Bedtime Battles...and a victory!

Here's a picture of Guy with his bedtime buddy, Grover. They keep each other company at night and during naps. Aren't they cute together?! Last time I blogged, I wrote about how our little boy loves to go to bed early, which is still true. So perhaps our battle isn't over bedtime, but just waking up in the middle of the night. The score so far: Guy, 7; Parents:1

For the past eight days, Guy has been waking up at odd hours of the night and hollering for company. Our usually predictable sleeper has been loudly protesting around 10:30 p.m., 11 p.m., 1 a.m., 2:30 a.m., 5 a.m., etc. Not all of these times every night, but various combinations of them on different days. We've made the rounds and asked all the questions: Growth spurt? Teething? Sick? Lonely? Spiritual stuff? I've reread all the sections on sleeping for 5 month-olds in all my parenting books, hoping that the same old paragraphs will offer something new for us to read and say "Ah ha! That's it!"

I'll go ahead and let you know that sacrificing sleep has been the hardest thing about parenting for me. During my pregnancy I slept probably 13-15 hours in a 24 hour period. After Guy came, I started to be grateful for 5. He has settled into being a decent sleeper and we're trying to develop good habits in him. But this last week has been rough! Yesterday I was pretty much at my wits end. After turning out the light for the night, I grabbed my phone, called my mom and asked her to pray for us. The night before, as we were letting Guy "cry it out", I was up from 2-5 a.m. and then Guy woke up for the day at 6:20. Last night I was pretty certain that I couldn't handle the same routine, but I also knew this week-long streak of night-waking had to end.

This particular battle is one that sends me quickly to my knees in prayer. I am in desperate need of God's grace and patience when it comes to sacrificing sleep. I can be SO grumpy when I don't get enough! As I watch Guy grow and his unique personality emerge, it is such a relief that I can ask God for the wisdom and help I need to raise him well. It's a job I am definitely ill-equipped for on my own.

I'm glad to report that between 6 p.m. and almost 7 a.m., Guy only woke up once. He ate and we were able to put him straight back to bed. No other protests interrupted our night. I went to bed early myself and was able to get some much-needed rest that provides me with both sanity and perspective throughout the day. Cheers to the victory! And here's to hoping (and fervently praying) for another good night tonight.

Ladies Nights

It is Tuesday evening, and I am finally relaxing after putting Guy down for the night. Jonathan is at the English Center teaching his classes and will come home about 8 p.m. There have been some awesome things going on at the Center recently. If you don't get our updates via newsletter or email, let me know and we'll add you to the list!

This weekend I had the privilege of being at the Center for a "Women's Party". We've noticed at the Center that the women can be easily overshadowed by the men in class. They are not typically outspoken when sharing or asking questions. So some people who work with the Center have been making special efforts to converse with and bless our female students. The "Women's Party" was the brain-child of my good friend Lisa, who organized the gathering to show the women that we love and appreciate them. It was a great time of talking and eating, and I enjoyed meeting several new people. The group was small, so it was easy to get a good visit in.

I have another women's gathering to look forward to next week. The group includes one of Jonathan's former students that I have been trying to connect with for ages, so I'm really excited about that. Guy was even invited! The only glitch is timing: the meeting runs from 5-7 p.m. and our son has decided that his bedtime is 6 p.m. (Hopefully he'll be a trooper that night.) Some friends have asked me how I managed to make his bedtime so early. Believe me, I had nothing to do with it! In fact, I've tried to push it back, but Guy will have nothing of the sort. That kid is ready to hit the sack at 6. I'm really grateful, though, since it leaves me some time in the evening to relax and do fun things like posting a blog!

Take Your Kid to Work Day

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been easing myself into working at the English Center. Right now I'm attending our Thursday staff meetings and various special events that we are holding for our students. So every Thursday has become "Take your kid to work day" for me and Jonathan. Fortunately the rest of the English Center staff has been very patient with us and Guy as we've been figuring out how to make it work.

I'm pleased to report that Guy has been fantastic for us the past couple of weeks. He's sat contentedly (and relatively quietly) through the meetings, and when it's time for a nap, he's slept pretty well in one of the offices that we've been using as a nursery. Here he is with a couple of our coworkers. They gave him that cute little moose outfit he has on, and Sarah willingly gave us a break by holding him for most of our meeting that morning.

Inconveniences and Opportunities

I know I'm stating the obvious, but one of the things we've learned while living overseas is that America truly is the land of convenience. Many people criticize this aspect of American culture, but I confess that I love having lettuce all cut up in a bag and ready to eat!

Life in Amman, though relatively advanced compared to most of the world, has its fair share of inconveniences that we have adapted to. A quick example for you: we have a "water day." That means that one day a week the city fills up a large tank on the top of our roof with water. We are responsible for rationing this water to meet our basic needs, such as bathing, laundry, going to the bathroom, washing dishes, etc. So one day a week is essentially devoted to cleaning the house and doing laundry~tricky when you have to line dry all your clothes and it's raining outside. It is definitely inconvenient at times, especially because it means we have to be home on that day. But it's also been a good lesson in conservation and an opportunity to be responsible with our natural resources.

One of the inconveniences we are currently facing is that Jordan doesn't carry baby food. You can find formula and perhaps a box of "cereal" for infants, but when it comes to those great little jars of veggies and meats for your little one, they don't exist. So far this has been a non-issue for us. However, for about a week Guy has been eyeing us like a hawk when we put food in our mouths. Our boy loves to eat, and now he is noticing the unique way Jonathan and I do it. I am currently facing the reality that these next few months are going to involve a good bit of culinary effort on my part to keep this little one fed. Honestly, I've never been the person who loves to go "all natural" or organic, but I'm trying to see this as an opportunity to get Guy off to a healthy start!

While I'm on the subject of food, last week Jonathan and I picked up one of those boxes of "cereal" for Guy to try out. We mixed it with formula and, about ten minutes after we fed him, our little boy (who has only ever feasted on breast milk) came down with a nasty case of hives! Though he ended up being fine, his parents were traumatized. We're still not sure which one (formula or cereal) caused the allergic reaction, and I've decided to wait a few days before trying anything again. Live and learn!

Play Date at the Park

Guy and I went on our first "play date" to the park the other day with a couple of friends and their children. How might an almost-5-month-old play with other children, you ask? He didn't, really. However, he did enjoy the unseasonably warm weather sprawled out on a blanket on the grass. Parks in Amman are sparse, especially those sporting greenery like we found at this particular one. It was fun to watch him observe the grass and trees.

On the way home, I was reminded of one of my favorite aspects of Arab culture. Stopped at a traffic light, there was a woman standing on the side of the road next to our taxi. She was a standard-looking Jordanian woman: long coat, covered head, serious (rather, severe) expression on her face. As I looked out the window, she made eye contact with me and quickly looked away. Two seconds later, I looked down at Guy sitting in my lap. He was looking at the lady and smiling so happily. I turned and looked at the woman again and she was smiling too. Her whole face lit up. It was a total transformation.

Most Arabs really love and value children. They love being around them, talking to them, kissing them. It's especially fun to watch men of all ages do almost anything to get a child to smile. I've watched cars hold up traffic on a busy road trying to get Guy's attention and see his face.

Jordan can be such a serious place. I once heard someone accurately describe Amman as a city where it appears all the people walk around with something behind them pushing their heads toward the ground. Rarely joking, little joy, plenty of anger, lots of fears. But the joy and pleasure they have in children is unlike any I've seen in another culture. It renews my gratefulness that we've been blessed with our son who can bring joy into someone's life just by his presence.

A Great Year

I (Corrie) celebrated my 29th birthday on January 31st. Lying in bed last night, Jonathan and I reminisced about all the blessings this year past year held for us.

• We graduated from our two-year Arabic language study program. Both Jonathan and I are as proud of this accomplishment as we are of our college degrees. It was a ton of hard work, but completely worth the final result~we can, in fact, speak Arabic!
• We moved into a wonderful new apartment. There is a great park nearby, stroller-friendly streets, and even a convenient, albeit expensive and small grocery store just around the block.
• I enjoyed a healthy pregnancy that ended with the arrival of our favorite baby on earth~Guy Charles.
• My mom visited us in Jordan for over three weeks! She was such a trooper and genuinely enjoyed seeing Jordan, meeting our friends, and helping out with her newest grandson.
• We went on two wonderful trips to America and were able to celebrate the holidays with our families for the first time in several years.

Those are just a few of the things we talked about. Of course, they are in order of time, not importance (Guy would definitely top the list)! Jonathan and I celebrated my birthday by renting a car for a few days and going out for a delicious dinner last night. We even hired our first babysitter!

Because there's no Hallmark store around here, Jonathan and I have gotten into the habit of making cards for one another for special occasions. Now, when I say we make cards for one another, that entails paper, markers and crayons. There's nothing fancy about it, but it does mean we put more time into the actual message. Here's a bit of what Jonathan wrote on my birthday card this year.

"God brought us so many blessings when you were 28, and each one speaks to me of His faithfulness and the promise that He has made to us: 'That He would never leave us.'"

So, here we are in Jordan, celebrating another year of life and God's goodness to us. We are rejoicing that He is with us through it all, whatever comes our way. Our hope is that through this blog, we can keep you better updated about this adventure we are on. Here's a few pictures of some of those blessings we listed above:

A view of our new neighborhood.







One of Guy's first pictures










Our little family at Christmas