Josaphine sqeeky chewing!

I may love this kid wayyy too much.

Sharing a mango smoothie with the love of my life!


Boys playing "football"

Walk to town!

Day out with Josaphine!!

Is it bad putting lip gloss on a four year old?

Week Two

So I am gettin' a hang of this whole blog dealio. However I have been a lil lax on keeping up with pictures...now I understand why the second child never gets as much baby pictures...Mom...(cough)...lol. Anyways. This past week has been great! Everyday I continue to fall more in love with the children here. The mornings are hard work, and it makes me question my dream of having seven children...Thank God for mothers right! This past week I have been experiencing like light-headedness...if thats a legit word, and the nurse thinks its anemia but I am pretty positive its not. After passing out on monday and nearly landing on 2 month old baby Emily, I think that if it continues I will go to the clinic. Other than that everything has been really great. I took Eva to town to get a milk shake...and I was extremly impressed to see she downed a entire milk shake with only two breaths...shes a tank! As I said before she never smiles or laughs like the other children which is why I chose to bring her along. However last night apparently before dinner the other girls here witnessed lots of laughter and smiles and even talking. She would say "Auntie! and point and laugh!...gosh. if you knew her at all...its a miracle...and I missed it! oh well. Josaphine...the one I want to sneak home in my suit case is feeling a lot better. Out of all the things there is to do here...I would say putting the babies down to bed is my all time favorite. There is twelve little naked bodies running around and they are all usually relatively happy because they have all just been fed, and its up to just you to throw diapers on them, then their night clothes and toss them in their cribs. I probably over kiss them all...which is probably where I got my latest cold from but they are so dang cute. The other day one of the mamas had me read a story to the babies and one story led in to 8 books! These kids are like 2-3 which is amazing attention span if you ask me! They all just stared lol.
The children are constantly learning every day and it's so cool just to watch them grow and learn to walk and talk. Its weird to think that we were kids like them and how time flies, yet we ourselves are still learning to live and adapt to the new things that God throws our way.
Yesterday while sitting in the grass while all the kids ran inside for dinner, William (5 years) was by himself crying very softly about who knows what :) and little Mathias who is partially deaf comes to him and uses his own t-shirt and wipes Williams tears. I wish I had a camera because it could of been the cutest thing I have ever seen...i nearly had tears myself. Anyways...you all Im sure are thinking that this is wayyy too much to read so I should go and start laundry. I miss you all and pray God is with all of you. Thanks for tuning in :)

Taking Preschool to the Fair!!

Week One.

I have been here for a week now and everyday I fall more in love with this place. The children here seriously dig holes in my heart. Which may seem strange but I'm not sure if there is any other way to explain the feeling. Knowing their stories and getting to know them I forget and have to remind myself that this is an orphanage and some of these children will never have a home or a family. It's hard to comprehend why anyone would want to give up these children. Eva one of the smallest of the baby C's. She was abused emotionally and physically by her mother since she was born and was brought here six months ago by her father. Going on three now, she still refuses to make eye contact and never smiles. She plays alone and watches others eat before she eats her own food. She is starting to trust me and cries if I take her off my lap. She is beautiful. There is a Ugandan couple that wants her, however because her family is still alive and will not sign her over, she will remain in the system until she comes of age. Her problems will only progress through out her life. Bobby is five and is now in preschool. He wants to know everyone's name and loves meeting strangers. He is kind to his friends and always smiles. Bobby has aids...and is old enough to know it. He is also old enough to realize that while his 4 best friends get adopted to families in Nashville, he will remain at the cottage until it's time to move to another orphanage and will probably never have a family of his own. The baby cottage here takes very good care of each child here. They are fed enough to keep healthy and well...we try our best to keep them as clean as possible however you may disagree after seeing pictures. However there aren't enough volunteers in the world to give these children the love a mother and father can give. With all 57 of them we try to spend individual time with them each week. They will all cry when you put them down, or let go of their hand. I still find myself questioning why anyone should have to go through this. I'm sure it's much easy working at a baby home than a home where the children are old enough to be kept up at night knowing their mother are father don't have enough love for them. Like I said before, Its only been a week and it's been an eye-opening experience. Keep these children in your prayers as I post more pictures. Thanks for taking the time to read this and feel free to ask me any questions by email. cpaeschke@eagles.ewu.edu

The Nile

With a few hours of free time, some locals gave us a boat tour on the Nile. It was pretty legit. It was overall a perfect look at Africa. I got to see just a glimpse of how these people live and it gave me true appreciation of what I have and who I have in my life. Despite the circumstances most of these Ugandans are in... God is fully present in their lives. You can purchase Him in the shops. His name is written on buidings, motor cars, and street signs. When we go into town the streets are loud with hymns and worship songs. It's very different from home, and encouraging to see the people here who have so little sing so loud praising God for what He has given to them. They rely on Him and trust Him so much more than most of us. Here are a few pictures of our boat trip down the Nile and of the what "well off" villages look like. Enjoy.

Snack time with Baby C

DiDi's Birthday!

Short visit to town to give the kids some individual attention and celebrate Didi's 3rd birthday!...before the Dan ate too much and threw up..and nichole drank too much water and nearly threw up.