Trip to Istanbul!

We went to Istanbul for the week of Eid which is right before Thanksgiving. It was the last mental hurdle I have had to feeling settled into life (= Not that all the dust has settled, but at least I know that it is just normal life from here on out for awhile. No trips or conferences or anything. Yipee!

Thanksgiving!

There are a group of Americans in town and we got together for Thanksgiving. The couple on the end hosted us - he teaches English at a local school and she is in language school. The couple in the middle are attending language school and the wife is a midwife. We had lots and LOTS of food as the local neighbor family were invited but didn't show up. So hard to cook all that food knowing they may or may not show up! There were seven kids under the age of 4!! It was a crazy time. We did round 2 of TG dinner the next day since we kept all the food at the same house (=

The bottom picture is Layla and Ryan playing with a little boy just 3 weeks older than Ryan! It is nice to have other moms around who are in the same stage of life.

It was a great Thankgiving and we have much to be Thankful for this year!! As soon as we get our last piece of official paperwork I am going to lay it ALL out on a table at take a picture so you can see the sheer volume of red-tape that has been our life the last few months.

6 months old....a comparison (=

These are both kids at 6 months of age in our rocking chair. Don't ask me HOW I remembered that I took photos of Layla at 6 months in this rocking chair. I forget everything else important! Fun to see how they are similar and how they are different!

Wrestling!

Ryan has just turned 6 months old and is a real fun baby. People comment that he smiles with his whole body (= He is much more responsive than Layla was at this age which is fun.....Lj was just such a laid back baby (=

We were in Turkey for one week over Eid for a conference and we had a great time meeting lots of new folks. We love Turkey and love the people and all the green trees, grass and bushes! Our hotel had THE MOST fabulous buffet at every meal. It was stunning. I just wish I could have focused more on the food without little ones to tend to (= Silly, I know!

Lj's eye problem diagnosed!

For those of you who have followed our little family happenings, you may know that Layla has had a wierd eye thing for most of her life. We went to two specialists in the US and never got it properly diagnosed. After a double whammy of two back-to-back episodes last week(usually lasting 4-5 days each) we went to the small local hospital in hopes of at least getting something to help the pain.

The doctor took 10 mins and said it is VKC or Viral Conjunctivitis. It is essentially an allergy so there is no cure other than dealing with symptoms and the hope that she will outgrow it as she gets closer to puberty. It can be triggerd by an allergen OR any time her immune system is depressed. This would explain why it was SO difficult for us to track a consistent triggering event.

It is nigh on impossible to get Layla to open her eyes during an episode so I had taken photos one morning while Layla was distracted while Tom was reading a book to her. The doctor said these photos were very helpful and certainly confirmed for him that he had diagnosed it correctly.

It is very painful for her and usually keeps her in bed in a dark room for the first 3-4 hours of the day. She perks up by late afternoon but we have one crying and whiney girl on our hands until the whole thing passes. The eyes are painful to open in the morning, feel gritty, have blurred vision and are usually itchy.

Thankfully we are no longer using the steriod drops given to us in the US and it has been confirmed (yet again) that is not a problem that will affect her vision. Long-term use of the steroid drops, however, would. So we have some good medical help for her right here in town and we are so so grateful for some resolution to this pesky and painful issue for her!