Goodbye Abu Dhabi

We're spending our final full day in Abu Dhabi tomorrow. After that, we head to Dubai for two days for a little tourist action. 

Over the last few days, we've said sad goodbyes to Savannah's first nursery school, our incredible coworkers and today, the first home Savannah ever lived in and her nanny.  I've shed tears I wasn't expecting to shed over these goodbyes. 

Today was especially sad. As many different maintenance issues that house gave us, for better or worse, it was our home for the last two years.  The first walks I ever took my daughter on happened in that neighborhood. The first time I took my daughter to the park happened in that neighborhood, under the shadow of the compound mosque. 

The goodbye with Savannah's nanny, Jovie, was hard for so many reasons. She genuinely cared and felt affection for Savannah. She was the one person my husband and I had when we brought Savannah home from the hospital.  She was there during Savannah first learning to crawl and walk. She helped me nurse Savannah through her first childhood illnesses. She was there for me when I had to work late.  She was family for the last 2 years. We had our share of good days and bad days, but in the end, Jovie was all the family we had within 8,000 miles. 

I have many more pictures to share of our final days in the UAE, but for now, just a quick note about how surprised I am that my heart is really hurting. 

I am excited and relieved to be taking our daughter home. Right now, I'm just going to allow myself for a day or two to really begin missing all the little things, whether funny, interesting or annoying about our last two years and first two years as a real family, living in Abu Dhabi.