A Hug for Dad

Asher was never much of a cuddler as a baby, but lately has loved to give hugs. We take as many as we can get!

Snow!

We finally got some substantial snow, so we bundled Asher up for his first play time outdoors in the cold weather.


This was pretty much the extent of his play time. I don't think he was as excited as we were.


He just stood in the snow and didn't move. I think he would have fallen over if he had tried. He was quite the stuffed little marshmallow with his coat and snow pants. His little boots are pretty cute but kind of heavy for him to pick his feet up.


We are so thankful for the warm outerwear, and lately he wears it wherever we go due to the fact that we walk everywhere. Asher is staying warm this winter.

Baby Number Two

That's right! Lord willing, Asher will be a big brother come mid July. I am 13 weeks and decided I should finally start letting people know.

We are assuming with the announcement will come many questions, so we will try to answer some of the ones we think you'd want to know:

1. Where will you have the baby?

We will have the baby here in our city. We checked out hospitals with a couple of American nurses this summer and got a lot of our basic questions answered. The nurses were impressed with the quality of care that they could provide here. It was nice to have a tour of the birthing unit and see that they could handle a pre term delivery or most any medical emergency concerning a birth. We obviously aren't anticipating anything abnormal, but feel reassured that they have the equipment/capabilities to deal with it.

2. Does your doctor speak English?

A little bit. Enough to make the appointment not totally confusing. In fact, at this point, her English is probably better than my Turkish, so it has been helpful.

3. Will you be able to have an ultrasound?

Obviously from the picture, yes! In fact, this is quite a bonus for me. I will get an ultrasound each appointment. I didn't have an ultrasound with Asher in the States until around 18 weeks. So it is nice that we will get to see the baby each month.

4. Are basic check ups the same as in the States?

It is hard to say. I've only had one. At my first appointment they drew blood, took my weight and blood pressure, and I got an ultrasound. Fairly routine. Of course, it was a little more confusing due to language barriers and some cultural differences, but we made it through. My ultrasound was in a private room, but interestingly, the talking with the doctor, getting blood pressure and weight was in front of several other women. I think they were thoroughly amused by the confused American and enjoyed hearing what my blood pressure and weight were.

5. What are some of the cultural differences you have noticed?

Most women come to appointments with their sister, mother, aunt or some other female. In fact, most all husbands are not in the delivery room when the wife is having their baby. This was one thing we want to make sure of is that Reed will be able to be in there with me. For women here they would have a female relative with them instead. I'm sure I will discover a lot more in the next several months as this pregnancy progresses.

6. How are you feeling?

Besides the typical tired and nauseous, I'm doing well. I'm excited that my first trimester is over, and that the baby looks good so far. Sure, I have fears. There is so much I don't know and it doesn't help that my language is limited, but I have great friends here that will help me get through appointments. Another opportunity to surrender and trust God! I'm sure there will be some medical terminology I'll pick up along the way in Turkish that will be very valuable for me to remember come delivery time!

7. Will you find out if it is a boy or girl?

Absolutely. We can't wait that long and not find out!

Turkish Music

We went to a concert recently that had traditional Turkish singing and musical instruments. My Turkish tutor is in the choir and invited me (Rachael) to come. It is hard to describe the type of music that it is. It certainly is a style of its own and very unique. We enjoyed the experience and it was fun to get to see my tutor sing.

Christmas Morning

We had Christmas together with just our family for the first time ever. Asher doesn't look super thrilled this Christmas morning. :)


He got a Noah's Ark set from his Nana and Popi, that he really likes.



I found Reed a 1000 piece puzzle here of New York City. Reed has enjoyed putting puzzles together over Christmas in the past. He is already done with it!


A sweater from Reed.

Asher got big balloons from his aunt and uncle. Those are sure fun!

All in all, we had a very nice Christmas. We missed being with family, but did what we could to incorporate family traditions here and enjoy Christmas as a small family unit.

It's Spiderman!

Asher got Spiderman long underwear from our friends for Christmas. We had to have him try them on. Parents dress their children very warm here and usually have their kids in long underwear (basically they are tights) underneath their clothes. Asher will now stay very warm when we are outside!

Asher may look like a regular boy this winter in his clothes, but underneath he is really Spiderman!

Christmas Eve Day

Christmas Eve Day was spent with our friends. They came over to our place and we had lunch together, did some sharing, singing, and opening up of some presents. We had a great time!

Asher was excited!

Reed and I introduced our friends to banana slushie which is a Wessman family recipe. We had to do a little improvising with the recipe, since we didn't have the exact ingredients here, but it turned out great!

We had a great lunch together with our friends.

Asher enjoying his new book.

My friend, Lynn, made me a sign to hang in Asher's room. His room is lacking in a lot of things, so this will be great! :)

Here's the kids after opening up their gifts.

Christmas by Skype (part 2)

Our second Christmas by skype was with the Sternbergs.


Asher got a new pair of slippers from Grandpa and Grandma.


And a brand new winter hat! We got a good laugh at Asher wearing this hat, but he will stay very warm.

Christmas by Skype

We had a mini Christmas via skype with the Wessman's. We opened up a few of our gifts from them and we got to watch them open up the ones we sent them.





Asher got some little cars from his aunt and uncle.


Alright! More Vikings paraphenelia!


A recipe file. All of my new recipes don't have to be on post it notes now! Thanks, Wessmans!

Christmas

Celebrating Christmas overseas was a brand new experience for us this year. We weren't sure if we'd be able to find much to decorate our place. Reed's mom sent us our stockings she had made so we put those up.


A week before Christmas a local store set out some trees and decorations, which would be considered New Year's trees here. We snatched one up right away and found enough decorations between a few stores. Just in time for Christmas! And thanks to our family and friends we had packages to put under our tree as well!



It certainly reminded us of home and was so nice to have our place feeling festive.