Babies, Babies, and more Babies!

Sorry I haven't been able to post in awhile. We are busier and finding time to sit down and type is getting harder.

This week's theme has been adjusting to change. With Rebecca leaving at the end of last week, we knew we would have a little bit more work among all of us, especially with caring for the twins who eat more often than the other babies. Then we got two more babies- Mr. G (now allocated as Ethan Luke Ebbling) and Mr. Feng.

Ethan Luke came last Monday and is a month and a half old. He has a very special and sad story. His is a Vietnamese baby. His mother got pregnant before she met a man from Taiwan while he was on a business trip to Vietnam. They got married quickly, so she could move back to Taiwan with him. After the baby was born, they did DNA testing to see if the baby was the husband's or not. Because it was not, the man's parents are making the couple give him up. Both the mother and her husband love this baby and did not want to give him up for adoption, but knew that was their only option to appease his family. Now after they gave the baby up, the parents of the husband are making the husband send his wife back to Vietnam. Such a sad story. Ethan Luke is so cute with a head full of hair that naturally goes into s little mohawk. He is still getting used to us and hasn't quite warmed up. He did finally coo and smile a little in the past few days.

We got Mr. Feng on Wednesday when he was just four days old. He was already bigger than the twins. :) Now Feng is a little over a week old and is adjusting really well. He is a pretty content baby who loves to eat. He almost doesn't look Asian. He has the biggest brown eyes and does not yet seem to have the flat nose the is characteristic of Chinese people. Probably one of the cutest babies I ever seen, although I could be a little bit partial.

Then on Friday a little one and a half year old girl,  Liou Jr Chien, came. Before Ted got back from picking her up, we weren't sure whether or not she would be on our side or with the Aiye's on the older kids side. Ted arrived and right away we knew our answer. She was terrified of all of us white people, speaking sounds that were foreign to her. Since she is already a year and a half, she has been doing much better adjusting to being away from her mother by being surrounded by familiar looking faces and familiar language. The older kids have done really well with her. Even Ying Ju, the youngest older girl (5), has taken to comforting her and playing really well with her.

So last week was crazy. It seemed like God was just going to keep sending babies to us and we didn't know when it would stop. Every other day there was a call that another baby was going to be picked up. I love getting new babies and getting to know and care for them, but last week wore me out. Since we have twelve babies now with five under two months, either Gabrielle or I stay up to help Jennifer with the 11:00pm feeding. Whoever stays up gets to sleep in until 8:00am in the morning, while the other takes the earlier morning shift at 7:00am. We are on a weekly rotation, so this is my week to get up early. I actually like being the one who gets up early because even though it's hard getting up some days, I can go to bed by 9:00pm if I chose to. Being on the 11:00pm shift last week was so hard. I could tell I was crabbier during the days and could hardly ever find a little bit of alone time.

During the days, it feels like we are constantly feeding. I am not getting to play with the older babies as much as I used to be able to, which is sad but understandable with less help and more babies. We had a record day of feedings last week since I'd been here- 106 feedings in one day!! That's almost 90 diaper changes as well! I wouldn't change it for the world!

Last week we took the babies Christmas pictures. After their bath on Monday, we dressed them in red, green, and white outfits and took their pictures to send to their adoptive parents. We even had a Santa Claus hat for them to wear. They were all pretty adorable!

Food adventures for the week was trying fried squid. It was actually delicious, a little chewy. The second new food was an ice cream treat we bought at the vendor by the lake. I don't actually know what it was called, but it was a crepe-like shell filled with peanut candy shavings and three scoops of ice cream. I got mine with pineapple, chocolate, and milk flavored ice cream. Surprisingly, pineapple was my favorite with the peanut candy- Never thought those two flavors meshed well together!

I don't think I ever remember to write about the bread truck. If I have sorry for repeating myself. There is a local bakery that donates their extra pastries and breads to the orphanage. The bread truck comes late at night and is always a treat! It doesn't come on a set schedule. It's just random, so it's extra special and exciting on nights when it does come. Their breads are SO good! I like them so much, I am having trouble fitting into my jeans! :) The bread seems sweeter than bread back home. The ones I like best are filled with a type of coconut shaving.


The last thing to share in this entry is that Elijah's parents are here!!! Praise God for his papers being ready in time! Of course I teared up when they saw him for the first time. I love that part! This meeting was especially special for me because Elijah and I have really bonded over the time I've been here. I love him so much and His parents seem great. Their little family is a little world of culture. They are from the States, but are missionaries in Spain working with African immigrants, and now parents to a little Taiwanese baby! So cool.

I am blessed. God cares.