Bruises and Bows: We come from afar… January / February 2013

So, I realize I’ve been MIA from the blog for a while. too long – it almost seemed silly to start posting about things that were going on nearly 3 months ago, but I really don’t want to discontinue the blog as it is a treasure chest of memories for our family.

I have been upside down for the past several weeks and just now am coming up for air. So I apologize to you that read and follow and are wondering where we are. By the way, last month marks my 5 year anniversary with the blog. wow!

We went to America to introduce our newest (and hopefully the last) McBaby to our families… we left on 22nd of December and stayed there until Jan 2nd. It was a fast FAST trip – I am getting tired just remembering.

In the airport I started to get heart palpitations at just the thought of having to do this alone with the kids at their ages. the lines. the luggage… ahhhh. Thank GOD Charles was with me… It was an eye opening experience – mainly just logistics of it all was tricky. you have too many people & bags to keep in your possession with only 2 hands… not to mention the frequent trips to the bathroom and the “I’m hungry’s” “I’m thirsty’s” and “I want this or that out of the back pack” constantly working you. Oh and somehow squeeze in a feeding for the baby sitting on the bathroom floor getting God knows what kind of germs all over us… meanwhile not letting any carryon luggage go without someone watching it.

The flight was long and difficult to say the least. The big kids were champs and I thought Julia would be no big deal since she was pretty laid back at this point in the game – but no… crying off and on for nearly 5 hours and a full on scream for nearly 2 hours was not.fun.at.all. It was beyond hard, but we pushed thru.

We finally landed in Houston, got our minivan rental, our infant car seat rental (that unfortunately was not rear facing – but at this point we said, screw it) and got on the road. The big kids were just buckled up, not in car seats since Budget Car Rental wanted to charge us $285 for their rental car seats – when we had some in LC already.. uh. no. We stopped 3 times.. maybe four I can’t remember and Charles nearly fell asleep at the wheel several times. We should have gotten a gold star for safety.

Even through the difficult trek half way around the world we were not too exhausted to enjoy this moment:

It was an indescribable feeling to introduce our 3 month old Julia Rae to her Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles. There are just no words, only tears. My hands were shaking - I was so overcome with emotion.

The McManemin’s Family Picture (minus Chris and Alivia)

The Viator’s Family Picture:

We spent the next few days trying to get over Jet Lag and enjoying a wonderful Christmas with both families.

Our return flight to Abu Dhabi went much more smoothly than our other flight… kids slept most of the way and in no time (like 14 hours) we were back in the UAE.

We were then blindsided by the news of our helper running away – you already know that story…

I’m so thankful I had no idea that I was coming home to this news… I was blissfully oblivious to the fact my world was about to be rocked. Espy joined our family just after we arrived in Abu Dhabi, so I had to learn how to do life here without an extra set of hands. I had no idea how painful the transition would be especially with a new baby and the plans to move to a new villa as well. over WHELMING. oh yes, I forgot to mention that Charles traveled literally the entire month of January as well.. it was excruciatingly difficult.

Life goes on though and I used the opportunity to involve the kids in all my new chores. Smile

The kids started taking Gymnastics…. both are loving it

Julia transitioned from being an ‘at home’ baby to on the go constantly. She did not like this at first, but poor baby had to adjust quickly since I was running the roads like crazy getting everything ready for the new villa between dropping off and picking up the other kids.. wild. I REALLY missed online shopping / here in UAE you have to do it old school style and go in and out of every store searching for something instead of checking online and either ordering it or going to the store you know the item is in stock. It takes a tremendous amount of time.

Daddy finally returned from the Netherlands just in time for the Father Daughter dance (Girl Scout event) and the next day we moved villas… Audrey lost her front tooth the night before the dance!

They had a blast at the dance (as you can see in the pictures)!

No rest for the weary, the very next morning was moving day. Thankfully labor is not very expensive here compared to the states so we paid a company to come in to pack us, move us and (somewhat) unpack us all in the same day. whew.

February was filled with lots of settling in to our new place, some more traveling for daddy, countless hours on the school playground, Girl Scout Camp out, more visits from the tooth fairy, and lots of cuddles with Julia. Each deserves it’s own posting.. but I’m trying to catch up here y’all!