The Nelson Clan and the Ladies of the Night

This last week, Mashaela and MaKenna both had appointments in Denver so we got to hang with the Nelson's for an afternoon.  MaKenna's results are all clear again and she doesn't have to come back for 6 months which is much better than coming every 3 months so we are all super happy about that!

Rilyn and Ryder LOVE their cousins and it's nice when they get to see eachother.

Today we finally got the chickens we've been wanting for a very long time!  We got 6 chicks.  They are 4 days old and the cutest things ever.  Seriously if they never got bigger and never laid eggs I would be just as happy to have them.  I thought Rilyn would be excited but I am apparently over the top in love with them!

Introducing:

Desiree and Destiny -  These two hot chicks are Barred Rocks.  They will be black and white stripped with red combs.

Heaven - This beauty is a Rhode Island Red.  She will be a dark red color with a red comb.

Peep Peep - She is also a Rhode Island Red.  She is a little lighter than Heaven and that's how I can tell them apart.  Also Rilyn got to name her.  

Shaquita - She is a Black Australorp.  She will be all black with a red comb.  Apparently she will have a nice green glisten to her feathers.

And last but not least my favorite.....

Charmaine - She is a Buff Orpington.  She will be cream with a red comb.  They are very feathery.  I LOVE her.

The ladies should start laying eggs around 20 weeks so we probably won't get much from them until next Spring since they probably won't lay much in the winter.  Hopefully we will get at least a dozen a week between the 6 birds maybe even a few more.

Now let's hope we can keep them out of the mouths of the coyotes, hawks, foxes, bears, and neighborhood dogs.

Weekend Recap

We had a nice weekend filled with sunshine and work.

On Friday, the kids and I started the weekend off right by having a picnic at the park and playing way past nap time.  We then headed to Stacey and Jason's for a relaxing last minute bar-b-que.

Saturday morning I got some snuggles from the boy and Tyler got to work on fixing up our chicken coop.  We are hoping to get some chicks soon!  Apparently chick season is about over so we are having a hard time finding some close to us.  Rilyn did tell me today that we could just go to Aunt Stacey's house to get chickens so I had to explain those chickens are not ours to take.

Sunday, Tyler went to help his parents with some yard work so I had the kiddos.  Rilyn was loving the rain boots Grandma Decker got her and decided to wear those most of the day.  Ryder is starting to become interested in books so he has been spending some time looking at pictures instead of eating them which is good.

Mama Love and Weather LOVE

Sunday I had a nice mama's day!  I got lots of love from my babies and got to hang with the Decker family so I can't complain here!

Ryder really wants my dessert!

Jocko and his ladies

Mama Decker and the boys

Rilyn checking out the chickens

We've also been loving the summer weather...hiking and trips to the zoo...yea!!

Ryder at 9 months old

Tricks: Ryder is starting to copying everything his sister does (not always a good thing) but that does mean he is doing more and more.  Ryder can sign more, stretch on demand and go from a laying to sitting position.  He is also starting to dance to music.  He cheers "yay" when a song is finished so I guess that is his first word.  He gets around but doesn't have a typical crawl.  He pulls his legs forwards while moving his hands, but mostly just rolls to get around.  

Eating: Ryder's favorite foods right now are bananas, crackers, cucumbers, and anything unhealthy!  He still isn't as great of an eater as Rilyn was but I guess he still eats pretty good for a 9 month old. He has slowed down on nursing quite a bit and only eats 5 - 6 times in a 24 hour period now.  He still spits up quite a bit which is pretty annoying since it's no longer just milk but food chunks. Hopefully that goes away real soon!


Sleeping: He sleeps great through the night. He goes to sleep between 6:30 and 7:00 and wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30.  He is really easy to put down - we just lay him in his crib and he plays till he falls asleep.  He is still napping twice a day.  His morning nap has been about an hour and his afternoon nap is usually about two hours.

Stats: Ryder weighs 21lbs 1.5 ounces and is 28 3/4 inches tall.  He is in the 75% for both height and weight.  He has surpassed Rilyn's 9 months stats, which was a surprise too me.  He just seems smaller than she was, but I guess that is not the case.    Also, our pediatrician thinks Ryder's extra fluid in his man parts is finally gone so that should mean no surgery in the future for our munchkin!!!  

Ryder loves to play games such as peek-a-boo or pretending to catch him.  He likes to snuggle and play with toys on the floor.  He really wants to play with Trixie and loves to go for walks.  He loves to pull his sister's hair and be around people.  We haven't experience too much separation anxiety so he might be as social as Rilyn.  We just love having him in our lives and couldn't imagine an easier baby!

Rilyn of course wants to do everything Ryder does so when I was taking his picture she wanted her picture taken with his sign.

I then convinced her to finally get dressed and we made her own sign.  Apparently we need to work on her expanding her repertoire of favorite things.  

She was showing me she was two with her fingers.