Happy 5th Birthday Rosty

Today is Rosty’s bday. Five years ago today the Lord entrusted me and Lee with a beautiful baby boy to raise and love. He tested us right off. Rosty was one month premature and his lungs had not quite developed yet. When I saw him in the nursery under a breathing hood he was purple and gasping for every breathe he took. I’ll spare you all my emotion but it’s very hard to see your newborn that you have held only a few minutes purple and gasping for breathe. Since our local hospital was not equipped to handle his situation he was transferred by ambulance by a respiratory team to Baptist Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem, NC.

The respiratory team had given Rosty a treatment of Surfactin (which helps keep the lungs from collapsing, the body produces it naturally but Rosty just had not at the time he was born) before leaving the hospital to get him stable enough for the ride and he started to breathe better and he was not purple. At that moment I know for a fact that my home church was praying for him (it just happened to be revival that week). I know prayer works because I saw it first hand. We also had several family members at the hospital at that time and some close friends who prayed with us before he left the hospital.

Obviously, I had just had a baby and could not leave the hospital so Lee’s parents drove him to be with Rosty and my mom and Granny stayed with me. I did however leave the hospital the next morning after only being there for about 27 hours total and yes I had strict orders from my doctor to take it easy.

Going into the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) to see any child is not easy especially if it is your own child. We had to wash our hands and arms and wear gowns over our clothes. When I saw Rosty for the first time he had tubes and wires all over him. He was not breathing on his own and was on a respirator (he was on the respirator for 7 days). There again I had that emotional moment. One of the drs saw me crying and came over there and looked at Rosty’s chart and told me he was going to be fine not to cry.

We all learned a lot being in NICU. Mainly that God was good to us. The baby beside Rosty was blind and had lost all her toes. Another baby boy born the same day as Rosty had to have brain surgery at 3 days old. Then there was the baby that I never saw anybody come visit the whole time we were there. There were families of different races and different social classes but it didn’t matter we were all moms and dads wanting our babies to get well and come home with us.

Rosty was 7 days old when I got to hold him again. He was 14 days old when he got to come home with us. Rosty is definitely a special little boy. I love him with all my heart.

We actually did not have a digital camera during this time so I do not have any pics to post from his hospital days.

Happy Birthday Rosty. I love you!

The NC State Fair

I started this post last week and got busy and never finished it.....

We took the the boys to the fair on Sunday (October 20th). For the past 10 years if me and Lee have gone to the fair it was to work. We were either in college helping the Animal Science club with the many activities they did during the fair, helping friends with their livestock or working with the Jr. Dairy Livestock show. When I heard there were things to do outside the Jim Graham building I was shocked!!

Going back with kids is a lot different.

Last year we did go to the fair with both boys but Charlie was too little to do anything and because Rosty was showing a turkey we had the whole clan. My parents, my granny, brother Wayne and his family and Lee's mom. So we had plenty of help and plenty of grandparents to stand in line with Rosty when he wanted to ride a ride.

This year we were there on Sunday- a week-end and it was crowded!! The lines were ridicously long. I had bought our tickets on-line (54 to be exact)so I did not want them to be wasted. Lee and Charlie rode a couple of rides but decided they would rather walk around than wait. Rosty used all his tickets and had a blast!!

The main reason we went on Sunday was because our good friend Sheila Jordan was being inducted into the NC Livestock Hall of Fame. We were very honored that she invited us to share this special time with her.

I love my kids!

I know as parents we all have those moments with our kids. Last night I was attempting to can the apples we brought back from our trip to Asheville. The boys had been playing and had not given me a thought until I began working on the apples. I was making apple preserves (which I have never done) so first I had to peel the apples, then core the apples, next I had to mix the apples with some lemon juice and water and bring to a boil...add pectin....add sugar...anyway you get the picture. It takes a few minutes to do all the steps plus you need to keep a watch on the apples so you don't scorch them. Well, the boys decide they should bring all their toys to the kitchen and play right in front of me. I convince them to play on the table. Then Charlie decides he wants grits. Nothing will do unitl he has grits. He cried for about 20 minutes straight even after I fixed his grits, got him a Band-Aid for his "boo-boo" and he talked to Grandma Sherry. Of course Rosty decides he needs grits too. Rosty also picks this time to give me a big hug and say "Mommy, thank you for not being mean to me." What... Is someone being mean to you?? I have no clue where that came from.

Well, I eventaully get my apples ready to go in the jars. I followed the recipe so why did I fill up only 3 jars instead of 6 jars. I guess I didn't follow the recipe too good, huh?? No actually I did but I used pint jars instead of jelly jars (which are half-pints). Oh well.....

I hope to can some apple wedges tonight & my neighbor brought me 4.5 pounds of cranberries back from Massachusetts. I found a cranberry sauce recipe. I know what what my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner is going to be.

Lee was at a meeting last night so he missed all the fun! But this is how I ended my night and now you'll know why I love my kids.....

The boys had both had a bath. I went to the kitchen (with Charlie) to get something to drink. Rosty's instructions were to brush his teeth. As I walked back into my bedroom I said, "Rosty lets go to bed."

He say, "But I haven't brushed my teeth yet."

As I was walking into the bathroom I say, "Why not- ROSTY!!!!" The child had a handful of markers in the bathroom and had drawn on his face and stomach. Hindsight, I wish I wuold have taken a picture. Like I said he had been out of the bathtub for like 5 minutes. I take the toothbrush and toothpaste out of his hand laid it down and start cleaning him up...again. After I finish I turn around and Charlie is standing behind me. He has taken the toothpaste. It is in his mouth and he is squeezing it out. I have no clue how much Dr. Suess toothpaste he ate!

I know I will have lots more stories like this to share throughout the years. But I do love them with all my heart. I thank God everyday for them.

Anniversary Getaway

On September 29th me and Lee had been married for 7 years. Wow! I can not believe it has been that long. Lee had to go to Asheville with his job so I decided to tag-a-long and call it an anniversary trip. He was going to visit some of his NC Choices farms (Lee works for NCSU the NC Choices program and works with hog farmers)and since we also farm I knew I would enjoy the visits too.

We visited Grateful Growers in Denver, NC. They raise pigs, chickens nad turkeys on pasture. As we were leaving it started to rain and continued to rain a nice steady rain all day long. Then we went to Underwood Family Farms in Lawndale, NC. They raise hogs, cattle and sheep. The third farm we went to had a mobile chicken processing trailer- this was cool!

We made it into Asheville and got checked into our room and then went to the tailgate market at the French Broad Co-op. Since it was raining I think they were short a few of their vendors. We bought from the Salmon Guy some fresh Sockeye salmon and some smoked salmon. He has his own boat and he goes out fishing in Alaska and then brings back fresh salmon. Lee fixed it last night and it was delicious!!!

That night we ate supper at Tupelo Honey. They are one of several restaurants in Asheville that patronize the local farmers and buy many of their products from the farmers. I had the organic chicken breast sandwich served on sourdough bread from the local bakery. Lee had a local pork trio (brats, brisket and pork chop). The next morning we ate at Early Girl Eatery which was recommended to us by several people.

On Thursday we visited Hickory Nut Gap Farm. This was a good visit for me. They have a store that is open on Thursdays. I got fresh apple cider, a bushel of apples (I plan to can then tonight) and hot dogs. These hotdogs are made from the pasture-raised pork- YUMMY!! We then headed to Flying Cloud Farms. They raise vegetables, cut flowers and pigs. We ended our visits by going to Imladris Farms. They raise rabbits and berries. I will have to find out if they have a website. I highly recommend their jams. We bought 4 while we were there- raspberry, blueberry, blackberry and mixed berry (all 3).

We also visited the Black Mountain Tail Gate Market store. Lee met the owner on a trip to Joel Salatin's farm.

Even though we were busy it was nice to be together and visit the farms. We actually did pick up a few pointers and ideas from some of the other farmers and we enjoyed visiting with them.

I was hoping to post pics but it seems Charlie has hidden the cables to the camera.
Maybe later.

The Joys of Prednisone

I got a shot of Prednisone & a prescription topical cream and I am a different woman today.

Thank you Dr. Narrovo!

Poison Ivy

I am absolutely miserable! Last Monday we were working in the yard. I was working in my much ignored flower beds and must have gotten into some poison ivy. This has happened before but never to this extent. I have band aids on both arms and hands trying to cover the spots up because I am itching so much.

I have a really bad spot on my wedding ring finger. From the knuckle down to my hand it is a big blister. I have 2 places on my left thumb and 2 places on my left arm.

My right hand has one place on my thumb, 2 on my wrist and another cluster on my forearm.

The worst developed over the week-end it is beside my left eye.

I made a doctor's appointment for this afternoon. I'm hoping since it has been a week and it has not seemed to improve that she can give me a shot or something. Plus, I have been itching like crazy.....

We've got baby pigs

We had 2 pregnant sows and they both had 11 baby pigs. Each moma lost one baby but we still have a total of 20 baby pigs. The first pig delivered on October 1st and the second on October 3rd.

I hope to get pictures this afternoon.

I took my camera to the farm on Wednesday to take pictures forgetting that my batteries were dead. I had it in my pocket while feeding and then while picking crowder peas. When we were leaving it was not in my pocket so I thought it was gone forever. Luckily, it was inside Lee's parent's house. It had fell out of my pocket when I had sat down to eat.

Patterson Farm's Field Trip

Today Rosty had a field trip to Patterson Farms. I planned to post pictures but wouldn't you know it my camera batteries died. I almost grabbed the ones that were charged and I was like no, I don't need them.

Anyway, for those of you not familliar with Patterson Farms. It is basicially a pumpkin patch. We started with the petting zoo, then went on a hayride (without the hay)and eneded up at the pumpkin patch. Rosty picked a big pumpkin for him and a little pumkin for Charlie.

The highlight of the trip for the kids is the playground- for my kid anyway. They had a picnic lunch and then got to play. There is a mini-corn maze, a John Deere trike track, a huge corn box (think sand box with kernel corn), a wooden tractor & boat that the kids can climb in and on. They have also found a way to recycle old tractor tires. Clean them up, stick them in the ground and the kids will climb on them!