keeping busy

we're nearing the end of january - a dreary month here in ankara.  it's never been my favorite month, until it was made brighter by emre's birthday (coming up on monday!).  i'm grateful for that.  but still, having some projects helps the time pass.  our big project these days is rethinking our home and reorganizing to fit a fourth family member.  we have a decent sized apartment, but it does NOT include closets - and you wouldn't believe what a difference built-in closets can make when it comes to space.  no closets is typical in turkey.  so, we have to be creative, and try to de-clutter as often as we can (ben is the best at this, because clutter? drives. him. crazy.  totally cray).  

sooo, we've begun deconstructing our den/guest room, with the intention of turning it into a nursery.  this means sorting through everything currently stored underneath the bed (we do have beds that raise up and have storage spaces underneath, so that's a blessing - except we're losing one with this project) and relocating/removing it, and going through our desk and finding new spaces for the necessities.  it also means trips to ikea for some new pieces to help us organize.  and to be perfectly honest, ben has done pretty much all of the work on this so far.  i go to bed, and he goes to work in the den.  he's incredible.  so, that's our project lately & i'll update on here more when we actually have some results.  for now, here are some fun pictures ben came across, fun pictures of an almost two emre, and pictures of our madhouse.  enjoy!

baby ben!  emre totally makes this exact same face.

and emre makes this face, too!  they are sometimes scarily alike (minus the girly sandals & gold chain)

saturday morning treat: blueberry pancakes for breakfast (we decided he's not done with his tray, after all)

sunday morning - the destruction has just begun

sunday evening - yes we DID make him help clean up before bath

handsome little chap, all set for sunday brunch with dede

only in turkey: parents were paying to have their children zipped into these giants plastic balls at the mall.  because honestly, who needs oxygen?

these... THINGS seriously freaked me out at the grocery store

emre's latest favorite game is to get dressed to go 'out.'  he puts on his (sun)hat, winter coat, one leather glove & boots and grabs his school bag, usually stuffing it with a few items like a book & key chain, before telling us 'byeeeee!' (the destination is usually his bedroom)

do you need any ikea furniture assembled?  well then these are your guys!  they absolutely love assembling any piece of furniture that comes their way - and i love it, too (an hour of quiet time!).

this week's pregnancy challenge has been an extremely sore back.  i've been doing yoga every morning just to try & be able to walk normally.  but that's ok, since i've got emre's full support - he likes to do his 'yoya mommy, yoya' with me each morning.

this week we got emre's first progress report from school.  it seems a little silly, since he's barely two, but it's very sweet.  and hey, we couldn't be more proud!  i mean, yes, he IS the most amazing child in the world (that's what she's saying, right?)!! as far as the whole confidence in speaking part, i think it really helps that he's actually started talking since joining them in september.