Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Last year on this day, I imagined what Martha's day in Ethiopia was like.....it was her First birthday and I am pretty sure it was a day like any other.  Eating, diaper changes, naps, maybe some decent play time.  Probably no acknowledgement that she had been blessed with a year of life and that her life was worth celebrating.  This year, I am thrilled that we can celebrate her birthday!  We won't have a big celebration - ordering pizza (the girl LOVES pizza) and having cake, lighting TWO candles, and opening presents.  We've been trying to teach her to answer appropriately, when someone asks her "how old are you?" to say "two" and hold up two fingers.  She sort of grasps the concept.  :-)  I am sure the rest of our family is much more excited to celebrate this milestone of life because we just understand it better - she'll just be happy about the pizza, presents and extra attention.

I am so grateful that we can Celebrate Martha Joy's life today.  She is full of sugar, and probably even more spice and healthy and spunky and brings a lot of Joy to our household.  Knowing where she came from, her health and spunk are indeed blessings.  She has grown over 7 inches since she's been here, and her weight is catching up too (she's only in the 30th percentile for weight, but you'd never guess that by looking at her belly!)

This past week marked another milestone for her - the final dose of an antibiotic that she has been taking for NINE months - that is another celebration in this Momma's mind.  When Martha was examined in the International Adoption Clinic here in Columbus, it was found that she had Latent Tuberculosis - which means she had been exposed to TB, but it was not active in her system.  (don't worry if you've been around her - she was exposed to it, but is NOT able to expose it to others - I have the paperwork to prove it, so please don't start worrying.....).  So, we had to give her NINE months of antibiotic at the same time every day, two hours after she had eaten or had anything to drink.  Sounds easy, right?  Well, it's hard to keep a little one's stomach empty for two whole hours especially when she hears anyone in the house open the pantry or refrigerator door!  And, the antibiotic only comes in pill form - so it had to be crushed and given with a small amount of......Ketchup.  Seriously, Ketchup.  Eewwww.  Which meant NINE months of ketchup night-night kisses.  She could have had a bit of yogurt or even chocolate syrup, but after trying those and her not taking the pill, Ketchup worked.   She now has an "official" letter from Children's Hospital stating that she completed this Antibiotic program and has a negative Chest X-Ray, because she will always have a positive TB skin test. We are grateful that this antibiotic program is finished - but also so thankful that this treatment was available for her.  If she were in Ethiopia, she would not have been tested until she was showing active signs of Tuberculosis - and TB is still one of the leading causes of death in Ethiopia.

At the orphanage, mid April 2012

So - today, on her Birthday, we celebrate Martha.  We celebrate that she is in the U.S., where a little white pill can make a difference in her life for many, many years to come.  We celebrate that she is a Jansen today and we can have cake and ice cream and sing to her.  And, most of all, we celebrate that God has a plan for her life and already, His fingerprints are all over her little life!  To God Be the Glory!

2 years old - full of sugar and spice!