the tradition continues...

So one of my earliest memories is growing up watching re-runs of "I Love Lucy" with my mom and Nonnie. When we moved to New Orleans and didn't have any cable, I started collecting the DVDs so that I would have something to watch while Nate was working late nights at RedFish. Well, they made the trip to Africa and have been great...especially when I was pregnant and just needed to rest for 20 or 30 minutes, I would pop in an episode and have a good laugh. Now they are continuing to come in quite handy when I'm alone with Zoe or nursing. She seriously loves to watch with me, it's funny...even when she is nursing she will turn her head away from me, watch Lucy for a few minutes, then go back to eating. Earlier today she was in her little seat watching and I managed to get her on video! Sadly, our internet stinks and won't load the video...so we will have to settle for a picture...

love from budapest

We just got a package from our good friends, Matt and Megan Brewer. They are living in Budapest, Hungary. They are so wonderful and they just recently had a sweet little boy named Gideon (I stole a picture from their blog to put below, because he is Zoe's little boyfriend...they are only a few months apart!). Anyway, they sent Zoe the cutest little outfit and 2 chocolate bars (they say it's the best chocolate in all of europe! yummy!) We were so excited when we got the package in the mail, even Nate said, "aw, her very first pair of jeans!" So thank you SOOO much you guys, we love you and miss you tons!! Oh yeah, and we are still praying that you follow God's call to Africa :)

Won't they make a cute couple one day?!

easter blessings

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. "He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said."
Matthew 28:5-6

I love this verse it reminds me of all those Sunday morning Easter services back home when the pastor gets up and says "He is Risen!" and the entire congregation responds "He is Risen indeed!" 

So, as I said in my last post, we just got back from a big meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting took place over Easter, which was such a huge blessing because we were able to be with other believers and worship together on Easter Sunday. Instead of singing African hymns or traditional songs of Tanzania in Swahili (which are great), we got to sing the songs in our heart language. We had some amazing worship leaders and it was just super! And much needed. It was a great week of seeing our people from all over East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, DRC, Southern Sudan). It was really encouraging to hear stories of what the Lord is doing in all those places...He is at work!

It was also Zoe's very first Easter. When my mom came, she brought her the cutest little Easter dress (pictures below). We also got up early for the sunrise service and because it is soooo wonderfully cool in Nairobi, we had to get bundled up. So, it was Zoe's first chance to wear her cute little coat too. I'm not sure if she will ever get to wear it again...but she sure did look adorable!

After the meeting, we had a few days in Nairobi to mess around (thanks to Zoe's doctor appointment and a busted radiator). So we enjoyed all our favorites: westgate mall, nakumatt, pizza inn, and java house! Oh, how I love Nairobi.

some firsts for zoe (and bibi)

It's been quite a while since I've updated...after my mom left, we had about a week to get ready and then head up to nairobi, kenya for a big meeting with everyone from east africa (which was awesome, and I will blog about that later). So I have a bit of catching up to do on my blogging!

While my mom was here, we took her on her very first african safari...which just so happened to be zoe's first safari too (if you don't count when I was pregnant...you know, the time when Nate got us stuck in a riverbed that I KNEW we would never get out of...the time when me and Nate were both praying out loud for God to please help us get out because we were out in the middle of a wild game park by ourselves as night was approaching...the time when I know the hand of God must have reached down and literally pushed our car from behind because there was no way we could have made it out on our own!!) It's a wonder I agreed to go back...haha, anyway we went to Mikumi game park which is about an hour drive from our house in Morogoro. It was such a fun day, we saw lots of giraffes, zebras, warthogs, monkeys...and towards the end of the day I spotted two lions behind the grass! Nate pulled up beside them and we took lots of pictures. We were clearly annoying them as they kept getting up and walking away from us. But that didn't stop us from following them. And Nate (being the person we all know and love) decided to bark at them to get them to look at us so we could take some better pictures. The female did not like that one bit and gave us a growl to let us know. Finally they walked away and layed down in some taller grass so we let them be.
We had a nice little lunch overlooking a watering hole...but there were no animals drinking except for some really ugly bird. Anyway, here are a few pictures from zoe & bibi's very first safari:

Before my mom left we took her to the beach in Dar es Salaam...which was Zoe's very first beach trip. It was kinda cloudy, but a perfect day to just relax. There was a huge sea turtle that washed up on shore (it was dead already) but it was really cool. We just layed on our beach chairs and looked at the ocean and it was sooo pretty. It was zoe's first opportunity to wear her bathing suit. Nate was a little unhappy because she was showing a little too much skin, but she was super cute :)

(This is one of my very favorite pictures because the rock pier in the background was where I first told Nathan we were gonna have a baby!!)

Showered with Blessings

It's been a while since I have written. But I have a good excuse...my mom is here! She got here about 2 weeks ago and will be here until April 14th. In the short time that she has been here, she has managed to spoil the heck out of Zoe, but she keeps saying "that's what grandparents are for!" I can't really complain though because it's been really nice to have her here, especially to help out with Zoe so that I can do other things that have been neglected lately. Before she came, I didn't know how nice it was to have someone around to help...maybe now I'm spoiled too! Here are a few pictures of my mom with Zoe:

My sweet friends here in Morogoro planned a baby shower specifically so that my mom could come (since she wasn't able to be at any showers before Zoe was born). It was so sweet...we ate, talked, and laughed a bunch! We played a game where we tried to tie our "babies" (we used 2-liter water bottles) onto our backs like Tanzanians do. I have to admit...I was not really good at it. And the decorations were beautiful...they hung a clothesline across the room and pinned up all these cute little outfits for Zoe and they even had special chairs labeled mama (swahili for mom) and bibi (swahili for grandma, which is what my mom is called). The girls had been working on a quilt, they each made a square and then put them all together...it's absolutely beautiful. I feel so blessed to have these women in my life...they definitely a gift from God! Here are a few pictures from the shower:

And that's not all! Since we've been back from Kenya, we have received so many packages from friends and family back home. It's been amazing to get things like: funfetti cake mix, candy, devotional books, adorable outfits for Zoe, girl scout cookies (thank you Cathy!!), and so much more!

Also, my birthday was this past weekend and it was really special to have my mom here with us. The day was wonderful. It started with Zoe sleeping until 9am...yay!! My mom made us fruit smoothies for breakfast, and a funfetti cake. We watched movies and watched lots of episodes of "24," which my mom brought with her and we are now addicted to. Nate went out and picked us up all sorts of good food for dinner and I opened presents. My sister sent this really fun game "fluxx" that we have been playing alot, nate's parents sent me a book and my favorite twizzlers....yum! My mom and dad gave us season 3 & 4 of "24", a UGA shirt, and more twizzlers :) And Nate gave me a few tyler perry movies that I've been wanting for a while! It was a great day. Here are just a few pictures from my birthday:

Don't hate us...

So...we have been blessed with pretty much the best baby ever. Seriously, it makes me nervous to ever have another one because Zoe is sooooo easy. Don't get me wrong, we have had our rough days...but all in all, she's pretty amazing. The first week or two was pretty hard, she had some serious stomach issues/gas pains and was crying a lot of the time, but the doctor suggested some medicine that seemed to help pretty quickly. So by 2 weeks, she was sleeping through the night. Yes, you read that correctly. Our 2-week old baby was sleeping through the night. The first night it happened, it scared me to death. When I woke up and realized, I ran in to her room to make sure she was ok. The next few nights it happened, I thought it was a fluke. Now we are at 6 weeks and I don't think there has been a night that she hasn't slept all the way through. And YES, I know how lucky we are!

Once we got back to Morogoro, I thought we might be in for some hard days since there would be so many changes for her (and have I mentioned how miserably hot it is here?) It didn't affect her sleeping at night and she actually started taking longer naps during the day (probably because of the heat). She DOES NOT like to take naps and will not fall asleep unless she is swaddled (which stinks, because she hates being swaddled). She often falls asleep while she is nursing, and I was letting her sleep afterwards....but when we got back to Tanzania, we decided we really needed to get her on a schedule. So I got in this bad habit of rocking/bouncing/swinging her to sleep in my arms and then laying her down for her naps. If she woke up, she would cry and I would pick her up and this went on for a while. So, finally we decided we needed to just lay her down in her crib as she was getting sleepy and let her learn how to go to sleep on her own.
*On a sidenote...this is EXTREMELY stressful anytime a Tanzanian is around because they think you are absolutely torturing your baby if you don't pick them up the moment they start crying. If we have the lady who cleans our house inside, she will immediately notify me that Zoe is crying and if I don't go pick her up right away, she notifies me again and again until I go get her. One time I told her (in Swahili) that if I let Zoe just cry for a minute, she will fall back asleep. She gave me this look like I had no idea what I was talking about.*

Anyway, so the first time we attempted to put her in her crib while she was still awake, I was fully prepared for some crying and multiple attempts and many days before success. So we wrapped her up, layed her down, and walked out. She screamed and I wanted to cry and go pick her up. Literally, not even 5 minutes later the crying had stopped and she was asleep. Seriously?! Could it be that easy? Apparently, for Zoe...it is. She usually cries for just a few minutes and she is off to sleep. Although I frequently get angry at Nate for his sleeping habits, I must say that Zoe has definitely taken after her father in her sleeping and I could not be happier! She sleeps for about an hour or more every 3 hours and more often than not, I wake her up to feed her (and to stick to the schedule...I'm a planner!). She is still sleeping atleast 7-8 hours at night and we are pretty much the most blessed parents in the world!

Yes, I know we are extremely lucky and most babies aren't like this. Yes, I know that if (and when) we have another, he or she probably won't be as easy...but in the mean time we are enjoying our sweet little girl (and our sleep!)

Here is a picture of her in her crib:

1 month already!

I cannot believe my little girl is already a month old! We are finally back in Morogoro after over 2 months in Nairobi. I personally miss it already, I loved being able to jump in our car (an automatic) and hop over to nakumatt (sorta like a walmart) and get things like pop-tarts and sour cream. I was even lucky enough to find Philadelphia honey nut cream cheese at the butchery right buy where we were staying. Ahh...those things will have to wait until we head back up in April for our big meeting. They were nice while they lasted and since we are driving up in April, we will be able to bring all sorts of good stuff back with us.

The trip back was not at all pleasant...oh, the plane ride was great and Zoe slept through most of security and customs...but as we were leaving Dar to drive back to Morogoro we noticed both our ipods had been taken from our car and not an hour later the clutch died on our Patrol and we had to wait on the side of the road for someone to bring us another car so we could head back to Morogoro (don't get me wrong...I'm SO thankful that we actually have someone who is nice enough to drive in Dar traffic to bring us another car...I don't know what we would have done otherwise!) We came back to a house that was SO unbelievably hot and no electricity. I think I forgot how hot Tanzania was while we were enjoying the cool weather of Nairobi. Anyway, we are home and it's nice.

Zoe is growing like crazy (more length than weight)...she has her Daddy's height. Ok, well she has her Daddy's everything (check out the picture below...DEFINITELY a nate face!) I think the only thing she got from me was the little wrinkles on her forehead. We are falling more and more in love with her every day. She is smiling at us (and when I say "us" I mean mostly Nate...I get an accidental smile now and then). Our dog, Chester, couldn't care less about her. We were kinda worried how he would react to her since he is such a huge dog. But really, he sniffs her now and then but mostly just leaves her alone. I think he is still trying to figure her out.

That's about it for now...except Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law, Liz, and my sweet God-daughter, Campbell!