Five babies (give or take)
Makoena and Garakai, our house parents, and their two children
But these are the people who are always here, or frequently in and out enough that it almost feels like I'm living with them, at least to some extent:
Britt, one intern, and another girl who is staying "downstairs" (in the back cottage)
At least two interchangeable nannies
An endless procession of volunteers, church family, family of nannies, friends, friends' children, people taking tours, social workers, foster parents, adopting families, visiting biological families, etc, etc, etc.
So, technically, I live with nine other people in our immediate house but it feels like more!
Sweet boy J1 was adopted today! Our loss is his gain. Please pray that he will know and love Jesus as he grows up.
I won't have TWO boys anymore as baby girl C is moving from Room 1 to Room 2 to balance things out.
I will miss all the twinning...
...and the peaceful naptimes!
Baby J2 (now just baby J) is finally holding his head up, and smiling more!
He is so chubby he has earned the nickname "Baby Oros" after the fat cartoon on the Orange Kool-Aid type drink that is popular here. (Only this is from an Oros Lite bottle and J is NOT light. Ha!)
Baby C is growing and not crying QUITE so often. I found out she really likes to be swaddled when she is sleeping.
From top to bottom: L, Auntie Patricia, M, and C. L and M are growing as well! L is starting to crawl and sometimes we find his adorable face peeking into the kitchen, so we have to keep the gate shut! As you can see, they keep Auntie Patricia busy tending to their needs and helping them with development exercises!
We made a lot of trips to the clinic for immunizations this month! It's crazy how many appointments we have some months.
The two T's on a grocery shopping trip. They got free balloons. They bopped all the things. Their mom, who has a paralyzing phobia of balloons (because they might pop and scare her, not because they are a choking hazard) was very happy that these ones quickly met their demise.
A number of us from church made a trip to visit the observatory in Johannesburg this month. We listened to a talk about the solar system and looked at Saturn through the telescope. (I saw two rings!)
1Hope had a team "hike" this month. It was actually a walk, but it was nice. Someone had a selfie stick and we used it a lot! We wandered around Rosemary Hill (which wasn't a hill, but a farm) and then had lunch. We finished up with a braai (cookout) at the deWitts' house and sat around talking into the evening.
Mama Linda is going home to Zimbabwe during her vacation this month, so we went shopping last Saturday. This is Marabastad, which is probably the most African part of Pretoria. Hang onto your handbag!
We drove into the parking lot next to the questionably cooked meat, but did not find a parking space despite sitting in the queue for a long time. I was about ready to give up, but we eventually found parking in the lot next door. This place will exercise ALL your combative driving skills.
Like this intersection - it was kind of a joke. I'm not even sure what was happening there...
...but it involved a lot of taxis and one large bus.
We did, however, make it out alive, intact, and with no possessions stolen - so it really isn't that scary. ;)
That's about all the news I have for this month! My goal this month is to journal regularly so I have more funny stories to tell you!
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