Merry Christmas...

Christmas day with her Christmas bib.

Phoebe and Her Baba...

Before My Morning Coffee...

My parents thought she needed her own Starbucks mug for a morning latte.

After My Morning Coffee...

My First Christmas Eve...

With our Doctor...

Dr. Vandersteen is my doctor. We went for my one month check-up and asked to have our picture taken with the doctor who performed the life saving c-section.

First Movie at the Cinema...

We decided to venture out with my parents here and see the third Chronicles of Narnia. Phoebe slept through most of it. She didn't seem to like the clanging of the bells in one scene but other than that, it was just different place for her to take a nice long nap.

The Family by the Christmas Tree...

Getting Her Hearing Checked...

In Belgium, the midwives come to your house through a free government program. Laura comes to visit us about every other week. We love her visits. She is very encouraging and has become a friend to Hary, Phoebe and I.

My Favorite Sleeping Face...

The Happily Exhausted Family...

Phoebe in Mama's Dress when she was 2 weeks old...

Playing with Baba...

Finally Home...

Julie and Phoebe in the Hospital...

Phoebe is Here!

On the way to the hospital...

Winnie the Pooh...

One of our teenagers who loves to draw did this chalk poster of the classic Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Piglet for Phoebe. This is a great personalized gift to be treasured! Thanks Miriam.

33 Weeks...

Okay, so I haven't really been excited to post pictures of myself, but since they have been requested, here is me at 33 weeks. I have about 6 weeks to go now and so time is coming near. And I feel a bit like a Buddah statue as everyone wants to come and touch my stomach. But Phoebe is growing at a healthy normal rate and moving like her father...she has a lot of energy. We are just happy the pregnancy has been so healthy!

The Gift...

Here is the car seat that the ladies pitched in to buy. Phoebe can use this when she is 6 months old.

It's Raining Babies (aka...A Baby Shower)

Here is a table of all the goodies that the Arab ladies set up for my "American" baby shower. Don't you wish you were here to taste everything?

Look at that Nose!

I had another doctor's appointment at the end of August. I am now 28 weeks along (6 1/2 months). In Belgium, at each doctor's visit we have a sonogram. So every 4 weeks we get to see Phoebe. My mom told me that when she was pregnant with me she prayed that I wouldn't get the nose from my dad's side of the family. From pictures I have seen, my grandfather's nose was very large and distinctive. As an answer to all of her prayers, I arrived with a small little button nose! Well, I have felt the need to say the same prayers for our little one. Hary's family also has very distinctive noses. So at this last visit when the sonogram was done, the doctor spent some time showing me Phoebe's little face. She is getting close to 3 pounds now and has started gaining fat and you can now see cute little cheeks in the sonogram. And as you can see the profile revealed that she too has a cute little nose. God does hear the prayers of mother's for their daughters about their noses. 2 generations have proven this effective!!

She's Getting Her Own Wheels...

Baby things are expensive anywhere, but on this side of the ocean the prices are higher than imaginable. Since a stroller is a necessity in world of metros, buses and trams, we needed to make sure that Phoebe had one of her own. Several offered to give her a used one, but each one that we looked at had broken wheels or something that would fall off or apart after 2 more uses. So I found this stroller system online at Wal-Mart. Thanks to a bunch of beautiful children at my home church who gave us a gift, we were able to use their money to pay for more than half of the stroller price. And our new friend who is coming to work with us on September 6 is going to try and bring it out to her on the airplane. So if everything works out as planned, Phoebe will have her own set of wheels!

Gifts for Everyone...

It is tradition in Arabic culture that families will come to visit the new little baby when she arrives at the house and that the new parents need to give each person some kind of little memento when they visit. These gifts can range from the inexpensive to the very costly. However, in most cases, the little gifts are not something that visitors would want to hang on to. So with the help of my mom, we are giving out little booties that she made and that are stuffed with chocolates and candies. When Phoebe is born, we will write her birthday under her name on the little card and put that in the bootie as well. It is also tradition to have plates of fresh baked goods and a variety of nuts to serve the guests. So part of my "nesting" period of pregnancy has been to make and freeze all kinds of cookie doughs.

Like Mother Like Daughter...

My mom has been going through my baby things that she saved. She found several little dresses that have kept well through the years. This is one of the little dresses that I wore in picture that was taken of me when I was 8 weeks old. My mom washed it up and sent it to me. I am so excited to see Phoebe in this little dress when she is just a few months!

A Space of Her Own...

We live on the second floor of the building we work in, so it is basically like an apartment space. There is a living room, kitchen, dinning room, bathroom and one bedroom on our floor. So in preparation for Phoebe, we had to find some space for her. Our bedroom wasn't large enough to fit much more than our bed and dresser. So a few months back we swapped the bedroom and the dinning room (which is pretty large). So on one half of the room is our bedroom space and here is a picture of the space we have prepared for Phoebe. So far we haven't had to buy very much in this photo. We have received hand-me-downs from friends and those Hary has worked for including the bed and bassinet. So I have been cleaning, disinfecting and washing all the clothes and things loaned to her from friends. And because I love Classic Winnie the Pooh, we have a few decorations that were made before we knew she was a "she". So now Phoebe has a space all her own.

All in a Name...

If we have heard this question once, we've heard it a thousand times. Have you picked out a name yet?? Normally, I would wait until she is born to tell people, but it seems to not be such a big deal in the Arab world and Hary has already told everyone on this side of the ocean.

So before we even knew she was a girl, we had one of each name picked out. Hary and I both wanted a strong biblical name. However, the next qualification was a bit trickier...we wanted it to be pronounced the same in English and Arabic. As you can imagine the list was pretty short!!

In Romans 16:1-2 there is a faithful woman named Phoebe who Paul advises the people to listen to and help her as she was a deacon in the church. We liked that even though she is only mentioned in 2 verses, she is a strong, faithful, godly servant of the Lord, worthy of respect.

Middle names are rare among Arabs, but very important to me. So her middle name has 2 parts...Joyann. The "joy" comes from the translation of the Setswanan name that the Africans in Botswana gave me during my time there. And the "ann" is my mom's middle name. Mothers and daughters can have such special relationships and I wanted her to always carry her mother and grandmother in her name.

And of course, although it is not normal in Belgium or with Arabs for the wife to take the husband's name, it is perfectly normal for the children to take their father's name. In combination of her middle and last name, she will be a perfect mixture of 2 families, 2 lanugages, 2 worlds, and 2 cultures.

So coming soon in November...Phoebe Joyann Khano!!

A Message Sent from Karin...

Karin has been Janée's dear sweet sister-friend for 19 years. They have spent many seasons of their friendship with an ocean between them. Although they can't be in the same place at the same time, Karin still insisted that Phoebe needed some kind of baby shower, which is neither a Belgian or Arab custom. She wanted to invite anyone who would want to participate in this way. Hary and Janée were not anticipating any kind of baby shower or presents, so there is no pressure in this invitation, just a possible avenue for those who wanted to give a gift.

There are 3 items that they want to get Phoebe from Wal-Mart and have Janée's parents bring out with them in November. These 3 items are up to double the price in Belgium. That is why they will be brought out from Wal-Mart. They are a stroller/car seat system ($211.50), a baby monitor system ($40.94), and a lullaby projector ($31.39).

Janée's mom's address is Betty Angel, 14930 N. 1600th St., Teutopolis, IL 62467

Sneak Peek...

Well, I am normally not one for photos, but I have had so many people ask to see me when I am pregnant. Uggh! So I had my own personal "photographer" snap a shot this week.

So here I am at 22 weeks...about 5 1/2 months pregnant. Since she is due on November 17th, I still have about 3 1/2 months to go. We are preparing as much as possible for the coming day. This week we took a tour of the hospital maternity ward and at our next appointment we will discuss when I need to start preparation classes, although I have been doing my share of studying and learning on-line. As time gets closer, I will do my best at posting other photos as well...and hope that my photographer can always get my best angle!!

Homemade...

For Christmas last year, my sister-in-law bought me my first little sewing machine. My mom and grandma are both great at using the machine, but I had never used one and did all my mending by hand. I wanted to learn so that I could do some basic handy work. So far I hemmed pants, made some curtains and made a small quilt for my mom's birthday.

But last week I felt motivated to do what my grandma and mom did for me, make a little dress for my little girl. So I found a free pattern at http://rae.oostendorp.net/ITTY%20BITTY%20BABY%20DRESS.pdf and made my very first piece of clothing. There weren't as many directions as I would have liked to come with a pattern, so I had to wing it and added a few of my own personal touches. But at least she will now have something hand made by her mama too!

Just Checking In...

This is the day we found out that our baby is a indeed a little girl! Everyone had placed their bets and most thought she would be a boy. But I guess all of those old wives tales of how to tell if you're having a boy or a girl just don't always work.

We love going to the doctor here in Belgium. With every visit, we have a sonogram. That ensures that at least once a month we can see our little one. We have been amazed as we have watched her little heart beat and have seen her stomach and her brain at work. What an amazing thing God does in the creation of each little life!

And I am assuming she will have a lot of her "baba" (daddy) in her. Each visit we get to watch just how active she is. Certainly Hary has a very hard time just staying still for more than 5 minutes! There are many mornings now that I am awakened by her movements. And just the other day I got a swift kick when she wasn't at her most comfortable. Oh la la...what is instore!