A day in our lives: Thursday, 15 March 2012
12:00 am – We wake up because the electricity has just gone out. It’s noticeable because we sleep with a ceiling fan (which doesn’t do much to get through the mosquito net) and an oscillating floor fan. Rodgers gets up, sprays our windows and those in the boys’ room down with bug spray so that we can open the shades with as few mosquitos coming in as possible. We try to sleep some more, but it’s hot.
5:15 am – Morning prayer wakes us up. We have one mosque close enough to be loud and 2 more that we can hear in the background. Nate wakes up and calls out to us because it scares him. I have been talking to him about the prayers from the mosques. I tell him that it’s someone singing and praying. The guy singing is far away, but very loud so that other people can sing and pray with him. We have been singing “Jesus Loves Me” when we hear it, since that's one of Nate's favorite songs. So Rodgers tells Nate to sing “Jesus Loves Me” and go back to sleep. It apparently works because we don’t hear from him for a while.
6:00 am – The power comes back on. Yay!
6:15 am – Nate is ready to get up. Rodgers gets up with him, and I manage another 20 minutes of snoozing.
6:35 am – I get up, shower, etc, then go downstairs to find Rodgers cooking pancakes. Nate and I eat, then I give him a bath in one of the laundry basins outside while Rodgers showers and eats his own plate of pancakes.
7:00 am – Ben is awake. Rodgers changes his diaper and feeds him his morning bottle. I bring in laundry that has been drying on the line overnight.
8:00 am – Rodgers leaves to find out if our desk is ready to be brought home. It was supposed to have been built over the weekend but the fundi (craftsman) was ill, so they were trying to find someone else to build it. I give Ben a bath, then sit down with a cup of coffee to check emails while the boys play. Normally our housekeeper would arrive now, but she’s been so efficient this week that she really doesn’t have anything to do today, so she’s taking the day off and will come back Friday to finish up our laundry for the week.
9:00 am – I take Nate to the potty and set an alarm for 1 hour to remind me to take him again in case he doesn’t tell me when he needs to go.
9:30 am – Ben starts getting fussy, but it’s not time for nap, yet, so I feed him his morning snack early. It’s peas and a bottle. He falls asleep before he finishes his bottle.
10:00 am – The potty alarm goes off. I take Nate to the potty. He asks for chips for snack; I tell him no. Then he asks for an apple, so I cut one up for him. He eats almost half of the apple.
10:30 am – Nate poops in his undies. At least he tells me right away! I clean him up; he tells me, “Thank you, Mama.” Then Rodgers comes home. The desk is not finished.
10:55 am – Nate wants to pee.
11:00 am – Nate tells me he wants to go to bed. It was an early morning, so he needs an early nap. We go lay down on my bed (he prefers to nap in the big bed), and he falls asleep. The potty alarm goes off again because I forgot to turn it off when Nate peed on his own. He's napping in undies for the first time – and in my bed! This is scary. I put a waterproof pad under him just in case.
11:30 am – Ben wakes up ready for lunch. He eats bananas and has a bottle, then is ready to play.
12:00 pm – I check the laundry that was still wet this morning, bring in some more dry clothes, then fold and put away. Rodgers and I make plans for the afternoon.
1:00 pm – Nate is stirring when I check on him, so I wake him up all the way. Ben is ready for a nap again, but he will wait until we leave for our afternoon errands. We eat lunch, then get Nate dressed (and exchange undies for a diaper), pack our diaper bag and get in the car. Ben naps the whole way.
2:30 pm – We arrive at the side-of-the-road copy place. Our friend works there, taking pictures. He takes passport photos for all of us. The boys are applying for Kenyan passports, Rodgers needs to renew his passport, and I need passport photos for my dependent’s pass application. Nate’s the hardest to get a picture of, but our friend has a good idea. He tells Nate to go on a walk with him. A coworker walks behind Nate, holding a sheet behind his head for the background of the photo. Our friend walks in front, backwards, and keeps snapping pictures until he gets a usable one. We are impressed! Then we get copies made of the documentation that needs to go with our applications. The copier/printer is quite slow. Nate has a snack of something like seasoned shoestring potatoes, and Ben has a bottle.
4:15 pm – We head over to the nearest Nakumat (Kenyan WalMart). We need a new mosquito net for our bed (the one that we’re using was here when we moved in and has holes in it), and we want to check out what kind of snacks they have. We’re still looking for a substitute for a certain snack that Nate loves.
5:00 pm – We come out of Nakumat. Nate’s pants are soaking wet because we forgot to change his diaper. I put a dry diaper and clean shorts on him, and we head back home.
5:30 pm – We’re still on the road, but nearly home. It’s time to eat, but it’s too late to start cooking. We stop at a new pizza place that we’ve tried before. It’s expensive compared to local restaurants. It costs about $10 to feed the 3 of us. Nate had turned his water bottle upside down in the car and shook it until a big puddle formed in his seat. So his spare pants are now soaking wet, too. He's just going to have to stay wet this time.
6:30 pm – We get home. Ben has supper of apples in cereal with a bottle. Nate plays with blocks.
7:15 pm – It’s time for the boys to get ready for bed. Nate gets a snack, and I read 4 books to him as usual. Rodgers gets Ben ready for bed. Nate and I make 2 trips downstairs to give Daddy a kiss.
7:30 pm – Nate brushes his teeth, washes his face and hands, and gets in bed. We say bedtime prayers. He knows that it’s almost time to hear the evening prayers, so he wants me to stay in bed with him until it’s over. I talk to him again about what he’s hearing. When the prayers start, we sing “Jesus Loves Me” and cuddle. When the prayers are over, I leave Nate to fall asleep on his own.
8:00 pm – Coming downstairs, I find Ben and Rodgers both asleep on the couch. How sweet! I put my feet up and check my email again.
9:00 pm – It was an early morning and a rough night, so we are ready for bed! We’re too tired to wash dishes tonight, and all that's dirty are bottles, cups, and our lunch dishes. Instead of washing, we just gather them all, rinse them, and leave them in the sink. I go upstairs and rinse out diapers from the afternoon and evening. Rodgers is already in bed. I brush my teeth, lay down, and fall asleep right away.
5:15 am – Morning prayer wakes us up. We have one mosque close enough to be loud and 2 more that we can hear in the background. Nate wakes up and calls out to us because it scares him. I have been talking to him about the prayers from the mosques. I tell him that it’s someone singing and praying. The guy singing is far away, but very loud so that other people can sing and pray with him. We have been singing “Jesus Loves Me” when we hear it, since that's one of Nate's favorite songs. So Rodgers tells Nate to sing “Jesus Loves Me” and go back to sleep. It apparently works because we don’t hear from him for a while.
6:00 am – The power comes back on. Yay!
6:15 am – Nate is ready to get up. Rodgers gets up with him, and I manage another 20 minutes of snoozing.
6:35 am – I get up, shower, etc, then go downstairs to find Rodgers cooking pancakes. Nate and I eat, then I give him a bath in one of the laundry basins outside while Rodgers showers and eats his own plate of pancakes.
7:00 am – Ben is awake. Rodgers changes his diaper and feeds him his morning bottle. I bring in laundry that has been drying on the line overnight.
8:00 am – Rodgers leaves to find out if our desk is ready to be brought home. It was supposed to have been built over the weekend but the fundi (craftsman) was ill, so they were trying to find someone else to build it. I give Ben a bath, then sit down with a cup of coffee to check emails while the boys play. Normally our housekeeper would arrive now, but she’s been so efficient this week that she really doesn’t have anything to do today, so she’s taking the day off and will come back Friday to finish up our laundry for the week.
9:00 am – I take Nate to the potty and set an alarm for 1 hour to remind me to take him again in case he doesn’t tell me when he needs to go.
9:30 am – Ben starts getting fussy, but it’s not time for nap, yet, so I feed him his morning snack early. It’s peas and a bottle. He falls asleep before he finishes his bottle.
10:00 am – The potty alarm goes off. I take Nate to the potty. He asks for chips for snack; I tell him no. Then he asks for an apple, so I cut one up for him. He eats almost half of the apple.
10:30 am – Nate poops in his undies. At least he tells me right away! I clean him up; he tells me, “Thank you, Mama.” Then Rodgers comes home. The desk is not finished.
10:55 am – Nate wants to pee.
11:00 am – Nate tells me he wants to go to bed. It was an early morning, so he needs an early nap. We go lay down on my bed (he prefers to nap in the big bed), and he falls asleep. The potty alarm goes off again because I forgot to turn it off when Nate peed on his own. He's napping in undies for the first time – and in my bed! This is scary. I put a waterproof pad under him just in case.
11:30 am – Ben wakes up ready for lunch. He eats bananas and has a bottle, then is ready to play.
12:00 pm – I check the laundry that was still wet this morning, bring in some more dry clothes, then fold and put away. Rodgers and I make plans for the afternoon.
1:00 pm – Nate is stirring when I check on him, so I wake him up all the way. Ben is ready for a nap again, but he will wait until we leave for our afternoon errands. We eat lunch, then get Nate dressed (and exchange undies for a diaper), pack our diaper bag and get in the car. Ben naps the whole way.
2:30 pm – We arrive at the side-of-the-road copy place. Our friend works there, taking pictures. He takes passport photos for all of us. The boys are applying for Kenyan passports, Rodgers needs to renew his passport, and I need passport photos for my dependent’s pass application. Nate’s the hardest to get a picture of, but our friend has a good idea. He tells Nate to go on a walk with him. A coworker walks behind Nate, holding a sheet behind his head for the background of the photo. Our friend walks in front, backwards, and keeps snapping pictures until he gets a usable one. We are impressed! Then we get copies made of the documentation that needs to go with our applications. The copier/printer is quite slow. Nate has a snack of something like seasoned shoestring potatoes, and Ben has a bottle.
4:15 pm – We head over to the nearest Nakumat (Kenyan WalMart). We need a new mosquito net for our bed (the one that we’re using was here when we moved in and has holes in it), and we want to check out what kind of snacks they have. We’re still looking for a substitute for a certain snack that Nate loves.
5:00 pm – We come out of Nakumat. Nate’s pants are soaking wet because we forgot to change his diaper. I put a dry diaper and clean shorts on him, and we head back home.
5:30 pm – We’re still on the road, but nearly home. It’s time to eat, but it’s too late to start cooking. We stop at a new pizza place that we’ve tried before. It’s expensive compared to local restaurants. It costs about $10 to feed the 3 of us. Nate had turned his water bottle upside down in the car and shook it until a big puddle formed in his seat. So his spare pants are now soaking wet, too. He's just going to have to stay wet this time.
6:30 pm – We get home. Ben has supper of apples in cereal with a bottle. Nate plays with blocks.
7:15 pm – It’s time for the boys to get ready for bed. Nate gets a snack, and I read 4 books to him as usual. Rodgers gets Ben ready for bed. Nate and I make 2 trips downstairs to give Daddy a kiss.
7:30 pm – Nate brushes his teeth, washes his face and hands, and gets in bed. We say bedtime prayers. He knows that it’s almost time to hear the evening prayers, so he wants me to stay in bed with him until it’s over. I talk to him again about what he’s hearing. When the prayers start, we sing “Jesus Loves Me” and cuddle. When the prayers are over, I leave Nate to fall asleep on his own.
8:00 pm – Coming downstairs, I find Ben and Rodgers both asleep on the couch. How sweet! I put my feet up and check my email again.
9:00 pm – It was an early morning and a rough night, so we are ready for bed! We’re too tired to wash dishes tonight, and all that's dirty are bottles, cups, and our lunch dishes. Instead of washing, we just gather them all, rinse them, and leave them in the sink. I go upstairs and rinse out diapers from the afternoon and evening. Rodgers is already in bed. I brush my teeth, lay down, and fall asleep right away.
I adore this post...it's like a little movie of your day! Hope you got some sleep.
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