I'm HUGE

I'll preface this with...I know this is totally normal.
I am really getting a pregnant belly! I'm 11 weeks, 12 on Thursday. My regular jeans are really uncomfortably tight. I think I have to turn them in. I was looking at pictures of myself pregnant with Lilia. We took pictures every 2 weeks starting at 17 weeks. At this point, I look like I did with Lilia at 20 weeks!!! Dave confirmed it. Like I said I know it's normal, but it's still crazy.
Last week I was at the playground with Lilia. An older woman was there and she spoke some English. She asked which was my child because there was another foreign baby there. I told her just Lilia and one on the way. When she saw my stomach and found out how far along I was she said, "Wow you're big! Maybe you're having twins."
(The picture is of Lilia, day 2.)

His First American Meal

Tonight we hosted an Asian friend Dave made on campus for dinner. I wasn't nervous because Dave only informed me that he was coming this afternoon so I already had something planned! (By the way, this is very unlike my husband.) So I made potato soup, garlic green beans and we had a french baguette from a French bakery nearby.
This was Dave's friend's first time having butter. He put butter on one piece of bread, but didn't care to butter the rest of his slices. He loved the soup and had two bowls! I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't know how it would go over.
I put out chopsticks to eat the green beans. Not unusual for here. Asians don't like to have their fingers touch food. So our friend would pick up the bread with his chopsticks and put it right in his mouth!
Overall it went well!

Funny English

Something that Asia is known for is hilarious English translations of things. This morning I was laying in bed eating toast so I wouldn't get sick, didn't work mind you, when I read the tissue box on the bed-side table. Picture on the box, green branches with white jasmine flowers and a yellow butterfly. Here's what the box said:
"This beauty in full bloom scents the air and deserves lots of praise for its sweet and white."

I was there!

Last night kt and i watched "Marley and Me". It is the true story of a disobedient dog starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. They filmed part of it in West Chester when we were living there, Gay and Church Street to be precise. We knew we were going to see some sights that we recognized, but when our home town appeared in the first minute we froze.

The past few weeks kt's pregnancy craving (read: obsession) has been soft pretzels. When the Soft Pretzel Factory on N Church Street made a cameo, we burst out laughing. Also note there are no soft pretzels to be found in Asia!

The challenges of Pregnancy

We live in a tall apartment building with neighbors on 2 sides and people above and below us. Every day at lunch time and dinner time I walk into my kitchen and can smell what my neighbors are cooking. Most Asians don't use an oven, they only use a wok and possibly pots. I can always tell when a neighbor is having fish that day. So I was just in the kitchen taking the last bite of my banana and throwing away the peel when I starting gagging due to the smell. I'm looking forward to when we're back in the states and the only thing I smell in my kitchen are the smells that me and my family are creating!!

Successfully putting on mommy's slipper socks

Smile!

Lilia's Quote of the Day

So Lilia and I were laying in my bed and looking out the window at the cars, buses and taxi's driving past. I said, "Do you see all the people riding their bikes." She then replied, "People ride the bike, right mommy, everyday."
I am not making this stuff up! She really said all that!!!

Lilia walking along the path

Spring is Officially Here

Spring here is really nice. It does rain quite a bit, but in our complex are lots of beautiful flowering trees and bushes, which makes up for it. My favorite are the magnolias. Something else really cool is there are many water features in our complex as well. We have a small stream that meanders all over as well as a good sized pond with fish. Well at night especially, you can hear frogs croaking! It's so loud it's amazing. Yesterday Lilia and I were walking around and we spotted a frog. I guess it's mating season, because I saw 3 large clusters of tadpoles nearby. It was really neat. I love nature and it's hard to come by living in a city like New York City!

Some news...

We're pregnant! Yes, you are looking at an ultrasound. It was taken around 7 weeks so the baby is still super tiny. I am currently at 10 weeks today. The big questions are always,
1. When are you due...mid-October
2. How are you feeling...so so. I have been getting sick some mornings. I try to stay in bed and eat something, but it doesn't always work. I am super tired and take naps when Lilia does. Plus I am super hungry and I'm not really that into Asian food right now. We figure things out day by day.
Lilia does know and will point to my stomach and say, "Baby in there."

Lilia out on the porch

Mmmm...snail

I was away this past weekend with some of other women. One of my friends, Laura (pictured below) would try just about anything they put on the table. The food was all pre-ordered so what ever came, we ate. What you see below is snail. The hotel was across from a huge lake and no doubt they came from there. Well to eat the snail you have to suck it out of the shell really hard. I was sitting next to her and trying to keep my food down as I watched her attempt to eat 3 separate snails! She's so brave. I am really not adventurous when it comes to food! Laura did enjoy the taste. I think she would have eaten a few more if they were easier to get in her mouth!

Just another day...

It's Katie. I know Dave's been writing a lot! Anyway, today is just another Monday. The weather is beautiful and Lilia and I took the bus to Carrefour. It's a weekly thing. It's a large grocery store with western stuff. So I had just picked up some chicken and was heading over to the vegetables when an Asian woman stopped me with a camera man standing next to her and asked me if she could ask me a few questions. They are from our cities TV network. The camera man filmed Lilia for a few minutes as she drank her water in the shopping cart. My first question was about the difference between lemons & limes. Then she asked me if I knew what gazpacho soup was, which I did thanks to the Simpson's!! Next I had to name as many pastas as I could and guess where pasta is most made in Italy. The last question she asked was my favorite dessert; chocolate mousse. That was it.
I have no idea if this will be posted on TV or what, but maybe either Lilia or myself will be a celebrity in our city!

This Girl Cracks Me Up

Katie was gone this weekend to another city with a bunch of women. Lilia and I had a blast together. She actually makes me laugh out loud. Just today she:

-Sat down next to me at while I was reading and sighed "I need a book." Guess I wasn't paying enough attention to her at the playground.

-Looked at her full belly after dinner and said "Baby in there."

-While sitting up she ran towards me and said "Lay down!" She then proceeded to put grip my shoulders, twist my body, and put her full force against me.

All three of these outbursts of her personality led to a belly laugh from me.

Street DVDs, Part 2

If you have ever watched the TV show "Scrubs", you will notice 3 of the actors shown. The ones who are circled are images taken from the internet. Odd

Street DVDs, Part 1

As there are few outlets to buy legal DVDs in our country, we would like to share with you all some hilarious packaging that comes with buying

One set of videos that Lilia loves is the Sesame English Series. They teach non-native speakers our complex language. I have no idea where they found this picture in the lower left. Zoom in to see a knife wielding Elmo and a smoking Grover.

The Aquarium

This morning we went with our friends to the aquarium across the river. It wasn't as good as the Camden one we went to for Lilia's 1st b-day, but it was pretty good. Lilia really loves sea life. She loves fish, turtles and sharks. She was especially excited to find the display that hosted both Dory & Nemo!!! Since we were in the newly developed part of the city, which is really western, we ate lunch at Subway. It was a nice touch to the day!

Lilia is becoming more and more Asian

One of the birthday presents Lilia loves is the above magnetic play house from my (dave) mom. You can move the pets, people, and decorations around their house. It is like Sim City before the computer. The only complaint Lilia has is that they wear their shoes in the house, an Asian no-no. She keeps telling them "Shoes off." They never listen.

Blowing out the Candle & Enjoying the Frosting

Enjoying goldfish in the window sill

Lilia's banner & her cake (me and my friend made it)

Lilia's Birthday!

We had a fun day today. Lilia turned 2!! We got her a scooter for her birthday. She rode it around the house all morning long. Then we watched Finding Nemo, of course! After her nap we had a party. Eight of Lilia's neighborhood friends and their parents came over for games, pizza and cake. They had a good time. It was a long day and we are pooped! I know she won't necessarily remember her birthday, but at least she enjoyed the day!

Lilia's current obsession

Lilia first was interested in Nemo when Sydney had a large stuffed Nemo that open up and you could stuff things inside. About a month ago I found the movie at a local movie store and we brought it home for her to watch. Well since then, Lilia talks about nothing else but Nemo. She quotes the movie, "Don't touch the boat." "Goodbye son." It's so cute. We have a stuffed turtle that she sits on and rides like in the movie while saying, "Dude." I even found plastic characters of Nemo, Marlin, Dorey and a couple others at Carrfore.
Lilia's birthday is this Saturday the 7th and of course we are having a Nemo themed party! SHe has about 8 friends coming from the neighborhood, all Americans. It should be fun. I am going to attempt to make a Nemo cake. I've never done anything like that, so we'll see!