baby's here!

On Friday, September 21, I (Danielle) woke up at 5am with contractions (only coming every 10 minutes) and got up at 6am and showered.  I was thinking they were too far apart to amount to anything so I began making breakfast. Kevin left for the office and the kids and I did school.  I went outside with the kids after school and walked several laps around the house, hoping to pick up the contractions if things were indeed happening. Things didn't pick up so I went back inside and drank water and rested for a bit. I talked with Kevin several times throughout the day and at 3pm, he decided to come home.  He wanted to go to Nairobi and wait there.  If things happened in the middle of the night, he'd rather we were there instead of in Narok and having to drive 2.5 hours.  Little did I know that the 10 minutes apart contractions would continue until around 10:30pm.  We went got to the hospital in Nairobi at 7:30pm, thinking we'd be sent the guesthouse for the night, we were surprised to find that I was 5cm dilated.  We spent the next three hours walking, sitting in the tub, sitting on the birthing ball, and walking some more.  Kevin ate dinner while we were "waiting."  At 11:40pm, they called my doctor and she made it to our room at about 11:56pm, just in time to catch Samuel at 11:58pm.

Samuel was immediately put on my chest and was being suctioned by the pediatrician while I rubbed him off and looked to see if we had a boy or a girl.  We also thought he was really small.  I think this was probably because it was our earliest baby, but I think he probably would've been J-boy's size had he be in another two weeks.

We were moved to our recovery room around 2:00am.  Kevin and I were both pretty awake so we watched TV for a bit, got chai, ate some fruit, and waited for the nurse to bring some diapers for Samuel as he was only wrapped in a blanket.  Around 3:45am, I asked for diapers again.  Around 4:30am, we turned off the lights and tried to go to sleep.  Samuel was nursing great from the beginning.   I think we might have gotten about an hour or so of sleep.  The nurse came to bathe Samuel around 6:00am and our day began and we began our day with a new little one!

First Day of School

We started our new school year today after taking a few weeks off.  Schools here in Kenya are supposed to be back in session but there's a country-wide strike so the kids are still home.  Our teachers aren't striking though and seeing as we're supposed to head to Nairobi next week to await the arrival of our next little one, we thought getting started was a good idea.

Our students were all excited to start the new school year.  We have new curriculum (Sonlight) and lots of new books and a new schedule.  Little Bit didn't actually join us for the whole morning today as we try and figure out all the newness.

E is starting first grade and is really excited about all of our new read-aloud books.  She insisted on a pretty dress, not a play dress, for her first day of school.




J-boy is somewhere between pre-K and first grade so just say kindergarten.  He's excited about new math books and science experiments.  He also enjoys spelling and reading.







M is excited about anything involving markers, scissors, paint, or glue.  She LOVES crafts.  She'll also be starting to learn her letters and numbers.  She's great with her colors and loves being with her big sister and brother.






We're all happy to get the new year started and plan to continue school while we're "waiting" in Nairobi.  We seem to all do better with routine so it'll give us something to do.  We're also hoping to have some routine established before the little one arrives!  Less than two weeks until the due date though, so we'll see when he/she arrives!

Our "baby" is six!

**This is a bit old, but pretend it's still July 22 and we're celebrating E's 6th birthday!

E's first birthday in Kenya was celebrated w/ our team and an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet!  E was celebrated with our teammate Tim and they both like Chinese food so it worked!

E has completed kindergarten and enjoys school, for the most part.  She's a great helper and a great big sister.  She is looking forward to having another baby and tells us that she knows just want to do because she's taken care of two babies before!  We are so thankful for you, E.

How old are you? six
What's your favorite color? red
What's your favorite food? ice cream
What do want to be when you grow up? a veterinarian
What makes you really happy? when I get to watch movies
When are you sad? when I don't get to do things like if I wanted to play one of my computer games and you said no
What's your favorite movie/TV show? Ice Age and Princess Movie Daddy got for me
What's your favorite thing in school? on Mondays and we read our Bible stories
What do you like to play? with babies and to cook
What's your favorite game? races outside
What are most excited about this year?  that we're going on vacation to the coast
What's something you want to do while you're six? get a phone
What is something you think will be hard about being six?  that I'm too big to swing between Daddy's legs

E and Tim at their birthday party. E is 6 and Tim is older than that.

Closing Ceremonies

We have enjoyed watching the Olympics for the last two weeks.  Because of our location, we've had 24-hour access to the youtube Olympic channel, watching live events as well as any that have already taken place.

Especially with the kids, it was nice to be able to switch between events and watch many different things.  The kids each had their favorite sport to watch or athletes they liked to see perform.

After watching the closing ceremony, we talked about what we enjoyed most.  Here are the kids' responses:

M-  I liked red. I liked diving. I want to go swimming.

J-  I liked horse riding, biking, field hockey, and swimming.  I liked that the horses didn't knock off the bar very much.  I like the bumps where they were riding their bikes.  I like that they played hockey in a field.  I liked all the fast swimming and when they started like this (he demonstrated the breast stroke).

E- (she had to write hers) I like to watch gymnastics.  I liked the high bar.  I liked to watch swimming and Michael Phelps (which she wrote with a "MF").  I like to watch diving.  I like to watch diving when two people do the same thing at one time.

That's our family review of the Olympics.

mom??? dad???

It's always a little confusing when the kids pretend one of them are the mom or dad.  Case in point, this happened in our house today:

E: Dad, look what I found in the river?
J: (while reading a book) ummm....Dad's not in here.
E: We're playing a game and you're the dad.
J: Oh. (looking at what she found in the river) Well, that's a nice thingy.
E: Dad, it's a baby.
J: Oh, nice baby.

Kev and I were just laughing in the other room.

J-boy's 4!

**Sorry this wasn't posted on May 28...pretend it was.

Today, Jboy turns 4. He's been counting down for the last 10 days, letting us know each morning how many days until his birthday.  Today, he keeps asking everyone to tell him happy birthday and to pray for him before meals because it's his birthday.  He came downstairs this morning to find an over the door basketball hoop from Daddy and Mommy and a play tool bench from Nana and Papaw.  Daddy had also found Jboy a small Maasai knife (which I'm not sure what he will do with?!?!).  He requested biscuits for breakfast and chicken fried chicken w/ gravy and rice for dinner.  Yesterday, we had house church with our team and celebrated with cake after lunch for J. Tonight, we will have pecan pie for dessert (again, his request).

handsome boy with beautiful blue eyes

I decided it would be fun to ask J some questions on this, his fourth birthday, and record his answers to look back at later.

How old are you? four
What's your favorite color? blue and green
What's your favorite food? pizza
What do you want to be when you grow up? Spiderman or super hero
What makes you really happy? eating pizza
When are you really sad? when someone hits me
What's your favorite movie/TV show? BOZ
What's your favorite thing in school? My kindergarten workbook
What do you like to play? I like to play with E and M. I like to play with blocks. I like to play the game Aggravation. I love playing Clifford on the computer.
What's your favorite card game? UNO, actually Skipbo

Some of J's stats/tricks/special skills:

• He's really athletically talented and enjoys playing soccer (football), baseball, and basketball.
• He's reading three letter words (and sometimes longer) with no problems.
• He has a mathematical mind and does well with addition and subtraction.
• J weighs 39.7 pounds and is 42 7/8 inches tall.  He's wearing size 4 in shirts and trousers and size 10/11 in shoes.

We love you so much J boy.  You are sensitive and compassionate.  You love kisses and hugs and cuddles.  We are so thankful you're part of our family.  You are a great brother and add lots of laughs to our lives.

she's two!

Our littlest is two. This is a first for us.  When the older ones have turned two, our littlest has been a newborn.  This time, our newborn is still in the womb and will be for a few more months (hopefully!).  So for now, and for the first time, our baby is two.

I thought I'd update you on her current tricks and skills!

• She's talking about anything and everything. She often repeats things and at times surprises us with a saying all her own. She's using four-five word sentences on a regular basis and also knows how to greet and respond in Swahili.  This morning, she had fallen in her room and I went and got her and brought her back to bed with me. Kevin came upstairs to check on her since he heard her fall.  Kev talked to her for a bit and then said, "Come here and and I'll put you in her bed. " Little bit responded with, "No, I'm laying here talking to Mommy."
• She's averaging two wet diapers a week.  She sleeps in a diaper but it's usually dry and she'll wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom if she needs to.  For the first time since E was born, we're going to be diaper free for a bit.
• She's sleeping in a bed with E and does really good.  Sometimes, naps take a bit longer for the girls to fall asleep but other than that she's doing great.
• She's running very fast and likes for you to watch her. She's also jumping and likes for you to watch her do this as well.  She likes to dance and to "move it, move it."

• Some of her favorite things are her baby, playing with her tea set, watching our chickens, coloring, singing (her own made up songs but I can usually understand Jesus), reading books, and helping Mommy or Daddy with anything.
• She's started joining the big kids in school and has been doing activities to learn her colors.  Each week, she usually learns at least part of their Bible verse and sometimes, all of it.
• Her current stats are: 25.8 pounds and 33 7/8" tall. She's wearing size 2T in clothes and size 7 in shoes.  She's grown almost 2" since December and her shoe size jumped from 5 to 7, kind of skipping size 6.  We're thinking she might be tall?!?!  She's long and lanky like her sister (and her parents)!
• For her birthday, we had our teammates over for cupcakes (strawberry with green and purple icing, her pick) and ice cream.

So there's our update on little, big M.  We're so thankful for her sweet, compassionate spirit.  She's a great playmate for E and J and provides plenty of laughs for us all.