Hudson Taylor

Have you ever heard of a man named Hudson Taylor? We have. He was an amazing man. Really and truly an innovator in the missionary world of the 1800's.

Bill and I have been wondering what to name our son (who will be making an appearance some time around the first of November). It wasn't until about a month ago that I was hospitalized for having regular contractions one Saturday evening that we finally came down on a name.

This child is going to be our first born-in-America child. He will have no connection to China or Asia. He won't have olive-colored skin or a birth certificate issued by Hong Kong S.A.R.. We feel that it is only fair to connect him to China, whether he likes it or not, by giving him a name that is inspired by one of the most upright men who ever served in China. Hudson Taylor.

Besides that, Bill's best friend has the last name of Hudson - they've been best friends since they were five years-old.

On top of that, I grew up in the Hudson Valley. Yes, I am a New Yorker by birth. I lived there until I had three months left to graduate high school. Poughkeepsie, New York, to be exact. I remember beautiful Fall weather, the Vanderbilt Mansion on the Hudson River, gorgeous Winters (a lot of shoveling though) and four distinct seasons.

So, for this little boy, after lots of thought and time, we've decided on the name of Hudson. Hudson James - James was my grandfather's middle name and there are five generations before him also named James. Plus it's my favorite book in the Bible.

Please join me in praying for Hudson James - we greatly desire for his heart to be perfect when he is born and throughout his life.

Teesa's Homemade Graham Crackers

I just published this on another blog, but I thought it might be fun to publish it here too. It's been a while since I've highlighted one of our delicious recipes!

If you're anything like me, you want to avoid baking at all costs over the summer months. We don't have air conditioning and just turning on the oven to preheat increases the temperature of the house by 10 degrees.

But, sometimes I just can't resist. Especially when my kids have a hankering for something and I can't see anything on the store-bought brand ingredients that even remotely resembles something edible.

Here's one of my kids' favorites. We make them with all different shaped cookie cutters too, but the squares are the easiest.

4 T (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 egg
6 T sugar
2 T honey
2 T molasses

1/2 t baking soda
2 t water

3/4 t salt
1 1/2 C graham flour (I used whole wheat)
3/4 C all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Combine the butter, egg and sugar in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.
Stir in the honey and molasses and blend.
Dissolve the baking soda in the water and add to the butter mixture.
Add the salt, graham flour, and all-purpose flour to the mixture and blend thoroughly. The dough should hold together and be manageable. If it is too "tacky" add a little more graham flour.

Liberally dust two cookie sheets with flour.

Split the dough in half or do 1/3 and 2/3 and roll out on each cookie sheet - I used my fingers to press it down. It should be about 1/8 inch thick - remember, the soda will make it rise a little.

If you want them to be as thick as I have in my picture, don't split the dough at all, but you will have a more chewy cracker.

Score the dough with a pizza cutter or knife, but not all the way through, into squares. Depending on the size you make you could have 20-40 per cookie sheet.

Prick each square a few times with the tines of a fork.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Gently lift out with a spatula and slide onto cooling racks. Once they are cooled, they'll be ready to eat - but Sam and I like ours warm.

Sam's Story

Another story was published today in one of our locally famous blogs.

Check it out!

I'm trying to be an advocate for Sam, and I think the community at large may even be getting tired of hearing his story, but how can I quit! I love this boy and as he grows I am seeing how many obstacles he is going to face as he gets older. Arrhythmia or not, Sam is NOT going to live in a bubble and he IS going to have many of the same opportunities as children without special needs. I am happy to be his champion.

Life Lessons

We have been learning some very big life lessons recently and haven't had time to post. It's so unfortunate because I know I could gleam a lot from the comments that people always leave for me.

I am still going to continue this blog, but I suppose life is just getting too fast and furious to really take the time to write like I used to, even though I greatly enjoy writing.

In short, our most recent battles are ones dealing with finding a new/used car (for really really really cheap and we WISH for a really reliable one, but I know that's asking too much), lots and lots of medical bills, decisions on homeschooling or not for Sam (due to his recent rejection from a public school in our area because he is too much of a liability with his condition) and lots of work-related projects.

We're enjoying the Summer but it certainly seems to be flying by too fast!

Bill and I are coming up on our 11th anniversary and so much has happened in the last year we can't even list it all on all our combined fingers and toes!

But God is good and we are blessed with wonderful friends, family and a great support group here.

I'll continue to update as I have time. Thanks for reading!

Keeping In Touch

Check this out - just a few ways to keep in touch with family long-distance.

One Year Ago - Wow!

(Warning, lots of sappiness to follow! Read with caution.)

One year ago on June 8th

Day 2 with Carolina (June 9th)

The first week

First day home to meet her big brother

First day home, first experience with bubbles

First beautiful dress made by Mrs. Ussery, Carolina is full of confidence

First gingerbread house

First time meeting her great great aunts (who happen to adore her)

First time at the beach

First trip to Disney, last week

I can honestly say the last year of my life has been one of the my joy-filled and most difficult ever. In my 33rd year on this earth, we finally got our little girl, our two year-old son (at the time) had heart surgery for the second time in his young life, and we found out I am pregnant (I'll exclude the details of 16 weeks of nausea).

Adopting Carolina was definitely a God-ordained event. She fits into our family in ways I could never have imagined or even planned for myself had I been privy to do so. My son adores the ground she walks on, my husband melts when he is with her, her grandparents and extended family stand in awe of how beautiful and smart she is, our church has embraced her, our friends fallen in love, and I, myself, know the Lord closer because I have known my precious girl.

Carolina,

You are one of the best things that has ever happened to our family. Five and a half years ago we prayed for you and we prayed for your biological mother. We prayed that God would bless her with the decision to keep you alive in her belly, we prayed for her to love you enough to give you up and we prayed for your salvation (as we still do). There were so many people who were instrumental in bringing you into our lives, including your advocate and ours, Nancy, all of the government officials, and the doctors who found you at the back door of their clinic.

You were loved by your biological mother, who wrapped you carefully in a blanket, and dressed you warmly with a hat and a onsie. She placed you in a well-traveled area where she knew you would be found quickly. I have only gratefulness in my heart for how well she cared for you on the day that you were born, the same day she anonymously gave you up.

You are loved, through thick and thin (lots of thick this year, I know, but we're working on that). I love how you laugh at your daddy when he kisses your belly, or how you can teach Sam your dance moves and Wolfpack hand signals...I love that you ask for me when you are frightened of the thunder or notice that I'm not around for more than five minutes.

You are my baby, my daughter, my answer to prayer. You are my first child, though you are the youngest, as I have always known you would be in our lives even before I ever knew I could give birth to children myself.

I love you, Carolina. Thank you for putting up with me. May God bless the next year of our life more abundantly than ever before, with you, your brother and your newest sibling. May you find Jesus Christ as your Savior early in your life. I pray that I can be the best mother possible, even on the worst days, and, of course, as always, I pray that you will sleep through the night for the rest of your life. That goes without saying. :)

Your Mommy

"Once there were two women who never knew each other. One you do not know, the other you call Mother. Two different lives shaped to make you one..." Motherbridge of Love

High Country Press

Sam's story was published in our local newspaper, High Country Press. Check it out here!

Sam's Wish

We just got back from Sam's Make A Wish trip to Florida late on Monday evening. It was an amazing trip that I cannot even begin to sum up in one post. So, for now, I'll let you sift through the pictures and enjoy the story they tell on their own.

Sam's wish: To take a train to see Peter Pan.

What actually happened: We took a limo to the Charlotte train station, a train (business class) to Raleigh, then an overnight train (with two roomettes) to Kissimmee, Florida (where we saw Peter Pan at Disney World).

The start of the trip.

I will tell the story of how Peter Pan came out to meet Sam though.

We went on the Peter Pan ride (no waiting, of course, because Sam was with Make A Wish) and they let him go around twice! We didn't even have to get off between rides. Afterwards, I asked an employee if Peter Pan was going to come out for a meet and greet at any time that day, and I shared with her that Peter Pan was truly my son's wish. She left for about ten minutes and when she came back she said Peter Pan was going to come out to meet Sam.

She escorted us to a special area where people immediately started lining up behind us to meet Peter Pan (and Wendy). They came out and were both amazed that his wish was to see Peter Pan...they fawned all over him, asked him about his trip on the train, loved on him, took lots of pictures and then when Sam was all done, they left! Apparently they had come out solely to see Sam!

I cried, as any pregnant mother would, and Sam kept talking about how wonderful it was to meet them both, but especially Peter Pan. It was so special.

Mickey and Minnie came out to the Give Kids the World Village just to see the

Wish children staying there.

Sea World provided us with enough fish to feed the dolphins until they were full (practically).

The Village had an ice cream parlor that was open from 7:30 in the morning until 9:30 at night. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time there.

This was Sam's first choice of ice cream: orange sherbet.

Our villa was amazing - Sam's room had a huge bathroom with a whirlpool tub and

train pictures bordering his ceiling.

Mayor Clayton, the mayor of the Village, came to tuck in the kids one night. As he was leaving, Sam looked up from his tiny bed and said, "he was SO BIG!" At over six feet tall, Sam wasn't exaggerating!

Four Years Ago Today

I cannot believe this was only 4 years ago today - it feels like 50 years ago! I was five weeks ahead of where I am now with this pregnancy...so 20 weeks pregnant. Wow. We lived in China in a five-story walk-up, ate primarily Chinese food and had a house helper!!! She did all my laundry and cooking, so I could enjoy being pregnant and working.

What a different season of life I'm in right now...

Cardiology Update

We had the opportunity to see Sam's cardiologist a week ago, and I have been slowly digesting what we learned.

This is a very frank email I wrote to our family and close friends (edited for publishing here), so please excuse any negativity I might have been expressing. You should know, if you don't already, I wear my heart on my sleeve and it often comes out in my writing as well. But, I do know that the Maker of Heaven and Earth has His hand in all things and that He is in control. I rely on Him completely.

Unfortunately, we didn't get great news, but it is really promising news. The integrity of Sam's device (the defibrillator) is absolutely perfect - it has paced his heart 2.5% of the time (which is down from 8-10%), but it has also recorded three events.

On January 31st at 6:45pm Sam had three non-sustainable heart arrhythmias, averaging 273 beats per minute. We know he was sick that night, as we took him to see his pedi the next morning, but we honestly cannot remember him complaining of a heart issue. We have some vague recollection, but nothing solid.

I find the news quite discouraging, but Bill and his cardiologist were both very encouraged. I was really hoping Sam's heart had been healed, but as it turns out, it has not. However, that being said, God has really strengthened his heart - a lot! He came out of the events on his own after 1 second, 2 seconds and 2 seconds. He had about 9 beats of the arrhythmia each time and then he was okay. AND, he didn't have another after those. We know he had a high fever that night, so we are assuming that is what caused these arrhythmias.

The device managed the events perfectly and did not shock him unnecessarily. Also, a real praise. BUT, all of this means we are not quite out of the woods yet and we still need to take extra precautions when Sam has a high fever or an electrolyte imbalance.

On to our unborn baby boy (that's what the latest ultrasound says right now):

We will be having a Level II ultrasound on June 8th. All this will do is tell us whether or not he has a structural issue with his heart. Sam's cardiologist confirmed that this will NOT be able to tell us whether or not he has Brugada Syndrome. However, we will go ahead with the Level II just to put everyone's mind at ease, as my high risk OB and my regular OB are being cautious and both pushing for this. The chance of this little guy having a structural issue is 8 in 1000 - the same as any other average person.

Sam's cardiologist has suggested we do a 12-lead ECG AS SOON AS THE BABY IS BORN. If there are any abnormalities, we will need to see him in Chapel Hill ASAP (as in, within the first week). The local pediatrician has confirmed that he is able to complete this here in Boone. So, we will give birth in Boone, unless something changes between now and then.

That's the plan for now. Keep us in your prayers - especially Sam and the baby. We want to protect him as much as possible, but also allow him to live a "normal" life. It is a difficult balance, but one that his cardiologist has assured us we can do.

Praise God for the breath of life He has given to our amazing child, as well as the new life He has given to our baby boy.

Make A Wish!!!

Sam, as many of you know, has a life threatening illness called Brugada Syndrome. We thought that after such a hard year last year (with the surgery AND bringing home a new sister to steal his toys), it would be a great idea to apply to the Make A Wish Foundation and see if he could get his wish.

The lovely folks from MAW came over to the house and asked him his wish.

"I wish to take a train to see Peter Pan."

It was very simple, but extremely detailed. In fact, they said it was the most detailed wish they had ever received. They weren't sure they could accommodate it, because wishes need to be only ONE thing.

Also, they had never had a child with a heart arrhythmia before (usually it is plumbing issues, not electrical). They had to get his doctor's recommendation to make sure he qualified, but Sam's amazing doctor called me after they contacted him and said he thought it was the best idea I'd had yet.

And, after much deliberation, they decided to GRANT his wish!!

We are taking a limo to Charlotte and then a train ride to Raleigh, where we will then get another another train (have our own beds!) and spend the night on our way down to Orlando. There we get to stay at the Give The Kids The World Village and park hop all week!

We are so excited about this wish and this trip! Hopefully I will begin feeling better soon (12 weeks tomorrow and I just had my worst day yet!!) and the trip will be all worth it.

Bill is a bit concerned that Sam will be too young to remember this trip, but I am convinced that this is going to be one of the highlights of his childhood. Every time he is older and thinks back to his fondest memories, he'll remember this trip and NEVER be able to attain the amount of fun and great times that he had (is about to have).

I can't wait!!!

Update

I am officially ten weeks pregnant today and feeling every bit of it. It is taking me a lot of energy to do anything and everything these days, but it's a good thing I have so many friends to support me.

So far so good with the pregnancy, now that I've finally started taking medication for my morning sickness. Sam and Carolina are well too, and we're finally enjoying some good weather too.

I hosted a big Easter Scavenger Hunt at our church on Saturday. It was so much fun - and the very first one I've ever been a part of. HA! Carolina and Sam really enjoyed themselves.

Hopefully I'll have more pics soon. If I can just get myself off the couch!

Coming in November...

Pray with us for our new addition! This child, completely unexpected, has a 50% chance of having Brugada Syndrome. We won't be able to tell in-utero, but we will be able to learn (hopefully) quickly after giving birth.

Our miracle tree frog - with arms and legs and a head that are actually visible!

Amazing.

Soy

Ever since being diagnosed with all these food allergies, I have done a lot of research regarding each of the products.

I have been completely shocked by what I have discovered. I'm sure I'm just now getting on board with something that each of you already knows, but I'd still like to share what I have learned.

I'll start with my biggest allergy: milk. Apparently my allergies are IgG allergies, which means I have built up some antibodies to each of the products I'm allergic to. But, it's different from an IgE allergy, which causes a person to go into anaphylactic shock in the end. This particular allergy, an IgG allergy, causes problems like, fatigue, dark circles, nausea or other similar problems.

When I began looking at milk substitutes, I learned that soy milk should not be an option for any of us. My neighbor was the first to tell me that unfermented soy milk has many side effects and issues related to it, and when I did some research, I learned she is exactly right.

We are constantly bombarded with marketing that boosts the healthiness of soy milk - it has extra protein, soy is supposed to be good for brain development, it is low fat and has tons more fiber than cow's milk. People also cite the fact that Asians have been using soy milk and soy products for many years and look how healthy they are!

Well, the truth of the matter is, in China they use FERMENTED soy products. Even soy milk, called dou jiang, is made from the juice of tofu. Tofu is already fermented and the liquid around it is packed full of protein and healthy goodness. In the US, when they make soy milk, it is made by crushing the beans and grinding them into a pulp.

"Beans are cleaned and soaked overnight, and then pureed. The solids (called okara) are strained out, and the resulting liquid is boiled for about 10 minutes. A little simplified, but that's the basic idea." [source]

There is no fermenting in this process. Why do we need soy products to be fermented? Check these sources to get more details, but essentially, there are enzyme inhibitors in unfermented soy products that prevent our bodies from breaking down food and nutrients properly.

http://preventdisease.com/news/09/073009_soy_lecithin.shtml

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/soy-milk-dangers.html

http://www.quantumbalancing.com/news/soy%20dangers.htm

Those are just a couple of sites I have found in my detailed research. The amount of marketing available for pro-soy products has amazed me, but as I have read, it is very intentional.

Going back to the aforementioned milk allergy, I am supposed to ingest small amounts of milk every day in order to build up my tolerance for it, but I am not supposed to ingest large amounts. I have noticed my nose runs more when I ingest lots of milk products and the (ever present) circles under my eyes DO get darker.

But, my alternative to milk will not be soy milk. It is almond milk, preferably homemade because manufactured almond milk has (less than 1%) soy lecithin in it (a product in almost every processed food in America). If you'd like to make your own homemade almond milk, check this link out that my brother sent me. It's delicious and you can make it for about $1/quart.

I think that about scratches the surface.

The Three of Us

This is an older photo, but I wanted to post it anyway. My kiddos are so cute!

Lainey

Pray for one of my best friend's one year-old who is having an MRI tomorrow morning. Here is the info about it. I just know she's going to do great, but I also know it's scary to have any medical procedure done on your child.

Atlanta

Our family just took a (much needed) trip to Atlanta for the last part of the week. We had such a great time going to the children's museum and the aquarium there, but we really enjoyed seeing my aunt, uncle and my two cousins.

Sam and Carolina travel so well, it really is a huge blessing. One thing I usually do before long trips like this is to put on Sam's Medic Alert bracelet, which states that he has BrugadaSyndrome and an ICD implanted. I cannot believe I completely forgot to put it on his wrist for this trip. I think I need to leave it in the car from now on, just in case.

Generally, when we're here at home, I don't make him wear it. He doesn't love to wear it, though he will, and all of our local doctors and hospitals know his situation. The biggest fear I have when we're traveling out of town is that we'll get in some horrible accident where I won't be able to share his condition and the medics won't know that he has the ICD. I even had one pediatrician once feel Sam's defibrillator and ask me if it was his liver! Based on that alone, I can only imagine what an EMT might do if they felt his belly and didn't realize it was a defib.

Despite my horrible fears when we travel, I can actually enjoy myself most of the time. I forgot to bring a baby carrier OR a stroller, so both the kids had to walk everywhere we went. The worst part is that I learned Carolina has outgrown most of her shoes. I brought four pairs with us and the only pair that actually fit were her snow boots! I'm headed to a consignment sale today to find new shoes for her. That kid is seriously growing fast.

Sam's famous quote of the weekend was while I was away. He told my Aunt Nancy, "hey, we are playing outside in the grass and I'm not wearing a coat AND I don't have to button up! Where's the snow?? There's no snow here!!"

I think we'd been on-the-mountain a bit too long! It was a nice break from the snow.

New Blog

Check out the new blog I designed and am helping to implement. I'm so proud of my girls at highcountrymommies.com!

In other news, Sam has a cold again. So far he hasn't presented with a fever, but has had a lot of coughing and other exciting things going on.

We are enjoying another couple days inside, as the cold and the snow have made it impossible for Sam to get out. However, we are fully intending on enjoying April, once it arrives, and excited about the possibility of seeing grass again.

This morning Sam was talking to my father when he was asked the question, "what have you been doing lately."

Sam answered by saying, "We laid in the grass and saw the SUN!!"

We obviously got off the mountain last weekend and enjoyed seeing the sun for extended amounts of time. It was quite balmy at 50 degrees in Raleigh on Saturday.

Here's hoping there will be more sun!!

SSN!

We got to go to Raleigh on Friday and get "off-the-mountain," which was so much fun. We spent time with my brother and his family - it has been WAY too long since we spent time together.

On the way to Raleigh, we stopped in Wilkesboro to apply for Carolina's social security number. We had all the paperwork needed (so much paperwork!), but learned that when she came into the US, immigration put her first name as "Carolina Rone" and left her middle name blank! So, now she is apparently (officially) Carolina Rone with no middle name. We have to call INS and get them to change it and then change her name on the new social security card too.

It's always something, isn't it? But, at least it's no big deal. I just need to make a few phone calls to figure out how to get this done.

Other than that - no news is good news!

We're very excited that March is upon us, even though we MAY get another bad snow storm, at least the end is near. I can't wait for Spring!

Car Seats

In light of a conversation I had earlier today, I wanted to share this about car seats.

Consider the car seat you have your child in right now. You can buy a 5-point harness car seat that fits a child up to 70lbs. If you can't afford it, there is help. See the website below.

The Importance of a 5 point harness car seat from Laura Bower on Vimeo.

Isn't it worth it to keep your child safe? Get rid of the booster and get a 5-point harness!

http://www.kyledavidmiller.org/