January 22, 2014 - Three Cheers for Noah!

Our little buddy is three years old today!  THREE!  Here is a look at his day.

(We have a serious camera problem these days - relying primarily on the iPhone, a problem that we better solve before the BBG arrives - sorry to you and mostly sorry to Noah for the poor quality photos.)

The three year old woke up to a full family birthday party!

Gifts galore!

His favorite upon opening might have been his fireman costume.  The scooter, big boy Legos, and his new baby doll were also very popular.  Later in the day he literally played with everything!

 (below, eating the chocolate that Grace bought him to go with the helicopter she also bought him with her own money from her own piggy bank...the whole thing was pretty darn cute, if you ask me...)

Pancakes by candle light with SPRINKLES on them!

(Note that Noah loves sprinkles!  He would eat them on any food if we let him.  Today he got a LOT of sprinkles!)

(Bad picture below because of K's big elbow, but I just loved how happy he was to get his baby doll!)

Far stayed home late in the morning so we could all go to school together and Noah could help raise the Danish flag in honor of his birthday.  You know Danes...they LOVE their flag!

This is my favorite video of the day:

 Grace (who had a pretty hard time NOT being the birthday kid) made a big presentation to everyone so they would know that it was her brother's birthday.

 And my favorite moment of the day was when Noah ran over to say goodbye to his Far, and then the two of them just cuddled and spent some minutes looking up at the flag he had just raised.  For the rest of my life, when I think of Noah turning three, these are the three picture I will see in my head. 

 I came back a bit later to bring ice cream for his class to eat after lunch.  

He always gets a little weirded out when I am in school during the day, but he was pretty happy about the ice cream.

Noah's flag flew all day...

 Back at home for the afternoon there was a lot of playing with new toys, and a few minutes of watching his new movie, Finding Nemo (while Grace has had the attention span for a full movie since birth practically...Noah still doesn't quite have the patience for a full-length film!).

 He requested chapati and "balls" (read: peas) for dinner, so that's what he got!

 And at 7 am this morning before school he requested Superman cupcakes for the evening.  

Supplies are limited and costly in Dar, and my baking talents are even more limited...but while they might actually be the ugliest cupcakes ever presented to a 3-yr-old on his birthday, Noah was still happy about them (and they did taste good.)!

 Noah closed out the night by building his new "big boy" Legos with Far and Gracie before bed.  He has a great eye for detail and a big attention span for projects like these.  At school they are always talking about his great attention and fine motor skills - so this was the perfect project for him (even if Grace didn't enjoy letting him do his own thing not exactly according to the directions).

Stay tuned for more in a few days...his small birthday party with his four friends will be on Saturday, with a better looking cake I assure you.  

So what can I say about this boy?  Three years later I am still sappy and emotional and totally in love with him.  He is a happy, great kid (also quite stubborn and tenacious when he wants to be!) who makes me smile and laugh, asks a lot of really interesting questions and still whispers sweet nothings in my ear (like today:  I don't want my Mama to ever get eaten by a shark like Nemo's Mama).  He never fails to charm my socks off, and I am so grateful he's ours.  I can't wait to see a whole new side of him in the coming year as he becomes a big brother!

Happy Birthday, Noah!  We love you very much!
LMW

January 16, 2014 - Fundis

Living in East Africa, something you get used to pretty quickly is the constant presence of "fundis".  The word fundi in Kiswahili actually means "technician" I think, but is applied generally to any kind of handy man, skilled (or not so skilled, as the case may be) laborer, day worker.  We use it to talk about the plumber, electrician, carpenter, mechanic, etc.  And because of a lacking or absent proper vocational education system here, you often need a LOT of fundis because quality is not so good and things are often breaking.  Also, you can't buy as many "ready made" things as at home, so you are often hiring people to build or make things for you.

In the last few weeks we've had a number of fundis in our house:  to give us new wireless internet, to reupholster the sofa, to fix the cars, to build Grace and Noah's new bunk beds (coming soon!), and to fix a blown fuse (note that we've had an unusually long stretch with no need for a plumber!).  Of course I have gotten so used to this that it doesn't phase me at all and when we are not home Rose and Christopher are perfectly capable of managing different fundis, but last night I heard Grace's perspective on fundis for the first time.

Situation: the fundi came (during dinner of course) to fix the blown fuse and check other electrical wiring

Grace:  Another fundi is here?

Me:  Yup.

Grace: Why is everything always broken?

Me:  Well, sometimes that just happens and we need different people to help us fix all of the different things.

Grace:  It's too many fundis.  How about for tomorrow and the whole weekend, we have no fundis at all!  I'm tired of all these fundis!

Who knew she had such pent-up fundi aggression!  HA!  I really got a kick out of it.  Not that at home you don't have repairmen or workers around too, but certainly not to the extent or degree that I think we're used to here.  Someday this will be one aspect of Grace's culture shock when we move back to the US or Denmark! But in the meantime, I hope we can honor her request to have a fundi-free weekend.

LMW

January 15, 2014 - Crowded...again...

Living in Africa brings an expectation of being sick sometimes.  Dealing with all the bacteria and germs and God knows whatever else is not the most pleasant part of living here.  You might recall from way back in the final month of my pregnancy with sweet Simba (Grace!) that I got sick with a parasite called giardia (flashback to here if you want the gory details).  I got sick with the same parasite this past June, and it appears that giardia has hit me once again.  For the last 3 nights I was in truly great discomfort with the symptoms of giardia - which are distinctly different than symptoms of other bugs, in my experience. I will spare you the deets on that. But on Monday my doctor gave me medication to treat my symptoms, advising me to wait to actually treat the parasite for another day or two.  It is pretty difficult to diagnose with lab work and in my case the parasite wasn't showing up (which doesn't mean that I don't have it, at all), so she just wanted me to wait and see if I improved before taking the medication for it.  It is safe to take it after 3 months of pregnancy, but of course in general you don't want to take anything you don't have to take when you're preggo.  So I waited and seemed to get better because I had largely stopped eating.  But with feeling better came bigger meals yesterday, which led to tremendous suffering last night.

Finally at almost 11 pm Kristoffer found an open pharmacy to fill the prescription.  The symptoms are so clear that I have no doubt it's giardia...and it could take another week for it to show up at the lab.  YUCK! So the meds work really quickly - you take a lot of pills all at once for two days and that's it.  I am already feeling soooooo much better and really hope this is my last bout with giardia (although let's be real...).

By tomorrow the BBG should have a bit more square footage back on the inside that she doesn't have to share with anyone (anything?) else.
LMW

January 13, 2013 - The Big K

In August, Grace will start Kindergarten.  This blows my mind.  The pretty formal (and expensive) kindergarten application I submitted to the International School of Tanganyika one week ago also blew my mind.  And then when I got there and actually walked around the campus to see the pool, the gym, the classroom buildings...well, I was done for.  Admissions permitting, she will be in a school with an actual campus that looks more like a mini-university than any kindergarten I've seen at home.  It seems so surreal.  Our girl, who is more or less a big fish in the Nordic School pond she attends now, will be a very small fish in what might as well be an ocean!  

The kindergarten has a good reputation, and is a more American-system of education; she will also be with or near many other children she knows from pre-school in a very diverse environment.  Our drop-offs and pick-ups will now be at two different schools in different parts of town (newborn in tow, I suspect...but then again, we have Rose!) so logistically life will be more complicated.  But she is sooooo ready for it.  She talks about going to the "Little IST" (since Mama works at the "Big IST" - secondary campus) pretty often, even though I don't think she has ANY idea what it will be like.  I think we'll take her for a visit soon actually.

Even though we're not "in" yet (fingers crossed!  It is competitive, but my employment at the school and our diplomatic status should have us at the top of the list...) I have to start processing/writing about it now because I think when the time comes it will be a hugely emotional transition for all of us (or maybe just me?) and I have to get ready for it!

LMW

January 12, 2013 - On Parenting

Parenting comes with very high hopes, goals and expectations.  Like most other parents, we strive to do all the right things for our kids: provide for all of their basic needs, feed them healthy, give them a good and predictable routine, play with them, teach them everything we know (and think we know), love them crazy and unconditionally but set boundaries and limits and provide discipline that does not include screaming at them, give them new and interesting opportunities, etc...you know, the works!  

And there is a lot of pressure to be the "perfect" parent in our society right now; just this week alone I read quite a few articles or blogs about "mompetition" or "the mommy wars" and how much stress these societal dynamics cause. It can be really overwhelming, so I just try to remind myself that most days we are doing well and the kids are doing well and we're all trying our best, and hopefully we have more wins than losses on the "good parenting" front. 

But some days (yesterday, specifically), we can't stop yelling at them!  Absolutely everything they do drives us crazy and we literally can't stop yelling.  And we feel tired and frustrated and exasperated, even though they are pretty awesome.  And then we feel really guilty about all of that yelling and end up letting them eat popcorn in front of the TV for dinner while watching a Disney movie and totally skipping their bath and blowing off their usual bedtime routine.  And every now and then that has to be OK too.  They're still well and we'll just try again tomorrow.

LMW

January 9, 2014 - Staff Stories

While certainly much more comfortable in my "employer" skin than I used to be, having household staff remains one of the most interesting parts of living the expat life.  We have definitely become completely dependent on having staff - especially when pregnant! - because they do make our life here so much less difficult and stressful than it would be without them.  And they also make it really tempting to never go home again, where we will most certainly have to do our own laundry, iron our own clothes, wash our own dishes (in the dishwasher, at least) and clean our own toilets!  

Discussing things like contract and salary terms and conditions, over-time and vacation days, etc. always feel totally awkward to me because we are in our house - not in a place of business!  I always end up feeling horrible during these discussions, even though I know I have learned a lot and gotten better at them.  It is a delicate balance for sure, communicating these things with East Africans who have very different cultural perceptions and understandings than we do.  

But I do really like our staff, Rose and Christopher, and especially enjoy moments when we are together in the house laughing about something or trying to "teach" (maybe just explain?) some cultural differences to each other.  That part of having staff is great.  It is also very educational because sometimes I overhear or am told things that really remind me of how different our two worlds really are.  They never cease to surprise me!  This week there were two surprises.

First - Rose's daughter traveled back to her boarding school on Tuesday. She had to be there by 2 pm and her aunt took her on a bus, which was late.  So that Karen, Rose's daughter, arrived at school 20 minutes later than she was supposed to be there.  Not only would the teachers not let her in the gate of the school's compound, they told her she had to return the next day with an adult, or sleep outside the gate until the next day.  Her aunt was no longer with her and the teachers would not let her use one of their phones to call anyone.  Karen somehow got an askari (guard) to let her use a phone to message Rose, who called back to hear the story and could then try to get through to her sister or the school.  I think Rose harassed the school enough that they eventually - though several hours later - let Karen in, but they told her she would punished.  This would most likely mean that she would be woken up at 4 am to tend to the school's crops before breakfast.  CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE THAT THEY WERE ACTUALLY GOING TO MAKE A TEENAGE GIRL SLEEP OUTSIDE THE GATE BY HERSELF OVER NIGHT!  No security risk there!  AHHHH!  The whole thing was maddening. Rose was really upset, understandably, and frustrated (at the school and at her sister, who would not go back to the school to help sort the situation out) and I kept telling her: Don't stop calling!  Just keep bothering them!  Don't let it go!  They will give in!  Crazy strict Kenyans.  

Next - Christopher tells me at the same time as the Karen situation is going on, that he has malaria.  Now granted, he didn't know this.  But he felt like he had a fever (as he prepared our dinner.  I told him: put down the veggies!  Please!) and to all East Africans a fever = malaria.  They just assume.  I told him to go right to a clinic for a malaria test.  Often here people are incorrectly diagnosed and treated for malaria because it is just "easy" for clinics to do that.  But I hoped he would get an accurate result.  He didn't come to work yesterday but he did come today.  He said it was not malaria but some other kind of infection which they could see in his blood work.  So he was getting antibiotic injections and painkillers for a bad headache yesterday, and was starting to feel better today.  He worked half of the day before I got home from work and sent him BACK home because I was not convinced that should be working yet. I am happy that he doesn't have malaria of course, but also that he did not get a false positive malaria test and, therefore, medication he doesn't need.  That is a really big problem here from what I have heard.

There is always something interesting to learn or hear about from our staff.  In an otherwise totally expat/cushy environment where we are not at all faced with the "real" life of Africans, we do get some understanding of their realities this way.

LMW  

January 5, 2014 - 24 Weeks

The BBG is 24 weeks on the inside today.  I feel huge.  Not sure if it is because of the heat and my hands and feet feel swollen, or if I am actually bigger because of the whole "third baby" situation.  I know two other women here with due dates the month before mine...one is having her first and the other is having her second and they are both MUCH smaller than I am. Kristoffer thinks I look smaller than I was with Noah at 24 weeks, although I am definitely bigger than I was with Grace at 24 weeks. Well, you can form your own opinion using today's picture for comparison.

Aside from the heat and my sciatic nerve, I feel really good.  As long as I avoid fried food, my indigestion is not bad and I have fewer eating issues than I did in pregnancies past.  I have fighting some sinus pressure, but that is just Dar for you.  I have been really tired but have probably been doing too much the last three weeks and hope to get a better balance starting tomorrow (when school reopens and our staff returns to work...can you hear the angels singing?).  

On Friday we took Grace and Noah with us for an ultrasound, just to check on how the little one is doing in there.  This was them in the waiting room...giddy with excitement, as you can see.

The BBG looked really good.  She was extremely cooperative in some ways - we could easily tell that she is DEFINITELY a girl.  She was moving around well, but much to Grace's disappointment she did not wave to her big brother and big sister.  She was puckering her lips though, which was pretty sweet. She weighs 600 grams right now (more than a lb!) with the placenta in the right place and lots of fluid in there.  Her heart rate was normal, and all of her parts and pieces looked just as they should.  

There is a lot of baby excitement in this house.  Because this time of year a lot of expats depart, there are quite a few sales going on and we're pretty much stocked up on everything we need.  There are a few items on our amazon wish list for when I get to the US but all major supplies have been secured already, which is KIND OF AMAZING.  I'm talking swing, exersaucer, bumbo, bouncy seat, walker, bassinet, etc.  We're totally loaded!

With the baby coming and the confirmed extension of Kristoffer's contract, I'm going a little nuts in the nesting department.  We got new higher-speed Internet, we've ordered bunk beds** so that Grace and Noah can share a room and give the BBG her own space eventually, and we're reupholstering our filthy white sofa.  I'm organizing and purging and having a great time.  I have WAY more mental energy for all of these activities than I do physical energy in the heat...but I feel confident that it will all get done before I head to Boston mid-March.

So all is well on the Bonus Baby front, and I feel like with each day we are getting more ready and excited to meet her.

LMW

**Everyday for the last many days, when Noah wakes up he asks me a version of these two questions:  1) why aren't we going to the doctor to take out the baby today? and 2) why are the bunk beds taking a long time?   It is great news that at this stage is so excited about two big upcoming transitions in his life!

December 31, 2013 - Year's End

One of these years, I am going to plan properly in advance and do some kind of awesome blog post to close out the year (like Erica@tothesea).  But until that time, I am stuck in a cycle of last minute reflections to squeeze in before the ball drops.

Best of 2013: We had an amazing visit with Rasmus, Jytte, Josefine and Nikoline last Easter with an incredible safari, including the hot air balloon ride of my childhood dreams. We found out about the BBG.  We (just) found out that we don't have to move in 2014.  For me, I finally made friends here in Dar...not just acquaintances, but actual true friends (even though I had to say goodbye to one of them when she moved away).  

Other Stuff in 2013: In addition to substitute teaching, I took on meaningful work on the Board of Grace & Noah's school, which certainly keeps me busy.  I enjoyed a lot of time with Grace and Noah, but also wish that I had prioritized "me time" a bit more (note to self:  do that in 2014...you know, with a newborn!).  We came closer towards signing a contract with a literary agent for our children's book and really hope to seal the deal with him to kick off the new year.  So 2014 could FINALLY be the year for our Santa.  Grace and Noah grew and changed and developed so much this year.  It is a great joy to watch them play together, be best friends (and occasionally worst enemies), love and look out for each other as they do.  In 2013, we said goodbye to Oldemor/Mormor/Karen.  She will be missed this coming year as we welcome a new baby into the family, but she left us with so many happy memories and handmade family treasures that we will surely pass on to the BBG as well.  It was special for us that we could at least tell her before she died that the baby was coming, and we know that she was very happy about it.  

Hopes for 2014: It goes without saying, but I am hoping and praying for a sweet, healthy baby come April.  If we get that, than nothing else really matters.  But for icing on the cake:  the other two kids will sleep through the night and not be wearing pull-ups at night anymore either.  Kristoffer will thrive at work and be happy with the new kind of work his new position offers him.  And I will not be sleep deprived for the whole year because our baby will be a good sleeper who does not have any enlarged adenoids (remember, Noah!)!  I really hope to see Noah grow in his own independence, Grace grow in her own confidence, and me not completely fall apart when she trots off to proper kindergarten in August.  I hope that Kristoffer and I will find ways to stay sane and connected to each other when we have three kids..the first year of a baby is always hard, but I am hoping this time around we've learned a thing or two from the past.

Kristoffer says:  I hope to spend even more time with the kids, to become a better sailor, to pursue innovative ideas towards reducing poverty in Africa, to be an energetic father of three, and to test new dietary pursuits for healthy living, to get our Santa book published already! 

Grace & Noah: have no attention span for talking to me about this past year or the coming year.  I've tried three times in the last two days.  They always go off topic and starting talking about birthday parties or something else unrelated like dragons.  The take away from this is that in 2013 and 2014, they really love birthdays! And I do know for a fact that they are VERY excited for the arrival of the BBG (see photos below).  Noah is asking if the doctor can take the baby out pretty much every morning when he wakes up. He has even told us that we have many knives at our house and could probably just do the job here.  (creepy...but sweet, right?  Note to self:  never turn your back on Noah!)

Finally: To close out 2013, today we purchased some gently used baby items from a departing expat. As you can see, Big Sister Grace and Future Big Brother Noah, were totally psyched.  We now have to put the items away or surely they will no longer be in good shape by the time the BBG needs them.  But this is a picture of our future - cheers to what and who 2014 will bring into our lives!

LMW

December 30, 2013 - Winter Staycation

(Also - our 800th blog milestone!  Wow, it's been a long 800 blogs...but where did the time go?!)

For the holidays this year, we have taken the very easy, potentially boring route of staying home.  While most expats here get out of dodge the second they have the chance, we are saving Kristoffer's precious days off of work for the arrival of the BBG.  And with that big trip looming, as well as the one we just took to Denmark in September and the one I took to America in November, days and dollars did not allow us to venture very far off of this little peninsula we live on.

But Kristoffer did take one day off work, Christmas Eve, and then was given the 25th, 26th and 27th off anyway. So for the price of one day, he didn't have to go to work for six days.  Not bad!  For our staycation we spent a lot of time in the pool and at the beach.  We've had many playdates with lots of friends, ate at the few restaurants in town that are actually still open right now (almost everything closes down for two weeks...not reopening until Monday January 6th!), and spent a lot of time coloring, building Legos, playing with our new Christmas toys, and having Far build crazy forts for us wherever and whenever possible.  

Scenes from our staycation looked like this:

(yes, I brought supplies for s'mores back from America and tried to get everyone to do it by candlight in our air conditioned house...but they did not enjoy it at all - can you tell?!?! I loved the results but admit that the experience was not quite the same as being outside over a campfire!)

And our big milestone during this staycation was that Grace has been having swimming lessons almost every day and she can swim without her wings on now!  Just in the shallow end for now, where she can finally touch on tippee toes - but that gives her just enough confidence to practice her kicks and strokes without her wings on.  She has come a LONG way in the last year in terms of her fear of water (and getting her face/head wet, especially) and we are really proud of her.  She LOVES it and is working hard to get better at being independent in the water.  Woo hoo!

The kids are actually not back to school until Monday the 6th (when everything else on the peninsula reopens as well!), which is when our staff return from their holiday trips to their home countries...so our staycation has also included a LOT of washing dishes and hanging out laundry and sweeping the floors.  A good reminder that we are able to do these things for ourselves - but in the super hot season and getting more pregnant by the day...well, let's just say I will be very happy to welcome our staff back in the new year.

Kristoffer has Wednesday off so on Tuesday night we are going to push our luck and try to stay awake until midnight to see fireworks over the beach while the kids are with a backup babysitter.  Being tired at the start of the new year is certainly great foreshadowing for our new life with a newborn in April!

LMW

December 29, 2013 - Catching up on Conferences

I've been meaning to blog about Grace and Noah's parent-teacher conferences at school for weeks.  And now with only three days left in the year - and my OCD desire to reach 100 blogs this year - it seems like a good time.  (P.S. about that...I feel a little sad to only have 100 blogs, if I make it before Wednesday, but I suppose (and hope) that not enough time to blog means I was busy living my great life, and that is not something to feel sad about!  With the arrival of the BBG in April, I think we should expect a spike in cute baby photo blogs, right?)

I met with Noah's two teachers and two of Grace's teachers in November after I came back from the US for their annual conferences.  In both cases, it was overwhelmingly lovely to receive detailed, honest, and interesting feedback about our kids from adults who so obviously know them well and care about them a lot.

About Noah: He has progressed in leaps and bounds since last year.  His language is coming along really well: he speaks in both English and Danish, using English to help him if he can't say something in Danish, and even though he does not speak Norwegian or Swedish he does understand his teachers who speak those languages to him. This year he has been able to bond and develop friendships, primarily playing with his two best girlfriends or hunting down Grace and her friends across the playground.  Lately he has been branching out and playing a littl more with the other two boys his age, and he really seems fascinated by the very little ones (18 months old).  Even though in January he will be old enough to move up to Grace's class, we will keep him where he is until August when she will be starting formal kindergarten anyway (no need to add more changes to our spring!). The teachers say that he is sweet and loving and does not usually have behavior problems...he has gotten much better at sharing, waiting in line for his turn to do things, and using his words to communicate his feelings and needs (last year there was a biting phase which we are happy to be out of).  He needs to work on being a little bit more independent...sometimes he doesn't even want to try do things himself (like dressing himself) before whining for help, which we also notice at home and are trying to improve. He is a very good eater at school, which is great since eating well at home remains a challenge. In general, the teachers enjoy having him and love his happy,smiling, loving nature.  They say he LOVES anything to do with nature or being physically active (riding bikes! running! tumbling! and especially climbing!).  In other words, he is a great kid, and we're so lucky he's ours.  I was really flattered and appreciative hearing these words about our son. 

(from their Lucia show at school)

About Grace: Grace has been going to this school for almost two years now, and her teachers know her really well.  They have seen her blossom from being the shy, new girl to being the "big kid on campus".  I was really surprised when they told me that she is incredibly popular with all of the other children who really want to play with her.  Her teachers said she is a girl who is always very welcoming to new children or new teachers or visitors.  Her greatest strength is her gift of language:  she is completely fluent in English and Danish and has an advanced vocabulary in both languages.  I am told her Swedish is also very good for her age (and for not being Swedish!), and while her Norwegian is not as advanced she is conversational in that language too. She is a bit emotional in her friendships...we had tough period of time in the fall when her best friend felt smothered by her (she is a really intense friend!) and started to push her away (to which she did not respond well).  She had to figure out how to play with different people and to share her friends with others.  She was really stressed (I think it was related to her four close girlfriends from last year all leaving at the same time) and had to work her way through it, but on the other side now she has broadened her friendships and does not take rejection so badly.  She is better able to cope with balancing more than one good friend at a time and not being so intense.  She is generally much more flexible now.  Her teachers told me that she is one of the most loving kids they know...greeting all of the teachers with a hug everyday and eagerly sharing news of her life and family with them.  She is easily able to bond with kids and adults, and articulates her feelings and needs well.  She loves anything to do with learning letters, numbers, writing, making art projects...she even eats well at school, which totally blows our mind (but thank God, because she is still really low weight for her age and height right now). They think she is quite ready for formal school and that she will handle the transition well in August, although they will miss her happy, loving personality quite a lot.  Once again, magical words to hear from adults who so obviously love and take good care of our daughter. 

So three cheers for ending 2013 with such positive reports on the school front.  For us, having the Nordic School in Dar is one of the biggest highlights of our life here and these conferences always remind me of how happy I am that (even though it is a very different system from American preschools) our kids have been able to attend.

LMW

December 25, 2013 - Christmas Day / Big News Part 2

And then it was Christmas morning!  The children were VERY curious to see if Santa paid us a visit.  

So downstairs we went at 6:10 am...

...and this is what they found...

They were very cute sitting and opening up their presents from Santa.  They each got a "surf" (boogie) board, some new Legos, a new dinosaur and then Noah got new goggles and Gracie got a new water bottle (their cool new castle from Nene and Pops, featured in the background below).

 

They also loved opening up their stockings full of interesting stuff (new underwear, toothbrushes, band aids, combs...did Santa have a theme?).  But then came time for the BIG reveal...and Grace proudly did the honors of reading us the news!

A BBG (Bonus Baby Girl!) for Christmas!  How wonderful!

By 8:00 am we needed something to do so we headed off to the pool with some of our new gear.  Grace got to show her Far that she can swim without wings now (it's been one week of her new skill and she is still so proud and excited!) and we enjoyed a not-too-hot morning in Dar.  At home again we played with new toys and watched some new shows.  We were just gearing up for our brunch at Dar's Hyatt Regency (The Kilimanjaro) Hotel.  It was a bit of a stretch with two tired kids and a big jump in super hot temperature outside - but WOW the food was good.  And the BBG enjoyed a wee bit of champagne as well.

 

Good thing we brought the iPad though! It was needed in the end, and allowed Kristoffer and I to really enjoy our meal before heading home. 

  The rest of our Christmas day was spent playing and playing and playing, and talking to most of our distant loved ones on Skype or Facetime to share the good news of the BBG and wish them a Merry Christmas. Our two tired kiddos were sound asleep by 6:30 pm...now THAT'S what I call a Christmas present!   

Our family has really enjoyed and appreciated this holiday together, and we wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

With love from Dar,

Lisa, Kristoffer, Grace, Noah and the BBG

(and Tanzanian Santa too)