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Posted on Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Delivery of Kyle Goes Smooth
Pauline was scheduled for a c-section at 7:30 AM, so we woke and
showered, then dressed and left the house a few minutes after 6 AM. We
drove the parkway to Bowling Green and into the parking lot at the
Medical Center before the sun was up. We took Julie into Pauline's room
before she was taken to delivery and let them say 'hi' and give each
other a kiss.
We
moved to the waiting room for about a half hour and then we heard the
"Brahms' Lullaby" at 8:15 AM and Brent said Kyle was being brought out.
The nurse came out of the delivery room carrying Kyle Austin Norris
wrapped in a blanket. She told Brent that Kyle weighed 7 lbs 14 ozs and
was 21 inches long.
Brent
and Julie were the first to check out Kyle, then the rest of our group
gathered around for a closer look. The nurse held Kyle for about 10
minutes in the hallway and then took him to the NICU for observation and
a few procedures.
We
watched Kyle through the window in the nursery as the nurse gave him a
shot, took blood for tests, washed him, put cream on his eyes, changed
his diaper and placed a monitor on his chest. She also placed a band
around his ankle for identification and put a card in his cart. The
doctor came out and spoke with Brent about Pauline and he said the
surgery went well and Pauline was doing excellent, but she would be in
recovery for about an hour.
It
was more like an hour and a half before they wheeled Pauline through the
hallway and down to her room. Brent and Julie went in and checked on how
she was feeling, then came and told us we could go in too. Dorothy and
Larry went in first to see Pauline, then Linda and Stacey while I
watched Julie. After a few minutes, Julie and I walked in as the nurse
wheeled in Kyle and gave him to Pauline.
After
a few minutes for Pauline to examine Kyle, she passed him off to Brent
and then to Julie and others. Julie seemed to like Kyle a whole bunch as
she wanted to give him several kisses during the visit. A little while
later, I mentioned that we should be going, but Stacey spoke up and said
that she hadn't been able to hold Kyle yet, so Brent passed him to her.
Nancy
Riddle had made a blue baby blanket for Kyle and the night before, she
and Steve brought it to our house and asked Julie to give it to Kyle
after he was born. Nancy also made Julie a kid sized scarf. Julie pulled
the blue blanket out of the sack and Linda wrapped Kyle in the blanket
and passed him back to Pauline. I took a few more pictures and then we
left right after Dorothy and Larry.
Brent
asked us to pick up Pico and Poco and take them with us to the farm
since he will be spending most of his time at the hospital. We ate lunch
and then picked up the dogs before driving back to the farm. Julie,
Stacey and Linda slept in the car during the ride.
It was an exciting
day and everyone is healthy and doing well.
Posted on Thursday, February 04, 2010
Julie Goes Home
We had breakfast and waited on a call from Brent to tell us if Pauline
and Kyle were being released from the hospital. He called about 10:30 AM
and said they were being checked out. We gathered up all of Julie's
things and loaded them in the HHR. We also took along a baked ham and
the three dogs. This time we ran into a rolling road block on the
parkway. A police car and a highway construction vehicle were blocking
both westbound lanes by driving about 30 mph. The two vehicles did this
for about 10 miles as traffic backed up behind them. It was done so that
the construction company could set the large concrete trusses across the
highway for a new bridge. The bridge is part of a new bypass around
Glasgow. After the delay, we stopped in Smith's Grove and picked up a
few more items for lunch, then on to see Kyle, Pauline and Brent. I
parked the car and Brent met Julie at the door by grabbing her and
throwing her in the air, then giving her a big hug. Pico, Poco, and Coco
all ran in the house excited too. Linda went inside and Stacey and I
carried the stuff in the house. Pauline was carrying Kyle so the dogs
wouldn't jump on him. After things calmed down, Julie was able to hold
Kyle, then Linda, Stacey and me. We passed him from person to person
without Kyle waking up. He was bundled up and had his legs drawn up in
the covers. I put my finger inside his blanket and he gripped my finger
with his small hand. I uncovered his feet and run my finger along the
bottom of them, yep, he was ticklish. He drew his feet away from my
finger, so I quit pestering after he responded and just held him for a
while. Linda took him and held Kyle until he began to cry.
Pauline
took Kyle to the bedroom to nurse and returned a few minutes later. She
asked Brent to write down the time and some other information. They said
Kyle had lost some weight since birth and they were told to keep a
record of when he ate. It wasn't anything unusual, but the doctor wanted
them to keep track of his intake and output until their office visit on
Saturday. After eating we each held Kyle again and worked with Julie on
how to act around the new baby. Pauline is a little sore from her
surgery and is moving a little slowly, but says she feels pretty good.
Pauline is supposed to see the doctor Monday to have her staples
removed, but now her biggest worry is about the dogs jumping on her
unexpectedly. When she was ready to take a nap, we said we were leaving
and then headed home about 5:30 PM.
Posted on Sunday, February 07, 2010
Good Results from Kyle's Checkup
Pauline and Brent took Julie with them for Kyle's checkup Saturday. The
report from the doctor was that Kyle had picked up some weight since his
release from the hospital on Thursday and things were going OK. We were
not over there and our information came from chatting with Brent on an
instant message program. I also downloaded three pictures from his picture
web site and posted them below.
Posted on Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Snow & Wood
The weather had been warmer and rainy for about a week, but yesterday
the temperature began dropping and this morning there was a light snow
on the ground. It was still snowing during the morning and had
accumulated to about an inch in depth.
That
was just what I needed to haul fire wood from the shed. With the ground
slightly frozen and covered with snow, the Mule wouldn't make ruts in
the back yard when I hauled the load of wood to the back porch.
I
filled the bed of the Mule with wood, then drove to the back porch and
Linda helped unload. The stacks of wood that I want to use this year are
almost gone. We have some in reserve, but I'm trying to let the wood dry
for nearly a year so that it doesn't make as much creosote to stick in
the chimney when it burns. I'm about ready to bust up a couple of loads
of wood with the splitter, just waiting on the weather to get a little
warmer before I return to working outside.
Posted on Friday, February 12, 2010
Kyle's First Visit
Linda was just getting home from the day care about 5 PM and Pauline,
Brent, Julie and Kyle came in as she did. It surprised Stacey and I, we
weren't expecting them to be here that soon. Brent carried Julie inside
and said she had fell asleep in the car during the ride. Kyle was still
sleeping in his car seat while Pauline carried him into the house. Julie
quickly woke up and began passing out hugs. Kyle, not so much. He was
moving around a little when I unbuckled his harness and picked him out
of the safety seat. I held Kyle while they carried in the rest of their
things and Linda fixed everyone something to eat. Julie wanted a book
read to her, so I volunteered for the job. She picked out a book and
climbed on my lap while Kyle slid deeper into the gap between my arm and
the chair.
After
finishing the book, I put Kyle in his car seat while we ate, then Stacey
took over holding him for a while. We passed him around between Linda,
Stacey and I the rest of the evening to give Pauline and Brent a break.
Every once in a while, Pauline would have to take Kyle into the bedroom
for a quick breast feeding session, then return him to the living room
for more attention.
Posted on Saturday, February 13, 2010
Flower Delivery & Kyle
Friday afternoon, the door bell rang and I asked Stacey to answer. She
went and opened the door, there stood a delivery man with a couple of
items. He passed Stacey a vase with cut flowers and a stuffed animal.
She thanked the guy and closed the door. Stacey opened the card that was
attached and the flowers and teddy bear were from Jason.
In
the evening, when Jason called from the basketball game, they only
talked a few minutes because it was hard to hear, then Stacey called
Jason back later to thank him for him sending the gifts.
This morning
after we had breakfast, Kyle was awake and in a decent mood, so I sat
him up in the car seat and took several pictures. He is remaining awake
a little more each day according to Pauline and Brent.
Posted on Monday, February 15, 2010
Extra Day For Sledding
PB&J+K stayed over Sunday night because the weather reports were that it
was sleeting and the roads were slick. This morning, we had snow on the
ground and more falling. The accumulation was about 2 inches, just
enough Brent and I thought we could let Julie go sledding. We dressed
warmly, then started the Mule and took Daisy some food and picked up the
sled at the barn. Julie was excited about sledding and it didn't take
much coaching until she was ready to go.
Brent
rode down the hill with Julie the first couple of times to make sure the
ride went OK and to help pull the sled and Julie back up the hill.
Then
Brent sat Julie on the sled and showed her where to put her feet and to
hold on and away she went on her first solo sled ride.
Julie
went several times by herself and each time she was giggling and having
fun.
When
we went back to the house and went inside, Julie couldn't talk fast
enough to tell her Mommy and Grandma about her sledding. She was still
excited and talking about it as she was taking her gloves and coat off.
Posted on Thursday, February 18, 2010
Better Weather & Home Makers International Dinner
This morning the sun was out and the temperatures were predicted to
climb to the mid 40s. It was nice to get outside the house without the
freezing temps and wind chill. Coco even liked the break in the weather
as I let him go out the front door this morning to look around.
While
I was outside, I saw Steve Riddle go up the road in his farm truck.
Linda wanted me to go to Bonnie and Henry Holley's house to pick up
decorations for the dinner, so I decided to take our truck and also go
out to Steve's place on Jone's Ridge. It took me a few minutes to stop
by the Holley's to talk and take the decorations Bonnie had, then I
drove on to Steve's. He had his tractor running with a roll of hay on
the hay fork and his truck backed into the driveway ready for the roll
to be set in the bed. We took a short walk around the field to look at
the tree tops the loggers had pulled up for Steve to cut into firewood.
I'm supposed to cut some for us to burn, maybe on Saturday, if the
weather is decent. Steve loaded the roll of hay into the truck and then
I headed back to the house. On the way, I pulled into Phil Garmon's
driveway and took a look at the pole barn he is having built. Emanuel
Hoestetler's crew built our pole barn and is also building Phil's. Phil
and Steve Garmon along with two or three others were cutting up another
hog and I stopped and talked a few minutes with them before going on
home. Linda and Stacey had been baking and fixing food to take to the
Home Maker's International Dinner later in the evening and they were
still busy with that stuff, so I went down to the wood shed and split
some of the wood that had been piled up. I worked a while and then took
Daisy for a run, brought her back and then I went inside. Linda and
Stacey left for the dinner about 4 PM after I showed Stacey how to work
the camera and told them to take lots of pictures. When they came home
after the dinner, they had quite a few pictures on the camera and said
the dinner was a big success. Linda mentioned that she took most of the
pictures because Stacey had left with Hazel, Odis and Jason to watch a
ballgame.
Posted on Saturday, February 20, 2010
Splitting & Cutting Wood
Friday the weather was nice, so Stacey, Linda and I went to the wood
shed and I set the splitter next to the pile of wood. I started the
engine and began splitting the larger pieces and tossing them onto the
black trailer. We used the trailer so the girls wouldn't have to pick up
the split pieces off the ground. Stacey and Linda were picking the
pieces off the trailer and stacking them in the shed. When they would
get caught up, Linda would move to the pile of wood and throw some
pieces closer to me for me to split. We worked a while, took a short
break and then finished what we could. Some of the bottom pieces were
frozen to the ground, so we had to leave maybe 10 - 15 pieces laying
there until they thaw and come loose from the dirt. As warm as the
weather has been, it shouldn't take but a couple of days.
Earlier
today, I went to the equipment shed and worked on the chain saws,
putting chain oil and fuel in them and lubricating the chains and bars.
I also started all three of them and then placed them in the back of the
pickup truck. I drove the Mule over to the pole barn and did a couple of
things while I was there. Steve Riddle called and said he was headed out
on the ridge to cut wood, so I took the pickup truck and drove out
there. I parked near the tree tops that the loggers had drug into the
field for us to cut into fire wood. If we don't cut the tops for fire
wood, the loggers leave them lay in the woods to rot. I started the
little chain saw and started trimming the small limbs. It wasn't five
minutes and that saw quit running. Steve came over and started sawing
wood with his saw. I switched to the medium saw and continued trimming
for a few minutes until I saw that was the same thing Steve was doing. I
started the bigger saw and began cutting the larger pieces of the limbs.
We took a short break, worked a while, took another break and decided we
should load some of the pieces into the truck to clean up our work area
and make it easier to walk. We had a few pieces thrown on the truck when
Nancy joined our crew and began loading the truck. I said that I had
enough on my truck and we could either quit or cut and load some on
Nancy and Steve's truck. After a little discussion, we decided to cut up
the rest of the pile and load it on their truck. Mark had come out and
was watching us work. Steve and I took turns cutting and loading until
we had the larger pieces cut while Nancy was loading their truck with
the medium sized pieces. Steve and I lifted the last large pieces on the
back of the truck and called it a day. I loaded my saws on the back of
the truck, said thanks and headed to the house. I parked the truck in
the shed and plan to split some of the wood tomorrow inside the shed,
rain or shine since the temperatures are supposed to stay in the upper
50s.
Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Our Blog NASCAR Fantasy League
Jason and Stacey like to pick NASCAR drivers and root for them during the season. This is also an item that they like to argue and tease about when we meet for breakfast or during their phone conversations. This year, several of our family has joined in the 'discussions'. Stacey, Jason, Julie, Brent, Linda and I have all picked two drivers each to be on 'our teams'. Each week we will watch for the results and figure out which one of us won the weekly results and who is leading for the complete year. If you are interested you can see our results at this LINK. You can also click the link at the top of the right hand column below the NASCAR logo.
Posted on Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Dual Purpose
Brent went back to work on Monday, so we thought Pauline might need a
little bit of a break. We talked to them on Skype and setup a visit to
go to Sam's Club and pickup Julie during the trip. We left home about 1
PM and drove the Cumberland Parkway to Smith's Grove, then to their
house. Pauline, Julie and Kyle were home and Brent was at work. We
played with Julie and Kyle while talking with Pauline. A little later, I
held Kyle when Stacey and Julie went into the bedroom to read books.
Pauline and Linda swept their living room carpet and then shampooed it
with the carpet cleaner. They turned on the ceiling fan to help with the
drying time. A few minutes after 3 PM Brent came home from working and
played with the kids. Shortly after that we loaded into their Traverse
and Brent drove us to Hobby Lobby for some shopping. We stopped and ate
at the Bowling Green Mall, that way everyone could get something
different that they liked. We went on over to Sam's Club and shopped,
loaded the groceries in the back of the Traverse and then back to their
house. I checked out some of Brent's pictures and we watched a little of
the Olympics.
Soon,
it was time to head home, so Linda packed Julie a suitcase while Pauline
took Kyle to the bedroom and let him breast feed. When P returned to the
living room, Julie gave them hugs and kisses and we piled into the HHR
for the ride back to the farm. It was snowing lightly as I drove home
and Julie slept the entire way. When I parked the HHR in the garage,
Linda carried her inside and put her to bed without waking her. We
unloaded our supplies and called it a night.
Posted on Saturday, February 27, 2010
End Of The Week
Thursday, Linda fixed two pans of brownies to take to the Cumberland
River Cruisers meeting. We took Julie, Stacey and the brownies and went
to the meeting at 6 PM in the Senior Citizens & Veteran's Building. The
club furnished hot dogs, chili and canned drinks to the members and
their guests for free. We had a short meeting before the food was
served. Members and guests mingled afterwards and I took a group
picture. Shortly after I took the picture, we cleaned up and went home.
Friday,
the weather was slightly warmer. I put on a couple sweatshirts, gloves
and a hat and went to the wood shed. I loaded two loads of wood in the
back of the Mule and hauled it to the back porch. When I finished
unloading the wood, I took the battery charger/booster to the equipment
shed and used it to start the Ford Tractor. Phil Garmon had asked me to
dig a hole for a fish pond. They only have a few days left to move their
things before the highway relocation crews demolish their old house. I
drove the tractor to Betty and Phil's farm and dug the hole in about a
half hour. I took a look at the new barn Phil had built to replace one
the relocation will take down. When I returned the tractor to the shed,
I hooked the float charger to the battery and took the battery booster
back to the pole barn. I went to the house and Julie was wanting to take
Daisy for a run. I was already dressed for the cold, so Julie and Linda
put their coats on and we took Daisy across the creek in the Mule, let
her run for a little while, then put her back in the stall and gave her
food and water.
Saturday, we were to take Julie home around noon, so
I fixed us fried egg with cheese on toast sandwiches for breakfast. As
soon as breakfast was over, Linda dressed and then dressed Julie while
Stacey and I took showers. We left the farm a little after 11 AM and
went the parkway to Smith's Grove. When we arrived, Brent met Julie at
the door, grabbed her and threw her up in the air. Pauline was right
behind him to take her turn of hugs and kisses from Julie. Linda grabbed
Kyle out of his seat and began tormenting him until he woke. Linda
finally passed Kyle to me so I could hold him. Pauline was baking apple
cobbler and fixed each of us some of it with ice cream. It tasted great
still warm with the ice cream. We loaded in the HHR and headed for home
at 4 PM after saying good bye.
