Home for Christmas!

Sheryll and Carrie were released from the hospital a little after 7pm on Christmas Eve. We were home by 8, and able to celebrate Christmas together. We are all very happy to be back together again with the newest member of our family.

It is snowing and blowing outside, with a blizzard warning in effect. I'm no expert, but I think Bell may be in labor. Her bag is huge and tight, and to quote a friend of ours, her back end is "floppy". She's standing in the cowshed like she's in a daze. I think I may get her back in the barn and keep her there for a couple of days.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Still in the NICU

Carrie is still in the NICU. Her lungs and breathing are now fine, but her blood sugar is still low. They will slowly wean her off the IV as she begins to eat more. She's not all that interested in eating at the moment, which they say is not that unusual in a baby born 3 weeks premature. So we're not sure how soon she'll be able to come home, but we're still hopeful about tomorrow being a weak maybe, and Christmas Day a definite possibility.

Because of the H1N1 virus, they will not allow children on the OB/GYN floor. So the other kids can't see Mom or baby until they come home. This is the first time they haven't been able to see the new baby soon after they were born, and they are NOT happy about it. And to not even be able to see Mom is almost more than they can endure.

We're thankful for good friends who are already bringing meals and caring for our other children while I'm at the hospital with Sheryll and Carrie.

And just to add some interest to the story, we're being hit by a winter storm that could dump up to a foot of snow on us. Is this fun, or what?!

Birth!

And no, I'm not talking about the milk cow. Sheryll's C-section was scheduled for December 30th, but today she began having contractions. She went to the doctor, and they decided to do the C-section today. So she calls me at around 4pm while I was on the UPS truck and said I should make my way to the hospital, because the delivery was scheduled for 5:30. After about an hour delay to begin the surgery, Carrie Reese Paulson was born at 7pm sharp. She weighed in at 9 lbs and 12 oz, and was 21 inches long. Since none of this was planned, we had no camera there so have no pictures yet. I'll fix that tomorrow.

Carrie had a little trouble breathing on her own at first, and her blood sugar was low. So she is currently spending the night in the NICU, but is progressing rapidly. She's already off oxygen and has normal blood sugar levels, so the only concern is some fluid in the lungs. Not unusual for a c-section baby, since it doesn't get squeezed out in the birth canal. Mom was a little more queasy than normal, but otherwise doing well.

For those who we normally would have called with this news, my apologies. We're making this up as we go!

Winter is here!

Well, now we know what 20 below feels like! Actually, today it is a balmy 25 degrees, and feels quite nice outside. Since my last post, however, we have had several days where the high was below zero. It did strike me as funny when one morning I woke up and saw 3 degrees on the thermometer and was happy that it had warmed up!

Working for UPS has been challenging when the weather is below zero. I'm thankful that I only have 4 more days of work to go. The non-stop running for 7-8 hours straight has revealed some weaknesses in my knees and ankles. But overall it has been a good experience.

The gentleman we bought the milk cow from talked to the vet who checked her before we bought her, and they agree she must have aborted the calf. He feels badly and wants to get her back with his bull for another try. I hate to disagree with the experts, but her bag is definitely larger and firmer, and I can't imagine why that would happen except in preparation to feed a calf. I think God is just hooking me up with the timing, since I really didn't want the calf to come while working for UPS. Christmas Day would be fine with me, so we'll see what happens.

Not much else new. Until next time...

UPS

Not too much is new since the last post. I've worked twice for UPS, and this week will hopefully be working every day. I worked with a different driver each time, and they were both enjoyable to work with. Lots of walking/lifting, but I enjoyed it.

Still no calf from the milk cow!

I moved a wall in the basement which enlarged the room with the wood stove. I suppose we'll call that the family room now, although the motivating factor was to have a room large enough to host a home fellowship.

Until next time...

In all my UPS finery...

Milk room

This week was filled with building the milk room/milking stanchion, butchering roosters and traveling to the second Junior Bible Quiz meet.

The milk room is ready for milking, and more importantly, for heating! The stanchion is very basic, but I test-drove it with Bell and she seemed to think it was OK. She has still not had her calf. Hopefully she will deliver soon.

We have now butchered 29 roosters, so we have greatly diminished the stress in the chicken coop in addition to lowering our feed costs for the winter. We have gone from zero eggs per day to 4-6 eggs per day. We have around 25 hens, so the number should steadily climb.

I was very pleased with the children at the JBQ meet. They were much improved over their first meet. Tucker and Courtney’s teams placed first and second in the A league, and Tanner’s team placed second in the B league. In their overall individual standings, Courtney placed 2nd and Tucker placed 4th out of all A league quizzers, and Tanner placed 3rd out of all B league quizzers. Most important of all, they continue to hide God’s word in their hearts! The next meet will be in Minot in January. The baby will only be a couple of weeks old, but hopefully Sheryll will be able to go and see them quiz.


Here's the milk room framed in and ready for insulation.

Here's the milking stanchion that will keep Bell from wandering around during milking.

And here's the completed milk room. It's 10' X 12', so it doesn't take up too much room and should be easy to warm up.

I go to training with UPS this Wednesday, so we'll see when they want to put me to work. If it gets quiet on the blog for a while, that may be why. Of course, with my erratic history, I'm not sure if you'll be able to tell a difference! :-)

Ready for winter...we think!

It continues to be a busy time for us, but we do feel that we're mostly ready for winter. It's a good thing, too, because I interviewed with UPS for work as a seasonal Driver’s Helper. I go to training on Nov 18th, and will work from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve Day. I may do some work as a package sorter the week before Thanksgiving.

Poppy (Sheryll's dad) called two weeks ago and said he was thinking of coming for a visit. He left Texas the following Tuesday and got here on Wednesday. His comment on getting out of his car was, “Boy, ya’ll sure do live a long way from Dime Box, Texas!” He stayed until the following Monday, and we sure did enjoy it. With Mom and Dad spending much of the summer here and two visits from Poppy, we are hoping this is a trend that continues!

Here he is getting his camera ready for the birthday party. He did a great job capturing lots of good pictures for us.

The barn and chicken coop are done! Now all that remains before winter to care for the animals is to build a milking room.

Here's the chicken coop connected to the barn by a breezeway.

Here's the barn with no more holes where the guineas can get in! It's nice to finally have it completely enclosed.

We now have two teenagers in the house. We celebrated Trevor’s 15th (Nov 1st) and Courtney’s 13th (Nov 5th) birthdays on the 1st.

We had a surprise visit from Tyler during the party, so we had all three November birthday kids represented. Hard to believe Ty is now 20! (Nov 1st as well)

Bell (the milk cow) should be calving any day. She lost her mucous plug last Monday, and the gentleman we bought her from said that meant we should have a calf within 24-48 hours. Apparently Bell missed that memo, as she has not yet calved. Hopefully soon, as I’d like to get a few days of milking under our belts before I go to work for UPS.

OK, who is checking out whom here?

Some friends of ours from Bismarck called and asked us if we would be interested in wintering over 9 bottle calves that they have. In exchange, we can have our pick of two of them for our own in the spring. So now we have a good use of our hay for the winter. They are about 6 months old and very friendly, so this should be lots of fun.

As I type this it is sunny and 57 degrees outside. The weather this fall has been great! We are very thankful, as we weren't prepared for winter to set in early, and this great weather has allowed us to get things in order.

Until next time...