I spent about two months working in Bahrain and have friends who have lived there. I can't speak for what it's like to live there with kids. Personally, I loved it there. It's more multicultural than I expected. Lots of British expats since it was a British colony not too long ago. I was especially impressed with the variety of excellent restaurants including Japanese, Italian, Indian, and of course Middle Eastern. My favorite food item was the super cheap fruit shake. Fruit shakes are sold just about everywhere. Any combination of any number of fruits for dirt cheap. It was my daily multi-vitamin. My friend who lived there rented a really nice house that included the services of a maid and gardener.
I also really enjoyed exploring the souk (market) where you could find amazing spices, beautiful and cheap fabric, lots of 18k gold jewelery, and lots of other interesting products. I ended up buying tons of fabric and having clothing made. There are many tailors who will make custom clothing. My favorite red dress was made to order from a beautiful sheer red Indian sari lined with red satin.

I'm due in 4 weeks, live near Logan Circle and have interviewed a couple of doctors so far. Here's what I've found: 2141 K St. charges $90 so I didn't bother. I drove all the way to Chevy Chase and interviewed (for free) Dr. Linda Goldstein. I really liked her. She's in a practice with 2 other doctors and there's a garage with free parking in the building. But I really wanted something closer to home so then interviewed (for free) Dr. Marjorie Mcknight at Washington Hospital Center. She was very no-nonsense and seemed very competent (in practice at WHC for something like 18 years). I checked out the Brookland Kids online forum for advice on this and she came very highly recommended. According to those posts (and from my own questions), she is not quick to prescribe antibiotics and is responsive in emergencies by phone. I don't know about e-mail. She in a practice with one other doctor. Also, parking in the building is free for the 1st hour and $4 for the 2nd hour and it took me like 5 minutes to drive there. I like the fact that it's not in downtown, but still just as close to home. The only downside for me is that she's not admitted at Sibley where I'm scheduled to deliver, but she told me she would be available by phone if I wanted a 2nd opinion on anything. I figured with all the ped visits in the first year, all the other positives outweigh this one downside. Good luck and please post if you find out any other good info on area peds.

I found this useful website that will tell you where you can have your car seat inspected/installed: http://www.seatcheck.org/

I'm pregnant with child #1. I was also interested in the 2141 K St. practice with Dr. Hamburger and called to set up an informational interview. I was told there would be a $90 charge just to have that brief meeting, which is not covered by insurance. I find that pretty appalling considering there is a potential that they could get almost 18 years of business out of me! Maybe they already have enough patients and don't really care to take on more new ones. I know this doesn't speak to the skills of the doctors or other aspects of the practice, but this single point was enough for me to forget about them as an option.

OP here. To the 20:37 poster, I thought the Dekor used specific bag replacements. Do you use regular plastic bags? And to JamaicaMom, I sent you a private message re picking up your Dekor. Thanks everyone for your feedback.