Time Flies!

Yesterday marked FOUR WEEKS home, or my boy's First Whole Month in the USA!

Time has flown by.  It has felt very short, but at the same time very long.  Arriving in Uganda seems like forever ago.  In the last 2.5 months that E has been with us (most of it was in Uganda) he has grown and changed so much!

The tiny little boy we met on day one... 

has become a chunky healthy active baby boy!  

This is the power of love, family, good nutrition, and God's mighty power and work of grace!  I love seeing the change in him!

A few things have happened in the past four weeks.  E has really learned to "crawl" and I mean, army crawl!  Here he is when he was first learning (oh how excited we were!):

Now he crawls wherever he can!

He also started out being able to just stand at the coffee table, and was trying to figure out how to move around it.

Now he can run circles around the table!

He began trying to use his dinosaur as a walker, but was very scared of it at first and couldn't move very far: (please excuse the annoying Mommy voice!)

Now, he walks all over the house with it!  He loves it so much and begs us everyday to walk with it.  He has even taken it down the sidewalk going several houses down!

He walks wonderfully holding our hands, and we are trying to get him to walk with just one hand:

A couple more firsts for him: he is able to hold his sippy cup now and get himself a drink.  He is not perfect at it yet, but he is learning.

He went to the annual Poppy Festival in town.

They had lots of booth with arts and crafts,

Food,

Camel rides. 

It was his first time seeing an camel. (I think he liked it)

What else have we been up to?

Well, here is Mark pulling weeds in the yard, with E strapped to his back!

Such a cutie

And here I am doing some baking, while carrying E.  I didn't want to get flour all over him, so the apron (which I got in Uganda, by the way) is on the outside!

He decided to become the newest member of the future military.

But he debated joining the future NFL, since draft day came up

Of course, he had to root for his favorite team... The Bears!

Then he changed his mind again and decided to stick with what he is best at, Drumming!

Our little Ugandan drummer

Lastly, he photo-bombed Mommy's photo of a rose in our yard. :-)

We have enjoyed his sense of humor and cute laughs.  Sometime E and I crack each other up so much that I just can't do anything I am laughing so hard!  We dance together, sing together, cook together, and take walks together.  He is a wonderful son, and I am so happy to have him in our lives.

We are looking forward to all the new things to come in the next month!

Home!

We made it home after a long 7 weeks in Uganda!

We were there longer than we expected, but we had lots of good bonding time with baby E.  He is such a cutie!

So, now we are settling into life as a family of three.  And I am trying to get the whole parenting thing down.  It's not easy, let me tell you!

But I love having E here with us now!  He makes us smile everyday.

I'm going to post some stories from Uganda soon, as well as some thought-provoking posts maybe.  I just need to get my head above the water first.

Life is different now, a lot less personal time, and I am pretty much surviving on coffee!

Oh the crazy things you can do with a boda...

Pickup Truck?... ppfffsstt... who needs it!

Need to move furniture, like a couch and two arm chairs?

You can strap it to your motorcycle!

Why not precariously balance all these furniture items on your little boda seat?

(Mark is on the boda to the right checking out the crazy sight!)

You'll still have room for you to sit, and make sure it gets to its destination.

Well, hello from Uganda!

Since I've been here over three weeks now, I guess I better post something.  It's been amazing!  We have welcomed our son into our arms and loved every moment with him.  Some of you may be following us along on Facebook.

So, as our time here is getting closer to the end, I wanted to post a few things that I like about Uganda and some things I am looking forward to when we get home.

What I like about Uganda:
1. The Boda Boda Rides!  Riding on the back of a motorcycle, no seatbelt, no helmet, sometimes side-saddle, is a crazy experience... but I can't imagine traveling any other way!  Taking a boda ride to get somewhere is not only money saving, but efficient.  They are cheaper to ride, and they can weave in and out of traffic to get us places faster.  I still enjoy some car rides, but I am thankful for skilled boda drivers to get me where I need to go.

2. Fresh Pineapple!  Who would have thought that I would need to come all the way to Uganda to get the best pineapple I've tasted in my life!  Who needs Hawaii... I've got Uganda!  The pineapple is in season right now, and it is the sweetest juiciest pineapple you'll get.  I have fresh pineapple or pineapple juice for breakfast every morning.  They also sell pineapple in carts on the side of the road.  When you bite into a piece, they are so juicy, the juices run down your mouth.  The awesome bonus is that they are not as acidic as pineapple in the States, so you can eat a whole bunch and not get sores on your mouth!

3. The Countryside.  We've been able to get out of the city a couple of times and seen how beautiful Uganda is!  I love the green hills covered with trees, the fields of banana trees, sugar cane, or tea.  There are waterfalls and lakes and wildlife.  It truly is a beautiful country!

4. The Warm Greetings.  Every time I enter a shop I hear "You're Welcome!"  At first it makes me stop and think, "Should I have said 'Thank you' for something?  Why are they saying 'You're welcome'?"  But they are just saying, "You are welcome to come into my shop.  I want you here.  I welcome your business.  I like seeing you here, etc."  Great customer service!  They are so kind and friendly.  Not only that but every time we return to our guest house, someone says, "Welcome back!'  I love it!

5. Cheap Prices.  OK, I had to mention this because I like to shop and they have some great things a cheap prices here!  I can buy beautiful african crafts at a fraction of what I would pay for them in the States.  Eating out is less expensive too.

6. The Food.  I actually like the food we've had here so far.  I love the typical Ugandan meals of "posho" (which is big lumps of corn flour dough, sometimes mixed with cassava) and beans, plus their meat in a delicious peanut sauce, sweet potato, yams, and "matooke" (cooked mashed banana).  We've also had some of the best pizza here too, wood-fired Italian style pizza.  I have to just say the "Hawaiian" is amazing because of the fresh pineapple.  And the "chapati" bread that you can buy on the side of the road is so good!

What I am looking forward to when I get home:
1. Not Sleeping Under a Mosquito Net Anymore.  Yeah, it gets old to have to crawl in and out of each time you need to get out of bed (or take care of a baby).  I want to sleep not worrying about mosquitos all night.

2. Being Able to Drink the Tap Water.  And being able to brush my teeth with the tap water.  Buying bottled water gets expensive and old.  It's crazy to think that a lot of the world does not have clean drinking water!  We take it for granted that we can drink out of our faucets and not die of a horrible disease.

3. Easier Baby Care.  It's just not that easy to do some things while staying in a guest house.  We have to wash all our baby bottles by hand and then take them downstairs to sanitize them in the microwave.  This happens once or twice a day.  (It used to be more often before we went out and bought more bottles).  We have a shower instead of a tub in our room. It's not a big deal because our son loves his shower, but he doesn't get a bath.  Also not much counter space to prepare bottles, feed him baby food, etc.

4. Tolerance of Mixed Families.  I know this sounds strange, but I am looking forward to Americans who think it is OK for us to be a white couple with a black baby. Not everyone in America thinks this way, but it is becoming more OK.  Surprisingly we have run into several Ugandans who just don't understand the concept of adoption.  They have lots of questions, and lots of opinions.  "You can't be that baby's mother!" "Where did you get him?" and several head shakes and finger wags.  Truly, I understand where they are coming from.  It is a new concept to them.  And most of what they hear about is people in this country who kidnap babies to use in human sacrifices and rituals!  Some people believe that if you sacrifice a human baby at your construction site than your business will have good luck.  So babies are kidnapped and murdered!  Plus witch doctors have all sorts of things they do with babies.  It is sad, and sickening, and scary.  So, I figure some of these people think we may be doing that very thing!  It's hard for me to let them think things like that, but I try to show them that I love my son very much.  I would never do anything to harm him.  But don't misunderstand and think this is happening everywhere we go.  We do get smiles from people and well wishes.  But we also get a LOT of double takes (especially if we are out walking along the road).  I know the States will bring their own challenges with people's opinions of us, but as least they won't assume we are going to sacrifice this baby!

5. Routine.  I am just looking forward to getting into a routine for caring for my son.  Our days here are so varied.  Sometimes we have to get up early, sometimes we have not much to do during the day.  It's hard to establish a routine.  Once home, we'll get a chance to set up how we are going to do things and put E down for naps at all the appropriate times.  (I am not looking forward to Mark going back to work, however.  I love having him around!)

There may be more I'll add to the list later, but that's what I got for now!

Let's Get Excited.....

Yikes!  Only a few days to go!!!!!!!!

Sorry, for the lack of posting lately.  As you can imagine, we are busy getting ready to meet our Baby Boy!  This is how excited I feel:

Time has flown by since we found out about our court date in Uganda, and now its finally time to get there!

We have prepared... and... packed... and... prayed.  We've waited... and... wished... and... waited some more.  Baby Boy has been waiting too!

It thrills me to think that he won't have to go another week with out a family!

My emotions have been all over the place over the last week.  There have been times of pure excitement, almost too much to handle.  But strangely, I have also been sad to think about the changes that are coming and that our lives, just the two of us, will never be the same again.  I guess you could say I am mourning our loss!  It's just that I love our marriage!  I love the two of us.  I love everything we do together and everything we are free to do without the responsibilities of children.  It is so wonderful.  But the thing is, it is a season.

I am about to start a brand new, and wonderful, season!  Having a little one in our lives is something we've wanted for a while, so we are not sad about that!  It's learning to live in a new reality, for me.  It's me finding out all the wonderful new experiences I can have as a mother, and we can have as parents.  Yes, it means I will have to let go of a few "freedoms" of our life of two, but I hope to gain so much in different ways.

It's like what I felt when I was about to turn 30.  I was dreading it!  I got anxious about it, and thought my life was about to be over and going downhill!  And then I turned 30, I accepted it, and moved into a new season.  By the next birthday, it wasn't a big deal anymore.  Sometimes I can get all worked up prior to an event, and it turns out that I was totally wrong!

Among the other emotions this week are feeling overwhelmed about all that needs to get done before we leave, and feeling totally ready to go.  Mark said the other night, "I think this is the most prepared we have been for anything before."  It's true.  Believe me, this is an act of God!  The usual procrastinator in me is often up till 3am the night before we leave still trying to pack and get everything ready to go.  Or maybe you can call this an act of motherhood!  Nesting!  I haven't been able to fall asleep easily.  I can't imagine I will sleep much the night before we meet him.

As we get closer to leaving, I am just full of excitement and ready to get going!  I am hoping to post while in Uganda, but not sure yet how often.  Pictures will be coming soon!

A Few Weeks to Go...

Ok, so life has been busy lately.  We don't have long until we head over to meet our son!  So what has been going on?

Well, some wonderful friends threw us a baby shower!

My friend Jody hosted the shower and ran with the African Jungle theme!  I loved the decor!

 Love the combo of giraffe and Mexican dip!

 Many many blessings were poured upon us!  Some fun gifts included Baby boy's first Chicago Bears shirt: 

A fleece blanket with jungle animals and giraffe spots, handmade by a friend.

Probably the funniest moment was trying to make a baby out of play-doh with my eyes closed, and opening up a mailed baby shower package- only to find my laundry inside!  (oops, left that at a friend's house on a trip, and they were kind enough to mail it back with the baby shower gifts!)

Hmm… what kind of present is in this laundry bag??

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We also had the pleasure of hosting family.  My husband's brother came up for a visit with his wife and my niece and nephew.  What better way to explore with my niece and nephew than to take them to see one of the most awesome planes, an F-22!

Not only that, but my mom surprised me and showed up for the shower as well!

So, after hosting 5 people in our house, we decided it was enough for a little while… just kidding!  My friend Shawna arrived the day I took my mom back to the airport!

Grabbed a trip to IKEA while she was here.

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Ok, so in the middle of all this, I celebrated a birthday!

I was really excited to get some earrings and a purse from Delicate Fortress Creations.  

This organization helps remove women from poverty and prevent human trafficking.  Win!  And kudos to my wonderful husband who cares about these things and thought to get me such wonderful gifts!

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It was a wonderful couple of weeks with lots to do!  Besides company, we managed to book our flights and our guest house reservation.  We are GOING to UGANDA!  :-D

So, the past week has been full of shopping, checking lists, and dreaming about leaving.  I decided to make a paper chain to mark the days left until we leave, and tonight we took off the first link!  

Each link in the chain has a Bible verse on it to read and think upon until we leave.  

Some are about waiting, some are about God's goodness and faithfulness, and some are about His care for the orphan.

I attempted it to be the Ugandan flag colors, red, yellow, black, but it is old construction paper and kind of looks faded.  Oh well!  I like it anyway.

Well, there is much to do in the next couple of weeks.  Look at my growing pile of things to take to Uganda:

Dragged out all the suitcases we have as well to see what will work.

Yikes!  Pardon my disorganization!