Little Love

(Continued from yesterday's post...)

So I have lots of things I could write about that all happened on Monday. I could write about co-hosting 45 women to a taco dinner at our church. Or I could write about having my nieces here for the day and how awesome they are and how in a sad twist, Sonna got the flu right before they were to leave. I could write about how we are suddenly bottle feeding a lamb in our house and how I burned through every beach towel and old towel before someone at Taco night told me I could put a diaper on the lamb. I could write about how Rory evaporated 35 gallons of maple syrup during all of these events in our new Sugar Shack. Or I could write about how I saw an entire uterus first thing in the morning.

I think we'll start with the uterus...

At 5:00am on Monday morning Rory went out to the barn to check on the little twin lamb #2 that didn't seem quite right. And he called my phone immediately, "Becca. The mom is dying. It's so bad. I need you out here."

So I joined him in the barn, leaving a walkie talkie for Mara, Sonna and Svea with a note that said, "we're in the barn, let us know if you need anything." And when I got to the barn it was bad. Really, really bad. The mama had birthed her entire uterus but it was still attached to her insides. She was laying on her side, barely alive and let me tell you, you don't actually ever want to see an inside out uterus. Ever.

Ever.

It had octopus suction things all over it and it was huge and blobby. I could say more but I guess I'll leave it at that. Rory was on the phone with the vet and I was watching a youtube video on how to put a uterus with straw all over it back into a Ewe. It didn't look very promising.

Also, Twin #2 was still in the same position as the night before and definitely not thriving. I told Rory I was going to go get a warm bottle of milk for Twin #2 and he said, "please don't be gone long. I really want you here with me." This was traumatic. It was still night outside, the stars were brilliant in the sky and after seven healthy mammal births, this experience was about to turn us into real deal farmers.

The vet arrived and she was wonderful. I told her we had seven kids in the house and she said she had two in the car she had running. Her 5 and 2 year old were along and watching a movie because her husband milks cows in the mornings. Later, when she drove away I told the kids she had her kids in the car and Svea said, "That is not a lazy lady." Nope. She was awesome. Rory and I watched as she slowly put the Ewes insides back on her inside and stitched her up. It was much more involved than that one sentence but I'll keep moving.

She took a look at Twin Two and couldn't figure out what was wrong. He was kicking his legs wildly, but unable to stand. His neck was curved, so it seemed like it might be scoliosis or something with his spine. But he was unable to walk, and since his mother had just gone through quite the ordeal herself, he was unable to nurse. So we were told to bring Twin Two into the house to warm it up, feed it and make it comfortable.

Which is obviously the most exciting thing that could happen to a house full of children. A darling lamb coming in to be bottle fed? So fun. The trouble was that everyone knew the fact that it couldn't walk was a really bad sign. The vet said to give it a day or two to see if it improved, but then we'd likely put it to sleep. And that was a terribly sad thought.

We went along with our day together. We held the baby kittens (we had three born last week!) and did a morning of homeschool, the kids all went out to play, Rory fired up the evaporator in our garden shed (we turned it into a sugar shack!), and we fed the lamb every four hours. Between the maple syruping, the seven kids, the little lamb pooping all over my beach towels in the downstairs shower, and the still-uncertain health of the Ewe in the barn, life felt a bit full and over the top.

At 4:00 I had to leave because I was hosting 46 women at my church with a friend for a Taco Night. (Which, by the way, I totally recommend as a fun gathering. We just had five get-to-know you questions on the table and asked that everyone get to know two new women throughout the evening. It was fellowship at its finest with no programming or agenda. And it was so good.)

I got home from church around 8:30 and found all 4 kids still awake, excited to tell me that poor Sonna go the flu and threw up all over the upstairs bathroom. And how Dad had cleaned it all up and was still tending the maple syrup and that the girls went home (which was planned) and that the baby lamb needed to be fed. I went out to the Sugar Shack and caught up with Rory about our evenings and then fed the lamb until 10 when I positively fell into bed. I woke up to my alarm at 2 and bottle fed the lamb. And then Alden wanted to nurse. Rory fed the lamb at 6 and I woke up at 8. It was hard to get out of bed because I was exhausted and because today was the day we had to decide if Twin Two would ever walk or if he needed to be put down...

I'm 37!

Sunday I woke up and I was 37. And the strangest thing happened. I didn't remember that it was my birthday for about an hour. Not until I heard Rory say, "Elsie, go wish your mom a happy birthday..." I do believe this is my first birthday where it slipped my mind that it was my special day.

The day was fantastic. We went to church and came home and celebrated with my sister and cousins and all of our families. It was so great. We feasted and played and caught up and laughed. There were 14 kids and 8 parents and it felt like a real celebration. At one point I went into the upstairs bathroom and found it unflushed. The kids were all playing up there and whoever had last used the restroom must have been feeling much better. So I went to flush it and the toilet handle just fell right off the toilet! I thought this was so funny. And thankfully the dads were able to fix it quite easily.

We celebrated most of the day and then everyone went home around 5 or 6.  But Mara, Sonna and Svea got to sleepover because it is their spring break! Mara and Sonna and I went out to the barn to do the evening chores and laying right in the glow of the heat lamp was a new baby lamb! It was quite the surprise because I didn't even know the mama was pregnant.

The Ewe and lamb looked great. Rory was so pleased to hear the happy news and then Mara and Sonna and I loaded up and went grocery shopping, came home and put the groceries away. The kids all went to bed and then around 10pm Rory and I went back out to the barn to check on the little newborn lamb. And lo and behold, there was another lamb, laying in the straw. Twins! This one looked a lot smaller and was just trying to stand up. We stayed for a long while watching the little life, not wanting to intrude, but also wanting to be sure it was healthy. It didn't seem completely right but it had just been born, so we left the mama to do her thing and we went to bed.

Now wait until you hear about my second day of my 37th year...and the second day of life for that little tiny lamb having trouble getting to its feet...

cold applesauce

AldenEating from Becca Groves on Vimeo.

I could watch the first 12 seconds of this over and over and over again. Alden is such a joy and delight to me. Just a happy presence to have around each and every day.

He's had a habit of waking up a few times each night, sometimes to nurse, but often just to snuggle. I'll hold him upright in the glider rocker, wrap my robe around him with his blanket over his back and he tucks his head right under my neck. I'll pat his back and he drums his fingers on my arm. Sometimes he looks up to smile at me and then burrows back down finding his spot under my neck again.

For a while I was concerned that this was creating a bad habit. He's clearly waking up and calling out for a midnight snuggle which is definitely not baby-wise. But one night as my heart swelled eleven sizes as he fell asleep on my chest I realized that this moment is the WHOLE POINT OF EVERYTHING I DO. I keep the house clean and teach the kids and feed my family which is all important. But nothing is more important than purely loving my kids, letting them know they are safe and secure and cared for in every way.

And though I might be sleepy, it leaves me so satisfied.

meet the pigs

I know you've been clicking refresh, dying for another pig post, so here are the pigs! Rory thought it was terrible that the first picture I posted of them had poo smeared all over the cage. So here they are all tidy and poo-free. And I've come up with names! The one in the back is with darker brown coloring is named Abraham. (Emphasis on that last syllable.) The one in front is a bit smaller than Abraham and quite timid, so I've started calling him Timothy (sounds like timidity, I guess...). The first day Ivar and I got in the pen and fed them old kiwis and they loved them. Yesterday I got in there and fed them all of our food leftovers and they snorted that up happily as well.

I'm sort of skittish of the pigs. Which is a problem because they are skittish of me and I'm supposed to be calming them down. But they snort and grunt when you least expect it and it's a bit intimidating. Maybe we'll all be tamed by the time they move outside in a month...

Aunt Stella turns 100!

Last Thursday we were supposed to drive to Iowa to celebrate my Great Aunt Stella's 100th Birthday but Alden got the flu. He seemed to be better by Friday morning so we thought we'd maybe try to get to the party, but then he threw up again. I believe the fine people at SunnyCrest Nursing Home were probably very glad we didn't show up with the flu virus.

It was good we were wise enough not to go because Friday afternoon Ivar and Elsie got the flu for a solid 12 hours, throwing up every 30 minutes. Elsie was on the hour and the half hour. Ivar was on the 15's and 45's. It was crazy. I was on Elsie, Rory was on Ivar. Rory shines in these moments. When one of our kids is sick he is fully involved and helpful with laundry, clean up, comforting and bedding changes. He's a total winner. And probably because he was so helpful, on Saturday Rory got it and I had to leave him to go get my pigs. So far Hattie and I have somehow dodged this one. Here's to hoping we really are spared. Ivar had a little relapse last night but today everyone was well.

I will say I was very, very disappointed to miss Aunt Stella's party. My sister and her girls and my aunt and uncle were all there and we had been so excited for this huge celebration. We made cards and talked about the number 100 a lot. We counted to 100 by 5's and 10's and 2's. Elsie noted that our ziplock sandwich bags had 100 in them, so "we should give Stella a box of her own ziplocks!" We figured out what year it will be when we each turn 100. We were pumped and ready to party.

But we'll just have to wait for her 105th, I suppose.

In the midst of all of our big birthday preparation, Rory came across this gem. I cannot get enough of Flossy. Everything about this newscast is perfect.