Cohen's first kiss

happened today. We had our first playdate in our new house with his Canadian friends Isabel and Alexander. Isabel is 19 months old so a bit of a older lady for Cohen, Alexander is almost 4.
They came over for a morning play and lunch and Cohen and Isabel really are taking to each other, it super cute. They were hugging and then Cohen was kissing Isabel's head, she soon puckered up and planted on back on Cohen.
It was so nice to have kids in our house and see Cohen having so much fun. The malls are good but it gets a little tiring after a while. I'd much prefer to go to someone's house or have them come here for a playdate a couple times a week. It's good for Cohen to learn to share his own toys with his friends.

We have officially finished purchasing all of the big items required to survive and set up shop. I had to break down and buy a moderately crappy espresso machine or else I was going to lose my mind. I had to make up a reason every morning to leave the house to get a coffee but now i can make a latte in my house!! If you know me well, then you know for me this is pretty much as important as having a bed.

We've booked our flights back to Canada which is great. I won't lie, i'm not looking forward to the flights. At least on the way there it will be easier because Phil will be with me and we are coming to see family and friends but on the way home, it's me flying solo with Cohen for 13 1/2 hours non-stop.
Phil has 2 weeks but really it's more like 11 days since there is so much flying time.
We will do 4 of those days in Burlington and 7 of them in Vancouver/Okanagan/Whistler/Pemberton, etc. Phil leaves on the 8th and i will stay for another month till the 13th.
I'm get to do a second stop in Burlington for one last visit with Phil's family and then we will be back to Abu Dhabi for the Fall.

Well, i'm pooped so i'm gonna go.

kisses,
A
xo

There is a dying pigeon.....

outside on our deck. Cohen is at the window knocking on the door to the pigeon. Please, please fly away and die somewhere else. He is very mangy and gross and I don't want to look but i can't seem to stop looking.
The upside to all of this is that i'm back online and typing this blog in my apartment.
Yes we are moved in. We have no furniture, well we have a dining room table, 2 rugs, Cohen's playpen and our sofabed but that's it.
We sit on the floor and eat and feed Cohen in his stroller, he doesn't seem to mind.
The place is great, really big so it's taking some time getting used to finding Cohen when it goes silent. We have 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a maids room, kitchen and living /dining room area.
We have our bedframe and dining room chairs coming tomorrow but our shipment of stuff has still not arrived. We are getting very antsy for all of our stuff so hopefully it comes soon.
Only 6 more sleeps till we leave for France!! I'm so excited about this trip, i've always wanted to go to the South of France. We are spending 3 nights in Nice and then 5 nights in Antibes and we are staying in Katherine's boyfriend's flat in Antibes.
He rents it out in the summer while he is off on the boats working so Phil, Cohen and I are going to take it and use it as our base to check out the sites.
I'm hoping to go into Cannes for a day, head to Monacco, i bet the drive alone is worth it.
If possible we will go to some vineyards and bring back delicious french wine!
I think the plan is to come back here for a week, let Phil get some work done and get ready for his trip. I'll hopefully be able to finish getting us organized here but that all depends on the boat and our stuff arriving.
There is still a lot of stuff to buy but i want to do it slowly to make sure it all works together.
The pigeon is still sitting there in case you are interested, i just looked.
We have been going to the Club alot lately. We got a temporary membership and have applied for a full one. There is quite the waiting list but maybe just maybe we will be able to slip in. :)
There is so much for kids to do at this place compared to some of the other ones. My favorite would be the kids dining room, the menu, cutlery, and all the furniture is for kids. We can go and eat there and not worry if Cohen fusses or makes a big mess.
It is nice to have a place to call home and start to feel like we are settling into the community.
Well i gotta run and make dinner for P and me.
love,
A
xo

We are so close............

We have the keys, i repeat we have the keys!!! It looks like we could be in our apartment in the next few days.
Our electricity and water have been turned on and the painters are at our apartment painting right now!!
The cleaners are set to show up around 4pm today and start cleaning. They will need to come tomorrow as well but after that we should be set to move in.
Our place is getting painted white, the property co. won't paint any colours so we need to outsource and it's been a difficult finding a co. or someone who is "professional" and will do a decent job so it's white for now and hopefully colour later.
Next up is our shipment which is set to arrive June 30th, I thought it was sooner but after re-checking my emails the ETA is June 30th which is tomorrow.
If it could be here by the 4th, that would be fantastic but we'll just have to wait and see.
There is still a lot to buy but we need to do it slowly as we haven't yet seen what everything looks like in our place to date.
I think we will just be moved in by the time we take off for France.
The dates are not set yet but I think we are going on the 13th for a week. I'm very excited as I have always wanted to go to the South of France.
A week will be just enough time to see a few towns and give me an idea of whether I could spend a month there or not.
The plan in my head is to spend a month or so there next August so that we get out of the Abu Dhabi heat and away from Ramadan for a bit. Phil can take a few weeks and relax there with us and then we can entertain any visitors that want to visit France.
Anyway that is far far away so who knows.
Well if you don't here from us via internet over the next few days that is because we are moving and trying to get our new internet services set up.
Love and kisses to you all!

A,P&C
xoxoxo

What is going on here?

okay so i had the throat thing then the stomach thing but now the eye thing? enough is enough abu dhabi!! I have some eye issue right now, my eyes keep watering over and over and over again with sunglasses on or off, in the sun or even out of the sun. My eyes are aching, seriously what the hell?
We've had a very busy weekend and spent lots of money which is always fun! We headed to Dubai yesterday to visit the worlds largest IKEA and oh my god, it is huge!!! We needed a sofa bed for our guests who visit and the one we liked was at IKEA but not in stock here in Abu Dhabi so we decided to go and order it from Dubai.
What an interesting drive. The highway is fantastic and very large but once you get into the city it becomes incredibly complicated fast. It was so hazy out that we really couldn't see anything so we will go back on a clear day and do some site seeing.
We could see the tallest building in the distance but it looked like a shadow or something with all the haze.
I did see camels on the side of the road which was really cool. There are all these little towns (some not very nice and some nice) along the way to Dubai. The building is out of the world, there seems to be a sign for a new development every 3 minutes and there are projects on the go everywhere you turn.
I can't wait to go Jumeriah Island (palm tree island) and check it out. It looks very fabulous. You can buy a house there for a few million USD. Maybe later. :)
I saw the ski hill, it looks crazy.
Dubai will take us quite a few trips to see it all. Cohen did a great job yesterday with all the driving, he's such an amazing kid. We took him to the Toys R Us there, it was so big with all sorts of things to look at and do. It was no FAO Swartz mind you but it was pretty cool.
The only bummer is the lack of Fisher Price here. All the toys I really wanted to get for Cohen they don't have here. They do have a chain called ELC (Early Learning Center) and the stuff they have is really neat so I won't complain.
Back to the shopping...we managed to find a bedframe, chairs for the dining room (although we have no table yet, opposite of last time!) dressers for both us and Cohen, a sofabed, duvets, glasses, some dishes, etc.
There are a lot of neat furniture stores here so we've been checking them all out and all of a sudden the whole town seems to have gone on sale so it's working out in our favour.
My dad has his flight sorted out so i'm really excited about the fact that he will be here this fall.
I had a playdate at a ladies house with her son and it was so nice to be in a real apartment and not a play area. It's nice to have playdates where it's not mad chaos.
Hopefully this time next week we will be in our apartment. It will be the electricity and water hookups that we will have to wait on.
Who knows how long internet will take, hopefully not too long.
Well kisses and love to you,
Arndrea
xoxoxo

Things are on the up!

It's Thursday today which in the UAE is Friday so of course I'm very happy about this. Phil has the next 2 days off and I'm very excited to spend the time with him.
Things have been going really well for us. We have met a few more people and are starting to make some more playdates. Phil and I haven't gone out on our own yet and I imagine we probably won't until we are in our apartment and find some childcare that we are both comfortable with.
I have managed to go to yoga 2x in the evening and Phil went and watched a hockey game last night between Kuwait and the UAE.

Our apartment is slowly happening. Everything is very different over here and it all takes FOREVER!! We (cross your fingers) will get the keys today but that doesn't mean a lot. All it means is we have somewhere to store stuff.
We are trying to find painters and negotiate timing. Electricity and hot water could be another week or so. I won't go into how it all works but i'll just say we've decided to laugh about it at this point instead of get mad, i think it's better for our health to not get so frustrated.
So we should by next weekend be in our place but that is not even definite. The water could take longer and you can't really live somewhere without water.
So....like i said it's slowly happening.

I was able to find a great school for Cohen for September and have enrolled him 2 mornings a week. I am hoping for a 3rd morning and have put my name down in case something comes up.
It's a British nursery school and considered one of the 2 best in the area so we are really lucky that we got in. It was by luck that we got in. I called just as a woman had called to cancel her two days for Cohen's age group. So by default they gave it to me even though there is a waiting list. Maybe it's my charming ways, most likely it's because Cohen is so darn cute and friendly.

It looks like July will be a slow month here as a lot of expats leave with their kids in July and August and return in September.
I met a new Canadian mom the other day who seemed really nice. I'll give her a call later this weekend and try and set up a playdate for next week.

We should have our travel plans sorted out in the next few weeks which i'm excited about. it will be great to have Phil's help with Cohen one way and hopefully things will go smoother for me when i come back.

The weather here has gone back up to really hot and it's very cloudy from the dust.
I took Cohen to my favorite place yesterday - The Hiltonia, and we relaxed in the kiddie pool for over an hour. He was wrinkly like a raisin but so happy to be in the water. Hopefully we get a membership there soon so that we can enjoy the pool for July.
That's it for now for me.
I hope everyone is great and happy and healthy.
missing you all,
A,P&C
xoxoxo

Still no change

Well I'm still sitting here in the hotel typing this entry so as you can imagine I'm not so impressed. We still have very little idea as to when we get to move in. The processes here are extremely frustrating and from what everyone says that is lesson number 1 when coming here, "Learning to deal with daily frustrations".
I am trying my hardest not to get too frustrated but it's tough living in a hotel with a small child. I don't know how many more cheese quesadillas or grilled cheese sandwiches he will eat!
Cohen is such a joy in our lives, he is so funny and makes me laugh daily. He has this fantastic language that he uses all day long to converse with me and his toys. I can't imagine being here without him, he definitely makes this transition easier for me.
We went to a big playgroup today which was interesting. I've never really done the playgroup thing as we were always with friends and their children so this was new for me.
Cohen had a good time but it was difficult for me to meet anyone new as I didn't want to take my eyes off of him since there were so many kids and lots of toys and children that were bigger than him.
I did meet a lady who had a son the same age as Cohen and as it turns out she was friends with the other lady that I had met the week before.
I did go to yoga last night which was fantastic. It was really nice to do something very familiar to me that makes me feel so good.
The class was almost 2 hours and we left super sweaty and relaxed. I'm looking forward to going back.
Well Cohen is looking for a partner to play with so I had better go.
I hope you all are well.
lots of love,
A,P&C
xoxoxo

What a weird weekend

It was a strange one. Phil and I were both feeling terrible on Friday but we needed to get out the hotel with Cohen so off we went to the ACE Hardware to look for paint and then to Toys R Us for one of those sun blocker things you put on the windows. I feel like Cohen was baking in the back so now it's better.
We decided to brave it to the Marina Mall after to go to Ikea and see what kind of sofa beds they have. We need it for when we move into our place as our mattress and stuff doesn't get here till the end of the month, plus we need something comfortable for when our guests come and visit. You are coming right???!!!
Well Ikea in typical fashion was mayhem but couple that with the fact that we are at the second largest mall in the world and let me just say it was ridiculous. Phil drove round and round forever to find a parking spot and the spot we ended up taking we should have taken a picture of. In Canada it would have been a parking ticket and a tow before you could even turn around, but over here well...you can pretty much park wherever you please which adds to the madness of this town!
Today I was feeling better but Phil still can't shake it. We decided to head out to Raja Gardens, a new development about 20 mins outside of the city. They have brand new places for rent so I was curious to what they are all about. It's a brand new development so there is nothing there but in no time it will be a huge built up area and those places will not be affordable.
So we thought we would check it out and go and see the Grand Mosque. Well wouldn't you know it the Raja Gardens sales offices are closed on the weekends, makes great sense right? It's so dumb, nothing here makes sense. Well since we were out that way we headed to the mosque which was amazing. It was spectacular. We took lots of great pictures and Cohen had a blast. He ran and ran and ran around the beautiful flooring.
He could run forever and still go. It truly is a sight.
I managed to make dinner here tonight - well pasta and sauce and baked chicken nuggets and veggies. Not really an Arndrea dinner but better than going out.
Gotta go and chill with my love. He's off to work tomorrow so I got get all my hugs in now!