Harris life in Doha

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Long long time no post - update on life in Doha

I cannot believe it was March when I last posted something!! The weeks are just flying by! I cannot possibly do justice to everything that has happened since I last posted so very briefly I guess the following have been highlights:

1. Visitors! We love having visitors and showing them a snapshot of our life over here and we've had visits from Nat and Lily, Lindsey and Simon and Will and Steve - hopefully they all had as much fun as we did.

2. We've been back to the UK. We didn't get to see everyone we wanted to but its impossible to do that in 2 weeks. Emily wasn't sure about the aeroplane to begin with and kept telling me every 10 mins that she was getting off but now she is a seasoned traveller. Travelling with both of them on my own was an experience but we all survived and had a lovely time in England.

3. Dylan is getting bigger! Emily is getting chattier! I'm not sure where the time has gone but Dylan is nearly 6 months old. He's loving trying his solid food and has just learnt to sit up by himself and he babbles away lots. Emily adores him and he adores her and its so lovely to see them together. Having said that Dylan is just beginning to assert his authority and reach out for her toys and so I see stormy waters ahead! Photos of them are below.

We're staying here this summer and so its going to be a long and hot experience - thank goodness for air-conditioned shopping malls! I will post again shortly but just wanted to highlight (for anyone still reading!) that I haven't given up!

Me and my bro

Happy boy

The Harris clan waiting to board to come home to Doha

I love my brother

The two girls

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Normal life is resumed

After all the hectic things that have happened recently, its been nice to just get back into a routine and we've been to the beach, spent lots of time at the parks having picnics (making the most of the cooler weather!) and Emily has braved the swimming pool a couple of times (its freezing even in mid 20 temperatures). Emily is continuing to dote on Dylan and he spends most of his time smiling and laughing at her every time she goes near him - he is certainly a fan of his big sister. Emily had cultural day at her nursery which involves all the children attending in their national dress and taking a national dish from their country. The parents all then attend for a picnic to share the foods and the children do a little parade. Emily dressed in red white and blue and I made a victoria sponge. We had to do a collage about England and Emily was fascinated by the Queen. We're starting to get to know people on the compound where we live which is nice and apart from being inundated by Ants at the moment we're really enjoying our new home. The other most exciting news to happen....we have finally got an ikea which opened this weekend! Yippee! I've attached some recent pictures of what we've been up to.

Escaping the heat with an OJ

Having lovely smiley dreams

Princess Emily - dressed up for World Book Day at nursery

Dylan having cuddles with teddy

Feeding Mr and Mrs Duck

Princess at the park!

Meet the telly addicts

Just catching some rays

Happy little boy at the park

I scream for ice-cream

Dylan having a 'relaxing' bath!

More parks and more ice-cream

Having henna

The garden at Emily's nursery all ready for cultural day

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

At last I am updating it....what a lot has happened!!

I just noted in my last post I said I would try and update this weekly....ummmm well several months later.......life has never been busier. Since October we have:

1. Had our first Christmas in Doha

2. Sold our house in the UK

3. Moved house in Doha

4. Bought a car

5. Had several visitors to stay

6. Last but not least....had a baby - welcome Dylan Woody Harris

Christmas in Doha was great although very strange going to a Christmas tree light switch on on a sunny day and listening to carols in the sunshine. Lots of the big international hotels do lovely things for Christmas like have life-size edible gingerbread houses and christmas carols with the opportunity to meet santa. We went to the Marriot on Christmas Eve for the carols and Emily saw santa and we drank eggnog - it felt very festive. on Christmas day we took Emily out on her new bike and enjoyed our first family Christmas just the 3 of us (as was then). Once Christmas was over our beautiful baby boy made an appearance on the 28th December (photos attached). Giving birth out here was much the same experience as back home except it was in a private hospital and I was lucky enough to be upgraded to the VIP suite (I don't recall getting two private bathrooms on the NHS!). The birth went well and Dylan is now 6 weeks old as I write this. He is a very chilled out baby (which is a good job with a big sister as hectic as Emily). Emily loves Dylan and loves to cuddle him and show him things. He does get the occasional sly whack or missile launched at him but on the whole Emily loves being a big sister. Moving house with a 2 week old baby is not to be repeated - stressful doesn't quite cover it. We're all settled now though and I have attached pictures of the new place. Emily now attends nursery 5 days a week from 7-1 and loves it. The commute to nursery goes via the animal market and she gets very excited by the daily drive by the camels and various other animals. Emily is growing up quickly and is adorable half of the time and the other half drives you crackers!! Everything has to be inspected, pulled out, tipped up and thrown about - she certainly keeps me on my toes. It has been nice to have cooler weather over the winter - most days are like a british summer day - its heating up again now though. I have attached some photos (in a random order) that hopefully cover everything that has happened since I last updated the blog. It definitely won't be as long next time.......