Ear Ouchie addendum

Anna started her antibiotics Monday, and I expected her fever to
drop by the second day, but even Thurs. morning she woke up early in
the morning at 101 F! She's never had an ear infection that caused a
high fever. I was baffled and about to Email the doctor today about
what else we should do, but when I got her dressed I noticed she had
no fever this morning and a nice lacey rash all over her tummy. Ah
ha!! Joel had a similar thing 2 weeks ago from the airplanes, some
kind of mild form of the measles. So the ear infection DIDN'T cause
a high fever, the measles did! =) This might explain why she was SO
miserable last weekend...

As for now, she's still tired, but singing and playing and on the mend!

… … Ants … … … … … …

They really do work hard and never give up!

The house we're subletting for this month has an ant problem. At
first I assumed it was a normal dry season ant problem. Then they
started coming through the floorboards… and in the windows… and out
of the countertops. Joel's not completely overreacting when he
refuses to get out of bed without his shoes on.

We were careful at first using simple soap powders to deter them.
Lately, Kent has pulled up the loose floorboards to put poison
underneath them! Then we paid a gardener to chop down some extra
vines and tree branches because all our clean laundry on the line
had ants crawling all over it! While the laundry IS better, we're
still not 'winning' and we've asked a friend to check into
exterminators. The problem is that they come through the brick wall
from next door, so we can kill all we want and not solve 'the problem'.

There is a missionary story you may have heard that goes something
like this:
During the first year a new missionary sees a bug in his soup and
refuses to eat it.
During the second year the missionary sees a bug in his soup and
picks it out with his fingers.
During the third year, he sees a bug in his soup and says, "Hey!
Extra protein!"

Let's just say we're still at the picking-it-out-with-fingers stage!

Huggies made my day!

So some of you know of our current needs for sizeable overnight
pull-ups, that we will need for the foreseeable future, and that I
have never seen in an African grocery store. (There were only so
many we could cram in our suitcases, and our special order cloth
covers are so bulky and hot – we're not giving up entirely yet.) My
preconceived shopping notions are being broken down here. Last week
I found a size that mostly works (up to 60 lbs), and bought the rest
of their stock (2 packages) of boy-colored ones. Funny that they
still had lots of girl ones left… They were the EXACT same thing we
were buying at home, but with international marketing (i.e.
different labeling) and were cheaper – HOW does that work?

But today, Huggies made my day! I found several packages of the
larger size that goes up to 100 lbs. SCORE! They were $12 for 9,
which is way more spendy than I wanted, but hey, I found the right
Huggies/Goodnites in Africa!!!! Some of you must know why that is
SO cool! I am praising God for these! There is, of course, no
guarantee that they will ever stock them there again, but Huggies
still made my day.

acclimation

We had a little trouble with Joel exhibiting irrational fears a couple
weeks ago, on our arrival in Kenya. A neighbor's little rat dog and ants
(seen or otherwise) made him unable to leave his bed without shoes or
socks, and the house without adult supervision. But this week we went
to an elephant orphanage, and saw this sight, which makes it look like
he's getting along just fine. This is Joel, watching elephants, and
holding the hand of a perfect stranger.

Ear Ouchie

Anna had a run-of-the-mill cold last week, which didn't go away and so I was suspecting her typical weakness after a week or so: ear infection. I took her to a closer doctor to avoid many hours of traffic, (our regular pediatrician is traveling around India this month). She was very panicky about seeing a doctor because she remembers getting shots. I tried to assure her that this was a very nice "grandma" doctor and that she would not have any shots. It helped... until she saw the white coat.

So she was hysterical just for someone to look at her ears and listen to her breathe. The doctor said her little heart was pounding so quickly! I've often surmised that I have doctor-induced hypertension (high BP only at the office, normal at home or out shopping) aka 'white coat syndrome' and it appears Anna's off on that same foot. I am off topic here.

So turns out that the sleepless nights, sensitivity, pain, and congestion are due to a double ear infection, one side being really quite bad. She gave us some hefty drugs and Anna's slept really well since. Alleluia! Pray this will kick the infection.

P.S. I've also since verified that there are two missionary ladies with medical training in our future town who can check ears, so I don't have to learn myself - God is good!

He always does.

The past 2 Sundays we had the privilege of visiting a new church
plant nearby: Faith Reformed Baptist Church (Nairobi). Our good
friend and former Kenyan pastor had started this new work while we were in
the US. We knew of his vision and began to pray for it years back,
but it was such a blessing to see it with our own eyes! We enjoyed
sweet fellowship and Ethiopian food at Kent's favorite local
restaurant. YUM!

Here's one story of God's handiwork...
Apparently Pastor (at left above) has begun quite an outreach to youth on the
streets here. There are several young people that have come to
Christ recently and a few of them are really trying to turn their
lives around. In a city of around 3 million people with an
unemployment rate of about 40%, there are slums and neighborhoods
where crime, drugs and corruption are a way of life. This church is
not far from Kibera, listed as one of the largest slums in Africa.
If you need some idea of what that looks like here's a UN-sponsored
video (not recommended for children please!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPuNXO7_tno

I'm familiar with the poverty and squalor a bit, but I rarely meet
someone who is saved out of it! I got to talk with a young man named
Moses, who until 3 weeks ago was homeless, jobless, doing drugs and
I don't want to know what all else. God used our Pastor friend to
reach out to young men like him and make a difference for eternity.
He has been 'clean', attending and serving at church regularly, and
plans to begin his life all over again. He has enrolled himself in a
mechanic's apprenticeship and hopes to become a private taxi driver
someday.

I was also struck by the immense generosity of our friend. Here he
is planting a church that is not 'in the black' yet, putting his own
children through school (2 in college right now), surviving only on
his wife's teacher's salary (which was on strike for a time and
unpaid yet for Jan.) and HE'S the one GIVING in ministry??!! They
are struggling to feed their family because they give so much to
others! If you ask them, they smile and say, 'The Lord will provide.
He always does.'

God has blessed them richly with 4 believing children who not only tolerate their parent's calling, but participate and support it. These costly sacrifices may feel invisible, but they are not. They are bearing beautiful fruit!

Haircuts around for the tropics! (we're not in Kansas anymore Toto)

Note James' new permanent teeth!
I was trying to capture Anna's curls. I refuse to cut them for fear
they will disappear. She had just woken up from nap and in the
moisture had curled more than usual. I promise I didn't even touch
them. May I never forget...

I snapped these the night before Kent left town with the camera (for
a good cause!) just to show you that the kids are well even on the
this side of the ocean. We've the month of teeth. James lost his
first 2 and gained a 6-year molar. Anna is cutting her 2-yr molars.
Fun times! And in a land without applesauce...hm.

Off to prepare for Kenyan guests - chapati tonight, yum!
(affectionately called 'chapo' here)

Travelogue - Photo Edition

Here are our little frequent fliers.
James discovered the built-in video games that came with the
movie/radio console. The airplane air was so dry Anna's hair got
really staticky and floated all around like we were rubbing a
balloon on her hair! At one point she got really annoyed that she
couldn't get it off her cheeks! But it was hard to get a clear
picture of, so I made a few attempts...

Anna's Birthday - Photo Edition

Mom finally unpacked the camera and there are lots of photos to share now!

For my birthday dinner we went to 'Tate's house'.

Here's me with my tandles.

Check out the blowing action!

I love to jam out with my friends (it was actually a mean game of Ring Around the Rosey).
Note the pink sparkle shoes:

Three 2-yr-old blondies.

Then the next night we got to have [the free] ice cream sundae at Red Robin.
They made me share with my brothers though...

Oh wait! I think I can get a little more out of this!!!