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.  

Happy Birthday Greg!

Greg's Birthday was yesterday, those of you who know him know how old he is so I won't share that here!  I think he would appreciate that.  Another year down and lots more to go.  There were lots of changes this last year, and there will be lots more coming up in the next.  It is kind of funny how we age without really realizing it, time just goes by and we need to remember to take time out to enjoy it.  Greg needs to learn to take a little more time for himself, or this is what I think as he works a lot, it seems like all the time.  Hopefully maybe this weekend I will have him for the whole time.  We are going to go shopping, the time has come to buy Lily a new big girl car seat (she is still in the baby one).

We had a quiet night last night, Greg and I played cribbage and listened to the ipod on the new bose dock that Greg got for his birthday.  Great sound.  

Lily Stories

I had meant to share this story with everyone last week, but time got away from me.  We recently had the babies rooms painted, Lily's was painted a light purple with a hint of blue, and the baby boys was painted a light green which will go well with his Winnie the Pooh decor.  I was very happy to finally have this project done with.  After the painters had cleaned up and left there was a bit of paint left over, and I had left the cans in the hall, not knowing where I was going to store them.  I assumed the lids had been properly put back on, but the next day I found out differently, right before Lily and I were headed out the door to catch to bus to go to buy groceries I heard Lily just start screaming, I came running out of my room to find her sitting in the hall surrounded by purple paint!  She had tried to lift one of the cans up, and it was too heavy for her and as it fell down the lid came off and she was in a puddle of purple paint.  Now looking back I wish I would have gotten a picture of it, but at the time all I could think about was that I had fifteen min. to fix this mess before we had to be on the bus!  Lily was plopped right into the bath so the paint wouldn't dry on her, and I wiped up the mess with rags and we changed and made it to the bus on time.  Oh the joys of being a Mum.  I learnt an important lesson that day, always check the lids!

Yesterday Lily and I were walking back from the compound store and we stopped into a friends house for a visit.  Fiona has a son, David, who is three months younger than Lily, and they are cute together.  She also has two older children, a four year old and a 2 year old.  They have lots of toys at their house, and it is fun for Lily to get to play with all the new things.  Yesterday Lily used David as a stepping stool to climb onto an art table!  Fiona and I couldn't believe it.  Lily is such a little climber, I have to keep a good eye on her now.  She also decided to show off, and was walking all around Fiona's house, she hasn't done this at our house yet though!  Last night she did though, she practiced walking a lot, I think she is starting to understand that she can carry things with her if she walks.  

Happy Eid

Eid officially began yesterday, everyone is off for the next few days, which means that everything is closed, except for the restaurants, which have reopened during the day!  Fasting is over-YAY!!! A lot of people are leaving on holiday at this time, of course we can't being so close to the due date though.  This will make this week a little harder for me as there will be less people to go and visit with, and of course my husband is the only one going to work every day this week!  I just can't keep him away from the office.  He did promise to take us out for lunch tomorrow, so I am very excited about that.

Next week things will hopefully be back to normal, the stores will be open, and Lily and I will be able to go out and get the things that we have just been thinking about for the last month or so.  We need to grab a few things to have before the baby comes, one of which is a big girl car seat for Lily, who is still in the baby one.  We have a crib for the new little one, and I finally got the two kids rooms painted.  Lily's turned out to be a little more on the purple side than I had intended, but it looks really good in her room, a nice light purple.  In the baby boys room it is a nice light green.  We are keeping the guest bed in there as well, so that room will serve as duel purpose for awhile, which is fine because he won't need a lot of room yet!  

Lily at 13 months!

Lily is our bright and shining little girl.  She is everything in our life, and in a month she will share that spotlight with her new little brother.  The last few days Lily has been practicing to overcome another milestone... Walking!  She is now walking, not all the time, but she is practicing.  At first she would just let go of furniture and take a step to the other piece of furniture.  Then a few days ago I watched as she would stand up in the middle of the floor by herself.  Then she would take a few steps, when she thought I wasn't looking.  Yesterday she would let go of what she was holding onto and walk to me, and I knew that we were there.  Last night when Greg came home I couldn't wait to show him what she had done.  I put her on the floor and she walked to her Daddy!  He was so proud.  Today she is continuing to practice, so far today when she falls before she gets to where she wants to go she will stand up and keep going.  If she wants to go somewhere fast she still crawls, as that is faster than walking still.  I will try to take a video of her and post it.  

She is fighting her naps, becoming less interested, even though I remain very interested in them.  She still needs them, they just tend to be shorter, and she isn't happy to go down.  Lily really likes it when we go and see other children, she likes to watch them play, or to see new toys to play with.  It is fun to see her when children come over here to play with her toys, she watches them and goes from one to the other to see what they are playing with.  

Life in Saudi...

It is odd how my life has changed since moving here, I don't think I have ever spent so much time at home!  Not having a car really limits the options of going out, just running a simple errand such as dropping off pictures to print becomes a big deal because you have to schedule a bus to take you.  It is also surprising the way little things can help change your mood.  Like the bus making you angry because he is 20 min late (especially when you are on time) or finding bagels in the grocery store to lift up your mood.  This is why (at least to me) it is worth going to Tamimi (Safeway), it is a little more expensive for some things, but it is like a treasure hunt because you never know what you might come out with, like Root Beer or bagels, or Jumbo Rice Crispies!  It is the little things that matter.  

I am really ready for Ramadan to be over so that Lily and I can go out and do a bit of shopping, I miss just walking around the mall and getting a cup of coffee!  I was excited to think that we are almost at the end of it, the 22nd is when it is over, but no, then there is a week of Eid, a week of celebrating, kind of like a New Years thing.  Everything is closed at this time, even the Doctors!  So there is a week when we can't go anywhere or do anything, I am not excited.  The only bright spot about this is that Greg should be home more during this time, as most of the office will be empty.  I think we are going to spend a lot of time in the pool and at the park.

Gregs wine is turning out, to our happiness.  He racked off a sweeter white wine a few weeks ago, not to our taste, a bit too sweet, but there are some here who really like the sweetness, and they say it tastes like a decent riesling.  Greg was excited that people like his brew.  We have a red that will be racked off next weekend, and then a red and white each brewing away, they have a little over a month to go.  Greg is thinking about what he is going to attempt to do with his next batch.  So far everything has turned out pretty good, we are keeping our fingers crossed that this trend continues.  

Lily is doing really well, I am so proud of her, we are off all bottles, and hence formula except for one.  We still give her a bottle with formula at night before bed.  During the day I tried putting formula in a sippy cup for her, but she doesn't really want it, she would rather have cold cows milk.  YAY!!  She is still not walking, but I am not worried, she has all the potential to be doing it right now, I just think she knows we will carry her so she doesn't.  

Baby Boy Mickle is growing well, I feel like a whale!  We are excited for him to come, we are still looking at names, no decisions on that yet.  

Our Cyprus Vacation

We went on holiday last week to the island of Cyprus.  Cyprus is famous for the birth place of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love.  It was lovely to get away from Saudi and Ramadan going on here.  Cyprus was a nice island, we didn't know what to expect, never having heard much about it.  Unfortunately we didn't get to tour about at all, we pretty much stuck to the hotel area because of Lily.  

It was great to see people wearing clothes instead of abayas, and to be able to have bacon and sausage, and drink real beer and wine.  Well Greg drank the beer and wine, I had a few sips.  We learnt a lot on this vacation, mostly about traveling with babies.  One, that you spend a lot more time in the hotel room, and two that it isn't as relaxing as you would like because you are always entertaining the baby.  We spent a lot of time at the hotel pool, not a lot of time at the beach, Lily was not very keen on the little waves or the salt water.  Greg thinks she is spoiled from the pool, I told him we would just have to visit the beach here more often to get her used to it.  Lily still napped in the morning and afternoon, when Greg and I would read and play cards on the balcony waiting for her to wake up again.  We walked out of the hotel and ate at local places once a day, which was a nice change of pace.  

One of the nice things about a vacation is coming home, and this was no exception.  We were glad to get back into our beds, and Lily was happy so see her toy boxes and to be able to crawl around and not be corralled as much.  

Lily in her buggy on the way back to the hotel from the beach, she looks a little sunkissed

Chelsi and Greg enjoying the sun.

Chelsi and Lily having some strawberry icecream in the pool.

Lily walking in the baby pool

The view from our hotel.