting!

10.10.10 Run

Well on October 10, 2010 I have decided to participate in a charity run for breast cancer. It is my first run since high school track and field so I might be in over my head but I'm kind of excited about it. I thought that I would post about it so that I feel like you can all hold me accountable and ask how it went so I really go through with it. I'm only doing 5km since I have only ever run 7km before and don't think I could quite survive the 10km yet but maybe next time.
Today I ran a personal best for 5km so here's hoping in the next 3 weeks I can trim down a few more minutes. Thankfully the run is at 6am so we don't have to be running around the city in the blasted heat of the day with the sun burning my face off (seriously that's how hot it gets running when the sun is high in the sky.
Bobbi Jarman said she would run with me which is great because she's way better then I am and trying to keep up with her is going to keep me pushing myself so wish us luck :D

The Best Mom and Wife anyone could ever ask for!!

Hi everyone, This is Ryan Beattie, the husband to Meghan. I am definitely not a blogger but I thought that I would hack into Meghan’s account and let everyone know the kind of person that I am married to.

I would be lying if a said that it was as easy and just as good as what snow white had after she got married living happily ever after. But then again, I never read that snow white had to make a decision to live 7000miles away from her family where its common to drive by pig heads that are being sold in the street. Or a place where you cant find real sour cream to save your life. It has been a hard couple of years and no doubt has put some added stresses into our live being in this situation. Meg has always been the kind of wife that even after a argument (which never happens ☺) and things are still a little heated she’ll go to the grocery store thinking about the things that I really like and would make me happy if only I had “this” in the fridge. That is just the kind of person that that she is. She will always put her family first, in making sure that mine and the kids needs are met before her own. I must say that sometimes it is a smidge frustrating to be married to her because she will remember the smallest detail that I say and file it in her brain until an occasion such as Christmas or my birthday and then or make it and say, “I know you mention that it would be nice to have this 7 months ago so I bought it. I don’t know how she does it. It makes me look like a jerk because first of all I will have to set an alert in my phone 2 days before so that I don’t miss it and second, when it come to buying something my stress levels go way up because I know that pretty candle that is on sale in Robinsons department store might not cut it.
She is a very active mom and anyone can see the love that she has for her kids. Meg and I have never been the kind of parents to buy a toy or balloon for our kids just because they are on the floor of the grocery store as if their a little dreams have been ripped them and there is no reason go on in this cruel world. Which by the way, also has never happened… we have perfect kids. But she’ll think of the neatest things to do with them whether it be a craft that she googled or just taking them to the pool so they can burn off needed energy.
In short, Meg loves her family very deeply and will give to the point where there is nothing left. She can always bounce back with just a pack a Hershey’s toffee and almond chocolate nuggets and a back rub. I love her very much and I am so grateful for everything she does for our family. I know that our kids love her as well because you can see how excited they get when mommy pulls up from going to the store and daddy is left to babysit. She really is a selfless person, nurturing, thoughtful, and loving. She is a great wife and a wonderful mother and we love her so much. Thanks Meg for all you do for our Family.

Apo Island Marine Sanctuary

The Apo Island Marine Sanctuary is famous for being one of the top ten dive spots in the world. They have limitations on the amount of snorkelers and divers that are in the water at a time and you have to pay a fee just for being on the Island. That fee is used for the upkeep of the island and marine life. To get to the Sanctuary from our hotel you first had to make your way through the tunnel in the rocks to the beach on the other side and register at the office. Then you make the .5km walk through the little village where we were greeted by dozens of 'good afternoons' and smiles.

When you reach the sanctuary you see a beach of volcanic rock greeted by a small white sand patch on one end and steep rocks with the rich vegetation on the top at the other end. Behind the volcanic rock is a rocky white coral sand beach where a few tall trees offer some shade in the heat of the day. The scenery was beautiful outside of the water and we had the most perfect day to sit and enjoy it. While Ryan and I took turns snorkeling the kids waded in the water to cool off and munched on snacks under the trees. We even bought ourselves a couple of souvenir shirts which Brayden wore for the rest of the weekend. There were only 2 other snorkelers out there in the water and no one else on the beach. It might have been because of the early start we got to our day but it ended up working to our advantage. We didn't have to share the water with anyone which wouldn't have been a problem since the coral seemed to go forever in every direction. It was such a peaceful feeling to be surrounded by such beauty and not have to share it with anyone but family. It's always nice to remember that such beauty exists just a few hours away from the dirty busy city, a place so peaceful and quiet it's hard to remember it's in a third world country.

The kids even got to take a turn in the water feeding the fish with the snorkeling gear on. They were able to see bright blue fish, clown fish and Brayden claims to have caught a glimpse of a rainbow fish.

Ryan took the camera snorkeling too and caught some really pretty fish and was able to capture a little of how massive and incredible it was under the water!

Relaxing Day at the Beach

Our second day on Apo Island was a busy one and an early one. Since the island only had power until midnight we left all the windows and doors open to let the sea breeze blow through our room. With this all the sounds from outside also drifted in, the peaceful sound of the waves along with the birds waking up and the also the daylight. SO, at around 5:30am the kids started shifting around excited to go swimming outside. Ryan thought it would be fun to climb the huge rock jetting out of the water which he did with ease, copied by Brayden on a smaller version. They collected pretty pieces of corals and shells as we waited for a decent time to sit down and get some breakfast which was chocolate crepes, yum.
After breakfast we made our way to registration office where we paid our 50php ($1.00) snorkeling fee to head the Marine Sanctuary. SO amazing and warrents a post of it's own which I'll get on.
Getting up at 5:30am makes for a long morning. We were back at the hotel around 10:30am and cooled off in the water. The kids played in the sand, used the rocks as jumping points, slides and loved to pull the snail shells off and collect the sticky snails.

They took turns using the snorkel set and looked around the water for more fish and shells and pigged out on snacks. All afternoon we suffered in the heat until Madison went down for her nap and we decided to go back to the Marine Sanctuary for some more HD video footage and we went through the tunnel to the main beach. It was nicely shaded with the cool breeze blowing through. It was such an escape and if my bum wasn't so sore from the boat ride over the previous day I would have take advantage of the wooden bench and sat for a while.

We had fresh fruit shakes with our dinner and finished the day sitting on the beach watching the sunset. It was so beautiful. Ryan also took advantage of the quiet moment to climb the rock one last time. Such a great day!

Journey to Apo Island

We decided that it was time to take a vacation and explore something new. It's been a while since we've been to a new Philippine destination so I was pretty excited. Apo Island was our destination. It required a 4 1/2 hour drive to the exact opposite point in the Island then to where we are. The drive is half coastline and half up and down the volcanic mountains that make up Negros Island. Since Ryan tends to drive at top speeds we got tossed around the vehicle a bit but we made amazing time and found ourselves on our little chartered boat around noon.

The boat ride was nice, the cool sea spray really cooled you down since we didn't have a cover to protect us from the heat. As we got closer to Apo Island you could see this quiet private little bay next to another bigger white beach lined with a few other boats. We anchored and jumped into the water to walk to the beach and register ourselves since Apo Island is a marine life sanctuary. You have to pay a small fee to be at the Island that apparently goes towards the upkeep. Once we were registered guests of the Island we were able to make our way to the quiet cove we saw arriving and check into our hotel.

The Island is made from volcanic rock which lines the island with the exception of the white sand beaches. It was so beautiful to see the dark volcanic rock jet from the turquoise water and topped with the rich green vegetation. The sun was hot and the water in the cove was so calm and inviting. It didn't take us long before our swimsuits were on and we were all swimming in the water. The rooms are right on the beach which made it super convenient and easy with the kids. The only downer to the Island was that because it's so 'rustic' the power is only available from 6pm-12am so it's hard to get a cold drink of water. Somehow though, we survived without complaints and enjoying the view.

We decided that the next day we would explore what else Apo Island had to offer us Beattie's.

I Heart Curlers

When my sister and I were younger my mom would put curlers in our hair over night and I would love waking up in the morning and being able to take them out and enjoy my curly hair. I was just as excited to have Sydney share this experience. She was so excited and sat so still as I put the curlers in her hair. No complaints as she laid down in bed with these things on her head and when she woke up in the morning she was anxious to get a look at her curly hair.
I thought it looked so cute. She asked me "mom, is it going to stay like this until I get married?" and I assured her that it would be straight again as soon as it got wet. She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment and then said "can we go swimming this afternoon?"
I guess she didn't think it was as cute I did and thankfully for her the pool is 1 block away in the sub division. It was defiantly straight by dinner.

What Has a Blue and Black Bum?

Apparently a bee in the Philippines does.

Check out this guy too with his huge blue eye ball. Not too sure what he is, a type of hornet? They make these mud nests on windows or by the engine in the motorbike Ryan has been working on.

New Basketball Court

A few posts back I posted a bit about the new basketball court that they were making behind our house. Well it's pretty much finished and the kids have been playing on it the last few days with some of the other kids in the sub division since we were lacking a ball of our own. Yesterday we went out and Brayden picked out a basketball and we went to the court to play around before bed time.

This morning the kids and I went out and played around burning off some of that early morning energy after breakfast. They still need to do a few things before it's completely finished but so far the kids are enjoying it. Today they are painting the head boards and hopefully in the next few days they'll paint the lines on the court. BUT when you're a 1 year old you don't quite care about the lines, it's just hard enough to throw that ball!

Even Sydney practiced bouncing the ball and trying to throw it high enough to touch the basket. It's so nice to have the court right behind the house, I can go inside and make lunch while keeping an eye on them out the sliding door and just call them in when it's finished. Just to let you see how close it is, that's our house behind Sydney, the brownish one. After a while they got too hot and a little bored and their attention got forwarded to throwing cement chunks into the puddle on the side of the court.