Sunday, September 25, 2011

Busy!

We have been quite busy this past week as we found an apartment and have to pack and move by Wednesday -when Joe goes back to school. The movers are actually coming tomorrow, so we spent a lot of time organizing and packing this weekend. Léo has had a very spotty nap schedule lately (i.e., he only took an hour nap on Friday and about 2 smallish naps yesterday and today) and still wakes up at least 3 times during the night (sometimes up to an hour at a time - I botched sleep training, which will be the topic of a post soon) so this packing in a hurry thing was a tad stressful and tiring. My brain has never been so scattered!

Our former downstairs neighbors visited this weekend, which was really great! We lived in a duplex last year. They went back to Texas at the end of June and we've been missing them since. It has been good to spend time with them.

I'm off tomorrow to finish packing. Léo will be at someone else's house -the person we nanny share with. I'll have a couple of hours in the morning to pack Léo's room. We want to pack it last and unpack it first so that he's not too distressed with living in another apartment.

Between the move and Joe's going back to school, I pray everything goes well this week. Expect updates and pictures soon.

Monday, September 19, 2011

A hungry child can't wait: Ask 5 for 5



Guest Blogger: Sarah Lenssen from #Ask5for5

Family photos by Mike Fiechtner Photography

Thank you Living Ubuntu and nearly 150 other bloggers from around the world for allowing me to share a story with you today, during Social Media Week.

A hungry child in East Africa can't wait. Her hunger consumes her while we decide if we'll respond and save her life. In Somalia, children are stumbling along for days, even weeks, on dangerous roads and with empty stomachs in search of food and water. Their crops failed for the third year in a row. All their animals died. They lost everything. Thousands are dying along the road before they find help in refugee camps.
At my house, when my three children are hungry, they wait minutes for food, maybe an hour if dinner is approaching. Children affected by the food crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia aren't so lucky. Did you know that the worst drought in 60 years is ravaging whole countries right now, as you read this? Famine, a term not used lightly, has been declared in Somalia. This is the world's first famine in 20 years.12.4 million people are in need of emergency assistance and over 29,000 children have died in the last three months alone. A child is dying every 5 minutes. It it estimated that 750,000 people could die before this famine is over. Take a moment and let that settle in.

The media plays a major role in disasters. They have the power to draw the attention of society to respond--or not. Unfortunately, this horrific disaster has become merely a footnote in most national media outlets. News of the U.S. national debt squabble and the latest celebrity's baby bump dominate headlines. That is why I am thrilled that nearly 150 bloggers from all over the world are joining together today to use the power of social media to make their own headlines; to share the urgent need of the almost forgotten with their blog readers. Humans have the capacity to care deeply for those who are suffering, but in a situation like this when the numbers are too huge to grasp and the people so far away, we often feel like the little we can do will be a drop in the ocean, and don't do anything at all.



When news of the famine first hit the news in late July, I selfishly avoided it. I didn't want to read about it or hear about it because I knew I would feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable. I wanted to protect myself. I knew I would need to do something if I knew what was really happening. You see, this food crisis is personal. I have a 4-year-old son and a 1 yr-old daughter who were adopted from Ethiopia and born in regions now affected by the drought. If my children still lived in their home villages, they would be two of the 12.4 million. My children: extremely hungry and malnourished? Gulp. I think any one of us would do anything we could for our hungry child. But would you do something for another mother's hungry child?




My friend and World Vision staffer, Jon Warren, was recently in Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya--the largest refugee camp in the world with over 400,000 people. He told me the story of Isnino Siyat, 22, a mother who walked for 10 days and nights with her husband, 1 yr-old-baby, Suleiman, and 4 yr.-old son Adan Hussein, fleeing the drought in Somalia. When she arrived at Dadaab, she built the family a shelter with borrowed materials while carrying her baby on her back. Even her dress is borrowed. As she sat in the shelter on her second night in camp she told Jon, "I left because of hunger. It is a very horrible drought which finished both our livestock and our farm." The family lost their 5 cows and 10 goats one by one over 3 months, as grazing lands dried up. "We don't have enough food now...our food is finished. I am really worried about the future of my children and myself if the situation continues."




Will you help a child like Baby Suleiman? Ask5for5 is a dream built upon the belief that you will.

That something I knew I would need to do became a campaign called #Ask5for5 to raise awareness and funds for famine and drought victims. The concept is simple, give $5 and ask five of your friends to give $5, and then they each ask five of their friends to give $5 and so on--in nine generations of 5x5x5...we could raise $2.4 Million! In one month, over 750 people have donated over $25,000! I set up a fundraiser at See Your Impact and 100% of the funds will go to World Vision, an organization that has been fighting hunger in the Horn of Africa for decades and will continue long after this famine has ended. Donations can multiply up to 5 times in impact by government grants to help provide emergency food, clean water, agricultural support, healthcare, and other vital assistance to children and families suffering in the Horn.

I need you to help me save lives. It's so so simple; here's what you need to do:
  1. Donate $5 or more on this page (http://seeyourimpact.org/members/ask5for5)

  2. Send an email to your friends and ask them to join us.

  3. Share #Ask5for5 on Facebook and Twitter!

I'm looking for another 100 bloggers to share this post on their blogs throughout Social Media Week. Email me at ask5for5@gmail.com if you're interested in participating this week.

A hungry child doesn't wait. She doesn't wait for us to finish the other things on our to-do list, or get to it next month when we might have a little more money to give. She doesn't wait for us to decide if she's important enough to deserve a response. She will only wait as long as her weakened little body will hold on...please respond now and help save her life. Ask 5 for 5.

Thank you on behalf of all of those who will be helped--you are saving lives and changing history.

p.s. Please don't move on to the next website before you donate and email your friends right now. It only takes 5 minutes and just $5, and if you're life is busy like mine, you probably won't get back to it later. Let's not be a generation that ignores hundreds of thousands of starving people, instead let's leave a legacy of compassion. You have the opportunity to save a life today!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Sept 11th, 10 years after

10 years ago the most virulent attack on American ground shook the world for the worst. Everybody will remember what they were doing when they learnt the news just as our grandparents remember what they were doing when they heard that JFK had been shot. I was at my parents' home on a day off from my summer job. I had been working on my thesis about American action heroes in movies and had watched all movies with Willis, Stallone, and Schwarzenegger. I turned on the TV in the middle of the afternoon and saw one tower burning. I just thought "Die Hard is on" and switched the channel, only to find that EVERY channel had the same images and that they were definitely not from a movie (in my defense, if you watch Die Hard, you'll find similarities). I watched, incredulous, as the towers fell and as the previously aired shots of the planes crashing into the towers were played over and over again.

Because I am not American, these events didn't shake me to the core -what they did do for sure was instill a terrible fear of flying in my system. I analyzed the event with a detached political science background and to this day cannot imagine what you Americans went through that day. I try to imagine terrorists attacking Paris with that brutality, and frankly my mind goes blank. That's just too much violence and hatred to fathom.

This morning while walking to church I heard a mom say "I don't know whether they had killed the pilot first, sweetie" and thought I was lucky that I didn't have to explain what had happened to Léo. It must be so difficult to tell your children about this. The homily this morning reminded us that Jesus told us to forgive 7 times 70 times and that we should all remember 9/11 by doing something good for our community and the world. When Léo is old enough to ask questions, I hope I'll be able to tell him what happened but also encourage him to make the world a better place and to be kind to others, always.

I have empathy for what you and your country have been through. I hope the war on terror will end soon. I hope 9/11 will stop being used as an excuse to refuse to understand other peoples and religions. I pray that those who lost someone in the attacks will heal and find beauty in the memories of those they have lost.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

5 months!

Léo is now 5 months old. I see him grow day after day and he's becoming a really fun boy to be around. Two nights ago I stood next to his crib and watched him sleep. He just looked so small. It reminded me that even though he seems to learn something new everyday, understands us better, develops a sense of humor, etc, he's still just a baby. He's my baby. I said that when he was about 6 weeks old and it still applies: he's already 5 months old, yet he's only 5 months old.

He has changed SO much in a month!
- He loves to laugh with his dad. He also loves being "thrown" in the air. He has a super cute laugh.
- He has found and constantly eats his feet.
- He loves to try to hold his bottles. He doesn't really like to nurse during the day anymore so I've had to pump and bottle feed him a lot. At times I use TV as a way to hold his attention so that he finishes his bottles.
- His sleep has really changed. He now sleeps in his crib, unswaddled. At night he wakes up twice to feed -at 1 and 4 (no more 11 feedings, I think). After 4 he has a really hard time falling back asleep. He doesn't take long naps anymore. He needs to be rocked to sleep -well if we sleep trained him he would not need to be rocked, but we haven't started that yet.
- He "talks" a bit more -i.e., he grunts less. He loves talking to Piper.
- He drools TONS.
- He grabs everything and puts everything in his mouth.
- We fed him oatmeal cereal and bananas but he didn't care for either.
- He can sit and stand if we support him. He's still pretty immobile, which is nice since our home is not baby proof at all!
- He smiles a lot. At everybody.

He still rocks my world every day. I love this little boy so much!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Delight!

Joe and Léo have a fantastic relationship. I have already written that Joe would be a great stay-at-home dad. He is dedicated and relishes every second he spends with his son. Likewise, if Léo knows that Joe is in the house but can't see him, he will look for him until Joe is back in the room. If I nurse him and he hears his dad, he will stop, look for him, and grin -and then won't nurse again and I have to pump, but that's another story! Joe is the one person who can make Léo laugh and squeal in delight. I love seeing them together. Tonight Joe left for 4 days and we're going to miss him. I can't wait for him to get back to see my boy giggle like this again:

(this video is loading up in a weird way. You have to play with your mouse and "find" the play button somewhere near the video screen to play the video. Sometimes it's above the play button and sometimes it's below it. Go figure...)

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

I see the light!

It's amazing how fast habits change in the life of an infant.

We moved Léo from his co-sleeper in our bedroom to his crib in his bedroom on Friday. That night was an epic failure and he spent most of the time in our bed. Well, it was a failure because he didn't sleep well in his bed but it was nice to spend the night so close to him. On Saturday, he had sort of a rough time falling asleep but then slept from 8p-1a. On Sunday he also slept well -from 8p to 2a- but had a really difficult time falling asleep, so much so that I had to take a little breather before realizing he was just hot and hungry. After we put the A/C on and fed him he fell asleep within 5 minutes. Duh. Tonight I was bracing myself for another rough time rocking him to sleep but I put him in his crib and he fell asleep. Right there and then! It's been 3 hours and he hasn't moved. He finally found a position that he likes -which means he's not rolling over all the time. He still wakes himself up from 4-6 and then wants to play and talk and eat his feet, but he now sleeps pretty well from the time he goes to bed to 1-2 for a feeding and then again until about 4.

I don't want to jinx anything, but I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel-of-no-sleep!! JOY!