Checking In

Is it really already March 2013? I'm confused. I feel like I was just making Christmas cookies and dreading the winter. Thankfully, we got very very little snow this winter. It was awesome considering that we were shut in for almost 4 months last winter!!

We're still alive and doing our thing here in Ankara. The boys are good. Noah is 2 and a half and POTTY TRAINED!! Hallelujah! It was a fairly smooth process aside from the fact that we lost two pair of underwear down the toilet and I worried that our whole building would back up with sewage since Turkish plumbing can hardly handle normal waste. So far, so good. He's also Mr. Independent which is awesome and annoying all at the same time. He wants to dress himself and refuses help so half the time he's wearing his pants and undies backwards, and shoes on the wrong feet. He's a real looker. :) The other day when I tried to comb his hair before school he threw a HUGE tantrum because he wanted to comb it himself (which only makes it look messier). So then, on the way to school during our morning prayer time he said, "Dear Jesus, please help Mommy not comb my hair." So, stinkin cute and manipulative. :)

 

 In case you hadn't heard, I am pregnant again with another BOY due in JULY. How's that for timing? Three boys all born in July means I never have to buy new clothes for anyone but the oldest. Oh wait, I forget that my boys are wild and sweaty and can rip a hole in the knees of pants in about 2 seconds flat. It's going to be great fun. I may make a padded room for them to play in. Or, for myself when I go crazy with all the testosterone in the house. 

 This is me, today, at 20 weeks pregnant.

 My husband is so awesome and has totally turned Eli into a little Dave Ramsey clone. He gets his chore money and separates it into Spend, Save, and Give. What Eli really would like to buy with his "Spend" money is a dog. But, since we live in an apartment and do not need any more living beings running around, tearing up the furniture, or pooping on the floor, a dog is just not going to happen in his near future. SO, he saved and saved (and got matching funds from us) and got this little apartment-friendly pet named Perry.

We're actually not quite sure what he is as we bought him from a family that didn't have much info. But our birding expert friend (yes, we actually have one of those) says he's not a budgie or a parakeet but a version of a parrot. Thank goodness this "version of a parrot" actually has a pleasant sounding chirp and not a SQWAK, SQWAK SQUWAK!! He's also pretty friendly and has yet to poop while flying around our living room each day.

And, in the name of teaching responsibility, Eli gets to vacuum up the scattered seeds and fuzz each day. It's a great set up.