6 months in the garden of Yahya Kaptan

I promised a few people a 'side' shot of my growing belly, but I am not sure these photos do justice to my midsection. You wouldn't know it from these pictures, but many a person has been prompted to tell me my belly looks "large" or even "extra large" at 6 months (in Turkish it sounds less harsh as büyük and çok büyük) by strangers and friends alike. When I describe my cravings (starchy plain things and sweets) everyone says it will be a boy. It is fun to keep them guessing because they are really not used to someone saying 'I don't know' when asked about the sex of the baby. Turkish culture has embraced the concept of the ultrasound fully and welcomes the opportunity to plan their baby rooms in strict pink or blue. I prefer green, yellow and white (hint hint!).

I have started a registery online at Babies "R" Us for those who are curious, though the whole international shipping thing is kind of problematic. I kind of did it just for fun and found myself hooked for hours on the website. To see my registery items, just enter my first and last name in the 'find a registery' section. I have yet to do serious searching for items here in Turkey... I imagine most of what I have listed is available in some form here, though my strategy is to first find things I like online and then look for them here. It helps when asking for things in Turkish.

These pictures were taken BEFORE going to Tekzen (a Turkish Home Depot exquivalent) for the fourth or fifth time in one weekend to a) buy an electric screwdriver that Devrim has now been playing with for hours while putting together our new entryway cabinets b) claim missing parts for the same screwdriver c) locate mysterious missing plastic part for bathroom d) look at cabinets without Devrim e) look at cabinets with Devrim and f) return to buy them. Ah, Tekzen. Now I have the aisles almost as memorized as the ones at Target in Troy, MI. The AFTER pictures may have been scary, so I'm glad we didn't wait to take them.

Also, Devrim and the Deniz family (minus me... I stayed home and watched movies --Bee Season, which I really enjoyed, Prime and Match Point-- and drank homemade lemonade) made the trek to Istanbul on Saturday night to take Güneş to her new apartment. While there they set up Güneş's new closet/wardrobe from the aforementioned Tekzen with two normal screwdrivers and a hammer. This thus prompted the purchase of the electrical device today as it took them nearly 5 hours to do yesterday what took only 1 today.

Last but not least, the World Cup is ending as I write this, so we can now return to normal life!

Cabinet-building in progress.

(p.s... Devrim's mom made the tunic/blouse I am wearing out of a scarf and traditional handstitched edging she acquired somewhere. I absolutely love it and will be able to wear it next summer, too!.)