12 yr old Tonia n more fun stuff... :)

A couple weeks ago Tonia turned 12... Oi! What am I doing..What am I going to do!!? She is quick to remind me that next year she will be 13... (oh joy!)

Actually for the most part Tonia is incredibly easy going, super helpful and a great big sister! In fact I really have very little to complain about. For her birthday she decided a trip to WaterWorld was in order... so we shelled out the 20 bucks and headed out (hey... 20 bucks is a LOT of money here!) ;) Anyway, we all had a great time with friends.. the guys got a little crazy on the water slide... but hey, that's the joy of living where there are no 'safety rules' in place! LOL! You may wonder about these next few pics... Let's just say that we had some sick chicks that needed to be gotten rid of before they spread it to the other chickens (too late I might add as the entire batch died!) Anyway... the most reasonable way to get rid of them seemed to be to let the dogs have a little fun at the same time (please... no animal rights emails!)... Well Tyler decided that the dogs should have a 'chicken sandwich'... so he took a peice of grass and some bread and made this for the dogs... So what can I say.. we hare a slightly sadistic familiy... but hey... we love Jesus so it's all good right?! Obviously these were taken before Tyler's (much needed) hair cut... after he had his cool little dooly bob on the back of his head for about a week he asked me to cut it off.. when Sarah (my friend) asked him why he had cut it off... he said "because people laugh at me!" Um.. wasn't that why you wanted it in the first place?... but he decided they laughed TOO much... silly Tyler!

Some days life just seems to gang up on you and you feel beat down and abandoned... this week has been emotionally exhausting as well as mentally and physically demanding... Now to top off the week Joe has been taken down with Meningitis! It's kind of ironic actually... Right after Meghan was born I had Meningitis and Joe had to scramble to get his shifts covered... this time it was my turn... I had a couple extra shifts already scheduled this week because of trades, thankfully there are plenty of understanding girls to cover for this tired midwife mommy!
Tyler also has come down with some sort of sickness, it's actually his second time sick in 2 weeks.. :(
God is so amazingly good though... Even w/ how exhausted we are, how much we have to do and all that... He has given an amazing amount of grace and peace... and even a wee bit of sleep here and there. ;) Hope your guys' week is blessed!

Two fold

A couple days ago when I was at clinic I overheard Heather discussing a case from downstairs in the birthroom.... mom downstairs was pregnant w/ twins... both were head down... already 8 cm... After shift I stuck around to help out and mostly just to get to watch the drama unfold... Sure enough there was lots of drama... Our on call doc was willing to deliver the twins and came in for the delivery... now anybody who knows anything knows that midwives and doctors deliver babies quite a bit differently... so now our lovely little birth room turned into a make shift hospital... I won't go into details, but lets just say that with 12 midwives (yes 12!) and 1 doctor spread out over 3 cubicles... it was quite the gong show... But Hannah Faith (baby A) and Kyra Hope (baby b) made it safetly into this world. Baby A had a little trouble at the get go but was a better breastfeeder than her sister. The next day a doctor came and cleared the babies to go home... by the next day baby b was no longer eating (even though they were dropper feeding her) and when she arrived at the clinic she literally looked like death... we transported and off they went... turned away by the first hospital (the specialist was out of town), welcomed at the second hospital... but the ventilator unit at a private hospital is 2-300 dollars a day... way more than this family could afford... so off they went to the government hospital... she clung vicariously to life for a few more hours until that evening when she made her way into the arms of Jesus... it really rocks your world when we lose a life... but this was actually the 3rd baby from Mercy this week! (not related to eachother in any way).... We (the midwife students) are all tired... we are all pushing through to finish up this semester... for those of us graduating we have so much on our plates our heads are spinning round and round... We just want to cry out "JESUS.... help!"... there is always the temptation when a tradjedy happens to want to cast blame... 'well if so and so hadn't done this or had done this'... of course this is just the enemy wanting to cause division and more pain (after all that's what he's about right?) I know that I am down and depressed and wishing that life would just stop for a minute... death is never easy on anyone... especially when you have faced death before... but I am trying to look to my Lord for comfort and for refreshment... and of course hold my little ones close and thank God for my special blessings in my life...

not yet 'molded'

Joe and I have decided that we are just not cut out for the typical 'missionary' image... first off we don't have the normal 2.3 children... not that our children aren't 'normal'... well ok, so they aren't... but what can you expect when you have us as parents!? Many years ago a wise woman told me that it didn't really matter what color her son died his hair or how many earrings he had... what she cared about was his heart... It stuck w/ me and I filed it away in things to remember 'when my kids got older'... little did I know that this advice would be needed much sooner.
As most know... Joe has an earring (this plus his shaved head disqualifies us from the 'typical' misionary image)... The boys have asked on several occasions about them getting one... we usually reply nonchalantly that it was fine, as long as they could handle the pain... so we would ceremoniously get out the needle, steralize it, clean it, and press it against their ear at which time they would squeal "NO!" and we would be safe for another 6 months or so... It worked well and we figured we were safe for awhile with this routine... what we forgot to factor in is our crazy boy TYLER... to make a long story short... he laughed through the whole ordeal and now has himself an earring... So now we have a son with a little tuft of hair sticking up from his shaved head and an earring... OI!... I'm thinking we're not going to win the "most improved" award from the missions community... darn! Brian followed Tylers lead (with Tyler going on and on about how much it hurt)... but Sam wasn't ready yet... we had a good chat about not yeilding to peer pressure and it doesn't make you less brave just because you don't want to do it! Joziah of course had no interest in inflicting pain upon himself... 'are you nuts?!' Living w/ children is awesome... I love it!
I'm pretty sure that the city mission community is happy we are moving to the village... they just don't know what to think of us! LOL... we are known as some of the strictest parents, with some of the 'nicest, well behaved children'... and yet we let them do crazy things like play in the fire and get their ears peirced... oh my... what is this world coming to!?
Blessings,
Jenn
* When exhausted my sarcastic side comes through... sorry... lots of sleepless nights, busy, busy, crazyness at the clinic... (twins yesterday!).... sickness, birthdays, last two assignments, tests, numbers, etc, etc... :)

Unexpected craziness

Life always has a 'normal' amount of craziness... but some days even I am think it's abnormally strange of a day.... By 9:30am this morning we had added 6 new members to the family and Joe was gone 4 bying... (I know, rough life)... by noon I had been called away by an unexpected baby check (one of those middle of the night scheduling things cause I never schedule when I'm not at work)... anyway... Levi, Meggie and Tyler came w/ me... by the time we left Levi wasn't feeling so hot (he had been fine just minutes before)... within an hour he had 104.5 fever... Somewhere in the day I managed to do several Well Women exams (all our numbers are due by May 11), help kids w/ school, and even take a nap (for night shift tonight).
The newest members (5 bunnies that were born on the bottom of the cage because we thought our bunny wasn't pregnant), and a new kitty (courtesy of the dorm house girls who couldn't bear to see the poor thing die).... are all doing fairly well... I don't have a lot of hope for the animals cause w/ our luck lately the chickens are rabbits seem to be dying faster than they can reproduce!... (I swear if one more chicken dies I'm going to be done chicken raising for awhile!)... Seriously... chickens being fine one day, dead the next, chicks drowning, chicks w/ tumors, dogs eating chicks, rat eating bunnies, bunnies dying from rainstorm?
Ok... my randomness is ending... it's time for friday night movie and a cup of coffee before night shift! Pray for Levi... his fever has spiked again... Brian had a fever and throwing up a few nights ago... praying it doesn't go through the entire house!
Oh yeah.... and on a very exciting note... I am currently working on my LAST 2 ASSIGNMENTS!!!! WOOHOO!! As of May 9... NO MORE HOMEWORK,... no more books, no more teachers dirty looks (or something like that!) LOL... just a wee bit excited!!!
Blessings,
Jenn

My little Indian Children

It's the week for hair... hair cuts, hair doos... (I can never figure out how to spell that word)! anyway... Yes, Tyler's hair looks like that (his request was a mowhak... this was the compromise)... Tonia's hair is just in 'transition'... I ran out of that batch of hair and my hands were tired of braiding for the night.... so we'll finish in the morning... I just though she looked like an Indian warrior or something...

Easter in the Philippines!

Ok, this isn't our first Easter here... but honestly, I can't remember last years even when I try! It's obviously been a full year! We had a fun family day... relaxed away from the busy crowds (by going to the mall when everyone else was in church)... I know heathen isn't it! But our church wasn't putting on anything and we really just wanted a day with the fam! It was wonderful! We wandered around, played games, shopped for a birthday present, spent Christmas money, ate lunch out and then headed to our friends grandaughters birthday party. We had a blast! They put on a 'bubble' show... which was quite entertaining! The kids all got turns of being in the bubble, lots of games, lots of prizes (EVERYONE) gets a prize here in games, even when you're out! It was a fun time of fellowship and by the end of building even more relationships. So here are a few shots of the fun they had today... I'll save the 'other' pictures from the other day until after everyone is out of there Easter mode... don't want to be completely sacraligious! LOL (You'll understand when I post them!).... haha...
Well, it must be time to wind down our very sugared up kids... Levi is yelling in the fan, enjoying the sound of it distorting his voice... Tyler has tied up all the balloon animals thus making Meghan angry while Joziah is trying to 'help' by untying it... :) heeeheee... did I say I love our life... :) Today I feel ready to have half dozen more! (Don't remind me of that on a bad day or I might bite your head off!) :P

A little bit of night shift fun!

Our night shift began w/ one of the girls asking me about a rash she had... I had seen that type of rash before, but couldn't place my finger on it... we asked Ate Sus... she thought it was the measles... I remembered there was an outbreak when we first got here and several kids got it (only one of mine) and another girl... mild cases, but still... so she went home and we were left with 3 of us to hold down the clinic.. no worries... there is just one labor and we think she will probably not deliver till morning...
She had an interesting birth (I'll spare the details) and delivered just after midnight (so much for our assumptions!)... I assisted... another labor walked in, but she was a different gal's continuity, so we called her and she came... I settled in for some sleep, but kept hearing a baby crying, I thought at first I had somehow missed the second birth, but no... she was laboring along... I tried to sleep again... crying... crying... suddenly the guard tells us that there is 'baby out' in the jeepney outside. Sure enough... delivered on route! I take this gal and help mom inside and start all the normal after birth fun...
At this point gal #2 was sent to the CR to clean up/freshen up... while taking her bucket bath out comes a head!... Yep... CR birth (that's bathroom birth for those outside of the Philippines!) ... A slippery, bloody bathroom.... fun fun!
So... you just never know what you'll get when you head to work! :) (that's one of the things I love about my job!)

I must think you're all shallow...

Now there's a title for you! LOL! Really I keep delaying posting on my blog because I figure everyone wants pictures... so they wouldn't want to just read another random post w/out them right!? Well... I do have pictures... lots and lots of pictures... unfortunately they are not currently on MY computer! so... you'll just have to be patient I guess... cause we have pictures galore... ;) which will eventually be transferred here! (maybe after May 30... when I'm done with school!) jk.. I would assign Joe to do it, but somehow between schooling the kiddos, managing a building project that is waaay out in the bukid (and with people you don't speak the same language as)... and building chicken pens, building projects w/ the kiddos, running kids to appts, grocery shopping, planning menus... phew... ok... you get the picture... He really does it all... I just eat, sleep, work, sleep, play, work... you know... pretty much that! Definitely couldn't do it without Joe... maybe I should give him a raise?... hmm... ;)

Phew!

Well the week is almost over!! So far we have survived!! Joe should be home from Kihan in a few short hours (feels like forever). I've decided I never ever want to be a single parent... my hat goes off to those who have done it or are doing it!! I've never been so thankful to my helper in all my time here in the Philippines! Between my normal shifts I also had a continuity so I only had wednesday off. She really managed well and the kids did amazing... So when I was home instead of cracking down on homework I just had kiddo time... which of course is needed and all well n good... just means I gotta bust it out this weekend and next week.
I'm supposed to head to do surgeries for a couple days this next week as well (about 4 hours from here)... but we'll see how it all works out with my assignment!
To top it all off we have begun 'studying' or doing practice tests for the NARM... the more I research, the more nervous I become! NARM rewrites the test every 2 years or so I guess... and it's always been a little whack according to those who have taken it... but apparently this new version is completely weird and 1/2 the testers have failed! YIKES!!! Talk about freaky! It's not about studying, it's not about knowing real midiwifery either... apparently the questions are completely random and it's not a very good judge of being a good midwife... (the question would be then why the heck is this our certifying test?!) Anyway... I will continue to study study and hope and pray that I get the right answers cause it's an EXPENSIVE test to not pass!!
Well... I could write and write, but I think I will be constructive and go play with my kids!