Samuel

Samuel is making great progress. I'm so happy! Below is a photo history with comments from Sarah.

 

March 31--Samuel is great. He is happy and loves to play life is full of interest for him and he is a real fighter. When he wakes up he lays there and waves his hands and feet around and scrunches up his face, then he pauses for a few moments and goes at it again until he finally opens his eyes. 

March 31--Today for the first time he laughed out loud before that he would talk and coo a lot but never giggled out loud though he did grin a lot. He communicates his needs very well. Samuel wiggles a lot, all night long he wiggles if I put my hand on his chest and whisper it’s ok he will immediately stop wiggling and lay quiet for some time.  If you lay your hand on Samuel when he is sleeping he will grin and flash smiles.

April 4

April 1-- Samuel's skin is awesome......He has shed all the icky stuff and now the coloration is blending, and he is becoming more and more one color every day.

April 2

 April 3--Samuel's homemade Boppie chair, when I showed the Nannies they laughed and said baby Moses.  

April 5--Yesterday Samuel weighed 3.548 Today he weighed 3.648.  

Praise be to God for his everlasting mercies!



Exactly One Year Ago: Little Hunters
Exactly Two Years Ago: Look on the Bright Side of Life --it's happening again!
Exactly Three Years Ago: Easter Photos

 

Visitors and Parties

These past couple weeks we've had two OB nurses visiting our project along with a local Peace Corps volunteer. They have been speaking to TBAs-- traditional birth attendants (think lay midwives)-- on maternal health. If I can get a green light on it, I'll share some of their experiences with you. --The TBAs can be a bit private and so they may have only agreed to the classes if it would all be kept secret.

While staying at the orphanage, one of the visiting nurses celebrated a birthday. Michael also has an April birthday, so a party was organized and everyone had a lot of fun!

Tom said he made it very clear that birthday balloons are just for parties and have to be promptly cleaned up. We've had trouble with bits and pieces of balloons ending up in babies' mouths.

It looks like, though Jasmine is missed, that at least fun cupcakes can still be made. Sprinkles and all!! Yay!

Boy, do I miss the kids!

Did you see Samuel resting in the lap of our Peace Corps friend? I was shocked to see how tiny he was. His pictures until this one had been him on his own, so I didn't have context for just how small he really was. 

Thankfully, he is doing much better. Photos soon.


Exactly Two Years Ago: Something's Bugging Me

Easter Photos

This Easter presented a fun, and rare opportunity. Six of the eight Morrows in one place at one time! 

We decided to work on coordinating our outfits for Easter Sunday so we could take pictures after church.

This was not as easy as it might sound. I chose a white dress and worked on accenting it with a colored scarf. This outfit was vetoed as being too Out of Africa--as in Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, not just crawled off a plane from Africa. 

I vetoed a suit for one of my boys as it didn't fit him properly. That it was the same son that vetoed my white dress was purely coincidental, I promise.

Eventually we all chose outfits we were happy with. Very few tears had been shed in the process. I'm pretty sure all of them were mine.

After a wonderful church service we went to the field beside the building, and got a friend to help shoot some photos with Jen's new iPhone.

Hilarity ensued as we tried to get everyone adjusted in a line. 

My heels kept sinking into the soft grass, robbing me of my much-needed height increase.

After the group shot there was some goofing off. 

T.J insisted an umbrella was a necessary prop. I wondered how long it would all go on.

Timmy grabbed me for a silly hug. 

A friend photo bombed us.

In the end, we were all very happy with our family photo*

How was your Easter?

*Troy and Tom were sorely missed.

Exactly One Year Ago: Facepalm Moments

Exactly Two Years Ago: Our Newest Babies

Exactly Three Years Ago: I'm Not Smarter than a Fifth Grader

Dude, Where's My Car?

When we had our fun, family outing in Lusaka before flying out, we decided to rent a car from some missionaries so we wouldn't have to deal with a taxi. The night before our big day, Tom and I picked up the car and then drove to a grocery store for a few items. We were only in the store for a few minutes, but when we came out we realized we had no idea which car was ours.

We had rented a Toyota Corolla which is the most popular car in Lusaka since it can be gotten quite cheaply from Japan and is frequently used for taxis.

To further add to our difficulty in locating the car, it was a gray color--probably one of the most popular color choices as well. 

We were well and truly stuck. Since we'd just picked up the car we hadn't put any items in it yet--no sweaters thrown in the back seat, or identifying pieces of trash. We did know which row we'd parked in, which was a relief--but we walked up and down it before deciding to try the key on the most promising looking gray Toyota Corolla. Thankfully it was the right one!

********

The next day we parked in the very small parking area of the lodge, next to a blue car, and headed inside for our day's activities. After our game drive Tom and Troy took off to see what else could be done. Because: Family. Fun. Day!

I sat down, with Jasmine, in one of the sitting rooms to take care of checking in online for our flight the next day. When we'd done that we started looking for Troy and Tom. I glanced down into the parking lot and saw the door to our car (or what I thought was our car) standing open. I thought perhaps Tom had decided to rest (though it seemed odd) and so Jasmine and I went down there. We couldn't see anyone though as we neared the car, so we made the appropriate scary movie sounds, and approached with caution.

The car was empty. It was weird. Why was the door open? We still weren't 100% it was our car, but it had the newspaper in it that Tom had bought on the way in that morning.

Not sure what to think I simply popped the trunk--stowed my laptop case in there--and locked everything up. Only after slamming the door shut did I worry a bit that perhaps Tom didn't have the key and that I'd just locked us all out of the car.

When we eventually met up with Tom and Troy, Tom was horrified that the door had been open. He insisted he had shut and locked all the doors. Now I began to truly worry. What if I'd just stuck my computer into someone else's car? 

We sent Jasmine down to unlock the car and check on our things. She reported back that the car wasn't there anymore because there was no car with a newspaper in it, and the only gray car had an unlocked front door (remember I had locked all the doors).

I. Freaked!

Hurrying just as quickly as I could, I rushed to the parking lot. There was our car. Still sitting there next to the blue car. With a newspaper which had fallen to the floor. And, yes, an unlocked front door (I guess I didn't lock it properly). 

Whew!

Thankfully, all our things were still safe in the trunk. 

Next time I rent a car, I'm memorizing the license plate--or taking a picture of it.

********

 

Yesterday I said this was Dude Where's My Car--edition two. I thought I'd already titled a blog post with this name--turns out I'd simply named a bug that. 

Exactly Two Years Ago: Nathan's Story

Exactly Three Years Ago: Sunday's in My City--London!

A Family Day to Remember

Each time one (or two) of our kids leave us and head off into the horizon, away from us, to meet their destinies (sorry....feeling melancholy for a moment--ok, I'm done!), we try to make memories and create something that will lessen the feeling of loss.

For Jasmine we chose to visit a lodge just outside Lusaka that has a game drive to see animals, as well as horseback riding, a cheese factory, fishing, and more. While a bit pricey, it would give us a full day of fun.

The game drive wasn't as chock full of animals as it could have been because of the high grass--it's the end of rainy season in Zambia--but we still had a good time.

Our first stop was at the lion's enclosure. The lions have 20 acres of land to roam 'free' on. We weren't sure if they'd be near the viewing area, but we were rewarded with an upclose look at them.

This lion caught a look at a baby in our group and growled and roared, and yet behaved very much a large cat. It was fascinating.

Sadly, poor Jasmine didn't get to see much of the lions because as she stood near the fence taking pictures she was attacked by wildlife of a much smaller size.

Mposhi Ants!! They are wicked little fire ants that bite really hard.

You can read more about them here in the words of David Livingstone.

They ended up crawling all the way up Jasmine's back. She quickly ducked into a feed shed and removed her jeans. I took them outside and shook them off--having to pinch off the ants that held on with their incredible jaws--but even after this Jasmine kept finding them crawling up her legs. We think they may have been inside the folds of her socks.

After this we rode around for a couple hours looking for animals. As I said before, they were hard to spot. In the meantime we stayed entertained with a dragonfly

and a moth. Both insects landed on Troy and Jasmine's legs and stayed still until we'd gotten some good shots and then they flew away.--almost as if they'd posed.

Eventually we managed to see a waterbuck

some zebras and a wildebeest (not pictured--google it--they are so unusual)

a giraffe

a few ostriches

and some elephants.

Each and every time we came upon an animal, Troy and Tom jumped from the vehicle with their video cameras and tripods to capture footage. They're hoping to put together a collection of short clips to use as stock footage. 

I understood it. But, it drove me crazy. I have a short attention span. Once I've seen the animal, I'm done. Unless it's entertaining me in some way, I have no interest in watching a giraffe chew its cud. 

After many minutes of looking at the giraffe, I pulled out my Kindle for which Tom then teased me mercilessly.

These elephants are semi-tame. They have a handler and the baby was born at this game park. However, they are not pets. I first saw the baby when he was 1 year old. He's now 5 years old.

Which African animal would you most like to see?

Tomorrow: Dude, Where's My Car--episode two

Exactly Two Years Ago: Uno Attack --man, do I miss that kid!

(Almost) Exactly Two Years Ago: I Like a You! --more and more each year!

Happy News

 Just after I posted the blog yesterday with the important prayer needs, Tom sent this photo:

I desperately needed to see that precious face. 

This morning I spoke to Tom and he said all the children are doing better. They should be able to go home tomorrow. Peter still had a fever this morning, but the malaria medicines should kick in properly soon. He was already up and running around and asking Tom if he could go home. Thank God!!

Exactly Two Years Ago: God is Bigger than the Boogey Man

Exactly Three Years Ago: Prayer Updates

Urgent Prayers Needed

I was all set to tell you about our fun family day in Lusaka. 

However, some things have come up that need more attention.

Friday Naomi was admitted to the clinic because she had a bad case of malaria and was not responding to the medicine so she needed to be switched to IV quinine. This has now been switched again to quinine tablets. Quinine can have serious side effects and so she needs prayer for full recovery and protection from the medicine. She's hanging in there, but is still quite sick.

Then Friday night at around 2 AM (9 AM in Zambia) I got a call from Tom that told me that five children had serious vomiting and diarrhea.He was on his way with all of them to the clinic to check if they too had malaria or just a stomach virus.

The word this morning was that they've all been admitted to the clinic. Only one of them had malaria, but all were kept at the clinic. This is mainly to protect the other children at the orphanage. If this is indeed a stomach virus, it will be good to keep those germs away from the rest of the kids.

Peter is the one with malaria. His fever was quite high this morning (evening in Zambia) and was being treated with malaria medicines and Tylenol. I encouraged them to wipe him down with cool cloths.

I wish more than ever that a transporter exists. It's hard to be here on this side of the Atlantic while so many of my babies are sick.

Tom and Sarah are doing a great job along with the nannies to care for all the kids. This is Tom's least favorite part of running the orphanage. Normally I do the medical side of things (not that I like it--but I can do it) and so I'm incredibly proud of how well Tom is handling it all. Sarah has been wonderful (and Brent too, I'm sure) in keeping an eye on all the kids and what needs to be done while caring for Samuel as well.

In order to combat this virus, Tom and the staff have overhauled the orphanage--cleaning and purifying the water tanks, scrubbing down the nursery, kitchen and pantry, and setting up disinfection centers. We're not sure that there is a specific point of contamination--most likely it's simply a wicked virus--but we're taking no chances.

Unfortunately, the clinic is not a very good set up for the kids. They are all in a dingy, dirty back room which has a hole in the ceiling complete with bats (and accompanying guano) and mosquitoes. Tom brought in bedding for all the beds, plastic to tack onto the ceiling, and completely cleaned it up.

He's also hired on a couple part time nannies so that two nannies can be with the children at the clinic all the time. He has also contracted a restaurant to deliver meals to the nannies 3 times a day. He meanwhile drives down with food for the kids three times a day.

It is quite a challenging situation. I wish I could be there to help. Please lend your prayers to mine that all the kids will recover fully and that no one else will be stricken with his virus or malaria. Pray for strength for all the caregivers. Pray also for protection for the children from side effects from the medicines and protection from other germs and bacteria present at the clinic.

Thank you!