Merry Xmas!

Quickie post: Our 1st Xmas w/the kids and new doggie was great, we had plenty of friends and family stop by the house all week ;p), we truly are blessed is all I can say; sometimes my heart aches w/happiness b/c it all seems so wonderful with 2 easy babies, JOY is all I can say.

Life cycles

We hear the saying "life cycles" many times and it's cycling pretty fast here at home. Breeze's EPM came back with full force and made her life unbearable so we made the toughest decision you could make and laid her to rest November 20th. Such a beautiful horse and her baby was 2d shy of her 5m b-day. Pangea is doing well and we're building our relationship even more so now that her mom is gone. Our new hound is doing wonderful, I cannot believe there is any kinder or gentler animal on earth than this hound. We focus on the goodness of his entering our lives and not the past and are blessed to have him. No we don't have a name yet, still working on that but he will definitely have one by Xmas. The twins are good, Sam is catching up to Nia in height, almost the same, and both love the exersaucer. Ok, better run and get some laundry done, that machine runs 3 cycles every day! It's either buy more clothes or launder the few we have? My theory - they grow so fast so buy less clothes and more detergent.

mini-post

Pix of Halloween w/the kids in full onesie costumes thanks to Dennis' sister ;p)))Nia is rolling over and over and Sam is babbling away. I'll post more this week and start doing more mini-posts b/c I seem to forget all the new things they are doing, it is so much fun being a mom, I am so thankful my path is so wonderful. Oh and we have a new dog too! Stray hound, long story but he has 3 legs now, but very happy and healthy.

Tooth fairy is on her way!

Where did September go? and the summer? I find myself saying this question quite often these days because I can't believe it's fall already. I started this blog in the fall last year and I remember the cool mornings and smell of moist earth with leaves slowly decaying..oh memories! Well we have new ones to add on and the big one is a tooth for Nia, she has a white dot on her lower gum and fussed for a few days. I noticed it 9/30 when she was screaming in pain, poor thing, well, the worst is over for that little tooth, for now. Hope they get all of their teeth soon, how exciting!
Sam is growing, almost 9lbs and Nia is 13.5, both eat and sleep as they should ;p)and Sam gave us his first giggle tonite, it was right after I made a spooky Halloween noise. Maybe Halloween will be his favorite holiday?

New Pangea pix!

Mini post w/new pix of little Pangea at 9 weeks old, she's a beauty and very feminine w/long lashes, I'll post a close up this week of the family.

Life's little surprises and the Tazmanian Devil

Where has the time gone? I can't believe they are now 10 weeks old! Pix above is of Nia Sam and their cousin Theo, he's a month and a half older and cute as a button! Nia has outgrown most of her NB clothes and Sam fits perfectly in his NB! They received so many wonderful gifts at their baby shower in PA and gifts here in VA that they have PLENTY of clothes to grow into. Now the shots, their first vaccines(2) went great for them, no side effects, but me, well I'm pretty tough but to see them put this huge neeedle into their sweet innocent perfect skin made me shudder, I know each month we will do the same (spreading out the vaccines) but as this is our first time we had no expectation. They each got a Tasmanian Devil band aid to cover their 2 new red dots, how appropriate for surpassing their first challenge.

A few days ago Nia started to push up on her feet to stand, I was shocked, could this be happening already? It's the beginning stages of child proofing to me, well, emotional child proofing b/c it will be many months before we get there. Sam is rolling over and has the strength in his hands and legs to get out of any swaddle (even the kidopotommus!). Pangea is doing great, just as pretty and sweet as any 9w old filly. Learning the basics of walking quietly beside mom, halting, and picking up her feet. Breeze is gaining back her weight lost from delivery and her eyes are much brighter. Arionna will be leaving the farm next Monday, and hopefully Breeze will be joining her in December. I've started riding again, been on a handful of times and it's been wonderful & refreshing to get out and return to "my hobby", oh and starting to paint again too, how soothing as well.

Dennis is great, such a "hands on" dad. I can't wait til they start eating "blended big people food", he was a chef and I'm sure these kids will have a worldly palate by the time they are 2! Sleep, well, he does the night shift, bless his heart, 11-6and I do the day 6-1, we share the afternoon duties and try to get the bills paid and errands done before dinner. They're sleeping between 3-6h at a time but nothing consistent yet, so until then we'll cont. our schedule for 2 more weeks then hopefully by then they will be solid 4h sleepers ;p)))

The cats and pups are good, Poncho is getting around well for a 15y old pug, eats fabulously and Gracie still runs around at the barn every day. The cats seems to love hanging around the front porch at night. Most evenings we'll sit outside before dinner and they'll gaze up at us w/sleepy eyes as the cool breeze of fall drifts by & creates waves through their summer coats. 2 days ago I opened the back door in the early morning to let Gracie outside and a huge poplar leaf, brown and dried, startled and greeted us as we welcomed in the morning air. What a nice surprise, fall is here.

Swaddling, movies & rising singers!

I can't believe it's the end of July, seems like the twins just got here and I was pregnant for only a blink of an eye! They are now in their 6th week and growing, yes, like weeds. Nia is 8.3lbs and Sam is 5.5lbs and both have developed fabulous vocal chords that will enable them to sing in any musical genre; Nia also has the stance of a tyical drummer, arms open and feet constantly on the go. Our local firetruck, and cat begging for dinner have no competetion w/these 2. Honestly I must say they are very good babies, they never cry unless they are hungry or have a soiled diaper. Bless them!!
I saw them smile 2d ago (not sleep induced smiles) but real smiles! How sweet is that, and both can be Houdini w/my swaddling. Dennis is the king of swaddling, he spent many conversations w/the nurses getting secret tips on mastering his technique. I just thought he was visiting the babies while I was recovering!! Both of our children see his hands coming and know they will be soothed in seconds by his newly acquired skills, mom, well, I'll just pick them up and delay their sleep, but I'm working my arm muscle's so I see some benefit in both of our needs.
We videotaped our first segment for the kids Saturday, it was of their dad playing guitar w/his old band "Johnny Sportcoat and the Casuals". The all day festival was in promotion of a movie "Live From The Hook" that Dennis is in dating the 70's and 80's local music scene in Cville. In the pix above, he was up for 3d and had baby duty at night, no guitar practice, and was able to play; it does come from the heart but sleep is key, bless him for playing for me. Dennis is so enormously talented but very modest, hope our kids will be the same, can't wait to see what instrument they choose to play when they get older ;p))) or what horse/pony they will be riding ;p)))

Pangea is here!

Finally I went out to see Breeze's new baby; She was born 6/22/08 at 10:40PM, bay w/a blaze. A little bold filly who leads in front of mom, LOL! She's very light on her feet, looked like a ballerina dancing across the field! The other 2 kids are great, eating and sleeping and have been to Dr. twice in 2 weeks.

Pix of Sam and Nia!

It was a long road! Week in hospital (got severe pre-e)and whew..BUT they are healthy and happy, 10 fingers and 10 toes; Sam is smaller, 3.15 and she's 6.9, both are still in hospital, to gain weight (Sam) and have a bit of jaundice (Nia), common but one should be home this week with us!

2 Weeks to go!!

Quick drive by here: Yep, 2 weeks to go and finally we get to meet these little ones!!
Breeze has about the same time, maybe more, she's not showing signs yet, but you never know! Another foal from the same sire just arrived and I'll try to post her pix too, lots of chrome on that filly!

Breeze pix, she's due 6/23/08

Quick post here of Breeze and her pregnancy. She looks great and next week, shots, bath, pull mane and then moving her to broodmare stall w/turnout the week after, how exciting!! I'm good too, little chest cough and cold driving me bananas so I'm resting off and on throughout the day (sure helps with ankle swelling!)next week we find out how close we are to delivery!!

Finally getting there!

Below is pix of me at 32.5 weeks and 2 of nursery that is not there yet BUT few things to go up, like pix, lamps, rug, gliders, etc.the list goes on! The house is still under remod; master br getting new closets, window and a bathroom door (long story) and floors just got sanded and stained today; and deck is also coming along nicely. I cannot wait until it's all done so we can enjoy a few weeks b4 the little ones arrive!

Dr. visit went well today, gained 28 lbs and measure 38+ wks, girl is still bigger than boy but he's getting closer as the weeks pass us by.

Pix of twins FINALLY!

Sorry for the delay in baby pix but this is as good as it gets; the girl is growing a bit faster than the boy (naturally right- we mature faster eh?); we go in for our growth check on May 5th to see if he's caught up, have faith in him, he has alot to live up to in this house. Breeze is well, re-check in a week and at end of next month she will prob, start staying in her "Broodmare stall" large enough for foaling and a private turnout, sweet!!

We Have a Name!

Well one of the herd has left and now we are down to 2 in the paddock; Sierra has moved to another farm to be w/her daughter Avalon. I know Breeze misses her buddy but she loyally follows Arionna to greener pastures down the hill (she would NEVER go first) yet STILL bosses her around in the upper pasture, oh the hierarchy of equines! The foal is developing and Breeze is getting her broodmare vaccines as each month passes, we are on schedule for a June foal and h/she will be named Pangaea, (there are several spellings but I like this one for now). I am well, getting big, and putting on my barn boots & sox is a bit trying at this point, LOL, only 10-11 weeks to go; the pix was a quickie w/my cell phone so of course my eyes are closed, LOL; we are now registered for b.feeding and labor/deliv.tour of hospital biz. next month, wow, almost there!!

Inching towards our goal......

Fortunately the medicine for EPM worked for Breeze's front leg, but the back has started to drag again, we had a good week of her picking up her back toe; but now she's wearing down her toe but has shown a def. improvement since first diagnosis. So we start meds once again and hope this treatment will move us up a few steps ;p) Oh the irony of baby steps!
Arionna is well but the good and bad is that I got to put them back in their old paddock with lots of grass but Arionna is low on the pecking order so she gets pushed out in bad weather and gets last dibs on hay. Sierra is THRILLED her old buddy Breeze is back! Now she can boss her around again, oh the life of a mare, LOL.
I'm doing great, starting to find balance issues creeping in as of late last week. Was helping a friend clean up her horse's feet and I was squatting like I normally do but the new bump set me off a bit and like humpty dumpty I rolled over backwards in slow motion and we were in tears for several minutes. I was talking to Kathy through Hopi's legs and I saw her just disappear in seconds, quite humorous and location humor at best.

Good news!

Good news all around Breezes EPM is better, she no longer drags her front toe and is picking up her back foot much better! Stifles have less fluid and her eyes even look brighter! YEAHH!! I was worried b/c she's in foal and the weight on her joints will increase so getting her joints and EPM under control now is wonderful, I see shining stars in her future. Arionna has the best winter coat (see pix bottom right), every year it gets thicker and I know she keep very warm, so I don't worry too much when it gets super cold here.


Speaking of cold, Gracie and Poncho got their winter coats a bit late this year, BUT they were on sale and I got a great deal, pix above, Poncho was so warm in his new jacket, he gets cold easily, 15 this year and the horsey blanket is a thick fleece, such a good boy! Gracie is still limping but we are trying a new supplement (for both pups) so we can limit use of Deramaxx which is hard on their organs > on her last b/w (Nov.) her liver values were on the high end of normal. Since Buddy left us we are more cautious than b4 w/them, she's 11 this year so we gotta keep our guy and gal going!

More on the cats at next post, they are a unique menagerie of felines, love all 4 dearly!!

As for the other pregnant mom, we have great news too; we are having a boy and a girl! Our wishes have come true, 10 fingers and 10 toes, that's all we really wanted! Sometimes I pinch myself b/c it seems so unreal. I'm def. starting to show ALOT and will post a pix soon. Starting to clean out the nursery room this weekend, we have so much paint left over from LR/K, lots of yellow so we may end up w/yellow and a blue stripe or who knows what we end up with!!

We are still here, "life" happened to us!

Wow, it has been forever since I've posted, alot has happened to our family including the furry ones. It has been a mild winter here with only a few super cold days but not too bad for typical VA weather. Lots of good and very sad news to report; first the good news, Dennis and I are expecting twins in June/July (never know w/multiples) but I'm thinking mid-June. We have had lots of good Dr. visits and in 2 weeks we will find out the genders of our twinkies. I feel great but have yet to do ANYTHING w/the nursery til we find out the color selections, LOL.

Now the sad news, our dog Buddy passed away, as many of you already know (his pix is on the site here-2 of them) he came to us w/may challenges 9y ago and we overcame them all together. Unfortunately one we didn't know of was a deadly tumor which took him very quickly from us. Every day is very hard and the house will never be the same w/o him, it's been a month and I still can't believe it's real. This seems worse than losing my dad 9y ago.

Other sad news, geesh, I know, will it ever end, is that my pregnant mare Breeze has developed a neuro disorder(not genetic) that is manageable to a point but not cureable, it's called EPM (equine protozoal myeloencephalitis) she drags her back toe and front toe but is fine otherwise. She's on pricey meds for a 28d treatment and vet will re-evaluate her in 2weeks. Still reading up on this disease (fairly new) and we hope to see her stop dragging that hind foot soon. Good news is that her appetite and attitude are both fine. Arionna looks fab!! She has a great weight and her winter coat is just beautiful!

So as you've been reading this I've been a bit busy w/the preg. then a bad virus, then my poor best friend passes then horse is diagnosed w/EPM..hmmm..I'm ready for some good news!! Looks like it will be here in 2 weeks!!!