Well, let's see if we can let you have a look at Esther and Joe...





Little Man Joe was also snug and warm inside of an incubator when I arrived at the Bulrushes at the beginning of July. In fact, his was the first little angelic face I laid eyes on during my first visit and I still remember how excited I was when I got to hold and feed him.
Like Adrian, Joe grew quite a bit while I was there and was soon out of his incubator and getting to know all the other babies in the newborn room.

Esther is a doll! She would often let anyone who would listen know when she wasn't happy (especially mid-way through nap time), but I think she was just trying to live up to the nickname "My little Queen" that she was given by her Nannies.






Well, these are the little ones I got to know the best while I was in Uganda. The last day that I was volunteering I held up well until after their 2pm feed. As I sat rocking Esther, Susie began changing the babies one by one, swaddling them and putting them down for their next nap. It was then that I realized that it would be a very long time before I had the chance to hold them in my arms again and that's when the tears came. Poor Esther probably wondered why it was raining on her head and why she was shaking so much, but instead of complaining, she just snuggled in closer to me and fell asleep.
A friend left me a message yesterday asking how I didn't come home without any of them and the only answer I can give to her is that they are really all right here in my heart. Sappy I know, but very, very true!

Hi there strangers!

Thanks to all of you who continue to drop by to see if I've had anything new to say since getting home at the end of July. I'm afraid it has taken three weeks just to get my head around being back in Canada and starting to think about all that I saw and experienced.

Tonight I thought I would take some time before heading to bed to introduce you to some of the newborns at The Bulrushes.

This is Vicky. Isn't she adorable? She loves to get your attention and then break out in this huge grin! (especially during nap time!)







Here's Adrian. Check out that chin! Yes, the little pointy one! How cute! Now...have a look at the second one that's coming in nicely as well.
When I arrived at the beginning of July, Adrian was still in an incubator and was one of the tiniest babies at the Bulrushes. A month of good eats did him wonders and about halfway through my time there, he moved into the nursery with the "big kids".



Meet my buddy Jordan. At the beginning of my stay, Jordan had a bad cold and I took to snuggling him as much as I could to help him feel better. Nina would pop out of the office and shake her head at me, telling me with a smile that she worried for Jordan...that he was going to cry when I left at the end of the month because no one would have the time to snuggle him all day like I was doing. No worries. Jordan recovered well and trust me, this boy gets his fair share of cuddling each and every day!




Here is Miss Miriam, or "Mimi" as she is more likely to be called. This little smiley sweetheart was causing her Nannies some grief this summer when she decided that she wasn't going to drink enough on her own. All of the children are closely monitored each day to ensure that they are taking in enough food and growing. Eventually a feeding tube was inserted into Mimi until she was ready to resume eating on her own. (Hooray! I've seen pictures of her since I left and the tube is now out!)


Here is my precious little friend, Zeke. Zeke and I loved to hang out together but for a while, he was doing too much hanging out and not enough eating and ended up with a feeding tube as well. We spent quite a bit of time smiling and cooing at each other. At one point I was pretty sure he was trying to woo me into bringing him home and I have to tell you, it almost worked. More than once we sat on the sofa just inside the front doors playing "If I could be your Mama, I would...". (It's a dangerous game, people!)


I also want to introduce you to Esther and Joe, but they are both camera shy (the pics actually won't upload onto the site tonight), so you'll have to wait until another day to meet them.

Stay tuned!