Moving Part 1: 264 Boxes...CHECK!

That's right. We had 264 boxes. TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY FOUR!!!

The total weight of our shipment: 8,200 POUNDS

Seriously, who needs 8,200 pounds worth of stuff? Apparently, we do. Actually, no WE DON'T. We are downsizing. Big Time.

I feel like my mind is going to explode - and my body is going to collapse. Moving just may be the best workout I've had in weeks. 

I was so excited last night I think I only slept for 3 hours. About 30 minutes into the move all I wanted to do was crawl back in bed, this is A LOT of work and not nearly as fun as I was anticipating it to be. Now I remember why I dread moving. 

I spent the morning looking at our packing inventory and checking off EACH and EVERY box as it came through the door. From #1 to #264. 

I'm happy to report that everything arrived! (Except for Andrew's toy remote control helicopter and his ceremonial sword - those are being held in customs. Did you know that remote control helicopters are banned from Bahrain?! We didn't either. Poor Andrew, he lost his toy. He will be able to go pick up his sword though - so that's good. Oh man...boys and their toys...). So far there are only a handful of casualties...

1. Glass in a picture frame is broken

2. Another picture frame/key hanger/entry way thingy is broken. A hook broke off.

3. Broken vase

4. Oh, and the SADDEST casualty for me - my dried wedding bouquet. It went from round - to square.

It used to be round and beautiful. Why is it my wedding bouquet is the ONE thing they didn't pack with ridiculous care?! The ugly Navy mirror made it, but not my bouquet? Just my luck.

This is the one thing that I think they packed horribly. It was shoved under a table with some blankets and then the entire table was wrapped up. 

Meanwhile...take a look at the precious packing job below. 

Hmmm...I wonder what can be in the paper - it feels so light. I'm glad they packed it so well...

WAIT...Is that what I think it is?!?

WAIT...WHAT?!?! Two tiny magnets?! All that wrapping for two tiny magnets?!?!

WTF...

And they just shoved my wedding bouquet under a table with some random linens from the linen closet?!

We mourned the loss. All three of us (Andrew, Caden, Me) just looked at it sadly for a while. I think Caden almost cried. He loves all things related to the wedding. 

So, my beautiful wedding bouquet is no more...

I'll just have to print this picture really big and remember its glory days.

Photo By JKOE Photo

Caden loved being at the new house - he just can't wait to feed the tiny fish that swim in the canal. 

I'm sure this is the first of MANY times that he will be enjoying lunch on the porch. 

Davis fared pretty well. He even slept through a lot of it...

The louder it was the harder he slept. MAGIC! 

What a trooper!

All in all, it was a good day. I'm learning a lot for my first official PCS move. 

Here they are in no particular order:

1. WE HAVE WAY TOO MUCH STUFF. I'm serious about downsizing. We got rid of a lot today. My plan is to keep weeding it out. 8,200 pound?!?! That's insane. 

2. We have more kitchen supplies than anything else. 32 boxes worth. It was never ending. 

3. We have like 15 flower vases. WHY?! I have NO IDEA. My husband better start buying me flowers to fill them or they are going away. 

4. If you have great movers on the US side they can help you package your alcohol so that customs doesn't take it. We were shocked to see that it all came through. No toy helicopters...but hey, enjoy your Vodka!

5. It takes 8 HOURS to get most of our kitchen supplies to fit in our kitchen. We had to take a few boxes worth out since they just cannot feasibly fit. I doubt we'll miss them. 

6. There is SO MUCH waste in the moving business. I hated seeing it...so I'm just going to pretend that they are definitely going to recycle and reuse everything. 

7. 15 people working on your house at one time is too many (7 movers, 4 cleaners, 2 air conditioning guys, 1 painter, 1 water guy)

8. Coconut oil is probably always going to be in its liquid state in Bahrain...this cracked me up!

9. (I learned this one when we got here, but it became annoying today) In Bahrain what we call the "First Floor" is their "Ground Floor" and what we call the "Second Floor" is their "First Floor". With a 4 story villa we ended up with a lot of stuff on the wrong floor. I guess we will have to do some heavy lifting ourselves. Darn.

10. Pizza and cold water and soda go a LONG way with the movers and a bottle of Whiskey goes A LONG way with your new property manager. Shh....

Well...we were at the villa for 14 hours today. I feel like we have hardly made a dent. I mean, all we finished was the kitchen. Obviously the most important room in the house, and I'm sure this will be the hardest room too- but wow. So much work and not so much to show for it. 

Except for this:

Nope...no doors on the cabinet. I'm going with it. As far as I'm concerned this extra shelving is a blessing, we would be so screwed without it. 

It's starting to feel like home...

There isn't an inch of spare drawer or cabinet space. It is FILLED to the brim. (Haha, TWSS!)

AND...I'm calling it the night. Another LONG day of unpacking tomorrow. 

and That's 'Watts' She Said...

Mama's Got a New Ride...and a New iPhone! Whew!

We've had a VERY busy past few days here in the Kingdom of Bahrain! 

Busy and EXPENSIVE!!! But oh, so much fun! 

After nearly 6 weeks of being a single car family - it was time to expand. With the move to Amwaj coming up this weekend we needed a second car. We were able to get by with just one at the hotel because Andrew was able to ride the shuttle to and from work. Since we are going to be SO FAR away (15 minutes) we will need 2 vehicles again.

Buying a car in Bahrain is an adventure...OF COURSE! Everything here just seems so much more, hmmm what's the right word....ridiculous/crazy/insane? Pick one.

How to buy a car in Bahrain...

(note: must first have CPR card....that's an entirely separate LONG process described HERE)

1. Go to the side of the road and see one you like (random used car parking lot but without a sales person)
2. Find a picture of one posted on base or at the grocery story or on the Bahrain Garage Sale Facebook page or on expatriates.com
3. If you see one you like - HURRY because the good ones go fast! Like same day or next day. Our car was supposed to be shown to someone right after us - so we jumped on it and bought it (turns out the next guy works with Andrew - he was complaining at work \that he was SUPPOSED to see a car the night before but someone stole it from under his nose...HAHAHA...turns out it was us) You snooze you lose!
5. Look at car - make sure you won't be upset if it gets demolished in the next 2 years thanks to the crazy drivers..and make sure the AC works...and make sure it can make it 2 years in the sand and heat.
5. After deciding on car - take out cash...Bahraini Dinar of course
6. Meet guy in random grocery store parking lot with envelope of cash and drive off with the car
7. Before driving off with car give him your CPR card so HE can go to the motor vehicle place and change the ownership. (I was not so thrilled about this. You can't do anything without the CPR card here, and I just handed it over to a stranger - no big deal - and I was surprised that I didn't need to be at the DMV-place too)
8. Meet guy again the next day for our "Certificate of Ownership" cards
9. This step is for Andrew only....lose the "Certificate of Ownership" somewhere between having it handed to you and getting back in the car. (This is about a 2 foot radius)
10. Search your car, yourself, the ground, everywhere for "Certificate of Ownership"
10. Repeat step 6.
11. That's it really. So maybe it isn't that crazy. Just so fast paced. Bam. Bam. Bam And now I have a car with kilometers instead of miles. I love seeing it hit 80-100 kilometers per hour I feel SO FAST. (but really it's only like 50-60 mph...not so fast or cool)

INTRODUCING MY SWEET RIDE!!!

2003 VW Passat

MORE EXCITING NEWS!!!!!

After getting my CPR card back I was FINALLY able to get an iPhone! The iPhone packages are pretty sweet. With a 12 month or 18 month contract the iPhone 5 is pretty much FREE. At first, we thought I could get by with a cheap pre-paid phone. BUT...I'm a walking disaster. I need serious help. Help from Siri and help from Google Maps (I got crazy lost in the slums the other day. Not pretty. Not good. I survived, but I'm NOT doing that again.) AND I need to be connected to my people back home. I'm a people person - I NEED my people and I need contact with them on a daily base. HELLO iChat or iMessage, whatever it's called.. 

Since getting my iPhone tonight I've already been iChatting up a storm and it feels SO GOOD!!!

Here is my FAVORITE text of the evening. This is from my dear sweet friend Katie in Maryland (her son Enzo, and Davis were born just hours apart...same delivery room...same doula...we are lifelong friends - more on that story later)

She is Amaze Balls - maybe because we have the baby bond. Maybe because we text like gangsters and use words like "Holla" and "Amaze Balls" and it's totally normal. Though, I'm pretty sure gangsters don't talk like this either. I just feel pretty gangsterish when we do. 

Back to the point...

Skype even works better now! And I can Skype on the run - I don't have to sit in one spot in the hotel room praying I don't lose the wireless connection while not really even being able to hear what the other person was saying anyways. It's amazing. Suddenly I feel so much closer to everyone. 

I FEEL LIKE A REAL PERSON AGAIN! Car, iPhone, freedom! 

I even drove my car WHILE talking on my iPhone like a true American. 

It was the epitome or normalcy for me!

Until I pulled up to the gas station, rolled down my window, paid 5 BD ($13) for someone to fill my car with an ENTIRE tank of gas...yep...reality check, I'm NOT in America. That would only be like 3 gallons back home....and I would be out there pumping that liquid gold myself (wait liquid gold is breastmilk...sorry when I think pumping I think breastmilk...and that's my life right now). 

All in all a great day - I'm about to write another post since it's too much to cram into a single one!

...and That's 'Watts' She Said!

One Year Ago Today...

Yep...one year ago today I gave Andrew the biggest shock of his life when I told him that little man Davis was on his way. SO MUCH has changed in the past year, and despite the craziness that is our life right now - I couldn't be happier. 

I guess it's tradition now and June 11th can't be a forgettable day around here. First Andrew nearly died tonight. That sounds like an exaggeration, right? I swear, he nearly died. I was THIS close to calling 911 - or whatever the equivalent of that is here. I should probably figure that out. 

Side Note:  This wouldn't be the first time I almost called 911, two winters ago he decided to put Christmas lights on the house for me and Caden (it just wasn't the same to us without them - he was anti Christmas lights...we won). One small detail...he is afraid of heights. That's right, my helicopter pilot husband is AFRAID OF HEIGHTS. So...getting on the roof was a disaster, but he did it. Getting off...now that's something else;  he was freaking out. Shaking, ghost white, sick to his stomach, couldn't move, I could go on and on. I was yelling at him to just 'DO WHAT I SAY...YOU WILL MAKE IT DOWN!!!' I felt like a hero talking him through it - straight out of a movie - I have NO IDEA what the neighbors though! I had the phone in my hand, ready to call 911 to get him off of the roof...much like getting a scared kitten out of a tree. Poor baby. After A LOT of coaching and threats by me, he made his way on to the ladder. I'll never forget that day! (Needless to say, we didn't get Christmas lights this year...I'm pretty sure that was the first and last time.)

Anyways, back to how he almost died tonight. We were sitting down to eat some delicious stir fry, he takes a sip of water. The next thing I know; his hand is clamped over his mouth and he looks at me with panic in his eyes as he starts coughing, dry heaving, and spitting up water. At first I thought he just choked a little...then there was about 20 seconds of him hunched over and trying to breathe and not really being able to. I was totally in position to give him the Heimlich. I've never heard someone work so hard to try to breathe. I said, "Do I need to call 911...can you breathe?" he showed me with his hands that he could get a little oxygen...so I waited a few more seconds. Again...I was totally ready to call 911. He lived though. It was scary - maybe it doesn't sound that scary, but it was scary. 

He's not allowed to drink water anymore.

So...after that shit show of a dinner Mr. Davis gave us the best shit show yet! He actually gave it to Daddy. I think it was Andrew's punishment for almost dying tonight. I was doing the dishes and all I could hear was Andrew yell, "Kristina....." in a shaky, 'Oh My Gosh, I need you right now" voice. You know the voice. It always precedes something really, really bad.

I ran to the bedroom and saw this:

Yes, it is all over Andrew's hands...and the changing pad, and the onesie, and Davis's legs...and his feet...and pretty much everywhere EXCEPT the diaper. 

My reaction...obviously to laugh and grab my camera. Andrew always gets the good ones. Davis knows when to dish it out. I love that boy. 

I love how D looks so innocent...and really quite proud of himself! Who me? 

Somehow in the process he even got it on his arms, and hands...back...it just kept spreading! D got another bath tonight. It was necessary. Oh..and one more thing...I HATE formula poo - it's so much worse than the innocent breastmilk poo. Seriously, I was gagging from it. Tonight was SO our night.

It's these moments that make me SO thankful for when Andrew is around. 

(Though really, I think I could have handled this situation so much better...does D really make that big of a mess or does Andrew spread it around in his attempts to figure out what to do? I had that boy cleaned in no time! Maybe Andrew is really to blame here.)

In summary, thank you Davis. Thank you for your surprise one year ago, and your big surprise tonight; life would be so dull without you. 

That's as good as it gets from Bahrain today. OH...and our lease is set to sign on the 19th!! Household goods have arrived from the states (ahead of time, thank you God) and will be moved in on the 20th!!! 

9 more days people!!!

9 more days and I will be set free of this hotel room!

and That's 'Watts' She Said....

Mommy, there's a bird in our room!

That's how Caden woke me up this morning. This is how it happened...

Caden: Mommy, there's a bird in our room.

Me: (in a sleepy haze) No, there isn't, you are just imagining it.

Caden: No really Mommy, THERE IS A BIRD IN OUR ROOM! I saw it!

Me: Caden, stop fibbing and get back in bed. (Note: C is in a phase of telling tale tales. Like, Mommy there's a lion on your head. No really there is!")

Caden: I'm not lying! Where's your phone?

Me: No playing on my phone right now.

Caden: I'm going to take a picture and show you mommy!

Me: Go for it. (At this point I started thinking that he might be telling the truth.)

Caden: runs back into the bedroom and shows me this...(see the little dark thing on the top of the cupboard?)

Me: OH MY GOD, THERE'S A BIRD IN OUR ROOM!!!!

Caden: I told you so Mommy.

Perfect example of 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf'. We've been telling this story to C lately, maybe now he will get it. I totally didn't believe him.

What happened next was quite a shit show. I walked out to the living area to see the bird for myself and I FREAKED it out. He started flying all around like crazy, bumping into things, trying to find an escape. I felt so bad for the bird, but at the same time, he was getting dirty bird germs all over the baby's stuff and our place! I was sure he was going to peck me to death at this point.

I placed a crazed call to housekeeping that sounded like this:

Me: Ummm, hi, there's a BIRD in our room! (followed by a screech as it whizzed past my head)

Lady on the other end: I'm sorry madam, did you say a bird?

Me: YES! A BIRD!?

Lady on the other end:  How did a bird get into your room madam?

Me: I have NO idea (and other yell as the bird almost takes out my leg)

Lady on the other end:  I will call housekeeping madam.

As we waiting I barricaded the boys and I in our bedroom to keep us safe from the crazy bird. I kept imagining him poking one of our eyes out....or pooping on us. Bad bad things were going through my head.

First two staff, that I've never met before, came into the room and just kind of stared at the bird like they had never seen a bird before in their life. They waved their arms in the air (like that was going to catch him) and kept asking me, "Where did the bird come from?!" I DON'T KNOW!!!

Then Ali, our 'Room Boy' SAVED THE DAY!!! I love this guy, he cleans our room every day, is super sweet, always stops to coo at Davis, and has the cutest dimples. He came in to see what was going on and after chasing the bird into bathroom he caught it with his bare hands. My HERO! I don't want to know how he managed it (I was still protecting the boys from the bird in the bedroom. Yes, I was scared, don't judge)

Then - the best part of all - he came back and cleaned our room spotless to get rid of the bird germs and the huge pile of poop he left in the bathroom.

Yes...the bird was pretty tiny - but by the time help arrived I imagined a full sized eagle flying around...

and That's 'Watts' She Said...

First Meal

Our new hotel, The Gulf, is so much more homey feeling to us! I love the little kitchen we have in our room. After getting decently settled it was time to venture back into real life (somewhat) and cook dinner. 

Many of you know, I'm kind of a picky eater, so up until this point I mainly had salads for every meal. Okay, maybe I'm not too picky - I just don't trust meat in foreign places. Something I'm going to have to get over unless I want to be a vegetarian. That's out of the question, I like bacon too much. 

Back to the point. After moving into our new digs we caught the hourly shuttle to the base, bought a few groceries, (another perk of life at The Gulf) and made our First Meal!

TACOS!

(no real surprise there)

My favorite meal, nothing like it, made us feel right at home

Yes...I was so excited that I took pictures. It's the little things.

A Few Side Notes:

1.  SANTITAS!!! For some reason I couldn't find my favorite brand of tortilla chips in all of Southern Maryland. It took moving around the world to be able to buy them at the NEX. Score.

2. Guacamole - I hate premade guacamole. The NEX had avacados, but NO guacamole seasoning, or even the separate ingredients to spice it up myself. I had to settle on premade guac for our inaugural meal. Don't doubt that I already ordered a 12 pack of my favorite seasoning from Amazon. (My love affair with Amazon is growing stronger every day)

3. Cheese - what does a girl have to do to get some good old Tillamook around here???!?!?

The Story of The Dragon

The Dragon...our first hotel...

First Morning...I think we had slept about 3 hours at this point


PROS
1.  Beautiful Location

This is what we woke up to every day. Solidifies that we want to live in Amwaj. 

2.  On Amwaj, where we eventually want to live
3.  Beautiful Location

Poolside

4. Great Service (minus the laundry incident - see #6 below)
5. Great View...I'm digging.

CONS
1.  Not very clean - I had to ask them 3 times to vacuum the rug in the main room, the never did, they just turned it around. Very obvious, especially since there was a big stain on it, and after they "vacuumed" it was just on the other side
2.  PARTY CENTRAL - since alcohol is legal in Bahrain the Saudis come pouring in on Wednesday night (their weekends are Thursday and Friday) and the DO.NOT.STOP the drinking and partying until they leave. AROUND THE CLOCK - it's just like Vegas. They actually have a saying that "Allah doesn't see what happens in Bahrain" aka "What happens in Bahrain, stays in Bahrain"
3.  Far away from the base (and by far I mean 15 minutes - seriously the entire island is only 30 miles long) We are getting jaded.
4. Strangely modern - they just totally miss the mark somehow - it just made it hard to get comfortable in.

D was entranced by the light fixture. This is the Master Bedroom

5 - Too big - our "hotel room" had 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. Insane
6.  Paying $200 to get our laundry done. This is also my fault...on day 2 they told me they would take my laundry for us and deliver it the next day. Since the service was so awesome I just thought, "GREAT! Here you go!" Well, the next day they delivered almost all of it back, along with a $200 bill. RIDICULOUS. We could have bought all new clothes. $3 to wash a pair of sock $5 for a onesie! Not to mention they didn't return my LuluLemon workout pants! Those alone are $100 - I was devastated. After a few threatening calls, they found them, thank God. That about sent me over the edge! All alone in Bahrain and NO yoga pants (you know that's all I wear in these post-pregnancy days)

Needless to say, we only lasted there about 5 days. It really wasn't that bad, we spent most of our time at the pool and sleeping to adjust to our new time zone. However, when found out that we COULD have been at The Gulf, one of the nicest places on the island, I was ready to move ASAP.

Thank GOD for our dear friends Scott Samo (Andrew's old Department Head at VX-1,he is stationed here) and our new amazing Australian friend Rebecca (Davis is in love with her blonde hair and sexy accent). Andrew was already underway, so Scott and Rebecca helped me move the boys and ALL of our stuff. They rock.I could not have made it happen without them.

I am much happier and settled now. Until we move again in a few weeks at least.

What Caden did at The Dragon. Swim, swim, swim...

What Davis did at The Dragon. Sleep, sleep, sleep AND eat, eat, eat...
Yes, I know, his feet are HUGE.