Garden Season 2011!

So you may be thinking its too early for gardening, but no!, it is just the right time to start your onion seeds indoors. This year, Lily and I have picked a wonderful variety of flower and vegetable plants to put in our garden. We ordered most of our seeds from Johnny’s Select Seeds (JSS) so that we could get unusual varieties that can’t be found in local nurseries.

Our first seeding this year is onions. We are planting two varieties, Yellow Granex and Pumba. In my research over the winter, I learned that the Yellow Granex is a sweet onion, that when grown in Vidalia, Georgia, becomes the popular “Vidalia Onion.” Not sure what they will call the Yellow Granex we grow out back.....Johnson City Onion doesn’t quite have the same cache. Pumba is a variety from JSS that grows well in the south and does better in storage than the Yellow Granex. Onions have a longer growing cycle than most vegetables, which is why we are starting them so early. The other alternative to growing onions is to “over winter” them, meaning you plant them in the fall for an early summer harvest. Uncle Kevin is currently experimenting with this technique.

Finally, Lily and I have to thank you Uncle Jonathan for his Christmas present, “The Vegetable Gardner’s Bible”….it has contributed a great deal to the fun we have lined up for this summer!

Best Car Wash Helper EVER!!!

Week 30: Happy Valentines Day!

Week 29

This sweet outfit was given to Caroline by lovely friends Amy and Erin. They were so sweet to come visit soon after Caroline was born. It's so great when we are able to get all together..there are so many little ones running around. It's such a joy to grow into adulthood with old friends.

The sign in the back is from a new friend. One of my fellow residents has a creative streak and luckily the girls benefited from his idol time! He made name plates for Caroline and Lily..so sweet!

Happy 100th Birthday Hazel

We spent most of the day today in Hillsville for my Great Aunt Hazel's 100th Birthday Extravaganza! We can only hope to be so blessed as to be half as sharp as Aunt Hazel is at 100 (not to mention alive)! So Happy Birthday Aunt Hazel, here's to that 107!

Week 28

mopkMN BHNHCRFBFV ,NMBN M V BM NVVB V J,IJM TY6E56
The above is Caroline's input on the matter :)
Caroline had her 6 month check up this week.
Her stats are 89% for height and 85% for weight. I think we all know there won't be any 'slim kids' around this household..as my friend Elizabeth said...I gave birth to a toddler...that's just fine 'cause she is 100% mamma's milk made.

Just a quick note about Caroline's outfit. This was given to me by a patient of mine. I wanted to make sure I captured it in this way, because this is no average patient. She is one of my OB continuity patients, which basically means, I followed her throughout her pregnancy and delivered her baby. Being in Family Medicine, we only manage 'low risk' OB. This means that usually everything flows without a hitch, with the only hiccup being a c-section if for some reason the labor does not go as planned....

To say this labor did not go as planned is an understatement. I won't drag out the details, but my patient, to no one's fault but the law of numbers, almost did not survive her labor. She became very ill and the baby became in distress requiring an emergent section. The baby was out in less than three minutes (I thankfully had an amazing OBGYN on with me that night). My patient developed DIC and HELLP syndrome and was moved to the ICU. I've never been so scared in my life for someone under may care. To add to all of this, I was almost full term myself and this was when Dave was in the Ukraine. I remember staying up at night checking in to the hospital from my computer at home. Luckily most pregnant women are otherwise healthy young women, and this was the case for my patient. Her youth pulled her through and four days later she was released.

I soon went on maternity leave myself and did not get to see her at her post-partum follow-up. Once I was back, I had the very pleasant surprise to see my patient and her beautiful son come visit me before they were leaving for overseas. At that visit, she presented me with a present that included this outfit. I was so taken by surprise and truly touched. I don't think she will ever know what an impact she made on my as a physician...I truly will never forget her.