Quick Takes (vol. 2)

One:Cabbage Soup. 
Several days ago, I posted a status on Facebook talking about Cabbage Soup. The majority of people agreed that cabbage soup sounded undesirable. And if I weren't pregnant, I'd probably agree. However, for some reason that remains unknown to me, cabbage soup sounded really good.

I began googling recipes and came upon this one: Carrot, Potato, and Cabbage Soup. Tonight, since Brian was going out with a friend, I made the soup and some corn bread. He hung around for a small bowl, but we both know he will have to eat second dinner with his friend, so I didn't expect him to eat very much. However, both he and Emily said they liked it. Savannah wouldn't eat it and Sophie avoided the carrots and cabbage and just ate the potatoes.




If I ever do it again, I will add some chunks of beef to it and a little more cabbage then the recipe. I also did not add the oil this time because I have an aversion to oily things and I don't see how it would add to the soup at all.

Two:Glass-topped Tables
My mother has two coffee tables that have glass on top of the wood. I have always loved them, particularly at Christmas time when she puts Christmas cards underneath the glass.

A few years ago, when we lived in our apartment in the hood, I remember having a conversation with her about thinking about having a glass table top made for our dining room table. The table is made of a soft wood that nicks and dents very easily and with small children, it was accumulating more than its fair share of scratches faster than I felt it should. A glass table top would protect it.

However, after living with glass on the top of every single table in my house for over a year, I have a definite opinion. I will never choose to have a glass topped table. First, the majority of them have somehow been broken and second, they are such a pain to keep clean! Every time my children spill something on the dining room table, which is at least once a day, the liquid somehow ends up under the glass and puddles there. You have to clean the top of the glass, then slide the glass away and clean the table underneath, dry it, and then replace the glass, hoping you didn't miss any spots.
 
Three: Busy Baby
It was a sad day when Sophie learned how to climb. Nothing is safe. 


The other day, Sophie had exhausted my patience with the step-stools, so I stacked them on top of each other and placed them on top of the table. Next thing I knew, she had appropriated a box that Emily had transformed into a house for Fluffy, turned it upside down, and had used it to climb up to the table again. I took the box away. A few minutes later, she went to the plastic bin that I keep on the bottom shelf of the bookshelf with some of her toys and books. I was curious, because she hardly ever plays with those things, instead, she prefers Emily and Savannah's toys. With no regard to the toys, she dumped them out and walked off with the plastic bin. 


Yep. She turned it upside down and used it to climb back up to the table. 
What will I do with this one?


Four: Dreams.
I always have strange dreams when I'm pregnant. I try not to read much into them.

However, I had one last week that you should hear about. :)

I slowly awoke to find myself in a hospital bed, the door was open to a cafeteria type room and two nurses were making a bed opposite of me. They finished and left. I thought, "I should have asked if there were any magazines I could read." I felt lonely and wondered where my mother and Brian were. Another nurse came into the room, "I thought I would check on you before I left for the day, is there anything you need?" "Yes," I said, "I'd really like to see my baby." "I don't think you can yet, but I will check." "Please," I asked, "I haven't seen it yet and I don't even know if it is a boy or a girl." I could see her eyes relent.

A little later and I was holding a beautiful baby in my arms, it had a head of blonde, curly hair and was smiling at me. At that moment, Brian came in and sat on the bed next to me. "Look," I said, "Its a girl, see? They put earrings in her ears. I guess, since we know what she is, we will have to pick a name for her."
 
Five: Teaching Savannah to Read
We are on week 7 of our school year. I've been using the Sing, Spell, Read and Write program with Savannah, just as I did with Emily. I knew from the outset that Savannah would be different to teach than Emily was, I just didn't know how different.

We began reading words that have the short a sound in the middle. Words like pan, man, cat, wag, bag, and Dad. Savannah does well with the beginning sound, but she wants to end every.single.word with "t". So our conversation goes something like this:
Me: "Ma says..."
Savannah: "ma. Mat! Mat hat. Those rhyme!"
Me: "Yes, m-a-t says Mat, but this word has an "n" on the end. What does "n" say?"
Savannah: "I don't know!"
Me: "Okay, remember "N" says "nnnn" like noodle."
Savannah: "Nnnn noodle."
Me: "Yes, so m-a says ma with the ending sound "n". And you put those together and they make the word?"
Savannah: "Ma, mat!

Yes, about the fifth word its gets a little frustrating. I just try to remember that before long she will be reading like her big sister, almost 7 years old and losing her first tooth and I will wonder where, oh where my little Savannah-baby went. So for the most part I just enjoy listening to how her little mind works and move on to another subject when we both can't take any more.
 
Six:Snoring.
I love my husband's snoring. Really! I do!

A couple of years ago, Brian traveled 4 days out of most weeks. There were so many nights I would lie alone in our bed and wish he was there to talk to and snuggle with, and eventually, listen to him snore as I went to sleep. Most nights as soon as I stop talking to him and we say good night, he is asleep. I have no idea how he falls asleep so quickly. But then I lie there and listen to him sleep and as I go to sleep, I am grateful he is home with us every night.

Seven: Confession.
Tonight, after dinner, the kids were getting loud and crazy and this is what I heard coming out of my mouth: "I don't care what you want to do, I said, "Go play the wii!""

Motherhood at its finest, I tell you. 

The Doctor's Visit

Having a baby in Egypt is opening us up to many new cultural experiences. Some of which I'm sure I will enjoy, some of which I'm afraid I won't. This week we had our first pre-natal visit.

We headed across town, leaving our house around 1pm, thinking it would be a 30-40 minute drive, arriving a little early for a 2 pm appointment. Brian had mapped our route using Google Maps and our book of city maps. He has mad map navigational skills, so I was very confident of our success, until he handed me the map. Then I got nervous.

Our city has very few traffic lights and the few we have are ignored. Because of this, there are not many left-hand turns across traffic. They compensate (sort of) by using u-turns typically inconveniently placed. If there are street signs and if they are in English, (ever tried reading an Arabic street sign while driving down the road? It will make you question your religion.) they are vague and never where we think they should be to guide us beyond reasonable doubt. So most of our driving in new places is a fair amount of guess work.

We felt like we were fine, until we turned off of the main road into unfamiliar territory. I was pretty sure we turned off too soon, so to get us back in the direction we needed, I directed us through a neighborhood. By the time we got out of the neighborhood, I was very unsure of where we were on the map. Brian pulled over and tried to help, muttering something about "eight years of marriage and you still can't read a map."  A little while later and I said, "We are on the wrong side of the bridge, going in the wrong direction." But by then we had the map thing figured out and knew where we were needing to be.

We arrived and parked around 2:30. Now, when I initially set up the appointment, I had asked for directions and the woman told me, "We are 12 Simon Street, across from the pharmacy." I thought, I have a husband who has mad navigational skills, so no problem. However, when we arrived at 12 Simon Street, there was no sign on the building saying something to the effect of "Doctor's office here". There was a pharmacy across the street. We walked into the building and it looked much like any other apartment building in our city. Again, no signs saying which floor the office was on or that the office was even there.

There were two men sitting by the door, so in my best Arabic, I asked about a doctor for a baby. He indicated the fifth floor. We got on the elevator and Brian shot a look at me that said, "What have we gotten ourselves into?" I wasn't sure either.

Until we got off on the fifth floor and the door in front of us had signs! Yes! We rang the doorbell and walked into a very normal looking pre-natal office. The walls were painted yellow and there were those pregnancy posters all over the walls. I spoke with the receptionist, expecting to be handed 15 forms to fill out, but all she asked was that I write down the correct spelling of my name.

We found places in the waiting room and sat down to wait. After discussing all the posters with Emily and Savannah, they were excited to find a large pile of children's books in English. After a seemingly long wait, we were called back to see the doctor.

One of the things I noticed was that there were four rooms, all labeled something different. There was the doctor's office, the exam room, the ultrasound room, and the room where they take blood. We were ushered into the doctor's office. We met the doctor and chatted about my previous pregnancies and I asked some questions about her c-section procedures.

We were then sent to the exam room with the doctor and we had a typical pre-natal exam. Weight, blood pressure and we listened to the heart beat for the very first time!

Then we had blood drawn for blood work. One little needle prick and one vial of blood and we were finished. Emily sat in the waiting room, but Savannah stood next to me and watched. The nurse was appreciative of her interest and gave her six band-aids so she "could practice on her doll at home."

While I was having my blood drawn, Brian was standing in the hall with Sophie, chatting with the Doctor's husband, who is the ultrasound technician and anesthesiologist. He was quite taken with Sophie.

Next, we went into the ultrasound room for our first peak at our baby. It is a very busy little person in there! Our baby was very wiggly and perfectly healthy. Emily loved watching the baby and kept exclaiming, "Our baby is so adorable!"

On our way out, we chatted with the receptionist and the ultrasound tech/anesthesiologist about which was the best way to come across town and which day would have the least amount of traffic as we scheduled our second appointment.

It was amazing to see our new little baby-person and made it more real for Emily and Savannah.

Quick Takes (vol. 1)

I just put the all the children to bed, Brian is out with a friend, and I have a quiet moment with a cup of peppermint tea. I'll ignore the laundry that needs to be folded and the dinner dishes for a little while and chat with you. I found "Quick Takes Friday" and thought it would be a fun addition, since much of my posts are more "topical" than "newsy".

One: Preggy Stuff. 
The day after my whiny preggy post, I started feeling better. About a week later, I can safely say I'm beginning to consistently feel better and less fatigued during the day. Which is good for everyone. Although, everything is not yet "2nd Trimester-all-is-right-with-the-world-boundless-energy" stage yet. Any time now would be lovely.

Two:Date Night!
Last Tuesday was our 8th wedding anniversary. Brian suggested we plan our very first date night in over a year!! He had found a fun fondue restaurant to take me too. We found a babysitter, plans were made! 

After Brian's morning meeting, he came home with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and the news that the fondue restaurant was closed for renovation. Not surprising. We decided on an Italian restaurant instead. It was so nice to sit, eat dinner and talk without competing with three other little women for the conversation. I didn't have to get up and get juice for anyone even once! 

After dinner, we drove to the Khan Al Khalili and bought glass Christmas ornaments. We've been planning on doing this for months now, but taking three little people into a glass store is not for the faint of heart, nor for those who are interested in shopping. We picked out ornaments, chatted and drank tea with the store owner. Then we walked through a part of the Khan I had never been through before. I love the Khan at night. The mosques are lit with colored lights and the people are friendly. The streets are busy and there is always something to see.
 
Three: Cute Baby.
Sophie has started saying "Thank you," the cutest, sweetest little "dank oo" that has ever graced your ears. She hasn't figured out the correct usage, typically she says it when she is handing something to you. Emily has started getting her out of bed in the mornings and Sophie will run into my room and pick up my Ipod which is on my nightstand and hand it to me, saying, "dank oo". At least she doesn't sneak in and run off with it, yes? 

Yesterday, Brian and I were working in the kitchen and Sophie was digging around in her kitchen drawer. She pulled out a heavy, wooden rolling pin and I guess she didn't know what to do with it. She came up between Brian and me and was holding it out saying, "Dank oo", we were busy so we didn't immediately turn around and take it from her. "Dank Oo!" She repeated. "DANK OO!" She said in that tone of voice that means "Hello, I'm here, talking to you and you are ignoring me."  Already such a funny little person.


Four: Sad News.
About three weeks ago, in the deepest throes of my early pregnancy woes, I was becoming increasingly sorry for myself when I received an email from one of our dearest friends, concerning another dear, dear friend. It was one of those emails that immediately put my petty feelings in perspective and made me weep. My friend Carol has Stage 1 Pancreatic Cancer. It is considered operable, but they must wait for her health condition to improve. 

Carol is one of the most gracious people I have ever met. She always has a sweet word for everyone, but she is not afraid to tell you like it is, however, she has a way of saying that does not offend. I learn from her each time I am with her. Please join me in praying for her health, the wisdom of the doctors and grace for her family. 
 
Five: Treats from Home!
Last week we received boxes from my sister and my mother. We are talking the jack-pot of all boxes from home! Microwave popcorn, M'n'M's, Nerds, Peter Pan Peanut Butter, chocolate chips, brownie mix, beef jerky, real dill pickles... It was quite the haul! My mother sent some maternity clothes for me and my sister sent cute clothes for the girls and some t-shirts for Brian. The girls love their new outfits! They also love the new hair clips--Savannah wears multiple sets at a time. I think the eight has been the most I have seen her wear at a time.

 
Six:Food Delivery
One of the awesome things about my city is "otlob" (I'm pretty sure I have mentioned it before). A website where participating restaurants put their menu's online, you can choose anything from the menu, order it and 30 minutes to an hour and a half later, it will show up at your door. 


I was looking through menus tonight and found some really funny things.
Viagra sandwiches are very popular in local restaurants, don't worry, it is really fried shrimp on sandwich bread. There was a Bikini Hot Dog - no description, so I can't even tell you want it is. And the Pizza La Playa - a cheese pizza with chili's. 


I decided to cook dinner tonight.


Seven: Confession.
 Okay, "cook dinner" might be a little of an exaggeration. What actually  happened is that I floundered around my kitchen looking for something to cook and happened upon a box of Hamburger Helper my sister sent in her box last week. And "dinner" was born. Emily came in and pronounced it gross, so I also made a box of Mac 'n Cheese.

Now, please don't judge me too harshly. (A little is okay, after all, it is Hamburger Helper.) I would have at least made a vegetable to go with it... but all the vegetables are very ripe when you buy them. So anything you buy must be used that day or it goes bad. I  had no vegetables in the house. And it is a long walk with 3 little people to get them...

I'll do better tomorrow. 

An Extra for Good Measure
I still have a hard time believing that we are expecting baby #4. I really don't feel old enough to be married 8 years and have (almost) 4 children. Then again, I look in the mirror at the wrinkles around my eyes... so I guess I am old enough.


If you remember, a few weeks ago I posted a book review by Rachel Jankovic. This week, a blog post that she wrote has been fluttering around Facebook and in case you missed it, it was well worth the read. Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank) was both convicting and inspiring. My favorite quote is "Motherhood is not a hobby... You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps."

I do not fall into the camp that believes that Motherhood is the only calling for you if you are a woman, however, I strongly believe that if you are a Mother, that your responsibilities are to nurture and wisely raise your children with much love, tears, prayers, laughs, tickles, cuddles and hard work. Mothering is not a thing to be taken lightly or half-heartedly. It is hard, but it is worth doing well. I think learning Arabic is easier than the intensity that is required to raise your very own children and to raise them well.

One of my favorite blogs I read, by a woman I have never met, yet always inspires me to be a better person, posted this post today about raising children entitled Possession Mistaken for Love. In it she says, "it's not too late, we can open the door of the room so no window breaking is necessary. . . and we can walk out of the cottage into the great world beyond with our children - walking with them along the way preparing them to one day walk on their own. Freedom instead of possession. Love instead of obsession."

It is no easy task to prepare "them to one day walk on their own."

But it will be worth it.

A Birthday Party

Last week we were invited to a birthday party for 2 of my friend Mona's children. The party was to begin at 7:00 pm and because this was our 2nd party, I had an idea of what to expect. Emily and Savannah were very excited about having a party to attend.

Around 1:00 in the afternoon, as I was getting ready to put Sophie down for a nap, Mona called to remind me that the party was at 7:00 pm, but she wanted me to come at 4:00 "because it would be fun." "I'm sorry," I told her, "I can't, Sophie has to have a nap and I have to go to the store." (We hadn't bought presents yet.) "Okay," She said, "But come as soon as you can."

(The girls all dressed up for the party) 

Sophie had her nap. We walked down to the local toy store and purchased presents. The girls got all dressed up for the party - they chose their own outfits and accessories.

At 6:30,  we rang the doorbell. I was immediately called into the back room to eat dinner with the women. There was a card table set up between the two beds, so that everyone could sit on the beds and reach the table. There were two casserole dishes on the table with rice, a tomato-type sauce, and big chunks of meat and a pile of spoons. Communal eating is not new to me and I've dealt with those demons, so I wasn't bothered in the least. In fact, I was delighted to see that this time, everyone had possession of their own spoon! Yay! Mona called it fatha, and it was one of the best things I have eaten during this trimester. It was so yummy! Sophie really enjoyed it as well, sitting on my lap and sharing my spoon.

After dinner, we all went to the living room area for the party. I'm pretty sure about 20 children showed up. My experience with Egyptian parties is that they mostly involve very loud music and dancing. My friends love to dance. Which is very sad for me because I.can't.dance. They love to pull me into the circle and dance with me, although they cannot contain their giggles at my complete and total ineptitude. I am almost starting to get better, but my friends must have joints in their hips that white people don't have, because I have no idea how they shake it like they do.

Actually, I do. They start as babies. I'm starting at 28. Huge difference, my friends.

I'm good sport though, and allow myself to be pulled into the circle and laughed at. It doesn't even bother me that much. I'm laughing too. You would be as well, if you were there. But your turn would come! No one is exempt from their moment in the circle.

I love to watch my friend RaeAnne dance. She is beautiful and loves to dance. It is funny to me, because if you met any of these women in the street, you could never picture them dancing to loud music the way that they do. Mona wears a hijab (the head covering where you can only see her eyes), RaeAnne a tarha (a typical headscarf). And yet, in the privacy of their home they dance in a beautifully and yes, sensually without a hint of embarrassment or shyness.

After the dancing, a beautiful cake was brought out, happy birthday songs were sung, sparklers were lit, and boxes of cake and treats were past around to all the guests.

By this time, my children have been ready to leave, for about an hour already, but it isn't quite time yet. I understand and empathize with their feelings. Around 20 children are running around making a lot of noise and loud music is blaring. Emily says, "Mommy, it is too loud, I need to go home." And even Savannah, who is quite a busy person herself, is overwhelmed by it. Add to that the fact that everyone is talking very loud and very fast in another language...

I understand. If any of my Egyptian friends were to come to a birthday party in America, they would feel the same way. Our definitions of a "party" are very different. Their children grew up with loud parties, my children didn't. An Egyptian at an American party would sit and wonder when was the party going to start? Why are all the children being made to put tails on a donkey? Why would we do this? And why are they being so greedy to open the gifts in front of the guests?

When we bought presents for our friends Emily was telling me how excited she was to see "the joy and excitement on their faces when they see their presents!" And I had to explain to her that our friends wouldn't open their presents while we were at their home. They view it as rude and a show of greediness. Cultural differences are hard to explain to children sometimes.

Even so, we left early by Egyptian standards, probably around 10:00pm. Sophie and Savannah were desperate for sleep.

I feel honored to be included in events with my friends. I love seeing the home life. The parties. The day-to-day. To learn who they truly are and meet their families and friends. Watch how they interact with people they know and love.

Pregnancy Update

I'm sorry for my neglect. I haven't wanted to burden you with the whining of a miserably, nauseated, 1st trimester. So, before I move on to more interesting topics, here are the highlights:

I am 10 weeks, 3 days along on this journey to another little person in our lives.

"Morning sickness" does not accurately describe any thing. More like, all day sickness, with short amounts of time when I feel like I can pick myself up off the couch/bed. I usually try to spend those good moments doing school with the girls.

I am incredibly tired all.the.time.

I know you want to know what cravings I am having. Just like my other pregnancies, I don't have any strong cravings, just desperate aversions to random foods. This time, these foods include, carbonated beverages, any kind of candy, chips and although I enjoy eating fresh tomatoes, they always return to visit in an unpleasant fashion. I have really enjoyed fruit and have eaten a lot of it in the past few weeks. I also love my favorite Chinese restaurant and it is the one consistent thing that does not turn my stomach upon the mere mention.

To my surprise, Savannah has seemed to take my unwilling un-involvement the hardest. She has become a little more needy with my time and attention and she has started having multiple potty accidents during the day. This is a bit concerning to me, as we haven't had a problem with this for over a year. I've been much more intentional with my attention and have enjoyed talking, coloring, watching movies and cuddling with her. Hopefully, this will help her adjust and I will start feeling better soon.

The other day, Savannah and I were lying on my bed chatting, when she looked at me and said: "Mommy, please don't pee on those white sticks with the purple caps anymore. I don't like it when you are sick."

All of my friends here are very excited about a new baby. My sweet friend, Mona, wants to throw a party for me. One that involves, as she puts it, "putting the baby in a dish and shaking it!" I looked shocked and said, "No! You can't shake my baby!" But then she showed a YouTube video and what it actually seems to be is a celebration of the new baby with dancing. You just dance while you hold the baby in soft little bed. Not nearly as sinister as it sounds :).

I was hoping to update you on my recent visits with my friends, a birthday party and an invitation to breakfast at noon. However, Sophie could use some Mommy time, so perhaps tomorrow.

Emily's Tooth

My sweet 6 year old lost her first tooth today.

In all reality, she was a little traumatized by the whole experience. It has been loose for a couple of weeks, but all day today she has been wiggling it and talking about it.

While we were at the store today, I bought apples. Emily asked me if I bought them so that her tooth would come out on it. I said, No, I bought them because she liked them.

But while we were skyping with my mother today, Emily was talking about it with her and she just reached in and pulled it out. She didn't mean too and was quite shocked that it happened. So much so, that she went in her bedroom and cried.
She kept telling us that she "wasn't ready for my tooth to come out today".

I love this kid. Growing up is tough, even when it is just a tooth.

School Projects: Part 2

Emily playing in the water at Al Azhar park

I've been very pleased with the Bible program that Emily and I are working through as part of our school. Even more so today, when Emily, completely from memory, gave me this synopsis of the story of Cain and Abel.

"Cain and Abel are brothers. Cain was a farmer, he liked fruits and vegetables. Abel was a shepherd. Cain offered fruits and vegetables God accepted Abel's offering, but not Cain's. Cain was very mad and he took his brother in the woods and killed him. God asked Cain where his brother was and Cain said he didn't know. He told a lie and God was not pleased with Cain. So He cursed Cain." 

I love the part where Cain "took his brother in the woods".