Down to 5

It was strange being in the nursery this morning with only me and the mamas. Nicole left just after 9 this morning and so we are down to 5 of us. She said goodbye to the babies and each of the cottages and left teary eyed for her long drive to Entebbe. We will be together again Nicole, with all our African babies, in this life or the next! In the meantime I’ll be praying for you!

Rosie said “aunty” today! She came to show me a book and said “Aunty!” I thought maybe I had imagined it and so asked her what she said and she repeated it clear as day, “Aunty!” That’s my clever girl! :)

John’s skin was so much better today! Danyne said today that she touched an elephant once and that John’s skin normally feels exactly the same. Hopefully it will improve with time and consistent care.

We had a group of ladies come and help out today which was nice. The babies got to spend time with some grandmas for the day. Since Nicole is gone now I was glad to have a few extra hands while I bathed all the babies before their naps. Even so I was still a little late for lunch. I like bathing the babies and I always end up smelling sweet like baby lotion afterwards:). Of course, there’s very little about taking care of babies that I don’t like:). Jane didn’t want to go down for her nap after her bath so I stayed to sing to her for a little while. Zion’s cot is right next to Jane’s and she kept laughing at my singing like it was the most hilarious thing she’d ever heard:).

Salim and Katelyn

Katelyn and I had activities together this afternoon and a friend of ours, Jessica, came and helped us out for a few hours. 

Me and Hope

Jessica, Josephine and Godfrey

Caroline was happily singing all the songs she knew at the top of her lungs. 

Dorothy decided to change "Jesus Loves Me" into some sort of rap or something:).

Nursery was a little hectic tonight. David wouldn’t stop crying so I went to get him up early from his nap and discovered he’d vomited all over his bed sheet and had managed to get “ka, ka” (that’s poo) all over himself as well. No wonder he was upset. So, I gave David his second bath for the day while Mama Betty kindly changed the sheets for me. He didn’t eat very much of his dinner tonight and fell asleep as soon as he hit the mattress, so he must have a bit of a bug. It just seemed to be a ka ka night for the babies. Every baby made a mess of itself right before bed. I told Mama Betty that I think they do it just for me; she just laughed at me:). 

I was late coming upstairs again and decided to take a quick shower to get rid of the smell.

Paige asked me to run down and get chapatis to add to our dinner, as the other girls weren’t up yet either. So I walked down the road to the little wooden stalls as it was getting dark and the lightning began to flash. Elena came down to keep me company once she’d put the girls to bed and it wasn’t long before it started to pour rain. Our chapatti guy told us to come inside his little wooden stall but I said I’d be fine under the nearby tree. Elena just stood right out in the rain, enjoying the refreshing change from the heat. I don’t blame her and I might have done the same except I had my camera with me and didn’t want it to get soaked. By the time our chapatis were done Elena was soaked and I was standing in a mini river. I put the bag of hot chapatis under my t-shirt in an effort to keep them dry and we ran home through the deepening puddles. We were both soaked to the skin from our short dash home but it was worth it! The chapatis were none the worse for wear and neither were we. 

There’s nothing quite like being out in the thunder, lightning and pouring rain and then changing into warm dry clothes and eating hot food with friends. I do feel for the mama’s though who have to walk home in this weather with nothing but a poncho.

“You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples.”

“The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound; Your arrows also flashed about. The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook.”

Psalm 77:14,17-18