Friday, July 5th

Friday, July 5^th

Breakfast today was really good… we had our noodles which tasted so good. We also had this dumpling thing that literally tasted like chicken pot pie… but it’s so delicious. We had it yesterday but asked for it again today because it was so good.

When we got to the orphanage today we got up to the fifth floor and little Al came running to the door and cried for one of us to pick him up. He’s always wanting to be held. And as soon as one person puts him down, he runs over to the next one to pick him up. He just loves to be held.

We brought the three walkers that were donated to see if some of the kids would benefit from using that. We had Carrie try one. She stood up and took a few steps, but would lose her balance and then fall over. We adjusted them to her height and had her walk some more, but would still tumble over a bit. But I think she just needs to work on her balance. She was happy, nonetheless, to be able to walk. We all clapped and cheered for her, which made her always smiling face even happier.

We took the older kids outside to play for a bit. We took out some little containers of bubbles which they loved. Sweet Carrie, as soon as we blew them at her, laughed SO hard. Her laugh is so contagious.

It’s really the simple things in life.

I sat down next to Sky and started blowing bubbles. She would smile and giggle when she would see them blow across her face. A few times she got so excited she stood up and jumped a little. She was beaming. It was so good to see her so happy. She’s such a sweet little girl.

So the reason why we gave Drew his name is because he drools all the time. As sad as that may sound… it’s so true. So we thought that it would fit. Well, today as we were blowing bubbles, he was going around to everyone and holding his wand up and blowing so hard, but all he did was spit. It was so funny. He loved it. He would just walk around and blow spit all over us. I think we all got a spit bath today. But he was so happy about it. It was the funniest thing.



Joy

After some time the nannies got everyone in a big circle to play a game. It was almost like duck duck goose, but when you were chosen with a handkerchief and didn’t catch the person, you had to go in the middle and sing a song. The kids loved playing it,    and it was so sweet to see the kids singing and the nannies getting into it.

At one point I was sitting next to Amy who was holding a little boy. He had the bubble container in his hand, but it didn’t have anything in it. Little Dora came by and was playing near us and he noticed that she had a container with bubbles in it, so he tried to grab it. But instead of getting upset, she ever so sweetly opened up her container and poured some of hers into his container. It was the sweetest thing ever. It honestly brought me to tears. Because as sad as it is, these kids have nothing. Absolutely nothing. So whenever we bring something out, they jump for it and climb all over us to get it, and once they do they hold onto it for dear life. Because that’s the only thing that they can claim as “theirs” at that time. So to see her willingly give up her bubbles, I was just so touched. And I’m telling you, this little Dora is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. She’s precious.

After that we brought all the kids inside to do some crafts. We brought out a tablecloth with flags on it and as soon as we unfolded it, the kids went wild. They were so excited. I think if we had let them play with the table cloth, they would’ve been just fine with that. Haha.

We gave them red, white, and blue napkins and sticky boards in the shape of the world trade center and the statue of liberty and let them rip the napkins up and stick them on the boards. They really enjoyed that, and many of the kids got really into it. It was a bit chaotic getting everyone the stuff they needed… there’s really no easy way to hand things out. Because as soon as they see one kid with it, they all go crazy and start climbing on you to get what they want. But as soon as they all got something, they were fine. They actually settled down quite a bit.

After they finished with that we pulled out stickers that we brought and let them stick it on paper. I’m telling you, it’s the simplest things that make them happy. They all loved it. It was cool to see how the different kid’s personalities showed through them… some stuck them all over the place, some on top of other stickers, and some were very orderly in straight lines.
Ray was so proud of his picture after he finished it. He kept posing for everyone and waving it back and forth. It was so funny. That kid has a lot of personality.

At one point I took a heart sticker and stuck it on Joy’s shirt. She smiled really big and gave me a hug. I really do love her. She feels like an aunt to me. I can tell that she really loves the kids, and wants what’s best for them.

Eventually it was time for us to go, so some of us took the kids upstairs and some of us stayed behind to clean up, because the kids had made a mess. We asked if they had a broom, and they said, “oh no! We can clean up! You don’t have to.” But we didn’t want to leave a mess for them. Although, they did help us.

When we got back upstairs they were giving one of the older boys the walker and he was learning how to walk with that. It was cool. I think they were excited to have them. Hopefully they’ll continue to give those to the kids so they can learn to walk. I think that’ll be good for them.

We ate lunch at the hotel today… and it wasn’t so great. I literally didn’t eat anything that came out. Except for a few bits of potato that was stuck in with some meat. We just got some weird stuff today. Some of which included a whole fish that was cooked and brought out. Yummm.

Kathryn, Annie, and I adventured out to the market today. We got some drinks and some different flavored Pringles to try. Kathryn lost her mascara somewhere so we went down to one of the cosmetic counters in the mall/market, and with our broken English we tried to tell them that we wanted to buy the mascara that she picked out. She wrote out a little slip and handed it to her… and then just stood there. We were so confused as to what we had to do. So she ended up walking us to a cashier that was in the center of the mall where she paid and then brought us back to get the mascara. It was kind of interesting. But now we know how things work in the mall. Haha.

Back at the orphanage, we went to play with the babies again. I went to find Sarah, she was in the crib propped up so that she was sitting up. I’m glad that they’re at least trying to get her to sit up. They do that with all of those older kids that aren’t able to sit up, the ones that are in the crib. They prop them up on the corners of the crib for a certain amount of time, and so that’s good.

I brought her back to the baby room and just walked around with her and bounced her for awhile. I spent most of my time walking around the room praying for her. I just hope she survives. I’m praying for a miracle with this one. But our God is great, He performs miracles every day. And that’s what I’m believing for.

She was a happy camper for the most part. I think she’s still not feeling well, so she would whine a little bit, but after I bounced her for awhile she was fine. She grinds her teeth, they ALL grind their teeth actually, and It’s horrible. It honestly hurts my teeth when I hear it. Shannon brought a bunch of rubber teething toys, so I grabbed one of those for her to chew on. She doesn’t like anyone changing her, moving her arms much (I assume it hurts), or anything like that, so I didn’t think she’d like the teething toy, but she took and chewed on it for a long time. I was so impressed and so happy. She was cracking me up because the way she would chew on it was so weird. She does some weird things with her tongue that I can’t even explain. Haha.

After awhile my arm got tired so I sat her in a little cushion and held her chew toy. But she eventually got tired of it, and she went back to grinding her teeth. *cringes* It hurts me to think about. She sat on the cushion for awhile and she kicks her feet a lot. She also rocks her head back and forth, but I think that’s because she hardly gets any stimulation. Because when I rock her or bounce her, she doesn’t do that. It’s just so sad.

I went to get baby Nathan for a bit, and when I got into his room he was sleeping. The nanny saw me looking at him and picked him up for me and gave him to me, even though I said I didn’t want her to wake him up. But she gave me his bottle and had me feed him. So I brought him back to the playroom and fed him. He wasn’t hungry at first and would just look around at everyone, smiling like crazy. He ate a lot of his bottle, and I think he was so happy to be eating, he kept smiling so big that all of his formula would spill out of his mouth! Haha. It was actually pretty funny. He ate most of his bottle though. I burped him and kept saying that he smelled really bad because the formula would dry all over his clothes and they don’t change them all day, and he did smell like that yesterday. But then I looked down and realized where a big portion of that smell was coming from. His diaper. It was spilling out of his diaper and all over my shorts and tshirt. Yumm. I was so thrilled about that. Haha. So I changed his diaper and then wiped off my clothes. It was pretty nasty. A nice mushy yellow color, in case you were wondering.

I changed him into some of the clothes that Kathryn brought, seeing as he now had formula and poop all over his clothes. He had on super cute pants with little monkeys over his feet. I loved it. :) I had him laying on his back for awhile, and then he started rolling over onto his stomach! I was so proud of him. He had been trying yesterday, but couldn’t quite get his arm out from under himself. But he got it now, and he loved it. After awhile his face looked to be a little red so I turned him over to his back again, but a few seconds later he rolled over again. It was so funny. He loves little rattles when I shake it in front of him, but he can’t do it himself. Though, he is only a few months old. His grip is so strong though. When he holds my hands I’m so surprised by how strong he holds on.

I kept saying that I could still smell the poop on my clothes and how gross it was… but then I picked Nathan up again, and realized that it got a LOT stronger… and upon checking further, he had pooped his pants again. He had a big day today, I guess. So I went ahead and changed that too.

We played for a bit longer, but soon enough it was time to leave. Whenever it’s 11:30 or 5:30, our guide ,Steve, will look at the clock and go, “Okay!! It’s time to leave now!”  Guess he doesn’t want to overstay his welcome.

We put the babies down in their cribs. I went to look at another baby and when I turned around again Nathan had already rolled over on his tummy. I guess he’s going to be sleeping on his stomach a lot now.

On our way out of the orphanage, we saw a dead rat on the road, and it was HUGE. Last year our guide had a rat run out and brush up against our leg, so we knew there were some around the orphanage. Our guide this year was even looking in the bushes and looked up at us and said there were rats running around in there. Ew. They’re so gross and big.

As we walked down the street one of the nannies was leaving work, she was all dressed up in her clothes and in her nice little wedges. I find it funny that most of the women here wear dresses or fancy clothes on the streets, and almost always have fancy heels or wedges. We were talking to her and she said she had a 24 year old… we were all shocked, because she looks so young. So Steve asked how old she was, and she said 48… we were so surprised. She’s so beautiful and looks much younger.

On the way back Julia and I saw this cart on the street that was frying some kind of tentacles… they looked like squid tentacles. We stopped and took a picture of them because… well, they were frying tentacles. I felt kind of awkward, but everyone around us thought it was funny. They probably thought we were crazy, but oh well.

And that’s pretty much all for today.

Shannon said she talked to the orphanage director about the heart babies. They said that they’ve been trying to give Sarah the nutrients that she needs, they’ve given her other formulas and such, but it just didn’t work. So I don’t know what there is to do about that. I’m praying there’s a solution somewhere. The director also said that they were going to have the blue heart baby, Charlotte, evaluated by a doctor today. I never heard the verdict on that. Hopefully tomorrow.

Please just pray for these babies. Their lives are so precious, and I want to be able to help them in any way that we can. This is life and death. And I know that they will be put on the list and be adopted if they get these hearts fix. So please pray for them.

**Please pray for Annie today! After devotions tonight she went to the bathroom and passed out. Besides some bloody lips, and chipped tooth, she seems to be doing fine. We’ve given her protein, sugar, and drinks with electrolytes in them. We think it is just dehydration. But please pray for her health and a good night’s rest. Pray that for everyone, for that matter. Thank you all! Special thanks to our nurses’ advice back home, Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Ervin!