Thursday, February 16, 2012

More Daisy Pictures

Our little bug is 7 weeks old. So here's a few more pictures for you.

Daisy on a Pillow 008.jpg
And no, I didn't leave her. Daisy on a Pillow 007.jpg
She was too cute to leave. Daisy on a Pillow 006.jpg
I'm glad she didn't wake while I took the pictures. Daisy on a Pillow 004.jpg

Until I have more adorable pictures,
FFR

Monday, February 13, 2012

So much for relaxing...

Yesterday was a big ride out to Auburn and I told Working Man he could ride this ride and I would go ahead and stay home with Miss Daisy. I knew that trying to be a chase car in what was likely to be a huge ride would be more work than it was worth. I figured it would be a good day to get some homework done while Daisy slept and maybe a little laundry. You know, catch up on stuff. Who was I kidding?

If you had to guess, you would say Daisy was the reason I got nothing, and I mean NOTHING, done. You would be wrong. On Saturday night, one of our sheep had twins. Oh so cute. The alpacas were going after them so FIL D chased them into the pasture and closed off the gate. Then everyone left for the ride. I sat down, had some breakfast, and hung out with Daisy for a bit. I figured she could use a bath so I did so. While I was, I noticed one of our donkeys, Frankie, was going after the twins. I quickly gathered Daisy up, saying not so nice words in the process. Quickly is a funny word because with an infant, nothing happens quickly, even when you want it to.

New Lambs 005.jpg
Things One and Two (both girls)

I had to finish rinsing her off, dry her off, dress her in something decently warm, put her carrier on me and put her in it. Then I had to grab some shoes for myself and head out to chase the donkeys. I pulled some hay out of the barn and enticed them to come into a pen, all the while trying to convince the sheep they wanted to stay out. Easier said than done. I figured while I was out, I would feed the horses lunch. As I finished tossing them their food, I heard the dogs going crazy and the alpacas screaming (which they do when they fight). I figured I'd go over there and yell at them a couple times to see if they'd stop.

New Lambs 007.jpg

Well what did I see? Another sheep had crawled under the gate and given birth out in the field...with the alpacas...who now wanted her baby. Begin phase two.

I ran into the barn and found a rope to chase them with. I got the gate to the other half of the pasture open and started chasing the alpacas. Mama decided she was going to go too so it got a little hairy (or wooly...haha) there for a minute. Finally got her separated but the little boy wanted to follow the alpacas. I knew then I would need to separate all the moms and babies away from everyone else.

New Lambs 020.jpg

I knew I couldn't chase sheep by myself so I called Daisy's godmother, Dorothy, and her husband Jim. Gratefully they were willing to come right over to help. I changed my shoes (I was wearing my usual flip flops) and went back out. I gave the donkeys water, locked big ol' Henry in the round pen so he wouldn't run into the barn, and put a water bucket in the barn to be filled.

New Lambs 026.jpg
This one I'm calling "Son"

Poor Jim and Dorothy. I don't know if they understood what they were getting into. They did great, really what I needed was road blocks and that's what we had. We gathered the babies, easier to catch than the moms, and encouraged them to yell for mom so they'd run into the barn. I don't know how long it took but we finally got them locked up.

New Lambs 029.jpg
He's got little snowy patches on his back. Adorable!

Then I heaved a sigh of relief. And put my flip flops back on. And wanted a nap. I never did get to homework or laundry or anything else. Maybe next time I'll just take the ride and Working Man can chase the sheep.

-FFR

Oh yeah, I left the hoses running in both of the water buckets and flooded the donkey pen and part of the barn. I do know that Daisy's not allergic to hay. By the time I was done throwing it around, she was covered.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Smile for the camera!

So...Daisy smiled...for the camera. Ok, not really. She smiled for me and I happened to have the camera in my hand at the time. So lucky. Ok, not really. I had been carrying the camera around in my hand and now I think I've sprained my wrist from holding it in one hand and pointing it at her face for that one perfect shot. I got it. It was worth it.

Today my little girl is six weeks old. I can't believe it!

Smiles, Tummy Time 034.jpg

Smiles, Tummy Time 033.jpg

Smiles, Tummy Time 032.jpg

Of course, I can't stop there. I have to post more pictures.

Smiles, Tummy Time 002.jpg
 Watching the Praise Baby DVD Mama Deane sent to her. Smiles, Tummy Time 004.jpg
Watching herself in the mirror. Smiles, Tummy Time 009.jpg
 Me watching her in the mirror. Smiles, Tummy Time 012.jpg
 Tummy time!
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 Not quite sure what to do. Smiles, Tummy Time 021.jpg

Smiles, Tummy Time 023.jpg
 Mmmm, tasty.
  Smiles, Tummy Time 028.jpg
 I finally got her sneeze on film! Smiles, Tummy Time 039.jpg
 And more of those baby blues!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

What do YOU do on a Thursday night?

This groundhog's day, Working Man and I were, well, working. We might be both off of work but the work around here never stops. So while he was off, Working Man used his time to finish some work around the ranch. And what did we do on Thursday? We got the truck, our big 4-wheel drive with mud tires truck stuck in the mud. FIL D had to pull us out with the tractor. Then when that was accomplished, he and FIL D worked on getting the railroad ties out of the truck. One was dropped on Working Man's foot. It's very black and blue now.

Then while putting the posts in to the ground, Working Man got his head hit by the bucket of the tractor. While I was helping turn some of the posts, his finger got crushed. Poor guy did not have a good day.

So...here I am out on the tractor trying to help get to posts in the right place and hauling around cement for him. As it gets later and later, my normally happy toes in flip-flops got colder and colder. But it was a pretty sunset. See?

2012-02-02_17-01-06_273

Oddly enough, it got warmer once the sun was actually down. Like my body was finally convinced that it was cold outside and that it would finally assist me in staying warm. We barely finished before dark but we did get the posts in.

Miss Daisy is doing well. She's 5 weeks and 4 days old now. 2 days ago she was all smiles in the morning and it was not gas. That puts her almost a week ahead of the normal 6-week social smile.

I'll get more pictures up soon.

-FFR