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 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 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 Sunday, January 31, 2010
Blinding White
This morning the sun came out and the sky was clear. It made for nice
pictures, but was blinding to the eye.
After
a ride around the farm for a few pictures, I parked the Mule in the
equipment shed and tried starting the tractor. It wound over but
wouldn't start, so I went to the pole barn and picked up the battery
charger/booster that also can be used to jump start vehicles. I returned
to the shed and hooked it to the tractor, let it charge a few minutes,
then set it to boost. The tractor started up after winding over a few
times. I turned off the booster and unhooked it, then backed the tractor
out of the shed. I put it in 4 wheel drive and turned the scoop down to
use as a grader blade. I shoved off the driveway at our house, then did
a few of the neighbors' drives. I think by shoving off most of the snow,
the sun will melt most of what was left. When I finished the last
driveway, I found Linda and Julie outside playing in the snow. I gave
them a ride up the hill in the scoop, then I put the tractor back in the
shed and hooked up the float charger to keep the battery fully charged,
then returned the battery charger/booster to the pole barn. On the way
back up the driveway I took a picture of our house.
While
Linda had been outside with Julie, they had made a snowman and shoveled
the walkway.
Posted on Saturday, January 30, 2010
Snowy Trip
Yep, you can tell by the pictures that the snow did fall. We didn't get
a massive amount, but there was at least 5 inches when I went outside. I
like to go out early before the wind begins to blow or the sun begins to
melt the snow that hangs on the trees, so a little before 8 AM I opened
the garage door and backed the Mule out. I pulled to the barn and let
Daisy go with me.
After
returning Daisy to the barn, I went inside and instant messaged with
Brent to make sure we were still supposed to pick up Julie. We were, so
the girls dressed and we left for PB&J's house in the red truck. We
drove the truck because the roads were a mess and it was 4 wheel drive.
There hadn't been much plowing done overnight and we had to pick our way
though the narrow places that had snow drifted over the roadway. When we
reached the Cumberland Parkway, the entrance ramps hadn't been plowed
and I couldn't tell where to turn. I slowly drove over one of the
medians, but returned to the roadway quickly without any real problems.
The parkway had one lane clear and some snowy places in the fast lane.
We stopped in Glasgow to pick up some sandwiches to eat with Pauline and
Julie, then drove on over to their house. Pauline said that Brent had
left about 20 minutes before we arrived. He was working a swim meet for
Coach Powell at WKU. We hugged and got hugs from Julie, then ate our
lunch and talked for the rest of the afternoon while watching Julie and
TV. Brent returned around 4:30 to take Pauline with him to the swim
banquet and we loaded up Julie's things and left with Julie. She is
staying with us this weekend and then we are taking her to the Medical
Center on Tuesday to see her new brother after Pauline has a c-section
delivery. The plan is to then return to the farm with Julie staying with
us until Pauline is ready to leave the hospital, then we will take Julie
to the hospital again and let her ride home with her family when Pauline
and the baby are released.
Posted on Friday, January 29, 2010
Snow It Begins
We went and ate lunch and returned to the farm. About 3 PM the snow
began dropping lightly. We wanted to take Daisy some food and pick up
the kerosene heater from the pole barn in case the freezing rain that is
supposed to happen would cause the power to go off. We dressed warmly
and fired up the Mule in the garage and headed down to the barn. Linda
let Daisy out of her stall and she made laps around the Mule until we
opened the tail gate so she could jump in.
We
took her for a short run around the fields, then returned her to the
stall, gave her food and made sure her water wasn't frozen. We went to
the pole barn and retrieved the heater and the 5 gallon plastic can of
kerosene. I pulled the Mule back into the garage and Linda shut the
door. Later in the evening, a Pacer game was about to start on TV, so I
asked Stacey if Jason would want to come over and watch it with her. She
said that he probably would, so Linda called Stephanie and made the
arrangements for me to drive over to their house and pick up Jason. The
roads were getting to be snow covered as I went to pick him up. We
returned to the farm and Stacey and Jason watched the Pacers play the
Cavaliers. The Cavs are Jason's favorite NBA team and they beat the
Pacers. After the game, Stacey and Jason played the Wii for a while.
They bowled and then drove in the NASCAR Cart racing game.
It
was after 9 PM when I said I had better take him back to his house. The
roads were completely snow covered as we drove to town and made the turn
on 90. I dropped Jason off and returned to the farm as the snow was
coming down harder.
Are We Ready?
We have stocked up on milk and bread, filled the wood racks on the back porch, gassed up the vehicles and parked the 4 wheel drive pickup truck in the garage. We're as ready as we can be for the winter storm that has been forecast for three days. We are supposed to receive rain, freezing rain, sleet and anywhere from 5 to 9 inches of snow today and tonight. Every school in middle TN and southern KY has already closed.
Posted on Tuesday, January 26, 2010
UK Fleece Blanket For Sale to Benefit Charity
Nancy and Steve came to visit, eat chili with us and make another
blanket. This time Linda had bought material with the University of
Kentucky logo on it and they are going to sell it to benefit the local
Relay for Life charity.
The
blanket is made of two pieces of fleece and the finished size is 68" by
52" not including the fringe.
The finished UK fleece blanket can
be viewed at First & Farmers' Bank in Burkesville.
First $100
donation to the Relay For Life charity at the bank takes this item home
or readers outside this area can buy the blanket by sending me an email
to make the arrangements.
Posted on Sunday, January 24, 2010
Nothing Much
With Pauline almost ready to deliver their baby, we hadn't planned on
doing much this weekend. That fit everyone's agenda fairly well. Linda
fixed some cinnamon twists for breakfast and Brent helped me switch a
computer from one location to another while it warmed up outside.
Everyone was wanting to get outside since we had been house bound by the
cold weather recently, so we walked around a little, let Daisy out, but
kept her on a leash with the small dogs running along as we looked
around. We put Daisy back in the barn and the little dogs in the house
and went down to the pole barn. I mentioned that since it was warmer, it
would be a good time to start all the old cars. Linda fired up her 97
Mustang first, then Brent popped off the TR-3 while Linda started the 65
Mustang. We let them run a few minutes then shut them all off and hooked
the float chargers back up to each one. We also changed a tie down rope
on the old cover on the Sea Ray. We had to attach it to the old rope and
pull the new rope through the edges of the cover until it went all the
way around the boat. We finished that by melting the ends of the rope so
they wouldn't fray out. We had the doors open on the barn and someone
moved over to the fire pit and started throwing sticks into the pit. I
told Linda we should burn some of the scraps of old barn siding we had
left from doing the 'club house'. That was right down Brent's alley, he
quickly had a fire going and we spent an hour or two burning sticks and
sitting around watching it burn. Julie and Stacey were getting hungry by
then, so Brent drove us over to Albany to eat, then we came back to the
farm and went back down to the fire pit We stayed down there until
almost dark. After supper and taking some cold medicine, I went to bed
early.
This morning was rainy and we stayed inside the entire day.
Steve and Nancy dropped by to see Julie before PB&J went home about 2:30
PM.
Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010
Family Visits
PB&J came over around 7 PM. We sat in the living room for while and
caught up on what had been happening with everyone, then Julie pulled
the Wii Fit board out from under the couch to get things started. Brent
started the Wii up and turned on a boxing game for Julie. She stood on
the platform and used the controllers to punch the opponent.
After
Julie got tired, Brent took over and was doing the ski jump game which
made Stacey come out of the bedroom where she had been watching a Pacer
game. Brent and Stacey played several games until we decided to bowl.
Then the rest of us took turns rolling a game before going to bed.
