Egg + Nog= Good Stuff!

Today we continued to carry on our family tradition of making homemade eggnog... mmm, the good stuff! Since I was a little girl, I can always remember doing this every Christmas season! Sure, some say it is disgusting to eat raw eggs, milk, ice cream and sugar (with a few other secret ingredients!)... but when it tastes this good, you can't pass it up! Stephen loves making it and was so excited he was even talking about it in his sleep last night! We've also been doing some Christmas decorating and we made Sadie Mac check the bulbs. :-) We know she was thinking... what is this guys?

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope each of you had a wonderful Turkey Day... as did we. Unfortunately here in Sandland, they don't so much celebrate the Indians and the Pilgrims, so Stephen had to go to school... sad for him! We were able to enjoy turkey this year, unlike last year when we just had chicken! Someone has recently returned from the States and shared with the rest of us. We were with a large gathering of khawaajas (foreigners)and enjoyed all the fixings: mashed potatoes and gravy, something like sweet potatoes and something like green bean casserole too! Sadly no yeast rolls though! Sadie Mac enjoyed her first turkey day and dressed up for the occasion.(see pic below) Yes, this may look like an Easter dress, but considering it is still in the 90's, we thought she could rock the summer look for Thanksgiving. She pulled it off pretty well. We ignore the whole "no white after labor day" thing!! She also had her 4 month check up this week and we are thankful she is now 14 lbs and 25 inches. All is well with her!

We sure do miss our families...and the snow and cold weather this time of year back home, but look back at 2008 and feel truly blessed for our lives here and the blessing of our precious Sadie McLean. We are thankful for the support of family and friends, good health and the grace we find each day from our precious Savior and King.

Ready... Set... Roll!

Well, it's been a few weeks, but I'm just now getting around to putting it on the blog! Yep, we now have a "mover and shaker" on our hands. She is so amazing to watch grow and change every day... I just want her to stay little!! But, we are learning how each day is a new adventure and not to take it for granted.



In other news... I (Amanda) spent the weekend sewing curtains for the house and making homemade salsa!! It was delicious. To be honest, I have been missing Chili's and we've only been out of Egypt a month! I love my chips and salsa!


It's no Chili's... but it will do.


Please, call me "Holly Homemaker" :-)

Our Pumpkin Wore a Watermelon Costume!

The only thing I can think of is... "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade!" Here we say, "when you have no pumpkins, use a watermelon!" We just don't know what to do with all the seeds! Being Sadie's first Halloween and our family tradition is to carve a pumpkin... we had to make due. We all enjoyed carving Sadie's first watermelon and know that when she goes back to America and people are carving pumpkins, she is going to be really confused. But regardless, we had a great time... no dressing up or going to the neighbors for trick or treating... just watermelon carving. Hope everybody had a great one and Matthew had a good birthday!

Weight Watchers... at 3 Months?!?

Well, Sadie Mac is now 3 months old and we are proud of how she is growing. Since we live in the sandbox and doctors and "official means to measure" are scarce, we have to do the best we can to measure her!! (We are doing the best to "watch her weight"!) We have decided to keep track of her weight by using a luggage weigher and her "kangaroo sling". She loves it! Check out her little feet kicking. We measure her length by the quilt squares on our bed. :-) We're not big on exact measurements :-), but we are keeping a chart! She is healthy and happy and that is all we could ask for. She is now holding her head up and giggling often! A precious little treasure that discovers new things every day and we love discovering them with her!

Kangaroo!

Because it's so hot here, the best way to carry a cute little baby is to sling her up! Thankfully a friend gave me a sewing machine and I learned online how to make a sling for my Sadie Mac. (www.slingyourbaby.blogspot.com)



A few days ago I was planning on going shopping with my neighbor for curtains and she asked if I was going to bring Sadie Mac and if I had a "kangaroo". It took me a second, but I knew exactly what she was talking about. So, now I carry around my little kangaroo everywhere I go and the people here love it... and so does she (check out that smile) !

Getting back in the swing of things...

We are back home and are all getting adjusted to the average 105+ temperatures. Sadie Mac has done great and is enjoying her little "johnny jumper". She is a bit small for it, but will at least stay in it for about 4 minutes. Then, she gets tired of holding her head up, so we call it quits! We also took her to school for the first time so she could meet our teachers. Sadie Mac did great on her first rickshaw ride! She enjoyed the soothing motor and slept through it!

Back home in the Sandbox

Well, everything is looking good and are back home in the Sandbox. When we started our packing Sadie Mac seemed ready to go! We went for her two month check up and she is doing great. She has grown 2 more inches (now 23”) and has gained 3 more lbs. (11 lbs.). The doctor said she looks great.
All this means we could go home. Everyone is ready to meet little Miss Sadie McLean and we are ready to get back to studying “our Arabic”. We have lots of new things in our suitcase thanks to grandparents and others who came to visit and sent packages.

We have had a wonderful time here in Egypt and are so thankful for time with friends and the birth of our little angel. The Lord is so good to us and we see His hand all over her. The day she was born the only thing I could think of to sing to her was the Chris Tomlin song, You Do All Things Well. This is the chorus:

You made it all –
Said, “Let there be… “
…and there was all that we see.
The sound of Your voice,
the works of Your hands,
You do all things well
You do all things well.

As we look at the gift God has blessed us with we cannot deny that He is amazing and His works reflect Him beauty. Sadie Mac is a work of His Hand… and He sure did a wonderful job.

Family Pics...

Recently a friend of ours took several pictures of our family and these are some of our favorites. Sadie Mac is doing great and has now started to give us big smiles. We are so thankful for each day we have together.


Safe in daddy's arms...


Kisses from mama...

Dreaming of...

Dear Eli,
When my mom and dad showed me your blog and your new outfit, I thought you were very handsome. I’m glad our parents became friends before we were born. How neat that our parents would get pregnant at the same time and it is really cool that now, you and I have the same birthday! We are destined to be together! Thanks for your pictures and I am excited to meet you one day. And, until then, I will dream of my prince Eli and wonder when he will come.
Love,
Sadie Mac