grateful

Today, I am exhausted; I am dizzy with all that we have done in the last 10 days.  On Monday, we were in Kenya and on Friday, we were hitting the streets of Newark looking for an apartment.  We've said many good-byes and many hellos. We've faced jet lag and Kyalo's first serious illness of 102* F + temps. There have been many sleepless nights.

But today, I am grateful.

Grateful for the friends who let us stay at -- and take over -- their house prior to leaving Kenya.

Grateful to my parents who lugged four heavy bags back from Kenya for us, and then allowed us to crash at their place for an undetermined time. Grateful to them, too, for being willing to drive down to Newark with us {and by "with" I mean my dad did the driving for which I am especially grateful} to help us hunt down an apartment.

I'm grateful for a baby who has been completely healthy for 11 months.  I'm grateful for friends here in Essex and in Kenya who were only a phone call away to offer advice and assistance when he did get sick.  I'm grateful to Kyalo for still being able to find a smile, a laugh, and a game of Peek-a-boo in the midst of misery.  I'm grateful that we got five consecutive hours of sleep last night, even if we had to put Kyalo in a bath first thing this morning.

I am grateful that we were able to find a decent two-bedroom apartment with a yard in a family-friendly neighborhood not too far from the school for Dexter in our first effort.  {More details to come}.  I'm grateful to our Bible Study back in Kenya who've been praying a long time for this very thing.

I'm grateful to Dexter for helping with the diaper changes, the medicine giving, the late-night calls, for being cool and calm under pressure, and for being such a great partner through all of this.

And I'm grateful to God for making all of this -- and so much more -- possible.

When I think about all of this these small and seemingly simple things, add up to something quite remarkable and overwhelming, and I can't quite compute it all.  Perhaps when I get more sleep!

the hunt

We're heading out shortly to drive down to New Jersey with my parents to start the hunt for apartments.  We have a couple of appointments lined up, and a few apartments to hope for.  We've been back in Mass for a couple of days, trying to recover from the craziness that was our life before leaving, and the jet lag that has apparently hit Kyalo hard (he's been awake around 3 or 4 most mornings).

Thankfully, our journey from Kenya was smooth and uneventful, and we even managed to only have one extra bag, and didn't have to pay any over weight charges. It is a small thing, but it really is an answer to prayer.  Thanks for your prayers!

Could you keep them up? Please pray for safety as we drive about 5 hours to NJ, and also that we find something within our budget, and something that either has a yard or is close to a park. Because Kyalo and I won't survive if we don't have easy access to some green grass.

I'll keep you posted!

eleven months

On Saturday, Kyalo turned eleven months.  We were meeting Dexter's family in Nairobi for lunch, so I took the pictures there, which was nice since it was hot and sunny in Nairobi and not cool, grey and rainy like Kijabe.  It was a little on the chaotic side of things so I didn't get too many pictures, and at first, Kyalo wasn't pleased with the prospect of more pictures:

But we were able to get him to relax a bit and get more into it.  Even so, I couldn't really get him to stop moving. . .

Dirt. Digging. Rocks. Outside. Those are the things Kyalo loves best.

Can we say: BOY?

This was a busy, hectic, life-altering month. . .and Kyalo really handled it quite remarkably!  As soon as my parents rolled in on the 18th, anything resembling a schedule or routine got tossed out the window - not intentionally, of course, but just because things got busier. Then we needed to be packing/cleaning/getting rid of stuff, and so naps kinda got lost in the shuffle. But Kyalo never lost his sweet disposition, easy going personality, or his ready smile.  Most people couldn't even tell how over tired and worn out he was for the last few weeks in Kenya.  I am so grateful that he is this easy going; I think our life is going to have a lot of upheaval in it over the years, and we know he'll manage it well.  

He still doesn't have any teeth yet!  My mom's been worried about that, but Dexter the Dentist hasn't been too concerned and the pediatrician said children can get their first teeth as late as 18 months. I can't really imagine him with teeth - I love his toothless smile and will be sad to see it go. {Dexter also thinks we're seeing signs of some teeth coming. We'll see if he's right...}

I took him to a pediatrician this month for the first time; figured it would be cheaper (10ish dollars) to do in Kenya, and all checked out well. He ranks in the 10th-25th percentile for height and weight (about 20 pounds and 27 inches) which was lower than I expected, but nothing to be concerned about at the moment. He certainly looks healthy with his chubby legs.

He continues to be nonstop movement...crawling and getting into everything, walking holding onto something or our hands, and he's been working hard at talking. He says something resembling "da-dee" but since he says it at anyone or anything I don't think he really associates it with Dexter just yet. 

Still can't believe he's just a few weeks from being a year.  Our little baby is such a big boy and brings us constant joy.

today's the day

I wish I could say, "Our bags are packed/we're ready to go/we're leaving on a jet plane. . ." but alas, the bags are still being packed and weighed and shuffled around and repacked and reweighed.  I can't get over the stuff. The mountains of unending stuff.  As I mentioned earlier, we really have done a good job of unloading so much (and selling a lot of it to help with resettling costs) and yet it still keeps coming.

We leave for Nairobi early this afternoon, do some last minute errands, and perhaps get our last Kenyan coffee before heading to the airport. We want to get there as early as possible because that's a busy time at the airport and we have a lot of bags.  We know for sure we'll have two extra bags. We're hoping that each bag is also not overweight as that will be additional charges.

Please pray that all goes well...that we can do everything we need to today, that we don't have too many charges for luggage, that none of our luggage gets lost, and that Kyalo does well on the flights. I have no drugs for him, despite my mother's strong suggestion.  We are all so exhausted so I hope he'll just sleep on the planes,so we can sleep on the planes.

When we reach MA I'll get his 11 month (!) pictures up and lots of recaps of the last couple of weeks.

See you on the other side. . .

a whirlwind

March, already? How can this be?  I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that we're boarding a plane in four days! And, I'm not too excited about it, either.

It has been non-stop action around here.  My parents, and their friends Craig & Margot rolled in on the 18th to visit schools in Kenya and to do some more work with Gentle Bells, the school they've supported for three or four years.

In the midst of their being here, we have been packing up and moving out of our house.  I am continually amazed by the amount of stuff we have to deal with.  We have sold it/used it up/donated it/tossed it, and yet. . .and yet. . . we are still dealing with mountains of stuff.  This is quite remarkable to me because we don't generally shop or, when we do, don't buy things frivolously.

Here are some pictures I took last week, when I thought things were pretty bad and out of control.  I had no idea just how bad it would get!

 Kyalo's packed and ready to go

 so.much.stuff

Fortunately, the big furniture is gone or sold, so now we're dealing with the little things...like books, and plates, and random things that we don't want to bring home. Moving is hard. Moving internationally even harder.  Dexter keeps saying things like, "We're never moving again!" and "we're not buying anything, ever!"  I just nod, smile, and say, "yes, dear."  It is the only thing to do in this situation.

We've moved out of our house, and are staying in Chez Mbugua for the week.  There have been a lot of things going on this week, I'll have to recap them over the next few days . . .time allowing. . .

We would welcome prayers for smooth, uncomplicated travel on Monday.  We have too many, too heavy bags, so we're hoping there's not too much drama at the airport.  Also, when I flew home in August, Kyalo was a lot smaller and less mobile. He slept the whole way, basically. I can't imagine that's going to happen again, but I really would like that. At least this time, I have Dexter to pass him off to.

reading

I like reading, and think it is very important for Kyalo to be read to and learn to love reading as well.  It is nice to have these ideals, but honestly, getting Kyalo to sit still long enough for me to read a book is quite the challenge.  I know I should stick with it, but I somehow seem to forget.

Good thing I have friends willing to read to Kyalo while I work on dinner!

 always something in his mouth

* fun fact: this little rattle was my brother's when he was a baby in 1974!

I love this last photo because Kyalo looks so attentive. . .but it didn't last for long.  Soon he was grabbing at the book, stepping on Evelyn - probably snatching her glasses.  But we try!



Kyalo is really much happier like this:

 {note the rock}

{happy}

*also note the dirt IN his mouth. Sigh.

My parents are in town this week! They're here with their good friends Craig & Margot Hammon to work on Gentle Bells stuff and visit other schools in Kenya.  Always nice to have friends and family visit. Especially those who are willing to take a LOT of luggage home for us. 

Two weeks to go. . .

saturday bbq

This Saturday was our last possible day to have the long-talked about BBQ with our friends Anna & Ryan.  They're from Australia, and got connected to CURE not long after I came to Kenya.  Anna began volunteering in the PT department, and then became the first Africa Regional Manager for the CURE Clubfoot Worldwide program, so we worked together a bit on that. Ryan is a pilot with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and does a lot of flying to northern Kenya/Southern Sudan.  I've enjoyed their friendship over the years.

We've also talked about going on Safari somewhere with them.  They're big campers and are often out in the wilds of Kenya, and always have amazing stories to tell. (Like the one where they were preparing dinner at night and Ryan shined his flashlight around the campsite and watched four lionesses walk by.)  Dexter and I, when we go on safari, do not have amazing stories to tell. Our stories are more like: we got lost for 5 hours in the Mara- oh and we saw no lions, or elephants or anything overly interesting. Sigh.

Here is just a small glimpse into why we might want to go camping with them.

 get outta my way!!

a kill!

sorry for the R-rated photo

 (all photos copyright Ryan & Anna Cuthel - and shamelessly stolen from Facebook!)

Somehow, and sadly, we never made a camping trip happen -- even though Dexter & I were prepared with our six-man tent! Instead of a camping adventure they came up for a small BBQ Saturday afternoon.

 It was nice to put our yard to use, too.

 Dexter, manning the grill, as usual

 Luka - 21 months

It was a lovely afternoon, though too short, of course.  We had grilled chicken with mango & pineapple salsa, and grilled sweet potatoes and zucchini.   Anna made a strawberry apple crumble for dessert, and we topped that off with ice cream.  I'd say this was a nice way to say goodbye...though we do hope we'll see them one more time before we go.

Anna & Ryan are actually leaving Kenya in April just a few weeks after us. They're seeking new adventure back home in Australia.  Perhaps some day we'll go camping with them Down Under?  A girl can dream!

And as usual, I wanted to get a lot more photos, but taking care of food, catching up, chasing Kyalo around, etc, make it very hard to remember to get pictures. Fortunately, I did get this nice photo of the Cuthels as they were heading out.

Kyalo had a great time, too. He found this stick to keep him occupied for a long time:

He really does love to be outside. I hope we can find places to be outside in Newark . . .