Dirty children, different life

In New Hampshire, I was a "bathe-em-once-a-week" kind of mom. Spot clean the kids, bathe them if they're really messy or have an accident, but otherwise, a good thorough bath on Saturday and they're good to go.

NOT HERE!

This is a "bathe-em-at-least-once-a-day" type of situation.

Noah, well, he's a boy. Need I say more? I'm not even sure why I dress him in the morning! Josh's family loves the fact that Josh is getting pay-back for his childhood extraordinary messiness - but even they say that Noah has unfathomable talent in the realm of messy! So add the red clay dirt, the mosquito bites (it seems that two mosquitoes took up residence INSIDE his little tent - oops!), his propensity to sweat profusely, the scratches and bruises that come with exploring new territory, and Noah is a mess 96% of the time.

Ana is also busy exploring in the red clay and sweating up a storm so she gets the night-time bath. No complaint from her! She doesn't even mind taking her baths by flashlight!

And poor Gracie doesn't get her almond milk here, so she's spitting up regular milk and juice and smelling sour all day, not to mention the cloth diapering situation. (yes, you read right - I'm allowing my children to drink juice here! ANYTHING to keep them hydrated while we adapt and adjust! haha! Oh my standards are really slipping!)

We have entered a new life now. A smellier, dirtier life. Since I'm washing clothes by hand, an item of clothing that I might have tossed the wash a month ago, now gets put on one extra time before I buckle down and wash it.

This smellier, dirtier life feels much closer to the earth, less sterile, less separation from the environment. And as long as I put my children to bed clean, and sweep the floor once they go to bed, all is well with mommy's world.

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Family of Three!

We are in Liberia - the electricity goes in and out because the generator is having trouble keeping up these days! So hopefully it will stay on long enough to post and the internet connection will allow me this luxury! We were united with precious Gracie on Thanksgiving day - I will write more about this later. But, oh! is Gracie a joy! She is so beautiful, so joyfilled, and a bit mischievious. Her physical limitations do not permit her to accomplish much mischief, but we can tell that she is trying to push some limits already. If we were not in love with her already, she is irresitable and such a treasure and blessing from God. In our two days together, she has not cried once. She spends most of her days smiling, she loves to snuggle (good match for us!), and has the most contagious laugh! Life takes more effort for her - her cerebral palsy is moderate and every activity is a challenge and is clearly tiring for her. Meal times (which she loves) take a long time and much patience and d

Check out this progress!

A year ago, my friend Rachel http://josiecomehome.blogspot.com/ emailed a photo of her beautiful son standing on his own... I've since dreamed of having a photo to post of Gracie doing the same thing. It was always one of those wild-don't-think-it'll-ever-happen kind of dreams, a romantic, fairy tale type of dream. But this week, Gracie made another leap in development and muscle tone. It started when I leaned her up against the wall and planted her feet a shoulder-width apart. For the first time, she didn't lunge for the safety of my arms or hands, but rather, she allowed herself to stand steadily on her own two feet and she kept her center of gravity centered over her feet instead of wildly in front of her or to one side or the other. She even quickly figured out that she couldn't lurch around in excitement while standing on her own two feet with no support but a wall behind her back, but rather had to express her excitement over this new development with a gentl

Amazing girls!

Gracie and Ana have taken to walking around the church together - Ana pushes Gracie's gait trainer as Gracie walks along. Between the two of them, they make a pretty efficient team (except for the steering part!). They love it and could do it for hours! Gracie has made amazing strides (no pun intended) in standing up - we'll get some video up soon of her standing, supporting herself ONLY with her right hand (her otherwise useless hand) - it's amazing! We didn't dream that we'd see her looking this strong and steady. Plus, now she's smiling and her little heart isn't pounding out of her chest with stress at the thought of standing up without human contact - God is SO good! Gracie went to music camp this summer at the Y which was somewhat fun for her, but definitely good to have her around other kids.

Rattins living Coram Deo

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