EMYSON AND CO.: Ode to the KitchenAid

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Ode to the KitchenAid

I conquered a mountain in my personal life today with a little help from the glorious invention shown below...(also known as my Mother's Day present)

and made my first couple loaves of whole wheat BREAD!

Before I logged in to post/brag about this achievement I ate a slice with raspberry freezer jam and it actually tastes good too! I'm so proud of myself.

Ridiculously so.

7 comments:

Lexi said...: Someday I'll join the ranks of the delicious bread makers... someday.

Go Em!; May 18, 2010 at 2:13 PM
Becky said...: Proud of you Em! :) What a GREAT mother's day gift. I seriously use mine DAILY! LOVE IT! xoxo; May 18, 2010 at 6:46 PM
April said...: HOORAY!!!! We should swap recipes! I'm always on the hunt for a good wheat bread recipe!!
LOVE YOU!!! We need to get together SOON!! :); May 18, 2010 at 8:42 PM
Des said...: Nice! I will have to have you show me how. I have made it with a bread maker, but haven't tried to do it without that.I would love your wheat bread recipe I don't have one of those!; May 19, 2010 at 2:07 PM
d+k said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; May 19, 2010 at 3:10 PM
d+k said...: Haha Em your too funny! That bread looks good! Love ya!; May 19, 2010 at 3:15 PM
Amberlin Gefrom said...: OOhh man super lucky! One day I hope to own one. For now enjoy it extra for me. I have been wanting to make wheat bread..yum!; May 20, 2010 at 11:20 AM

Words to live by

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived." ~Marjorie Pay Hinckley (emphasis mine)

Lissencephaly

The following is a "quick" explanation of lissencephaly, the condition our handsome Hunter was born with.

Lissencephaly is a malformation of the brain in which the brain surface is smooth rather than convoluted. In man, the surface of the brain is formed by a complex series of ridges and valleys. The ridges are called gyri or convolutions, and the valleys are called sulci. In children with lissencephaly, the normal convolutions are absent or only partly formed, so the surface is smooth. Lissencephaly is usually diagnosed based on interpretation of either a CT or MRI scan of the brain. (Hunter was diagnosed from a CT scan.)

Lissencephaly is only rarely suspected at birth or soon after. Some of the problems parents are likely to notice first include failure to develop visual tracking, poor feeding and weight gain, and seizures. In most children, slow development is recognized between 2 and 6 months of age.

Hunter's specific lissencephaly syndrome is called isolated lissencephaly sequence (ILS). Children with ILS have profound mental retardation with abilities limited to brief and inconsistent visual tracking, brief smiling and some spontaneous movements. They are floppy (due to low muscle tone) and significantly less active than normal children. Head control is poor and they often arch their head and trunk backwards. Seizures are a part of everyday life. Anti-seizure medications can help keep the seizures under control, but total control is nearly impossible to achieve. A child with ILS has a much shorter lifespan than normal.

After some genetic testing, we discovered that Hunter's lissencephaly is the result of a genetic abnormality. He is missing a very small piece of chromosome 17. Since neither Bryson nor I have any missing genetic material, Hunter's condition is not hereditary. (Therefore, the chance of any of our other children having lissencephaly is virtually nonexistent.) In Hunter's case, what happened can be compared to a smudge on a Xerox copy. Genetic material, for whatever reason, simply wasn't copied correctly.

I know people wonder if we are able to have meaningful interaction with Hunter. Parenting Hunter is very interactive and meaningful! Not just anyone could step in and know how to read his cues, but I know that we know Hunter and that he has a personality. It is such a joy to care for him. He is the snuggliest, sweetest boy ever! Knowing that our family is going to be together forever, and that we have the chance to embrace a resurrected Hunter someday, makes the tough days worth it.

If you want to know more about Hunter's life, check out his blog.

EMYSON AND CO.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Ode to the KitchenAid

7 comments:

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