where does the time go?

so it's only been two and half weeks since my last post (which is actually kind of a long time), but so much has happened in that time. really, i feel like we've had matthias forever, although he's only a month old. time flies when you're having fun, right? so here is the run-down of the last couple of weeks....

-paidia built a ropes course. the first one in palestine. it's pretty awesome. we had a contractor come over from the US for a week to help build it. when he got here, of course everything went wrong and things weren't ready, so in the end they had three days to build it. and they got it done. you can see pictures and videos on paidia's website.

-my mom came to visit. she was actually here for the ropes course building, which was excellent since jason worked at least 12 hours each day that week. i had so much fun having her here. she played with hiba, taught her song, held matthias, made us dinners, cleaned my house....it was great. it made me really excited to be moving closer to family. and i know that when we live there the novelty of seeing us will wear off and i won't get my house cleaned and meals cooked all the time, but hiba and matthias will get to know their grandparents and aunts and uncles and that is exciting.

-hiba started talking. and doesn't really stop. ever. she babbles a lot, but also learns new words every day. she knows a lot of food words (her favorite category), lots of her toys, some animals, names, body parts, and random words she hears. she only speaks in english, but the people at daycare insist that she understands arabic too. and she seems to when jason or saleem talk to her. she seems so grown up now, between having a new baby around and having her talking all the time.

-matthias turned one month. he's a growing boy! literally - he weighs 5.6 kilos, which is 12.3 pounds. he is huge. he has started smiling every once in a while, but still mostly sleeps and eats. i think he is much more of a home body than hiba ever was, because he is on a perfect schedule if we're home all day, but not so great if we're not. it's fun to see already how he is going to be different than hiba.

-we bought our plane tickets. we are coming back to the US on december 30. now that it's official, it's weird that we're leaving. i'm excited and sad, but i still feel like it is time for us to leave here. we're flying out of amman instead of tel aviv, which could be a fun adventure. or it could be the worst idea ever, since it means more border crossings and a hotel with two kids. we'll see.

my next post will be filled with cute pictures and maybe video clips of my adorable kids. i know you're all holding your breath....