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Recently while camping with some friends our kids made an impression on another family and I just had to share with the world what they said about our kids.

We love your family so much!  Sarah is a doll, so nurturing, agreeable, and such a gentle leader.  Ethan is all-boy, so ready for an adventure, and such a hero to my little guys.  Isabelle is adorable, so very charming, and has stolen my husband’s heart.  And Noah is compliant, easy to please, and so happy to just be invited.  And of course you know your family will always include Andrew, in our hearts and minds… and I thought of him so often this weekend.  It was a pleasure to live life with your family, for four whole days.

As a parent, there’s many days you feel like you’re failing.  This was such a nice reminder that we’re doing ok.

Awhile back I posted about our expecting baby.  At that time we didn’t know whether-or-not we would be having a boy or a girl.

Then on May 8th, 2010 at 12:03pm Andrew Scott Kaden was born weighing 5.6 lbs and measuring 18.5 inches long.

Here a picture:

Baby Andrew

Andrew was perfectly beautiful and we were so excited to have him.  I personally was finally happy to meet him.

After about two days in the hospital we were expecting to be discharged and head home but an unexpected event occurred—Andrew was moved to the NICU for further observation because he wasn’t eating and some of his physical responses weren’t normal.

Shortly after (just a few days) the NICU doctor ordered some tests and had a Pediatric Cardiologist take a look at Andrew to which we discovered that our little guy had Coarctation of the Aorta a congenital condition whereby the aorta narrows in the area where the ductus arteriosus inserts.  In other words, the main artery going to his lower half was stifled and his stomach, intestines, legs, etc. weren’t getting enough blood.  This might have explained his lack in appetite.  However, this didn’t explain his abnormal physical responses, perhaps he just wasn’t getting enough food to support his growing body and thus a lack of strength.

In addition, the doctors also ordered a ultrasound of Andrew’s brain which suggested that his mid-brain section hadn’t developed correctly and that there might be some minor issues with how his brain signals crossed over from one sphere to the other.  Nonetheless, they told us that there was no concern but we would have to watch how he would develop over the coming years and that there might be some physical therapy to help him overcome any challenges.

So the decision was to transfer him to a hospital that specializing in Pediatric care for heart and pulmonary surgery.

After we had moved Andrew, we scheduled the surgery and moved forward with lots of pray and faith in God.  Then as part of the surgery routine it was decided to do an MRI of Andrew’s brain to get a clearer picture.  After a successful surgery, we discovered from the MRI that Andrew had Gray matter heterotopia a neurological disorder caused by clumps of grey matter being located in the wrong part of the brain.  From what has been discovered about this disorder most baby’s don’t survive birth even if they have it only in a portion of their brains—Andrew had it in his entire brain!!!  That means that Andrew was a miracle baby because he was not only born, but lived 22 days and went through heart surgery.

By the way, Andrew is Greek for Manly or Warrior or Courageous.  Andrew was no doubt a warrior and fought for his life.  In addition, in the New Testament the apostle Andrew, was the first disciple to join Jesus, and was the brother of Simon Peter.  In a weird way it’s interesting to think that in our family Andrew was the first to go home to be with Jesus.

Andrew the Warrior

Anyway, when we learned of his brain condition a lot of answers were explained including that Andrew would never live a normal life and could have never lived without artificial assistance.  The best case scenario would have been 10–15 years of life with maybe a smile or grunt from him with a lot of tubes and mechanical devices.  Nonetheless it was obvious that Andrew’s body was shutting down and was unable to sustain—he was building up fluid in his lungs, his heart was erratic, and he was having multiple seizures (in one case when I was holding him, he had a five minute seizure) amongst the many other abnormal physical examples.

Because of his rapid decline we quickly moved him to a hospice where we were able to spend that last few hours with him.  It was an awesome time because it was the first time we got to dress him up in his clothes, give him a car ride, hold him without tubes and wires, and just love on him.  The doctors told us that babies usually take one to two weeks to pass but Andrew passed in under 48 hours.  During those precious hours we were able to have family photos taken, have friends, family, and acquaintances meet him and hold him.

In the end, we know that God was with us, strengthened us, and used Andrew, his short life, and us as part of his ultimate plan (even if it’s hundreds of years from now before we see the “true” impact; 1 Thessalonians 4-10).

Andrew Scott Kaden Moore was his name and is was selected by us as his parents.  The first letter of each name is part of an acronym that sounds like “ASK Him” (ASK-M); Deuteronomy 4:29.  Even though we truly don’t know why we lost Andrew, we have faith in the reason why.

We love you Andrew.

Isabelle moments after she was born

I can’t believe in about 10–11 weeks we will have another child in our family (gender is still unknown).  Due on Lisa and I’s tenth wedding anniversary, WOW!

I’m pretty excited about the new addition but I’m completely FREAKING OUT about the impact it will have on us.  For starters we need to get a new vehicle—we’re thinking of maybe getting a Suburban but we just don’t have the funds.  Then there is all the stuff we gave away because we thought we were finished (i.e., changing table, swing, etc.).  Next there is the huge expense of diapers (lions) and wipes (tigers) and formula—if breast feeding doesn’t go well (bears), oh my!!!

Don’t forget about the lack of sleep and how that increases the stress levels in all the other areas of life.  I’m hoping work will be flexible with me for the first couple of months until we can all get in to a rhythm.

Nonetheless, I’m sure will be fine.  God has blessed us with healthy children already and believe-it-or-not we’ve also been able to survive financially (thus far and one paycheck at a time; we’re also reducing our debt instead of spending). Even so, we haven’t been able to take a vacation in ten years or spend some good quality time as a family doing fun things like camping for more then a night.

One positive outcome—we’ll be able to empty nesters at a much younger age in comparison to all of our friends.

As is stands I have the opportunity to change my life and that of my family’s for better or for worse, let’s hope it’s all for the better.

Recently being laid off, in a dwindling economy, I’ve been forced to consider some things. Questions I’m asking myself are, “who am I?” and “what do I want to do?” as well as “how can I provide for my family and glorify the Lord?” As a result I’ve considered a few ideas.

The first idea of going freelance, providing web design and front-end development for any client that needs the service. Yet, I don’t think I’m ready for this step nor do I think I want the stress of finding clients, managing clients, an invoice and billing system, let alone the start up cost to providing such services (i.e., I need a new computer, monitor, external hard drive, and a some adobe software — my current computer is an older PowerBook G4; donations anyone?).

Second, do I just take whatever job comes my way and forget about building a career path. If I do that what kind of money will I make? Will it provide enough for the family? Will I be forced to take on two or more jobs? What will it be? A truck driver, a cook, an electrician, quality control agent for some warehouse and distribution company?

Third, maybe I should switch roles and focus more on a Product Manager instead of a Front-end Web Developer. Seems to fit my personality and background a bit more — will have to give that more thought.

Forth, take whatever job, but try to build out a few of my product ideas. Whatever happens I might still end up doing this anyway. The only problem again is cash to hire the help needed to get them off the ground and marketed.

Fifth, maybe I could have some fun and try out for The Best Job Ever. I’m sure my whole family would enjoy the adventure.

Sixth, should I just go out and create some buzz about some random topic and video stream and blog about it. Maybe I’ll find a niche that will take me to the next job. I just need to spend some cash again and get some equipment.

Hum, there’s a lot of stuff to think about and some mountains to climb. Anybody have a crazy thought or suggestion?

• What it’s only Thursday! Feels like I’ve been working for two weeks w/o a weekend. I have to go back tomorrow. #
• So today I spent 11 hours at the office (ugh, no chance of getting that time back). Now if only I could win the powerball. #
• @sambasel sorry in the late reply, my family does not visit estes park very often but when we do we love it #

• Spending some time with the family at YMCA camp in Estes Park, CO #

• @Shpigford http://www.cofamily.org/voter-guide/ #
• < resurfacing from a massive headache I’ve had all weekend — to bad I can’t reclaim these past two days #

• I’m at Denver, CO (Denver, CO, USA) – http://bkite.com/01Mhl #
• I’m at Denver, CO (Denver, CO, USA) – http://bkite.com/01MkS #
• @everyone_following_me I know, I’m sorry for not posting more regularly, what can I say, work and family keep me busy as heck #

Yum, yum, yum! That’s all I heard from the family Saturday at lunch time.

I served up another quick salad to satisfy everyone’s hunger during a busy day. I made Robertson’s Mixed Baby Greens with Pears, Pecans, and Polenta Strips from her book Quick-Fix Vegetarian, here’s the recipe online.

So since leaving the "Dark Side" and going vegan I’ve been cooking like a mad man out of hell. Which has been awesome, because I love to cook and it’s feels good to bring wholesome food to the family table. However, I wouldn’t say that my cooking skills are all that great — and what I’ve learned has been through trial and error. I digress.

Because, as you can imagine, going vegan requires eating more vegetables I decided to get as much as I can in organic form and from our local area to help in the reduction in carbon. Thus I opted to use a local service called Door to Door Organics. These guys are awesome and last week we received our first order. In our order it contained Red Chard, something I’ve never seen nor eaten. But I was determined to give it ago and integrate it somehow into our new diet.

A little about Red Chard. It can be prepared the same as Swiss or Green Chard, it just has more antioxidant value. Red Chard only includes the red stalks and leaves with Red veins. Chard is delicious added to a stir fry since the stalks add a nice crunch and can be used like celery only with color (antioxidants and more nutritious) and the leaves add some nice green to it.

Upon trying it raw it was very bitter and I was a bit worried how it might be used. So I opened my two new vegan cookbooks and found nothing. On to google. As a result I found plenty of recipes but all seem to be exasperating so as a result I came up with my own.

So here you go, my first recipe, Sautéed Red Chard — with some help on how to clean and prep the vegetable from a few searches in Google:

Sautéed Red Chard

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 bunch Red Chard (or Green or Swiss)
• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1/4 sea salt
• 1/4 fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
• 1 teaspoon worcestershire (optional)
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock

1. Wash chard by gently submersing in cool water several times.
2. Remove the stems from leaves and chop stems into 1 inch pieces. Set aside.
3. Stack the washed leaves and roll them in to a long scroll. Using a sharp knife, cut the scroll in quarters.
4. Mix nutmeg, paprika, parsley, salt, pepper, sugar, mint and worcestershire. Set aside.
5. Heat a sauce pan over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and chopped stems and saute for about 5 minutes.
6. Add in the onion and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
7. Stir in vegetable stock and mixed ingredients.
8. Add the wet chard leaves, one handful at a time, stirring after each addition.
9. After all the leaves have been added, immediately cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and continue cooking over high heat for about 2 or 3 minutes. Uncover and cook just until most of the liquid has evaporated (another 1 minute or so).

If you try it please let me know what you think.