Celebrating Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration today! My best gift for Christmas is definitely Maya--I am soooo very thankful for her! I started the morning out by destroying the Carmel Pull Apart's that I had tried to make (i had to make the rolls from scratch because we don't have frozen rolls here, so this was a significant investment of time). They didn't really rise well, and then I burned the dickens out of them . I didn't really follow the directions word for word on the pull apart's or on the recipe for the rolls, so that may have contributed to their failure, but either way, they were INEDIBLE! Thankfully, our friend Laura shared her tea ring with us, that was hand carried here by her brother who is visiting for Christmas. They stayed the night with us last night (Christmas Eve) and we opened some gifts this morning and ate my Dad's favorite breakfast casserole, along with the tea ring and some irish cream flavored iced coffee! So delicious. Mrs. Doubtfire was on TV and we all enjoyed watching that and laughing at all of the adult humor in it that we had missed before when we were younger.

Then Laura's neighbor and our friend and her son all arrived and we worked on cooking dinner. We made BBQ chicken, Mac and Cheese, Green Beans, Rolls, Salad and a Birthday Cake for Jesus. The girls loved all of the food and we had a great time fixing everything together then eating! After dinner we read the story of Jesus birth together and cut the cake, followed by the opening of gifts. Our friend's son was so sweet and so appreciative and amazed by the toys and gifts we got for him. All day he loved kissing and holding and admiring Maya (who was a great sport and allowed us to pass her around from person to person all day). It is common practice among some groups here to promise your children in marriage to the children of your relatives from the time they are very young. Because our friend's son has grown up in this culture, he's used to this practice and has already told us that he plans on marrying Maya when she grows up! After the gifts and cake our friend and her son had to head for home, but we got to sing a bunch of Christmas carols with Laura's neighbor (she just left about 30 minutes ago).

Now we've washed all the dishes and picked up most of the messes and the guests have all gone home and we're chilling with Laura and her brother, watching A Christmas Story and eating left-over sweets.

We are so thankful that Jesus put on flesh and became a helpless human baby in order to make a way for us. We have so much to celebrate and be thankful for!

Christmas Eve

I think she's seeing visions of Sugar Plum Fairies . . .

Doesn't she look like her daddy?!

Bath Time

Hiccups

Maya and Daddy

This is my test run to see if I know how to post videos. This is not the best quality, and for most of you, not of much interest, but for family, hopefully it's good to see your newest relative in live-action . . .

What We Have Learned

Today is Maya's 2 week birthday and her Nana and Grandpa leave in the middle of the night tonight. We wanted to recount the things that we have all learned about her in the two weeks they've been here. . .

1. She has 4 major "expressions":
Creepy stare
Concerned
Chill
Content

2. She doesn't like to be naked

3. She doesn't like it when you hold both of her hands

4. If she's frustrated, she shakes her head back and forth furiously
(like a dog shaking)

5. She has already stopped doing the cry that she cried at first, which
we called the Velociraptor cry. Now her cry just sounds like a normal
boring baby.

6. We think she has 2 dimples. One we're certain she will have
when she smiles, the other we think we've seen when she's passing gas, but we're not sure.

7. She likes to poop right after you change her diaper.

8. She will poop or pee on you as soon as you leave her exposed without
a diaper or wipe within reach.

9. She's an extremely content baby--when she's not wet, poopy or
hungry she is happy as a lark.

10. She's a great little road-trip baby. She's already been on a
long road trip that included lots of changes in elevation, and she only cried once and it lasted all of about 15 seconds.

11. She likes the ocean and the mountains (she's already been to
both).

12. She can recite the declaration of independence (just curious to see if someone actually read all of these).

13. She holds her head up a lot already and likes to look around.

That's about all. We will all cry a lot when Nana and Grandpa leave
tonight. . .

Maya Has Been Busy

This is our beautiful baby girl. She is the most easy going baby you can imagine. We are the most grateful, thankful parents you can imagine. We have been so busy with Nana and Grandpa, showing them the town. Maya has done more in her almost two weeks of life than lots of people do in a lot longer. We've seen the famous Cedars, and some of the most amazing ruins in the world (the largest cut stones and the largest and tallest column pillars). We've eaten a late lunch on a clif overlooking the setting sun on the Mediterranean. We have spent time with our precious friends Dave and Sara. Tomorrow we are celebrating Christmas with Nana and Grandpa. We have watched White Christmas. We have been having a great time.

SHE IS HERE!

Well folks, she is here! Maya arrived safe and healthy via C-section Friday night around 8:15 p.m. weighing in just over 9 pounds, about 20 inches. We got back home today and we're all doing good! pics to come and the whole story too! The abridged version is that God is so faithful and though nothing went as I had hoped or planned, He is good and we are all doing good!

One Last Pregnant Pic

Well, just a few more hours before Maya is on the outside. This is the last pregnant picture. Unfortunately, I think the look on my face says it all . . . tired, uncomfortable, nervous about the induction and delivery tomorrow, etc. We'll head to the hospital around 8 tomorrow morning and the next time you hear from us, Lord willing, we'll be posting baby pics! Please pray for us as we experience this very big first, cross culturally, and in some cases, in our second language. We want to be a light to the staff that we deal with tomorrow. I really want to abide in His peace, but honestly, tonight I'm really struggling with worry. Worrying about being induced, all the things that could go wrong, all the things that they do "differently" here that I really don't want them to do (both to me and to Maya), and even things like worrying about whether I will love her and how unprepared I feel to become a mother. Please pray that I will cast my cares on the One who cares for me, and not let the enemy steal the joy of this amazing experience. THANK YOU!

Here Comes Baby

Well, at my Dr's appointment on Wednesday, my blood pressure was high again, i'd gained 3 kilos in a week (that's 6.6 lbs.-- she thinks it is fluid retention, I'm not sure she realizes it could be Thanksgiving), and she was very concerned because Maya's approximate size now is 4.5 kilos (9.9 lbs.) and my due date isn't until Monday. She also told me she was planning to be out of the country from Monday through Wednesday, which completely stressed me out because sorry, but I do NOT want a strange Arab man delivering me!!!! (and I really like my Dr., she is so sweet and really listens to us when we have questions and concerns, and is willing to humor my longing to deliver as naturally as possible, and not have some of the procedures done that are pretty standard here). So she was ready to admit me Wednesday to induce if I had any protein in my urine (i'm 2 cm dilated and she stripped my membranes while she was examining me). Thankfully I didn't and she was at least willing to talk options. I told her my parents are arriving on Friday night, so she was willing to settle for inducing Friday morning. I was disappointed by the whole thing (I really wanted to go all natural and not use any drugs or induction) but I guess the risks to Maya and to me if we keep waiting are too many. My blood pressure is too high and has been consistently high, and she is soooo big. Maybe i'll go into labor in the middle of the night tonight and won't have to have pitocin in the morning?! Please pray for us. Cross cultural delivery should be very interesting. . . I'm sure we will have stories to tell soon. Please pray for my parents as they take the very long trip.

By the way, there's no internet at the hospital, but we'll get news and pics posted as soon as we can. . .