New Addition to the Blog!

This week we have a new addition to the blog. To the right you will see BG's progress as he/she gets bigger. The cool thing is if you click on the days it will change to tell you how many days/weeks to go and how many days/weeks so far. I decided to post my first Garrett Gut pic (lovely name right?)at the end of my trimester in a couple of weeks. Now this unflattering photo does not any way represent how fat I am. It is a flowy dress on a windy day. (By the way these red glasses draw a lot of attention) I love red, can it be used for baby boy and girl stuff?


Okay, here is Cody in the taxi this morning. In front of us is our favorite place to eat breakfast. They have toast (rarity here) with a piece of cheese and a fried egg on top...delicious! It comes with a hot beverage and orange juice for about $3!


Since my doc said no aerobics (she is super strict) I have decided to take up fast walking in the forest. It's the only place in the city a women can exercise and not get looked at like a three-headed monster. I tried to go walking in my own neighborhood and I got harassed, followed, and yelled out. Yikes...no thank you! Cody went with me to the forest to keep the bad men away :)


In closing, here is a video of Cody doing his Arabic homework. He has the best handwriting of anybody I know. Cody isn't as camera happy as I am so it's hard for me to find things to post with him because be never takes the camera with him.

On to the BabyG Update:
-BG's head makes up for half the size of his/her little body, (gets that from Dad). -Fingernails, toenails, and hair will begin to become visible this week.
-The fingers are no longer webbed. BG is actively swallowing amniotic fluid and kicking his/her legs.
-I got the sickest I have been yet on Friday night. It might have been from the cous cous and buttermilk I ate at my friends house but I was up ALL night puking (among other things :) I had unrelenting nausea and I was worried about dehydration or complications so I went to my doctor the next morning and she gave me medication for low blood pressure and my stomach. I am feeling much better today, PTL. It makes me grateful for the pretty easy time I have had so far.

Questions from the readers:
A question from Nat: Have you had any strange cravings yet?
Well most things I am craving are from American restaurants that I can't get. For example: Chick-fil-a chicken sandwich and waffle fries, Tiffany's Greek Chicken salad, Double Decker from Taco Bell and Green Chili Bacon Cheeseburgers. Although I was craving a steak from TGIFriday's and Cody took me there for lunch today. Yummmm...the broccoli cheese soup was also fabulous.

Question from Michael and Jana: Carrie, will both of you be returning at the start of the third trimester, or just you? We will both be returning to at the same time (thank goodness!) to start our visiting and preparations right away! I will be flying up until my 35th week!

Happy Easter!

This week we went to Europe to renew our passports. It was a quick 2 day trip followed by a few days in a northern city in NA. We got to buy a lot groceries like cheddar cheese, cereals you can't get here, tortillas, and Cody got to have a Dr Pepper.

On the boat ride the waves were really bad and I puked my guts out. Which is no surprise because I get carsick too. Cody was very nice in getting more barf bags :)

This is the northern city on the coast. Just your everyday normal big city skyline at the beach...oh wait, are those camels in the background? Yep, just your average day at the beach.

I loved this little boy in his tiny little jellaba. He was playing in the fountain putting his feet in.

This morning I went to the Easter sunrise service at these old Roman ruins that were later built on top of by the Arabs. It was so gorgeous. Happy Easter everyone!!!

Baby Garrett Update:
-At two months lil BG now has elbows that bend and he/she can move around inside. BabyG's eyes have eyelids and will be sealed shut until week 28. Also, BG can make a fist and may be able to suck the thumb!
-I ate so unhealthy on my trip and gained like 50 pounds! Yuck! I felt so sick after all the fast food
-My doc said no aerobics but I am going to start some sort of exercise TOMORROW
-Little known fact about Carrie is I have an outie belly button. So this thing is going to pop way before my pooch even does. Luckily, I won't be wearing too many mid-drifts here :)

And now questions from the readers:

Here are some from Karen:
Where will BabyG be born? BabyG will be born in Albuquerque, NM. Or I guess anywhere we happen to be as we have to travel a ton right when we get back. I'll be returning at the start of my third trimester.

How is prenatal care where you are? Prenatal care is excellent. My doctor has been very involved since we started trying to conceive and helped with our infertility issues and all that. I have already had two ultrasounds with many more to come including 4D! American insurance is SO lame with their 2 ultrasounds! After these initial checkups I think I can just go once a month for awhile.

Does your doctor speak English? Yes, well sorda. Not everything translates very well. For example I said "I am feeling very bloated" she says "What is dese...bloated?" So I have to explain. There are definitely some language barriers but she is an amazing doctor. If she doesn't know the word she says it in French and I usually catch the gist.

And one last question from Joanna:
Did you cut his hair, Carrie? Absolutely not! I tried that once and we had to shave it all off with the clippers. And Joanna I need some SERIOUS help with my eating/cooking habits when we get there!

Leaving...again

He has risen indeed! This our Palm Sunday service at the international church.
We have enjoyed spending the weekend with two friends from our university. Thanks David and Bobby for visiting us!

Still on the lookout for Madeline.

Cody got his hair cut. Here is the "before" picture. Granted, this was late at night and not styled. It's usually not so...poofy.

Here is the clean cut "after" picture.

Tomorrow we are headed out...again. We have to go to Europe to renew our passport stamps so it'll be a quick two nights out of country.

Baby Garrett Update:
-So far BG is growing well which is making me verrrry hungry and tired. As long as I eat every couple hours the nausea isn't too bad. When my stomach gets empty...yikes!
-Starting weight: 45 kilos (about 99 pounds)
-Part I don't like about being pregnant: eating healthy (I feel so guilty when I eat bad!)
-Part I love about being pregnant: thinking about the fact that there is this little life inside of me...weird!

My brother is getting married May 23rd and we just ordered my bridesmaid dress one size too big...sigh...I sure hope that is enough.

By they way I am taking all questions and advice you have in the comments...thanks!

We'll be back on Saturday (visiting some company folks in the north after our trip out) and will post pics from the trip. peace out.

You Guessed It!

So, meet Baby Garrett. I was impressed that you caught on to my subtle hint about "the three of us." More info to come!

Sahara Adventures

Last week we took a trip way down south to the Sahara.  On our way we made many stops.  We were on a tour minibus with 18 people from all over the world.  Here is one of our stops at a gorge.  

Another famous gorge just a different type.  

We also stopped at a kasbah and some Berbers showed us how they make carpets.  Here this women is teaching me to prepare the sheep's wool.  


Of course they served tea and make their obligatory sales pitch.  Two people bought rugs but the prices weren't actually that great compared to what we get in my friend's village.  
It's so crazy because as you are driving the sand dunes just all of the sudden start and go on for miles.  This is outside the dunes when we first arrived to mount up on our camels.  

Let the sunset trek begin.  

These pics were pretty difficult to take on a moving camel but I managed to get a few in focus.






As soon as we arrived there was an enormous dune in front of us and we immediately started running to the top.  It was a lot more difficult than we expected and we were completely out of breath and it took about 20 minutes to make it up.  The sand is super soft and you sink right down.  We then ran and jumped all the way back down.  Sigh...so fun.  

It was pretty cold at night.  Here we are listening to singing and drums around the campfire.  

This our tent that we slept in.  It's funny how the ground gets harder as the night progresses.  

The three of us enjoying the sunrise over the dunes back at the starting point.  


This was our guide.  This dude is legit.  
On the way home we decided to ditch the minibus and take a shortcut by going 7 hours in this taxi with 7 people.  We are sharing a bucket seat and Cody was folded in half.  My legs fell asleep a lot.  But we managed to cut about 6 hours out of our trip.  We arrived at a city and took a 3 hour train home.  So those are our desert adventures!  I can leave North Africa happy knowing I have seen the Sahara.  

Courageous Kids!

This weekend we did a program for some kids while there parents were in a meeting.  We did three days and three sessions.  Here we are acting out the story of Esther when she approached the King.  

Painting my "Courageous Kid" bandana.  We made up moves to the theme song and taught it to the kids and then they performed it for their parents.  

Cody enjoying some time with the kids.  


Me enjoying some time with the army men while wearing my aforementioned bandana.  
Playing some games.  

This week Sam came over to hang out while our friends John and Caitlin enjoyed a dinner at TGIF with their parents.  Sam is super cool and so adorable.  He loves to dance and eat everything.  

In two days we are going to ride camels in the Sahara and sleep out in tents!  Stay tuned for pics!