Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner

I guess you could say the chicken wasn't a winner and I'm not really sure I was either.  I thought I would share my experience with roasting my first Singapore chicken.  I ordered a full chicken from the grocery store and it arrived just like the chickens we get at home.  It was frozen so I left it out to defrost so we could cook it up in the black pot that night like my mom and grandmother cooked when I was growing up.  I'm sure at this point in the story, my cousin Cristl, is thinking it would sure be nice if she had a black pot.  Joe and I actually gave her one 5 years ago at Christmas with the promise that Joe would season it for her.  Well, 5 years later I believe it is still sitting in our utility room waiting for Joe!  I promise, one day!  Maybe it would make a good wedding gift... !  But I digress... 

Back to the chicken.  If turkeys are Tom, what do you call chickens?  We just called it DEAD but there was more to this bird than I realized.  As I went to clean it, the damn head and feet fell out of the cavity!!!!  I almost lost my lunch.  For those that are unaware, I did not have many aversions to food throughout my pregnancy but chicken on the bone completely gagged me.  I pretty much have gotten over this until DEAD was staring back at me.  Luckily Joe came to the rescue and took care of it.  He has now made friends with our little chicken butcher at the farmers market and they clean it all up for him before he brings them home.  Needless to say, dinner was not too appetizing for me!

You asked for it!

After NUMEROUS requests, I am going to post a pic!  For all of you that know me, this is a BIG step.  This is me at 31 weeks with my buddha belly.  Joe calls it a huge marshmallow since I have not let the sun hit it.  Really?  I think it is scary enough for the kids at the pool than to have me sunning in a bikini.  I was reading a girlfriends blog and she said people always ask her if she hates all the skinny people while she is pregnant.  She said that didn't bother her but the skinny, pregnant people put her over the edge!!!!!!! I knew then, I loved her!  I blame it on age as I do everything else. 

We head back to the doctor on Friday to see how big these girls have grown.  We are pretty sure they have since my stomach (along with everything else) looks bigger every week.  That's a good thing!  However, the pain associated with the ever growing belly is not so good.  Sleeping is sporatic at its best, mostly due to the 2 hour bathroom breaks I have to take all night long.  I guess it is God's way of preparing me.  I will say there are times that I just knock Joe in the side just so he gets a little taste.  Just kidding...  kind of.  And I won't even go into the swelling of my feet and legs and the beginning markings of STRETCH MARKS!

Since I'm more or less homebound, I have attached myself to a new friend, Gertie the bird.  She hangs out at the edge of our roof and talks all day long.  She is a very loud bird and I feel like I can pretty much pick her out of the bird yard at any time.  Think I need some friends to come hang out with me??  Joe just asked that I don't start having conversations with her.  So, with that said, my posts are probably going to be a little less exciting for a while!! 

3.5  weeks until my mom and sister get here!  Woo hooooooooooooooooooo!

Kelsey's visit to Singapore

We were so excited to have Kelsey come for a visit and see our new world.  She arrived early on Wednesday morning and was here for 10 days.  She had her checklist of items that she had researched to do and was ready to go.  We knew jetlag would hit at some point so we didn't have too much planned the first couple of days.  Plus, Joe had some work issues he had to take care of so she was stuck with the overly pregnant lady.  My list of things for us to do included some shopping, eating, pool time, manicures, pedicures, facials and more eating.  I was happy that I got to take her on her first sort of true spa day at the American Club.  Unfortunately, we didn't have a camera so no pictures in our robes.

One of the things she noticed right away, is that courtesies are a different animal here.  Confucius did NOT say...patience is a virtue!  It was a little unnerving to us when we first got here but now we just kind of laugh about it.  Everyone here is in a rush and have no problems cutting you off or jumping in front of you to be ahead, especially on elevators.  Kelsey was in awe of this and was ready to take someone down if they cut the pregnant lady off one more time. Cars (taxis especially) are all in a race and they are not going to let you in the lane to help you get over and if the lanes are merging, you might as well slow down because it becomes a battle of wills.   With all that said, this does not mean the people aren't great here because they are, they just don't have the societal rules of ladies first, etc.  Who knew America would be considered a considerate country!

As far as the rest of the trip, Joe and Kelsey took off on their own most of the time.  Most of the activities here are outdoors with a lot of walking which I'm not really up to at this point.  So I am going to post some pics of some of the things they/we did which include Universal Studios, Aquarium, Night Safari, Singapore Zoo, Little India, Chinatown, Botanic Gardens and Clarke Quay.  AND for all those that were betting against Kelsey doing the fish spa... WRONG!  She actually did it!  I am not sure we could convince her to do it again, but she did it!

Fish Spa- Kelsey LOVED it!

Universal Studios

Aquarium at Sentosa Beach

Singapore Zoo is considered an incredible zoo and Kelsey said it was the best she has seen.  She got to feed the giraffe's and pet some of the other animals.

Kelsey went to the Orchid Gardens by herself and said it was one of her favorite things she did!

 

This is a picture from the Singapore Flyer which they claim is one of the biggest ferris wheels.  This is a shot of Singapore when we reached the top!

30 Weeks & Counting!

It is so hard to believe that we are at the 30 week mark.  For those that don't know, identical twins are typically born between 34 to 36 weeks.  They don't go much further than that due to them sharing a placenta and it can start to deteriorate.  With that said, we are definitely shooting for the 36 week mark which would be around July 20th.  Typically, if they are born prior to that, they will keep them in the hospital until they hit the 36 week mark.  So please continue the prayers!  The exception would be their birth weight which at the rate they are growing, we should be in good shape.  They are both weighing in at around 3.5 pounds.  So yes, I'm the size of someone having a singleton at full term and I still have 5 or 6 more weeks to go!  Or you could just say I'm the size of a WHALE and feel a lot like one.

Apparently taking pictures when you have twins is not an easy task.  As usual, one of ours didn't want to cooperate but she got one of their faces.  The good news is that they are identical so the other one looks just like this one.  HA!  This is a 3-D shot so alot of the bubbly stuff is the placenta. 

I'm feeling good and luckily have not inherited toxemia which was one of the biggest things we were worried about.  I'm truly living the life of an expat wife!  Massages every week and hanging by the pool.  Unfortunately, I miss the camaraderie of friends and family so that is definitely an adjustment.  I'm trying to focus on the fact that life is easy right now and just deal with the isolation since our world is about to get rocked!  And I am sooooooooooooo looking forward to my sister and parents getting here for a long visit!!  They should start arriving July 13th which is another reason we need these girls to stay baking in the oven!

By the way, I have had several people ask me what an "expat" means and it is short for expatriate which is a person residing in another country other than that of the person's legal residence.  So we are American citizens living in Singapore but still hold our American citizenship.  There is your lesson for the day.