First Month in Duhok

our view from our roof

We survived (and enjoyed) our first month back in Iraq! 

 Traveling here was different than the first time over last year.  1. Extra kid= car seat, stroller, diaper bag, nursing, etc.  Much more "stuff" to bring. 2.  Airplane was full so no extra seats. All of us shared three seats. Different from last year where we got bulk head and a full row of seats. 3.  Didn't have to travel (land in Iraq) in heat of summer- Whew! 4. Traveled straight through all the way to our house. 5. By God's grace no delays, problems, or huge freakouts by the kids (or any of us for that matter)  Lots of patience was needed by all. 

Thank you for individual, never-ending TV recordings in our plane seats, and some decent food to make the trip go reasonably quick! (I was remembering the warm fuzzy thoughts of that Raspberry White Mocha I just enjoyed in the Chicago airport)

 Then.... our first few moments back in Iraq waiting for our 2.5 hour taxi ride to Duhok.

Our craziness first few days, as we were trying to organize, clean, and arrange our house.  Our living room was Zander's room until his room was ready.

Although our house was in much better condition than our house last year, we still had lots of cleaning and fixing up to do.  But over and over again, we thanked God for his provision in housing for us!

We started to orient ourselves to the city again.  Adjusting much faster than last time, as we understood a little more language, and where things were in the city. This makes such a BIG difference. There was some really beautiful sunny days. Probably in the 50's and we get an amazing view of the mountains everyday!

We were TOTALLY pumped when we found this new park though! Thank you Lord! Slides, monkey-bars, walking path?!?!? NO WAY..... Sha-Boo-YAH!

Although not exactly sure why they feel the need to just chop off the tops of all their trees? Hmmmmm?  Some things we will never understand.

Rug cleaning (Kurdish Style)

 Zander was a little more help this year!

Reacquainted with our friends!

Potty-Training.... Arghhhhh. Let's try to keep it positive and say that we had some bright spots.  Where special candy from America came in handy when he went poopoo on the potty.

He likes to draw people these days. Here's his portrait of our teammate/neighbor/friend Miss Julie. 

Speaking of TEAM. Our first month our team consisted of these lovely people- from left to right: (Me, Stacy, Zander, Helen, Andy, Julie, Dan)  Team Duhok is growing and thriving!

Don't worry our kids get LOTS of love from everyone here!

Our teammates from last year John and Mary will be joining us with their new little guy Henry who is one month younger than Zephie.  Pictures of them hopefully soon! :)

That's typically how I know what to write- just use my pictures to have a photo-journal to document what we have been up to.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to show of all the people we have reacquainted with, new friends we have already met, or any of the students at the school where Andy is at most of the day. We are super thankful for this last month.  The little things and the big things that God has and is doing-- In our hearts and people we come into contact with.  

Thanks for journeying to Iraq with us!

Look whose 3 months already!

It's Ms. Zephie Delal! 

Month one, two, and three

Here's a little 3 month comparison of Z-man, and Z-girl! Total boy, Total girl don't ya think?!?

 

She's packin' on the pounds and believe it or not- REALLY long I think! Her 6 month sleepers all seem to be crunching up her little legs a bit. 

She's such a sweet little love.  Total chill during day, go-with-the-flow kinda gal.  I mean what do you expect having Zander for a brother, and being a world traveler?????

This is pretty much her life. Sitting around in her car-seat. It's easy to carry her from room to room with Zander being so "active" :) 

 (FYI: her neck is not usually like this though.)

She has her very own room... Thank you Lord! There's a few things I'm very particular about and her not sleeping with us is one of them.  I love my children dearly, but I appreciate getting some sleep too and not hearing grunts and toots all night!  Speaking of nights: Zander was pretty much sleeping through the night at 4 weeks.  Zephie  has had a few nights of sleeping 8 hours, but they are few and far between.  People warned me not to expect a sleeper like Zander  again. They were right! But Sweets, seriously, anytime your ready, would make this mama happy!

She is getting more on a schedule. If she's not awake yet by 8am, I wake her then put her down for morning nap between 9-10.  She nurses every 3ish hours, so then she just chills while Z-man and I, you know, "do-stuff" .  Then she is ready for an afternoon nap around the same time Zander is (1pm) Normally, she takes a little cat nap again before supper, but mostly chills, gets smothered by her brother, or gets lots of love from Daddy when he gets home. 

She just started doing much more "talking" lately which has been fun. This usually means we talk to her in some really silly voices to try and get her to talk. 

 She smiles a lot which means we make a lot of really goofy faces to try and get her to smile more. But sometimes (not often) she makes faces that shows she's sad... How perfect is this picture?!?! 

Zephie Delal you're a JOY!

You're a beauty inside and out!

and a huge blessing from God! 

In Kurdish English-speaking style- "BELIEVE ME, I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH"

 
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo