Housebound

Guy and I have been stuck in the house for a week now. I've stepped outside of our home about three times in the past eight days due to a series of meetings in our house last week followed by a nasty cold our whole family came down with. My ears are still clogged and I'm beginning to wonder if these symptoms are ever actually going away. Guy has been a real trooper in spite of his illness. He's been a bit more clingy than usual, but if he's felt as poorly as Jonathan and I have, I am amazed that he's been such a sweetheart through it all.

One of the things I've done a lot of this past week is look through some old pictures. Due to a computer crash, we lost most of the photos Jonathan and I took during our first couple years of marriage, but there are a few we still have. I am amazed at how young (and skinny!) we looked. Jonathan looks about 18 years old in a several of them. I also poured over the hundreds of photos we've taken of Guy in the past eight months. He's gotten so big and grown-up! That may be a funny thing to say about an 8 month old, but I couldn't help but marvel at how tiny he was so short a time ago.

Five years ago I taught 1st grade, and those little kids in my class are heading to middle school now. The middle schoolers Jonathan taught are now starting college. As a kid, time seemed to drag, but as an adult I wish I could press the "pause" button and keep things as they are for a little while longer. Anyway, I thought I'd post some old photos for fun.

This was sometime during our first year of marriage.

With our nieces and nephew the summer before we moved to Jordan in 2006.

Our first apartment in Amman, before we had any furniture. Some friends let us borrow those bean bags.

Itty bitty Guy. Makes my heart ache.

Long Overdue

Yikes! I cannot believe a month has passed since we last posted a blog! We'll review the month in pictures to catch you up. There's been too much happening for me to remember all the details off the top of my head.

We've been doing well, continuing our work at the English Center, and enjoying our little family. Guy is doing great~growing like a (chubby) weed and learning new things all the time! On a hot day in April I pulled out this big bowl, filled it with water and let him "swim" on the porch. He had a great time! We also bought him a high chair and have been working on expanding his repertoire over the past two months. His favorite food is carrots, and I haven't found a vegetable that he won't eat. However, fruit is another matter. Every fruit I've tried has ended up spit out with a huge grimace on his face.

The weather in Jordan this spring has been unbelievably beautiful. Most of our days have been in the mid 70's, though this past week it has warmed up significantly and the temperature's been in the 90's. Knowing he would outgrow his bowl soon, Jonathan spent his birthday money (so sweet!) on some toys for Guy. He bought him this much larger kiddie pool and Guy loves splashing around in the water and getting wet. It will be a great way to pass the time this summer, since it looks like we'll be staying in Jordan through the season.

The saddest part of the month was definitely the departure of our friends, Craig and Lisa, from Jordan. Like us, the Branches moved to Amman back in the summer of 2006. We all studied Arabic for two years and then worked with the same company after that. They have been awesome friends, and even after Guy was born and Jonathan and I became much more house-bound, they were always ready to come over and hang out. Before they left, they moved in with us for 10 days. It was very fun and we miss them a lot!

Mother's Day was lovely! Guy and I went on a date to Starbucks, and Jonathan bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers. My sweet husband and son also made me a precious card and I was just as delighted with Guy's scribbles as Jonathan was on his birthday. It is such a blessing to be a mom!

Nope, Guy's not crawling. He gets up on all-fours, but can't quite seem to figure out what to do next. But, like my dad said, there hasn't been a McDanald (my family) yet who hasn't eventually learned to crawl. I'm sure he'll get the hang of it one of these days!