Bedrest

Just a little note on the baby and my health. For now, the baby is fine, still cooking and there is every effort being made to keep it that way. Last week Saturday I came down with the what I thought was the simple stomach flu. Well, by Monday the symptoms did not let up, I started to get contractions which didn't feel like the regular braxton-hicks so I went in to see my dr. The dr was very concerned because I was very dehydrated, which can trigger preterm labor. She gave me fluid through an IV and sent me home to rest one more day. Wednesday I went back to work, still not feeling very well and still losing fluid, but I was doing everything I could to drink fluid and stay hydrated. Thursday I was back in to the Dr. and again, hooked up to an IV - just as dehydrated as before. This time I had been experiencing even more contractions that were stronger than before. My cervix has begun dilating, which at 32 weeks is not normal. The Dr. put me on strict bedrest for Friday, Saturday and Sunday with instructions to drink fluid like I have never drank before. I am going to see her on Monday morning and if my cervix has dilated anymore than it was on Friday, I am stuck in bed until my due date. I hope to GOD that she lets me go off bedrest on Monday because I will GO CRAZY if I have to sit in this bed any longer. My stomach is still not behaving like it should but she (the Dr.) ran a bunch of other tests which I should get results for on Monday. I know the importance of keeping this baby in there as long as possible, but it doesn't change the type of person I am - I can't sit still. I feel bad for Kent because he is having to do everything by himself. I feel bad for the girls because I am not able to play with them outside like before (and make them do outside farm chores). And I feel bad for myself because I love to go out to the chickens, the goats, and the garden and this weekend is a perfect summer weekend. So, I will keep everyone posted as to what the dr has to say on Monday. Please pray that everything is good and I can go back to my normal life.

Painting the Barn

Kent took a break from siding one day and started painting the barn. We bought actual "barn paint" which we felt was important to the health and longevity of the barn. Kent said it goes on very nice and doesn't think it will take near as long to paint as he thought. Our neighbor actually thanked us for painting the barn the proper "barn red". There are a few people in the area who painted their barns but they are a funky red color and don't look quite right. It felt good that people are appreciating the work we are doing on the farmyard.
Let's pretend the barn is all painted in this picture - shall we?

"Teenage" Chickens

Our chickens are now 6 weeks old. They no longer are cute fluffy chicks but they are still really fun to watch. Kent made an enclosure off the back of the chicken coop so they can go in and out during the day while we are at work. We sealed up the enclosure like a maximum security prison! Kent dug the wire 6" into the ground and laid it down in an "L" shape 6" out from the base and then attached it to a green treated wood base and buried it. So is anything starts to dig, they will run into wire. We put a wire roof on it as well to prevent any "swoop downs" by owls or hawks. I used metal wire to sew the seams together and pull everything nice and tight. So far the enclosure has served its purpose. However, we did lose a chicken to a hawk that got in through an open ceiling vent on the coop itself. Kent left it open about 6" during the day since it was going to be hot. When I went out the the chicken coop that evening, the chickens seemed very upset. I saw a chicken laying there with no head and a pile of feathers. I was a little confused as to what had got in there and headed toward the chicken door for the enclosure to see if there were any other dead chickens. I didn't see a dead chicken, but I saw a very angry hawk slamming himself against the chicken wire desperately trying to get out. He got in through the small crack in the vent but was not able to get out. Kent came out and we came to the conclusion there was no way we were going to get him out of there without him hurting us or another chicken so Kent shot him. We were bummed to do it because the hawk was just doing what he naturally does and just got himself in a bad situation. Well, we learned our lesson and we put screens on our vents on the roof. So, we still have 28 healthy happy chickens and get bigger every day.

Our enclosure. Once they are older, we will let them wander the yard when we are home, but obviously we know, there are predators out there wanting to eat the chickens. We will have to get a big goose that will squawk when anything comes close.

Garden Spinach

A few weeks ago the spinach was ready to be harvested. It was so neat to eat something we grew. We had spinach salad and some of our garden tomatoes. The garden is growing fairly well for two people how lack a green thumb, and the weeds are growing GREAT...

Siding

Here are some more pictures of the outside. In these pictures, Kent has started siding the west side of the house. Now he is almost done with this side and three of the windows are new.

The new kitchen window and siding.

4th of July

For the 4th of July, my mom and dad, my brother Mike, his wife Tonya and their kids, Cole and Brook came out to the house to light off fireworks. We had quite the show!

Mia and Brook were very excited about the next firework to be lit off.
One of the small fireworks. I should have taken more pictures of the bigger ones, but then I wouldn't have been able to enjoy them.

Mia and Milo

Mia and Milo are still best buds. One will rarely seem them apart. Milo is now about 11 weeks old. He is drinking water from a bowl and no more formula - YEAH! He is eating dry catfood if it is mixed with a little wet food. I am slowly trying to wean him from the wet food as well. He is just a typical kitten now. He plays all the time and he gets brave every now and then and sneaks up on Molly, our seven year old 15 pound female. Usually she gives him a swat or two to remind him who is boss.

Mia watching tv and Milo catching a nap.
Finally got a picture of him with his eyes open and sitting still thanks to Mia!
Milo seems to not quite know yet that he is supposed to be scared of water. He likes to sit on the edge of the tub and watch Mia take her bath.
Just waking up from a nap

Bye-bye Kitchen Window...

The kitchen window was the first one of the original windows to go. Eventually, all of the old windows will be gone and replaced with the new windows waiting in the garage. It is so amazing watching Kent take a window out and put a new one in. He makes it look so easy. I think back to the very first window he ever replaced. It was in our house in town and it was Isabelle's bedroom window. It took him a good part of the entire day to do it. Now he has one out and a new one installed in about 45minutes to an hour and that is one he had "issues" with. It goes without a hitch, he has the old one out and a new one installed in 30 minutes. Now that the kitchen window is done, he will be able to finish the cupboards, lighting, and the walls in the kitchen.

Isabelle's Birthday

The last weekend of June Isabelle was home to celebrate her 10th birthday. It is very strange for us to have a ten year old. It seems so old for a kid which makes me feel old. My rebuttal to the thought is always "but I was just a BABY myself when she was born." Which is true...

The famed cake that seems to get made often for birthdays. Isabelle held Milo pretty much he whole time.
Good set of lungs, got them all out in one try.
Anything High School Musical we know she'll like it.
Taylor Swift CD was a request from her. She also got some movies and her favorite meal: Chicken Lasagna

Septic System

A few weeks ago our contractor in charge of the septic system finished up his job. Last fall he was able to get the tank in the ground and 1/3 of the drain field, which was plenty to get us through the winter until he was able to get back to put the rest of the drain field in. We were very fortunate that we didn't have to lose any of our trees. Our only casualty was a patch of Lillies. So now, all of our work we had contracted out is officially finished and are on our own...

Chickens!

On June 16th we got our chickens in the mail. There were 29 loud spunky chickens waiting at the post office when I got there early in the morning.

It is amazing they stuffed them all in this little box.
Our chickens. They were so cute and knew exactly what to do. A month has gone by and we still have 29 adolescent chickens. They are not as cute as they were before but they are really fun to watch. Mia LOVES the chickens!

Near Miss

Mid-June we experienced some bad summer weather. It came on so fast and is was very scary. It had been beautiful, warm, and sunny all day. Kent was outside doing siding, Mia was out "assisting" and I was in the kitchen cleaning up after supper. I managed to catch the tail-end of a tornado warning and they said "tornatic movement over Aurthur, moving East, all in the path, take shelter IMMEDIATELY!" I looked out the kitchen window facing west and it was like a scene from a movie. It was a big huge black wall-cloud rolling toward us. I was stunned for a moment and then ran outside. At the same time, Kent saw the cloud and started to tell Mia to go in the house and I screamed "YOU TOO! YOU HAVE TO COME IN NOW!" We went from no wind to wipping wind instanly. We sat downstairs in our basement listening to the radio as the storm passed. It came on fast and in a matter of about 30 minutes, it was done.

Luckily we just lost a few tree branches and everything else is okay.

Little Hillbilly

Check out those little rosy cheeks! Mia wanted to wear a hat like her daddy.

Summer Day/Update Pictures

These pictures are about a month old now but I thought I should post them so everyone can see where we are in out door improvements....

Mia going to get the mail....ya, its really flat around here, but at least its green!
Front/East side of the house. You can kind of see the additions on both sides.
South Addition off of the kitchen. Kent now has it mostly sided with vinyl siding called "Savanah Wicker" with white trim and shutters.
West Side of the house. Again, Kent has this mostly sided and he has the three bottom windows replaced and a new back door. It is looking so nice!
Chicken coop. Last weekend Kent and I finished the little outside enclosure so the chickens can be outside and safe during the day when we are at work.