March 18 2010

Not to make you all pity me, but I post this just to give you a bit of a glimpse of the reality of my life in Niger. Some days during the cold season it gets super windy and dusty. The dust just fills the air. The sky looks overcast, but it’s just the dust in the air. This cold season we didn’t see too many of those days…we’ve actually had more now that the hot season has started. Usually, on those days I sweep my house twice a day. Here’s what I swept up one morning in just the living room:



I’d just swept the night before.

Today was another one of those days. The upside to all this wind, dirt, and dust—the temperature is much, much cooler. Today, for example, it only got up to 89F in house. Last week we had a high in the house of 98F…not sure what it was outside.



And because it was so cool today, this little dude got to wear his jeans that my mom got for him before we left. It may be the only day he gets to wear them. Normally, I don’t put pants on him, especially now that it’s getting hot, but I thought his knees might feel better…



…because this little dude is crawling!
Motherhood just recently got a whole lot harder.







Here’s a close-up of his belly…Grandpa Jeff stamped him and then tried to sign him while we were in the office this afternoon. Kind of reminds me of a Cabbage Patch Kid except for that it’s in the wrong spot