Gracy, Leticia and Sachin

Gracy and Leticia are our new housekeepers! They started on Monday and they are fantastic! They are sisters, and both speak moderate English. They'll both come M-F, showing up at 10, leaving at 5, unless their work is done earlier. Gracy is a cleaning machine, and Leticia will help run the house, cook a little, clean and watch Catherine and BabyWax occasionally.
I must say, I was hesitant to have people in my home everyday, but I sure have changed my mind! :) The house is completely sterile and they do laundry and dishes with a smile. They are very friendly and we've sat and chatted comfortably to get to know each other. Catherine was a little shy on the first day, but by the second, she was dragging them into her playroom to play together!
Sachin is our driver, available to us 7 days a week, 12 hours a day. We'll probably end up giving him Sundays off, but for now, we truly need him, as weekends will be spent shopping and touring. Catherine LOVES him-she runs to him and gives him hugs. His English is OK, so it's hilarious to watch Catherine talk his ear off and he just nods and laughs. The great thing about Sachin is that he knows where EVERYTHING is in this city- so we don't have to do so much investigating. We just tell him, "We want table lamps" and he brings us to a table lamp store!
I had an appointment with my OB/GYN here, Dr. Soni. She is very personable and open to communicating with my Stateside doctor, Dr. Cole. She understands our concerns regarding this pregnancy and has agreed to see me every 2 weeks- which I'm fine with, now that I'm feeling him kick. Dr. Cole emailed me to let me know that the amnio results have come back and all the chromosomes are showing normal, so that is a big relief. The baby is very active now- his favorite time of the day is around 6 am. We are still struggling with a name, but we have 15 weeks to decide.
I found meat yesterday- a mere 10 minutes away! They offer everything that we'd consider "normal"- beef, pork, ham, turkey, salami, fish, cheeses. They do offer local beef (which is actually buffalo) for a significantly lesser price than the imported, true beef. So, I ordered 2 kg (about 4.5 pounds) to try it out. If it's not so good, I'll switch over to the imported stuff. I also ordered pork chops and ham for sandwiches- I'm soo excited! It will be ready for pickup today- so we are eatin' good tonight! :) Hooray!
Things are lookin' up! :)

I'm a new woman!

Wow, it's amazing how much better one feels once jet lag recedes....we are all on a more reasonable schedule now and it's a HUGE relief. Catherine has gone to bed at 8 pm for the past two nights and has gotten up around 6:00 am. Mike and I are making it until about 9:30 pm (barely) and waking up to the sounds of Catherine humming away in her bed. Aaahhhh, the feeling of normalcy!!! I'm a new woman! To which Catherine says "Mommy, I'm not a new woman, I'm a new child!" Haha! :)
This comment stirs up thoughts of her as a grown woman and freaks me out! I so hope she remembers her life here- after all, Mike and I are partially doing this for our kids. We want them to be well-rounded and aware of other cultures and love people from all around the world!
I attended a ladies' coffee yesterday and it was completely fascinating- everyone was SO nice, and everyone has such an interesting story. Some of them have not lived in their homeland in years and years- and I admire this about them. They've chosen to see the world and experience it full on!
I know my previous post may have sounded a little negative...and I apologize about that. There are certainly aspects to life here that are challenging- and I'll probably end up venting them on this blog. So brace yourself- haha, just kidding!
We are headed out in search of friends (playgroup) and meat (beef in particular) today- should be a fun day! Have a great day everyone!

Is it ONLY Day 4???

It looks like we are nearing the end of our jet lag...although Catherine refuses to wake up from what I intended to be a 30-minute nap...we are now nearing 1.5 hours, which means she'll be up at 4 am (or earlier) again tomorrow....ugh. Makes for a LONG day!

We went over to our permanent apartment today (now that the previous tenants have moved out), and determined which areas need to be replastered/repainted....which is basically the entire apartment. Looks like we'll be here in this little place for a while....I shouldn't be surprised; after all, it IS India....I'll leave it at that. I'll need to start looking for a significant amount of furniture- and furnish the entire kitchen as well. Sounds fun, but to be honest, it's so much work to just GET anywhere, it's bound to take a while. We did hit one electronics store yesterday called Croma and got a toaster oven, a blow dryer and a hot water kettle. The blow dryer was $60!! Quite the luxury here apparently....

I'll attend a ladies' coffee tomorrow, so hopefully I should start meeting some other people- I think Mike is getting sick of me by now- I'm up his *ss and not letting him out of my sight! I'm still a little nervous to be alone here, although there's no basis to that whatsoever...just getting adjusted. We went for a walk yesterday, and by the end of the 1-hour ordeal, I was about to cry- I just wanted to be back home in TX again! It's so dirty and loud and crowded here, there is no such thing as a leisurely walk down the street. We walked in the door and washed hands, faces and feet. Isn't that sad- after only 1 hour?? Thus the housekeepers- it's so filthy here, I'll need all the help I can get to keep the house "clean".

Catherine sorely misses playing outside- and the fact that she could run out the back door and swing....city living is just not the same, and it's really really sad. It will take some major adjusting on our part- there ARE playgrounds and parks, but strangely, they are open only during certain times (to keep the vagrants out), so they are teeming with filthy dirty Indian kids during the time that they are open- and you know how Catherine is around crowds- she will NOT participate. Playgroups meet at members' homes here- now I know why!

Our first day, we had lunch at Papa John's Pizza (funny, huh? It was actually REALLY good!), but otherwise, I've been cooking all our meals here at the apartment- it's amazing how one can get by with only 4 forks! It's bare bones here, which is fine, but I'm sure that soon enough, I'll be ready to get outta here! The lack of meat is already becoming an issue- I'm already craving steak! There is tons of chicken (and emu, mutton, goat, amongst other things), but that can get old after a while. I'll need to make the 45-minute drive this week to stock up on some beef and pork. I did manage to find peanut butter and the fresh produce here is AMAZING! I cannot get enough of their tomatoes! We might order in tonight to get a break...but tomorrow night, guess what we're having? Chicken! Hahah! There are some other challenges- we must drink, rinse produce/dishes/toothbrushes and cook with only bottled water. Can you imagine how long that takes? I cannot believe how much work it is- for all of you over there in the States, don't take your tap water for granted!!

We have a playgroup to attend on Tuesday- looks like a lot of the members are foreigners from around the world! The head of the playgroup is Dutch and there are Brits and Germans and Singaporians (is this even right?) amongst the Americans. I'm excited about this- it will open our eyes to many parts of the world all at once.

Now that the U.S. has "sprung forward", the time difference is now 11 hours ahead of Houston. Dang- just when I got it down! Unfortunately, our phone number is not working for the time being- we have been having sporatic internet connection and hope to get it fixed this week, or the next, or the next.....seems to be the theme around here! I'll let you know when we've got it up and running.

Love to all!

The Eagle has landed!

We are here- and we are tired. The trip was incredibly long- 36 hours total (not to include the 1-day delay in getting out of Houston due to the big storm in Newark).
We are staying in a corporate apartment just 2 blocks from our permanent apartment- we are staying here until the new place is replastered and repainted. I'm anxious to get settled! Looks like our seavan will arrive March 18th, let's keep our fingers crossed!
We've already been busy, busy....we did some shopping today for some small appliances and some groceries- now THAT is an adventure! More on that later.
I wish I could write more, but I'm so exhausted I can barely keep my eyes straight. Thank you everyone for checking in, and for your emails/facebook postings. It means a lot!
I'll write more in the next day or two- many more details, etc. But for now....good night! :)

Ring Ring! Hello?

Ah, the sweet sound of a ringing phone....I hope to hear lots of this while we are in India- ESPECIALLY because we now have a cool new phone number that EVERYONE can call us on!

Here is the phone number: 713-370-2893

Plug it into your cell phones now so when you get the hankerin' for some Weatherwax chat, you can dial us right up!

Don't forget that we are 12 hours ahead (from Houston). So the best times to call would be morning or evening (eg. 8 am - 8 pm, or 8 pm - 8 am).

Hope to hear from lots of you! :)