Saturday, can it be the last day in July already?

I can not believe that it is already July 31st. It doesn't seem we've been here that long, but we arrived on the 17th. Not to mention some really big things are happening in August ( Reid starting school, the kiddos birthdays and my mom and dad are coming to visit) and they always seemed so far off. Not so far anymore. Reid is starting school on Thursday and I am so excited for him...with tears actually. The poor kid has been through the ringer and we have pushed and pushed and pushed him. He has been so good and soooo very bored, I'm sure. I'm excited to get him back into a routine as well as meeting some new friends. I hope there are some friend prospects for him here in Serene Kiara. I'm sure there will be someone as this weekend we have seen tons of other families looking at houses to rent here. It will be nice to have some activity here, although I know it will take some getting used to hearing the family on the other side of our wall. I guess that just means more wine! Speaking of, tonight we had some good wine that the lady at the grocery recommended ( as I take my last gulp). It is very hard shopping for wine right now as most of it is Australian and New Zealand and outside of Sauvignon Blanc I know absolutely nothing. I was relieved that her suggestion hit the spot. We made dinner again tonight and I knew I had been slacking with Reid as I'm steaming him broccoli and he is jumping up and down about how good it smells and how excited he is for it. I said it smells like a can of toots. Reid says a "canoftoots"? And I said yes. He said what's that and I said you know farts and he said...you mean poots?! I thought that was funny and kind of happy that he hasn't grown up so much that his favorite word is fart. I'm sure the day will come. Anyway, I think he is the only person that likes the way broccoli smells when it is cooking. I made pork tenderloin and we had left over potatoes and green beans and let Reid tear up the broccoli.

Reid and Bill swam in the pool today. Reid did excellent and even took his floating devices off and sort of swam to Bill. They made a deal that when Reid swims across the short distance he can have this riding thing he saw and then Reid negotiated later that when he swims the long distance he gets both the riding toy and a blower. Too funny.

So on the home furnishing front we now have our mattress - who knew you could ever talk so much about mattressess...sorry, boring I know. We also have Reid's room mostly furnished with a bed, nightstands, and a desk. It is too cute and I think he really loves it. He feels very big in it. We also purchased two pieces today; an entertainment or tv console for upstairs to keep a little munchkin from reaching out and kissing the tv and then also a large shelving unit for the entry way. Not couches, but a step in the right direction.

We drove today to Bangsar withou any help. We had to make two or three guesses at forks in the road and ended up choosing right - yeah!!! Bangsar is definitely an area I will frequent so I'm glad we made it there. Now, can I do it again? Who knows?!

Random pics - our car here which we are renting and Reid in the pool today.

Finally, back on the horn

So I've been behind n the blogging as we still do not have internet service at our house and because of a few other minor issues prohibiting from getting to the internet via my computer....but I'm baaack! Yeah. I don't even know where to begin. Last time I wrote it was Saturday and the forst day in our house. Bill was leaving Sunday and it is now already Saturday again. Where does the time go? I survived the 5 days/4 nights without Bill on a bottle of wine and bean burritos! Ok, and a little choclate ice cream, but I had to share that with Reid. I was very sad when Bill left, trying to hold back the tears of I really don't want you to go and leave me by myslef in this strange country, just yet. I think I did ok, but he knew. The first night was a little nerve racking. Just being in a new house there are so many new noises and you are constantly wondering is that the a/c or someone breaking in...is that something outside or a rodent in the house...you know, stuff like that. I made it through the night, but I was looking forward to Bill's quick return. And can you believe I STILL do not have a coffee maker? I have not had my cup o' morning joe since we left the hotel...oh please save me! I have only found one maker that would suffice and I wished I had bought it that day. We are going back there TODAY so tomorrow morning should be simply...uh...wonderful would be the appropriate public word. Anyway, back to Bill's return. He got in late on Thursday and after sitting around the house waiting for various people to show up at our house, I vowed not to stay in the house on Friday. Bill had plans for work and golf, but lucky for us, golf was cancelled. We went to a new mall yesterday called 1 Utama. Except for the incredibly confusing layout it was much like any other mall around. I was hoping to score big on baby stores and furiture. Baby stores yes, lots of furniture not really. So we bought a baby gate (which turns out not to be the right fit), a food steamer, and a bunch of things at Ikea. I think I could nvigate Ikea in my sleep. It is like one of the great wonders of the world over here - packed almost all of the time. So I took measurements of almost every wall and spce in the house with the exception of the stairs for the baby gate - duh. Oh well. Hopefully we can get one that works soon. I was happy to find they so have adapters that SHOULD work on our stair railing. Things are going well at thouse as we slowly get things to make in functional. I will take pictures soon. We have another maid coming on Sunday she gets paid $5/hr. We have neighbors moving in this weekend or next and I think they are British. They have at least 3 girls with the youngest looking a little older than Reid. How do we get so lucky to live next door to all of these beuatiful girls. In Fall Creek we lived next to the Jones girls - 3 of them and yes all beautiful. Hopefully our new neighbors are just as sweet. Well that's all for now. I should be

on a somewhat regular posting schedule now! Some pics of our drive to the mall and our "neighborhood".

A Day of Firsts

Today was a day of firsts. Georgia's first morning sleeping until 7am since we arrived, Bill's first time driving on the wrong side of the road, our first day in our new house, and our first family meal in it. There may be more, but those pretty much sum it up. It was a GREAT day. We are sitting in the guest bedroom likely ready to pass out at 8:38pm (drinking wine out of little plastic cups), but are thinking about our day and what we'll do next. The day started out in a rush, but ended like any other day in our house in Humble...with just much less furniture, food, cooking utensils, etc. We rushed this morning to check out of the hotel as the employees of the hotel were having at fire drill. Bill nervous about driving for the first time rushed to get all of our many bags loaded into the car. I had to take the kids and a few bags to the lobby as we were riding with our driver and Bill was to meet us at the front and follow us to our new house. The blocked off entrance where we are normally picked up gave me a panic about how Bill was going to figure out where to go. Luckily everything was pretty easy and we were off (Reid got to see a firetruck on our way out). Either thankfully or good prep on our part it was Saturday morning and there was no morning traffic to contend with. We pulled up to our house and Bill was right there behind us. He got out of the car with his arms in the air...."I DID IT". Very exciting. We unloaded a few of our things and got the carseats loaded in the new car (a Nissan X-Trail). We wanted to head to a mall following our driver again. To say we were overjoyed to be independent is an understatement for sure. I was so thrilled to have the kids in their carseats ( I should put that in CAPS) and I was so happy not to be riding in the backseat worried about when to tell someone to drop us off or pick us up. I have pictures to prove there was sheer joy, but I'll have to add those tomorrow.
It was very easy to get to the mall so I have no problem driving the kids there while Bill is away next week - he leaves tomorrow BTW. Not terribly happy about that, but he does have to keep us in the black. I'm not entirely sure the mall we went to has a whole name...there is The Curve, Ikea and the Ikano Power Center. It is a really great place. We've been there 3 times already I think looking for furniture. Today we went back to order a couch for the guest room and desks for the office at Ikea. Luckily most of the items were in stock. Just one thing was out and it will be in next week. Anyway, we wanted to go ahead and get something to sit on as right now we only have our stairs and our mattresses. Those things will be delivered tomorrow along with a tv and surround system so we will finally have something to sit on and another form of entertainment. Bill was adamant about getting something for us to sit on before he left. I was hopeful that we would find things for the main living area, but knew we had a tight time line. I'm glad we found this nice couch that will fit perfectly in the guest room. I'm excited to decorate around it. So sometime tomorrow afternoon we will have a couch, a working tv and dvd player. Now if we could just get the pool cleaned we would be in business. I didn't mention earlier that when we arrived at the mall we ate a place called Italiannes. Expecting something between a Spaghetti Warehouse and Olive Garden we were actually pleasantly surprised. The food was pretty good and the glass of wine was the size of Texas (mom.dad.Doug think birthday glass of wine :) ) Later that day we drove to the grocery store all by ourselves. The grocery store will take getting used to because of the layout. The store is two stories. Upstairs contains the non-halal food (pork), alcohol, and some other things. So you have to shop non cold stuff downstairs, then leave your cart and go upstairs cause you got have bacon and wine, and then go back downstairs to get your cold and frozen items. I could reorganize the hell out of that grocery store! What a fun thing that would be! So we stocked up on things and guess what?! Our first night cooking in Asia and we make... Mexican! Well sort of. My quick and easy go to meal is always ground meat and a can of beans on a tortilla with a little cheese. So that's what we had with just salt and pepper because I have nothing else yet and some onion and garlic. They actually turned out pretty good. Reid even ate them. We had wine in our little plastic punch cups and I just remembered Baskin Robbins chocolate ice cream that we didn't eat. Oh well - I can have that after the kids go to bed tomorrow! A few hiccups here and there in the house today. Learning how they do things here( like use the oven or turn on the pump switch to get water pressure on the third floor), which light switches turn on which lights, and blowing a fuse. Ah...such is learning a new home in a new world. I think that is about it for today. The day was full of memories and I will never forget it. I am so happy to be in our house with my family...it certainly feels a little more like home already.

We move in today!

We are almost in our new house!

Today was a busy day, but most importantly the first day with the keys to our new house. We were busy getting cleaning supplies, waiting at the house for the telecom man, the mgmt company, etc. We received our first air shipment today which had Georgia's crib and some other items. It was so nice to see their clothes hanging in the closets. I'm so excited to put our touch on our new home. After all the work was done at the house we went to a new mall today. New meaning we haven't been as KL has to be the mall mecca of the world. I can't even keep track of how many there are but today we visited our favorite! It is Bangsar Shopping Centre and the ground floor is heaven for us. It reminded us so much of the HEB Central Market. It had all kinds of pork or (non-halal which means no muslims) and any kind of dried beans, pasta, chocolate, meats, bread, coffee, wine. Bill and I were in love. Reid I'm sure thought we were crazy. Bill and I were walking around saying "mommy and daddy are sooo happy". Now not to say that the grocery stores aren't good here, this area called All Gourmet or Gourmet just made us feel right at home. I even bought us each a little chocolate truffle and it really hit the spot after a long day. In the mall we also found a baby/kids store which seem to have any baby thing I needed and Reid found the coolest toy...yes we gave in. It is a fire extinguisher that he can wear as a backpack. You can fill it with water and there is a hose that looks like a real fire house (plastic of course) and it will shoot the water out. Not sure how good it works since we are still living in the hotel, but I'm sure it will get used...a lot. Take a look at the picture and you'll see how much he likes it.

We did finally find mattresses yesterday and what a wild goose chase it was. We did not bring any with us. We really needed a new one and wanted to buy Reid and the guest room a larger one. Note that it is VERY
difficult to get mattresses quickly here. The standard delivery time is 6-8 weeks. Given that a mattress or should I say lack thereof was the only thing keeping us in the hotel we were on a massive search. We did find a palce that had a couple in stock and the others would take 7-10 days. For those interested the store is Bliss in Solaris Dutamas. The sizing here is also different. A US king is what they call a super king. A US queen is what they call a king. We ended buying a super king for our room since we already have a bedframe that required it. A note that if you do buy a super king here make sure you bring sheets with you (luckily I did). The closet place to kind sheets to fit is Singapore. Not a bad place to go, but... We had a great night walking through downtown KL to go to Hakka for dinner. We love there food and it was nice to be a part of the bustling city life. Interesting with two kids and one stroller (make sure you have a small one), but a great night. The kids seem to enjoy it.

We're off and We Made it!

All of my thinking happy thoughts could not have prepared me for the journey over here. It truly is hard work managing two young children on such a long journey. I was overwhlemed with relief that we actually made it all alive and still in one piece. Our children did amazing. It was such a rush leading up to the trip that I really did not have time to dwell on the bad or the what ifs. I was shopping and packing up to the last minute. I did make a few mistakes that I realized after arriving, but all in all not too bad. Of course my parents were wonderful. They took care of us and the kids and there weren't too many discussions with tears. Those will come I'm sure ( and they have), but staying with my parents prior to our departure was absolutely wonderful. We or should I say I decided that Tyson, our cat, was coming with us. He stayed behind and leaves a few days after us.

We had an eventful, but decent trip over here. The first flight went well. We had a bassinet for G, but you have to take them out when there is turbulence. I had to do this at least twice and then she moves a ton in her sleep and the bassinet was literally the size of her....like someone built a box around her so if she stirred I had to pick her up. I ended up sleeping with her in my lap. I got some sleep. Reid had more difficulty sleeping. He was very upset there was no bed. He slept in Bill's lap. Unfortunately when you have the bulkhead seating the armrests don't raise because they have the trays and tvs in them. Our plan was to raise the armrests and let Reid sleep with his head in Bill's lap and stretch out on his and G's seat. Well that didn't work. We had a few discussions about what seating arrangement would be best in the future, but in the end (after the second flight) I will do everything I can to have the extra space in front in the aisle or bulkhead seating. So our scheduled connection had a 40 minute layover. We got in a little early, but the Doha airport doesn't have gates so we had to deplane outside and then take a bus. When we walked in the airport ( I wish I had a picture) it looked like a free for all. We saw a sign that said transfers and a mass of people trying to squeeze through the line. Bill and I looked at each other like what in the hell are we going to do - there is NO way we can even attempt to make our flight connection. I went to ask a man for help and overheard someone else asking the same question and luckily there was a fast track line that we just had to push ourselves to. So with Bill carrying two bags and holding Reid's hand and me carrying two bags with G strapped in the Babybjorn (lifesaver) we pushed our way through the massive crowd. We got to our gate and it said last call for KL! Holy moly we could not believe we made it. So they take us to our plane - on another bus - Reid is totally having a good time now- we board sweating our butts off and we keep waiting for them to close the cabin doors. Oh no - the pilot comes on saying there is a problem with the plane that is a no go issue so they are trying to fix it. I thought I was going to die. We have no room - no bulkhead seating on this flight since we were so late - and we are sweating to death. They have to turn the power off to the plane so we lose all air and we are just trying to manage. Thankfully G and Reid are being great. I took a picture of G because her hair was completely wet from sweating. Thankfully they fixed the issue and I think we took off about 2 hours later. Oh my - that was not a fun time. The flight was ok. G only had a few screaming moments. We just fed her whenever she did that and that seemed to help. She napped great. She actually fell asleep before we took off and Bill and I were like of course - we'll need that nap later! But she did good. Almost impossible for you to change a diaper in those bathrooms. And I was challenged to go to the bathroom while I had her in there because there is always a darn cart in the aisle so you have to time the potty just right.... in the end I told Bill that we should do everything we can to get plenty of miles to upgrade to business class. It would be pie for Reid and would also allow one of us to sleep more comfortably with Gigi. I can see myself asking Bill "don't you have a business trip this week?" we need the miles!!!! Probably won't happen for our December trip, but I'm not giving up yet! It was so good to land in KL and see it again. It made it a little more real on the drive from the airport to hotel as it looked familiar to me. That put my mind at ease.Reid is loving the hotel. He even said mommy I really like living here. He loves hotels or what he calls "who tells".We are going to walk over to the grocery store this morning to get bread, wipes, drinks for Reid. In an effort to send tons of stuff by air, I didn't move more wipes to our suitcase and didn't buy any drinks for Reid for while we are in the hotel. I did pack peanut butter and jelly so he'll be living off that for awhile. This morning he had peanut butter on crackers with some dried fruit. I am so happy I packed the trunk full of food. Being in the hotel there is not much available for a picky eater. We are planning to hit a couple of furniture stores today to find mattresses so we can move into our house whenever it is ready.I think that is about it for now. Just wanted to give you an update on our "trip"!

We've arrived: day 2

So where's day one? I haven't yet sat down long enough to post for day one yet describing our trip here and the first day. Day two is coming to an end...an early one so maybe I'll get to it tonight. It is now 4pm and after a great day so far we decided to venture out in a taxi to a furniture store around 3pm. After 10 minutes in the taxi Georgia pukes - alot. What to do? We have one bib and some wipes..and the taxi driver says we're here! Uh...sorry sir...we need to go back to the hotel. Total bummer! We were looking forward to getting out and looking for furniture for the house. We think Georgia got car sick. It is very easy to do here. I've never had an issue, but when Bill and I visited in May I did get car sick from driving around all day in the heat. So we are now back in the hotel room trying to figure out how not to fall asleep! This is not going to be easy to do. Walking around outside is not a possibilty since it has started to rain. Hopefully we can manage to keep the kids busy and get room service.
Our day started around 4am when everyone woke up or should I say the kids woke up. Georgia had her morning nap at 6am and when she woke up we went to the grocery store. After that we hit the pool at the hotel and the kids loved it. Lunch in the room and the naps for the kids and me (so awesome!) followed. I wish we could have gotten some shopping done this afternoon, but we will try again tomorrow. We have Reid's assessment at his school tomorrow. I'm worried about Georgia having an issue tomorrow with the car rides. I'm not sure how to prevent it.

Are we there yet?

No, we are not. We were originally scheduled to depart Houston on July 6th and now that has been pushed to July 15th. I was both relieved and a little disappointed. After counting down for so long, you just want to get there. In the end though I am thankful. This gave me more time to get out of our house, cross off items on the to do list and see some friends one last time. Everything happens for a reason. So now we are living at my parent's house for another week. It has been and will be so nice to spend more time with them. The kids have also enjoyed it. Georgia, after spending a week with them while Bill and I were in KL, has definitely engraved Nino and Pop in her mind. She loves them and loves the constant attention with so many people around. Reid is having a great time. His last day of school at Primrose was July 2nd and he hasn't mentioned it since. He has always liked what he calls "stay home days" and has quite a few of those left. The international school in KL he will be attending does not start until August 5th. Yeah for mommy (with some sarcasm)! Truly I have enjoyed being with my kids more since quitting my job in April, but there are days I miss being ALL ALONE! "Alone" has been added to my list of top ten words for sure. Anyway, as I mentioned we are just getting things done, seeing some friends, and trying to figure out how to get all of our stuff to KL. I am so looking forward to getting there while trying not to think about the plane ride, the jet lag, or the lack of mexican food, not to mention how much I will miss everyone.