Monday, December 5, 2011

Welcome!

Hi and welcome! If you are visiting from Parent Life, please visit my new blog here! I started the new blog shortly after the article went to press. Thanks so much and look forward to hearing from you!


Thursday, July 7, 2011

Silly Landon

Landon was looking at my right hand yesterday morning. He then asked to see my other hand. I showed it to him and of course my ring was there. He said, "Mom, I wish there wasn't a ring on your hand." I asked him why and he said, "Cause when I became an adult I would marry you!"

Then we were talking with Cameron about movies. He asked her if she had watched a particular movie on Netflix. She told him no, that she had watched it before Netflix was around. He said, "You mean, in the old days?"





Tuesday, June 21, 2011

A trendy giveaway from a friend!

A friend of mine Abbie has started a great new blog, where she does a much better job faithfully blogging than I do! :)
Today she is giving away a cute little headband, which she also graciously shows the blog world how to create on their own.

Here is the link:
http://www.fivedaysfiveways.com/2011/06/embellished-headband-tutorial-giveaway.html

Go learn a new project and see how fun her blog is!

Thai Shrimp soup

My friend Linda took me to a Thai place a few months ago, where we experienced a crazy-good shrimp soup. It had been a while since I had tasted it, but I wanted to try to recreate it. It is not exactly the same, but I think it turned out pretty tasty! Enjoy.

Thai Shrimp-Coconut Soup

1 Tbs. curry powder
1 Tbs. garlic
2 Tbs. soy sauce
½ Tbs. fish sauce
½ Tbs. sesame oil
2 cans coconut milk
2 cans broth (beef or chicken)
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 pkg. rice noodles
1 lb. shrimp
1 Tbs. lime juice
Chopped cilantro

Soak rice noodles in cold water for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, put remaining items (minus shrimp and cilantro) into a large pot and simmer. Drain noodles after 30 minutes and add to soup. Bring to a boil and add shrimp. Cook for five more minutes. Garnish with cilantro.


VBS 2011

So many of our friends have recently asked about our story being in LifeWay's VBS material this summer. I am sorry I did not do a better job about letting everyone know! :)
The North American Mission Board sent a team to Houston in 2009 to follow us around for 5 days and capture a bit of our story and ministry. They made a video about our story and the church that can be seen here:


For VBS, they used the same content but dubbed over using a kid's voice. For some reason I can't find that video on YouTube. (and we all know YouTube is all-knowing!)

For the record, Landon is doing well. We just had his yearly check-up in April and he was released for another year of being a normal kiddo! We are so thankful for this.



Edited: here is the link to the actual VBS video:

http://mediasuite.316networks.com/player.php?v=v76s5m98

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

One Day

Happy birthday to my sweet little man! My first-born, my only (for now!) son.
Today not only represents the 6th year that we have enjoyed having Landon on this earth, it also represents the ONE day of parenting that Ben and I have experienced without the words "biliary atresia" in the back of our minds. For 24 blessed hours, we cuddled and loved on our little boy with great peace of mind. He made us parents, and we were overwhelmed with love.
It was like a fairy tale, that first day was. Somewhere near 40 people came to the hospital to help us welcome our child into the world. We chose not to find out the gender of our first born, so there was great anticipation, both for us in the operating room, and in the overflowing waiting room.
I will never forget Dr. Haskins holding him up and saying, "It's a boy! And a big one!" And he was, 10 pounds 10 ounces. How could such a large baby have anything in the world going on?
All evening, visitors floated in and out while I floated in and out of sleep. Early the next morning, Landon's pediatrician came to visit us. She told us that his bilirubin was high, but that didn't worry me too much because most babies develop jaundice at some point. I was very jaundiced as a newborn. Ben was a little more worried. That was around 7:30 a.m. She mentioned sending him to Shreveport if necessary, but that hardly seemed reasonable to me. For jaundice? Really? Little did I know, I was about to become a near-expert in all things liver-related, and that there were two kinds of bilirubin. Only one should be elevated in neonatal jaundice, but both of Landon's levels were high.
Dr. Sokunbi came back by around lunch, and his levels still hadn't fallen. This time, I was a little more worried, because she seemed more worried. My mom dropped my little brother off with my grandpa so she could be with us. At about 5 p.m., a team from Christus Schumpert came rushing in with an incubator stretcher. We hadn't even known for sure they were coming, and there they were. My dad was there by then so he could drive Ben over to Shreveport as well. Ben and I both lay on my hospital bed sobbing while they prepared Landon for travel. We had to sign all sorts of forms saying everything from "they might give him a blood transfusion" all the way to "he might die." Talk about the fairy tale turned nightmare.
When Ben and my dad left behind the ambulance, I really thought my heart was going to break in two. I think out of the whole ordeal, that day was the hardest. Being separated from my child and husband, when we should have been all together. As a family. I had a c-section, so my doctor highly advised that I stay until the next morning before heading to Shreveport. That night was fitful for me. I should have been nursing my baby, but instead my arms were empty.
I had told my doctor that I was leaving by 7 am, with or without him, so he better come check on me by then! He was there at 6:30, bless his heart. I am sure there is nothing as difficult as dealing with a mama with a sick baby.
....to be continued