One year ago this week

You won't believe it, but one year ago this week was when Bill and I flew to Hong Kong with contractions every 3-7 minutes apart. Here is a copy of Bill's email once we had arrived (sent to over 300 prayer supporters):

Hello Folks,
I am writing to you from Hong Kong this time. Teesa and I have made an emergency trip very much like our trip a couple of weeks ago to Bangkok, due to Teesa experiencing consistent contractions starting two days ago. She is currently in her 30th week, so she is still quite a bit short for us to be ready for this.

Her contractions are still coming at a rate of one every 5 minutes or so. When she was first admitted the staff was on constant high alert for her to go into labor for about 12 hours. Today, however, they seem to have relaxed some. A senior doctor made rounds with his staff this morning. He spoke to us about medication, treatment, and preterm labor. We spoke to him about the power of prayer. He also ordered an exam which showed that Teesa has yet to begin the physical process of labor.

Although she is weary, Teesa seems to be holding up relatively well emotionally. She still smiles and chuckles, but she has also cried a lot in the last couple of days. We are still praying that Father will amaze us and this staff with a 40+ week pregnancy. Please join us in doing the same. Also pray for Teesa to get some rest physically and emotionally. As you can imagine, she has not slept much in the last 72 hours.

Thank you, one and all.

Bill Klear

Here's another letter from Bill to a friend of ours just a couple days later:

Hey,

An ambulance was waiting for us at the airplane, they took Teesa off horizontally! We went to the nearest hospital where they took her to the delivery ward. For two days they kept Teesa in an emergency observation room in the delivery ward. She was having painful and consistent contractions that whole time. They expected her to go into labor at any moment and were ready to deliver. Teesa was pretty scared at times, and in a good deal of pain.

Everyone prayed.

I saw her this morning and it seems as though her condition had improved some as her contractions slowed drastically during the night, she slept for several hours and they transferred her from the emergency observation room in the delivery ward to a normal antenatal ward on a
different floor. We are very grateful. Then I went in during my allotted visiting hours and found her out of bed and walking. I said, "What are you doing??" and she smiled and said, "Going to the bathroom." She had very few contractions today spaced out by hours. They let her eat and drink, which she hasn't done in over two days. She is at peace and says that she is ready for it if she goes into labor.

Dad is good.

Bill

As Bill and I were recounting this story earlier today, it brought tears to my eyes to think about God's faithfulness in our lives. James 1:12 says, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, for when he has stood the test, he WILL receive the crown of life God has promised to those who love Him." I know our trial was small compared to what others have experienced, but our prayers (read OURS, yours and mine) led to us delivering a very healthy, very adorable, very hairy! little boy.

Our commitment to you and to God is to raise Him in His ways, so that God will be glorified. We were counted worthy to be called parents of Samuel William Klear and we promise to to continue to be worthy of that title.

God is good!

Here I am on bedrest during the three months I spent in and out of the hospital in Hong Kong. Below it is another picture of me on bedrest, a couple weeks later. I had terrible heartburn and needed at least 15 minutes of sitting upright after eating a meal.

Gerry Ann's visit

We had a great time with Bill's mother, Gerry Ann, last week when she came to visit. She stayed with us from Tuesday to Friday and we did lots of fun stuff together. Bill and Gerry Ann got to hike the Mountains to Sea trail (http://www.ncmst.org/) one day and then we all went to Umstead State Park to hike a bit another day.

Sam showed off his "army crawl" for his Nana too. He still isn't crawling with his belly off the ground, but after six weeks of doing the army crawl, he's flying around the house. He's also pulling up to stand, letting go for seconds at a time (before falling) and walking around furniture by holding on tightly. We are in for trouble!



We got to see our long lost friend Paul Brown last night. I told him I was going to take a picture of him for our blog (Bill calls it "blog fodder"), but he and Bill both scoffed at me. I guess I'll have to wait until he's not looking to catch a photo. We were pumped about seeing Paul, since we hadn't seen him for four years and thought we'd never find him again. Luckily, he checks his old email address! We had a great time catching up on old times.

We also had a picnic with my brother Adam and his family yesterday at Umstead. It was SO HOT that I had to take all of Sam's clothes off and he was still sweating like mad. We finally went over to their house to cool off and rest up before our dinner with Paul.

Oh, and before I forget again, here is a picture of Sam's crazy-curly hair. I'd like to thank my mother and grandfather for their beautiful addition to our family in our curls. I absolutely LOVE them, mine included. (My mother doesn't, sadly.)

Mountain Retreat

We got invited to go to the mountains with our friends the Carsons this last week (we used to work with Hugh in China). We had such a fantastic time with them! Their daughter, Laney, is only two months younger than Sam is and they got along really well. We didn't really have any organized activity, except for one hike we took up to Linville Falls (beautiful, by the way), but that's what made it such a great little retreat. Here are are wearing the babies and hiking.

This is the Klear family at the Falls.


Bill and I have been going and going since we got back to America. We're speaking at so many places and have so many engagements that it has been difficult to catch our breath. Sam has been a real trooper about it though, and he is constantly surprising us with his flexibility. Two weeks ago we went to Tennessee with my parents (who have officially moved to Thailand now) and Sam's only protest was expressed by biting me while nursing. Once we returned home he stopped. I guess he "learned me good" with that long trip. I wish I could say we weren't going to take any more long trips, but it is the nature of our time at home to travel a lot.

We've gotten into a pretty good routine with our traveling though. We will stop every three hours at a gas station. Once I finish feeding him, he will sit with Bill in the driver's seat and play with the steering wheel. He LOVES pulling all the switches and pushing buttons. Here he is with Bill playing (don't worry, the car is parked and Bill is in full control!).

Sam really enjoyed playing with Laney on this trip. The two of them got along swell and I even learned a little something about Sam. Apparently, he likes to make other people laugh. What a distinct personality he has! He and Laney took a bath together and when he saw that splashing his hands in the water made her laugh out loud, he kept doing it over and over again - leaning in close to her face and smiling big. I think he takes after Bill in this regard.

Here we are having a picnic lunch on the day we went to Linville Falls. It was such beautiful scenery!

Okay, here's a story that will make your hair curl. We brought our little inflatable pool that my parents bought for Sam. Sam LOVES playing in it (see previous post) and Laney is no different. While Sam was taking a nap one afternoon, Hollie put Laney in the pool to play.

(Isn't she cute?)

The boys came out to join them and I guess Hugh sat down on a bench, mere feet away, that had a hornet's nest under it. He got stung (I heard him screaming, "This is for real - I'm really getting bit" as I saw a streak of him running across the deck). Bill went out a little later to investigate and here's what he saw:


They said it was the size of a softball! Good thing Hollie reacted so quickly and ran inside with Laney (it took her all of two seconds to get inside). There were a ton of these hornets. What a scary moment for Hollie.

Okay, take a deep breath and let your heart rate get back to normal now. No one was hurt, well, no one except for Hugh who got three stings, and the hornet's nest was dealt with.

Laney and Sam liked to play together in the mornings. We covered the bearskin rug (not kidding) with a sheet and after they were fed and happy, put them down together. Here they are sharing toys and enjoying each other's company.

Isn't she sweet, holding onto Sam like that? She's a real snuggle-bug.

And, finally, here are some photos of the mountain-range. Thanks, again, to the Carsons for a fantastic trip. We really enjoyed the food and company.

The Army Crawl

I don't actually have any photos, but Sam has been working his way towards actual crawling lately. He can "army crawl" all over the place, he even follows me from room to room. I was anxious for him to start crawling and everyone told me I would long for the days that he wasn't so mobile, but I'm still very happy with his new found independence. He seems so much more content with himself now.

We've been busy, again. Traveling from here to there and speaking at different places. We're currently in Nashville, Tennessee enjoying a final week with my parents. They are moving to Thailand on Tuesday to teach.

My mother loves to harass Sam and drive him crazy. Here she is trying to steal his food. She had to put her whole body into it, since he is so strong.

Sam's namesake came over yesterday. Sam loves his great granddaddy!

My cousins Meghan and Sam (yes, another Sam) came over on the Fourth of July too. Here is Meggie Moo holding baby Sam.

While my parents have been cleaning out their house, they have found many many lost treasures. One such treasure was an old rocking chair that used to belong to me. My father's cousin, Johnny, brought it home to me last Saturday (from the storage unit) and said that Sam will be ready for it soon. We put him in it later that afternoon and he LOVED it. Don't worry though, I was one inch off-camera, waiting for a fall.