A Wii Christmas... this'll be a long one!

Again, I haven't uploaded any pictures because my computer is broken. I'm writing so much because I've not had time to post things! Adam's computer works, but by the time I get home from work, or from shopping, I'm tired and don't want to do anything other than read a book or watch TV. Yesterday, I did both. I read some gruesome details about labor and watched Pirates of the Carribean with Adam (one of his fav's).
The past few weeks have been very hectic. We drove to Cinci/Corydon for a few days. We spent Thursday with Adam's grandfather, and then when Leah and Robert were finished with work the 4 of us (along with Ballpark) drove to see Grandma and Jim in Indiana. The next night, Adam's parents joined us. It was really nice having everyone together, and of course, many pictures were taken, but none of the entire group, but a partial group is posted. Khirsten, Braiden, Derek and Aunt Carol joined us for breakfast on Sunday before we left to go back to Cinci.
Naturally, we ate ourselves through the entire weekend. I believe I gained about 9 lbs in those 5 days. We did Christmas on Saturday night before Leah and Rob left. Adam and I gave them a Wii game (Mario Kart) and they happened to get us the same thing! Great minds... I tell you. What an awesome game that is. The gifts this year were great, a little over the top. We had such a great time this year... Adam decided to take it from me and my mom and be especially giving this year. It was great! He bought so much for my brother and others... of course, his "goal" as he says (I say limit) to spend on me this year was hit and exceeded. But he got me such a cool coach purse. I love it! I took him to the Vertical Runner to get some custom fit running shoes for his marathon. He ended up looking at Brooks and New Balance, and liked the way the New Balance hugged his feet. So I think I surprised him with that gift. Something he never asked for, yay me!
We also have a Wii fit now, Guitar Hero, and a few other Wii games. It sure was a Wii Christmas! It was really nice to get to spend so much time with our families... something we would have missed had we been in India. So we got to see lots of Adam's family, and my ENTIRE family over a matter of a week. It was nice, and for the most part relaxing.
When we got back home from down south, we saw that my mom had painted a wall of our baby's room to make sure we like the color and to get us started... it is SOOO awesome! The room is so bright! I love it! The day after Christmas we went shopping for the new crib and dresser and I am SOO excited that I make Adam attempt to get it out of my car. He had to call my dad to help, but my father, knowing how impatient I can be, lovingly drove all the way to our house to help carry the sucker up the stairs. Unfortunately, there were no threads in one of the holes in the wood, so we couldn't complete the crib. The company is going to send us a whole side piece that has threads next week. It was such a bummer, because I wanted to get the thing put together that night. Ah well, I have something else to look forward to.
My belly got HUGE over the past two weeks... there is no mistaking that I'm preggers (and that I ate too much this Holiday).

28 weeks 5 days

Name Change

We've been going back and forth with a name for a little girl. It's been hard, because I want to stick with the Goddess theme, (but still be a feminine name) and Adam wants it to start with an "A" to keep the theme in our little family. Well, to find a Goddess name that starts with an A is impossible. Aphrodite, Artemis (yes, a woman), Arachne.... ugh. Not pretty. So then we decided that we don't have to stick with the Goddess theme, and I started with Adalyn, which I like a lot, but then I really like Elliana a lot too. Unfortunately, Elli - Smelly, something I would hate to put my kid with. So since it was no longer a Goddess, AND the name started with an "E" and not an "A", I started looking at Goddess names that don't start with an "A" that are pretty. Again, not too many of them. I don't want something super popular, and unfortunately, I have one of the better Goddess names, but then, instead of GREEK Goddesses, I looked at Roman Goddesses, and Maia came up (Maya). I love it! So I think that's going to be the name. Adam says he likes it too. I'm not sure if he really likes it, or he's OK with whatever I choose, whatever it is, I love him so much. Such a great guy!

I have 5 more days of work after today, two of them being in Philadelphia, and I can't wait to be able to sleep in a couple of days. It's so hard to wake up in the mornings now. I can't tell if it's the icky, dark, cold weather outside, or if it's the pregnancy making me tired. Either way, I hate waking up.

So now I'm 25 weeks 6 days
FINISHED WITH SCHOOL
not in India =(

Steelers

The family that was going to watch Ballpark the first week still wanted him for the weekend, and they suggested that take a weekend away since we're not going on our greatly anticipated vacation. We ended up heading over to Pittsburgh, because neither of us have ever been there, and Adam wanted to go to the Church Brewery.

We used some of dad's hotel points to get a free room at the Marriott downtown, and made reservations for LeMont (a 5 star restaurant). We had a really good time! Dinner was paid for by Adam's grandfather who gave us money for a nice dinner in India, but when we tried to give it back, he told us to use it at a nice place here. WOW! Was it a great meal! We started off with Spring water (because I guess the tap water that I asked for wasn't good enough), and a HUGE basked of assorted bread. (Like, over 10 pieces for 2 of us). I am such a bread eater, but I kept it to a single roll so that I could enjoy the rest of the meal. We got some shrimp and scallop Parmesan appetizer that was absolutely amazing, and even at $18, I would get it again and again if I had the opportunity. Adam ordered a NY Strip Steak while I ordered Salmon Wellington. A salmon steak, with a crab cake on top, rolled in some kind of fried flaky tortilla with some sort of Parmesan sauce. YUM!! Both plates came with mashed potatoes, green beans and a couple of carrots. I don't think either of us finished our meals, but then the dessert tray came around, and Adam ordered green apple sorbet and I had a white chocolate cheesecake with strawberries and blackberries on top (YUMMY!) All in all, it was a great time, we were very cold walking back to the incline where we had to meet our shuttle from the hotel (which made us wait over 25 minutes for it to come. At least we were sheltered from the wind since there was no heat.

The next morning Adam and I had breakfast at the hotel, and walked across the streets to see Walking with the Dinosaurs. It was VERY expensive, but quite a good show. There were only a handful of couples that did not have kids with them, lol us, of course, being one of them. We then paid a lot of money for parking, and went to the Hard Rock Cafe for a shot glass and walked around a small mall. Everything was Steelers. There was a 4pm home game against The Dallas Cowboys, so we made sure we were out of the city by 2pm. After a quick lunch at Big Boy's (Frisch's for those Cinci people) we were off to pick up our puppy. I'm pretty sure he had a good time as he slept the ENTIRE way home, all evening, and all through the night. Thanks again Comella family!

Final Answer

After about 4 hours of deliberations, we decided that we're going to stay home, and not go to India. Definitely the hardest decision we've ever had to make. We decided to keep our families happy, and to think of the baby. A lot of the things we would want to see after the wedding would be closed, or it wasn't recommended that we go to the markets, and that was what we were looking forward to the most (aside from the cultural experiences). We deemed that I would be pretty cautious of where we went, and that the baby would probably be pretty stressed (because Adam seems to think that I get stressed easily) and it might not be healthy for the child. Makes sense, although, I'm still really bummed, and feel really sh*tty about having to bail on Dia last minute. She and her fiance put so much time and effort into making sure that our trip would go smoothly, that I literally cried many times when I thought about missing the wedding and meeting her family and Dev.
This weekend my coworker still wants to watch the puppy, so we might just get a hotel room somewhere downtown Cleveland or Pittsburgh and get away, have a fancy dinner, and relax. While it's certainly no consolation prize to India, our family and my coworkers insisted that we leave here and do something. (It's been pretty obvious that I'm a little depressed). I'll also be heading to Philadelphia for business on the 15th for a couple of days, (again, no India). *sigh* It'll take a few days/weeks to get over, I'm sure.
The money we lose out on isn't too bad. In fact, the inter-India flight we only lose out on $30. The real flight actually TO India is significantly more, but worth avoiding possible health problems later down the line. I still am waiting back to hear from Dev to see how much we owe him for all of our train tickets. I expect it to be a few hundred dollars, not bad. I still feel awful that they put all of these plans together for us, and we had to bail. Ugh! Life sucks some times... Terrorist bastards, as I said before, I hope they rot in hell.
Anyone remember our Egypt trip? No, perhaps you all recall it being changed to a China trip. Same thing, terrorism, but that time they gave us a few months notice. Of course, this time we were mainly going to India for the wedding, and then were going to travel as well. Stinky Stinky Stinky!!! Now we have to shop for Christmas here at home, rather than in the markets as planned.

More

So this is even worse, the other countries have taken down their non essential travel restrictions meaning it's now "safe" to go. After a night (and some day) of crying (I blame the pregnancy), I've realized that we both REALLY want to go still, and are more worried about what our families and coworkers think than what we really want to do. I think it's easier when Great Britain says "do not go" to say, well, we're not going because a country advises against it. Now, really, the only thing stopping us is family and friends worried that something will happen. Which is completely understandable - I'm not taking back the previous post, but I understand the reasons more now, and am not as insulted. I am, however, extremely confused. We do not want to have our families worry for 16 days straight, but we don't want to live our lives always being afraid. I personally don't want any "coulda-shoulda-woulda's" although I understand that there are some things that we will not be able to see in India (because they are too touristy) and deemed "unsafe" that we would be able to see in say, 25 years or so when we may have the opportunity to go back, (yet miss a friend's wedding, that I'm sure is going to be absolutely wonderful and beautiful). That's it, no decision made yet. Adam and I are totally on the same page of, "Lets go, but lets not let our parents suffer, so lets not go. " I am also afraid that our packing will be rushed (we haven't started clothing yet).

more to come, I'm sure.

My Soapbox

It is so frustrating that after months of planning, researching, excitement and money that a few handfuls of bastards can come and ruin everything. I also think it's ridiculous that everyone around me can plan my life and determine what is right for me without doing anything other than reading what the media says. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the media? They use scare tactics to get people to watch/read their news. Why the hell do you think that the same words are used over and over. "Crisis" Really? Every f*cking thing is a crisis. The fact that they've stopped building new infrastructures in The Flats in downtown is a crisis, but people hear that word, and are more likely to tune in.
Is it right for us to go to India? I'm not exactly sure. I'm certainly not convinced that staying home is the right thing to do though. The people whom I have actually talked to IN India say it's safe, it's the people here in the US that say it's not. Who knows better? Do the people who know me in India want to sabotage my life just so I can see their country? I highly doubt it. I absolutely HATE the tactics that were used to try and "help" us make our decision. It's ridiculous, uncalled for, and demeaning. We are adults, let us make our own decisions.

That's it for now. I can't promise there won't be more to come.