Sunday, November 9, 2014

Haven't posted since August? Time for an update...

So my last post wayyyy back in August was "Meet our New Goats" and I could really repost that title right here in November, because a lot has happened since then.

Goat Update

The very long and emotionally charged story can be summarized in the following paragraph:

Our sweet goats had a disease that was missed by the breeders and thus had to go back to the breeders for a refund, because it is a virus that we just cannot have on our little farm (read goats would have needed separate living quarters if they had remained here as "pets").  It was so hard, most of all for me.   I was so worried about how the kids would feel after falling in love with our goats, but they did so well with having to send them back.  I was the one that cried like a baby for days. 

God worked it out that 3 days after returning these girls to their farm, we were able to bring home 2 other Lamancha goats, and while they are a little older and have different personalities than our first two, they are really growing on us and are going to be a great new start to our venture into dairy goats.



So meet Amaretto and Cameo!


 
 
 
 
These two girls were bred before we bought them, and it appears that their breeding took as they have had no signs of heat.  So that is really exciting and we should be looking at March goat babies! :)  We are really excited about this and have been watching youtube goat kidding videos to prepare. 
Oh no, I am not even kidding.  Get it???? Kidding?!?!?
 
Angela Update
 
My update is that I have been continuing with my now monthly HCG blood draw checks, that is until last month when life just got busy and I skipped it!  I will resume this month and then have a draw in December when that should be 6 months of negative HCG levels and the doctor should give us the all-clear to try to conceive again. 
 
We started back to homeschooling in August and that is probably the other part of why I haven't updated this blog in several months.  Schooling has kept us really busy this semester.  Not only does Isabel have a heavier workload this year as a third grader, but Ian is doing preschool activities at home and there is a lot of prep for crafts and learning activities for his age.  And then there is the activity of keeping Caroline occupied while the other two are doing their schoolwork!
 
The garden kept us extremely busy in August and September with the end of tomatoes, okra and planting field peas.  Last year we had great success purchasing bags of black-eyed peas from Walmart and throwing them out into the garden and had an entire garden full of peas, so we did that again this year and just finished harvesting them before the first killing frost hit over a week ago.  And then of course we had to shell them, blanch them and freeze them.  But boy, they are worth it!   I had never imagined they could taste that good fresh!
 
Then there is the whole "I don't feel that great" issue....and this is complex.  I've long suspected that I could have fibromyalgia, but now I'm wondering if maybe I should actually go to a doctor and find out.  I don't sleep well at night (now this got better for awhile once we purchased a new mattress), but I still feel really, really tired.  Like a type of fatigue that I think other people don't feel unless they are doing something really physically exerting....I'm not.  I'm tired whether I exert myself or not!  And lately I've just had a lot of pain in my joints and just "in my bones".  This has happened for years (the joint pain) but there are periods where it gets worse and periods where it seems better.  And then there is the brain fog.....as in I can't remember what we did yesterday.  When someone asks me, "What did you do this weekend?"  I'm almost in a panic because I know it sounds really stupid to say, "I don't really remember"....but it literally is hard to remember what we did the day before.  I took a quiz this week to find out my brain age (okay here is the link, because I'm sure you will want to take it too)  Brain Age Quiz   Well, I scored the worst score.... I fell into the "0-11" category which told me I had a high risk for Alzheimer's and I could add 10 years to my chronological age to get my brain age.  *sigh*
 
I'm hoping to get a treadmill and start exercising early in the morning....yes, probably when I should still be sleeping! And my next plan is to switch from drinking a beer to drinking a glass of red wine.  Hey....just keeping it honest!
 
The Kids' Update
 
 
 
Isabel:  Poor girl gets her first two cavities filled this Wednesday!  Pray for her....she's nervous.  She is looking forward to showing the goats....at you know, a goat show.  We went to the NC State Fair in October and watched the goat shows and she was really captivated by it all and was taking mental notes.  I was so proud of her because she entered one of her pieces of art into the Fair and had it on display with hundreds of other pieces of art for all of North Carolina to see!  She was so proud to have a "participant ribbon" on her painting.
 


 
 
Ian:  Ian has been a challenge lately ;)  His strong-willed spirit has been popping up more often, although there are also times when he is trying so hard to make good choices and please Mommy and Daddy.  I think he has been craving more one on one attention with me, and I have to find a way to make that time happen in a way that is meaningful to him (which usually involves playing trains).  However the other side of that coin is that when he is done playing with me, the "end" of the time is usually really hard even though I prepare him with "okay in 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 1 minute I have to go make dinner...." or some other task.  There is usually a meltdown because the fun has come to an end.  We are working on trying to find the balance with him.  When he is not engaged or occupied he is usually trying to find a way to get into trouble.  Boredom = "let's go destroy something" to Ian.  He just lives very passionately....it's like 100% love, fun, rage, sadness, excitement, etc.....whatever he is feeling, he feels it very strongly ;)
 
 
 
Caroline:  Caroline has been tag-teaming with Ian lately. Sometimes this is really sweet and other times it is a lot of trouble! ;)
 
 
 
 I have really been thanking God that Ian and Caroline were not twins....there was one time when I just prayed and prayed for twins (and don't get me wrong, I do think twins would be double the blessings!) but boy, I just don't know if I would be cut out to be a mom to multiples! ;)  But I know God gives you the grace to handle everything with His help!  Caroline's favorite word at 19 months is "No!" and she says it even when she means "yes!" so sometimes it is frustrating for us both!  She has literally exploded in vocabulary from about 20 words at 18 months, to now at 19 months repeating pretty much every word we say.  It is crazy and it is fun, and it is also a lot of talking in our house right now! Hahahah!  She loves to sing along with the Frozen soundtrack as does Ian, she loves to throw balls, she loves to do "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and "Ring Around the Rosies", and she still pretty much can't stand to go for car rides. 
 
 
She also thinks she can do anything and everything her big brother and sister can do.  I think she must imagine herself to be a big kid trapped in a teeny tiny body!
 
 
 
And those are the activities, creatures and kids which have been keeping this mama so very busy these last 3 months!  Hopefully it won't be so long before I can update again.
 
 
 
 


2 comments:

Sew said...

Get your thyroid checked! Fibromayaligia -- put that in a search under stop the thyroid madness......

Hil323 said...

Take care of yourself sweet friend! I love you!