Finally an update!!

First, here are some newer pics of baby Sara. :-)

Since Sara was born, when she is sleeping like this we say "well, she's surrendered" - when she is sleeping like this - she is "out like a light"...

Peek-a-boo from her bath towel...

Bathtime - I couldn't resist snapping these...


Sara napping with daddy...

Ok, where do I start? It feels like forever since I've blogged. I'll just start somewhere and if it doesn't make sense then I'm sorry - I'm exhausted! My Mom left last Wednesday very early in the A.M. She had a 5:50 a.m. flight out of Pakistan that took her directly to Houston with a brief stop in Manchester. My Mom was very nervous about flying back and it was just written all over her face. There had been an issue with her open return ticket from Houston to Dallas. PIA flys into Houston and then she takes a domestic flight from Houston into Dallas. She had gotten the domestic ticket when she purchased the international ticket from the travel agent. The class of the ticket prevented her from easily getting a seat. They kept saying to Shakil when he was checking for her that there were not any seats. To make a VERY long story short, Shakil got it handled finally but it sure was a headache and lots of stress before it was finally done. My Mom would panic everyday about it and was still in panic when she left. She was just so fearful that she wouldn't make it back to Dallas.

We dropped my Mom off at the airport. She kissed Sara goodbye and I was already tearing up. We walked her to where she was supposed to go. Shakil arranged for a porter to help her out and told him that she didn't speak any Urdu and luckily this man understood English but just couldn't speak it. For any of you who have not ever traveled Internationally by yourself - it is not easy the first time - especially going to a third world country and leaving from it. It can be quite scary. I know it was for me the first time. You just don't know what to expect.

It was time for my Mom to go. She hugged and kissed me goodbye. I immediately broke into tears. It was just so hard saying goodbye to her. I had the biggest of feeling of emptiness when we arrived back home. It was very upsetting. I sucked it up though and kept on going.

The next day was my first day with Sara - all alone (ok not completely - we do have a servant and Shakil is with me at night from 1 a.m. until 3 p.m. the next day) but when he left for work I was just overwhelmed. I really couldn't even find time to sit down and eat. I had even forgotten to eat. Things are getting easier but just when I think Sara has developed a routine - it's all screwed up again. Hopefully she will have a better routine soon. She will soon be 2 months!

Ok now my FIL, BIL and MIL did arrive back to this house but it was only for a brief time. My FIL/BIL ended up going right back to Karachi and my MIL came back to the house Shakil and I live in. Her first night back was ok but the next morning she basically picked up the house and put everything upside down. I mean she was just cleaning, cleaning and cleaning. She has the mindset that nothing is clean if she hasn't cleaned it. She just kept saying that everything is dirty - blah blah blah and it really pissed me off. I watch the servant clean and I do instruct her what to do. My MIL is just very stubborn.

The next day my MIL went back to the other house and things settled down. We were back on our own again - that is what we are used to. Now get this, last weekend Shakil, me, baby Sara and the servant went over to his parents other house and stayed with MIL for the weekend. Surprisingly I had a very nice time. It was very comfortable. I even enjoyed my MIL's company and had some nice chats with her. Yes, it is jaw dropping. Usually everything my MIL says annoys me but now things seem to have changed. Hmmm, I wonder why. Anyways, things are good and that is really all that matters. We also went to a bazaar that is called "Sunday Bazaar". It is quite the dirty place but I did have a nice time. Shakil got me some new fabric to have stitched because I really only have maternity clothes here. I'll need to get those stitched asap.

I'm a bit frustrated at the moment because Shakil's schedule at work is changing. He'll be gone the entire night 5 days a week. So he'll sleep all day and then be gone all night - not happy about that at all!! He is hoping that the following week they will try to accomodate him and change the schedule. I don't foresee it happening. We'll see.

In other news, Sara got her U.S. Passport and certificate of birth abroad! She is officially a U.S. citizen. She has dual citizenship actually. They'll be mailing her social security card to my home in the U.S.

Ok, lemme post some new pics of Sara. :-) She was taking a bath today and I snapped a few of her. She just looked so darn cute!