Paper Update and Some Rambling

Sort of a non-update, actually. I did talk to Stephanie and got an email from Kelly. (my agency ladies) One was more optimistic on timelines than the other, but both agree that I will not be on my flight home on Saturday. I guess that last paper that they requested to clarify something cost us a several days in our timeline.

So... I don't know what the plan is. There was some speculation that I could have my visas on Monday next week, which could have us on a plane headed for home by Wednesday or Thursday (remember we need to procure exit permits in there too yet) but this is just a guess, from what I can tell. No one really seems to be able to predict this at this point.

I'll contact David later today and see if there is anything new to know. In the meantime, we are thinking of planning some sort of outings around the 'hood so we can clear our heads and stretch our legs a bit. We'll discuss with our neighbor friends and see what comes of that.

As for my mental health, mostly I'm doing pretty well, thankfully. Better than I thought I'd be by now. It's just those moments where Isaac asks on skype "are you coming home soon, Mommmy?" and I don't really have an answer. Those moments get to me. So keep praying for the kids' visas to come through quickly. We'd happily hop on the next plane home any day now. :)

Sorry about no pics again. You sort of run out of things to take pictures of when every day is exactly the same. I'll see if I can get some new ones today. I'm not actually sure anyone is still reading this anyway. :)

The kids are doing well. Raya seems to be getting bigger and chunkier these days. She's getting nice fat baby leg rolls. She keeps going at this rate, and soon she's going to weigh more than Eli. :)

Eli is doing better at eating. Sometimes. But I have hope. He seems to be more willing to try new stuff,(and let's face it, it's ALL new stuff) tho he doesn't always eat more than a couple bites before he changes his mind. He's decided he also likes scrambled eggs and toast, rice, beef jerky, and this dry oatmeal-peanut butter-brown sugar concoction Amber made. And he's eating those fruit squeezy things! At first he would cry and spit them out when we'd try and get him to eat them, but yesterday he willingly ate 3! Maybe someday he'll wear bigger than 6-9m shorts. haha.

It's been cooler here lately. Yesterday was really too chilly to swim, although that did not deter the kids, who came out shivering and goosebumpy in the end. For some place on the equator, it's cooler than I thought. I was even wearing my sweatshirt yesterday morning, and wishing I'd packed more than one pair of jeans (which I'm saving to wear on the way home... preferably in a state of relative cleanness). Although anyone who knows my propensity for sweatshirt wearing and general constant coldness will find this rather un-surprising I'm sure.

It's also gotten more buggy I think. At first we barely ever saw a mosquito, and by now I have many bites on my person. Although I think they are not all from mosquitos. I think they have a particularly pesky sort of gnat here that gives a really annoyingly itchy and welty bite. But we do cover the kids with mosquito nets at night, and sometimes we put up the big one over the bed too, depending on what's flying around our room that we can't smoosh.

If you're free, you should all send me an email. It'll give me something to do for a while. :)

PS Grandma Barb- Eli loves the "8 Silly Monkeys" book you bought for Isaac back in the day, and thinks it's HILARIOUS! I'll have to try and get a video of that. He laughs so loud. It's funny to hear.