Happy Easter!

Hey y'all,

Things are going well, we had a great weekend including a little party with some of Thomas's work people and a totally relaxed Saturday.  This afternoon when Benjamin got up from his nap, he opened his Easter basket and immediately started playing with his new trucks.  He's been obsessed with the cars and trucks portion of Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever.  Apart from a few screaming episodes, he's been pretty sweet recently.

Sweet buddy.

Thursday evening after hanging out with some friends on the playground, a few of us ate at a new burger place in Taj Mall, Fatburger.  It's very close to American-style fast food, and the burgers are pretty good.  The shakes are amazing, I can predict some Spinney's trips in my future just as an excuse to get a shake some afternoon.  Yummm.

17ish weeks

Tonight Thomas was giving Benjamin his bath, and called me in to see something funny.  Behold, bubble beard.

Cutest thing ever.

Short and sweet, just a quick update to let you know we're doing well!

-Rachel

Announcement

Hey all,

Thomas and I are amazed and thankful to announce that I'm pregnant and we're expecting a little boy in early September!  It's a total miracle and we are infinitely glad that God has decided to give us another baby.  After my miscarriage in September, we were pretty low and wondering if and when to start fertility treatments again, but it seemed like a big burden and hassle.  We decided to put it off until after January, and just have fun and enjoy our trip to Paris for Christmas.  I took a pregnancy test on January 3rd and was flabbergasted when it was positive.  After a combined 12 months of fertility appointments and medication to get pregnant with Benjamin and the baby we lost, I was totally stunned that this could happen.  Praise God!

I've been hesitant to broadcast the news, and I still get nervous sometimes about stillbirth and other complications, but I'm trying to trust that God's will is perfect.  I had my 17 week appointment today and it was so reassuring to see the baby's heartbeat on the monitor.  In Jordan they do ultrasounds at every appointment, which is great.  I like my doctor, he studied in America and has privileges at the maternity hospital here, so I'll be well taken care of.  If it seems like things get iffy later on and I need to go home, I can do that as well, but we're planning to stay here for the birth if all goes well. 

I would still covet your prayers, for a healthy baby and uneventful pregnancy.  For a smooth delivery with no complications.  For grace and patience with Benjamin, as he enters into the terrible two's and gets a baby brother.  And for safety and peace in Jordan.

I also know many women who've lost children too soon, be it miscarriage or stillbirth or soon after birth, and I want to encourage you to pray for those women as well.  I don't want to be obnoxious and hurt the feelings of those who are reading this and hurting because of their own loss.  Not totally sure how to make that happen, but I'll try to keep the complaints about pregnancy to a minimum, since I know that is a coveted state for many women.

Thanks for bearing with me while I didn't post very often, I was feeling tired and gross most of the past two months and didn't want to make it obvious that we were expecting.  There's a gaggle of women at the embassy who are all pregnant and due within a couple months of each other, and I feel so blessed that I can join the fun.  I can imagine how hard it would be to be doing fertility and trying hard for a baby surrounded by happy pregnant people.  I've been there before.

We're really excited to travel to SC this summer, and I will seriously eat my way through the state.  It's going to be epic!  One fun "problem" is that all my maternity clothes are fall and winter, since Benjamin was born in February.  I've ordered a bunch of stuff online from Old Navy and Gap, but some of those necklines are just super low.  It's hard to find relatively modest warm-weather maternity stuff.  I've got a few things now and some more on the way, but it's also fun to shop for cute clothes.  And the stretchy pants are amazingly comfortable. 

Taken March 21st, 16 weeks-ish.

I think I'm over the rough part, but it lasted a lot longer this time around.  I guess already having a child makes pregnancy tougher.  Today we found out that it's a boy.  I'd sort-of suspected, but was really just hoping for a heartbeat and good measurements.  Now we know the sex I can start thinking of names, most of which Thomas will probably reject.  It's such a scary and important job to name a kid.  Off to the Internet to research!

I'll attempt to post more frequently now that the news is out, but please do pray for the baby to be healthy and for me as well, to be healthy and rest as much as possible.  Thanks for sharing in our joy!

-Rachel

Random Tidbits

Hey guys,

Yeah, it's been a while.  Life is just sort of chugging along, we're doing our normal routine.  Playdates a couple days a week, my Arabic classes continue, just the usual.  So here are a few highlights:

-Benjamin is talking up a storm and is pretty intelligible.  Although we aren't sure where he got this gem: "Go, go power rangers!"  He'll say it at random times and it's hilarious, but I'm positive he's never seen the show so it's a mystery.

-We went to a birthday party recently, which was lots of fun.  It was at J'imagine, a French kids space with a toddler room (toys and books), a water room with a waist-high pool for floaty toys, and dress up supplies and lots of other fun stuff.  It was a good couple hours, and Benjamin got to see lots of kids.

-We've almost nailed down our dates for visiting home this summer.  I'm super excited and even though the flights and jetlag will suck beyond imagining, it will be awesome to take Benjamin around and hopefully he'll enjoy what "normal" life is like.  It's looking like Columbia-Greenville-Myrtle Beach-Charleston-Aiken. 

-On a somewhat related note, I got a new case for my phone.  The old Otterbox had split a corner, and I thought something different would be nice.  I'm holding tight to my South Carolina roots here.

-I finally uploaded the few pictures I took of the Citadel while Clay was in town.  Was that two months ago?  Yowza.

The view from the Citadel of neighboring hills.  Amman is super hilly.

Roman ruins.

Part of what must have been an enormous statue.

-My brother is coming to visit next month and I can't wait!  Hopefully we can do some sightseeing, assuming Thomas doesn't get called out of town.  Hooray for family visits!

That's all I can think of at the moment.  I'll attempt to do another post before the end of the month.  I like to keep expectations low.

-Rachel

March, Already?

Hello out there,

Wow, February just flew by.  I got to try a new restaurant after playgroup on Thursday this week.  I ate with a friend at Pancake House, which was delicious.  We both got chocolate chip pancakes and they were heavenly.  Benjamin and his friend Ben were really good, they ate their lunches and watched a little TV while the ladies got to chat and relax.  It was a good outing.

We hosted church Friday morning and it was pretty light, just a handful of people.  I hadn't done my usual over-preparation, so I ended up cooking while the service went on.  It was nice to see people though, and we had a good hang-out time, eating tacos and the most delicious peach enchiladas, brought by one of the ladies.  Oh my goodness, they were amazing.  And she had even canned the peaches, since most things need to be in season around here, otherwise it's not available.  Yummm.

Benjamin looking suave.

Lots to talk about.

We're looking forward to visiting SC this summer, and I'm trying to plan out our time back home.  It's tricky, three weeks sounds like a lot but you factor in days to get over jetlag and going to the beach (thanks parents!) and trying to see everyone, it will go by in a flash.  Since I won't be sharing exact dates, etc, I'll contact individuals to set up times to hang out.  I am looking forward to seeing family, and eating awesome food.  My list includes: Chickfila chicken biscuit, Monterrey's spicy queso dip, Rush's burger and Oreo shake, and Zaxby's chicken fingers.  I'm sure there's lots of other places I'll want to go, but man, just typing that makes my mouth water.  We'll miss seeing friends up in the DC area, but there's just no way we could make the drive up there.  We'll see y'all summer of 2014!  Which will totally be here before you know it.  Gulp.

We recently watched "Pitch Perfect" and "Perks of Being a Wallflower", both were pretty good.  I thought Pitch Perfect was hilarious, but I'm a sucker for singing.  I'm just so impressed by it, because I'm not talented.  And Perks was decent, but I usually enjoy the book more and they had to leave some stuff out to streamline it.  I still haven't started "Rules of Civility" and book club is in a week or so, which means I'm falling back into my procrastinating ways.

Anyone else making summer plans already?  I'm really looking forward to being back home, and I know I won't want to leave!

-Rachel