Repatriation

What a month and a half it has been! Moving is never easy and moving half way across the world, even when it is back home is tough. We had an idea that we would be moving for quite sometime but only found out when and where shortly before. We really had to scramble to get everything prepared and we are happy to say that are all doing well now in Baton Rouge, Maddie included.

Our last week in Singapore was spent packing up the apartment, spending time with friends, and saying our final goodbyes. We made so many wonderful friends while living in Singapore and it was difficult to leave but fortunately we know so many of them we will see again. Moving out of the apartment was a three day affair. This was surprising to us as it only took us two days to move out of our Houston house that was more than twice as big but now that we have watched them pack, we understand. They cover everything with cardboard. They are box cutting, origami masters. They cut, folded, and taped cardboard around every piece of furniture we had. It was truly amazing.

Derek buried in the mess of packing.

No need to take apart the crib when you can just box around it

I believe there is a glider in there

Last picture in her first home

Our last Saturday in Singapore was spent doing our favorite things. We started the morning off with a run and breakfast in the Botanic Gardens. Our friends started the Fiscal Cliff Running Club when we first arrived and we enjoyed many Saturday mornings in the Gardens with them. We are so thankful that they shared this healthy habit with us and we will continue to do this wherever we go. Saturday night we met the White's and Alexander's who both moved to Singapore about the same time we did and were the first people we had dinner with since we all lived in temporary housing together. We went to dinner at the Marina Bay Sands at one of my personal favorites, Pizzeria Mozza which is a Mario Batali restaurant. Yes I know, it isn't Asian food there is all kinds of great food there and I wanted to eat here just once more before we left. After dinner we went outside to take some final Singapore skyline pictures and managed to catch the Wonderfall water show. Standing at the edge of the Marina Bay watching the colorful water sprays against the bright lights of the city was such a perfect moment for the end of our adventure. It was a moment of reflection and we realized just how much we would miss living on the Big Red Dot.

Our flight to Baton Rouge began early Sunday morning. We had stops in Tokyo and Houston before finally arriving in Baton Rouge 25 hours later. Caroline did an amazing job on all the flights and got a lot of compliments from the crew because she never let out a peep on the long haul flights. She fussed a bit on the short flight from Houston but after 24 hours, we were all a bit fussy. My mom was waiting for us when we landed and helped us get our 9 bags, troller, and carseat to the Residence Inn that has become our home.

Strapped in and ready to go!

Playing in her seat.  Thank goodness for business class!

When you won't see the rest of your possessions for 2+ months you have to pack a lot of stuff!

With a trip to Mexico planned just three weeks after our arrival, we had to get moving on finding a house, two cars, and a nanny. We had already narrowed down our car choices and after a couple days of test driving, I decided on the Volvo XC60 and Derek on the Suburu Outback. Having safe vehicles was our first priority and both of these top the list. We bought my car right away and had to order Derek's so we could get all the safety technology installed. We will hopefully get it the first week of December.

My new wheels

Caroline's new wheels

With the cars handled, we turned to the home search. After a day out with a realtor, we settled on a newly renovated home near the LSU campus and lakes. The house has a lot of character and its proximity to the lakes for our weekend family walks was one of the many advantages of this house. More to come on the house once we move in!

Our nanny search took a bit longer as we had a difficult time finding the right individual. We were originally interviewing candidates who applied with us on Care.com but after a few suspect interviews decided to go with a nanny service and with them were able to find a wonderful new nanny for Caroline.  She is now going to the library, Gymboree, doing arts and crafts, and various field trips.  I look forwarding to sharing some of the pictures of her activities and artwork!

We are still living in the hotel as our furniture is still making its journey across the Pacific. We are hoping to be moved in by Thanksgiving but with recent shipping delays, we might not make it. Life in the hotel has not been easy but we are trying to make the best of it.

We are on the move!

Sporting the American flag she got from the U.S. Embassy when she got her citizenship.  Back to the homeland!

We have now been in Singapore for two years which in our company can only mean one thing...it's time to move!  On Sunday, we will make the long journey back to the U.S. to begin a new assignment in Baton Rouge, LA.  It is hard to believe our time overseas is coming to a close but we are really hoping we will get the chance to do this again.  We have loved the time we spent in Singapore and will miss many things about life here but most of all we will miss the friends we have made.

I lived in Baton Rouge over 5 years ago when we first got married.  I had an apartment there while Derek lived in Houston.  For 18 months I made the drive back and forth every weekend to spend time at home.  We are really looking forward to getting to live in Baton Rouge this time as a family.  I'm sure it will take us a while to settle in and only an hour to make our first Amazon order. Oh how we have missed the convenience of online shopping!

Below are the answers to some common questions we get about the upcoming move:

How long will we be in Baton Rouge?
As far as we know, 1 year.

Where will we live?
At first, we will be calling the Marriott Residence Inn our home.  Like when we traveled to Singapore, it will take 8-10 weeks for our things to arrive so we will have to stay in a hotel.  When our shipment arrives, we will move into a rent house because of only expecting to be there about a year.

Who is going to take care of Caroline since we will no longer have a helper like we have in Singapore?
My mother will be helping for the first couple weeks until we can interview and hire a nanny.  We tried the daycares but the waiting lists are 9-12 months long.

What will we be doing?
Derek and I work for the same company so he will be doing something similar to what he was doing here but supporting the US.  For the moment I will also be doing the same thing I am doing here but supporting a different regional office.

I will do my best to keep the updates rolling.  We did not have a lot of time to plan this move so everything is rushed and we are just trying to make sure we remember everything.  Moving half way across the world with a 6 month old is bound to be a challenge but we are looking forward to another adventure!

6 Months!

How can 6 months have already passed?  We have really had fun with our little lady this month.  She started eating solid food and has almost mastered chewing without teeth.  We opted to go with baby led weaning and Caroline can go to town on some banana or mango.  She loves to feed herself and of course makes a mess of it which Maddie thoroughly enjoys.  Caroline is always smiling and has become so playful.  I will not be surprised if she is crawling by next month as she is more and more interested in things further away.  She has really taken notice of Maddie and loves to watch her run around the room or beg for food at the foot of her highchair.   She is still small in stature at 25% for weight and height.  Her darker hair that she was born with has been growing and falling out and some gorgeous blonde hair is growing in its place.  What will tomorrow bring?

Banana!

Loving that banana 

We found our feet!

I decided to take revisit her newborn photos using the same accessories.  Amazing to see how much she has grown.

The wife of one of my coworkers made this adorable hat!

Maddie interrupting our photoshoot

5 Months!

Yet another month has flown by and our little lady is now 5 months.  She is just under 14.5 lbs so she is definitely on the small side.  This was a big month for her as she started to sit up on her own and has also begun to laugh.  She loves to sit and play with her toys or jabber to anyone who will listen.  She has started to give the sweetest, wettest kisses to us.  Her version of a kiss is an open mouth face smash which we can't help but love.  She also went through a raspberry blowing obsession for a couple weeks.

She got to go on her first trips in Southeast Asia this month as we took her to the beach in Langkawi and shopping in Hoi An.  She did succumb to the four month sleep regression but is thankfully back to sleeping 9-10 hours a night.  She is such a happy baby and she always brightens our day.  We know she is going to learn at an even faster rate in the next few months and can't wait to see how she grows!

With her nanny, Fedelynn

Giving Daddy kisses

Hoi An, Vietnam

With a trip to the beach under our belt, we felt it was time to try something a little more adventurous so we took another long weekend and headed to Hoi An, Vietnam.  Hoi An Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and so it has been preserved and full of history.  It was quite different than our previous trip to Vietnam when we went to Hanoi which was a vibrant bustling city.  We were glad to be in a lazy seaside town where we could shop, eat, and relax.

Hoi An’s streets are lined with tailors, artists, and lots of lanterns so the first thing we did when we arrived was to find a tailor to make Derek a custom suit.  We weren’t really in need of much clothing but didn’t want to pass up the chance to replace Derek’s navy suit with a tailor made one for less than one-third the price.  I should have taken pictures of the suit making process but I was too busy trying to keep Caroline cool and entertained.

The weather was much hotter than Singapore so we tried to only venture out in the mornings and the evenings but it all depended on when Derek’s daily suit fitting was scheduled.  Keeping Caroline protected from the sun and reasonably cool was a bit of a challenge.  We found she was happiest in the Baby Bjorn under a UV protection umbrella.  After our three trips these last five months we have learned quite a few travel trips which I plan to share soon.

Because Hoi An is a small town, I don’t think many of the locals have seen blonde haired, blue-eyed, fair skinned babies very many times, if ever, so Caroline was quite popular.  I want to think it was that rather than we were the only people crazy enough to bring a baby that young there.  Everywhere we went people would point and smile.  Some would ask how old she was.  Some would just reach out and touch her without notice.  We were chased down the street multiple times by people wanting to get a look at her or to touch her.  We even had random people kiss her hands and feet.  It was a bit unnerving but I know they all meant well.  I just had to make sure I wiped her down several times a day.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and would definitely recommend Hoi An to anyone traveling to Vietnam!

View from lunch on the first day

The streets of Hoi An.  Loved that they were pedestrian only for most of the day.

The market we walked by everyday.  All the women loved Caroline.

The street leading to our hotel.  Nice and quiet!

Headed to dinner and the night market 

Girls selling floating lanterns

Lanterns at the night market 

One of several wedding photo shoots we spotted while out

The streets were always so empty you would have thought it was a ghost town. 

Lanterns everywhere!

We stopped in the shade for a minute and this lady wanted to see Caroline 

She was really sweet and wanted to make sure she had shade

The Japanese Bridge 

We have seen the Share-a-Coke campaign in the U.S. but not in Singapore.  We were surprised to get Coke's that had Vietnamese names on them.

Road construction and a traffic jam.  It's a different experience.

Loving those lanterns!

Waiting for our ride to the airport

A wonderful family vacation!