Drum roll please....We have scabies

So we found out yesterday that we've contracted scabies from the kids in the orphanage. They are mites that burrow under your skin and form red bumps all over, yummy! We bought antibiotic cream, took a hot shower, and then drenched ourselves in it. We had to do one more coat this morning and let it sit all day without showering. We have to wash all of our bedding and clothing and hopefully that will do the trick in wiping them out. At least we'll be contact free from the kids for a week on our trip. Good thing we'll be visiting the healing Turkish baths. There's nothing like perfect timing. All I have to say is, "Oh the joys!"

Stink Eye

Stink Eye wasn't at the orphanage today so I asked where he was and found out he'd been moved to the hospital for his cold. MacKenzie and I were both super excited because that meant we'd be able to get pictures with him. His cold seemed like a typical cold so I'm still not sure why he got sent to the hospital, but we counted it as a blessing. When we went to see him he was hanging from the bars of the crib like he usually is. We got some good pictures of him and an awesome video of him laughing. It made us really happy.

Touching Experience

Working our glow sticks Smiley Marion from the hospital I had a super neat experience at the hospital. Whitney and I were working on the 7th floor when a nurse from the 8th floor came to find us to tell us to be sure to come up and bring diapers, because they had someone there. I'm surprised that she actually took the time to seek us out. Normally they never have kids up there. When we walked into the room, and I saw the little boy my heart broke. He was probably about 5, and it was apparent that he was handicapped. He was deathly thin and honestly reminded me of a concentration camp victim. His legs and arms were basically skin over bones and when we lifted up his shirt to change his diaper his ribs were sticking out. At first I thought it was due to health issues, but as I continued watching him I began to think it may have been a severe case of neglect. He was so frightened that his little arms were just quivering, and he would startle and whimper at any sudden noise or movement. I think he was probably blind, because his eyes were the same shade of brown with no pupil. His head was larger than normal which may have been from hydrocephalous (fluid builds up), and the sides were flat as though he'd laid on them so long his head had become deformed. I've never wanted to hold and comfort someone so badly. I picked him up and cradled him close to me. I had the passing thought to start singing hymns to him. I started rocking him gently as I sang " I am a child of God." Immediately, he calmed down, stopped shaking, and got the biggest grin on his face. At one point he even let out a little laugh. It was the most incredibly touching moment. It was a night and day difference. I felt so blessed and humbled to be privy to God reaching out and comforting his precious little child. It was an amazing feeling of peace and joy.

A Fun, Relaxing Day (6/17)

Sister Paduru showing us how to make yummy gogoshi! Trying my hand at beating the dough Trean Sister Paduru's awesome husband playing a drunk Santa Clause Mmmmm, Mmmmm, Mmmmm Whitney and I eating cabbage soup Instead of working with the kids on things I just took a day to play and relax with them. I started of swinging with Raluca. She kept asking me to sing "Wonder" her cute little way of saying "I Can Show You the World" from Aladdin. It's her favorite, and she's always asking for it. I would sing it for her and then try to spice things up with "You are my Sunshine" or some other song, but eventually it was back to "Wonder" again. I probably sang it for her 6 or 7 times. She had me take my hair out of my ponytail while I sang it as if it was shaming the song if my hair wasn't long and beautiful. She would smile, put her arm around me, and tickle my back while I sang. I loved being with her today. Later I was hanging out on a blanket with Niculina, and we were having so much fun together. She would be laying on her stomach, reach up and grab the neck of my scrub shirt, and pull my face down into her neck where I would blow a raspberry and she would laugh. When we went upstairs right before lunch I played with big Simona. At first I layed her over my knees so her upper body was hanging off upside down. I would bounce my legs up and down really fast, and she would laugh and laugh. If I would stop for a few seconds she would start flailing her arms to tell me she wanted to keep going. After that I sat her in one of the little chairs and pushed her around the room like she was riding in a car. She got the biggest kick out of it. I love each of these little kids for unique reasons. I'm already starting to dread having to say goodbye at the end. It's amazing how quickly you can grow to love a person.

Paul's progress, New games with Mihai & Madeline (6/16)

I made up a new game that Mihai absolutely loves. I decided to call it the windmill, because that's what it reminds me of. I lay him on his back on the mat and then pull him up into the air by his feet so that he's hanging upside down. Then I lay his face down on the mat and drop his legs. I repeat it by pulling him up by his arms and then dropping him onto his back again from a foot or so in the air. He loved it so much he was laughing hard out loud. Normally, he just smiles really big and will occasionally let out a little squeal when you make him happy. It was awesome seeing him so happy. I can tell doing sit ups with Paul is making a difference. His stomach muscles are getting a lot stronger. When I first started doing them with him each one was such a struggle, but today he was doing them with almost no problem. I hope soon we can work on his balance so maybe eventually he will be able to walk alone. I know it won't be even close to happening by the time I leave, but it's the baby steps that eventually get you to the goal. I thought it was super funny today when Niculina started throwing a fake crying fit. She would throw back her head, open her mouth wide, and fake the most distraught cry she could. At first I thought it was real, but then I noticed her peeking at me through squinted eyes to see my reaction. I couldn't help but mimic her in a teasing way, because it was funny to me. She's a smart girl! Madeline was funny as usual. I kept catching him sneaking into the brownies the workers had out on the counter. I came up with a new game with him. He loves to open and shut doors and would do it forever if no one stopped him. I would find him in the hall, chase him to the living room, count to 3, and help him do a flip. Then he would run out of the room looking over his shoulder to make sure I was chasing him, and then run to open and shut a door before I caught him. We did it over and over until I was too tired to lift him anymore.

Fire! Florine Falling, & My First Kiss (6/15)

Me, MacKenzie, & Mindy getting ready to make Sarmale Sarmale (the most traditional food) filling Stuffing the grape leaves Part of the Romania version of potato salad The finished product The missionaries just went through transfers and one of the new ones is my cousin Garrett's best friend, and it turns out his last mission companion was Clark Andersen, a kid from my home ward. It was so fun to make some connections from home. While we were making lunch this afternoon Annie lit a towel on fire. It was pretty exciting! She was trying to make kettle corn with a hand towel instead of hot pads, but it draper over the edge of the pan and caught the burner flames. Nothing like a little fire to spice things up a bit! Some of the Elders came with us to the hospital this afternoon. It was fun to see them interacting with Florine. He loves them! I don't think he'll ever be content with us after the way they were racing him around in his chair. We found two metal ramps out back and were racing up and down them. Once when Elder Miles was pushing Florine up really fast his wheel came off, and they both toppled over the edge and about 4 ft to the ground. It scared us, but luckily Florine was fine and after the initial shock was just beaming. He thought it was great. We found out Florine has been selling the diapers we've been giving him to use. I can't say I'm surprised with his little stinker personality, but that's why I love him so much. He'd make a smart little business man. I got my first kiss today. Marion did the honors. I was just holding him when he suddenly planted a little kiss right on my lips. I thought it was super adorable.

Pictures!!!

A little glimpse of the hospital conditions My roommate Whitney and I at the hospital Claudio from the hospital Finally we got his smile on camera!

A little taste of my kids....

Here's a brief description of each of my kids at the orphanage. We aren't allowed to take pictures anymore so these are a few years old, but they will at least give you an idea. Some of the kids haven't changed much. I really love these little crazies. I hope you enjoy! Mihai Age: 5 1/2 Admitted to the orphanage when 6 1/2 months old Medical Condition: Cerebral Palsy -His mother was 14 when she had him. Mihai is absolutely adorable. He gets the biggest smile on his face each day when he sees us walk into the room. He is extremely smart and even though he can't speak he communicates what he wants with his eyes. He knows what he wants and isn't very happy when he doesn't get it. I think it's cute that he gets jealous when I work with another kid. He loves a little bit of rough housing and physical play. Overall, he's just a really sweet, happy little boy. Petrica Age: Almost 8 Admitted when 3 yrs old Medical Info: Down Syndrome, Premature birth, heart problems, intestinal problems, eye problems, autistic Petrica is my bundle of sunshine and joy. He is always smiling. He is probably the most flexible human being I've ever seen. He's constantly wrapping himself into a pretzel or flinging his arms and legs all over. He loves being taken out of his chair and just held. He will wrap his long arms around my neck and growl away in his own little language. Neghi (This is a fantastic Neghi picture, but don't worry he doesn't bite me) Age: Almost 11 Admitted when 3 yrs old Medical Info: Premature birth, microcephaly, eye problems, and autism? Neghi is a crazy, wild little boy. He has so much energy it's incredible! He likes his distance unless I brush him or play this little piggy with him. He definitely has a mind of his own and doesn't like being told what to do in the least. He prefers to just hang out and do his own thing. He can't speak very well yet but is learning small 2-3 letter words. He keeps us on our toes! Stefan Age: 9 1/2 Admitted when 2 yrs old Medical Info: limb deformation, autism Stefan is a really handsome little boy. For some reason he's the only boy they keep in the girls room, but I think he secretly likes all the feminine company. He doesn't really do much but sit in his chair with his head hung down unless we take him out and get him involved with something. I think he's got an awesome little personality underneath that is just waiting to be brought out. He has a grandpa that occasionally comes to visit that the workers say he adores. He's a sweetheart. Valentine Age: 10 Admitted when 2 yrs old Medical Info: Premature birth, complete blindness, somatic developmental delay Valentine loves to jump around and to be picked up and twirled. He stumbles his way around the room picking up toys, banging them on his head for a minute, and then chucking them directly behind him so I always have to be on the lookout for flying objects. He is constantly going, and despite his blindness is fearless of exploring his world. Sometimes he gets in a mood where he will listen for our voice, search us out, and then come lay all over us. He seems to think we serve as great jungle gym apparatus. Paul (however, a much smaller version of him) Age: Almost 9 Admitted when 2 months old Medical Info: severe psychomotor retardation, spastic Paul is the strongest willed little boy I've ever met. If he wants my attention he will wheel his chair over and impatiently pull at my scrubs. He loves to be held up and walked around. When I start to untie him from his chair he will begin kicking like crazy with excitement. He is so willing to push himself to the max, and I love his enthusiasm. Adina Age: 8 Medical Info: Autism Adina is our little Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. She runs up at the beginning of each day for a hug and kiss, but if I become her aggression target for the day I have to watch my back! She loves everything girly- nail polish, makeup, dresses, and hair things. She is one of the only kids who can speak. She loves to dance and be sung to. Two of her favorite songs are "Popcorn Popping" and "Book of Mormon Stories." She will start doing the actions so that I know which one she wants. She's very observant and learns quickly. She can be the cutest little girl, but only when she wants to be. Larisa Age: 7 Admitted when 1 yr old Medical Info: Clubbed feet (has had surgery on them), psychomotor and somatic delays, bad hip due to a bad surgery that the doctor refuses to redo Larisa is such a happy little spit fire. She is constantly speaking to me and challenging me to step up my language skills a notch. She's extremely smart. Larisa loves to go outside and swing or to be help up and walked with. She is constantly mimicking whatever I say, but I think it's super cute. When you make her happy she lets you know with the cutest laugh. She is sensitive and watches out for the other kids. Larisa is just bursting with love and energy. Maria Age: 11 Medical Info: Cleft Palette, Autism Maria is always the first one to come up for a hug every day. She is really high functioning even though she can't speak. She and Adina are really good friends, and she likes to copy everything Adina does (not so good). Unfortunately, she has a problem with self-abusing. She loves laying on her back and having me pull up on her arms to help her back flips. Niculina Age: 11 Admitted when 3 yrs old Medical Info: Height-Weight hypotrophy, congenital right hip displacement, psycho-motor retardation, Fetal alcohol syndrome Niculina is pretty unresponsive most of the time, but on occasion she'll come alive. She loves when I hold her hands and walk her around. The first time I picked her up it scared me, because her height-weight hypotrophy makes it so that her mid section can twist in the oddest ways. Sometimes her rib cage will be turned almost sideways. It's crazy. Making her smile or laugh is the greatest thing. Paula (minus the curly fro that she now has) Age: 7 Admitted at 9 months Medical Info: Severely autistic Paula has the cutest little curly afro. She's my little adventurous one. She recently learned to walk, but the workers keep her tied in a wheelchair most of the time to keep her out of trouble. She hates it and will wiggle her way between the ties they put around her to get out. Definitely head strong! She's helped me discover every nook and cranny of the orphanage. She loves to try to sneak into rooms she shouldn't if I'm not watching closely. I love her a lot. Raluca Age: 10 Admitted when 4 yrs old Medical Info: Cross eyes, somatic development delays, hepatitis C Raluca is so sweet and mild. She loves to be sung to. Her favorite song is "I can show you the world" from Aladdin. While I sing it to her she strokes my face. She loves being able to spend one on one time. Raluca can speak a little bit but is pretty hard to understand. She's not one to be demanding, but soaks up every minute of attention. Little Simona Age: 8 Admitted when 1 yr old Medical Info: Eye problems, autism Simona is my little cuddle bug. When I pick her up she wraps herself around me and just hangs on for dear life. Simona likes to just be held and danced with. She has the cutest little wobbly walk. She is really content with life. Whenever I just need to relax Simona is my gal. Big Simona Age: almost 11 Admitted when 3 1/2 yrs old Medical Info: Microcephaly, dystrophy, previous hip surgery Big Simona is our little spit fire. I absolutely love her personality! At first she came across as really shy but it was a total farce. She loves being sneaky and pulling little pranks on people. My favorite thing Simona does is when she rolls around in her wheelchair stashing little odds and ends in the back of her chair for safekeeping. If ever a toy or puzzle piece is missing I can usually find it in her chair. She can't speak, but she says a lot with her facial expressions. There's never a dull moment with her around. Fraga Fraga is a sweety. She loves when I hold her in my lap and sing softly to her. She has the most serene smile. I really think she has angels who like to entertain her, because periodically throughout the day she'll be staring off and just start giggling. The 3rd floor apartment I work at Mon., Wed., & Fri. afternoons Elaina Elaina's defects are due to a failed abortion attempt by her mother. She is completely normal except for her nose and mouth deformities which make it so she can't talk. She knows some sign language. Energy is the one word that sums Elaina up. She is always waiting at the door when we come and blows us kisses as we leave. It's super cute. Her talent is blowing bubbles with her nose. So cool! Madeline Madeline is probably one of the handsomest little kids I've ever seen. I am absolutely in love with him. If I could bring kids home he would definitely be one of them. My favorite thing about him is that he snorts when he laughs. He is the reason I will come home with ripped arm muscles. Despite the fact that he's 7 he thinks he's still a little kid and is constantly wanting me to swing him while holding him upside down. He has autism and will hold things right next to his eye when he looks at them. The 7th floor apartment I work at MWF as well Viorel Viorel is awesome. He can't say more than a few short words. I can give this kid a bottle of bubbles, and he's set for hours. The funniest thing about Viorel is that he loves to do my hair. He will do part of it, come around and look, and then stroke my face as if to say, "beautiful." Mirel Mirel reminds me of a little elf. He likes to do his own thing. He will come into the living room where we all are, pick up a random toy, and then do the cutest little shuffle run back down the hallway to his room to play. He's super cute. Costica I love this little guy! He's super relaxed. He's constantly making little growling/grunting noises, and he thinks it's funny when I try to imitate them. He's content to just pull himself up in my lap and sit there while I do an activity with one of the other kids which makes it really nice.

June 5, 2008 Thursday

Florine & I A couple weird ones Marion & I Today at the orphanage Elyse and I were able to take most of our kids outside, because they're getting over being sick. As I was pushing Larissa on the swing I asked her to sing "Popcorn Popping" for me. Somewhere through all of the past interns singing it with her she's picked up all the words in English. She has the cutest little sing-songy voice. I'm going to ask Elisa to let me borrow her voice recorder so I can smuggle it in my scrub pocket one day and record her singing it. It's so cute. When we took the kids back up stairs and I walked into the girls' room where all the kids who hadn't been able to go outside were staying. Poor little Paula had tear stains on her cheeks, and it broke my heart to see her so sad. I discovered another funny thing big Simona does. She loves to shake her head really fast and then I repeat it back to her. It's become a little game between us. If I'm feeding someone else lunch or working with another kid I will occassinally look up to see if I can get her attention, and if she looks we do it to each other. It's a fun way for me to be able to show her that I still notice her even if I'm not working specifically with her. At the hospital MacKenzie and I worked with mousy Marian and a new boy named Florine. I wish I could capture the reaction we get from Marian the minute we walk in. His eyes get all big and round and he makes the cutest little "o" with his mouth. We found out that he's dying from kidney failure. I was kind of in shock when I first found out, and I still don't think it's completely sunk in. I hope somehow they are able to find him a transplant. Florine and Marian were in the same room, and I mostly played with Florine while MacKenzie held Marian. Florine is 12 so it was fun to play with him. I was able to really connect with him,a nd we just laughed and teased each other the whole time. We played tic-tac-toe, thumb wars, bloody knuckles, and arm wrestling. Then we goofed around a bunch taking pictures with MacKenzie's camera. At one point he leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Ce Inseamna S---?" or "What does S--- mean?" I couldn't help but laught that one of the few English words he knew happened to be that one. I don't think he understood it was a swear work because later he started calling me it. As soon as I told him it wasn't a nice thing to say he apologized and stopped. Tonight as we were walking home from outreach we ran into some young street kids we talk with everyday to and from the orphanage. One of them who's probably about 5 ran up to give MacKenzie a big hug. However, when she set him back down he groped her. Elders Mielke and Barclay were not far behind us and saw it happen. Mielke ripped into the kid, and told him he better never see or hear of him doing that again. He game them all a little talk on respecting girls. Women aren't respected a whole lot over here by the men. I'm glad we had someone with us who speaks the language and could communicate how wrong that was. It's sad that the little boy has grown up around so much of that that he sees no harm in doing it.

June 4, 2008 Wednesday

Doing some mud masking at one of our sleepovers... My sleep talking got the best of me again last night. I think this was possibly the most creepy one yet. MacKenzie woke up, and I was sitting up in our bed tickling her back. She said it freaked her out, and she asked me why the heck I was touching her and then rolled away from me. I think if I had to sleep with myself I'd probably slap me. I think I must've been dreaming about my kids in the orphanage, because they love having their backs tickled or scratched. Today at the orphanage I worked with Paul for awhile on his crawling skills. I would put him on one end of the mat and then move to the other and have him crawl to me. He's really good at pushing himself up on all fours and moving his legs correctly, but he hasn't quite figured out what to do with his hands yet. He'll move his legs up really close to his hands and then do a sort of pounce/leap with both arms. One of his hands is always curled in a tight fist so I'm going to try to work with him on straightening it out and laying it flat. His real passion is having me hold him up while he walks so I could tell he was a little frustrated I was having him crawl, but he needs to learn how to balance and alternate his weight through crawling if he ever hopes to have a chance of walking on his own. Today at the 7th floor apartment we had a lot of fun. MacKenzie and I brought dress up clothes and he kids had a blast with them. Unfortunately, we didn't have very many boy things so even Mirel & Viorel were walking around sporting dresses, bonnets, and purses. I deffinitely wish I'd had a camera to document it. As we were getting ready to leave I noticed that Costica, a little Down Syndrome boy, was missing. The worker had been making dinner in the kitchen so while she was occupied I told MacKenzie, and the two of us searched the apartment with no luck. The door is always locked so I knew he wouldn't have been able to escape that way. In one of the back bedrooms we realized that the door leading to an enclosed balcony just off of it was unlocked. Then I saw one of the balcony windows was slightly ajar. I started to panic thinking somehow he'd managed to open it and fallen out. MacKenzie and I shared a frightened glance, and I knew we were both thinking the same thing. She hesitatingly looked out the window and down at the pavement 7 stories below. To our great relief he wasn't there. We decided to scour the apartment one more time before we told the worker. As we walked by the kitchen there sat Costica in his little chair just smiling up at us. He must've been back behind the kitchen door the first time we'd checked. I think it was one of the scariest moments of my life when I couldn't find him.

June 3, 2008 Tuesday

My Romanian love Celebrating Melissa's birthday Today at the orphanage I was able to spend a little more quality time with Stefan than I normally do. I first took him out in the hall way and tried to get him to wheel his chair to me. It took a little bit of coaxing, but he finally did it. He still hasn't quite figured out how to steer so he would slowly start turning in a circle. I tried to help him walk for a little while as well, but I have to hold up most of his weight, and he's really heavy so I didn't last long. I tell you what I'm going to come home with some nice muscles. I took him to the porch swing they have set up in the downstairs of the orphanage. He seemed to like it. I was a little surprised when he just babbled away almost the entire time. When he's in the room he doesn't make a peep and is usually just sitting with his head hung down all day. Tonight all of us went out for dinner at a little Chinese restaurant that had been highly recommended to us for Melissa's 25th birthday. I was a little hesitant to try ROmanian Chinese food, but it was actually pretty good. The only drawback was that the meat isn't very processed here so you have do a lot more picking through your food. At the end my plate had a little pile of chicken skin and bones left on it. We came back to our apartment after for cake and ice cream. We were all excited for the ice cream since it's a delicacy here, but we were all super disappointed when we discovered it had a really strong, unpleasant taste. We decided it tasted like eating a nail salon. It was supposed to be rum flavored so who knows maybe it had alcohol in it or something. At this pace I'm going to come home an alcoholic.

June 2, 2008 Monday

My roomies & I staying up just a little too late It was so awesome walking into the girls' room this morning. The minute Maria saw our blue scrubs she walked right up to me and held up her arms to be held. Little Simona waddled over with her cute walk and hugged me around the legs. It was fun to see that they recognized us and were excited to see us. The workers had all of the girls in cute little dresses. All but Fraga that is. I can't tell what the workers' issue with her is. Every so often when we go to snack or lunch they will bring everyone but her. I don't really understand. One of the workers had done Maria and Adinas' hair up in several little ponytails all over the top of their heads. It was cute that sh'ed made the effort to dress them up, but it made them look like they were sprouting tree trunks. The girls love being all gussied up though, and I could tell they felt super beautiful. So the adventures of Adina continue. We took a few of the girls who were over their colds outside today. There was a cat wandering around the playground that Adina quickly took to befriending. She started of pretty mild and was just having the cat kiss her doll over and over. Thank goodness the cat was extremely patient and put up with her bantering. However, this turned into her picking the cat up by its tail which turned into her picking the cat up and chucking it to the ground. At this point we had to take the cat away to prevent things from slipping any further down hill. I think her and my little brothers would've been great friends growing up. Later in the day the workers, Elyse, and I were busy taking the kids to lunch in the cafeteria. She came into the boys' room, and when I wasn't looking spit a mouth full of water all over Mihai's face. Luckily, he seemed to think it was possibly one of the funniest things ever. I looked over to find him smiling from ear to ear as the water dripped down his face. Big Simona was a crack up today. She's always been shy, but I think now she's getting comfortable with us and is letting her true personality shine. Elyse and I decided that under different circumstances we could see her being the most mischievious, sassy little girl who would go around playing jokes and pranks on people. She wheels herself around the room picking up different toys and stashing them behind her in the wheelchair seat. I love when you catch her doing something funny or sneaky, and she just gets the biggest grin on her face. It's so dang cute! Today when MacKenzie and I went to the apartments they were celebrating International Day of Children. They had balloons taped to the curtains and the workers shared some cake they'd made with us. It was really good. The bottom layer was super moist from being soaked with some kind of liquid. We think that they may have used beer. Maybe that explains why I liked it so much! We decided it's better to not find out for sure. What we don't know can't hurt us. I feel like it's more important to graciously accept their efforts to be kind to us than to interrogate them on what they made their cake with. I think the workers had bought the older boys cologne as a gift, because Madeline and Viorel both smelled like they were wearing some. It makes me so happy to see how well the kids are treated in the apartments. The contrast in comparison with the orphanage is huge. Eventually all of the kids will be moved out of the orphanage and into apartments in order for Romania to become a full member of the European Union. Tonight on our way to FHE Annie almost got barreled over by a bus. We were all walking and talking together and not really paying attention when all of a sudden we heard a horn bloring. We looked up to see a huge bus heading straight for Annie. She barely made it out of the way before it rushed past. It scared me so bad my heart was pounding. It made me a little angry, because even though the street we were on was really wide the dirver of the bus had risked almost killing a person over turning the wheel a couple of inches or pushing in the brake. He hadn't made any effort to do either. I don't know how people aren't constantly being run over here, because drivers are crazy!

June 1, 2008 Sunday

The Villa where we go to church We killed roach number 5 tonight. The girls and I decided we're going to start saving them in a jar once we kill them. We're going to leave it as a prank on the girls who come after us. We'll hide it somewhere and draw them a treasure map leading to the jack pot. It's going to be amazing!