The Funny Red Balloon

For some reason I have really bad luck uploading videos on YouTube, but today I finally got one I've been trying to upload for nearly a week. Here's Ethan sitting on the couch with Elizabeth while Madeleine makes her laugh with a big, red balloon. :) I totally hate hearing my own voice, but I had to keep the kids in line, LOL.

Ethan's House & Picture

This is one of the first pictures Ethan has taken. He wanted to show me the house he built, but I didn't feel like getting up at the time (I was in front of my computer either emailing or updating a blog), so I showed him how to use the camera and gave it to him to take a picture. This is what he came back with. I like his angle. :) In this picture you can see some of the boxes I was talking about in the last post.

Still Behind Schedule

Boxes, both full and empty, are everywhere. And yet, we don't feel anywhere near done! We have a lot more packing to do before we'll be able to move out of here. Brad thinks there is no way we can get move out of this house within two weeks, so we'll plan on getting out in January. That means, Brad probably won't be able to leave until February. That's right! I forgot to mention, we've gone back to plan A. We may end up going together still, but for now we're back to planning on Brad going ahead of us. Part of the reason we went back to this plan is, because Ethan's birth certificate and passport are behind schedule. I'm sure this process is going slower than expected partially due to the holiday season being upon us. I'm hoping to get a small, furnished place not far from my mom for a month or two before joining Brad. In that time, I'm hoping Brad finds a nice place for us to live in, gets internet service to that location, and is able to begin the process of decision (whether Nicaragua is the place for us, what area of Nicaragua is best for farming, etc.) So, that's where we're at with our move.

The kids and I have a cold right now, which is too bad. The sore throat I have is awful. I'm looking forward to us getting well again.

A Delicious Thanksgiving

I think of all the best blog entries while laying in bed late at night when I wish I were sleeping. The problem is, I forget what they were when I get up the following morning. I sometimes wonder if they really were good ideas for entries or if maybe my sleepy mind just thought they were. We will probably never know since I don't remember the ideas any better than I remember most of my dreams.

Thanksgiving went over without a hitch. My nontraditional feast was quite tasty, if I do say so myself! I made a rib roast, baked yams, mashed cheesy potatoes (actually, Brad made those), a big salad, sweet dinner rolls, a loaf of bread, spinach dip, and several pies (pumpkin, apple, pecan, etc.). For dinner I made BBQ shredded beef with more potatoes and salad. My sister, Mariah and Mom joined us for the holiday, which was wonderful, although they didn't get to stay for dinner (everyone was still too full from lunch and snacking on pie, spinach dip & bread). After our big, yummy lunch we took pictures, played Scattergories, and just hung out. It was a nice, relaxing day.

Our Thanksgiving lunch.

Madeleine with some flowers she "saved" from the thrift store bag that I was going to take to town the day before Thanksgiving. She wanted to show my mom and Mariah her "new" flowers and ended up getting a picture of herself taken with them.

By the way, Madeleine's new bangs were the result of a "self" done haircut. She got the idea in her head that she wanted bangs one day and gave herself some. She did a pretty good job... I just had to straighten a few sections, but it was nowhere near as bad as other haircuts I've had to fix! I also gave her a haircut in the back, but you can't tell in these photos of her.

My mom, me, and Elizabeth.

A sweet photo of Elizabeth and my mom.

My sister, Mariah and Robbie.

Madeleine wrapped up in the afghan her grandma gave her.

I'm going to truly miss being close enough to visit my family when we're in Nicaragua. The thought of how much I'll miss everyone can be overwhelming at times, so I keep shoving that thought out of the way for later. I figure there's no reason to grieve my future losses! And who knows, maybe it won't work out in Nicaragua or maybe my family will join me. I don't think I'll be able to talk my friends into moving close, although that would be great!

On the subject of Nicaragua, someone asked me recently what our departure date is. We don't actually have our plane tickets yet. We're waiting on Madeleine's passport. We're also in the process of getting Ethan's birth certificate, then we have to get his passport. Our departure date is going to depend on how long all of that takes. It may not be until February that we get to leave with how long things are taking!

Tickets

Well, there has been a change in plans. The children, Brad, and I will probably all fly out at once. I found a deal where we can fly from Missoula, MT to Las Vegas, NV for $39.99/per person. A couple of months ago I stumbled upon Spirit Airline where they have tickets going from Las Vegas to Managua, Nicaragua for about $200/per person (they still do). So, it looks like we can get to our destination for about $240 each. There's no doubt that adds up with needing 5 tickets, but it's a lot cheaper than if I were to buy tickets going from Missoula, MT to Managua, Nicaragua (right now each ticket is about $985). The thing I haven't looked into is how much luggage costs to take over. I've heard that's where they "get" you nowadays. I'm hoping it's not too expensive.

I looked up the weather prediction for this week in the area of Nicaragua that we're interested in and it's supposed to be in the upper 70's all week. That sounds so much nicer than what we're expected to get here this week - mainly 30's. That part of this adventure excites me. I sure am going to miss my friends and family a whole lot, though.

A Little Red

I felt like doing something different, so I had my hair dyed red. I never dyed my hair before, so this was certainly different for me. It's nothing damaging and will wash out within 6-8 weeks. It looks like Elizabeth has some natural red on her head!

It has been fun having something new to play with. For some reason my hair is now extra smooth, silky, and tangle free; so running a brush through it has been easier than ever. :)

More of Why Nicaragua

The reason we chose Nicaragua over any other Central or South American country is for two main reasons:

1. Nice year round climate. The temperatures are consistent year round, and are based on elevation, so there are a lot of micro climates - from hot and humid at low elevation to cool and rainy in the mountains, and everything in between. This makes it possible to grow crops year round.

2. Nicaragua is the poorest Central American country, which makes everything more affordable.

Off the top of my head the reason I wouldn't want to live in each of these Central American countries are as follows:

Mexico - Politically speaking, this country is dangerous.
Belize - Way too much rain here. They get more than double the amount of rain that Nicaragua has, which causes fungus growth issues for farmers. Also, Belize has more English speaking citizens, which cause prices to be higher than in Nicaragua.
Guatemala - Too much rain.
Honduras - An unstable government.
El Salvador - I may need to read more about El Salvador, because at the moment I can't think of any reason this wouldn't be a good place to live. I know some areas of El Salvador are too warm and get too much rain, but it looks like some areas have consistent 70's weather and a decent amount of rainfall (not too much, in other words).
Costa Rica - A touristy country - the prices are higher here than in Nicaragua.
Panama - WAY too much rain (about 130 inches a year).

We didn't look into South America before choosing Nicaragua, but with what knowledge that I do have of South America most of those countries have more seasons, which isn't as good for year round farming.

A Housekeeper and Garden

Getting a housekeeper in Nicaragua is completely affordable. For $2.50-$5/day you can have someone come in and do everything from dishes to laundry to scrubbing floors. She may even help with meals. Most likely I will continue to be my family's cook even though it would be affordable to hire someone to do the cooking as well. In Nicaragua it's uncommon to know how to cook as many dishes as I know how to cook. Also, since most homes don't even have a refrigerator, they're used to throwing everything into the dish they're making (to prevent spoilage). With as many things as I keep in my refrigerator, that could be a pretty disgusting dish!

I'm looking forward to having some of my time freed up from cleaning. I'll have more time to concentrate on cooking good meals and homeschooling my children. Oh, and lets not forget: more time for doing my arts and crafts. Maybe I'll actually have enough time to keep up with my scrapbooking!

I plan on taking some seed packets with us to use during our 6-month-long trip there and have a little garden. It's hard to find lettuce in Nicaragua and when you do you don't know what kind of water it was grown with, so I'll be growing my own salad stuff. Since we're not used to certain things down there that most Nicas are used to, we have to be more careful not to get stomach ailments. Until my lettuce grows, I know I'll be missing my salads! Cabbage is basically the replacement for lettuce down there and I've never been as fond of cabbage as I am of lettuce.

On the Move

I have some big news, but haven't been able to figure out how to share it! I decided today that it's time I just delve right in. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask away. It may help me decide what subject to write about next. The news is... my family is on the move again. This time instead of it being across a state or across the country we're going to move to Nicaragua. It's a small country in Central America - north of Costa Rica and south of Honduras.


I guess the first logical question to such news would be, "Why?" Well, farming in the northern U.S. isn't easy. The growing season is short and the area we're in currently has horrible soil. It's expensive to raise animals when you have to buy hay from other farmers. In Nicaragua there is a year round growing season. Not only will we be able to grow plenty of food for our animals, but we'll be able to grow food for ourselves (a lifelong dream of ours). Still, you might ask, "Why not just move to California or another warmer state?" That one is easy. California is simply unaffordable (plus we're not fond of the laws down there). The U.S. is not a cheap place to live. It's hard for a family to be able to buy land and actually own it without a ton of debt hanging over them. The last thing we want is to be in debt. In Nicaragua the wages are terrible, but living off of U.S. wages in Nicaragua is ideal. Even if you were just an off site telemarketer you could live like a king/queen down there. As most of you know, Brad has off site computer work, so that will work perfectly with our plan.

Nicaragua is a poor country. You can easily find a 3 bedroom home for $300/month. The problem is, as I mentioned before, the wages are terrible. A doctor only makes about $100 a month, which can't even pay the rent in many areas. Extended family often live together to make ends meet. Petty thieves are everywhere.

The weather sounds wonderful. Whatever warm temperature you like, you can pick an area of Nicaragua that has that year round. Right now that sounds heavenly. The cold winds are already blowing and we've had multiple snow storms here. Farming can be difficult in such a cold climate. In the "spring", when Brad is out of town for work, and I have to get up and go milk goats in the freezing wind I sit there and wonder what we were thinking when we got into farming here of all places. I'm not kidding myself, I'm sure there will be problems in Nicaragua, too. They will be different ones from here, but there will be some. For example, instead of the cold winds when I go out to milk the goat, maybe I just won't find our goat at all. Maybe our neighbor will have stolen our goat the night before since they were hungry and wanted some milk. If that's the case, and we end up losing a bunch of livestock to thieves, we'll probably come back.

Our first trip down there will be a 4-6 month long one. Our goal will be to decide whether we truly like it enough to live there, to learn Spanish better, to figure out what area we would like to live in, to meet locals in that area, etc. It should be a wonderful learning experience no matter what our final decision is. We won't take more than a few suitcases for that first trip. After that, assuming we still want to live there, we'll ship over a container of our things.

Well, my children are asking for lunch now, so I had better sign off. I'll try to write more tomorrow about this venture. Remember, I love questions! :)

Swine Flu

I have never once gotten a flu shot and never plan to. I would far rather get the flu than to be 1 in a million who can't walk from getting the vaccine:


Elizabeth and I have had the swine flu this week as did my sister, Mariah (she was tested for it at the hospital). It's no fun, but it's not worth the hype. Maybe it was the fresh garlic I ate the day I knew I was coming down with the sickness that helped me from getting worse, but I didn't even throw up. I had a fever that got up to 104.2, chills, aches, headaches, loose stool, a somewhat bad cough, and pain in my lungs. It was a pain to feel that way and I basically stayed in bed the first 3 days, but I still say this is getting overly dramatized in the news. Fear and worry are not good for your immune system. Thousands die from the flu each year and we don't hear this kind of hype. I'm not sure why the swine flu is getting this kind of attention.

Here are a few things I think everyone should know before they decide whether to get the swine flu vaccine or not:

1. The vaccine contains squalene (MF59) which has not been tested for causing cancer.
2. The vaccine contains thimerosal, a known culprit in causing autism and neurological deficits.
3. The vaccine curiously contains nonoxynol-9 used in spermicides.
4. The vaccine will likely cause (and spread) the flu.
5. No neurological testing will be done to ensure the vaccine is safe from harmful neurological side effects.
6. Monitoring for safety will last 13 months, well beyond the flu season.

Here's a great article to read on the subject of the swine flu vaccine.

Take care and stay well!

An Elizabeth Moment

Me and Mine

I nearly didn't post this picture at all, because I had just crawled out of bed when I took this photo, but Robbie looks so cute in it I just couldn't resist! I gave Robbie a haircut recently and since several people asked for a picture of him, I thought I better get to it! So, here's the cute little guy with his new 1 inch buzz cut.

Here's Elizabeth napping today. Isn't she sweet? It's hard to believe she's nearly 3 months old already! I love how her little arm is stretched out above her head... so trusting, comfortable, relaxed, sweet. It's hard not to resist kissing that little cheek, don't you agree? :)

Brad

I saw on another blog a cute idea of making a list of the things you like about your spouse and decided to make my own. Here are just some of the things I appreciate/like about Brad:

He takes care of all of the outdoor chores when he is home (that's a big job that includes feeding the oxen, sheep, goats, and chickens).
He randomly brings me a bouquet of roses.
He takes care of all the repairs and maintenance on our vehicles.
He's really strong.
He does most of the laundry ever since my pregnancy with Elizabeth.
He takes the kids on errands with him when I need a little quiet time alone or lets me run my errands alone.
He helps with the dishes.
He keeps the children quiet enough for me to sleep in most mornings
He does most of the grocery shopping (especially since my pregnancy when I was on partial bed rest).
He can write computer code (talk about a foreign language!).
He always tells me I'm pretty even when I'm sick or am 9 months pregnant.
He takes the garbage down to the end of the driveway for pick up (we have a really long driveway).
He keeps our computers working well (updates software, keeps viruses off, etc.)
He completely handles our finances.
He is supportive of my hobbies.
He reads a lot.
He comforts me when I need to be comforted.
He is a thorough researcher.
He's really good with cattle.
He has good taste in jewelry (for me, of course!)
He makes great popcorn from scratch nearly every night for our movie time together.
He values healthy eating.
He has always been supportive of breastfeeding and homeschooling.
He's a good problem solver.
He can learn to fix just about anything.
He's very supportive of home birth.
He has a green thumb (not literally, of course).
He's a wonderful provider.
He's a good protector.
He's really tall.
He likes me.
He has a good, deep man voice (that my not sound like much, but I really miss it when he is away!)
And last, but definitely not least he loves me!

Bubbles

Ethan learned how to blow bubbles this week with his gum, so I decided to take a little video of him working on blowing a bubble. I've been terrible about writing on my blog and hope to get back into the groove of things eventually. In the meantime, here's the little video of Ethan:

Elizabeth Being Cute

July Videos

Here's Ethan cruising around on his bicycle on the berm behind our place:


Here's a short video of Madeleine learning how to ride her bike in July. She has gotten a lot better since then!

Just a Quick Update...

Ethan, Madeleine, and Robbie all had some sort of stomach illness that lasted (between the three of them) about 12 days, but everyone is well now. I would think it was over, then someone else would throw up... it was yucky. I hate watching my babies suffer and not be able to make the problem go away quickly. I was thankful that at least there weren't any fevers, achiness, or other usual flu symptoms. Just throwing up and loose stool. Yeah, I know, gross. Before that illness came on I was keeping busy with our new baby, selling books on Amazon, trying to sell sheep, making meals, cleaning, making cards, etc.. I sold Oscar, which was good. His new owners were pretty excited to have a new llama and I'm pretty sure he's going to get spoiled over there!

Anyway, here are some photos from the past couple of weeks (mostly of Elizabeth):

Robbie

I had to take a picture of this; Robbie getting into marshmallows. Of course he wasn't allowed to be doing that, but it was so funny looking - a big handful of marshmallows in his little arms, I just had to get a picture!

Elizabeth today.

Oscar

Meet Oscar. Oscar the llama. He's our sheep guardian. He has been around our farm for going on two years now and I love him dearly. I had wanted a llama for years, so you could say he was one of my dreams come true. The problem with Oscar is he loves to take our sheep for long walks across the street to a greener buffet. This isn't just some dirt road you only see one car go down each day... no, it's pretty busy. Not by city standards, but by country standards. I would say at least 10-20 vehicles go by on an average hour. The reason our herd is able to cross this road is because there is one side of our property not fenced in. There are several reasons we haven't fenced it in:
1. We're renting here and our landlord says we'd have to leave the fence if we put it up (legally, he doesn't have a leg to stand on, but it's still a hassle we don't want to deal with).
2. Our landlord is trying to get someone to rent the property for grazing purposes even though the property was included in the contract we signed.
3. It would cost a LOT to buy all the posts and barbed wire.

Last year Oscar took the sheep for this walk across the street about once a day and then we'd have to drive over there and chase our herd back. This year it has been more like 2-3 times a week that we've found out livestock across the street, but that's still not good. We got a notice from the animal control saying that we're going to be fined $500 if our animals get caught on the road again! Apparently, even though we haven't actually caught our animals in the process of crossing, someone else has. So, we've decided that since we're not going to be putting a fence up and are unwilling to feed them hay all summer (it's just not worth the cost) we're going to sell Oscar and our herd of sheep. Whenever we have our own place (somewhere where we can grow our own hay) we'll get more sheep and probably another llama. We were planning on making a move like that this year, but it didn't work out. So... goodbye, Oscar.

Last October

Today I was working on organizing all the photos I need to scrapbook. I've been two years behind in scrapbooking for awhile now, so I decided to put half of the photos in some photo albums that have a place for journaling beside the pictures. I figured that at least this way I'd be able to write down memories beside the photos and not be two years behind in scrapbooking the rest of my life. Or worse - longer than two years. I'd prefer to be able to scrapbook newer pictures while I still remember which baby the photo is of, what happen around the time the photo was taken, etc. It makes for better journaling. Anyway, as I added photos into these new albums today I came across some photos I took mainly for the purpose of this blog, but never got around to posting. I decided to post them along with captioning in spite of it being nearly a year since they were taken (October '08). So, without further ado...

Brad took up blacksmithing last year. Here's his forge.

Handmade hardware for the oxen yoke.

The oxen yoke Brad made. It started out as a square timber and he turned it into a yoke - hardware and all!

Brad's post leg vise that he often uses for holding metal still while he works on it - bending it and such.

Our anvil with hammer - for shaping the hot metal on.

Ethan cranking the blower on the forge.

Ethan squinting into the sunlight as he cranks the blower.

Elizabeth

I've had a hard time keeping up with my blog as of late. I have a new baby on my arm most of the time, so typing can be a bit challenging. That's right! For those of you who didn't know, I finally had my baby girl on July 15th. I started having contractions on the 14th around 4:30 PM. I wasn't sure it was truly labor until around 9 PM when the bloody show finally came. I had been losing mucus plug for about a month already, so it was really exciting to finally get the bloody show and know I would be holding my baby soon. My mom arrived first, then my sister (Mariah), my midwife (Sheehan), and the midwife's apprentice (Gina). The whole birthing crew was here by midnight. My contractions were inconsistent (not uncommon for me) coming anywhere between 3-6 minutes apart, but they were getting stronger by the hour.

We all sat around the table for awhile before Mariah decided to go to bed since she knew Ethan, Madeleine, and Robbie would be waking her up early the next morning. Not long after she went to bed the rest of us decided to move to the living room. The baby was a little posterior, so I needed to get on all fours to encourage the baby to turn a little - the living room rug seemed like the best place to try that since Brad and Robbie were sleeping in my room. Once I was in the living room and things were partly set up I decided I didn't want to leave, so the midwife brought all the birthing supplies from my master bathroom (where I birthed Robbie) into the living room. Sheehan checked for dilation and found out I was about 5 1/2 centimeters dilated. With how far apart the contractions were Sheehan figured it might be awhile before I was to the pushing point, so everyone laid down. Sheehan laid down on the love seat, Gina on the couch, and my mom and me on the sheet that was laid out on the floor. After a few contractions I decided to start getting on all fours for them, because laying on my side started feeling too painful. I think it was on the second or third contraction on all fours when my water broke. I was a little surprised by that since with both of my boys my water broke right before the pushing point and with Madeleine the doctor caused the water to break so that my labor would progress (it wouldn't on its own). I knew, though, that the water breaking meant I would be going through transition, which would mean throwing up. I don't know why I have to do that every time, but I do! Yuck. And I did. Twice. After the first time I tried to get over to the piano and stand for awhile thinking that may help the baby to come down faster, but after getting over there I started feeling really light headed and nearly passed out (my ears were buzzing, everyone started sounding far off in the distance to me, and things were getting dark). I was quickly made to go back to the rug. Shortly after the second time I threw up came the pushing point. My mom got Mariah and Brad up to see the birth of the baby. Amazingly enough Ethan, Madeleine, and Robbie slept through the whole thing. I was more quiet than with any of my other births, so that probably helped.

I've had all of my children in different positions. With Ethan I was sort of on a birthing stool, with Madeleine I was in the crouched down position holding onto some metal bars they had especially for that position, with Robbie I was standing, and with Elizabeth I was on all fours. Strangely enough the contractions were still spaced apart a bit (not a ton, mind you, but more than usual for that point of the birthing process). She still came out in about 3-4 contractions, but I had to work on breathing her out in between the contractions since the midwife was telling me to push when I just couldn't seem to (there wasn't a contraction helping me out a good portion of the time!) Elizabeth arrived at about 2:45 AM (no one actually looked at the clock for a few minutes, but we figure it was between 2:43 and 2:45 AM). Sheehan happily told me it was my smoothest labor yet. They handed Elizabeth to me right after clearing out her nose a bit. She quickly learned how to nurse and nursed for about the first hour after being born! It took the placenta awhile to come out, but when it did it arrived with a big surprise. The cord wasn't attached to the placenta the way it normally is. The name of what it was is: Velamentous Cord Insertion (click there to read all about it). It's probably why I had an amniotic leak for so many months! The cord was attached to such a thin place in the membranes... my little Elizabeth is a little miracle baby! The cord could have come detached in my womb or even during birthing and caused serious problems... even death. I'm so very, very thankful she is alive and well. I had a feeling something wasn't quite right and cried a couple of days before she was born as I prayed that she would live. I had never done that with my other babies, but with Elizabeth I kept having this feeling that she was in danger. I'm so thankful everything turned out so well! Not only did she get all of her nutrients just fine in spite of the bad connection, but she ate really well! Sheehan weighed her as I was getting showered off and she weighed 9 pounds, 10 ounces! Wow. That's about 1 1/2 pounds heavier than Madeleine was and over 2 pounds heavier than Robbie! She didn't feel any bigger than my other babies coming out, although two days later I felt really bruised in my lower back and hips due to Elizabeth's size.

Things are going really well. Elizabeth started sleeping through the night after just a few nights. My contractions went away after just two nights, which I'm incredibly thankful for (normally I have them for 4-7 days/nights after birthing a baby)! Those can feel a bit torturous at times! My belly is shrinking back and I'm happy to be fitting into my normal clothing again.

Here are some recent pictures:

A week before I birthed Elizabeth.

Elizabeth the day she was born with Ethan.

One day old.

4 days old.

Brad and the boys. It was so cute when I looked out and saw Brad, Robbie, and Ethan all hanging out with our ox, Little Bill. I just had to have a picture!

Elizabeth at 6 days old during her second outing.

5 days old.

8 days old.

Ethan giving one of our little roosters a ride.

Elizabeth (8 days old) almost smiling as her brothers give her some attention. Robbie was giving her a kiss.

12 days old.

Birthdays and Ella

My baby girl, Madeleine just turned 4-years-old at the end of May and I wanted to post a couple of pictures of her while I have a chance!

She is so beautiful and growing up so quickly!

For her birthday she requested blueberry cake and since I'm on bed rest a friend of mine who was over helping me made Madeleine a blueberry cake with cream cheese frosting! That was so sweet of her! Thanks, Bettina!

Here Madeleine is playing outside on her birthday with Robbie.

The other new thing around here is our new Jersey heifer, Ella! She's 15 months old and weighs about 650 pounds. She'll be our milk cow next year - assuming she gets pregnant soon. Here are a couple of pictures of her:

We bought Ella from some folks who had her as basically a pet. She's very friendly and loves following Brad around. She even comes when he calls her name! She is also gentle enough Ethan and I can lead her around if needed.

Here are a few random pictures from this month:

Robbie just had his second birthday, but his birthday pictures didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. He had food on his face in most of them! :o) In the picture above he is petting a new lamb Brad brought in the house to show me since I'm unable to go out and see the new ones. That little gal couldn't seem to figure out how to feed off of her mother, so we gave her to some friends to bottle feed. It sounds like she is getting spoiled with all sorts of attention! I sure am glad it worked out for them to take her!

Here's a cute picture of Ethan, Madeleine, and our Scottish Highland calf, Red. I think it's cute how Ethan is standing in this shot - it reminds me of his daddy! And I think it's funny how Madeleine was brushing her hair outside with the new hairbrush she got from her grandma for her birthday!

Amniotic Leak

Sorry for the absence! I may not be writing much for awhile more, though, because I've been off and on bed rest. I've had an off and on amniotic leak and it looks like I may just have to be on bed rest the rest of my pregnancy (due date: July 7th). There isn't really a whole lot to talk about when I can't even go outside at this point! I'm just happy to be able to stay at home instead of in the hospital. For those of you who pray out there I'd appreciate prayers that I get to continue to stay at home, that the baby makes it full term, that baby will continue to stay healthy and strong, that the amniotic leak will seal up, and that no infection occurs! Brad was away for awhile on another business trip, but arrived back at home yesterday, so bed rest should become a bit easier for me now.

Due to all of the concern the amniotic leak has caused I've taken a few trips to the hospital. During one visit I got my second ultrasound (ever) and as it turns out the baby looks very much like a girl! That was a big surprise to me since the first ultrasound looked so much like a boy. At 30+ weeks ultrasounds are more accurate in the area of figuring out the gender, though, so most likely the baby is a girl. I'm happy Madeleine will have a little sister! Not to mention all the fun, girlie, ruffly little clothes I'll get to "play" with again! :) I don't want anyone to think I wouldn't be just as happy with another precious boy, though! I'll be happy either way. :) I just think it would be fun for Madeleine to have a sister.

Baggies

Yesterday, when I was on the phone with my mom I noticed Madeleine pulling all of the sandwich sized baggies out of their box. I quickly interrupted my phone conversation to say, "Madeleine, what are you doing?!"

Looking a bit annoyed, she calmly replied, "I'm looking for a smaller size." I couldn't help but laugh. Apparently she was looking for a snack size baggie and just figured all of the sizes were in one box!

Lambs!

We currently have 15 lambs from this spring! I love watching them climb upon the back of our llama, Oscar when he is laying down for a nap and then jumping off again. Oscar gets a bit annoyed by this game, at times, and will stand up with his ears back making all of the lambs tumble off of him.

We've had two complicated deliveries, which isn't bad for how many ewe's have delivered lambs so far. I noticed the first complication as I was feeding the animals (before Brad returned home). She was in labor and came to the pushing point. I watched her push a few times and realized there was something not quite right. I climbed over into her pen, chased her down (yeah, she was running from me even though she was in labor), dragged her back into the sheep shed and held her with my legs as I checked out the situation more thoroughly. The lamb was coming out with both front hooves and its head at one time (see illustration below)! First I tried pushing the feet back in, but there was no way I would have had enough strength to get the legs in the right position when her body was fighting me with contractions. So, I started pulling. I didn't have enough hands to do it alone, so I had Ethan pull on the legs a bit as I eased the head out. The hardest part was getting the shoulders out. That poor ewe let out a loud, "Baaahhh!" when the shoulders pulled through. The lamb was a big one for having a Shetland mother and Black Welsh/Jacob father! I'm guessing he was overdue, which happens a lot when the lamb/kid/baby is in the wrong position. Here's an illustration of how he came out:

The lamb was having a difficult time breathing, so I rubbed its back down to help gets things circulating well and cleared out its mouth and nose. It was fighting hard for life, so with a little help from me he began to breathe better and let out his first little, "Bah". I left him then with his mother. The ewe healed quickly and the lamb is doing great. There is a picture of him below. His interesting coloring is due to his father being part Jacob.


The second complication came after Brad was home. He was out watering the animals and noticed a Shetland ewe was in labor. He had me come out to inspect her. Sure enough, shortly after I got out there she began pushing. After watching a short time I could tell something was wrong. I climbed in and took a look at it. This time the lamb was coming out backwards (breech) - rear first! So, I had Brad help me. It took a lot of pulling. Not only was it coming out backwards, but he was a big lamb, so it took a lot of muscle to pull him out. Here's an illustration of the birth position:

I had to work with the lamb for quite awhile to get him breathing right. He took in more liquid in his lungs than the one I mentioned above since he came out backwards. I had to pull stuff out of his mouth and nose, and then do a lot of rubbing him down. Here are a couple of pictures of the little guy with Ethan:

Ethan and the little ram lamb.

Madeleine probably was saying something about the lamb's tail here.

Ethan and Madeleine climbing over a fence.

Another new lamb with its mother.

The big, brown ewes are Rambouillets and most of those black lambs are Rambouillet/Black Welsh mixes from this spring. Oscar the llama is there in the background. The extra wooly looking small ewes are Shetlands.

The Jacob ewe in the background is the mother of these little twin lambs - they're 2-3 weeks old now.