Patience Snider Keen
February 8, 1991 - April 7, 2006
That just says it all doesn't it? We took Patience and met Mike before work on Friday. She lived a really long time and there has NEVER been and will NEVER be a better dog. I miss her a lot. I guess I'm okay- relatively. I miss her a lot.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
One-Handed
Long time, no post. And of course today Scott has decided to try to be awake at the library, so I only have one hand... slows things down a bit.
We have had several good visits with various out of town family over the past few weeks. It's been fun "meeting" everyone, but I think Scott and I are both glad to be back to just us. On the other hand we wouldn't mind if the Daddy man didn't have to travel so much. At least this week he'll be home in the am- tomorrow. Yeah.
Scott is still growing fast. It's fun to watch him everyday as he's so observant- always watching. He also likes to talk and is fun to listen to. He gets a little fussy now and then and like every baby he loves being to me and being held. He also doesn't like to fall asleep, but once he does he's a great sleeper.
Tomorrow morning I go in for my 6-week appt. Which means that I will be "allowed" to exercise again. We'll see how long it takes me to get back into running... I do have a really nice jogging stroller!
Cullen is 27 now. I like to say he's 2 years older than me now. Haha. He had a good birthday. Enjoyed a meal at Outback and Hot Fudge Sundae cake later in the week. He's planning to get a new tent with his birthday money. We can't wait to take Scott camping - though we'll probably buy us a pack of disposable diapers for that adventure... hopefully sometime in May or June. Anyway, Cullen is traveling a lot for work now. We're looking forward to late April, because we'll get to go with him to Charleston! He has his performance review tomorrow, so we're hoping for good things out of that...
Patience is the same... but we're not sure that's good enough. :(
We have had several good visits with various out of town family over the past few weeks. It's been fun "meeting" everyone, but I think Scott and I are both glad to be back to just us. On the other hand we wouldn't mind if the Daddy man didn't have to travel so much. At least this week he'll be home in the am- tomorrow. Yeah.
Scott is still growing fast. It's fun to watch him everyday as he's so observant- always watching. He also likes to talk and is fun to listen to. He gets a little fussy now and then and like every baby he loves being to me and being held. He also doesn't like to fall asleep, but once he does he's a great sleeper.
Tomorrow morning I go in for my 6-week appt. Which means that I will be "allowed" to exercise again. We'll see how long it takes me to get back into running... I do have a really nice jogging stroller!
Cullen is 27 now. I like to say he's 2 years older than me now. Haha. He had a good birthday. Enjoyed a meal at Outback and Hot Fudge Sundae cake later in the week. He's planning to get a new tent with his birthday money. We can't wait to take Scott camping - though we'll probably buy us a pack of disposable diapers for that adventure... hopefully sometime in May or June. Anyway, Cullen is traveling a lot for work now. We're looking forward to late April, because we'll get to go with him to Charleston! He has his performance review tomorrow, so we're hoping for good things out of that...
Patience is the same... but we're not sure that's good enough. :(
Monday, March 6, 2006
Struggles With An Elderly Dog
Well this past week was a bit tough on Patience... and me I suppose. Patience had another vestibular episode on Thursday morning. It was rather scary for me and of course required a lot of energy and time from me. (She had a vestibular thing last April- it's almost like a seizure, because she doesn't know up from down and flails herself all over the place but can't stand up or anything like that.) Anyway, she was like that when we (or I should say Cullen) got up on Thursday morning. He put her in the kitchen and I got up of course. We decided to wait it out (since they really couldn't do anything for her at the emergency clinic last year other than administer IV fluids.) We left her in the kitchen with the lights out and Scott and I stayed at the other end of the house for a few hours. By 9am the vestibular thing had passed. She messed herself and was still having a hard time with standing up and walking... but it all got progressively better through out the afternoon and by the time Cullen got home from work she was her same old self. Thankfully. For a while I was worried it was the end- even called Mike to find out what the best (and least expensive) options are for when that time comes. Ah the excitement.
Scott is doing great. Still growing amazingly fast, though no doctors visit for the official weight gain for another couple of weeks. He's starting to get himself into something of a routine, so that is nice. On Friday I got to clean the house- well part of it. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to clean the other part of it :) I could have done it today, but he's napping at the library instead of in his crib. On Saturday we took him to his first baseball game - Go Jackets! We watched one of the youth from church play in his first JV game for Fort Mill High. It was fun. I enjoyed the game and the time out of the house talking with friends and just hanging out. Scott got a little pink from the sun, but since he was covered well and shaded he didn't get nearly as pink as his daddy. Maybe next time Cullen will remember to wear a baseball cap like I did... I didn't get pink :) On Sunday we returned to our Sunday evening small group. It was very good to be back. Abby was absolutely facinated by Scott, it was really cute. She's 3 and soon to be a big sister herself, so it was fun to watch.
This week it turns out that Cullen will be out of town for 2 nights, Wednesday and Thursday- getting home late on Friday night. I am very thankful that Grandma and Grandpa will be here. Though I guess I have to start calling them Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa... or not... we'll see. I'm wondering if they will be willing to stay in the church nursery with Scott on Wednesday night so I can go to the women's bible study. (We're planning to start leaving Scott in the nursery after he's a month old, but for now we'd rather avoid the germs and just hang onto him ourselves.)
Guess that's all the news from our world. It's getting later in the afternoon than I anticipated, because I actually had to wait for a computer today... so we'd better get going on our other errands before Scott gets hungry again :)
Scott is doing great. Still growing amazingly fast, though no doctors visit for the official weight gain for another couple of weeks. He's starting to get himself into something of a routine, so that is nice. On Friday I got to clean the house- well part of it. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to clean the other part of it :) I could have done it today, but he's napping at the library instead of in his crib. On Saturday we took him to his first baseball game - Go Jackets! We watched one of the youth from church play in his first JV game for Fort Mill High. It was fun. I enjoyed the game and the time out of the house talking with friends and just hanging out. Scott got a little pink from the sun, but since he was covered well and shaded he didn't get nearly as pink as his daddy. Maybe next time Cullen will remember to wear a baseball cap like I did... I didn't get pink :) On Sunday we returned to our Sunday evening small group. It was very good to be back. Abby was absolutely facinated by Scott, it was really cute. She's 3 and soon to be a big sister herself, so it was fun to watch.
This week it turns out that Cullen will be out of town for 2 nights, Wednesday and Thursday- getting home late on Friday night. I am very thankful that Grandma and Grandpa will be here. Though I guess I have to start calling them Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa... or not... we'll see. I'm wondering if they will be willing to stay in the church nursery with Scott on Wednesday night so I can go to the women's bible study. (We're planning to start leaving Scott in the nursery after he's a month old, but for now we'd rather avoid the germs and just hang onto him ourselves.)
Guess that's all the news from our world. It's getting later in the afternoon than I anticipated, because I actually had to wait for a computer today... so we'd better get going on our other errands before Scott gets hungry again :)
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Growing Like A Weed
Cullen says Scott is growing like a weed. It's what Andrew (who was his Best Man) always said about his daughter Rebekah when she was little. Scott is growing fast though. He's up to 9lbs and 7oz already. That's up 2 lbs from his birth weight. (Sorry, but I have no idea what percentile that is... the doctor didn't say and I really didn't care enough to ask.)
Today Scott and I are having our first library adventure. So far, he is sleeping well. He tends to sleep pretty well between 9 and noon everyday though, so it's not really surprising. I just have to make sure we're finished with the errands before he wakes up in another half hour or so.
This past weekend Scott got to meet his Grandma and Granddad. Cullen's parents were in town for a quick visit. I think he likes them :) Although, I also think I discovered that company of any kind after dinner time for Cullen and I seems to mess with Scott's ability to sleep. Meaning, it's harder for him to fall asleep and he wakes up more. Guess we'll try and limit evening visitors next weekend.
Next week we'll be having our first overnight visitors... Great Grandma and Grandpa Gardner. I can't wait to see them! They are going to be here at the perfect time too... besides the evening visitors thing, Cullen is going to be heading back to Lancaster for a business trip next week, about the same time Grandma and Grandpa get here. How convenient. Then on Friday, while they are still here, Patience goes for her yearly shots. It will be very nice to have an extra pair of hands at the vets office!
In other news... we grown ups, who had recently decided to retire from youth ministry are back. The youth director resigned a few weeks ago and another couple at church stepped up to take on that role. However, they left a hole where they had been teaching youth Sunday School. Cullen and I have agreed to help with youth Sunday School and we'll be switching off with another couple. We're all pretty excited about it right now and excited to get to know the youth at our new church better. Pray for us in this endeavor.
Today Scott and I are having our first library adventure. So far, he is sleeping well. He tends to sleep pretty well between 9 and noon everyday though, so it's not really surprising. I just have to make sure we're finished with the errands before he wakes up in another half hour or so.
This past weekend Scott got to meet his Grandma and Granddad. Cullen's parents were in town for a quick visit. I think he likes them :) Although, I also think I discovered that company of any kind after dinner time for Cullen and I seems to mess with Scott's ability to sleep. Meaning, it's harder for him to fall asleep and he wakes up more. Guess we'll try and limit evening visitors next weekend.
Next week we'll be having our first overnight visitors... Great Grandma and Grandpa Gardner. I can't wait to see them! They are going to be here at the perfect time too... besides the evening visitors thing, Cullen is going to be heading back to Lancaster for a business trip next week, about the same time Grandma and Grandpa get here. How convenient. Then on Friday, while they are still here, Patience goes for her yearly shots. It will be very nice to have an extra pair of hands at the vets office!
In other news... we grown ups, who had recently decided to retire from youth ministry are back. The youth director resigned a few weeks ago and another couple at church stepped up to take on that role. However, they left a hole where they had been teaching youth Sunday School. Cullen and I have agreed to help with youth Sunday School and we'll be switching off with another couple. We're all pretty excited about it right now and excited to get to know the youth at our new church better. Pray for us in this endeavor.
Monday, February 20, 2006
He's Here!
Scott Honor Keen was born on Thursday early in the morning at 12:53am. He's perfect- weighs 7lbs 7oz, and 19 1/2 inches long. He is nursing well and sleeping well so we are happy about both of those things. He sleeps between feedings pretty much all night long, which is great.
We made it to church yesterday, so he spent his first Sunday in the Lord's house. Today we are out and about... "visiting" Daddy's office, then we'll do a bit of shopping before his first visit to the pediatrician this afternoon.
Cullen will be home from work today and taking half days Tuesday and Wednesday before returning to a "regular" schedule on Thursday and Friday.
So all in all, things are going well. Off to visit the picture page and upload lots and lots and lots of pictures for your viewing pleasure.
We made it to church yesterday, so he spent his first Sunday in the Lord's house. Today we are out and about... "visiting" Daddy's office, then we'll do a bit of shopping before his first visit to the pediatrician this afternoon.
Cullen will be home from work today and taking half days Tuesday and Wednesday before returning to a "regular" schedule on Thursday and Friday.
So all in all, things are going well. Off to visit the picture page and upload lots and lots and lots of pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Still Waiting
We are still waiting on this little one to make an appearance. Hopefully, it will be soon... or else the midwife will start pestering me to schedule an induction. We will go in for an ultrasound and NST on Wednesday just to make sure everything is still good if we don't have a baby before then. So, what sounds like a good day for a birthday now that 2-4-6 is past? 2-10, 2-11, 2-12, 2-13... I'd personally rather avoid Valentine's Day on Tuesday, but we'll certainly take what we get.
For the record- NO, I am not miserable. Just patiently waiting for a baby to get here. And I'm confident the baby will get here at exactly the right moment. (Someone asked me that the other day... and needless to say, it got on my nerves a bit.) Cullen also gets to face questions everyday at work. Though those questions are more just observations and not as annoying. You know "Still no baby?"
Patience had a good birthday this past Wednesday. She turned 15. I really never expected her to survive so long, but I'm certainly not complaining (Cullen might be though :)
That's all the randomness for today. Here's hoping I can write about all the cute things Leapfrog's doing the next time I come in to the library.
For the record- NO, I am not miserable. Just patiently waiting for a baby to get here. And I'm confident the baby will get here at exactly the right moment. (Someone asked me that the other day... and needless to say, it got on my nerves a bit.) Cullen also gets to face questions everyday at work. Though those questions are more just observations and not as annoying. You know "Still no baby?"
Patience had a good birthday this past Wednesday. She turned 15. I really never expected her to survive so long, but I'm certainly not complaining (Cullen might be though :)
That's all the randomness for today. Here's hoping I can write about all the cute things Leapfrog's doing the next time I come in to the library.
Monday, February 6, 2006
The Waiting Game
I'm back at the library. No baby news yet. Cullen and I enjoyed the SuperBowl with some friends last night... so now we are both tired today. I'm not sure why I'm tired, besides the whole baby thing though, since I slept really late this morning. I made my usual SuperBowl cake. But, I tried something a little bit different this year. I'm not eating chocolate, so I left off the chocolate frosting and Cullen helped me attempt to make brown buttercream frosting. Okay, so the football cake was an interesting slightly brownish shade of gray. It tasted great and is almost gone already.
I've decided this morning that it's a strange feeling to be sitting around waiting for a baby to arrive. I have plenty to do to occupy myself, so it's not a problem and I'm not complaining yet... but it is a weird feeling. I wonder when this little person is going to get here.
In other news... Cullen installed the new fan in the bathroom over the weekend and put up some of the towel racks. That bathroom project will get finished someday.
And Patience is going to be 15 years old on Wednesday! That's 105 in dog years. Wow. Can't say I ever expected, when I got her nearly 15 years ago, that she would live this long. I'm glad though. There's something nice about having a "guard dog" sleeping fairly close to you all day long. I was visited by some people from a religious cult like the Jehovah's Witnesses this morning and Patience was laying by the front door. She so wanted to go outside and smell them. Cullen suggested I have her sneeze on them and then they might go away faster :)
Happy Monday. Hopefully we'll have some baby news soon!
I've decided this morning that it's a strange feeling to be sitting around waiting for a baby to arrive. I have plenty to do to occupy myself, so it's not a problem and I'm not complaining yet... but it is a weird feeling. I wonder when this little person is going to get here.
In other news... Cullen installed the new fan in the bathroom over the weekend and put up some of the towel racks. That bathroom project will get finished someday.
And Patience is going to be 15 years old on Wednesday! That's 105 in dog years. Wow. Can't say I ever expected, when I got her nearly 15 years ago, that she would live this long. I'm glad though. There's something nice about having a "guard dog" sleeping fairly close to you all day long. I was visited by some people from a religious cult like the Jehovah's Witnesses this morning and Patience was laying by the front door. She so wanted to go outside and smell them. Cullen suggested I have her sneeze on them and then they might go away faster :)
Happy Monday. Hopefully we'll have some baby news soon!
Thursday, February 2, 2006
From The Library
Here's my first post from the library. But I've dawdled and only have 8 minutes left online. Oh well.
Had my weekly appointment yesterday. Still no baby, and I didn't let her check me. So there. Leapfrog will be here soon. Cullen says today, everyday now.
I've been enjoying my time home this week... well aside from being sick with a cold and sleeping all day Sunday, almost all day Monday and a bunch on Tuesday. Yesterday I was up all day though and feeling much better. Not 100%, but colds take a while to get completely over.
Oh yeah, and we met our new neighbors. They have a 6 yr old son, and a 2 year old dog. Those two are very entertaining playing together in the backyard in the afternoon. The whole family seems really nice... definitely a huge step up from living next door to a group home. And since their house was a group home they have plenty of stories about things like emergency lights and soap dispensers to try and renovate away. It's fun to see all the houses in our neighborhood gradually being redone and to know that EVERYONE is having to get rid of green bathroom fixtures and not just us.
Well that's all the news for today. Hopefully next time I'll have a baby in tow!
Had my weekly appointment yesterday. Still no baby, and I didn't let her check me. So there. Leapfrog will be here soon. Cullen says today, everyday now.
I've been enjoying my time home this week... well aside from being sick with a cold and sleeping all day Sunday, almost all day Monday and a bunch on Tuesday. Yesterday I was up all day though and feeling much better. Not 100%, but colds take a while to get completely over.
Oh yeah, and we met our new neighbors. They have a 6 yr old son, and a 2 year old dog. Those two are very entertaining playing together in the backyard in the afternoon. The whole family seems really nice... definitely a huge step up from living next door to a group home. And since their house was a group home they have plenty of stories about things like emergency lights and soap dispensers to try and renovate away. It's fun to see all the houses in our neighborhood gradually being redone and to know that EVERYONE is having to get rid of green bathroom fixtures and not just us.
Well that's all the news for today. Hopefully next time I'll have a baby in tow!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Last Day at Duke
The end is in sight... very close sight. I'm actually just waiting for my supervisor to get out of a meeting to sign something. Then I'll be meeting with HR and turning in my badge to security and leaving Catawba forever. I wonder what next week will be like. I signed up to bring a dish for Wednesday night dinner at church, since I'll be home rather than racing from work to home to let Patience out and feed her and back to church.
We are about ready for Leapfrog to get here too. Ready- can you ever really be ready for a new baby? At any rate, the carseat is in the van, the hospital bags are packed, and the anticipation is building. (Hm, guess I still need to type up instructions for the doggy sitter, but at least if I forget I can just call them or have Cullen call them and fill them in.)
Cullen is still busy at work. Looks like there might be a conference in Charleston that we'll all be able to travel with him for in April. He's working hard trying to keep all his work organized enough for his coworkers to be able to pick it up when he's out for a week starting any day now.
Earlier this month we enjoyed a visit from Jessica, while she was job-hunting. Or maybe job-thinking is a better way to describe. She is in our prayers now as she tries to figure out where to go from here after graduating in December. During her stay, she did note several times how annoying it is that we don't have internet at our house. I'm sure job-hunting would be somewhat easier if we did have internet, but I'm glad we don't have such ready access to the www from home. Now to see if I can keep saying that next week. It will be interesting to note if my posts get more frequent or less frequent as I am forced to go to the library to use the internet and as I start my new job as a SAHM.
Onward to outprocessing world...
We are about ready for Leapfrog to get here too. Ready- can you ever really be ready for a new baby? At any rate, the carseat is in the van, the hospital bags are packed, and the anticipation is building. (Hm, guess I still need to type up instructions for the doggy sitter, but at least if I forget I can just call them or have Cullen call them and fill them in.)
Cullen is still busy at work. Looks like there might be a conference in Charleston that we'll all be able to travel with him for in April. He's working hard trying to keep all his work organized enough for his coworkers to be able to pick it up when he's out for a week starting any day now.
Earlier this month we enjoyed a visit from Jessica, while she was job-hunting. Or maybe job-thinking is a better way to describe. She is in our prayers now as she tries to figure out where to go from here after graduating in December. During her stay, she did note several times how annoying it is that we don't have internet at our house. I'm sure job-hunting would be somewhat easier if we did have internet, but I'm glad we don't have such ready access to the www from home. Now to see if I can keep saying that next week. It will be interesting to note if my posts get more frequent or less frequent as I am forced to go to the library to use the internet and as I start my new job as a SAHM.
Onward to outprocessing world...
Sunday, January 1, 2006
Wishlists
Check back here anytime you want to know what we think we might need... or just like to have.
The boys current sizes, if you're looking for what they can wear right now are:
Scott - 4 tops, 4 bottoms, shoes-10 1/2 W
Blaise - 3T tops, 3T bottoms, shoes- 7 XXW
Michael - 12M
Cullen:
Disney Gift Cards
TV Shelving (Ikea)
Khaki pants
Jeans
White dress shirt (long sleeve)
Long Sleeve dress shirts (not blue)
*No clothing from LL Bean
Cynthia:
Books on Homeschooling/Home-Preschooling
-Explode the Code - Get Ready for the Code series
-I Think I Can series - InspirEd (http://www.inspiredhomeschoolers.com/)
-AIMS Activity Books for Math/Science (http://aimsedu.org/)
Outdoor Thermometer (to hang away from the house)
Smart Wool Socks
Shorts
Scott:
Summer clothing (size 5/children's small)
Pants (size 4)
Trumpet
Puzzles (>20 pieces)
Blaise:
3T adjustable waist pants
Anything that's like whatever Scott gets
Michael:
Piggy Bank
Kids General:
Books:
-My ABC Bible Verses by Susan Hunt
-most anything from Scholastic, Usborne or with FaithKidz guide
VeggieTales DVD's
Peter Pan DVD
Jungle Book DVD
Mary Poppins DVD
DVD's (to upgrade our VHS collection):
VeggieTales- Where's God When I'm Scared?
VeggieTales- Are You My Neighbor?
VeggieTales- Madam Blueberry
VeggieTales- Rack, Shack, & Benny
VeggieTales- Josh and the Big Wall
VeggieTales- God Wants Me To Forgive Them?
VeggieTales- The Ballad of Little Joe
VeggieTales- Silly Songs
VeggieTales- The End of Silliness?
VeggieTales- Ultimate Silly Song Countdown
VeggieTales- The Toy That Saved Christmas
Jonah- A VeggieTales Movie
Alladin
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (original cartoon version)
Star Wars- A New Hope (IV)
Star Wars- The Empire Strikes Back (V)
Star Wars- Return of the Jedi (VI)
Star Wars- The Phantom Menace (I)
Star Wars- Attack of the Clones (II)
Remember The Titans
Rudy
The Sandlot
Angels in the Outfield
Little Giants
Patriot Games
The Fugitive
Men In Black
The Santa Clause
Star Trek (any movies)
The boys current sizes, if you're looking for what they can wear right now are:
Scott - 4 tops, 4 bottoms, shoes-10 1/2 W
Blaise - 3T tops, 3T bottoms, shoes- 7 XXW
Michael - 12M
Cullen:
Disney Gift Cards
TV Shelving (Ikea)
Khaki pants
Jeans
White dress shirt (long sleeve)
Long Sleeve dress shirts (not blue)
*No clothing from LL Bean
Cynthia:
Books on Homeschooling/Home-Preschooling
-Explode the Code - Get Ready for the Code series
-I Think I Can series - InspirEd (http://www.inspiredhomeschoolers.com/)
-AIMS Activity Books for Math/Science (http://aimsedu.org/)
Outdoor Thermometer (to hang away from the house)
Smart Wool Socks
Shorts
Scott:
Summer clothing (size 5/children's small)
Pants (size 4)
Trumpet
Puzzles (>20 pieces)
Blaise:
3T adjustable waist pants
Anything that's like whatever Scott gets
Michael:
Piggy Bank
Kids General:
Books:
-My ABC Bible Verses by Susan Hunt
-most anything from Scholastic, Usborne or with FaithKidz guide
VeggieTales DVD's
Peter Pan DVD
Jungle Book DVD
Mary Poppins DVD
DVD's (to upgrade our VHS collection):
VeggieTales- Where's God When I'm Scared?
VeggieTales- Are You My Neighbor?
VeggieTales- Madam Blueberry
VeggieTales- Rack, Shack, & Benny
VeggieTales- Josh and the Big Wall
VeggieTales- God Wants Me To Forgive Them?
VeggieTales- The Ballad of Little Joe
VeggieTales- Silly Songs
VeggieTales- The End of Silliness?
VeggieTales- Ultimate Silly Song Countdown
VeggieTales- The Toy That Saved Christmas
Jonah- A VeggieTales Movie
Alladin
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (original cartoon version)
Star Wars- A New Hope (IV)
Star Wars- The Empire Strikes Back (V)
Star Wars- Return of the Jedi (VI)
Star Wars- The Phantom Menace (I)
Star Wars- Attack of the Clones (II)
Remember The Titans
Rudy
The Sandlot
Angels in the Outfield
Little Giants
Patriot Games
The Fugitive
Men In Black
The Santa Clause
Star Trek (any movies)
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