SHE ROLLED OVER!!!!

Today is Sunday, May 04, 2008 and a milestone day for our little Nora (still teetering under 6.5 pounds). Today, while her daddy was taking a shower, but in the presence of her mommy, big sister, neighbor and friend Margaret, and Aunt Emily she ROLLED OVER! It’s something I’ve never seen before. I’ve seen babies roll over many times. But I’ve never seen a baby smaller than Kali was when she was born roll over. She’s been working on it the last number of days when we’ve done tummy time. And today she did it like a pro. I think she surprised herself though when all of a sudden she was looking up at the ceiling fan. We were proud of her!

It was good to have a bright moment interjected into a pretty anxious time as we await surgery this coming Thursday. And it came off a rough week for me as I’ve been battling either the effects of sheer exhaustion or a bug I picked up somewhere along the way. I had two days of chills, aches, fever, and a headache. Those symptoms, minus the headache, have subsided but I’m now enduring a very sore throat. Nora and Jason are spared thus far, for which I’m grateful. Kali has some kind of cold but seems to be on the mend as well. I hope that we are all at our best (health-wise) come Thursday morning!

My mom will join us Wednesday and will be with Kali while we are at UVA (for which we are VERY grateful and relieved!). We will leave early Thursday morning for the hospital where we will be for about 4 days, if all goes well. The 6 hours prior to surgery will be trying at best as Nora cannot nurse at all during that time, because of the possible risks then associated with anesthesia. Surgery will be about one hour and then the recovery process begins. We will appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we embark on this new and scary journey. We are told that babies normally do quite well with this surgery and they have no reason to expect anything different in Nora’s case. We hope they are right. We’ll be in touch after surgery.

Tomorrow is a big day for my work as our annual Summer Peacebuilding Institute starts. It is an exciting time of year as we welcome about 200 persons from about 50 countries over the course of the summer. I will be working most closely with those students taking courses for graduate credit as part of our MA or Certificate program. It’s a time when I once again feel torn between parts of my life that I care deeply about. It will be a different kind of year for me with family life in such a time of learning and transition. I continue to feel grateful for the support I receive from my work and the patience of my colleagues with my ever shifting schedule. Janelle