Mama Dani's Musings

Suburban Homesteading: May 2013

2013-05-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

This update's chicken photo bomb is Amelia. But we'll come back to the chickens in a little bit. Let's start with the garden. It's growing very well!! A raised garden was definitely the way to go because there haven't been too many weeds. All the plants are getting big. Most don't have fruit/veggies on them yet. There are a couple of green tomatoes. But the strawberries... They've taken off!

Next on the homestead tour is the chickens. The big girls are doing great. They are now 5 months old. Henrietta started laying a month ago. Betsy and Amelia just started laying. I actually witnessed Betsy's first or second egg. She was pacing the front of the run when she let out a cackle and a tiny shell-less egg fell from her. Poor thing probably had no idea what was happening!!

The babies are now 6 weeks old. We added a newbie, a Columbian Wyandotte, from a local farm. She is 5 weeks old. A couple weeks ago we moved the babies out into a nursery run. They love the outdoors and I love how they aren't making a mess of my house.

We'll have more babies soon! This week I am expecting a shipment of white and red bantam Silkie eggs and a friend has been collecting bantam Frizzle eggs for me. Time to break out the incubator again!!

In case you missed the posts on incubating/hatching eggs: Part 1/ Part 2

Speaking of eggs, here's a look at some of the eggs the girls have left for us lately:

Last but certainly not least is the rabbits. As I mentioned in a past post, Cottontail turned out to be a he, not a she and he got his sister pregnant. Mopsy had 9 kits but unfortunately, none made it. I believe it was just a case of first time rabbit mommy not knowing what to do. We wanted to have 2 does so I started searching and found a beautiful Californian doe that is right about the same age as the rest of rabbits. We named her Flopsy and she's doing wonderful. Once she was settled in we bred the rabbits; Mopsy with Peter, Flopsy with Cottontail. They are due tomorrow! I'm quite excited! We did everything right this time so I'm hoping for a good outcome. If Flopsy proves to also be a bad first time mom, we'll try to foster her kits over to Mopsy. I gave the girls their nest boxes on Saturday. Flopsy did a little rearranging and that was about it. Mopsy did major rearranging including removing a lot of the bedding. She keeps hopping in it and messing with it all. Yesterday she did a lot of panting. She did that right before she gave birth last time so I'm on baby watch now!

Here are the pretty mamas!

Emily's 17 month Update

2013-05-24T13:00:00.000-04:00

Little Emily is no longer a baby. She's a walking, talking, climbing, on-the-go toddler. She will be 17 months on Weds. At her last check up she weighed in at 19lbs 3oz (16th percentile) and 31in (36th percentile). Her check up went well but since I mentioned that I still notice her eyes looking crossed (more her left eye turning in), the doctor sent Em to an eye doctor. Poor thing got her eyes dilated for that one. Though it really didn't phase her.. Good news is everything checked out fine. She does not have strabismus (eye misalignment). She has pseudostrabismus (false appearance of strabismus) b/c the folds of skin in the corners of the eyes makes it look like her left eye turns in at times. That peace of mind is priceless.

Em's a little peanut like her brother but that doesn't stop her. She has really started sticking up for herself but on the flip side that means she has developed a bit of a temper. Her vocabulary has taken off lately. She's up to at least 25 words. Her current favorites are "shoes", "chicken", "guys!" (usually yelled at her siblings), "see dat?", and of course "nana" (her word for nursing). Sean and Maddy find it funny when Emily calls things the wrong name..like our rabbits are kitty cats and many things are called chickens, especially small dogs and babies (??). She can say baby except it comes out as "daydies" because she replaces "b"s with "d"s. I'm not quite sure why she calls babies chickens except for the fact that we laugh when she does it. She knows what chickens are. She loves our chickens. The first time we let the hens free range a little Emily got mad and tried to chase them back in the run while yelling "chicken, chicken" at them. Her latest accomplishment is she has started the potty training process. It started with her bringing diapers to us when she was wet and then turned into her grunting and pointing down the hall and then walking to the bathroom and pointing at the potty. We've decided to run with it and she's now peeing in the potty more than in her diapers. She hasn't figured out pooping in the potty yet but she demands to be changed as soon as she does it in her diaper. I've ordered her trainers. I can't wait to get them; they will make this much easier.

Maddy's 4 Year Update

2013-05-23T15:26:00.000-04:00

A month over due, but better late than never right? Maddy turned 4 on April 1st. Maddy is still just as artistic. She loves art and fashion (as in she has her own fashion). She is energetic but she's also a snuggler. She loves to have someone to talk to too. We just recently changed her nightly routine to include some talk time. She can't seem to unwind at night unless she lays in bed and talks to someone a lot longer than Sean needs to. Since we started that there haven't been any bedtime fights! Maddy's growing like a weed. At her 4 year check up she was 36lbs (~50th percentile) and 3ft 5in (~75th percentile).

Last month we celebrated Maddy's birthday with a mermaid party. I made her a mermaid tail. Everyone got sea shell necklaces. The kids played under the sea themed bean bag toss. The boys turned their wands into swords. And everyone had a great time!

A preview of Maddy's next update; her dance recital's coming up!!

Sean, the Soccer Star, Update: May 2013

2013-05-23T12:46:00.000-04:00

Around the end of last year Sean had begun talking about wanting to take soccer. After our experience with dance, I was a little hesitant. He was persistent so this spring we signed him up for soccer shots. Soccer Shots is an 8 week program for 3-5 year olds. We didn't have to buy any equipment, cleats or uniforms. The kids just go in sneakers and play clothes, ready to play. I liked that because if things went like it did with dance, we wouldn't be out a lot of money. It's also not competitive. On soccer island, as they call the soccer field, they learn soccer skills by playing games, like when they pretended to be bees and had to keep their honey (ball) away from the bear (coach). At every weekly session they take turns dribbling the ball down the field, into the goal. They also split up into two teams to play a soccer game but score is not kept. I can't say enough good things about the program. The coaches were awesome, even when the 3 year olds would get distracted picking flowers or eating grass. The only down fall is it only goes to age 5 so Sean will out grow it soon; the fall season will end just 2 days before he turns 6. Sean had a blast at soccer and is already talking about the summer season. I loved watching how he blossomed out on the field. Even the first day, he'd run out onto the field without as much as a glance back to me. He was quick to answer questions the coach asked. He was so outgoing! I'm very proud of him.

Pictures from Sean's last Soccer Shots session:

Hatching Eggs Part Two

2013-05-21T18:16:00.000-04:00

This post is way over due! The chicks that hatched from the eggs we incubated are now 5 1/2 weeks old! 6 out of the 12 eggs hatched. I've heard that 50% hatch rate isn't bad the first time around. The first chick hatched on April 11th and the last on April 13th. The last one to hatch needed some help. It took so long that it was actually partly stuck to it's shell when I finally got it out. Sadly, it also had a splayed leg. I attempted to band it to it's other leg but it's leg ended up over correcting itself and now crosses behind it's good leg. Despite this, it gets around very well. I've named all the chicks. I'm 100% sure Pearl and Ebony are girls. I'm 100% sure Stu is a boy. I think Marsala is a boy. I'm not sure about Mabel and Forrest. I'm definitely keeping Pearl. I feel especially close to Pearl since I watched her the most before she hatched and I got to watch her hatch. Ebony has a home with a local family who just recently lost all their hens to a dog once they rebuild. The others may be going back to live with the friend who gave us the eggs to hatch...Stu is for sure! For now, I'm waiting to see who's a roo and who's a pullet.

Now for the pictures!!

The following is pictures from the last time I candled egg K (who's now called Pearl) and her hatching.

Only a couple days old:
Stu and Ebony

Marsala and Mabel

Pearl and Forrest

About a week and a half old:
Mabel and Pearl

Ebony and Stu

Marsala and Forrest

There will be more about the chicks in my Urban Homesteading May Update coming in a few days.

March 18th - April 14th in Pictures

2013-04-15T13:30:00.000-04:00

Wow, I'm behind! This should be a month worth of pictures but I forgot to take pictures about 10 of those days. Oops!! Some of the days will just be teaser pictures b/c I took a lot of pictures that day. Be on the look out for posts about Maddy's 4th birthday, Sean starting soccer and our eggs hatching. Hopefully it won't take me long to finish those posts.

Now, on with the show!

March 18th

Someone found a lost marker...

March 19th

First time doing a word search

March 21st

Homeschooling/homework/drawing

March 24th

We live near train tracks but it's very rare for a steam engine to go by so we went to watch.

March 26th

Sleepy baby

March 27th

Sean's first time at soccer!

March 30th

First butterfly sighting of the year!!

April 1st

First over wintered butterfly to be released.

Lunch on the porch on a beautiful day!

April 4th

More soccer

April 6th

Birthday party teaser

April 7th

It's not child labor when they want to do it, right?

April 8th

Loving the beautiful weather we're having!

April 9th

A surprise litter. Cottontail turned out to be Mopsy's brother, not sister. She had 9 kits. None made it. We'll try again soon...except Peter will be the daddy.

April 10th

It's too nice out to do school inside.

April 11th

Day 20: first pip (there will be more in a later post)

April 12th

Day 21: another pip (there will be more in a later post)

April 13th

Up to 5 chicks!

April 14th

Our last chick to hatch. It had a splayed leg. This picture is after a day of having it braced to the other leg. It still needs to be braced but the fact that it's standing on it's own is a big improvement.

Growing our flock: Hatching Eggs

2013-03-28T14:00:00.000-04:00

About a week and a half we got a borrowed incubator from a friend. We got it all set up and let it run for a day to make sure it was in good working order. The plan was for this to be a homeschooling project along with growing our flock. However I might just be having more fun than the kids. ;) My friend Andrea, from Cluck Dynasty, gave us a dozen hatching eggs. Before introducing you to the eggs, I'd like to introduce the parents.

The mothers:

Rosie: not sure what her lineage is, Rhode Island Red cross??

Buffy: Red Star crossed with Ameraucana??

Midnight: Black Australorp/Ameraucana cross

The father:

Westly: Black Copper Maran

They have another rooster but there's hardly a chance he's the father of any. Too bad though b/c he's adorable!!

Cotton: Bantam Cochin Frizzle

The eggs:

Before setting the eggs I candled and marked the air cells. I also marked an X on one side of each egg and another letter for identification on the other side.

The brown eggs are Rosie's, the grey-blue ones on the left are Midnight's and the blue ones on the right are Buffy.

At the end of day 2, I candled all the eggs again. Rosie's eggs are hard to see in but all the rest had this circle in the middle of the yolk. By then the eyes,head, ears and heart already started developing.

I candled the eggs again on day 4. Every one of them had veins!! It was difficult to photograph but so exciting to see! By then their noses, tongues, legs and wings all developed.

Today is day 9. By now, their genders have been determined. Their beaks and feathers have begun to form. And the digits on their legs and wings have become visible. As of today, the embryo has begun to look like a bird. Last night I candled all the eggs once again and marked the growth of the air sac. All air sacs are growing nicely. Some of the embryos were hard to see but the lighter eggs showed me something very exciting; movement!! I watched several little tiny embryos swimming around in their eggs.

12 (+/-) days until hatching! I'll update again before then.

Suburban Homesteading - March 2013

2013-03-19T14:08:00.000-04:00

Spring is here and our new little suburban homestead is coming together nicely. Recently I was reading a local urban homesteader's blog and was inspired. Lanette at Homesteading on the Home Front has a series called A Walk Around the Homestead. That was where the idea for this post came from.

Betsy says "Whatcha waiting for!? Let's go!"

The girls: Cottontail and Mopsy

The rabbits have done some growing!! Hubby needs to get working on adding the extra cages to the hutch. The girls are close to old enough for breeding so they will need to be separated. We'll have baby bunnies before we know it. I'm beginning to think we may end up having someone else process them once they are old enough. I have no problem with them going from our backyard to our freezer, I just don't know if I'll be able to do it myself. But we have quite awhile before we need to worry about that. The rabbits have another job and that is to help fill the compost bin under their cages. It is coming along very nicely. It's almost deep enough to add the worms. I'm looking forward to some amazing compost for next year's garden!

Speaking of gardens; we've rethought the garden for this year. This year we're giving square foot gardening a try.The bed is all ready and the strawberries are planted. We have more strawberry plants than we originally planned. The 6 plants we bought last year turned into 82 plants this year. We've given a lot away and still have 8 squares of strawberry plants! The rest of the garden will be planted soon. There will be tomatoes, peas, carrots, spaghetti squash and cucumbers.

Last, but not least, the chickens! The chicken coop and run was finished a couple weeks ago and the girls are loving it! We had a very windy storm their first week out and it all stood up well to the test. The girls haven't needed any help in learning to go into the coop at night but still haven't been roosting. I think it's the round roost that's the problem so we'll have to change that out. Their personalities are really coming out now. Betsy, our Buff Orpington, is our tame one that likes to be held and petted. She's the first out of the coop in the morning and the first to greet me when I bring their daily treats. Amelia, our Black Australorp, is the next tamest. She likes to be petted but not really held. The other night when I peaked into the coop (through the nest box) before closing it up for the night, she jumped into the nest box to be petted. Henrietta, our Easter Egger, tolerates being petted but doesn't love it and doesn't like to be picked up. She, however, is the one that will chase a dog and jump for treats. It's so much fun to watch her. Our flock is not complete yet. The city allows us to have 6. We have the room for 6. So we'll have 6. We're not ordering chicks this time though. We're hatching eggs! Soon we will be getting a dozen eggs from a friend and setting them into a borrowed incubator. The kids and I are so excited!

I plan to do more of these post throughout the year so be on the lookout. Until then, here's a few more pictures:

March 5th - March 17th in Pictures

2013-03-18T13:30:00.000-04:00

March 5th

March 6th

March 7th

Betsy says hi!

March 8th

No picture :(

March 9th

Riding through a car wash for the first time

March 10th

Someone climbed into my spot as soon as I got up.

March 11th

Em and Gizmo: Gizmo's gated off b/c she thinks the chickens want to play with her.

March 12th

The cat sleeping very soundly

March 13th

No picture :(

March 14th

Sean's crazy hair!

March 15th

Sick baby :(

March 16th

Betsy and I

March 17th

Sprouts for the chickens

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Feb. 16th - March 4th in Pictures

2013-03-05T13:15:00.000-05:00

Feb. 16th

Not the best picture but it's the only one I got that day.

Feb. 17th

Em has learned to color and she loves it.

Feb. 18th

Reading with a friend.

Feb. 19th

Breakfast: Em now sits at the table with the big kids.

Coloring again.

Feb. 20th

Taco night: Em enjoyed it.

So did Spencer.

Photo fail of the big kids! lol

Feb. 21st

Sleeping beauty

Feb. 22nd

Donuts and coloring

Once the sugar high wore off they needed some down time.

Cartoons to the rescue.

Feb. 23rd

No picture...oops!

Feb. 24th

The coop is nearly done!!

Feb. 25th

Em welcoming our new daycare baby. If you look closely you can tell that Em was actually patting her back.

Feb. 26th

Happy birthday me!! Sean told Grandma that a princess Lego set would make a great gift for me. I love it!

Caught red handed! Maddy moved her pillow and blanket to her door way so she could look at a book at bed time. I didn't make her move and she eventually fell asleep like that; book open and all.

Feb. 27th

Em thought she's big enough to skip naps. She was down for the night by about 6:00.

Feb. 28th

Em loves her new friend!

March 1st

"Whatcha doing daddy?"

March 2nd

Already loves books.

March 3rd

The chicken coop and run are done! More on that in a later post. For now, here's the kids with the chickens.

March 4th

A story of the pug and the chickens:

Gizmo says "hi, do you want to play?"

The girls gang up:

Henrietta takes off chasing Gizmo. You can just barely see Gizmo's back leg right under the nest box. Later, Gizmo had her front paws on the wire. Betsy, with wings flapping, charged Gizmo, jumped up and kicked Gizmo's paws. I'm sad I missed that picture.

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Jan. 30th - Feb. 15th in Pictures

2013-02-15T21:23:00.000-05:00

Jan 30th

Walking baby!

Jan 31st

Maddy using the Kindle

Feb 1st

Side laying nursing: my favorite nursing position

Feb 2nd

Maddy had her first salon hair cut

Feb 3rd

Chicken coop building has begun!

The scraps make great blocks

Our friends from Australia came for a visit

Feb 4th

The picture was taken on the 5th but I made this on the 4th. Loom knitting is my newest hobby.

Feb 5th

Self portrait: tried out contacts but ended deciding on staying with glasses.

Feb 6th

Sean got glasses!!

Spencer enjoyed dinner:

Feb 7th

This is the only picture I took on the 7th. I still don't have a clue how this bulb broke.

Feb 8th

Hungry babies

Feb 9th

Em wanted to go to dance with Maddy.

My first time cross nursing.

Feb 10th

Chicken coop progress

Feb 11th

The difference I'm seeing in Sean since he got his glasses is amazing. Here he's sounding out words to write his first sentence by himself.

Feb 12th

I threw together a temporary run so the girls can have some outside time.

Feb 13th

Nap time buddies

Feb 14th

Pioneer woman's apple dumplings. They are amazing!!

Feb 15th

Dinner with friends.

Our friends

We only have one more week with them here and I'm sure it'll fly by!

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Jan 16th - Jan 29th in Pictures

2013-01-30T17:59:00.000-05:00

Jan 16th

Silly dog likes sitting on the heating vent.

Jan 17th

Jan 18th

Jan 19th
Peter says hi!

Jan 20th
The cat looked so comfy.

Jan 21st
I heard Em wake up and found that she had found the dolls and stuffed animals on the big kids' bed.

Jan 22nd
Em and I getting a day care kid from the bus stop.

Jan 23rd
I taught Sean how to finger knit.

Jan 24th
We got new pets for the aquarium: fire bellied newts

Jan 25th
It snowed!

"I'm cold. I want inside."

Jan 26th
Em didn't enjoy the snow as much as Sean and Maddy.

Jan 27th
Em enjoyed Granddad's birthday cake more than her own.

Jan 28th
Teething has made Em want a paci.

Jan 29th
Em has walking down and was walking all over the place!

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Check Ups: Emily's 12 Month and Sean's 5 year Endo

2013-01-24T20:43:00.001-05:00

Sean and Emily both doctor appointments in the last 2 weeks. Sean was first. He had his yearly endo check up on the 11th. Endo conformed that even though Sean is way below the chart, he is still on his own curve. He wanted to do another bone age scan since it's easier to read the older Sean gets and he also wanted to look at the interval of change. I received the results on the 18th. Everything appears normal so he'll go back in a year.

On the 18th, Emily also had her belated 12 month check up. Not much to report as everything is looking good. Her stats are 17lbs 9oz, 28.5in. She's close to what Sean was at this age; just a pound heavier. The difference in the boy and girl charts is odd to me. At this size, Sean was well below the chart, Em is at the 5th percentile. Looks like we'll have 2 peanuts in the family. :)

Just for kicks I made charts to compare the kids' weights and lengths through out their first year (click to enlarge):

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Jan 10th - Jan 15th in Pictures

2013-01-15T13:43:00.000-05:00

Jan 10th

Maddy excited about her new ear rings:

Jan 11th

The cat must have thought Em looked lonely.

Jan 12th

The chickens have learned how to roost!

Jan 13th

Little baby, deep in thought:

Jan 14th

I forgot to take a picture but I also forgot about this picture from earlier this month. She's wearing the same thing so that must count for something. ;)

Jan 15th

Daycare snack time

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Egg Muffins

2013-01-14T13:06:00.000-05:00

These aren't really muffins like you think of when you think muffins; there's no flour. What there is, is egg, sausage, cheese and spinach. These would make the perfect make-ahead breakfast when you need something on the go. Though I admit that I haven't tried to reheat them; they were such a huge hit with the kids (mine and daycare) that there were none left!

Here's the recipe for 12 muffins:

Ingredients:

8 eggs
Fresh chopped spinach
Cooked sausage - crumbled (I bought the already cooked sausage crumbles)
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tbsp veg oil
Shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 F
In a skillet cook the spinach
Spray muffin tin and cover the bottom of each cup with sausage.
Spoon in the cooked spinach on top of the sausage.
In a bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, baking powder, oil and salt & pepper.
Pour egg mixture into each cup.
Sprinkle cheese on top.
Bake for about 15 minutes.

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Jan 1st - Jan 9th in Pictures

2013-01-10T13:32:00.000-05:00

This year I'm taking another shot at 365 days of pictures. I, however, know I won't post daily so I won't promise that. I won't even promise that I'll post weekly. What I do promise is that I will post. Some days will just be the one picture while others will be a few.

Here are the pictures I chose for Jan 1st - Jan 9th

Jan 1st

This was before I committed to the challenge and this is the only picture I took that day.

Jan 2nd

One of my new year's resolutions is to take more pictures of myself, so here I am!

Jan 3rd

Em taking a rest:

Sean being goofy:

Jan 4th

Our baby chicks aren't so little anymore!

Em loves her "chicky chicks"

Jan 5th

Daddy and his girls:

Jan 6th

Church wears Em out!

Jan 7th

Toys all over the floor is much more fun then having them in the proper place ;)

Just a couple quick shots:

Jan 8th

Right before the kids went to bed I realized that I hadn't taken a picture. So, I thought I'd quickly get one of all 3 of them. Not so easy! Here's the best one:

Jan 9th

We had a beautiful day here yesterday so outside play became a priority.

I love his shirt...hubby doesn't so much. ;)

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Good bye 2012, Hello 2013

2012-12-31T18:05:00.000-05:00

We're saying good bye to 2012 so I'd like to take a look back on what happened this past year. I typically link back to posts but many of my posts are still missing pictures from when I moved pictures in my web album; I hope to finish fixing it soon.

Our 2012 Christmas card picture

We started the year in a baby moon with a brand new baby.
We celebrated Maddy's 3rd birthday with an art party.
We had to get rid of our mutt, Keme because she attacked our other dog, Annabelle.
We adopted a pug pup, Gizmo.
Maddy tried dance again in the summer. She loved it and wanted to continue in the fall.
We released over 70 Black Swallowtail butterflies and still have 41 chrysalises in our butterfly cage to release next spring.
Sean started Kindergarten.
Richard and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.
We celebrated Sean's 5th birthday with a dinosaur party.
We adopted a rabbit trio with the plans to breed them for meat come spring time.
I worked with a group of locals to get the city to reconsider zoning that bans backyard hens. We won!
We got 3 baby chicks; half of what our flock will be.
We celebrated Emily's first birthday!
We changed a lot of our eating habits and I lost 16 lbs!
I am ending the year with a booming daycare business. Most of the kids I care for are the same kids I had last year.

Even though I failed at project 52 posts this year, I did take a lot of pictures through out the year.

Looking forward to 2013, here's what I'd like to accomplish:

Our healthy changes will continue. I want to lose 10 more pounds.
Along with taking lots of pictures of the kids, I will start being in pictures more.
While on the subject of pictures, I will do a better job at quickly backing up all pictures instead of them sitting on the computer for months first.
We will be trying our hand at gardening again and this will be a better year.
We need to do some major decluttering around here.

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© Mama Dani's Musings

Emily: 1 Year

2012-12-30T21:37:00.000-05:00

It's time for another Emily update. This time it's the big one. Saturday she had her first birthday. My baby is beginning to be replaced with an adorable little toddler and I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm excited because it means we have a lot to look forward to. But, I will surely miss my little baby. She doesn't lay in my arms like she use to. She'd rather be on the move or playing. And she's definitely not as little as she use to be! So what has changed this past month? The biggest thing is she took her first steps the day after Christmas. She can only take 3 steps at a time because she gets so excited and falls forward. I know it won't be long before she's running through the house. She's learned to climb too. That one scares me. Especially when she climbs onto her chair and then rocks while sitting backwards. Needless to say, there has been some recent baby proofing! Just recently, pointing has really taken off. She points at everything now and waits to be told what it is. She learned how to say "tree" this way; she was always pointing at the Christmas tree. She's also learned the work "chick". She just adores our baby chicks. She will speed crawl to me and climb onto my lap whenever I have the brooder open. She is still toothless but that has yet to stop her when it comes to solids.

Saturday we had a little party for our birthday girl. It was mainly just family; the perfect size for a little 1 year old. She got her first gift before the party: a little people doll house. While she played, I decorated her cakes; her smash cake and the cake for everyone else. Also, before the party I reminisced on facebook about her birth day. Through out the day I made "one year ago" status updates ending with:

"One year ago at 1:18 pm I delivered our third baby in our home, in our room, on our bed. As I lowered myself beside my brand new baby we just stared at each other. I was the first to announce “It’s a girl!”. I scooped her up and found a place to lay with her. Heather was the first to see her but I was the first to touch her. She was a nursing pro, and nursed and nursed and nursed. Emily and I then rested there, taking each other in while we waited for Bettie to arrive. Emily's birth was not what I expected but who could expect a 5 hour 18 minute labor followed by a baby arriving before the midwife. Happy birthday sweet Em!"

Her whole birth story can be found here: Emily's Birth Story

Come cake time, Em did not want anything to do with it!

She did get to get messy with dinner though!

And finally, I look back on how our little grew over this past year.

I had all these printed and made it into a banner for the party.

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Family Update: Dec 2012

2012-12-14T19:18:00.000-05:00

I've been a bit MIA lately and haven't posted a lot. A lot has happened over here and I think an update post is needed. Go grab a cup of coffee because this is going to be long. Things are going very well here. The kids are doing great! Maddy still absolutely loves dance and Sean has been talking about maybe trying soccer next year. They both have started going with me to the church I run nursery at. Maddy loves children's sermon and Sunday school. Sean is still hesitant about Sunday school but he enjoyed children's sermon last Sunday. Sean is doing great with homeschooling. We've made some changes though (and still working on some changes). --surprise, surprise, right? School is always a work in progress. We are using Starfall's free printable curriculum for reading. It's working great! I finally bit the bullet and bought a curriculum, Miquon Math. It came in the mail yesterday. I've heard great reviews from friends so I think it'll work great too. Our around the world unit study was a fail. Sean just was not as interested as I had imagined. I'll just file the idea away for when he's older. Sean has given up naps so nap time is now when he does some of his school work. It works better because the littles aren't in the way. He does the rest of his work and Maddy does her pre-k work after nap time when my school aged daycare kid does her homework. Em, well, here's her latest update.

On the daycare front, things are going great. A family that lives just a block away and has 2 girls, toddler and school age started this month. I'm once again at my max on Tues. and Thurs. Even though I'm exhausted at the end of the day, it feels great to have a full house again. The added income right before Christmas is a bonus too.

There's also some furry/feathery changes too. Last month we added 3 rabbits (Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter) to our backyard. The girls are sisters and are younger than Peter. They thrive on attention from us. Every time I open the cage door they run to stick their heads out to be petted. Peter loves attention too but he has a love/hate relationship with being petted. He runs to the door when he sees me but runs away when I put my hand in. But then he leans into my hand when I pet him. Silly rabbit! I bought them from a friend of mine that breeds meat rabbits. Our rabbits will have the same job. By spring they will be old enough for breeding. The kits will then be raised until they are big enough to be processed. I recently had rabbit meat for the first time. It's quite yummy! The difficult part will be staying disconnected from the ones that will be butchered..

Mopsy and Cottontail

Peter

As you may remember, I've been working hard with a group of people here trying to get the zoning regulations changed to allow backyard hens. Last month city counsel voted, 6-3, to allow up to 6 hens in all single family residential lots!! The lady that founded the group started last December. Less than a year is record time for this to pass. I'm thrilled! So, I ordered half our flock. And this week 3 baby chicks arrived at our door. I got an Easter Egger, a Buff Orphington and a Black Australorp. The are a hoot to watch! I love watching them chase after each other. The Buff Orphington is the tamest so far. She was the first to climb into my hand when I hand feed them. The Black Australorp is the adventurist one. Within the first few hours she figured out how to get out of the brooder. I fixed that though. The cutest thing is how they already seem to crave human contact. They chirp quite loudly when the house calms down; at nap time and bed time. We'll probably wait till spring to get the rest of our flock. We might even try hatching eggs.

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Thankful November: Part 2

2012-11-30T13:48:00.000-05:00

November is thankful month. Part 1 of my thankful list can be found here: Thankful November: Part 1.

Nov. 16th - I'm thankful for a husband that puts up with my urban homesteading ideas.

Nov. 17th - I'm thankful busy Saturdays that get us out of the house and out to see friends.

Nov. 18th - I thankful for lazy Sundays.

Nov. 19th - Today I'm thankful for the extra bed in our room that the big kids climb into most nights. Without it I would have missed Sean's middle of the night belly laugh.

Nov. 20th - Today I am thankful for a city council that voted to approve keeping up to 6 hens!!!

Nov. 21th - I am thankful that sometimes when 1 door closes, another opens.

Nov. 22nd - Today I'm thankful for family. Especially that we have so much that lives close by.

Nov. 23rd - I am thankful for my parents. I don't know what I'd do without them.

Nov. 24th - I am thankful for our home and that we're not renting.

Nov. 25th - Today I'm thankful to have a second job at a church nursery and the unexpected side benefit of having the kids attend Sunday school.

Nov. 26th - Today I am thankful for Maddy; our awesome little social butterfly.

Nov. 27th - Today I am thankful for my polite children. Sean and Maddy made me proud using their manners at dinner.

Nov. 28th - Today I'm thankful that honey helps my throat since my voice went into hiding on Saturday and has yet to completely come back.

Nov. 29th - I'm thankful for Emily. She is truly a blessing to our family.

Nov. 30th - Today I am thankful for health.

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Emily: 11 Months

2012-11-29T20:37:00.000-05:00

11 months; yikes! We'll be celebrating Emily's first birthday here soon! Em has done a lot of growing again this month. She has mastered pulling up and is cruising now. My favorite is when she's standing and hears some music. She starts bouncing. Maybe she'll be a dancer too. We're still working on baby signing and she has learned another sign. She can now sign "more". It's not perfect because she tends to do it fast but she gets the message across. She has picked up a new word too. Her word for nursing is "na-na".

A couple extra pictures from this month:

And a little comparison I put together a couple weeks ago; Sean and Emily:

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Thankful November: Part 1

2012-11-16T06:30:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you've seen it on Facebook. Friends are posting daily what they are thankful for for the month of November. Here is part 1 of mine:

Nov. 1st - I'm also thankful to be celebrating another of Sean's birthdays. What an awesome little boy he is.

Nov. 2nd - I am thankful for my job: for being able to do what I love, for being able to do it at home not having to leave my children, and for all the extra hugs, smiles, and giggles from my daycare children.

Nov. 3rd - I am thankful that our insurance pays for us to see a chiropractor. My adjustment and muscle work massage was much needed today.

Nov. 4th- I'm thankful the kids didn't wake up early with the time change...even if no naps and a party were the cause.

Nov. 5th- I'm thankful for referrals. B/c of November birthdays I had 1 spot in my daycare open up this week. I ended having to turn people away without advertising thanks to referrals. Now I get to snuggle with a new baby. ♥

Nov. 6th - I'm thankful Romney didn't get elected in. Sorry for all that voted for him; he scares the crap out of me.

Nov. 7th - I'm thankful for an easy naptime. All kids that still take a nap were sound asleep at the same time. And the one that doesn't did his school work and then played quietly. :)

Nov. 8th - I'm thankful for breastfeeding. It's about the only thing that is making Em happy tonight.

Nov. 9th - I'm thankful to be able to get out of the house sans big kids every once and awhile.

Nov. 10th - I'm thankful for Saturday morning snuggles from my 3 little ones.

Nov. 11th (and everyday)- I'm thankful for our military men and women and their families. They sacrifice so much for us.

Nov. 12th - Today I'm thankful for coffee.

Nov. 13th - I'm thankful for little boy humor. Not a typical thankful post but who knew that something as simple as the word "butt" would result in such an awesome belly laugh.

Nov. 14th - I am thankful for baby sign language. Em is signing more and more lately and her face lights up when she realizes I understand what she wants. I'm thankful to be able to communicate with Em before she can speak.

Nov. 15th - I'm thankful for my little brother. Happy birthday Justin.

Stay tuned for part 2!

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Sean: 5 Years

2012-11-01T16:06:00.000-04:00

My little peanut is 5 today. What an awesome little guy he is! He's smart. He has amazed me with how much he has learned. He's kind. This is most evident when he's with his baby sister. He's so gentle with her and is always looking out for her. He's goofy. He loves to make faces and tell jokes. He's helpful. He's our doorman; always rushing to open the door for everyone.

What is he into now? He loves building so Legos are still a hit and so are tools. He loves dinosaurs. He loves superheros. He loves riding his bike and digging in the dirt. He loves Jeeps.

This year Sean is having a dinosaur party...but more about that after Saturday.

Sean's birth story can be found here.

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Emily: 10 Months (Bonus Video!)

2012-10-29T17:23:00.001-04:00

Another month has come and gone. Emily is 10 months old today. She had her "9 month" check up about a week and a half ago and weighed in at 16lbs 8oz (10th percentile) and 28in (50th percentile). Size isn't the only way I can tell my little baby's growing up; I can't help but notice the everyday changes. She's oh so close to pulling up. She actually had both knees off the ground yesterday but failed to straighten her feet. So close! But I'm ok with her taking her time!! She still does her funny crawl but it's changed a little. She now does it with only one hand, leaving the other free to carry things. I jokingly say it looks like a monkey crawl.

If it's easier, you can view the above video here.

Socially, she's grown up a lot! She has learned her first sign. I knew she knew what she was doing when she handed me the boppy and signed "milk" when I asked her if she wanted to nurse. She also truly believes that everyone understands her baby babble. She loves to have conversations. And my favorite thing that has grown is her empathy. No one can cry without her getting concerned and without her trying to hug them. It doesn't matter if they are hurt, sad or in timeout. She crawls to them, leans in with a concerned look and then wraps her arms around them. It's the sweetest thing I've ever seen!

Left: The proper way to eat cheerios; dump them on the floor and throw the bowl behind you.

Right: Em making a phone call "ra-row" = "hello"

Her sleep is also changing. She still sleeps wonderfully at night. Naps are what are changing. They were getting really bad until I realized she wanted to sleep in the bedroom alone instead of in the living room like she had been. I always have little babies sleep in the living room because not only do they seem to sleep better with noise but it also allows me to constantly watch them (call me paranoid!). She's still in transition so there are still some bad nap days but then there are some really really good naps. Lastly, solids. She really enjoys her solids now that she has more of a variety She's been introduced to sauces and spices and loves it; especially spaghetti and chili (just the meat, sauces and rice. no beans yet).

Snoozing away *swoon*

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Best Shots: Oct. 15

2012-10-15T13:25:00.002-04:00

Emily has a new fascination with mirrors so her newest toy is a mirror on the wall.

"Who's that!?"

"I think I know her!"

Kisses!

Linking up to:

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