Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

First, a lot of family and friends have received our Holiday card and want to know if our address is really Dulles, Virginia even though we live in India.   The short answer is Yes.  The long answer, all of our mail goes through Dulles so that no one has to pay international shipping (including us back to the States) and so that they can make sure nothing dangerous is sent out way, you big brother keeping a watchful eye. I have to admit how much fun it is for Marcus to come home from work with packages or letters, I have reverted back to snail mail and look forward to mail now, it isn’t just junk and bills.

Happy Holidays!!! We hope you are staying warm and enjoying the time with friends and family. We are missing our family this Christmas but are looking forward to spending Christmas with new friends.

It sure has been an exciting year for us, we rang in the new  year by going to bed at 10PM as I was pregnant and had to work the next morning. We celebrated February with a huge snow storm and while everyone hated the weather, I secretly loved it. I knew it would be awhile before I saw snow again.  Besides I got to spend a week stuck inside with my husband and best friend and enjoy mindless TV and good conversation. In February we also welcomed Addison, our niece into the family.  In March, we welcomed our little Desmond into the world with a 30 hour grueling labor but one of the happiest moments of our lives.  April/May flew by as Marcus and I aged another year (perhaps 10 if you count baby aging) and we welcomed another niece, Nadine to the family.   Before we knew it summer had arrived and we were getting ready to move away to India.  

We were lucky to have many friends and family from the West Coast come to visit to meet Desmond.  We enjoyed our time with Miranda, Oliver, and Declan and were so happy that Uncle Peter and Aunt Becca were able to make their way out and meet their nephew.   We took a trip down to North Carolina to so that Desmond could meet Great Grandma Mildred, Grandma, and Grandpa Carpenter  - he was only 2 weeks old.  Sadly, Great Grandma Mildred passed away this August and she is greatly missed. 

We took a few trips up north to New Jersey to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Suarez and relax on the beach.  And finally, August rolled around and we were off to India.

India has been an exciting time, with ups and downs but I have to say mostly it has been a wonderful experience.  We have traveled some and explored Delhi some but plan to do a lot more in the coming year.  Desmond started to stand, crawl, cruise, and is now standing.  He has 4 teeth and went from a fussy baby who gave us a run for our money to a happy baby who loves to smile and explore and is an excellent little traveler.  Marcus works hard but he enjoys the job.  I have enjoyed the time off but also look forward to working part time next year.  Reflecting back, I can’t believe how much our lives have changed in a single year… we would do all over again if we had to. 

We wish you and your family a happy holiday and a happy new year!

hmmm why am I here?

And who are you??



Happy 40 Weeks Desmond!!! Almost out longer than in - 2 weeks left!



Christmas morning, love the puzzle - tastes yummy!

Still eating the puzzle, time for breakfast??

Thanksgiving Weekend

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope everyone enjoyed the holiday! We had a nice long 4 day weekend here.  We celebrated Thanksgiving with some friends and had a really great time.  Desmond was not in the best of mood for the day so we didn’t get any pictures but everyone still loved him the same.  The next day, Desmond went to daycare and Marcus and I saw the new Harry Potter movie and then picked Desmond up and spent the afternoon together as a family.

We spent Saturday sight-seeing with friends in Delhi and saw Qutab Minar (in red and buff sandstone is the highest tower in India. It has a diameter of 14.32m at the base and about 2.75m on the top with a height of 72.5m. Qutb-u'd-Din Aibak laid the foundation of Qutab Minar in AD 1199. The minar was said to have been built to celebrate the victory of Mohammed Ghori, the invader from Afghanistan, over the Rajputs in 1192).  Just a short history, it is also a UNESCO world heritage site.  We really enjoyed our time there and probably will go back several times during this tour with friends and family.

On Sunday, I woke up a with an ear infection so we stayed home and rested for most of the day.  Both Desmond and I have been battling colds that we probably are passing back and forth. I am extremely thankful that he did not get an ear infection (knock on wood) as it was not pleasant. 

I never thought it would happen but the weather has really cooled off, it actually is pretty chilly in the morning.  The houses here do not have insulation so we actually feel what the temperature is outside.  Right now we are all dressing warmer but I think we will need to invest in some heat before it gets too cold.  It is beautiful during the day with a perfect early fall temperature.  In the winter is when the trash burning begins, giving off a lot of pollution and decreasing the air quality.  We had a few weeks of terrible air quality but these past 2 weeks have been nice.  I know it won’t stay this way so I am trying to enjoy it while I can. 

We are finally settled into our home – our stuff did not arrive until a month ago. I did most of the unpacking while Marcus was at work but he did most of the clean up and all of the decorating.  It is nice to come home to a home and not just a space.  We plan to decorate for Christmas this weekend however it just doesn’t feel like Christmas here. There are no decorations up, nothing in the malls or stores or houses.  I am surprised at how much retail in the States puts you in the holiday spirit, even if you hate all the advertising, it works.  Right now we are thinking of having a Christmas dinner at our house in the early afternoon with friends.

Desmond is doing great; he is still a very serious baby but is laughing a lot.  He is extremely focused at the task at hand and is very determined towards something once he decides that is what he wants.  His eating is not the best but we are working on foods everyday – he loves any jarred food but hates anything I make him.  Thankfully I brought a bunch of Earth’s Best jarred food with us. Hopefully he will be better by the time that runs out.  He is scooting all over the place and climbing on anything he can.  I know he is going to be a hand full once he really starts moving. He lets go and stands alone every now and then, he is capable of walking but I don’t think he realizes it and we are not pushing it. I just can’t believe how quickly he is growing up!

That’s all we have for right now, things are going really well and we are all doing well.  Once Desmond and I finally beat these colds we will be ready for another adventure.


Qutab Minar

  

Around Qutab Minar

Hey!  What's happening.

Loving on Mommy!

Not sure how to rotate the pictures - if anyone knows, please let me know.

Obama Visit

Again, I am sorry it took so long to post.  I am just now finding a free minute to upload and go through pictures.  Two weeks ago, Marcus worked many hours to prepare for the visit of the President of the United States (POTUS – as they call it here).  Desmond and I hung out waiting for Sunday, Nov 7^th to arrive as the POTUS was coming to the embassy.  Sadly Marcus had to work and could not come.  Desmond and I arrived at the sight on an unusually warm Sunday afternoon.  Thankfully, Des slept for a bit because we stood in the same spot for several hours.  Around 3:15pm they had everyone stand up which made me think that the Obama’s would be here soon, but no they didn’t come out until after 4pm.  It was hot and Desmond was tired, hungry, and squished with all of the people around but we were in the front row and I knew he would hang in there and he did.  When Des gets super tired or has had enough he will start saying Mama, which he did and you can hear this on a Youtube video.  However all of our waiting paid off, twice.  Des and I both meet the POTUS and First Lady, they both said Desmond was adorable.

After we shook hands and they pinched his cheeks and played with his feet we moved out of the way so that Desmond could move around.  I was talking with a friend on the other side of the rope where it ended and they came over again to meet some more people so by mistake we got to meet them twice! This time there were 2 babies and Michelle said ‘Oh look at the babies, they are sooo cute’  Overall a great day and worth the wait.  Sadly Marcus didn’t get to meet the POSTUS but he did have an eventful day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1pMZBO6dck&feature=share

Around minute 2:30 you can hear Desmond saying Mama and whining some. 



Michelle looking at the babies - 'Oh look at the babies, they are sooo cute’ 





Obama




President is looking at a picture and Desmond is looking for a way out



Our little boy, taking a nap...

Halloween Weekend

I am slightly behind on posts, sorry.  We have been pretty busy here in India.  On October 29^th Desmond celebrated his first Halloween.  We started with a trick-or-treat tour of the Embassy, visiting all of the different offices.  This event alone tuckered Desmond out so much that he fell asleep.  Later that evening we went to a Diwali (Festival of lights) party.  Diwali is like Christmas in India, a very festive time.  We had a good time and Desmond tried to dance to the beat of the drums.  After that party went to the compound to see all of the trick-or-treaters and finally we headed home.  It was a very busy day and it sounds like we probably stayed out really late, but no, we are always home by 8 or 9pm. Desmond hits his limit by then and passes out on the ride home. 

The next morning, we woke up early and headed to Lodi Gardens to have our pictures taken.  The photo shoot went well and Desmond seemed to have a good time.  We still have not actually seen the pictures so we may be getting ripped off, we just don’t seem to have luck with photographers.  Afterwards we walked around, went to a market, and ended at a free family fun festival.  The festival was really nice and included free camel and elephant rides.  Since Des has already been on an elephant we decided to call it a day and head home… Overall, a great weekend.



What is this?



Oh so tired.. even though mommy carried me everywhere.

Diwali sand art

Daddy and Des (Man with the Yellow hat (well green) and Curious George (monkey) - Close enough)



So happy!



Desmond cruising back and forth  - we only got a quick sample but we were there for at least 20minutes while he went back and forth, it was perfect for him. 

Monkeys!!!!

Monkeys, monkeys everywhere!  We just returned from a 4 day holiday to Mussoorie (in the Himalayas).  What a great adventure, monkeys were all over the place, along with the cows.  We started our adventure early Friday (10/8) morning on a 6 hour train ride to Dehradun, Uttaranchal.  At first I was skeptical of the train as we bought first class tickets and the car didn’t look much better than a car on the NJ transit but it was a wonderful and the 6 hours flew by.  A taxi was waiting for us at the Dehradun train station to take us to the hotel in Mussoorie.  The drive of the mountain was about 1 hr which was rough if you have a weak stomach.  The Carpenter family held strong!

Our hotel, Carlton’s Hotel, was built as a chateau in the late 1800’s.  It is a 10-room family run hotel set in 4 acres of orchard, hillside, and garden.  The hotel was beautiful and a very relaxing atmosphere.  Our room had a huge bed (which was great because Desmond slept with us every night) and lots of room for little Des to crawl around and explore. 

We spent our day in the town exploring and walking.  We believe we averaged about 9-10km a day carrying the kids on our backs – this left us extremely tired at the end of the day.  There was a lot of fog the first day so we did not get great views but the other two were excellent.  On the second day we hiked to Happy Valley and saw a Tibetan shrine, the pictures do not do justice to what we saw and experienced.  On the third day we went to Kempty Falls, the website made the falls look beautiful but upon arriving we realized it was a tourist trap with a fair amount of trash. It was disappointing and sad to see how the environment has been ruined, we did not stay long. The last day we hiked to find the local clock tower.  Marcus had read about it and we thought it would be worth seeing.  The map made it look close, so we set out and walked and walked and walked…. Finally, we decided we needed to stop to eat breakfast.  We knew were close because we had breakfast in Clock Tower, Mussoorie but we just couldn’t find it.  Marcus asked the owner of the breakfast joint and he laughed and said ‘oh that tower is right over there (looking a empty space) but it has been torn down for a new clock tower.’ Lesson learned, maps are not to scale, India is India and set your expectations so you are not disappointed, and be thankful for morning exercise.

We ended our wonderful holiday by taking a taxi down the mountain and catching a plane back to Delhi.  The plane cut about 4 hours of travel from our trip which was nice.  The weather was amazing, warm during the day and chilly at night.  Of course Desmond was on his best behavior and enjoyed being carried around and exploring. 

Finally in other news, Desmond is all over the place crawling but mostly he stands (holding on to anything), he has 2 teeth in, and is getting solids in.  We are still looking for a car, the good cars sell so quickly so we are on the hunt.  Our stuff still has not arrived, hopefully next week.  The weather is cooling, even though it is still hot you can feel a bit a fall in the air… well sort of. 




Monkeys!!!!





Big Lion!



Hanging with Daddy

We dressed Des up hoping for a good picture, but he didn't like it...

Himalayas in the morning



Tibetan prayer flags



Family picture, mountains, and prayer flags

Forgot to take his 29wk picture, oops.



Tibetan prayers




Kempty water falls, minus all the trash




Our hotel



Desmonds first train ride

Updates

I haven't posted anything in awhile because I can't say we have done anything worth posting =). 
We have been busy here in Delhi, just living.  Desmond cut his first tooth last week and caught a cold at the same time, needless to say we have not been getting much sleep.  He is crawling all over the place but mostly he loves to stand (by holding on to the couch or anything that he deems appropriate).  However, lately he feels as though he can let go, which always leads to tears once he falls - I am getting better at catching before he falls.  He is eating solids, but only likes rice cereal and carrots, we are still introducing new foods so hopefully something else will pop up but sweet potato and bananas are out.
Marcus has been busy at work but also has joined a softball team, so that helps with some relaxation, I think!
I have been busy looking after Desmond and exploring our neighborhood, finally getting a good feel for the area.  Next, I plan to explore Delhi but I need the weather to cool down so and Dengue to go away!
We are headed to the mountains next weekend for a 4 day vacation, I am really looking forward to the cooler weather (80's but 50's at night) and getting out of the city, it should be very relaxing.

Here are some pictures from our trip to the Taj, hope you are able to view them.. enjoy.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharer

Videos

Here a few videos of Desmond from the last few days, enjoy!

Our trip

 I know it has been awhile and people are looking for pictures from our trip.  I took a few days to recover when we returned and then we lost internet for a week so I was unable to post anything. 

The trip to the Taj was amazing, we had a full packed weekend of traveling, sightseeing, shopping, and eating.   We spent a good deal of time outside and it was hot, Desmond was a trooper. We first saw the Taj and from there we went to many forts and learned a lot of history about India.  We ate a lot of traditional Indian food, which wasn’t amazing but it sure was yummy!  Everyone LOVES babies in India! Everywhere we went people would come up to us (whoever was holding Des) and ask to take a picture with him or hold him.  We did not allow anyone we didn’t know to hold him but we did allow pictures.  Sometimes the entire family would crowd around him for a picture, he is a mini celebrity!

Great times and we look forward to going back when family comes to visit.

Since then Desmond has been growing into a big boy.  He is crawling everywhere and we cannot wait for our gates to arrive because he heads straight for the wires and everything he is not allowed to touch.  He is also pulling himself up whenever he can.                                                                                                                                                            

Daddy, Desmond and I have been going to the embassy pool on the weekends, he likes to hang out and be in the water.  There is a kid pool with a ledge that he is can still be in the water but sit and play with some toys.  Desmond and I also went to Lodi Gardens, they are beautiful and one of the few places that I have found so far that has paths for a stroller, I cannot wait to go back.

We have hired a housekeeper and we are so spoiled.  She is an amazing cook and she spends some time with Desmond everyday so that he gets to know her, I am debating in going back to work part time.   But I have been completely spoiled to spend 6 months with my little man, watching him grow and learn. We fall in love with him more and more everyday! Marcus is enjoying his job and has joined a softball league – they have actual field at the embassy so we will come and watch his games. 

Finally, the rains seem to be ending, I read this is the most rain in India in 100 years.  The weather is beginning to cool off, we were fortunate to come at the end of the ‘hot’ season, but it is still pretty toasty out.  We are beginning to enter into the wedding season, we have already been invited to one wedding but we are not going as it is starts very late and Desmond only wants mommy at night and I can’t carry him around in a sari. I am going sari shopping today with some girls I met, should be fun and this will be my first time away from Des since we have arrived in India!

Here a few pictures, I will upload more to Kodak this week and send out. 

24 weeks!

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Taj

25 weeks!

Look at me!

Big Changes!

Hey everyone, we have had some huge changes here! On Sunday, Desmond learned how to sit himself up, we were very excited.  Then on Wednesday evening he crawled for the first time - a bit disorganized but still a crawl, both Marcus and I were there to witness it.   Then on Thursday morning we walked into his room after his morning nap to find our boy standing in the crib with a big old smile of accomplish on his face!
Our little boy is growing up way too quickly!
We ordered delivery Indian Food from a well known restaurant and not only did the guy come on an actual bicycle, the food came in a clay pot.
Today, Thursday, Marcus had off for an Indian holiday, so we went to a nice market and bought our first rug. We also had a great meal of Southern Indian food.  We are beginning to learn our way around Delhi but I am looking forward to our adventure this weekend to Agra (Taj Mahal) and Rajasthan (Jaipur).

Hi Mommy and Daddy, look at me!

Our delivery meal, see the clay pot

Week 1 and 2 Pictures

We have not taken many pictures yet, but here are a few... I promise to take more pictures!

Day 2 in India

Week 1 in India

Our roof deck

View from our roof

View of our street from the roof

First 'solid' food - yummy!

Welcome to our Blog

As promised to everyone, I have set up a blog to keep everyone updated on our adventures in India.  I hope to update the blog about our travels and Desmond at least once a week, so no one will ever feel so far away!

We arrived in New Delhi, India 11 days ago and Desmond and I already have suffered from a terrible head cold - but not Delhibelly - whew! We are settling in, learning the ropes.  There are no grocery store here so you basically need to go out everyday for fruits and vegetables; we are still learning the right places to go and have been cautious on what we buy. The mangos are amazing!!!!!  Marcus and I are attempting to go vegetarian or maybe we are just going to wait a bit before trying meat here....

Our place is super nice and we live in a nice area.  I still have some exploring to do.  We do not have sidewalks so I am thankful that I purchased the Ergo carrier, saves my back.  Many people have asked, yes, there are random cows on our street everyday.... The monsoon is here so we get rain everyday! Desmond and I were at the embassy last week while it was down pouring only to learn our umbrella had a hole in it, needless to say we were soaked to the bone.  But it doesn't not rain all day which is nice. The temperature is a nice 85degrees - however... yes, however, there is about 95% humidity, you sweat and you sweat a lot, especially carrying him on you.
We are hoping to buy a car soon, but for now we take cabs.  The look like they are from the 60's with bench seats!  I am amazed at how they still run.
We still haven't had much a chance to check out Delhi but we like what we have seen so far (I don't think there is a downtown area like DC).   Keep coming back for more updates. Promise to have pictures soon!