Press 2 for English

**I've been attempting to make a post about Gavin's actual birthday, day, however, for whatever reason, I can't get any pictures to upload and I've tried for several days now.  Hence, why I haven't posted since Friday.  I will just post pone that one and will write about something else, just without pics, sorry.  Figures, half way through this post, I tried to see if pictures would upload and they would.  Enjoy.

Did you notice the title of my post?  Well, I had my first experience of feeling like a minority in this country, twice actually.  The first came when I called the hospital where I was scheduling an appointment with the chief of obstetrics for my 24 week appointment and upon calling was prompted to "press 2 for English".  I was caught off guard a little because I wasn't expecting to get that option, but I was extremely relieved to hear those words.  I was impressed with the voice on the other end once I got through to someone and I made sure to be very patient with her while giving her my name and contact information.

The second moment came when Brooks, Gavin, Micah, Stephanie, and I went out to dinner to celebrate Gavin's actual birthday.  The moment we walked into the restaurant, we were escorted to the Family Section- yes, the restaurants here are segregated based on gender.  If a woman is with a man, you must sit in the Family Section.  We went to one side of the restaurant, which is separated by a wall, and even went a step further and went into a small "room" that was separated from the rest of the restaurant with a curtain.  We kept our curtain opened since Stephanie and I don't mind anyone seeing our faces, but curtains or particians (spelling) are used to allow the Native women the opportunity to eat their meal, without their vail on and then no one sees their face.  Anyways.  the main part about this evening that made me realize we weren't in the states anymore was when it came time for us to leave.  Prayer time had started by then, and by law here, places of business are suppose to close or stop serving customers to adhere to prayer.  Many restaurants have curtains that they pull out to cover there front windows to "observe" prayer and they will close down (by putting up a sign saying closed for prayer outside), but business is still going on inside the restaurant.  Anyways, we needed to leave the restaurant, but prayer was going on, so we were escorted through the back of the restaurant, through the kitchen, and let out the back door.  Very, very interesting moment in my life.  That was a first.    Here's a pic of the sign at the front of the restaurant when we were leaving and you can see the curtains are pulled.  Sorry- forgot to turn my flash off.

There are many other situations/incidents that are a continued reminder to me that we are clear across the world and I thought you might find them interesting or just may be curious as to life here....

- a majority of all products in grocery stores are printed with one side in Arabic and the other in English-- thank goodness.  I'd have no idea what I would do if it was all in Arabic.  You'd be surprised how SOME of their packaging is a little different that it would be hard to tell what it was.  For instance, tortilla chips are found in a box that you are suppose to heat up in the oven upon serving.

- temperature is recorded in Celsius... so when you're told it's only 52 degrees outside, you think, hey, that's no big deal-- well, convert it and you quickly realize it's like 150 degrees.

- weight is recorded in kg (try ordering 1lb of turkey meat and the meat packer hears me say 1kg) Yikes!!

- I went shopping for an abaya last week and am now having a custom one made and fitted to my body.  Never in a million years would I have thought I would have walked into a store, searched a rack full of black "robes" and discussed with my husband which ones we found cute or liked more.   Plus, I didn't think I'd ever have something custom made for me, but somehow I never pictured it to be an abaya.

- It's HOT here!

- I was always told when we came here that everything is filtered through TV, books, magazines, etc.  Our TV is shown to us through some European satellite.  We get around 40 channels.  So far, I've watched the movie Fire Proof (unedited); HBO shows are broad casted (something called Big Love?!), and we get the "E!" channel-- you know, with shows like The Kardashians, Kendra, Holly's World... um, yea, we get all those shows, plus several movie channels that are, um, well.... not anything I thought we'd have.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying our TV is filled with all bad stuff, it's just not what I thought there would be on our TV.  There are lots of sitcoms, series, and "reality shows" like Project Runway and The Biggest Loser, however, they are all from several years back.  No biggie though.  We really haven't been spending a lot of time watching TV.

- NOW..... going into a store and looking at a magazine or a product on the shelves... it is VERY common to see women's bodies covered up, faces blocked out (sometimes), and even young girls covered...  Here are two things I found while in Toys R Us:

On our way back from Khobar yesterday, Stephanie and I witnessed a wreck just moments after it happened (this was our 2nd to see).  We were advised by our CIA representative never to look at the accidents, never to stop, never help, but just keep going.  I understand now why.  First off, Muslims believe everything is "insha'allah", which means God willing.  I'm not going to get into the meaning of that, but just know it is used ALL the time here and is part of their daily lives.  I'm not going to give you the details of the wreck I saw yesterday, because it was something you'd see out of a movie/tv show.  What I will say is people got out of their cars to stand by and watch, medical vehicles could not get to the scene of the accident because cars were 6 lanes across on a 3 lane highway and there was no shoulder or even off road for the "ambulance" to go.  It was, again, horrible.  I did take this one picture before coming up on the scene just to give a glimpse of the small amount of chaos that was going on.  Now, I did not realize the scene was going to be what it was, so I apologize if anyone feels this picture was not necessary or needed and that it was insensitive to take.  You can see the people starting to line up on the median from the other side of the freeway.  They literally just stopped their cars, pulled over, got out, and went to watch.  The people on the right side of the picture, out of their cars, were trying to move cars by so the ambulance could get through.  I will NEVER just "look" at a wreck again while I'm here.  I do not need those images in my head, ever!   

                                

Hope you all are doing well.  Do me a favor, next time you're in the grocery store or pull into Sonic during the middle of the day, be grateful!!  and think of us!!

Buzz Lightyear Party

Can you believe it???  It's already time for Gavin's 2nd birthday.  It is so hard to believe that 2 years ago we were patiently awaiting his arrival.   I remember that day like it was yesterday.  Technically, Gavin doesn't turn 2 until tomorrow, however, we celebrated his birthday a little early over here in The Kingdom since our weekends are on Thursdays and Fridays.  

We threw Gavin a pool party and invited families with young kids who we've been around the past few weeks.  The party was a blast and Gavin had a lot of fun.  I was soooo overwhelmed (in a good way) with the turn out for the party and was amazed with the generosity that was shown towards our family in celebrating Gavin's birthday.  Never, ever, ever in a million years did I expect to be able to throw a big birthday bash while we're living here, but yesterday changed my thoughts on that!  Thankfully, I thought ahead before we moved, and brought over a lot of party supplies with me.  I picked a Buzz Lightyear/Toy Story theme since that is what Gavin's been into lately and bought invitations, plates, napkins, goodie bags, toys, table cloths, and a banner that went with the theme.  I even ordered a custom made shirt for Gavin from Golden on Etsy.  Check her out on Facebook too.  She can make just about anything you want her to.  

I was able to make Gavin a birthday cake- thanks to my wonderful hubby who surprised me and put some cake supplies in our air shipment!  I ran into a little ordeal while making his cake, which I'll post about that later, so this was cake #2 that I started at 8pm the night before and finished around 2am.  I was happy with the way it turned out, given that the ENTIRE cake was made with butter cream (no fondant) and I hand piped it all, which I'm not real good at, but it all worked out.   

Since I made a white cake, I figured I'd whip together some chocolate cupcakes to try and have something that everyone liked.  Plus, I picked up Toy Story cupcake liners (you can't tell in the pic) as well as some cupcake toppers and I really wanted to use them.  The goodie bags were a perfect touch for the little kiddos and I had just enough for all of them.  

Having the party at the pool was a huge hit for Gavin.  He loves the water and swimming.

When we were done swimming, we went back into the "party room" for cake and presents.  We sang Happy Birthday to Gavin and tried getting him to blow out his candles, but he wasn't interested.  He got really shy when he realized everyone was looking at him during the song.  We cut the cake, ate some food, and hung out with everyone. 

Gavin got to open his presents while we still had everyone at the party. Brooks and I got him something from back home that we are giving to him on his actual birthday so last week, I went to Toys R Us in Khobar to buy Gavin some toys so he would have something to open at his party.   We just weren't thinking that other people would bring him gifts since they technically just met him, however, we were wrong.  Gavin was blessed abundantly with lots of cool, new toys that he absolutely loves.  He got lots of Buzz Lightyear toys, Toy Story items, a golf set, some BIG trucks, swimming toys, blocks and legos, and much, much more.  Our house looked like Christmas yesterday.  We let Gavin take everything out and play with it all day.  He had a blast.  Again, I can't say enough how shocked we were with all the gifts that were brought in and we are so grateful for great friends that we've made already.  

Gavin's last gift he got to open was from his Aunt Steph and Uncle Micah.  Stephanie and I picked it up in Khobar the other day and Gavin "tried it out" and LOVED it.  He wouldn't let it out of his sight.  We literally had to hide it in our house from him for a few days.  Needless to say, he was shocked when he opened up the suitcase and saw.....

 A new BIKE!!!! 

It was a huge hit and all the kids oooohhhh'd and aaaahhhhh'd over it.  

Overall, it was a fun birthday party filled with lots of memories and will definitely be a memorable one!  

Our New House

I have been asked numerous times by friends and family about our house on the compound; what it's like, what's in it, etc.  So I thought I'd take some pictures of it to show you all.  Now, these pics are only of the downstairs, I forgot to go take pictures upstairs before Brooks and Gavin went to bed.  I'll post those pictures later.  

Here is our villa from the backside.  This is the side of the villa that faces the beach.  Our villa is connected to 3 other villas.  We all have the same layout of our home and all of our furniture is the EXACT same.  The big joke when we walk into one another's villas is to say, "wow- I love what you've done with the place!"  I'm eagerly waiting for our sea shipment to get here with all of our belongings.  I'm thinking having all of our personal things will help make this place feel more like home.  

Here is the stairwell at the front of the house.  Gavin has finally learned to hold on to the rails and not to stick his head or any body parts through the holes.  He has also enjoyed getting to jump off the bottom step, it's his favorite part of the stairs.  You can see my abaya hanging on the end rail-- so I don't forget to take it with me when I'm leaving the house.

I included this picture just because Brooks and Gavin were in it.  There's our front door and they are in the foyer.  

Here is our kitchen!  Check out those curtains-- you know you're jealous and wish you had those exact ones in your own kitchen.  We really do have a lot of storage space in our kitchen, which is great considering I packed and shipped over 85% off our kitchen back home.  I'm having to get use to the plug situation-- over here, everything is 220 voltage.  However, we had maintenance come in and convert plugs to 110, which is what we use in the states.  The only problem is, with every 110 plug, you need an adapter to fit your 110 plug.  Doesn't really make sense, but I'm always having to check and make sure I'm plugging the correct appliance into the correct plug.

This is our lovely dining room.  

The "siting area".

And the living room.

This is the downstairs bathroom.  The only reason why I took a picture of it was to show you the handy sprayer that is in ALL of our bathrooms and ALL the bathrooms located through out this city and country.  It seems to be a practice of theirs when going to the restroom.  Don't worry, we haven't used them, except for Gavin's first few days of learning NOT to push the button on it and getting himself soaked.  Just wait til I post a picture of the master bathroom-- it has something even "better" (totally sarcastic).

Downstairs, we also have a nook where on one side is our computer desk and the other side is our laundry closet.

Last but not least, here's Gavin hanging out in our home.  He is sooo cute!

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our downstairs.  I'll post more pictures later of the rest of the house for you.

Well, we did it!

Brooks and I took Gavin's pacifier away two nights ago.  We've been talking about it for weeks; no months but had decided we were going to wait until after the 14 hour plane ride we had to move over here.  I took Gavin to the dentist a few weeks before we left (did I ever post about that?) and the dentist suggested that we get rid of the pacifier ASAP.  It was obvious to him that Gavin's teeth were beginning to shift so we, too, felt it was important to discard of the paci immediately upon arrival to Saudi.  However, between getting situated with jet lag, moving Gavin into a big boy bed, and being in a new place I wasn't as eager to get rid of it.  I've really felt guilty that we've turned his whole life upside down (even though he has adjusted extremely well) and hated the idea that we were going to take away his favorite comfort item. Plus, Brooks and I have ALWAYS said that Gavin's pacifier would be gone by his 2nd birthday-- no matter what!!

I will say that he only got his pacifier when he sleeps and it has always stayed in his bed, so it's not like we had to break him from using it all day.

So I had been thinking about how we were going to get rid of it and when the best time would be, but couldn't figure it all out-- all I knew was Gavin's 2nd birthday was coming up and fast.  I kept thinking of all these excuses and reasons why certain ways wouldn't work, etc, which was keeping me from getting serious about this whole thing.  I did know one thing... whenever I was going to start the process, I was going to do it over the weekend when Brooks was here so I could have some support.  Not to mention, Gavin knows how to "manipulate" me emotionally and Brooks is always able to help steer Gavin away from being emotional and tries teaching him to be practical.  Well, our weekends over here are Thursdays and Fridays and last weekend came up on me fast.  Brooks was exhausted and just wanted to relax on Thursday, so I never even mentioned anything to him about trying to get rid of the paci.  Friday, we were a little busy and were out and about throughout the day so I didn't bother bringing it up for nap time.

Then, Friday evening comes around.  We're done eating dinner, Gavin's had his bath, we're winding down, and it's time to put Gavin down for bed.  Brooks and I are literally walking Gavin upstairs and I say, "hey, why don't we take away Gavin's pacifier tonight?"  Brooks was willing and eager and jumped at the opportunity!  I, quickly, wished I wouldn't have said anything.   But, we had to think quick.  We knew that there was no way we could just hide his paci and just tell him it went away.  That would NOT have set well with him.  I mean, getting his paci is part of his night time routine.  So, before we made it to the top of the stairs we decided to cut the tip of his paci off, show it to him, let him try sucking on it, and tell him it was broken.  Then, we figured we'd let him throw it away and get to tell it bye bye.  It all worked!!  Gavin didn't want the pacifier since it was "broken"... he wanted to throw it in the trash himself... and he said, "bye pac" and walked back to his room and got back in bed.

Now, once he was in his bed, he had about 10 minutes of being confused.  He kept asking for his paci and we kept telling him it went bye bye.  At one point, he got out of his bed, walked us into the bathroom, showed us where the paci was, then walked back to his room again.  He seemed okay about everything up until we said our prayers and went to walk out of the room.  He started crying, which Gavin hasn't done when going to bed, since he was VERY young.  He stayed up for about 10 minutes crying out "mommy" and Brooks would go in there and very gently help calm him down.  He went to sleep pretty quickly.  

Gavin made it through yesterday and today's nap time as well as through the night last night as well.  I'm hoping he makes it through this transition quickly and easily.  He is still asking for his paci, but knows that it is broken and went away.  I will say that not having his pacifier has caused him to wake up EXTREMELY early in the mornings and wants to be out of his bed instead of staying in bed to get to keep his pacifier longer.  I guess I'm the one that has to start making a few adjustments.

I am excited, glad, and thankful that we ended up going forward with this process.  It will be better for him.  Plus, since we're making so many changes already as it is, why not add to the list.

Lots to Post About

Have you ever tried fixing something and it ends up messing up even more and then you can't get it back to the way you had it, so you're stuck redoing it completely?  Well, that happened to me with the blog.  I went to change one thing and lots of stuff changed, so I was forced to make even more changes, thus causing me to revamp A LOT.  I'm happy with the change though.  I've been annoyed with the way the past few posts were getting "posted"-- in different sizes, various spacing, etc so I wanted to add a little more room for my writing and also add space for more pictures where everything isn't on top of each other.  So please bare with me as I figure this all out.

Speaking of fixing things... we had 2 small mishaps in our home this past week!  The first one happened when I decided I needed to move some furniture, but since I'm pregnant and can't lift heavy items, I simply pushed a couch and ended up breaking the leg off.  Don't worry though- our compounds "carpenter" came out yesterday and fixed the leg within 10 minutes.  

The other mishap came when Gavin tried pushing himself away from the dining room table at dinner one night.  His chair lifted off the floor and snapped a leg right off.  We called for someone to come REPLACE the chair, but have no fear..... they super glued the leg back on and delivered it to our front door this morning.  Nice, huh?!?!  

We hosted our first dinner party the other night.  Okay, so it wasn't really a dinner party, but I did cook a big meal for 12 people.  It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed "hosting" again.  It's been a while for me and I realize how much I enjoy serving others.  I just can't wait for all of our stuff to get here in our sea shipment (mid September sometime) then I can really host a dinner, my style!  After dinner, a group of people hung out and we played a board game.  The game lasted around 3 hours, maybe more, but was enjoyable for everyone.  Brooks won so he didn't mind staying up "past" his bed time for the win!  

I've been doing a lot of grocery shopping since we've been here.  Mainly because during Ramadan, grocery stores are the only stores open during the mornings and because I'm constantly searching for certain items that I can't seem to find in the stores I'm going into.  I'm already over not being able to find everything that's on my list, but I was a little caught off guard when I saw this sign in the meat section.  Talk about an interesting find.  I don't think I'll be purchasing this anytime soon.  

When Brooks got here over a month ago, he decided to start a basketball night with the guys he works with.  Every Tuesday a group gets together in the evenings and plays ball together.  Brooks has always loved basketball and we have a large court on our compound.  Gavin and I stopped by the game the other evening to watch Brooks play.  I realize this picture is blurry, sorry, Brooks is the one in the white shirt with his hand covering his face.  

Before I go, I wanted to make sure and wish a very special little boy a very Happy 4th Birthday!  Cade, we love you and miss you bunches.  Try and eat lots of birthday cake today, if you can.  Gavin misses you and asks for you almost everyday.  Hope you are getting to play with your Buzz Lightyear toy!  

  

Many forms of Entertainment

While we're here, we're attempting to have some kind of fun.  However, it is sooooooooo HOT here (again, not complaining just stating a fact) that I'm searching for creative ways for Gavin to have some form of entertainment.  Since our TV wasn't hooked up, Gavin wasn't able to watch cartoons, so one morning for breakfast I got on PBS.org and found Gavin's favorite cartoon, Dinosaur Train online so he could have something from home.  He loved it as you can tell. 

We sent over a few of Gavin's toys, but I think he's already bored with them so he'd rather play with his toy hamper.  At least it brought some excitement for him.  

Stephanie, Cherie, her little boy, and Gavin and I decided to brave ourselves and we headed out to Khobar yesterday, in the middle of Ramadan.  Our first stop was a mega grocery store called LuLu's.  To my family-- I didn't know if you'd believe me or not so I took a picture of the store's sign.  

As soon as we got there, we found some grocery carts that had cars attached to them.  We knew we were going to be spending a lot of time in the store, and we were very concerned with keeping Gavin and Tucker entertained so these worked GREAT.  Since they are under the age of 10 they were allowed to eat in public, but we still kept their snacking discreet.  Since I'm pregnant, I am allowed to eat too, but I was very nervous so I would take VERY small bites of a granola bar while pretending I was covering my mouth to cough-- how pathetic is that??  Anyways, Gavin and Tucker had a grand ole' time in their shopping carts and would honk their horns, call out to each other, and give high fives when they passed each other.  

On a side note-- I found goldfish, stuffed tortellini pasta, and nestle toll house cookies.  I was VERY excited after that trip.  I'm still searching for dryer sheets, sunscreen, and swim diapers though.    

After our grocery shopping trip, we had a few minutes before prayer time (which stores close during prayer time), so we rushed to IKEA- yes, there is an IKEA.  The beauty of US stores (and some local stores), if you are in the store before prayer time is called, you are allowed to stay in the store and shop, however you have to wait until prayer time is over to check out.  We were searching for a few items and ran across these CUTE, CUTE, CUTE kiddie size shopping carts.  Gavin and Tucker went to town with these buggies.  The best part about these carts was the long handle (you can see it in the pic) that is used for the adult to grab on to when your child is about to run right into a LARGE display of glass vases.  

Gavin and Tucker raced each other through the aisles.  

I've been asked a lot of times by family and friends at home if I've worn my abaya since I've been here and yes, I have.  I wear it every time we go out of the compound.  It hasn't been that big of a deal. I try very hard not to trip on it and Gavin likes the way it feels so he rubs it between his fingers.  Here's a picture of me walking through IKEA wearing it.  It's not the best pic of showing me wearing it, but you get the picture.  

Gavin and Tucker are having a lot of fun.  They play great together, chase each other, and goof off a lot.   I'm grateful Gavin has a buddy to hangout with.  Last night, Tucker and his mommy came over for dinner while our husbands went to an Iftar Party (where Muslims celebrating Ramadan get to eat their first meal at dusk time).  We gave the boys spaghetti, hence the no shirt zone, but there wasn't much eating going on, but a whole lot of playing!  As you can see, they were being very silly!  

Did you know???

Did you know even when you move to a foreign country on the other side of the world, life still goes on?  Whether you want it to or not, it has to.  Not to mention the fact that if you have a 2 year old with you, it forces you to make life fun, interesting, and worth while for them.  

Here are some pictures from our first week here in Saudi.  As I mentioned in my previous post, Ramadan is going on here, which requires us to "tweak" our lives a little bit to adhere to the rules/regulations of Ramadan.  When Ramadan is over (in a month) we will be able to gain a "real" experience of life in Saudi.  For now, we generally make one trip a day (in the mornings) and spend the rest of our time on the compound hanging out with other people, swimming, cooking dinners, as well as normal house stuff.

Did you know we moved Gavin into a big boy bed? Here he is sleeping in it!  He has rocked this whole transition and has yet to get out of his bed once!  Woohoo!  I can't wait for his bedding to get in and turn his room into a shrine of boats, trains, and trucks.    

Did you know there is a lack of motivation when it comes to unpacking suitcases?  As of late last night, our suitcases were still opened, filled, and sitting in the middle of the floor.  It doesn't help when you don't have people in your home, going upstairs.  It kinda takes away any desires to get things in there place.  However, I was tired of walking over them so I'm happy to say all our bags are empty, we combined several of them into one, and they are ready to be pushed into a corner to sit for quite some time.

Did you know it is possible to have this type of view directly over looking a beach and never once want to go outside to enjoy it?  Okay, not really, but it is extremely HOT here (that's not a complaint, but a fact).  Our days have been messed up with our sleeping (until now-- HIP HIP HOORAY for us, we all three slept through the night last night... Jet Lag is OVER, baby), so we've been taking naps during the day and not really making it outside to the beach.  We are planning on going out there one evening after dinner to play while it's "cool".  By the way, this picture is taken from our balcony. 

Did you know you can find pancake mix, syrup, eggs, and milk in a foreign country to eat for breakfast?  We even found Gavin's Nesquik powder mix for his milk.  Here's a pic from the breakfast I told you about in my previous post. 

Did you know it is possible to have fun while living in a foreign country, away from family, close friends, your home, and your "normal" life.  We have hooked up with all the "young" couples living on the compound, including our besties from the states, the Sperling's.  There are 10 of us plus 2 little (almost) 2 year olds and we've kind of been attached at the hip the last few days and nights in some why.  The other day we all went to the pool and swam.  It was a lot of fun and as you can see, the girls all flocked together and visited on one side of the pool while the guys... well... 

... they had cannon ball contests to see who could make the biggest splashes.  It was quite entertaining to watch.  The guys took turns judging and jumping.  An even more entertaining moment came when they decided to dive into the pool and see who could hold their breathe underwater and swim to the opposite end of the pool.  It seems guys always need some kind of competition in their lives.  So be it!  I'm glad they got to "play" that afternoon. Gavin enjoyed the pool, too.  I just wish we would have put his floaties in our air shipment.  Now, we have to wait at least another month til they get here.  For now, Brooks and I are just taking turns holding him in the water.  There is a baby pool, but it's a little too deep for Gavin and he had some difficulty standing on his toes to keep his head above water the whole time he was in there.  

Did you know regardless of where you live your child still has the capabilities of getting hurt?  Check out his lip..  This was literally 10 minutes after he fell, he knocked himself out from crying so much.  His lip is feeling much better and the swelling has gone away completely.  

Did you know it's possible to throw a dinner together with 8 people in a matter of an hour?  Our friends, The Railey's (who both graduated from LSU--- GEAUX TIGERS !) invited everyone over for a mini BBQ.  We each brought our own meat to grill and pitched in with the sides for a delicious meal and great time of fellowship.  (Sorry, I caught everyone off guard in this pic)

Did you know it is completely and 100% possible to "lose" your child in a home that looks EXACTLY like your own and not know where he's at?  Well, that happened to us, for only 20 seconds, but still.  Brooks went to the restroom and Gavin followed behind him.  Everyone else was sitting at the dinner table when I realized Gavin had gotten very quiet.  I just assumed he had gone into the bathroom with Brooks.  For some reason, I decided to get up from the table and go check.  Gavin was not in the one and only room he had to have been in for where he had walked towards in that part of the house.  Needless to say I began calling his name and he wasn't answering.  I ran up the stairs, no Gavin, then ran back down stairs checked again with Brooks to make sure Gavin wasn't with him.  I looked behind a plant, water cooler, curtain... no Gavin.  All of a sudden I heard giggles coming from under the sink.  Gavin had climbed into their cabinets, closed the door, and managed to be incredibly still and quiet for a short time.  I went and got the camera real fast, once I knew he was safe, and snapped this pic!  

Did you know that sand makes everything dirty? This picture was taken on our first night here.  Brooks took Gavin outside on the back porch with him and here is what his feet looked like after only 3 minutes.  Gross!  This has caused a huge conversation back and forth of us hiring cleaners for the outside of the house AND maids for the inside.  However, this is still up for discussion-- I'll let you know the outcome soon. 

Did you know it is possible to filter water so much that there is absolutely NOTHING in it?  That is what they've done with the water in Saudi.  It is 100% drinkable and can't really harm you, however it has been stripped of ALL its nutrients and minerals.  It has NOTHING in it.  I didn't realize this at first but became aware of it after days of drinking NOTHING but water to help keep my body hydrated (and for the baby).  Now, we just put Tang or tea in our water to help it gain some nutritional value.  Brooks and I are talking about purchasing a water filter/cooling system since we can purchase the large gallons of water at our compound store for $2, plus, the workers will deliver them to your house and replace the empty jugs. 

On another note, that doesn't go along with my "did you know" theme... this morning Gavin and I had to go to a medical center to have some blood work done as well as an X-ray (for Gavin).  Apparently, even though we did 4 hours of extensive medical work back in the states to get over here, Saudi wants to make sure the US didn't alter any information regarding our health and so they check for themselves.  I took a picture of the facility we went to, but then realized I caught the sign of the place.  For security purposes, I can't upload the picture, however, let me just say this.... Brooks assured me MULTIPLE times before getting there that in no way shape or form would this place resemble any kind of hospital or medical place that we would go to for any kind of baby appointment or for medical care for myself while pregnant or post pregnancy.  That is all I'm going to say about that.  I MADE the people let me lay down in a "bed", which they had to go find a roll of the tissue paper to cover the bed.  You know, the roll that is attached to a majority of examining tables in the US.  Anyways, everything went well.  Brooks went into the X-ray room with him since I couldn't and he was not interested in being in there with all those machines.  He screamed his head off, but let them "take a picture" of him, and he walked out and asked for a lollipop.  

I need to run.  In order to keep Gavin occupied inside with very few toys, and to allow me time to write this post, I allowed him to dump 3 packs of paper out on the floor, empty out his drawer in the kitchen, as well as play with a bag of straws.  Now, it's clean up time.