Chicks, Bears & Demo......

This is one of the Cornish roasters that we are raising for meat! The food scale was just a fun way to measure the growth of our chicks. It is pretty Ironic! Friday we took the kids on a picnic to the mountains near our home.

Getting ready for our hike!

You didn't know that the desert southwest had places this pretty!

The grass was taller than Clayton.

And YES, We ran into a bear! That is a REAL bear!

The demolition has begun.....Wilfred is taking out a wall to build a room for our baby.

Wilfred made the kids happy by giving the kids a tub of water to make mud pies in. Of course mom had to clean up the mess!

Lindsy just had to help me make cinnamon rolls this morning. She was so excited she forgot to get dressed!

The Chicks Are Here!....

Sunday afternoon we got a phone call from the post office. "Your chicks flew in today would you like to come pick them up?" Wilfred took the kids and raced to the post office! Lindsy came home singing "the chick-ies love me this I know" (Tune of Jesus loves me) They are currently making themselves at home in the dining room in a horse tank. Our Turkeys should be here tomorrow.

My mom got Lindsy a new 'Princess' phone. (She wore out her Polly pocket one!) Last night she would not go to bed without it. When I went in to check on her I found her sound asleep with a death grip on the phone. I took a picture and then pried the phone out of her hand.

My nesting syndrome seems to be kicking into high gear. I am feeling the need to scrub anything, plant everything, and cook, cook, cook. Yesterday I had this panic feeling that we might run out of Jelly. Costco had a great deal on raspberries. I stayed up til midnight making jam. I went to bed but not for long...I laid there thinking that I should clean the bath tub. Today I went on a baking spree which was good since I need to make up some of my Amish friendship bread.

Last but not least-----

We were in the car the other day listening to the radio. The cops theme (bad boys, bad boys) came on for a commercial. When it was over I hear Lindsy pipe up from the back seat "Cowboys, Cowboys whatcha gonna do?" She can sing the correct tune and everything. I nearly drove off the road from laughing so hard. I am very afraid of her turning 16...............

Where Has May Gone?

Where has May gone? It seems like last time I looked at the Calendar it was just May 1st. I never believed my mom when she said that time goes faster the older you get. Maybe it's not that I am getting older...it's that I'm getting busier! So many things to do and only 24 hours a day to do them! I took Clayton down to the school to register for Kindergarten. He is so very excited to start school. I was in 5th grade the year that school first opened. The office lady is the same one that ran the office when I went to school there! She recognized my maiden name, and had me point myself out in the school picture hanging on the wall in the office. Talk about a weird feeling! Here it was ME pulling up to the school with MY kids in the car....Not me being the kid with my mom driving!
I also had another ultrasound...I haven't gained much weight and my midwife was concerned. Turns out everything is fine. This little boy is a stinker and wouldn't show his face (again!) I got 6 good pictures of proof that he is without a doubt a BOY! For the ultrasound he was in a Frank breech position. (Both Head and legs up) He has since moved in to the correct head down and ready to go position. I am at 32 weeks and counting! Also since I had a reaction (again) to the RhoGam my midwife typed Wilfred's blood. We found out he is an A-. So she said I will no longer have to have any RhoGam unless one of our children pops out with a + blood type. (But that would be very unlikely!) I am so happy, If I could do cartwheels I would!
We have been working outside in the yard every spare moment. Clayton always runs and jumps into the wagon anytime he sees his dad pulling it. Wilfred decided that it was his turn for a ride. So as Clayton was going to put the wagon away Wilfred ran and jumped in. Clayton managed to pull Wilfred for a ways.....mostly it was down hill!

I realized that my kids have never been to the zoo. (I am a bad mom, I know!) We took a Friday afternoon and took the kids to the zoo. It was HOT and busy. Lots of end-of-the-school-year field trips. I sure did gain an appreciation for my mom who always chaperoned at our zoo field trips. Nonetheless we had fun. Here was the pink, pink, pink birds that Lindsy liked.

This condor was using his wings to cool himself.

A bobcat sleeping in his swing in the shade. He must have lots of personality!

Last week we went to lunch with my mom. The kids begged her to ride in the back with them. And since what the kids want they get, when it comes to grandparents, my mom crammed herself between the car seats.

Daddy brought Lindsy her first flowers! She was so proud of her "lel-low lilies"

CAN ANYONE HELPS US??????? Does anyone know what kind of mouse this is? We have caught 3 in the chicken coop. They are grey like a regular field mouse, but 4 times the size. They are not as big as a rat, nor do they have the tail of a rat. It is like a mouse on steroids. Anyone have any guesses?

Since Wilfred has been working out of town during the week, he has been making sure to spend time with the kids on the weekends. Clayton has been needing a set of shelves in his closet. Wilfred had Clayton help him build them. Here is Clayton sanding down his shelf.

And the finished project. They just need painted!

The picture of a TOTAL girl! (She is wearing her sunglasses to watch Hanna Montana)

One last thing, I have to tell on Clayton again!

With Wilfred getting his blood typed and all this mess with RhoGam, there has been a lot of 'blood' talk in our house. I didn't really realize how much until I was playing with Clayton a week ago. He was pestering me, tickling me and just being ornery. I started to tickle him back and he grabbed my 2 hands and sat on them and held them with his own for extra measure. Very smugly he says to me, "There mom you can't tickle me now!" I replied with, "Are you sure about that?" Clayton, "Yes" Me, "Are you really sure about that?" Clayton, "YES!" At this point I had started to wiggle my fingers to see if he was still so confidant. I asked him, "Are you POSITIVE about that?" He looked at me strange and says, "NO mom I am an O-!" I laughed myself to tears. And yes he is right, he really is an O-.

Catching up from April.....

Here we go another long post....... a week after our beef run William and Jenna flew down to see us. The kids were so excited to see them! Here Lindsy is showing off for 'Uncle Will-um'. She doesn't seem to notice that he is fast asleep and not paying any attention to her. :)

Everyone is reading. Lindsy on Uncle Will and Clayton on Aunt Jenna.

We drove up to Red River, NM to spend the night and do some fishing. We went to Eagles Nest Lake and had no luck. Pittman's drove over and met us for dinner that night. Our kids sure enjoyed spending time with their kids. I forgot to take pictures but Marlene didn't! ( http://marlenesmosaic.blogspot.com/2009/04/cousins.html)

The next morning we woke up to snow/rain/sleet. This was the view out our door.

Lindsy and Aunt Jenna.

A duck floating down the river.

Uncle William took Clayton Fishing. (William has hero status in Clayton's book.)

On the way home we decided to stop and check out the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. I couldn't stomach walking all the way out on it. Wilfred with Lindsy. William, Jenna, and Clayton are way up ahead.

Further down the road on our way home we stopped to fish the Rio Grande River. I got a bite but had no luck. We did have lots of fun though.

Wilfred really wasn't cranky he just looked it here.

Dad volunteered to go with us to the grocery store. While there he decided that he would like to have a coconut. Neither Clayton or I enjoyed it but Wilfred and Lindsy loved it!

Notice her shiny coconut milk chin and cheeks!

We also celebrated Grandpa Gary's birthday! Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!!!!

Then there was bowling! Best Buds...Collin and Clayton.

Korina and Collin (They are so cute finally married!)

Getting some last minute instruction from Amma.

Cousins.....kissing cousins! Alexander and Lindsy. Alexander is 4 months younger than Lindsy.

Lindsy got a new Car seat to go in her Amma's truck. She had to try it out through the store!

Missy is nearly a year old. Here she is giving me her best sad eyes.

And here she is in her FAVORITE pose. She loves to sleep like this.

Grandpa Morris also flew down for a weekend visit.

Here is a RARE photo. Me pregnant. I hate to have pictures taken of me and I found this on my camera that Wilfred had snuck thinking it was his camera. No my hair is not yet combed here but as you can tell I am not only wide in the front but also in the back. UGH! Just try to focus on the cute girl who is so intent on helping mix the muffin batter. Lindsy's new 'cheesy' grin.

The next 2 pictures are for Lou Puderbaugh. She made these quilts. Lindsy's is Raggedy Ann. Clayton's is Thomas. The kids LOVE their quilts and sleep with them every night. (Check out Lou's blog at the right.)

Wilfred spent April trying to get a sprinkler system put in. He finally got it nearly finished this past weekend. Here he is digging some of the trenches.

Of course, you can't have those fun trenches with out having 2 kids full of imagination to play in them!

I hope you've enjoyed catching up on our April. May is sure to be just as busy!

Clayton is Saving the Chickens....

Now it is Clayton's turn to be told on.......

The kids and I were outside watering today. It felt great to be out in the sunshine! We have 10 chickens 1 of which is blind. This poor little chicken in a great layer...so we just let her be. When she is threatened and not sure of where to run she will crouch down and tuck her head into her chest. To get her moving again we just nudge her with our toe or pick her up and move her. A few months ago I taught Clayton how to pick up the chickens and carry them around. He thinks it is great fun and tries it out on a regular basis. Now back to today.... We were watering and the chickens all came rushing over to scratch at the water in the tree rings. I asked Clayton to shoo them off as they make a mess. They all scattered but the blind one. Clayton gently picked her up and coddled her up against his chest. He began to coo and talk to her as he hauled her across the yard to the chicken coop. About halfway there I hear him start to snicker. I asked him what was so funny. He turned around and grinned. With all the seriousness a child can muster he said, "Oh, I just like to baptize the chickens in their water bucket!" After I recovered from shock I yelled, "You'd better not!" He replied, "But mom, I've done it lots of times before." Now I am thinking on the days egg production is down I had better make sure Clayton wasn't baptizing the chickens again.

RhoGam....

I went in to have my supposedly mercury free, preservative free Rhophylac IV injection on the 23rd. I am finally feeling brave and or good enough to talk about it.
After receiving the injection my arm immediately began to ache and go numb. It took her about 8 minutes to push the injection into my vein. I personally think she should have taken a bit longer. 10 minutes after the injection was finished I got an extreme headache that pounded directly between my eyes. I felt like I had been sledgehammered between the eyes. I also went very pale and was dizzy. I think that if I would have stood up I would have passed out. I also got a very nasty metallic taste in my mouth, that is still there days later. The metallic taste leads me to believe that this injection was NOT truly mercury and heavy metal free. They are still allowed to use preservatives and mercury in the injections, the flip side being that as long as the amount is below a certain percentage they can label them as mercury and preservative free.
I was kept for over an hour because of my reaction. One of the nurses there mentioned that since I have had a reaction before that I am most likely not reacting to the RhoGam itself but to the mercury in it. Yes, That is right he admitted there was really mercury in it!
One of the other nurses also mentioned to me that while Rhophylac claims to be free of those toxins, they did have one other patient who did her research on Rhophylac and found their claims to not be true. In this patients research she did find that there is one RhoGam that is truly free of those toxins. This is made by Bayer. The nurse told me that she couldn't say anymore, but that she did know that they could order it as they did so for that patient.
I have included the information that I have found on the Bayer RhoGam and how to get it at the bottom of this post. But before I get to that I wanted to mention the KNOWN side effects of the injection that I was given. I am typing this FROM THE BOOKLET that came with the injection.
WARNINGS/PRECAUTIONS: Allergic or hypersensitivity reactions may occur. Products made from human plasma may contain infectious agents and diseases. For patients with anemia Rhophylac will increase the severity of the anemia. ADVERSE REACTIONS: Most common are nausea, dizziness, headache, malaise, chills, increased body temperature, and mild extravascular hemolysis. SEVERE REACTIONS: Death. Pretty scary considering these booklets are sugar coated, so they don't scare people! Something else that I learned in my weekend of research. Many children who have never been vaccinated and are autistic usually have a RH- mother who was given some form of RhoGam at 28 weeks. There is no way to actually test the reactions and effects that Rhogam has on the baby growing in your belly. They just ASSUME that it won't harm the fetus. Most children who are autistic test off the charts for heavy metal toxicity in their systems. Parents who have never vaccinated but still have a autistic child couldn't figure out the link.....until they looked at the mothers blood type. If you are an RH- mother please look into making your midwife/Dr order you the Rhogam without Mercury! Remember that just because it says it is free of those toxins doesn't mean it really is. It may only have less than is required to print in their booklets, still allowing them to call it toxin free!
[ ] MERCURY-FREE RHOGAM VACCINE If someone you know is pregnant and RH-negative, they will have to be given the Rhogam vaccine - a vaccine that contains mercury. Babies born to mothers receiving this vaccine have been shown to have mercury in their bodies before ever receiving any vaccines of their own. Since mercury is a neurotoxin, obviously less is better. The good news is that mercury-free Rhogam is available in the United States from Bayer Pharmaceuticals. It used to be called BayRoh-D, but is now called Hyper Rho. You can get a list of distributors that your doctor can use to order it by calling 800-243-4153.

FYI Gardasil.......

Click here: YouTube - Urgent Warning about Gardasil

The Right Attitude.....

THE CONFIDENCE OF A 2 YEAR OLD!

Just a few minutes ago Lindsy did something that was very eye opening. I was in my bathroom and she came in. Let me tell you how she looked. She was wearing pj's that showed what she ate for breakfast, had a very dirty face, and tangled and disheveled hair that was standing out every which way. Also she stunk, having just soiled her diaper. In the bathroom we have a full length mirror with a scale under it. Lindsy stepped up on to the scale, looked down at her weight, looked up into the mirror and grinned! Then she says to herself in the mirror, " Whoo-wee I look BEAUTIFUL!"

After several minutes of side splitting laughter I recovered enough to tell her she was indeed beautiful! Without a second glance in the mirror she skipped off, very confidant in herself.

What a lesson for me....to just have the confidence of my 2 year old. NO matter what the scale says, NO matter what the mirror shows...just smile and tell yourself you are BEAUTIFUL!