Lou, This One's For You

We received an email from my father-in-law (Lou) last night and he included a subtle request for a blog update. I can't tell you how many times I have reminded myself that I really need to post something new for you to read. If there is, in fact, anyone who drops by to read this anymore. But between nausea, no energy, a kid with a fluctuating nap schedule, and lots of changes going on in our lives right now, I seem to barely scrape through the day with enough gusto to keep my family fed, child entertained and house reasonably cleaned.

-

But the past week things have been looking up. I've hit the three-month mark in my pregnancy, and finally seem to be feeling more normal. (Not today, unfortunately, but in general.) I'm grateful for some relief from feeling sick, which has lasted several weeks longer than it did with Guy. Jonathan is currently in between courses at the English Center, so he took a few days off of work for us to enjoy as a family. We did some wandering around Jordan, and we all got some much needed refreshment. I haven't uploaded those recent pictures onto the computer, so I'll work on posting a few in the next couple of days.

-

All in all, life for us has been pretty normal. Jonathan's working at the Center. I'm trying to keep up with Guy. I'm still helping out with a children's program in a local village every couple of weeks, and I've also got a Bible study group I meet with every Saturday. It's a small group of moms and we all love our times together.

-

We've got a really busy few months in front of us, and I'm not quite sure how everything will get finished. Fortunately, there's a lot of fun stuff up ahead too~friends expecting their long-awaited baby, a fun bachelorette party, wedding dress shopping, etc. Plus, we get the lovely spring weather to enjoy it all in!

-

Guy and I are going to the U.S. on May 5th and Jonathan will follow a couple of weeks later. Um, did I ever mention how terrible my flight with Guy was when I flew alone with him last September? If not, it's probably because I was traumatized. Anyway, apparently I've gone mad or this pregnancy has altered my memories, because I've decided to brave flying alone with him again in less than two months.

-

Here are a few pictures "just because." They're from the past couple of months, and I'll work on getting some more recent ones posted soon. Also, the dashes after each paragraph are courtesy of blogger.com, who cannot seem to keep my paragraphs separated, and myself, who cannot think of any other way to make them so.

Guy points at the camera all the time now. Not sure why, but it's sort of funny.

Here he is enjoying his first McDonald's burger and fries. Gobbled would be the correct verb to employ in this situation. He loved it!

We had a guest staying with us for a few days, so we did a bit of traveling. We went to this place called Mukawar, which is supposedly where one of Herod's palaces was located and John the Baptist was beheaded. It has a beautiful view and overlooks the Dead Sea.

This is Guy's mug shot from the picture we had taken for his Jordanian visa. I think it might be one of his cutest pictures ever.

The Big Three-Oh

Yours truly celebrated her 30th this past Sunday. I had a wonderful birthday spread out over the whole weekend with a variety of special treats. I don't have anything remarkable to say about being thirty years old. So far, so good! Jonathan has let the celebrating continue way past the mark, and he's even promised me birthday ice cream sometime later this week. Yummy. These first few pictures are just because I think they're cute.

On Friday a friend and I took a walk to Starbucks, where I enjoyed a decaf caramel mocha and a cinnamon apple muffin. Later that day I did some baking for my small party on Saturday. Everyone was a little surprised that I baked my own cake, but it was my preference. I've been on a sweets-fast for the month of January, so I haven't baked since December. Because it's one of my favorite pastimes, I claimed the right to make my own birthday cake this year. Friday night Jonathan cooked the most delicious chicken tikka masala, which I had been craving for days.

__________

On Saturday I got a lovely pedicure and manicure, while Jonathan stayed home with Guy. This was followed up by the highlight of the weekend~going to the obstetrician and seeing Baby Shirey #2 for the first time. Everything looks good so far, and the doctor is estimating that he/she will arrive around September 20th. That is five days after Guy's 2nd birthday, so September is shaping up to be an exciting and busy month for our little family. We got to see the baby's heartbeat and enjoyed calling our families and sharing the good news that afternoon.

Saturday night we had some friends over, and we enjoyed their company until about 11 p.m. That's late into the night for this early bird. Everyone brought either an appetizer or a dessert to share. I have never really enjoyed having birthday parties for myself, but I felt it necessary to open the party doors a little wider on my 30th. And I'm really glad I did. We have some wonderful friends here in Jordan, and it was really special to spend the evening with them.

______________

On my actual birthday we rented a car and headed east. Our original destination was an oasis located in Azraq, a town near the Saudi border. However (as we discovered upon arrival), after years of the water being routed to Amman, the wetlands are now non-existent. It's pretty sad, because 25 years ago they spanned about 12 square kilometers and were teeming with wildlife from this region. So we visited a couple of the local desert castles instead. The first one we saw was built out of volcanic rock by the Romans, and used by T.E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia) as his headquarters while he campaigned in this area. The second was built in the 8th century by the Umayyad family. It had some amazing mosaics and frescoes that were remarkably well preserved. Here we are setting out on our road trip.

Guy had his best car trip ever. He hardly complained and even took a nap!

The local scenery. This is pretty much what it looks like from here to Iraq.

Playing with rocks at the first castle.

Here I am out by the second castle.

Guy keeping himself entertained.

Starting to lose his cool. The poor boy was SO ready for an afternoon nap, but the sun was right in his face.

As you can see, I had a great birthday! Thanks so much to those of you who sent me notes via Facebook and email. I am ready to see what excitement this next decade has in store for me!