No Parasites!!!

We are happy to report that we have the internet, so you all can finally read about our trip and that Tate is parasite free!!! We took him to the doctor the first week we were home and he checked out fine. Yippeeee! I was gearing up and bracing myself for some awful diapers, but was pleasantly surprised by them in Ethiopia (I know that is a strange thing to say, but I was) and was very relieved to not have to deal with parasites, or ring worm, or scabies, or lice, or any number of things lots of adopted babies have.

I think you just get what you don't expect. All the nannies said Mamush slept REALLY well and laughed when I asked if he cried when they put him to bed, so we were expecting we'd still get to sleep. Upon returning home, though, Mamush decided he just wanted to stay awake all the time and cry so we'd hold him, which we didn't mind in theory, but by the 8th time in one night we were getting a bit tired of it. He reverted back to newborn schedule, wanting to be fed every couple of hours, so we had a rough week and a half. But, for the last three nights he's just been waking up once or twice!! It's amazing how great 6 hours can feel!

Being a Father

Imagine this:

You are in Ethiopia and you've had your son for less than a day, and you think he might have a fever and be acting weird (but you don't really know because you've just met him), and the other parents at the embassy say that it looked like a large spit-up that got all over you, not throw-up; but then he hasn't eaten since the morning and you're back in the room at the guest house trying to get him to take a bottle but he's completely limp and not eating very much. So you try some of the mush instead. No dice. He starts to spit up--another big one, so you dash for the bathroom.

And standing over the sink, looking at your son in the mirror, you see the continuing flow of spit-up running over your arm into the sink change color and consistency. Yellow. Smooth. It's bile. And then, with his whole body completely limp, and his head resting awkwardly on your arm, he looks in your eyes and your son starts dry-heaving.

And adding to the surreal quality of the situation, he's not crying. He hasn't all day.

You think, "We need a doctor."

And then you think, "We're in Africa."

Staring helplessly into the mirror you call to your wife and ask her to get some paper towel or toilet paper. She helpfully points out that there is toilet paper right next to you as she comes in and tears some off for you.

And you're thinking, "I can't handle this!" so you hand him to your wife and, in order to keep from breaking down, you go to the kitchen sink and start washing the clothes your wife was just working on. A few minutes later you find her in the bedroom taking his temperature, and as you walk up you see it register 101.4.

You don't need your wife to tell you that is really high, but she does anyway. You look at your son, and you can see the sweat all over his head. His eyes are glazed over. You wonder whether he will live.

And how long you are going to be in Ethiopia with him in the hospital? And will your insurance cover the costs?

Convinced you need a doctor, your wife confirms it by asking if you had heard that one of the other adoptive fathers was a doctor. Yes you had. You're miles ahead of her.

As you pray for your son and for strength, you attempt to prepare yourself to go ask for help. Chances are slim that you can announce this to your wife without sobbing, and so you delay, practicing the words in your head. You know full well that the first person who Speke to you outside of the room is not going to be prepared for a complete breakdown from you, but you doubt it can be helped. So you figure you better communicate in as few words as possible. You consider trying to say the words, "My son needs help." before you become completely unintelligible. Frankly, you probably won't make it past "My son..."

Your wife announces that she's going to go ask somebody how much baby Advil to give him since they don't put dosage amounts for under 2 years old. As she leaves you think, "It's baby Advil. It's for babies! They don't tell you how much to use?!"

When your wife returns she tells you that his temperature is actually only 99 according to a "better" thermometer. She gives him some Advil, and you lie down on the couch with your son sweating on your chest. You put a damp towel on his head and you pray.

Half an hour later he wakes up and he's fine. He drinks some water. He drinks some milk. He keeps them down.

Congratulations. Your eight month old has survived a low-grade fever.

As you thank God for his answer to your prayers, you realize what it means to be a father. You thank God for your son, and you give him back to God.

Baby Nursery

We have a baby corner dedicated in our apartment, and I think it's pretty cute. I found a great deal on a crib at a garage sale and painted a wood dresser I found by our dumpster. Tate is set with stuffed animals. We mailed him a baby giraffe, in his nursery are 3 teddy bears, one owl, and one highland cow with a rather aggressive moo.


This is one of the quilts my Mom made for our new son. It's quite awesome and has embroidered African animals all over it.

Tie Dye and Hemp

I've had quite a lot of fun the last few weeks getting things ready for Tate to come home. My favorites have been the hemp diapers and tie-dye onsies, although I'm pretty proud of my diaper bag too. Mom and I made 20 diapers out of hemp/cotton fleece one weekend. Joseph even got in on the fun and sewed together the soakers. Here is the end result.



Last Sunday Lizzie, Hannah, Dani, and Kris came over to have a tie-dye party. We've been looking forward to an excuse to do this for years and are so happy to have finally done it. We dyed socks, a crib sheet, and about 30 onsies! We also dyed our front steps a bit, but I think it's a nice touch :-) Thank you Sebra for the awesome dye! We made all these colors from red, blue, and yellow. Here are some of my favorites.



Lizzie did this perfect bulls-eye one. She's definitely invited to all my tie-dye parties.


And for a 4th of July outfit we have this one:

This is the diaper bag I made. It's from the leftover fabric that Anna used for my baby carrier and is lined with purple linen, which makes me smile. I even put a zipper and pockets in it! I'm pretty proud of myself whenever I have a successful sewing project because I really don't know how to sew. Every project is purely experimental - ask my mom, she'll tell you.