An Early Celebration

Happy Early Birthday Micah-man! His 1st birthday is not until April, but since the Grandparents were in town, we decided to celebrate a little early. Watching Micah eat his cake was definitely entertaining to us all. Here are a few of my favorite pics of the "party"...

What a face :)

He has a strange obsession with his feet, especially when he eats, so it was no surprise that the cake ended up on them too!

Baby Bible Class

When moving to Africa, we knew that church would be quite different from the States. We also knew we wanted to attend an African led church in order to get the whole "cultural" experience. It did not take long to find our church, Mamlaka Hill Chapel, and we have been blessed. The worship is great as it is a mix of English and Swahili songs, and the preaching is pretty good too (most days at least!). 

When we were visiting churches, it was hard for me to know what to do with Micah. Most of the church services lasted around two hours, and they did not have childcare-which made it a challenge with a squirmy little one in the service. Before moving here we were told over and over not to worry about having Micah in the service because the African babies will be there too and they are loud and just run loose. Well, that was completely wrong-at least for the churches we have visited. Some African children are in the service, but they are sooo well behaved-it amazes me!

Mamlaka Hill has been the perfect fit for our family. Micah and I attend the main service until the worship is over, and then head out together and go to "Baby Bible Class".  

I hate that I miss the preaching, but there is a TV with a video of the preaching in the baby room-it at least allows me to catch bits and pieces! This has been a great way for us to feel more connected to the church family as it has allowed both of us to make some new friends.

The class usually consists of moms and about 7 children (although this week we had 12) under the age of two. First the kids play for awhile, and then we start the class. The class is made up of a variety of songs that teach the babies all about the Bible, Jesus, and God's creation. It is the same lesson over and over each week-with a little alteration here and there. I have found this repetition to be perfect for this age and have loved watching Micah catch on.

The babies worship the Lord by singing praise songs and playing instruments. 

It was so fun to have Lottie come to class!
Each baby takes an animal and then we sing a song about a trait of that particular animal.

The Giraffe Center

I am pretty much obsessed with giraffes! One of the best parts of living in Africa is that they are everywhere! The first thing I bought when I moved here was a small wooden giraffe and I had to stop myself from buying a huge, life size one...maybe one day :) We also have a giraffe picture above our couch to match our giraffe printed cushions. Needless to say, I love them! So, when I found out that there is a place here to feed them, the Giraffe Center, I wanted to go right away. We ended up holding off and waiting until the Grandparents came to visit. I was so excited to see them and it was well worth the wait. It definitely met my expectations for sure! 

This is a hotel called Giraffe Manor where you can feed the giraffes from the breakfast table in the morning. 

Micah seeing his first giraffe!

Hello baby giraffe!
I decided to be brave and to try the "Giraffe Kiss"-it was an experience for sure!
The sweet giraffe with our family...
Bye for now. We'll definitely be visiting this place again.

Elephant Orphanage

This past weekend we took the Akin's to do some local "touristy" things that we had not done yet ourselves. We had a great day together and got some fun pictures. Here are a few pictures of our first stop at the Elephant Orphanage. 

This baby elephant was 2 months old. Isn't it adorable?
Me attempting to make Micah pet the baby elephant...I don't think Micah really knew what to think about this thing!

This is a baby rhino that is 6 weeks old. It is so ugly that I actually find it quite cute! Ha!

Tea Farm

During the week away at Paul's classes, the wives also had a chance to met every morning for a few hours. This ended up being a very precious time as we had the opportunity to encourage one another, pray together, and just share our joys and struggles. It definitely served as a time of refreshing to me and I learned so much from the women. Another blessing was that a church from Raleigh, NC sent several ladies to do childcare during these sessions. Not only did they spoil our kids, but it also allowed each mom so much needed "personal" time. 

Although the men had classes all day long, our afternoons were usually free. We went shopping, got manicures and pedicures, rested, went on walks, and just hung out. One day we had the opportunity to go to a local tea farm. We were served tea while we learned the whole tea process, went on a tour of the property, and ended with lunch which was all home grown. Not only was the property gorgeous, but the food was absolutely delicious too! Overall, we had a great time and I want to go back!

When we arrived, we were greeted with this little monkey. Since we live in the city, this was actually the first one I've really seen since arriving in Africa...sad, I know!

The peaceful area where we were served lunch.
Micah admiring the ducks. Too bad he cannot say "quack" just yet! 
The bright green is the tea fields...they are such a pretty color!
Enjoying time with my little one.
My amazing mother-in-law who completely spoiled all of us :)
Our wonderful group of ladies for the week.

Lottie and Granddaddy Visit Africa

We had so much fun having the Grandparents here for the past two weeks. What a blessing for them to be able to come and see us! Part of their visit was spent with the fellow SEBTS students (Paul included) who are in Africa and are working on finishing up their Master's degree. It was a great week of worship, relaxation, shopping, and to visit with family and friends-childcare was thankfully provided :) 

It was a busy, but wonderful visit with the Akin's and was hard to see them go. I think we all got spoiled by each other's company. We enjoyed letting them see our daily lives, as well as doing some local tourist things that we had not done yet. Micah loved the extra love and attention and was a little lonely today with just me at home! To be honest, I was too-back to reality, I guess :) Here are a few pictures with Lottie and Granddaddy. More to come from their visit later!!

My African "Toto"

The word for baby in Swahili is "mtoto", aka "toto".  Micah sure makes a cute African one dressed in full gear :) Whenever I go to the Markets around here, it never fails that I come home with something I didn't intend on buying. This lovely African outfit is a perfect example. A lady kept on begging me to buy it from her, so I eventually gave in-mostly just so she would leave me alone. It only cost me 50 shillings (which is less than a dollar), so I was not too upset with the purchase. I bought it several months ago and had forgotten about it until I recently ran across it in Micah's closet. I could tell it was getting way too small for him, so I thought I had better get some pictures while I could. I especially love his little diaper hanging out.