Our "Miracle Baby" and Other Stuff

This is our Sullivan. He will be two years old on Feb 20. We call him our miracle baby because we weren't even sure he would make it long enough to be born. He has "triad syndrome" which is a very rare problem. Only one in 40,000 babies have it. Most die in utero or are born dead. If they manage to come out alive, it is not at all certain whether they will ever be able to sit up or walk. This is because they have no stomach muscles. It was discovered that his bladder had twice as much fluid in it than it should have had and they had to go into the bladder and draw lots of fluid out while he was still in utero. He has been watched by a very interested and involved group of doctors in Salt Lake City, where his parents, Kristin and Craig Mills live. The "triad" comes from the three things that are involved, the bladder, uterers, and the kidneys. He has had an operation to properly connect the uterers. This little kid not only sits up and walks, but he runs. He is such a smart little kid too. He may have a tummy tuck when he gets a bit older to pull in his tummy and give his organs a little more support and he also may have to have a kidney transplant at some later date, but right now, this kid is doing well. I won't go into a lot more detail, in fact it is far too complicated for me to totally understand, but all I can say is that this is one special little boy and both Dick and I are totally besotted with him. This picture is one of the recent ones we have. I keep begging for pics and videos to be sent to me and thankfully Kristin sends quite a few. I can hardly wait until Christmas when we will get to see him again. Whenever I get a chance, I will drive to see him if he is anywhere within driving range of our place. He does get to come and visit his Grandma (my third daughter, Nikki) who lives two and a half to three hours from here and whenever he does, you can be sure we will appear on the scene to see him, even if just for the day. I just had to post this one picture(with the help of Dick, who had to leave for his regular Tuesday night meeting). I just wish I knew how to post videos on here. Some day I may learn, but probalbly not without a lot of help.

Of course I could go on and on about this incredible child, but I have a few other things I want to share with you this week. It has been another busy one. I'm still baking cookies and I have a pretty good start on all the Christmas ones. In fact, Dick tells me that the freezer is almost full so I am not quite sure what I am going to do. We still have lots of Danish tea rings to do too. It's a good thing that I love to bake. My family keeps telling me that I don't have to do this every year. But as long as I am able, I will keep on .

I have promised to post my recipe for Ginger cookies. They are quite good, so here it is:

Darlene's Gingersnaps

1 & 1/2 cups shortening
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
4 cups flour
3 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup molasses
1 & 1/2 tablespoons ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Beat shortening and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, beat until fluffy. Add molasses, then flour,soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger, sifted together. Chill for about 15 minutes in refrigerator. Spoon onto cookie sheets or roll into balls and coat with sugar. I usually make mine quite large, a rounded tablespoon. Just make sure that you sprinkle sugar on the top if you don't roll them in it. They are so much better that way. Bake at 375 degrees 12 to 15 minutes.

You can always start with a half batch if you just want to try them out. As usual, I would love to know if any of you try them, and how you liked them if you did.

It was a busy busy week, I can tell you and today was no different. We went out to brunch with some friends and afterward, Dick and I went to a movie!! Yes, the first one we have seen in over a year. Our friends had recommended it to us and I must say, it really was a good one. "The Help". It really did make one think about what those people had to go through, living in the south, working for the white people who thought they were so much better than the black ones.

When we got home, I crashed and went to sleep in my chair right after eating Chinese food that Dick brought in. I will be at it again tomorrow though, yes, making more cookies. 'Til next week..............