Eliot's 1st Birthday!

Feeding the giraffe

Crocodile Tooth!

Eliot is one year old! I can't believe it. His presence in our lives has brought so much joy in so many ways, he is a true blessing to our family. It's amazing to see how happy he makes others, and how affectionately his bright eyes shine as he makes new friends no matter what continent he's on.

For his birthday party we went to Nairobi Mamba Village which boasts a crocodile park with over 70 crocodiles (Graham and Eliot were entranced although their mother was sure to have nightmares--what horrible creatures!) as well as ostriches and a giraffe. After the party we came home and had cupcakes.-- Eliot kept saying "mmm---mmm--mmm" the whole time.

We will finally be heading to Congo on Friday, with the visas cleared and flights mostly figured out. Our time here has been so blessed, but we're excited to finally make it to Beni.

Love you all!

Happy Birthday Eliot!

Feeding the giraffe

Crocodile Tooth!

Eliot is one year old! I can't believe it. His presence in our lives has brought so much joy in so many ways, he is a true blessing to our family. It's amazing to see how happy he makes others, and how affectionately his bright eyes shine as he makes new friends no matter what continent he's on.

For his birthday party we went to Nairobi Mamba Village which boasts a crocodile park with over 70 crocodiles (Graham and Eliot were entranced although their mother was sure to have nightmares--what horrible creatures!) as well as ostriches and a giraffe. After the party we came home and had cupcakes. I'll upload a video of Eliot enjoying his, although we didn't catch the "mmms" he made the whole time.

We will finally be heading to Congo on Friday, with the visas cleared and flights mostly figured out. Our time here has been so blessed, but we're excited to finally make it to Beni.

Love you all!

More adventures

Graham on a jungle hike in Uganda

Two happy guys

Hello again to everyone!

We were supposed to be in Congo today (actually, yesterday) but due to a sudden complete change in visa policies were unable to leave as scheduled. Our friends in Beni are working on it from another angle, but in the meantime we're enjoying a bit more time in Kenya with Shosho and Babu!

Since we've been here Eliot has started standing on his own for a few seconds and is determined to do everything that Graham and his big boy friends do. He particularly loves digging into the huge trunk of Legos that Shosho bought from another missionary family and which Graham spends endless hours playing with. Graham, of course, loves to tell him cannot play with them. But, Eliot really holds his own, swatting Graham's hands away if he tries to hold him back. It gives me a tiny glimpse into the future combination of sibling friendship and rivalry.

Graham has become friends with the entire compound, and regularly goes "visiting" to various apartments on his own. There are three dogs here that he's also become quite close to, particularly one ugly mutt whom he has named "Police Dog Sparky". The dog's love for Graham is mutual, particularly since he doesn't seem to get much attention from anyone else!

Both of the boys seem so comfortable and happy here in Africa, they love meeting people and make friends so easily. They have both come to love Flora, who helps around the house here, and she has taken such good care of them, too! She even babysat one evening so the four of us grownups could go out together- what a treat! They were all happy as clams when we got home, Eliot had even fallen asleep in her arms.

In short, we're loving it here and are so excited to (hopefully) be getting to Congo soon. We're feeling so blessed and happy to be here together. Love to all!

Africa!!

Finally, fast enough internet to post some pics and an update! The Shaw family has now spent over a month in Uganda and we are loving being a family here! The boys are so happy; they love all of the freedom they have to play and explore, the dirt that gets into every crevice each day, and the many friends who have come into our lives since we got here.

We've gotten to have so many fun adventures. Jon's research is going very well and I've enjoyed a few shifts at the local hospital, mostly helping out with their vaccination clinic. We feel so blessed by the opportunity to be here and love our "home" in Fort Portal. We are staying at a friendly little guest house and have made good friends with the staff, who especially dote on the boys. Overall, the transition has been remarkably comfortable and easy; the boys have been such troopers, even through moves and changes. Without further ado, a few pictures.

At the Amabere caves with our friends Doreen and her son Nino

Family photo at our guest house in Kampala, just after we arrived (you can still see the jetlag in Eliot's eyes!)

Graham climbing trees with his friend Ian

In the bathtub soon after we arrived at our dear friend Phil and Emily's house in Kampala. They gave us such a warm welcome!

A few pictures

I just wanted to put up a couple of recent pictures. The first two of Eliot are taken by Graham. He loves using the camera, and I think they show artistic promise, don't you?? Sorry, I don't know how to flip the second one in blogger.

Eliot has been crawling for the last couple of weeks, and getting into Graham's toys more which has caused a few conflicts. Even so, Graham is a very patient brother and LOVES to play with Eliot. I'm amazed at how much they already interact and play together. And they love each other so much! Sometimes they start giggling at each other and just can't stop. I love seeing them together!


Loving brothers: they are so sweet together.

April is here!

(Ok, so I've been editing this post for so long that I just had to change my title from "March is here" to "April is here". I think that means it's time to post it no matter what!)

Graham and Eliot are enjoying their time together more and more as Eliot gets older and more interactive. He is scooting around at a slow crawl now, and is thrilled to be taking part in things. His favorite thing is "wrestling" with Graham, and he already holds his own, grabbing Graham around the neck and shoulders and, of course, pulling his hair, both of them squealing with glee all the while. I am wondering how many million times I will say "be gentle guys!" in the next few years. More than I can count, of that I'm sure.

Graham is at that wonderful age where he is full of questions and observations about absolutely everything, but of course has no sense of propriety yet. He is very used to seeing me breastfeeding Eliot and is quite enamored with the process. A few days ago though we were with a friend who began breastfeeding her baby. He looked over and said in a very polite, conversational tone, "Oh, (insert name here) I didn't know you had boobs!"

The other morning our washing machine's load got out of balance and it started making a loud banging noise while we ate breakfast. Jon was surprised and asked "What was that?" to which Graham responded "Don't worry Daddy, I think it's just me crunching my cereal."

Eliot had his 9mo appointment a few days ago and he seems to be doing great. His most recent stats: 28 1/2in tall, and 21lb5oz which means he's still been gaining over a pound a month! He has finally begun to accept solid foods in the last couple of weeks, which makes me happy and seems to be helping him rest a bit better. He continues to have the most laid back personality, and laughs at pretty much anything, especially anything that Graham does.

We only have a couple of weeks left before we leave for Africa- it's coming quickly! We're all excited about the adventure and can't wait to get back to the continent that holds such a huge place in our hearts. We appreciate your thoughts and prays as we prepare ourselves and the boys for this journey!

Much love to all, and I promise to put some pictures up soon, once I get them downloaded...