Chromilo Amin

It's been a couple of months since my last post. We are now into our 20th week of pregnancy and everything is going well so far. We saw the ultrasound pictures early on at 16 weeks and will be going to another one in the first week of December. Going through ultrasound is not a very pleasant experience because of the amount of water one has to drink in order for the machine to clearly detect the baby. When you are pregnant with a full bladder, the feeling can be a little uncomfortable. I was at a company function that time and couldn't join Grace at the doctor's office for the ultrasound visit but fortunately, Ate Feli was around and she helped Grace to the clinic. I'm excited about the next ultrasound because we may finally get to find out my kids sex. I really don't care if its a boy or a girl. It'll simply help us with deciding on baby names and other baby paraphenelia. Grace has now gained some weight and she said she is feeling some "butterflies" ...

This is what the bird looked like before we started. Grace, Ava, and I were worried that we didn't thaw the bird long enough. At 5Kg, it should have thawed at around 50 hrs but I think it only sat out for under 24hrs. We stuffed it regardless and put it in the oven at 11:30am and by 4pm this is what it looked like: Hmmm. It tasted so good. We almost forgot to baste the bird with it's oil but it turned out so delicious regardless. We will probably cook turkey again for Xmas. We had some people over and there was no leftover for the next day. :)

I bought two Def Leppard tickets very early on (months in advance) but since Grace got pregnant, we decided she probably shouldn't go. Not sure what rock-and-roll music will do to an unborn infant. I asked Raul if he could go and what a guy, he pulled through. He even cancelled 2 prior commitments just to make it to the concert. Thanks buddy. Better still, Raul also was a big fan so it was a great choice. This is me and Raul wasted on beer. It was great. The opening act was Styx. Haven't heard much of their songs but they did get the crowd going. Here is opening for Def Leppard. The stadium was in total pandemonium. Everyone was on their feet. A bunch of couples in our row and behind us were all smoking pot. Mmmm. Smell of pot. It was like living in the 80's again. Here is the lead singer. Great seeing the one-armed drummer still doing his thing. I loved the concert. Especially when they played rocket man, pour some sugar on me, and hysteria. Rock and roll.

This is what my wife looks like at 13 weeks into the pregnancy. She is eating a lot of fruits and is always tired. She is now at 134 lbs, up by 4 lbs from a month ago. We haven't actually measured her waistline yet but will soon enough in order to get a baseline for when her tummy starts to show. Here is a nice shot take from behind our one red apple in the backyard. Nice and juicy apple. I can't get myself to harvest this fruit seeing as it's the only one in the tree. Can you see Grace in the background? This is how tall our pear tree is in the backyard.

Grace and I finally heard my kid's heartbeat at 12 weeks using the fetal doppler device. We were nervous at first because we couldn't hear anything at first. We heard Grace's own heartbeat and then the device started sputtering until we couldn't hear anything. Turns out the device was low on battery and it just needed a new pair. Dr. Shuurman went back to using the doppler on Grace's stomach and after a few seconds of discovery, we finally hear the strong beat of my kid's heart. putumpt-putumpt-putumpt... It was the most exciting thing for us. Almost as if my wife had given birth right there and then. Our next appointment is in a month and I can hardly wait. This pregnancy thing isn't at all easy, is it? The anxiety is the worst.

Wine tasting, fruit picking, beach-side resorts, and tropical weather just 4 hours away. I love Kelowna! We visited all the wineries that I recognized like Mission Hill, Cedar Hill, Summerhill, Quails, Boucherie, and visited smaller wineries like Calona and House of Rose. My wife and I weren't sober most of the day and the food at the wineries was awesome. We went cherry picking for a little over $2.50 per lb and it was so much fun. We also went apricot picking for $5 per bucket. We stayed at the Lakeshore Inn Resort by the beach and the vibe of the whole place reminded me so much of Hawaii. We'll definitely come back to the Okanagan region again, maybe to invest in one of the high-rise condominiums. You never know.

Philip, Ava, Grace, and myself stayed overnight at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria just to experience what the castle was like. It was much older than I had anticipated and the hotel was just ok. The ferry trip was nice. It's been a while since we saw the open sea. After we checked in to the hotel, we went out for dinner and walked around town. It was so windy and cold that Saturday and we didn't bring anything warm to wear. Great! The next day, we hit the Parliament Building, watched a parade go by, and headed out to the Buchard Garden. As good as I remembered it but not sure if the price was raised since because I could have sworn it was less than $25 ea. Overall, the trip was memorable except for the long wait at the ferry coming home. I think we waited for over 3 hours before boarding and that didn't include the trip back home after we got back to the mainland. We may fly by Harbour Sea Plane next time. :)