Austria

YAY !!!

we are here, it was a long trip, and I am still recovering from it but we are here in Austria and loving it. Greg is in pork and beer heaven, we just got back from the store and the majority of groceries were beer, wine, cheese and meat!

The kids did relatively well on the trip all things considered (leaving at midnight to drive to the airport...) Greg and I are still recovering from being awake for so long, we were able to catch a few short naps along the way, but overall we were awake for a very long time.

It is wonderful to be here, to see the snow and the beautiful mountains. Greg can't wait to go skiing, he is going to try and take Lily with him one day, that should be interesting! Lily doesn't know what to make of the snow, we were outside yesterday for a walk to lunch, she didn't understand why she had to be all bundled until we got outside in the cold. She got to play in it, and had some fun at the end of the walk. We think she liked it. Lily is happy that there are other people here to play with, she is having fun with her aunts Jordyn and Kellie, and her uncle Dennis.

Sisterly Love

An update on how we are doing, well in a word great! Lillian loves her baby brother, she wants to try and hold him and she likes to give him kisses. When he is crying she will find the binky and give it to me to give to him, or she will go over to where he is and try to pat him, or talk to him, kind of like she is saying it is all okay. She is such a smart little girl, and for the most part doesn't seem to mind that Oliver gets more one on one attention than she does right now. That is not to say that Lily doesn't get any attention, she gets plenty! The weekends when Greg is around are great, but at night when Greg comes home in time to see Lily is the best, because then it is all about her. Greg really gives her the attention that she needs, so that is nice.

Lily has a mind of her own, she loves to go outside and if you don't watch her she will beat you out the door and be headed down the street to the park in a matter of seconds. She is very talkative, we just can't understand her yet! She is learning to drink from cups, so there are a lot of spills around our house as she grabs our water glasses. She likes to try and stab her food with a fork, and she does pretty well with it, the spoon action needs a bit of work. A wonderful thing about her is that she can entertain herself fairly well for awhile, and I appreciate that greatly. She has discovered how to flush our toilets (oh no!) thankfully she doesn't lift the lid up yet, so there is nothing in the toilets.

We just had three days of storms here, pretty rare for the desert, but it was wonderful for us to see a bit of weather! There was even thunder and lightning! We were going out to a toddler time group one morning after the rain, and of course Lily was the first out the door, I turn around from getting Oliver and there she is stomping her feet in a puddle and looking very happy about wet feet!

A Local Festival

At the end of November we had the opportunity to attend a local festival. It was very interesting and informative of a little of the local culture and history. The people were all very nice and welcoming, hoping that we enjoyed their festival. They encouraged us to ask questions, and wanted our input in what we thought of their festival. It was interesting to see the people in a different environment from what I normally see. We went into a heritage village which showed different jobs, markets, houses and a coffee shop how they used to be in the old days. Greg and Lily sat at the coffee shop for a little bit. We walked around the festival with a translater, she took me into the shopping area to walk around and see some of the crafts. We had a family picture taken and our names written in arabic. I also received a wooden boat from one of the stall holders. In all it was a good day and I was very happy that we attended.

A sand sculpture

Greg and Sharez in an old style kitchen

This is how you make baskets out of palm

The old coffee shops, open walls, the prices are written on the back wall.

Chelsi pushing the babies in the new double stroller

Turkey Day Pics

Some Turkey Day pictures!

Gregs first time cooking a turkey

Waiting for the turkey to be done

Doesn't it look so yummy!

The morning after Thanksgiving, hanging out with Dad

Lily loves Oliver

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from Saudi Arabia. We are hosting a thanksgiving meal at our house today, our first time hosting one, Gregs first time cooking the bird, my first time in charge of the sides. Heres hoping it will all work out well.

We have a lot to be thankful for this year and just to name a few: a good job, a great extended family, wonderful happy healthy babies, the opportunity to travel and see the world, our current location (the easy living with children and the maid who helps keep things clean!), and wonderful friends. Greg is thankful for "his patient wife and his healthy children" I want to know where he keeps this patient wife at! I am thankful for a husband who is such a good provider and tries his hardest to come home in a good mood to help put Lily to bed and listen to the not so patient wife complain about how hard her day was! (I need to try harder to be in better moods when he comes home!) In short we are thankful to have each other. We hope that everyone has a terrific thanksgiving, we are thinking of you all.

Chelsi and Babies

The Mickle Family together at the beach

What an adorably silly little girl

Lily holding Oliver for the first time

Giving kisses

A Sick House

Sorry it has been awhile since the last post. This last week has been a bit rough on us. My Mum left, and had (or is having) the trip from hell on her way back to Africa, but more on that later. Levi (our maid) introduced a cold into the house last week, and we all got sick, everyone but Greg that is. Even my Mum caught the bug before she took off! Lily ran a fever for a few days and was a bit on the tired and crabby side, plus the congestion. She is all better now except for a little lingering tiredness and she still has a runny nose. I was the next to fall victim to the fever, congestion, cough, and sore throat, but I seem to be on the mend as well, hopefully last night was my last little bought with the fever. It was too much to hope for that Oliver would escape without catching the cold, but he too came down with a fever. His fever didn't last more than a day and night, but he is now seriously congested, which is worse than the fever because he wont sleep, which means that I can't sleep, which makes me a very crabby Mommy! Hopefully this won't last too much longer and we can all be back to our normal healthy sleep loving selves!

A view of our home

For everyone who wondered where we were living, my Mum has taken a picture of the front of our house, so I am finally going to show your what it looks like! Below is the front of our house in Saudi Arabia, with Gregs car in the driveway and Lily wandering out into the street! She likes to wander about. For all the Plumeria lovers reading this blog the tree in front of our house is a Plumeria tree! I didn't realize that until Mum got here, and neither one of us realized they got that big!

New Photos

Trying to get that Christmas Picture

Olivers first trip to the pool, he fell asleep on the towels

Grams and Lily playing in the pool

Grams meeting her new grandson

Grams and her Grandbabies

Mum in Saudi

My Mum came in to visit and meet Oliver on November 6th. We were all very excited to see her. Lily has been enjoying having Grams around, someone else to pay attention to her. Oliver loves his Grams, he has found a special spot on her to rest and fall asleep. Mum says that the grocery shopping is a lot better than it is in Angola, and we have been out and about trying to get a few things for her to take back to Angola.

Oliver is doing really well, he is growing and changing every day. He stays awake for longer stretches of time, and he lifts his head up really well. He would love to sleep on his tummy if we let him, which I do sometimes during the day. He is sleeping pretty well at night, for the most part, we have our hitches sometimes, but we do manage to get sleep at night. Lily is still doing good with Oliver, she tries to give him hugs and I let her get close and touch him. She tends to go for his face, which can be a problem, we are working on the concept of gentle, but that doesn't always get through. Lily now has 8 teeth total, she is growing, and getting smarter all the time. The last few days she hasn't really been herself, which is hard because she can't tell us whats wrong.

Greg took a trip to Bahrain last night with some buddies, and they are playing golf today, I hope that he had a good time over there enjoying a little bit of freedom.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone (I know a few days late). They had trick or treating on our compound, so Lillian dressed up as a Patriots Cheerleader, she was so cute! Greg came home a bit early so that he could take her around trick or treating, Oliver and I stayed home and passed out candy. Greg and Lillian had a great time out and about, she held onto her treat bag the whole time, she didn't want to give it up. Oliver had a patriots cap on, he was a patriots fan for halloween, I was a mum, and Greg was a dad, how original is that! Most of the kids on the compound dressed up, so it was fun to see everyone in costumes. There were lots of little fairies, little girls in party dresses with wings, good idea! When Greg and Lillian came home they sat on the ground and she took all her candy out of the bag and showed us what she got! When I was getting the picture of the three of them she tried sharing her candy with Oliver! She is such a sweetheart.

Lillian was a Patriots Cheerleader for Halloween

Greg came home to take Lillian Trick or Treating

Lillian didn't want to give up her treat bag

Look at the neat treats I got! Her face says it all

Lillian the Cheerleader, Oliver the fan, Greg the Dad

Oliver Charles Mickle

Oliver Charles Mickle was born a week ago, Saturday October 24, at 1:02 pm. He weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces, and was 20 inches long. We are so happy that he is here finally! He is perfectly healthy, he was born with his cord around his neck, so he came out looking very blue then purple. His face remained a bit purple for a few days, and his eyes are still a bit bloodshot, otherwise he is perfect. We brought him home on the 25th, and Greg was home for a week to help adjust, start all the baby paperwork involved, and to bond with our little boy.

Lillian is doing very well with Oliver, she is adjusting to having him around. He is a novelty, and she wants to poke at him. She checks in on him when he is in his pack and play. She doesn't yet understand gentle, so we are very careful when he is within her reach. So far so good. We still go out to the park almost everyday, and we go for walks, mainly to our little store on the compound about once a day. As long as we are still going out Lily seems to do okay. While Greg was still home we ran errands, went to the mall and a doctors apt. Tested out our new double stroller, it is very large, but it works very well. Lily seems to like being in the front, but she doesn't really like riding in it around the compound, she would rather walk!

Oliver is a very good eater and sleeper, it seems that is all he does. A few nights he gets up early in the morning and doesn't want to be put down, but so far I think we are lucky. He really lets out a cry if he is hungry and you aren't fast enough in settling down to feed him, but that is the only time he really gets upset so far. He takes a lot longer to eat than Lily did, and he doesn't burp as well as she did, but he does spit up a lot more than she did. He has already shown us that we have to be careful while changing him, he peed on the wall for Greg already, and he peed on Levi when she changed hi one day! His facial features are already changing from the first day when he was born, when his face seemed very flat to me!

Greg and I are realizing how easy it was with just one baby, and how much more work it is with two now! My toughest times come when Oliver is eating and Lillian wants something and I can't do both at the same time!

Here are a few pictures, there are more posted on Picasa

Lily meeting Oliver at the hospital, she wants to give him a hug!

Lily peeking in on Oliver

Oliver Charles, just a few hours old

Oliver and happy Mum

Oliver and his proud Daddy

A quick Baby Update

Just a quick little blog about the new baby. He is still very happy being inside, regardless that we are all eager to meet him. The doctor said that he is doing fine, so we left him alone for the time being. However if he doesn't decide to start making his way out into the world by Saturday then we will decide for him. The doctor doesn't like to go much over the due date, so on Saturday I will be over by three days, if labor hasn't started the natural way then we are going to attempt to induce labor. I hope that the baby decides to make his own way in the next few days, but it is nice to know that on Saturday one way or the other we will be meeting our little baby boy. We will be keeping everyone updated, so stay tuned.

How Cute am I

Lily climbed between under the coffee table this morning, and I just thought that it was so cute I had to get a picture of it! She thought she was pretty smart to get under there.

What a cute little baby girl

I think I can fit under here

Where are your teeth Lily?

What a good smile

Lily finally has seven teeth, we have been waiting for the seventh to come in for a while and it is finally here! But now I think that the eighth is going to follow right along. We will see.

I am still waiting for the baby boy to make his appearance. Besides from being tired of being pregnant, and feeling really fat and heavy I feel fine, I don't even feel very tired in the afternoons any more. I have a doctors appointment today, and we are thinking that the doctor just might have me stay to have the baby. I don't know how I feel about this so much, it is something that if the doctor gives us the choice Greg and I are going to have to talk about, waiting for it to happen, or just getting to it. The waiting is the worst part of the whole deal, not knowing when!

Almost there

There is almost a week to go until my due date, 8 days to be exact, Greg doesn't think that I will make it that long! I am hoping that he is right and that the baby comes a few days early. I saw the doctor yesterday, he says that everything looks good, the baby is about 7 pounds 3 ounces, so about the size of Lily, this is just an estimate. We are just playing the waiting game now, everyone is waiting for me to call and tell them that it is time! Lily and I are trying to keep ourselves occupied with going out, seeing friends etc... The waiting is the hardest part I think. Soon the wait will be over though, and there will be new pictures on the blog of the new baby! We are very excited.

SLB Eid Party

Last Thursday there was an Eid party on the compound, lots of people were here, I haven't seen that many people here with SLB before. We spent a few hours outside watching the people and visiting. Lily was too little for any of the games, but we watched other people play. Greg was volunteered to call out Bingo numbers, he was a good sport and did a good job of it. At least one of us helped out.

Lily making new friends

Shuja took Lily around the party for awhile to show her off. She has no problem going around with other people, and it gives me a break! Shuja gave her a little cotton candy, when I went to get her she couldn't stop smacking and licking her lips! I think she liked it :)

Lily hanging out with Shuja, he gave her cotton candy!

Greg took Lily on the camel for a ride, their first camel ride. He was smelly! And I guess he was pretty bumpy. I am glad Greg wa there to give her the ride, there was no way I was getting up on him. Lily didn't know what to think of him, she couldn't stop staring at him!

Greg and Lily on the Camel waving

Greg and Lily getting ready to go

Lily on the camel by herself, she couldn't stop staring at it!

Baby Shower

It is almost time, the baby is almost here, just a matter of weeks now.  Our friends threw us a couples baby shower last weekend, which was great fun.  We ate wonderful homemade lasagna and Dena had baked a cake and decorated it as a baby boy, so cute!  And it tasted delicious.  We have a few more things for the baby boy, which is great, some things to replace the items that we left in the US.  I managed to bring half the baby things with us in the shipment, the important things like the big baby swing, and the bassinet, but forgot the things like the baby bouncer seat and the little play mat to help with tummy time etc...  The whole living overseas thing with stuff left in the US can be a bit disorganized and confusing, I think this summer I need to take an inventory of items left at Greg's folks house to have so I am not guessing about where things might be!  

I am entering the organized and cleaning phase of the pregnancy, a little panicked that things wont be the way I want them before the baby comes, and it will be my fault because I would rather sit downstairs and play with Lily than go upstairs and organize my closet!  Good thing I have Levi to come and clean, she is helping me with a few of the extra things that I want to get done.  

Tomorrow I should have all the pictures up, and that stage should be officially done, which will be a nice sign of accomplishment for me.  I have had the pictures up downstairs for a while now, and the pictures up in Lily's room, but that is it, I have all the others just sitting around waiting for me to make up my mind about where I want them to go, and some needed new frames which I am getting today.  I think the maintenance guys will be happy when I am done calling them to drill holes in the walls.  I call them every week at least once, for such little things as light bulbs going out.  It seems like a waste to have someone come and change a light bulb, but they don't want you to do it, so you have to call.  It is there job, and it is nice to know that if there is a problem a bit more serious than a light bulb gone out that someone will be hear to fix it within the hour.  

Fun at the Park

We went to the park this last weekend.  Lily walked halfway there before she got tired and started crawling.  We wanted to show Greg how she can go down the slide by herself.  She has a fun time at the park, and usually we go a bit later when there are other children around to play with.  

Greg and Lily walking to the park

There she is by herself

Climbing into the slide

She still likes the swing

Greg pushing Lily in the swing

A few more stories

For a week there have been ants in my kitchen, and a few days ago I got fed up and called the pest guys.  They came and sprayed the problem corner in my kitchen, the ants were gone, but so were Lily and I as the smell was horrible!  They sprayed right before lunch, right when Lily was getting up from her nap, so we called Fiona who was kind enough to take us in for a few hours while the worst of the smell escaped through all the open windows.  Lily and David are very close to the same age, David is a few months younger than Lily.  It is a lot of fun to see them together, they watch what the other one is doing and they play along side each other.  If one sees something the other one has to go and check it out as well.  David has a bottle that was out, and Lily (very much to my pleasure and surprise) didn't just try to grab it, but she did point at it and 'talk' she was telling us that she wanted it I think, but she knew that she wasn't supposed to have it, and she didn't take it.  I was very proud of her for that.  She is still getting a bottle at night, but that is all, and for the most part it is working out well.  One of the down sides is that she isn't taking her naps all the time though.  

Lily and David playing with the little slide

Aren't our babies so cute!

Last weekend we were able to go to the beach and we had a great time.  The weather was very nice, not too hot.  We had a good breakfast, and then Lily and Greg played in the sand for a little bit.  Lily had fun throwing the sand, and it got everywhere.  Greg would build little towers, and Lily would smash them right after.  We went in the water, and Lily did really well in the ocean this time.  The water is very salty though, and if she rubs her eyes she starts to scream because it stings.  We were all tired when we got back home from the beach, but Lily didn't want to go down for a nap (a growing problem).  Greg put Finding Nemo on, and Lily sat on the couch and watched for a little while.  

Lily after a morning at the beach

Lily and Greg playing in the sand

Greg building sand towers, can you guess what happened to them?

Yesterday Lily and I went to the park in the afternoon.  There were a lot of children there, and Lily had fun just watching.  We went on the swing which is always a hit, and then she walked over to a seat and climbed up and down on it, and watched the older children playing.  Then we walked over to the big play gym and Lily climbed up the steps and into the slide, I went up to help her turn around and then ran around to catch her when she came down.  Then she crawled back to the steps to do it again.  I walked up behind her and told her to turn around when she got into the slide, she did, and then after that she started doing the whole thing by herself.  She went up the steps and down the slide a few dozen times, she had a great time.  A few times she didn't turn around, and had to crawl down the slide, she figured out that it doesn't work out as well.