Flip and Flop

.....................or Chuck and Norris. We still haven't decided. Everybody keeps going back and forth. And for those of you wondering....no, we haven't seen Walker Texas Ranger in years. But the absurdity and the thought of it once it occured to us was so funny that we couldn't pass it up. And then when 2 more showed up it was the perfect fit. They could only be Chuck and Norris..........or, well, maybe Flip and Flop. It's still up in the air.







(the great name debate for these 2)











But, it's been a few very busy, very interesting few days. Oh what I would do to get on here and write everyday just to keep up with all of this stuff!







(evening chores)









Starting with where I left off with the animal farm we have going we then very spontaneously added 2 orphaned baby goats. They were found by one of Mother's coworkers at the county. She and her husband have a goat/sheep ranch and they found these two washed up on the banks of the Concho that runs through their property. Apparently they were victims of the last few storms and flashfloods that came through. They took them in and begin nursing them back to health. In need of a good home they told Mother about them hoping we might want them for the children. It was such perfect timing for us having just gotten Walker, Texas and Ranger. But, ohhhhhhh, the painful responsibility of animals!!!!! We have to freakin get up at 6am every morning and go bottle feed these things!!!! I seriously started doubting the allure of this wildlife by the time the alarm clock went off on the 2nd morning. It's worth it all....I think.....and I really do love being given such opportunities that were only dreams while living in the city. We ignorantly thought we could put them in the backyard with Tigger and Athena and keep them up close to the house for awhile. But, alas, Tigger's prey drive is sooooooo high that all he does is see goat meat. So, they had to go straight to the big pasture. We were a little worried over how the bigger goats would accept them but they adopted them as their own little babies and protect and keep them as part of their herd. The children absolutely love it and the goats have become their responsibility. Grayson and Evye wake at 6 every morning and arm themselves with Off and go out for their daily chores....which now consists of feeding the goats, both bottles and feed, feeding the donkey, feeding the dogs and feeding the cats. Kind of funny. It's a miniature


menagerie.

(feeding babies)











(falling asleep on a full tummy)







We, well....Brad, finally got the big pool set up. Both of us are still marveling over how little that kids need to keep them active and completely and totally content. They have lived out there for days now. Brad got in with everybody and by the end of the day even Garrett had joined in the outdoor water fun. Though Garrison and Grant can stand they are easily thrown off balance by any movement of water therefore making it completely out of the question for Grayson and Evye to keep an eye on. So, unless, an adult is out there they are not allowed even into the backyard. Brad even put locks on the gates since Garrison can open both ends of the yard. Both boys cried and cried about being so left out after having all of the fun they did in the front pool.






















So, we got their round 3 ring pool and set it up on the back porch patio. Still near the older 3 but safely away from the depths of the big pool. They fell in love. It's just the right height for the Little Tikes slide so they now have a water slide in their tiny pool. They love it and live out there. Inevitably though, as soon as the slide went into their pool everybody else was wanting to swim in their tiny little waterhole. It didn't take long for the boys to soon discover that they went much faster on the slide if they had no swimsuit on! So, most of the pics are of one or both boys butt naked having a great old time flying down the slide. And then to top it off Garrison figured out quickly that "bathtime" is much more fun outside with a slide so when told to go get in the bathtub this morning after his haircut he promptly stripped and said, on his way out the door, that he was taking a bath outside. He was brought back in and then given a "proper" bath....much to his dismay.


(Who needs clothes???!!! All it took was taking the life jacket off of Grant for him to strip down too....and then Garrison didn't even bother putting a swimsuit back on when he decided he wanted to try the life jacket out!!!!)



















And, of course, there always has to be 1 or 2 or 10 really big somethings going on in the midst of everyday life......and so it began 2 days ago. We are yet again very much in doubt as to this baby's real due date. All day Tues I began having strong regular contractions, though they were not painful and not growing in intensity. More uncomfortable than most days but not unbearable. Then early in the wee hours Wed morning I woke up to really really bad stomach ache type cramps. I thought it was probably a touch of a stomach virus and that it would pass. But as the night wore on and things got more intense I began to really doubt if this had anything to do with a virus. At one point in there I really started to worry how in the world I'd get Brad to wake up if a baby started to appear since I was on the other end of the house. After a very long painful night I slept for an hour and then woke to get the bottles ready and wake the children for feeding time. I laid on the couch for awhile as Garrison and Grant climbed and played all over me. I could easily tolerate that rather than not knowing where they were and only envisioning all of the crap they were digging into. But, by 9:30 when I finally figured I should make something of the day the contractions came back in full force. They were hard and, though not regular, growing in intensity and length. I crazily and insanely thought that by the time #7 rolled around I'd have a vague clue as to what labor might actually be and when it starts! Not so entirely true, I suppose. It was so bad by noon that I fixed the children an easy lunch and laid down with the little 4. I searched on the web for stuff to get the contractions to stop if this wasn't the real deal and, by that point, I had done everything. I know enough to know what to do but I still can't tell what's real and what's not. The only thing left was laying down and lessening my activity level or having a glass of wine....which the mere thought of brought up visions of puking. As I laid in bed I suddenly remembered that our 1st midwife's due date for me, that she absolutely swore by, was June 12th! I've never given that date a 2nd thought since Dec and laughed at the thought that I could be that far along at the time. In order to pacify me, since I was so stuck on my date being July 26th, she split it with me and charted my date as June 30th....though she continued to say that if I went into labor around the 12th she would not consider it an early baby. I dropped that thought as soon as we switched midwives. But suddenly, as I laid in bed, dealing with horrific contractions, I remembered June 12th. The contractions did eventually die off and I slept for 3 hrs. So, I dismissed it and felt better. But as soon as I got up and around they started back in all of their grandeur. That lasted the entire rest of the day. By last night no one else showed any signs of any kind of stomach stuff so I knew there was probably something more to my little episode. I did sleep all night and only woke to really bad contractions every once in awhile. And then this morning once I got up and around they were back in full force by 7, along with the upset stomach stuff. I took Immodium, worked on staying really hydrated, and finally by noon they had completely disappeared. So, I now am back to no signs or symptoms of anything being even remotely imminent. I don't have a freakin clue. I'm not ready to call Jean since she'll tell me she wants to see me and to come in tomorrow. I figure if it's the real thing we'll know soon enough. But, my gosh, I hope we have another couple of weeks!!! Never did I even consider having baby NOW and nothing is ready! I've spent so much nesting time on house issues and really getting everything like I want it that poor Gavin doesn't have a thing ready.......except for a bed with no bedding. I mean, we're talking like the baby clothes are still up in the attic! And the swing is put together but sitting in the attic also. The swing and stuff can be easily done after he comes but the clothes thing is freakin me out a little. Even the infant carrier is stashed under Garrett's crib still completely taken apart since I was waiting to wash it until about a week before my real due date. I didn't want it getting all dusty sitting around in storage during the hot, dusty, windy days of summer. So, I still have that to wash and put back together. I don't think I've ever been caught more off guard than I am now. But, on the other hand, I really don't think this could possibly be it after having had 2 sonograms revealing the same results. One sonogram gave a due date of July 5th, the other of July 7th. Sonograms can be off by as much as a pound though...translated into being off as much as a month in due date terms. It's not very often that they are but there are those few babies that just have bigger or smaller measurements than those of the average baby for that gestational age. I don't know. It may just be me living in total denial since I am so unprepared. To me, I just expected to go about 1 or 2 wks over my due date of the 7th and was planning on his arrival around the 14th-17th of July. Who knows. I figure we'll just see what happens and, in the meantime, I'll start getting everything really ready. I'm tired of thinking about it. If I start having really bad contractions and then suddenly feel like I need to push we'll know my due date was off by a few weeks. But, I know having now said all of this, that I'll go until at least July 7th and probably on into the 14th or so! Which at this point is not bad. I really don't mind being pregnant for the length of time I thought I was going to be pregnant for. This pregnancy's already been short enough....seeing as how I didn't find out until I was already 1/2 done. This is just a strange pregnancy.

(Loyal loveable Fletch)











And adding to the baby note, it's kind of funny since the ladies of the church approached me last week saying they want to give me a baby shower. They said they know it's our 7th but it's their 1st baby with us as a family and they love having us here so much that they want to give me a shower. So, that date is set for June 30th. It supposedly gave us a week before he arrived! It'd be funny to have to tote him in a carrier to the shower! They want me to register for it and everything. I went to register online and it was kind of funny since I sat for at least 1/2 an hour trying to think of what on earth we possibly need at this point. They asked for the big ticket items for a hostess gift and I was stumped. But, blessedly, the bedding came to mind. We really really do need bedding for the crib and just as the Lord always works I found the exact look I really am going for in the whole seagull colored room. It was amazing since I couldn't even find anything I liked on JC Penny's website. I had just succumbed to the fact I would need to make the bedding. So, this was a huge blessing and I really hope it all works out. But other than that I am kind of at a loss of what to register for. We need a new diaper changing pad and that's about it. So, I just told the ladies that mostly we need stuff like sz 3-6 month summer clothes and then, of course, diapers. Grayson and Garrett were both born in cooler months and then Garrison and Grant never really had newborn summer stuff since they were on the verge of going into fall. So, this baby truly hit the extreme summer heat in a little tiny sz that we don't have. They outgrow the newborn sz so quickly it's not even worth buying so I just requested 3-6 mo summer clothes. Of course, none of those little old women can even grasp the thought of buying a little bigger sz but hopefully they will go ahead and do it so we will have clothes that he doesn't outgrow in 2 wks. I'm excited and thought it was the sweetest thing in the world to have them want to do this. More fun surprises in the way of baby. So, tonight my project is washing baby clothes, finishing registering and coming up with the invitation list. Mother's coming over to wash clothes so after the children are in bed we're staying up to have a party, watch a movie and come up with a list of names and addresses. Pretty fun.