Major News!

No, smartypants; before you can say it let me tell you I'm NOT pregnant!


But you are looking at my new baby! His name is Major, and he's a pure-bread St. Bernard puppy. His name is short for "cannis major" which means "big dawg" (haha) in Latin. But mostly I named him that because he's majorly cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I haven't used that many exclamation points since I was 16). We got him last night and the kids and I have been having a lot of fun getting to know him. So far we have discovered that he is very friendly, likes chicken, and dislikes biscuits. Hetee was worried about the kids hurting him but I told him not to worry because in a couple of months Major would be bigger than the three of them put together.
He's so cute and lovable! One look at him and you forget all the bad that's going on in the world. Like today, I was stolen from twice. This morning I realized that someone I trusted for years to watch my kids and be in my home, stole one of my rings. I could barely bring myself to confront her but when I did, she lied. I'm really disappointed and sad about that.

Then today I was at church, practicing some songs for worship and some young guys from church called me to hurry and follow them, that something was wrong with our car. I went out and took a look and the blinker lights were gone from the front! Someone stole the lights! Now that's messed up!

I need a vacation!

My day did end well, though. I got to see our newest Little Heart's baby before heading home for the night. He was born a week ago. One more saved from abortion! His name is Yalalt, meaning "victory". Good name, huh?

The kids are in bed and I'm enjoying a glass of milk and some cookies. I'm feeling the effects of a long day and am looking forward to my bed. Hetee still hasn't come home from a meeting so I'm waiting up for him.

I could tell early on that today would be "one of those" days. Abi woke up screaming her little head off at 6 am when our neighbors' rooster crowed so, as a result, we all got up early. Then when it was only 8 am and Nate already had duct tape stuck to his hair. Ah, kids! You can't live with them and you can't eat them.

Kenny has started to lose interest in nursing and is opting for more tasty fares. These days he's more interested in doing the hokey pokey than nursing. He's too curious for his own good and sometimes will crawl off of my lap to investigate a sound or a movement only to look back at me and cry, like "why did you let me down? I wasn't done yet!"

Today, Nate and Abi discovered that when they ask Kenny, "Hairtai yu?" (do you love me?) He answers "hairtai" (I love you). They kept making him say it over and over again and each time he said it they would crack up laughing. It wasn't long before I was joining in the fun and was laughing so hard my sides hurt.

Not many people know this but, about a year ago, I decided to grow my hair out to donate to Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for children who have lost their hair through cancer.

Here I am with my hard-earned locks

I've been trimming it every 2 months or so to keep it in good condition and today I decided to go to a hair dresser for my trim. It was a BAD decision and I have to say that I will never be using that hairdresser again. She was really rough and rude. I asked her if I could comb out the knots before she started cuting and she gave me the comb but then ripped it out of my hands because I was doing it too slowly. I complained several times that she was hurting me but she just ignored me. Finally she said that I was too sensitive and was exasperating her. Imagine that, me a paying customer, exasperating her. I said, very firmly, "You are yanking on my hair, what do you want me to say!?" I should have just walked out but I really wanted to get my trim and get on with my life. My scalp still hurts.

Anyway, in order to donate my hair it has to be at least 10 inches. It's right at 10 inches now but since I don't want to shave it all off (an option I was considering but Brittany Spears went and beat me to it. Boy, does she have fugly ears!) I'm going to let it grow another year or so before chopping it off. I asked Abi if she was going to donate her hair with me and she said, "Mommy, I don't want my hair to turn into a donut."

Well, I need to hit the sack--my milk glass is empty and my cookies are almost gone. Hetee just came in and now I'm really sleepy.

Home on the range

Well, I'm happy to report that we have finally moved into our little house with a yard! We got our telephone and ADSL hooked up today, no small miracle after being told that we would be able to have neither (no connection ports in our area). Hetee talked to some people and got everything taken care of. Who's da man?

It's so wonderful to finally have a yard! The kids and I can't get enough of it. Nate loves playing with the neighbors' dog, N.J. Our neighbors are a missionary family with YWAM. They are from Brazil and really sweet (not like the crazy Brazilians you see at the World Cup, haha). The bad news is that they will be moving in a few months, so if anyone out there is thinking of moving to Mongolia, the house next door will be available by July!

We're still unpacking and settling in and every now and then the kids tell me they miss something about the apartment. Nate said he wishes we brought the toilet and, for a while, everytime I pulled something from a box, Abi would exclaim, "I have one of those at my house!" Last night Nate and I were cuddling in front of the TV and he looked up at me with his big, beautiful eyes and asked, "Mommy, when is it all going to feel old?"

I knew exactly what he meant. I get teary eyed thinking about our apartment, all empty now. I rode over there the other day with Hetee to pick up some last minute things but when we got there I couldn't make myself get out of the car. I thought Hetee would tease me but he understood. I sat in the car, trying to swallow the lump in my throat but ended up crying anyway. I looked up at the balcony and almost saw Nate and Abi looking back down at me.

Oh poo, I'm crying again...

I'll say goodbye for now but will post more soon. I'll try to get some pictures uploaded over the next few days as we settle in. I love you guys.

I can't find the words to express the crappyness of my day. My heart is soooo heavy and I need to lighten my burden by posting something but the words escape me.

To reveal the source of my moodyness would be like opening a can of worms but I'm going to risk writing a super long post and regretting not going to bed earlier in the hopes that I might feel even a little better when I get this out.

It all starts with doctors in this country, namely obstetricians. Last week I heard that a girl from church had given birth and that the doctors had used forceps and done a lot of damage to her and the baby. I was angry then that she didn't heed the advice of her g12 leader, a mother of 4 who is in my g12, when she told her not to go to the hospital too early. Well, when this mother of 4 visited the young mother in the hospital she asked how nursing was going and the young mother asked in amazement if she could nurse, since the doctors had told her not to. She nursed the baby and the baby spit up a little so the doctor scolded the young mom and told her not to nurse the baby again. IDIOTS! And even more, what kind of idiotic mother would believe someone who tells her she can't feed her baby? Apparently they told her she could not nurse the baby because of the traumatic birth. What is the reasoning behind that?!

So, what, I asked, are the feeding the baby? Any tubes? No, just shots! What kind of shots, Who the heck knows?! After 12 days, the baby starves to death.

I thought I was upset then, but today I was distraught and just plain disgusted to learn that the baby died. After 7 years of working with women and babies in Mongolia I have seen this kind of thing happen too many times. Today was the last straw. I want to quit. I'm tired and I don't have any words left. Even if I did, no one is listening. At least not when it matters.

The doctors killed that baby, plain and simple, and they're getting away with it just like they do all the time. She arrived at the hospital at the first sign of labor and the doctors shot her full of pitocin and before she knew it, her baby was being pulled out of her. The baby's skull was half crushed. The doctors "comforted" the mother by telling her that it's better to have a dead baby than a crippled one.

Doctors get away with bad things. That's just the way it is here. And Mongolian people are fine with that. No one gets mad or indignant. Maybe it's because the victims, the babies, go so silently. Oh, my heart is so heavy.

A while back I posted about Nate having the measles. Well, it turns out that it wasn't measles, after all. It was just some virus that's been going around. After Nate got it, I came down with it, then Kenny had it and now Abi has it. She was miserable yesterday--she had fever her eyes were hurting. She was also so self-concious of her spots and kept saying that it was just "a bunch of freckles". I think the worst is over now and she should be feeling better by tomorrow.

Nate, Kenny and I are fighting colds but other than that everything here is going pretty good.

Today I was reminded of how big Nate is getting when he announced that he was going to cook lunch. With the help of Begi, a young girl who hangs out at our house a lot, he mixed rice, little pieces of carrot and garlic that he cut with a dull knife, and chicken bullion with water and--get this-- mandarin juice! Begi put it on the stove and cooked it then served us. Everyone tasted it and was full of compliments for the chef! It wasn't bad at all! I know teenage girls who cook a lot worse than that.

Nate also likes going to the store by himself and buying things like bread or ice cream. He is getting so independant and I have to be careful not to be too helpful sometimes. The other day he asked if he could go and buy some bread with his own money. I watched him from our 5th story window as he trudged through the snow, falling several times. He came home, proud as punch that he had contributed to the family table. My baby is becoming such a little man!

Kenny is 8 months and "cruising" already. He has another tooth, now too. Kenny is such a daddy's boy. He loves cuddling and playing rough with Hetee, and when Hetee's not home, Kenny sees his clothes lying around and crawls to them and puts his head on them! It's so cute that they have that bond. Today I took Kenny out of the tub and was trying to dress him but as soon as I took my hands off him he was off, crawling as fast as his fat, little knees could take him, away to his daddy who was sitting nearby. Too funny!

So what have I been up to? Besides daydreaming about life in a house with a yard, I have been learning how to make granola bars. I tried a recipe I found on allrecipes.com then I tweaked it a bit and made some more. =) They make a great snack for a mom on the move, like me. I'll have to post my version here soon.

For now, I'm off to bed. Today was my grocery shopping day. I shopped for us and for 6 "Little Hearts" ladies we are helping--whew! I'm beat!