Baby Talk!!

Our newest baby is on the way!! 19 weeks gestation u/s pic shown here.

Seeing as I am playing catch up by retroblogging this week, (don't you just love that term?) It makes posting late entries seem-well, stylish or something....Oh wait-maybe that's just me! : )and also, b/c I haven't announced yet to the blog about our impending new arrival (though most likely everyone who reads this blog already knows, esp as we're over the halfway there mark-LOL!) I'm going to celebrate by posting last years critter baby pix! Especially as the weather has really moderated here lately, causing Jesse to run in yesterday yelling "Mommy, Mommy! Spring is coming!"

(Besides, who doesn't love pix of babies, no matter what time of year it is? : ) )

Ok, first, let's talk about the human baby!! Yes, our 4th little one is due May 12, 2009! We're very excited, even Daddy, once he got over the shock!! Jesse keeps holding up 4 fingers and telling Daddy "we need a van, Daddy, 'cause there's gonna be 4 of us now!" (Mommy thinks a van would be nice too-no more squishing Wyatt with her (growing!) tummy while buckling Tabitha in, not to mention, more room to haul goats and chickens! )

Jesse and Tabitha have decided this baby will be a girl. After how much fun it was not knowing what gender Wyatt was (though somehow Jesse knew-he insisted the whole time that he was getting a brother!!), I decided I didn't want to know. Ok, well, maybe just a teensy lil bit-I'd love to be using this time to be knitting up a bunch of pink and purple soakers and longies, and sewing cute lil dresses if I knew for sure we were having a girl! But, anyways, baby made it easy for us, by having his/her back to us during the u/s-no way to know for sure! This lil one knows how to keep us in suspense! Even from when we found out s/he was on the way!!

We were VERY surprised to learn this baby was on the way, LOL!

I'd realised that I'd been feeling a bit "spacey" on one Sunday in September, while at work, and kind of emotional too. Come to think of it, I'd been narcoleptic type tired the whole week!

Then that same day, after a lovely meal at my Mom's, as I was leaving, I felt like I was going to throw it back up! Weird, I thought, must be going too hard, maybe I need to slow down and rest a bit. Then I got home and was going thru emotions, rapid fire. Leroy asked (brave guy-or is that foolish?!) when I'd be finished with PMS for this month, 'cause it seemed like I'd had it an awful long time. I looked at him, deer in the headlights style, running dates thru my mind. I then started counting days on the calendar. Then went and took a test, which immediately turned positive, to my surprise! I took it to him, and all he could say is "what's this? what does this mean?" After I explained, he spent the first few months wandering around in shock, muttering "4 kids, 4 kids" over and over, poor man, LOL!!

I'm extremely amused by my due date. You see, we have quite the pattern going (and won't it be cool if this baby keeps it?!). See, we have birthdays in January (Tabitha), February (Leroy and I), March (Wyatt) and April (Jesse). This baby is due in May. My babies have a habit of being about 2 days late-which means that this baby could be born on the 14th. So were Jesse and Wyatt, with Tabitha being born on the 4th. Mine's on the 24th. Only Leroy is the oddball, being born on the 9th-LOL! All of my babies have been born on the birthdate of someone I know. There is a very special person I know with a birthday on May 14th! Another interesting pattern-Jesse (oldest) was born on a Mon. Tabitha (2nd) born on a Tues. Wyatt (3rd) born on a Wed. Guess what day of the week May 14th falls on? Perfect, no?! Sooo-I guess we'll see......

(Yes. A stylish mirror shot of myself, at 23 weeks pregnant! Please ignore the messy bedroom background.....)


Ok, I know this one is really old, as Penny is over a year now, and this was when we first got her. But-wasn't she a sweet baby, being snuggled by my lil man?

First nurse time. You can see Neena is loving on her new lil boy!



Close up. He's got his Daddy's star!



A slightly older version. He is named Ulmers Nickels Ursa, and has gone to live with Laura and Wayne Henkel of Hightimber Horses, where he will be used at stud!

This is proud mama cow, Shelly, who LOVES photos. All I had to do to find out where her calf was (I knew she'd had him!) was to bring out the camera and say "ok girl, where's that baby?" She moo'ed, and took me right to him!

And isn't he a sweetie? He kinda reminds me of a (huge) fawn, all curled up there!

A barn full of newborn baby goats! This was only from TWO mamas! (We had LOTS of triplets born last year!)

A housefull of baby goats! (I swear I didn't lay them out like that! Silly critters!!)

Miss Tabitha and her "baby", Swiper! His momma didn't want him (she's like that-she only picks one out of her multiple births to love, and strongly objects to the others. Poor Swiper. However, he actually fell into a soft spot that way. Originally destined to be dinner (for someone!) he is instead Tabitha's pet, and so therefore not up for grabs.

Newborn baby goats are soo ADORABLE!!

Newborn baby goat finds the milk bar!

What could be more peaceful than a Momma pig feeding all her lil ones? (In case you haven't noticed, I LOVE nursing photos!! : ) )

A herd of new little piglets! I just LOVE the wild colours!!

Mama kitty and her sweet, colourful little litter!

Tabitha and Wyatt enjoy a new little Bronze Turkey poult.

A bunch of em!! We run the turkey poults with the broiler chicks, 'cause the chicks are beneficial in teaching the turkey poults to eat and drink, and where to stay warm. There are about 250 broiler chicks, and 30 turkey poults here, if my memory serves me right. Doesn't really look like that many, though, does it?




Here are 50 of my heritage breed chicks-a mix of Auracanas, Black Australorps, Buff Orpingtons and Dark Brahmas.




This is Buster, Gabi's foster calf (whom it turns out she didn't think much of, so the kids and I ended up pail feeding him a lot of the time. The kids got pretty attached.)


Gotta love lil baby bums!! Wyatt looks soo comfy here!!