Another baby...BOY!!!

I always say I never know who or what a day will bring around here! Today was already full but I ended up spending a delightful couple of hours this afternoon picking up a baby. :)

A newborn to be exact, apparently born at home right on or before February 12, whose mother tried to suffocate him in the wee hours of the morning today. After that episode, the nurses brought the baby to stay with them, prepared sample packets of formula to give the baby (she hadn't been nursing him anyway), and reported events to the hospital's psychologist (who declares the mother mentally unstable and is requesting more tests) and social worker (who promptly called us)!

I was out making the school pick-up rounds, my new Wednesday job as the Hogar's minivan is otherwise occupied picking up the week's supply of food, when Rosa (our social worker) called me. She said "We say no, right?" I hesitated, as I always do in these situations. We are overrun with babies at the moment, many small babies, so I would've been quicker to say yes to a walking, talking 2 or 3 year old than a 3 DAY old. She read my thoughts and we decided to say no. Well, the dear elderly social worker of the city's main pediatric hospital would have none of it! The only correct answer was yes, and she furthermore threatened "If something happens to the baby tonight, it will be on your hands...!!" So Rosa said yes, then called me back. With the noise of the nine kids now filling my car with happy chatter, and music, of course, I didn't hear the calls to my cell (missed a call from the US too...sorry family!), so she finally tracked me down at Casa de Amor II as I was upstairs going through all the violins my sister left us years back.

Rosa gave me the rundown, so after dropping off two cakes for the afternoon's double first birthday at the Baby Home, I left for the hospital. After visiting my street patient, I went next door to find my new baby. :)

Right before going down the stairs, to the best part: the security guard! As I picked up my ID card, he gave me a double-take. Is that a baby you have in there?? I probably blushed - I wasn't trying to hide him, I just love my slings for the small babies, it's cold and wet today, and I was also holding papers and dealing with constant phone calls and messages. (I didn't answer all of the calls, but a nurse even suggested that I need a secretary - amen!)

I showed him the baby and he sort of freaked out, in a quiet Bolivian sort of way. But...did you have this baby when you came? Or did you HAVE HIM here? Here I couldn't help but join in with a grin: "Yes, I had him RIGHT NOW!" He just kept staring, and now a crowd was gathering to watch the exchange and try to gain a peak at my tiny baby all snug inside.

Finally the guard got over his shock at a gringa taking a newborn from the hospital with only a piece of paper and an immunization card, no mother in sight, and just filled out a paper making notes from my one paper... As he finally turned back my Bolivia ID card, I swore to him this is not the first time I've waltzed out of there with a baby. Gotta love my life. :)

I went straight to our authorities with my tiny warm sleeping bundle to get papers in order. After signing a couple more....he was ours!! :)

I realized during all of this that he didn't have a name, so I immediately gave him one we've had on the "waiting list" for a while, a good strong name that we've never had at Casa de Amor. In fact, Rosa asked for our last new baby a few weeks back to be given this particular name but it turned out he already had one.

It begins with an S and is from the Bible.... Shouldn't be too hard to guess.

Back in the warm, cheery Baby Home, for the tail end of two birthday parties (pictures, which others took for me, to follow)...

Tia Tomaza with the little beauty. (Little O, my stick-tight, was getting a little jealous so as soon as she saw the baby was out of my arms, she jumped into them.)

As many babies as we've gotten lately, this is our first "born in 2012" baby. I was kind of hoping the next would be a girl. I just counted it up, and 6 of our last 7 new ones have been boys! We haven't gotten a girl since Abi and Edgar came back to live with us in July last year, and before that was baby F as my birthday present in May. But actually I just checked, and there are now 8 boys and 7 girls at the Baby Home, so somehow they stay even...

Pray for special grace for the tias and volunteers as they add yet another little one into the round-the-clock routine here. I was told that he's a little jaundiced and last night had a slight fever, and to monitor that.

Also pray for his mother, who weighs on our hearts. According to what little information the hospital could garner, she lives with an alcoholic partner and 5 other children in a shack outside the city. We will be doing investigations ASAP.

little mother

{I didn't get around to posting this back in September, so here it is now while I wait to get my laptop back from a tech friend in Texas.}


Five year old S reminds me so much of myself...

I was also 5 when my sister Sarah was born and she was the delight of my days!

(Although I do recall going to the neighbor's house on multiple occasions to just hold THEIR baby. Guess I've always been a multiple sort of baby person, ~grin~)

I would never have suggested that S. carry a newborn around...

...but she acts like she's done it forever and does it like a pro, carrying her in the way she figured out that keeps the baby in the best position and sleeping happily


sorting through the baby's new wardrobe
(S has very specific ideas on what she likes and what is "feo" - ugly)

That is, when I share with her. ;-)


At church! (S. was so offended when people would say "Oh look, she has a baby doll" and would reply "It's not a DOLL, it's a BABY!")


When I showed S. through my file of "new baby pictures", I knew she loved it but was unprepared for her unabashed love and joy to see "her baby" so cute. She started showering Fabiana (who she was wearing) with kisses and telling her what a wonderful, beautiful—even handsome!—baby she is. But when I got to this picture I got a BIG lecture…

She stared at me incredulously and said “The baby is going to fall! You should NEVER put her on something like that!”

I tried explaining that she was asleep and not moving, that I was right there close by, that I only had here there a minute, etc., etc., but she was buying none of it. She wagged her little finger at me and said to never do something like that again. She was trying her hardest to understand how I could do something sooo irresponsible. Oops. (I only took a few of this "pose" anyway because I wasn't getting the right effect.)

Fun, fun!

official poll results :-)

Just popping in a moment to announce the closure of our first blog poll! It was fun to watch as everyone voted. Thanks to all who participated!

Here are the final results (also visible at right):

Your blog favorites...

stories of the children, 83%

pictures of the children, 76%

life in Bolivia, 43%

learning what it's like to run a children's home, 43%

reading of missions & missionaries, 40%

learning about adoptions, 20%

(But you who love adoptions are a passionate minority, right? Right!)

Obviously, this was a multiple choice poll. It would be fun to plan one that was NOT multiple choice, hm.....

And to end, a very random picture, but what other picture do you add to a blog post about a poll?

This is from Sunday after church, when lots of us from Casa de Amor ate out with the Holman family. I was shocked to see how tiny the new baby appears when I'm wearing her!

Never mind the "what in the world are you talking about?!" look I'm giving Joe Holman. I've had a lot on my mind lately, what can I say.

Or the bossy finter pointing at Caleb (is he snitching from my Texas Chocolate sheet cake?!)

New baby is still doing great, just now starting to really grow although she still fits in all her newborn clothes. As for me on the other hand, I am so incredibly overwhelmed by an enormous task list with lots of deadlines (to the tune of non stop 16-17 hour days) that I've been too stressed to wear her since Sunday or Monday - would hate to shock her little system!

Back to the race...

two weeks

I’m so cute that even with my many many brothers and sisters running around (I don’t know how many there are, I can’t count that high yet), people stop in their tracks to look at ME first and longest.

When the tía prepares 3 ounces I drink 2; when she makes 2 I want 3.

I like to keep them hopping that way.

The first time I burped was during a Saturday night young people church service. But in my defense, I NEVER spit up. Ick.

SLEEP is the coolest.



During the day if "mommy" let's me go for a minute, about 8 people are at my beck and call.

They think I’m pretty neat.

But at night, it's one on one with the director.

She's happy that I'm pretty much on a schedule, whatever that means.



I get wagged around a lot by a bunch of crazy toddlers. I just pretend like I’m asleep and they lose interest.

There’s a talkative one (maybe 5?) who keeps smothering me with kisses anyway.

At least they can basically pronounce my name now.


I love being in this thing. Especially if we're walking, then I sleep like a baby.

I do NOT appreciate being woken from my beauty sleep.

Oh and I hate baths.

Don't wanna to talk about it.

I’m not growing very fast yet, but I'm getting used to all this love and acceptance.

Before you know it, I'll graduate up to a whole new wardrode!

Sometimes at night, mommy says I’m getting rather used to being held or worn.

I don’t see a problem with that.

I'm told that I already have an international fan club.

Pretty slick for a gal who just sleeps!



Yep, I'm CUTE.

toddler wearing help

A family from Texas is visiting us in a couple of weeks, and I would LOVE to find a good sling or carrier for my bigger babies.

Because while I consider this kind of babywearing heavenly...




I currently have 9 babies 11-24 months old who would adore it if I "wore" them while I worked, too.



But the slings I have don't work so well for older, ah-hem, chubby babies or toddlers. I'm thinking of something for the back or hip?

I've been looking at...

kokopax
mei tai
mee up
ERGObaby carrier
maya slings
hip panda baby carrier
ring slings
etc....

...but they are PRICEY! It's nearly $200 for a kokopax back carrier, and many of these are around $100. And I know that everyone has their own preference. I'm not sure about spending that much for a carrier we {me and my babies} might not like, not to mention wasting my chance to get one to Bolivia. =)

Does anyone have a source for discount carriers? Or one they don't need anymore, perhaps?

I'd really appreciate your help. I need to decide this weekend so that it can arrive to the family in time for them to bring it to me.

Thanks in advance!

Random Picture Challenge

4 little men & girly twins

September 2008


18th picture

And mine is....

Baby J!

He was about six weeks here, probably weighed about 8 pounds...took him a long time to start catching up.

He grabbed my finger so tightly while eating this day, as I "wore him" and worked, I just had to take this picture

From the office...

The latest Casa de Amor newsletter is done!

Click here for the link to download and read any of our past editions.

Ahh, this is the life

THIS, my friends, is the best way to spend a Saturday morning.



Yep, totally. Blogging with my baby. Who is so quiet and small I keep forgetting he's here with me. =)

After the first 24 hours with new Baby F, we know that:

• He drinks well. Definitely a boy--that milk must arrive ON TIME or it's a small emergency!
• He even keeps it down well, which are big plus points when there are several other reflux-prone babies.
• He sleeps well, and for hours.....when he gets to sleep. Which is the tricky part.
• He loves having something in his mouth (when he finds his hands he makes really cute sucking noises!).
• He sweats easily.
• He has a lot of hair and today is having something of a bad hair day. (Possibly due to the hat he wore all day yesterday?)

And that's about it till now!

Back to continuing to enjoy a rare Saturday with absolutely no Hogar de Amor OR church events or responsibilities! Weird!

Or rather, after changing a little someone's diaper...

Cute Babies

Today I was mainly alone in the office and the phone only rang a couple times so I was able to get an impressive amount of computer work done for once. I also wrote over a dozen bios for sponsorship packets until 10pm tonight, so made a sizeable dent in that project. Good thing, as tomorrow includes lots of errands and medical stuff, ending with a special end-of-the-year prayer/worship/giving thanks event for the homes.

So, in the afternoon while it rained and a complete rainbow spread in between the mountains in our Cochabamba valley, I was able to sit around and play with and enjoy the babies with my Mom and the caregivers. Ahh, heaven...

A few of the pics I got in that time:

The Baby Hilton, haha. The caregivers had prepared such nice padded spots for our youngest four, now they just needed that staff to come around for the milk service!

What a cutie! I think this is the first smile I've captured from Twin (girl) G, in my all time favorite baby sweater (I think it's Baby Gap--thanks to whoever donated it!!)

This time of year (i.e., extremely rainy) there are constant rainbows--double, full, ones that end right at our house, the pot of gold of course. =) This one was completely full but how to fit it in?!

Taken from the third floor office balcony

And these from last week:

boy twin G hanging out in the sling

and girl twin G having her turn

Aren't they sweet?!

Today I also finally caught the new siblings, B & C, awake and happy and caught it on camera!! But I'll show those tomorrow. Gonna get some shut eye now as I have social services on my doorstep first thing tomorrow to talk about the paperwork on a set of sisters.

Outing with a few

Yesterday, my outing to HDA II, pick up Emma, then go next door to our favorite clinic was well accompanied, with a 3 year old, 2 year old, and 3 month old. (You see, that's one for each hand and another to keep me balanced in the middle....or so I told myself.)

My daily stop at Clinica Los Olivos, once voted the best in Bolivia (the odd conditions and tragic and/or unknown backgrounds of our kids demand only the best, believe me! and we're blessed with discounted prices). Emma, my 9-nearly-10-year-old sister took this picture in front of the clinic. She didn't want to be in it, and thus spotted helping with babies, heavens no.

And earlier, picking up Emma from horse back riding lessons. I already love the mountains, but add in afternoon/early evening light and throw in rain clouds for a shadow effect, and pictures don't even do it justice!

Emma didn't know I took this picture, with the "sunset" setting of my camera. There are horses in the distance. These little ones had never been so close to a horse and decididly preferred viewing from AFAR. Still they chattered away about them and also got to pet baby kittens...what joy!

A cute moment from the 2 year old: I had picked him up to carry him across the field since he was tripping on the rough terrain. He suddenly looked at me and gasped with little hands upturned "Tia Jenny, where is the baby?!" I held back the edge of my sling to show him we had not forgotten the baby in the car and he breathed a sigh of relief. It's not like I've done that sort of thing so not sure why he panicked, but it's always sweet to see them watching out for each other, even in such a big family.

(Happy International Babywearing Week, by the way! It's an invaluable technique when caring for multiples and keeping your baby close and happy. Especially a cuddly, sleepy baby like Baby J. Um...pure bliss!)

For an exciting Sunday...

The best way to attend church: lots of little escorts! This morning 9 CDA babies and little people were at Cochabamba International Church. It also just happened to be our 2nd annual missions weekend so we had a booth (thanks to the Alseth family of Casa de Amor III, who set it up and ran it for us!).

CDA's Baby Row (and hardly a peep the whole service, I might add):
Twins G & G, Baby V

Baby wearing!! Also lots of fun. Here I am with girl twin G and the fellow missionary/children's home director who sews baby slings:

I'd like to say our "glow" is our joy in our babies (although could be!), but I believe we're glistening with SWEAT. We guessed it was a good 85 degrees F inside church today AND it was a packed house with not even elbow room. No AC in Cochabamba! I'm thinking baby wearing will be cooler in the winter.

Note: Turns out that at the time of this picture, we were in "International Babywearing Week", haha. We're still in it actually, so better go find a baby to wear...

TWINS...again!

Twins E & E (arrived May 26) and Twins G & G (arrived October 3)

Without a doubt, some of the most insanely busy, full, emotional, amazing, exhausting weeks of my life have been during adoptions. This one was right up there, and it will continue through the weekend!! I think it's been the second busiest week of the year overall, after one memorable week in February (during the last adoption, actually). Caring for the most pressing medical issues, staying on top of hourly developments of the 3 homes/38-39 kids/19+ staff members, being with Juanito and his adoptive family almost constantly during the pre-custody visits (up to 12 hours a day), at night writing a report of the day in Spanish (for the judge next week), then tending to the most pressing emails and computer issues until midnight, and so much else..... It's been intense, to say the least! Every day seemed like 3 in 1 (or at least I needed to be in 3 places at once more often than not), but on the other hand, the days FLEW by as if they were only a few hours long. At least it felt that way because of all the pressing matters always at hand (need I say I still urgently need an assistant? or more servant-hearted volunteers).

THEN came today, Friday. We got a call about 5 month old abandoned-under-a-tree-in-tall-grass twins in the middle of everything*. Since we've shored up on caregivers at the Baby Home, and one baby left this week and another leaves next week (in adoption!), we said yes. In all honesty I said yes because they are twins...Denise and Amber, I know you're with me here...I mean, what could be better than 1 set but 2 sets? (But the other reasoning sounds better!)

When they arrived, same as happened with the last baby, everyone quickly noticed they were a wee bit younger than 5 months. Apparently they are more like scrawny, underfed 3 or 4 week olds. I say "everyone", because after only a small handful of times of not being here for kid arrivals (very amazing really, seeing as how often I'm out and about), I wasn't here for their arrival. :-( I waited as very long as I could, 2 hours, but I had to get to CDA II and Juan's family because they were waiting on me, and of course the twins arrived shortly thereafter and I didn't have a chance to meet them for over three hours more. But I can't complain too much! I was having a perfectly delightful Italian lunch with a lovely Italian family and Juan, plus their adoption coordinator who has worked in adoptions many years. We all swapped information and shared stories to our hearts content, in a crazy mixture of Italian, Spanish, and English, since everyone knew a little or lot of all three languages. Later we finished the day together watching some of the kids from CDA II and III (and Emma of course) enjoy s'mores around a campfire during their very special campout night.

Okay, gotta get back to proofreading the pre-custody report that the social worker and psychologist finished today, so that I can take it to court in the morning, so that the all-important second hearing is on Tuesday, so that I can travel more peacefully to Chihuahua (department of Santa Cruz) on Thursday with our church's praise team, so that I can race back for the next 2 adoptions that same week.....INSANE. But very memorable! And I'll appreciate it more when life settles into the "normal" rhythm once again, with not just one but several of our kiddos in loving families. :-)

The second picture: on our way to the pediatrician tonight, also with baby Jose in the marvelous sling. I was heading out alone because there was no one else available to help, but my Dad just happened to have time to take us, so that was helpful!

*Later said to be a (dry) riverbed?! Sometimes it's very hard to know what the truth is.

Multi-tasking

At least they mainly sleep!! I've been chief spoiler of the babies lately. No one else has time to hold them for hours on end, so I'm touching them a lot so that they'll grow up smart (my Mom's saying). I'm blessed with long legs where I can easily prop one or two while I work--the slightly shorter staff all admire that. =)

Lately I've been tempted to say "too many" babies. Supposedly Mother Teresa said "Saying there are too many children is like saying there are too many flowers". However, the "too many" phrase could definitely be used in relation to the heartbreaking number of abandonments we've seen the past 11 months. It's nearly overwhelming. We received four babies in a row in August, one a week, and after the first week of September we've said no (or wait) to all of these:

1) a 1 year old in a bad situation (street parents)
2) transer of a four year old from the main baby home (I've heard they are up to 150 babies, which if true is absolutely horrific because their capacity is for 50, so just imagine...). He should’ve come to us last year but his very hard-core street mother couldn't make up her mind and shortly after he was forcefully taken away.
3) a toddler with medical issues and unstable (street?) mother
4) a newborn but his mother came back to the hospital for him, hallelujah!
5) a 2 week old, 1.5 kilo preemie. Reminds me of Alejandra, who arrived September last year. We’re going to suggest that he go first to the nutrition center and when he weighs 3 kilos (in 5 or 6 weeks?) we’ll see about our space.

We’re also keeping in mind two possible entries:
1) the 15 month old brother of Carla, one of our new babies (he’s in another baby home currently, but it’s best they are together for their eventual adoption)
2) a former child of ours, almost 4 years old, whose mother stays down more than up. Several who know them say he needs to come back to us, once they’re found.

(If anyone reading this desires to donate, oh say…$20,000? so that we can open a 4th home, let's go for it!)

Another factor is that we’re at the traditionally low time of year, donation-wise. And baby number 4 of August is STILL in the hospital (jaundice), so that will be a fun bill to pay, and baby number 2 needs a CT scan. Now we’re going to have to pay about $100 to do it in a private clinic because the public hospital’s machine is broken, with no idea of when it could be fixed.

But this is why Casa de Amor exists! As staff member Maria has told me for a couple years now and reminded me last week, she believes God sends us the special needs babies and kids on purpose. Reminds me of another favorite Mother Teresa saying…“I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”

Pray that we have grace and peace in as overflowing abundance as children! Babies are practically addictive for me, and I’m glad that Saturday is almost here so that I have more time for them (and not just while staring at a computer screen), but we’ve kept up an exhausting pace lately and I don’t want anyone burning out. We want to be entirely healthy so as to handle whatever—and whoever—God sends our way!

Addition: Not two hours after writing this, while I was at the hospital getting out the baby, SEDEGES called about 5 siblings. Yikes!! They needed a temporary place for the youngest three, but we're just too full and busy as it is...