Beautiful Baby Shower

Some amazing, fantastic, incredibly sweet, and wonderful friends and co-workers of Noah offered to throw me a baby shower for our upcoming arrival! It was so completely wonderful of them, especially this being my third baby that I normally would have never expected anything. One great thing about the Foreign Service is we discovered that it is also just as much about having a fun excuse to get together and enjoy each others company! We had a terrific time and I got completely spoiled! Thank you, thank you to everyone. It was all so wonderful, and I'm now feeling so excited to use all the darling new things we got! Everything was SO cute and just perfect!

As you can also tell, by the following pictures...they really outdid themselves too. Everything was incredibly delicious and so elegant! They did a "ladies tea party" type party, and it was fabulous! They had a great color scheme as well of lavender and blue. So cute of them to think of both mommy and baby!

Look at these darling little purple polka dot muffins. loved it.

The chocolate strawberries looked and tasted incredible!

I loved all the elegant little finger foods, they were so fun to eat

Now these awesome little "mini cakes" were actually of the "cake pop" variety. (On which I will be making a separate post shortly) They were so awesome, and what I unfortunately don't have a better picture of is that Miss C actually made the little "cupcake liners" out of chocolate! They were SO fun!

As I said before, they spoiled me rotten and little baby Miles is going to have some terrific new things to use! It is nice to know now that everything he has won't be a double hand-me-down!

Thank you to everyone who hosted, who came, and who showered me with such lovely gifts, attention, and love. We feel so special and blessed to be here at a post with such terrific people!

(Now, I also got some cute pictures of everyone who was there too, but for security sake I will just let you use your imagination. Those pics will be for later when I put them into my blog book. sorry.)

the other stuff that is keeping me from blogging

So this is a post with no pictures. Sure. I have plenty of those to catch up on. And I will. I promise, just give me a few days (or more). I decided though that maybe I wanted to document what's been going on around our house, just because. First of all, we are in a mode of super excitement around our house; as some of our favorite friends are coming to visit this weekend!! The boys can't wait to see their buddy, and mom and dad can't wait either! While gearing up for that fun, we have also been trying to thoroughly enjoy ourselves over the last week. The last few days have been GORGEOUS weather!! We've spent multiple hours at the park, both playing and eating. My boys really love to eat outside-and what a better way to spend an afternoon than to bask in the sunshine and cool breeze while my 3 and 5 year olds run and jump to their heart's content intermixed with downing an entire thing of Pringles and some Krispie Kremes. Yup, that's how we roll here. But it was FABULOUS. Just what we all needed. We've gone on walks and ridden bikes. I love spring. It is without a doubt my favorite time of year!

Now, on the down side- we have also been trying to enjoy some March Madness at our house. My bracket is officially done. Not done, like I probably won't win- but done, as in every single team I had listed at this point is gone-including our family favorite Kansas Jayhawks:( Officially Kaput. The only upside to this, however, is that we (more accurately Noah, can now get a full night's rest). Watching the games live is a killer on this side of the world!

Anyway, moving on...then the last big thing that has been occupying my time is our upcoming trip! Now, the trip I speak of is one that I realized I don't think I have mentioned on here yet. And just for posterity sake to document the experience I guess I had better, to avoid any confusion! SO, as you know if you have read previous posts...we are having a baby!! Now how it has been to be pregnant in another country is a post all in itself, but for the most part things have gone great. The first question I get asked though, once someone finds out is whether or not I will be having the baby here in Istanbul or going home to the USA. This was a hard decision to make. A lot harder than I initially thought it would be. Noah's employer is terrific, in that they do give us the option. We initially were really leaning towards staying here. We have been very lucky here, and Istanbul has some really nice hospitals. I was also very concerned about the separation of being on medevac. There was a lot to think about though, both emotionally and logistically and we went back and forth for a while. To make sure we are free and clear of any issues, both medically and according to airline rules- on medevac one typically leaves post 6 weeks before their due date. Then of course, to take care of all the post baby things-including all the fun paperwork and necessary things like a passport and visa for said baby it will be another 6 weeks. So we started thinking, and thinking, AND thinking through....about everything- you name it, I thought about it. From the separation of both the kids and myself from daddy, to whether or not the child could be President (not that that is at all something we are hoping for him, but still having the option should be considered:), to what kind of food I would get in the hospital (see I told you, ridiculous details...), to who was going to watch the other two kids while I was in the hospital, to making those long flights without daddy's help, to how much time Noah could take off, to taking Porter out of school early, etc. etc. etc. There were tons of pros and cons to weigh out. Neither choice was exactly perfect. But, that is the sacrifice we make for this job. We knew that coming in and would do it a million times. Noah loves his job, and we are so far loving this lifestyle. Still, the choice had to be made and for a multitude of reasons, many of them being logistical we decided that going back to the States on Medevac was the best choice for our family. Once the decision was made we were able to switch into preparation mode. I've decided that doing a medevac like this is great to help keep me from getting out practice! Things have gone great, everything is arranged and we will be leaving in only a few short weeks now! We will be by ourselves to start out with, but then Noah will get to join us for a pretty good amount of time after all, so that makes me happy. AACK! I can't believe it is sneaking up on me so quickly. Finally to the point where I am starting to let myself get excited. Excited for America that is (and all of my favorite restaurants), not necessarily for missing Noah. I'm still trying to ignore that part. So yes, prepping for a 3 month trip- one that includes a baby delivery no less- has kept me hopping. Now we are down to the details, like last minute sewing projects to make for baby; and making sure we have all of our entertainment and snacks worked out for the boy's plane ride! You know, fresh crayons and plenty of batteries for the Leapster. I am really planning on traveling light though. I am definitely much better and living a minimalist lifestyle than I was before we started this job. 3 months without all your stuff?! That's nothing! piece of cake:) Besides, I figure it is a good excuse to revamp my wardrobe. Only bring maternity clothes, then give those to charity after the baby is born and buy new stuff! Sounds good to me!! Now the last part of great news is how this is working out so much better than I had expected. Although I am bummed about taking Porter out of school a bit early, he is luckily not missing their big spring musical in which he is the "horsefly". He is very excited, and I would have been so sad if he had missed it. Thank you to whoever scheduled it!! Also, I have been very much looking forward to the big Istanbul Tulip festival. We have heard they plant 3 million bulbs, and it is amazing. Luckily again they are starting to pop out and will be in perfect season for the next few weeks leading up to when we leave!! Yahoo!! Things are falling into place, now just to execute our plan! So there you have it. If you felt at all inclined to continue reading through all of my ramblings then give yourself a pat on the back. I just felt it was time to update with some "regular life" details, and now people won't be confused when we go to the States!

Palazzo Corpi

Introducing you to.....

the VERY FIRST

US Government owned diplomatic property abroad,

AND the first and only one to be won in a poker game!!

(sadly no flag flys above the Eagle anymore, but you can use your imagination)

the Eagle was added to the mansion in the early 1900's

(side view below)

The Palazzo Corpi was commissioned to be built as a residence, by a wealthy shipping magnate in the 1870's (thus the last name Corpi, that it bears). It took nearly the entire decade to complete, and he died shortly thereafter. His nephews inherited it, and rented it to the US Government only a few years later in 1882. Thus, making "us" it's only occupant for most of it's time-covering over 120 years and almost half of America's life as a country at the time it moved. It really has a terrific history, and if you want you can read more details here.

For the rest of you though...the story goes that the Ambassador in 1907 happened to be a business partner of Andrew Carnegie, thus helping him to have plenty of his own funds to spend. He thought it was ridiculous that the Government didn't own any property overseas and so he purchased it with his own money. He assumed that they would pay him back for his smart choice, but instead they told him that he had made that purchase all on his own! Not wanting to be out the money, he set up a clever poker game with "key members" of Congress, and from what I gather kind of hustled them into thinking he couldn't play poker. He then proposed that if he won the next hand that they (Congress) would agree to pay him back for the building. They of course agreed, and of course he then actually won! So there you have it, "the debt of Honor was accordingly paid by Congress", and they were the proud new owners of an Embassy!

We were recently given the special opportunity to take a private tour of the Palazzo Corpi. This was a pretty rare opportunity, being that only a handful of people have gotten to go back inside since it was "de-comissioned" as the official US Consulate (and previously US Embassy) in Istanbul. The Consulate moved to a new and more secure location in 2003. The Government still owns the Palazzo, but has since rented it out to be completely restored and renovated into a swanky 5-star hotel with all it's original historical charm. I'm sure it will be plenty spendy when it is done, but we are planning now to save our pennies and come back some day and stay here! It is a "Class 1" historical building, meaning that by law it must be expertly restored on both the inside and outside. I'm sure it will be incredible! I can't wait.

I loved all the details on the outside. The Lions are terrific!

These are inside the main hall on the first floor. Much of the building was still shuttered up to not damage the paint any further, especially in this room...so I tried my best to get decent pictures in the dark! Most of the depictions throughout the building are scenes from mythology and the gods and godesses, etc.

Looking towards the grand staircase, the details everywhere were just beautiful!!

Now this staircase by itself is apparently worth several hundred thousand dollars. Not too shabby!

More beautiful rooms and frescos...

These are views of the top floor central hall. You can see where they are starting to try to restore, and figure out what colors and images were there. The central skylight was amazing though. My favorite of the entire place for sure!

In it's day this was the Consul General's Office, also not too shabby!

(Although the dark green isn't really my first choice for wall color)

Little "sunroom" or something of the sort, but leading to the balcony.

Now we are out in the back. If you'll notice the tops of these two pine trees...they are missing. In the late 90's there was an attempted attack with some "sprocket propeller geranadines" (if you can get my code there- I just don't feel like having my blog pop up when people google those kinds of things) ha! Anyway, those thankfully missed the building and landed across the street but took off the tops of the trees nicely! yikes!

The Chancery was added in 1910 as an addition.

I enjoyed the dragon

This is us on the roof of the Chancery, it had a beautiful view of the water as you can see!

Now from what we were able to deduce, even though they have changed some of the positions in the departments, etc. we think this is where Noah's office would most likely have been if they had not moved to the new Consulate. (Shared with a couple of people I think). It's hard to tell with all the dust and dirt on the floors as well, but the floors are absolutely gorgeous! I am hoping that they will all be refinished to their former glory! I guess when you don't take good care of a building for a while it tends to look pretty bad pretty quick!

View from the window- you can't beat it!

One last shot of another beautiful ceiling (sadly our "efficient" electrical work probably wasn't the best for it) Luckily they had the sense to glue mostly around the main center art.

Here is a final view from across the street. It is such a beautiful building, yet as you can see with the fence and street being so close to it....times have changed and they needed to move it to a better location. Either way, I'm thrilled that we got the chance to check it out and hear the fun stories of the people who had worked there in the past! Also, SO thankful to our sweet friend Angie for babysitting! It was so great to have a little time sans kiddo!

For future reference also to any diplos that might be in the area and want to find it just for fun, it is directly across from the Pera Palas Hotel (of Agatha Christie, and Orient Express fame) if you feel like killing two birds with one stone! They are both amazing and well worth a trip to check them out if you are in Istanbul!

Snow Days!

Last week Porter's school was cancelled two days in a row for snow. He was thrilled.

This is how much snow it was cancelled over!

Now, after living in VA I am aware that this does happen. Where I'm from though, this is pretty hilarious! I love it.

In any case, it did help round out our seasons. We had wanted to come to a place that had all four seasons, and though it actually had snowed 4 or 5 times so far this winter; nothing ever stuck to the ground. Finally, the kids dreams were realized and Porter especially ate up every second of snowball making fun!

How can you resist such cuties? Although, Ronan just seems to be saying "Just put my coat on already Mom!"

They made snow angels,

and attempted to make snow angels....

our failed attempt at a snowman-

The snow didn't "roll" very well, and we forgot the accessories anyway I guess.

But, the snowball fight was a complete success on all accounts!

What you've all been waiting for....Sultanahmet

Us at the Hagia Sofia (Aya Sofya)-Istanbul's "trademark" landmark

Remember that time that we did indeed move to Istanbul? Well, it was a while ago. And remember that time that tons of people kept asking me if we had done the major "touristy" things yet? Well, the answer is yes! (and we'll just say that it was a "little while ago" too). This post documents our first trip to the Old City,or more accurately known as the area of Sultanahmet. These sites are so completely awesome, historic, and large in nature that I felt that the posts describing any of our major adventures deserved it's own good time on the blog. Fall and winter were so crazy busy for us, with multiple things to post on that I decided to wait until nothing else too much was going on. You know, to give all of you blog faithful something good to munch on! Besides, this stuff is timeless. Always amazing.

The Hagia Sofia has come a long way, since it was dedicated in 537AD by the Emperor Justinian. It was built in only 6 years, and it's huge central dome was the largest in the world for 1,000 years until St. Peters in Rome. It was converted into a mosque in the 15th century, and then into a museum in 1934. It has survived numerous wars, earthquakes, and empires... and is still one of the most important architectural wonders of the world! Then to top it all off, now it offers FREE WI-FI!

We ate lunch at this delicious little Indian restaurant that has spectacular views of the Aya Sofya. You can't beat a fantastic meal and fantastic views!

(Ronan with the Aya Sofya in the right-hand corner)

Better view from the restaurant

The Blue Mosque is the other main attraction of Istanbul.

It was built directly across from the Hagia Sophia (and directly over the Byzantium Royal Palace) as a way of shaping the new Islamic way of life as compared to Christian Byzantium. It was completed in 1616AD and has 6 minarets. Most mosques only have 4, but when the Sultan asked for gold (altin-in Turkish) ones, the architect thought he said six (alti). No other mosque in the world but Mecca had six. (and from what I have heard they have since added two more there because of this, so it still has the most)

It is really beautiful as well-and named for it's thousands of blue tiles that line it's domes. Now, we did not enter either building this day because of wanting to keep it relatively light for the kiddos. No worries though...there will be special posts for the insides of those to come.

Now, here with our friend's darling little daughter is what our family might have looked like if we were to ever get a daughter!! Of course, we still love our boys...but we'll just borrow her and pretend for a while! Here we are sitting in the center of the Ancient Hippodrome of Constantinople. You can just imagine all of the chariot races going on in circles around us! The "central line" was/is decorated with 4 great monuments (3 of which are the following pictures) and I like to think that directly behind us was perhaps a good spot where the 4th used to be. There used to be 4 great bronze horses as the 4th great monument, but they were looted by the Crusaders in 1204 and are now displayed at St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice.

A "length" shot of the center of the Hippodrome

The Column of Constantine Porphyogenitus

not quite as pristine as the Egyptian one, but still very awesome

and great with kids apparently- all smiles!!

Next we have the Serpent Column, taken from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece. This actually has one of the longest written histories of an artifact (being referred to in multiple early texts), and used to be a trident shape at the top with 3 intertwined serpent heads. There are actually inscriptions as well on some of the coils with the names of the Greek city states. A very cool history if you feel like reading more about it for sure.

Now this last one, the Egyptian Obelisk is my favorite. Constructed in 1500 BC, it was transported by Constantine from Luxor. It is still in incredible shape!! Seriously, they knew what they were doing I guess!

From what I understand it was erected here in Constantinople in 390 AD.

A perspective shot-it's quite tall compared to our little family

(and btw, every single one of us is above average in the height category)

Anyway, there you have it. A first look at the gems of Istanbul. Hopefully posts like this will wet your appetite to come and visit! Remember, this is just a taste. Much much more to come, and our doors are always open!

8 is Great!

STATS of happiness so far:

8 years

2,920 days

2 1/2 beautiful, amazing children

7 different cars owned

8 "homes" lived in

3 states lived in

2 countries lived in

4 continents visited

2 continents lived on

24 states visited together

1 meal eaten at Casa Bonita in Denver

2 nights spent in a hotel that was once a palace

1 GIGANTIC snowstorm, and tons of other small ones

582 sports related sprained ankles, jammed fingers and or toes (ok, maybe not quite)

Even more fun times watching said sports being played by Noah and his many teams

50+ times I have tried to beat Noah at Trivial Pursuit and failed

Multiple fantastic vacations spent with amazing friends

4 Thanksgiving dinners hosted/cooked at our little apartments

1,345,987 I Love Yous

1 Million hugs and Kisses

1 Trillion Bazillion to Pluto and back (Porter's favorite number) of amazing memories made and to come!

I love you Noah and am truly one of the luckiest girls alive! We have had such an incredible ride so far and I can't wait to see what our future holds!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!! I LOVE YOU!!