Happy Second Birthday

Happy Second Birthday Desmond!!!

Here are a few pictures from Desmonds 2nd birthday party. We did a joint birthday with 2 of his friends from school. 

Desmond was so excited that 'Thomas the Train' came to his birthday! He did not get off of the train for a long time.

But then he discovered the bouncy castle and he forgot all about the train!

He mastered climbing up and bouncing down very quickly

Des and some of his best buds!

Des and his buds had a great time playing together

Happy Birthday!! They didnt really care for the cake and singing part...as you can see.

I'm 2 and loving it! What a great day!

Well, if no one else is going to eat the cake I might as well have another piece.. yummy!

Des and his 2 friends had a great birthday party on the compound  He was able to share the fun with all of the friends he has made since we arrived in Delhi. It turned out to be a great day... perfect weather, great friends, and a good time had by all!

Carpenter Update

We sure have been busy since our last posting. Instead of writing everything out, I am going to post pictures of the highlights of the last few months.

Of course the most exciting highlight is the birth of our daughter, Iris Emily Carpenter. She was born on January 17th in New Delhi, India. She was a whopping 9.5lbs and 5 days late.

Iris with Mommy

Iris with Daddy

Iris Emily Carpenter

 But before her birth, we went to Lodi Garden with Desmond and had some fun...

Des running after the Huge Balloon we bought him for 10INR. it only lasted a short while before popping, but he had fun!

Grandma and Grandpa Suarez arrived to India on January 16th.. talk about good timing for the arrival of Iris!
They stayed for one month and we all had a great time, only wish they were able to stay longer....

3 generations!

snoozing on grandma

Iris and grandpa

Then Grandpa Marty and Aunt Becca came to India for a week. They were on a sightseeing mission! We were happy they made the trip out to see everyone!

Grandpa meeting Iris

Aunt Becca and Iris having a staring contest

Desmond celebrated Holi at his school!

Des and his friend at Holi

Holi

Desmond and Iris saw an elephant. Desmond was scared of the elephant (well actually just the hair on the elephant) but he did get on for a ride with Daddy!

Feeding the elephant! Bananas, yummy!!

Daddy and Des on the elephant

Family pic!

Desmond moved from the baby crib to a big boy Thomas toddler bed..

A happy Boy!

Sleeping.... ahh so nice

All the while Iris continued to grow and be a sweet little girl... More to come..we still have a lot going on.... but the time in India is winding down. We cannot believe how quickly the time has gone!

Music Class

Here are some fun pictures of Des and his buddies at Music Class - Nov 2011 - Dec 2011

Trying out the 'drums'

Desmond and Joshua like to hang out while everyone else dances to the music

Desmond loved the guitar!

hug it out!

trying out an other new instrument with Joshua and Abby ('Abbigirl' - Des's name for her)

whoa... drums, I wanna touch

I see you!!!

Des and Joshua claimed those seats, no one else was going to sit there!

Look at me!! I am playing on the drums!

Think I can get a set for my birthday? mom and dad would love it!

Pictures from the last few months

Camping (October 2011)

Checking out the boats on the Ganges! (camping 10/2011)

If mommy would let me I would use all of the water to play
(Camping 10/2011)

Diwali Work Party 10/2011 - Des won Best Dressed!!!

Des was able to swim on his own by the end of the summer with his floaties - LOVES the Water!!
(10/2011)

Train Museum!!  (10/2011)

Check out the candy I got... after Halloween 10/2011

Thanksgiving Dinner (11/2011)

I love lollipops! (12/2011)

Des got to meet Santa 2 times this year! (12/2011)

Tina (our ayah) and family came to visit us on christmas morning. Des loved playing with Catherine.

Happy New Year!!!! 2012

It was an exciting 2011.  We went on five trips throughout the US, Europe, and India.  The Carpenter and the Suarez families came all the way out to visit us.  We celebrated Desmond’s First Birthday, and we found out we are expecting Carpenter 2.0.  Desmond started ‘school’ this year and has made a lot of good friends.  He sees his best bud Joshua almost every day at the playground in the morning and school in the afternoon.   Des (and Joshua) just received their first (of many) certificate of completion in music class – they learned about new instruments and were able to try them out.  Overall it has been an exciting, balanced year!

This year we had a nice family Christmas.  Desmond was completely in the Christmas spirit but he was more obsessed with Frosty the Snowman than with Santa Claus.  On Christmas morning he woke up and we told him Santa came, he did not move.  We told him Rudolph came, he still did not move.  Then we told him that Frosty came and he ran out to see what Frosty brought.  He was a little overwhelmed and it took some time for him to ‘get into the spirit’ of unwrapping gifts, but he got there.  Thanks to ‘Santa’ he received new trains, puzzles, two tents, and many more exciting gifts.  After unwrapping all of the gifts, we had a nice family breakfast and started to prepare for the afternoon.  We had some friends over for Christmas dinner and the kids played all afternoon together.  It was very relaxing and enjoyable time.  Des was exhausted from all of the Christmas activity and took three-hour naps for the next few days. 

New Years was not as exciting as Christmas but still enjoyable.  We spent time together as a family on New Year’s Eve, reading books and playing with trains.  I think Desmond even snuck in an extra watch of Frosty the Snowman!  Marcus and I spent the evening watching movies and eating delicious Spicy Indian take out… yum!  We actually were very lame and didn’t make it up to midnight but woke up the next morning in 2012!!! 

This year we have a lot of exciting things to look forward to.  We are now waiting for the arrival of Carpenter 2.0.  Desmond has been getting plenty of baby experience with all of the new babies around the embassy and this morning he came up to give the baby in the belly a kiss without being asked!  We are looking forward to the return of the Suarez Grandparents, Grandpa Carpenter, and Aunt Becca.  Before leaving India, we would like to take a few more trips to see the country.  Of course Desmond is going to continue with his schooling and playing (what he does best).  In the second half of the year, we will be headed back to the US, ending our tour here.  We have plenty of time to reflect so I won’t go into to now.  Right now we are looking forward to an exciting year!

Here are a bunch of pictures from the last few months.  We promise to update everyone once Carpenter 2.0 arrives (hopefully soon!).

We will post pictures shortly from the last few months, still sorting through them.

Happy New Year!!

Darjeeling

We just returned from an amazing trip to Darjeeling with our friends Violeta and Ramunas.  The flight up was very uneventful but the drive from the airport to Darjeeling was quite an adventure.  I think it possibly was the worst road I have ever been on and we were on it for almost 4 hours.  Once we arrived to Darjeeling and found our hotel we had to literally hike up to reception… mind you we are 7,000+ ft above sea level… no joke if you are carrying all of your luggage and a toddler.

Our room was simple and big; great for little Desmond to run around and expel his energy.  It might be a good time to note that our room was a 112-stair hike from the ground!!  I am not kidding.  We walked 112 stairs each and every time we wanted to get to the room!

Darjeeling is beautiful and we really lucked out with decent weather. It would be raining in the morning but stop by the time we got ready to go out.  We had 2 great mornings with clear skies in which we were able to see the Himalayas.

 We did a fair amount of walking every day… to the point of exhaustion by everyone (a lot of hills).  I think I exceeded my own expectations being 5.5 months pregnant and either carrying Desmond or a backpack.  Of course Desmond was a huge hit and everyone wanted to see him.  Tibetans only look and are extremely friendly people so we didn’t mind all the attention (I usually draw the line when people start touching him with dirty hands).  We saw a lot of great sites but the two biggest highlights were the zoo and the toy train.

This is probably the nicest zoo I have seen, ever!  The animals seemed happy and well cared for. Desmond absolutely LOVED the monkeys:  they started to play in their cage, which made him laugh and encouraged them to play around more.  This made him laugh harder!  The show went on for about 5 minutes (I wish we had a video camera with us). 

The toy train was pretty interesting as well, except that Des and I were covered in coal by the time we reached our destination.   Desmond now has an obsession with trains!

 Overall, we had a great time.  The company was great and the food was tasty.  I was able to satisfy my momo (steamed dumplings) cravings and enjoyed a lot of good tea.  This is a place we can only hope to return to one day.

Yarn, lots of Yarn from a Tibetan safe Haven!

Des taking a snooze

hello!

Check out my shirt!! Carpenter - Daddy, uncle Peter and Cousins Jack and Erik have all worn this shirt

Brown bear taking a snooze

Hi daddy! looking out the train window

Our toy train!

Hiya! I shut the door!

Tibetan Prayer flags

View from our Hotel Room! Amazing!

Young men from Darjeeling