Back home

Selah posing with the fake flowers we just bought from Ikea

We've been back in our apartment for 15 days now. It is good to be back.

After returning, the first order of business was cleaning the house from top to bottom. It took me 9 days. Of course it wasn't 9 full days of cleaning. There were very important other things that needed to be done throughout that time, like go to the park every morning, have dinner with friends, go to the store (several times), and change our t.v. cabinet into a computer nook.

Ryan worked hard for almost a week on this project. I'm so pleased with the result. No more seen computer in our living room. The printer is hidden away in the cabinet too! Ryan also installed some great speakers to enhance our music listening and movie watching experiences.

I still want to get some new curtains made for the current guest, soon-to-be baby room. Enough projects for now...back to telling you about the most disgusting cleaning job...

We have these shutter-type things that we closed over all of our windows while we were gone. We left one cracked because there were pretty flowers growing in a planter on the outside of the window sill. One very naughty pigeon made this a warm nest for himself and others. So, the entire length of the window sill was caked with poo and the windows were smeared with it. Yuck!! Ryan, while wearing a mask, spent over an hour cleaning up that mess. What a man!

Selah is at school today, for the second half-day this week. She couldn't wait to get back. She squealed with delight when Zeynep, our good friend and babysitter came last week. She is now remembering more of the language each day. Today she commented that she only knew how to say "yes" when we came back, but now she remembers more words every day! Yippee!

Eden has started eating more than I've ever seen her eat. I'm wondering if she feels back at home, even though she was only 14 months old when we left. I didn't think she'd really notice, but maybe she does. She is doing so well.

Eden trying to find the scent of the fake flower.

I am enjoying eating the food I've missed for several months. Last night I made a vegetable dish that is basically a bunch of vegetables cooked in olive oil for a while and it hit the spot! You really should try it! I added some fresh green beans to the mix as well.

Here's the link to the recipe:
http://www.turkishfoodandrecipes.com/2009/09/mixed-vegetables-with-olive-oil.html

Heading Home

Our 6 months has come to a past-paced end as we've done as much stuffing as humanly possible. We've stuff our stomachs ( I think I win the prize for stuffing the most), good-bye's, and our bags. As I think about walking into the airport tomorrow, stress starts to overwhelm me. The stress isn't rooted in an anxiety to return to our home or fly a total of about 17 hours with a 4 year-old and 19 month-old while 21 weeks pregnant. No, the stress comes from thinking about how much stuff we are flying back across the ocean with us. We will ask a nice porter to load our 5 50-pound trunks, 3 50-pound suitcases, 3 carry-ons, 3 back packs, 2 car seats and strollers onto a cart and head to the check-in counter. I know I shouldn't let something like this stress me out. But I do. Sometimes, we have a nice assistant that will check our carry-ons for us at no charge, sometimes we don't. Inthe case that we don't, imagine us waiting in security lines, going through security, wondering the airport and boarding the plane with 1 car seat, 1 stroller, 3 carry-ons, 3 backpacks and 2 kids.

But....once we're on the plane, we're home free (till we change planes, at least). We are all very excited about going home, though it isn't without stings of pain. Oh how we've enjoyed the time with family...the pressure-free time with family. We've relished in the meaningful conversations, the encouragement and fun we've been blessed with over the past 6 months. We're going to miss the great state of Texas and maybe even the wind in Amarillo. My favorite part about being home was the time with family. I am so happy that many relationships were strengthened as a result of our time in the states.

As we go back to the land where God has put us, we go anticipating what is going to happen in the next three years. One big hope is that my language will continue to deepen and that I'll be able to make some close friends. I also pray that God will work on my heart so that instead of being high-strung and testy, I will be able to enjoy the next year as we await the arrival of our third child and adjust to being a family of 5.

We'll post something after the post-flight recovery is in full swing.