DR Appointment

Last night we took Zander to a local doctor. There is nothing wrong, we just wanted to meet the man who may be our son’s Dr and find out what vaccinations he would suggest to us as “strangers in a strange land.” The appointment went well, Zander is healthy and growing. In fact, Zander tipped the scales at over 13 pounds. Just thought everyone would want to know our little boy is getting a little less little everyday.

Hi

Perhaps the one bright moment over the weekend was Zander speaking his first word! I say this with a smile of course as he had no idea he was speaking. However, Friday as we sat in the car with the AC running to get cooled off, Zander clearly said, Hi! The three of us (Amanda, mom and I) looked at each other as if to say, did you hear that!, and then we broke out laughing. It was so clear and yet so obviously a fluke. Then again the next day, during a late night arousal, he clearly said Hi! a second time. Amanda and I laughed, it was just too cute. So even when sick, tired, and way too hot, you can still count on a baby to bring some much needed joy!

Zander

I know that most of the blog readers also get Amanda’s Facebook updates. However, I could not miss an opportunity to show off my son. Here is the newest picture we have of Zander. He is 30 weeks alone and is set to make his grand entrance to the world in late June, but we are praying he comes a little early to help his mom and dad get his passport and visa in order in time to come back to the field. 

Isn’t he cute?!

Another Exciting Day

Well. I can’t share the details here because if I reveal the secret of a pregnant lady I may be seriously hurt… but, we found out yesterday if we are having a boy or girl. It’s exciting to now be able to move forward with decorating and name choosing and clothes buuying, etc, etc. I’ll post the results as soon as I have permission.

Congratulations… Sort Of

On the weekend we were busy with services in various parts of the “city”. I will tell you later why I use the word city cautiously. Well, on one leg of our journey we were with our Assistant Bishop, it is his grandson that refers to me as “Praise the Lord”. I have been careful about sharing the news of Amanda’s pregnancy with the locals. They love children more then any group of people I have ever met. However, they tend to hide their women during pregnancy. Probably partially because being pregnant usually mandates certain activities to have been completed before hand and the thought of that is not comfortable. And partially because the general view is the woman has her place and seeing as pregnancy is a woman’s issue it should not be flaunted. I worked with one man for about 3-4 months on a daily basis last year and visited his home almost every other week but had never even seen his wife. Anyway, because of the stigma around pregnancy we have only mentioned it to one man and have relied on the rumor mill to do the rest of the work (Yes, preacher like to share a little gossip here too). Well, when the man I told had a chance to speak to Amanda at the Bishop’s house, he quietly said to her, “congratulations on your condition.” I just laughed thinking about it. When you think of condition you think something very negative, to add congratulations to it seems out of place. But it shows the struggle of the young generation, here. Wanting to be polite and kind by offering a congratulation (something no one else has dared to do for either of us) but at the same time being very aware of the elders watching their every move and not wanting to disappoint them by actually doing something like recognizing a pregnancy as an exciting event. I have watched the people of this nation and I know they will love my child like it was their own, but for the next few months it will be a bit difficult not having a friend I can just talk to about the excitement/fears of becoming a first time dad.

A Funny Moment

We have lots of news regarding the work of God here, some exciting things are happening for us. But I really want to talk a little bit about the baby news. Back in October Amanda was having a very emotional few days. We had a visiter with us (Bro Craft) and so she was trying to hide it a little bit. However, in our private times she was a bit of a wreck… I understand she’s not the first pregnant lady to “lose it” a little bit. Anyway, one day she was wailing and complaining about how upset she was because we’ve been praying and asking God for a baby but with no luck. We’d prayed for many others who had miracle babies but not us. She was very upset and crying, little did we know that the whole time she was complaining, she was already a few weeks pregnant! Looking back it was one of those moments that we will always remembering regarding the birth of our first child.