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.

Road Trip

I recently had the opportunity to take four guys from Missouri around the southern part of our country. We were able to see some places rich in history and culture. As far as sightseeing goes, the highlight of the trip was going to Harran, where Abraham lived before moving to Palestine. There's no disputing that it is the ancient city that is spoken of in Genesis. Today, instead of being a major city located on a major trade route, it looks more like a village. Many of the people living there still live in "beehive" shaped houses that help keep the homes cool in the extremely hot summer.

As for the four guys in the picture below, each are over 50 years old, but they made me feel like the old guy in the group. While strolling through a park in a city called Urfa around 10:30 at night, one asked if we should climb a steep walkway to the castle overlooking the city. My answer was that we would have time in the morning. But, someone else quickly replied, "We might as well do it now." About an hour later we got back to the hotel and I had my best night's sleep of the whole trip.

Here's the crew at Mt. Nemrut standing beside Hercules and Apollos.

This place is literally called "Fishy Lake" or "Lake with Fish."
Whatever you call it, it looked like a fish pond to me.
Some people believe the fish in this pond are holy.

Women feeding the holy carp.

A local man lounges in the shade at a family park.
The purple headscarf that he's wearing is exclusive to the area around Urfa.
Both men and women wear them.

A scene from the famous Urfa Bazaar.

The "beehive" homes in Harran.

The museum in Harran that allows you to see inside the homes.

The sitting room where guests would be entertained.

A local woman prepares the family bed for the evening.
Because the temperatures are so hot, everyone sleeps outside.

Some say it was the first university in the world,
others say it was the second. Regardless it's pretty old.

Good News!!!

Based on the ultrasound, Baby Boy Blan doesn't have the Blan nose! We can't get too excited yet. Pictures of Stephen as a child showed no indication of having the "famous" shnaz. But we all know that changed.