Love this boy!

Seriously love this baby of mine!
I can't believe he's almost 10 months old.

Meet our Chickens:

(Here you go Liz...)
 
See our chicks: 

See our chicks eat:

See our chicks get named Glint, Sunshine, 
Snow White, Molly, Alice, and Belle:

See our chicks learn to roost:

See our chicks play outside:

See our chicks sleep:

See our chicks attempt escape:

See our chicks grow:

See our chicks move to the garage in their fancy two room brooder:

See our chicks segregate (and squish...they did have two roosting sticks at their disposal!):

See the beginnings of our chicken coop:

See our (almost completed) stylin' coop:

See our fence being dismantled to allow our chicken coop through:

See the men who made it all happen:

See how sturdy this thing is:

See how happy these wives are to have their husbands back after hours and hours and hours of late night building:

See how happy I am to have my coop in place:

See the fence getting put back together:

See how happy the chickens make Luke:

See how happy it makes our free-range chickens to be out pecking around in our backyard:

The End.


some footnotes for those who care:

"What the heck, you got chickens?!"  Yes, I know.  Most things I do seem a little crazy to me too.  I kind of became obsessed after our visit with Hunts; spent about a month reading every single thing I could about raising chickens, and then we just decided to go for it.

"Why?"  Well, the attempt to become just a little bit more self-sustainable was a big part of it.  The cost of keeping chickens will pretty much equal the cost of buying eggs for our family.  Plus, they eat all our table scraps, eat the bugs in our yard, fertilize our yard, not to mention give us delicious eggs (just a couple more months!!).  Also, the kids have been begging for a pet for many years, and for some odd reason, I could finally agree to a pet that was giving me something in return, and that stayed outside!  We also eat a lot of eggs.  And after watching Food Inc. and tasting what fresh eggs taste like, I don't have much interest in store bought eggs anymore.  They recently passed some legislation in our area to make it easier for city dwellers to have backyard chickens.  There are even a couple of other families in our neighborhood who have some.  Plus, Andrew and I decided that 'We just weren't weird enough!'. (I know some of you may disagree!)

"What kind do you have?"  The yellow ones are Buff Orpingtons, the black with white wing tip (chicks)/black & white chickens are Barred Rocks, and the all black ones are Australorps.

"Don't you need a rooster?" and other egg questions:  Chickens naturally lay about 1 egg every day or two.  A rooster is needed if you want a fertilized egg, and only fertilized eggs can grow into chicks, but a rooster is not needed for a chicken to lay an egg.  The chickens will start laying eggs at around 5 months, which means early fall for us.      

Praise

It is most often me who writes on this blog, and the subject matter typically consists of some sort of anecdote about one of the four little people I live with.  I mean, isn't that sort of an unwritten rule of motherhood?  

"Have blog...have kids...post on blog about all the funny/crazy/unbelievable (good & bad) things your kids think/do/say."  

And so I don't always take the time to write about the man in my life.  Which is kind of crazy, because he is so much a part of my life that I sort of don't remember that much about my life before he was in it.  I guess it's not that surprising when you consider that my entire universe has revolved around this man for the last 17 years.  So indulge me for a minute while I get a bit emotional about the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.

Andrew has always been one of the most hardworking people I have ever known.  My dad is that way too, and it's always been something important to me.  Andrew is never satisfied with mediocrity.  He is always striving to learn more, do more, be more to achieve his goals.  And he sets his goals HIGH.  Sometimes I tease him or even complain about how he's constantly working on something new, but really, I am just so impressed and thankful that he won't settle for anything less than the very best for himself and for his family.  His goals are never just about him and what he wants, they are always centered on what will help our family to be stronger and grow closer together.  So I was really proud of him when I found out that he was being recognized as

one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in Utah.  

  It was nice for him to be recognized in the business world for the hard work that he does there, but I realized that if he were to be recognized for all the hard work he does within our family, I would have to come up with a lot more awards for him.  Because to be honest, "best daddy ever" and "most incredible husband I could ever ask for" might not make it on a vSpring press release, but they are the most important awards to me. 

 

The kids don't know anything about the v100 list (although they could probably explain to you what entrepreneur means), but they do know that their dad reads to them for about an hour almost every single night, even though he usually has to go back to work once they're in bed.  They also know that they have a dad who is a good listener, who is very fair, who's able to put himself in their position and really tries to understand where they're coming from, and who will patiently take over when their mom has obviously had it.  They know that their dad works really hard, but it's okay with them because he will work alongside them, and there will always be plenty of time spent relaxing and having fun together when the work is done.  They also know that they can ask him anything, and he will always do his best to answer their questions honestly, no matter what.  Seriously, I married him knowing that he would be great with kids, but even I am surprised at what an unbelievably incredible father he really is!  For that, and much, much more, we award Andrew the "best daddy ever" award!     

There are a million little things and several hundred big, huge things that Andrew has done for me, that it seems almost ridiculous to try and list any of them.  Maybe we should just start with Sunday as our example.  The day that is set aside to honor these great husbands and fathers in our lives.  The day when dads are supposed to get pampered and waited on and shown how much we care.  And I had plans to do all this, when an unusual night with a crying baby took me by surprise.  After a cumulative one hour of sleep, I groggily stumbled around the house and somehow managed to make it to church and live through church, only to come home and collapse for the rest of the day in bed.  I awoke to a dinner that he had prepared and questions about how I was doing.  And I couldn't even make it up to him then, by doing the dishes (thanks Esther!) or rubbing his feet, because when I woke up it was to fever and chills and the realization that I was really sick.  So I went right back to bed, and without one word of complaint, that was his father's day.

Or maybe I could talk about my recent obsession with chickens (more to come on that later), and how Andrew has had to spend what little free time he has had over the last couple of months building me a chicken coop.  As the other family members who were dragged into this can attest, it was A LOT of work, and it was all because I wanted it.  Unfortunately, there are several examples just like this--projects that I request, that I say I'll do myself, that he somehow always gets dreadfully dragged into.  Like my painting obsession when we moved here.  He warned me how much work it would be, and how he didn't really think it was necessary to paint the house.  But I insisted that I could do it myself; that he wouldn't have to do anything.  Until halfway through, when I was so sick of painting I felt literally sick.  And he stepped in with his tall self and his strong arms and made that job seem like the easiest thing ever, partly because he finished most of it for me when I wasn't even home.

I could also tell you about the best mother's day present I have ever received, given to me last month, when Andrew did the dishes (every single dish, even from breakfast and lunch) every single day for the entire month.  Maybe I should just say that one more time, because it fills me with so much joy.  Andrew washed every dish every night for every day in May.  It was beautiful.  I better not even begin going into the hours he has spent supporting me and taking care of the kids while I have attended births, taught childbirth classes, or gone running, because I'd never finish this.  But I'll just say, there have been too many to count.  Way too many.  I could also tell you about how truly forgiving he is, how much he honestly wants me to be happy, how good his heart is, how hard he is always working to be a better person, how perfect his personality balances mine.  I have been crazy in love with him for a really long time, but when you are 16, you just don't realize how your heart will still flutter when your husband is walking the halls with your crying baby, or patiently, kindly teaching your son about right and wrong, or giving your daughter a huge hug and telling her how beautiful she is while her eyes light up with joy.  But no matter what I say, the words could never come close to describing the reality.  And so, I will just say, for these reasons and more, I award Andrew the "most incredible husband I could ever ask for" award!  

I am a lucky, lucky girl.

 I love you honey.  With all my heart.  bff&ea

Free Pregnancy Class

Teaching childbirth classes and working as a doula has given me the wonderful opportunity to work with many women at the end of their pregnancy.  However, I have found that many women have wished that they had the opportunity to learn more about their options earlier in their pregnancy, or even before they became pregnant.  This is why I have decided to start teaching a pregnancy class for women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant soon and would like to learn more about:

*nutrition & exercise during pregnancy
*ways to ease pregnancy discomforts
*how to choose the right care provider
*deciding where to give birth
*which childbirth classes to take & when to take them
*ways to prepare for a positive birth experience
*and more!

I plan to teach this class every few months, but the first one will be held this Saturday.  The class is free, but space is limited, so email me if you'd like more information.