The Week of the Baby

I know it's been a while since I've posted but I've been a little busy. While sitting at my hubby's parent's house, my sis-in-law called. She wanted to know why I had time to sit and visit with them but didn't have time to blog. So, here I am. Oh by the way, give Brayden a kiss for me!
So,
A couple of weeks ago, my hubby and I were able to spend five whole days with our baby and no other kids in the house. It's very seldom that we get "alone time" with any one of our four kids so it was especially sweet. We bought an inexpensive pool the weekend before the two older kids left for church camp. The baby had a blast using it as a slip-and-slide while it was filling up.
The thing about this kid is she has a great personality. Do you remember that commercial about the girl interviewing for a job and she's being asked about skills she may or may not have. Her response was always "No, but I have a great personality!" Well, this kid has the skills AND the personality! Not that I am biased, whatsoever!

She rarely gets in a bad mood. This is her affect 98% of the time. (Is that a correct usage of the term "affect"?) Whatever. She's just really happy.
Especially when she is in the water. Mom, can you tell she's my kid?

OK, back to her personality.

Note her expression in the above picture. The big sister is smiling sweetly while she is clowning it up.
If you can take your eyes off of the extremely white adolescent male in the front, you'll note another typical expression frequently worn by the baby.

Even when the two older are trying to dunk each other, she's still clownin'. Before anyone asks, it's all her Dad's doing. I promise.

Queen Bee

If I was better with photoshop, I would draw a nice little arrow, pointing out the queen bee in this picture. As it is, she is the longer bee in the middle. In this household, I am the queen bee.
A couple of weeks ago, my husband brought home seventy-five "empty" bee hives. Notice, he unloaded these "empty" hives with only gloves on. No special suit. No hat or net.
Low and behold, there were three working hives in this group. Don't ask me how he didn't know it but he didn't.
Today, I worked up the courage to face my fears and interact with the bees. I've been terrified and slightly resentful of the invasion of my space by these little creatures.

See the darker, gray section in the top left corner of this frame? That is capped honey. When the frame is fully capped, it can be shaved off and the honey spun out. What I didn't realize is how easy it is to become fascinated by them. They are the epitome of organization and productivity. Hence, "busy as a bee!" Shawn and I checked the hives at the house.

We then drove out to Meme and GG's to check one of the hives out there. I think it may be the best hive we have going so far. If you are wondering why we are doing all of this checking, it is because bees sometimes decide to leave there hive and swarm. How do we know this? Because Friday afternoon, I looked out the back door and noticed that the bees from the hive in our back yard were flying around in a big, undulating circle. I called Shawn and he and his friend, Jason, came out to check it. When they got here, this is what they found...

Half the bees left their hive, following a queen, and swarmed to this tree branch.
Luckily, Shawn works for the electric coop. He brought home this "pogo stick" which is a long stick with a saw on the end. Seriously, this thing requires some hard work!
He proceeded to cut down the branch containing the swarm.

When it fell, they both seemed frozen for a few seconds. Neither saying a word. I could only imagine what was going through their heads... "Holy crap! Whatta we do now?"
The bees fill up with honey in preparation for their search for a new home. They are so full that they are almost catatonic. They literally landed in a heap and just lay there. Of course, if I just fell 30 feet out of a tree, I would probably just lay there too. That is totally beside the point.
They let the bees crawl up on the leaves and then,
shake them off into the box. Another job well done. Two engineers putting their educations to good use!

Relay, Music, and Horticulture

Last night was the relay for life walk. There are a lot of fun events held throughout the night but it is also a good reminder of all the people who are helped because of the money raised at these events throughout the country. People like this, and this, and this. The kids had so much fun, running all over the football field and hanging out with friends and family.

The youngest with her G.G.

Both youngest with their Meme.

Have you ever noticed how much kids like cake walks? My kids must be cake-deprived because they are serious about some cake-walkin'!

The two oldest. (In the pink and brown.) Don't tell anyone, but I think my oldest seriously has a crush on his sister's friend.

Me and my honey. Taken by one of our vertically challenged children.

The two oldest are in a band with their youth group. My oldest boy plays the bass and oldest girl sings. They were super nervous with last night being their first gig and all but they did really well!

Here is the whole band in action. You really can't see them too well so I'll show you a close-up because I know you are just dying to see it.

My first-born. Holy cow, this makes me feel so old! Look at him! He looks so grown up standing up there. So far, he hasn't attracted any groupies but I'm on the look-out.

OK, so I messed up when I uploaded the pictures. The girl is at the top. You can scroll back up if you want to. She's so stinkin' pretty. Just hurts my eyes.

Remember when my honey worked on my flowerbed for mothers day? Yes that was a while back but we finally finished it today. Well, the girls and I worked on it while the males in our house cleaned, stained, and painted bee hives (another story for another time).

Here's on angle.

Here's another. Not bad, if I do say so myself. Maybe not "city landscaping" but I love it!

Memorial (Memorable) Weekend

What a weekend! I've had the best time! We headed over to mom and dad's Friday afternoon. Our intention was to spend the whole weekend helping mom and dad finish up their new house but we had company on Saturday. Brian brought the kids over and Steph came too. It was so nice to see them. Since I've been in school and working, I don't get to make it home nearly enough!
This is Lilly Beth. She's 2. She has the most beautiful little face. Her mom and dad say that she's a rascal but I don't believe it for a second! She loved Declan. She kept hugging and kissing him like crazy. Brian said that was OK since they really are only related by marriage. (He is technically a step-cousin but I've never thought of him any differently than any of the other 50 first cousins in our family!)
This is Xander. He is only 3 months old. Really! He smiles all the time. Well, except for when I was taking pictures. I think he'll have Brian's sunny disposition.

This next picture is a little disturbing. My youngest has allergies. Bad. There is something around my mom and dad's house that causes them to flair up badly. We're thinking it's something in the fescue because they have hay fields on three sides of them. Anyway, this time it got so bad that it threw her into an asthma attack. It was pretty scary. She doesn't carry an inhaler because she's only had mild asthma. She took Singulair from the time she was about 3 until we moved up here. Since we moved here she hasn't had any problems. Saturday night after her bath, this is what she looked like...

within about an hour, she was telling me "Mom, it's really hard to breath out and my chest hurts." Remember, we are four hours away from home. I called Diana (who's gotta be one of the best ER nurses ever [she worked in the ER at Charity in New Orleans before moving here]) and got some advice. The kid was wheezing and I thought she was gonna blow a gasket with all the coughing but wasn't cyanotic at all. She had good capillary refill so I knew she was ok. My honey (cue: shining knight on white steed) came to the rescue and took the baby on a drive to get her away from the allergen and 30 minutes later she was on the mend.

Sunday, after church and a quick stop at the local Wally World to get some comfortable clothes because I didn't relish walking around the cemetery in heels and silky shirt, we headed over to Oklahoma, where I was raised, to take flowers to the cemetery. When I was a kid my aunt Pearl and uncle Loyed would always take me over there to "decorate" the graves of our family members who had passed. Imagine my surprise when we got there and Uncle Loyed was there!

I really don't usually like having my picture taken but I was so thankful for my hubby who had the foresight to unobtrusively snap pictures as we were talking. (hmm, you know, the whole white knight thing again)

Uncle Loyed is eighty-eight. I think being so close to him as a kid is what gave me the tenderness and affection that I have for the elderly as a nurse. Aunt Pearl was eighty-eight when she passed away. He still misses her so badly. Standing next to him, looking at her headstone, I was trying to imagine what it must feel like to see your own name and DOB with an empty spot for the date that you would leave this life. Was he scared or was he yearning for that day?
Or was he just thinking about the storm that was coming and was it hailing on his tomato plants? You can never tell with him. Oh, he still mowes the lawn and keeps up a garden.
He was telling me about these "spells" he has sometimes at night. He says that he can't catch his breath and gets scared and thinks that "his time has come." To which, I'm thinking that maybe his lungs aren't working the way they used to, his SPO2 is getting a little low, and he may be getting anxious thereby making the whole situation worse. So I tell him, "Maybe you should go to the doctor and see if you should have some oxygen on at night while you sleep." His response was just, "Naw, I just roll over on my other side." Just as simple as that.
Not long after we got to the cemetery, guess who showed up?! Sheila. All my life I've been competing with Sheila for Uncle Loyed's attention. Just kidding. She'll get that joke. Everyone else will think I sound like a spoiled brat. Well, I am. That's another story though.

So, here we are. Uncle Loyed and his girls. When we were little we were with Aunt Pearl and Uncle Loyed all the time! Everyone knew we were his girls... then Sarah came along. Ha ha. She doesn't have a blog or I would link to her. She graduated high school this year and I'm so proud of her.

After leaving the cemetery and taking the kids back to mom and dad's, Shawn and I went to Debbie and Steve's. We visited and had supper. It was so much fun. Deb isn't just my aunt but also one of my best friends.

I snapped this picture as we were leaving. I was screaming out the window "Wave, Steve. Wave, please..." Can you tell how thrilled he is? That's his typical look.

I didn't take a lot of other pictures this weekend. We got a lot done on mom and dad's house this weekend. Shawn and the kids came home yesterday because they had school today. I stayed and we worked on the house last night. I had such a good time staying up and hanging out with mom, dad, and Mandee while we worked. When they have the house completed and decorated, I'll post some pictures.

When I grow up, I wanna be a nurse like...

Really, I can't pick just one that I want to emulate.
I have been a nurse for one year now. Nursing is a very challenging and frustrating job. I won't lie and tell you that it is so rewarding and how warm and fuzzy it feels to take care of someone. Of coarse, there are those feelings but there are just as many frustrating, make a girl feel really bad about herself, kinda feelings as well. It's the kind of job one would compare to the proverbial roller coaster ride. In the past year, there have been some nurses who've made my job so much better. These aren't the only nurses who've influenced me in the last year. They have just played the biggest roles. This isn't necessarily the order that they are held in my esteem, it's just the order that I happened to upload the pictures.
This is Annette. (On the right.) Annette happens to be our D.O.N. She was one of my clinical instructors in school. Annette has no ulterior motive. She is fair. She is calm. She thinks before she speaks.
This is Joyce. (a.k.a. Joycie) Joyce runs everywhere! If she forgot the I.V. tray in a patients' room at the end of the hall, she RUNS to get it. A couple of days ago, the pharmacy keys were locked in the pharmacy. I had to get the extra key from someone else so I ran to the ER. As I was running down the hall, I heard Joyce say, "Look, I taught her to run!" I've never been so proud. She also smiles. She smiles a lot! Joyce loves teaching. She's been named nurse of the year for the last two semesters by the local nursing class. She has the wisdom that only age can bring. She takes wonderful care of her patients.
This is Jan. Jan comes from the city. She's a Yankee. That's OK. I still love her! Jan works on the night crew. I miss the night crew with their messed up humor and crazy stories. Jan is the queen of stories. She can tell you about so many patients with different problems and disease processes. Jan also has the wisdom that living brings. I love her so much.
This is Tammy. She is the C.O.O. at our hospital. She started as an LPN and has worked her way up. The thing about Tammy is, she is always willing to help with anything. Not just come down to the floor and watch everybody work. No. She'll help start an IV. Help put a patient on the bed pan. Get a blanket. Give report so that a patient can be transferred. She just helps where it's needed. I want to always be like that. Tammy is a great nurse.

This is Mel. Well, actually Melanie but she's called Mel most of the time. I love her cheesy smile in this picture.

This is Mel's natural smile. OK, so she's younger than me but I can still wanna be like her when I grow up! Mel is mellow. I've only seen her get mad once. In the past few months we've gotten closer. I've always respected her and looked up to her as a nurse but the more time spent with Mel, I realize, she is one of the best nurses I know. She wants those around her to succeed. She truly has a servants heart.

All of these nurses have one major trait in common. They are nice. They don't intentionally try to put others down. They are self-assured. They don't need to try to bring others down in order to feel good about themselves. That is why, when I grow up, I wanna be like them!

Bee Careful!

My hubby has a new hobby! He's so excited about the prospect of seeing the fruits of his labor. He is becoming a bee keeper. Or is it farmer? Would bee's be equivalent to livestock or poultry. They do make a product, you know. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Yesterday, my hubby and my father-in-law made their way almost to Tennessee to pick up a couple of hives. Our family has been prepared for the new addition to our residence. Believe me, we've watched the whole PBS series on bees. Two days worth of VHS tapes. Oh yes, we know what we are doing. Not really. But we're gonna try.
So here is the keeper of the bees, proudly showing the wax that will eventually hold the larva of new bees and then the honey that will help our baby girl's allergies.
Ok, so it is kinda cool to see up close. I'm not saying that I'm as excited as the keeper of the bees but I can see the potential for cool experience here.
He had a spot ready for the little guys when he came in last night. Let me tell ya. Those bees weren't happy last night. No sir, none whatsoever!
This is the smoker thingamajiggy. It has a fire in it. Then puffs out smoke. It's suppose to calm the bees. I don't think it does.
Awww, the keeper of the bees. The box there is called a super. I'm not sure that's how it's spelled but I've got to go to work and I don't have time to look it up. So, the super goes on top of the other box. That's where the honey will eventually come from.

He's off to uncap the first box. (He's taking the lid off of the house of a bunch of pissed off bees.) Basically. Oh, sorry. Excuse my language, please.
I stood on the back porch and took a couple of pictures.
But, it was really boring so I had to get close. Really, I did.
Those little critters were swarming all around his face. I was standing about 20 feet away. After a couple of shots I realized that it was entirely too close for comfort!
For those of you who know what a scaredy cat I am. You know that I had anything that bites or stings. I had my daughter take this picture for proof that I did get kinda close. I don't think I'll do it again. I'm off to work. Everybody have a great night!