I told you I was bad at this...

I know, I know. But let me explain...

I usually write my blogs in the morning, then upload the pictures at work. Well, work has blocked Picasa, so my editing has to take place at night, which is usually full of all kinds of excitement.

I will post soon with about a bazillion pictures. Sadie is rapidly turning into a big girl.

In the meantime, I wanted to share this picture. It's my favorite one so far of the two most important women in my life.

May 24th is coming

Sadie will turn one year old this Friday. We're having a cook out with the family to celebrate, but it's simply amazing how time has just absolutely flown by. I can't believe where we've gone in a year.

This time a year ago, Stephanie was on her third day of steady contractions of 5 minutes apart. We'd been to the doctor twice and the hospital once at this point. Sadie was extremely stubborn.

I'll have more soon, but I just wanted to post that Friday is a big day, for more reasons than one...

Photos

Here are some photos of the past couple of weeks. Not much to report on, just life keeping us hopping.

Sadie loves baths. As witnessed in the above picture. You can also make out her vampire teeth that are coming in. 

Her new scrunch face

Introducing...

Our goats. Finally!

Saturday morning we were up at the farm, and Steph's dad said it was a good day to buy goats. I started looking online for some goats for sale, and we found some in Kernersville. Alan and I had to put some last minute touches on the fence (putting railroad ties up where the ground dipped too low to put the fence; trying to keep goats in and coyotes out), so Steph, Sadie and Melody went to buy they goats. They came back with three kids and we put them out in the field. They're too skittish right now, but after a month or two of feeding them by hand, they should become true pets.

We got Myotonic goats, or fainting goats, to start off with. They're called fainting goats because they have a genetic trait that causes them to lock up and fall over when they get startled. They were originally bred to be the scapegoat for a herd when a coyote or other predator came in the field. The fainting goat would fall over, stopping the predator from hurting the rest of the herd (by becoming its dinner). The Myotonic goats are hardy goats that we felt would be a good first breed to learn how to care for goats. Plus they were a heck of a lot cheaper than the Kiko goats we were looking at. Alan bought these first three, and as we learn how to care for them, I'll hopefully add more to the herd.

Steph named them Rosemary, Sage and Clementine. Rosemary is the biggest and the bossiest. She head butts the others around. Sage is the one that faints the most at this point. Clementine is the smallest.

Sadie absolutely loves them. I think she's going to be great at the farm.

Anyways, here are some pics from Saturday.

Her back legs are paralyzed in this one, running with stiff legs...

The Goatel and the Goats

This is Sage

This is Rosemary, the boss of the three

All three

11 Months: has it been that long?

Sadie will turn 11 months old next week. Seriously, time flies when you've got a kid. We were cleaning out closets in order to put the house on the market (more on that later) and found stuff she wore when she first came home. It's surreal to look at those clothes and hats and realize how much Sadie has grown and developed over the past 11 months.

I know it's been a while since I've posted, so I'll try to get everything in this post. Pictures too.

Sadie is standing up on her own for seconds at a time. If she doesn't realize she's standing up, she can stay up a lot longer. It's almost like a cartoon character who runs off a cliff and doesn't fall until he realizes there's no ground beneath him. Sadie stands up until she realizes she's not holding on to anything, and then plops her butt down or reaches quickly for anything to steady her. She doesn't appear to be in a hurry to walk, so we'll see when she figures that out.

We thought she was getting sick last week. Her nose was running, she had a slight fever, and she was super cranky. Come to find out, she had her first two teeth coming in at the same time. She's got two more coming now that those have broken through, but she seems to be doing better with these.

She's continuing to figure more stuff out and interact with us in completely new ways almost each day. She and Peter (the cat) seem to have a special relationship. She lures him in by doing her version of meowing: really high "ahhs" and reaching out to him. He comes up to her (for the most part. Sometimes he just bolts out of the room) and lets her play with him while he purrs away. It's so great to watch them together.

She is also attempting to cluck like a chicken, thanks to Aunt Mandi's training. She is really interested in all animals that she comes in contact with.

Sadie is definitely showing that she knows what's going on. She's always been super observant, from her first day of life. Now we get to see her react to things we say, proof that she understands what the deal is. Kate taught her to kiss on command (open mouth, tongue out, usually saying "ahhhhhhh") and it's super cute. She knows the difference when we say, "Give mommy a kiss" and "Give daddy a kiss" by moving to each of us respectively.

Sadie loves music and figuring out the noises that two things make when they're hit together. It's not rare to see her playing the drums with anything she can hold and the coffee table, bowl, or whatever she can find. Her dancing skills are improving as well.

The other night we were watching a Queen concert and Sadie was mesmerized by it. She crawled to the TV, pulled up on the table, and sang along with Freddie. It was hilarious.

 One of the reasons for the long intervals between blog posts: Our house is for sale.  We've decided to see what we can get out of the house and use the profits to start building at the farm. Hopefully we'll sell soon and start the process of building our own house. I'm really excited. So, for the handful of people that look at this blog, if you're looking for a house in Stokesdale, I've got the house for you!

The first goat field is officially ready. We finished the goat shelter two weekends ago, so now they've got a place to stay. It's not the taj mahal of goats houses, but it is a pretty functional goatel. I'm pleased with it. We've started on the lower field now so we can utilize rotational grazing. Now that we're not learning or making it up as we go along, this second field should go much quicker.

I'll try to update again on a more regular basis. For now, here are some pics of the last month or so.

Sadie and the Chicken

Working at the farm. Spreading mulch

"Give me a kiss!"

Uncle Marcus and Sadie with their kiss faces

Easter weekend in Wilmington with the Vernon family. Shrimp burgers were consumed.

Reading her favorite book. The dog fur is especially wonderful to her.

Happy, happy Sadie

Working on the Goatel

Gabby

Seventeen years ago, a very young Stephanie was taken to a house by her parents to pick out a Schnauzer puppy for Christmas. In a box in the garage was a litter of puppies all clamoring for her attention. Back in the corner of the box though, shivering and not participating in all the excitement, was the runt of the litter.
Stephanie picked her out and named her Gabby.
Gabby became an integral part of the family quickly; Marcus was only 3 at the time, so she tried to show that she was more important than him by tearing up his stuff only. She grew very close to Steph and to Melody, getting so excited even at the end whenever she saw them.
Gabby moved from Oklahoma to North Carolina with the Cox family, and saw the addition of a big chocolate lab named Maggie.
Gabby was always a persnickety dog, and filled the role of grumpy old lady quite well. I met Gabby 10 years ago, and she was under the table taking turns growling at me and Maggie.
It took some time for Gabby to get used to me, but once she realized I wasn't all that bad, I became one of her favorites.
When Steph and I got married, Gabby came with us and served as our first pet together. She slept on the bed with us, snuggled on the couch, and loved when we dumped clothes fresh out of the dryer on her. She tried to protect us as much as a 17 pound dog could. When I had a motorcycle wreck and was laid up for about a week, Gabby laid on my chest and growled at anyone who came close to me.
She's taken our life changes in stride. We adopted Boscoe 5 years ago as a replacement Gabby, and she took to him quite nicely. A couple of years after that we added a cat to the mix, and while not a big fan of him, she still managed. Gretel came 2 years later and Gabby stayed ever loyal and fine. She even handled the addition of Sadie quite well, and even let Sadie pet her (until it hurt. Then she kept her distance for a while.).
Over the past 6 months or so, Gabby started having seizures on a more regular basis. She had seizures throughout her life, but they were spread out over years and were very minor. The ones that started recently were closer together and much more severe. After a number of blood tests and vet visits, she started a regimen of medicine daily to keep the seizures under control. We knew that eventually the medicine wouldn't be able to stop them, but it bought us more time with her.
Saturday night Gabby had two seizures that seemed to be pretty severe. We were at the farm, and Melody and I took turns sitting up with her while she walked off the effects of them. Once she got settled down, I laid on the couch with her. Then the seizures started happening quickly, without time for her to recover.
After the 6th seizure, Gabby's breathing became very shallow and eventually stopped early Sunday morning. While we knew it was going to happen, it was still a very difficult thing to deal with. We buried her at the farm, and are now getting used to not having Gabby around anymore.
It's a long story for a dog, I know. But Gabby was an important part of our lives, and she will be missed greatly.

9 months, quick update

It's been too long since I've updated. Things have been crazy though. I'll be posting pictures soon in a photo dump, but here are some of the things that we've been up to for the past month:

• Sadie is crawling all over the place and pulling up on anything that feels remotely stable. She is going to be a force to be reckoned with once she starts walking, which should be pretty soon.
• She's finally saying Dada, and it melts my heart. It's her favorite thing to say now. She has also taken up the habit of yelling along with the blender when I make our smoothies in the morning. Hilarious.
• We made it through her first cold. It was so sad to see her upset because she couldn't figure out how to breathe through her mouth when her nose was stopped up.
• Things at the farm are progressing nicely. We put the gates and barbed wire up on the fence this past weekend and will start the goat shelter soon.
• We bought our first chickens (2 bantams) and Alan and Melody have purchased 24 more chicks for egg laying.
• We also have started making our own wine. We bottled our first batch (30 bottles) last week and are starting Chardonnay this week.
• We've started eating cleaner, and it's been great. We're eating essentially primal or paleo, and feeling great. I mentioned smoothies in the morning, and they really help me feel tons better going through my day. It's frozen blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and bananas, 2 stalks of Kale, 2 big handfuls of spinach, coconut milk (unsweetened), chia seeds and fennel seeds. All organic, and it tastes great.
• We're meeting with a realtor this weekend to put our house up on the market. We're ready to move to the farm and get started on building up our own farm on a plot of land. We plan to have our own goats, chickens and garden. The plan is to get it all set up over the next few years, so that when it's time for Sadie to go to school Steph can homeschool her.
• We said goodbye to a wonderful friend and companion this weekend. I'll post that separately.

As I said, pictures will come soon. But that's what we've been up to.

8 months old

Sadie turned 8 months old last week. It's amazing how quickly she's growing up. She is crawling all over the place now, with great ease. She's even pulling up on things and putting her hands down and fully extending her legs, sticking her butt up in the air.

Some highlights:

• Being much more vigilant, now that we have a mobile child. It seems she has a magnet that draws her to the stuff she's not supposed to touch.
• Having tougher skin, as falling down is becoming more and more commonplace.
• Having more and more "conversations" as she develops her communication skills. (Usually loud ramblings and blowing raspberries. It's quite productive)
• Finding the right combination for cosleeping that enables all of us to sleep through the night. It's working quite well, and we're all well rested.
• Sadie loves dancing. Anytime Star Trek: The Next Generation's theme music comes on, or any kind of music, Sadie starts moving almost her entire body. If she's standing up, she backs that thing up. If she's sitting, it's a hilarious head bob and body weave. 

Couple of funny stories, then pics of course.

I work the late shift at work, and Steph goes in early. So I usually get a good bit of time with Sadie in the morning. Typically she takes a nap at around 8:15, so I get ready while she sleeps. Well, last week she slept in consistently and didn't want to take a nap. So one morning I put a blanket down with her toys in the bathroom. I jumped in the shower and planned on taking a real quick one. Shortly after I got in, Sadie crawled over and started playing with the shower curtain. Soon after that, she realized that there was water behind the curtain, so all of the sudden I heard splashing. She was halfway in the shower, splashing around in the water on the floor of the shower (It's a walk in shower, so easy access for a little one.) When I would stand under the water, it would bounce off me and hit her. She would stick her face up with her mouth open, trying to catch the water. Needless to say, after my shower, it looked like she had taken a bath. I had already gotten her dressed for the day, so I had to pick out a new outfit for her. From that day on, I brought in her bouncy seat thing to keep her occupied.

The other day we were at the farm and Alan was making faces and noises at Sadie to get her to talk. She stopped for a second, then got up in his face and yelled at him, making all kinds of noises like she was telling him off. It was hilarious, and we all laughed heartily.

My brother Kyle and his wife Hillary came into town this weekend, and we got to spend some time with them. I've included some pictures below. Sadie loved climbing on Kyle and playing with his beard, and it was great to watch her with them. I wish they lived closer and that we could spend more time with them.

Also, in my continual quest for manly skills, I've taken up making homemade wine. I started my first batch last night. I'll keep you updated as we move through the fermentation process and bottling stages.



Watching Parks and Recreation with Dad.



Lazy Saturday

The Primary Fermenter. The curvy thing allows CO2 to escape without O2 getting in.



And We're Off!

Look what someone figured out over the weekend...

Thundersnow. And Man Things.

So, last night we were witness to a weather phenomenon called Thundersnow. Yes, that's a real word and a real thing. Apparently, the League of Weathermen were sitting around one night trying to think of the coolest and most intimidating thing they could name something so light, fluffy and beautiful like snow (Since snow was getting picked on by El Nino) and they came up with Thundersnow. Well played, weathermen. Well played.
We ate dinner at my mom and dad's last night and I hoped to spend some time with dad refinishing some axes. The news had been going on all day about this snowmageddonpocalypse thing, but I thought it was just hype. I mean, how bad can 4 inches of snow be, right?
Well, I got to mom and dad's at 6:45 and we started dinner. It was still raining, and turned to snow shortly after we started eating. After dinner, I looked outside and the grass had snow on it, but the road and sidewalk were totally clear. So dad and I went to the garage so he could show me how he refinishes axes. (That's right. My dad refinishes axes. Totally Bad A, I know.) We were down there for 15 minutes, and all of a sudden we heard thunder. Steph came down the steps and said we had to get going because the roads were covered. In 15 minutes. Seriously.
Long story short, we left right after that and it took us 2 hours to get home, a total 20 mile journey. Thundersnow was totally living up to its name.
Our office opened late because of the snow, and so Steph and I put Sadie in her snow suit and headed outside to get her exposed to her first snow. As soon as we sat her down she started rubbing and playing in the snow. She loved it!
Here are some pictures of her in the snow, as well as some of the stuff dad's doing with the axes.

 Before and After a Vinegar Bath

 The hatchet Dad's going to teach me on

 Smoothing out the blade before sharpening

Rubbing the snow.

 Her snowman. We made it for her



Crawling, Talking, and a Goat Fence too

Well, as usual, things have been quite busy lately. Sadie had her seven month check up right after New Years, and she weighed 18 pounds 4 ounces. She wasn't very happy that day, so they didn't get to measure her. Trust me though, she's growing up. Pictures from the last few weeks are below. The last two are from Nanny Kate. That girl is a wizard with Instagram. Some of the most beautiful pictures of Sadie have come from Kate.

 I absolutely love this picture. That is Sadie's general demeanor. She's a very happy child. (And yes, that is a Yo Gabba Gabba character in the background. She loves that show. Especially the songs "Party in my Tummy" and "Don't Bite Your Friends.")

She's a flirt too.

Sadie is now crawling, or at least attempting to crawl. She rocks back and forth, gets some momentum going, then moves her hands and knees forward a few steps. Then she falls over and gets cranky. I think it's because she's having to exert too much energy. She's got quite the easy life.

She is also talking up a storm. We have regular conversations, and her ability to communicate is improving rapidly. She's making more sounds like Ba, Da, Pa, and other general noises. And she's responding to us when we talk to her by trying to mimic our sounds. It's really cool to see her grow and develop each day. The toys that she has that play music or light up are of special interest to her, and to us as we watch her figure out how to use them. She is very good at figuring out which buttons to push to get sound, or where to hit her books so they play music. It's not uncommon for her to have a book in her hands while we hear the same song over and over as she figures out what the button does.

Sadie definitely prefers Steph over me, but typically only if she can see Steph or knows that she's in the same room. The bond that Steph and Sadie have with each other is beautiful, and I love watching the two of them together.

I think we're getting close to the point where we're going to have to start baby proofing the house. We'll set her down, look away, and she'll be a foot away from where she was. It's not a huge difference, but enough to make us anxiously await the day that she's all over the house. I'll have to go get some knee pads for her I guess.

On a different note, I posted a while back about building a fence at the farm so we can have goats. Well, after 4 months, I'm happy to say I think we're nearing the end of it. This weekend, since the weather was so nice (72 in January? Really?) we went up to the farm to put a large dent in what was left. We put all the metal stakes in the ground and on Sunday we actually put some fence up. I'm putting pictures below to show you our progress. If you ask me, it looks pretty good for people who were making it up as we went along.

We still have two sides to finish, then put the two gates up and string barbed wire along the top, but I was very pleased with all we got accomplished. Another 2-3 days of good work and we'll be ready to build the shelter for the goats.

After we finished last night, Alan and I took the four wheelers out to look at the property lines. They've broken the dam for their pond to clean it out, and the dam is the only way to get to half of their property. So a few weeks ago we found some old plywood and built a bridge so we could get over there. I hadn't used it yet, but Alan had noticed a lot of traffic across the pond from locals who apparently figured that we couldn't get out there to check on things. So we drove to that side of the property. Sure enough, people were hunting on the land without Alan's permission. While we were out I took a few pictures of a particularly beautiful piece of land at the corner of their property.

Alan, the Four Wheelers, and Maggie.