Pea D's Lebanese Side

I think this will be Pea D's tutorial to learn the dabke for all the upcoming weddings in our family.

Let's go to the Zoo

I have always wanted to go to the zoo with Shereif, but we never made it a date. As a result, we both promised each other that we would take Pea D to the zoo often. But, I think our house is a zoo right now...that, or a Noah's ark. Let me explain.

Pea D is our Monkey, and she has a few stuffed animals that are monkeys, bears, and rabbits...oh my.

We have a ton of frogs around the outside of our house. They are common in NC, so we treat them like family around here.

Shereif was cutting the grass and was surprised by a family of bunnies in our backyard. They were relaxing in the grass and wouldn't move so that he could finish mowing the lawn. He thinks there were 4 baby rabbits--all of which were brown.

In addition, we have noticed a bird that continually flies into one our vents. We hear chirping from our bathroom every day, and our neighbors have all had problems with birds residing in their homes' vents. I am pretty sure that there is a family of starlings that have made a nest in there.

So, as you can see, our Animal House is coming along nicely. It's amazing that it is happening at a time when we are expecting our own little critter. I guess it's true that Spring and Summer are a time of birth and growing.

38...Feeling great?!

At the end of 37 weeks--Full Term

I cannot believe that we are quickly approaching our due date! I always thought Pea D would be born at the end of May, but I hope that she stays put until her expected June arrival so that she can be as big and as healthy as possible. We have reached the Full Term mark, and our suitcase is packed and everything is assembled and ready to go. I have been experiencing a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions and was 1 cm dilated at my last appointment. They said I could go into labor any day now, but I hope we have some more time.

Our neighbor had a small, informal baby shower for us this past Thursday with all the neighbors who live at the end of our street. It was extremely kind of her to throw us one, and we had a great time. We loved the adorable ladybug cupcake cake she bought, and the food was delicious. I hope to post some pics of both of the NC baby showers once our friends send them to us. I am overwhelmed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of everyone we know. We were grateful to have even one shower with our relatives, and it has been a great surprise to have the other showers here in NC. We are truly fortunate to have such amazing friends and family, and Pea D is loved so much by everyone already.

There have not really been any new changes these past few weeks. Shereif completed a Daddy Boot Camp last weekend and received a certificate. He learned a lot and keeps restating bits of info he retained. I am waking up more at night to use the bathroom and cannot stop sweating when asleep. Shereif always tries to put the sheets on me at night (since he feels cold), but I always take them off since I feel hot. My feet and hands continue to swell at times; and my belly button is still an innie, but protrudes somehow through my clothing. I call him Fred and he is out there for everyone to see :) I have received more sympathetic looks when out in public, and random people ask me questions about the pregnancy all the time. It is kind of them to take notice, but I feel like I am on display. For example, Shereif and I were in a store today and he told me that a lady was staring at me the whole time we were in line. Are pregnant ladies a rare commodity or something? I think it's funny, especially when we see people in our development whom we have not seen since last summer. They are shocked by my belly, but we just joke that "this is what happens in the winter."

With the summer quickly approaching, our life is about to change dramatically. We are both excited and nervous. This blog has served and will continue to be a resource for me to stay connected with our family and friends and to keep everyone updated on our life and Pea D's development. I hope everyone enjoys reading it, and we love reading your comments. Please keep us in your prayers as the due date approaches.

Nine Months

This week marks the 36th week of my pregnancy and thus my ninth month. The weather is starting to really get warm, and it definitely affects how pregnancy feels. I have been fortunate to experience very few symptoms and just started to notice minimal swelling in my hands and feet that quickly goes away. Drinking a ton of water makes me go to the bathroom more often, but I am sleeping well now that I have my Snoogle pillow. I just need the Snuggie (love the infomercials) for the winter months.

A few friends threw us a baby shower cookout on Sunday, May 3rd. It was a small gathering, and we received a lot of diapers, which we definitely need. The hostess made an amazing diaper wreath, and everyone submitted names for us to consider. A few were "normal," but most were hilarious and extremely creative. We joked that we should combine our names like the celebrities so Pea D might be named Pamreef or Sherela if we can't decide on a name.

I forgot to mention that we found out from relatives who attended our shower in Cleveland that another person by a similar name is expecting a baby right around the time Pea D is due to arrive. She lives down south too so it was confusing for a lot of people who were looking up our registry. At the time, no one knew that Pea D was a girl, and the "other Pamela" is expecting a boy so we received some masculine-looking outfits. I thought it was funny because I originally had a feeling that Pea D might be a boy, but then Shereif and I both felt that we were going to have a girl.

We have the majority of things ready for Monkey's arrival. We are still waiting for a few more pieces of furniture to be delivered, and we recently had the car seat checked at the fire department to make sure we installed it correctly. We passed with flying colors. I am still trying to read the books I have, but all the information is just melting together now. I have been diligently filling out a kick count sheet, and Pea D always starts kicking like crazy when I record the start time. She is such an overachiever already :) She has the hiccups a lot, which feel very funny too. I love being able to feel everything (even though it hurts at times), and I look forward to telling Monkey about her acrobatic activities when she is older. I just hope she is calmer as a baby and toddler (keep your fingers crossed).