Week 18 and Photos from the Rhino and Lion Park

Just a small bit of one of the 'roads' that we drove.

Rhinos!

This guy could have stuck his head in my window if he wanted to, he was that close. 

Eddie the Cheetah. Just hanging out together.

6 week old lion cubs

Loved these tigers!

That tree and zebra...Pure Africa. Can that be a thing?

In the cave

Our friend the warthog. Did you know that they like to get on their front knees to eat?

Candice is showing us just how crazy these steps were!

We were about 2 feet away from this (caged) lion. He was not happy that we were dancing and yelling trying to get him to roar. He finally did though!

They are beautiful creatures. 

Week 18

Big Babies Again

I am starting to work in big babies again this month. I started out working in big babies my first two months and since December I have not worked in big babies. I had missed it but have enjoyed my time with the toddlers and small babies. The first day I was back I was reminded just how relaxing it is compared to toddlers. The day was a breeze! The babies drank bottles, played, took naps and we fed them. There were no trips to the dark room or telling kids to sit for the Bible story or listening to constant whining. The challenges were still present and came up at feeding time. About half of the big babies are between 10 and 11 months old and the other half are between 6 and 7 months old. Feeding the older ones is usually not a problem but the younger ones are a huge pain to feed. Some them just hold the food in their mouths and others have not figured out what to do with their tongue when they eat so they use it to push the food out of their mouth. One of the bigger babies is a problem to feed as he likes to spit his food all over the place. You can get up in his face and tell him no and he will just laugh at you. He is being adopted later this month and we all wish his parents good luck! Well it was my first day back and I knew not to feed baby A, the spitter. We were down to the last two babies and it was him or the younger baby M. I decided to feed baby M and told Cassie good luck with baby A. She could not believe that I left her with him. I started feeding baby M and she was slow but all was going fine. Cassie then started with baby A and I had to keep my laughs to myself as she kept telling him no when he would spit. Baby M had almost finished and that is when the karma hit. She threw up all over me. We are not talking baby spit up but big person vomit and it was all of her bottle and lunch combined. It was beyond disgusting. I had to hold back my gags as I carried her to her room to change her. Once she was changed I cleaned up the floor and her chair and then finally went to change clothes myself. I have learned that I can deal with a lot here. I can do any kind of poop, pee, baby spit up, drool and so on but I cannot deal with vomit when it gets on me. Next time I will just be the bigger person and feed baby A. Lesson learned.

Potty-Trained!

We have successfully potty-trained Big Boy K! It took less than two weeks. He caught on quick the idea that every time he went potty on the toilet that he got a treat. A few days in he even tried to cheat the system by going potty just a little bit every ten minutes. There came a point that he only got a treat when he went number 2. He is doing great now and hardly ever has an accident. He also has shown us how much he hates wearing hi diaper by taking it off during naptime and hiding it under his crib mattress. Smart boy he is indeed. We have also taught him the fine art of going potty outside and he really enjoys practicing this feat. His skinny body can hardly hold up his underwear and pants but he is so proud to wear his big boy underwear. We are just excited that it is one less diaper to change. The next thing we need to master is going on the big potty and not just his potty chair and then he will really be self-sufficient. We sure are proud of what you have master already though big boy!

The Spreadsheet

At home I don’t budget. I should but I just keep a close eye on things and am careful with how I spend my money. I have been blessed because money has never been a huge stressor in my life. Coming here I decided that I should keep closer track as to how I am spending money. Most of the money that I live on day-to-day here is from so many of you who have sponsored me. I can’t thank you enough for being so generous and helping me to follow God’s call on my life for this season. So to be mindful money I set up a spreadsheet. Well it has become a crazy detailed document that will end up being around 14 pages long. The girls make fun of me fore how close I keep track of everything. It is all laid out by month and broken into categories for food, fun, rent, the extra expenses that come with drawing money overseas and the other category. I always keep tack of how much I spend where and what I spend it on. It has been a huge help and because of it I am under budget of where I should be at this point in the trip! The other day Candice was figuring out where she was financially and was talking to her mom about it. Her mom took her through her bank statements and after Candice told her mom that I keep this crazy spreadsheet her mom told her she should start doing the same. So we are now spreadsheet buddies! Hopefully I can keep doing something like this when I get home and keep better track of my expenses. Just thought you would all like to know what I do with some of my time off and how I am budgeting here.

Odds and Ends

-       When we were out last weekend we pasted a driving range and a huge golf store. Thought that you would like to know that Grandpa, Dad and Eric. Sorry but I was not able to get a picture. I will try harder next time.

-       Rumor around here has it that between the 3 houses there will be between 10 and 15 babies that leave in the next two months. It will be so exciting to watch this happen and see so many empty beds around here again!

-       Baby S overcame one of his fears this week. We have a doll that has hair and squeaks when you shake it back and forth. He is terrified of this doll. It is so funny to watch him though so we are mean and tease him with it every once in a while. It was getting to the point where it was really obnoxious though because he would see another kid playing with it and cry. The other day I took him in my lap and we tried to get him over his fear. It did not work too well so we gave up for the day. The other day he saw the doll again and freaked out over it. Later that day though we caught him playing with the doll! He was touching her hair and just sitting nice right next to it. He still does not like it when it squeaks but we are making a lot of progress on the doll front. Not sure what it is with all these kids and their fear of dolls.

-       All but one of the electrical outlets stopped working in our flat one day this past week. Luckily I have a small knowledge about breakers and such and seeing that the breaker box was easily accessible, I got the power back on for us.

-       For Bible Study this week we made tacos. We got a season packet for the meat from Margie a while back and just had not used it. We were so excited that it was the talk of the week, having tacos. They were delicious and we are going to keep our eyes open in the stores for more of the season packets for the meat. I also tried guacamole for the first time with my tacos and really enjoyed it. Who would have ever guessed!

-       I had a head cold this week. I am doing much better now but praying that I stay healthy the rest of my time here.

-       Two of the toddlers have learned how to get out of their beds. This is not a great combination with naptime and five others in the room. They are great at waking everyone up and after suppertime you can tell that the kids only had a short nap. Please stay in your beds and sleep kiddos. If you don’t think you need know that the aunties do!

-       I was able to get a few videos this week of Big Boy K singing a few of his favorite songs, The B-I-B-L-E and Shoo Fly Don’t Bother Me. He is just so darn cute!

-       The ants are still living with us. They are getting a bit ridiculous though and we are ready for them to leave. Just the other day they got into one of the girl’s water jugs. Most of us have 5-liter jugs of water that we use to drink out of. We boil the water and put it in the jug. We just feel better about boiling our water before we drink it. Well the ants must also like boiled water. Come on now ants, there is absolutely nothing in that water you want. Give us a break will you!

-       Some more adventures coming up, so be on the look out for some hopefully great stories and pictures.

Sending my love to you all,

Emily