Baby Mc #3 has a name!

Well before we even thought of having another baby, Audrey mentioned one day back in Sugar Land that she was going to have a sister and her name was going to be Julia. (This was probably close to 2 years ago)… I laughed it off and didn’t give it much weight because we were “done” with the babies as far as we were concerned at that point.  I still remember though that me and the kids were in the car and the empty spot between the car seats is what sparked the conversation of another baby.  Audrey started to ask for a sister again about a year ago….

When we found out we were blessed once again with a baby earlier this year she told me that she talked to God and told Him that her name was going to be Julia.  However, I had a long list of other names I was considering, so I gently let her down and told her “mama and daddy will pick a name for her just like we picked one for you.”  It isn’t exactly my practice to let a 5-year-old make major decisions for our family.. ha! 

Every single night since then (even before we knew it was a girl) she would kiss my tummy and say, “Goodnight Julia” and my heart grew a little more attached to it each day.  Before I knew it I was on Audrey’s team and we were both presenting the name to daddy and asking him to consider it…. (it did take a little convincing).  All I can say is the Lord works in mysterious ways and some way or another we have been led to a name with each of our children – but I love that this time the Holy Spirit to worked thru my sweet girl.  Thankfully, Audrey “allowed” me to come up with a middle name for her baby sister and I chose Rae since it is my middle name and I’ve always loved it. Now it is monogramming time!

 

Ferrari World and the Desert

 

We had some fun times last weekend at Ferrari World and another trip out to the Desert while we were entertaining some guests… here are some pics:

this is what Ferrari World looks like from the outside:

There weren’t many rides Will was tall enough to do, but he enjoyed it!

these were like little go carts – the kids LOVED them!

Will was terrible at driving this thing ^ He couldn’t figure out how to keep his foot on the gas pedal and steer at the same time. The worker ended up having to sit side saddle style and do it for him.  It didn’t stop him from going on the ride… twice.

The next day we headed out to the desert for another safari… this is our 3rd one in a year. LOL. The kids have a blast and could go every single weekend. Here’s audrey holding the falcon:

Daddy and Will riding four wheelers:

Audrey’s turn:

There’s a lot of animals at this camp – you can see where they keep them off in the distance behind the four wheeler in the picture above.. The workers brought Audrey a rabbit to love on…

Charles pretending he is in a rodeo… LOL.  Audrey freaked out when he wasn’t holding on to her with both hands.

Will playing on the dunes:

Good Times!

Getting Closer!

Well, we’ve made it. We have about 2 1/2 weeks left before our summer trip to Lake Charles and we couldn’t be more thrilled!  Lately my emotions have caught me off guard and I’ve been getting a little weepy when I think about going.. (in a good way).  We haven’t seen family in 10 months and it is just TIME! Last year we were only away 5 months before our summer return – this year the time was double!! 

Through the year, I have been so strong and keep my ‘game face’ on… I honestly don’t even allow myself to feel emotional about being away or the time that has passed and the distance between us.  There are moments of sadness, but I mentally push them out and press on.  Right now, I feel like I am at the end of my final lap and I just want to break down because I can SEE THE FINISH LINE...  we are so close!

I am sooooo looking forward to a long wonderful summer stateside.    Being able to just hang with family and be a part of their lives will be amazing…. We also get to finally meet Audrey and Will’s first and only cousin, Alivia – our sweet niece. 

I have to say it is hard to believe this is already going to be our second summer trip to the US.  I think back what seems like yesterday before we moved and I couldn’t even wrap my head around it.  The time has just flown by.  I really enjoy our life here in Abu Dhabi and have a wonderful set of friends that have become like family to us.  We miss our real families though and cannot wait to hug their necks!

Turkish Escape

Last Weekend we went on a quick get-away to Istanbul, Turkey.  It was a super short trip but SO NICE to feel cooler weather and have some fun on a new adventure! 

We flew out of Abu Dhabi early Friday morning… it was a 4.5 hour flight so we were there in plenty of enough time to enjoy some sites after we arrived that afternoon.  After we checked into the hotel we jumped in a taxi and started to explore the “old city.”   Istanbul is so charming~

The famous Blue Mosque is pictured below:

due to our super short time, we chose not to go inside and spend our afternoon just strolling the streets and enjoying the super cool weather.  The highs were in the low 70’s.. coming from 110 degree weather, it was AMAZING!  We walked over to check out the underground Basilica Cistern.  VERY COOL!

The kids loved spotting the fish!  I remember seeing this place on the Bachelorette (when it was Ali and Frank’s one on one date) – they had dinner in here and ever since I saw the city on the show, I wanted to visit.

When we left there, we spotted a café near a grassy area where the kids could run around a bit and sat down for some dinner.  My guys were checking out the menu…

 

After we left dinner, we walked around some more and just took in the sites.

ahh! DESSERT! I popped in here for some baklava on our way back to the hotel. DELICIOUS!

Here is the view of the city from our room:

The buildings go on and on for as far as you can see.  I booked a Bosphorus boat tour for early the next morning… Here was our tour guide – he was about to drop us off at the Egyptian spice market. 

 

Such a cool market with LOTS to look at… I bought some little hand painted bowls in bright colors and Charles got us a cute little, silver Turkish tea set.  The kids scored some candy and we had to be back on the bus to get to the boat dock. 

 

Notice the map above ^^ The Bosphorus is the strip of water between the continents of Europe and Asia.  BOTH sides are Turkey.

We are loaded up on the boat and ready to go! 

We went down the Europe side, did a u-turn and came back up on the Asia side…

We toughed out the cold for a  while, but was absolutely freezing, so we went down inside the boat and bought some hot tea and warmed up.  Cheers!

The kids wanted to go back out again… Charles snapped a picture of us while we were outside the boat looking in on him.

After the boat tour we went back to the hotel to empty our backpack, grab some McD’s and head back out for some fun in the Grand Bazaar.  This place was absolutely HUGE – and after an hour (having not even put barely a dent in it) we called it quits… Charles found a great leather belt and I got some really bright colored, hand embroidered pillow cases.  We also bought a Christmas ornament since we collect them from all of our travels.

I could have done a lot more damage in this painted pottery place, but unfortunately, we have zero place to store any of this fun stuff in our villa. so sad~!  We only lasted about an hour and a half in the Bazaar – it was SUPER crowded.. we decided to leave there and go to another super crowded place. LOL. We went to Taksim Square – it was jam packed like Burbon St. on Mardi Gras.  We were in search of some dinner and had to walk quite a while until we found something.  On our journey, we learned that this  night they had the biggest soccer game of the year and everyone was out to celebrate. 

On our super brisk walk, I got some major cramping in my baby bump… I could barely walk. We thought maybe it would go away after I ate dinner – but when that didn’t do the trick we headed back to the hotel asap.   Unfortunately there was no catching a cab in this thick crowd so we walked another mile or so back to the hotel. That walk was brutal! I was in some major discomfort by now – but within 10 minutes of laying down I was all better. whew.  I had never had any aches & pains like that in either of my previous pregnancies…honestly, it was a little scary.  This 3rd time my body just won’t allow my to go and go.  I had just simply over done it. 

The next morning we just laid low and took the kids to the park until it was time to catch our flight back to Abu Dhabi.  Istanbul was a beautiful city – had a very European feel to it with amazing temperatures.  I loved it and would go back in a minute! 

After my little ‘episode’ I was reminded how important it is to take care of myself and get adequate rest – I would just be devastated if  I was put on bed rest and couldn’t travel to the states.  For the next couple of weeks I’m TAKING IT EASY!  Charles is more concerned of me pushing the  limit when I’m in the USA – and would risk not being able to come back to AD for the beginning of the school year & delivery… I assured him I will have lots of eager hands for helping with the kids and we’ll be fine.  The day after I got back I was already scheduled for a check up and my doctor did not see any cause for concern and agreed that I had just over done it.  Baby girl is healthy and growing. 

Since then I’ve had milder, but similar cramping pains twice – both were after times of just going and going and not getting enough rest. {sigh}. my head says go, but my body says STOP!

Cloud Dough

I found this on Pinterest and had to try it for the kids… I knew they’d love it, especially Will.  Sure enough it was a hit, they played with it for just over an hour and even were eager to help with the clean up.  WARNING: this has the potential to be a very very messy activity.  For lowest maintenance, sit the kids at a table with their own bowl / tools.  Soft sided tools worked best  since it was hard to get shapes out of rigid plastic cups… ya kinda need to be able to give it a little squeeze.

Here’s how to make it – 4 cups of flour to 1/2 cup of baby oil.  Mix together. that’s it. If you have a bunch of kids, double it.  this was just enough for my 2. 

  

It is soft like flour, then when you squeeze it together it holds it’s shape… so fun. 

 

Will ‘washed’ dishes while Audrey vacuumed up the flour bits on the floor!

One clean up tip… try to get as much of it up as possible without water.  Once the flour and water mix, it is glue-y and paste like.  My bench scraper was a super fast solution… see below if you’re not sure what a bench scraper is…