9 Months and 10 Months

Nine Months

At nine months, Zoe finally mastered the normal crawl on her hands and knees.  Previously, she was quite at efficient at the "Army Man" crawl.  She was super fast sliding around our tile floors with her arms and leg on her stomach.  She is quite the inquisitive little girl and loves to get into anything and everything, especially those things she's not supposed to get into.  At the same time Zoe began to crawl on her hands and knees, she also began pulling up and standing while holding on to things.

Ten Months

At ten months old, Zoe is still getting into everything she can.  She particularly loves to go outside and visit with the cats.  Her favorite food is now the peach.  She has grown much more confident in standing, pulling up on non-sturdy, moveable objects.  She moves from object to object, holding on and taking steps, but she still has not stood on her own without holding anything.  She also will only stand up by herself.  If you try to hold her hands or stand her up, she'll have no part of it.  She wants to do it on her own.  Independence has been the theme this past month.

Seven Months!

Our little Zoe is seven months old now!  Oh how time flies!  She is growing so quickly these days.  She started eating solid food at 6 months and has loved it.  So far her favorite is Sweet Potatoes, followed by Avocado and Banana.  She is learning new things everyday.  She has favorite toys, and has now entered the stage of crying as loud as she can if you take that toy away or if you don't give it to her quick enough.  I think in the next few weeks, she will really become more mobile.  Right now, she sits up really well, she will reach for toys out of her reach and go to her belly then immediately roll to her back or side.  She hates being on her stomach, so she doesn't roll from back to belly very often, and when we put her on her stomach, she just rolls right over.  But she is getting so much stronger, and I think she will begin crawling from the sitting position rather than from laying on her belly.

She is a really great night time sleeper, but has recently been fighting nap time to the extreme.  She sleeps on her side with her arm up covering her head/eyes.  It's pretty cute :)

Well, here she is, our little 7 month old!

6 Month Old Zoe!

5 Months

Just realized that I'm a little bit behind on these...sorry!

3 Months

4 Months

Our 5 month old little Zoe!

She is getting so big and so smart.  She rolls over from belly to back all the time.  She is so close to sitting up by herself.  She sleeps well at night although naptime is a different story, but recently she has been napping much better.  She is so talkative, loves being around people, laughing and smiling :)

Picture With Santa

Learning Arabic

Here's a short video of Zoe learning some Arabic.  Unfortunately you can't really hear her in the video, but you get the idea :)

2 Months

I'm a little bit late getting this up, but better late than never!  Today our little girl is 10 weeks old!  I can't believe how fast the time has flown!  I am pretty sure we have been blessed with the best baby ever.  She is amazing and sleeps like a champ which we are pretty excited about :)  She is such a happy baby, loves giving us big smiles and cooing and singing along with us.  She continues to amaze us!

Newborn Portraits

Here are a few of Zoe's newborn portraits taken at 3 weeks old, thanks to LightlyFocused Photography

One Month

Zoe Phyllis

Zoe Phyllis was born on September 27, 2012 at 9:45 in the evening.  She weighed 7 lbs and 10 oz and was 19.5 in long.  Hopefully within the next few days I will be able to post a little more about her birth and the past week and a half with a newborn.

The first time I got to hold her, it went by way to quickly

After letting me hold her for a minute (they didn't even really want to do that but Andrew insisted) they whisked her away to the NICU to monitor her breathing.

After monitoring her for a few hours, they finally returned her to us!

Sweet little Zoe all bundled up (definitely more to come on this)

At home, 3 days old

I believe this is on day 6

1 week old, Daddy cutting her little fingernails as she sleeps

40 Weeks

Well, our estimated due date has come and gone and we're still waiting.  It seems little Zoe is just content to be right where she is and she might possibly have a bit of a stubborn streak in her :)  So far, even though she has missed her due date, everything is looking good.  We've been going to the doctor about every three days lately, and we do a fetal non-stress test (I think it's called something like that).   Hopefully she'll be making her appearance any day now :)  In the meantime, we're still waiting.

38/39 Weeks

It's almost time!  Little Zoe could arrive anytime now!  We are excited about her arrival, but we are trying to hold out till Saturday when Zoe's Grandma will arrive.  I think overall, everything is still relatively smooth and easy.  I am getting quite uncomfortable, and I'm ready to get this extra weight off, but other than that, I'm feeling good.   I'm a little scared to jinx it, but I guess since I'm basically at my due date, I'm just about home free....I have yet to get any stretch marks!  Pretty impressive I think :)  I've been getting little bruises around the sides of my belly, but no stretch marks.  Hopefully my skin can hold out just a little bit longer.  My belly button is still very much an inny, although the skin around it pokes out and it looks funny.

Thankful

I am not sure if I have mentioned on here before that my doctor here only allows his mom's-to-be to gain 8 kilos (about 17 lbs) during their pregnancies, but since I'm tall, he said I could gain 9 kilos (almost 20 lbs).  They mentioned it several times in the beginning of my pregnancy and as I was getting closer to 9 kilos, the nurses would give me "looks." I knew that just 20 lbs is a ridiculously low amount to gain in a pregnancy, but I was still a little self conscience about it.

A couple of nights ago, I was looking online about all the drugs I may or may not get when I'm in labor and how that will affect my celiacs.  I have to be very careful about medications I take, because they love to hide that gluten anywhere they feel they can get away with it :)  One of the things I kept seeing over and over again is how common it is for babies of celiac mommies to be underweight at birth and/or have organ problems because they weren't able to get the nutrition they needed when their little organs were developing.  It really hit me then, it doesn't matter how much weight I gain during my pregnancy, or how above average little Zoe is when she is born, I am just so thankful that she is able to gain all the weight she needs.  I am thankful that every ultrasound has come back showing that all of her little organs are in perfectly normal condition.  And the fact that she is extra long just goes to show how she has been able to get the nourishment she needs!  It really is a miracle!  It has been a pain and constant worry this whole pregnancy, trying hard to stay completely gluten-free, and worrying about every little thing I put in my mouth.  But it has all been worth it for little Zoe to be big and strong!  Now that I am getting close to the end of my pregnancy and just about home free, I feel like my emotions or view of it all is changing from constant worry to thankfulness.  It is quite a freeing change as well!  Of course once she's born, I'll have two mouths to worry about keeping gluten-free, but I am thankful that God has protected her from the times that I have accidentally eaten gluten and that He has kept me from so much gluten during this pregnancy :)

Maternity

Here are a couple of more maternity pictures that we've taken

This photo set up didn't turn out quite like I would have liked it too.  All of the Bibles that we have are quite small, so it's really hard to read the passage Psalms 139:13, "For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb."  I thought it would make a sweet picture.  I still like it even if it is hard to read, I know what it says :)

Photo Session

Andrew and I were able to go out for a little bit yesterday evening and take a few maternity photos.  It's a little more difficult to find the time for pictures now that it is Ramadan.  Outside pictures anyway.  Sunset is the best time of day to take pictures because of the lighting, but it is also the time when everyone is at home breaking their fast of the day.  It's kinda nice because the streets are totally empty, but it also means that you can't get anywhere unless you walk and everything is closed.  We took a few of these pictures in a nearby parking lot right before the guard locked it up to go home and eat, and the rest we just took on the street corner.  We didn't have a whole lot of time, so there is not a huge variety, but I really love the pictures that we got.

Isn't my husband a great photographer?!  www.lightlyfocused.com

30 Weeks!

Well, I am 30 weeks pregnant now!  I can't believe how quickly time flies by!  I am definitely getting bigger and bigger, but I have yet to get any stretch marks and for the most part, I have not been very uncomfortable.

I look forward to little Zoe's arrival.  I have read several books, but I still have no clue what I'm really in for, especially in another country and culture.  It has been fun making her little headbands and hats and things.  Every now and then the thought enters my head:  What if she's born and it turns out she's really a he?  He'd be wearing a lot of pink for a while :)  I feel pretty certain little Zoe's a girl.  I'm carrying her high up like a girl, and her heart rate is always pretty fast like a girl as well.

Little Zoe is quite the mover and kicker these days.  Maybe it's because she's so long, but she's constantly moving in there.  I love feeling and seeing her move around, it makes me even more excited for her to be here!

Beach Weekend

Last weekend we headed down to our old city for a beach getaway.  We stayed at one of the nice hotels in the tourist area of town.  Even though we were at a tourist hotel, most of those tourists were from Saudi Arabia or other parts of our Country.  There were a few scattered Europeans, but for the most part, it wasn't quite the typical beach getaway we love and enjoy in the States.  We were also able to spend some time with some of our good friends from that town and enjoy a few meals together with them.

Andrew excited about being at the beach

When we go to hotel beaches I get to wear my swimsuit, but I usually wear leggings with it in an attempt to be more modest but still get some sun :)

Some ladies enjoying the pool

Andrew's best friend here came out and spent one day with us at the beach

Enjoying a refreshing Watermelon juice

We had a lot of fun!  We went sort of for Andrew's birthday which was yesterday and to see our friends as well as have some time relaxing :)

We celebrated Andrew's 29th Birthday at Fudrucker's with some friends

28 Weeks ~~ Already in my third trimester!!

Well, this was all a bit random, but I hope it got ya'll all caught up.  Happy 4th of July!!!