Thursday, September 12, 2013

It has been 1 year!

So I cannot believe it has been 1 whole year since I have posted anything on here. A lot has happened. First off, I graduated with my Masters. Secondly, Andrew and I bought a house. And most importantly, I gave birth to Jackson. I guess I stopped posting right before I got pregnant. Funny how that works. I wish I had blogged during my pregnancy, but oh well. Next time :).

So Jackson was born on 6/24 (his due date) at 10:50 a.m. weighing 7 lbs. 1 oz and was 20 inches. He has been growing great. His 2 week appointment he had gained all his weight back and was about 7 lbs 14 oz. At his 2 month appointment he weighed 11 lbs. 4 oz. and was 22.5 inches. He is in the 60's percentile for weight, 40's for head, and 50's for height (I cant remember the exact percentages.. I could look it up but I'm lazy!). He is a growing boy, that is for sure. Some characteristics of this little boy are

  • He has blue/grey eyes, blonde hair, and dimples. One day I was looking at a Pampers box and realized that he looked very similar to the baby on the box. He's a looker, but maybe I'm biased. We think he is going to be a heartbreaker for sure.
  • He is strong! Jackson rolled over at 3 days old and has been practically holding his head up since day 1. I always commented to Andrew that we never had a floppy head baby like I've seen before.
  • He is very alert. Since he was born he was looking around at everything. He is still very observant of his surroundings.
  • He is very active...always kicking kicking kicking. He never stops. In fact, he likes to kick me! He is going to be a very energetic and active child. Lord help me.
  • He is very social. He loves new faces! He's always smiling at whoever will give him attention.
  • He is happy. Although he cries (what baby doesn't), he is overall pretty happy. We have so many pictures of this boy smiling. I can't believe how early some of them were taken (we have one of him during his first week). He has been smiling consistently since 4 weeks and continues to do so daily. He also started laughing at 2 months 1 week. 
  • He is determined. I will teach him something and he will focus on it intently. I love watching him learn because he will not stop until he gets it. He has objects on his playmat that he gets intently focused on (this toy monkey) and will not stop staring and fussing at it, but also playing with it at the same time. 
  • He's a fast learner and has done things ahead of the curve. For example, rolling over, and also batting at objects.
  • He's resilient. He had shots right after he was born and he didn't even cry.
Now that Jackson is 2 1/2 months he has already smiled, rolled over (from his front to back), laughed, held his head up, and grasped objects. He also has started to watch our every move. We can't get out of his sight! He recently started whining when we put him down. He loves to be held up against my shoulder so he is close and also can see whats going on. He loves to chew his hands and has also started to discover that he can put objects in his mouth. 

We are very excited for the next few months because we are really going to see him develop. We are excited for his next milestones: rolling over consistently and from back to front, sitting up, eating things other than breast milk, grabbing objects, playing with toys. I will try to make more of a conscious effort to update this so you all can keep up with his progress. Also, I'd like to have this on file for the future. I have already started making a baby book for him and have saved quite a lot of these details, but it is always best to have it somewhere else as well. Also, I have a very detailed account of his birth story which I may try to condense and post. I hand wrote it so it will take me some time before I'm able to have the time to write it out here. 

Until next time... Hopefully it will not be 1 year this time. Oh, and some pictures of the past year are posted below.






















Jackson's 1st vacation- Lake Tahoe for the Weber Family Reunion. 1 1/2 months old.







2 weeks










1 day old!



Tuesday, August 7, 2012

My new hobby

Since I've been home from Africa I have been bored waiting for my final graduate semester to start.. so I have started painting and reupholstering dining room chairs. Random, I know. But it has actually kept me pretty busy. I have thus far completed two chairs. Wanted to post pics for you to see the process. This first chair already had a great paint job. I just reupholstered it with new fabric I bought at Walmart. My mom bought this chair at a thrift store for $25.00


















This chair was more labor intensive. You can see the original chair before the paint job (brown with an ugly floral fabric). I sanded it down, used primer for the first coat, painted it white twice, and used 3 polycrylic finishes. Then I purchased some light fabric from Walmart and covered the seat. I think it turned out beautifully. What do you think ?






Thursday, July 12, 2012

"Chop my Money" and "Facebook"

Since I am departing this place soon, figured I'd share two of the most important songs here in Arusha... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17vC8qZILJE&feature=fvwrel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuiFJWEIpIo

Monday, May 7, 2012

Tanzania Trip Planning

So I have started planning for my summer in Tanzania. It's about time, right? Well, it is so hard to plan when you're going to Africa because a lot of the cheap hotels and buses cannot be booked online. But after religiously searching online for a decently priced hotel, I found a hostel that is called the Jambo Inn. Pretty awesome ratings, lots of "mzungus" in the pictures, and best part... CHEAP. One room with just a fan (no AC) is $20.00 per night. Can't beat that! Also, it is in the perfect location and they offer a taxi service to pick you up from the airport for $25.00. It's bad that I debated whether or not to pay that much... it really isn't THAT bad of a "mzungu" price.. but then again, I pride myself on my bargaining skills. I don't want to be THAT white girl that got ripped off. But I think since I'm not going to know anyone when I arrive in Dar, and I also will have huge luggage bags, it only makes sense that I would have someone there waiting for me. It makes me feel more safe since I am EXTREMELY nervous to be going to Tanzania. In Rwanda, I would travel months, heck, years, by myself. But Dar is a big city and it makes me nervous. I am still debating whether I should go to Zanzibar by myself. I think that I will see what people I meet at the Jambo Inn. I guarantee that there is at least one group of people just passing through Dar like me on their way to another destination, namely Zanzibar. If not, then I will just take the bus from Dar to Arusha... a 9 hour bus ride. I am super excited.. really nervous.. and anxious. Overall it will be quite the adventure.. traveling in Africa by myself. It is a big task to take on but I think I can do it. Just have to make sure I have plenty of Tanzania shillings upon arrival. Gotta work on that. And gotta get myself a phone upon arrival. If I learned one thing from my trip to Africa last time it's that it is nearly impossible to survive in Africa without a phone! Here in the US I could.. but not there. People are too reliant on phones to reach each other. Here's to praying everything goes as planned!

Here's a link to the hotel that I'll be staying in. Pretty snazzy,huh? I told Andrew that the bathroom was TOP NOTCH. Ha! I love how to me it is a luxury to have hot water and I haven't even lived months without hot water yet. What an adventure this summer will be...

http://jamboinnhotel.com/


Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Rwandan & East African popular music

I still jam out to lots of African music... probably weekly if not daily. Here are some popular artists and some of my favorite jams:

Kitoko- URUKUNDO

Kitoko- AKABUTO

Kitoko- IKIRAGI

Kitoko- YOU

Kitoko- AGAKECURU

Tom Close- BAZA

Tom Close- NDACYAGUKUNDA

Tom Close- MBWIRA YEGO

Meddy- AKARAMATA

Meddy- INKORAMUTIMA

OLD RWANDA BLOG

BTW, in case you're interested...

Here are blog posts from when I was in Rwanda in 2010... in case you're interested in reading my old experiences and finding out more about Africa and Rwanda in particular.

http://sendmetorwanda.weebly.com/blog.html

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Trip to AFRICA May 24-August 13, 2012

So I have yet to mention my impending trip to Africa this summer on my blog. At first I was a bit hesitant, but as the days pass I am getting more and more excited. I will be living in Arusha, Tanzania and I will be working for the United Nations, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to be exact :). I arrive in Dar Es Salaam on May 25th, and I am hoping to meet my friend Taima (who is my best Rwandese friend who I will be living with). I plan to spend a few days in Zanzibar, what a dream, and then embark on the 9 hour bus ride from Dar Es Salaam to Arusha. I will start my internship on June 1st and it will last until the beginning of August, at which point I will travel on a bus across East Africa from Arusha to Nairobi, Kenya (a 5-6 hour bus ride). In Nairobi I will meet up with my Kenyan friend Caz who lives in a small town called Eldoret in Kenya. I will try to visit with her for a day or two, at which point I will then head to Kampala (an 11ish hour bus ride) and spend a short amount of time with my Rwandese friend Benon, who currently lives in Kampala. I will then embark on my last bus trip to Kigali, Rwanda (a 11-13 hour bus ride). It is there that I plan to spend the rest of my time. I'll be flying out of Kigali on August 13th. It is a pretty bold and adventurous agenda I am taking on, but I think I can handle it. I've also been in tune with the fact that there is a train that travels in Kenya and Tanzania... so that might be an option as well.

I could not be more excited to see my best friends. It has been 2 years since I stepped foot in Africa, and to be honest, I've missed it tremendously. For a long time I had an issue adjusting to being back in the US and my husband knows how much I wanted to move over there. Unfortunately it was not in the cards for us. I am grateful that I did not, because I have had the opportunity, since returning from Africa, to pursue my Masters in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. This internship experience, which I am applying to my Masters program, is a perfect addition to my experience and will teach me a lot. 2 months is nothing in the grand scheme of things... but I hope that I learn a lot. I am also excited to be surrounded by Rwandans and, in particular, my best friend Taima. She is a genuine and trustworthy friend.. something I have been lacking in my life for a long time. I know  that I can count on her for anything, and I am grateful to be able to live with her for two months. She has been such a blessing in my life.

As for my living arrangements, she lives with a roommate in a 3 bedroom apartment in Arusha town. I will have my own room... and apparently they have a cook/maid/laundry lady. I am super stoked on that... I hated spending 2-3 hours every weekend washing my clothes just for them to get rained on! It will be nice too that I do not have to spend money on breakfast, dinner, rent, or daily transportation when I am there. She is letting me stay for free, and even just purchased a car and is going to drop me at work everyday. That will leave me lots of money for fun trips... like possibly the Serengeti (one of the best safaris in Africa featuring the top 5 animals) and hiking Mount Kilimanjaro (the tallest mountain in Africa). I am looking into relatively inexpensive options to do those expensive "mzungu" activities.We shall see...

Well, that's all the info I have for now. Here are a few pictures and links to the place I'll be living/what I'll be doing while there.

INFO ABOUT THE UNICTR

ZANZIBAR, TANZANIA

ZANZIBAR, TANZANIA

MOUNT KILIMANJARO, TANZANIA

MOUNT KILIMANJARO, TANZANIA

THE SERENGETI, TANZANIA

THE SERENGETI, TANZANIA

THE SERENGETI, TANZANIA

MOUNT KILIMANJARO, TANZANIA