Pink Eye

Kassy caught pink eye at some point when we were in Memphis. The doctor confirmed it yesterday. On Monday her left eye was a little pink and mattery and Tuesday both eyes had those symptoms. Got some drops to put in her eyes. They look better today. Put one drop in David's right eye tonight. Not sure if he's got pink eye or if he had been rubbing his eye--he went to sleep in 7 minutes tonight! That's a record for sure!

Memphis, TN

Here I am, playing catch-up again.

September 24-26 saw us flying to Memphis, TN to visit with Kassy's birth family. It was a lot of fun to watch her birthmom, Latrice, see her in person for the first time in 9 months. Three of her five brothers, D'Tarius, Antavius, and Marquez, and her sister, Apria, were able to meet her for the first time. Each one held her and kissed her-it was evident that their mom had told them about Kassy. The first question one of the boys asked me was, "Are you going to let us see our baby sister?" Kassy also got to meet one of her cousins, Darnisha.

We arrived at the hotel on Friday night and Saturday morning took a drive past Latrice's house. It's culture shock when we visit with Latrice-her life has been and currently is so different from ours! She moved this past May from a very unsafe neighborhood to a better one. Two taxi vans picked Allen and me up at our hotel and we went  to get Latrice and kids. Jim and Sylvia stayed at the hotel with David and Kassy. Latrice and family came back with us to the hotel. For the past couple of months, Kassy would cry when someone she didn't know well tried to hold her or feed her. She was wonderful with her birthfamily though--she never cried even though they all held, hugged, and kissed her--almost like she knew them even though she hadn't spent time with Latrice since she was born and had never met her siblings. The older kids jumped right into the pool. Allen got into the pool with David and the only thing he would do was cry. I guess the water must have been too cold for David--he loved being in the hot tub!  It was a little hard to visit in the pool area because the happy shouts of the kids really echoed, but it was fun to watch them enjoy themselves.



Kassy and her birthmom, Latrice

Kassy, her birthmom Latrice, and her brother Marquez (one day older than David)

We ate pizza with Latrice and kids and then they took a taxi home again. Marquez had been sick, so Latrice ended up taking him to the emergency room. He had double ear infection and wasn't breathing very well. He's doing better now, but managed to share his cold with Latrice. We pray that they feel better soon and that the other kids stay healthy!

We planned to visit with Jim's brother and his wife in Morristown, TN but due to bad weather in that area we decided to head for home. Always seems like there's something on the burner at home that needs attention. We stopped in Kirksville, MO on the way home to refuel and stretch our legs-and arms, for Kassy.

Kassy began doing "So Big!" on her own on September 23rd. Anytime she wants my attention, she puts her hands over her head. That catches my attention just as fast as crying! When we call her "Pretty Girl" she tips her head to the side in a kind of flirty way--very cute!

Fall on the Farm

Yesterday we made a quick trip to my parent's house because Allen had an evening appointment near there. The kids and I left in the morning to go to the AAA office in town to see if they would make hotel and car rental arrangements for our trip to Memphis to visit with Kassy's birthmom and siblings. Both kids fell asleep on the way into Brookings and slept all the way to Mom and Dad's. My mom has a high-efficiency huge capacity washing machine and dryer, so I took ALL of our dirty clothes. Got one load started before we had to leave to pick Allen up at the airport in Huron. Kassy entertained me on the ride home.

David and I helped Dad unload a tote of RoundUp out of the pickup using the payloader. David loves to ride in the payloader and Grandpa loves to have him "help" drive and honk the horn. I, personally, enjoy David's dismount!

After helping Dad put the payloader away and hitch up the mower to mow road ditch hay, David played on the slide and climbing platform then went for a walk in the back yard. I hefted David up on my shoulder so he could pick an apple from the tree. Of course the apple was way high up and there were billions of branches in the way but between the two of us we got him one to eat. He loved it and totally devoured it!

Grandpas and Grandsons

We went to church and Sunday school this morning, which before children wasn't a big deal. Now that there are two wonderful kids involved though, it means that the church nursery workers have Kassy for 3 hours and the two-year old teachers have David for 3 hours. This was Kassy's fourth time in the nursery and I'm relieved to report that she did much better--no crying for half an hour and no high-pitched screams. David, on the other hand, let everyone coming into the church building know that he was not happy about us leaving him. It's kinda (only kinda) funny when I hear folks coming into church commenting on the unhappy little boy in the two-year-old room. Lucky for David (and us!) that Uncle Bobby and Aunt Sis are in there with him for the last 1.5 hours. He's ok after he calms down, and later when I peeked in the window, he was running around the room with a toy in his hand.

We visited at Grandma and Grandpa Pickard's house tonight and Grandpa saved a little job for David to help him do. David loves screwdrivers and "batteries" happens to be one of his favorite words, so he got to help Grandpa replace the batteries in a toy camera.

Our lives have been blessed by the addition of our terriffic kids, but I know that their lives have also been blessed with so many Grandpas, Grandmas, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and birthparents to love them too.

I Caved...

Today David had a 2.75 hour nap. Sounds like fun, no? Just about the time I realized that I hadn't put his bed rail up Kassy started in on her "I'm too tired to play and too tired to sleep" routine. Kassy was fussy all afternoon but didn't want to take a nap. It's cute how she tries to follow me from room to room as I put laundry away or work at cleaning and dusting. She gets just about to where I was and has to turn around to follow me back in the direction we just came from. But I digress....David came upstairs while I was rocking Kassy to try to get her to take a nap-she was crying just shy of full volume. I did a round of diaper changes and tried again to help Kassy sleep. David decided that he needed a drink, so I gave him the sippy on the counter that had water in it. This made him cry, because he wanted juice. I'd like for him to kick the juice habit, so I told him that I didn't have any juice open and that just drinking water would be good for him. This went on for 10 minutes. Everytime I told him "no" he'd stamp his little (size 8!) feet and cry louder, giving Kassy reason to cry louder. Suddenly, David quit crying and ran to the kitchen. He dug around in the pantry until he found the jug of juice. He carried it towards me and said in his sweeter than chocolate voice, "I found the juice, Mommy. I found it for you." I caved....I know, next time the fight will be longer and it will be harder and eventually he won't be able to twist me around his fingers.....maybe.....

Yesterday David made my folks and me laugh when I held the kleenex for him to blow his nose. He blew and I was rewarded with a very nice, green, slimy bugger. He's never paid much attention to what has come out of his nose before, so I showed him the bugger. He said, "Oh. Wow. Put it back Mommy!"

Last weekend when the kids were at my folk's, Mom helped David put his socks and shoes on so he could go outside and ride in the payloader with Grandpa. Mom heard the payloader drive up to the house and she said, "David, do you hear that? It's the payloader!" David replied, "That sounds like fun!" Ahhhh life on the farm!

Spoiled and Loving It

I know, it's a grandparent's job to spoil their grandkids. I'm glad that they want to. I'm also glad that love is conveyed just as much as the spoiling. David and Kassy are at my folk's again tonight. David is an outside boy through and through. In the video below, David is playing in the (clean, hopefully!) straw pile in the barn. He still has a ways to go though, learning what to put in his mouth and what should not go in his mouth.

My Day Off

I'm feeling marginally guilty today about my folks having the kids last night (we went to the Go Fish concert at BWC-great!!) today, and tonight.  It does give me a few minutes to blog about all that we've been doing though. I'm suprised at how lonely I am.

We had a lot of fun with the Pickard cousins (ok, so the only cousin there was Sam and his family, the rest were Allen's siblings and their families) and managed to wear the kids out!

David and Taylor on the way home from the Pickard Cousin Camping Trip

Allen went to Des Moines, IA for an insurance company meeting on August 17, went to Dakotafest with my dad on the 18th (Mom, kids and I shopped and napped in Mitchell) and on the 19th Kassy had a bronchial scope done at McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls.

Daddy tickling Kassy before her scope procedure

The doctors (a pediatric pulmonologist and an ear, nose and throat doc) decided that her congested breathing was caused by enlarged adnoids. Nothing serious, and she may even outgrow the condition. They didn't want to do surgery to remove them until she's at least 12 months old. We have another re-check in October.

August 21st was a big day--my nephew Jonah turned 3 (happy birthday, Jonah!) and Kassy started crawling! Not much of a birthday present for Jonah, but Allen and I were excited! Now the gate at the top of the stairs has to be closed AND locked! Irritating for David, but he's done a good job. He even wants to try to help Kassy walk.

Jonah and David on the Motorcycle Ride at the SD State Fair

September 1st found Mom and me judging 4-H photography. Things have changed quite a bit since I was in 4-H! On their entry cards some of the kids write that they used a "35mm digital camera" to take the photo. Makes me laugh! After judging we snuck into the open class photography exhibit to see how the photos my brother and I entered did. Matthew got a ribbon! Yippee! If Mom hadn't entered it for him, he wouldn't have--way to go Mom! For the first time in several years, I didn't place on a single photo--I was really bummed. Glad for my friend, Lorna though-she placed in almost every category she entered! Yeah!!

On September 6th we met my folks and Matthew, Sabrina, Jonah, and Caleb at the State Fair in Huron. It was a rainy day, but we looked at the open class photography (Matthew got a ribbon!), visited the FHA animal nursery, ate yummy fair food (deep fried cheese curds, very yummy and deep fried oreos, not so yummy) and rode 2 kid rides (motorcycles and fun bus) before we got rained out. We snacked on cheese curds, oreos, chips and dip, and hamburger and beans. What a fun day!

We try to spend some time outside as I realize that our nice days may be coming to a close. David loves to play in the sandbox and swing. Kassy also likes to swing and watch her brother.

Boys, mud, and swings go well together!

Our beautiful little princess!