Rattins living Coram Deo

It's been so interesting for us, as parents, to watch various stages of adjustment in our children. The baby doesn't care where he is. If he can nurse and play, he adjusts without any problems. He sleeps eventually and just shows his insecurity during change by being clingy and not sleeping through the night yet again. ('sigh!') Grace, 7 and 1/2, is fairly mature socially and understands the changes and transitions. Since she is nonverbal, we don't know what is going on inside her often, BUT she needs more hugs, snuggles, and kisses, more daddy rough housing play time, and is more picky with the textures that she can or cannot chew and swallow efficiently. She has been quiet, tired, and not as social with strangers as she usually is. She has started throwing major tantrums again when she sees me wear Noah on my back as she wants to be on my back too. She had grown out of that lately but now that back-riding-jealousy is back in full force. She seems to be taki...

Our trip to Uganda could NOT have gone smoother - we made our connection; our baggage cost a lot, but we thought it would; the BA staff was extremely helpful with our complicated travel situation and we had extra seats to spread out and sleep! Praise God! On arrival to Uganda, we made it down the stairs from the plane onto the tarmac. Gracie managed to stay in an adult folding wheelchair that the airport had until we could get her fold-up chair off the baggage belt (they don't provide it right at the aircraft doorway!). We made it through passport control without problems. Ana was about at the end of her rope with fatigue so she could no longer handle her little rolling suitcase and then just went wild, running around in circles! Josh rounded up some porters to help gather our many bins off the belts... 7 items were missing. The baby's carseat came through but the girls' didn't. I praise God that the most important carseat made in on the first day! We spent an hou...

We have excellent internet here in Kampala at the guesthouse, so we're taking advantage of it while we have it!

Well, we're here! I'm writing some reflections on the patio at Adonai House in Kampala, Uganda on about 4 hours of sleep spread thinly over the last TWO nights and days... talk about tiredness and jet-lag! The children are reacting to jet-lag with hyperactivity and a general crazy fast-paced delirium. Mom and Dad are bumps on a log feeling tortured by the children. Our trip to Uganda could not have gone smoother. The attendants and ticket agents with British Airways were more than accomodating to us with our insane amount of luggage and unique travel needs. We ended up on less than full flights which meant that we got extra seats!! Those of you who have traveled with a lap infant (or any aged child) know that an extra seat or two is invaluable for sleep and general peacefulness. Praise God for extra seats on both flights! We made our connection in Heathrow without any difficulty despite having to go through security again (surprise!) and take how many elevators within the s...

Noah got tired of helping me pack for Uganda... so a bin became his napping place!

After all these years of preparing, we leave for Uganda in 10 short days! Our to-do list is long and some challenges seem... well, challenging! For instance, (and I welcome comments and suggestions!): - how to fit Gracie's wheelchair and KidWalk into a bin/box so that no parts are lost or damaged in transit. - what to take for Noah since our pack n' play will arrive a month AFTER we do. He's a crazy sleeper and I might need somewhere to put him to nap safely during the day so I can get things done - a PeaPod Plus? So many unknowns and so many exciting things! :)