Settling in...

God has provided a house!  We officially moved in a few days ago and are enjoying having our own space. It does feel a bit like camping as we don't have much furniture yet, much less towels, sheets and blankets, etc.--but the other CSM missionaries have been so kind and generous to us and are either giving or letting us borrow those kind of essentials.  A couple people in the Baumholder community itself have also been generous (even if we had just met them!) and we have been already been given a table, chairs, a coffee table and a couple bookshelves as well as a futon (which serves as Heike's bed for now) and a full bed (which is Doug's bed for now).

Went to an info session yesterday at the hospital we're going to deliver at. After an hour and a half, I definitely began to doubt that I actually speak German. Yikes! But thankfully at this hospital they are used to Americans; even though it's a small hospital most of the staff can speak at least a little English. It was pretty nice, interesting how different it is from the U.S.

My OB is really nice, and the baby is growing/doing well. Unfortunately, our littlest one has recently decided my right sciatic nerve is a comfy place. I can manage the limping and limited mobility but the shooting pain is not so nice. Hope she moves soon. Poor Samuel doesn't really get why his mommy can't play as much with him, but so far he is handling it okay.

Samuel continues to do well. Our landlady (who has a teenage son who is away during the week at school) LOVES him and 'taught' him how to play in muddy puddles so that is one of his favorite things now. [This really makes me pray for a washer and dryer soon!]

We had a middle school "Eis Cafe" (Ice cream) date today and that was fun. One of the girls that came is sadly leaving in less a week-so hard to see them struggle with all this transition.

Our internet will be slow/limited for hopefully only another month, and then we'll have a home number and good internet. That is why I can't really post pictures here, but we've posted a few on facebook with our new phones. =)

We do both have cell phones now: our numbers are: 49-151-465-457-42 (Doug) and 49-151-465-457-40 (Heike)

THANKS so much for your prayers! Please continue to pray as we try to settle in before the baby comes as well continue to minister to this hurting community. Doug particularly has a lot on his plate-and it's hard to get much done with limited internet, no printer/scanner yet, and he's been driving all over the place trying to pick up furniture and find a good washer and dryer and fridge with a freezer. He feels like he's got at least 8 plus hours of paperwork to get done as well. It will obviously take a while to settle in, but we want to be at least a little ready when the baby comes and it just takes so much time to get stuff done right now.

We LOVE and MISS you guys!!!