Happy Birthday Jason!

Today Jason is 25, a quarter-century! We celebrated with blueberry pancakes this morning, and then a trip to the mall tonight. We went to the mall mainly to eat dinner at a favorite pizza place, and then brought dessert home. Definitely not the most exciting birthday ever, but I'm hoping it was a good day.

Okay, we are definitely going to the Dead Sea next weekend. Especially since it is the next-to-last weekend that Ellie and I will be here!

31 week belly pics

Here it is; the big belly. Actually, comparing it to my last picture 9 weeks ago, it doesn't look too much bigger. I guess I just popped pretty early. Nine more weeks to go til baby brother gets here!

Opinions, please!

We went grocery shopping today, because we were in desperate need of food. The little store on our street that we use for necessities during the week was closed for some reason this week, so we have been out of bread for a while. Our bread doesn’t last long, since it’s all freshly baked in Amman, not stocked with preservatives like in the states. I guess that’s one thing we’ll miss :) Guess what we found at the grocery store?? Generic Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Captain Crunch w/berries! It sounds weird to be so excited about, but American cereal is one thing I’ve really missed while here. There are some things available, but who wants to buy Special K with berries for $7 a box? There is an Egyptian brand of cereal that we usually buy that is about $1.50 a box, but it’s not as good as American. I have bran flakes just about every morning (with a spoonful of sugar of course). This cereal we found was only about $3 a box, so not too bad at all.

Last night we treated ourselves to an expensive, but delicious dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Houston’s, which is similar to…Chili’s, I guess. Ooh, the nachos we ordered as an appetizer were sooo good. The meal, which would have been around $20 in the states, was more like $35 here, but we needed that extra boost to make it until we come home.

Ok, I have a dilemma that I would love opinions about. Ellie has been waking up dry during naptime for a couple weeks now, and the last 5 nights her diapers have been completely dry in the morning! I'm afraid to let her go without a diaper though, because if she did wet the bed, it would be a huge hassle to try to clean her foam mattress. Here are my options (that I see anyway):

- use a new diaper every day
- reuse the diapers if they are dry (I do reuse them after nap for that night). One idea that I saw recently was to put her in undies and then a diaper, that way the diaper is clean and I just wash the undies
- let her go without a diaper

Using a diaper a day isn't too expensive, but it seems senseless to throw away a dry diaper. What do you think we should do?

Fluff stuff

I've ordered my first cloth diapers! I'm going with the cheaper route for the first couple of months, when he'll need his diaper changed so often. There are cloth diapers out there that are exactly like disposables as far as ease, but they are a bit more expensive. We'll be using prefolds/fitteds and covers, so two pieces instead of just the all-in-one diaper. But believe me, it looks sooo easy. And, they are so cute! All I have left is to buy some prefolds, at least for now. (I know a lot of people have no clue about the terminology I'm using, but I'm too excited not to share).

5 weeks to go

Happy Easter everyone! Ellie had a blast hunting down easter eggs, although it took her a good while to find the first egg and realize that she was supposed to pick it up. It was pretty funny watching her look everywhere but directly at the egg.

I've tried out a few new recipes lately. One that was super good was a recipe for chocolate chip peanut butter oatmeal cookies. They were soooo yummy. The best cookies I've ever had are Autumn's mom's chocolate chip peanut butter cookies, but these come in a close second. Then I tried cheese fondue (I've been craving the cheese fondue from Barley Brothers in Havasu). This was not such a success. It tasted fine (actually Jason loved it) but it was more like melted cheese than fondue. This may be because I did not use a fondue pot, so it cooled off and hardened. Tonight I used a new recipe for chicken enchiladas, and they were very easy and good. Not the best, but pretty good. I think my time here has helped me become more confident in my cooking skills, since I need to be inventive in my substitutions and cooking methods. No more strictly following the recipe for me! (All the above recipes are available if you click on the name of the foods.)

I went to the doctor today. The baby is still a perfect size for his age and everything looks good. I, however, have a urinary tract infection and low iron. Both of these results were surprising, since I have had no symptoms of a UTI and I eat plenty of iron-rich foods. My best guess is that I am not getting enough vitamin C to help absorb the iron. So, we walked over to the pharmacy this afternoon to get all my medications. The antibiotic I have is really weird; it's little granules that I put in a cup of water. The granules fizz up and I have to drink it (three times a day). Hopefully this is the last of my weird pregnancy symptoms!

Video of Ellie

Here is a video of Ellie that I took today. She's pretending to open birthday presents; it's really cute!

New friends

Guess what Ellie and I did today?? We went to a toddler Mommy & Me class! The classes just started up at the bookstore we visit. It was sooo much fun! And Ellie was much more interactive than I thought she would be. She was fairly shy, but she never cried and she even ran off by herself sometimes. The class is for kids ages 1 1/2 - 4, but most kids were about 2. We sang songs, read a couple books, did a craft, ate a snack, and then had playtime. This is not a free service; it's actually pretty pricey, but it's worth the interaction that Ellie gets. We'll go once a week until we leave :)

I can't believe Ellie will be turning 2 in less than a month! We're tentatively planning on a birthday party in Lake Havasu after we get back, even though it will be a couple weeks past her birthday. We really want all our friends and family to come, especially since it may be the first time in almost a year that we have seen you! Jason probably won't be there :( but Ellie and I would love to see everyone. We don't have an exact day and time yet, but I'll be sure to post it here when we do.

We haven't gone to the Dead Sea yet, but hopefully soon. I'll be sure to post about it.

Potty-training

Ellie is fully potty-trained! She hasn't had an accident in quite a while (well, besides last week when she peed her pants downtown). She also wakes up dry after naps. This morning she was dancing around as I was getting her cereal (she's going through a phase where she eats the cereal dry and drinks milk out of a cup). Finally she said, "Have to go potty!" Boy oh boy did she pee for a long time! And...her diaper was completely dry! We're so excited! Our only problem now is using toilets when out and about, because for the most part, there aren't any! If there are bathrooms, it is usually a hole in the ground, and Ellie won't go in those. I don't blame her! So, if we go out for an extended period of time, then we'll still be using diapers. Oh, it will be so nice to not have two children in diapers!

Speaking of diapers, we have decided (well, I did and Jason is fine with it) to use cloth diapers with our new baby. We'll still use disposables we already have some, nothing against them, but we don't plan on buying any. There are several different reasons why we have chosen use this method, but a big one is simply cost.

We're thinking about going to the Dead Sea soon. It's so hit and miss with weather right now though. Some days it will get up to 70, now it's back to the 50's. I guess we'll just have to pick a weekend and go, hoping that it's warm enough!

7 weeks to go!

Okay, here are our adventures from the past week:

On Thursday we went to a park. Yes, we finally found a park! And it isn’t any normal park, it is a HUGE complex with 8 different playgrounds, a couple of soccer fields, and many basketball courts. It also has a café, plus a couple of carnival-type food stands. There is popcorn, corn on the cob, cotton candy, and things that are like churros but with honey instead of cinnamon and sugar. These carnival foods are soo cheap. Ellie has a great time there, and she is improving a lot on being afraid of other people. She is no longer afraid to climb on the playground if other kids are in the way. Ellie also loves to swing! Although she is terrified of the baby bucket-style seats, she loves swinging on the normal “big kid” swings. So, we’re planning on going to the park at least once a week from now on.

Ellie and I also found a small bookstore that is all children’s books. They have a little area with toys to play with and books that can be read. As desperate as we are to find things to do, we’ll be going there often just to play (although I’ll be buying a small book each time, or else I’d just feel weird!). I found a book there called “Broken Biscuits” that is currently Ellie’s favorite. It’s neat because it’s in English, but it’s based on Egyptian culture (the mom and daughter have to hurry to the village oven so they don’t miss out on their turn for the day). There are also some nice Arabic baby board books that we’ll be buying for our little guy.

On our way home from the bookstore last week, I was approached by a woman who was collecting things in our neighborhood. This has happened before, people coming to our door looking for “stuff” that they can have. Well, obviously I don’t speak fluent Arabic, but I caught the word for clothes and she kept pointing to Ellie, so I asked her if she wanted some of my daughter’s clothes. She said yes, so I told her to follow me back to my house. I had just gone through Ellie’s clothes and separated out all of the ones that are too small, intending to donate them somewhere here (so we have room for all the stuff sent to us!). At one point walking back the woman picked up Ellie, even though I told her not to, and Ellie freaked out (which is exactly why I told her not to). So, when we got to our house, I gave her the clothes and shoes, and then she asked me for some of “Baba’s” clothes (which is referring to Jason). I told her no, and she asked for some of my clothes. I told her no, then she gestured to Ellie’s toys. Finally, I put my hand on her shoulder and gently led her to the door said “No, sorry, there are none.” Ellie of course is crying hysterically this whole time; it was naptime and she was not happy to see someone taking her things. I’m sure we have some other stuff that I could have given her, but I did not want to go through our things with her standing right there, especially since Ellie was so upset by her. But she finally went away! And I was glad to help her out, even if she was so greedy :)

Ellie and I went on a nature walk this morning. Here are some pictures: (the cat next to Ellie is "our" cat that hangs around our house and plays with Ellie)

It's snowing!!!

Okay, after it being almost 80 degrees last week, today it snowed all day long! This picture was taken around 10:30am, but it's still snowing now at 4:45pm. How crazy is that? It was definitely a surprise for us. We are slightly jealous of all you Arizona people with your warm weather, but we're supposed to get into the 70s again next week.

Technical difficulties

Jason just took Ellie with him to the Fulbright office to pick up some mail. Do you know it's been months since she's gone out of the house without me? I'm happy for the free time, but I was a little sad watching grown-up Ellie marching down the street next to daddy. Man, I knew she would have some adjusting to do when we returned and she is not only with me all day, but I think I'll have an even harder time adjusting!

I thought I would fill you all in on the major appliances in our apartment. Here is a picture of our "washing machine." The left side is the "washer." I fill it up with water, add soap and clothes, and then it agitates the clothes for up to 15 minutes. Then, I drain out the water (into the nearby sink) and put all the clothes in the right side of the machine, the "spinner." This spins out all the excess water. Repeat this process two more times (to get all the soap out) and then the clothes are ready to hang for a day on the drying rack. Needless to say, washing clothes takes a bit more time than in the usual washer/dryer. Hey, I'm not complaining, as this is the first time we've even had a washer in our house. But, we will all be needing new socks, undies, and shirts when we get back, since this process is very rough on our clothes!

And then our stove. There are many problems with it, but I've managed to figure out how to deal with most of them. It runs off a (propane?) tank, not electric. So, when the tank runs out, we have to get a new one. This is not too much of a hassle (Autumn had it much rougher!) since a truck drives around the neighborhoods during the day with filled tanks. The truck plays music (much like the ice cream man) and if you hear him coming, you run out and flag him down. The first time ours ran out, it was no big deal. This time however, I was right in the middle of cooking dinner (chicken-fried chicken and mashed potatoes - yum!). What to do? It was already getting dark, so the trucks weren't running that we could see. So, here is a video of the solution that Jason so brilliantly thought of. It worked!

All about Ellie

Ellie has really been growing up lately. It's kind of sad to see her leaving babyhood behind, but luckily she's not our last baby!

Potty-training is pretty much accomplished, except for when she sleeps. We don't really ask her if she has to go anymore; we trust her to come to us, except for when we're leaving the house, then she must at least try. Today was a mini-milestone when after her nap she asked to go potty while she still had a diaper on.

Her vocab and conversation skills are incredibly advanced (I think). She speaks in complete sentences all the time, and knows when to say thank you, you're welcome, bless you, things like that. The other day our friends Alex and Kendra were here for lunch and they were cracking up at the things she would say. We all laughed at something and she said "What's so funny?" She is also very imaginitive and has conversations with her "friends" often. Here is a typical conversation that I've had with her recently:

Ellie: uh oh

Me: what's wrong Ellie?

Ellie: It's Benny the bull!

Me: what's wrong with Benny?

Ellie: He's stuck in the gooey geyser! (this is all from a Dora dvd)

Me: oh no, what can we do?

Ellie: We have to help him!

She goes through many Dora episodes this way, acting them out with her "friends."

For the past week, she has had trouble sleeping, and I could not figure out why. Recently, I think I found the culprit. Her two-year molars are coming in on the bottom! She has one that has broken through, but the other side is still barely under the gums. I can't see any coming in on the top, but I'm assuming they're coming soon too. I was just thinking that I can't wait for teething to be done, but now we're starting all over!

All right, I think that's all the latest Ellie news. Here is a recent picture of her as a big girl.

It's a ... (take 2)

Hmm, I thought about teasing you all and making some way that you would have to wait or jump through hoops or something, but I guess that's too cruel.

So, the doctor was doing the ultrasound and showed me all the tiny body parts, and everything looks great. The baby was sucking on the hand; it was so cute. The doctor started putting the ultrasound thing away, and I said, can you tell if it's a boy or a girl? She replied, I already told you, I pointed it out to you. I must have missed it. I thought I might have seen the gender at one point, but I don't remember her talking about it. Maybe it's a culture thing and she didn't want to out-right name the parts?

So, we're excited to finally know. Now we can start thinking about names and planning room themes and everything. Don't ask us about the names though, because for one, we have no idea right now, plus we might decide to keep it a surprise :)

Oh wait, did I forget to tell you boy or girl? So sorry. It's a ... BOY!

Great news!

Jason just received word that he will be awarded the Advanced Opportunity Fellowship for his Ph.D. program! This is the same offer that was given to him last year, that was very difficult to pass on for the Fulbright. We were hoping that he would receive it again this year, but it wasn't guaranteed. This fellowship covers tuition, insurance for him, and a stipend that will cover most of our living expenses. And, it's pretty much guaranteed for the entire four years we are there!

Belly update

So, 23 weeks pregnant. Can you see the belly yet? :) Holy cow, I'm so much bigger than last time! Please excuse the messy hair. I can't believe I'm only a little more than halfway there. How big am I going to get this time?!?

Does it look like a boy belly or a girl belly?

Happy Birthday Bryson!!

My nephew Bryson is turning one today! It's so hard to believe that he's one, and Ellie is almost two! I know everyone says this, but kids really do grow up fast!

Ellie has been potty-training lately. She usually goes the whole morning, and then most of the afternoon. Sometimes we are lazy and don't take her diaper off after her nap, but most of the day she goes with just her undies (which are sooo adorable!). She definitely wears diapers when she sleeps though. I think sometimes she just holds everything in until she gets a diaper on; I'm hoping that as she gets used to going in the potty she'll do that less.

I must have been in a cooking mood today. For dinner I made homemade whole wheat flour tortillas and homemade refried beans. Those are two things that I love that are hard to find here, plus if we do find them, they are expensive. And I love homemade tortillas! I also made banana bread. Since we don't have a loaf pan, I made it in a round pan that used to be a saucepan. So, I guess it's more like banana cake. And it's a recipe I found that uses whole wheat flour and honey instead of white flour and sugar. It's really good though, I promise!

Jason started school again this past Sunday. On Tuesday he moved up an extra level! He skipped the entire level 6, since it was too easy for him. His teacher said that he was the best student in level 5. He probably wouldn't tell all of you this, but as his wife, I can brag :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

We send our love to all our friends and family! Ellie and I were busy this morning making creations for Jason. Here's the fruit of our labor:

I had never made powdered sugar before using regular sugar and a blender, but it worked fine today to make the frosting on these cookies.

And here is Ellie wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!

So glad we don't curse!!

Ellie copies EVERYTHING I say. Luckily my vocab is at worst PG rated. But I've decided I need to try to bring it down to G. These are the not-so-nice things that Ellie has picked up. She says:

Oh jeez
Oh my goodness
Gosh
Jeez Louise

And then today, as I was cooking, I said "What the heck!" Guess who repeated?? So, I will be watching myself!

Packages!!

We went to the Fulbright office and post office yesterday, and we came home with mail from 3 people! Our 4-year-old friend Maggie drew me the cutest get well card that Ellie loves to look at, a lifegroup from Calvary sent us another box of yummy food, and Ellie's Grammy (Jason's mom) sent her a box of friends to play with. It was an exciting day! Here is a picture of Ellie with all her friends, old and new:

Petra - success or failure???

Well, we're back. Overall it was a nice trip. I was a little worried when we first climbed into the minibus and Ellie looked around at all the men and said "I don't like the bus." But, she soon fell asleep and didn't have any problems. Our hotel room was just fine, and the jacuzzi was amazing, although they charged us to use it! So, we only used it once. The town itself was pretty dead; I guess it isn't high tourist season right now.

The day after we arrived we went into Petra. The weather was cold, but we all bundled up against the chill. We set off walking, with Ellie walking much of the way, since she likes to be free. We walked quite a long way (almost 2 miles maybe?) before we reached the first real site. When we looked at our map and saw how little ground we had covered, I started to doubt that Ellie (and I if we had to carry her) would make it. We debated whether Ellie and I should go back right then, but I decided that maybe if Ellie and I rode a camel to the next part, we could make it. The camels looked like they loped along at a slow enough speed that it wouldn't be too jarring for me to be unsafe. However, after the first couple yards, I quickly saw that this wasn't the case. Plus, Ellie freaked out (she was already getting a bit cranky) over riding the camel. The camel ride actually scared me because I started getting Braxton-Hicks contractions. By then, Ellie was full-on crying and could not be consoled. So, Jason was able to convince someone to send a horse-drawn buggy to come and pick us up (at an extremely steep price of course!) and take us back to the beginning. The buggy ride was very bumpy as well, and I was having the contractions the whole way, and Ellie was screaming "Don't like the horse!" all the way back. Finally, Ellie and I made it back to the hotel, where Ellie took a long nap and I rested (the contractions went away completely). Jason, however, came all the way to the beginning with us and made sure we found a taxi, before he hiked all the way back in and further to see all the sites. What a trooper! He had a good time being able to hike around and see all the ancient monuments. Besides the botched trip into Petra, we had a good time seeing a new place.

One semi-sad anecdote to share: When we walked into our apartment, Jason and I felt a bit of relief to be back, but Ellie did not share our sentiments. As soon as Jason shut the front door, Ellie ran over to it and started crying "Our room!" (referring to our hotel room). I guess we didn't properly warn her that we were leaving our hotel permanently and coming back home. She was fine once she found her toys that she left behind.