Hellfire

The first picture is of Maggie after her baptism with her cousin Avery. The second picture is of the hives Maggie developed that night. At least there wasn't lightning during the service.

Read along

Yesterday I was talking to Megan, Maggie and Katherine over the web cam. I had the books that Jill had just sent to our fetus next to me and started reading a polar bear book to Maggie. She told us to hold on, she had to get something from her room. A few minutes later she came back with the same book. We thought that was big fun. From now on, we're going to need to buy 2 of each book for read alongs.

I'm also thinking about recording our conversations. I was showing Avery the shower gifts that my friends sent in the mail the other day (thank you to those people and I'll post pictures soon)and she thought that was pretty funny. Avery picked up Maggie's chuckle over Christmas. It's kind of a "that's humorous" combined with a "I'm appeasing you" chuckle. Funny when a not quite 2 year old knows how to work it.

Time to come home

I think P's being influenced by the local culture a bit too much these days. I'm lucky I'm not having to walk 1o ft behind him and compete with a second wife.

We went to an Indian restaurant before the holidays with a bunch of the neighbors. It was great food. The best baba ganoush we've had. It was much smokier with a lot more eggplant and less yogurt than most.

P suggests that we figure out the secret.

A few weeks later P asks if I've looked up any recipes.

Nope.

Last night, P brings home some eggplant, "for your baba ganoush you wanted to make."

Me, "What?"

Today, P's leaving to go to the sailing races and I'm booking it to the grocery before it gets too crowded. "Did you find out what else you need for your baba ganoush recipe?"

Me, "Do you want to die?"

I'll let you know if stray cats like eggplant...or P, because he might not survive.

Bagels

Mmmm....bagels. Not something I eat a lot of at home, but I've been keeping an eye out for when Mom and Dad come to town since bagels are a staple of their diet. P was pretty sure I wouldn't find any, the Muslims not being big on the Jewish, but I persevered and bought three bags today. We've looked at bakeries, Starbucks, grocery stores, but not a bagel in site until today. I'm not saying these are going to last until they get here....I should start looking for a recipe. And while that might look like a lot of cream cheese, it's a 3rd less fat, so you're suppose to add a 3rd more. It's in the instructions. They also had the Quaker instant flavored oatmeal, another of their staples, but it expires in February. I might be able to score a couple more jars of peanut butter before they get here. Fingers crossed.

While I'm on the subject of hard to find foods, Megamart just got a shipment of Frito Lay chips, so we had Tostitos last night for the first time since I've been here. Bought some Fritos as well. Very exciting. They seemed to get a late shipment of holiday food supplies too. Now they have lots of marsh mellows, pre-made pie crusts, cornbread mix, all of those things I couldn't find or wasn't fast enough to get over the holidays. It puts a "fun" new spin on cooking when Mom's recipe calls for an 81/2 oz package of Jiffy cornbread mix and you get to whip up your own to add to the cornbread casserole.

Back to a cabbage

Hopefully they're just running out of fruits and veggies, not that little buddy is somehow shrinking...
Your pregnancy: 30 weeks
How your baby's growing:Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

Cabbage to a butternut squash

Your pregnancy: 29 weeks

How your baby's growing:Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

Christmas at the Sheraton

We forgot for a minute it was Christmas eve, and when we remembered we scrambled to make it to the Sheraton to watch the carolers. Christmas carolers with accents are interesting to say the least.

We headed downstairs in the Sheraton to the new pub, The Harp. I love it. It's a chain and is should be kind of cheesy, but it's not. I might ask if I can live there. Something wrong with an obviously pregnant woman living in a pub? I think not. It's probably the most "western" place we've been. And not a robe or veil in site. Strangely, that's what made my Christmas eve.

Christmas day we had the neighbors over for dinner. All the food was really good and I think we might have been at the table for two hours of continuous eating. All good old American Christmas food too. Ham, green bean casserole, dill and cheddar biscuits, mashed potatoes, corn bread casserole, pecan pie, Christmas cookies...mmmmm.

I took Perry some leftovers for lunch today at the Corniche. He seems to enjoy the idea of me bringing him lunch to the park everyday. Maybe we'll shoot for once or twice a week while the weather's so nice.

Tonight we head to a get together for Boxing Day. We don't know what Boxing Day is all about, but Perry and the neighbor thought they might show up in shorts and gloves so they're prepared. I think I'll do some research before we head over tonight, or not. It might be more interesting if I don't.