Baby Shower

I don't have very many pictures from the shower yet. Being that I am generally the resident photographer and I was busy, there weren't many taken with my camera. I had two other people there taking pictures and I will post them as soon as I get them back. Here is what I do have:





Let me explain the goat...My dear friend Lisa was at a goat show the morning of the shower. I really wanted her to come to my shower and I think she knew that. She came straight from the show where she had purchased a 6 week old baby goat named Crash. So Lisa and Crash, crashed my shower. Crash stayed in his kennel in the garage while Lisa enjoyed the shower. It was a lot of fun to have Lisa here for the shower and the kids LOVED Crash! Lisa changed the goat's name but for the life of me I can't remember what she changed it to. Maybe she'll post a comment with his new name...hint hint Lisa...

A view from my desk

I decided today that I wanted a better view than my neighbors ugly side of the house. I bought a bird feeder and Rudy and Katlyn installed it for me. I can't wait to see some birds eating from it and I hope those nasty crows stay away!

The Bullet

Katlyn found a very unusual egg at the ranch today. She calls it "The Bullet". Observe

Update on Baby Gabriel

Twenty Eight days ago I posted about our baby chain. Read that post here. At that time I was 77 days from my due date of May 14th and we had made a baby chain to help us count down the days. Well we've got just 49 days to go and as my due date approaches Gabriel is giving us some troubles.




Last night I went to the hospital thinking I might have a tear in my amniotic sac. Turns out I've got an infection and that can mimic amniotic fluid. The infection is easily treatable and I should be fine in a few days. While at the hospital however they monitored me and determined I was having contractions. They aren't strong but they were coming frequently enough that it warranted a shot of terbutaline and an hour of monitoring. The contractions stopped and I got to come home.

Today however he's started up again and through the evening I am having contractions again. I'm timing them now to see how far apart they are and what triggers or calms them. If they haven't subsided in the next 2 hours we'll be heading back to the hospital hopefully for a shot and some more monitoring and then back home. Because I'm only 33 weeks they'd try to delay birth at least another week. I'll keep you posted. Here is a picture of me taken today. I know, I'm HUGE!!! I feel like it anyway.

HOT WHEELS!!!!

Well, in light of Easter and Matthew getting more Hot Wheels in his basket, we diceided to collect and count all the Hot Wheels in his collection. We counted 78 cars. How does a collection get so big so fast? Well, our grocery store's toy aisle has a section of Hot Wheels and they are $1.08 each. I can't pass that up so everytime I go I bring 2 home. Its gotten so bad now that he asks me right when I walk through the door, "What did you bring me?". And if I only give him one he asks where the other one is. Here is a photo of his collection:

Our weekend project

Katlyn decided Friday evening that she wanted to do a puzzle that she got for Chirstmas. We began after dinner and on the first evening got the entire outside edge done. This is a 500 piece puzzle, the biggest we've tried so far as a family.



Midway through Saturday afternoon we had lost Lori to boredom and Katlyn was fading fast but we got some more done. By Sunday morning the cats were finished and we had all the flowers done.



We finished the puzzle late Sunday afternoon. Katlyn gave up early Sunday morning and Devi lost interest that afternoon. I ended up doing all the purple flowers by myself. It was fun but frustrated me a little because we got it all together and there were four pieces missing.

Here is the finished product:

Ay Chihuahua!

We are dogsitting for our lovely neighbors Yolanda and Rolanda while they are visiting family for Easter. Zina is an adorable little chihuahua with all the spunk in the world and energy to burn! We always enjoy having her and this time is no exception. We began noticing that she never just lays on the couch. She gets on the couch don't get me wrong but she'll never lay down and sleep on the couch. Check this out:

Easter Fun

We woke up Easter morning and the kids opened their baskets


Then I made the kids some easter egg dipper pancakes

How my kids got their names...

Devi Anna is so named because in high school I was at a play and the main characters daughter's name was Devi. I said to my friend then and there that my first daughter's name would be Devi It was originally going to be Devi Marina but at the last minute we decided on Anna which made her initalis DAD.

Katlyn Marie was picked because we liked the sound of the name Katlyn and Marie is Rudy's grandmother on his mom's side.

Lori Danielle, Lori is short for my middle name Loraine and Danielle was picked by her sisters and we liked it.

Matthew Thomas, we knew if we ever had a boy any of the three times we had girls first that we really liked the name Matthew. Thomas was my father's name. He died when I was 19.

Gabriel Lorenzo, which is the baby coming in May is Gabriel because its a bible name like Matthew and Lorenzo is Rudy's grandfather on his dad's side.

We got them planted. I am a bit concerned about the slope of the yard but I think we'll be ok.

Easter Eggs

Part of Katlyn's job on the horse ranch is to assist Susan in finding the chicken's eggs. Today we decided to bring a dozen of the eggs home. I am not sure what kind of chicken's they are but they lay the prettiest colored eggs.

Our bulb garden

I am planting some tulips, bells and windflowers. Tonight we dug out the plot and put in some posts to keep the kids and dogs out. Here is a photo:

Park Day Egg Hunt

Today was our Park Day Egg Hunt. We had a lot of fun and were thrilled at the turn out! Here are some pictures.

He finally did it...

Back in January I posted about Rudy and his new Grizzly Adams look. See that post here . Well, I am thrilled to report that TODAY, he finally shaved it all off. He says he is getting ready for summer. I am so happy I can't even being to describe it. I had really missed kissing him. He would not let me take a picture but I'll try to sneak one in the next few days.

Making ready

I am 31 weeks today. Rudy assembled the crib. Scary how fast its going now. Here's a photo.

Katlyn Goes Western

At this week's lesson Katlyn got to try out a Western Saddle. She said she liked the English saddle better because it was more comfortable. Its also the first time she mounted the horse without the steps.

A Horse Named Abby

So today Katlyn went to her first horse show with her riding instructor. Katlyn did not ride today but she was there to help out with the horses. Susan, the instructor was showing a horse and she also had another student riding today. Katlyn's main job was to watch Abby, the instructor's horse, while the instructor was coaching the other student in the arena. Sounds simple right?

Poor Katlyn! Abby has not been herself lately. We think the wind gets her a little spooked. She is a very calm horse AND Katlyn knows all the rules for handling these horses safely so we weren't worried about Katlyn's safety. While the instructor was away and Abby was tied to the trailer, all Katlyn needed to do was keep Abby calm. Being tied to the trailer was appaerntly NOT what Abby had in mind. She jerked her head, pulled free from the now broken halter she was wearing and headed, untied, to the arena. Katlyn kept her cool, helped some other ranch hands catch Abby, borrowed a halter from another family and walked Abby around the warm-up arena until she had calmed back down. She then tied Abby back to the trailer and waited for the instructor to return!

In the process of all this she got her toe stepped on but was uninjured because she was wearing her work boots. Here is a picture of Abby and the instructor in the arena.