Gardening, Sourdough, and Mutton Bustin.

Spring has pretty much sprung here in West Texas. Not that winter might not show up for a little while still.
The jalapenos, tomatillos, cayenne, and different varieties of tomatoes that I planted in the house are sprouting. My lettuce and spinach had just barely started peaking out of the ground also, but a certain miniature donkey that resides in our yard helped me with that. I looked out the window today and saw him rolling in my garden bed. So I had a brilliant idea...... put the fence back up around the garden! Genius right? I know, I'm quick like that. All I had to do was move the fence panel back in place and wire it. It took all of 2 minutes, because I had to look around for some wire. We had moved it a few months ago when we were working on our house. So hopefully the plants will make a comeback.

A new friend of mine that I met at retreat this year gave me some sourdough starter a week ago. So far all I have done is make sourdough waffles, and research sourdough. I am hopefully going to get the proceedings started tonight for some bread tomorrow. I was going to do that last night and make bread today, but after getting kiddos bathed and in bed, I forgot.

We are going to a birthday party for my grandad in a few weeks. I am really excited. It will be like a family reunion if everyone that says they are coming actually comes. I will get to meet some of my cousins new babies. Even newer than Dakota babies.

The rodeo is in town in our part of the country. We enjoy going every year. Stephen and I really like going to the smaller ones that they have in the small towns in the area during the summer, but the big one in February is fun also. This year they were having a mutton bustin competition in one of the barns on the fairgrounds. They have kids ride in the rodeo every year, but I never knew how to get Tyrel signed up. Well this year we signed him up at the stockshow, and they said if he got a good time he might get to ride in the rodeo. Well he didn't make a qualifying ride at 2.6 seconds, but he had fun. He told the lady that signed him up "I fell off, but I didn't cry..." She made his day by telling him that was a sign of a true cowboy. I guess I should explain mutton bustin for those of you who may not know what it is. Basically you take a small Tyrel maybe even Kimber sized if they're tough enough child and put them on the back of a woolly sheep. Then let go and see how long they can hang on! Great fun for the whole family. Of course I had left my camera in the pickup, but Stephen's Mom got some pictures on her phone.

using words!

So I guess I just need to decide to WRITE. I can't put pictures on the computer I normally use, and the computer I CAN put pictures on won't let me post anything on Blogger.
That means I have to try and actually articulate. I tend to be a person that spares the details when I talk. Sometimes I can get on a roll and actually talk a lot, but normally, I tell the basics and call it good.

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Ms. Dakota is growing so fast! She will be 3 months old tomorrow. She is fussier than my other babies were. Not really bad, but more than Tyrel or Kimber. She does not seem to care for the Ergo baby carrier. Tyrel and Kimber practically lived in it. Dakota wants to be held, facing the world, and with the person holding her to be standing and preferably walking. She smiles a lot and is starting to laugh. I just love baby laughs. And smiles. :)

Kimber has decided that being potty trained is the way to go again. I made her wear panties for about a week, taking her potty every 30 minutes or so, with lots of 'accidents'. Then she decided it wasn't worth the fight or something, and has had almost no accidents since. Which is still a LOT sooner than Tyrel potty trained. He was a good 3 1/2 before he was.

I got my garden started this week. I planted the cool weather things outside, such as peas, lettuce, spinach and I want to get cucumbers out too. Indoors I started the tomatoes and peppers. I have been reading some on GMO vegetables and such. I decided to try and quit buying corn products. So I am going to grow us some sweet corn, some corn for drying and grinding, and also some popcorn this year. We are praying for a wet, mild spring and summer. This past summer was record breaking hot and dry. The summer I was pregnant with Tyrel it rained a LOT (for here) and I don't think it hit 100* at all that summer. Which is VERY rare, but I'd sure take another summer like that.

Oh yes I guess I haven't told the blogging world some exciting news around here. This is something I really wish I could post pictures for, and when I can I WILL. My little brother Ben is ENGAGED! His betrothed is a sweet young lady whom also is a friend of mine. Back when I was 19 and she was 14 we worked together for some friends of ours, raising baby deer. Now SHE is 19 and engaged to marry my brother! I am excited to have another sister! I have to get my sisters through marriage since all I have is brothers. Congratulations Ben and Paula! Oh yeah, here is a link that my Mom made telling about them, and showing pictures of them growing up. Well of Ben growing up, and Paula now. We still need to get together and scan pictures of Paula growing up to put on there. http://benandpaula.shutterfly.com/

A Poem

Dusting and cleaning can wait til tomorrow,

                                                   For babies grow up

                                        (we've learned to our sorrow)

                       So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep

Cause I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep.

~Autor Unknown to me.

Family Pictures

Yesterday I took advantage of dressing up my family for Thanksgiving to snap some family pictures. I started the day out with a brown skirt on, and Dakota had on brown pants so we matched a little better, but before we took pictures Dakota threw up all over both of us. So we changed.

 My friend Paula took the pictures of all of us. I took the one of just Stephen and the kids, and Stephen took the one of the kids and I.

 I also made the mistake of waiting til after we ate to take pictures. If you look closely you can see food on the kids clothes, and maybe a little on their faces.

 I got the idea for this last picture off of Pinterest. I really like how it turned out. He's such a good Daddy. I'll bet my Grandma will ask for a 8X10 glossy. :)

I've got Thanksgiving pictures to post also. I just don't feel like making another post at the moment. So you can wait. :)

Dakota's Birth

So I think I am actually going to post the whole birth story. I have never done that before because, well even though I enjoy reading other people's birth stories I don't like writing about myself all that much. That's why I post pictures and say so little. So if you are opposed to reading about waters breaking and cervix's and such, you may want to skip this post. :) Just fair warning.



Sitting by the stove enjoying the sunrise.

 So this story would not be complete if I didn't tell you that on the evening of November 10th I got my first deer of the year. Sorry we didn't get any pictures of big ol' pregnant me with the deer. Stephen did most of the gutting of it for me, and then we let it hang all night since it was a cold night. Since I was in labor the next morning my brothers in law skinned it and put it in the fridge for us to process later.


Daddy fixing breakfast

 So I pretty much 'knew' I would have the baby on the 11th. (but I don't put a whole lot of store in what I 'know' about my pregnancies anymore. Because I KNEW I was going to have a boy. Really. I was very surprised (and certainly happy. Yay, my girls with both have a sister.) that Miss Dakota was a girl. But the reason I was so sure of the 11th is because God seems to answer even silly prayers sometimes. See I keep hoping that  one of these years I will get to go with the folks at our church who go on Trek each summer. Where they go backpacking in the mountains for a week. So at the beginning of the year I more just said than 'prayed' that if I was going to get pregnant this year and miss Trek that I hoped the baby would at least have a 'cool' birthday like 11-11-11 or maybe 9-10-11.  So when I found out I was pregnant and the baby would be due Novemberish, I kinda thought it would be then.

So yes. On with the story. I woke up about 2 AM pretty sure that I was in labor. I knew it could be a long day so I laid back down and tried to get some sleep. I couldn't sleep through the contractions, but I slept between them pretty well. When one would start I would look at the clock to see how close together they were. They were between 2 and 5 minutes apart for quite a while. Once when Stephen kinda woke up, I let him know that things had started. Then I texted my Mom to let her know when she woke up. At exactly 4 AM I called my midwife to let her know things were happening. She sounded wide awake. I figured she was just good at sounding awake so people wouldn't feel they were bothering her. Yeah. She had walked in her door and sat on her bed at 3:55 from another birth I found out later. She lives an hour and a half from us, so she said she'd get her stuff together and see us about 6.

When she got there I had given up on trying to get any sleep and was sitting by the wood burning stove in the rocking chair. The contractions were closer together, but still very tolerable. Soon after she got there the kids and Stephen came out and Stephen fixed them some breakfast. I didn't feel like eating so I set about making beds and getting the kids clothes out for the day. After that we just kind of hung out for a while with the kids bouncing around and being excited because someone was at our house. We told them why Miss Carol was there but I don't think they really understood that the baby would be there that day. For them to see. Since we seemed to be doing fine, Carol asked if we would mind if she went to take a nap. This was when she told us that she'd been up all night at another birth.  We called my MIL next door and she came and got the kids so the house would be quiet enough for Carol to sleep.

While Carol napped Stephen and I stood in the living room and watched birds fly around in the wheat field. We joked alot, and I kept saying this was the most tolerable labor I'd had so far. Not fun by any means, but certainly not hard. About 10:45 after Carol got up, she said she wanted to 'check' me. I was not as far along as we had expected. I was dilated to a 5 and the baby was 'right there'. The problem was that my cervix was tilted way to the back and was no longer dilating because the baby wasn't 'on' it. Sooo. Carol had to pull it forward, which wasn't pleasant. The very next contraction...wow. It was no longer the most tolerable labor ever. It may have been my hardest one from that point. All day Stephen and I had been texting back and forth with my brothers, my mom and some friends. Not long after this I sent out a text asking them to pray for me because it was getting HARD. Like, if I had been in a hospital I probably would have asked for drugs.


First family picture with Dakota

 So yeah, it stayed like that...and got more intense up until a little before 1:20 when I was finally complete and could push. With Tyrel and Kimber the pushing was a relief and didn't seem all that bad compared to right beforehand. This time it was just as bad as the contractions. Dakota was not in the most optimal position to come out. She was turned funny. She shoulders were actually harder to get out than the head because she wouldn't turn like she was supposed to. So then she was born and all was well. Only we didn't have a girl name picked out. We had narrowed it down to 'my pick' and Stephen's pick. I told Stephen I liked 'his' name and wrote out several middle names and asked him which he liked. He barely glanced at it and said 'Dakota Rose'. So then we had a name (this was a few hours later). Tyrel and Kimber adore her.


Fresh Baby!



Oh and Stephen has been 'Super-Dad and Husband' ever since then. With Tyrel and Kimber my Mom was here and so afterwards there wasn't a whole lot for him to have to do. This time he has been dressing, feeding, bathing kids. A lot of times with Dakota on his arm or in the sling. He has been doing dishes and laundry and general clean up like a pro. I am glad I am getting to where I can help out SOME and will soon be able to take back over MY work. I feel bad with him going to work and doing all the house stuff, but he keeps telling me he doesn't mind and to just get better and not to push it getting back into the swing of things.

*Carol took all the pictures except for the family picture, which my MIL took.

It's a Girl!!

Sorry I can't get pictures to load!! I will keep trying. But her name is Dakota Rose. She was 8lbs. 5.5oz. 20 1/2 inches.
Yes she was born on 11-11-11, at 1:20PM. Mama and Baby are both doing well. I'll post more with pictures when I can.

What Country Folk Do For Fun

So what is something our little family likes to do for fun in the evenings when Daddy gets home?

Rope kiddos of course! Good clean fun for the whole family.

 See the rope closing around her waist?

 Don't worry, Daddy's really gentle with them.

 And the kids have lots of fun.

 Daddy's a fair hand at roping.

 But even sometimes Tyrel has to ask 'What was that?'

Run Kimber Run!

 On the baby front, my due date has come and gone (November 4th) with no signs of labor. So I'm hoping we hold out for 11-11-11.