Five ways to let her know you care

Tired of the same old terms of endearment for your sweetie?  "Honey" and "Dear" just not sounding so fresh and meaningful anymore?  Try out a few of the Turks favorites and maybe it will give your relationship the spice it needs:)

1. My turtle

2. My little butterfly

3. Center of my soul

4. My passion bug

and my all time favorite...

5. Corner of my liver

"Happy New Year, Corner of my liver!"

Awwww James, you sweet talker you.

Smells like she got too cold.

This is my good friend.  She loves Marie.  I mean LOVES.  She told me the other day that she was mad at me when I got pregnant because Elise was still so small and needed her mom.  She thought it was a bad idea for me to have another baby so soon.  Fast forward a year or so.  Every time I see her she says, "I'm so happy you gave birth to Marie!"  She says she's never loved another baby so much.  According to her, Marie is the smartest, cutest, happiest baby she's ever seen.  Of course I don't argue with that ;)

My friend (and everyone else living in Turkey) is unbelievably afraid that Marie will get too cold.  Getting too cold in this country is the source of all ailments - The sniffles?  You got cold. You threw your back out? Well you must have gotten too cold.  Heart attack? Too cold.  Baby crying?  Mom's breastmilk was cold.   And the list goes on.  I am not joking!  But I digress.  So Marie wasn't wearing socks and my friend, although she's pretty used to the way I dress my kids, was worried about the temperature of the baby's feet.    Marie spits up a lot.  Although my friend is used to this, today after noting the lack of socks, she told me that Marie got too cold.  She could tell by how the spit up smelled.  Say what?

Sledding above the "cloud"

We took Elise sledding on the mountain above our city a few days ago.  She loved it and has been asking to go sledding again ever since. 

Wheeeee!!!!!

Will you sled wif me this time Baba?

Check out how sunny and clear the sky was.  

We decided to go back down the mountain after Elise almost fell asleep while I pulled her and her sled back up the hill.  We were looking forward to enjoying the sunshine, the fresh winter air, and the glistening snow in the city below.  But wait, what's that we're driving into?!  ACK! Check out that layer of smog!

Cough. Choke. Sputter. Wheeze.

  So much for enjoying sunshine and  fresh winter air.

 If you look close you can almost make out buildings hiding in the thick grey gunk.  One million people, including the four of us live down there.  Welcome home!  Try to avoid breathing whenever possible.