Our Little Cowboy (and a cat's worst nightmare)

Tyson took Samuel out to practice riding last Friday afternoon.  A friend from his work has a horse and has invited us out to learn more.  This time it was just Daddy and Samuel.  From the looks of things, he had a great time.  

Tyson knew I would say something when I saw this video of Samuel riding with no one holding on to him, and of course that was the first thing that came out of my mouth.  What?!?!   After the initial shock, I was pretty proud of my boy for his bravery and balance. :)

Again, my initial response to this video was, "Did you wash his hands afterward?"  I need to chill!  The kid has no fear, and that cat was a very good sport (thank goodness!).  Note Tyson encouraging SJ to get the cat!

Look, Dad!  

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY to Our Samuel {24 Months with 25 Pictures}

4 Days old

 One Month

Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

Five Months

 Six Months

 Seven Months

 Eight Months

 Nine Months

 

Ten Months

Eleven Months

Twelve Months

Thirteen Months

Fourteen Months

Fifteen Months

Sixteen Months

Seventeen Months

Eighteen Months

Nineteen Months

Twenty Months

Twenty One Months

Twenty Two Months

              

Twenty Three Months

2 YEARS OLD!!!!

We love you, little boy!

Where My Help Comes From

As I was driving down the road earlier, this old hymn came on the radio.  It really hit me in the heart, so I came home and found it on youtube and thought I'd share.

There's a line in the song that says, "Here I raise my Ebenezer."
I  wondered what "my Ebenezer" meant and found that it's from 1 Samuel 7:12 "Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen.  He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the Lord helped us."  


Thank you, Lord for that reminder today.  I needed it!!

Visit to a Village

Julie, the leader of the preschool where we were in Mozambique, invited Samuel and I to join her one afternoon to go visit some of her students in their homes in one of the villages nearby.   There are around 47 different villages surrounding the preschool, clinic, and compound where we stayed.  We gladly accepted her invitation and went along.  Samuel noticed the difference and was a little reserved for the first...two minutes!!  After that, it was just another day of fun and exploration for the little guy.   The homes were mainly made of mud with thatched roofs, and the people spend most of their time outside.  We first visited a sweet little girl and her mom.   They kindly offerred Samuel a little stuffed animal.  It was the only thing that resembled a toy anywhere around.  Of course he wanted to take it with him, but I kindly thanked them but wouldn't keep it.  I quickly figured out also, that once we visited the child's home they then wanted to come with us to the next house.  Therefore, by the time we were leaving we had an entourage of 10 kids with us!  So fun!  (See the last photo)

At the second home we came to, these two little boys were playing on the reed mat with a broken cell phone which Samuel promptly bent down and helped himself to.   

 Then comes along the helpful little girl who's tagging along from the first house to intervene and take care of the situation.   All the little girls wanted to hold Samuel and take care of him.   They gave it their best, but it was like trying to herd a little cat!  They're all so used to care taking from such a young age.  It was very common to see girls as young as eight years old carrying a baby on their backs.

I found out later this plant that he is pulling on and trying to climb through will blind you if a piece breaks off and gets in your eye.  Thank you Jesus for your mercy!  It was planted all the way around this family's home like a fence.  Come to find out it's an attempt to protect their property from trespassers.  If you look closely there are chickens on the other side pecking around.  He was trying to get to them.  I think they had already run from him once.  

Come back Samuel!  Get away from the poisonous plant, please.  

About that time, I was ready for a couple of moments of sanity, so I packed him back up on my back.  These precious little girls were having so much fun.  They love posing for the camera. 

More fun posing.

There was no shortage of "help" with Samuel.

Before we left the second home, Julie told me to wait a second because the family mentioned something about a chicken.  Sure enough a few minutes later the father emerged with one of their live chickens to give us as a gift!  This was a huge honor b/c food is scarce and they so badly wanted to show their appreciation to Julie for all that she does for their children through the preschool.  They would not take no for an answer, so off we went with our live chicken.  Do you see the little girl holding it in her left hand by it's feet?

On to the next home with the chicken in tow.  That poor chicken was just a squawking and carrying on. It got swung around a few times then cradled like a baby doll once too.

I cannot remember the little girl's name who has hold of the chicken.  It's starts with an M, but I just can't think of it.  She was so funny.  She took full responsibility for the chicken and wouldn't let any of the other kids help her.  She was really proud.

Here are all of the children that ended up with us by the end of our journey.  They were walking us down to the main road where we would turn and walk back to the compound.  I was taking the picture and Samuel was on my back.  That's Julie with the children.   They love her so much and she adores them.  Our plan to visit a couple of kids turned into an entire afternoon in the village visiting multiple families and walking along with lots of precious souls.  It was a privilege and an honor.  My heart was full of joy and gratitude as we walked back home.  

One of the Longest Days of My Life!!

This past Friday (and Saturday) have to go down in my history book as one of the longest day(s) of my life thus far.  I knew it was one for the memory books as it was happening figuring it would all pass soon enough to look back and laugh at (sort of).   I'm not quite to the laughing stage yet... Let me break it down in timeline form:

Preface:  Samuel and I spent a wonderful 9 days with my family in Texas.  We did make one trip to a pediatric clinic over an infected thumb nail cuticle (nice!) and a cold complete with fever.  It didn't stop him or me from having a great time though.

Here we are saying our goodbyes.  Bittersweet.  Going to miss my parents but excited to get home to Tyson/Daddy.  Right?

Here goes...

10:30am  - Fun car ride to the airport with Poppa

11:30 - eat lunch at the airport.  Notice Samuel won't touch anything.  Not even tortilla with cheese.

12:00 - run into great friends boarding the plane.  We all sit together and I brag on what a great traveler Samuel is.

12:30 - Take off and notice Samuel uncharacteristically cranky and doesn't seem to feel well (besides the cold).   Keep chatting with friends and trying to make the best of it.

Here's where the fun drama begins!!!

1:15 (in flight) - Try to offer Samuel another snack and he THROWS UP all over me and himself.  Thank you Lord it didn't get on my friends!   I clamor for wipes, use a blanket, and the flight attendants bring us a trash bag and tons of paper towels.  I'm clompletely covered in kid vomit and the smell is overwhelming.  I have extra clothes for S but not for me.   Get Samuel changed while in my lap and try to recover.

1:45 - Throws up again!  This time I had the trash bag ready, but still more gets on me.  Completely surreal!  At this point my friend digs a clean blouse out of her carry on and I head to bathroom to change shirts.  Now I have a a clean shirt with vomit all over my pants.  Better than nothing!

2:15-  Pukes one more time!  Another save with the trash bag.  I'm overwhelmed!!!

2:30 Plane lands.  I apologize profusely and thank my friends for all the help.  We say our goodbyes.  They're at their destination.  Samuel and I have an hour to change planes.  Did I mention I have no extra clothes, ran out of wet wipes, and my cell phone has one bar ( I left the charger at home).  I start texting my husband in faith that the phone will stay alive, buy some sprite, water, and wet wipes.  Go to family restroom, change a diareah diaper, and try to get the vomit out of my pants.

Now we're on eastern time and it's 3:45 - Find a little corner to park the stroller, set up Elmo on the laptop, and give the poor little guy some sprite and water through a medicine dropper.  He's completely pitiful at this point.  Get my composure (I want to burst into tears) and board the next plane.

5:00 - Board the plane.  Let the flight attendant and pilot know my kid is sick and have a row to myself.  Hold Samuel as still as possible and have the trash bag ready.  He sleeps but is burning up with fever (102.6).

*Note: I think the pilot was rushing the flight.  We took off at a crazy speed and never slowed down.  Went straight through some storm clouds to land.  Crazy turbulents! and we arrived 15 minutes early!

5:50 Samuel throws up all the sprite and water I've given him and is listless.  I'm panicked.  Plane lands.  Sweet family rushes to my aid and helps me carry everything.  I'm texting Tyson who's been in touch w/ our doctor.

6:20 Get in the car with T.  Samuel perks up a bit when he sees Daddy.  I smell like throw up and cry on the phone with my mom.  Our pediatrician has said to take Samuel home and she'll call us at 8:00pm.  Love her!!!  We get the sweet boy home and put him in front of a video with towels all around while we unload the car.  He throws up again at 7:45.

8:00 Dr. M calls to get the scoop.  Tells us to go to the ER after I tell her there's been no wet diaper in hours, etc.  Dehydration!   Tyson's gone to the store to get Pedialyte and crackers.

8:15 T gets back and we load up for the ER.

9:00 check in at the ER.  S has a fever of 102 and is dehydrated.

9:25 They give him medicine for nausea

10:00ish He gets blood drawn and IV fluids.

(I'm loosing track of time at this point...)

10:30 I'm feeling a little queasy.. Yes, you read that right!

11:30 I run for the restroom in the pediatric ER.  It's my turn!

2:30 am  Saturday - Blood tests came back normal.  IV fluids are in.  Another dose of anti-nausea medicine given.  It's official, I now have the stomach virus and we're on our way home.

2:45 - I'm now vomitting into the puke pan given to us at the hospital and we're turning into our driveway.  I'm having to say, "Mommy's fine" in a sweet voice between gags to let a worried Samuel know that I"m okay.

3:00am - tuck Samuel in.  Tyson sleeps on the sofa, and I proceed to run for the toilet every 30 minutes for the rest of the night.

10:00 am - We're all up.  Samuel looks great, and I'm out of it.  Tyson takes care of us both and is hoping for the best.

Another side note - My poor parents and Tyson have all gotten the evil bug too.  So sorry we left you with such a parting gift.

That 36 hour adventure was definitely one for the books!  We're all on the road to recovery and I guess I'm almost ready to LOL!  Gotta love the adventures of motherhood.