Troy and Paige headed south to Petit Goave earlier today to spend the night with the Michigan team down there. They will bring entire group back Port on Tuesday afternoon/evening.Tina and I will keep things operational in Port au Prince - at least our little tiny square of PAP anyway.
Lydie, Annie and Phoebe are in full destruction mode, just keeping them from wrecking things is a full time job for two adults.
They are no longer going to be called "the babies" these three are the demolition crew and "toddler" sounds far too gentle at this point.
We are officially a bottle free house, before Annie and Lydie turned two we decided to pitch them. Annie was ready. Lydie was totally ticked off, but only for two nights.
Phoebe has been diapering her favorite toy, a stuffed Monkey named Mort Monkey. I would not mind it at all except that thick diaper rash cream on stuffed animal fur is kind of a mess and yesterday I found ELEVEN clean diapers in the trash. goodbye $ ! I thought we were going through diapers too fast. Mystery solved. That monkey gets his diaper changed every hour, his mother loves him. :)
Phoebe is still very quiet and says very little for a child her age. I really hope it is related to the two languages and not to something that I need to be worrying about. She is going to be three in three months. I am hoping she starts talking like crazy soon. I also hope she starts doing her business in the toilet soon. We can afford to diaper either HER or her monkey. But not both. So far she has zero interest in potty-training.
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Heartline Women's Program We have a few really unique and difficult pregnancies right now. Beth has been researching trying to find solutions for them, but there are no easy answers here. One of our mom's lost a three week old baby in October 2008. At the time we thought it was strictly due to dehydration that she did not address fast enough. She (the mom) has Hepatitis B. Her next baby is due late this fall. Her dates don't match up right with her size and we have concern for her. We're trying to figure out how to assure that her baby gets the first Hep B. vaccine within 12 hours of birth. (If the baby gets the vaccine within 12 hours of birth, it is 90% less likely to end up getting Hep B. from the mother.)
We may end up moving her in when her due date draws near. Haiti is far too difficult of a place to navigate and the medical system is too unstable to be certain that she would - 1. make it to a hospital to deliver in the first place 2. The hospital would let her in to deliver 3. she would be able to convince them of or communicate her situation 3. that they would even have the vaccine on hand 4. that they would care enough to give the vaccine if they have it ... if you are not strong enough to FIGHT for your own care here - you will not get it. The Mom's name is Mirlande if you would like to be praying for her and her unborn baby.
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This is the last week of English Camp for Isaac and Hope. They have had a lot of fun these past six weeks and Troy and I would like to thank the Tlucek Family for doing a great job of overseeing it and juggling dozens and dozens of volunteers who came to make it happen.
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School Year 2009-2010I am doing a very laid back reading-based Kindergarten curriculum with Noah. The home-schoolers will know what "Five in a Row" means. Noah is very happy that it is not time for him to leave the house for school yet. He loves home and his parents and he says he might "nev-oh, ev-oh leave us". He is five and technically Kindergarten age, but there is no way he would be ready to actually go to a traditional school yet.
For our other school-age kids...
A ticket has been booked for Super-Viv, our new teacher for next year. Our kids will be home-schooled by this brilliant and capable college grad from the great state of Texas. (Photo on left from her 21st B-day.)
Vivien finished at Texas Tech earlier this year and is taking one year of her life to experience living abroad. She will teach Hope, Isaac, and Paige and also get to do a lot of other "mission" type stuff during her year with us. We are blessed by her willingness to come and are looking forward to her arrival in late August.
School is going to take place at the guest house down the street and Hope and Isaac will go for part of the day and Paige will go for the other part. I am so grateful that this plan fell so easily and perfectly into place. It frees up our schedules a bit and allows Paige time to do ministry stuff, which she is gifted for and enjoys doing.
Please pray for Vivien and her Mom and Dad as they prepare and fight the normal nerves that happen when you make a decision this big.
Vivien - We are so psyched!
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The plans for going to MN in less than 9 weeks for the race, etc. - have started to come together. With a large family it is always very difficult to decide what to do and who to take. (And taking everyone is not an option.) I torture myself for weeks trying to come up with the best "travel team" but end up feeling sick about the ones that have to stay behind. Last year Hope, Paige and Lydia got to go -- and then, last minute, Noah was added. This year we're bringing a different group - but are still undecided on one child. This might be my least favorite thing about being a "large family" - it complicates travel a whole lot and it makes my mom heart hurt. I don't like leaving them at all. As long as you're already praying - please pray I figure this out and get peace about it.
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An on-line friend and blogger posted info on the Mamba Marathon and I think this is the week we get up into the 95% range - maybe even all the way to 100%+ of the goal!
The training is going remarkably well and I know that is mostly due to a lot of prayer. Troy learned from Dr. Cheryl how to get my hip to go back to its spot when I get crooked and he was able to fix it before my 15 mile run Friday. I only have three training runs left that are longer than the 15miles we just accomplished - (A 16-18 & 20) - that feels very doable to me and I am pumped about all of it!I will also try to get more mid-treatment progress or graduate photos posted for you later in the week to see the Mamba at work ... Licia reports a handful of big weight gains this last week. When they come to mind, please be praying for Licia, Lori and Zach and all of the kids they are helping recover from severe malnutrition.
I just proof-read this post quickly and realized I asked for lots of prayers. Thanks for choosing even one of these things and covering it in prayer - we appreciate being able to ask.
Have a great week - with love from Haiti,
Tara for all of us
