I will Never Say NEVER, again

I said.... I would NEVER move to Saudi Arabia.  

I would NEVER have kids back to back.

I would NEVER travel across country with little kids.  

I would NEVER-- yada yada yada.. you get the point.  

I also said I would NEVER, EVER, EVER fly with all 3 of my kids by myself.  

Well, NEVER.SAY.NEVER!

Brooks' had 4 weeks of vacation, but it did not fall over Christmas day.  I really didn't want to go back to Saudi three weeks before Gavin had to return to school, but Brooks and I agreed we didn't want to spend Christmas day apart and our little family not being together.  So... we both had to compromise a little.  He agreed to "let" me stay in the USA a week and a half longer then his vacation and I agreed to be back in Saudi Christmas morning.  We both got what we wanted-- I got to spend more time in the USA and he had his family on Christmas.  It really wasn't a bad scenario, except for the fact that NO ONE was flying back to Saudi the week of Christmas-- everyone was flying home to the USA.  So, I was left with a big decision... either only get a month in the states and travel with Brooks or fly back by myself with all 3 kids.  I chose the latter.  

It is amazing the things you are willing to go through just to have time in the USA.  I never in a million years thought I could do this by myself nor did I ever want to, but it was worth it to me.  For weeks leading up to the trip I just kept telling myself it's only 24 hours.  I can do anything for 24 hours.  I had accepted this was either going to be the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life and experience 24 hours of misery and suffer through it or it was going to be a great decision accompanied with a little hard work.  It ended up being great!  

For starters, my mom was a huge help in the airport.  I got us all checked in, then persuaded, begged, and pleaded with airport officials to give my mom a gate pass to accompany me through security to the gate only to be turned down multiple times, we sat at a deli, fed the kids dinner, changed their clothes, distributed benadryl, and visited before we were escorted through by a gate clerk.   It was extremely hard telling my mom goodbye and seeing her kiss my babies one last time, but we managed and did our little routine where we both attempt to not cry in front of the other one, only to look into each other's eyes and get lost in the tears.  It's always a tough moment.  

So, I did receive help and made it through security in one piece and we walked up to the gate at the end of boarding time.  It was perfect.  There was no line, we walked right up to the plane, and boarded.  The crew was extremely helpful and the kids were pretty excited about being on their way to see daddy.  Within 30 minutes of take off all the kids were asleep.   Awesome!  It was wonderful.  I ate my dinner then drifted off to sleep as much as I could before someone woke up.  The boys slept 9 1/2 hours.  Again... I say awesome!  The flight was only 14 1/2 hours so once they ate breakfast, watched a movie, played a little, we were done with that flight.  Brooklyn was a different story.  She wasn't as interested in sleeping as long and since I didn't give her benadryl, she didn't have any assistance in that department.  I had to take her out of the bassinet at some point due to turbulence and she never wanted to fall back asleep.  After 2 hours of struggling to put her back down, I pulled out my baby carrier and strapped her onto me and walked her up and down the aisles until she fell asleep.  This allowed her and I about 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep time.  For me, on a flight where I wasn't sure if I was going to sleep at all, it was great!  The kids all did really, really good.  I had help from the flight attendants when I needed to go to the restroom, or wash out bottles, or change diapers.  Someone was always willing to sit with my kids as well as take care of us.  We were continuously getting waited on with snacks, drinks, cookies, toys, and more!  Before I knew it, we were landing.  Many, many gentlemen offered assistance to get the kids off the plane for me along with our carry-ons and I took them up on it.  We boarded the bus that took us to the terminal and all that was left between us and home was a 55 minute flight.  Oh glorious!!

Well.. this is where the fun begins.  This stupid flight has a policy about certain car seats and they didn't want to let me on the plane with my car seat for Miles, but Miles and Brooklyn are under 2 (at the time), which means technically I have 2 infants who have to be strapped onto me for take off and landing, but it's against policy to have 2 infants in my lap so we went around and around and around.  I won that battle and was escorted onto the plane with security and administrators to verify that my child's FAA approved car seat does in fact fit on the plane, in the seat, and can be strapped appropriately.   Oh yea and to add to the fun Miles and Gavin's seats weren't near mine so I allowed the flight attendants to escort my two children to their seats only for them to realize they were being seated with someone other then their mother who was not interested in taking care of them during the flight.  Within minutes they came and asked me if I wanted my kids to sit with me.  Um. yes. please!  haha.  It was really funny watching them go through this, not to mention there was no way in the world I was going to allow the boys to sit anywhere but with me.  They then moved them to the row behind me, only to have the gentlemen seated in my row tell me he'd move back there and then told the next gentlemen who was assigned to my row that his new seat was next to him.  Great!  

In the end everything worked out, we made it through the flight, we got through customs within 15 minutes, found all 8 of our bags, and were reunited with Brooks!  It was not a bad trip at all and something that I would honestly do again, if needed, but only if I was traveling back to Saudi.  I would NEVER fly TO the USA with all 3 kids by myself.  That flight is much more difficult due to the time frame of flying along with the fact that it's almost 3 hours longer then the return flight.     

Oops.. I did it again.  I just said I would never.  

Here's a glimpse of a little jetlag once we got home.  

Christmas in Lake Charles

Our time in Lake Charles was short, but that didn't stop us from having fun!  

Our trip started off with my mom showing us the new playroom she made in her house.  She ended up taking down her 'attic/storage' room and setting up play areas for all the kids.  There was a doll area, a train table, riding toys, tool benches, arts and crafts table, and more.  It was perfect to send the kids upstairs and let them play in one area and know they couldn't mess anything up or get hurt.  We were even smart enough to install a nanny type cam where we can watch the kids from downstairs.  

We spent lots of nights together at my parents house, hanging out, eating, and of course, the kids playing.  I try to soak up as much family time when we're home since we miss everyone so much when we're gone.  For Christmas, my dad got extra seats attached to his golf cart.  This way, it's easier to fit all 7 grandkids for a ride versus taking the kids in groups or having everyone smashed together.  The kids always look forward to Captain's golf cart rides.

 Since we were leaving the states a few before Christmas day, we all got together one morning the weekend before and celebrated together.  The morning was so much fun.  We let the kids open all their presents from my parents first so we can see what all they get and so they can have stuff to occupy themselves while the adults open presents.  It was precious to see all their reactions to the new toys and clothes and they always seemed to admire what the other kids got, too.

Books, toys, movies, clothes, golf clubs, BBQ pits, dolls, key boards, dragons, remote control cars, dinosaurs, and more all got opened Christmas morning.  It really was a fun morning for everyone.

After the kids got their big gifts, it was time for the adults to open presents.  I forgot to take pictures of that, but we were all truly blessed.  I spent the rest of the day packing up our gifts to ship back to Saudi.  Do you know how hard it is for kids to understand why you're taking away their brand new toys/gifts right after they got them, only to know they won't see them for another few weeks.  Poor guys.  As you can see, Miles was a huge help in the packing department.

Williams Family Christmas

The Williams' Family Christmas party was a huge hit this year and a blast.  For the past few years, my moms side of the family created a new tradition where every year there would be some sort of competition and the winners receive the family trophy!  This years theme was the 12 Days of Christmas.  Back in July, we were sent an email with guidelines, instructions, and expectations for each individual family to write and act out a song to the tune of "12 Days of Christmas".  My grandparents were the judges and asked for our songs to be creative, original, about our own family, and good!  We were going to be judged on those things plus our ability to perform/sing.  Yikes-- not sure about that one! 

The night was fun and everyone enjoyed being together.  I met my cousin, Nikkie's new baby and Gavin loved the extra time with his cousins to be goofy!!! Since everyone was able to make Christmas this year, we took advantage of getting family pics with our grandparents and with my grandparents and their great- grandkids.    

Years, years, years ago we took a goofy grandkid photo and we all decided to recreate that photo, again. I think Lukas, the youngest was only a baby when we took that photo.  It was a family favorite for years!  

I LOVE my grandmother's smile in this pic!

After everyone opened presents it was song time!!!  I can honestly say that everyone did a great job creating their own family songs that had to do with themselves.  They were creative and funny and extremely unique.  There were songs about having babies, getting engaged, the Fed Ex delivery guy, paying on Christmas bills months after Christmas, and even hippies.  

Brooks and I sat back and let everyone sing their song.  We knew we wanted to go last.  Not to boast or anything, BUT we knew we were going to win!!   We knew that we had something no one else did and that was going to be all we needed.  I'll let your imagination run with the below pics.  For obvious reasons, I won't share the specifics about our song, however, just know that we applied aspects of our everyday life living here in the most practical, non judgmental, and fairest way.  

aaaaannnnnddd..... it worked!  Pawpaw announced us as the winners!!  Seems that living here does have it perks!!

And we got the family Christmas trophy for the year!!

What a fun and memorable Christmas!!  Let me add that Brooks had been sick all day long and didn't know if he was going to make the party.  He had a fever and felt pretty bad, but pulled through!!  What a trooper!  

Arkansas Part 2

We were fortunate to be able to spend time with Brooks' dad, Geary and his wife, Juli in Arkansas while we were in the states.  Their willingness to meet us there and spend the week outside Little Rock was a HUGE help and prevented us from having to fly to Colorado.  When you travel across the world, you're not as interested in taking another plane ride.  We had such a fun week with them playing and goofing off.  We were able to rest and relax some, too.  Brooks started his week taking a duck hunting trip with his dad, brother, and our future sister in laws dad.  The guys had a fun morning and had a successful hunt for as few ducks as they saw.  I think they ended up shooting 4 total, not too bad for a slow morning.  Juli and I ended up hanging out and letting the kids play.  Her and I got to do some shopping throughout the week while the guys and the kids took naps.  

Brandons fiance', Kate and her parents, invited us all over for dinner one night so we got some extra hang out time with Kate!  The kids loved playing in the upstairs game room and goofing off with PawPaw.  

The whole family

While we were out running the roads, having fun we ate at some GOOD eating places.

Brooks and his dad took Gavin and Miles to shoot BeBe guns.  THEY LOVED IT.  Our boys have shot bebe guns a lot when their with their grandparents and is something they look forward to.  I hear Gavin has a good aim most of the time!!

On Thanksgiving, when Miles fell asleep on the floor we thought it was just a coincidence and he was THAT tired and maybe jet lag had a little to do with it, however, we noticed that was just the beginning of Miles ability to fall asleep and stay asleep in the most randomist places and ways.  This time, he fell asleep walking back from the shooting range sitting up on Brooks' shoulders.  Literally, Brooks said all of a sudden he felt dead weight on him and felt slobber going down his neck.  When he looked up, he realized Miles was alseep.  Miles also ended up asleep on the booth at a local hamburger shop we ate at.  Something this kid normally would never do!

 

Brooks' brother, Brandon was with us throughout the week and he found a jump house for the kids to play at-- very similar to one I took them to this summer.  The boys had a blast running around, playing, jumping, playing hide and seek, etc.  It made for hours of fun and entertainment.  They loved showing off all their new tricks and chasing each other then falling down!  Such a neat place and fun idea! 

We celebrated Christmas while we were together and the kids racked up.  Tools, pirate stuff, and girly things were opened and played with for hours.  Thanks Pawpaw and Gammy!  Brooks and Mr. Geary actually both got the same coffee grinders.

We spent one morning at the Little Rock Zoo and were amazed at all the animals we saw.  The kids loved it and were in awe of the lions, and tigers, and giraffes, and elephants, and so much more.  They saw a baby gorilla that was the cutest thing ever.   

Gavin made us camp fires at night and we all took turns singing songs and blowing out candles (from one of Brooklyns new toys that was a stackable cake).  He set up the pillows for us, the blankets, made the "fire" himself and called us in before bed time every night.  It was cute!

During the week, we drove up to the Ranch and spent some more time with Brooks' moms side of the family.  All the cousins got to play some more together, Mim and Pop had extra time with our kids, we ate a delicious meal, and just hung out.  Lynlee taught me how to make bows.  I'm excited to work through this new craft and practice some more.  I love the idea of making matching bows for outfits versus paying so much off Etsy or boutique stores.

MORE PICS FROM THE JUMP HOUSE.  Have no clue why they are all the way down here, but there were too many to move and rearrange.

Classic Perry Men Picture

and the girls!

What a fun week we had with family.  It always goes by too fast.  Lots of great memories were made!

Now we're off to drop the kids off in Louisiana and Brooks and I are headed to New York City!!