For Manda...

I suddenly realized that I have NO pregnancy photos this time. So, I had Drew take this for me. Here you go, Manda!

Baby belly at 19 weeks, 0 days.

Baby Goats are...

Baby goats are way too much fun to watch.

But, for the record...

If you are 19 weeks pregnant and the baby goat doesn't want to go to bed and zigs when you zag...

the pregnant lady *will* fall.

So, we got back from our trip... which I still need to write about. It was FUN! We've just been BUSY!

This past saturday we went all the way to Pomerene, AZ, to pick up our two mini-milker bottle-baby goats.

Star, the white one, is a mini-Saanen (Saanen mother, Nigerian dwarf buck). The faun colored one is Clover, from the same buck with a La mancha mother-- called a 'mini-mancha'.

They were mother-raised up to this point, so we've been teaching them how to take milk in bottles. It has been a real challenge. Today was the first time that Clover really took enough milk in her morning feeding and it was such a relief. Of course, that means she's even more curious and bouncy 

than usual, so we've all been in stitches watching her bounce around.

Clover is only three weeks old. Star is six weeks. We were told Star might never take the bottle, but she caught on really quickly. She loves to eat!


I love these pictures of the babies, esp. Star on the milking stand. 

We had a GREAT trip-- more later!

Oh...

...Unloading the dishwasher, washing dishes, and running the dishwasher without a word from mom... for fun...

... Shampooing the LIvingroom rug, again, without a word to me...

... Putting rocks in each others' noses...

... Throwing rocks at each other...

Sigh... 

Boys will be Boys.

Contest!

I'm a little bi-polar you knew that.

These are the goats we're getting. The creamy one is 'Almond', and we'll be naming the one with the "B" on her side. She's due to kid in May. They are purebred/registered nubians.

So, because these gals are such great quality, we're going to register a herd name.

That's where you come in! I'm having a contest to decide on the name of our herd. I'm completely at wit's end-- so all suggestions are accepted. The top four will be submitted and the top available one will end up as our herd name. This will be used as a Prefix for all our baby goat names.

So, get cracking! 

Point of Change

The other day my niece, "Baboo",  wrote something about me on her facebook that has changed my life.

I know that sounds dramatic, but you have to understand something. Baboo had no motives, no cause at all, and she called me beautiful.

I have considered myself homely my whole life. I have had many people enforce this opinion of myself-- from church leaders, to a boyfriend I had between times of dating my current husband. I have been told straight out that I was ugly.

And, I will admit, I've been called pretty-- but only by my sisters and my mother and my father, and, I'm sorry, but those are not what you can call 'unbiased' sources.

Why could I take it from Baboo? I don't know... maybe because she's a generation younger than I am? That I've known her my whole life? That she would have no idea about my self-opinion and little reason to care? 

But, for whatever the reason, I feel like I can believe her and, through her, I can take it from someone else. It brought me to tears and I, for the first time in my life, actually FEEL beautiful.

Thanks, Baboo!

My Someday List

OK-- so everyone has their "someday" gadget list, right? Mine's a little... odd :) LOL

1) Ice cream Machine (professional)

2) Pastry/bread/pizza oven

3) Deli Slicer

4) Butter Churn

5) Butter Mold

6) Professional Strength Mixer :)

Isn't it funny that it's all about food?

Happy Birthday, Hunny!

28 years, 28 things that make you "Daddy"!

From the boys:

1) Playing Wii

2) Building Stuff

3) Doing crazy stunts up to the ceiling-- WHEEEE!

4) Bounce on Daddy!

5) Ride on shoulders

6) HUGS!

7) Watching Piglet together

8) Math with Daddy

9) Coloring with Daddy

10) Reading time!

11) S: Uh.... Monkeys!

12) Hiding under the blanket with eachother

13) Kissing him

14) Playing on the computer with me

Me:

15) Date nights

16) Talking

17) Watching you eat my sweet bread or spaghetti sauce and LOVING it!

18) Projects together in the backyard

19) Having you call me five times from the store because you can't find everything :)

20) Long-suffering with animals :)

21) Work, School, Chores... not a word of complaint!

22) Best Daddy ever!

23) Really awesome Uncle!

24) Pretends to know the words of songs you've never heard before and CAN PULL IT OFF!

25) Faithful church member

26) Hard-working!

27) Affectionate and child-like at the best times for both.

28) 150% dedicated to our family

And the billion other things you do every day that we couldn't be without!

We love you, Daddy! You are the BEST! We hope you have the best birthday ever and always stay as young at heart as you are today. We love you and are SOOOOO glad that we are going to be together eternally as a family.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Goat Plans...

I definitely have the personality for being able to become obsessive pretty easily. The more I plan on our goats, the more excited I become. I've been forming all kinds of plans for the milk...

Butter

Ice Cream

Whipped Cream

Yogurt

Cheese

Milk...

Mmmm....

I'm looking into butter churns and butter presses... with stamps of strawberries and flowers...

SIGH.

Only in my house...

I just saw something out of the corner of my eye...

My cat is herding Lightning McPig down the hallway and back...

3:43 am

Sunny: Mama

M: Wha?

Sunny: Mama, I love you

M: Mmmm.... love you too, baby

Sunny: No, Mommy, I love you MORE

M: No, I love you more, baby.

Sunny: (lots of kisses for Mommy, hugs head) Mommy, I love you and take care of you!

M: OK, but try to sleep, OK?

Sunny: Ok. (Silence) Love you, Mama.

Our Little Homestead

A week ago I put in the garden, this weekend my hubby put up shades and bird-cloth to protect it, so that nothing but the smallest birds can get in. Especially not our chickens. We love them, but draw the line at growing our garden for them. Anything remotely green gets snapped up, though the grass is started to turn the yard green-ish rather than straight brown.

It's starting to look like a little suburban homestead. We have the garden structure, with our peas and lettuce just starting to pop up. I can almost imagine what it will look like when the corn and melons and carrots are all up. It's a good feeling-- eating from our own little piece of dirt. We also have our corner for the chickens and the goats, when they arrive in late March. We're still building the goat-house, but the chickens are well moved in.

This weekend my hubby and the boys put together the milking stand I got on ebay. I'm happy with it. It's sturdy and strong.

Yesterday I let the boys play with my little tubes of acrylic paints and do what they wanted. It's very... colorful. I love it!

It will be interesting to see what everything will be like when the goats arrive. We've also talked about putting in a tree... though that will have to wait for now!

Oh, Yoda!

Back before I was married, only about five years ago, my best friend and I had a horse rescue/flipping business. In one year we re-homed 23 horses... and one goat.

We called her Yoda. We bought her on a whim at the auction we frequented and brought her home in the back of my Cherokee-- which was never the same again. Advice: buy a tarp before you buy a goat!

Within 24 hours she had demolished her goat pen, showed up about 1/4 a mile away at my house (how did she find me?), introduced herself to the horses and been set up as their queen, and made friends with the hereto hostile neighbor next to the horse property. He hated horses, but worshipped on the throne of Yoda.

Yoda was personable and friendly, she had a great habit of chuckling in response to being talked to, and following everyone around. This made the fact that she had horns and such bad mastitis she was no good as a milk goat negligable-- she was loveable, personable... and just great.

She was rehomed to a place where she became a "mama" to bottle-fed baby goats at a goat farm.

Yoda, plus growing up with goats until I was 5 or 6 is one of the reasons I want goats so badly. I love them and their personalities. 

But Yoda also set a high standard. She was intelligent, she was friendly, she was CUDDLY. She would rather have her head scratched then eat. She would rather have a conversation and follow a person around than anything else. She was never aggressive, never unpleasant, and completely loveable.

"Flower" and "Mater" have a lot to live up to!

Penelope

My FIL brought us a goat-- a single goat, who was used to being a HOUSE goat as someone's pet. Lovely and sweet, she was miserable alone and cried all night, even when I gave in and barricaded up the kitchen and set up a place for her.

Still, I was working towards a good solution when she started rearing up and threatening me and my sons.

Now, I have been around goats enough to be *shocked* by this behavior. Good goats don't do it and those that learn it cannot unlearn it. Sadly, I knew that she was not the goat for us, as well as that the timing was off... we're planning to get our goats when we get back from a trip to Utah.

My MIL scoffed at me and told me that "you don't really want goats, they're all noisy and cranky and they ALL butt people around."

I said that I'd been around goats and that was obviously not true. She gave me the "I pity your idiocy" look and I... well... went and pouted. :) Hey, I'm not perfect. But I'm going to prove her wrong. And, honestly, the pouting was because my darling husband was agreeing with her and I felt undermined.

Pooh.

BUT. We found her a new home and she's happy and the new owners love her. AND we'll get my original choice of goat when we get back from Utah. And I will MAKE this work. :)

And people call me pessimistic :)

Surprise Goat...