Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Day Twelve in Uganda

So, yesterday we headed to court. We had to be ready and out of the house by 8:00 in order to ensure that we were at court by 9:00.  The morning traffic in Kampala is notorious for it's "jams" and we didn't want to be late.  We made it to court by 8:30 and sat around waiting until 10:00 when the judge starts hearing cases.  This should have been a quick 5 minute visit with the judge to hear her ruling on our guardianship case of Anita.  Instead, she told our lawyer that she was too busy today and had too much work to do so we should come back on Thursday at 2:00.

Anita was extremely fussy and Bill diagnosed her with pneumonia and started her on antibiotics.  She then took a 3 hour nap, and the rest of us slept as well, which was definitely helpful.  All 6 of us went swimming and the two little girls are slowly but surely getting used to the water and actually seem to be enjoying floating around with us.
We decided to take our first family venture out of the apartment on our own.  I strapped Anita in her baby wrap and Sarah put Hannah on her shoulders and off we went for our 5 minute walk to the shopping center.  We went out to eat for our first time as a family.  Mr. Tasty's fast food restaurant...how appropriate.  They actually have pretty good food (for a fast food restaurant).  Fried chicken, hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, fries (chips) and fried dough...mandazi, which is very yummy. It's like a sweet doughnut bread and has quickly become a favorite of all of ours.  The girls all did very well.  I think it must have been Hannah's first time in a restaurant. She just kept looking all around, taking it all in. Bill bought a lemon fanta (soft drink) to share with her.  Well, there was no sharing.  She downed the entire bottle all on her own.
After dinner we went into the local Shoprite for a few groceries.  We have been trying to get a couple days' worth of food at a time...one, because it gives us an excuse to get out of the house every other day, two because we have to carry what we buy.
Everybody went to bed early last night and all slept through the night which was so wonderful.  Bill and I both managed to get 10 hours of sleep which was very much needed and long overdue.
This morning we decided to start up homeschooling again for Sarah and Dee.  This is definitely going to be an adventure with a 1 and 3 year old running around.  Thankfully, Bill had a pretty good handle on the two little ones while I did school with the older girls.  It was kind of nice to have some sort of routine back to our day.  After school, it was lunch and naps again for everybody. Anita took another 3 hour nap, while Hannah slept for 2 hours.  Poor things are probably so emotionally exhausted that they are finally getting caught up on their sleep.
We have had our first "temper tantrums" from both of them. Hannah had one at the play ground on me the other day when I wouldn't let her have her candy (lifesaver) before dinner.  She sat on the ground, cried and stomped her feet.  Anita had a melt down today for no apparent reason.  She just laid on the ground kicking and screaming.  Bill and I just sat there and watched her and were like,  "huh, I had forgotten what those looked like".  We had  a good laugh at her before picking her up and settling her down.  I think that she has finally figured out that when she cries we respond (something that she did not experience in the orphanage) so now she's seeing just how much crying she can do before we respond to her needs/ wants.
Tomorrow, we have to return to the IOM for the girl's physical exams and TB skin test reading.  Anita's arm is looking a  little red and we are concerned because this means she will need a chest x-ray.  We pray that the skin reaction simply means that she has been exposed to TB and doesn't have active TB.  If she does, then our stay in Uganda could be prolonged exponentially due to the requirements of the US government!
Well, I need to go help Bill with dinner. Not so much help with dinner as help entertain Anita, who still thinks dinner time is the best time of night to be held.  It's a good thing she is so cute. Here I come baby girl...

2 comments:

  1. What a whirlwind. Sounds like the girls are starting to feel a little at home if they are comfortable enough for the tantrums! LOL Praying for okay results with the TB tests and that everything else goes smoothly for you. What an emotional roller coaster you must be on right now. We're praying for you here. Can't wait to see the little's.

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  2. love it, love it... sounds like everyone is adjusting as a family. I had to chuckle when I read about the fanta because I remember the love both Julia and Abraham had for that drink as well. Praying here for you and look forward to some positive outcomes in the next day... :)

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