15 months of Our Dynamic Denison!

Happy 15 months Denison!!! I can't believe that it was 15 months ago from today that the Lord sent us our "Lil' bundle of Joy!" Today is a celebration of all of "Denny's Dynamic accomplishments" within the past 15 months. It was important to us that we make recognition of these precious but fleeting moments in our sons' life. Watching him learn and grown has been so exciting and fulfilling as parents. Denny has brought meaning to our lives and he keeps us so happy! When we look at him it is a humbling reminder of how blessed we are to have a family and a Father in Heaven who loves us. Denny has taught us so many Christlike attributes while capturing our hearts.

Below there are are series of four(4) videos that I recorded of Denison reading some words from flashcards and books, pointing out some of his body parts, and his love for animal sounds. As his doting parents we are extremely impressed with Denny's progress at such a young age. Denny is very advanced and has a great love for learning. Denison is talking and can repeat whatever we to say to him..Some pronunciations are clearer than others.. but it so cute and funny when he attempts words with 4 or more syllables. Our star scholar loves books and can read and understand over 100 words... actually we have lost count. My only regret is that I didn't record some of his reading and talking earlier. Denny first started to recognize and understand words from only seven months old and his vocab skyrocketed shortly thereafter. We were astounded at his brilliance. As far as the talking goes, we knew he would talk early for two reasons: 1: Without a doubt he comes from two parents who are barely ever lost for words...lol 2: Based on the"BCR" protocol we followed while I stayed home and taught Denny, I ensured I kept his motivation level up to talk by encouraging him to ask and say what he wants and not get him what I already know he wants. I also pointed out and reinforced every new object he learned or came in contact with. (He loves when he can recall something he learned! )

I'm an advocate and firm believer in applauding and praising children for their positive accomplishments and being an active parent in their lives. I do believe it does wonders for their self -esteem and confidence level. It is important to start establishing good, healthy relationships with children from a young age. Communication is key! It is important that our children know that we love them unconditionally and appreciate them for their efforts. It's not bragging or boasting but a sense of gratefulness with a dash of pride.(meaning-proud-in a positive way) My theory is that if we can continue with this attitude towards parenting, with the help of our Saviour, Jesus Christ... we just may be able to our world. After all , to change the world, change starts with the man in the mirror. I'm just grateful that man spoke to us! I speak for the both of us(W&D) when I say... I love being a parent!!

We love you Denison!!!!

We hope you enjoy the videos..Feel free to leave comments if you would like to..

Update!

Denny and I after Church

Striking a pose

So here's the scoop.. Today was absolutely wonderful!. This morning Denny did something so funny! I was about to give him a bath and get him ready for church. Before I did just that, I took him into the bathroom where my hubby was shaving. After Walter was done I handed Denny over to him so I could scrub the tub a bit before I put Denny inside it. While Walter was holding Denny, I bent over to scrub the tub. Walter decided to be playful and bring Denny over. Denny took his foot and stroked my rear end as it was hoisted in the air and said, "Nice!" and then giggled like he knew what he was saying. My Hubby and I laughed. I turned around and continued scrubbing and he did it again..It was so ironic because I would never imagine he would know to make a comment like that about my butt!! lol (Denny first learned the word nice when I instructed him to pet our cat "nice" as Denny would sometimes be rough as he got excited to touch the cat but how in the world did he know to say it as he touched my butt?) Boy o boy this kid is one smart cookie.. What are we in for?lol After something like this I knew the rest of the day had to go well...and so it did!

So as for the update.... I know my Father lives and loves me too! So church was great and when it was time to teach the class I wasn't so fearful...actually I was quite delighted. The lesson was on Church History..the"Manifesto." It went very well and we had a good discussion forum going.
To make a long story short, after the lesson was done...the questionable subject came up about the photos in facebook by one of the girls in the class." We addressed the subject and it was the prime opportunity to tell them how I felt about it.. We had a heart to heart and we all voiced our opinions. I'm glad they understood where I and many others were coming from and our unconditional love and concern for them. I hope what was said didn't fall on deaf ears but all in all I felt a burden lifted off my chest. I was a blessing to be there for whatever reason it be and I know Heavenly Father knows what's best.

What I did on Saurday!

Saturday was a crazy-busy day!! Here is a look at some of my work!

This cake was tedious work..not only were the bride colors a funky combination(brown, burnt orange, olive-lime green, turquoise, and a funny dark pink) it was seven tiers.four fake- four real
Well at least they were happy with it!!

This was the actual cake they cut into..


This I did from picture in Bakery Crafts..Not bad right? Love the colors!

Fuming through my pores..Baby makes it better!

It's been a while since I've needed to vent. What started out as a good day soon turned into a complete disappointment. I will put it this way...I just wanted to scream! To save some embarrassment to potential readers I will make this brief..

Ughhh..I saw some things(photos) on facebook today(which really is no secret) that made me so upset and disgusted with some people. Usually, I can say I see myself as someone forgiving and willing to give people the benefit of the doubt but even me can get fed up. I refuse to go into details because as I said earlier, I don't want to draw attention to the "Peeps" involved. All I can say is I need the love and patience of Christ right now.. Why?... because to make matters worse these same "peeps" I am supposed to substitute teach on Sunday. How can you teach without the spirit? Not possible!! I know that no one is perfect but as an LDS I hold high standards. Is that so wrong? We are supposed to be the wheat separated from the tares. I know I am far from being a "PERFECT PATTY" or a "MOLLY MORMON" but I do try to uphold the values I have been taught and I refuse to stand by and watch others defile that truth who claim to also carry the name of Christ. It is so hypocritical! So I do have something to say to these people .. I only pray that between now and then I could see them as Christ does and reach out to them. It is just so hard because as a passionate person.. my feathers do get ruffled quite easily but I know that through prayer this too shall pass.
Ahh...Feels good to vent!! After I confront this issue-I will give an update .. so tune in! The best part to this day was after I came home ...my sweet Denny made me so happy. Watching Denny and my husband play was a plus and during bathtime, he was so happy and his smiles melted away my sorrow and I started to feel better. I guess you can say little by little I saw him the way Christ sees us and even when we sin, he still is willing to take us back with open arms if we truly repent. I just wonder sometimes if we really made an effort to be more obedient and righteous how great the blessings we could receive and to the contrary just how many have we thrown away?

Discovery Denny!!

Today's highlights were all about Denny...

1: Today Denny wore his first Sunday best.....a whole new outfit (black dress pants, plaid button-down shirt and vest) complete with black dress shoes. Denny discovered how smashing he looked in the mirror and smiled. He looked so handsome!!

2: Today Denny discovered friendship with a new lil person. Denny made a new playmate with Peter, a child of a couple who were here on their family vacation visiting from Canada. Denny was very active today. He babbled some and talked through Cheryl's Sunday school class. Denny would take his alphabet book and start reading the words aloud. When he wasn't doing that, my sweet Denny was sharing his snacks and his books with Peter. They were both soooo cute!! Denny is 14 months and Peter is 16 months and both of them were speaking words so clearly..especially the word apple..which just happens to be one of Denny's favorite foods. Kids are so precious.

3: For the first time, Denny discovered how to go up and down the stairs. During Cheryl's Sunday school class, Denny went up the stairs and when it was time to come down he soon realized his plight. My lil quick study trooper didn't despair...as I and many others watched in awe...he figured it out and carefully came down. When he realized his accomplishment, he went up and down the stairs a few more times (practice I suppose) to ensure he nailed it.

4: Denny discovered what its like to be a mechanic!! HA!! Well not.. Quite. today while I was snapping pictures outside at church, Denny discovered a soccer ball was hiding under the van which neither of us saw. (My sis and bro-in law) Being so swift and determined, he crawled under the van to get the ball.( he loves to play ball) I freaked a bit but I got a snapshot of it because it was something I wanted to remember. Luckily it wasn't so scary because the van wasn't on but I've come to terms with motherhood and being subject to any freak accident involving my child... I'm not willing to entertain..This will not happen again.

5: I discovered Denny is a poop machine.. Denny pooped 6 times today...That's a record!! I changed 4 and Walter changed 2 (Mommy's are always stuck with the lot) .....I'm pretty pooped out!!lol The food goes in and shortly thereafter it is out.. He is running through diapers like mad. You can bet I am looking forward to Potty training!!

6: Denny discovered the Rain! Today, it rained and the my lil outdoors-man decide to push the screen door open- go outside and play in the rain. He was so excited to see the rain and feel it on his hands.. It was fun to watch these simple but priceless moments. What a blessing !! Check out the video below!


All in all, Today was quite interesting. It's such a blessing to be a mother and a parent to Denny. It is without a doubt the best calling ever. If every smile Denny brings to my face were worth a dollar, I'd surely be very very rich and even without out it I've discovered I still feel richly blessed. I'm looking forward to all his new future discoveries!

Holiday!!! Celebrate!!

I love holidays!!!! (I'm sure everyone agrees) The way I see it is that a holiday is not a good day unless you get to do something enjoyable. In that case, Good Friday was not much of a holiday for us because we were stuck home and as I earlier indicted I worked for the early part of the morning. I resolved that on Easter Monday I would not be subject to this dilemma and I would make sure I was not stuck home. So today I wanna be a "beach babe" meaning I want to go chill out at the beach, which I haven't done since Denny was about 7 or 8 months old. It was also another opportunity for family time(LONG OVERDUE) and I knew Denny would enjoy it..(he loves to play in the water)

So the three stooges got ready to go..yayyy.. accompanied by my sister, her husband , and Lorna. On the way to the beach, we were famished so we stopped at the fairly new restaurant called "Bahama Grill." The food is pretty good.. We had some BBQ ribs, french fries, coleslaw and cornbread.....(yum!!) So after getting the grub, we headed to the beach..."Goodman's Bay." I was so happy that the spot we found was not too crowded and were we parked at a great view. At that spot before we headed to the beach spot were some seagulls....Denny is absolutely fascinated with seagulls... We stayed there a bit to eat and feed the seagulls. Lorna walked with Denny so he could get closer to the birds. It was so funny because I thought the seagulls would eat some of my sour strawberries but turns out they would pick em' up and then chuck them out....even they could tell how horrible those strawberries were.

After we ate we headed to the beach shore... We found a pretty good spot and spread out a sheet on the sand. My only gripe was that there was this house there and the public beach was behind the house and the owners of the home acted a bit annoyed when we sat in front of their on the sand.." Asking "How may we help you? " whatever..it was funny because another lady sitting there said with wise crack humor "Yeah..How about a grill?" (serves her right ...its not her beach .. and we weren't bothering her geesh...I won't let that spoil my day ) The sun felt so good on my skin and the weather was sure to fool us because the sea water was cold.. It took us a while to get use to it... Denny also was really clingy and sleepy but he was still happy to be out. Denny was a bit congested and dipping him in the sea water was a good fix to bring down the mucus.. He held onto me the whole time and the cold water had him shivering...poor baby!!! Walter took a while before he came in and when he he was chicken to dip in the cold water. We would splash him with the water and he would run. To make matters worse a sea crab hidden in the sand clamped his toes. We also got a tickle out of that as we frantically moved away from it...you could see it as it ruffled up the sand underwater. Fun!!

So finally, my brother-in -law wanted to get Walter in the water so he got a hold of him and they playfully wrestled until Walter ended up lifting Alex and still fell in when they were in a shuffle. It was good laugh.

Well it was getting late and we wanted to get back home so we could get ready to go to the movies to watch "Why did I get married too." So we got out the water and headed home. When we got home.. I got rested for a bit...took a bath and got Denny cleaned up. My Mom is going to babysit tonight so that is a blessing. Getting ready was a pain.. It took me forever to find clothing... Walter got so upset because I like ram-shack the closet to find a jacket..which by the way I never found.(that drama is a whole other story) Finally, we got ready and shortly thereafter we left for the theater. The Movie for that night was sold out so can you imagine how full the the theater was and it is a good thing we got there a bit early to get seats.

The movie was good and very entertaining. I kept my eyes glued to the screen the whole time.. I laughed, cried and laughed some more. I am sure everyone married can relate to some of the situations in this movie.. I know I can!! Tyler Perry is very talented.... and I'm looking forward to the rest of his work.
When we arrived home Denny was out like a light and we had a very good night!
To end on this note ... I can't wait till the next Holiday..

Easter feast!

Today, I am feeling very grateful to be reminded that my Lord loved me enough to die for me. This season has renewed me and my understanding that I need to be more responsible and accountable for the person I am today. Jesus believed that I was deserving of the chance to prove myself ...and that I will do!

Early this morning, I got up really early(5:30am) and went to work. The task at hand was to sell the rest of the Hot cross buns we made. My Boss (who just happens to be my older sister), nephew and myself headed to the ramp at Montagu Beach, where all my fellow last minute Bahamian peeps go to buy fish to prepare for the Good Friday Holiday. We had to take advantage of the opportunity and that we did. (Not to toot my own horn) I must say that yesterday and today I really showed mad saleswoman skills. It is not easy to approach strangers and try to convince them to buy but somehow I found my nitch and I used my spunky personality to do it. The response was awesome and more importantly I enjoyed making other people smile. At the end of it, we were happy to sell all and they were happy to eat those yummy buns and so was I. I must of ate like a bunch... bad girl.. worst thing is I have a gluten intolerance so I really should have avoided those buns but they were soooo irresistible!

To end the day, I had my fried fish, beans n' rice, coleslaw and potato salad and oh yeah a bun again yikes!!! Don't worry, I am back to running this coming week but it was all worth it.

p.s. Walter and Denny really enjoyed those buns too!!