Major Events

These are in no particular order of importance (except one that is CLEARLY the most important).

K is sleeping in his new room for the first time tonight.  I only cried a little, and really the tears didn't make it out of my eyes, so technically that's not really crying, right?  Our little man is growing up too fast.  I realize this is a terribly cliche thing to say, but when it is your own baby it doesn't sound cliche at all.  

I chipped a nail on Sunday.  My first.  Nail.  Ever.  While this means absolutely nothing to 99% of the population, this was actually big news in my family.  I've never had nails this long in my life.  I think it means I'm maturing nicely.  

Our nephew, Kade, was baptized Sunday. 

You must click to enlarge.  Someone put up a population sign and was kind enough to also update the head count.  

Deviled eggs.  Mmmmmmm..... One of the few times I will fight my son for the last one.  Maternal instinct, my foot.

Kade and I took a moment to take a selfie in the mirror.  You can see how successful that was for us. 

Cousins - 11 days apart. 

My little bow-legged bandit.  

Our mom said she wanted to take a picture of her three girls.  She should have known better.

Notice how two out of three are wearing nearly identical outfits?  Not by design, trust me.  This has happened approximately 967 times so far in our lives.  

Miscellaneous

• This morning at church a lady over 60 asked a girl under 30 to make a jello salad for a funeral dinner this week.  I (the girl under 30) was at a complete loss but I politely nodded yes.  Any and all recipes for jello salads not involving marshmallows or mandarin oranges would be greatly appreciated.  I did not realize anyone still made these.  
• Kenyon's room is coming along nicely, and once we move furniture up there be ready for a barrage of before and after pictures I've been sitting on for just this occasion.  I am giddy with excitement for this child to have a proper room.  
• We had a bit of a cold front move through late last week.  In the space of mere hours we went from 76 degrees to 33 degrees.  Seriously.  Kenyon has started wearing clothes on a daily basis.  Pray for him.  
• With all this cold weather comes pictures like this:

And this:

 And this.  I love the little snowflakes on his stocking cap and coat.

 The cattle don't need any coaxing to line up at the bunk on a morning like this.

This is the view out our front door.  I love it that Kenyon is 30 feet from cattle and can look at them all day, every day.  

..... And a belated Halloween picture, because I'm a terribly apathetic mother.  I got super creative this year and Kenyon went as an indian.  I sewed three feathers in one of my headbands and threw a wool blanket around him.  He was warm, it was simple, everyone was happy.  And no, we weren't trying to be culturally insensitive by dressing our son as an indian.  I think it is an interesting culture.  Please feel free to dress your child as a farmer or rancher next year and I'll be flattered you thought of us.  

Good day

My favorite color of nail polish.... Manure and blood.

Anatomy of a Fruit Basket

Do you remember in your fifth grade science class when you got to dissect owl pellets (you know, like their poop) and how much fun it was?  Just me?  Well, huh.  Anyhoo, I enjoyed dissecting the pellets and being able to tell exactly what the owl had been eating recently.  I was the Sherlock Holmes of science.

This is a total aside, but did you know that you can tell quite a bit about a calf's diet by observing their manure?  You can see if they are getting too much or not enough protein, carbohydrates, etc.  Pretty neat the things you can learn if you just learn where to look.

So I told you those little stories in order to tell you this story. Let me state for the record that I do not make a point of dissecting my son's poop on a daily basis.  I do; however, make general observations about his bowel movements every time they happen.  Much like checking out cattle manure, you can tell quite a bit about your child's health by checking out their stools.  (I bet my mom is having a ball reading this story.  Nurses everywhere are enthralled by this type of weird stuff.)

I changed Kenyon's diaper the other day and noticed that there were several small, clear, sac-like structures in his poop.  Much like egg larvae (for those of you that were sleeping during that day of livestock entomology class).  I instantly freaked out.  Where did my son become infested with eggs?  Do our dogs have eggs?  Are we going to get them - do we already have them?  Do I need to call the doctor?  Can I look on Pinterest for a homemade remedy?  

I tried to make myself calm down.  I tried to keep telling myself that this surely couldn't be anything as serious as an egg infestation in my son, but there was a nagging voice in the back of my head I just couldn't shake.  I told myself I could finally break down and call the doctor if the problem still persisted after 24 hours.

24 hours later...... the 'eggs' were still in his poopy diapers.  I was officially a basket case.  I knew this must be the reason he was starting to become so skinny (never mind the fact that he is a toddler that runs every waking moment).  That was the final straw and I decided to call the doctor for an appointment.

I started to clean up a few things in the kitchen before we made our trip into town.  I opened the fridge to return the milk and noticed something funny.  On a shelf in the fridge, right at eye level, was a jar of mandarin oranges that were nearly all gone.  Hmmmm.  Kenyon had been eating quite a few oranges lately.  Hmmmm.  Oranges are comprised of 8 or so slices, also known as segments.  These slices/segments each contain many tiny little juice sacs.  After running through the digestive system of a 14 month old boy, these juice sacs become quite clear.  Hmmmm.  Clear enough to perhaps make someone think that their son was perhaps infested with eggs.  Hmmmm.  It was at that moment that the little light bulb came on in my head and I was sooooo glad I decided to wait 24 hours before calling the doctor.  Although I'm sure she would have enjoyed laughing at my expense.

Get it? Got it? Good.

I know that Kenyon is borderline genius.  I mean, duh, I'm his mother.  You don't have to tell me.

But in all seriousness, I am in awe of how much this child, or really children in general, have a tendency to just get stuff.  Like the really deep stuff in life.

We went to a visitation on Saturday at a church in town.  For the past week I have been practicing with K how to shake hands with folks.  I feel this is a skill that every child should master.  Many a book has been judged by it's cover and a limp handshake, trust me.  (Not that books shake hands often, but you get my drift.)

We made our way through the crowd of folks on Saturday and Kenyon was friendly, but by no means outgoing enough to initiate shaking hands with anyone.  He also had missed his morning nap and was no more than five minutes from a defcon level 5 meltdown due to sheer exhaustion.

Before we got ready to leave the church we needed to say goodbye to Don, the newly widowed man.  He looked defeated, exhausted and drained. - all the crushing weight of the world when you happen to lose the love of your life.

Don said hello to me and forced himself to attempt a bit of a smile.  You could just tell that he was almost too exhausted to carry on any more that day with the general public.  He turned towards Kenyon and gave him the same tired grin.  Without warning, Kenyon instantly perked up.  He lifted his head off my shoulder, shot Don the biggest grin in the history of the world and stuck out his hand for a hearty handshake.  I think it was just what the doctor ordered for a very tired man that day.

I just love how kids know when someone needs some extra special treatment, don't you?