Blood Work

Well, we had another first today. Kaylee had blood work done. It was quite the experience. She did cry, but overall was a real trooper. Anyway, we all have to get a lot of blood work done before we go back, but these are some pics of her afterward. She thinks that the glove blown up is a balloon of the sun. She was happy as could be as soon as she got of of the chair.

Pillow Play

Kaylee's favorite game is to hide under the pillows in the living room. She is happy if she is hiding or Daddy is hiding or both of them are hiding. Then she'll jump out and scream like the little girl that she is. She can do this for almost a solid hour. These Bedouin cushions are fantastic for kids and I don't really understand why they aren't more popular in the States.

Tickle Tickle

Ellie just lounging around on her pillow. She loves this thing and I really don't know how I survived Kaylee's infancy without one. It is just so useful and handy. Kaylee also loves to have her own feet tickled so, she naturally assumes that Ellie will like it too. She really likes to tickle Ellie's feet. As you can tell, Ellie doesn't seem to be all that ticklish.

Dr. Visit

So, we took Kaylee back to the doctor today for her weigh in. She had lost weight last month when we went in for a physical. We are happy to say that she has regained her weight. The doctor still wants us to monitor her weight monthly, but we are still happy. Most meals, it is like torture to get her to eat enough. We will definitely be glad to be back in the world of PediaSure very soon. Kaylee is up to 10.3 kilos (22.7 lbs) and Ellie is up to 4.9 kilos (10.8 lbs). We find it amusing that our 3 month old is already half the weight of our 2 1/2 year old. I guess Kaylee is just destined to be petite.

My First Ice Cream

Sorry it has taken me so long to figure out how to post a video. This one is almost 2 months old, but it is really cute and I wanted to share it with all you guys.

The Sling

So, yesterday Kaylee found my old belly band (something you use when your prego) and thought it was a baby sling made just for her. She put her baby in it and carried it around the house. It was one of the cutest things I've seen in a while. She was so serious about protecting her little baby in it's sling. Phil and I got a good laugh out of it all.

Competition

Kaylee really has been great about not being jealous of Ellie. However, yesterday, Phil got on the Bedouin cushion couch with Ellie (this is Kaylee's favorite place to play with her Daddy), and she just couldn't stand it. So, she insisted on climbing on Daddy as well. This is how I found them. Kaylee and Daddy were both trying their best to get Ellie to smile. (I still think I'm the best at it though!)

Still More Ice Cream

We have found that ice cream is the ultimate bribing tool. It used to be tomatoes. Kaylee LOVES tomatoes, but her digestive system suffered for about two days if she had too many. Plus, the doctor says she needs to put on some weight so we don't feel guilty about giving her sweets these days. I'm sure she'll be upset with us somewhere down the road for helping her develop a sweet tooth, but until then we will continue to use whatever means necessary to get her to behave!

Saying Bye to the Inman Girls

Here's a picture of the girls before they left. You cannot even begin to imagine how difficult it was to get them all on the couch and as you can see Noelle the other baby was not too pleased about it. This is the only decent picture we got out of about 20. These beautiful girls will truly be missed.

Good-Byes

One would think that good-byes would get easier with time, or at least more comfortable. We have found it to be the opposite. Over the past five years we have said a lot of good-byes to a lot of different people and it seems to me that they just get harder with time. We said good-bye to a family tonight that we came out of Egypt with and have mourned and grown with. In just 12 days we will say good-bye to yet another set of friends. Our friends that we have made here in Amman for the most part have been in a state of transition as well, and they will be moving on to other places before we return in January. This life is really hard on the emotions. I am so thankful for these wonderful people who have seen me through one of the darkest times of my life and loved me despite my poor attitude and disposition. I am also thankful that my girls still don't really understand what good-bye means. Who knows when or if Kaylee will ever get to see Micah, Kinzi, or Chase again, but their friendships have been a true blessing to us and our little girl. Not to mention the seragant aunts, uncles, and grandparents that have treated us like a family while we've lived an ocean away from our own. We are all very excited about returning to America and being near family and friends, but at the same time we are a little sad to say good-bye to those who have been walking with us through this journey. We have had a lot of really sad good-byes but in another light we have been blessed by a lot of incredible people and relationships. I guess I just wanted to give a shout out to all those who have invested in our lives over the years, and let them know that they are both appreciated and missed. It has just been an interesting evening of reflection and I wanted to share it with you.

Packing

So, I just wanted everyone to know that I packed our first bags/boxes yesterday. I think we are getting more and more excited about going back to the states by the hour. It's strange to think that our entire life can be packed away in boxes and bags. Anyway, just 16 days to go! We can't wait to see everyone face-to-face!

Chillin

Kaylee was trying her best to get Ellie to smile, but she just wasn't all that amused.

Kaylee Eating....Again

I know there have been a lot of posts recently that involve Kaylee covered in food, and I feel the need to explain. She has never been a messy eater. In fact, she completely freaks out if she gets anything on her hands or face and wants to be cleaned up immediately. So, all that to say, after 2 1/2 years she is finally playing with her food, and Phil and I find it really amusing. In these pics she is covered in ice cream. In case you can't tell she really likes ice cream. We can't wait for her to try the snowballs in New Orleans. Well, maybe Phil and I are more excited about it for ourselves!

Ellie and Her Daddy

These were just too sweet not to include them on the blog. Ellie loves her Daddy, there is no doubt about that.

Kaylee's Cute Dress

Kaylee loves to wear dresses. She is incredibly prissy and I just don't understand where it comes from. She'll spin and twirl for a good 10-15 minutes after she puts on a dress. It really is cute. These are just a few pics of her posing in her newest dress.

Play Date

We had a play date with some friends this week. It is extra nice because this family has a baby a little older than Ellie and Micah who is Kaylee's BFF (best friend forever). Kaylee sits in her room avoiding going to sleep and pretend plays with Micah at night. It is really cute. Micah's mom says he does the same thing. Anyway, this is Micah and Kaylee pretending to take a nap. They are never still long enough to get a picture so this is the best I could do. Oh, and Ellie and Amorissa chillin in the floor. They are both really happy babies.

Road Trip

Last weekend, we went with a group of friends to the Jordan River. Two of the young girls from our Bible Study group were getting baptized at the site where Jesus was baptized. It was supposed to be an exciting, fun filled day with a picnic lunch on the grounds. Well, the day started off pretty rough. Kaylee woke up with pink eye, and was extremely clingy and whiny. Ellie wanted to be held constantly, and of coarse we woke up late and I hadn't packed the lunch the night before. So, we are running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get everything together and into the rental car so we can meet the caravan crew on time. Both of the girls are just screaming uncontrollably. When we finally made it to the car, both Phil and I were already completely stressed out. We meet up with our friends only to find out that they spent most of the night in the Emergency Room. So, apparently we didn't have that rough of a go. They said all was well and the trip was still on. We get on the road only about 45 minutes later than we intended (not too bad). However, about twenty minutes outside the city Kaylee decides she did not like the strawberry yoghurt we gave her for breakfast and throws it up everywhere. The car seat, her clothes, and the floorboards are all covered in vomit. The family in the caravan in front of us has the same problem with their two year old, at the same time. So we are both pulled over on the side of the highway trying to clean up the messes in our rental cars with very limited resources. Thank the Lord I had an extra set of clothes for Kaylee and a swimsuit that I let the other family borrow. When we finally get to the baptismal site we are all already exhausted. Fortunately, there is an actual baptismal pool with pumped water next to the site that is used for baptisms. It was very very neat. However, there are no bars or fences or anything so keeping the little ones out of what they thought was a kiddy pool was the exhausting task for the rest of the day. The picture above is of Kinzy and Kaylee soaking their feet in the baptismal pool having the time of their lives. You'd never suspect that they had been such terrors all morning.

Salsa

Okay, instead of Kaylee getting caught with her hand in the cookie jar, she was caught with it in the salsa! This kid loves salsa no matter how spicy! We especially like that she looks like a vampire in a couple of these shots.

Me and Kaylee

More Smiles

The Many Smiles of Ellie

Ellie has just started smiling and it is a lot of competing for those smiles. I think I make her smile way more than Phil.

Can we say...bad hair day?!