OH, the places we'll go.

How does one move to the other side of the world?

And to a developing country, no less.

In our case, it's going to look something like this:

Six large suitcases, checked.

Three small carry-on suitcases.

One car seat, checked.

One jogging stroller, checked.

One small backpack, carried on.

One Mac laptop, carried on.

Aaaand, that's about all, folks.

(we finally bought Ru a sleep cap, which helps keep her hair from getting dry and tangled as she sleeps. this is her"camera face." can you tell?)

Our first Moving to Africa Yard Sale went well. We got rid of LOTS of stuff. Yet, I look around our 800 square foot space.....and still see stuff everywhere. I think our stuff is multiplying as we

sleep. Yep, I'm sure of it.

We have a lot of work to do, friends.

So, what essentials would YOU pack if YOU were moving to Africa? I'm not really needing suggestions--just curious what you would consider your must-haves.

I'm pretty sure our essentials will include brownie mix. And books. Books and brownies.

A Twist.

Soon after we brought Ruthie home, I noticed that when she was really sleepy, her eyes would kind of go googly.  In my dumb, first-time mom way, I thought that her eyes were just unfocused, you know, like a little baby's are sometimes......the problem is, it got worse.  Her eyes went googly in the middle of the day sometimes, and for long enough periods of time that we realized what was actually happening:  one of her eyes was wandering outward.  I talked to one of my childhood friends, Kari, (hi Kari!), who's an optometrist.  She told me it sounded like strabismus, and recommended we see a local pediatric opthamologist, Dr. Stager.  Meanwhile, Ruthie's eyes were definitely getting worse.  Her other eye would wander outwards sometimes, too.  It was definitely unnerving.  

Long story short:  we had our dr.'s appointment yesterday.  Ruthie will have eye surgery for exotopia in the next month or so.  It's a common, low-risk surgery.  Ruthie's prognosis is excellent. 

Thoughts:

1. We are SO thankful for our doctor, who is known to be excellent, and who does these surgeries all the time.

2.What if little Ruthie were still in Ethiopia, alone?  I've thought about that a lot.

3. And furthermore, what about all the little ones in Ethiopia now, who may lose their vision due to strabismus, a totally correctible eye disorder?

We are counting our blessings over here, thinking of the many children across the world who do not have the incredible access to medical treatment that we have.

It has begun.

A quick post while Ruthie chomps on Cheerios.

School's out!  We love seeing more of Michael around here.

We're having our first Moving to Africa Yard Sale this Saturday.   Wish us luck!

So many things to do to get ready to leave that it feels a bit overwhelming.

Little one is trying lots of new words lately, though I don't think the "verbal explosion" has yet begun.....how fun that will be!  Her newest word is "wet."  Her favorite word is "hot," with "poop" coming in as a close second.  "Hot" is used inaccurately, "poop" is used with great accuracy.