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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

 Watching the Praise Baby DVD Mama Deane sent to her.
Watching herself in the mirror.
 Me watching her in the mirror.
 Tummy time!

 Not quite sure what to do.


 Mmmm, tasty.
  
 I finally got her sneeze on film!
 And more of those baby blues!

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?

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

Four Weeks

Yesterday, Miss Daisy turned 4 weeks old. It's been the fastest, most fun, and exhausting time of my life. Of our lives! We've been busy with our beautiful daughter and now, I'm just going to give you pictures of her.

First, pictures from her first camping trip:

Spit bubbles!



...Magic...

Is it just me, or does this kid have the best facial expressions ever?

And now, her four week photos.

Her Godmother, Dorothy, and I found this dress when we went shopping two days ago. The headband we had gotten during her baby shower.


I may not be able to get actual newborn photos with a full-blown photographer..


...but I don't think I do too poorly.






She really is our pretty pretty princess.

Until I have some more amazing photos of the most beautiful daughter in the world,

FFR

2 weeks, 5 days

Two weeks, five days later. It's been a pretty hectic couple of weeks as we adjust to these new roles as parents. Daisy is doing pretty darn well. Of course, don't babies always do well? It's the parents who have a rough time. The hardest part about coming home was not waking up every time she made a noise. No, I'm not a "Ferber Method" person (name the movie). I was getting up for every little coo or movement because I thought she was waking up. Now I need her to cry at least once before I'll get up to get her. It's made it much easier to sleep.

Since I'm the "cafeteria" as Working Man puts it, I do need to take care of the evening activities solely. I do, however, get to pass along the diapers and everything for the day to Working Man. He gets the princess' smelly diapers. We've found she now sleeps on average for about 3-4 hours during the day, at night somewhere between 4-6 hours. Waking hours vary. She's most awake in the morning for about 3 hours. In the evening for another 3 hours. Then random times throughout the day. It still amazes me how much she looks around and how aware she is.

And now, pictures of our Princess.

Working Man and Daisy.


Who could deny those blues? They still haven't changed. She may end up being blue-eyed which means, I carry a gene for blue eyes. How cool!


Itty bitty feet committee.




What's up momma?!



And a little tummy time for neck strength. Not that she needs it. She's nearly managing to crawl already.

Up next, camping. We'll be heading out for several days to take this little one on her first camping trip. The inspiration is a picture I have (somewhere) of my dad holding me in front of a tent from when I was just a few months old. I have always had a love of camping and hopefully I can instill that same thing in her!

Oh, we did have our first doctor's appointment. She's gained back all the weight she lost, up to 7lbs 10oz (she was 6lbs 9oz when discharged from the hospital and 7lbs 5oz when born) and is now 20in long (19in at birth). Very exciting!

FFR signing out after two weeks of sleep deprivation.