Last Ultrasound...

Here's the last fuzzy black and white ultra sound pictures, if you look closely you'll see a cute face. Next ones should be of the real thing...

Baby Shower

Some friends in the compound (Liz, Kelly, and Jamie aka part of phase 1 of the Al-Malki Compound baby boom) got together to throw a baby shower for the "phase 2" pregnant ladies (Cheryl's in green and due 2 days before me, Sheri's in black and due on St Patty's day). We had a wonderful afternoon with tons of presents and a little harassment of the father's to be. Now Steve and I are trying to figure out what additional piece of furniture could possibly fit in the room to hold all this stuff...
Also be warned that you never know what you'll end up with when you invite southerners from Louisiana to a baby shower. This was definitely Steve's favorite gift - mossy oak overalls and one-zy (that's forest pattern hunting camouflage for the the rest of us)

Happy Birthday Steve

This year we took the excuse for Steve's birthday to have a nice dinner out at the new Sharq hotel which is part of the Ritz family. The food was wonderful and the entire staff made a point of coming by to wish Steve (or Sir Steve as they said) a Happy Birthday. Much more civilized than all that silly singing. They also through in a delicious chocolate cake with sparkler for free.

I was actually impressed how the small the bill was until I remembered that there was no bottles of wine like our dinners used to be.

Also couldn't resist this picture. Mav has had to find a new lap now that mine is getting smaller.

Few more pics of New Years...

Since our camera was on the fritz that night we didn't get any of our own pictures, so Steve took these from some of the neighbors Facebook postings.

Not sure what this was about...I think Steve was triple fisting and needed some assistance.

Happy New Year!

Rather than spend a couple hundred each to celebrate at one of the local hotels the Al-Malki compound group decided to celebrate within walking distances of every one's homes (even though there is 3 designated drivers in the group...at least for another month or so). The party was great and even Athena (the dog) has a hangover - so many people to throw the ball for her she's moving a little slow this morning.

Couldn't resist posting this one of Steve and Javier....

Happy NEW YEAR

And those who've been requesting an update and asking various questions about the baby I'll give a quick summary.

Due Date - Feb 3, but at this point it could be anytime. It's a boy, we've had 3 scans confirm it and will get another next week. Name is still under negotiations but we're getting close. And NO ONE gets to find out until he arrives. Mom will be arriving Jan 27 for her first visit to the Middle East and to welcome her first grandchild. All docs appt have been fine for the baby, but Steve and I are experiencing the administrative skills of this great country at it's finest (that's oozing with sarcasm if anyone didn't pick up on it). Last appt took 4 hours. Brief summary of the timeline for those who might be interested-

8:30 Arrive for 9:00 appt, get paperwork in order and pay bill

9:45 Ask reception what's taking so long, answer - doc hasn't arrived yet, they're gonna call her cell. Maybe she forgot to set her alarm or something

10:00 Doc arrives, we're told it'll be another 15 minutes

10:45 Finally see doc, she explains there was an emergency, apologizes for the delay. We go over birth plan, give copies of marriage certificate and passports. It's illegal to have a baby in Qatar if your not married so very important to have that certificate. Doc wants to hook me up to the CTG machine to see how things are going.

11:00 Someone already in the CTG room, we're told to go to the waiting room until this person is finished.

11:30 Steve goes in to find out why they haven't called us, someone else in now on the machine. I go back to speak to the nurses and completely loose my cool (love those extra hormones) since we've been there for over 3 hours now...go to the bathroom to collect myself. When I come out the nurses have me sit in the docs office so we are sure that we're the next ones on the machine.

11:45 Get hooked up to the machine, get scanned - nurse says everything looks great and the baby is very active (which I could of told them), wait for the doc

12:30 Doc finally arrives, comes into the room and starts yelling at the nurses. Apparently the husband of some Qatari lady had taken her file, gone into the docs office and basically cornered her in there asking questions and not letting her leave for over an hour (since we last saw her). Doc is mad at the nurses, nurses are yelling at the reception staff and everyone is blaming each other for this guy barging in without an appt. (This is a common occurrence here, apparently someone has told the locals that it's perfectly ok to ignore all rules that may apply to others so that you can get what you want NOW)

1:00 finally leave and head to work

Looking forward to the next appointment in a week!

This isn't meant to scare anyone, just venting a bit. The medical services we've been receiving are great and we really like our doctor - this is just an example of how things get done around here. Sometimes living in Doha is the ultimate test of your patience.

Here's to a New Year that goes better than how the last one ended...

Qatar National Day

Qatar National Day is December 18. Conveniently this year it on a Thursday which means we get a 3-day weekend. A few pictures from the celebration you might enjoy.

I think this picture is a perfect representation of Doha. The traditionally dressed camels, a brand new land cruiser and tons of cranes and construction on the back ground.

Here's a traditional Dhow.

Eid Mubarak

We decided to stay home for Eid holiday this year which meant I had a full week to come up with honey-do's for Steve. #1 on the list was finishing the baby room. Here's what happens when you have 7 days to finish painting. Each letter and number was traced from a foam cut out and then painted. We learned the hard way that the light colors (yellow especially) take several coats of paint. But we can now say the room is done...now all we need is the baby :-)
Next project was Christmas decorating since we're spending it here. We got the outside decorated in lights and I actually found a real Christmas tree at Carrefoure (our sub-standard substitute for Wal-Mart). I guess this is the reason to lug your Christmas decorations all over the world.

Happy Thanksgiving

Shortly after returning from Jordan (i.e. the next day) we did Thanksgiving again at our house. Steve rotisseried another turkey (no flames this time) and we had a great evening with lots of food. We invited along some of European friends too so they could experience a real American holiday (centered around eating...imagine that). We also had fun trying to explain what the holiday was for. However, I suspect this is not what the doctor had in mind when she said to take it easy, 16 adults + 4 babies squeezed around 2 full size dining room tables is quite a house full.

Jordan Vacation - last one before it all changes

Steve and I took the opportunity to take one last vacation, just the 2 of us, before I get too far along to fly (Qatar Airways gets to be a pain to fly with after 32 weeks). We spent 5 days in Jordan and met up with one of Steve's Jordanian friends. We flew into Amman and spent the night there before heading to the Dead Sea.
At the Dead Sea we stayed in a beautiful resort called the Kempinski. We relaxed (Steve tried too but those Blackberries can get reception anywhere) and enjoyed our time at the beach and in the sea. Floating in it is quite an experience, I had an especially hard time since my center of gravity is all wrong. You have to float on your back but I could only stay upright by taking more of a fetal position on my back. What's a trip to the Dead Sea without some mud and time at the spa. It's actually quite entertaining to watch a bunch of adults cover themselves in mud and walk around the beach likes it a perfectly normal thing to do. Oh yeah and here's a belly picture for those who've been requesting one...
We also took a day to visit Petra. This would be the place from the Indian Jones movie Last Crusade. As we walked up to it I kept expecting knives to come at us or rocks to chase us down the valley but I guess they took all the props with them. Petra is an amazing place and is a lot more than just the rock carving from the movie. It's an entire valley full of carving where people lived for hundreds of years. Not only are the carving beautiful but the sandstone itself it quite beautiful. This is natural... After Petra and the Dead Sea we went back to Amman and had a wonderful dinner with Steve's friend Omar. His parents cooked us a traditional Jordan feast of lamb and rice cooked in the ground (along with all the traditional Arabic Mezzah). Omar and his family are all engineers so they have built an elaborate under ground oven in the backyard out of tile and bricks. The food was amazing and we really enjoyed sharing stories and enjoying the view from their yard.


On our last day in Amman we went to the ancient Roman city of Jerash. It is claimed to be the most well preserved Roman city in the entire world and we had another perfect day to enjoy the ruins and walk around the site.

We've heard it from all our friends but can now confirm that Jordan is a must see and you can't miss experiencing the Dead Sea! More pictures of the trip are on Shutterfly if you're interested.

Happy Halloween

This year we did something a little different for Halloween and had a villa crawl throughout the compound. The weather ended up being perfect and everyone had a great time hanging out in the street and checking out every one's costumes. I went with Pocahontas and Steve figured this was a good time to break out the fishing vest. We had a Ginger Bread Guy, Superman, and lots of cute babies in costumes but photography in the dark didn't come out too well. Maybe next year.

Boys on The Loose Part 2

So, not to be outdone by any other events Larry and I decided to continue our trouble making boys trip. Part two was a 4 day weekend in Rome. I have said it before, and I will say it again, Rome is my favorite city in the world. It has been several years since my last trip to Rome, but I always compare other travels to it. Several years and more immigration stamps than I care to think of later and Rome still ranks number 1.

We spent a fast and furious couple of days taking in the normal sights and attractions. Most important was the time we spent sitting in random street side cafes eating fantastic food, drinking wine, and people watching.

It was a fast and furious trip, but lots of fun. I am glad that Larry got a chance to see Italy. I think it was a drastic difference from his time spent in the far East. In hind sight it may have been a cruel form of punishment as an end to his 7 months of on the road. Now he is back in Houston, not much for him to look at there....

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Steve's Project makes the news...

In case your interested in what Steve's been up to over here his project (one of many) was in the Gulf Times for the ground breaking ceremony. Click on the link to find out more...

Boy's On The Loose

So while Mariah went on a little shopping spree in the US, I took a couple of quick weekend trips with my buddy Larry. Larry has spent the last 7 months traveling the world, blowing off steam. He was wrapping up his trip here in the Middle East before heading back to Houston. Bad news for Larry was that he showed up during Ramadan. Good news for Larry is you can still buy drinks in Dubai during Ramadan, and I had more than enough frequent flyer miles to get us there.

First stop Mall of The Emirates and the worlds only indoor ski slope. I thought that this would be corny, but it was actually a good time. An hour of indoor runs for 30 buck, no line, all equipment provided. It was actually cold (around 25 deg.).

Next day we took a taxi tour of Dubai construction. I am always amazed at the shear volume, you can't look in any direction without counting at least 20 tower cranes. Here is a photo that we took looking at the Burj Dubai, the worlds tallest building at 2,684 feet.

Color Sunday in Colorado

I had to go to the US for a training class and was able to take advantage of the trip by spending some vacation time in the states. The trip started in North Carolina were I got to spend a week on the beautiful UNC campus in Chapel Hill. From there I meet up with my Mom, sister, and Aunt Bun for a day in DC followed by a few days in my sister's new house in Dover, Delaware. From there my Mom and I visited our relatives near Montreal before finally heading to Colorado. We were just in time to see the fall colors on the Grand Mesa above Palisade and my Dad got a few great shots that I've included below.





While in Colorado I was also able to do some major baby shopping, including the crib, tons of baby clothes, and all those gadgets you had no idea you needed. The company allows for an additional shipment so I got that organized and sent back to Doha. Next big project will be setting up the baby room... and for those wondering Steve couldn't come on the trip but ended up spending a few days in Rome with Larry (which will likely be the next posting).

ITS A BOY!!!

And Dad is excited.

So, we just had our 2nd trimester ultrasound. The Doctor and I had a nice long chat about how they determine the sex. She claims it is very easy: "you see there? Those are the legs, and guess what is in between?" I smiled and then made her show it to me again about 5 times from different angles just to be sure. The doctor was very amused by this, and after I asked for the 6th time "are you sure it is a boy" (not wanting to loose anything in translation of course), she told us that in her professional opinion she is a 1,000% sure. Take a look at the photo below and be your own judge.


The little guy was very active during the ultrasound today. The doctor especially enjoyed the little bit where he was covering his eyes and appeared to be sucking on his hand. As much as he was moving it made me wonder how annoying it must be to be pummelled with high frequency sound waves just so mom and dad can take a sneak peak.