This morning and tomorrow morning I arranged for a babysitter so I could take portraits at Playschool. Anna doesn't usually go on Thursdays so she stayed home with Sarah and the sitter today but just Sarah will be with the sitter tomorrow. I specifically asked for an English-speaking sitter and Amelie was able to find someone. The girls were alive when I returned and neither were crying, but...

Sarah freaked out when I set her down or handed her to the sitter, as predicted. Anna was just shy, as the best-case-scenario-predicted. What actually happened after I left I don't know because when I got back at 11:45, Sarah was still sleeping (she is usually up by 10:30 at the latest) and Anna had locked herself in her room (she was singing to herself).

I asked the sitter multiple times if she put Sarah down at 9 AM as instructed and she claims she did. I don't know if Sarah cried for a very long time or what happened because she slept until 1 PM. (I didn't know what to do with her so I figured she was going to be messed-up sleep-wise no matter what I did, why not let her get as much sleep as she can.) Anna says she did play-doh and stickers with the sitter but she didn't get a snack. Because I said that the girls have a snack when Sarah wakes up from her nap (but Sarah didn't wake up from her nap!). But, Anna had a Capri-Sun (which I had said she could have with her snack, so why wasn't a snack distributed?) and Sarah had some soy milk (which I also talked about in relation to the snack)...

I have no idea how long Anna was in her room but I was surprised that the sitter hadn't picked up any toys that Sarah had (obviously) strewn about when she was awake. Anna said that she went to her room because she "wanted mommy to be here."

Anyway, maybe I'll get a better story out of the sitter tomorrow but I don't think I'll be calling on her again at this rate (she was also 10 minutes late getting here this morning).

Posted by Becky at 8:39 PM | Permalink

All aquarium photography by Craig.

Sarah was excited to get to the pool again; here she is walking around in her swim cover.

We went to the aquarium at the Coex Mall today but it wasn't really that great. It was expensive and not very big. It was also really crowded. But, the girls seemed to like it well enough so it wasn't a total waste.

Posted by Becky at 9:43 PM | Permalink

I really liked this yellow wall, but you can see that McDonald's is also 30 meters ahead...

Our hotel.

I went out early to take pictures around Seoul this morning. I didn't stray too far and wanted to go to a temple specifically for the Buddha's birthday decorations. They were nice but I remember being more impressed at the temple I went to in Busan with my mom in 2004.

Posted by Becky at 8:16 PM | Permalink

Sarah was really excited when she saw the giraffes!

Playing in the ball pit in the nice playroom at the hotel.

We drove to the zoo this morning and it was the Longest Walk Ever from parking lot to zoo entrance! Anna was so excited she wanted to walk instead of ride but finally relented after we went through the zoo gates to ride in the back of the stroller (now she only wants the back, not the front). Sarah was thrilled to see the giraffes (they were first) and was really excited to see most of the animals. I'd say she liked the giraffe, elephant, and guinea pigs the best! Anna says she liked the lions the best. We got tickets to see the dolphin show and both girls were impressed. I don't think the show was actually that great (but who am I to say, I can't say that I've actually been to one) but really, what can you expect for the entrance fee we were charged (I think we paid around $7 total)? The zoo is big and really quite nice but we were amazed at how little it cost to get in and how un-crowded it was especially for being a perfect day—a Saturday at that! We found some lunch (corn on the cob, waffles, and corn dogs) and then went back to the car. But not before stopping at the restroom on the way out. Anna & I were pleasantly (?) surprised that we could use the bathroom and watch the giraffes from our stall! I went back in to change Sarah's diaper and brought the camera in but the giraffes had moved by then. So, Anna was lucky that she got to go while watching a giraffe, I guess...

Sarah fell asleep in the car on the way home so I stayed in there with her in the parking garage so she got at least an hour nap this afternoon (she got about a 10-15 minute nap on the way to the zoo this morning). We relaxed in our room for a bit and then went to Tapgol Park for a run around. We went to Outback for an early dinner and then hit the pool again before bedtime.

Craig went out to the electronics market after the kids went to bed but most of the stores were closing by the time he got there. Tomorrow I plan to get up early and try to get some temple pictures.

Posted by Becky at 8:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

At the rest stop.

Sorry for the flash but the girls were so cute in their new polka-dot swimsuits!

Got up and out the door by 8:30 (goal was 8). Sarah fell asleep by 9 and slept until after 10. We stopped shortly after she got up to stretch, have a snack, change her diaper... We got back on the road and had to stop two more times due to false-alarm bathroom stops for Anna. We ended up getting to our hotel just after 4 PM (much later than we had planned). We're going to try to stop only once on the way home on Monday!

The hotel is fantastic! Three bedrooms although we wish we had brought our own pack n' play instead of using the hotel's crib (different safety standards: they had it loaded up with soft bedding and pillows but that was easy to remove and I, thankfully, brought a crib sheet from home that works really well). Anna & Sarah were both so happy to get to the hotel it was hard to convince them to leave to go find some dinner. We took the easy way out and walked over the the 24-hour McDonald's. I told Craig that it was sad because we were at McDonald's but I felt like we were back in civilization!

After dinner we jumped into our swimsuits and hopped into the pool. The girls are sooooo cute in their new swimsuits and this was Sarah's second time in a pool so she was really thrilled with the experience. We'll try to go every night while we're here, I think!

Posted by Becky at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We went to the beach today for Caroline's birthday picnic (she is a friend from TKD and her birthday is also tomorrow). We went there early since the picnic was to start at noon but it didn't make sense for us to wait around when we knew we'd have to leave a little earlier to get Sarah back home for a nap anyway. We didn't end up even seeing Caroline (well, I saw her and wished her happy birthday) because we camped out on one end and the rest of the group didn't see us until we were leaving! Anyway, the kids had fun getting sandy and wet. The beach was kind of dirty and there was a lot of seaweed around so it wasn't really that nice. I hope it's because it's not really beach "season" yet and that's not how the beaches will be all summer.

Sarah was walking around the beach and around the playground today. Basically she starts out walking and only crawls if she falls over (she can't stand up in the middle of the room on her own yet). She is really taking to this so much faster than Anna and I am sure it is because Sarah has no sense of caution where Anna was always very careful. It's fun though and I'm excited for her to make the switch to 100% walking. (I'd say she is already 90% upright—she is either cruising, pushing the shopping cart/stroller, or walking and only crawls if she falls down.)

Posted by Becky at 8:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Photo by Jerry

We were lucky enough to go over to our neighbors house today to celebrate Greek Orthodox Easter with them (Eleni's dad, Jerry, is Greek). I was really happy that Sarah was able to take a nap (a long one!) and we could bring our monitor over and that Anna actually played with Eleni and had a lot of fun!

Posted by Becky at 8:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Photo by Adele

Actually, I'm usually holding Anna's hand but you get the idea.

Posted by Becky at 10:44 PM | Permalink

We've spent the second week of Anna's Easter Break going to the playground to meet up with friends (the weather has been fantastic!) and playing around with Sarah's sleep schedule (we tried one nap for a few days, played with her bedtime, etc—we finally ended up with a later bedtime and better naps so we're happy for now).

Posted by Becky at 11:26 PM | Permalink

(Happy 31st Birthday, Craig.)

Scooting with Orange Blossom.

"Tape-the-petal-to-the-flower" game. We didn't use blindfolds, we just had the girls put up three petals each. Kristin had red, Eleni had pink, and Anna had purple.

We had Kristin (Dutch/Canadian) and Eleni (Greek/Uzbek) over for Anna's birthday. Unfortunately Gwenn (French) couldn't come. I think it would have been nice to have one more kid at the party but Anna just didn't want to invite any other kids so what could I do? I think she did have fun though (and that's what matters!). When I asked her what the best part of the party was (cupcakes & ice cream? stuffing the bears? opening presents? playing with friends?) she said playing with her friends. I don't believe Anna said anything to her friends while they were here but she did interact with them with minimal coaxing on my part.

Eleni gave Anna an Aqua Doodle that everyone had fun with (Sarah tried to eat the pen, of course). Kristin gave her her first Barbie, a "Princess" purse, a book, and a toy camera. Anna was mesmerized by the Barbie at first (it has a light-up-and spinning skirt!), but the purse and the Aqua Doodle are the top contenders for the biggest hit presents from her friends. (Her Orange Blossom doll is by far the biggest hit from us.)

Overall, I think it was a good party: I'm glad we did it and I'm glad it's over!

Posted by Becky at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"Old Wind Bags" (aka Craig) was getting some laughs out of Sarah by blowing her hair around so Anna wanted in on the action and then you know I had to get the camera. We can't have fun around here unless it is properly documented.

Posted by Becky at 11:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We had Isabel and Alfred down today. I was a little nervous since the last time we had kids with their mom over Anna was super clingy. Today she was still hovering around me (or climbing on me) but she was okay if I stepped out of the room to get a drink for the moms (this tells me that I'm doing the right thing by having a playdate every week—she's getting used to it again and will hopefully be totally comfortable with it after a while). Alfred is a little sweetheart who reminds me a lot of my nephew Sam. Playdates are nice for me with Sarah because she stops moving a bit and sits and observes the new people for a few minutes.

Alfred's mom actually knew me before I knew her which isn't the first time this has happened to me: people here will do a search for something on Geoje and come across my old South Korea Journal or this blog. She happened to be looking for information on Playschool. Sometime I should sift through my stats and see what other people are searching for when they end up here. Hopefully I am providing useful information!

Posted by Becky at 7:08 PM | Permalink

Craig & I went on our second date-night last night. This time we went to Mabin's here in Okpo. Steaks again and they were about equal-goodness to VIPS. This is closer so that is a plus. We went into town after dinner and had coffee and hot chocolate at Dunkin' Donuts. It feels very strange to me to be out with Craig without the girls since it happens so very rarely (I felt strange out on my hike, too). We didn't get Sung Hee again but her friend came and since the kids are in bed by the time we leave that's fine.

Posted by Becky at 9:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

These are the hearts I made for the girls; Anna's is in front and Sarah's is in back.

Anna & I made sugar cookies today for Valentine's Day. She wanted stars in addition to hearts. I left her in charge of the sprinkles and she knocked a bowl-full of them on the floor in the middle of the decorating. She's a good kid though and helped me get it all cleaned up in time for her friend Gwenn to come over for a playdate.

Anna seemed a little better with this playdate and I'm not sure if it's because she knows Gwenn's mom a little more (she has helped out at the school) or if it's because we've been having playdates more frequently. We are going to have Kristin over next week without Laurel to see if Anna is more comfortable without the "strange" adult around (thankfully Kristin should be fine without her mother!).

Posted by Becky at 8:37 PM | Permalink

Fun with hats & daddy.

We had a good day around the house today just relaxing, mostly. I made a batch of pretzels (this time Sarah was able to enjoy them as well since I didn't use egg white on the glaze on top—she loved them) and we had Joe, Julie, and Macayla over. They're moving to Doha soon so we loaded them up with some books that we had about Qatar and Arabic culture.

Posted by Becky at 11:06 PM | Permalink

I'll have to remember to look for Anna's photo of the pizzas when I upload the photos from her camera and post it here.

Posted by Becky at 10:26 PM | Permalink

This is why Craig comes home for lunch every day.

This is what Anna did while I got dinner ready during Sarah's afternoon nap. It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to do any cooking/prep-work while Sarah is awake so I need to be organized and motivated to get it done during one of her naps.

Posted by Becky at 8:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Check out how the fruit is stacked in bowls on the back of this truck driving down the road!

The parking lot we like in Gohyeon; I felt inspired to take a photo but just had the little camera so this is what you get. I was feeling sentimental and thought it might be nice to remember this part of the experience as well.

Since we did the Admiral yesterday we rewarded ourselves with a trip to the coffee house again today (although Subway had only limited ingredients for sandwich-making so we didn't bother ordering any).

Posted by Becky at 8:53 PM | Permalink

Buzzy & Bizmark!

Sorry, I don't have a picture but these two pesky flies have been living in our house for several weeks (the cleaning ladies let them in when they opened the windows and the screens weren't completely shut). They won't leave, we haven't caught them. Buzzy likes to get in your face while Bizmark keeps his distance and waits at least until you're done eating to start scavenging. I'm finally posting about these guys today because now Anna is calling them by name. I think naming them might be part of the reason they're still around although we have made a few honest attempts.

Posted by Becky at 10:35 PM | Permalink

2007 is a blur. We started in Doha, Anna turned 2 in March, Sarah was born in May, we spent 5 weeks in the US this summer, moved to Korea this fall, Anna started Playschool, Sarah started crawling...

In 2008 I am looking forward to:
Anna's 3rd birthday (and Craig's 31st, ha!)
Anita & Corrine coming in March for ten days! (and the suitcase of "stuff" they'll bring)
Sarah's 1st birthday
July in Colorado (probably, we haven't booked anything yet)
Family vacation over Chuseok in the fall (maybe Thailand?)
Watching Anna & Sarah grow and learn

I don't have true resolutions for 2008 but a huge list of things to do. (Sarah's baby album; making books of the blog for 2006, 2007, & Sarah's first year; sewing projects; organize photos & videos; working on our family tree; organize, organize, & organize.... just to name a few.)

Posted by Becky at 11:57 PM | Permalink

We celebrated with the kids tonight with New Year's Eve crowns (that Anna & I decorated during one of Sarah's naps), noise-makers (that, surprisingly, didn't bother either kid), and eating cheesecake (frozen, from Costco).

Posted by Becky at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I uploaded my pictures from December that belong on the blog to Picassa. I'll finish posting the links tomorrow night (click on the December 2007 Archives to see what I've already posted). This is a temporary fix (I hope) because it creates quite a bit more work for me than my usual method. The problem is that I cannot upload files to the US from here. This is at our apartment complex only. Craig can upload from his work. Apparently Google has servers for Picassa here or in Japan (where I can still upload at incredible speed).

In other temporary fix news, next month I hope to finally correct the layout issues I'm having with the Movable Type upgrade I did earlier. I have a huge list of things to do and this is at the top because I think it should be easy; I just need to sit down and do it.

Posted by Becky at 11:31 PM | Permalink

We got our last Christmas present today: our new piano! It's a digital Yamaha (I hope this doesn't make Greg sick!). I haven't had a chance to check it out because Anna & Craig were piano-hogs this afternoon but I'm off to warm up my fingers after this post. I need to get music for "Oh My Darling, Clementine" as this is Anna's favorite tune to sing songs and play air-piano to (we sing "Found My Strawberry/Butterfly/Mouse/Anna/Sarah/etc.").

Posted by Becky at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Now that we have kids of our own we need to start some of our own holiday traditions. One that I wanted to be sure to do was go to the Christmas Eve service at church like I did when I was a kid but there was no service at the English-language church in town. One fun thing we did last year at Christmas dinner at Craig's co-worker's house was to have Christmas crackers. We had to wear the crowns that came in the crackers throughout the meal and then everyone gets a fun little surprise gift. I ordered these from Sur la Table but surely I can figure out how to make my own in future years; it's the how to make the crackers "pop" that I need to figure out. Hopefully we can add some other things to our list of traditions for Christmas, other holidays, and every-day stuff as the years go by.

Posted by Becky at 11:39 PM | Permalink

Sarah & I got up first this morning and woke up Craig who then woke up Anna so we could have breakfast and start presents before Sarah had to go down for her morning nap. Between her nap and Anna's potty breaks it took much too long to open presents! But Anna stopped in the middle to work on some new puzzles and enjoy some of the gifts so I guess it was fine in the end. Santa's gift was a pretty big hit (Fur Berries) and Sarah really liked (laughing out loud) one of the books I got her; Anna says (after some prodding, she first said that all of the presents were her favorite) that her favorite is the hobby horse but all of the toys got some good investigating today (including some that were Sarah's).

One thing Anna got was a Fisher Price camera so I'll put a link to her photos on Flickr and you can check out her photography there. I'm not planning to blog about any of her photos for now.

Posted by Becky at 8:11 PM | Permalink

This was a tri-fold card so on the left is the front of the card, the middle is the back, and the right is the inside flap when you first open it.

This is the inside of the card from left to right as you would see it when you have it fully opened. ... I might be tempted to do a card like this every year because it was so fun to get to choose a few photos from each month!

I decided to do a photo-review of our year for our card this year so I picked two or three photos from each month to show what we've done. I wish I had put the two generations pictures we took this summer (with Opa and with Great-Grandma Eldora), but it's too late now!

We're not doing anything particularly special for Christmas Eve (no service at the English-language church in town) and we're opening presents on Christmas morning.

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2008!

Posted by Becky at 8:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Anna wouldn't touch the Santa hats when I tried them on the kids a few weeks ago but she happily put on the "Christmas Hat" today. She is getting excited to open presents. When we first set up the tree last month I asked her what she'd like for Christmas and she said a "star cookie." Then she added a mouse. I've suggested that maybe a book, a toy, a puzzle, or a game might be a good Christmas present. She has spilled the beans several times on what I'm getting for Christmas but hasn't told Craig what he is getting yet.

Posted by Becky at 8:01 PM | Permalink

Another of Sarah's favorite places to crawl is under the coffee table.

I had to go back up to Lotte Mart to get the Minnie Mouse that Anna wanted for Christmas ("from" Sarah) today. I was a little panicked when I got to the stuffed toy aisle and it was pretty cleared out but there was one lone Minnie so I grabbed her. I got a little nervous there as I think Anna really was hoping for this doll. It makes me wonder which gifts will actually be the biggest hits with both kids. I know Sarah doesn't know what is going on but she is a magnet to the tree: she's always crawling over at high-speed and trying to unwrap/eat the presents or yank down an ornament. I think I'll be taking the tree down on the 26th at this rate so I don't have to worry about her pulling the tree over on herself.

Posted by Becky at 8:02 PM | Permalink

I volunteered to work on the Playschool web site in September and finally sat down to update it today. Take a look for me and let me know if anything looks goofy on your operating system/browser set-up.

Posted by Becky at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I started handing out some of our cookies today but I realized I need to make another batch or two in order to fill all of the boxes I want to give out. We gave out caramel corn, chocolate thin mints, gingerbread men, peanut butter blossoms, and vanilla pretzels. I'm not sure if I'll make another batch of any of those or just make something new for the rest we're giving out.

We also mailed out some cards last week and I'll go into town to mail out the rest tomorrow.

Posted by Becky at 9:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Craig says I got the recipe for the pretzels right but the shape is "off" because I used a store-bought cookie cutter and not Opa's one-of-a-kind hand-made cutter. Oh well!

So far this year I've made sugar cookies (all gone, we didn't save any for gift-giving), gingerbread men (I couldn't use my grandma's recipe but I did use her cookie cutters; her recipe called for ingredients I can't get here), and vanilla pretzels (Oma & Opa's recipe). I plan to make chocolate mints, caramel corn, chocolate chile pretzels, and possibly another cookie (all to give out).

Posted by Becky at 11:23 PM | Permalink

The girls had their first Korean babysitter experience last night. Craig's work Christmas party was last night so we put the kids to bed and Sunghee watched TV while both kids slept. Anna met Sunghee and knew that she would be there and we'd be out. I was a little worried she'd freak out when we said goodnight but I think she was too scared that Sunghee would be the one to come into her room so she stayed quiet. (The last time Anna had a non-family member babysit her aside from the time I used the co-op in Texas was the time she screamed the entire time while we were at a museum exhibit downtown.) Since this went so well, we might try to get out once a month (to start) and take it from there.

The party was really nice and it was held at the Samsung Hotel in Gohyeon. It was smaller than any of the other holiday parties I've been to for Craig's work which was kind of nice.

Posted by Becky at 11:07 PM | Permalink

Sarah decided to take a dive for a particularly exciting ornament (she was not hurt!).

It is hard waiting until it is dark enough for the "lighting of the tree!" Don't they look so excited?

Posted by Becky at 11:58 PM | Permalink

Craig made a chocolate cake for me for my birthday (while Anna & I decorated the tree). I asked Anna this morning what she was looking forward to most today, "daddy coming home, decorating the tree, baking a cake..." and she interrupted me and yelled, "Chicken on the Mountain—YES!"

Posted by Becky at 11:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Anna had a great time decorating the tree today. Sarah slept the entire time we did it but seemed to really like the results when she woke from her nap! I had three little trees so Anna & I decided everyone could have their own tree in their room. She decorated hers (can you tell?) and helped decorate Sarah's with what was left. She actually did a better job decorating than I had anticipated (she remained interested in the activity for the full 1.5 hours!). Sure, there are branches with six ornaments on them, but I think it looks great!

Posted by Becky at 11:16 PM | Permalink

I started putting out some Christmas decorations today (we will wait until Sunday to decorate the tree when Craig is home) and Anna had some fun checking out the "activity scene." She insisted that Mary was "Anna" because Mary is wearing some pink and Jesus is "Sarah" because he is a baby.

Posted by Becky at 11:01 PM | Permalink

We celebrated Thanksgiving tonight because Craig leaves in the morning for a quick business trip to Paris. The Import Lady only had a 16-lb turkey so I decided to not get that. Our fantastic plan was to find the Rotisserie Chicken Truck that is located randomly throughout town on any given day.

As the day wore on, I started to worry about our plan for the meat but figured we had enough stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie to survive on if it didn't work out. Craig found the truck in the second place he looked and the chickens were really good (probably something to add to our regular rotation!) and we had a really nice meal.

Anna was really only looking forward to the pumpkin pie that she helped me make earlier in the day but she was able to take in a few bites of the other food on the table. It turns out she really liked the whipped cream the best (same scenario as last year).

Partway into the meal, Amelie from CS (the company that manages our apartment buildings) came down with some maintenance guys to fix our hot water so that was kind of mood-dampening but we were glad they showed up (our showers have been cold the past two mornings!).

Posted by Becky at 11:49 PM | Permalink

I had my first portrait session today since last year and my camera rolled over to file number 0001 during the shoot. I've shot over 10,000 photos on my camera since I got it two years ago when Craig left for his six-week stint in Doha.

The session was for my friend Jaynie and I'm really glad I didn't officially go back to business yet because my process (after the session) is a bit rusty and I've got to get my workflow adjusted to having two kids around instead of just one. I'm considering going back to business starting in January but haven't made any ads or final decisions just yet.

Posted by Becky at 11:25 PM | Permalink

Trick-or-Treating images by Craig

We had a Halloween party at our apartment complex tonight. Anna wasn't clear about what was going to happen so she was a little skeptical. Sarah barely knew she had her wings on and I'm not sure she thought it was strange that all of the big kids had costumes on or not.

After a quick dinner, the kids all went trick-or-treating through the complex. I went down with Sarah to hand out candy and Craig & Anna went trick-or-treating. Craig said one Norwegian guy was caught unprepared for the holiday and handed out chocolate from a box of chocolates he happened to have around. (I hope there aren't any Norwegian holidays I'm supposed to be preparing for, because I sure don't know about any!)

Anna was pretty excited about her candy, but she was also pretty excited that Kristin from school was wearing all pink (apparently, Kristin likes pink as much as Anna). I told Anna that Kristin was a "pink princess" (because that's what she was dressed up as!) and I have come to the realization that my sphere of influence is dwindling. "Princess" will become part of our regular vocabulary soon now. I'll try to show no resistance and maybe it won't be as bad as I'm imagining...

Posted by Becky at 8:21 PM | Permalink

Photo by Brian

We all went to Hakdong Pebble Beach today. Anna didn't want to get out of the stroller and it was the middle of the day but it was about time we got a picture of the four of us again!

Posted by Becky at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sarah hanging out in the Bjorn with Craig. Lucky he finds the Baby Bjorn tolerable because I can't stand it. Sarah loved it, of course.

Anna walking through the "cheese-house." (When we draw, I often draw a family of mice poking out of swiss cheese holes in a "cheese-house.")

I needed a few quick groceries so we decided to make it an outing and take the kids back to the playground at the Foreigner's Club today. I felt like I hit the mother-load at the Import Lady, it's just too bad that a lot of the stuff I was excited about I had Anita pack in her suitcase to bring here... I could have used that suitcase space for something else! Oh well, the Import Lady did have some Gerber cereals (oatmeal, rice, & mixed grain) so I got some for Sarah just to have on hand and for some variety for her when she starts solids soon.

Posted by Becky at 8:46 PM | Permalink

I am really happy with the natural light we get from our giant window in the family room (especially in relation to Doha; I was happy with the light we got in our house in Texas).

Craig was on a business call and Anna was sticking random vegetables in his back pockets as he paced the house.

Posted by Becky at 11:19 PM | Permalink

The face I get when I ask Anna to make a "happy face."

Sarah's first sit-down Starbucks experience. They don't do decaf here so I'm "stuck" with blended cremes (although I usually don't get the whipped cream on top; they didn't ask me today).

Anna wore a white shirt today! I had to get the camera out for the momentous occasion (it was really strange how refreshing this was to see her in another color!). Too bad her hair looks like she is just got back from a beauty pageant and she wasn't in the mood to get her picture taken...

Sarah took a long nap this afternoon so we went to Starbucks & Home Plus while skipping a third nap for the day.

Posted by Becky at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I am embarrassed to admit this happened but I guess it was a wake-up call to pay more attention to what I'm doing while getting the kids in and out of the car. I loved my Babyhawk for carting Sarah up and down the stairs and around town. It was comfortable for both of us and Sarah felt very secure in there (and cuddly). I wasn't paying attention to the straps (that is the only thing I never really liked about it, the excessive length of straps) when I got Sarah in the car at the Foreigner's Club and when I drove off, heard a noise coming from the back but assumed it was the stroller falling over. When I got home and tried to put Sarah in the Babyhawk, a strap was missing. So we are back to the sling (I tried the Bjorn and it was just awful!). We'll see if the Ergo works for us or if we're in the Hotsling for the rest of her non-walking/non-climbing-up-the-stairs days. (The hotsling really isn't bad, it's quick and light, it just doesn't feel as secure as the Babyhawk and I don't stay comfortable as long as with the Babyhawk).

Posted by Becky at 11:19 PM | Permalink

We had a playdate this morning with one of Anna's new friends at school, Mia. I happened to talk to Lorraine (Mia's mom) during drop off and we decided to get together today. Lorraine was nice and came here because of Sarah's napping but it turns out it might have been just as easy for us to go to their apartment because Lorraine doesn't have a car so had to take a taxi, there weren't any taxis to be had, and then Sarah didn't take a good nap anyway... Oh well. Mia was a nice little girl and Anna says she likes her and even offered her some "pig tea" while she was here (pig tea was simply a pig from her Little People barn inside one of her tea cups).

Sarah & I went to coffee morning two weeks ago to try to find out the scoop on where the moms hang out with their kids. I met the woman I ran into at the grocery store when we first got here (the one with a son the same age as Sarah) and she said (as Julie had said) the moms met at Pinnochio on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So I took the kids to the playgroup and Pinnochio was closed. I tried again on Tuesday but Pinnochio was closed! So frustrating! I've been planning to go back to Coffee Morning (or try the playgroup that meets at the Foreigner's Club on Monday & Friday) to see what the deal is but today Lorraine told me that the same thing happened to her and the other moms decided to stop going to Pinnochio because even though they had a set appointment with them, they kept not opening! They are now going to another place in town... We'll see if we ever make it there (I only have tried to go on the days when Sarah's nap ended early enough to attempt it).

This is part of the reason I was sad to leave Doha (and why I was sad to leave Texas)... it is hard getting out there and making new friends (and I liked the ones I had already made)! I've got two handicaps right now: those stairs (we only go up once per day) and Sarah's need for sleep (whether she has a good nap or a bad nap is out of my control). I know it will all work out in the end though.

Posted by Becky at 7:22 PM | Permalink

I made these pretzels today with Anna's "assistance." (She watched me make the pretzel shapes and taste-tested the dough then got down from her chair to "make prentzels" in her play kitchen.) They were pretty good and at first I didn't think they were worth the labor but it turns out Anna & Craig really liked them.

When I finished all the prep and put the first sheet in the oven, I looked to see how Anna's pretzels were coming along in her kitchen and this is what she made:

Posted by Becky at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

We've had a good week so far with Craig being home. The apartment is almost ready for photos (although there is still a bit of stuff we're not quite sure what to do with yet) and we're just enjoying each other.

Posted by Becky at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Craig and I have been married eight years today! We went to Chicken on the Mountain with the kids to celebrate.

Posted by Becky at 8:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

My favorite sleep book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child says that babies will reach their "peak fussiness" at six weeks from the due date. As I've said before, Sarah's fussiness is not nearly as bad as Anna's was (although Sarah does have her moments—she's having one right now, actually). I am just hoping that the "peak fussiness" includes the older sibling at six weeks from the birth of the younger sibling. Anna had a major freak-out this afternoon that is making me really nervous for dealing with jet-lag-Anna in a few weeks (and then one or two more times this summer depending on whether we go straight to Korea from the US or come back to Qatar from the US and then go to Korea from here). I just have this awful feeling that things are going to be less-than-fun until we get settled in Korea and I hope I'm wrong about that.

Posted by Becky at 7:59 PM | Permalink

I wish I had something to write about this weekend but I think these kids are wearing me (and Craig and my mom) down! We went to out to Sarai (Middle Eastern food) on Friday night and Sarah slept in the sling the whole time. Today, my mom & I did a bit of shopping with Anna in tow. And just like that, the weekend is over. I really hope to get my mom out to see some camels before she leaves; maybe next weekend.

Posted by Becky at 11:45 PM | Permalink

You can see that we have a very nice selection of eggs at Megamart. Photo by Adele

We ventured out to Landmark Mall today to hit the carousel (grandma & Anna rode), the grocery store, and get some Starbucks (Anna got "chocolate-to-go"). Sarah slept the entire time in the Hotsling: yay!

Posted by Becky at 11:51 PM | Permalink

Photo by Craig

Craig has been making bread this week (who doesn't get that urge when it's in the 100s outside?) and Anna seemed pretty proud that she got to help him (except Craig says she actually just watched because she wouldn't get her hands in the dough to help knead the bread). She likes to whisk the dry ingredients for me when we make cookies so I think she just didn't want to get her hands dirty with the bread.

Posted by Becky at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today went so well with both girls on my own that Anna & I even had time to bake cookies!

Posted by Becky at 11:05 PM | Permalink

We wish you weren't going home already! I wonder how often it is that you hear someone who says they aren't ready for their mother-in-law to leave after a month-long visit? Not often, I bet, but you're hearing it here. Anita has been amazing to have around and I know she is the reason these first few weeks with Sarah have been so relatively easy. I am also thankful that she and Anna had this past month to bond and I am certain that Anna will remember all of the fun stuff she did with Nana this month.

I am feeling pretty nervous about the next two weeks without Anita or my mom since Anita has been pretty much taking care of everything around here the past few weeks. I'll be sure to post how it is on my own when I find a minute!

Thanks for everything, Anita!

Posted by Becky at 7:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Anna & Nana made these raspberry-topped lemon muffins today. Delicious!

Posted by Becky at 7:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Photo by Anita

Anna settled in to read Pierre after the shoot.

Posted by Becky at 2:20 PM | Permalink

Photo by Anita

The goal of this photograph was to see everyone's face on my first mother's day as a mother of two. I'm beginning to wonder just how long it is going to take Anna to warm up to Sarah.

Posted by Becky at 8:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Anita, Anna, & I got out to experience the thrill of sitting in too much traffic today. We had to stop and get Gertie some food and then wanted to go to the Villagio for lunch and to get a few things at Carrefour. I chose the absolute worst route and we sat in a lot of traffic. Really the traffic here is pretty ridiculous because it's not that big of a city but it just takes forever to get across town because there are too many cars, the lights are not timed well, and there is a ton of construction. Thankfully today was just exceptionally bad and not the norm or else Anna & I would never go out!

Posted by Becky at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Craig is back from yet another trip to Korea (this last one was a last-minute thing) and he is staying put! Anna & I were happy to have him back this morning to say the least. He's got jet lag and I've got pregnancy insomnia—all part of the training for some sleepless nights ahead of us!

Posted by Becky at 11:11 PM | Permalink

Lowercase alphabet puzzle.

"G is for Gloves" (but that's what I get for shopping at a British toy store). Not a real problem in my book.

I mentioned the G is for Mittens thing to my friend Claire from the UK and she said that yes, they do call them gloves; I didn't ask if gloves are also called gloves though.

I found another puzzle at Giant that looked good last week but am really bothered by one of the pieces.

Oh yes, "X is for X-mas!" of course!

I actually saw this same X is for X-mas description at the Japanese one-dollar store today. The puzzle I bought was made by an Indian company. I am planning to take a picture of a xylophone and tape it over the Christmas tree because it bothers me so much. It just doesn't make sense!

Posted by Becky at 9:41 PM | Permalink

I really should have been working on the next book as soon as I finished the last one. Unfortunately, I have to get started now instead. I have started with March 2006 (when Anna's blog ended last year) and will include the few entries from this blog that occured before March 2006 in the prologue. I have to go back and check out the settings I made for Anna's book (fonts, etc) and just stick to that system. You'd think that once I got a system down I could just keep it up each month. This book will also have to include a CD with the videos on the blog.

My plan is to do one each year (and will have a separate one for Baby Girl's first year and this pregnancy just like I did for Anna, although those entries will also be included in the "family" book). I'm still glad I didn't take up scrapbooking. This whole project, while daunting, seems like much less of a nightmare to me! (Of course I still want to do a book from our time in Korea but I won't do a separate one just for Qatar since those entries are all entwined with our family entries.) I still have photo books I want to do as well, but I have a feeling those will have to wait just a while longer.

Posted by Becky at 9:21 PM | Permalink

It took a couple of eggs to get Anna into the Easter egg "hunt" but she liked finding them all. I asked her if she wanted to find out what was inside the eggs or eat the eggs we colored last night and she said she wanted to eat the eggs we colored. She liked picking out which color egg she and I would eat and then after breakfast, she was thrilled to find stickers inside all of the eggs she collected. She made three two-page spreads of sticker art (I usually limit her to one sheet of stickers because you just can't get stickers here like at home, thus our Nana & Grandma suppliers are always high in demand).

I should also note that I had my mom send the Easter egg dye kit (I have only seen Easter candy here, nothing else Easter-y and I have not seen any food coloring in the stores) and that I bought those plastic eggs last year before we decided to go to Paris over Easter; glad they made it in the shipments so we could enjoy them!

Posted by Becky at 1:30 PM | Permalink

I forgot to tell her to put the egg in the cup gently with this first egg so she kind of tossed it in—oops! She was much more gentle with the rest of the eggs.

She was very impressed when I pulled out each egg and it was a new color (note the yellow egg on the bottom left of the photograph is what she is looking at).

Anna covers her face (and more often her eyes) when she feels overwhelmed; I think she was unsure of my enthusiasm and the camera, etc.

Anna & I dyed Easter eggs this afternoon and she seemed pretty into it (no, I don't know why I didn't brush Anna's hair before we got started; I'm on day five without Craig so we are just in survival mode, I guess). We did eight eggs so we did one of each color and then two eggs we moved around to different dyes for a while to make unique colors. I told her that the Easter Bunny would come tomorrow morning to hide some eggs and that tomorrow is Easter Sunday. I guess I figure we can get into details about what Easter is actually about when she's older.

Posted by Becky at 8:17 PM | Permalink

Today was the second playgroup and only two other moms were there. The others had legitimate reasons for not coming (family in town, previously scheduled doctor's appointments, child up all night, etc.) so I hope it was just a fluke and that next week has a better turnout. Of course people will start traveling for the summer soon, so I'm just hopeful we can keep the group together come fall!

Anna had a good time and I think it was helpful that there were only three other kids there so it was a little less chaotic than last week at our house (and she didn't have to share any of her toys which is always easier!). She talked about it a lot on the way home so that is always the best review for an activity (she's still talking about Family Fun Day and riding the camel and the pony).

The mom who hosted today is due two weeks before me so I'm really counting on her labor & delivery experience to go well to psych myself up for the same (she is delivering at the same hospital with the same OB). I think now that I'm definitely having Baby Girl here I'm beginning to panic ever so slightly about unknowns due to delivering in a foreign country. It will be OK, I know, but sometimes the imagination can get the best of you. (Besides I can't really base my anticipated experience to Kirsten's because this is her third, she is going for her second VBAC, and she is planning to use drugs for pain-relief: basically nothing at all like my situation!)

Posted by Becky at 9:49 PM | Permalink

It's not really up to us, but it's one of our hottest topics to discuss each day right now. When Craig was originally offered this assignment, we were to spend part of the three years in Qatar and the other part in South Korea. By the time we arrived in Qatar, no word of moving to South Korea was being spoken and it looked like we might spend the entire three years here. Now, after some meetings last week, South Korea is being discussed again. Of course there is no time-frame for this and it could not happen. Here are the things that I want out of our living situation:

• Move out of this particular villa so we are off of the street.
• Just move one time: either across town or to Korea. (However, if we are not moving to Korea until, say, June 2008, then I will be happy to move across town to get away from the street noise in this villa.)

In my dream world we will go home for a month this summer and instead of flying back to Qatar, we fly to Korea. Part of this dream is that they pack up our stuff before we leave for the US so four weeks of air-shipment and sea-shipment waiting time is spent while we are vacationing in the US. I honestly don't see that happening but, well, it would be nice. I just hope Anna can handle the next move as smoothly as she handled the move from the US to Qatar. Baby Girl will be fine as long as I can keep my stress-level down I am sure. Who knows what Gertie is going to do.

Until we know anything I have to operate on the thought that we're staying here. I find it really hard to "live" my life when big unknowns like this are looming over my head.

Posted by Becky at 2:13 PM | Permalink

Anna & I hosted our first playgroup today with a new set of moms & kids. Anna was a little leary of sharing her toys with the first kid who came, but once there were more she got over it. Seven moms (including myself) and seven kids with five of the moms expecting another between April and August! Because I find it interesting, I just want to note where each of the moms are from: Scotland, England, Russia, New Zealand, Germany, Morocco, and USA (me).

Overall, I think it went really well and we are planning to get together again next week (that's the best indicator I have that it went well at this point!). I really hope this works out and Anna, Baby Girl, & I make some good friends in the end.

Posted by Becky at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The bouncy room; she never really made it past the entrance but claimed to have fun "jumping" in the "jumping room."

Anna hopped on the pony like she's been riding all her life—no hesitation.

Surly camel.

At first, Anna wanted me to put her shoes back on because the sand felt funny on her feet.

Once we got our feet in the water, there was no turning back.

The face I get when I ask for a smile. (This is accompanied by pained whines.)

Petting a horse while waiting for the camels to come back.

Getting on the surly camel.

The next set of photos are of the camel lying back down so Craig & Anna could get off. I don't know if it was scarier to watch or to be on the camel holding your two-year-old daughter.

Today was "Family Fun Day" at Sealine Beach Resort for Craig's company. Anna had a blast! We will have to hit the beach again in the next few weeks now that the weather and water were actually warm enough to enjoy it.

Posted by Becky at 8:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I don't know how he did it; Craig must be Super Man! He called Qtel yesterday afternoon and they were at our house at 8:15 this morning to fix our phone.

Then Craig stayed home from work today because I was feeling way too sick to take care of Anna (or heck, even myself!) and he got her to take a nap from 1-3 without hours of talking beforehand. Now they're off having fun at the park while I'm still resting.

To be fair, Craig did give me this cold/flu so he does have some flaws. However, I am never calling Qtel again, that is officially his job.

Posted by Becky at 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Anna & I made Craig his own birthday cake today. (Sadly, it was just a no-bake cheesecake, but it was tasty!) Anna chose the heart-shaped pan over the round pan at the store.

Posted by Becky at 11:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Something I've learned about myself is that, although I enjoy a clean house, I thoroughly do not enjoy cleaning. This was okay until Anna arrived on the scene: now I feel more compelled to keep the house clean although I still detest the work. I am the first to admit that I am lazy and will do the minimum amount of work that I can get away with. In Korea, the apartment we lived in came with a cleaning service each week. In Texas I found a service that I really liked (best cleaning ladies ever and they were affordable and reliable! Oh how I hope Rosie is still around when we return to Texas!).

Here, we are on our own to either clean our own house (gasp!) or find a cleaning lady. I don't know that there are cleaning "services" here as a lot of people employ a live-in maid/nanny. Gill has a lady that is at her house every day but doesn't live-in. She sometimes will stay with one of the kids while they nap and Gill can run out and do an errand with the other child. Sounds kind of nice, but I don't want someone around all the time.

Anyway, on to the point of the post: Gill's lady has a sister looking for work and she is coming by tomorrow morning to hopefully start a weekly routine with us. She just sent me a text message with the list of cleaning supplies she prefers (I asked her to because I have been using just the bare minimum of supplies and really haven't developed a preference for any brands). The cost? 20 Riyals (less than $6 USD) per hour plus taxi fare and cleaning supplies. This will be the first time an individual has cleaned my place rather than a crew so I hope it's not an all-day affair. Now I just need to tidy up the place so she can get straight to work in the morning!

Posted by Becky at 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I decided I wanted to (finally) check out Grey's Anatomy and downloading TV shows off of Apple's iTunes. We're already on season 2 (after just one week). Pretty soon we'll be caught up and then have to wait like everyone else for the next episode. It takes forever to download a season of shows on our slow Internet connection and Craig is disappointed that it is not wide-screen for his fancy-schmancy-TV we brought all the way out here.

Posted by Becky at 3:06 PM | Permalink

Unlike Erin, I didn't have to travel all the way to the US to pick up my Salmonella-Peter-Pan: I got mine at my local Mega Mart! Good thing I hadn't opened it yet because I kept forgetting to look at the numbers on the jar until we got a message from Craig's company tonight.

Posted by Becky at 8:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Anna & I had another playdate over here today and it was so much more enjoyable than the playgroup we have been going to each week. I really want to set up a playgroup like the one we went to in Texas but am not sure about the timing (first, I don't have that many toys right now but will when the sea shipment gets here; and second, I'm hesitant to get something started just to drop out for several months when Baby arrives and everyone goes home for the summer). The more I think about it though, the more I think I ought to just try to set something up through the local mom's monthly newsletter.

Two cloth diapers and two leaky diapers so far. I haven't determined if I needed to wash the diapers more to get the absorbency right (I just washed the diapers & cotton inserts twice but the hemp inserts four times) or if I needed to have more inserts. Anna is using one cotton & one hemp insert now so we'll see how that turns out (I'm trying to use as few inserts as possible because they are bulky and I'd like to have less laundry, if possible. I imagine it will take several days for me to figure out the right combinations for each diaper and some unrealistic-eternally-optimistic part of me thinks "maybe all of these leaks will make Anna want to potty train right away" since she really freaked out with both leaks. It's always nice to have a dream!

Posted by Becky at 3:12 PM | Permalink

We are trying to decide if we can squeeze in a vacation before Baby Girl arrives. We are considering Jordan, Egypt, Oman, and Dubai but we're really running out of time and I'm having a hard time finding good info online when much of the time lately we have had such a shoddy Internet connection.... I really need to get on Qtel to get our Internet installed but I think they've broken my spirit. I don't think we'll go anywhere (besides the US this summer) until next winter so it would be nice to see something now.

Posted by Becky at 9:05 PM | Permalink

Anna just can't get enough of the Zapp.

Anna & I survived (although some days if felt like we barely made it) our first week alone without Craig in Qatar. I think it would have been better if we knew more people and were just a bit more settled. I think pregnancy hormones and toddlerisms aren't always the best mix though so even though this was a relatively short trip (just Monday to Saturday) for Craig, it was harder in some ways than his longer ones have been in the past.

Craig made up for it though by bringing Anna a cute little alligator puzzle, three bottles of vanilla for me, electronics for him, and a Zapp for Baby Girl (no, we did not need it but we're fools, I'm sure you'll agree).

We picked up Craig's new car today as well, and I'm hopeful he'll post at least some of the story behind it soon.

Posted by Becky at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I called them at 9 this morning and was told that there is a "technological problem" in our neighborhood and I need to call them in 4-5 days to reschedule an installation. I honestly believe that no one was going to call me to tell me this information. So irritating.

Anna has a cold though so we ended up staying home all day again today. I really don't mind staying home all day, it's just that yesterday I really wanted to go to that coffee and meet some new people so I'm still feeling frustrated about that.

I am attempting to formulate a plan to rid the pacifier from Anna's life. Although she only has it at naptime & bedtime, she is currently using a size too small (up to 18 months) and even if they did sell the next size here (I looked), I don't want to buy the next size. Also, since we are planning to move her to her toddler bed when the sea shipment arrives I don't want to get into the problem of the pacifiers falling off of the bed in the middle of the night (and having to go help her find them). And, of course, I'd like to not have her using the pacifier when Baby comes—and I don't want her own pacifier use in recent memory.

Since she has a cold this week, we are planning February 1 to be our first day pacifier-free (it's a Thursday so we'll hopefully have the worst of if on the weekend). We just need to decide if we are going to poke holes in them or talk up the "pacifier fairy" and have it be more of a voluntary thing on her part. If we go the pacifier fairy route, I need to come up with a good gift from the fairy... If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

Edited to add: in reading other parents' stories about getting rid of the pacifier, I came across this hilarious photo.

Posted by Becky at 8:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I haven't done a meme before, but this one, from Momma to LG, looked good so I thought I'd copy her!

1. What did you do in 2006 that you’d never done before?
Joined a playgroup.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Yes, my goal was to get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight so I could get pregnant again! My goal for this year is to just survive the first few months with an infant and toddler.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Erin had her sweet baby Logan & Minsue had Zachary (I hope to meet him someday!)

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My great-uncle Albert.

5. What countries did you visit?
France & Qatar

6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
Not sure, but I know I had more sleep in 2006 than I will in 2007.

7. What dates from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
March 14, 2006: Anna turned one; November 29, 2006: the day we found out we're having another girl.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
My photography business made a profit!

9. What was your biggest failure?
Being impatient as usual.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Black MacBook! Wahoo!!!!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My mother, she never fails to impress me with her selflessness.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Tom Cruise, I guess (just appalled, not depressed)

14. Where did most of your money go?
Electronics as usual.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Watching Anna grow and learn.

16. What song will always remind you of 2006?
Pop! Goes the Weasel: the most played song on my iTunes and the iPod.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? 
b) thinner or fatter? 
c) richer or poorer?
Happier, thinner and fatter (I probably weigh the same or a little less right now as I did last year at this time but I'm wearing bigger clothes since I'm pregnant so it's a different kind of fatter), richer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercising

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Complaining

20. How did you spend Christmas?
At home (in Qatar) with my family

21. Did you fall in love in 2006?
More and more with my family

22. How many one-night stands?
Um, none

23. What was your favorite TV program?
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No, I'm pretty sure I don't hate anyone!

25. What was the best book you read?
Mary Karr Cherry and Jeanette Wells Glass Castles

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Music that Anna & I both like (Cake Mahna, Mahna, several songs on our Jazz for Kids CD, Dan Zanes, John Lithgow, a lot of Louis Armstrong, The White Stripes We're Going to be Friends... always on the lookout for more!)

27. What did you want and get?
Support

28. What did you want and not get?
Our air shipment... we'll keep waiting into 2007.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
I am not absolutely positive I watched any this year (surely there were one or two but I can't recall what they were!)

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
We went out to dinner and gelato; I turned thirty.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If I could have convinced myself to keep up my workout routine into this pregnancy, hoping I can pick it up again soon.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
"comfortable" (I really need to work on this!)

33. What kept you sane?
Playgroup

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I don't know how to answer this one; I go to Celebrity Baby Blog a lot though.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Hanging Saddam on the first day of Eid al Adha (and seeing the photos on CNN.com constantly—if I wanted to see the photos, I'd click on the article!)

36. Who did you miss?
Tillie, she would have been so great with Anna

37. Who was the best new person you met?
The moms in playgroup.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006.
Patience is a virtue.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
" you'll never know dear how much I love you, and I love you more everyday"

Posted by Becky at 8:31 PM | Permalink

Best wishes for a wonderful 2007!

Craig is staying up to watch the Broncos (starts at 12 AM here) but I am going to bed in 2006 (Baby & I just can't stay up that late).

Posted by Becky at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

My New Year's Resolution is to figure out how to make my video work on Firefox. Sorry I haven't gotten to solving that problem yet. I'll also try to post more video, I know I've been awful about it the past three months!

Posted by Becky at 8:49 PM | Permalink

Our Christmas card this year.

Posted by Becky at 9:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One of the moms we met at Dairy Queen on Sunday was nice enough to invite us over to get out of the house and play with some new toys today. Darcie & Talulah (27-month-old twins) had a lot of fun toys to check out (strings of beads were the biggest hit with Anna) and they all played with play-doh together for a bit, too.

The villa they are in is in a compound that houses a lot of employees from Craig's company and although it was a bit smaller than our current villa, I liked it a bit more (although I'm pretty sure a lot of it had to do with the fact that Claire furnished the house herself rather than keeping the more formal furniture that came with it). Everything was a little less "grand" than here and there was a lot more light coming in the windows. They also have a huge yard which would be really nice. I'm sure our place will feel more like home when all of our stuff gets here (although I don't think that will help me like the furniture any more!

On our way out of the compound we stopped at Craig's company club and paid our membership dues ($50 per year and I'm not totally sure what that buys us, but seemed inexpensive enough to check it out) and checked out the clubhouse. There is a nice little library, a pool, dining room with lunch & dinner catered by the Marriott every day, kitchen and bar, and a gym. (I have failed to mention that we are the clubhouse on our compound has a pool, gym, pool tables, etc. and is just across the street from our villa. I haven't gone over to check these things out yet but we will in time.)

I need to call about the Wednesday playgroup and see if they're meeting tomorrow and get directions. If they're not meeting, Anna & I will probably go check out another mall and see what we think of the play area there.

I'm really hoping that we can get our Internet connection set up properly here because this stealing-from-the-neighbors-spotty-connection is really starting to drive me nuts!

Posted by Becky at 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Would you let these people live in your country? I was just going to post Anna's, but thought it was only fair if I made fun of all of our pictures.

I got my rental car today! Now we're not trapped on the compound (we could have hired a car to take us around, but I hate dealing with that car seat all of the time). Anna & I went to Carrefour to get some groceries (not as good of a selection as Mega Mart) and traffic was easy to navigate. Of course, this is one of two places I've been to with Craig before so I had a good idea of where I was going. Venturing out on my own a little more will be a bit nerve-wracking. There are a couple of playgroups I want to check out and they're on the other side of town: where I've never been before!

I couldn't get myself up at 8 but managed to at 8:20 or so, so Anna slept in until 8:30 which I thought would be just fine, but she was super crabby for the first hour of the morning. I didn't know what to do for her. She was crying "hold you on floor" and I gather she wanted me to stand and hold her, but I can't do that for long because it hurts my back & and puts a bit more pressure on Baby than I'd like. I explained this to her and eventually I got her to calm down while I held her on the couch. We played outside a bit and then the rental car was delivered so we hit the road. She was a bit squirmy toward the end of our trip to Carrefour but I figured it was because it was close to lunch and naptime.

After her nap, Craig came home and we went to do our eye test for our temporary drivers licenses. Anna did a great job there but when we got to the picture place in the mall to get some passport photos of each of us (for our residence permits and Craig's & my drivers licenses), she did not want to get her picture taken. I told Craig that he should be really appreciative of me because if I had had to take her to the mall to get portraits done all these months we wouldn't have any pictures of her! We ended up asking the guy to let me take the picture and I did get one, but she is crying in it. I hope that the Qatari government accepts it because I just don't think she's going to do any better any time soon. However, she is still overtired, so I guess there's a chance that, in another week or so, when she's caught up on sleep she'll be more open to things? Who can say.

Tomorrow we have to go do our blood tests and I'm really miffed because it looks like Anna & I are going to miss checking out the playgroup tomorrow because of it! I've been really looking forward to this all week so I'm super bummed. We might still try to make it (blood tests are at 9:30 and playgroup is at 10:30) but I'm doubtful.

I'm also really hoping to get some sleep tonight. Am trying to get to bed a bit earlier now (just took a one-hour nap today) so we'll see how it goes. The plan is that if Anna's still waking after tomorrow, Craig will sleep in the guest room with the monitor and I'll stay in our room (it's further from Anna's room) with the door shut and he's in charge of her. Hopefully she'll just sleep through tonight and tomorrow!! (I've got to hold on to a dream, don't I?) It's all just preparation for Baby Girl, I guess.

Posted by Becky at 8:27 PM | Permalink

It's 4 AM and I haven't slept yet. Anna woke at 11:30, I held her for a few minutes and she was awake but not mad until 2 AM so I went back in and held her a little longer. I'm still awake. I think I napped too long yesterday. It is so hard to not nap in the afternoon but I'll try to at least take a shorter nap tomorrow. I'm feeling hopeful abut Anna's jet lag at least since she was awake for less time tonight. Planning an 8 AM start again in the morning (yikes! I have less than four hours to sleep tonight!!).

Posted by Becky at 4:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Anna had a lot of fun putting the candy on the gingerbread house. She had even more fun eating a few of the gumdrops.

Craig's company's welcome wagon came today with a basket of treats and some good information pamphlets & brochures. I was feeling kind of left out since last time when we went to Korea they set us up with Erica & Joel right away as our "hosts." This is a little less personal than that, but at least now I have a few numbers at hand.

Last night Anna woke up at 9:30 PM and was really upset and did not want to be in her crib. My original plan for her when she woke around 1 AM was to lay down with her for a bit so Anna & I went to the guest room together at 9:30.

She really did try to sleep but just couldn't get there. She did a lot of talking (reviewing all of her favorite things, reciting lines from books, etc.) and a lot of log-rolling (I had set up pillow barriers on the opposite side of the bed to act as speed-bumps so she wouldn't just roll right onto the tile floor below.

Every once in a while, she would say "get down" but each time I gave her a choice: sleep with mommy in the guest bed or sleep in crib alone. At 2:30 AM she finally chose the crib and went there without a fuss. I woke her at 8 AM as planned and although it was a struggle, we made it until 12:45 for a nap (she asked for her pacifier several times but I only gave her her pig).

We both took a three hour nap in the afternoon and she seemed fine with getting in the pack & play again tonight. I'm crossing my fingers that she felt as good as I did today because even though I was awake from 9:30-2:00, I felt more rested at 2 when I came to bed and then I actually slept(!) from 2-6:30!

I think we both need to get out of the house tomorrow though so I am getting my rental tomorrow and we're going to go to Carrefour to get some groceries. We went to City Center (the mall where Carrefour is located) tonight for dinner so I feel pretty good about how to get there (and back). I'll be sure to post about our first driving adventure tomorrow!

I hope we get our Internet set up at home soon (especially now that I know we are actually supposed to have it!). Once we have it, I'll be able to email, etc. Basically all I've been doing is writing my posts in another program and then copying & pasting it into Movable Type and then waiting and waiting for it to post—and sometimes that takes all day! I'll also be looking forward to doing video chats with Nana & Papa, Grandma & Grandpa, and any of the cousins (so everyone better have their cameras (and Skype accounts) ready to go!

Posted by Becky at 9:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Anna enjoying some lunch at her seat at the head of the table.

Anna & I ended up sleeping until 10:30 this morning. I fell asleep sometime after 6 AM and only slept really well (Craig was still snoring, then he was getting ready for work, etc.) from about 8:00-9:00. After a quick shower, I went to Anna's room and opened up her shades and she kept sleeping. So I laid down on one of the beds in her room and woke up an hour later and she did as well. I figured it was best to let her sleep really late today since we had to go to the orientation for Craig's work and I didn't want another "incident" like at the mall yesterday.

The driver came to get us at 11:45 as promised and took us to get a very short briefing on some security things. We need to register with the US Embassy here and he told me (because I am female) that I do not need to pull over while driving unless I'm in an accident or for an unmarked police car (I should still pull over for an obvious police car/officer). He took our pictures for our badges to get into various compounds and the company club and then we were off. Anna sat in her conference chair and was a peach eating out of her snack trap so no problems there.

Anna finally discovered the potty we put in one of the five bathrooms here (we put it in the main one downstairs) this evening so I have a feeling I know what we'll spend a lot of time doing tomorrow... Her bladder is still on Texas time though as she is waking up wet in the mornings so far and is dry during the day when she normally would have been sleeping. We'll see if the presence of the potty changes that.

Craig found out at work today that we are supposed to have Internet up and running already in our villa so we need to get someone to stop by and fix that for us. Also, we will likely be in this villa for 6-8 weeks before we move to the permanent one. I haven't told Anna that we're moving again yet because I figure her world is unsettled enough; I'll wait until we're closer to the date to spring that news on her (and Gertie!).

The mall we went to yesterday had a big fire in it which is really bad news, of course, but (and I realize the world doesn't revolve around me) I was planning to make that my first outing because I am confident in how to get there and the carousel is there. The newspaper hasn't given out all of the details on what exactly was damaged, but is sounds like the carousel area is in jeopardy because the fire was supposedly in one of the restaurants or in the food court near where the carousel is. Anna & I will have to find a different hobby, I guess.

Posted by Becky at 9:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Anna & Craig decorating the tree. I'm so glad that we got a tree here, it was something I was feeling sad that Anna was missing out on at home.

When we arrived on Thursday night it was raining a bit and it was also raining yesterday (just a light sprinkling, actually). I realize that later I will appreciate the rain more but yesterday I was really wanting some bright sunshine to help us with our jet lag. Anna really had a hard time believing me when I told her it was time to be awake at 4 PM and it was just not that bright outside. She woke up at 1 AM last night and I went to her at 2:15 AM after she started crying a bit. After I held her for a few minutes, I went back to bed and didn't hear from her again all night but I couldn't fall back asleep until after 5 AM. We all woke up around 9 AM this morning and I think that was a better time to get started than yesterday's 9:30.

Yesterday we went to City Center Mall and Carrefour but we went too early and most everything was closed). We ended up going back out after Anna's nap to get what we could at Toys R Us (a baby monitor, a potty, and some Play Doh). Anna had her pacifier in her mouth for most of the day as she must have caught Craig's cold from last week as well as having jet lag & not enough sleep.

Today we went to Landmark mall and took Anna on the carousel and did some grocery shopping at Mega Mart. Anna was getting fussy at Mega Mart because she wanted to eat "samples" like at home. She was asking for grapes & tortillas (HEB is great for samples, and apparently Anna has come to expect this; unfortunately Mega Mart isn't the same way!). Craig took her back out to the mall and I did the shopping. I spent way too much money and got a lot of the same brands we have at home. I was actually a bit surprised that they really have everything here. It comes at a price, but we really won't have to do without while we're here.

Toward the end of my shopping, I heard a baby crying. My baby. Anna really wanted her pacifier (funny how easy it is to get hooked on that thing out of the crib!) but we didn't have it with us. I went though the check out and Craig & Anna met me by the mall entrance where we threw the bags in the trunk of the car. Anna had calmed herself by the time she got in the car, but she still really wanted that pacifier when we got home. Really, I think she was hungry and getting a bit tired (she ate well and then took a good nap).

She woke up more easily from her nap this afternoon and didn't need her pacifier before bed (although it was requested a few times).

Anna & I checked out the playground at the compound while Craig went back to Carrefour to get a new litter box for Gertie and a Christmas tree with decorations for us (we shipped our 6ft tree by sea). Anna really liked helping Craig decorate the tree and I'll post pictures of that later (probably after we get to an Internet cafe as connecting to the neighbor's wi-fi is really spotty and not easy to do).

I know I'm writing more about Anna & that pacifier than Doha, but I don't feel like we've gotten to see much yet. It's really so Westernized that I don't feel strange about being here and I'm more focused on Anna than the fact that we're somewhere very far from home. Her cold seemed better today and she didn't need any Motrin like yesterday but we gave her some decongestant tonight since her nose is still super stuffy & runny during the day.

Tomorrow a car is supposed to come pick up Craig for work and then later in the morning another car comes to pick up me & Anna to go to some kind of orientation. I'm a little nervous about this since I really don't like installing the carseat by myself and what am I supposed to do with the carseat when I get to where we're going? Oh well, it's just one day and hopefully Anna will be easily entertain-able (and I'll definitely bring the pacifier in my purse so we don't create a scene like we did at Landmark today!).

I imagine at some point this week we'll get my rental car so Anna & I can get out and about although I am a bit nervous about navigating the roads as signs aren't very abundant and there is quite a bit of construction. I'll probably wait to venture out on my own with Anna until I get my cell phone so at least I can call for help if I really need it! There are two playgroups I'm interested in checking out with Anna, one on Mondays and the other on Wednesdays. Hopefully one will be a good fit so we can go each week. I don't think we'll make the one on Monday this week since Anna has been sick and I'm not sure how her jet lag will be, but hopefully we can make it to the Wednesday one.

Gertie was trying to take over Anna's room as there is a bed near the window she likes to look out, but luckily, I brought one of her little fleece-lined cat beds with and placed it in the guest bedroom and now we have found Gertie relaxing there in front of that window (actually a much bigger & better window for a cat to lounge & look out of). Gertie seems jet lagged, too, but since cats sleep so much it's hard to say. She is coming to bed to sleep next to me in the morning instead of trying to wake me up (which she does anyway when she comes to bed; I just can't win).

Oh, and if you're still reading: we sold our house to the couple that came to see it on Wednesday morning. Closing is before the end of the month. I'm a little sad about saying goodbye to the house (all of our memories of Anna are there and the time we had with Tillie there) but I know I'll be excited for us to get something that fits us a little better when we move back with two kids.

I'm sure my posts won't be so incredibly long as we get settled further!

Posted by Becky at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The angle looks a little funny, but this chair reclined completely flat. It took Anna a while to find a comfy position! Photo by Craig.

Wednesday morning I met the cleaning ladies out at the house and while I was there, a Realtor & a couple stopped and asked if they could take a look at the house. They were there a while and asked a few questions that made me think that they were interested. Later in the morning after I went back to the hotel & Craig, Anna, & I were driving back to the house, our Realtor called to say that that couple wanted to make an offer on the house! The house sits on the market for one and a half months with absolutely no action for three weeks and then someone makes an offer on the day we're leaving? Crazy.

Anna & Craig slept in until 9 AM and after we showed Anna that the house was empty and said goodbye to it, we went out to lunch and then got everything together for the airport. Gertie was easy to catch but this time she hissed at me (I guess the rushing around clued her in that this was a bigger deal than the last couple of times I've had to catch her last week (to go to the vet for her travel certificate and to move to the hotel). She complained a bit in the van to the airport and I was glad I thought to put the locks from our new suitcases on both zippers to Gertie's carrier as she did try to claw/chew her way out a few times.

We left the hotel a little after 1 PM. The international terminal was crazy but many thanks to Craig's work for forking over the money for business seats for all of us as we got helped at the counter quickly by waiting in the business line (I felt awful for all of the other parents with kids in the longer line so I really appreciated this more than I think I may have in the past).

Nothing too remarkable to report about the airport. Anna had fun looking at the airplanes from the terminal and getting a bit of exercise before we boarded. Craig sat next to Anna on the plane so I had it pretty easy with my new motto of "live and let Craig" whenever Anna was squirmy or fussy. Really, she was great though and we didn't even get out any toys on the plane (something that's never happened when it has just been me & her). She had her pig that she sleeps with and her pacifier but she couldn't convince herself to give in to fatigue (no nap today!) until about 10:15 PM. I did not sleep at all on this flight, but Craig & Anna slept about two hours. I guess I just couldn't relax or get comfortable enough.

Gertie did not like take-offs or landings but was relatively complain-free for most of the flight. When we got to Frankfurt we had a bit of a time finding the Lufthansa lounge but it was worth it when we did for a little bit quieter and more relaxing space to wait for our next flight with a cat and a toddler with only two hours of sleep behind her. Anna pretty much kept her pacifier from the time it was given to her—I was glad that it was able to provide her such comfort and am nervous about weaning from it in the coming year.

Really for as much waiting and little sleep we all had to put up with, Anna was a fantastic traveler. She had moments of irrationality, but so did I! Gertie wouldn't take a drink when offered (I was kind of glad since she hadn't used the bathroom for so long but I didn't want her to be super-dehydrated, either).

Anna fell asleep pretty soon after we got on the plane to Bahrain and slept for another three hours. There was a time in there after the three hours where she obviously still wanted to sleep but couldn't get there and I was holding her (I sat next to her for the first part of this flight & I slept, too!) and I had to have Craig take her because the only position Anna wanted was really uncomfortable for me & Baby.

I felt Baby moving a lot more during our travel day than I had for most of the time we were moving. I think because finally I was able to slow down and relax a bit. It was really nice to feel her and I'm looking forward to more regular movement!

Our flight from Frankfurt to Bahrain was delayed by about 45 minutes (after we were on the plane) but since we were all exhausted it worked out fine. This was an instance where it was better to have to wait on the plane than off! We stayed on the plane in Bahrain and were delayed a bit again because both the Bahrain & Doha airports were busy and we had to wait in line for takeoff and for a space on the tarmac in Doha.

Customs was smooth sailing and all of our suitcases came off just as we walked up to the baggage carousel (it helped that the flight from Bahrain was pretty empty!). We had to wait a bit for a bigger car to take us and our six checked bags, the cat, Anna's carseat & stroller, my backpack, Anna's diaper bag, and Craig's carry-on. We had a ton of luggage!

The drive to our villa was find since we arrived at 11:30 and traffic was light. Anna seemed excited to check out the new place and she helped me get Gertie set up in the laundry room with food, water, and litter. We got Anna's room set up and she was ready to hop in bed after a snack and some books at about 12 AM. I heard her cry/fuss a bit around 1 or 1:30 AM (we were still up unpacking a bit, etc) but didn't end up having to go in to her. She is still sawing logs at 7:40 AM as I write this now! How I have been blessed with an awesome sleeper!! I really hope Baby Girl takes after Craig this way, too!

Our villa is nice although the decorating style is definitely not my own; it is very formal and grand. I'll take & post some pictures soon.

Our rental car just arrived and I guess we'll start getting ready to get out and about to get to know our new city! I'll post again later with some pictures and more first impressions.

Posted by Becky at 7:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Anna couldn't wait for the turkey to finish cooking so she got started on everything else while we continued to wait. Luckily, the turkey finished and Tanya & Macy arrived at about the same time so we didn't have to wait much longer. Anna enjoyed the turkey, sweet potatoes (plain, as she's always had them), the mashed potatoes, and the bread. She wasn't too into the stuffing or cranberries and she liked the whipped cream (fresh!) more than the pumpkin pie (I tend to disagree with her there). Overall, we had a nice Thanksgiving and we got to catch up with Tanya a bit before the big move.

Posted by Becky at 11:14 PM | Permalink

Watching Anna on the Sit n' Spin from our room and then playing on our bed started making me feel nostalgic about her age, our house, and this time in our lives.

I traced Anna's hands to make the "leaves" for this Thanksgiving wreath. She helped draw the veins on a few of the leaves.

Getting ready for the real Macy the Dog by playing with the pretend Macy the Dog—Anna thought Macy was thirsty and needed some toys in her lap.

The stroller must be packed beyond capacity before it's really fun to drive around.

Posted by Becky at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I took Anna out to vote with me today. Since we're in Texas and I'm not Republican, I like to give the little guy the vote. In the past I've voted straight Green Party but they were absent this time so we went straight Libertarian. 458 others in my county did the same (compare with 30,250 who voted straight Republican!). I guess you've got to start somewhere.

Posted by Becky at 11:36 PM | Permalink

My parents came down Friday & Saturday so I took the opportunity to get a haircut and get some new maternity pants (all of the ones that fit so well last time around are just too snug). My mom made a duvet cover for Anna's comforter (for when she moves to her toddler bed) and she hemmed all of my new pants. I am planning to bring my sewing machine to Qatar with me and maybe, just maybe, I'll figure that thing out (it's threading it that makes me break out in hives) so Anna won't be as domestically challenged as I am.

I didn't take a single picture of Anna with her grandparents, I guess because I had two photo sessions this weekend and I was all photographed-out. These were my last two sessions though so suddenly I feel a lot less stressed out than I did last week (I have decided to not book any more since we are supposed to get our visas any day now). All I have left is a bit of editing and ordering to do.

Posted by Becky at 11:31 PM | Permalink

Posted by Becky at 11:24 PM | Permalink

Anna The Mouse with her friends The Bee and Tigger.

Apparently, Anna knows her alphabet already (or at least the song that goes with it) as she sang most of the song when she saw this board. She also enjoyed pointing out all of the letters she knows.

Some of my friends from playgroup: Sara, Leslie, & Michelle. Photo by Jill T.

Anna had a blast at the Co-op Halloween party today. I was actually surprised that we had to prod her to leave after almost two hours of playing at the park. She was wiped out by the time we got home though. Even Craig can be quoted as saying "it was a big hit"—and if you can get a him to say that it must have been a good party!

Posted by Becky at 3:40 PM | Permalink

Not sure of the actual timeline yet, but we are on the move! Sometime in the next two months we will be moving to Qatar (and then back to S. Korea) and we will be overseas for 2-3 years. Hopefully we'll have more information soon and I will post updates here. We have sent in our Visa applications and are told they will take about six weeks to process. Obviously we can't go until we have our Visas, but I don't know how quickly things will move along once we have those in our hands.

For now I am occupying my time with lists. Lists of things we need to sell, give away, acquire, and do before we go. Of course it's hard to plan a lot of things when you don't have a timeline, but we're doing a fall-cleaning over here in preparation for moving. Anybody want a cat? A car? A stroller? (Just kidding about the cat, we are planning to take her with us provided she can get her anti-anxiety medicine and her food over there.)

In the meantime, here is some information on Qatar:
From the CIA World Factbook: "Closest approximation of the native pronunciation [of Qatar] falls between cutter and gutter, but not like guitar."

CIA World Factbook: Qatar
CDC Qatar
Wikipedia

Gulf Times
Aljazeera

Posted by Becky at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today is Craig's & my seven year anniversary! We are boring and we aren't doing anything to really celebrate tonight, but at least we'll be together this year—unlike last year when Craig was in Paris!

Posted by Becky at 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today was the first playgroup where Anna just walked in and started playing with the toys. She wasn't clingy at all. Too bad we had a disagreement about how many muffins she was allowed to eat (I said one and she wanted two) so we had to leave to spare the other kids & moms the mini-fit she decided she needed to throw.

Anna & Craig went to the airport to pick up Nana tonight and, even though I've been showing her Nana's picture regularly, Anna was pretty quiet on the ride home. I'm sure she'll warm up to Anita by the time the weekend rolls around and they are left alone together!

I didn't go to the airport because I went to Super Suppers with my mom's group. I'll be sure to report back on the dishes I made, but they looked really good!

Posted by Becky at 11:01 PM | Permalink

Craig put Anna's carseat in his car for the first time today. They went to the Children's Museum by themselves so I could spend some much-needed time cleaning up my office. I think Anna had as much fun riding in daddy's silver car as she did at the museum.

Tonight we had our friends Erica & Joel over for dinner. They are just getting back to the US from living overseas (we met them in Korea) and they brought over their dog, Harley, who Anna really liked. Erica, Joel, & Harley are moving back here sometime next month so we will hopefully get to see more of them soon!

Posted by Becky at 11:18 PM | Permalink

Bryan, Anna, & Caroline.

Craig, checking out what life would be like as a dad of triplets—he did a pretty good job!

We had Sara, Matt, Bryan, Lesley, & Caroline over for dinner tonight.

We tried grilling pizzas for the first time and I think we were pretty successful. We did one chicken & garlic, one carmelized onion & goat cheese, and one cheese & tomato pizza. We used one refrigerated, canned pizza dough, and the other two crusts came from a box of pizza dough mix. I will post the recipe for the caramelized onoin & the cheese & tomato pizzas over on the recipe blog shortly.

Anna did ok sharing her toys tonight. She wasn't thrilled anytime Caroline had her pink doll (the one in the picture) so I'll be putting that one away when we have playgroup here in a couple of weeks.

Posted by Becky at 8:07 PM | Permalink

Sharon came out to visit this weekend! I know in my heart of hearts she really only came to meet Anna since I'll see her again at her wedding this fall, but I won't let that get to me too much. Anna thought Sharon was okay and although I wouldn't say that they're best friends, Anna did make up a strange little sign for Sharon that was pretty cute.

Of course, a post about Sharon would not be complete if I didn't mention that I finished three books this month: No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith and Dr. Mom's Prescription for Preschoolers by Marianne, M.D. Neifert as well as the Complete Book of Women's Running that I have previously mentioned. Sounds like I'm on a roll and I've made my stack of next books to read.

Posted by Becky at 11:17 PM | Permalink

Craig went to work today so the rest of us went to the pool. It was perfect because althoug the skies looked threatening of rain, the weather was great (not too hot and relatively low humidity) and there was no one else at the pool. However, Corrine, Scott, Raisa, and Owen's stay was too short!

We went out for seafood tonight (I got chicken!) and Anna tried and liked the fried alligator appetizer that was ordered. She liked my broccoli, the bread, her french fries, and Raisa's ice cream, too.

Posted by Becky at 2:46 PM | Permalink

Anna signing "monkey."

It is raining a lot now. It didn't rain before Rachel & Mat came then rained the whole time they were here. It didn't rain in between Rachel & Mat and Corrine & Scott, but it is now raining again. We were able to take a few portraits this morning and then went out to lunch, too. Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to get out and do something fun!

Posted by Becky at 11:28 PM | Permalink

Playing "cars" on the stairs. You can see that Anna thinks her cousins are pretty cool!

Owen, Raisa, Corrine, & Scott arrived this afternoon. Anna seemed to like her cousins right away but remained a bit unsure of her aunt & uncle throughout their visit (warming up a little at the very end, of course!).

Posted by Becky at 11:59 PM | Permalink

We drove to the other side of town today for an awesome stroller I found on craigslist. I have been on the lookout for a $50 jogging stroller for the past month. I didn't want to spend much because it's not something I plan to use every day, but I want the option—especially when Craig is traveling. Anyway, I had been trying to confine my search to just in our town but when I saw this one I had to jump at the chance. It's a few years old but it is a Baby Jogger and very nice. The woman I bought it from said she got it as a gift so she was selling this $300 stroller for $60! Hopefully it doesn't fall apart when I take Anna out in it tomorrow, but I think it's in great shape. And Anna was really upset when we folded it up to put it in the trunk of our car: she wanted to ride in the stroller! (I'll post a picture of Anna in it when we get out tomorrow.)

Since we were already so far from home we decided to make a stop at the Zoo on the way back home. Anna really enjoyed it this time and I'll post video of her on the carousel (which she loved). We decided to buy the membership since we've been three times since October and now that Anna actually "gets" it, we'll probably go more. We saw a baby giraffe (March 15, 2006 and he was already taller than Craig!), big elephants very close up, lots of monkeys, and then a bunch of sleeping cats. We skipped the petting zoo because it was getting too hot & humid and since we're members we don't have to feel obligated to see everything each time.

Anna & I both took a two-hour nap when we got back and then we were invited over to Sara & Matt's for dinner so we jumped at the chance (Matt made a fantastic Father's Day dinner, by the way!).

I forgot to get a portrait of Craig & Anna on Father's Day so we'll have to do that sometime this week. I also didn't take her portrait on the 14th. I am really slacking!

Posted by Becky at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Bryan, Anna, and Amelia—of course my child is the only one who won't show her face

Anna had a couple of friends from playgroup over for dinner tonight (with their parents, of course!). We put away a few items that I didn't think Anna would be too keen on sharing (the stroller, the ride-on toy, and her big pig) and everyone was very pleasant (there aren't any unruly kids in our playgroup though!) and had a nice time.

Posted by Becky at 11:59 PM | Permalink

Photo by Adele.

Chris came out to visit this weekend. I hadn't seen her since August 2004 when I came back for a visit from Korea so it was nice to catch up and hang out.

Posted by Becky at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Swimming class was pretty much bunk today. I was going to get Anna under the water today but when I blew a puff of air into her face she opened her mouth (the idea is that she'd hold her breath for a second while you put her under) so I think she just got a mouthful of water (although I didn't end up submerging her the entire way anyway). The class basically consisted of "what song should we sing next?" and doing the same stuff over and over. Yesterday felt more inspired & structured. We'll keep going though since we paid for it and even though I thought it was a bit boring, I'm sure Anna is getting something out of it.

Instead of scrambling to make something at home for lunch after class we decided to stop at Chick-Fil-A on the way home (we've been there once before, in January). As I was walking in I saw Rosie, Jamie, & Jamie from Korea! They are in the US for a visit and they actually used to live not too far from us. So Anna & I sat with them for lunch and chatted a bit. It was fun and made me miss Korea a bit although Anna & I are having a great time here now so I'm not feeling in a particular rush to get overseas now (unless they would just send us to Paris!).

Posted by Becky at 3:26 PM | Permalink

No, we didn't get a good one of all three cousins together.

Sam: Take 1.

Sam: Take 2.

Anna: Take 1.

Anna: Take 2.

Jacob: Take 1.

Jacob: Take 2.

Okay, maybe we got one.

Grandma Adele spent her birthday traveling back to Colorado with the Rachel, Mat, Jacob, & Sam. I tried to get a portrait of the three grandkids for her birthday present but three individual shots will have to do. It was very quiet when they left and Anna gave everyone a kiss goodbye. Overall I'd say she did really well sharing her toys (tears were shed over her orange cat, the chair, the stroller, and the walker from time-to-time) and that she had fun with her cousins.

Posted by Becky at 11:59 PM | Permalink

[WILL POST VIDEO LATER]

Craig drove Eldora to the airport this morning and the plan was to go to Galveston. The weather had other ideas though, so we decided to hit the Downtown Aquarium instead. The kids seemed to like this and I think it was just the right pace for them. After that we drove across town to IKEA for lunch, a little play-time, and a little shopping. Jacob & Sam slept in the car on the way home but Anna just giggled. Thankfully she took a nap when we got home at 3 PM though or else I don't think we would have had a good afternoon!

Posted by Becky at 11:59 PM | Permalink

Grandma and Grandpa went to visit Elaine while the rest of us piled in the rented minivan and went to the pool. I should let Mat tell his own story here, but we did get pulled over on the way to the pool—I guess he was excited to swim! Thankfully he didn't get a ticket.

In the afternoon while Anna & Sam slept, Jacob helped me make some brownie cupcakes for Grandma's birthday on Thursday (we decided to celebrate tonight so that Eldora could celebrate with us).

On our drive home from the pool it started raining so we were inside for the rest of the day. We did stop to take some pictures of Great Grandma with the great-grandkids, but at least two of the great-grandkids weren't cooperating because it was too close to bedtime for portraits.

Posted by Becky at 11:59 PM | Permalink

[WILL POST VIDEO LATER]

Craig & Mat picked up Grandpa Jerry at the airport and we all met at the shopping center to go to lunch at Johnny Rocket's for Grandma's birthday. It was raining so we didn't send the kids running through the fountains and we didn't rent Segways (not sure if anyone wanted to do that anyway!). I have some OK video of the kids at Johny Rocket's when the staff went up front to dance to the BeeGee's that I'll post. Basically the kids just stopped what they were doing and stared at the dancers but it was pretty cute. Anna had seen this before so I think she may have been less surprised than Jacob & Sam.

It rained a bit today so we didn't get to spend much time outside like we had hoped.

Posted by Becky at 11:59 PM | Permalink

Great-Grandma Eldora, Grandma Adele, Aunt Rachel, Uncle Mat, and cousins Jacob & Sam arrived last night after Anna was in bed so she woke up to a full-house this morning. She started saying (as I had predicted) "bye-bye" during breakfast, but she soon realized that it was pretty fun to play alongside her cousins.

Rachel, Jacob, Sam, Anna, & I walked to the park this morning where Mat & Craig were playing disc golf. It is a 1.3 mile walk to this particular park and Jacob was hot (major difference in humidity here compared to Colorado!) but did not accept offers to ride in a stroller or ride in the van with Grandma & Great Grandma. The kids had fun at the park when we got there, though. Anna & Sam actually sat in the Zooper together for a little while when we were trying to convince Jacob to ride in the other stroller.

We brought out the pool in the afternoon where both Jacob & Sam dumped water on Anna's head and she surprised me by not getting very upset at all. I think playgroup was a big help in preparing Anna for her cousins' arrival.

Posted by Becky at 11:59 PM | Permalink

Photos by Craig

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms, moms-to-be, and moms-at-heart out there!

Grandma & Grandpa came in for a visit this weekend. They babysat for us last night while Craig & I went out to a potluck with Lesley's Babysitting Co-Op group. There isn't room in teh co-op for us right now, but another couple that was there last night is interested in starting a new one with us (and some others that have expressed interest). I even scored the names of two babysitters while I was there so maybe Craig & I can get out more often more regularly!

I missed some exciting stuff yesterday when I went upstairs to get ready for the potluck: Craig, Grandma, & Grandpa asked Anna to point out different parts of her body and she was able to point out her: arms, hair, eyes, ears, nose, toes, elbows, and hands. I'll have to ask her again sometime (hey, maybe even for the camera--although she usually shuts off fo the camera!).

New Spoken Words: mirror, dark, squirrel, bag, Target^®, paper, CD Player, couch, bed, turtle, dolphin

New Signed Words: big

New Un-prompted Phrases: "big duck"

Posted by Becky at 2:52 PM | Permalink

The book arrived and it's pretty awesome. I wouldn't use it as a platform to sell my photography (images printed OK, but could have been better) but it is perfect for what I wanted it to be. Expect a copy at your door (via UPS) in another week or so if (in relation to Anna) your title is: Grandma, Nana, Great-Grandma, or Ur Opa. And happy Mother's Day & Father's Day to you all.

Liz, let me know if you want to take a look in person and I'll drop my copy in the mail to you to check out.

The book: the binding.

Front cover & spine: no, I won't win any cover-design awards this year, but the front image is her first "official" portrait on 3/19/2005.

The back cover portrait is her "official" one year portrait taken on 3/19/2006.

A peek inside

The black & white ultrasound images printed better than the color.

Posted by Becky at 7:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The book shipped on Wednesday.... Trying to be patient over here! I will post photos of the book when it arrives!

Posted by Becky at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I joined a mom's group here in town based on a passing reference from a client. This client invited me out with her playgroup moms for dinner last week. As one normally does, I chatted with one of the women I sat next to during dinner. Today I got an email from her about the playgroup (she is our playgroup coordinator) and I saw her last name: the same name as one of Craig's former classmates that we knew was in our area. So I asked her her husband's name and sure enough, she is married to Craig's friend Matt from college and we're all going out for dinner tonight.

This just seems so random & crazy to me. We knew Matt was married and in our city but that was the extent of it. Turns out they live maybe five miles or so from us and our kids are going to be in a playgroup together.

Posted by Becky at 4:10 PM | Permalink

I have pressed "publish" at Lulu.com! I think my book should be here in about 1.5 weeks which is just a little longer than it took me to make it. If I do another one, I definitely want to find a program other than Word to work in though as it was a major pain with styles. I knew that going in though, so at least I wasn't surprised! As promised, I will report back when it arrives.

Posted by Becky at 4:07 PM | Permalink

I am working on making a book out of the blog content from Anna's First Year blog (with the first chapter being the pregnancy). If it goes well, I will tackle my South Korea Journal as well. I am doing this first book with Lulu.com so I'm hoping the photos print well and that it is what I'm expecting. I will be sure to report back when I get the final version in my hands!

Posted by Becky at 7:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

After MOPS book club fell through in February, my neighbor invited to me to another book club right here in our neighborhood--even better! We are reading The Great Gatsby. Something I know I've read before but really don't remember the details. Thirty pages into it, I already know I like it so much more than the other book I've read this year... Two people that I've mentioned this book to in the past few days have both noted that they didn't like it and wondered what all of the fuss was about.

Posted by Becky at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Now that Anna is one year old, I feel like we finally are getting back to "normal." Of course, it is a new normal, but I'm very happy with that. In Anna's second year we are planning to take a few vacations, I'm going to read some actual books (not just What to Expect the Toddler Years), and I am actually taking steps to lose the weight I gained while pregnant (that I already lost while we lived in Korea--so frustrating to have to do it all again!), and I've got plenty of "projects" around the house to work on (and some actual photography work). Hey, maybe we'll even hire a babysitter and Craig & I will get out of the house once or twice a month!

I have read one non-parenting book this year: Bad Girl Creek by JoAnn Mapson. I read it for the MOPS bookclub. And then the meeting never happened. And I've never heard anything about the book club again. So I'm on my own. Sad as it is, I think I'll start with Angels & Demons by Dan Brown and then finally read The DaVinci Code. I loaned out the The DaVinci Code several times while we were in Korea but never actually read it myself. Everytime I got it back, I was in the middle of something else. Then I got pregnant and I only read pregnancy/childbirth/baby name books. Then Anna was born and it was just parenting and sleep books (and a whole lot of board books!). I will no doubt be turning to my dear friend Sharon for some reading advice soon. Although I do still have a few books on my shelf from our Okpo book club that I haven't read. (By the way, I did not like Bad Girl Creek: it was too contrived and predictable and I was very disappointed with the lives the characters ended up with by the end.)

I have lost 7.5 pounds since January (6 of those since I joined Weight Watchers Online on February 9th). I am attempting to do the Self Challenge again this year, but so far it's just not happening. I'm having a hard time getting to the gym consistently, but I guess that's part of what the challenge is about--finding a way to incorporate exercise into your daily life.

I have found some interesting places online to self-publish books and I want to do a "blook" (a book with content from a blog) for our time in Korea and for Anna's first year. Those are pretty major projects so I don't know how long that will take, but when I finish those I will be sure to post the results here!

Posted by Becky at 9:55 AM | Permalink

[Watch a video of us rolling away!]

Anita & I rented Segways this afternoon just to see what they were like. Anita looked a lot more confident than I felt, but on the second lap around the shopping area I finally felt a little more comfortable. They were pretty cool--very responsive to your movements--but I kept wanting to use the steering mechanism as a break or dig my heel into the ground like rollerblades. I'm glad we did it but I won't be buying one anytime soon!

Posted by Becky at 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here it is in all of its glory. We have been enjoying a lot of cappuccinos this week!

Posted by Becky at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Craig had me read a Wikipedia article on espresso in preparation for the impending arrival of our new espresso maker. We made some Illy coffee in our French press this morning so we can taste the difference tomorrow (we had fine-ground decaf and it was really good). Craig's obsession with owning an espresso machine is going to turn us into full-blown addicts starting tomorrow. Of course, I'm already trying to come up with an excuse to perfect a recipe for "affogato" (espresso served over ice cream).

All of this coffee will be just like living in Okpo again, where we went out each morning after TKD for coffe at Davinci's. But there you couldn't get decaf and here I'm not getting as good of a workout (just walking most days).

Posted by Becky at 9:38 PM | Permalink

When we moved in in July 2001.

This morning. (Note the large pine leaning toward our house on the left-hand side of the photograph.) Too bad I didn't get it from the same angle, I snapped it quickly as we headed out for our walk.

Will post the "after" picture when they are finished. Anna is sleeping through the noise now, but I wonder if she will wake up when they start trimming the trees by her window?

Posted by Becky at 8:32 PM | Permalink

We should have taken a picture of Gertie for stuffonmycat.com last night because she had one of the new "insect monitors" (really sticky non-chemical insect traps) that Orkin put down somewhere stuck to her tail. She had it stuck there for hours because she ran away every time we approached her (which is why we couldn't get a picture) to take it off. Eventually I caught her and held her while Craig cut the hair between her tail & the trap.

Posted by Becky at 8:35 PM | Permalink

I called a tree service today to get an estimate on getting all of the trees by our house pruned back so that they are not touching the house (GIANT roach experience yesterday required an emergency Orkin visit & my neighbor to come kill it for me--this was the biggest roach I've seen yet and it was the flying kind!). We also have a nice holly tree that is looking sickly. Turns out our biggest pine tree is in danger of falling over but the holly is fine. The pine has shifted and will definitely cause some kind of damage if it falls. This will set back my plans to expand the back porch because it is not cheap to remove a tree this big! I will post a "before" photo soon.

A couple of years ago this same guy came out to do an estimate for me and we had three trees scheduled to take down. The day before they came, one of the trees fell on its own! We've had two trees fall near the house & fence and so far no damage, I worry that our luck will run out eventually...

Posted by Becky at 5:15 PM | Permalink

It was only 89 degrees today!

I'm hoping to get on some outdoor projects once it gets a little cooler: plant some more trees in the back yard, finish the path to the driveway, and extend our back patio. I also want to do a few things to the front yard but we'll have to see how much ambition I have when it gets right down to it.

Posted by Becky at 8:35 PM | Permalink

The landscaping is done! What you can't see in the picture very well is that there are a ton of plants by the left fence that have been pruned down very low and that there are three redbud trees along the back fence that will screen out our backyard neighbors. There are also several small plants in the two big bed areas that have been pruned back. I think our yard will look pretty good later this spring and summer when those plants have filled out some!

Posted by Becky at 8:24 PM | Permalink

The landscapers we hired to maintain our yard while we were in Korea were a little aggressive with the pruning of all of the native plants that were in our yard when we purchased the house (trying to not dwell on what has been done since this is very annoying to think about!), so we are starting over with new plants. We've asked (a different landscaper) for native, low-maintenance plants that will start screening out our neighbors and fill in the empty spots. They're also going to refresh the pathways we built in 2003 and put a fresh layer of mulch in the front yard. I'll be sure to post an after picture when the work is done and again this summer after the plants have grown a bit and everything is green.

Posted by Becky at 7:23 PM | Permalink

We are spending the holidays in Colorado this year! We took the time to take family pictures at the Martins and the Harmons since it seems it is becoming more and more rare for all of us to be in one spot at the same time.

The Martins