Next stop New Zealand!

We are all packed and ready to go! I fit a weeks supply for the kids and I in just one suitcase! This is a very big accomplishment for me, as I tend to overpack (as an understatement!) The kids each have a small backpack full of toys and blankets to carry on the plane, and I of course have the all important diaper bag. We are looking forward to spending a bit of time in another country, it should be lots of fun. I have my camera, so hopefully I can get some good pictures to share with everyone! We meet Nana and Papa on Wed at the airport, and then we are going to drive to Rotorua, where Greg has a meeting, and the rest of us will get to see the touristy version of New Zealand! We will be back in Australia on Saturday!

Not much going on...

We have been hanging pretty low for the last week, and the week ahead looks just as low! I am looking for a turkey to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, here in Australia! Hope that I can find one, I go to the butcher today to see if he can help me. The kids and I are cleaning the house and getting ready for the visit from Nana and Papa! We are very excited about having family come to stay! Also getting ready for a trip to New Zealand on Sunday, we are going over with Greg who has meetings, to meet Bob and Sharon when they land for their layover and we will have a few days to see a little of New Zealand. I am looking forward to the change, even though it will be a lot of work with the kids, traveling and hotel rooms. I am also looking forward to seeing how they do traveling now. So I am taking our down time in stride, as we will have a busy next few weeks, then a little break and then it is Mimi and Popi who come for a visit (and Jordy!) Yay!

Looking forward to the next few months.

Happy Halloween!

So we are in Australia this year for Halloween, and the Halloween spirit hasn't yet taken hold of the Aussies, so we didn't go trick or treating, unfortunately. We did go to a Birthday Party, and Lily dressed up for that, so we took pictures of out little 'fairy princess,' She was very pretty, and very excited that I let her wear this dress today! Oliver didn't get to dress up, poor baby! Maybe next year!

I just love his facial expression in the photo!

Our Fairy Princess

Happy Halloween Everyone!

A few pictures

Happy Birthday Oliver!

Oliver had a great time, he loved to have his head out!

Here we are on the train!

Pictures from the Tulip Festival we went to in the hills.

Greg walking the rows with the kids

Posing with the kids

Oliver wants to know why we are making him look at flowers!

Lily is walking the Tulip Line

Smelling the flowers

Happy First Birthday Oliver!

We celebrated Oliver's birthday by going on a Thomas the Train ride on the Puffing Billy line in the hills. We went up and had a picnic by the lake, and fed the ducks our leftovers. Oliver thought they were very friendly animals and tried talking to them! Lily just had fun throwing them bits of bread. Then it was on to the train ride, we met some friends at the station, two babied and two toddlers and four adults boarded the Thomas train for a 20 min. ride down the track and back. It was the perfect length for the kids, Oliver loved it! he had his head out the train the whole time, so did Lily and Hugh. Beautiful scenery around the tracks. Afterwards we went to a Thomas pantomime, which in retrospect we should have missed, tons of people, strollers and babies were there to watch, and our crowd just wasn't so interested in the show! After we took a few pictures, we missed Thomas though, they were charging for pictures with him! Onto the playground went Lily and her friend Hugh, with tons of other kids. They had fun playing on a new playground, and the babies had a nice crawl in the grass.

Back to the house, both kids asleep before we left the little town! A much needed nap in between all the fun. We fired up the grill to grill our dinner, a few potatoes and salad and there was dinner. Happy Birthday song sung to Oliver, with Lily trying hard to sing it (we have been practicing) Oliver (Lily) blew out his candle, and we had cake! The cake was a green cake with a little 'hill' a rail track and Thomas coming down the tracks. Oliver got a good chunk of it, and he dug right in! He liked the frosting the best.

We finished opening presents, He got lots of toys, a gear toy, some building blocks, car keys, a Thomas train, a weebles wobble tree house set, a tool set, a truck set... and on it goes, what a lucky boy! Thanks Jordy for the gear set, Thanks Grama for the little car, Thanks Mimi for the building blocks, Thanks Jamie for the car keys (already in the car) and the much needed PJ's (so cute). Thanks everyone for the cards and well wishes! Oliver is a lucky boy to have so much! I need more toy buckets to store all his goodies!

Yesterday Oliver turned one! One whole year old, and he isn't such a baby anymore! I have a feeling that he will be walking within the month, and he is no longer having bottles during the day. He is more attached to his blanket since the disappearance of his bottle, especially during nap time, but I think this is fine, I feel like there is so much change in their little lives that having a comfort item is good for now. He is growing up fast, before I know it I will have two walking talking kids! Greg can't wait for that, I can though, they grow fast enough without us wanting them to reach milestones too quickly!

But today he needs his Mama, poor baby is having a bad day. He is still fighting his cold, and I can see his next tooth trying to break through. It is going to be a stay around the house cuddle and nap kind of day!

I will post pictures soon.

Oliver Update!

Oliver is almost a year old now, just a few days to go and he will have been here for a year! He seems to be changing and reaching milestones quickly right now! He is really wanting to walk, and he will walk next to us holding onto one of our hands, and he does quite well at it! Tonight he took two steps on his own before he fell down, walking between Greg and I. But the really big one for me is that he has gone two days now with only having one bottle at night! He seems to be a little more demanding of his food, and a little more ready for bed (and bottle) but otherwise so far so good! I really didn't mean to cut him off so quickly or so thoroughly but it seems to just be happening that way. We will see if we can keep it up, or if we will revert! hmm wow, my baby is growing up! When did that happen?

Monday Monday

Monday seems to be a good day to blog for me, a time to tell about the week we just had. There isn't much to be said about this last weekend though, it was pretty low key. I did get to have a night out on Friday night, when I went to the mall to do some 'late night' shopping. That is what they call it when the shops stay open until 9pm, usually they close at 6! It was nice not to have to haul the kids around the mall, and take our time with looking. Thanks to Greg for putting the kids to bed! I think they all enjoyed it! I know I did, and I got a bit of birthday shopping done!

The next day we went back to the mall, for about an hour and a half, that is all that Greg could handle! There were tons of people there, finding a parking space is the hardest part! The kids do relatively well there though, I think it is because of all the activity and people. Then our weekend slowed right down, as Greg and I are in the midst of a cold, and the kids are just getting over one! Oliver is still teething working on number 8! maybe sometime this week.

Lily is articulating a lot better, it is amazing the changes her vocabulary has made in the last few weeks! She loves movies, the dancing and singing movies, the disney movies, it doesn't seem to matter! Her favorite is tinkerbell, and we have all three thank goodness, so I get to switch up which one she watches. We are learning our colors right now, we have red, and blue down, that doesn't mean that she always tells you the right one though! She seems to like to mess them up to see what we will do. Willfull Child

Oliver is almost a year! Less than a week to go. He has learnt to come down the stairs backwards, finally! He just needs a bit of help starting out. I am slowly trying to get him to take a bottle less often, which is going slowly as he loves his bottle, so far we do well at home, only around nap time. Going out is a bit harder, he is used to having a bottle in the car or stroller if we are out for a while.

A day out in Melbourne

So the kids and I had a big day out in Melbourne, well at least it felt like a big day! We went to town to go to IKEA and pick up a few toy storage buckets, and ended up getting a little more than we went for, but that is the thing about IKEA, there is always something else that you can't live without! Lily walked with me and Oliver was in his stroller, we were in and out in 40 min, which is really really good for us! Then it was into the city to meet Greg for lunch, which went relatively well considering that the kids were HUNGRY by that time, Oliver ate everything, Lily decided to be picky. She will also eat anything, it just depends on her mood that day, today she decided to eat like her Dad, and had calamari rings! I was a little surprised. When we were finished there were two rings left, she had one on her wrist, and one on her finger lie a ring and bracelet! Sorry, the only picture is on the cell phone, if I ever figure out how to load them onto the comp I will add it. Then it was to the ban for us to complete some paperwork that me and my passport had to personally be there for! afterwards we went to a friends apt. to take in the view of the city from the 50th floor, very nice, again I yelled at myself for not bringing the camera! We had a lovely visit, our last as Jaibei is leaving for China in a few days. We went downstairs for a coffee and a treat for Lily, then it was back to the car, and oh my it is 5 oclock! Where did the time go? Into the car we go, bottle for Oliver, juice for Lily, coffee for Mum, kids are asleep before we get out of the carpark! Thank goodness as we then hit traffic, for the first time. We got home a little after 6, and Oliver didn't last 30 min. before he was ready for his next bottle and bed! Poor baby. Lily is finishing off the day with a movie, and is soon to bed herself, and I am just cleaning up, getting ready to organize those toys into their buckets!

What a full weekend!

We had such a great and full weekend! On Friday afternoon we didn't really have any plans, Saturday started off slow, hanging around the house, and then I read in the paper that there was a Tulip Festival up in the hills, so off we went! It was a pretty drive up into the Dandegongs (the hills around Melbourne) passing many little signs for little local wineries, can't wait to go to one! We found the tulips, and it was a great little festival. There were quite a few people there, everyone taking pictures! Some of the tulips were huge! I couldn't believe it! We took pictures, and had a snack, listening to some of the entertainment, enjoying the festival feeling with the sun shining, a great day overall!

On Sunday we packed up the car and drove down to Sale for the night, stopping at a park called Gumbuya Park. We played at the park, then walked around and saw Emu's, Kangaroos, Wallabees, Dingos, Pheasants, Peacocks, and lots of other birds. In my opinion the Emu's are one ugly bird, the Dingos were a lot prettier than I had expected (looked very much like a dog next door!) the Kangaroos were sleepy in the sun, the Peacocks showed off with their feathers, and there were lots of different kinds of Pheasants, its not fair that the males are the pretty ones! We had a cafe lunch there and learnt that from now on we should bring a picnic when going to the park! Another little play in the park and it was time to hit the road again.

Sale was great, the kids did relatively well when we went out to dinner, considering the big day we had. Greg went to work on Monday, and the kids and I checked out of the hotel and went to visit Denise and Stan, some old neighbors of mine! It was nice seeing them again. After the visit we walked around the town, and then we walked around the little lake in town. Lily did really well, she walked halfway around the lake by herself! It was such a beautiful day, but the mosquitos were terrible! We couldn't stop to rest for fear of being eaten alive!

Overall we had a really great weekend! But now it is back to reality, and the mountain of laundry that I have to do today! Where does it all come from? But never fear we are going to have a break today of going to the indoor play center, should be fun.

A few new photos

Oliver having a snack in his chair, he looks happy doesn't he!

Lily having a doughnut

'Helping' Daddy fill the fountain, and Lily's water bucket

Going for a ride

What a cool girl

Spring has sprung here in Australia and we are loving the warmer weather! We have a fantastic backyard to enjoy, the kids like to go out and play, Oliver really loves to just go and sit outside! I think I am going to have nature kids :)

We had a BBQ this weekend, it was really nice having people over to help us enjoy our home and yard. We had the Grand Finals Aussie Rules Football Game (take two) on, which is like the Superbowl, so that was fun to watch, plus there was lots of kids around to play with for Lillian and Oliver.

Oliver is still in the teething process, working on number 8 now, so that makes him a bit crabby during the day, and he also has a runny nose, thanks to all the spring flowering that is going on!

Lillian is also a bit stuffy, but overall she is doing really well. She is listening to me more when we go out, learning how to behave! It is a process though, she has a hard time listening at home sometimes!

Early rising... again

After months of blissful sleep-ins we are now back to early rising, all regulated by the kids of course! Lillian can now open her door, so the whole house is at her disposal when she gets up! As soon as I hear her around the house I get nervous because I don't know what she is up to. She is usually nice and quiet, and even though our door is cracked she never opens it, but still I can't stay in bed for long after I hear her up and about. She is usually very good, finding her colors and some paper, but this morning she found pens and colored on herself! So far there hasn't been any new art work on the walls. The other thing that is really nice is she takes herself to the bathroom in the mornings, one less time for me to worry about it!

Now on to Oliver, after months of waiting his next batch of teeth are making an appearance, and the poor child is miserable with the teeth popping through, he wants his bottle, but doesn't want to suck on it, and his appetite has decreased slightly because he doesn't want to chew. Poor baby boy, but not to worry, he is far from wasting away!

In Australia news, the Ausie Rules Football Grand Final was last week, and it ended in a draw! This would be lie the Superbowl ending in a tie! They have to play the whole game again this weekend. It was really quite amazing, to see the shock on everyones face, including the players who just collapsed on the field after the whistle blew. Naturally Greg had a team he was cheering for and he got into the game, jumping up and down and yelling, much to the kids delight. It is rather amazing how into games men can get!

The internet was down at the office yesterday morning so Greg didn't go into work, choosing to work from home instead, and then in the afternoon the weather was so bad that he didn't want to walk to catch the train, so we had a whole day with him working at home, it was a nice change for us. A really nice treat.

Funny Stories!

Again, I am sorry that it has been so long since my last post. I promise we have not disappeared, we are still here. It has been pretty busy here, Greg has been traveling a lot, so we haven't seen him a lot, mostly on the weekends. This has given Lily the opportunity to learn how to talk on the phone. She is getting better at it all the time, especially when it is Greg that she is talking to. I still have to coach her a little, but one thing that she always updates him on is what Oliver is doing when he calls! If he is sleeping she says Ola, Shhh!

Another silly thing that happened last week, when Greg was home for dinner, Lily tooted at the table! Then she said smell me~she is usually the one who smells Oliver when he poos. We all laughed at this, so she was encouraged, and continued to toot and say smell to Greg. Pretty funny until I realized that if we encourage this then one day when we are at someones house she will toot and say smell me! So we stopped laughing, at least out loud.

We took the kids to the pool last Saturday, to mixed reactions. Lily loved it, the pool even had waves and she loved those too. Oliver was like a little vine clinging to whoever was holding him. Lily was fearless in the water, and practiced floating on her back and holding onto the side, going under, all of it. Oliver became a little more comfortable in the baby pool by the end of it all. It is time to start lessons, they start here as young as 6 months! So they will both be going, in two different classes, starting next month. I am looking forward to how they do. They will learn to be comfortable in the water, hopefully how to float on their backs, and how to get to the wall. All important things to know even at such a young age.

I have joined the gym, finally. It is at the same location as the pool, so that is nice. We will be spending a lot of time there!

I am still looking for spring to well spring here, the trees are budding, and the flowers are blooming, but the weather is still up in the air, with just a few days of nice thrown in with lots of days of gray. And the gray is cold. Yesterday our heat went off, and it gradually got colder in the house, I had no idea what the problem was, so I kept hitting the heat up button on the controller, and the heat never turned on. I woke up this morning and it was 55 in the house, very cold to wake up to, I promptly turned on the fire, and the oven and closed off this main room so that it would warm up a bit. The kids were fine, as they have separate heaters in their rooms. Needless to say the problem was that the unit that is attached to the wall was low on batteries! Who would have thought that something that is on the wall with wires needs batteries. Thankfully the heat has now kicked in!

It's been a month...again!

Oh why do I keep putting off blogging until a whole month has gone by! It's not as if there isn't anything to tell, with the two kids something is always going on, I just can't find the time, and then when I do, I can't find the energy to actually type into the computer!

So here is what has been going on in the Mickle house for the last month.

We are all settled in, and I am getting to know the city, thanks to my car and the Garmin that Greg bought. It makes it easy for me to get around. Greg is really enjoying taking the train to work, he gets to read and relax! He is working early morning to late nights, so we don't get to see him much.

Lily is the one with the biggest changes right now, she is in the middle stages of potty training, she does really well in the house, but we haven't tried it out of the house yet. She is also wanting to dress and undress herself by herself. Almost every morning when I go up to get her she is a naked girl!

Oliver has started to investigate the stairs, I have found him halfway up, but mostly he just sticks to the bottom. He also likes the front loading washer that we have, I think he likes to watch the clothes go round. We have three windows in our dining area that are low enough for him to look out of, which he loves to do. I feed the birds so that he can see them.

We have a new little member to the family, a Goldfish that Lily named Gigi, it was that or Bubu, so Gigi it is. So far so good, she likes to peek at him throughout the day to make sure that he is still there.

The Last Month

Shame on me!

Wow, over a month without a blog, am I ever behind.

So much has happened in that month, I had better segment it off so that I can make sure to get it all in.

First and foremost, out location: We are now in Melbourne, Australia, without any air travel in the near future.

Second Lily: She is currently in the childrens hospital here, we are happy to say that she has a diagnosis and is on medications to help her get better. She started all this on friday with a red rash under her armpits, around her genital area, and under her neck. On Saturday the redness had spread to around her mouth, and her torso. We thought at first it was eczema, she didn't want to be touched, and she didn't want to touch it herself. On Sunday we came into the ER and were seen by a General Practitioner, the rash had started to blister and pop open, leaving the raw and tender skin underneath exposed. This was extremely uncomfortable for Lily, and hard for us to see her in such pain. He thought it may be either a viral or a bacterial infection without a fever, gave us some cream, antibiotics, and painstop, and made an appointment for the dermatologist on Monday. Monday came around with Lily not sleeping very well, and feeling a lot worse. We came back to the ER, and were admitted into the hospital. When the Dermatologist came she said that it was Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrom (SSSS), which she most likely picked up from her brother when he had Impetigo a few weeks ago. Thank goodness we had an answer, as it had been puzzling the other doctors. She is now on stronger pain meds, just to try and keep her as comfortable as possible. She is also on an IV drip with fluids and an antibiotic. This morning she didn't look any worse than yesterday, so that is a good sign. Hopefully we can go home tomorrow, but it all depends on how well her little body is doing. It is very important for her to get enough fluids at this time, and although she is drinking a little juice that isn't enough. She is definitely off her food, and we try to encourage her to sleep as much as possible. With Luck she will be all better in a week.

Next is Oliver: He is such a good boy, and a trooper through all of this. Thank goodness my Mum is here, and is staying at the house with Oliver while Greg and I are taking turns at the hospital with Lily. You may have caught that he had Impetigo a few weeks ago. It started as a bight that somehow got infected with the staphylococcal bacteria, he had a few open sores on his skin, we took him to the doctor in New Hampshire, and she gave him some antibacterial cream and oral medicine. Turns out that he was allergic to the oral medicine, this we found out after his whole body broke out into heat rash, and he vomited every time we tried to give him the medicine. We stopped giving him that, and continued with the topical cream which cleared his skin up, and also gave him Benadryl which helped move the sulfa (the antibiotic) out of his system. We went to a doctor here in Australia and he had some oral medicine to help move all the bad stuff out. His skin is still a bit dry, but so much better.

Now on with travel: The kids did as good as can be expected when we drove from Mn to NH. We did it in two days (Jordyn was with us to help us drive). We were all more than happy to reach our destination. Overall Lily and Oliver were really good.

Our plane ride from Boston to Melbourne went extremely well, we got really lucky there I feel and had two great kids for the trip. Greg had upgraded us from LA to Melbourne to Premium Economy, which gives you more room and comfort, at the airport in LA two of the four seats were upgraded to Business, so Greg let my Mum, Oliver and I sit up there, and he and Lily sat in PE. Oliver had a bassinet which was excellent because he slept in it very well, and Mum and I had chairs that went into beds as well! That is the way to travel! Lily and Greg had more leg room, and seat room, and had a pretty good time in PE, also the way to travel over economy. We were all glad to get to Melbourne, we landed in the morning here, so the hard part was to keep the kids and ourselves awake until evening time. We went to our new house to drop off the suitcases, and then drove into the city to a little apartment where we would stay a few nights until our stuff arrived and the kids had cribs. On Sunday we walked to the Victoria Market and had a good time walking around and seeing all the stuff they sell there, it is a bit overwhelming. On Monday our shipment arrived, with a bit of damage, no good, but most of it isn't precious, so I suppose that is the good part. Greg and I have been shopping a bit, thank you IKEA for my couch and chair, very comfy, and the bookshelves to out all my stuff on. We are also the proud owners of two bedroom sets, a guest room and a master bedroom. Pretty soon we will be all set up and ready for company! (Just as soon as Lily is well)

I know there is much that I am missing, such as our great visit with Becky and Grampa, Betsy and Dave, Greg and Dads time at the cabin, camping in Maine... Maybe I can catch up on these things latter, but I make no promises...

One for my Grama

I helped my Grama get on her computer the other day for the first time in about a year (if not more!) I also showed her how to get on the internet and look at this blog, so this one is for her, she had better let me know if she sees it! (So Grama call me when you see this!)

In other news we are gearing up for a week of company. Lily and I are going to go Strawberry picking tomorrow morning with Grama, then the ladies are coming down to the lake in the afternoon for coffee and treats! On Thursday we have a lunch here, and on Friday cousin Taryn comes for a visit, we are very excited to see all of them. Thankfully the garage room is done enough for people to sleep up there.

Happy June!

Happy June everyone! Summer is here, school is out, the weather is warm... all that good stuff. And my husband and my dad are both coming back to the US this month! We can't wait to see them.

Lillian is learning lots of new words and is trying to learn lots of other stuff too. On the potty training front she now sits on the big potty and toots! I guess thats a step in the right direction! She also likes to practice wiping, I think that is her favorite part. On the language part she now can string two words together, going for three. Jordyn has her saying 'I'm on a boat' which turns out to be more like 'I'm a boat' so pretty close. She loves the boat, the water, and just being outside. She is also really good at saying please which is more like 'pease' and when she says it she expects to get whatever she is asking for because in Lily's world it really is the magic word. We are working on saying thankyou after she gets what she has asked for, and that turns out to be tata. so we are doing pretty good.

Oliver is so cute, he is growing up so fast! I have no idea where the time has gone. He loves Lily, but he tries to pull her hair every time her head is in reaching distance. He also likes to be outside, and he is trying to eat all sorts of foods. We are regressing a little with the bottle, he wont take one from me again, but I hope this is only a temporary setback. He has been working hard on growing, trying to crawl and working on his fine motor skills. One of his favorite things is Cheerios right now.

We have a rocker!

Oliver can't wait to crawl! He is rocking and rolling and working hard at crawling. He gets up on all fours and then rocks back and forth. He loves doing this and looks so pleased with himself when he does it. Pretty soon he will be crawling and then I will have two mobile children on my hands! Lillian helps Oliver by showing him what he needs to do! It is warm here in Minnesota, and very muggy. We just bought Lillian and Oliver a little turtle sand box which will have water in it this year so they can play around in that.

Almost a summer day

The third one in a row! What a beautiful day here in Iowa/Minnesota, perfectly calm, nice and sunny. Yesterday we got a lot of work done outside of the cabin, starting with raking up the leaves down by the lake. Lily had lots of fun helping to put the leaves in the bags, and Oliver had a good time sleeping in his crib! I think he is growing! I got the job of raking the leaves into the piles, better that stuffing bags I think.

The lake is crystal clear so far this year (at least it is when the wind isn't blowing so hard). Our lifts aren't in the water yet, so when we were looking into the water we saw a few of the 'feet' that belong on the bottom of the lift legs. So we told Jordyn to jump in and get them, which she didn't want to do, but she did claim that she would go tubing if the boat was in (yeah right...) So I said I would do it, naturally! (what am I, crazy) I must be, because I did, I jumped in the water that was colder than the Colorado river water last year (I swear) It was so cold that I got an ice headache as soon as I jumped in, and it was so hard to breath. But I did it, and I got the two feet, and it was cold, so so so cold. When I was out though I thought that my Dad would have done it, so it wasn't that crazy!

Today was another beautiful day, I finished painting the room above the garage, and we had a pretty quiet day around the cabin enjoying the nice day. We are hoping for cement to be poured tomorrow so that we have a drive way to park in and a side walk to walk on instead of dirt. Hopefully the garage room will be done soon, but at least livable by the end of next week and we can all spread out and breath a little bit. There are lots of projects to do around here when there is more room to get at it all, lots of things to go through. We can't wait to get at it all.

Happy Mothers Day

To all the moms out there Happy Mothers Day! We have the best job in the world, with the greatest reward.

To my Mother for always being there for me, for loving me unconditionally, for driving across country with me and my two babies, for being a terrific role model and a wonderful person, I love you.

To my Mother-in-law for loving me like a daughter, letting us take over her home for the last month, for raising a terrific man, and for all the little things she does, I love you.

To my Grandmother, for all that she does, the treats that she makes, the great times that we have had during the summer, I love you.

To all my friends that are moms, keep up the good work! you are all awesome.

A day in Boston

We came up to Boston this morning and are staying at Kellie's house here. She took today and tomorrow off of work to hang out with us. Today we went to the children's museum and had a blast! It was so much fun watching Lily play around and touch and not be told no. They were very well behaved at the museum, Oliver had a great time just watching all the people. Lily loved seeing the people about as much as she loved seeing all the new things. We played with golf balls (racing them) and we played with soapy water making cool bubbles, and then we went to the "baby"area (3 and under) and played with all kinds of toys, baby dolls, shopping carts, climbing around and having a generally good time. Next stop was a room with water and sand to play in, then it was time for a little break from the action, and a snack! After that we went and saw Curios George and Lily opened and closed a door for about 15 min! We went to a few other rooms, and then it was time to go because we were all getting a bit sleepy. Lily fell right asleep in the car and only had about a 15 min nap on the way home. It was a great day out, made better by very well behaved kids and a great aunt who had tons of fun playing and watching with the kids. I can't wait to do it next year!

Another catch up blog

We have been busy and happy here in the North East! I am so thankful for the time that we get to spend with family over the summers, I have a great husband who puts up with my being absent for months! Thanks Greg!

Oliver got a bouncy seat last week, and he LOVES it, he has a great time bouncing and spinning, and trying to stand. Just a few days ago his feet can touch the ground in his walker, so that is exciting and has brought on all kinds of backward movement there. He is a growing and healthy boy, who has discovered food! He loves his rice cereal, and he likes sweet potatoes, he is not too sure about peas, but he does eat them, just not with as much gusto. He still spits up quite a bit, but not nearly as much as he used to. He likes sitting in his high chair and watching his sister eat and play. When it is nice out (like today) Oliver seems to really enjoy being outside. He is also getting used to his car seat which he hates (he cries every time I put him in it, and he used to not stop until I took him out at our destination) Now he only cries when I put him in, but stops after I give him a binky and start the car.

Lily is loving all the attention at Nana and Papas house, she loves the dogs and helps Nana feed them in the mornings and nights, and gives them treats with Papas help during the day. Rocky is very good with Lily and lets her get away with just about anything, Rado on the other hand only pays attention to her when she has food. She loves her stories, and we have tons of books here for her now, which we read at night before bed. She is a lucky and spoit little girl, Papa found her a swing set, and she has a little picnic table, a little chair, a big sand box... As you can tell she has it made here. Lots of playing during the day, and she sleeps good at night. She still takes a little nap after lunch (thankfully). She loves entertaining her brother, and wipes up his drool (or spit up), helps give him a bath... over all she is a great helper with him, and she loves him very much, and he adores her! How did I get so lucky?

Greg is in Australia working hard and getting acclimated down under. I think he has already found us a house with a great back yard YAY. Next he has to look for a car. He is really enjoying it there and thinks that we will be very happy there, which I agree with. The only down side to Australia is how far away it is from family and friends here in the states.

I will try to post some pictures next time

A day of firsts

Yesterday was a big day for the Mickle kids, lots of firsts for them. Lily had her first bite of lobster, she liked it and ate quite a bit, as well as her veggies. Oliver had his first bowl of rice cereal, and his first taste of formula, and none too soon at that. This morning Greg found Olivers first tooth! yes, the teething has started, and we weren't really ready for it. He is growing up so fast, I am not really prepared for it all yet. I lover his gummy smile, I don't want to give it up yet, but it isn't up to me. He is early on the teeth thing, but maybe he stepped it up so that he could eat the things that Lily tries to feed him! Who knows.

We are having a great time at Nana and Papas house, playing with the dogs and getting spoiled by Nana and Papa. Greg and I are getting spoilt as well, we are taking advantage of the baby sitting and taking little trips out of the house by ourselves.

Sibling Love

Lily likes to lay on the floor in front of Rocky

Lily showing Oliver how to play with his toys

This is Lily's new ride

Oliver taking his first bite of cereal! (just in time too)

Lily being introduced to her dinner

here we are in New Hampshire!

We made it, every one of us, no one got left behind in an airport (lucky for them). The kids did relatively well on the trip back to the states, all things considering. We woke them up at 11 pm to start our trip, arrived at the Dammam airport, checked in and walked right on the plane, thankfully. Oliver fell asleep on takeoff and slept awhile longer, but Lily had a harder time. Greg finally got her to rest in her chair, and she slept for a few hours. We arrived in Frankfurt 6 hour later and had a lot of time to kill before our flight left for Boston. Thankfully our double stroller was handed to us at the gate, so we didn't have three bags and two kids to carry, we could push some of our load! This was difficult because by the end of our 6 hour layover we were tired of running after Lily and just ready for a nap! We got on our full flight to Boston and breathed a sigh of relief that the last leg of our journey had started. The kids did well on this flight, Oliver napped in the baby bassinet, and Lily napped on Greg. Thankfully we had a seat for Lily as well, so we didn't feel so cramped. We were really glad to land in Boston, where the kids did really well as we cleared customs and got our luggage. All our bags made it, I think we did really well in that department, 2 car seat bags, 1 pack and play bag, 1 duffle, 2 big suitcases, and 1 small suitcase! Plus two backpacks and a diaper bag that were carried on. Thankfully Nana and Papa met us with the truck. We were very excited to see Nana and Papa and Auntie Kellie at the end of our journey. When we got the kids into the car seats and gave them a snack they passed out!

It is good to be back home in the states!

Moving

The movers are gone, and so is all our stuff, except for the small mountain of suitcases we have upstairs to take on the plane. These guys were very efficient, two days and they are done, and that includes taking an hour lunch break and stopping to pray every few hours. I was impressed, I didn't think I would be. Almost everything got wrapped in paper, and either boxed, wrapped in bubble wrap, or a combination of the two! They built boxes for things like Gregs grill and the rockers... I am glad that it is over, I am tired out, all that supervising running after Lily and Oliver, who were being watched by Chari most of the time, I only showed up to feed Oliver! It was great not to have to worry about them.

I had a wonderful going away coffee this morning, and like I said then, I don't think I am going to miss Saudi, but I am going to definitely miss my friends. Friends are what makes this place bearable, because all you have here is friends and shopping, and the shopping you have to do around prayer times!

Lily and her Daddy (with her Mum and Oliver in the background) We are waiting for the movers to show up

Greg took this cute picture of Oliver

Greg and his grill, like the pack job!

They had to pack the boxes on little trucks and take them out of the compound and then load them onto the big truck

They really load up the trucks

Just checking in

I am taking a minute to update everyone, the movers are here! YAY I am typing this blog to the sound of paper crinkling and tape being unrolled, what beautiful sounds :) Can you tell I am glad that they are here?!? The kids went over to the neighbors house for a while and the packers jumped right in! Hopefully it all wont take too long, they seem pretty efficient. When they got here it was like this is really happening, we are really out of here in three days! Can you believe it, I couldn't until now. Well I had better get back to overseeing! What Greg and I do best!

The countdown begins

In a week from now we will be on plane headed to Boston! We have our tickets and our itinerary, we have the dates for the movers to come, and I think we are ready for the busy week ahead. I haven't started to stress out about moving yet, I think if I start thinking about it too much, then I won't be able to stop and I will drive us all crazy. So for now I am looking forward to having someone else come in and pack up my house, moving to Australia, and getting to spend time in the US with loved ones, and letting loved ones get to know my children. What I am dreading as much as humanly possible is getting on the plane with my kids! I used to like flying, and now I want to postpone it for as long as possible. I just have to keep thinking that it is only 24 hours out of my life, that it won't be the end of the world if my kids fall apart on the trip home, that maybe they will be great and I am dreading the trip for no reason (I secretly hope this is what will happen), and lastly that there are wonderful people waiting for us when we arrive!

So for our last weekend in Saudi we are going to stick close to home, maybe go swimming, and take it easy, and get together with friends in the evenings to say our goodbyes. On Saturday I will start packing our suitcases making sure I have everything I could want or need, and maybe running any errands that have been left to do. Sunday will be a continuation of Saturday. Monday will bring the movers and Lily and Oliver will be living at someone else's house for awhile! Tuesday will be more movers and a going away coffee for me. Wednesday the movers will be done (with any luck), we will have a quiet day saying goodbye, have one last happy hour with friends and we will head out to the airport at midnight to start our journey home! That is our plan for the next week, we will see how it really evolves.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day from us to you. We hope that everyone has a great day today and drinks lots of beer for us! We all remembered to wear our green today, we hope you remembered too! I love this holiday because it doesn't ask a lot of you, just that you wear a bit of green and drink a beer and if you are lucky, listen to some great live music somewhere, and have a great visit with friends.

Quad biking in the desert!

Over the last weekend (aka Friday) we went out to this spot along the waterfront a little ways out of town to go quad biking. We went in the morning to try and beat the heat, yeah right! By the time we were through it was well into the 90's! It is getting hot here fast. Lily did a really good job keeping her hat on, something we are working on. We went with a few other family's and had an altogether great time! Lily didn't know what to make of it all when Greg took her for a rider until she saw David, then she figured if he liked it then it must be okay! We are so glad that we were able to fit this experience into our time here in Saudi.

Lily and David on their own quad (don't worry, it is only for a pose!)

Lily and her Daddy

Even Oliver got to go for a little ride

Lily and her Mommy

After a morning in the sun it is nap time all around

Good and Tired

Pics from the park

My friend Ina (who takes fantastic pictures) took a few pictures the other day in the park. Here are a few shots that she got of us. I love her photos! I am going to try and get a session in with her to take pictures of Lily and Oliver, and Lily and David (her 'first friend' here).

Oliver and Qasir hanging out in their strollers

Lily with Oliver in the background, this picture is my favorite

A picture of me, something that I normally don't see (as I am usually the one snapping the pictures)

In other news we are going to try to go quad biking on the sand dunes this weekend, that should be a lot of fun.

The move is starting to take shape, we have had the movers in to give us quotes, and all the information is in for the visas, so now we wait. When the visas are through then we will make our tickets and have the movers come and things will happen very fast. I am trying not to stress out too much yet, but I am trying to be a little organized and set things apart that I want to take to the states, finish my shopping here, finish some projects...

On the baby front, Oliver is growing so fast, he is working very hard on moving, he gets his butt right up in the air and gives a good push. He is so cute, I can't wait to share him with everyone! He is making a lot of baby noises, trying to reach and grab for things, he follows Lily very well and likes to watch her. Lily is doing great, she loves her outside time, I bought her a bubble gun that she thinks is the greatest thing ever, besides her brother who she has to check in on every morning. I am so glad that they love each other so well and can only hope that it stays this way!

It has been awhile... again

And here I thought that I was doing so well at updating the blog, then all of a sudden nothing for 2 weeks! I am sorry. There isn't much to tell, not much is new in our day to day lives, we are just waiting to find out when our Visas might be done so that we can start to figure out travel plans. The fun part is planning the travel and thinking about everyone we get to see. The reality of the travel is the not so fun part, but there is that wonderful reward of seeing loved ones at the end of it that makes it all worth it!

Greg is still working hard here in Saudi, on his current job here, thinking and feeling out his new job in Oz, working on the visas, doing the fun legwork of looking at possible houses online... He keeps very busy and we love the weekends when he leaves his computer off (this rarely happens though!) I give him a lot of crap for working so hard, but it is his job, he is good at it, he (mostly) enjoys it, and he takes great care of us, so I often end up taking back the crap I give him in the first place.

I am trying to enjoy the time that I have left with someone to take care of the housework for me, and help watch kids when I have shopping or a coffee to go to, or just to have someone stay in with Oliver while he is sleeping if Lily wants to go outside. Right now we are all a bit spoiled, everyone getting what they want pretty much right away.

I made Lily play-dough yesterday, and she seems to like the way it feels when she smashes her hands in it. She hasn't put any in her mouth yet, but it is home made, so when she does at least I know what is in it. This is more than I can say for the sand that she likes to put in her mouth outside right now. I think she likes the grittiness of it when she crunches it in her teeth. She is doing really well, mastering a few words at a time. When she wakes up in the morning she says juice first thing, you can see where her priorities are. Greg is amazed at how much liquid Lily can pull in in one day! Lily still loves to go outside, and she will grab your hand and pull you to the door if you are ready or not. She expects to see her friend David (aka DeDe) at the park, so as she is headed for the door she says pak (park) Dede! David and lily are great friends, and we are going to miss the Lopez's very much when we leave. They are so cute together the way they recognize one another, tell each other important things in their toddler language and play together.

Oliver is growing so fast! I can hardly believe it, and as he grows and gets older he is happier to be on is own a bit more, which saves my back! He still sleeps on his tummy, and he still sleeps all night. He wakes up as the happiest little boy in the morning, but this morning was special because he was on his back when I went in to pick him up! So he flipped (or rolled) sometime last night or this morning! We are so proud. He hasn't done it since, and I have been watching and waiting for it, but there it is, he can roll now so we have to be extra careful where we set him down. He is starting to take little naps during the day again, much to my relief!

Both the kids got shots last week, Lily got her 18 month checkup and shots, she is right on. She weighs 22 pounds, and is in the 25% on both weight and height. Oliver weighs 17 pounds, and he is in the 90% on weight, and the 50% on height. He is a big boy.

That is it for now, Later in the day I will try and post a few pictures for everyone to see.

We are moving...again!

Hello Everyone who checks in with the traveling Mickles blog, you read it right, we are living up to our name and traveling again! Sometime in the next month or so (probably in the next 6-8 weeks) we are moving. Where are you going you might ask, and I will gladly tell you we are being transferred out of Saudi and into Australia! In a few months we will be calling Melborn home, and we are excited! Life here in Saudi is comfortable, yes, but there is so much that we miss out on here (not just the wine and pork!) We are looking forward to living in Australia, being able to go out whenever we want to without worrying about prayer times and things being closed. I will be able to drive again, go to the store when I want and leave when I am done (not before or after) We are looking forward to doing things as a family, zoos, parks, camping, pools... And not wearing an abaya for me! So needless to say we are excited. I think the thing I will miss the most from here (hands down) is Chari, who I wish we could take with us :) I have been delightfully spoiled here! So that is our latest and greatest news, We will keep you updated on how things develope from here.

Happy Valentines Day

Here is hoping that everyone has a lovely Valentines Day! We love you all

The Best Husband

Today was an Aramco holiday, so Greg took the day off as well and we went on a "date day" to Bahrain. We left our babies here with Chari and went to another country! I am still in a bit of shock over that, but they were just fine. We went over to Bahrain for a great sushi lunch complete with a nice bottle of wine, and then we caught a movie. It was such a fantastic day, so very different from Saudi. No prayer times to worry about, I didn't have to wear the abaya, we could have wine... Oh its the little things in life that we miss. It was our early Valentines date, and it was perfect. So thanks Greg.

not much going on

We are still doing great here in Saudi, nothing ever really changes. We are loving having our maid, Chari, who is very helpful in all aspects of our household lives. She takes a lot of stress off of me, and Lily and Oliver seem to adore her, as do I! We all have little colds right now, they will be gone soon though with luck. We are ready for some warmer weather here, and I have a feeling it will arrive soon. I just don't want it to get too hot too soon. Oliver is growing up so fast, Lily too. She tries to put her croks on, but can't quite get them on yet, so she moves on to my shoes and walks around the house in them. She found bath crayons the other day, and had a blast in the bath with them, the water went cold before I got her out. She adores Oliver too, trying to climb on him and give him kisses all the time. She wants to include him in her meal time, tries to feed him cheerios and popcorn. Such a good big sister. Oliver loves to watch her. They are going to be great friends.

Lily found her bath crayons!

Beautiful art isn't it!

Lily is helping Oliver drink

There are the babies!

What do you think is going on in that head?

Lily wearing my shoes

Lets play catch up!

Here are the last few photos that I took in January of the kids! My network went down for about a week, so I wasn't able to update anything! It drives me crazy when things don't work like they should! I am back at it now though, but I had wanted to put these photos up sooner. Lily and Oliver are doing great! Lily is learning new things all the time and she is getting so big, turning into such a little girl! The words that she knows now are Mama, Dada, bebe (baby), peas (please), dede (David), Baba (I think this one is supposed to be brother as she says it as she climbs over him to give him kisses!) Byebye, and she has a Lily way of saying morning. She likes to go out, it drives her crazy to be in the house all day. I still force her into taking a nap during the day, she doesn't always like it, but she always needs it!

Oliver is such a great little boy. He usually only takes one nap during the day as well, but if I am lucky it is a nice long nap! My children don't sleep during the day! Help! Sometimes he will take a cat nap as well. I am sure his habits will change as he grows. He likes sitting in his walker and lets Lily push him around. He isn't as photogenic as Lily is/was but I think I got a few good shots of him for the site. He is a big boy, he likes to be up and looking around. He also loves to be held!

Oliver in his walker

There is a smile for everyone!

Lily and her little friend David

Just look at that face!

Oh so much better (don't you just love the hair)

Lily zonked on her high chair during lunch (this is a very rare incident)

Lily and Oliver, she is going in for a kiss

Uh Oh!

Pushing Oliver around (she is going to be doing it the rest of her life!)