MommyCoddle

And then there were three, and a video

So apparently May was listening because when we woke up yesterday morning and went out to do chores she was already in labor. Emma came in to tell me things were happening and by the time I got out, a huge white lamb was on the ground being licked and cared for by its mama.

I have to admit, waking up to Penny’s lambs, was kind of a gift for this “nervous about everything” amateur sheep farmer. So when Emma came in this morning to tell me May was starting, I was feeling a little tense.

But like so many people have reminded me through this whole thing, you must let nature take its course and trust the sheep’s instincts.

The girls have named the big boy Merle. And he is just as big as Pete and Paige, even though they have several days jump on him.

Now the fun stuff begins. Today the sun was shining into the front of the shed, so we gave Pete and Paige a little taste of life outside the lambing pen before locking them back in for the night.

Most of all, I love how quickly they go scampering back at the first hint of their mama’s muffled baa. And I couldn’t leave them without capturing a few moments of our day on video. Hope you enjoy stepping inside the sheep barn to catch a glimpse of Pete and Paige, and their good mama, Penny.

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Woodlawn

Woodlawn // weekend late nights

*It’s official! I made the switch this weekend to my new blog design and platform. Plus side, I love it, down side, everyone who is subscribed will have to re-subscribe because the feeds have changed. So please, please, take a moment and update your feed. You can grab it from the sidebar, or if you prefer, scroll down the page and sign up for email updates in your inbox, my personal preference. And if you were already an email subscriber, no worries, you should still be fine!*

Dan is pulling a late night at Woodlawn tonight. We just got home from taking him dinner, which he eats standing up, and in tonight’s case, straight from the pot. I’m getting pretty good at portable meals.

Tonight he is waxing our kitchen floors. We went with Armstrong VCT tile–a commercial grade tile that comes in just about every color you can imagine. It’s durable, long-lasting, easy to care for and is incredibly budget-friendly. Not only that, it was important to me that the kitchen floors kept that “old farmhouse kitchen” charm. We looked at lots of options and this one was definitely the best fit.

But tonight it requires three coats of wax with 30-minute drying periods in between. And then they have to remain untouched for at least 24 hours. So this was our only window to get the job done. (“Our” meaning my hard-working husband’s, of course.)

So he’s on house duty. I’m on kid-duty. We’re kind of like ships in the night these days as we work towards move-in day.

In the meantime, we are exactly one week away from what will be our first night in Woodlawn. My house is in that lovely state of complete and utter chaos. It’s requiring deep breaths and focus on where all this mess will lead us. I try to at least control the things I can–like the dishes. If they’re done, I can just stand over the sink and pretend my whole house is just as tidy and put together. Okay, not really….

So cross your fingers, hold your breath, this is the Big Week. Only to be followed by another Big Week (or month) of unpacking and settling in. But that’s the fun part.

P.S. Pete and Paige are doing well. Nursing like champs and sleeping like logs. May is going to have to hurry up and have her babies or hold it in until we move!! Eeeek! More babies soon!!

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Little things, two of them incredibly cute

Oh, people. Remember my list of “Things That Are Stressing Me Out“? Well, last night at dinner the girls said to me, “Guess we can cross off ‘check if sheep are pregnant‘, and ‘find out what I need for lambs’ birth‘, and ‘set up lambing pens “!

Totally unexpectedly, and probably for the best, I was greeted at my bedside very early yesterday morning by my breathless husband….”You’ve got lambs. Two of them!” He was on his way to work and just as he was pulling out, remembered something he forgot, and as he stepped out of the car to get it, he knew that the sounds he was hearing from the sheep shed were most definitely NOT Penny or May.

We have babies, people!

I pulled on my boots and went out to the barn in the dark of yesterday morning to discover two sweet and still-wet baby lambs being every so carefully cared for by Penny.

Those first few hours were nerve-wracking, I tell you. Watching them struggle to nurse and latch on. Me, lying under a very patient Penny and making sure her milk was starting, trying to direct teats into tiny mouths…(yes, I may have over-managed this a bit.), but little by little, under my nervous eyes, all is well. Though one is smaller, they both seem to be nursing. Dan and I took turns checking on them throughout the night and we made it with no problems.

I couldn’t have asked for a better mother. Penny is patient and calm and just the right amount of protective–that stamp of her foot at the cats wandering into her pen, or when too many people are visiting her, lets us know she needs her space.

And the babies, keeping with the tradition of naming them with the same letter as their mother, are being called Pete and Paige. A boy and a girl.

Next comes May. Maybe Penny’s little ones will trigger something in her. She is definitely keeping a watchful eye on everything.

Spring is most definitely just around the corner.

In other news….

I was most-honored to be asked to write something up for new-to-me site 3ThingsForMom. Joined by other lovely contributors like Heather of Rookie Moms and Pilar Guzman of MS Living (hello!?!) I shared my 3 things this week–a truth, a tip, and a find. I think some of you may recognize my truth. It was a lesson that needed some serious re-visiting in my life these days. Be sure to check out Lauren’s lovely site. It is a well-crafted collection of mama-wisdom.

My favorite way to procrastinate is to pour my energy into all the wrong things. Case and point, I’m about to do a major move and redesign of this blog. I’ll be moving to a new host which requires pushing the figuartive “big red button” and moving my eight years of writing over to the new space. So if things look wonky or strange for a few days, bear with me. I hope to have things ironed out soon.

We have a moving date! The Woodlawn house will be HOME beginning the weekend of March 9. Ack, just over a week away. Perhaps it’s time to pick out a faucet for the kitchen sink? We’re living in the land of chaos, but every time I step foot in that sweet old house, my heart thumps in my chest with anticipation and joy of calling it home. I can’t wait to share more of the process and projects with all of you!

Happy weekend. Happy March 1st. More soon….

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