just a couple faces I miss:

Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,And with my song I will praise Him.

leaving...

In 5 hours I'll be on my way to Sacramento for Christmas. Mixed feelings- I'm super excited to see family and friends, and this time is way easier to leave because I know I'll be back soon. I have a ticket and all :) I can't wait to see my sister and parents and everyone at home but it's always hard for me to leave Haiti. And Nickenson isn't helping either... Today his body decided to reject anything we put into it. He vomited all day and had a high fever. Ok, nothing I havn't dealt with before- except he looks awful. Like a different kid. His eyes are sunken in and his personality disappeared. No smiles today... So Lori stuck him on an IV in the afternoon. (Lori- you are awesome!) Before we put the IV in I weighed him- 10.8lbs. Hes 15 months old. That is down from his top weight of 12.2lbs...

So far tonight he's been sleeping downstairs in the Rescue Center on and off since. I've been working on giving him meds, I started 4 hours ago. Sloooow but sure they are getting in him without vomit (knock on wood, and thank God for feeding tubes). It will NOT be easy leaving him in 4 hours. Mostly because I enjoy taking care of him. I've been having him 24/7 for a while now. Giving him his shots, meds through a feeding tube etc. He's become a big part of my life here... so of course it doesn't feel right just leaving for 2 weeks. Licia hired a woman named Ti priyay (total butcher of spelling Im sure... literal translation "little prayer,") to take care of him while I'm gone. I can't even tell you how much relief this will bring me when I'm away. (Licia you rock!) It's not that they don't have amazing staff here, because they do; it's that Nickenson is the most special kid I have met and his needs are borderline too much for me to handle sometimes... literally. I won't go into that though... lets just leave it at he is needy. Ti priyay will do awesome with him and has been coming for the past week and helping me with him and learning "his ways" :)

He was doing SO well for a while there... As for my leaving tomorrow- I'm just finding peace that God's ways are much greater than mine and whatever He has planned for Nickenson is perfect. Here's some pics from the past month with him :) Man, he's a ham.

Smiles in the bumbo.

Discovering his hands :)

Please keep Nickenson in your prayers as I know he can pull through if it's God's will.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Boys

Reading in our fort :)

A little skeleton fun for school...
final touch day- coloring the skin.
twiiister!!! Poor Henley obviously was slowest at this move
... but he sure didn't waste time getting Carmelo out
a ride around the mountian, nothing like the feeling of wind in your hair
stud.
"no school, I'm free... I love weekends!!!"
I truly feel blessed to be here teaching these kids and getting to be a part of the mission here. God is good.

AIDS day 2009

UNAIDS estimates that 33.4 million people are now living with HIV around the world and of that, 2.1 million of them are children. In 2008 an estimated 2 million people died from AIDS. One of those was a princess I'll never forget. She changed me and I know she touched many others. Thank you Berlancia for what you gave me... a passion that drives me.

In developing and transitional countries, 9.5 million people are in immediate need of life-saving AIDS drugs; of these, only 4 million (42%) are receiving the drugs. One of those lucky kids is Nickenson- who is on a program here in Haiti which provides meds for AIDs patients. I thank God for his meds.

Nickenson is doing... well. He is finally gaining weight, little by little and we topped 11 pounds this past Saturday :D He looks so much better physically and is smiley and spoiled. I've had him 24/7 now for a little more than 2 weeks and its been a roller coaster. I try to sneak in as many calories at night as possible. He had been vomiting ALL the time when i first was taking him and we could not get him to keep down his meds, so Licia tried giving him Reglan shots every time we give him his meds (twice a day) and it has been working fantastically. She taught me how to put in the tube and give him the shots so I am able to do everything for him. His dad came to visit and prayed over the rescue center and told me he'd pray for me... I feel blessed to be able to be a part of Nickenson's life and hopefully he will get well enough to go home to a dad who loves God and wants the best for him.

I have WAY too many pics of this beautiful kiddo... here's one for you though :)