Photobomb!

Erin thought she was taking a nice picture of sleepy Aidan. She didn't realize until a few days later that Emma was in the background.

Zoo Day!

We went to the zoo today and Aidan set a hard pace. He grabbed a map and knew exactly where he wanted to go (we directed him while he pretended to consult the map).

Nice way to come home

We came home to this today:

Menaca said that Em insisted on sitting in the toy stroller and would walk herself around the room.

Return of the cookie monster

You've got to keep an eye on Emma, she'll steal all of your cookies.

We made black forest thumbprint cookies and she couldn't even wait for the cookies to be filled.

Pictures with Santa

We had a great time at Dubai Mall today. Aidan took a picture with Santa (while sitting in Patrick's lap) and even remembered to ask for a toy motorcycle. Everything was great until we were leaving and he was upset about not getting a motorcycle. We had forgotten to explain that he had to wait for Christmas Day for it. Oops.

We ate lunch at the Macaroni Grill. They have a great view of some of the smaller Aquarium windows. The kids wandered back and forth from the table to the Aquarium. Luckily it was a pretty quiet day so we weren't getting in anybody's way.

I like the way these kids play

Happy Halloween!

 Darth Batman and The Ladybug wish you the best.

More pictures of the kids can be found on their blogs.

Happy Birthday to Emma! (Part 1)

We just had a small family birthday for Emma today.  We've been dealing with an ant infestation, exterminators, horrible colds, and server problems at school that have run all of us ragged.  In fact we had all just started to get better and I woke up sick this morning.  since we were taking it easy I tried out some of the recipes I wanted to use for Emma's party.

Patrick and I both thought these looked awesome.

Mira had used the cloud icing for Kiira's cupcakes in May and it had turned out fabulously.

So of course, when I try it, this is what I get:

Neither fluffy nor cloud-like.  It might have been too hot in the kitchen.  I should have learned by now to stick with my usual icing recipes.  This was pretty disappointing, but no biggie, Emma was only going to have plain whipped cream on hers anyway.  I had some cream left over from another recipe and it would be just the right amount to finish up the cupcakes with.  After a few minutes of beating, the cream still wasn't thickening and standing up.  A pulled the box out of the trash and saw that it wasn't whipping cream, it was cooking cream.  Arg!  Aidan and I went to the store to pick up some whipping cream.  While there he tried to dismantled a plum display, knocked over cans of soup, and had a melt down over the giant lollipop.  Finally we made it home with the whipping cream, I've topped the cupcakes, but can't find Emma's big cupcake.  I then realized that I had used the marshmallow slime on all of the large cupcakes.  Well, maybe I could tuck her number one candle between some little cupcakes to hold it up.  Turns out that we lost the candle when we were moving things in and out of the kitchen for the exterminators.  I was pretty bummed about it since it was the candle we had used for Aidan and had managed to keep up with it for 3 years and a move.  But it wasn't the end of the world.  What I had turned out pretty well:

Emma had a good time, and so did Aidan.  He kept saying "Happy Birthday, Emma" but stopped when we tried to record it.  We've got to work on the sharing though, he promptly took her bus away.

Fun photo app

I'm lovin' photography apps, even though they eat up tons of space on the phone.  I've been having fun with DecoSama Vintage and DecoSama Light.  I picked up DecoSama Vintage when it was a free download.  DecoSama Light is always free, but the full version is a paid app.  I find the Light version to be ok, but very limited.  I'll probably pick up the full version soon, it's not like 99 cents is gonna kill me.

Well, at least they're having fun

I hate putting toys together

But seriously, this was easier to set up than IKEA furniture (And the directions were in Arabic and Spanish).

Well, that wasn't so bad

Say "Hello" to our newest US citizen!!!

We'd been putting off her paperwork for far too long.  She was an illegal alien in the UAE and not a recognized US citizen.

With Aidan we had to dig up a bunch of paper work to prove our US citizenship and four years of voluntary residency in the US after the age of 18.  I know we used a 2005 tax return as proof for one year but I'm not sure what we used for the other three years.  I do know that whatever it was that we used was a bit iffy (could have been denied as proof) so I ordered both mine and Patrick's college transcripts to use in the future.  We got them and I stuck them in a drawer.  (This is important later.)   Patrick also had to swear an oath and sign an affidavit that Aidan was his son.  Legal terms aside, it boiled down to him pointing at me and saying: That woman is my wife who I impregnated   That is my son (pointing to Aidan) who came out of that woman who I am married too and impregnated.  It was kind of funny.  I almost wish he had to raise his right hand while he said all of this like Paolo did.

The rules of transferring citizenship to children change frequently and this time around we had to prove 5 years of voluntary residency after the age of 18.  Everything else was the same (though currently if either kid had a child born outside of the US that child would not be able to become a US citizen).  Anywhoo, we got everything together, updated the passport pictures (the first ones were too old) and, made our appointments for the consulate.  The consulate will only handle citizen matters between 12:00 and 3:00 and ONLY by appointment.  But the link to make appointments can only be found on the section to add pages to your passport or if you are an Iranian applying for a visa.  So, appointments are made (only open days were Aidan's birthday and today) and we turned in forms to take time off.

We decided to take the whole day off in order to handle some UAE paperwork for Aidan.  A year or two ago the UAE decided to make everyone get an Emirates ID.  Nobody took it seriously so they started to level large fines and hassle people at the airport.  We got our IDs right when we got back this summer.  (My picture is horrible, all awful, sweaty, and swollen.)  Since Aidan was 3 years old he had to get an ID, luckily he didn't have to be physically present when we turned in the forms.  We got our paper work together, went to the typing center to have them fill in the forms for us, and then drove down to the Emirates ID Authority to turn in the forms and do the biometric stuff.  Thankfully all of this was near the house because the AC in the car was broken and it was 120 degrees outside.  We turn in the forms, have our pictures taken, we're finger printed, etc.  Done, finished, halas.  Thank God.  A few days after Emma is born Patrick gets a text saying he can pick up our IDs but Aidan's ID was cancelled.  ARGH!!!!!!  We assume that they changed the rules and he really did need to be present for fingerprinting.  CRAP!  This stuff is expensive and a huge time suck.  So, Patrick opted to use this morning to run around redoing all of the paperwork for Aidan and then pick him up from school and  bring him in for fingerprints.  While at the typing center getting the forms filled out, a flag pops up on the computer saying we've already turned this paper work in and it's being processed.  The guy asks Patrick about it and he explains that we got a text saying that the application had been cancelled.  Patrick is told that the computer says that Aidan's paper work is still in process (in process since August) and another submission would result in a 1,000 DHS fine.   Patrick is given a number to call, the lady is super helpful, flags Aidan's forms, and gives Patrick a file number to check back on.  So yeah, didn't have to pay for that again, but it was still a hassle.

Patrick comes home for lunch and then we head out for the consulate.  This turned out to be really fast. Our appointment was at 1:00 and it did take us an hour and fifteen minutes to get there because of lunch time traffic but we were driving back home by 1:45.  It would have been shorter to if not for the major security hold up those college transcripts caused.  When they originally arrived in the mail the flap was signed and stamped saying that if the envelope was open upon receipt then the paperwork had been tampered with.  Well, I didn't want to "tamper" with anything, so I threw it into the filing cabinet
where it sat for almost four years.  When I was putting everything together last night I simply popped the envelopes in the folder and was done.  Turns out you can't take sealed envelopes into the consulate. Patrick had to go outside, open them, wait a moment (just in case he started to sieze up or bleed from the ears) and then was allowed to come back in.  We go in, wait our turn, get called up and answer the official's questions (we were married in LITTLE ROCK not Iraq!), didn't have to prove residency, take an oath, point out who was impregnated by who and who was the resulting issue.  We just paid the processing fees, signed the papers and were done.  Cool, but I'm a bit irritated by all the stress.  I had everything organized, birth certificates, copies, SSN cards, etc.  But, whatever, it's finished.  They congratulated Emma on her new citizenship and we'll pick up her paper work in 3-4 weeks.  Yeah!  Then we just have to get her UAE paperwork so she's a legal resident.  ugh.

Emma had a celebratory meal of Hello Kitty carrots.  Life is good.

A bit about The New Kid

The similarities and differences between newborn Aidan and Emma are kind of interesting.  At least to us.

Emma looks quite a bit like Patrick, but she definitely has my mouth.  She also seems to have inherited Uncle Andy's bottomless pit.  At the rate she's going her first food is going to be a pot of macaroni and cheese instead of rice cereal.  She's a bit more patient about eating than Aidan was at this age.  He would let loose his brain piercing pterodactyl cry that was sure to wake up the whole building.  Emma will snort in the most unladylike manner for about two minutes before crying.  Her cries aren't nearly as horrible as Aidan's were.  Unfortunately she also a noisy sleeper.  She grunts, whines, and gets squeaky hiccups.  After the second night she was home, Patrick commented that he'd forgotten how many noises a baby can make that you don't have to jump up for.  She also seems to like baths, Aidan hated them at this age.  I think he was about two months old before he started to enjoy them.  Emma is happy until you dry her off and she starts to get cold.

Aidan is warming up to her.  He likes to stick his head in the moses basket so that his hair gets in her face.  Our guess is he feels like she's petting him when she starts flailing around.  He's gentle with her, but then gets really excited and starts to tickle her head - Emma doesn't like that.  Aidan seems to like holding her and has tried to take her from Patrick a few times.  If she fusses and we aren't in the immediate vicinity he'll drag us to her.  This is quite difficult when one is in the bathroom.

She is also awake a lot more than Aidan was at this age.  He would sleep for four hours, wake up for food and a diaper change, and then promptly fall back asleep.  I remember being a bit disappointed about this.  Emma, on the other hand, has one hour bouts of wakefulness in wich she must be held.  Normally this is awesome, less so when she's awake at 2:00 a.m.

Bringing Emma Home

Not a very flattering picture of either of us

I decided to go home a day early.  Aidan was missing me and Patrick wasn't getting to spend as much time with Emma as he would have liked.  The checkout process was easier than getting Emma dressed and trying to take a picture of her.

You can see her outfit better in this picture.  Mira gave brought Emma two headbands and the purple one was a perfect match for the dress.

Emma doesn't like pacifiers, I think this is the second time she ever insisted on using one.  I would also like to add that Patrick bought the pretty pacifier she's using as well as her going home outfit.  While shopping for the outfit we ran into a coworker and her two daughters at the Carters store.  Patrick and the two girls (first and second graders) chose this dress.  I was a bit surprised that he went with polka dots and flowers but it was super cute on her.  The nurses all loved it.

Once home I tried to set up the pop up bassinet for her but ran into a small problem...

He will ignore it until we try to put Emma in it and then he crawls in too.  This shouldn't surprise me, Kiira did the exact same thing when Aidan was using it.  We still had to figure out living room sleeping arrangements since I can only go up and down stairs once a day.  We finally reached a truce.

I guess Aidan isn't interested in it unless it has a roof.

The Big Day!

Patrick to Aidan to school today while I packed for the hospital.  Once he came home he settled down with the baby name books and informed me that not only was it time to get down to business but also there could be no more "joke names".  Really?  Because I was the one with all of the silly names.

We picked up Aidan from nursery school and dropped him off with Meneka in the DAA nursery.  He wasn't happy but he settled down quickly.  We finally made it to the hospital only to find that there was NO PARKING!  This just topped off an already difficult trip down and Patrick was not happy.  We finally found a spot and took our sweaty selves into the hospital.  Checking in was quite easy and then they took us directly to my room.  I unpacked while Patrick settled in and continued looking for names. The nurses were in and out while getting me ready.  It was nice to be settled in and have Patrick there to chat with.

Patrick went with me when they took me up to the surgery floor.  At this point I went into a prep room and a nurse took Patrick to the cafe to wait until it was time for him to change into scrubs.  He gets the cafe and I haven't eaten since 6:45 that morning.  I demanded a danish.  I really liked the nursing staff, they were very relaxed and joked around with me (which was great as I was starting to get nervous).  The anesthesiologist was wonderful and kept checking walked me through the entire process.  In Kuwait the nurse put me in a type of headlock to keep me from jerking away from the needle.  Which I understand, you don't want people flailing about when you've got a needle in their spine, but it was a bit stressful.  This time the nurses held my arms but had me lower my head and relax and the anesthesiologist told me to remain in contact with her hand at all times.  It was all very calm and less scary this time around (there's nothing calming about a headlock).

Patrick came in shortly after Dr. Kasirsky started and we chatted.  The procedure took a bit longer this time around and with all of the clanking going on it sounded like the doctor was working on a truck.  (And I said that out loud, too.)  A few minutes later I hear, "Wow, she has a big head!"  Dr. Kasirsky told me later on that the baby's head got stuck in the incision.  It took four people, included the anesthesiologist, to push and pull her out.  Boy, was she angry!  Once they got her cleaned off, Patrick was able to hold her.  She quieted down as soon as she got warm.  When he tried to show the baby to me she started crying again, so Patrick just held her close until the nurse brought the warmer in.  Patrick took some quick pictures with his phone so I could see her without having to disturb her majesty. :P

Mira and Omar brought Aidan to the hospital after school.  He was interested in the baby but was more excited about being with the Ghosns.  Kiira declared that baby would be called Coco and that she loved pretend babies but also loved real babies.  "Coco" is apparently her baby and she's quite excited about it.  Kiira was really good with the baby, I'll have to see if anybody took pictures of the two of them.

Everybody headed out about an hour later.  Patrick said Aidan was asleep before he even started the car.  The baby and I just hung out in the room.  It was kind of lonely this time around.  But the new kid is healthy and all is well.    

Because we're all excited about the cute girl's clothes!

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has already gone online and to a store to look at girl's clothes.  So cute!  I've put together my plan for buying clothes for The New Kid and I thought I'd share it in case others were also considering buying clothes for the new baby.

Don't buy new born sizes (NB)
Aidan was 9 lbs when he was born, so he didn't fit the new born items we were given.  Babies just grow out of that size too quickly and I would recommend buying things no smaller than 0-3 months.

Warm weather clothes - 0-3 months up to 10 months
The baby is due towards the end of September and it's still going to be pretty hot and humid here.  Patrick really likes one piece outfits and rompers.  GAP has loads of awesome ones that I will be stalking until they go on sale/clearance.  Winter here is about 70 degrees.  Heavy clothes will be too much, but little cardigans or light pullovers will work perfectly.

I would recommend buying summer clothes when they go on clearance in August and there will be plenty of time to mail it to us.  GAP and Old Navy always seem to be having a sale and I found really good deals last June.  The Carter's brand carried at Target is great and has held up well.  I actually like the fit of Target Carter's better than the fit of the clothes from the Carter's store.  Erin and mom picked up some fabulous outfits for Aidan from a second hand store in Little Rock, so that's another type of shop to consider.

These dresses are super cute: GAP, Old Navy (not the dresses with the large patterns or the DVF line)

Pajamas
Aidan pretty much spent his first month in pajamas, so we'll be stocking up on those.  We still have all of Aidan's 0-3 month pajamas, but anything beyond that we need to replace.  And if you see some super cute girl pajamas for 0-3 months, we won't say no to them. :)  We prefer the footed pajamas with the built in scratch mitts (cuffs that fold over the baby's hands and prevent scratching).  However, I've not seen a lot of these in the US.  I think Relia gave us a Carter's sleep set that included separate scratch mitts and that worked fine.  Patrick is now familiar enough with them that he no longer confuses them for socks.

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UPDATE - Old Navy has pajamas with scratch mitts.

They call them "Reversible, turn-cuff handmitts"

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Buying larger sizes
We were given a few outfits for Aidan that he wouldn't be able to fit until he was two or three.  That was fine and actually worked out really well for us.  In fact, the first shirt I bought Aidan was a size 3T and he wasn't able to wear it until last summer.  If you see something you want to get, for either of the kids but it has to be in a larger size, that's fine.  I've actually started buying a few items in the next year's size during the summer to hold us over from March until June.  That way we can take advantage of the more affordable options in the States when we stock up on clothes.

No fluorescent colors
Bright colors are fine but fluorescent colors make my eyes hurt.  We don't mind if it's just a little bit of fluorescent, but not an entire outfit.  Patrick is already avoiding the girl's side of Carter's because it's "blinding".

Hats & Socks
This may seem odd, but we do use hats.  The poor kid will probably take after me and be bald for a year.  Brimmed hats will be great when we're outside and caps are good for the mall, airports, and school nursery.  Socks are almost impossible to find in this country.  Any socks, but especially plain white ones, will go a long way.

Not so much pink, please
I'm not saying no to pink, we just don't plan on picking up loads of it.

Swimsuits
Those one pieces with arms and sleeves (they look like surfing suits) are great in theory but awful in real life.  The kids look like stuffed sausages and are almost impossible to get out of once wet.  I used Aidan's twice, hated it both times, and promptly bought swim trunks.  Aidan was 4 months old when we first took him to the pool, so if you want to pick up a swimsuit get something around the 4-6 month or larger range.

OMG!  Shoes are so cute!!!
No rules on this one, I'm excited to be able to buy them.  Kuwait had nothing in Aidan's size and we couldn't get anything for him until he was almost a year old.  It seems stores only carried 3 boy styles and a bazillion girl shoe styles.  In fact, I'm so excited about this that Patrick will probably come up with some shoe rules to reign me in.

Other baby items
Not quite sure what we need on this front.  We still have all of the major items, I'll have to go through everything and figure out what smaller things we need.

The big 20 week appointment

We had the anatomy scan today and it was so cool!  We could count the vertebrae, focus in on specific organs, we were even able to see blood flow!  The doctor said it seemed to be a girl and later on he was able to view right between the legs - it's a girl.  The baby is developing perfectly!  He also commented that it was a very active baby, which I've been feeling for awhile now.  This one kicks a lot more than Aidan did.

It took us about twenty weeks to figure out a boy's name, so we've started looking at girls names already.

The New Kid

So now all the family members have been told about our latest edition and Erin can go nuts and blow up her various social media outlets with the news.  We thank her for the great restraint she has shown. :P

But most importantly, I can show you the cool little video I shot at my 13th week appointment.  Patrick was home sick so he couldn't go with me but I was able to bring something home for him to see.

You're looking at the baby from the back and the doctor will point out the heart beating.  You can see all four limbs, the legs kicking away, and while you can't quite tell from this clip, it looks like this one has also gotten Patrick's "super activity" gene.