March 4, 2014 - Showered with Love

Two Saturdays ago, my friends surprised me (with some help from Kristoffer...who can REALLY keep a secret!) with a lovely brunch to celebrate the BBG's imminent arrival.  I was so, so surprised:  had not taken a shower that morning, had just come from Grace's swimming lesson, and was sent to run up to my friend's flat to borrow a DVD from her husband for Kristoffer.  Grace had a little bit of a sick tummy and was waiting in the car with Kristoffer and Noah...I was so focused on getting in and out quickly that I didn't notice all of the cars (belonging to all of my friends) as I was running in and was shocked to see 10 of my favorite people in Dar all in one room.  I had been super busy working full time that week that apparently I was very hard to schedule (turned down invitations for play dates and the like) and hadn't seen anyone very much so it wasn't too hard for them to keep the cat in the proverbial bag. Kristoffer did a perfect job getting me there.  

All in all, it was such a sweet time...Kristoffer took the kids home and I had some lovely girl talk with great food and a little bit of champagne (AND a coke float...special for me!).  I had previously told one friend that I didn't really want a shower because in the US it is not so common to do one after your first child...and I didn't need present or games or anything like that.  So that was how they played it, and it was so perfect for me.  I was reminded of how in this expat life, we are often so lucky to find and connect with really special, interesting people.  These women are so great and help make my life here so nice.  

Thanks again to my friends Kirsten and Mabel for planning it, and for my other friends for coming! (the only thing I would have done differently was SHOWERED ahead of time!)

Here are some pictures for you to see how it all went down.  Sweet sweet sweet...and the BBG already has a framed picture of us with her Dar "aunties" hanging in her nursery.  As the frame says, "loved already!"  That is certainly how I felt, and I know she could feel it too.

 (note that it took some minutes before I realized I was wearing sunglasses and had to get Kristoffer to deliver me my regular glasses from the car!)

LMW

March 3, 2014 - Friends of Friends

When we lived in Nairobi, we had a lot of visitors.  Pretty often we had people stay with us who we had never met before - friends of friends...sometimes even friends of friends of friends!  And in the end they became our friends, and we have met a lot of really cool and interesting people this way.  Since moving to Dar we haven't had so many visitors...we're just that tiny bit further away that makes the trip a little longer and more expensive...or a lot of people visited us in Kenya thinking that was their one big trip to Africa.  No problem at all.

But we did have one Danish-friend-of-a-friend visit us last fall, which was great, and just two weeks ago we had a lovely American family stay with us for a night (friends of my friend Amy + the  Goldstein fam of lower Manhattan).  It was a real treat!

The Davidson Family (found at this blog) has been traveling the world since September and won't arrive back in NYC until June I think.  Their daughters are doing on online curriculum while they have this school year outside of the classroom and in the real world.  What an amazing adventure and gift to give your kids!  A literal trip around the world! Sounds like they have had some incredible experiences so far...and we were happy to be a one-night stopover in between flights for them.  

Davidsons, you are welcome back ANY TIME...or we hope to see you again in New York City someday.  Please note that our friends...or friends of our friends...or friends of friends' friends...are always welcome at our house should you ever be in the neighborhood. Karibu!  

LMW

March 2, 2014 - 32 weeks down, 7 weeks (and one day) to go!

32 weeks pregnant today - and we spent our last Sunday morning at the beach before the BBG and I travel to Boston for the final countdown.  

"What's that?" you ask.  Leaving so soon?

Well, our original plan was to leave in 2 1/2 weeks, but we bumped the date up a bit this week.  I got a little bit sick with a stomach bug on Monday and was much more dehydrated than I realized.  So I ended up having regular contractions Monday night and irregular contractions Tuesday morning.  My blood pressure and hemoglobin were super low and I generally felt pretty bad,  so I was admitted to the clinic for some hours to receive IV fluids. I also got a shot to accelerate the baby's lung development...just in case she decided to make an early appearance (thank you, sweet girl, that you listened to Mama and did not come out!). Once I was re-hydrated my contractions stopped and I felt much, much better.  

It was a little bit of a surprise to us because with 2 scheduled c-sections in my past I have never actually gone into labor or had regular contractions before.  We were timing them 9 minutes apart, and did get a little nervous.

But not quite as nervous as my doctor here...who strongly suggested (almost begged) that I leave earlier than planned.  I know that she does not want the responsibility of delivering this baby under stressful circumstances...this is just not the place for it.  Next Saturday night was the soonest we could logistically finagle the bagel...so then I'll be on my way.  I'll spend one or two days in Amsterdam to relax a bit in between long flights...my first time out of Schipol airport.  I have no idea if I will be too tired or freezing or confused or sad or what to experience any of the city, but we'll see!

I think Kristoffer and I are both very comfortable with the decision because I will be close to great medical care much sooner (and because the current heat is making it increasingly uncomfortable to also be a human oven)...but it also means that I will be separated from him, Grace and Noah for almost 6 weeks before they join me in America.  And THAT is really hard to picture.  I am sure there will be wonderful things about being away from them - lots of rest I hope and not having to take care of anyone else and seeing family and friends - but I am mostly dreading the goodbye and just imagining how much my kiddos will change in the 6 weeks we are apart makes me really sad. They might as well be teenagers in six weeks time!

Kristoffer will also have a long, hard 6 weeks I fear, working full time and playing both Mama and Far at home (yes, with some help from Rose and Christopher)...and weekends are ALWAYS the hardest flying solo.  This means by the time he gets to America he will be totally exhausted...just in time for the BBG to be born.  Sigh.  Perhaps it is not ideal, but it's what we need to do to get her here safely and at least we know it is temporary.  We will survive!

So stay tuned for more blogs this week with some other updates I haven't shared yet, but mostly I will be packing and prepping for "the long stay" (as my mother calls it)...and all 5 of us will be back in Dar by June 1st!  

LMW

March 1, 2014 - Dragon Birthday!

Today was Grace's Dragon Birthday Party!

It was a lot of work - it is probably true that I overdid it...but with my departure for America so soon, I just really wanted Grace to have an unforgettable birthday. I am so happy and grateful that SHE was so happy and grateful.

First, we had a dragon visit our house.  Notice he is on the left, and his nest is on the right...both hanging from our front tree. 

Here Kristoffer is telling the kids (15 in total) about the dragon, and that his nest needs to be cut down so they could see what is inside.

The kids were fascinated and first had to find "help" (a paper bag of dull plastic knives) to cut down the intricate pulley system that was keeping the nest up in the tree.  

 When they finally cut the last string the nest came down to the ground and inside it the kids found their goodie bags!

 They needed their goodie bags - which each contained a baby dragon in an egg - to search for more dragon eggs.  They raced around on their egg hunt and enjoyed eating the treats inside their eggs.

 Next Mr. Kauzeni - our favorite drum teacher - came over to have some fun.  He is not working at their school anymore so I think they were even more excited to see him because they love his songs and dances.  It was a great way to entertain these kiddos for 30 minutes.  They had so much fun.

Grace was particularly happy when it was her turn to drum! 

 And the biggest surprise of the day was how excited NOAH was for drumming!  The last time Mr. Kauzeni came over was in July, and Noah was not interested at all.  He was too shy and wouldn't play.  But today he was incredibly happy and had such a great time!

 We also had a dragon coloring station, dragon tattoos, and a dragon dungeon (like a fort/hula - not pictured) for kids to play in.

 I was most excited about the fire-breathing dragon photo shoot (which I totally stole from someone else's blog - thank you!) and some of the kids (and Kristoffer, below) had a lot of fun getting their pictures taken!

The Birthday Dragon Girl!

After Gracie opened her presents (way too chaotic to take pictures!) she had cake and ate it too!  Thanks to a local cake lady for being so awesome that she made a "Toothless" dragon cake (from Disney's "How to Train Your Dragon"), which was exactly what Grace wanted...and tasted delicious!

 The party ended with our dragon (pinata) friend, getting bashed to the ground and the kids filling up their goodie bags with one last round of treats.  We sent everyone home on a total sugar high :)  And our dragon girl was super happy about her party.  

We are pretty relieved that birthdays only come once a year, and now that Noah is 3 and Gracie is 5, we are gearing up for a new April birthday in our family.  

Dragon Girl - We hope you had a great day!

We love you!

Mama & Far