11 months- what is happening?

Oh where oh where has the time gone?  Is our little man really 11 months old and about to celebrate his first birthday?  This is crazy.  By far, I must say this has been the fastest year of our lives.  It has been such a joy to watch Miles grow up and come into his personality.  He is a lot of fun and makes us laugh all the time.  We think he's really cute, which makes it tough sometimes when we're teaching him not to climb on the Christmas Tree or pull cords out of wall sockets.  

Miles is enjoying his life these days and lets us know his opinion and preferences on a daily basis.  He has started doing away with his bottles on his own... we're lucky if we can get him to take 4 to 6 oz at a time and he won't dare let you attempt to give him more then 3 bottles in one day.  He will eat some baby food, but prefers table food-- only problem is he's being very picky right now with his choices.  He doesn't like turkey or cheese, will only take a few bites of vegetables before deciding he's done with them, and hasn't been showing any conistency with his food preferences- sometimes he'll eat rice, other times he won't.  He will drink a sippy cup filled with water during meals, though... YAY!  He loves carbs, of course and his favorite food is spaghetti.  He actually prefers ground beef over chicken, something Gavin never would have done.  I'm having to remember Miles will have his own likes and dislikes and I can start over with attempting new foods versus sticking to the set foods Gavin would eat.  

We've always seen that Miles was on the adventerous side and acts like very little bothers him.  He doesn't mind pushing people out of the way to get what he wants.  He still climbs on EVERYTHING and is pretty fearless.  He enjoys being swung around in the air, hung upside down, or just plain thrown around.  He giggles a lot and doesn't mind Gavin rough housing with him (sometimes he's not in the mood).   He loves exploring new things and has to figure out how things work and what they're for.  He doesn't mind crawling through dog doors or climbing into cabinets!  That stuff is fun for him.  He's very much into what other kids are doing and it's been difficult at times to make him realize that he's much younger and maybe not ready for pulling a wagon or hitting golf balls.  However, he does try so you have to give him some credit!  

Miles started walking this month!  Woo hoo!  He's been trying and toying with the idea since we went to the states before Thanksgiving, but never could get his feet to move fast enough before falling down.  Then, one day, he decided to stand up and walk and hasn't stopped.  December 15th was the day he realized he didn't have to crawl anymore and he took off.  It's been very nice and has given me a nice little break being 33 weeks pregnant and not having to carry him around everywhere.  He loves following Gavin around the house and is really enjoying this new found freedom.  He's really good and actually prefers to hold and carry toys and such when he's walking. 

 Here's a small video that shows his skills!

                       

Miles you are a true joy to have in our lives.  Mommy and Daddy love you very much!  

GEAUX Tigers

I grew up going to LSU Football games.  Ever since I can remember, our weekends were filled with traveling to Baton Rouge to cheer on the Tigers.  As a student at LSU, I rarely missed a game, too.  It's always been something my family did together-- tailgating, eating, throwing the football, etc.  When Brooks came along he kinda wasn't given a choice... it was a requirement to like LSU football and cheer for the Tigers.  He quickly adjusted to his new calling and has been a fan of LSU ever since.   

So when the opportunity came to take Brooks Gavin to a game while we were in the states, we jumped on it.  Brooks really wanted to go to a game since it's been nearly two years since we've been and we are always looking for new experiences to give Gavin so it just worked out perfectly.  

Thanksgiving night we loaded the kids up in the car and headed to Baton Rouge.  We spent the night so we wouldn't have to fight traffic the day after Thanksgiving trying to get into BR.  Brooks and I decided it probably wouldn't be the best idea to bring Miles to a stadium filled with over 90,000 screaming fans and his only option would be to sit on our laps for nearly 4 hours.  Instead, one of my sister in law's, sister, who lives in BR graciously offered to keep Miles for us while we were at the game.  

Before we left our hotel Friday morning, we got some pictures of the boys in their tiger paw print shirts my sister in law made.  I'm still waiting and hoping for a decent picture some day of all 4 of us.  The game was early in the day, so my family decided not to tailgate, instead we went to a local restaurant to eat and hang out before the big game.  My brother- Kyle, SIL- Liz, and my 4 year old niece, Neve met us Friday morning in BR and it was our first time to see them since we got into the USA.  Gavin and Neve were pretty excited to see each other and loved having a friend to play with.  

After eating lunch we headed to Tiger Stadium, where Brooks and Gavin worked on selling 1 of our tickets.  They succeeded!  Gavin got to play around the same oak tree my brothers and I use to play around and where our family has lots of memories at.  Gavin took all the excitement in and was intrigued by everyone and everything.  Last year, for Christmas, my parents gave him a few LSU children's books, which we've been reading the past few weeks to introduce him to Tiger Traditions, LSU icons, etc so he pretty much knew what was going on, looked for the band, wanted to see Mike the Tiger, and watch a football game.  I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty exciting bringing my son into Tiger Stadium for the first time and watching his face as he took everything in.

 

The game was a blast.  Our seats were a few rows up from my families seats, but that didn't stop Gavin from hanging with Captain and Kimmie (and Neve) during pregame.  Gavin loved watching the football players run around the field and even cheered with us throughout the game.  He learned a few chants on the way to the game that kept him entertained when everyone else started yelling them.  We fed Gavin from the start of the game til it was over-- hey, whatever keeps a 3 year old happy in that environment.  He got a hot dog, skittles, popcorn, sprite, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and maybe a few more snacks I had hidden in my purse!  

When the game ended and we had beat Arkansas, we headed back to the car to attempt to beat traffic.  On our way, we passed Mike the Tigers cage and there he was... right up against the fence.  Gavin got to see the tiger and roar at him.  He was so excited and talked about it for hours!!  It was a perfect moment!!

We picked Miles up after the game and headed back to our hotel to get cleaned up before going to dinner with my family (forgot my camera).  After a goods night rest, we had breakfast at a local coffee shop that sales DELICIOUS beignets.  Brooklyn really needed some so we had to go.  Plus, we wanted Gavin to taste a different type of "donut" as he called it.  We left full and satisfied!!
 

We couldn't leave Baton Rouge without doing some Christmas shopping so I took advantage of being in one place and getting multiple things done-- including visiting with a longtime camp friend, Kaitlyn.  We were counselors at Brookhill together, went to LSU together and took weight training with each other, and even lived next door to one another while we were living in BR.  I miss seeing her so it was great catching up.  Not to mention, we're both pregnant with girls, after each having 2 boys!  Kaitlyn is going to welcome her sweet girl anytime in the next 3 weeks!  Woo hoo!

Incase you're wondering-- it is totally possible to shop and hang out with 4 kids under the age of 3 in the Dillards kids' shoe department.  There are lots of displays for them to climb on and keep themselves entertained as well as racks of clothes to hide under!  Hey, whatever it takes to get some mommy time in, right?!?!

We loved BR and going to an LSU game and can't wait for the Tigers to play in the Championship game!  GEAUX TIGERS!!  

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  We have so much to be thankful for and were truly counting all our blessings this year.  We enjoyed spending the day with family members from each side of my extended family, ate some delicious food, played outside, and had a relaxing, fun day!!  

Hope you and your family had a blessed Thanksgiving Day!  

Colorado- where it's COLD outside

After we flew to Colorado in the early morning,  we hit the ground running.  Our first stop... Starbucks so we could enjoy our favorite specialty coffee drink (and to help keep us awake throughout the day).  We then headed to the movie theater to fill our morning up with a movie for Gavin to enjoy.  We saw Puss & Boots, which Gavin quickly became attached to the cat who wears a hat, boots, & has a sword.  The moment we arrived at Pawpaw & Gammy's house, Gavin found some boots and a sword and didn't take them off the entire time we were there.  Miles slept throughout the entire movie-- perfect timing for his nap- he didn't make a peep.

It took us the entire visit (5 days) to recuperate from jetlag.  This jetlag experience wasn't nearly as bad as the round this summer, but mainly because Brooks was here with us and a HUGE help-- not to mention we each could take turns with one kid at a time during the night.  The boys would normally wake up around 2am or 3am and we would let them play quietly in our bed for a while and wait until a more appropriate time to whisk them out of the house (to keep them from waking anyone else up during the night) and we would head to Walmart, drive around town, pick up Starbucks, and then we always ended at McDonald's when it opened to let the kids play on the playground & eat breakfast until we could head back to Brooks' dads house around 8am.  The boys truly did GREAT handling jetlag throughout our trip and really never let it affect them regarding their behaviors.  They went with the flow, were very adaptable, and would just fall asleep wherever we were, whatever we were doing.  The hardest part would be waking everyone up after their afternoon naps- that was tough, but we always managed to get out and about in the evening to help keep everyone awake!  

We didn't let jetlag affect any of our time in Colorado and spent the entire visit having fun.  We took Gavin lots of different places to get new experiences and to get to be a kid!  Our second stop of the trip was the Colorado Train & Railroad Museum.  You all know Gavin LOVES trains and he thought he was in heaven.  There were trains EVERYWHERE.  He got to ride on a real train and go around on train tracks, he climbed into every type of train there is and pressed all kinds of buttons, pulled on levers, found the trains whistles, opened windows, etc.  If it was on the train... he found it, touched it, opened it, looked at it, used it.  Everything!  It was awesome!  You never would have known it was cold outside because of how much he was running around having fun.  We're so glad we took him to gain this experience.  He talked about the trains for days!!!  

 

  

 We also spent some time visiting Brooks' grandparents, who are both now in nursing homes.  This was a huge blessing for us and we were so grateful they both got to meet Miles for the first time.  We've skyped with them since he was born,  but they actually got to hold him and love on him, and on Gavin.

 

Gavin got to open a few early Christmas presents.  The rest will greet him in Saudi once we get back. He loves his new batman watch and the Cars 2 movie!  Thanks Pawpaw and Gammy.

Before our trip ended, we headed to the Denver Children's Museum to let Gavin explore, run around, play, and be a kid!  He loved it.  There was so much to do and each one of us adults took a turn in an area with him and it was perfect!  These are the types of things that living overseas, you really take for granted that you have this stuff available back home.  We miss these opportunities and are so thankful we can take advantage of them when we're home.  Gavin got to be a fireman, a painter, a scientist (he made bubbles- it was awesome), was a mouse in a forest, a veterinarian, a builder, shopped in a grocery store, played with trains, shot rockets, and more.  Miles even had some fun playing in the forest, watching a puppet show, and even wanted to be an animal at the vet hospital.  He literally climbed into one of the cages.  It was hilarious.  While Gavin was making and building his own helicopter out of recycled products, Juli and I took Miles down to the infant area and let him crawl around and play on things that were more his size.  He had a blast and took off the moment I put him down.  It was a perfect area for him and he had a ball.

 
 
 

We loved our time in Colorado and were so glad we could spend some time with Brooks' dad and Juli.  Brooks got to eat out at some of his favorite restaurants, we went to a few more movies... Breaking Dawn for me and some super hero movie for Brooks.  Movie Theaters-- something else we miss having in Saudi.  Juli and I spent an afternoon shopping here and there and just enjoyed visiting.  We went to a wedding shower for one of Juli's daughters, church- where we shared a little of our life in Saudi and what God's been doing, and had a family get together at an Indian Restaurant Brooks misses and always talks about.  It was great fun!

We also got to visit with some close friends as well who we only get to see once a year or once every two years.  We visited with Brooks' college friend, Brad, his wife Jolene and their 3 boys (including a newborn Nicholas who was only a few weeks old!  Precious).  Brad was in our wedding and was a big part of Brooks life during college and we just love getting to spend time with them.  They are a sweet, sweet family!   I'm so upset I forgot to take a picture with all of us at the local pizzeria eating.  The older boys got to go outside and play on a big statue/rock yard outside the restaurant and enjoyed playing together.  It was a perfect afternoon!

We also got to visit with Brooks' high school basketball coach who was a HUGE influence in Brooks' life and someone Brooks has always kept in touch with over the years.  They have two boys and a girl and we had a blast visiting and catching up with them at a local mall.  I want to be like his wife when I grow up-- she's so calm and relaxed with her kids.  It's amazing.  The kids got to ride a carousel and took a train ride around the mall (literally) while us adults caught up on what's going on in our lives!  It was great visiting and hearing all about their new adventures.  We miss seeing them, but are grateful for the time we had.  Once again, forgot to take a picture.

Colorado was great and we had a wonderful time spending time with family and friends!

Our next adventure... Lake Charles for Thanksgiving then off to Baton Rouge for the LSU Game.

We made it to the USA

To say the last few days have been a whirlwind would be an understatement.  I'm so grateful that in living the life as an expat, I've adapted to the idea that our lives have to consist of flexibility, willingness to go with the flow, accepting things may be tough, but ultimately in this season in our lives.... you just have to do what you have to do.  So, that's what we've bee doing.

Wednesday, November 16th 10:30pm:  Brooks and I zip up the last of 7 suitcases, 2 carryons, a diaper bag, and Gavin's backpack and set it all at our front door.

Thursday, November 17th 1:35am: wake up, NOT TO AN ALARM, realize we were suppose to leave for the airport 35 minutes ago and frantically jump out of bed, load the boys, their car seats, and all our luggage in the car waiting outside our house and take off to the airport (around 1:42am).

We arrived at the Damman airport around 3:15am, get checked in, go to the restrooms, and wait in the customs line for what seemed FOREVER.  Made it through customs after I jumped into a line I wasn't suppose to and hoped and prayed the man would have mercy on us traveling with little kids.  He did, even though he didn't want to.  We made it to the business lounge (just a small perk of flying internationally so many times) took a break, got situated, then boarded our plane to Doha around 5:25am.

We landed in Doha, Qatar at 6:30am.  Both the boys did great on that one hour flight and were easy to entertain.  We weren't really worried about that flight- considering we had a 16 hour flight a head of us.  We found a stroller in the Doha airport, loaded Miles and some of our bags and took off for the Silver Lounge to grab some breakfast, use clean restrooms, regroup, then off we went to the playground to let the boys run around and play!  We love the playground at Doha.  It's perfect for the boys and just what they need.  Plus, it gave Brooks and I the chance to not entertain the boys for a little while.  We were going to have plenty of that on board our next flight!

About 8:20am we headed to board our flight from Doha to Houston.  Since Miles is under one years old and considered an infant, we get bulk head seats which allow for more leg room and an area to attach a baby bassinet to the wall so he can sleep, not in our arms.  We boarded our flight and were on our way to the USA at 9:00am.  Keep in mind at this point, we had all been awake the entire night-- so sleeping is allowed for anyone until we board the long flight.  It's just a rule we have hoping it will help everyone sleep longer and better on the flight.

Our 16 hour flight went GREAT.  The boys did amazing.  We let them move around in the emergency exit area when flight attendants weren't around.  Gavin watched movies and took a nap on the floor below mine and Brooks' feet.  Miles napped, ate, played, crawled around and was entertained.  There were only 2 rounds of restlessness where both boys were awake and Brooks and I were doing everything we could to keep them calm, entertained, and just happy.  Since I'm pregnant and have a little more freedom to walk around and be up more often that helped a ton with the boys.  It gave us more reasons and excuses to be up and about.  I loved getting to travel with Brooks.  He just makes things easier and keeps me calm-- not that my friend Steph who I've been traveling with the last few trips doesn't make things easier, but the boys just love having their daddy around and he always knows just what to do!!

Thursday, November 17th 3:35pm we landed in Houston!  WOO HOO!!  We made it through customs and got all of our baggage by 4:30pm. We were welcomed by my mom who was patiently awaiting our arrival and was greeted by two very excited little boys ready to see her.  My brother Bryan, sister in law Anna, and their two kids David and Audrey also came to see us!  It was a sweet moment and we were so thankful to have made it home.

6:00pm (after being awake nearly 24 hours) we made it to Lupe Tortiallas and had a delcious mexican meal filled with queso, chips and salsa, and fajitas.  YUMMY.  You just have no idea how much you can miss Mexican food.

9:15pm we arrived at the Holiday Inn Hotel near Hobby airport where we repacked some of our luggage, got the boys ready for bed and took a short 5 hour "nap" before leaving the hotel at 4:30am to head to Hobby Airport.

Friday, November 18th, 4:45am- arrive at Hobby Airport, check in to our flight and head to Denver, Colorado.

8:15am- arrive in Denver, Colorado to spend 5 days with Brooks' dad Geary and his wife Juli.

Whew.  Long trip, but totally worth it!  See you all soon!

Dress Up at School

Gavin's been learning about animals for the past month at school.  His class had a farm animal theme and jungle animals theme.  Every Wednesday they have show and tell and he was able to bring in his favorite farm animal- a horse and his favorite jungle animal- a monkey.  Last Wednesday was dress up like an animal day for Show and Tell.  We did not have any kind of animal outfit and I didn't have time to order one and ship it to us in time.  So, I decided I would dress him up in his only tshirt that had the picture of an animal on it and I fought terrible that he wasn't going to fully participate in dressing up like I would have wanted him to.  His friend, Devin's mom didn't have an outfit for Devin either so we just accepted that it wasn't going to work out this go around for our boys.

As we were walking out the door to load up in the car, I remembered that we had some animal towels upstairs in the boys bathrooms.  I ran upstairs and grabbed two- one lion and one monkey.  I quickly gave them to the boys (Gavin and Devin) and told them this was their show and tell dress up.  They loved it and Letty and I felt some kind of relief that our boys would be dressed up as something.  The boys were ecstatic the entire ride to school and were so proud of their "outfits".  They were pretty cute.  Letty and I actually figured there would hardly be many kids dressed up due to the limited availability of dress up clothes around Saudi.  Well... we were wrong on that one.  Had I not found those animal towels, our boys would have been 2 of 6 kids out of 37 not dressed up.  EVERYONE had a costume and a real costume.. not fake or made up.. we're talking two & three piece outfits.  Some kids even had make up on their faces for whiskers and all. Oh well, thankfully Gavin was dressed up in something and loved it.