Iftar

It's Ramadan here and we were invited to an Iftar meal at one of Stephen's friend's house the other night. Iftar is the meal eaten at sunset to break the fast. Many times if you're invited to a meal there's a large crowd eating together, but this time it was just the other couple, their very cute daughter Elif, and us. It was a nice, calm evening.

Elif being caught with her hand in the sugar bowl.

Elif and Nate comparing pacifiers.
Nate was using her chair, so she was a bit jealous.

They love babies here. Yea, people love babies everywhere,
but they REALLY love babies here. Nate was the center of attention.

Doctor Deniz

At our last doctor's visit before leaving Istanbul I got a picture with my doctor and Nate. She was great and I had a wonderful experience with her as my doctor. It's obvious that she loves what she does and still gets excited when she sees a baby.

Quick update

After a very long summer away, we're heading home tomorrow. We're ready to get back and see what real life with a baby will be like. It's been a long week. Stephen got sick early in the week and passed it on to Nate, so we had our first experience with a sick baby. He's doing better now and I think will be back to normal in a couple days.

To satisfy those of you who have been hounding us (Elizabeth Johnson) to put some new pictures on the blog, here they are.

Nate loves the swaddle. It keeps his normally flailing arms away from his face so he can sleep, but more importantly so we can sleep too. We think he looks like a gloworm.

Nate's first ride in his stroller and first look at the Bosphorous
(the dark blob in the background).

Finishing up at the hospital...

Apparently in Istanbul they like to deliver the baby and send you home quickly. 19 hours after Nate was born they asked for their money and sent us out the door. The care at the hospital was great actually. We've never done this thing in the States, but we think it's quite different. Our doctor was with us for most of the 15 hours before the birth and stopped in to see us a few times the next morning. A nurse will even be visiting our home during the first week. Below are some more pics from the rest of our stay in the hospital.

Interesting enough, one of the two other families that live with us in our city was in Istanbul as well to have their second child. Sheryl gave birth to Ava just as we were entering the Labor & Delivery area around 6 in the morning. Needless to say, Sarah felt a little pressure to get Nate out so they could have the same birthday.

Sheryl and Sarah with their new babies. Sheryl had Ava about an
hour after arriving to the hospital. It took Sarah about 15.
That's okay, we're not bitter. Sheryl's first one was apparently a doozy.

The proud papas. Jack has already warned Nate not to
try anything funny with his daughter.

Grammy Iles showing off her second Nathan.

Meet Nate

He's finally arrived. At 1:58 pm eastern time Nathan Moore Umut Blan joined us. These are a few pictures. Both Mom and Dad are tired, so this one will be short. Nate is either not tired or sleeps with his eyes open just like his dad. Sarah did fantastic and once her body finally began to cooperate, she pushed him right out.

In the next few days, we'll write more about our experience and our new son.

At the hospital

Sarah hardly got any sleep last night. She had contractions all day and around 5 am they began to be about 3 minutes apart. We decided it was time to go. I grabbed the bag and called a taxi.

Unfortunately, that was almost 5 hours ago and we're still waiting. Her contractions have become more irregular and she's progressing slowly. Not slow enough to send her home, but not fast enough to get too excited.

Steve & Sarah Simpson...

As I was doing my weekly blog surfing today I stumbled upon a very fun web site (thanks to our brown friend, Shane Mathew). In honor of the recent Simpsons movie Burger King has sponsored a website where you can upload a picture and see what you would look like as a character on the Simpsons. After seeing the almost exact replica of me (big eyes, no hair, though the nose could be slightly bigger - okay alot), we were not as impressed with Sarah's character. After tweeking your "cartoonself" you have the opportunity to insert yourself into backgrounds from various places in Springfield. If your a Simpsons fan, it's worth the time.

Dohh!

I was very disappointed when I found out that if I wanted to watch the new Simpsons movie I had to watch it in Turkish. All animated movies in Turkey are dubbed into Turkish because all cartoons are obviously for children.

The other night Sarah and I went on one of our last dates before our little bundle of screaming joy arrives. We walked by a cinema and decided to see what was playing. Instead of "Simpsonlar" we saw a sign that read "The Simpsons." I quickly asked a guy if it was in English or Turkish and he said they were the only cinema showing it in English in the whole country. Wooohoo!

So after a nice meal and browsing through some stores we watched the Simpsons, not Simpsonlar.

Starbucks

Even if you're a hater of Starbucks you could appreciate the location of one of its 5 gazillon stores that we went to the other day. After eating at what was one of Turkey's best efforts at Mexican food (not bad, but your Mexican friends would not be impressed) we found a Starbucks situated right on the banks of the Bosphorus. The Bosphorus is the waterway that divides Istanbul and separates Europe and Asia. It was quite crowded outside on the deck, but as people left we slowly moved our way to the tables closest to the water. We enjoyed the cool evening, beautiful view, good company, and of course great coffee.

View of the boats and Asia at dusk.

Three Musketeers

Mmmmm, Three Musketeers. Oh, not the candybar. The pregnant ladies.
Sarah has enjoyed being able to share her pregnancy with close friends
who are in the same situation. Both Elizabeth and Sheryl
are experienced too.They each have very cute daughters.

Goodies

Of course Elizabeth came bearing lots of gifts for both us and for Baby Blan. Try to get past the lovely feet and ankles and onto the very cool Crocs. Sarah was very excited about this gift because they will save her back while she stands for hours cooking on concrete floors.

Elizabeth in Istanbul

A picture from the Asian side of Istanbul with the Bosphorous and

European side behind the very cute Iles sisters.

At one of the many restaurants where we ate.

Belly to...well...no belly, with the Aya Sofia in the background.

Inside the Aya Sofia.

Elizabeth eating her first durum...

and drinking her first Turkish coffee.

A visit from Elizabeth

We were overjoyed when Sarah's sister Elizabeth decided to make a trip to Istanbul. We had a wonderful time showing her around and spending some good time with her. We're so thankful that she came.

A Day on the Bosphorous

A couple weeks ago, thanks to our tax dollars and our new friends Byron and Karen, we were invited to spend the day sailing up the Bosphorous to the Black Sea on the U.S. Consulate boat, the Hiawatha. We were celebrating Byron's finally becoming a man (he turned 27). It was a beautiful day to spend with friends.

We weren't quite the proud Americans we should've been sailing up the Bosphorous with an American flag flying for all to see. To put it lightly,
Americans aren't as loved as they once were in this part of the world.

Thanks to our friends who work for the Consulate we enjoyed Dr. Pepper...

and cheesecake made with real Philadelphia cream cheese.
It was delicious!

The guys showed their manliness by jumping into the cold Black Sea.

Welcome to Istanbul

Once again we have to apologize for the lack of posts on the blog. We arrived in Istanbul almost a month ago! Since then we’ve been busying ourselves finding our way around this city of 15 million people on public transportation, going to language class, hanging out with friends and family, having the occasional Starbucks and fast food, and surviving the heat. Hopefully the next few posts will help catch you up on life in Istanbul as we anxiously await our baby boy.

By the way, at the last doctor’s appointment the baby had dropped and weighed approximately 6 lbs 8 oz. We’re expecting a big boy!

What books don't teach you

I was sitting outside with my neighbors drinking tea yesterday and happened to be wearing my favorite maternity jeans that I ordered from the states. My neighbor who I call "Teyze" (which technically means aunt, but is also the name for any old lady) began to tell me that I was smashing my baby's head by wearing jeans. So I showed her the very soft and comfy band around my waist, but she said because the pants were pressing on my hips his head was in danger. Poor, poor baby Blan.

A little bit later another pregnant woman wearing pants came to sit with us, but she didn't get the speech. I guess it was my lucky day.

Baby Shower

Thanks to Sheryl and Stephanie, pictured below, who threw me the best baby shower on this side of the world, we're more ready than ever for the arrival of Baby Boy Blan. (Nope, still no name.) Thanks so much to all of you who sent gifts, and especially to Sheryl and Stephanie who so thoughtfully organized it. The shower really was so wonderful! Here are a few pictures.

Klaire had to nap through the shower,
but she woke up to a baby girl's dream.

Going on a picnic

To say that people here love picnics is a definite understatement. Once the weather is warm enough, you'll find people everyday at the lake or a park drinking tea and grilling chicken wings. We went on a picnic at the lake last week to celebrate a special occasion. Here are a few pictures of the beautiful day.

We can't resist dark-eyed, dark-skinned babies.

Locals can't resist blonde-haired, blue-eyed babies.

Jack and Klaire relaxing in the shade.

Chicken wings on the grill

Chicken wings on the "table"
(of course with coca-cola on the side)

What's a picnic without dancing?

That's not a smile on Stephen's face. It's the face of a guy who's trying
to get out of some very cold water. If you can take your eyes off
the shirtless hunk for a second, you'll notice the beautiful
snow-capped mountain in the background.