Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Etiquette Conundrum Take 2: Baby Registries

I still have the same etiquette conundrum for Baby #2 that I had for Baby #1, so I am literally just going to re-post the same thing....again.  We are still registered on Amazon, though mostly for consumables that we can't get in UAE (our favorite wipes Huggies Naturals, and Kiinde breastmilk storage pouches are must-haves for us!) We are still getting a baby shipment (explained in the linked post), and we are clearing our registry on March 15, 2019 so that it can all be packed up and sent to us April 1...and hopefully arrive in time for the baby!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the love and support everyone at home has given us while we've been abroad!

Etiquette Conundrum: Showers & Registries

Baby L loves opening new boxes!!  Big THANK YOU from all of us.

Saturday, January 26, 2019

Early Adventures of Baby L - Ông Ngoại & Ba Ngoại come to visit Dubai!

Right after New Year, Baby L had a huge treat of having one set of grandparents come to visit her in Dubai. We were a little worried that they wouldn't get to spend much time with her since it takes her some time to warm up to new people, but within 5 minutes of seeing them (and a little peekaboo!) Baby L and Ông Ba Ngoại were fast friends!!

Baby L has a new see-saw buddy for the park!
Baby L loved the extra attention
Since it was short trip for Ông Ba Ngoại (they arrived late on Friday night, and left late on Thursday night - so really, only 6 days with Baby L), we kept it pretty low key. We sent them on an evening desert safari through the same tour operator that we used when both my sister and G's sister came to visit last year. G and I did not go along on the desert tour since we just had our little babymoon in the desert, but it sounds like Ông Ba Ngoại had a great time!  I also booked a car for them to do some sightseeing in Abu Dhabi mid-week when I had to go to work for some meetings, and that also seemed to go well.  The rest of the time was pretty much either cooking or playing with Baby L - sorry, no pictures of the food!

They did bring me some yummy treats from the recent (disappointing) Peach Bowl, along with a bunch of gifts for Baby L and odds and ends that G and I had ordered from Amazon in advance of their arrival.
Cookies from home!
On their last day before the headed home, we took a big family trip to see the Burj Khalifa.  Baby L hadn't been in almost a year, so we thought it would be fun to take her back. She loved it!

She thought this pretend glass floor was the coolest thing ever - she kept chasing the birds

She also really liked this chair, and almost threw a huge temper tantrum when we tried to remove her

We think her favorite part was the wind at the top - she turned her face into the wind like a puppy sticking its head out the car window!

We were super sad to see Ông Ba Ngoại leave, but they already have plans to come back later this year to help out when Miss J takes her annual one-month holiday back to the Philippines.  By then, they'll have their hands full helping out G with 2 little ones!!

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy New Year!

Baby L full of Christmas Cheer (and a snotty nose that you can't see)
Family Christmas Photo - in our matching PJs!

It was a pretty low-key holiday season in our home this year. Since G went back to the US to walk at his graduation from Lamar (congrats, babe!), he brought home the typical holiday travelers cold so we were all under the weather on Christmas Day. Incidentally, if you didn't get a Christmas card from us, and you would like one next year, please input your address into our address book, and we will get you one!  Plus, you will also get an announcement card when Baby #2 arrives.

We couldn't be with G on his big day, but we re-created the moment at home after everyone was healthy again!

We did get a chance to take our first grown-ups only weekend getaway to the desert. Miss J stayed with Baby L for 2 nights while we went to an all-inclusive desert resort for my birthday.  Al Maha Resort is part of the Marriott Luxury collection, and G and I had a blast. We rode a camel, held a falcon, got spa treatments, and generally relaxed baby-free for 2 days...pretty much a little babymoon before Baby #2 shows up in May!

We gave Miss J the evening off for New Year's Eve so she could visit her daughter in Abu Dhabi, and just relaxed at home. Neither of us were able to stay awake until the midnight fireworks, but they did wake up Baby L and me! We have a nice view of the fireworks from our apartment, so I took her to the window to see the sparkly lights. At first, she was scared, and held onto me super tight, but after a few moments, I kept saying "Happy New Year!  These are New Year Fireworks!" and when the show finished, she said in her cute little toddler voice, "Bye bye New Year!".

Our (growing) family is super excited for all the things that 2019 will bring, and we can't wait to share it with you on our blog!