About a month to go

We are officially in the final countdown to baby #2. Of course we are being optimisitc that she will arrive early but I know chances are pretty good she will be a February baby. Just hopefully not a Valentine's Day baby (that would mean two weeks late).

While in line at the grocery store today an older American man asked me how much longer I had. I said about a month. He said, "oh, twins"? Me, "Nope". "Wow, thats a big baby then". Gee, thanks, way to make a girl feel good!

In case you were wondering how big I really am, I've attached a recent photo (taken with my fancy new iPhone!!).

Christmas Photo's

Some highlights from our first Christmas in Dubai.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=MegBozz&target=ALBUM&id=5554860523967919777&authkey=Gv1sRgCL2qto-CpbP_WQ&feat=email

Christmas Wishes from the Bozzuto's

Merry Christmas!!

We had a very relaxing morning here as we enjoyed watching Angela open all of her presents. Santa brought her so many nice new toys and we had so many wonderful things sent to us from far away. Thanks to everyone that sent packages all the way to Dubai - it really means a lot to us!



I promise to post more Christmas photos soon, we're too busy playing with all of Angela's new toys!!

Love -
Rich, Meg & Angela

32 weeks

I had my 32 week scan today and all is well with baby #2. She is growing right on track and is measuring just slightly big. I don't think this changes my due date but will confirm that with the doctor on Saturday.

The doctor that did the ultrasound was running almost an hour behind schedule so he flipped on the 3d/4d scanner to give me some special photos. Of course she didn't really want to show us her face and kept turning away but I saw a few images that remind me so much of Angela when she was a baby. I've scanned these and added a few pointers since the images aren't perfectly clear. You can only slightly make out her face in the second image. If you click on the photo below, it should open up to a larger size.

Oh, and before I forget, we did confirm that it is in fact a girl!

It's a good thing we live in Dubai!

Angela's latest 'thing' is refusing to get dressed in the morning. Once she is dressed and knows we are going somewhere she is usually fine, its just a process to get a shirt over her head.

Today she managed to get food all over her pants during lunch so we just left them off for her nap. When she woke up she wouldn't put the pants back on (and we weren't going anywhere so I didn't fight it). During her snack she started taking her shirt off. While she hasn't mastered getting it completely off she can get it pulled all the way up so I ended up just taking it off. She spent the rest of the afternoon in only a diaper, and I'm so happy she hasn't figured out how to take that off yet!!

The problem came when she wanted to go outside after dinner. We usually take a walk or play on the patio. She wouldn't put clothes on so I opted for the patio as I don't want the neighbors to think we are totally crazy and don't have clothes for our kid. Funny enough, she refused to go outside without her shoes on!!!

Diapers & crocs, its the new thing!!


I'm so happy I don't have to deal with socks, jackets, hats and mittens right now!! At least she is happy!

Christmas is coming!

It seems that even in Dubai, you cannot escape Christmas! There is music playing in the malls, decorations everywhere, and lots of excitement about holiday travel plans and Santa Clause.

Yesterday we put up our tree and started decorating a bit. Angela let out a big 'ohhhh' when she saw the tree all lit up this morning. She has taken an interest in some of the ornaments but has yet to pull anything off the tree (or knock the entire thing over). While putting up the tree Rich had the great idea to crank up the air conditioning so that 'it feels a little more like Christmas in here'. Its a good thing I have all of our winter clothes here!

Yay, its up!




Today we paid a visit to Santa! I knew going into this that it could either be a really good or a really bad thing. It was entertaining for us, a bit traumatic for Angela. She loved checking out the giant tree and all of the decorations. She loved playing with the other kids in line. She was so excited when we got to walk into Santa's house. She screamed 'Nooooooo' and ran for the door the minute she saw Santa. We managed to get her close enough for a photo, but she was not thrilled about it. She preferred to stand right next to the door and wave to Santa from a safe distance. As soon as we said its time to go she yelled Bye, gave a wave, and ran back out into the mall.

Waiting patiently for Santa






Excited to go see Santa!


We forced her into this picture - this is the one that they framed for us!

UAE Spirit

Today is UAE National Day - the celebration of the 39th anniversary of the UAE. There are flags up everywhere and so many special events going on around town. The Atlantis is all decked out in the UAE flag colors and looks quite impressive from our balcony.




We unfortunately did not get out to enjoy the parades or fireworks. Rich is (once again) in South Africa for a few days and Angela and I have both been fighting a little bug so I didn't want to go out. Angela did get to celebrate at nursery school yesterday - all of the children dressed in the colors of the UAE flag and they did special projects revolving around the country. She messed up her outfit before I could get a photo, so instead I'll post some photos from tonight on our balcony. The night time temperature is perfect for hanging outside lately - we love it!!

Souk Madinet

Yesterday was Colleen's last day in Dubai so we planned a fun afternoon outing to the Souk Madinet. This is an area of shops and restaurants set along a canal in between two very nice hotel properties. The shops vary from traditional clothing and decoration to modern toys and accessories. The restaurants are plentiful and offer a variety of cuisines (Lebanese, Persian, Italian...).

We took a tour of the canal on one of the Abra's, spent some time browsing the shops and then had a wonderful Persian dinner. Definitely a fun afternoon out!

Turkey coma...

Our Thanksgiving dinner on Friday was great! The food was all wonderful (or at least everybody said it was) and we really enjoyed having family and friends here to celebrate with.

Angela quickly picked up on Darren's building skills and had him trapped in the playroom for a while.


The feast (half of it anyways)


Yummy!!



This week I'm off to find a Christmas tree and decorations for the house! Based on my last trip to the mall, this should not be difficult. We were always surprised by how much Christmas decor there was in China and it seems that the UAE is no different!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American friends & family from Dubai. We are celebrating today (Friday) since Rich had to work all day yesterday. Colleen is here visiting and we have a few IBM friends coming by this afternoon to join us for dinner.

I've never actually cooked a complete Thanksgiving dinner so this should be fun. The turkey is in the oven cooking and all my sides are prepared. Check back for another update soon to see how it all turned out!

Butterball turkey - complete with Arabic label!

 

My audience while baking an apple pie yesterday

 

Smells yummy mom

 

At least if the turkey doesn't come out, we'll all enjoy some apple pie!

 

To the Top

Nana is here visiting this week so we took her out on a special tour this morning. We went 'to the top'...the viewing platform on the 124th floor of the Burj Khalfia (the tallest building in the world). Angela and I did this tour when we were here in April and its definitely something that all visitors to Dubai must see.

Also worth noting is the walkway that runs just behind the Burj tower. There is an amazing view of the tower behind a pool of water with fountains. Unfortunately the fountains were not turned on when we were there today but its still a fun area to check out.

A trip to the mall, but not to shop!

In Dubai, you often hear people say that they spent a weekend morning or afternoon at one of the various malls. Most of the malls here are very nice and offer lots of really great shopping options. However, the malls aren't only for shopping. The entertainment at most of these places is endless.

Yesterday afternoon we had planned on taking a trip to the beach (we still haven't had a beach day since being here) but then decided that it was still a little too hot outside. So instead we ventured out to the Dubai Mall. This is the biggest (and nicest in my opinion) mall in Dubai and is right next door to the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world).

We now always leave the stroller at home and Angela is happy to ride through the mall in a cuddle cart. All of the malls have these little cars - and Angela loves riding around the mall in them. They also offer 'double' cars for two kids and have some that have tv screens built into the steering wheel. My favorite part is the shopping back on the back that is great for storing the diaper bag and all of our purchases.

Our first stop at the mall yesterday was the aquarium tunnel. They've built a large tank that is visible from three levels of the mall shopping area and includes a tunnel that snakes through the tank. As soon as we approached the aquarium Angela started pointing and yelling 'fishy fishy'. She loves seeing fish!



After the aquarium we walked over to the Waterfall which is a massive indoor waterfall with an interesting display of divers. We then made our way to the train ride and Angela and Bonnie took a short ride around one section of the mall. Angela was thrilled to climb into the train car but then grew really antsy when the train didn't start moving fast enough (the conductor was taking a long break). When the train finally started moving she seemed shocked, and then had the biggest smile on her face.







The final stop at the mall was for dinner. We opted for Rainforest Cafe so that Angela would be entertained. The food was nothing special but the look on Angelas face when the gorillas nearby started moving and making noises was priceless. She is working on perfecting her monkey noise and was more than happy to imitate the gorillas that were dancing by our table!





We left the mall having made only one purchase - a stuffed monkey that makes noises and dances. Now Rich is just waiting until Angela is big enough for ski's so that he can take her to the indoor ski slope at the Mall of the Emirates!

Angela's first haircut

It was finally time. Angela has been refusing to keep her hair pulled back out of her face so this morning we ventured out for her first hair cut.

Things started out ok, she was very happy when we arrived at her favorite play center.



The trouble began when we put her in the baby chair and buckled her in. Not even Barney playing on the tv or snacks could calm her down.





Fortunately the hair dresser was fast and efficient and managed to trim everything in about 7 minutes. Its not perfect but is about as good as you can get with a child that is screaming bloody murder.




She looks so old now!