Taryn

This past week, we have had the pleasure of a visit from Taryn. Taryn is a nurse from San Diego who we have worked with at the API medical camps. She had planned on visiting us in Kenya while we were there for Julia's delivery, but when Julia was born here early, Taryn decided to come to Moshi instead. It has been so nice having her here. Usually we are so busy at the medical camps that we don't get to spend a lot of time together. This week, we have had lots of time to just hang out. It was really special to be able to show her our life in Moshi. Taryn is a NICU nurse so I have been grilling her about her job. I love hearing about what she does, even more now that Julia was a preemie. It is so interesting to hear how they handle preemies in the US. It just reaffirms what a miracle Julia is, to have done so well without medical help. Taryn has been very helpful with both, Julia and Eli. She is so great with kids. You can tell she has spent lots of time with kids and understands them. Sadly she goes home tomorrow. We feel so honored she would come to visit us and will miss her very much.

Return to the NICU

No, don't worry, Julia is ok. This time the visit was voluntary.

Today, Taryn (more on her soon) and I went to the hospital where Julia was born to give some preemie clothes away. When Marli came, she brought many preemie clothes for Julia. We needed them so badly as newborn sizes were way too big for her. I loved seeing her in clothes that actually fit her tiny frame. All the clothes were adorable, but we had so many that she didn't even get to wear them all. No one couldn't have predicted she would grow so quickly. We aren't complaining though! We felt so loved by all the clothes we received for her that we wanted to pass that love along to other needy mothers. Many times in the hospital, people would yell at me to cover Julia's head, but all her hats were too big. Now, we can bless moms of preemies with hats that will actually fit. Thanks to the generosity of those who sent clothes, we were able to create 14 bags with a hat, socks, two onesies, and a sleeper (I kept a week's supply of preemie clothes in case we ever need them in the future. Lord willing, we won't). We contacted one of the nurses who helped me and Julia and asked if we could stop by to give out the bags and pray with the moms. She said yes and welcomed us there today. She took us into a room where she had gathered moms of preemies, including two moms with twins. One mom had a set of twins where one was large and the other was very small. We said a quick hello and then I explained that I had been in their shoes and knew how they felt. I was able to encourage them with Julia's amazing progress. Then we handed out the bags and prayed for them. We would have liked to spend more time with them, but it wasn't possible as they were exhausted and the nurse had to get back to work (there were 60 babies there and only three nurses on duty). It was neat to be able to show Taryn the NICU, since she is a NICU nurse in San Diego. I am so glad we went and hope to be able to go back and visit again.

Thank you for those who sent clothes. Not only did you help Julia, but 14 other babies as well.

Julia Update - 8 Weeks Old

Julia has finally reached her due date... February 21st! She is eight weeks old and doing well. She is 3.66kg now which is 8.05 pounds. We have an eight pounder! Woo hoo! It's really amazing how well she is doing. It's hard to believe that we should have just been meeting her now and we have already known her for eight weeks. She still is a good baby, although she seems to have her days and nights mixed up, which I hope gets corrected soon. Otherwise, she is a joy and delight.

Meet Kathy

We have a new house guest! Her name is Kathy and she'll probably be with us for quite a while. We met her last year at the medical camp in Kenya. She is a pharmacist from Australia. Although she had been living a very comfortable and successful life there, she felt God prompting her to be involved in missions, specifically giving her a heart for Africa, primarily Kenya. She has done a few short term missions and wanted to do something longer. Originally, she planned to meet us in Kenya and stay with us while we were there for Julia's delivery. Then, the plan was to come back with us to Moshi. Well, Julia arrived early and so Kathy came directly to Moshi in the beginning of February. She was blessed to spend time with Marli before Marli headed back to the US and now she is focused on getting involved with ministry work. Because are in the very early stages of the orphanage (finalizing land) and don't have much for her to do, we are working to introduce her to people we know in ministry who could use her help. While her background is in pharmacy, God has given her a heart for the broken - children, women, old people...anyone who is hurting. So, it looks like she'll be working with a couple different ministries - one teaching children and another working with women coming out of troubled circumstances. She'll be teaching them English as well as doing some vocational training. Kathy has been a blessing to us, loving our kids and helping out in the house. She is enthusiastic and has a huge love for the Lord and His beloved people. We look forward to seeing where He leads her and how she is used in Tanzania.



(We were blessed to celebrate her birthday with her just a few days after she arrived.)

Home Visit from the Church Ladies

On Saturday I had visit from several of the ladies from church. Whenever someone has a baby, they come to the house to visit and pray for the new mom and baby. They had wanted to come see me for a while, but decided to wait until Julia was more stable. Since Julia has been so fragile, we have not taken her many places and therefore I haven't seen the ladies from church since before Julia was born, almost eight weeks ago. It was really nice to see them. We visited for a while, just chatting. I told them some of the details from the delivery and we enjoyed cake together. Then at the end, they presented me with a gift for Julia, a cute pink outfit, and a gift for me, fabric. Giving fabric is a very common tradition when celebrating something (a new baby, wedding etc.) The fabric is big enough so I can make a dress for myself and have matching shirts made for George and Eli as well as a dress for Julia. It was especially touching because I know those ladies are very poor and must have really sacrificed to buy me those gifts. Before they left, we sang a couple songs and ended with prayer. It was a joyful gathering and made me feel very loved and honored to go to their church.

Julia Update - 7 Weeks Old

Julia is still going strong at seven weeks old (39 weeks gestation). She keeps adding weight each week. We are so thankful for the scale we were sent so we can easily check her progress. She is now 3.36 kg which is seven pounds six ounces. We have a seven pounder! Although she is seven weeks old and only seven pounds, (she is small for her age) we are happy with her size. Eventually she will catch up to kids her age and at the rate she is eating, she may surpass them! This past week she went for her second round of vaccinations, poor thing. I hate taking the kids for shots. It makes me sick to my stomach. Fortunately, George is there and much tougher than I am. She did well and only had a slight fever which was easily managed with Tylenol. Julia is a little cutie and of course resembles George much more than me at this point. She is still an easy baby, mostly content and happy when she has a full tummy. Thanks again for all your prayers! You all are amazing. She is a miracle.

My Valentines

I thought on Valentine's Day, I would post some new photos of the loves of my life.

Goodbye Sweet Marli

Tonight our darling Marli left to return home. Her four weeks flew by so fast. I can't even begin to describe how much she blessed us. She did so much for our family. She went above and beyond... even begin covering some of Julia's night feeds (rotating with George) so I could rest all night. I know. I am spoiled. More importantly, I am rested. Marli's presence and help allowed me to begin to heal physically and emotionally from Julia's traumatic arrival. When she arrived, Julia was a scrawny preemie - now she is almost seven pounds and becoming a chubster. It was sad to see Marli go. I know Eli will miss her so much. Marli not only made an impact on our family, but also on the other families in Moshi she met. She eagerly took Eli to play group on Tuesdays and seamlessly fit in with the other moms. They really adored her. She ended up getting to know my good friend (and neighbor) well and spent a lot of time with her, either at her house or swimming with the boys. Marli will be dearly missed. She was a bright light in our house and we love her.

The Things They Say

My friend, Megan, has done a series of posts entitled "The Things They Say" listing the funny things her kids say. They are my favorite blogs posts she does. Kids are hilarious. Now that Eli is talking so well, I am excited to start doing these posts as well. Eli says things that crack us up all the time. The problem is remembering to write them down. So, enjoy the first of this series with more to come!


After going #2 in his little potty, he looked down and asked "This is turtle?"

At a souvenir shop, Eli said to Kathy in a hushed, urgent voice as she reached to pick up an item "don't touch!" I had to explain that she is an adult who is allowed to touch things.

At the same shop, I asked him if he liked a shirt and he said "This is too much money." On the one hand, I was glad that he didn't throw a tantrum for something in the shop, but on the other hand it broke my heart a bit realizing he must hear us say that a lot. Sweet boy.

Julia Update - 6 Weeks Old

Julia is now six weeks old. She would be 38 weeks gestation. She keeps gaining weight steadily and currently tips the scales at 3.08kg which is 6 pounds 12 oz. Now, she is almost exactly Eli's size when he was born. He was born at 38 weeks and was 6 pounds 8 oz. So, she is now the size of a normal newborn. Yay! We still are on lock down and do not bring her out of the house. We are waiting for her to get bigger and stronger before we expose her to the outside world. I am looking forward to the day when we can go out as a whole family. Hopefully, that day is not too far off. Her progress never ceases to amaze us. Thank you for praying... keep it up!





(Now that she has some body fat on her (check out those cheeks and double chin!), we can dress her in cute little dresses instead of keeping her in the sleepers, wrapped up in blankets all day. Dressing a girl is as fun as I thought it would be!)

Road Block

George had to go to Kenya on Monday to pick up a new guest from the airport (more on that in another blog). He planned to spend the night in Kenya and drive back on Tuesday morning. On Tuesday morning, I called him to make sure they had left. The connection wasn't clear, but I managed to understand that they were stopped on the way to the border, unable to proceed because people were blocking the road. These people were demanding the government listen to them. I didn't catch who was causing the road block, but I wasn't surprised. In Kenya it seems someone is always striking... teachers, doctors, etc. So, I told George we would be praying and I planned to call him back in a bit to check on things. A couple hours later, I called back and asked "ok, who is causing the road block?" He said "the Maasai. An elephant killed one of their own and they want the government to kill it. They won't open the road until the head of the elephant is brought to the road." What... what? I needed to make sure I heard right. I asked "You (and everyone else stuck) can't go to the border until the head of an elephant is brought to the road?" "Yes." said George.

Only in Africa.

Apparently, the Maasai (a tribe in Kenya and Tanzania known being good warriors and for living simple lives in the bush) had been having trouble with Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officials. Wild animals had invaded their land, destroying their crops and KWS kept brushing off their requests for help. Now, a child was killed by an elephant and this time the Maasai wouldn't be ignored. Due to their drastic measures of blocking the road, government officials arrived to take care of the situation. They helicoptered in and took one Maasai to find the elephant. This Maasai would serve as a witness for the rest of the tribe. They located the elephant and killed it, bringing the head and other body parts to the road. George saw some of the pieces. After four hours of being stuck, George finally could head to the border and made it to Moshi a few hours later.

Crazy!

Miracle Marli

In Africa, when a woman has a baby, she is on lock down. After the birth, family members descend upon her house and take all work off her shoulders. Her only jobs are to breastfeed the baby and recover from childbirth. She is not allowed to leave the house for three months. Family members (usually a sister, cousin, mom, aunt or niece) stay with her and do all the cooking, cleaning and childcare. She stays in bed and rests. It's not weird for her, it's just how things work. When I first learned about this, I thought it was quite indulgent. In the US, we don't have the luxury, usually, of having full time help. It's our responsibility to recover and take care of the baby while continuing to do the house work and going back to work (if necessary). Somehow, we manage. After Eli was born, when people here told me to rest and get help, I would brush off the suggestion, stubbornly insisting that I was fine and could do it all. It was hard, but I had George's help and we got through it.

With Julia's early appearance and the complications that it presented, I began to realize that I needed help. I didn't know how we would manage. Well, God knew and he sent us Marli. Marli is one of the miracles that are a part of Julia's story. God sent Marli, from California, to give me the African experience of post-childbirth care.

Since Marli has arrived, she has worked non-stop to take care of our whole family and house. She has cooked, cleaned, done dirty jobs like scrubbing our stove and walls, taken night feeds so George and I can rest, watched Julia so I could take a nap, taken Eli to friends houses to play, helped me potty train Eli and so much more. At first it was hard to sit back and receive her blessing of help. I like to be busy and doing nothing while others work is torture for me. But, some of our Kenyan friends (along with Marli) encouraged me (ok, scolded me) to rest so that I would heal fully and quickly. Since then, I tried let go and allow myself to rest. I believe that has helped me recover well from the c-section. I think I am about 80% back to normal.

Marli has been a blessing in so many ways. I feel like she has helped bring order and routine back into our house. Before she came, we were just in survival mode. Now, she is helping to put in place good habits I had wanted to do for some time like a return of good meals each night, less TV time for Eli, daily morning devotions (for me and Eli) and more. She has been able to give lots of attention to Eli, which he was in need of. Marli has really blended in to our household, knowing our routine and needs, often anticipating what to do before I even try. Her being here, has allowed George to focus on all the ministry and other work that is going on right now, knowing the rest of us are well taken care of. I have also just enjoyed her companionship and fellowship. We have had lots of good talks and laughs. Marli is a blessing from above and we are so thankful for her.



(Bible Time)



(Playing in the Rain)



(Learning Letters)



(Snuggling with Julia)



(Taking Eli to Playgroup)