Sunday, March 27, 2011

32 Weeks Old and The Himalayas

Our stay in Calcutta has come to an end and on our last night there we went out to dinner at the mall, this was our ride there a bike rickshaw. Once Cody, Olivia and I got into our seats we realized how small the man was, taking us on our ride. He was tiny, both Cody and I felt bad for him, having to take us to our destination and only charging 15 rupees which is only like 20 cents. We decided to give him a big tip for all his hard work.

Before we left we had to say good bye to our neighbors and thank them for all there kindness that they had shown us while we were there.

As we were saying goodbye it was really late and way past Lulu's bedtime and I had never seen her act like this before but she was like a little angry cat squealing and pulling at little mans shirt and pulling hair. It was so interesting, poor little man was terrified of Lulu and I didn't blame him. I'm sure she left a great last impression on him.

Before Lulu and I left to head back to the states there was one more place that Cody wanted to take us to see.

The Himalayas

The first thing we did when we arrived was went and saw a neat little town. We had to cross the Ganges river and to cross you either could walk across a bridge or take this little boat. Lulu was sleeping so we left her in her car seat and carried her around in that so instead of walking across the bridge we decided to take the little boat. On the boat we met this lady and her little baby. She asked Cody if he would take a photo with our camera of the three of us. I thought that was funny for her to ask us to take a picture of her with our camera. She also had a few kids with her and they wanted their photo taken as well. They were very happy children!

On our way back across the Ganges river we decided to walk across the bridge. It wasn't a very wide bridge and you have people going both ways, not only do you have people walking across the bridge but you have people riding bikes and scooters across it which I didn't like, the bridge was way to small to do anything but walk. You also had people sitting off to the side begging for money and as you can see there where cows sitting on the bridge and walking across the bridge as well. It was one busy bridge!

I love how the cow is just chilling on the bridge, Cody said that he didn't blame the cow it was a nice place to rest because of the nice breeze you felt. Once we got on the other side of the bridge along the street to get back to our car was little shops and people out selling things. We saw these monkeys hanging out and Cody wanted to get a picture taken by them while holding Lulu but as we went up to get a picture one of the monkeys had reached down and snatched up a little tin bowl that had some nuts in it and took off ,as the monkey was reaching for the tin the man trying to sell them ran after the monkey! Bad Monkey! We just walked a few feet down the street and we saw the monkeys, so we were able to get our picture with the monkeys! Once we got back to our car we took a drive to the jungle where we were able to ride a elephant, Cody really wanted me and Lulu to ride an elephant. We almost didn't get to ride one because they said that they don't let people ride elephants anymore I'm not sure way that is. But these men where trying to get us to go for a jungle safari but we didn't want to do that all we wanted to do was ride an elephant, so after us telling this man no about four times on the jungle safari ride he finally said "you want to ride an elephant come with me" So we followed him and we were able to ride an elephant. We also got to meet these cute kids, they were so funny they came up and each one of them shook my hand and then they asked me if we were friends, I told them of course and then after that the whole time we were there they followed me around and giggled it was so cute. Don't mind me I look a little special and this was the best picture out of all of them that Cody took. Don't worry I'm bigger than the man in charge, he was just a tiny man! It was pretty amazing to be able to ride a elephant. Thanks Cody for making it happen! This is a great picture of the four of them with the elephants trunk in the air like that. And I love how little Lulu is just chilling up there. She sure was a trooper on this trip! Look how happy Cody looks! The three of us with the elephant while he cooled off! That is like the third picture that my eyes are closed or almost closed!
I can't remember the name of this place but this place was packed full of people and we were waiting to see a religious prayer to be done. I couldn't believe how many people were there they were everywhere!


People would buy these leaf boats filled with flowers and this man would say a pray over you and the boat and then when he was done blessing it then they would light it on fire and you would send it down the river. Here Cody and Lulu are getting ready to send there boat off!


Precious

Lulu giving her dad a kiss, it was the cutest thing ever!
The next day we went up into the Himalayas and saw this amazing waterfall!


There were people swimming at the bottom of the falls and this is what the women would wear to go swimming in. Pants and a long sleeve shirt. We thought that was pretty crazy, I'm pretty sure I would drowned if I had to wear that to swim. Even if the pool was only three feet deep!



After the falls we went to our hotel and checked in here we are getting ready to go swimming for Lulu's first time. Look how excited she is, this is the view we had from our hotel it was pretty amazing!
Lulu wasn't to sure about swimming, she sure loves her bath time but the swimming pool was so crazy to her. Her eyes were so wide the whole time we were in the pool and she was holding on to Cody and me so tight. She was having a hard time understanding what we were doing. It was pretty funny!
Here we are at the airport saying our goodbyes! Thanks Cody for taking such good care of us while we were in India!

Our trip home wasn't as easy as our trip over to India. First our flight was at 1:50 in the morning and then it was delayed 5 hours, so we had to sleep on the floor at the airport which was so groddie but I was so tired I didn't care.

Since we took off so late from Delhi the whole flight I was freaking out that we weren't going to make our connecting flight from Amsterdam to Portland so that didn't help things!

Then we got on the plane and started our journey shortly after we took off Lulu throw up all over me and herself, Luckily for her I had extra clothes but not so lucky for me I had no extra clothes.

Then once I got her all changed she went poops and got it all over her clothes so I had to do another change.

During most of the flight I felt sick to my stomach at one point I felt like something was going to come up. So I jumped up out of my seat with Lulu in my arms and ran to the bathroom as soon as I saw the toilet I lost it. Poor Lulu was crying in my arms which I don't blame her I would have been to if I had to be right there in the middle of the action. Well since I had Lulu in my arms I didn't have the best aim and ended up getting it everywhere even on my pants to add along with Lulu's.

This time around I wasn't as lucky to have Lulu's car seat with me so instead of laying her in the car seat to sleep I just laid her on the empty seat next to me. But every time the seat belt light went on I had to have my seat belt on and Lulu had to have hers on. So on this flight they give each parent that is traveling with a baby a little seat belt that attaches to yours so that your baby has a seat belt while sitting on your lap. So Lulu would be sleeping so soundly and every time that light would come on a flight attended would come around to make sure I had Lulu in her seat belt. which meant I had to wake her up. That got old very fast. And it seemed like that light came on a lot. So neither one of us got very much sleep.

No worries we made our connecting flight just barley.

20 hours of flying time later I was the happiest girl to finally make it to our destination!

Since we have been home Lulu has been trying some new foods, she tried a strawberry for the first time and loved it. But she wasn't sure what to do once she got a chunk so we had to pull it out but she loved the juice!
Next she tried a banana and her face says it all, I love her face, I don't think she really liked it but we will try it again and see what she thinks of it after another try.
Here she is trying to figure out what it is and if she should put it in her mouth or not!
I got Lulu a new rash guard and shorts the other day and they are super cute but the shorts are to big, falling off her bum and the neck hole was way to small I felt like her little head was going to pop off with her shirt, so even though it is super cute I think I'm going to have to take it back and hope to find another one somewhere else.


Here she is in her new swimsuit, I love her little toothy smile in both pictures she has been doing this alot latley, since she got her two little teeth.
Over the weekend my sister Angie and her family came to my parents house and one morning Lulu was hanging our with her cousin Kelsie and lulu was talking away to her and Kelsie kept saying to Lulu "Lulu you crack me up" and then she would start to laugh. Lulu thought that Kelsie was pretty funny! It was so cute to watch the two of them!
Lulu turned 32 weeks this week!
I love her so much!


Saturday, March 19, 2011

Holi and More of India

We have been hanging out in Calcutta this week were Cody is working. We are standing outside of his apartment. They live on the first floor, Cut N Trim is where Cody has been getting his hair cut while he has been here, how nice that it is just down stairs.

Yesterday was Holi, Holi is one of North India's most ecstatic festivals;Hindus celebrate the beginning of spring by throwing coloured water and powder at anyone within range.
At the end of the day we went to one of Cody's partners Uncles house for dinner. They were such a sweet family and they loved Lulu.

They gave all of us gifts, they gave Lulu that little bear that she has in her hand she loved it!
We started out our day with lots of chalk throwing it was pretty fun. This is a picture at the end of all the fun!
I was covered in chalk while Lulu was taking a nap but before she got up I cleaned up a little so I could hold her and carry her around. When she first woke up from her nap and saw Cody she started to cry, he scared her. But then she eventually was OK with him. Even Lulu got a little bit of chalk on her forehead.

We went with our neighbors for a drive around and they took us to a few of their relatives to join in the chalk throwing, it was neat to meet so many neat people and watch them get into the fun.
This is a picture of us before I went and washed up!

These are some of our neighbors!

Jag, me and Cody, and our neighbor with her son! We had a lot of fun being here and participating in Holi!

Some other things that we have been up to this week. Lulu has always been a floating baby but here I caught her in the act.

Lulu has received a few gifts from her fans while she has been here. She got this really fancy doll that spins and plays music, look it is as tall as she is. She also got this blue shoes with sparkles on them they are super big but they will fit some day! People have loved seeing Lulu while we have been here she is a big hit.

Lulu looks guilty here she is playing on the I pad she wants to be just like her daddy. I love her face in this picture!


We have a friend living with us in our room his name is Gordy the Gecko and I'm not even kidding as I was typing this he came out from hiding and freaked me out. I know he isn't going to hurt me but every time I see him he freaks me out, it's just something about a four legged creature creeping and a crawling around on the walls and ceiling that I'm not a fan of! The other day I saw him and I was watching him as I do often when he is out in the open making sure he is not coming near me, I decided I should take a picture of him to put on the blog. And as I was taking his picture out came another Gecko yes that is right a second one so not only is there only one of these friends of mine roaming around in our things but there are two of them. EEEEEEKK! What is a girl suppose to do!

I think in my first post I showed you a picture of our washing machine well here is a picture of our dryer. Cody, Lulu and I make a great team when it comes to doing laundry!

Our neighbors took us on a driving tour of Calcutta the other day which was nice of them and a lot of fun! After our tour they took us out to breakfast and it was so yummy I had a wonderful omelet.

Here Lulu is ridding a bull statue in our apartment she gets a little wild sometimes!

Here is a picture of Lulu and Cody after we went to church! She was super tired in this photo that's why she isn't smiling.

Don't mind my outfit, I did bring a long skirt to wear to church but I didn't have time to try it on before I came so the first time I put it on was right before church and both Cody and I decided that it would be best if I wore pants. Ha ha ha! So I know that I look like a lame-o at church! Here is a picture of everyone in the ward. It's not very big but all the people in the ward are super nice and sweet and just loved Lulu. When we first arrived to church Cody was asked to lead the music and then after sacrament Cody was asked to teach the lesson in Sunday school he had no idea he was going to be teaching so he had like 5 minutes to prepare a lesson and he did a great job I was impressed. Way to go Cody! Sacrament was only a half hour and they started a half hour late and then Sunday school was a half hour and then they had no third hour.

Lulu turned 31 weeks today!


Here she is trying a trick of being upside down!
I have a funny story really fast. They other day Cody, Lulu and I were out for a walk when a man on a bike was peddling along the side of us and he was just looking at Lulu and not paying attention to where he was going When all of a sudden a rickshaw that was driving in front of him stopped and the man on the bike ran right into the back of it. The man driving the rickshaw got out and was not very happy towards the man on the bike. Me and Cody thought that was pretty funny. Lulu causing accidents!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

30 Weeks And Andaman Nicobar Islands


Last weekend we went on adventure to the Andaman Nicobar Islands. It was pretty amazing. First we had to fly over to the main Island Which is called Port Blair and then we had to take a 4 hour boat ride over to Andaman where we stayed it was just a small Island but it was so pretty and green. Here is Lulu and Cody on the boat ride over.

The whole family, I got pretty sea sick on our ride over so I was glad when the time was up and we had arrived to our Island!

When we first got there we didn't have a place to stay so we went looking every place we stopped at said they had only one room available which was making us nervous, so we thought this was the place for us and took it. It was a little hut made out of bamboo, it was pretty crazy, it is something I have only seen in movies or on TV.

Over the bed there was a mosquitoe net, which was another thing I have only seen in the movies but I was glad they had it because I was so worried there was going to be lots of mosquitoes and bugs since the bathrooms roof didn't quit cover the whole bathroom. It was fun sleeping in the net and Lulu joined us so the bugs wouldn't get her in the night and carry her away (just kidding).

Here is the bathroom there was sad on the ground and boards for you to walk on to get to the sink, toilet, and shower.
The next day we went walking down the road to explore when the next hotel over we found this! We loved it and moved right on over to stay the rest of our stay there. It was a brand new resort it has only been open since December.

Here is a picture of the inside it's a little different then our other hut!

Here we are on the beach, see the lush green trees in the back that is how the whole island was it was so pretty. And the sand was so soft on our little feet it was so lovely!


We went for a ride around the Island and this is what most of it looked like, behind me you can see some houses. We couldn't get enough of the beauty that was all around us.


Look at how huge the trunk of this tree is. We couldn't get over how wide it was most of the trees here where like that.


One night Lulu was so sleepy she feel asleep and had this squishy face and we thought it was the funniest face ever we couldn't stop laughing! We love you Lulu and thanks for being the best baby to travel with!



Most of the time we were on the island it rained which was a bummer because we didn't get to enjoy the beach as much as we would have liked to but we still tried to make the most of our trip even if it did rain. Here we are at a restaurant which we thought was really neat, it is pouring down behind us we ended having to move seats because we were getting wet.

A picture of us exploring the beach!


Lulu loves to be on her dad's shoulders she just has the biggest smile on her face the whole time she is up there. She also likes to do this little bounce thing to show how excited she is to be up there. She really likes to pull Cody's hair so she always comes down with hair in her hands!

Lulu never got to put her swimsuit on because the rain was never away long enough for us to enjoy the water enough to put it on. But she did get to put her feet in the water and she liked that!

It was raining really hard the day we went to the nicest beach in Asia but we came all this way we had to go and see it. The picture above is at the same beach and it is raining. Lulu loved holding on to the handle of the umbrella it was so cute!

This is the car that drove us around Cody loved this little area covered in trees! Even though it rained most of the time we were here it was still lots of fun to go and see this amazing place. The food was good the people were so nice and it was so pretty. Thanks Cody for taking us on this adventure!


Guess who turned 30 weeks on Saturday??? You guessed right our little Lulu! Do you guys like our wild animal printed sheets? Lions, Elephants, and unicorns oh my!




Not only did Lulu turn 30 weeks old but on Monday the 14Th Lulu turned 7 months old! Since Lulu turned 7 months old I think she thinks she is ready to start crawling she hasn't yet but I think it will be here before we know it she has been getting up on her knees and hands and rocks back and forth so I think the time is near for when we will have a mover on our hands! So watch out!


Oh and she is getting so good at sitting up all on her own. She seems to really like to sit up she seems so happy!