Happy Birthday, Bill!

Bill's birthday, from start to finish:

"Nothing like a keg of root beer to wash down those Pop Rocks!"

"Oh nooooooooooo!"

"I hope this orange juice doesn't interfere with my medication!"

"Oh nooooooooooo!"

"I hope this jacuzzi isn't too hot!"

"Oh nooooooooooo!"

"I hope this pie doesn't affect my diabetes!"

"Oh noooooooo!"

Cloth Diapering

Parenting in the High Country has always been a thrill. Everyone seems to have a different way to do pretty much everything. I have met moms who make their own laundry detergent, coupon to the extreme (by saving 80% or more on their grocery bills), homeschool, raise their own chickens (even in residential areas), take the bus, don't use microwaves and, of course, use cloth diapers.

Since I am now a HighCountryMommie(s), I feel like I have now embraced a few of the "crunchy" lifestyle changes other mommies have led me to. One of those changes (among others) is cloth diapering.

If you've never done it before or you're thinking, "eeeeww", I have news for you: it's not that hard and it's not that gross.

Getting set up for cloth diapering has never been easier. There are so many blogs dedicated to the how-to's of cloth diapering (CD) and many many websites that sell a huge variety of CDs and accessories.

The benefits of CDing are that you are helping the environment by not throwing yet another disposable diaper in a landfill, you're not exposing your child to the toxic chemicals in disposables, and it will save you upwards of $2000 a year, depending on the disposable diaper you use. Here's a link that provides facts about cloth diapering benefits. Here's a calculator that you can use to quickly add up how much you'll save by using cloth.

It's true that the initial setup fees for cloth are high, but it's a real investment. If you will check out that calculator, you'll see that disposables actually cost more in the long-run. Also, the resale value of CDs are very high. You'll see it on websites like diaperswappers.com or even your localmommiesnetwork site (buy/sell/trade).

If you ever want to find out about cloth, ask a mommy you know who uses cloth - I've never met one who wasn't open and willing to share about every aspect. Be careful though, we can be pretty passionate about CDing and take over the conversation!

Over the next few weeks, I'll be discussing cloth and the benefits, as well as systems for washing and caring for cloth. Please leave a comment if you have any questions and I'll try to address those.

I only began using cloth when my first son was 18 months-old. It's never too late! Stay tuned for more posts on the how-tos of cloth.

Sam

In light of the post before the last one, I feel I need to share something. Something big. Something so huge that it has changed our lives forever.

Before I do that, I'll review. I pray for my children. I pray for them to receive Christ. I pray for them to grow into godly men and a godly woman. I pray for them to change other people's lives throughout their own. I know they already have - each of them.

So, here goes. You can choose not to believe it. You can choose to say it's too early. But only time will tell. And in the two weeks since it's happened, we have seen proof. As much as you can in a four and a half year old.

If you ask me, I'll share more details privately. But for now, I find it important to just share this: Sam is a believer.

My goofball.

Oddly Silent

I suppose adding the third child to our family has been what is keeping me away from posting on the blog. Figuring out a balance has been the biggest hurdle to overcome, but I believe I am just about there. Unfortunately, the blog falls at the lowest priority, with other blogs that I write for coming even before my own.

Mothers and wives ask me all the time for my schedule - they just want to know how I manage making meals, cleaning, homeschooling (Sam), and living life in general. I can't say that I have any secret that other mothers don't have, but I will say that God weaved into me a personality trait that comes in handy with all these responsibilities. Organization.

I make a plan and generally stick to it (flexibility is the key though). Everything has a box or a basket it goes in, every day has a purpose, and I have a list of five things that I need to get done daily in order to know I have been productive.

Do I get overwhelmed? Absolutely. Do things NOT get done sometimes? Yep. Do I become so tunnel-visioned (is that a word?) that I ignore the more important things to fulfill the task at-hand? You betcha. I think all of those are just part of life with kids or without kids.

Still, I have a lot of room for improvement. While I hone my skills at balancing Christian, wife, mother of three, children's minister, friend, daughter, sister, and all the other responsibilities I have, I can enjoy the little things. At least, they're little for now.

Priorities

When we had our first child, I realized all my priorities were going to have to change, and fast. We could still be very flexible with the trips we took and people we visited, but life somehow revolved around naps and mealtimes.

Then we had our second child and life changed a little more. Both children were on the same napping schedule, so everything seriously revolved around naps and mealtimes.

Now we have our third child. I am officially chained to the house every day for the same hours. I shouldn't say "chained" - it's actually a very refreshing time, a time to get a little rest before the action begins again.

But my priorities have shifted, yet again. I have been homeschooling Sam, and that requires a good amount of planning and preparation (not too much, as he is still pre-K). Between taking care of the children, teaching the children, cleaning the house, a (limited) social life and various other activities, we are busy busy busy.

This is the best kind of busy I could ever ask for. Ever. I love going over school stuff with Sam. I thrive on the reaction Carolina makes when she recognizes she's learning something new. And I cherish the moments in between where I can snuggle up to my cozy littlest one, nurse him and know that I am providing everything he needs to grow strong and healthy. And my favorite time is when I'm praying for each of the children individually. I woke up about five times last night with one of them on my heart. I prayed that God would call them into His Kingdom. I prayed for their health. I prayed for our parenting to be pleasing to Him. I prayed and prayed and prayed. And then I fell asleep, content in knowing my prayers will be answered.

Train up a child in the way he should go,

even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

Time Keeps on Slipping...

Two months have passed since Hudson was born and our lives will never be the same. We have had our ups and downs, as every new parent does, and I feel I can safely say we are now working at about 90% of our efficiency level. That is to say, we're still in survival mode, but we're almost out!

The good news is that it's winter, so I probably wouldn't have taken the kids out anyway with all this snow. The bad news, it's winter, so we have experienced a bit of cabin fever with all this snow.

I have a few gems I want to pass on via this blog, but I guess first I should say, Happy New Year! Along those lines, my best friend really challenged me with this post to think and pray about a word that might be the theme for the year 2011.

At first I thought it was just another one of those super mom things she does - she thinks of resolutions, teaches her children amazing things everyday, cloth diapers, stays at home with her children, puts her family first in every way - the list could go on, but suffice it to say, I wasn't sure I wanted to add something new to my list. But immediately after thinking this might be a burden, God laid a word on my heart. Then another. Then He led me to really pray about it and bring it up with Bill. By the end of the second day, Bill and I had both prayed over our children and our own lives and all of us had been assigned a word for 2011 by the Lord. It wasn't so hard and it even made a lot of sense.

So, I want to share the words the Lord gave us and what He told us they mean for each of us. Maybe by the end of the year these words will be assigned different meanings, but for now:

Sam: Obey. Sam is a very intelligent young man and with that intelligence comes pride. He believes he knows more than his own parents do (I seriously thought this didn't come until the teenage years. Boy was I wrong.). We hope he will learn was obedience is this year, not just to us, but to the Lord.

Carolina: Love. Unconditional love. She has recently shown her insecurities (Mama, am I pretty? Mama, do you love me? Mama, pweeze don't leave me.) and we want her to know the Lord's unconditional love through us and our own unconditional love. No matter what she does, how she disappoints, how bad her bed head is or how stinky her breath smells - we love her. Hopefully the Lord will show us how to prove that to her in 2011.

Hudson: Grow. This one's obvious.

Teesa: Listen. I need to listen. Period. To God and to those around me, including my children and my husband.

Bill: Pray. This one's obvious too.

So hopefully in the year 2011, God will show us what these words He has laid on our hearts mean. I can't wait to see what's in store!

I have more to write, but I'll save it for my next post.

In conclusion...here's our beautiful new addition from 2010 - including his beautiful dimples and already showing his love for his big brother:

I Take It Back

Musings over my pregnancies...bear with me while I share my experience.

Ever since I was pregnant with and gave birth to Sam, plus endured the following very difficult weeks, I have said I never understood why people get pregnant more than once instead of adopting. I'm sure I seem really harsh about it, because, obviously the joy of raising our very own biological child is extremely rewarding and I would never trade Sam for any amount of difficulties I had in conceiving him, bearing him or delivering him, but I really and honestly felt like I could adopt 100 more children before carrying another one myself.

Conceiving Sam took four and a half years. While carrying him, I was on bedrest for three months in three different countries. I spent weeks below the morgue in a public hospital in Hong Kong staring at a clock while doctor after doctor told me I was going to deliver him early and that there would be a very slim chance of his survival.

Delivery took 22.5 hours with just over three hours of actual pushing. I vomited for two plus hours afterwards. He wouldn't nurse the entire time he was in the hospital. I had an intrauterine infection that caused all the pre-term labor to begin with and caused me to have 103F fever for five weeks following his birth. Once I was on antibiotics (after they discovered what was causing it) I finally felt like myself again.

He was a wonderful baby (besides having to finger train him in how to nurse, which took days on end and countless hours of pumping). He was easy-going, lovely to be with, lovely to look at, a wonderful snuggler and quite aware from his first day outside of my womb (which, ended up being six days early).

He was my first. He is brilliant. I love him to death and wouldn't trade any of it - not one ambulance ride, not one moment of panic through countless contractions - NONE of it. I love him so much.

But trying to get pregnant for so long, carrying him, delivering him, and suffering through a strange infection afterwards really burned me for future pregnancies.

You can imagine my fear when I discovered I was pregnant with Hudson. I was fearful from the get-go about what kind of pregnancy I would have, what kind of delivery I would "suffer" and how the first weeks would go.

I worked throughout my whole pregnancy, despite 16 weeks of morning sickness (which ended at Disney World!). I raised my two children, a two year-old and a three year-old (now three and four) throughout the entire pregnancy. My husband traveled A LOT throughout the entire pregnancy.

Somehow I felt great. I had energy, I ate well, I was able to care for my kids AND start homeschooling them. We went to Tweetsie Railroad, the park, the local children's museum - we continued our lives as though I wasn't 43 pounds heavier. My back didn't hurt very badly, my hips didn't hurt. Despite the comments every pregnant woman endures ("you'll never make it to 40 weeks." "you're huge!" "Are you sure it's not twins?") I was none the worse for the wear.

And, delivery was amazing!

So, now you know, Hudson has entered our world. He came in just under four hours. He came in a mere 10 pushes and about six minutes. He nursed very quickly after being born for 45 straight minutes.

Wow. I didn't know it could be this way. I take back what I said. I DO understand why women get pregnant more than once. It's not so bad after the nine months are up. Sure, the hormone rushes make me cry for no reason and I'm quite sore, but other than that - WOW.

I'm so grateful to God that I got to experience this - the entire experience actually. Getting pregnant easily (without trying, actually), a healthy pregnancy, a wonderful delivery (amazing doctor too), and a very simple little boy who loves to nurse, be held and sleep.

Plus the joys of adoption! My cup is full. God has really blessed us.

Without further ado...here is our newest addition. Hudson.

Keeping Organized with Kids

I keep seeing these posts on my friend's Facebook pages about how if your house is messy than it's a sign that you're spending time with your kids, or if your house is clean it's a sign that you are neglecting your children.

For some reason this post has really stuck with me - I keep mulling it over in my mind and wondering if there really is any truth to it or if it's just a post to write and give an excuse to an already messy house.

The jury is still out on that one, but as for my house - it's generally organized all the time. Does this mean that I am neglecting my children? Absolutely not. Does it mean I'm obsessive compulsive? I don't think so.

What it DOES mean, for me and my life, is that I require order to be a productive happy member of society. It started as early as my pre-teen years, when I wouldn't be able to really study for a test unless my room was organized first. It just distracted me too much. Things around me don't need to be clean, per se, but "organization" is the key.

Other mothers often ask me how I do it, so I will share my "secret."

When it's time to play, it's time to play. It can be messy and downright disgusting in our home during play time. But, once it's time to move on to another activity, I require that everything is picked up first from the previous activity. Where does everything go? I'm glad you asked.

I have baskets all over my home for different types of toys. There's a plastic train track basket, a wooden train track basket, a car basket, a miscellaneous girl toy basket (does it ever seem like girl toys just can't be sorted according to the type of toy?), a homeschooling basket, a stuffed animal bucket, and many more. I find that all of these baskets truly help to keep things looking a bit more organized (or to the untrained eye, "clean") and the children know where every toy belongs. Once I say, "put your trains away," there's no question as to where they go and they are usually put there very quickly.

So, the secret to MY organized home is baskets. What's the secret to yours?

Cleanliness is a different matter altogether!

The Children

In our very small world, we have a lot of great stuff going on. The children, both Sam and Carolina, started a preschool version of homeschooling in late August. That has kept us pretty busy most mornings, depending on their interest and involvement.

Carolina has phased out of her Early Intervention therapies and I am trying to continue an environment where she can grow and learn and eventually catch up to children her age. In some ways she is already caught up, in other ways she has a ways to grow.

She is learning her colors, letters and numbers during her schooling time. She is also learning fine motor skills by working with puzzles and Play Doh, as well as enjoying dance and music time with her brother.

Sam is a ravenous learner. I often can't keep up with the numerous questions he has for me, or his desire for reading. He is reading at a 2nd or 3rd grade level right now and doing fairly well at math. He has learned to write his letters and numbers as well, so I am trying to refine that skill in him.

Being nine months pregnant, it is often a challenge to find the energy to school them every day and STILL have the energy I need to feed us all and complete the end of our days...but somehow it always works out.

Speaking of the pregnancy, it is going very well. I really couldn't have asked for a better pregnancy than this one. Baby Hudson seems to be active and doing well.

As for his health, we do not know yet if he has Brugada Syndrome. There is a 50% chance that he does have it, but that also means there's a 50% chance that he doesn't have it. Once he is born, he will have a 12-lead ECG to check, but it may not show anything even if he does have it. If it is negative, we will have another one done at one month of age, then three months, then six months and the first time he is sick. Sickness often exacerbates the condition and it may show better on an ECG.

If none of that makes sense, don't worry. We are taking every precaution possible in knowing whether or not he has this life threatening heart condition that his older brother has. We are also continuing to pray for his good health. The doctors are working closely with us through this process as well, so I know Hudson will be monitored and watched.

In the meantime, we are all awaiting the arrival of Hudson James.

Parmesan Chicken Bake!

During the last week we have had a lot of rainy days in Boone. Despite the fact that they've not been very cool, the rain and the changing colors of the leaves have really gotten our household into the Fall spirit. Combine that with Fall Festivals, Fall desserts that I can't stop myself from making (even though I'm nine months pregnant!) and the darkness that prevails until 7 in the morning, and I'm all geared up to make my best comfort foods.

One of my favorites is this Parmesan chicken bake my brother taught me how to make. I made up a little recipe card for it, so it is easier to print up. It takes such little preparation, fills the house with a delicious roasted chicken smell and fills our bellies to the full - so it is completely worth the effort.

If you want tender chicken, which is exactly what I desire in all my chicken breasts, try a brine. Dissolve two tablespoons of Kosher salt, one tablespoon of sugar in four cups of water and then put the breasts in to soak for a minimum of four hours. This works great to thaw frozen breasts as well. Rinse and pat dry before using them in any recipe, but I think you'll be surprised at how tender the chicken turns out by using a brine.

Enjoy!

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.