RODAS JUST COMPLETED THE REQUIRED 14 DAYS OF MEDICINE...AND WE'RE DONE!!!! No More GIARDIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yippee. Seriously. YIPPPPEEEEE! I am so tired of cleaning toilets and hands like a madwoman that I want to weep with relief. Most of all, I am so happy that my sweet and ornery little toddler doesn't have to live with her stomach hurting all the time because of a nasty bug she's probably lived all her life with in Ethiopia. In case you are wondering, we were able to find a compounding pharmacy to make a special liquid mix of her medicine (metronidazole) that was tolerable--especially when followed by a piece of bubble gum or M&M. Dad did the first dose while Mom hid in the next room (My little Reynie tends to like to do the opposite if she knows it's something Mom REALLY wants) and since then she has taken it three times per day for fourteen days. She's threatened to stop, but she really wants to go swimming and she knows she can't until "no more Giardia" so she persevered.
YES!
So, tomorrow we embark on another "First" for the girls: swimming at the big pool! This new adventure (I guess that's what you'd call me trying to keep from drowning two fearless girls pretending to be Ariel and a Noah, who seems to think that completing Level 1 swim class qualifies him to be a lifeguard!) got me thinking about all the other firsts they've had since coming home...and the many that still lie ahead of them! There are too many to name and it has got to be so overwhelming. Sometimes I forget to remember that and to think about how things look from their point-of-view. Case in point, this past weekend we took our first camping trip wh
en I took the kids to Colt's family reunion outside of Vernal. The concept of camping was b
eyond them and they couldn't understand how Grandma would be sleeping there too, while her house was staying in Vernal. When we got there, they did just fine and Tsegereda enjoyed her first horseback ride with the only person she would allow to lead her (her aunt with the glorious auburn tresses) and Rodas her first trip on a four-wheeler (five feet) with another sweet Aunt (who has the softest hair that she couldn't stop petting) and they both spent their first night in a sleeping bag. There were a few bumps and a little bit of sugar and stimulation overload, but for the most part they did very well. They had fun, which I guess is truly what matters in the end. And the boys felt like they finally got to do something fun and normal in a summer that has been not-so-normal. 
Colt's family was wonderful with the girls and their aunts and uncles and numerous boy cousins and sole girl cousin made them feel so very welcome and comfortable. Knowing how well they did with this short stint, I am excited for them to meet the Armstead clan as well! Hey, we at least have TWO girl cousins on that side! (0;
So, with some more firsts under their belt, the girls are slightly more than a week away from what might possibly be one of the hardest firsts that they will have to deal with: being apart from each other for extended periods of time while Tsegereda goes to school. She is still nervous about going, but is trying to be positive about it. Mommy School is helping, I think, but it does nothing to prepare her for something that I'm not sure she has totally realiz
ed yet...the fact that her constant companion for the past three or more years is not going to be by her side while she braves a frontier that terrifies her. My wonderful Mother will be coming to stay for the first couple weeks of school so that I can spend extra time with Tse in class if needed, so hopefully that will help ease the fear and separation anxiety...but it is still going to be something that 
they both will have to face. I know it is for their good in the long run, but it is heartbreaking knowing the pain that they will likely face. However, Rodas will have a captive audience (her favorite) in Mom and Tsegereda might just find school to be not such a bad place.I guess we just will have to wait and see.
So many firsts...
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