my 9 favorite things about jason

9. he's a romantic. he buys me flowers, takes me on dates, opens my doors, tells me he loves me. there's not too much that has changed in the last 12 years as far as how he treats me. i know he's still chasing, even though he's totally caught me (shh, don't tell him though).


8. he doesn't let me win when we play games. and although i hate losing (which i don't do most of the time...) i am glad that he gives me a run for my money, even if it's just while playing settlers of catan.

7. he's fun to be with. after 9 years (and 12 if you count the time we were dating), we still find fun things to do together and i genuinely love being around him. a trip, a night out, a game night at home, watching football, drinks on the back deck - it's all a great time when we are together.

6. he's a good fighter. i know that sounds a little weird, but it's a good thing. i am glad that he fights for what he wants, what he believes in, and what he thinks is best - whether it is with me or with someone else. he's a good listener and is willing to see the other side of an argument, but he also forces issues and doesn't just back down, which i know makes us stronger. 

5. he's a bad ass. as much as i complain about how much time rugby takes - it is pretty awesome to say my husband is a rugby player. and a good one at that.

4. he is a kind person. not just to me, but to people who really need some kindness in their life. i don't think of myself as a particularly kind person, so it's good for me to see and i hope it's rubbed off a little.

3. he's a great dad. seeing jason love our kids is really awesome.

2. he loves all of me, even the crazy sides. i don't think of myself as a particularly crazy person, but i know i have my moments. and somehow, he makes me feel loved, even because of those crazy sides, not just despite them.

1. he is just the best. and that's a fact. you can't beat facts.

9 years down, many more to go. if you told me 9 years ago where we would be today, and where we have been, i don't know that i would have believed you. but i'm sure glad we're here, i'm glad we've made it this far, and there is no one else i can even imagine doing life with. 

weekend round-up: birthday week!

hiba turned 5 a week ago. it is just so crazy to think that i have a 5 year-old. that seems like the age of a real person to me. you know, not a toddler, not a little kid, but an actual person. crazy.

anyway, we celebrated in style with several different parties before it was all said and done, plus little bits of celebration along the way.

it started last weekend, when my parents came down here. we had a fun, quick visit and hiba was thrilled to kick of birthday week. we weren't sure if she would love all of the celebrations that didn't happen on her actual birthday, but, like her mother, she embraced it.

popping the truck to find a new pool waiting for her!

candy land! (thanks for that, mom, by the way...)

birthday ice cream!

next up was dinner at a local mexican restaurant. we had gone a few weeks ago, and hiba saw a picture of the friend ice cream, which i told her was for birthdays. so, that was the plan. she said she wanted them to put a big hat on her and sing happy birthday. i was so thankful that is lived up to her expectations.

fried ice cream!

...and the big hat!

...and ice cream in the face! (enter nervous laughter...)

so silly!

the celebrations continued on wednesday night, when jason's family and cousins from florida came over for dinner. hiba got a new doll house from gramma and papa, which was a hit.

hiba and guin

goofy boys! matthias and malachi

hiba's party was on staurday at pinnacle mountain. i was a little (ok, a lot) nervous about planning an outdoor party in april, but it turned out perfect. the weather was georgous, the company was great, and hiba had a great time.

hiba's aunt katie made her birthday cake, and delivered it early saturday morning since she wouldn't be able to make the party. she made hiba and matthias balloon hats, which were a huge hit.

a dinosaur hat for matthias

the delicious, beautiful cake. it was amazing.

 

 

so thankful for alex's help!

the men cooking.

hiba and her cake!

singing happy birthday!

 

it was a great birthday week. i still can't believe she is five, about to start kindergarten. i'm glad she had a great week celebrating and i'm looking forward to what this year has ahead! 

i don't remember the first part of the morning - when i got up, what i ate for breakfast. i do remember it was a beautiful day. april days were usually gorgeous in beit sahour. i was off work, so i probably at some fried eggs, pita bread, hummus, and maybe some fruit. maybe some red peppers or tomatoes. i was trying to eat all the healthy things i needed. i probably sat out on our balcony, drinking nescafe, thinking that i would never have this baby.

i went for a walk in the mid morning. a long walk. my favorite grocery store was probably a mile or so from our house - but a mile up and down and up and down hills. i walked by myself, but i made sure to have my cell phone, with good reception. just in case. i walked to the store, bought something - probably chips or something like that. i clearly hadn't needed to go to the store, i just needed to walk. because i was never going to have this baby.

i did some stretches and exercises in the afternoon. i think i did jumping jacks. and squats. i probably watched some tv - i think i was into lost at that point. or maybe gossip girl. something super awesome. it didn't matter. because i had all the time in the world to watch tv, because i was never going to have this baby. 

by mid afternoon, i felt some contractions. nothing consistent. nothing strong. jason got home from work around 4 and i was about to lose it. i was 8 days past my due date. and i was never going to have this baby.

he told me we'd go out to dinner. anywhere i wanted. anywhere. so i picked a pasta restaurant in jerusalem. we hardly ever went out in jerusalem, at least not just the two of us. but pasta sounded so good. i had to iron clothes, because my only decent shirt that still fit over my massively pertruding belly was a wrinkled button-up shirt. i took a shower (which made all contractions stop all together), got dressed, dried my hair, and was ready to go eat. before we left, we measured my belly. it was the same length around as my armpit to the floor. huge. i was never going to have this baby.

we got in the car, and off we went. i don't remember which way we went out. however it was, there were no problems at the checkpoint. 6 o'clock jerusalem traffic wasn't the most fun thing to drive in. but we had time. because i was never going to have this baby.

we arrived at the restaurant, joking about what to do if my water broke at the table. israeli waitresses are, well, less than polite most of the time, so jason assured me that he'd spill some water and say it was him. i laughed. that only happens in the movies. we passed the restaurant and there were no good parking spots. i told jason that was ok, because it would be good for me to walk. because i was never going to have this baby.

it was 6:30 p.m. we were almost to a place to park. and then - pop...GUSH. contractions immediately picked up. luckily, traffic was dying down, so it didn't take too long to get back towards bethlehem. we had to go the back way, because it meant no stopping at the checkpoint, but it also meant lots of bumps, turns, and speed bumps. it hurt. i couldn't believe how much it hurt. jason was honking, driving as quickly/carefully as he could, yelling out the widow in arabic, "my wife is having a baby!".

we got to the hospital about 7:15. i could still walk and talk, so i knew it would be a while. jason got me quickly checked in and then went to go get my hospital bag i had left at home. you know, since i was never going to have this baby.

after what seemed forever, he got back. it was only about 45 minutes later. but i was hurting. this was hard. i was quite sure that i would not be able to make it. in between contractions - in the whole 30 seconds i had between them - i told jason i couldn't do this. i needed the drugs. he asked me if i was sure, and i said yes. he said great. he was on it.

the midwife came in, to see how far along i was before calling the anesthesiologist. her response literally made me lose my breath.

"it's ok. you don't need the drugs. you are about to start pushing. she's almost here".

just like that. i remember a moment of sheer panic. how was she almost here? how did God think that i was ready for this? didn't we have a little more time?

but we didn't. from there it's a blur. nurses rushing in. jason rubbing my back. inhaling laughing gas to help me breath. mixtures of arabic, french, and english. pain. exhaustion. fear. a cold wash cloth on my face. one last push.

and then.

hiba.

gift from God.

her long, gangly legs.

her big, blue eyes.

her daddy's face.

my life. changed forever.

in that moment, i had no idea. no idea how much joy this girl would bring. no idea how much i could love her. no idea how much she would help jason and i  love each other. no idea how much frustration she would bring. no idea how much laughter she would add. no idea how many tears she would bring. no idea how much i would fight for her. no idea how much i would need her hugs. no idea how hard it would be to remember life before this moment.

hiba.

my gift from God.

happy birthday, hiba bear!

weekend round-up: rugby domination!!

so as much as i may complain from time to time about jason playing rugby, deep down inside i think it's pretty awesome. i'm glad that he gets to play, i'm thankful for the friendships our family has made because of rugby, and i do like to brag about how awesome he is from time to time. and this season has been especially awesome. 

this weekend was the last home game of the spring season, which also happened to be the first round of playoff games. the stormers won, 86-7. yes, you read that right. they are undefeated this season and heading to naples, florida for the south championship in two weeks. 

the weather this weekend was gorgeous. one of those few weekends a year that are not too hot, not too cold. a great day for watching rugby. the kids are old enough that they can run around and play, so i actually get to hang out and watch the game, which is always a plus. it was a fun game to watch and a great way to end the home season.  

 

*pictures are from Razorbackfoto - go check out the rest!

weekend round-up: community

this weekend, i felt really blessed by our little church community. when i think about our church, and that fact that we've stuck around, it's kind of funny. to someone on the outside, our group probably doesn't make a lot of sense. but it just fits so well into our lives right now and is always a blessing to be around our r street peeps.

for about two years after we moved to little rock, i didn't feel like jason and i had a place together. he had is friends, i had mine, and we crossed over to each others sides - but we didn't have a group. and that was hard.  but somehow, without really looking, we stumbled onto r street. and for whatever reason, we stuck around. and i'm so glad we did. because now we have "our" group, we have "our" friends, a place for our family to be. if you had asked me two years ago what kind of a group i would be looking for, i don't think this would be it. (haha - sorry guys :-p) but - i am so thankful and blessed to be a part of this little community now. 

once a month, we try to do a service sunday - taking our church service somewhere and serving in some say. we've sorted clothes at a homeless shelter, we've raked leaves at a women's home, we've built wheelchair ramps. it's always a fun time and a good reminder to be doing as a community, not just being.

this last sunday, we held a church service at a nursing home here in little rock where the mother of one of our church members lives. and it was really neat. in the middle of singing "come thou fount", i looked around at our little rag-tag group and was so thankful for where we are, so thankful for these people in our lives, so thankful for the way that we have weaseled ourselves into each other lives. after leaving palestine, i was not confident that we would find another place like kinestish*, but this church family is turning out to be a pretty amazing addition to our life. it's the perfect place for our family at this point in our life.

i don't have anything really profound to say about them, other than i am thankful that they are in our life. i'm thankful for the way they love our family - me, jason, and the kids. i'm thankful for the way we love them. i'm thankful for the way we are in each others lives and business. i'm thankful that we can pray together, share communion, go out to lunch, and share a beer. i'm thankful that they have invited us into their lives and that we have invited them into ours.

real community is a great thing. and i love ours.  

super grateful for these people.

*a made up arabic word meaning "not church", which we used to describe our little group that met together, shared a meal, read the Bible, prayed together, and just did life together.