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August 25, 2003
Hi Everone!
Once again this entry is long over due! We got back in town on Sunday, August 17th and it has been a whirl wind of activities and catch up since we returned, so here I am nearly 3 weeks from my last entry!
The big news is about our trip to Nicaragua. We had some ups and downs, but I learned a lot and our next trip will be better because of it. I must say, Josh handled the plane ride like a champ! Out of the entire 12 hour round trip on the airplane, Josh only cried for about 30 seconds. I thought he would sleep more because when he was much younger we flew a few times and he slept most of the way. This time it was much too exciting to sleep. We began our travels at 5:00 am on Sunday morning and Josh did not sleep a wink on the car ride to the airport or on the plane. He slept for about 30 minutes during our layover in Texas (which was planned so Josh could stretch his legs and play, LOL!) The same was true for the return trip. The only time he slept was when he was in his stroller at the airport.
I am happy to say we never had any problems with him equalizing his ears to the pressure. We just filled a sippy cup with juice and during take off and landing we gave him his juice and he was fine. I never give him 100% juice so this was a big treat for him and he did plenty of swallowing to clear his ears. I am also thankful that we had the insight to bring the lap top computer and a few DVDs. Josh spent at least 2 hours watching videos on the way and the way back. Another great idea was washable markers. I brought Josh a coloring book and a pack of washable markers. He spent hours coloring and when he was done, I just took a wipe and the ink came right off of his hands and the plastic airplane tray that he was drawing on. I also brought several new books, playdough (thanks for the suggestion Anne!), and some little plastic reptile figurines. Josh stayed busy with playthings on the plane ride and I also had plenty of snacks, which proved to be beneficial to DH and me as well as Josh.
The plane trip was a success and when we arrived in Nicaragua we went directly to visit John's extended family. Although, we were tired after the long trip, it was nice to meet and visit with the family.
Nicaragua is a beautiful country. The climate is very similar to Hawaii. It has the tropical weather, rain forests and volcanoes, but it is also a very poor country. There were young children selling different items on the street. Most of them had no shoes and ragged clothes. I remember specifically one little boy selling CDs. He was such a little salesman and negotiator. When he left I asked my husband how old he thought he was and we guessed he was about 5 years old. It just breaks my heart to think a 5 year old was clearly so experienced in street sales, it was obvious he had been doing it for years. In addition to the street vendors, you could also see many of the homes were just a few boards nailed together. As we drove past these makeshift homes I thanked God that my Son is growing up in the USA. taking a vacation like this was a real eye opener to what I usually take for granted.
We stayed in the home of one of John's relatives. You could tell that this home was once amazing. It was an older home, but the architecture was beautiful, it had an uncovered courtyard in the middle and had maids quarters as well. During the revolution they were kicked out of their home and they fled to Florida, where they stayed for 13 years until they were able to take possesion of their home again. It had been "trashed". They lost so much and now thier home, that I am sure was once in great condition, is run down. They keep the general living area in good condition and the house is clean, but the bedrooms and bathrooms had broken tiles, old plumbing and were in need of a coat of paint. They had an armed guard at night, which scared me a little, but I guess that is the norm if you have a nice home in Managua.
I have to add one funny story as I will never forget this. On the evening of our fourth night of our vacation, I went up to our room and put Josh to bed. We had brought his Pac n' Play and were using the playpen for his bed. I had to use the restroom and there was one adjoining our room, so I went in there and kept the door ajar so I could hear Josh in case he woke up. I walked over to the toilet and opened the lid, it is a good thing I looked before I sat down because there staring back at me was a big sewer rat! I immediately closed the toilet lid and I could hear the rat splashing around in the toilet water. I ran out of the bathroom and got a flash light. I started searching the room for any signs that there may be other rats in the room. My biggest concern was that one might get into Josh's bed! When I saw that there were none, I walked about half way down the stair way and called for John. I told him what I had seen. John called the guard and and the guard came up and killed the rat. I am just thankful there was someone there other than John and me because neither one of us would have been able to kill that rat. Needless to say going to the bathroom for the rest of the trip was a stressfull experience, but we never did see another rat.
On a better note, the Anniversary party that we had come for was a blast! There was a band and we all danced and visited with family. Josh dragged a toy microphone out of the toy box and got up on stage to sing with the band. It was so cute!!! He is such a little performer already. When we went inside the house he kept saying "I go dance Mommy." and we would go back out to the dance floor. The Nicaraguan food was delicious (and by the way, the water in Managua is safe to drink!). The party statrted at 2:00 pm which was nice because we were able to enjoy the party for a long time before we had to leave and get Josh to bed. We brought his tooth brush and pajamas so we could just get him ready for bed at the party and when he fell asleep in the car we could just put him directly to bed.
Our plane left for home, the morning after the party. We were only gone 7 days, but I for one, was ready to be home. Josh came down with a case of diarrhea on the way home. He had an explosive diaper at the airport while we were waiting to board the plane and I went to find a place to change him. As luck would have it, they don't have changing tables in the bathrooms in Nicaragua and there was no way I was going to lay him down on that dirty bathroom floor (even with a changing pad), so it was off to find a relatively secluded place to change his diaper. I found a little carpeted area behind some shops and I set up a changing area for him before I realized how bad his diaper was. It wasn't until then that I realized that poop had dripped out of his diaper all over the front of my pants, my shirt and the sleves of the sweater I had tied around my waist. For Josh it was fine, I had a clean diaper plenty of wipes and a change of clothes for him. I, however, had nothing clean for my self and all of our bags were already checked. I did my best to clean myself up with wipes and napkins, but there is only so much you can do with out taking your clothes off and washing them in the sink (believe me I consdered this!). As I got Josh and myself as cleaned up as possible, I started walking back to our boarding area and noticed that I had left a trail of poop all accross the airport! It must have just over flowed out of his diaper and what ever didn't land on my clothes landed on the floor leading right to us! So, here I am holding Josh in one hand with his daiper bag over my sholder and a bunch of paper towels in the other hand trying to wipe up the trail of Poop!
Without getting into to much more detail the airline lost 2 of our suitcases on the flight home. We hired a car and driver to pick us up from the airport and the car over heated and had to pull off the road several times before getting us home, but we finally made it!
I've never been so glad to be home in my life!
As for the TTC front. Today is day 24 and I am so hoping that this is the cycle I have been waiting for! I took clomid this cycle and we hit all the right days! so keep your fingers crossed for me and wish me luck!
Thanks for reading,
Janet and Josh
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