Oh...These Babies

I have been spending a lot of time with the babies lately. They are hard to ignore, especially when we have so many of them. Some of the babies we have had with us since the day they were born. Others came to us a few months old. Over the past few months they have changed in so many ways. Most of them are able to sit up and a few are beginning to crawl. They are so much fun. It has become a part of my day to take a break from working and go sit with them.
Babies are amazing the way they find pleasure in the simplest thing. Our babies are all smiles. They are so content to sit and look around. The other day I took Moses out to the playground while the other children were playing and I put him on the slide. He laughed because the other children were there cheering him on…but I don’t think he liked the slide. Then I put him in the sandbox in his bare feet. He loved that.
I am enjoying these babies. They have captured a part of me that I held back after baby Andrew was adopted from us. It is not hard to fall in love with them.

All of the children are a special joy to us here, but these babies will grow always knowing me…I will be someone they have known since birth. That is special to me. They already know me and smile when I hold them and call their name. I love that.

An Update After Not Writing Blogs for So Long

I have not posted a blog entry for approx two and a half months. Part of the reason is because I have had computer problems. My computer was working so slow that it took too long to get my entries downloaded. I tried multiple times to get an entry downloaded and it just wouldn’t do it.

After getting frustrated with my slow computer I stopped writing journal entries. I was able to get my computer repaired and soon after I wrote one blog entry. But my life has been so busy these past few months I have not set the time aside to write any entries. I apologize for that. I have re-committed myself to blog writing again. I am going to make every effort to be consistent with my entries like I have been in the past. I do not like it that so much time has passed and so many things have taken place. I don’t know where to start telling you about all that has gone on in the past few months. Ok…here I go:

As of today, February 5, 2008, we have 26 children. They range in age from 6 months to 12 years. Our babies are getting so big. In one month we will have officially been open as a Children’s Home with children for one year. This past year has gone by so fast. Our original director here left the orphanage and for the past three months I have been the interim director. The new directors of the orphanage arrived here on December 31st. They are a family of five from Southern California. It is the former worship pastor from my home church in Tustin, California along with his wife and three children. They are still getting adjusted to life in Tanzania so I am continuing to work in the role of director until they are moved into their home and feeling a bit more settled.

In October I went the doctor and was put on antibiotics for pneumonia. After a month of being on antibiotics and only getting worse I went to a different doctor. This doctor was more thorough and said I had pneumonia and bronchitis. He gave me medicine for both and I began to get better. My body needs rest and I try very hard to rest whenever possible, but it isn’t always easy to rest when there is so much work to do.

February 16th will mark 19 months that I have been living here. It is hard to believe that it has been that long. I love being here and I love the children. It is amazing to see the growth and changes in them. Some of our babies came to us when they were one day old and now they are six months and nine months old. They are growing up with us. To them we will be people they have always known…we have always been a part of their lives.
I have this habit of giving nicknames to children. I used to do it a lot as a teacher in California. I have given so many of the children nicknames. Some of the babies’ nicknames: Ju-Ju Bee, Happy Girl, Mr. President, Frodo.
Even the children call some of the babies by their nicknames.

Everyday is such an adventure and all the days are special. I am so thankful for each day with the children. Antony and Witness started their first year of school in January. They are two of the brightest kids in their class. Their teachers thank us for the work our teachers at the orphanage do with the kids. It really shows.
There is so much to tell…so I’d better not wait another two months before writing more!