Apple picking (and more) at the orchard….

Aug-Sept 2009

Payton

Joey

Ruby roo

Jo feeding Ruby yogurt

Ne being Ne

Ruby putting EVERYTHING in her mouth

Jo getting ready to crash his cars

Jo and Ruby chasing the car

Ruby kissing baby Jesus

Our family Update

Since leaving Haiti, we have had dr. appointments, the start of preschool, weekend engagements, and sadly the funeral of Angel’s momma.  Life doesn’t seem to back off at any point to let you breathe.  

Ruby is working hard to keep me running.  She has me all over the place…no quiet in this house when Ruby is awake!  Refuses to sit for even a second and puts everything she can find on the floor in her mouth.  So mommy has to keep the floors swept, her hands squeaky clean for all the mouth inspections, and all the little toys picked up.  Whew I’m tired just thinking about it.  She is an amazing joy and incredibly beautiful so I don’t mind at all.  :)  We have a nativity set that we keep up all year long (on purpose, thank you!) that she found and began to admire.  Janeil started letting her kiss baby Jesus when she would reach out for him.  Now we’re thinking that “JESUS” is going to be her first official spoken word.  You can’t imagine our pride!!

Josiah gave us (me) quite a scare this summer.  He had been pretty sickly most of the Spring.  Going into the summer things were just getting worse and worse.  He was a awful shade of white most days, wouldn’t eat, and completely lost his funny personality.  I had his blood taken when we returned to Haiti in June and he had dangerously low numbers.  I was told by a nurse to give him iron and feed the poor child.  Nothing changed.  When Melissa came in to Haiti in late June — I bombarded her with “HELP ME” questions about Joey.  She looked at his blood results and actually turned the same shade of white Josiah had been for months.  Not a good moment and one that I still can’t get out of my mind.  I was going everywhere (but mostly one place) in my mind as to why this was so bad.  Melissa didn’t want to say anything because she knows me way too well.  :)  Which I know her too well and that made it WORSE.  Melissa consulted a Haitian doctor and his first suggestion was to just check his stool.   The lab found that he had a parasite called Entamoeba Histolytica.  He had two rounds of medicine to get rid of this terrible unwanted invader.  Within 2 days he started eating, laughing, playing, and rejuvenating his momma’s heart.  Within 2 weeks his blood count had gone up considerably and his color had returned.  He is still getting back to his old self and trying to gain some weight back.  His daddy has been taking him to the race tracks in Louisville.  His favorite part is when Mater (the wrecker) comes out after a crash and picks up the broken cars.  He’ll sit in the living room with his cars and crash them into each other and then tell me that Mater is on his way.  I love it.  

Miss Payton JaNee has started preschool at the church we attend in Versailles.  When I took her in for her orientation day, the Director asked me if she could test her for the 5 year old class.  Um…OF COURSE!!  She passed and they moved her up and Janeil and I smiled for days!!!!  She is in love with her school.  She goes 4 days a week and is often frustrated on Fridays when she has to stay home with me.  Ne is an amazing child.  She has been interested in Heaven lately.  She has a very tender and sensitive Spirit and already NEEDS her God so much.  She has Janeil and I both pray for her at night because she says “daddy doesn’t pray for peace like mommy does.”  She asked me the other day how long I would be here with her.  I told her that I would be with her forever.  She said, “so you don’t want to go to Heaven?”  I assured her that I would go whenever Jesus came to get me.  She thought that might be when I’m 100 yrs old.  Today she was coloring a picture and she said that EVERYONE has to go to Heaven when they die.  I said, “you know Ne, not everyone gets to go to Heaven, only the ones that love and accept Jesus.”  She said, “mommy, I’m so glad that I love Jesus.”  ”Me too baby, me too.”  

Sometimes I don’t feel qualified to be a mother.  Their little lives are so moldable and tender.  SO much room for big mistakes.  

Janeil is getting ready to go to an Aquaponics conference this weekend.  Then back to Haiti in October.  He’ll fly out just in time for the Catalyst conference in Atlanta.  Please pray for him as he goes through the next few weeks.  He has much on his plate plus he will be leaving us a lot and that is always hard.   

I’m going into my 30th week of pregnancy.  Yesterdays doctor appointment revealed that my blood pressure is already starting to go up.  I was put on bed rest at 32 weeks with Ruby.  Please pray that I will be able to stay strong and healthy for the kids while Janeil is gone.

 

This song, I can’t get out of my mind.  Just a reminder of HEAVEN and that Jesus is our prize.  The most incredible, undeserved prize for our reciprocated love is JESUS.  Amazing.  

Ne’s trip to Beauchamp

Ne has a favorite girl in this world and she came to Haiti in the beginning of August….her name is Ann.  Ann speaks Ne’s language and has since Ne was a baby.  When it came time for Ann’s group to go spend some time with Mike and Theresa in Beauchamp, Ne could not see any other way but to go with her.  I was in the middle of something when she asked me if she could go — the next thing I know she has her bag all packed and is BEGGING me to be able to leave with Ann.  I looked in her bag thinking it could only be filled with her toys and make-up.  Ne is forever blowing me away….she had 4 skirts, 4 matching shirts,4 sets of pajamas, underwear,  her toothbrush and paste, and a hair brush and pony tail holders.  ALL BY HERSELF.   She gave me a 1/2 hug as she was running to the bus.  Sigh….there is no holding on to that one.

Ne and Jocelyn

Beautiful girl

Thinking that she is teaching the boys how to play dominos…

Mwen sonje ou Magdala

Ne playing with Magdala in the Miriam Center

Magdala is such a precious child.  She came to the orphanage 3 years ago as an itty bitty thing.  I simply adored her and she wasn’t ok unless I was in her eye shot.  Often I would be in the back folding clothes or taking care of NeNe and not even know that Magdala waiting for me somewhere in the front of the house.  I miss her in unbelievable ways.  (someone help me tell Janeil that I want to go back to the orphanage)