Some updates for you

Here are 10 random updates on our lives in Turkey:

1. As of late Kawika and I have been taking advantage of whatever sunshine we have left and taking some long walks around the neighborhood. There's a relatively steep hill beside us with ramps so I try to get a little workout in by pushing him up it. I am loving the weather and hoping the cold holds off for a few more weeks.

2. We took our Elders out for lunch to Shake Shack and they loved it! We went with Elder Clark (from Alberta) and Elder Richards (from Arizona). Small world! We had a great time but unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures...sorry.

3. After we put Kawika down for the night, Jordan and I have been playing a lot of Rummy, Backgammon, and Checkers. A side note, we shouldn't be allowed to play games. It is SO much fun but we get way too competitive. Luckily our "fights" have been playful but sometimes I really just want to punch him in the face...

4. Jordan and I are currently watching Blacklist and Arrow together. We can't wait for more episodes of White Collar, Big Bang Theory, and Suits to come out. On the side I catch up on old lame tv shows that I should have watched 10 years ago...like One Tree Hill and The O.C. I think I'm going to start Smallville soon. Any other suggestions...?

5. Lately Kawika hasn't been sleeping through the night. I'm not sure what's going on but I think I'm more cranky about it than he is. Maybe he's getting his teeth in?

6. Yesterday was "cookie Sunday" and Jordan graciously shared his favorite no bake cookies with the Branch. Since we can't just buy our cookie ingredients here (my mom sent them in a care package), it was a big deal for us to share them haha it was worth it though because the Elders thanked us and said it tasted just like their moms cooking and it reminded them of home. There was also one Turkish man in the ward that told me it was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted. So that felt good :) thanks mom for the ingredients, the recipe, and teaching me how to make these.

7. While we mention my mom...its her BIRTHDAY tomorrow! So wish her a happy birthday because she is awesome. My mom is coming into town soon and I'm so thrilled. We are going to go sight seeing, go on long walks, swim laps in the pool downstairs, shop, bake and cook together. Oh and while she's here I intend on dating my husband. This is going to be legend...wait for it...dary.

8. I've been asked to teach Gospel Doctrine at church and I feel unqualified to be doing so BUT so far I have really enjoyed it. Besides just reading the scriptures to Kawika in the evenings, its nice to almost be forced to set aside time to really study them. I've learned so much more about the gospel and my testimony has only strengthened.

9. The team had us return our VW rental and exchange it for a brand new car called a "Skoda". Apparently its great on gas mileage because the engine turns off whenever you're not moving. But there's two things I really love about the car...1: Jordan fits in it and 2: its an automatic transmission

10. We've been ordering a lot of delivery lately. I'm not sure if I love or hate this fact more but I do know I'm disappointed with myself for not cooking dinner lately. There's a great website here called "YemekSepeti" and it allows you to order all kinds of foods and have it delivered to your door. Its extremely convenient for us because the website is in English which means we know what we're getting and we don't have to struggle communicating it to someone else. And obviously...its delicious prepared food that's instantly delivered to our door so it's convenient.

Overall, if I may say so myself, I think we're adjusting pretty well to life with a babe in a foreign country. At first I felt like it was more about survival than anything else (and some days that's still true) but now its more about enjoying our life and this crazy adventure we are living.

As always, we miss you all.

Lizard neck

Jordan was goofing around on the elevator and I learned that he has this unique talent of making his neck look like a lizards...

Honestly this picture is weak. This looks like something anyone can do. Jordan was too shy to do the real thing as big as he actually can.  Anyways, I wanted to do it too so I spent some time that evening trying...

I'm not even close to the range Jordan has but I'm dying because the next morning I woke up with an incredibly sore neck. And now its two days later and my neck is still sore...what a joke! I dare you to try. Your neck will be killing you the next day. Or maybe I'm just THAT out of shape!

The day has come

I can't believe it. Does anyone know what day it is? Yeah yeah its the first day of November. But guess what, today is also the official day that Kawika has spent more of his life in Turkey than in the US. I don't know if its just me but I think its crazy to think about!

Kawika is so happy and content. He loves to laugh. He pays attention when we read to him. He wakes up from naps making little squawking sounds. He rolls over. He loves to stand. He gets mad that he can't crawl but keeps trying. If Jordan is in the house he constantly looks for him. He is so curious about the world around him. And I love to just sit and watch him take it all in. Oh and of course, he is so tall. I'm terrible but I love how he looks like a complete dweeb in this picture with his pants too short. haha. some day Kawika will not be so happy with me about this. I can't wait.

                                          

Driving in Istanbul 101

For the longest time I've been meaning to write about my driving experiences in Turkey. I think its absolutely insane and I'm always met with shock when I tell people that I drive so I guess I'm not alone in that thought. But how else am I supposed to get anything done? So I've decided to compile a helpful list of tips while driving in Istanbul...

1. The traffic here sucks. That's just a given. You just have to plan on it and accept it because there's really no way around it.

2. I'm not sure that there are ANY driving laws here. And if there are, I don't think they're enforced. (except one law...refer to tip #3)So keep your cool and go with the flow. Even if the speed limit is 80 and everyone is flying past you while you're going 120. But keep in mind this will rarely happen (refer to tip 1). 

3. When there is traffic, you will without fail see several drivers zoom past you on the shoulder. I recommend staying out of their way and not joining them. This is the only thing I have seen people get tickets for. But regardless, it happens A LOT. 

4. If you have claustrophobia beware. A two lane road is more often than not converted to four lanes. So don't be alarmed when you're packed tight like sardines. Completely normal.

Now that we mention packed tightly....once on our way to church, Jordan and I looked over and saw this little tiny car jammed full of people. I tried to snap a picture of it but couldn't really get a good shot on the sly. Try to guess how many people are in this 5 passenger car....

If you guessed NINE than you are right! Three in the front. Three in the back. And three on the laps of those in the back! Now back to the tips..

5. If by some chance there isn't traffic, you will eventually hit it. When that happens, the person in front of you will turn their hazards on signaling that they are about to slam on their brakes. Apply your brakes and turn on your hazards if necessary. 

6. We learned the hard way that if you miss your exit or take a wrong turn it will take you at least half an hour to correct your error. Several times we've witnessed people just suddenly move over, turn on their hazards, and slowly reverse to their desired turn off. We used to be perplexed (and sometimes even a little annoyed) by this but now we TOTALLY get it. And a couple days ago on our way to Ikea, Jordan did the most Turkish thing he has ever done before. We had just missed our exit and didn't know where to turn around so he pulled over to the shoulder and started to reverse.... on the highway.

Now remember when I said that people sometimes like to use the shoulder as a lane??? Well that whole reversing to our exit stunt that he pulled was probably one of the most terrifying driving experiences we've had here. But I'm so proud of my husband for adapting to a new environment and driving like a local. Way to go babe! 

7. Invest in a GPS system. I've relied solely on my cell phone for directions and boy have I paid the price for that. 

8. Be assertive AND defensive. We live on a pretty busy hill. When we drive home from the market we have to make an unprotected left hand turn to our building. If you wait for the oncoming traffic to clear up, everyone behind you will blare their horns and you'll be waiting a very very long time. So what do you do? Turn on your blinker and slowly but assertively inch your way forward. If you are assertive enough, the oncoming traffic yields to you (but only inches away from hitting you). In my short experience here I've learned to:
        8a. Yield to taxis (because those drivers are crazy)
        8b. Yield to cars that are either bigger or more banged up than yours -they have less to lose
        8c. An expensive luxury vehicle will yield to you - they have more to lose (duh) 

9. Avoid looking at the gypsies (or at least don't get caught looking!) I'm just curious and a complete people watcher. So at first I always got caught looking at the gypsies who are standing in the middle of the road selling food, water, flowers, baked goods, or whatever it might be. I learned that if you are looking they think you want to buy. And some of them can get extremely aggressive about it. So to avoid a long painful red light with them...just don't look. 

10. And lastly, beware of window washers. Several times we've had people walk up and wash our windows when we were vehemently saying no. The trick here is to avoid eye contact (refer to tip #9) and if they still try to wash your windows, turn on your windshield wipers. At least thats done the trick for us! Unless of course you want your windows washed. Then in that case, go for it! 

Lastly, this entire post was typed with one hand while holding Kawika with the other. So I hope you enjoyed it haha.

Happy driving in Istanbul! 

Jumperoo!

We got Kawika a jumper! I have anxiously been awaiting for this day. Of course I want Kawika to stay my little baby but watching him grow up, get stronger, and learn is so fun and fulfilling for me. At first he wasn't so happy in it (and truthfully I worried we had another chair fail story) but once he learned how to push off and jump he was thrilled! The smiles and laughs are worth every cent. 

We went on a walk!

So about the title... I'm just making fun of an inside joke the Bachynski's have about going on a hike...and to be honest I'm not really sure that I'm on the inside of that joke but everyone says it to me like I am so I'll just laugh and pretend I get it...anyways...

Kawika and I met up with our friends Ceren and Aras and went out to lunch along the sea. We went to the European side to change things up and ate lunch at a cute little cafe. We had this yummy stuff called "Manti". I absolutely love it! They're like dumplings with mincemeat in the middle and yogurt on top. So good!

You can order them fried or boiled. I like them both!

After lunch we went for a 5 mile walk. It was a beautiful day. Lots of boats, fisherman, and beautiful buildings. I don't know what it is but I love water in every form....except frozen hahaha. I like to visit snow but I'm not sure I love living in it. I guess I get to find out soon! But ocean, lake, sea, pool, shower, or drink. Love it!

This is one of the bridges connecting the European and Asian Sides. We live off to the right (Asian side) and Ceren lives on the left. Our church building is on the left side as well.

On our walk we even found a castle!

Turkey has some really cool history and I love seeing the sights. Being a mom is so awesome. Watching Kawika take in the world is so much fun. I look forward to all the fun things I get to do with K when he's a little bit older and can appreciate it. Jordan and I love doing things that are meant for children (like pixar movies, legos, playing in the sand, etc) now we have a good excuse to do it all!

Bouncer

Back home we had an awesome bouncer for Kawika but he didn't really care for it too much because he was too little for it. Unfortunately we had minimal room when traveling here so we left it in storage. I hadn't thought much about it until we went over to a friend's place here and they had a rocking bouncer. We put Kawika in it and he loved it. He was happy there the whole evening and even fell asleep in it. So of course I decided I HAD TO HAVE ONE.

My sweet sweet husband was SO patient with me as he drove me around to a hundred different baby stores in the pursuit of the perfect rocking bouncer. He never pushed me to buy one that I didn't completely love and he even returned to multiple stores with me so that I could double and triple check the options. I either wasn't pleased with the accessories/functions, it was out of stock, or it only came in pink (and we don't do pink in this house...yet). It took some time and some serious hunting but I finally found the "perfect one". I couldn't wait to put Kawika in it!

Other than this ONE day several weeks ago. he really doesn't care for the stupid chair at all. I've tried to lie to myself that he loves it and every day I give it another shot but who am I kidding? Jordan finally said it yesterday and I had to concede. Kawika hates it. In Jordan's sarcastic words, "I am SO happy we got this chair for him. He uses it all the time." hahaha can you say first time mom?? 

Parent Fail.