and the posts begin!

So first, some updates and then, maybe some more detailed posts:

Sitting in our driveway, the pool is behind that wall, borrowed book (thank you Bradys), borrowed bumbo (thank you MacMillins) but the dog, boy and baby are ours :)

Cali is now four months old. Her gorgeous clear blue eyes are absolutely penetrating. She discovered her feet about three days ago and has been fairly entertained ever since. She is happy and mellow. She rolls over all the time. She loves to suck on her bottom lip. Ever since the birth of my niece Avery Parker I have wanted a little girl with a little junk in the trunk…while Cali can not quite rival Parker’s curvaceous bum, baby got back and I am thrilled about that!

okay, not her most flattering picture, but we did take it yesterday and i just can't get enough of those cheeks!

I took her to the clinic to get her 4-month vaccinations – that was an experience. Zambia has universal health care but many businesses, including ours, pay for membership to a private clinic so we do have a little more of a “western” experience but not quite. Here babies are fully vaccinated by 2 months old, so Cali is behind for their schedule. Communicating the difference in schedules to the Zambian clinician was…exciting. Also, several of the required vaccines in the US are not required here so you go and purchase them at a pharmacy and bring them to the doctor if you want them. They were of course out of the vaccines I needed so I might just catch her up when I am home in the US at Christmas.

Thomas has a friend at school…finally! Her name is Taquissa (I have no idea if I am spelling that correctly). He seems to have turned a corner and with the exception of today, of course, has been back to his “pre-pregnancy” pleasant self. He has had a pretty rough transition since about this time last year but the last two months have been…really hard. It is so nice to see him enjoying himself in a way that we also can enjoy ourselves. He is even rocking the cowboy boots again. Yesterday when he got ready he put on this little plastic Sherriff’s badge that Ruby and Maeve gave him. When I dropped him off at school I saw him standing with his hands on his hips surrounded by about five other kids (he is at least a head taller than everyone else). I could just hear his voice in my mind “yeah, I am a cowboy sheriff and a knight, cause knights are cowboys too.” I am sure something to that effect was communicated. I want to thank all of you who have kept us in your prayers especially regarding Thomas. I know they have been answered and we are so grateful!

This face in many ways encapsulates what we had been dealing with :)

I am taking a break from Jane Austen – maybe not the best choice for reading when adjusting to a new and third world country. However, I have found some of the parallels between the life of her characters and the upper class in Zambia to be very interesting. Both have the means to employ servants and spend the majority of their time procuring fine clothes and entertainment. Of course many of the upper class in Zambia do work and have an education and are not just “landed gentry” but still, I always find it interesting to compare fiction and real life.

I am now reading The Screwtape Letters. I am so very happy to have the Bradys as friends for many reasons, but the fact that they loaned me a paper book endears them to me even more! And, yes, I am embarrassed by the fact that I have not read it until now – fascinating! Also, much more conducive to introspection and self-improvement…both of which I am in need of and are more likely to help me adjust.

Jillian Michaels and I had a brief fling the last two weeks or so, but honestly working out to her videos at 5 AM with water bottles as hand weights (which my “staff” drank mid-week – so sad) is depressing. Then there are my spectators: Thomas and Fry, supplying commentary and stealing my “workout mat” (a baby sheet folded in 4) it has been too much and I have been sedentary since Tuesday. I think I will remain so until our jogging stroller arrives.

Seth has several big business trips coming up including Durban, South Africa and Bejing, China. I am excited for him but not looking forward to the separation. He has been extremely busy but is enjoying his work.