1st Belly Picture and other happenings...

So here it is...somewhere around 7 and half weeks.
There's a little bump under there, it's coming out right under my belly button.
Promise.
But I'm in no hurry to have a big belly.

Of the few that know of our secret at this point, most have asked how it's all going.
So far no morning sickness.
Just a strange combination of hunger
and a repulsion to food from 4pm to 7pm.
Which hasn't worked out well for Anthony because I don't really feel like cooking anything near dinnertime.
A week or so ago we went to a birthday party for our friend Patty.
Here she is eating some birthday durian.
If you've never had the privilege of being within a city block of a durian fruit,
allow me to enlighten you.
First, do you see the spikes on the outside?
That was God's warning to man to not open it.
Someone did.
Probably someone in Asia because in general, people on the American continents know nothing of durian.

Second, there's the smell.
Singapore doesn't allow it on their subways because of the smell.
I agree with Singapore.
It smells kinda sweet...
kinda cantaloupe-ish...
kinda house cleaner chemical-ish.
But don't be fooled.
Mr. Clean would not appreciate durian.

Then the real kicker.

The taste.

They say you have to eat it 3 times in order to like it.
In my opinion that's like saying,
"Pull a few hairs out of your head. I know it'll be unpleasant at first, but seriously, if you just do it 3 times, you'll like it...promise."

I tried durian 3 years ago while in Asia.
And there's really not a lot that can convince me to do it a second or a third time.
I don't WANT to like it.
It has the consistency of a thick yogurt.
And the flavor is like a cantaloupe, but an over-ripened cantaloupe that makes your mouth warm after eating it.
The 'warm' feeling also comes from a taste like eating a raw onion.
Which is how strong the unique yogurty cantaloupey oniony taste of the durian is.

It's rude to reject any food that's offered to you here, but the other night it was all I could do to hold everything in at the smell of the durian.
And we haven't told our local friends yet, so for now, they probably just think I'm a rude white lady who rejected their offer of durian.
Anthony came through for us though...
And he slept facing away from me that night.
Because, like garlic times a million, it stays 'on' you for a while.
Look at it on his fingers...sticky yogurty grossness...ick...

Ok, enough about durian.
What have I been craving?
Meat.This is meat.
It was salty and good.
Covered in delicious Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning mix.
I love meat, especially for dinner.
But preparing it makes me feel nauseous (along with any other food)
So it's been an interesting dance around dinner time.

On to other things.
The skin on my face is completely awful.
I've never had a problem with acne, but since going off birth control, it's like I'm 13 all over again, except this time I actually have acne.
I'm waiting for that 'glow' everyone talks about...
so far it looks more like a Light Bright.
But not the butterfly pattern Light Bright that makes you all happy...
the Light Bright after all the holes have been punched and you can't tell what it is anymore.
But that's why God made make-up, so no worries.

And the last thing for this week.
We bought our first "baby" purchase.
This is a "Poang" chair from IKEA.
I have no idea what Poang means, but it's super comfy and it will be the 'chair' in our baby's nursery.
Anthony and I have wanted one since the first time we tried one out at the store a while ago.
Today on a strictly window-shopping trip to IKEA, we saw this one in the "As-is" section.
It's in near perfect condition and we got a great deal on it.
We have to buy the cushion separate, but that will come on subsequent trips to IKEA.
By February (our estimated due date as of right now is February 15th) we'll get to hold our little baby in this very chair!
Woo Hoo!
(That thought makes 4-7pm go by much faster!)