On our way....

We probably won't be able to blog on Friday like we normally do, so I decided to do a quick post today.  Plus, yesterday an exciting thing happened..... we got Aden's passport with his visa!  Granted our Government Relations Office took 3 weeks to do it and it came days before we leave, but we have it!  Tomorrow night we will be heading to the airport for a very long trip and Aden's first airplane ride (of many).  We are really looking forward to seeing friends and family and hopefully having some relaxation time.  Here are some pictures to tide you over until we get to the States.

Tara

A real working dad

 Family time at the school's Spring Spectacular.  Kids paid to throw 

a wet sponge at Jamie's face.

Aden's ultrasound appointment

Homeward Bound

We are down to our last week of school before coming home for what is looking like to short a visit.  We are leaving Wednesday night/early Thursday morning.  Thankfully, we booked our plane tickets out of Dammam, Saudi Arabia, instead of Bahrain like we usually do so we will avoid potential transportation issues.  The only detail we are still waiting on is Aden's visa so he can come in and out of Saudi.  We gave our Government Relations office 4 1/2 weeks to get the paperwork done.  They say we will have it, but making us wait until the last minute is not appreciated.  Anyways, as long as we are able to get on the plane and know we can all come back we will be happy.

In other news, some of you know Aden went in for an ultrasound on his clicky hip (very Gillaspie of him). Our doctor wanted to rule out hip dysplasia.  The technician said everything looked good!  Our doctor has to look at it still, but it looks like we have nothing to worry about, and even if we did, it is a pretty simple fix this young.

Also, Tara survived her first week of school.  It was actually only four days because the king declared a random holiday for her first day back.   It is still unclear if he had Tara in mind when he made the holiday, but it was appreciated nonetheless.

We're hoping to see many of you very soon!  Until then, enjoy some more pictures.

Aden with Auntie Laura and Uncky B

Notice the heal of the socks.  These are 6 month socks we bought only to find out were already to small.

Our garden in full bloom.  I hope we have a decent amount veggies to harvest before it gets too hot.

The first potato harvest!  They're small, but thankfully some plants are still growing.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go

Tomorrow is officially my first day back to school.  After about 3 months off for Christmas break and maternity leave, I am finding it a bit more difficult than I expected to get back into the swing of things.  Jamie and I spent 4 hours at school this weekend so that I could be ready for tomorrow.  I should have been able to prep for the whole week (or at least half) during that time, but I'm literally only ready for my first day back.  The nice thing is that we had a practice day on Wednesday.  Aden and I went into school with Jamie so I could get some putzy stuff done and say hello to people.  Aden practiced being in the creche (this is the British term for nursery).  He did really well and even took a 3 1/2 hour nap!  The ladies there are so loving, it will just take some time for them to get used to his schedule.  I think it's more an adjustment for me.  I've been with Aden all day since the day he was born and it will be weird not having him within arms reach.  It will just have to be something I get used to.  Luckily we only have 2 weeks of school and then 2 weeks off for spring break to recuperate again.  

Tara

 

 Kamilla couldn't quite figure out how to catch Aden's hand.  It was too cute!

Whaz up?

We can't help but laugh a bit when he makes this face.

Check out my pecs!

Favorite way to sleep... butt up

 

Pics and a video

 

Sleepy-head

 

Funny faces

 

Smiles!

 

 Smiling at Mama

 

2 Month Update

Aden is already two months old!  I can hardly believe it!  At the same time, I can barely remember how small he once was, it seems like years ago.

I just wanted to give you a quick update of his two month check-up.  Aden is officially off the charts for height and weight.  He is 14.5 pounds and 2ft long.  The doctor even jokingly told Tara she should bottle and sell her milk because it is doing a great job.  The only thing we need to check on is a click in his hip.  The doctor said she is sure it is nothing, but on the one percent chance it could be hip dysplasia we could get an ultrasound to check it out.  We are going to do that next weekend and will let you know what happens when we get the results.  We aren’t losing any sleep over it though. 

Besides a good doctor’s appointment, this past week has been full of Aden’s smiles, coos and time holding him up because he loves to stand.  We are still waiting on Aden’s visa, but are still quite confident it will be here in plenty of time for us to get home at the end of the month.

This is also Tara’s last week at home with Aden before coming back to work.  She has mixed feelings about it, but would probably rather just stay home for a while longer.  She will be in school on Wednesday (our Friday) to get her and Aden used to the nursery.  On a good note, she is only back for two weeks, then off for two weeks during spring break.  After that is a 10 week stretch and then two months off!

Lastly, we booked our plane tickets for this summer.  We will be spending June 21-28 in Scotland, which is exciting because June 21^st is our anniversary.  Then we will be back in Wisconsin until August 30^th with a 10-12 days trip to Don and Kim’s in British Columbia around the middle to end of July.

Well, that’s more news than I thought I had, but that’s probably ok with you if you are reading this.

Hoping to see many of you soon.  Enjoy the pictures.

Jamie

 

Having some fun after bath time.

More pictures will come later, right now we are having issues uploading them.

Passport!

It's official, Aden is a US citizen and has his own passport.  We got a call from our consulate office on Saturday telling us that they had received Aden's passport and asking that the whole family come down and pick it up.  So Sunday Jamie took the afternoon off of work and drove us all down.  The reason they wanted everyone to come was because Aden's consular report of birth (birth certificate) was the first one processed for our consulate.  They wanted to get a picture of us with his certificate.  This picture will be put in a "yearbook" for the consulate and given to Washington D.C.  Pretty exciting!

After getting his passport we went straight to our government relations office and turned in all the paperwork for him to get his visa and to have him put on my iqama (residency card).  They have 4 weeks to get that all processed so we can leave for the States on March 31.  I'm confident that it will get done and that we'll be coming back.  In fact, I'm so confident that we already have tickets booked.  Did you know that a baby, even one who is just going to sit on your lap and not have his own seat, gets one piece of checked luggage weighing 50 lbs?  He doesn't actually need all that weight so my mind has already started to make of list of other things we can bring back in his bag..... like Skippy Natural peanut butter!

We are really excited to be able to come back to the Midwest for spring break and look forward to seeing many of you during our time there.  Until then, here are some pictures!

Tara

Aden on his playmat

Thank Uncle Billy for the sweet camo gear!

Us at the consulate

Meeting up with some old students.... they loved Aden!

Cheese!