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