Cold To The Bone!

It has been soooooooooooooooo very cold. It is supposed to warm up a bit over the weekend. We will see! Nathan and Kathy and their seven started settling in with their new little one. The siblings are quite taken with him! Isaac enjoyed the fact that he has eyes, nose, ears, mouth and was quite excited when he discovered that Joseph had a tongue! I think that all the siblings have gotten to hold him except for Esther. Esther was the hold-out for getting whatever ailed the rest, but today she joined them! So she is the last of the crew next door to have whatever it is. We're hoping that Joseph and Goosey (Woody) can avoid it...and, I'm sort of hoping that I don't get it! Woody didn't sleep well last night and didn't feel very well this morning. Not sure what ails him...just hoping that it goes away quickly. He doesn't think that it is the radiation. He had his third radiation treatment this morning. I hadn't realized how tired I was till today...I guess adrenalin has left...as every time I sat down I dozed off...took many naps! This evening I went to the visitation for my dear friend. Tomorrow Melany is coming to Tullahoma for the funeral (and to get some more baby time in). I made a quick soup before I went to the visitation. Woody didn't go to the visitation as he didn't think that he could stand in line for very long...and, there was a very long line.

Home...Finally!

We expected Mommy, Daddy and baby Joseph to be home around 3pm...well, they finally walked into the house around 10pm. Joseph wasn't too excited about giving them a wet diaper after he was circumcised and they couldn't leave the hospital till he did! All the children were in bed and asleep except for Graham so he got to greet his baby brother! This is the first time that I had seen him in person and Woody still hasn't. We didn't go to the hospital this time since there were sick ones at home. Today Elijah decided to run a fever. Esther is the only one claiming to not have been sick...but as Graham pointed out she had coughed some this afternoon...hope that she isn't next! Woody has now had two radiation treatments...tomorrow will be his third. The first two appointments were mid-morning. He had them change the times to 8am. He may be sorry in the morning that he changed the time as it is supposed to get down to single digits tonight! Melany came up today and spent the day either at the hospital or at Nathan and Kathy's with the six siblings and me or visiting with Woody over here at our house. She needed her "newborn baby fix!" She loves to hold little babies!

It's a...

It's a BOY!!!! Meet little Joseph Samuel Dorrell. He was born at 11:40 this morning. He weighed 6#,7.4oz. and was 19.5 inches.

Again...Brrrrrrry in Middle TN!

We seem to be in a cycle of a couple of "warmish"...well, at least pleasant days and then the cold sets in again. It is already down to 18F and supposed to go several degrees lower before morning. This has been quite a busy day. Woody got up and went for an early walk as he figured that it wasn't going to get much warmer as temperatures were supposed to drop as the day progressed. Around 8:30am, he got a phone call from the radiation center and they wanted him to come in at 11am. He was x-rayed and remarked and will begin his radiation treatments in the morning. I had school with Isaac and Elijah and then decided that today for art that we would undecorate the corner tree. I had Abigail and Elijah help first. Abigail got the high ornaments and Elijah got the low ornaments off. Then I called Joy and Esther over and they removed the rest. I boxed the ornaments up...so another job done. I have left the corner tree for Graham to take down when he is feeling better. I have boxed up the rest of the decorations that aren't Christmas tree ornaments. So I "think" that all I have left is the big Christmas tree. Around noon I sat down to rest for a few minutes and decided to check my email and got some very sad news. One of my very dear friends died this morning. She had MS and had been struggling with several health problems over the last months. She will be greatly missed. Around 1:40pm, I was about to head out the door to get my hair cut when the neighbor's paging phone rang...and at the moment that phone ringing makes me think "baby!" And, sure enough Kathy was calling to say that she thought that she was going to be going to the hospital shortly. So I handed the phones and information over to Woody and I headed off to get my hair cut and he waited on the call to go next door. Woody did get that phone call not long after I left. When I got home, he was over at their house. Kathy called not long after I got over there and said that she wasn't in active labor, but that they were observing her. It was finally decided that she would stay the night since she seems to have picked up whatever has been ailing the children. So she is getting antibiotics hoping to chase the cough, etc. away before she does go into labor. Nathan came on home and plans to get everyone to bed early and try to get a good night's sleep himself tonight...getting ready for some sleepless ones ahead! I have my bag packed with camera, lenses, iPad, and a book and have my coat at ready in case I get a call in the night! It is snowing and the roads are getting whiter...what a day!

"I'm so proud of me!"

Isaac is getting to be such a big boy...getting a big boy haircut, getting potty trained, going to be a big brother shortly! Tonight's blog title is what Isaac said to his mommy this morning when he told her that he had used the potty while she was at her doctor's appointment! And, we were proud of him too! Woody got up and helped me by cleaning up the dishes that hadn't been put in the dishwasher and cleaning off the counters. All the clutter around here due to the undecorating is getting to me...so having at least one clear place in the house really looked good to me! I had school with Isaac and the Elijah over here...trying to get back to routine after the holidays and our trip to NIH and me trying to get the house put back together and before Kathy has the baby! Then I headed next door to take care of the six children while Nathan and Kathy went to Kathy's ob appointment. The word is that she has started dilating and that they could be heading to the hospital just about any time...at this point Kathy is thinking "the sooner the better!" While I was over there I listened to several read and helped them with some of their lessons. Abigail and Joy were feeling better, but Graham was starting to not feel so great. While I was over there, Woody stayed close to home as we were expecting the insurance adjuster to come to see the damage on our car. That did happen while I was next door...so we are on to the next step to getting the car fixed. We are on the list at the "car fix-it" place now. Woody did some work in the yard including some raking. The leaf truck made another round so once again the pile of leaves at the edge of our yard is gone. I ate some lunch and then rested for a few minutes and then got busy again on packing up Christmas decorations. I managed to get five or six pretty good sized boxes filled and brought upstairs before my body said that it needed rest! And, rest it did...as in a pretty long nap. Woody took a four-mile walk this afternoon...probably a good day to take one as the temperatures today have been very pleasant. We have another cold front approaching...bone chilling temperatures are going to be with us for the next five days or so...not looking forward to that! I'm thinking that my body knows that the front is on its way as I have been rather achy this afternoon and evening...one reason that I had to give in to a rest. My undecorating is getting closer to just being the Christmas trees...I am soooooooooooo ready for this mess to be finished and away and the house to be back to "normal!" Woody is still waiting to hear from the radiology folk.

More Celebrating!

I just love this picture of Isaac helping his mommy blow out her candles! He is becoming quite the expert at celebrating birthdays! He did a good job of helping his mommy open her presents too! Woody went to the grocery stores and the library this morning...wore himself out! I put groceries away...one of my goals was to have the kitchen table cleared enough for him to put the grocery bags on when he got back home. The kitchen table still has a lot of Christmas "stuff" on it to be put away so I cleared off some and pushed the rest to the back of the table. Didn't help with the undecorating but did give a place to put some bags of groceries. I put the groceries away. Nathan called and invited us over for lunch, birthday cake and ice cream and presents to celebrate Kathy's birthday. We gladly accepted the invitation. They had homemade pizza...in the shapes of a heart and a face. After cake and ice cream we adjourned to the living room for presents and then Esther presented a show. We stayed and visited for a while and then headed home. I had in mind to get back to undecorating, but tiredness took over and I had a nap first. The undecorating has gotten to the overwhelming stage...when I start I seem to go great guns...but it doesn't take long to get bogged down. Today I have cleared several surfaces, dusted and then started putting back everyday decorations "as I find them." The "as I find them" is what slows down the process! I sat down a little while ago and boxed up a lot of Christmas bells. I have also been caught up washing clothes and putting them away...so that has cut into the "undoing" a bit! Every day tasks sometimes just can't be ignored! Woody said that he had some pretty good rest periods this afternoon. One of his tricks to resting is to pop in a DVD...not long after he will be asleep. He said that it has taken his three or four watchings of one movie to finally get through the whole thing! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATHY! Now to wait for the next...and it will be a true birth day! Not many days now till baby Dorrell makes his or her appearance!

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered!

I started off the morning doing a bit more on getting the house back to normal...still a ways to go...but at least the task is well underway. I spent part of that time getting non-Christmas back on the mantel in the family room. I needed Woody's help to carry the USS Constitution model, that my grandfather built, back downstairs and back on the mantel. It is a two person job...one to carry the boat and one to carry the stand. It got transferred safely. I have added something new to the mantel decor and am now seeing if I like the change! Woody worked at the computer while I was doing that. I needed the computer before I could continue with the big brother/sister shirts so when he was finished I headed back to the sewing room. Before I went to bed last night I had four shirts done. That left me with the shirts for the two youngest in their family. Joy came over after lunch and she helped me in the sewing room. She put away embroidery thread spools in their appropriate boxes and also helped me find matching thread for each of the shirts. After they were all embroidered, I sewed a soft piece of fabric onto the back to cover up any scratchy places on the back of the embroidery designs. Joy and I carried them downstairs and Joy arranged them on the love seat so I could snap a picture. Not long after that Graham and Elijah popped over. While I was upstairs, the three of them decided that they would clean up the toy closet...how nice! Elijah was asking me when he would have school again...he was ready right then so he went upstairs and chose something to bring down so we could have a bit of school. He stayed over for a bit after Joy and Graham left. Joy and Graham left each carrying three shirts! So they are finished and delivered! I will get back to school this coming week whether I am undecorated or not...it has been good to have this week to be able to concentrate on the house and the big brother/sister shirts. I realized last night a while after I posted that I really didn't explain about the title of yesterday's blog..."A Marked Man...Again!" Back in April of 2009, Woody had radiation on his left arm...the one that the melanoma tumor was surgically removed prior to him having IL-2 at Vanderbilt. After he recovered sufficiently from his IL-2 treatments, he went through a round of 15 radiation treatments during the month of April here in Tullahoma. He is going to the same radiation center this time that he went to back in 2009. He has great confidence in them...and that counts for a lot! The radiation center still hasn't called to get his appointments set up. We did hear from our insurance today for the car...the adjuster will come on Monday to assess the damage. If it isn't one thing...it is another! I'm done in for today...but tomorrow I am going to get back to attacking the house...Christmas coming down slowly but surely...normalcy coming back...slowly but surely! One of these days..! But one thing can be said...baby can now arrive as his/her siblings have shirts to greet him/her! Phew...met that goal ahead of baby!