Jennifer's Junky Life ~

Springtime on the Little Farm

We have three goats giving birth this spring. Friday, our second one, Luna, gave birth to three kids. Two females and a male. So our little goat herd of six (three males and three females) is now up to thirteen. The last goat, our littlest Nigerian Dwarf goat, Bella, is expected to give birth within the next day or so. Hers will be the only all Nigerian Dwarf goats. The other two were bred with our half-Nubian, half-Nigerian Dwarf goat, Fergus. Nubians are better known as dairy goats. That's why all of these kids (*ahem* goat kids) you see in the photos have the longer ears, a trademark of the Nubians.

Mark had been hoping to milk one or more of the mamas but it doesn't look like we'll be getting any goat's milk this spring, what with the first having four and the second having three. They'll need all of their milk for their young. The smallest mama goat is just so small that even if she only has one or two, we don't plan to milk her either.

(Charlie, no bigger than a cinder block.)

It's amazing how quickly the baby goats are up on their feet and cruising around. I don't have any pictures of the newest babies yet. Although, one of the females, Coco, was up on her wobbly little legs within about ten minutes and even took off exploring right away. It was pretty funny to watch. And, incidentally, she's the most curious one and even now is the one off by herself checking everything out all the time. The same thing happened with the first batch. We just love Flossy (below), the little black goat - she comes running right up to you when you go out there and we're always watching her off exploring by herself, too. It's so fun watching them hop and prance around. They remind me of frisky little lambs.

These are the kids from the first birth. They're so adorably small! I feel like it's hard to capture just how tiny these little things are. Although, they've already grown in a week!

{Xena, who has four kids vying for nursing rights at any given time. Now, that has to be tiring!}

This has been such a great experience for all of us. The kids got to watch both of the births so far. We're hoping to catch the third, as well. So long as Bella decides to birth during the day like the other two - and not while I'm having my own baby!

One week 'til my due date. Hard to believe it could happen any day. I feel like a ticking time bomb. This time has just flown by! I'm getting a little anxious to be on the other side but taking it as it comes. The hardest part for me is the 'unknown' - I don't know when it will happen and I don't know how it will go. I like to know these things! :) But I know it will happen and I know I can do this. I'm really looking forward to having a precious little baby in the house again. We all can't wait!

Restyle {By Heidi}

I have been posting so intermittently lately that I have neglected to share my sister, Heidi's, new Etsy shop! Check it out for cute upcycled items.

Restyle {by Heidi}

Polka Dot Baby Tee (Upcycled).

80's Inspired Striped Tee.

Birth on the Farm

Birth is in the air around here! Our dog had puppies a couple of months ago and now our Nigerian Dwarf goats are having their kids. The first, Xena, our all black goat, just gave birth today to quads. Two boys and two girls. They came out every other - boy, girl, boy, girl. They are so tiny and so cute! Just a little smaller than a two-liter bottle with long gangly legs, if you'd like a comparison.

The kids and I witnessed the whole thing. I called Mark when the first one was born and he was already on his way home. He made it home in time to see the last two born. It was a really cool experience for all of us. It was the first time we'd witnessed one of our animals give birth. (Our dog gave birth in the night so we missed it.)

We have two other goats expected to give birth in the next week, Luna and Bella. I don't have pictures, although, Mark took some video but I won't have it up because of all the mess. We took it more for ourselves. But I plan to get some pictures in the next few days when they're all cleaned up and fluffy.

As I watched, I was in total awe at how 'easy' it looked for Xena. Those babies pretty much just fell out one after the other - with about 10 to 15 minutes between each one. They literally fell to the ground as she was standing. Quite fascinating for us relatively new hobby farmers.

I couldn't help but reflect on my own impending birth. And watching it all gave me an overall sense of calm. Birth is such a natural and amazing thing. And witnessing how peaceful it is was a great reminder for me that I need to stop this nonsense of feeling anxious.

It's funny, because I do get a little anxious once in awhile but I'm getting much better at squelching those feelings. And much better at feeling calm and confident about it all as the time draws near. And, ultimately, it doesn't matter how I feel now, because once it's 'go time', I always let instinct kick in and somehow or another calm takes over and I go through it all just fine. I completely trust in the process.

In other news, I shared this on Facebook already, but we have our laundry room! Mark hooked up my washer and dryer on Saturday. The room still needs to get painted, although, it's primed. And we need the floors and counters and all that good stuff, too. But for now, it's in operation!

I haven't taken pictures lately so no new photos for this post.

Swimmin' Time!

Okay...maybe not quite yet, but we're making our preparations.

It's recommended that you fill up your inflatable birth pool by 36 weeks but being the procrastinator that I am, I just did it at 37 1/2 weeks. I still need to sanitize it with some Basic G tonight before I tuck it away in a safe place until it's time to use it.

(The air pump was loud!)

It's funny because I just keep laughing. Laughing that I'm finally pregnant again. Laughing that we're having a baby girl. Laughing that my kids get to experience the whole baby thing. Laughing that I get to (try to) do this birth the way I've always wanted to do a birth. I'm having a grand old time with all these notions... I'm so excited for this baby.

But, in reality, as it gets down to the wire, I'm getting a little anxious about giving birth. I'm just doing a really good job of living in denial and squelching those feelings. This little baby is going to come out one way or another and it's easy to start getting caught up in the reality of it. My nerves are kicking in a little bit, as I'm sure every mother/mother-to-be can relate to. I feel mentally prepared to do this (drug free) this time, though, for the most part... I wasn't with my last one.

When I arrived at the hospital to have Carter, I *knew* I was going to have pain meds and when they told me it was too late, it was a really difficult transition to prepare myself to do it without. (I was only there for about 45 minutes before he was born.) On top of being a fast labor (about two hours), it was also a crazy, intense labor with a lot of back pain because he was posterior. He also had the cord wrapped around his neck and wasn't breathing right away and came out in two pushes, in spite of being 9 lbs. 7 oz. And I said I'd never do it drug free again after Abram and Carter. (With Nikayda, I was put on Pitocin and eventually took Stadol.) But here I am, about to attempt a home birth and I'll have little choice once things get going.

("Some" of our windows have trim.) :)

I never thought that those memories of pain would fade but they do and they have. Six years will do that.

But they're coming back real fast as the time closes in. Yet, after worrying that my baby was breech, a couple of weeks ago, I feel a renewed sense of calm about it all. I was so scared that I'd be forced to have a C that it completely changed my perspective. Now I just keep telling myself, I can do this.

(Photo courtesy of my current baby, who is six and a half.)

And I know I can.

Doesn't mean it's going to be a walk in the park but I know I can do it.

Nikayda just told me, with a big grin on her face, "I just can't believe we can have a baby any time. It went by so quick!"

Tell me about it! The past nine months have absolutely flown by and these last couple of weeks are not slowing down for me. We have so much we're trying to get done around here that I keep hoping she doesn't come early... Unlike my other pregnancies where I was so ready by this time.

I've been feeling so good. This has been my best pregnancy (minus the hyperemesis gravidarum in the beginning). I've never felt this good at the end of any of my pregnancies before and I attest that to our life changes over the past five/six years (a relatively clean and healthy diet and frequent visits to the chiro.). The only real issue I've been having is my adrenals. My lower back has been really sore from the weight of my belly pulling on it.

My belly is huge though! I can't wait to see what this little baby weighs. And I can't wait to hold her.

Etsy Favorites :: Calikatrina

As part of Nikayda's birthday gift this year, I had ordered a purple bow headband for her from Etsy. I found it at Calikatrina. It was wrapped so nicely in tissue and aqua yarn when it arrived that I was able to gift it to her the way it came. I liked the little sprinkling of sequins that came with it, too!

Nikayda was thrilled with it, as purple is currently her favorite color. I liked it so much that I've even borrowed it. And after wearing it for a day, I loved it even more. Because of the crocheted nature of the 'band' it stays tied securely in place without any need for readjustment during the day. That was a first for me with headbands! I feel like I'm constantly needing to readjust them throughout the day.

And another thing I love about these ones is that you can slide the bow along the band to get it exactly where you want it once it's on your head. These headbands are all specially designed by Katrina of Calikatrina. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a cute bow accessory!

These little bows also double as bow ties for the little men in your life!

After wearing Nikayda's purple one, I knew we needed some more colors so we ordered the mustard yellow and teal ones. And Katrina, upon stopping in on my blog and seeing that I was expecting, so thoughtfully gifted me two additional colors with my order. (Thank again, Katrina!) It was so nice of her and we just love these. I can't wait to be able to wear them on our little baby girl, as well!

If you're looking for cute headbands/bow ties or equally adorable crocheted baby booties (BUGGS) - check out Calikatrina! And don't forget to stop by her blog while you're at it.

Operation Studio Room :: Phase 1

Mark came home with a bunch of wood cabinets for my basement studio room from a cabin he's been working at tonight. Eventually, this room will be a place to work on arts and crafts and projects - until someday, hopefully, the outdoor studio will be up and running. But I'm sure that'll be years still. There was absolutely no room in there to walk much less set a bunch of cabinets and he had to get the cabinets out of his truck tonight. So we had no choice but to start going through the room.

I've been wanting to purge through all the junk in there for a couple of years but in dealing with the rest of the house, just haven't made it down there. And... it probably had a little something to do with the fact that it just felt really overwhelming to start tackling it!

It's where we've been stashing all the stuff we found junk picking and from runs to the local dump, as well as, garage sale treasures. But my stack of projects had gotten completely out of hand due to all the things we've found that I knew I could pitch about half of it and never miss it. (I stopped buying or picking up new projects about a year and a half ago. for the most part.)

So, tonight, we did just that. And by 'pitch', I mean threw it out the back door in preparation to taking it to the dump. I sorted a few boxes for the thrift and for a (maybe) garage sale. Still undecided on the whole garage sale thing... keeping my mind open to the idea but just not so sure with a new baby this year...

After an hour or two tonight, it now looks like this. Well a little... After I took this, Mark put all the cupboards down there so now you can't walk in there anymore. But it's a start!

I was thrilled to get rid of so much of it. It seriously feels awesome! And now I hope sometime this year to continue to sort through boxes and purge about 50% or more of it. A lot of stuff in the boxes is garage sale finds that I've picked up for the junk shop. Things that are just waiting to be cleaned up and headed for a new home.

For now, I'm really happy with all that we were able to clear out. The backyard is a sight to see though! But at least now I have a better handle on the projects I actually want to get done around here for the things I do want to keep. It feels much more manageable.

And it makes me believe I may actually be able to use this space this year. That would be pretty awesome.

Happy Day of Relief

I almost wasn't able to do my ultrasound today...

We arrived at the hospital right on time and after waiting about 10-15 minutes, when we sat down to register they had no information about my ultrasound on file.

So they sent me back to radiology to talk with them. I was told that they had me down for 9:00 a.m. and since I hadn't shown up, they'd canceled me. I explained that when I'd spoken with the woman on the phone, and she'd asked if 9:00 a.m. would work, I'd told her mornings don't work for us because we homeschool and that I preferred afternoons so she had scheduled me for 1:30 p.m.

But for some reason I wasn't penciled in.

Of course, both the woman I'd spoken to yesterday to set up my appointment and the guy whose email she'd had me send my ultrasound request form to were not in the office at the time... and they didn't have any record of my request form either.

At which point, I was feeling extremely upset and overwhelmed - chalk it up to the stress of thinking my baby is breech and hormones! I needed that ultrasound today for my own peace of mind. It was stressing me out way too much.

Thankfully, the women behind the desk were extremely helpful and were able to track down the guy whose email I'd sent my form to and they got everything straightened out. It took about a half an hour and luckily the kids were (mostly) patient while we waited.

After all that, we got the news we had hoped for, our little girl is head down just as she's supposed to be! It was such a huge relief, I may have even cried when the technician told me.

I also had her confirm that we are indeed having a girl and we are, without a doubt. I was a little teeny bit skeptical after my earlier ultrasound because it was so difficult for me to tell what I was looking at but this time there was no doubt.

Phew... All my shopping isn't going to go to waste. ;) I can't wait to wear all of those little dresses on her.

I had begun to feel so overwhelmed in the past week that it just wasn't worth it to keep waiting. And I feel like a huge weight has been lifted. She's also still measuring right on track for size and due date - in spite of the fact that my belly is out to here! (I'm due April 7th, our 11th wedding anniversary.) Seeing her little feet and hands and profile just makes me feel so antsy to have her here already. But for now, I'm enjoying my full night's sleep that I get each night!

{Little blue eyed Meadow.}

I felt like she was head down but started to have huge doubts after that appointment with my midwife, in spite of the fact that the largest kicks have been in my ribs/top of my belly. So it's just nice to know everything is as it should be.

I don't believe she's flipped at all since that appointment either because those kicks and movements I've been feeling haven't changed at all.

It's funny, sitting in radiology waiting for everything to get squared away, it definitely gave me a moment to put things into perspective as I looked around at the elderly and the other younger, and possibly ill patients waiting. I realized that as much as I was scared and dreading it, a c-section would not be the end of the world. But for me, at this little moment in my life, it was a big deal and I'm thankful for the relief I feel now.

{Photos: These pictures have absolutely nothing to do with this post but I don't have any other recent pictures to share.}

Once Upon a Monday

Today was one of those days... One of those days where I'm 35 weeks pregnant and feeling a little grumpy because I didn't get enough sleep. I don't function well without sleep so this is going to be something having a newborn again! I know the only thing that will get me through the sleep deprivation factor is having a new little being to love and snuggle again.

I had to run errands today so the kids and I ran to the thrift. I didn't find much... A little (Target brand) 18 month size yellow sundress for my baby and some 2T aqua leggings for her, as well. I found three Pyrex mugs for the junk shop. A pair of really cute children's moccasins - trying to decide if I want to hang on to them for years for this little lady or if I should just list them in the shop... And a bunch of vintage plates for us. I've been wanting a few more dinner plates and one of my kids has an affinity for dropping dishes whenever he unloads the dishwasher or gets a plate down for himself so I also found a bunch of the small dessert size plates since our stock of them has greatly dwindled in the past year! (I still need to get a photo of my hutch - the one I said I'd take pictures of last week. I'll try to get that this week along with my thrifty finds.)

We also ran grocery shopping since I didn't get out last week. I'm planning to make pasties this week. (That's pronounced with the short a sound - and they're basically hand pies with meat, potatoes, carrots, onions and rutabaga - for those unfamiliar with them.) I'm hoping to make a huge batch this week so I can freeze them for when the baby comes. They're such a quick and easy supper that way.

I visited with my new midwife at the beginning of last week. She wasn't 100% positive on the position of my baby - which made me feel incredibly apprehensive because it feels to me like she's head down... Admittedly, it made me feel uncertain and nervous that she couldn't tell, too - even though I realize sometimes that can happen when the baby is in a certain position.

Anyway, she wanted me to do an ultrasound to confirm presentation and I was holding off on it but it's making me feel so upset and worried at this point that I finally scheduled it. I need to know for my own peace of mind. (I've never had a breech baby before.) It's scheduled for tomorrow (Tues.). I'm looking forward to knowing either way. If she's breech, then I can decide how aggressive I want to be in getting her to shift into the right position. But I'm really, really hoping I'm all worried and anxious for nothing and she's in the position she's supposed to be in...

For now, I've been continuing with inversions and other exercises from the Spinning Babies website. Here is hoping for the best...! I have a planned outing to the thrift for after the ultrasound. Nothing will be better than a little thrifting therapy after all this!

Photos: New items in the junk shop.

House Update :: Laundry Room

Mark began work on the laundry room this week. I'm really looking forward to being able to use it.

There are no windows in it yet - and it'll be awhile. But we're planning to have a lot of them in there, as well as a window or two between the wall of the laundry room/kitchen to let more light into the kitchen as that west wall has only one window in the kitchen.

I haven't finished filling up my retro mid-century hutch that I have in the kitchen but it's getting there. I hope to have it finished up today and then I'll get a picture up. It's just one of those things that makes me so happy. A dust-free place for all of my vintage dishes!

Our dogs had puppies this winter. Our male Aussie, River, and our female Siberian Husky, Willow. Unfortunately, they were born on the coldest night of the year and in spite of being in one of our little outbuildings with heat, three of them didn't make it.

(Yes, that's the top of a pineapple! Our compost is just to the left of this photo.)

We had originally thought there were only four but in the morning, we found a fifth one that we didn't know about. We were lucky to get Willow, the female, into the building in time for her to give birth. She put up a huge fight being put in there. The dogs use that building for shelter but she didn't like being closed in when it came time to have her puppies. She tore the place apart! I mean, like a wild dog. But we knew it was for her and the puppies own good that they were in a warm place when the time came - and she is not house trained so it wasn't an option to have her in here.

I always knew I wanted at least two dogs, so they would have companionship - but somehow or another we now have three! For now anyway...

Her name is Meadow and she's so cute. She's a good mix of her parents, light colored and has blue-grey eyes.

We had hoped when we went to get Willow and River, respectively, that they each would have had blue eyes but they didn't. There were no blue eyed Huskies and the blue eyed Aussie puppies were already spoken for.

The little male (the brown one) is being picked up tonight and going to a good home. I'm so happy with the family we found for him - I know he'll be in good hands.

I always say I'm not an animal person... and I'm not totally (okay, maybe a little) but I care about all of our animals more than I ever thought I would and I was really worried about sending little puppies out into the world. We wanted to have one litter and now we'll get our dogs fixed this spring/summer.

I can't believe it's Friday already. Another week has flown by. I'm 35 weeks along in my pregnancy. It's really starting to feel like it's getting down to the wire!

Whimsical Junk :: Shop Update

I did a junk shop update today. Finally added some of the upcycled items I had worked on last summer for the craft show I did.

Vintage Ralph Lauren Polo Mugs - Set of 4.

Upcycled Owl Figurine.

Upcycled Framed Doily Art.

Upcycled Antique Iron Tricycle.

Upcycled Mid Century Napkin Holder.

My house is completely upside down right now. All of my projects from the craft show, of which I was left with many, were all in the laundry room. I had to empty it out this week and now I have boxes and clutter everywhere to try to find a place for.

Mark's going to begin work on it soon, though! I'm so excited and really hoping to have it, maybe not finished, but at least in operation by the time the baby arrives - or at least not long afterward.

It will be such a treat to have laundry right off the kitchen after all these years. I love doing laundry but at this stage where I'm 34 weeks, or about 8 months pregnant, it's a big job to try to lug heavy laundry baskets up and down the stairs. I will be appreciating this for a long time to come once it's done.

Last week, I was able to get that mid century modern hutch on Craigslist and I love it! It was a super great deal and it's in the dining area of the kitchen now. I've been wanting one for a long time because I hate dusting, and it shows. It'll be so nice to have all of my dishes behind glass now. I have a few things in there but can't wait to finish filling it. I'll try to get pictures up next week.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!