the first is that i realized after writing that first section that writing about this life that way is terribly ineffective b/c it isn't the general info about what i do in a day that deserves recording, it is those little moments that turn the world upside down, the crizazy things that one of the kids (or my mama) says at the breakfast table...it is the flashes and seconds of my day that deserve their own pages of remembering...not the boring overview...so i am sorry and i really am going to try to do better...
the second is it really annoys me that what i put into this little box never ends up looking right when i post my blog...and when i come back to this little box everything still looks right here so i don't even know how to edit it to fix it...so forgive the ridiculous annoyance of the extra spaces, misplaces pictures, and words spelled out with one letter on each line...just take comfort in knowing that instead of wasting my life figuring out this mystery i just trust you to be smart enough to get the gist and i do something worthwhile with that time...like take a nap with a baby...
now where were we...ahhh yes...back in haiti....
well i came back to a ti zwazo that weighed a whopping 14 pounds and has turned into an eating machine...we laugh a lot now about the conversations we had when we first got her and were force feeding her 10cc of formula an hour through an NG tube...we would ponder over whether it was right to force a baby in her condition to stay alive after a certain point...yeah we aren't pondering that about her anymore...she even has one of the other children stealing from other kids and putting it on her plate...and her body is now an alarm clock for the kids' meal and snack times...she will be hanging out and playing and then suddenly go into super crank muffin mode...and without fail you can check the clock and you will find it is time for food...our prayers were also answered when she went to AIDS clinic...the docs are going to put her on the ARV's without treating her first for tb (we were concerned she didn't have the time or immune system left to wait that long)...they want her to be stronger first so she still won't start for another month but it is still a good thing...so keep eating bird!
once i got back into the swing of things it was back to homeschooling now amid a group of toddlers...funny thing is i think kervens was actually way less distracted than i was...:)
i also started dancing with the kids again with the addition of roseline who is a 6 year old staying with us while she gets better from some sores and gets her nutrition back on track...it was so great because all the kids were listening better than ever and jetline has even been coming up with her own choreography...and apparently they have been teaching roseline while i was gone b/c this child who has never danced with us and doesn't speak any english knew all the steps and even what they are called...and she gets crizazy excited every time i pull out our dancebag...i have to say i was pretty proud of my little dancers!
with malnutrition you get all kinds of side effects developmentally and so we have a lot of kids who are behind in language or motor skills that we have been encouraging to catch up...johnny j...one of our aids babies...keziah's aid's baby to be more specific....is one of those...recently he finally started responding to our constant urging and on a recent trip to clinic he randomly said my name in answer to kez's question "keyes sa?" (who is that?) and then on his 2 birthday he came over to me and climbed up just like normal but then proceeded to show me that he could stand up all by himself...because we have been BEGGING this child to show any interest in walking and talking before he was 30 we showed him LOTS of positive attention for his efforts...the result has been that in various forms "casey" is the new "it word" downstairs and walking is the new cool thing to do...so at the same time we have children of several different ages and different developmental levels all learning to walk at the same time and calling "casey, casey" non stop from the basement as they try out their new skill...its really quite facinating...remember this when you pay a kid a lot of attention for something... you WILL see it again!
i got to visit healing hands for haiti for the first and second time...we got poutchino fitted for a wheelchair and took our new baby in to have her clubbed feet cast...and so keziah went to a beach retreat for three days with a youth group and got barely any sun and i spent the day in a clinic and had a sunburn when i got home...ohhhh haiti...
i made two trips to ti frer for tb clinic with poutchino and miltha and had three people offer me their chilren...
i realized that your whole perception of a luxury changes after you watch a child eat the candy coating off of an m&m and then eat the chocolate...
i had a few of those moments when you think there is something wrong with the computer screen...then you think you are about to pass out...then you realize that you have just been rocking a baby so long that you have forgotten that YOU are moving...not the images before you on the screen...but everyone has those moments, right?
i witnessed a baby leaving our house to go back to their family...my first one other than emily (who went to an orphanage) to actually be here for...it is a good thing but it was really hard to watch them walk into the ravine with her...bye bye bethsaica...
and for any of you who think i am in anyway tough or hardcore you should know i am being bullied into a daily afternoon nap by a 14lb 2 year old...so yeah.
okay, this is not nearly everything...barely anything really...but its some of the highlights and honestly...this blog has been a shadow hanging over me and i need to move on with my life...:)
so if you are still reading...consider the monster blog slain...
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