Our land has expanded by 23 times....that is just insane to me, and it feels like freedom! Freedom to move around, not be on top of my neighbors, grow whatever the heck I want to in my giant garden (our garden plot is about the size of our old backyard), get some farm animals....what? You need a permit for that??? Not out here in the country ;)
We are being thrilled by the most basic and tiniest of things.....well water, having to haul in wood to burn in our wood-burning fireplace, figuring out the easiest way to haul our loaded trash can the 600 feet down the gravel driveway to the street, finding fresh deer tracks in our backyard, listening to the rooster across the street doing his afternoon cockadoodledoo, driving the tractor!
There is so much to do here on our mini-mini farm (I call it mini-mini because I read that to qualify as a true "minifarm" you have to have a minimum of 10 acres.) But there is always something to do here, and I think there will always be some sort of project....whether it is updating the rooms (right now we have painted 2 rooms and stripped wall paper out of two others, but every room in this house needs a new coat of paint), tending to lawn work, garden work, the chickens...
Chickens, you ask? Oh yes, our 8 baby chicks arrive the last week of February...in fact, right now they are literally incubating! We cannot wait to get them. 4 Speckled Sussex, 2 Rhode Island Reds and 2 Barred Rocks will be our first little flock. Rob and Isabel have already been hard at work building the baby chick coop complete with heat lamp, heat shield and all things "baby chick". I cannot wait to start organizing my lesson plans for school to tie in with the new chickens. Our chicks are coming from Murray McMurray Hatchery . I ordered a book they recommended for kids: Your Chickens: A Kid's Guide to Raising and Showing by Gail Damerow. It came in the mail yesterday and I figured if it is easy enough for kids then I should be able to figure out how to care for these things too ;)
There is so much more I could say about the house, but basically I feel this overwhelming sense of blessing, thankfulness and peace about being here. It just didn't seem like all of this could really happen, but sure enough we sold our house and bought a house out in the country with a little bit of land, just like we were hoping...and I think it is just where God wants us.
Now for the "New Body" part..... I feel really terrible because I didn't really take a belly pic until ummm....last week. And it wasn't really even a belly pic, per se....It was just a picture of me and the kids and my belly happened to be included. Oh let's hope this little baby doesn't ask for the 40 weeks of belly shots when he or she grows up! Anyway, it is a complete difference having only gained 22 pounds so far with this pregnancy compared to my totals of 70 (Isabel) and 52 (Ian)....I'm actually on track to gain around the target weight?!?! It's crazy, but I guess chasing around 2 kids is doing me some good, and having all that morning sickness in the beginning really delayed my appetite long enough to stave off some of the weight I normally gain early on. So compare Christmas (I barely look pregnant in this picture!)...
to last week:
Little baby is growing right on track, and everything is going perfectly well other than my hemoglobin tested low at 28 weeks, so I had to start taking my iron supplement again (I had slacked off)...I was glad to know that was what had been causing my extreme fatigue. I just can't believe that I am 31 weeks and we are about to pop out another little baby in just 9 weeks! Now that we are in the house and things are getting settled, I did bring out boy and girl newborn clothes to start washing and preparing a little for the new arrival. It just still seems surreal I guess. Or maybe I am just more relaxed about everything after going through this twice already....I mean I need to have clothes, diapers, set up the co-sleeper and get some nursing blankets out and we are good to go, right?
I'm sure we will be ready when the time comes ;) I haven't gotten to the "I'm so ready to get this baby out" phase yet....still enjoying all the kicks and squirms although it is getting more cramped for space in there. Emotionally, I'm not sure how ready I will be because I'm a bit concerned about how this little tyke (see innocent pic below) is going to react to a new baby in the house.
Ian is proving to be one of the most strong-willed, determined, stubborn, 100% all-boy-all-the-time boys that I've ever met! His antics definitely deserve a blog post all their own, but for now this picture will have to suffice. God has blessed him with all kinds of sneaky little sweet and loving moves, probably so that after all his mischief, he survives another day ;) We like to say God made him cute for a reason! Anyway, this little guy keeps me super busy and I do
3 comments:
Do you have a picture of how your house looks from the outside? I’d like to see it very much. And if someone told you that you’re living in a multi-million dollar house, then this I have to see! How was your move, by the way? I hope that you weren’t too stressed with the whole thing.
Leona Gladen
I want to see your house, too!!! Where do you live? You should message me. We're starting our garden (nowhere near as big as yo urs!!!) and getting chickens this spring, too!!!
The way you described your house is truly intriguing and if it’s possible I want to see it. It’s good that you found what you were looking for in a house, Angela. I am also currently looking for a new house on the country side because not only do you get vast spaces but also the environment is a bit different and relaxed. My wife and I have been talking about this for weeks now and we decided we should go for it; I’ll keep you posted once I found one and maybe you and my wife could share stories. :)
Kristopher Washington
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