Miles First Birthday

Happy 1st Birthday to our little man Miles Lee!!  

Miles turned one on December 30th and we had a sweet, family fun filled celebration. None of our friends are here right now, so we're waiting a few more weeks to have his first birthday party, but Brooks and I still wanted to make some special memories for Miles on his actual day.  The morning began with us waking Miles up by singing Happy Birthday to him.  Gavin was super excited it was Miles birthday... he knew that meant cake!!  

 

Miles birthday present was waiting for him downstairs and he was extremely excited to get his very own chair, just like his big brother.  I'm so grateful back in April, I thought about this gift and worked it out to be shipped over here with one of Brooks' coworkers shipment.  Now, both our boys can enjoy their own chairs!

  

 

We made homemade donuts for breakfast and Miles ate them up.  We went to the park after naps and let the boys play and run around.  They loved it.  Miles got to slide and climb and chase after his big brother and just giggled the whole time.  It was a great little family outing.

How come pictures with daddy ALWAYS come out good?!?! 

We went to dinner at Applebee's then came home to enjoy some cupcakes... I baked a small smash cake, but then a neighbor brought us a few cupcakes so I decided to use the cupcakes for this occasion and save the other cake for his party.  Either way, Miles was not disappointed.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE his face in the picture below... he knows what he was getting and couldn't wait for a bite!  Miles devoured his cupcake and was even willing to share some with Gavin.

Happy 1st Birthday Miles.  We have enjoyed watching you grow up this past year.  You bring so much joy into our lives and we can't wait to see what the future holds for you.  Keep smiling little bit!  We love you!

A Merry Saudi Christmas

Brooks, the boys, and I celebrated Christmas a few days early this year since Brooks had to work on Christmas day (Sundays are not our weekends).  I was determined to make it feel and seem as much as Christmas day as possible so Brooks and I worked really hard the two days after we arrived in Saudi to get the house put together, wrapped presents (thank goodness we shipped some gifts during the beginning of our trip to the USA-- it all made it here in time) grocery shopped, etc.  We picked out two big gifts before we ever left Saudi back in November and had them hidden at some friends house.  Brooks spent a few hours last Thursday working on building all the gifts and putting them together.  Check out the video down below of the boys getting their big gifts!  *Make sure to pause my music so you can hear Gavin's reactions!

On our "fake" Christmas Eve we watched Home Alone then before going to bed, Gavin put milk and cookies out for Santa (a tradition someone has been looking forward to and  LOVES).  He also told Zippy, our elf, goodbye since that was the last time he was going to see him!  When the boys woke up around 2:00am (again, jetlag) we watched The Polar Express movie to keep us in the Christmas spirit- and to force Gavin to stay upstairs in his room since Santa had already come.  

When we woke up, Gavin was pretty excited and anxious to get downstairs.  Until he got downstairs.  Then, he was grumpy, started whining, wouldn't speak or get off the couch.  UGH.  Eventually, he got over it, had a few bites of Chocolate chip Banana Bread I had prepared the day before so I wouldn't be spending our Christmas morning in the kitchen, and was ready to open some presents.  Pawpaw and Gammy (Brooks' dad and his wife Juli) mailed us our presents so we started out opening the gifts from them.  Customs was nice and left them wrapped in the boxes they were shipped in so I slipped them under the tree the night before. Then, my parents shipped a few items for the boys to have once they got to Saudi, which was a huge hit!  We then let the boys open presents from Santa.  Gavin loved all his gifts and couldn't handle which one to play with first.  At one point, he had them all in his hands.  Miles enjoyed unwrapping his presents, but was more into the wrapping paper and eating it then the actual gift inside.  Luckily, we were smart to have all the batteries and screwdrivers we needed to insert into the toys immediately to make playing with them more enjoyable!  Miles checked his toys out from every angle and really worked on figuring out how they work!  He was cute!  

Brooks and I opened our presents to one another before revealing Santa's big presents to the boys.  I will say... it is a million times easier getting one another gifts when you were just in the states days before.  We both were excited about our gifts and have been enjoying them very much.

I made Brooks a photo book from our vacation to Dubai on shutterfly.  He was touched and loves having the memories where he can see them and not just on facebook!

Before we moved to Saudi, I was collecting Willow Tree Angels, but didn't bring any of them with me (something I have regretted from day one) so he surprised me with one of a mother and her daughter.  Yes, I teared up a little reading its name.

Brooks got new hair clippers and trimmers... of course, now that he started going to a local barber after a year of cutting his own hair. Go figure!

Back in October at our Bazaar, we found a silk rug that we both fell in love with.  It's our goal to get a few of these before we move back since the prices are so good on them over here (even though they are still expensive).  We purchased the rug in October and have had it in our house and LOVE it!  He wrapped it up for me since I "persuaded him" to get the rug and told him it could be a Christmas present.  Too funny!  I also got some pans for making donuts and a cute fleur de lis bracelet.
  

Next, it was time for presents from Santa.  We're kinda running out of space inside our house so we decided toys and entertainment for outside would be the perfect gift!

The boys were excited and loved them!!

For actual Christmas day, Brooks had to work, so the boys and I spent the morning playing with their toys, then I spent the afternoon taking down all of our Christmas decorations.  It was a little depressing kind of day... just not the same, but that evening we went to our compounds restaurant and had dinner with 30 other people who are here and had a blast.  It actually felt like Christmas.  After dinner all the families with kids put on a sing a long and everyone was invited to attend.  The kids gave individual performances show casing some of their talent, too.  It was a fun evening and once again, we experienced Christmas in Saudi, again!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours! 

In awe.

Without getting too serious with this post....

I was in awe and overwhelmed during our vacation with a special person in our lives.  Some people when going through a "hardship" would seek attention, or want pity, or mope, maybe even be bitter.  

Not Brandon.  

He is the exact opposite of all those things.  He deals with his sickness and keeps going.  He doesn't complain.  When he's sick; he's sick.  When he can eat; he'll eat.  He doesn't wine or gripe.  He's pleasurable to be around and is always making sure YOU'RE doing okay. 

It's hard to watch someone you love fight such a tough battle.  

Brandon amazes us with his strength and courage.  He presses on every day to live his life in the fullest way possible and is determined to not let this cancer get the best of him.  

We love him.  

We're praying for him.  

We believe in him.  

We're cheering for him.  

Keep up with Brandon's journey at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brandonnileperry

We're Back

Our visit to the states ended on Monday, December 19th and we headed back to the Land of Sand to celebrate Christmas and to make it back to the Kingdom before my ability to travel was forfeited.  

I can honestly say this was THE EASIEST 24 hour trip we've taken, in every aspect.  Logisitcs-- everything worked out.  We used up our entire luggage weight allotment for all 7 suitcases, packed our new double stroller into its travel bag, and successfully made it to Saudi with out anything being searched, taken, or confiscated-- woo hoo.  Physically- Brooks was with me this trip, which just makes traveling 1,000 times easier.  We click, know what needs to be done, we're understanding with each other, and we can easily navigate and control our 2 kids with few issues.  Emotionally-- as hard as it was to tell our families goodbye and knowing that it was going to be 6 months before we're back home in the states... I was sad- we all were.  However, we're you're away from your own routines, beds, home, stuff, etc- sometimes, you're just ready to get back and feel some normalcy.  Not to mention, knowing we HAD to go back at this point because I was already 33 weeks, was a bit of motivation for me to be "okay" with leaving.  

Flying back to Saudi is always a million times easier because we leave at night (around 8pm) so to the boys, it's their bed time.  They were both quick to go to sleep once we got them into their pajama's and after settling down they slept at least 6- 8 hours.  At one point, the seat belt sign came on so we were required to remove Miles from the baby bassinet that is attached to the wall, which caused him to wake up for a few hours between his nighttime sleep.  This was the hardest part and Brooks handled it all.  He let me sleep since I tend to get sick on the plane when I'm pregnant, but after 2 hours, Miles went back to sleep and Brooks was able to go to sleep.  Once the boys woke up, they played, ate some food, played some more and were pretty content.  Before we knew it we were arriving in Doha, Qatar.  

We let the boys play on the indoor playground and run off all their energy.  They had a blast and were extremely thankful for the freedom to go and do as they please.  Brooks and I got a little break, picked up some refreshments, and off we went to board our next flight.  

Our flight into Saudi never bothers us. It's fast and quick and at this point we're just thinking let's get there and be done traveling.  Well, when you're as far along in your pregnancy as I was... apparently, the airline has MANY restrictions and concerns and it was quite entertaining how many times we were stopped and questioned for my medical certificate with approval to fly, not to mention the numerous airline attendants who came and probed me in various ways.  Brooks and I were grateful for their concern, but we also thought it was entertaining... This flight lasted 50 minutes and you would have thought I was being admitted into the hospital with as much questioning was going on.  It wasn't a big deal to us... we just found it hilarious that NOT A SINGLE PERSON SPOKE TO ME ABOUT BEING PREGNANT on our flight from Houston to Doha, which lasted 16 hours.  Go figure, huh?!?!  

We arrived in Damman and got off of the plane as quickly as we could.  We never know what customs is going to be like and we're always eager to get their before the crowd, so we grabbed the boys and took off.  As soon as we got in line, Brooks pulled out our passports and we quickly realized one was missing.  We both kinda went into panic mode and he ran back to the plane to look for it.  10 minutes later he came running around the corner, while the boys and I were still waiting in line and thankfully, he had his passport with him, that he found in the overhead bend compartment.  Praise the Lord!  We maneuvered through a few lines before finding one that was going the fastest and made it through quickly.  We got all our bags, found our driver, and loaded up the car.  

As soon as made it home, Gavin took off into the house.  He wanted to see all of his toys.  He was so excited, he peed in his pants... okay, so he really didn't pee in his pants, but he couldn't wait to play with his toys that he walked away from the potty before he was done and got his pants all wet.  He played pant-less the whole time Brooks and I unloaded luggage and got settled in.  

It's been nice being back.  Spending Christmas here without family (my parents were here last year) and all our friends (most are all back in the states since they were all here last Christmas) was a little different.  We've been busy getting the house situated and reorganized.  We're having to plan for bringing Brooklyn home as well as adding more toys and gifts from Christmas into the house so it's been hectic trying to figure everything out as well as dealing with jetlag.  Thank goodness Brooks had last weekend off so he was home with us Thursday and Friday and helped out A TON.  He was able to help me out during the night with the boys, too.  Right now, both boys are waking up around 1am and staying awake until 4 or 5am.  Brooks is back at work so I do my best to let him sleep and I keep both boys in Gavin's room to play or watch a movie.  I'm hoping and praying we only have another day or two of needing to adjust to the time change.  I only let Miles take one nap during the day, to help him sleep at night and Gavin hasn't gotten to take a nap in the last 3 days... it's not working though.  At least, we're keeping ourselves busy.  

A few things before we left..

The night before we left for Saudi, and the same day we drove back from Arkansas, we celebrated Christmas with my family- our last Christmas celebration in the states.  It was an incredibly fun evening watching all the little kids squeal with excitement when opening their presents from Captain and Kimmie -- I think us adults enjoyed it just as much as they did.  My mom did a great job getting all the kids toys and fun gadgets that they'd enjoy and I ca honestly say there was never a dull moment that evening.

 

 

  

 

My brother Kyle was gracious to lend us his cooking skills and fixed a DELICIOUS, DELICIOUS dinner with homemade crab cakes and lobster bisque.  YUMMY.  After dinner, we had cake and cookies and celebrated Miles upcoming first birthday.  Miles was pretty excited when everyone started singing and he got giddy when he saw a cake.  I'm so grateful my family wanted to celebrate and be a part of Miles first birthday!  Fun memories!!