Thursday, September 15, 2011

Turkish Bazaar

One of the many things I love about living in Turkey is the incredible bazaar.  I look forward to going every Wednesday to purchase my produce for the week.  Everything is so fresh and it really is picked the day before the bazaar.  Did I mention it is so cheap?  Each stand has such a unique group selling their produce.  Most of the time it is a family ranging from the Grandpa, his son, their brother, his wife, her sister and their 4 kids or babies. No joke. I love it.  In fact, yesterday I had about a 5 year old boy help me pick my peppers.  He knew just what to look for!







 The bazaar is about the size of a football field.  One half is produce and the other half is any other random item you can think of.  See below.
 Sunglasses galore.  Reminds me of the streets in NYC.

 I always buy a new polish color each week. They are 1 Turkish Lira which converts to about .75 cents! Hard to beat.
 Apron anyone?
 All sorts of random kitchen appliances, sweaters, toys, purses and of course underwear.
 Socks 

and more socks... 
 Perfume. Never smells like the real stuff. Probably either watered down or fake!  They sure sale like crazy though!
 My favorite!! They taste like pretzels but better. They are amazing when warm.
Ryan with all of our loot.  Onions, peppers, peaches, nectarines, garlic, carrots, bananas and of course blinding hot pink nailpolish.

Monday, September 12, 2011

My buddy

Living overseas leaves me with a lot of free time.  When I say a lot I mean a TON.  Previous years I would spend a bunch of time baking, cooking, exercising, skyping with friends/family and watching way too much TV.  Now, things have changed. For the better.  I still have all of the time in the world but luckily it is now spent with this cute guy.  I am one lucky mommy.  I love him.  We enjoy playing, going on a lot of walks, reading books, bath time, singing and even more playing. The days go quickly and I'm trying to soak up every moment with this little man.
This summer.
On the train in Izmir.
At our first apartment here in Izmir.
Out on a walk in Aliaga.  Then what Asher does best.  DROOL.
And this guy is still and always will be my buddy.  I'm a happy girl!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Shower Day

When we got back from Italy my sweet friends Stef, Lauren and Megs threw Asher and me a baby shower.  It was absolutely adorable and definitely filled the void I had been feeling of my friends not being able to see Asher right when he was born.  I couldn't wait for everyone to meet my little guy!  It was fun actually having the baby AT the baby shower!  It was so great to see my friends and spend time with them.  The theme was so cute and so much time went into all of the details.  It was Ice cream parlor themed!  Stef knew just the way to my tummy.



 Stef being so cute and prego herself.  She is just the sweetest friend ever.
 All of the girls!  


 Megs and Asher.  She is gorgeous!  (And looks great with a baby don't ya think?)
Thank you for the shower!  I'm so grateful for supportive and thoughtful best friends.  It truly is the best feeling to know that even when I'm gone for 10 months I can count on my best friends to act like I didn't miss a thing.  
We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  Asher didn't complain about being loved on for a few straight hours.  Asher received the most adorable clothes, great toys that he is obsessed with and we are both loving the fun books. He appreciates everything! As do I.  
Thanks again!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Sunday Walks

I love Sundays in Turkey for a few reasons.  A few of them are that Ryan actually gets the day off where last year he didn't and I love being able to go to church together!  We love taking time on Sunday to enjoy a nice stroll along the ocean right by our house, eat huge Sunday dinners always accompanied by desserts.  Pretty much just being able to enjoy a whole day as a family.  Sundays also always include nap time and snuggle time. It's a must.  





Thursday, September 1, 2011

4 months old...

Our sweet baby is now 4 months old! I am getting slightly depressed that he is growing up so fast and I feel like I'll be sending him on his mission like tomorrow.  He is the funnest little guy ever and he makes me laugh all day long.  He is rolling all over the place, grabs everything, flirts with everyone, smiles all the time and is just about to start laughing.  He would eat all day long if I'd let him and he is a really great sleeper! The only thing that's wrong is...pictures are becoming more difficult!  He doesn't sit still for me anymore.
 Adorable picture...
 Goofy picture.  This face cracks me up!
 Adorable picture...
Mom, I'm sick of these pictures so I'm putting an end to this.
I'm sure you can't read the paper in any of the pictures but I did what I could with a pen and a piece of lined paper! Just says 4 months old, the date and Izmir, Turkey.
He loves bath time! He wiggles and splashes the entire time.  
He is also learning to love his jumper.  He is such a busy baby always wanting to move his legs so this is the best thing for us! He just doesn't quite have the hang of it but he enjoys twirling around and bouncing a little bit.  YAY!  
I am loving Asher more then I ever could have imagined.  Love my little man.  
Happy 4 months!

Sandy Eggo

Every summer we go with the Toolson side to San Diego! We have such a fun time and I look forward to this vacation every year. Not only is it pretty much the only time we get to see everyone but we also fill the week with beach, food, shopping, pedicures, swimming and as always...more food. Just what I like. They sure know how to party! It was fun having Asher along this year! He was able to meet all of the family and he was such an amazing baby on the entire trip. Here is how the week went...
Asher was finally able to meet his Uncle Sean! I think Asher liked him a little bit...he just snuggled right up to him.
Then Aunt Colbi! The cutest pregnant girl I have EVER seen. Asher loved her too. She is going to be such a cute mommy.
Beach time! Asher was great at the beach for the first day. He just slept for about 3 hours on Grandma Toolson. I enjoyed this time by getting tossed around in the water attempting to body surf, went over to watch people jump off the bridge and got a little bit of sun! After the first day Asher enjoyed lounging at the pool better. I don't think he enjoyed the sand that I would find in his chunky legs and eyebrows.
Ryan playing with adorable Livy! She is such a cutie...
Ryan and Johnny were found doing anything to do with snails or something "boyish" all week!
We went paddle boarding! Mckell is such a blast to be around. Love her. We just screamed and laughed the whole time as we were being pushed out of the bay by the current.Liv was so adorable with Asher. In the morning I would hear her in the hallway "Where's baby Ashow. I wanna play baby Ashow!" She would give him kisses and hold him all the time. Such a good cousin!
Here is nanny Mckell. I called Mckell my nanny all week because she was the BIGGEST helper! She would come take Asher from me in the morning and I would go back to sleep, she would constantly hold him and snuggle him all day, change his diapers, loved the smell of his spit up and hung right there with me when I gave him a suppository! Maybe TMI but, oh well. Let's just say by the end of the week Asher was confused on who his mommy was.
Three cousins all born within a month of each other. Small, Medium and Large huh!

Papa Mike took Asher out on a walk a few times and Asher loved it! He loves his Papa Mike!
We took family pictures for this years Christmas card
Pictures of Mimi and Papa Mike with the grandkids.
Yes, Ryan has stitches. Story below
And to top off the week, Mike took us out to celebrate his Birthday at the most amazing restaurant. We went to Jake's! It is easily one of my top 5 favorite meals I've EVER had. I got the surf n' turf and ate every last morsel on my plate. But, don't be fooled into thinking that's all I ate. I enjoyed the most amazing bread, ahi tuna rolls, calamari, a pear and walnut salad and then after all of that a macadamia nut ice cream pie covered in Fudge. Yep, now you understand why I loved everything. I left looking 40 weeks pregnant again but felt great! THANK YOU MIKE!
Here are a few more memories from the trip.
-Ryan hit heads with his cousin Cooper while playing Basketball and they both had to get stitches over their left eye in the exact same place.
-Mckell stood up for me in the movie theatre when we went to see Crazy Stupid Love. I was going to make this quick but quick just won't do it justice. I walked in with Asher sound asleep. I am well aware of the fact that no one wants to have a baby sit next to them in a movie theatre, airplane or restaurant BUT because since I try to be aware I react very quickly the second Asher even sighs. Ryan and I had been to many movies this summer and Asher sleeps through the entire thing and people after the movie make comments that they didn't even know a baby was in the theatre. The theatre for this movie was practically full. Mckell and I sat down next to two ladies and Ryan and John went to go find seats somewhere else. Everyone around was saying how cute Asher was and I was making sure to tell the people around that I would leave if he made a squeak. Well, the two ladies I sat next to were huffing and puffing and making sure to talk so loud about me that I would hear. I finally looked at the lady right next to me and said "Excuse me, is there a problem?" She of course responded with "UH YA!!! What kind of irresponsible parent brings their baby into a movie!!? We paid good money to be here and the last thing I want is to sit by a newborn." I told her that I promised I would leave the second he made a noise and that she wouldn't even notice he was in there. Let's just say that Mckell wasn't happy with their tone. She stepped right in there to give them her two cents. She told them we were here from out of town without a pump or anyone to babysit. We're going to sit right here and if you want to get up and move then go right ahead! It kept them quiet for a couple minutes until they decided to continue talking about me very rudely and I couldn't believe that the grown women would be so disrespectful. I was now feeling really uncomfortable and I wanted to feed Asher to guarantee he would stay asleep. I moved the armrest up between Mckell and me and grabbed my nursing cover. I was sitting as close to Mckell as possible as was trying to be very discreet. "YOU'RE NOT SERIOUSLY GOING TO BREASTFEED YOUR BABY RIGHT NEXT TO ME ARE YOU???" The lady yelled at me so disgusted and as if she had never seen a mother nurse before. I was done. I told Mckell I wanted to leave so I got up and walked down with tears in my eyes. I was humiliated! Well, here comes Mckell to the rescue again. She told them that she couldn't believe that two women would make a new young mom feel so uncomfortable. I am finally able to get out and have some fun and there is no way that I could have left my baby with a babysitter because we didn't have a pump. She was telling them how she couldn't believe women like them even exist. They should at least just give the baby a chance and once there is a problem THEN they can complain about something. Long story short, Mckell handed it to them. I was trying to find Ryan somewhere in the theatre. I went and found him and had tears streaming down because I was so embarrassed! Mind you, Asher is still sound asleep. I told Ryan that I didn't have a place to sit because those women didn't want to sit by me. Ryan jumps up out of his seat and starts storming down the stairs asking me to show him who it was. I knew I couldn't show him or it would turn into even more of a scene. Meanwhile two of the sweetest women had told Mckell they saw the whole thing and couldn't believe how rude those other women were. They told us they wanted to switch us seats because there was no reason why I couldn't be in here to enjoy the movie also. There ARE nice people in the world! So, we switched seats and both Mckell and me were still so fired up. Luckily, I sat down to the nicest girl ever! The second I sat down I told her I promised I would leave if Asher made a single sound. She replied with "Oh girl, you just sit on down and relax!! We're gonna love this movie and have a good old time! Don't even think for a second about me!" Ahhhh. Loved her. The movie was great and I did enjoy myself! Asher slept the ENTIRE time and honestly didn't even move. The second the lights came on I saw the women still staring at me. They were one row down from me and so when they walked by I had to say something to defend myself. I should be the bigger person and just let it slide but all I said was "I'm sorry my baby was so disruptive that you couldn't even enjoy yourselves!" Of course they had to reply with all sorts of jibber jabber. Here comes Ryan running through the theatre trying to get over to us to have a few words with them. The women scurried on out of the theatre before Ryan could get to them. Mind you this whole time Mckell is still defending me and shutting down every single thing they said to me. As we were exiting the theatre there they were wanting to talk to us. Oh dear. Ryan and Mckell walked over to them and talked to them until they realized these women were never going to be wrong in their book. They were now a waste of our time! We finally left with Ryan and Mckell yelling at them that they were scum. It was hilarious! As we pulled out of the parking lot we saw a group of other women around the rude ladies yelling at them with hands in the air and fingers pointing about 2 mm's from their faces. Let's just say we knew we had won the battle when even other people in the theatre were waiting in line to give them their feelings on the matter!

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