Michigander Moves Abroad!: Good-bye Dubai (And Abu Dhabi!)

The last month in UAE was a whirlwind for us. We landed in Dubai after our Italian adventure on 11-Aug, and I returned to work the following Sunday.

Last set of photos from our dear friend, Jo!

We divided our packing into 3 phases - Phase 1 was things to go into our air shipment (50 cubic feet) that would (hopefully) arrive at my father's home in Spring before we got home. Key thing in this shipment was the double stroller. We also packed some dress clothes, shoes, and baby stuff that we either had multiples of, or we could live without for a month, to help make transitioning to Houston easier. We were fortunate enough that our friends were going on holiday the week that I returned to work, so we borrowed their nanny for the week so that G could finish the inventory for our move, and sort out what was going into this early shipment. Phase 1 completed on August 25.

Miss J and Miss J, out with the kids!

Phase 2 was everything we needed for 10 days of interim living plus what we would take on the airplane. Since my company pays for business class for ALL members of the family (including Baby H!) we were entitled to 8 pieces of luggage and a free baby item (carseat or stroller). After the carseat, stroller, and pack'n' play, we were left with 6 suitcases and 6 boxes - I think we packed more stuff into Phase 2 than we did into Phase 1, amazingly enough! We also ended up throwing away a lot of things that came to interim living with us - a lot of medicines that we didn't want to bring, or odds and ends that we ran out of room for. Phase 2 completed on September 6.

Phase 3 was everything else. The full sea shipment - which would take 8-10 weeks to arrive in Houston, once it left Dubai. It's currently scheduled to arrive in port of Houston on November 8, so hopefully it will be at our house the week of November 18. Phase 3 in progress, but the packing was finished September 9.

Our apartment...a sea of boxes...

In the midst of all this chaos, we had some big milestones as well! L turned 2 - officially a big kid now! We had a pretty low-key family celebration where we took her to a breakfast & indoor play area on her actual birthday, then we had a big joint party with a family that we are close with a few weeks later.

This was the treat that L picked from a variety of pastries - a yummy chocolate covered almond biscuit

Celebrating 2 baby (I mean big kid..) birthdays!

We also took a trip to Abu Dhabi and stayed in our old apartment building. Our actual apartment wasn't available, but they did set us up in a nice apartment with the similar layout (it was mirrored from our apartment, which threw me off at times!). We were able to say introduce Baby H to our dearest friend Thuzar, who also happened to be Baby L's first friend. We took one last spin around the Etihad Towers Observation Deck, went to St Andrew's Church, and reminisced about all the things we loved (and hated) about living in Abu Dhabi. I cried a few times. G smilesd and tried not to laugh while I cried. It was therapeutic.

Baby H, also fast friends with Thuzar!

Thuzar, taking a few minutes from her very busy day to spend time with us

L, checking out the views!

One last trip to St Andrews Church

L & Baby H, cuddling on the sofa where I spent days and days cuddling Baby L

Baby H also turned 4 months old...and had to get her 4-month shots. It went much better than the 2-month shots, thank goodness! We were in interim living at our hotel apartment by then without any swings or jumpers to entertain her, so we were thankful that the jabs went well.

Happy 4-month old Baby H!

We spent a ton of time saying goodbye to friends and colleagues. It was different from most goodbyes from our past because we truly aren't sure when we'll see a lot of these friends again - though hopefully not too far into the future. There will always be an extra bed in our home for anyone who wants to visit Houston!

Miss Shelly had a special sing, laugh, and messy play class dedicated to all of L's favorite things

L actually hugged her friend good-bye! (She rarely hugs anyone)

Photo op with friends from Texas who happened to be living in Dubai at the same time as us!

It took pretty much a whole year of visits for L to warm up to this guy (one of my co-workers who became instant besties with G), but it FINALLY happened!