A few of my fav. S. African things

 

Things I will miss when I return to the U.S. of A. (per request by Carey)

1, The sound of my babies' cries in the morning--I know that's an odd thing to miss--but I can tell each baby by their cry
2. Each and every one of my twelve babies--and those that have already been adopted
3. Big moments--ie first steps, smiles, solid foods, etc
4. Their laughter
5. My boy that I became especially fond of--Mr Whiney Pants--Beth pointed out I tend to attach to the whiney ones (I love an especially ornery baby last time as well)
6. Beth--my best friend
7. the sight of Dave holding a baby
8. the unique art work here
9. the warmth and sunshine of a S. African summer
10. the Aunties/Uncles I have come to love so dearly

A few of my favorite things

 

things in my dreams recently:

Foods I am looking forward to on my return—hint hint MOM—it was would be SO amazing if you had numbers 1-7 in the house for me even though you’re leaving for camping the next day ☺ (cause you’re just awesome like that!) :
1. Fruity Pebbles with regular tasting milk
2. grill cheese & tomato soup
3. chips
4. Dr Pepper
5. pancakes & syrup
6. eggs
7. cheese grits
8. BBQ from Log Cabin—and hush puppies too—OH—and a cherry lemon sundrop! OMGness!
9. Nutty Buddy bars
10. sushi!!!!!!!

Things Leigh should remember when she gets back in the U.S. of A.

1. if you pick a baby up by the arm (even if done correctly by grabbing them at the socket of their shoulder, which won’t pull the shoulder out or hurt them), people will think you are a bad person and you are hurting the child—don’t do it.
2. you are not allowed call down other people’s children in the supermarket—even though you had 12 that were not quite yours for 2 ½ months.
3. in turn you are not allowed to “smack them like a ho,” them being the mothers that are allowing their children to do whatever they want in the supermarket, even though it would probably help them greatly.
4. you should add those silly little words back into your sentences that make it easier to converse. They are often called determiners (a, an, and the), and common nouns. Though Aunties/Uncles understand you better without them, you are now going back to a mostly English speaking society.
5. just because they do it that way at Door of Hope baby house, doesn’t mean it’s the only way—and you don’t have kids of your own yet—so people don’t really respect your opinion on baby raising anyway—just nod and smile, nod and smile
6. do not eat pasta for a very long time as it has made up most of your diet while here. Convince people you need comfort food and they should cook it for you (pssst—I want oatmeal cookies, Chinese food, lots of veggies (not frozen), and pancakes, and waffles, obviously not in the same meal)
7. you love S. African coffee with chicory in it—make sure Beth brings some with her on her trip home, or seek out some in the States, though you shouldn’t hold your breath about it having the same level of amazingness.
8. Dave likes brown babies—figure out how you can get one ☺
9. Remember it’s possible to work long, 11 hr days, and still want to see the people the next week—especially if you can convince them to speak in cute gibberish, not drool or get sick on you, and never have to change their nappies
10. If God can do amazing things like get rid of HIV in small babies, he can change your life in dramatic, awe-inspiring ways, and even know the exact job that would bring you the desires of your heart—be patient—it may take longer than 3 months.

An Appeal to your beautiful souls:

I only have two more weeks here at Door of Hope (orphanage for abandoned babies), Dave leaves today, and what an adventure we have been able to experience. But as the two weeks comes to a close, so may one of the baby houses here. There are two baby houses (and also a toddler house), the one where I am, and baby house two. Baby house two is the most recent, and dearly needed, addition to Door of Hope. Since I have been here, even with this new additional house, we have turned away almost a dozen babies because we are full and cannot handle more with the resources we currently have. Door of Hope (DOH) has less than two months of running costs left in their accounts. As the economy here has turned to the excitement of the 2010 World Cup, so people’s minds and pockets have turned away from the financial state of DOH and houses like ours. Cutbacks have been announced to the local staff here—and positions that are quite needed, may cease to be. The Aunties and Uncles here have hit their knees in prayer for the cause of these little ones, we ask that you do the same. My prayer is that God will miraculously bless DOH in a way that gives all the glory to Him. Please pray this along with me. If you would like to donate to Door of Hope, please go to their website, holeinthewall.org.za, or contact me or Beth Maennle, and we will be glad to put you in touch with the right people. Thank you for you time and your diligent prayers. God Bless you.

Swim time!

The big 5---4 boys and a girl--they get everywhere and into all sorts of trouble, but they sure love the water!

 

ilias--(pronounced Elias)

My boy--he had to go to another home because we are full--but when they came to pick him up they were so in love with him. I know he will be well taken care of there--but i still miss that little old man face, even if i only got to hold him for such a short time.

 

hospital run

i took my first hospital run the other day. A boy in our special needs area stopped breathing, and Beth and I had to rush him to the hospital. this was my journal entry I wrote throughout the day as I sat by him in the ER:

My hand are shaking--having a hard time telling the difference between his heart beat and breaths--i need to focus--i ride in the back seat with a semi-conscious baby in my arms--i shake him often--violently--his breaths are shallow and far between--hazards flashing--car flying--getting nauseous is not an option. He stops breathing --i flip him over and beat him hard on his back--a small gasp--back over and shake him often when his eyes start to glass over. "Come on buddy--stay with me" We fly into the Er and Beth jumps out--he's not breathing again--she grabs him and runs into the hospital...

A few hours later I sit alone--same emergency room--he's breathing with oxygen now--the cries often slacken to a dull lambs bleat--he's hungry & isn't allowed to eat--being pricked with needles once again, he wails. "Just get it in this time" I want to yell! The drip line has come out & they've tried to put it back two different spots in his head and another in his tiny arm. I've only seen a couple official doctors since we arrived-mostly interns for the last while--once- while pricking him again for more tests--precious red drops spilled while they fumbled with the vials--laughing that they were glad their superiors weren't there at that moment--no gloves on--he screams on. A new shift surrounds him--STILL trying to get his drip line in--two different people have tried so far--supposedly the professionals--i want to cry with him--the nurses are abusing the last shift in mixed languages--they try again--he cries so hard he goes silent--it doesn't take...the boy is gonna look like a pincushion soon--almost 7 months and just a small thing--tears stream down my soul as his bleating rises with each pierce. "If you're squeamish you can wait outside," they say. I'm not leaving him. "I'm fine." After at least half a dozen tries...at last. Night shift comes and i'm relieved of my duty. Possible surgery for him the next day and probably more needles. I leave exhausted--I don't know how people do this day after day.

Lucy

 

oh the babies we love

It is a unique experience—falling in love with a child. Especially when you know that child will never be yours, and it will leave you at any moment. Seeing Dave cuddle is little girl this morning, seeing his face as he takes in her days old hands and feet, her curly hair, her perfect heart-shaped face, and knowing that he will never see her again, it’s like nothing I’ve experienced before. She is going back into the system because her family is still involved, though whether she’ll ever see them again, and whether that’s the best thing for her….it’s out of Door of Hope’s, and our, hands.

You think you would get tired of being around babies all day, that you couldn’t possibly want to go up and see them on your day off—but you do. I mean, being with 12 babies for 11 hrs a day is exhausting, and i do get TIRED, oh so very tired, but I still want to wake back up and see them the next day (though not quite so early if it’s my day off).

My daily grind when working goes a little something like this:
1) 7:00 am--get the bathroom ready for all the bathing (towels in place for everyone, enough wash clothes, lotion/oil for skin/hair ready, make sure there are wipes)
2) pick out clothes (I admit, I really like this part, and I take longer than most cause I want to pick out the cutest outfit for them to wear that day—most Aunties don’t even care if the babies are wearing matching, much less the right sex, outfits)
3) start bathing the one who’s crying (though leave them if it’s one of the crawlers as they’ll just crawl over all the small babies while we’re bathing the others)
4) once bathing is over (usually takes a little over an hour to bath & clothes 12 babies),
start the feeding process, again with the ones who are crying or youngest, we don’t feed the oldest till last as it is more likely they’ll take a morning nap that way
5) after the feeding process is over, usually takes about an hour and a half or so, play with the babies until 10:00 am, then send them off to bed for nap time (anywhere between 10 – 12)
6) repeat feeding process adding baby food for lunch and dinner with the older 7.
7) play, sing, read, dance, sometimes swim (with the oldest), and generally intereact with babies until 4:00. As well as constantly changing poopy & wet diapers, wiping up massive puddles of spit-up, and trying to keep the bigger ones from hurting the smaller ones.
8)4-5:30 repeat feeding process.
9) 6:00—end of work day. try and muster the courage to do something for dinner other than cereal or McDonalds.

I can’t wait to see his little face. He may be here today or tomorrow, but my Ilias (I’m pretty sure that’s what I’m gonna call him), I already love him. From the moment I knew I was getting to name a baby, an honor I never thought would be bestowed on here, being here such a short time, I was excited for his arrival. I may not get to see him too often as he might be at the other house, but I will go there as much as possible to see that little face. I cannot imagine that I will feel any differently about my own children. I’ve been told it is greater, the intensity, but if you could see how Beth and Stephanie (the baby care manager here) act towards these children, you wouldn’t say that. These ARE their children, and they love them so much the more because they know they will have to let them go, for better or for worse, in the near future. They are only ours but for a short while, so we love them, with all our hearts, while we can.

Shark diving day

 

For Landon--thought you would enjoy this

This is how our shark diving boat go into/out of the water :) Nothing runs like a deer eh?

 

Drakensburg Mtns pics

 

spaceless

When you have about 6 x 2 of walking space to share with your husband—bed, dresser, and closet taking up the rest—you learn what you’ve been overlooking at home. Leaving clothes on the floor becomes very irritating. Tidiness seems ABSOLETLY essential (to the female obviously). At home, he had his side of the bed and you had yours. What he did with his side was basically up to him. The occasional stacks of clothes you could turn a blind eye to—the unwashed dishes—there was space for them—the random screws, nails, coins, etc laying in small piles all around the house—no problem. But when there IS no space, conversations about these former insignificant things take place pretty often. They usually go something like this:
1)Do you need these screws?
I might.
2)Are you done with that book—can it get put away-aka can YOU put it in it’s place?
Sure (aka—go ahead!).
3)Are these clothes dirty?
That’s why they’re on the floor.
—I attempt to put them in the dirty clothes bag—
Wait—they’re not washable dirty—they’ve just been worn before!
4) Do these live here?
Why not?
Because there’s no room for it here—why can’t they go with the rest of your clothes?
Because they’re there.

Yes—living with your spouse in a one-room location for two months sure can get interesting…let’s just hope he survives ☺

lowering my standards of hygiene

When I know that the only people to impress while working are babies and the occasional person dropping off donations, I rarely bother with the formality of make-up, mirrors, or matching (the Aunties already think I’m weird for eating peanut butter on my apples as well as pb & banana sandwiches). The only reason I change my shirt daily is because I really do get tired of smelling like baby vomit (fresh vomit is bad enough, I don’t need day-old vomit). I wear the same shorts three days in a row (they’re not as close to my nose and therefore don’t warrant the smell change). I stop washing my hair but for my day off, or if I happen to be going out that night (not to the grocery shop of course—even though it’s in the mall—that’s too much trouble for not enough time). These are the things I lay out to get ready in the morning: yesterdays shorts, new shirt, flip flops, hair tie, lotion (it’s incredibly dry here even though it’s the rainy season), vitamins (trying not to get sick and therefore get all the babies sick), water bottle, watch (have to write down everything about the babies—when they ate, what, how much—when they peed/pooped), and room key (though I lost that today, so guess that’s not on the list anymore—I’m pretty sure the chair in the baby room ate it), and my current book (I’ve read 3 in the 2 weeks I’ve been here and on my 4th—I get to read on my coffee and lunch breaks—and my days off when there’s really not all that much else to do, since I can’t drive here). It takes me about 10 minutes to get ready cause all I do is dress, pull my hair up in a ponytail, and brush my teeth. I have become ADDICTED to the instant coffee here. When I go up for breakfast the first thing I do is put the kettle on to boil. All the coffee here is mixed with chicory, and I LOVE it! I drink maybe 1 cup a day at home and rarely finish them—I drink at least 3 here down to the last drop!
I wake every morning about 5:30, cause that’s when the sun comes up. I can usually fall back asleep for the next 50 minutes before my alarm goes off at 6:20 to get up and get ready for work. I am off today and still woke up early, guess it’s a good thing I go to sleep before 10 pm! Anyway—I’m famished and need to get up and go get some food (and the yummy coffee of course!). Then Maybe I’ll snuggle back in bed and watch the rest of the 1st Harry Potter movie I started last night ☺. Love and miss you all!

Overall Sunday Best!

 

Alive and Well--from the rainy season

A week and a half we’ve been here now, and I know all my babies’ names by heart. I can tell you who needs to eat later and who likes her bottle very hot (very picky of her if I do say so myself ☺). I know who always needs more attention, and who plays well with others or alone. I know the boy who can’t be let out of your sight for one minute or he’ll be crawling all over the little ones, stealing their toys and pulling their hair. I have worked 4 ½ eleven-hour days this week, and I’m TIRED, but today seems to be flying by. Everyone but my problem sleeper boy took a nap this morning (poor boy—singing, cuddling, rocking—nothing seems to work and he’s so mad he can’t stand it!), a miracle of large proportions. I love them—each and every little face! We got a new set of twins in last week—they were only 4 lbs each and already one month old. I never thought I would hold babys that small, much less feed them, but now it seems to come naturally and I barely think about them being too breakable to touch. Honestly if you could see the way the aunties (and now I’m doing it too) pick these babies up, you would think their arms would come out of their sockets—but no—their just fine! The durability of children amazes me every day! Just today I heard someone saying one of our little ones was 18 months old, and the doctors said she wouldn’t live past a year! Steph (the baby care manager) said, “He doesn’t know the God we serve!” AMEN!

Onto a little about us: we are getting to know our way around the place, or at least Dave is. As the Eddy females last of direction never ceases to amaze me, I can’t seem to figure out anything but how to get to the mall (you laugh, but it’s only 3 turns away and that’s where we shop for groceries too)! Another volunteer is leaving today, which leaves just three of us here at the baby house. I can’t imagine what it would be like being the only one! We get together quite frequently on our days off. They recommend you get off base on your day off as much as possible, otherwise you burn out quickly. I could see it for sure—as much as you love the babies you need time without them to recoup! Dave is working at the toddler house today—fixing something I think, not really sure. The Aunties are all quite taken with him as he’s constantly working and fixing things for them—they are always asking me, “Do you know where Uncle Dave is,” so he can fix something. We haven’t done anything too extraordinary yet, other than getting locked in the game park (yes the one I posted pics of on FB), but it was fine ☺. We both got rather burnt that day though, I’m still recovering, hoping it goes quick so I can get back into the patchy sun. It rains daily here (it IS the rainy season), but then the sun will come out brilliantly and hot (it’s 72 at the moment). We are hoping to take a weekend trip soon when we’re both off (I get every other weekend—and working 3 days on, 1 day off). Anyway—that’s all for now—it’s long enough—sorry about that! Don’t forget to get online at 1:00 pm on Sunday to chat or skype! We miss you all!

The FUN has ARRIVED!

Hey all! Well, we’re here! We arrived about 5 on Saturday and were greeted by Beth and little baby girl G (I’m not supposed to post the names, sorry, I slipped on FB, won’t happen again). Dave fell in love with G immediately and has been with the babies as much as possible since we got here. It’s been pretty rainy—it gets really stormy this time of year, so hopefully we’ll get some nice days soon. As we got here almost week earlier than previously intended (we told the director we would arrive on the 5tth or 6th), we are not on the schedule yet. So, we’ve been running errands, getting our room set up (we’re in bunk beds, but they come apart pretty easily, so we’ve been putting them up every morning and down every night), and helping with the babies in between. This will be like Dave’s orientation week I suppose. He did change a baby right away (he keeps forgetting which way around the nappy goes), but not anything serious yet ☺. Today Dave fed a baby—he got an easy one (he ate his whole bottle, no fuss, and burped without being “burped”)—and held a new, preemie baby girl that came in this afternoon (we actually got three new babies today, 2 girls and 1 boy—two weighed about 3.5 lbs, an average for the DOH babies). After Dave meets Uncle Collin tomorrow, the all-around-fix-it-build-it-guy, and finds out what he’ll be doing while he’s here (along with caring for babies), we’re most likely heading to Bruma (an amazing place of wonder, excitement, culture, and food from every continent), a HUGE open market. Later this week I’ll be training Dave how to bathe, change, and dress babies. I gotta say, I think he’s doing rather excellent, as he had NO interest in doing any of these things in the States. Who knows; maybe we’ll have babies after all some day! ☺ Well, that’s all for now. I’ll keep you updated, though pictures will come less frequently as they take a long time to upload. Love you all!
L

We're away!

Well: It's been awhile since I posted our trip news. And it might be a few days till I tell you more, cause WE'RE LEAVING TODAY! So, before we leave, I wanted to give you our address where we'll be staying cause WE LOVE MAIL! So, without further ado:

15 Barbara Rd.
Glenvista, 2091
Johannesburg
Republic of South Africa

It only cost .98 cents to send a letter!

We'll be checking in soon, but I need to finish packing--LOL--hopefully soon!

Love you all and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all your support!

much love,
Leigh & Dave

More info :)

So you know we're going back to Joburg (Johannesburg) S. Africa, but not much else. Much has happened since my last post that is truly amazing. We are hoping to head over the first week of January--hopefully before the 7th. God has worked through so many already to provide for us! Our friend has again graciously offered us two buddy passes which will cut $1500 off our budget. Also, another friend has given us information that will allow us to suspend our phones for two months without cutting off our agreement; this will save us another $200. Our boss at Nantahala Gorge Canopy Tours has offered us the canopy tour course on December 12th, and several of our fellow employees are volunteering their time to help us zip around 35 to 40 people through that day for donations to help raise money for our trip. Beth Maennle, our friend who volunteers permanently for Door of Hope(DOH), talked to the director of the organization, and she said we could stay in a room there, and Dave could use a truck they have for his trips to fix different baby houses. Dave and I have both been given information about jobs when we return as well, and positive feedback for us to attain those positions. God is breathtaking how he cares for us in ways we never expected! We are both extremely joyful about ministering to DOH and our friend Beth while we are there. We expect to be there through February and return early March, unless I can convince him to stay through March too! That's all for now, and, as we'll be seeing most of our extended family in the next few days, I can't wait to tell you more about it! I'll try to remember to bring the laptop to the Eddy gathering to show you all pictures! Thank you for gathering with us in prayer about this trip--we love you all!
P.S. I am pumped about getting to see that girl in the picture; she is SO beautiful! She is still there, walking & talking, and I get to kiss that sweet sweet face again and hold her in my arms! Praise the Jesus!

pssst.....

smile...giggle...well--I'm going to Africa again, and this time I'm not going alone! Since Dave and I didn't find permanent jobs for the winter, we decided to go work at Door of Hope for a couple of months. My parents have GRACIOUSLY agreed to keep the dogs (Mom--you're awesome and I love you). I'm super ecstatic and so is Dave. He is going to help out with building and repair projects while he's there and I get to help out with the babies again--and whatever else they might need. They're really short staffed right now so it should be interesting! So--if you haven't done any Christmas shopping for us yet--PLEASE DON'T--we would love it if anyone that can could donate to help support our trip. This is a huge leap of faith for us right now, so please keep us in your prayers! Thanks for stopping by--I'll update more soon, but right now I need to sleep!

On the Blue Ridge Parkway

so Dave and I have blessedly been working all week this last week since we got home. It's been busy, but a good busy. We love our job at the zip line (get to meet lots of fun people and go zipping every day!). But it's been kinda hectic as well. I seriously thought it was Monday on Thursday. Then Sunday hit and I thought it was Tuesday--jeez! When you work on weekends you totally forget what day it is! Well, Tuesday we got off at and decided to hit up Subway, grab the dogs, and then drive up the parkway from Cherokee. The colors up here right now are absolutely breathtaking, especially up on the parkway. We got up there about 6:30-ish and it was already getting a little dark, but we snapped a few pictures and ate dinner. Then we found a short hike and let the dogs run up the mountain to get some energy out. Good thing Dave brought his headlamp, cause we ended up walking out in the dark, but we did get to see the sunset from the top! Here are a few shots he got:
--I love the long distance view on this one

I don't think the comp. screen does this justice--that tree was flaming red!!!


See the fog rolling over the mountain as the sun goes down? So cool


Dave set the camera on a rock at the top and took this pic. on timer. I love that last pink streak before it all goes black

Waterfalls in the area

All of these waterfalls are out of Franklin--towards Highlands

you can drive your car under this waterfall



The color is all messed up--but you couldn't see the faces of anyone so I had to adjust it

Dave and I doing the pairs side of the ropes course a few weeks back

getting all roped up

the scary pole with the detachable boards that come out very easily if you don't put your weight on them JUST right

We made it!

Piece of cake! We got this!

Got to stop laughing! Hey--stop holding on so tight--jeez!

Glad you're the first one--that board was heavy!

Dave--I am so not happy with you for making me do this! I am NOT going to have fun!

Dave--SEE! I'M NOT HAVING FUN--THIS SUCKS!

Me--How can people not love this?!? It's AWESOME!

Granddaddy's cookies

Granddaddy Fisher's sugar cookies were always my favorite. He would make them especially for me when I was home, and he even mailed me some when I lived in Canada. In general I don't like sugar cookies because they're too sweet, but Granddaddy's never were. I got the recipe from Grandmama a few years ago, but was never brave enough to try it out. But today, I thought I would. It was a tedious process to say the least (I had never actually sifted anything before, and the recipe calls for a lot of sifting, lol), but it was SO worth it! This is my photo journal of the preparation process, minus the mixing. Too bad I didn't get that, cause it was a hoot! I'm not great with sifting (flour everywhere!!!), or electric mixers (you shoulda seen the walls, plus everything else), but I was too messy to touch the camera to document!







P.S. maybe it was the hat that inspired me <3

I love how much confidence Granddaddy's hat gives me!

Dave + I at the Gatlinburg aquarium

5 myths about health care around the world

EVERYONE needs to read this--it's only 3 pages long and it's worth it! Comment on what you think of it--i would be REALLY interested.

Click on the title of the blog to go to the link!