Today I awoke to the sounds of Esther screaming and throwing a fit. With any other child in the family this would've alarmed me. But, with Esther, a surly attitude in the morning is the norm. Often, she wakes up in the foulest mood. Today was not exception. For whatever reason, she doesn't do the first few minutes of the day very well. I don't know why. Maybe she's mad that she woke up? Maybe she's mad that she's mad? How does one go about reasoning and consoling a half asleep 2 year old?
Talked to Janice today. She was able to go to a doctor today. She has pneumonia in both lungs and is suffering from some dehydration and other things. She will be going to see an Infectious Disease specialist soon. You know, Malaria and Typhoid and Pneumonia is quite the trifecta, wouldn't you say? I'm surprised she's even able to walk around and carry on anything resembling normal conversation. I'd be sick in bed calling for my mommy if I were her.
Kids all miss her greatly. I do too. I miss Alex as well. I picked up a picture of her taken while we were camping when she was about 8 or so. After staring at it for about 5 seconds I burst into tears. What a mess am I! Both Emma and Keturah saw me and asked, "Dad, what's the matter?" Why do I have to go through this again? At least Tawnee told me today that she is never going to move out. That's fine with me. That's one less broken heart I will have to deal with.
Highlight of the day was Tawnee and Esther running around buck naked all day long. (Sorry, Janice, but they wanted to go naked and I saw no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to do so. Hurry home!!!)
Low point of the day was hearing about Janice's condition, talking to her on the phone, and realizing (again) that I can do nothing for her while she's half way around the world.
Until tomorrow.
sf
Friday, May 22, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Day #1
Yesterday evening at 11:30 PM, Janice, Alex, Liddy, and Hudson boarded an Air France Airbus jetliner bound for the U.S. via a stop over in Paris. They made it safely to SEATAC ariport where Janice's brother, Ray, picked her up. I can confirm they made it safely to his house. PTL!
The trip was necessary for a couple of reasons. First, Alex is going "home" to start the next phase of her life. She won't be coming back to Chad any time soon. This breaks my heart as our sweet daughter won't be around us 24/7 anymore. I can honestly say that saying goodbye to her was one of the - if not the - most gut wrenching and emotional things I've ever had to do. I really cannot imagine going through something like that again. Yet, I know that I've got to do it at least another 9 times. And, secondly, both Janice and Liddy are ill. Liddy, as readers of this blog (and FB) may know, has been suffering for almost 3 months with some sort of bug that the doctors here cannot find source of. And, Janice, about 10 days ago or so came down with Malaria and Typhoid. She's been under almost constant doctor supervision and every time her condition improves, she takes a step backwards. The doctor here finally told her that the best thing she cold do was to hop on the plane and get treatment in the U.S.
The kids are all doing well after the initial shock of coming home without mom wore off. Today we spent time just hanging out and I gave the girls the day off from school so they could fix their rooms just right as furniture and beds were being swapped now that Alex no longer needs her stuff. Emma slept with me last night and tonight it's Tawnee's turn.
The highlight of the day was Ethan getting a tooth pulled at the French Military Base. It had abscessed and was in pretty bad shape. He only shed 1 tear. Man, is that little guy tough.
The low point of the day was the generator being out of commission for the better part of 8 hours or more. It was only about 110 today. By the time the generator was back in service (around 6 PM) I had narrowly avoided a mutiny by the kids for lack of A/C. All is well now as everyone is asleep now.
Until tomorrow.
sf
The trip was necessary for a couple of reasons. First, Alex is going "home" to start the next phase of her life. She won't be coming back to Chad any time soon. This breaks my heart as our sweet daughter won't be around us 24/7 anymore. I can honestly say that saying goodbye to her was one of the - if not the - most gut wrenching and emotional things I've ever had to do. I really cannot imagine going through something like that again. Yet, I know that I've got to do it at least another 9 times. And, secondly, both Janice and Liddy are ill. Liddy, as readers of this blog (and FB) may know, has been suffering for almost 3 months with some sort of bug that the doctors here cannot find source of. And, Janice, about 10 days ago or so came down with Malaria and Typhoid. She's been under almost constant doctor supervision and every time her condition improves, she takes a step backwards. The doctor here finally told her that the best thing she cold do was to hop on the plane and get treatment in the U.S.
The kids are all doing well after the initial shock of coming home without mom wore off. Today we spent time just hanging out and I gave the girls the day off from school so they could fix their rooms just right as furniture and beds were being swapped now that Alex no longer needs her stuff. Emma slept with me last night and tonight it's Tawnee's turn.
The highlight of the day was Ethan getting a tooth pulled at the French Military Base. It had abscessed and was in pretty bad shape. He only shed 1 tear. Man, is that little guy tough.
The low point of the day was the generator being out of commission for the better part of 8 hours or more. It was only about 110 today. By the time the generator was back in service (around 6 PM) I had narrowly avoided a mutiny by the kids for lack of A/C. All is well now as everyone is asleep now.
Until tomorrow.
sf
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Memories
Janice and I spent the evening watching home videos with the kiddos. The particular one we watched consisted mainly of Father - Daughter and Father - Son campouts from 2005. What great memories it conjured up!
There was Libby too scared to come down the mountain so Corey helped her only to fall herself.
There was Gracey, who looked so young and Keturah who looked even younger!
With the girls there was lots of giggling and laughing. With the boys, there was not so much talking but a lot of bb guns and pistols.
There were plenty of segments devoted to swimming in the river and none too few of the dads preparing some food.
What great times we had in Silverton.
The kids laughed and laughed at their antics. They were also touched, too, by the thought that they can't be physically with their friends and family right now. They are blessed to have so many good friends and family members. And, Janice and I are blessed too with close relationships with all of the dad's and their families.
Here's 3 cheers to all you dads who "suffer" through campouts with your kids. Those times are some of my most fond memories (and the kids' too). I only hope that we can do it again when next we are together.
Until next time.... sf
There was Libby too scared to come down the mountain so Corey helped her only to fall herself.
There was Gracey, who looked so young and Keturah who looked even younger!
With the girls there was lots of giggling and laughing. With the boys, there was not so much talking but a lot of bb guns and pistols.
There were plenty of segments devoted to swimming in the river and none too few of the dads preparing some food.
What great times we had in Silverton.
The kids laughed and laughed at their antics. They were also touched, too, by the thought that they can't be physically with their friends and family right now. They are blessed to have so many good friends and family members. And, Janice and I are blessed too with close relationships with all of the dad's and their families.
Here's 3 cheers to all you dads who "suffer" through campouts with your kids. Those times are some of my most fond memories (and the kids' too). I only hope that we can do it again when next we are together.
Until next time.... sf
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Mwahahaha!!
Suilad! Gîl síla erin lû e-govaded vín!
Im hartha le geri vaer arad. Im vaer sí. Im beritha na le im matho le ú-vatho im peded! Im suilannad san! Mar im anglenna na le im baded pedi sindarin na le!! Mwahaha!
Ahem...
Nae...im gwanna.
Navaer, vaer mellyn. No i Melain na le a sílo Anor bo men lín.
Ah...mîbo orch!
Meleth,
Arhendë Elinris Lóna-Sundë Sírien.
*Now for those who are not Lord of the Rings literate, I shall provide a translation.*
Greetings! A star shines on the hour of our meeting!
I hope you are all having a good day. I am good here.
I am laughing at you all because I know that you guys do not know what I am saying. I like that. When I get back I am going to speak sindarin to you. Mwahaha!!
Ahem...alas, I must depart.
Farewell good friends. May the Valar be with you and the sun shine on your road.
Oh...Go kiss an orc!
Love,
Arhendë Elinris Lóna-Sundë Sírien.
Im hartha le geri vaer arad. Im vaer sí. Im beritha na le im matho le ú-vatho im peded! Im suilannad san! Mar im anglenna na le im baded pedi sindarin na le!! Mwahaha!
Ahem...
Nae...im gwanna.
Navaer, vaer mellyn. No i Melain na le a sílo Anor bo men lín.
Ah...mîbo orch!
Meleth,
Arhendë Elinris Lóna-Sundë Sírien.
*Now for those who are not Lord of the Rings literate, I shall provide a translation.*
Greetings! A star shines on the hour of our meeting!
I hope you are all having a good day. I am good here.
I am laughing at you all because I know that you guys do not know what I am saying. I like that. When I get back I am going to speak sindarin to you. Mwahaha!!
Ahem...alas, I must depart.
Farewell good friends. May the Valar be with you and the sun shine on your road.
Oh...Go kiss an orc!
Love,
Arhendë Elinris Lóna-Sundë Sírien.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Quite a story, and info on Liddy
Here is a story I never thought I would be telling but here goes.
About a month ago I was sitting outside with my chadian girlfriends and one of them noticed that Hudson had a snotty nose. He then sneezed and I wiped his nose. Then this one gal that noticed his snotty nose took him in her arms and pointed to his nose. I indicated with hand gestures that yes, indeed he had a cold and runny nose. I was putting my thumb and index finger up to my nose and pulling down as if to say that his nose was running a lot and he had a lot of snot. She then did the same thing and I shook my head yes thinking she was just saying the same thing and agreeing with it.
Well, what happened next tells me she was saying something very different. She turned my baby around to face her and put her mouth up to his nose and sucked, YES, I SAID SUCKED all the snot out of his nose. It made, or should I say Hudson made the weirdest noise as she was sucking for all she was worth.
While she was doing this I was shocked and totally taken aback. I started to gag and then my eyes started watering like a faucet, I had to cover my mouth because by now the gag reflux had kicked in and it wouldn't stop. The look on my face and my actions had all the other gals laughing. For some reason they all thought this whole ordeal was FUNNY. I, on the other hand, thought I was stuck in the Twilight Zone. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
When she had finished sucking she just turned her head and spit it all out and started talking again as if what she had just done was normal. I guess it was for her. They don't have blub syringes but they do have mouths that can suck the snot out and give their or my baby reliefe from a snotty nose. Amazing huh. I am forever changed.
The things that I, or should I say we have experienced since arriving here are life changers and it has only been 6 months. I wouldn't of ever thought a nice woman would want to suck my babies snot out to help him. Or that I would blow up like a blow fish from an allergic reaction to my malaria meds. I'm sure there will be many more experiences to come and I look forward to them. I told the children that if they catch a cold they better steer clear of the snot sucker or she may "help" them as well. :)
************************************
We are taking Lids to the clinic in the morning to see the doc who saw her last week. He will evaluate her and look at the list of aches and pains and temps we have been keeping for the last week. She will then have another blood test to check her blood count again and possibly a chest x-ray. We will let you know via email what comes out of our visit. love to you all,
jani for the fam
About a month ago I was sitting outside with my chadian girlfriends and one of them noticed that Hudson had a snotty nose. He then sneezed and I wiped his nose. Then this one gal that noticed his snotty nose took him in her arms and pointed to his nose. I indicated with hand gestures that yes, indeed he had a cold and runny nose. I was putting my thumb and index finger up to my nose and pulling down as if to say that his nose was running a lot and he had a lot of snot. She then did the same thing and I shook my head yes thinking she was just saying the same thing and agreeing with it.
Well, what happened next tells me she was saying something very different. She turned my baby around to face her and put her mouth up to his nose and sucked, YES, I SAID SUCKED all the snot out of his nose. It made, or should I say Hudson made the weirdest noise as she was sucking for all she was worth.
While she was doing this I was shocked and totally taken aback. I started to gag and then my eyes started watering like a faucet, I had to cover my mouth because by now the gag reflux had kicked in and it wouldn't stop. The look on my face and my actions had all the other gals laughing. For some reason they all thought this whole ordeal was FUNNY. I, on the other hand, thought I was stuck in the Twilight Zone. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
When she had finished sucking she just turned her head and spit it all out and started talking again as if what she had just done was normal. I guess it was for her. They don't have blub syringes but they do have mouths that can suck the snot out and give their or my baby reliefe from a snotty nose. Amazing huh. I am forever changed.
The things that I, or should I say we have experienced since arriving here are life changers and it has only been 6 months. I wouldn't of ever thought a nice woman would want to suck my babies snot out to help him. Or that I would blow up like a blow fish from an allergic reaction to my malaria meds. I'm sure there will be many more experiences to come and I look forward to them. I told the children that if they catch a cold they better steer clear of the snot sucker or she may "help" them as well. :)
************************************
We are taking Lids to the clinic in the morning to see the doc who saw her last week. He will evaluate her and look at the list of aches and pains and temps we have been keeping for the last week. She will then have another blood test to check her blood count again and possibly a chest x-ray. We will let you know via email what comes out of our visit. love to you all,
jani for the fam
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