Baby Endurance Update: A Time to Mourn

I just received this heartbreaking e-mail from Endurance's church a few minutes ago:

Endurance passed away this morning. His heart stopped and the doctors were not able to get it started again after half an hour of trying.

Thank you all for your many hours of prayers and fasting, for your visits and calls and e-mails and gifts, and countless other expressions of love and encouragement to the Holstons. I know you will continue to show your love to them in the days ahead.

Please continue to pray for this dear family. We will let you know more details as we get them.

May the God of all comfort comfort us all as we grieve with the Holstons.

Our hearts go out to this family; we have come to love them from a distance as we talk with them and observe their unswerving faith in God and desire to glorify Him through the ups and downs.

Let us all keep the Holston family in our prayers as we mourn with them the loss of their precious son.

Ecclesiastes 3:4 - A time to weep , and a time to laugh; a time to mourn , and a time to dance....

Endurance and his mother, a few months ago

Endurance's blog: Run with Endurance
Endurance's facebook page: www.facebook.com/prayersforendurance

Urgent Prayer Request for Endurance Holston

Our family has been administrating a facebook page for a dear family whose 8-month-old son, Endurance, has been in the hospital (several hospitals, in fact) since birth with severe heart issues. For some background, visit their blog, "Run With Endurance." (This post gives some good background on his birth and heart difficulties.)

Endurance is currently in his long-awaited 8-hour surgery on his heart. Just finding a surgeon who would perform the surgery for him was a huge answer to prayer, and involved a cross-country hospital move for Endurance and his family.

The latest update from Mike & Heather (Endurance's parents) is as follows, and includes an urgent prayer request:

We now ask for prayer for this.....Dr. Galantowicz will take Endurance off of his heart/lung bypass machine when he's completely finished. This will tell the doctor if Endurance's heart will tolerate being on its own. If his heart doesn't accept being off of the machine (Seattle told us he'd never survive off of this), Dr. Galantowicz will put him back on for one hour. If he can't come off, Endurance will basically pass away there. He's in God's hands. May it please Him to have Endurance survive on his own.

Please be praying for Endurance as he comes out of surgery in the next little while. Follow his facebook page for regular updates, and visit his blog for more details!

Endurance's family has consistently glorified and trusted in the Lord through all of the ups and downs since Endurance's birth. Please pray for strength for them at this time!

Endurance with one of his 6 older siblings

Full-Term!!!

For the first time in our three pregnancies, as of today (Friday), we've made it to the point the doctors consider to be full-term:

37 weeks!!!

Praise the Lord!

After 6 weeks on bedrest and a few bouts with regular close contractions, we've made it! Talk about excitement! It's so wonderful to head into labor with the reasonable confidence that, for the first time, our little guy won't be needing a NICU stay!

I'm enjoying the ability to actually "nest" this time around; our first pregnancy, Little Tait came early enough that I wasn't even thinking about nesting yet. With Miles, I was on bedrest and wasn't allowed to do any of those essential nesting activities like cleaning and laundry and such.

We've been staying with Tait's family for the past 6 weeks while I've been on bedrest, and while our driveway was undrivable, but we're hoping to be able to move back home within the next week - maybe before the baby comes! (We tested our driveway out yesterday and ... well, it wasn't quite ready. Two stuck trucks, some deep ruts, a tow strap, and lots of mud later ... yes, it definitely wasn't ready. :D)

My younger sister, Shannon, is up visiting from down South, and we've enjoyed showing her our house for the first time! We're working on cleaning it in preparation for the baby's arrival and our move back home (this involves a 1/2-mile walk down our muddy driveway just to reach our cozy little home)!

I'll have to say that I'm finally ready to have this little guy. It's not because I'm tired of being pregnant; it's just that we've been expecting him to arrive any day for the last 3+ weeks, and I'm just ready to meet him. : ) I'm expecting our next blog post to be an exciting announcement ... the exciting announcement!

With the gorgeous flowers my hubby gave me for Mother's Day - about 35 1/2 weeks along!

Taken about a week ago, at 36 weeks along!

Pictures: 27 Weeks Along ... 3 Weeks Late

Of course, now that I've finally gotten the chance to post these pictures from 27 weeks along with our 3rd little blessing ... they're 3 weeks late. : )

27 weeks is when our first little guy came, so I was curious how "big" I would be at that point this time around! I think I was a little smaller tummy-wise with our first, but actually a few pounds heavier than I am now. : )

Many thanks to my sister-in-law Esther for running out our front door and snapping these pictures for me on my camera! I did a little very quick editing, but she could have made them look much better with her super cool camera and mad editing skilz. : )

Me with my handsome oldest little guy!

We've made it past 30 weeks now!!! Because of the amount of mild contractions I'm having when I'm active, my doctor does want me to put myself on semi-bedrest like I did with Miles. In theory, that means no cooking, cleaning, laundry or shopping, and naps whenever possible. In practice, it means simplifying meals, streamlining and minimizing cleaning, sitting down while folding clothes, shopping very quickly without the boys or giving Tait a grocery list when he goes to town, and lying down on the couch for short periods of time if I start noticing too many contractions. Let's just say that any form of bedrest with a few little guys can be kind of difficult. :D

We'll be moving in with Tait's family soon for the next few weeks while our half-mile driveway is undrivable during breakup. Normally, we would just say here and walk in and out in the mud, but I'm definitely not supposed to be that active! It's hard to believe that we might not make it back into our home before the baby comes in just 6-7 weeks!

It will be nice to have help so close, but those will definitely be some busy weeks! One of Tait's sisters is due with her first baby in just 3 weeks, his other sister is getting married in just 5 weeks, and I'm due in just about 7! Life keeps moving!

We are so blessed with healthy rambunctious little guys, a comparatively smooth pregnancy so far, and helpful family and friends close by!

Bread Machine Recommendations?

I posted on facebook recently, asking for bread machine suggestions. And then Kim, over at Life in a Shoe, posted about making bread in her incredibly helpful weekly post on "4 Moms, 35 Kids." Since she's doing linky's for this particular post, I thought I'd get in on the action, and hopefully get some great bread machine recommendations along the way!

Making our own bread is something I've been thinking about for quite awhile, but recently (after running out of yet another bulk order of Alvarado Street Sprouted Sourdough bread) I've gotten serious about it.

I've thought about doing bread by hand and baking it in the oven, saving the cost of a bread maker. But, if I go that route, I know it'll never get done. Life with soon-to-be three little men under 3, and no really productive "helpers" (yet!) is just too busy and unpredictable. It looks like bread maker prices range between $60 and $300. Even at the $300 price, from my rough calculations, it would pay for itself in a little over a year. And it would be healthier and cheaper than storebought! : )

A few requirements/preferences in a bread maker:

Whole wheat & sourdough options
Pizza crust option
Mixing, kneading, & baking

I would love to avoid non-stick pans, but haven't seen any non-stick options. And it seems like that could be a real mess!

I've also seen a "sandwich bread" option on a few. This sounds really good to me, since a lot of the bread we use is for sandwiches.

A few of the recommendations from wives/mothers/daughters/homemakers on facebook:

Oster
Panasonic SD-256
Zojirushi

The Cuisinart also seemed to have good reviews.

What breadmaker have you found to work the best with whole wheat? Have you tried grinding your own grain? How did that turn out? Which breadmakers have just not worked for you? What have been your experiences with whole wheat sourdough bread?

Looking forward to your feedback!

On This Day in Our First Pregnancy...

...Little Tait was born!

27 weeks and 1 day today!!!

It adds a whole new dimension to this pregnancy, being able to visualize exactly what this little guy is like at this point - approximately 2 1/2 pounds, 14 inches long, fully formed with transparent skin, able to cry, able to survive, able to grow up, able to bring immeasurable joy to his parents! He looks something like this ...

...just, minus all of the cords, wires, sensors, goofy goggles, tape, diaper, and IV's. Instead, thankfully this little guy is snuggled safely inside of Mommy right now, right where he should be! : )

And this is what little preemies look like at 2 years old, helping Mommy make peanut butter honey cookies when they should be in bed, but instead get up with a messy diaper and are just too cute for Mommy to resist.... ;D

(Yes, that cookie in the front row is missing part of itself. Apparently a whole sheet of cookie dough within easy reach is too much for 2-year-old little boys to resist.) ;D

It is so exciting to make it past this point in this pregnancy for me! It means that we will not have an exact - or worse - repeat of our first pregnancy and delivery. Every week - every day! - this little one gets stronger and stronger, better able to survive outside of Mommy!

We are now 2 weeks past the point when we started having issues with pregnancy #2 and had to go on semi-bedrest. Everything looks good, and our hope is growing stronger and stronger for a full-term baby this time around, by God's grace!

I'll upload a tummy picture tomorrow (we don't do bare tummies here, so don't worry ;D)! Today was strictly a day for housecleaning and preparation for a restful Sabbath tomorrow (and, of course, any random things Tait needed help with throughout the day)! So yeah ... you don't want to see a picture today. ;P

A Sign of Weakness?

"As a mother it is so easy for me to get bent out of shape and irritated over dealing with strife that I become the product of what I’m trying to avoid in my children. It doesn’t do much good to fly off the handle because my child is not being flexible…or snap as I try to teach them gentleness…now there’s a moment of truth."

-Kelly, in her article entitled
"What Can a Mother do About Sibling Strife,"

on her very encouraging and practical blog Generation Cedar

Is it a sign of weakness for me to post this quote, and admit that it was very timely?

Yes, I think it is. But I'll be the first one to admit that I've been very weak in this area recently! With all of the stress of a busy schedule and trying to get things organized before possible bedrest, I'm afraid I haven't had a lot of patience left for the boys. And on top of all that, Miles got croup. Little Tait has a cold, and is having trouble sleeping at night. They've both been tired and grumpy (probably taking their cues from a tired and grumpy mommy). I've got a weird cough - either the beginnings of a cold, or the result of breathing in too much dust during the organizing process. And of course, pregnancy hormones probably aren't helping me out too much either.

On top of all that, I feel like I live in a pigsty. Okay, so I'm grossly exaggerating here. : ) But I do so hate disorganization! We've had everything strewn all over the living room during this organizing process, and I've put off cleaning and dusting until I can actually walk across the room without feeling like I'm navigating a maze, and until the floor is somewhat visible. It's hiding somewhere under all of the boxes and bins at the moment.

With all that said, yesterday was a very productive day (thanks to my sweet mother-in-law watching the boys for the afternoon!), and I finally feel like we're on our way to digging ourselves out of the piles - piles of outgrown baby clothes, books that have no bookshelf, and lots and lots of real estate and household papers. Progress is always nice. : )

My husband had a heart-to-heart with me yesterday about my attitude, and how it affects the boys. I used to pride myself on keeping my voice completely controlled when dealing with misbehavior. Oops! What's that verse ... something about pride going before a fall? Well, the pride phase lasted a few months before the fall phase took over, gradually but completely.

The above quote really drove home the fact that I have to be the example for the little guys. Getting upset, losing control of my voice, and losing my patience, will not teach Little Tait to keep control over his anger and frustration when Miles takes his toy. Nor will it teach Miles to get a hold of himself (i.e. no screaming) when Mommy or Daddy tell him no.

This has been good for me to think through! Thank you Kelly, for your wise and timely words!

And now, I'm off to finish labeling and sorting the bins before their transport to the storage area downstairs, clean out the cabinet for the installation of our double wall oven (yay!), make ice cream to take along to dinner at a friend's house tonight, work on some nasty stained clothes, change the sheets, work on the laundry, help hubby clean up our storage area, file papers....

Or at least, I'm off to make some progress on that long list, while the boys are napping at Tait's parents' house. (Thank the Lord for godly, helpful, understanding, nearby parents-in-law!)

Today Was Little Tait's Due Date!

Yes, our first little guy was due on February 4, 2 years ago (9 months and 1 day after our wedding :D). But of course, he came a little earlier than that. It's hard to believe that we spent the entire time from November 6 (just 6 months and 3 days after our wedding) until a few days from now in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with him that year!

I'm reminded every February 4 just how long that time in the hospital was, and just how thankful we were to be nearing the time when we could bring him home!

November 6, the day he was born

February 6, 2 days after his due date, the day we brought him home!

Just about two years later, sampling Mommy's

ginger molasses cookie dough

The website for the Little Tait Foundation for Preemie Aid will be coming soon! Visit the LTFPA on facebook, and be sure to "like" the page! An anonymous donor is donating $1 for every "like" until the end of the month, up to $500! (You can also "like" the LTFPA facebook page on the right sidebar of this blog!)

Blessings to all of you from the Zimmerman Family!

Happy Birthday Tait!

Exactly 24 years ago today, an amazing man was born. The Lord has done such an incredible work in my husband's life, and I am so blessed to be his helpmeet! He is passionate about actively serving the Lord, completely devoted to his family, and firmly committed to furthering the cause of Christ! I can't wait to see how God uses Tait to advance His kingdom in the years to come!

Using the word visionary to describe my husband would be a severe understatement. He is constantly (and yes, I mean constantly!) thinking of new ideas - new business ventures to provide for his family, new methods to encourage other men to serve the Lord, new ways to advance God's kingdom, and new ministry ideas to meet needs and glorify God.

As many of you know, our first baby, Little Tait, was born very early at 27 weeks along, weighing 2 1/2 pounds. I think that any parent who faces a situation like this with their own child has, from then on, a very special place in their heart for other families in similar situations. We were incredibly blessed, and witnessed the beauty of the body of Christ as fellow Christians stepped up to support us both financially and spiritually.

We are in the process of launching a non-profit organization to minister financially to Christian families of preemies. Stay tuned to see how you can help other families who are facing the financial burdens which accompany their early new blessing!

For more information, visit the
Little Tait Foundation for Preemie Aid
on facebook, and be sure to "Like" our page!

Official website coming soon!!!

Happy birthday Tait! I love you, and look forward to serving you as you serve the Lord for many years to come!

Wisdom from Martin Luther

Adeline, over at the MortonClan blog posted these few verses from Martin Luther, and I just had to share! (If you get a chance to stop by and "visit" the Mortons at their "online home," do! They're the dearest, most hospitable family ... though we haven't actually met all of them ... yet. Maybe next time we're down South.) :D

"Feelings come and feelings go,

And feelings are deceiving;
My warrant is the Word of God--
Naught else is worth believing.

Though all my heart should feel condemned
For want of some sweet token,
There is One greater than my heart
Whose Word cannot be broken.

I'll trust in God's unchanging Word
Till soul and body sever,
For, though all things shall pass away,
HIS WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!"


-Martin Luther