I know you just want photos!

Big sister/little sister

Peaceful sleeper

How Willa wishes she could spend all her time,
but alas,very rarely happens

Winter in one of her "regression therapy" sessions in the baby seat

Wake up, baby Willa!

Presenting Willa Maureen Wise. Born 8:16 am on Thursday, March 4, @ 7 lbs 14 oz.
And since everyone asks, here is what her sister looked like when she was born...
They are by no means identical, but do look remarkably alike, especially around the eyes and nose. I think if Willa had been smaller they would look more alike, but Willa is proof that my body got better at converting ice cream sundaes into baby cheeks after the first baby.
Their births were also very similar, with some very notable exceptions. Willa's labor (which began around 11 pm) was much, much faster than Winter's was. I went from contractions every 12 minutes to every 3 in less than an hour. I had an epidural, which unfortunately was administered well after transition began, but which fortunately worked this time. A working epidural is WAY better than a non-working one. And both births ended in c-sections after very promising natural starts. While definitely not my preference, this disappoints the midwives way more than it disappoints me. And the fact that Winter's labor was 18+ hours and Willa's was less than 8 hours makes a big difference- while I don't feel good by a long shot, I don't feel like I was run over by a train, either.

Willa seems pretty different from Winter in terms of temperament, but it is very hard to make any defining statements this early in the game- next week she could be a totally different baby. But so far she is a good bit more mellow. She is also very strong- she is already lifting her head, which amazes me, and can grab a fistful of our clothing that is very hard to get back from her little paws. Like her sister, she is cuddly in the extreme, and cute as a button, and likes to nurse a LOT.

Winter has been the best big sister ever. She has been obsessed with babies for several months now, so the fact that she has her very own baby is a source of constant amazement. The hardest parts for her are that mommy cannot pick her up right now because of the c-section- that is very hard for both of us. Sharing is hard, too- Willa was swaddled in one of our swaddling blankets, until we realized Winter very much considered it "hers". The look of shock on her face when she saw that...and she proceeded to dramatically cuddle her blanket the rest of the night just to hit home the point. But she has been very gentle and so good. We are certainly seeing more tears than usual, but she has been a trooper.

Linger on, your pale blue eggs

Sorry about the layout issues in this post...blogger and I are having differences of opinion about photo layouts.

The Americaunas started laying. They were raised this spring from chicks. They grew into beautiful chickens, that have a semi-wild look and temperament. Chuck saw one in the nest box, but we did not expect them to start laying in the middle of winter- but that bluebird blue egg is definite proof... somehow it actually seems like a little dose of springtime. Chickens' laying schedule is determined by length of day; our girls have a lot of daylight exposure, so we actually have not had a laying break this year as is typical of chicken farming. The fridge is always full of eggs!

Animal husbandry is much different from season to season. It becomes much more difficult at the exact time you want to be out the least. But with an open mind, there are ways to adapt. The whole herd came in this week for hoof trimming and wormer. They love exploring the house, Winter loves having the goats indoors, and it is easier to work on everyone. It is worth sweeping up a few piles of goat pellets. Orion is particularly curious- he likes to try to climb and nibble pretty much everything.

There were not many great Christmas photos, but here is Winter on her new horse, which she loves, displaying her new kitty cat clock. There is also a video of her out with her goats. They get grain piles in the snow while the chickens get cream and bread inside the barn.

Happy Holidays!

Wintertime. The sparkling diamond dust snow, the lavender and rose sunrises, the scent of woodsmoke on the night air, underneath the expanse of the Milky Way. When people ask (as they often do) how Winter got her name, these are the things I tell them. Winter is in many ways the most lovely time of year.

But it can also be kind of a beast. For instance, the non-stop illness from just before Thanksgiving right on through New Year's. At least, that seems to be what we are going for! First a cold. Then sinus infections. Then a stomach bug that hit us in a staggered wave from mid-week to Christmas. And Winter's last teeth are erupting to boot. All of which mean no sleep, for weeks. Eh, well. The doctor assures us every year gets better, as our collective immune system shores itself up against the onslaught. I hope so. The holidays totally snuck up on us this year- it is hard to muster Christmas spirit when bent over a toilet bowl. Here's to a healthier 2010!

Despite that, it was a nice holiday. Winter understands the essential notion of presents and the fun of opening them, but has no expectations about what she will or won't get...it is all a wonderful surprise. There must be a little bit of a sweet spot for that kind of thing, that probably only lasts a year or two, and we really enjoyed her excitement. All the critters got a little something special in their kibble bowls.

Chuck is working on painting a portion of the offices at the King Farm. It is amazing how much of a difference a coat of paint (OK, several coats!) makes; it is going to look very nice. Winter enjoys careening through the emptied room, too, but she is a little too eager to help paint. She is in a period of very rapid mental development- there is something new for mama and daddy to catch up to pretty much every day. Today she wandered into the kitchen while I was in the living room. I heard some rustling in the cabinet, which is typical- she likes to play with the cans and dry goods. However, a minute later she returned to the living room, Oreo in hand. She had helped herself to the cookies, on a shelf I did not know she could reach, using dexterity I did not know she had. Not to mention a level of determined self-reliance...the cookies had been prohibited earlier, and she knew it. She got to keep the contraband, but I guess I will be rearranging the pantry!

Technical difficulties prevent holiday photos being posted (promise, I am working on it), but this is a cute one of her in the John Deere dress, from early November...before the illnesses hit! We wish everyone a wonderful winter, and many happy returns for 2010.

Fall

Fall is definitely here, and shifting fast into winter. Chuck has been doing a lot of raking, with help from his apprentice. I shut the hive down for the winter, which involves administering some natural pest control, wrapping it in plastic, ventilating it, keeping mice out, and lots of finger crossing and prayer that they make it through. In the summer, the hive is literally buzzing with activity, and it was very strange to peer down into the hive and see them all in there, still and silent. Not to mention being able to work the hive with no protective gear at all. It made me feel the winter wind in a way nothing else has; not even the geese that pass overhead or the deep frosty fields.

The goat boys all sprouted their winter coats, which makes them look like little puffballs. We got four new goats, all retired adult ladies. They are a mix of pygmy, dwarf nigerian, and boer. They are pretty typical goats, with the exception of one. Her name when she arrived was Sparkles, but that fits her so poorly in so many ways it quickly morphed to Sprinkles, and then Sprinks, which does suit. She is the Goat Who Walks Alone, and All Things are Food to Her. She was pregnant earlier this year, miscarried when she got butted in the stomach, and then had a massive infection that very nearly killed her. She is unique. Despite goats' reputation, they do not eat everything, and all of ours particularly do not like people food. Winter and I were at the barn one day. Winter was munching a cracker, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Sprinks amble by and suck the cracker right out of Winter's hand. Winter gets furious when Jezebel steals food from her (which happens often), but she was so shocked to have a goat do this that she just stared, open mouthed and empty handed. A couple of days later, Sprinks managed to snag a donut, and since then we have been frisked for edibles whenever we approach her. She is the goat that would eat a plastic bag chased by a tin can. She is also always alone. This is very odd behavior for a goat. She just doesn't seem to care about the fact that she is a herd animal. She also has this bizarre, deep "blaaaht" of a cry, in a whiskey and cigarette voice. The rest of the goats all say "maaaah!" in a chorus of cute, but not Sprinks. The rest of the goats all fear Jez, but Sprinks just butts her as hard as possible, then goes on about her grass munching. She is our favorite goat after the boys. One of the other goats also chases cars, which I found out the hard way when I had to retrieve four goats from the cemetery at the base of the hill. Fortunately, Chuck's portable electric fencing is working really well.

Round up of other news: The new baby is a girl. Going by the ultrasound, she is healthy, slightly less active than her big sister, and still due on March 10. The pregnancy is going well, except that the combined weight of toting one in utero and one in my arms all the time is killing my back. That and heartburn.

I got a new job, which I will transition to over the course of November. I will still be at Dartmouth, but will be within the Medical School, working with grant budgets for two research groups. I think I will be very happy there.

Winter has been working on her words...she can now say dog, ball, baby, banana, bubble, uh-oh, and hi. She also has words for things that she uses repeatedly, but I am not sure what she is saying. For example, she has her own word for the cats, but we can't really discern what the word is...at the pace she is going, we will know before too long.

World's Fair

The weekend started with Chuck's birthday. Winter thought that was pretty much as good as her own birthday was, a couple months back- there was cake, and presents, and it matters not that they were not really actually for her- she had just as much fun anyway.

This week we have had a work crew of early 20-somethings from the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps camping at the farm while completing some projects in the area. They have done a great job and it has been fun having them around. They have worked really hard all week, so before we send them off, we wanted to feed them a big, hot breakfast. The menu was pancakes, bacon, sausage, and eggs. Breakfast for young, hardworking metabolisms means quantity. It also means planning. We made the pancakes on Friday night, after Chuck's birthday celebration. Lots of them. Breakfast Saturday was a success.

Next on the agenda was the Tunbridge World's Fair. It sounds really grand, doesn't it? It is one of the larger fairs in the area, and is about 1/10th the size I remember the North Carolina State Fair as. But all the elements are there- animals, rides, and greasy food. They also have a cool antique village, which included a great display of antique bikes, and even a velocipede. That was my favorite part of the fair. Chuck's favorite part was the Poultry House, which had exotic chickens galore, and little bantams too big for their britches. It was hard to tell Winter's favorite part- it was probably a llama we saw. It was definitely not the cows. This photo pretty much sums up how she feels about cows.
We also saw some amazing spinners spinning fiber from the angora goats that were on display. We got to visit Comet's mom and full sister, too. And Chuck got to ride the bumper cars. It was pretty fun, but it was also way crowded and we will skip the next few years- until we either have kids begging to go, or kids showing goats. One of the highlights was the novice class of the goat show. It consisted of total, utter chaos- children being dragged across the show ring by their goats, goats being coerced to walk with feed that was promptly stolen by a neighboring goat, goats butting each other, goats tearing off towards the barns, and the endlessly patient judge trying to organize them into some semblance of order. She ended up eliminating two categories of judging and awarded prizes based on staying upright and arriving properly attired (in a white shirt). Our goats' breeder's daughter won the class, and deservedly so!

Winter Walks and The Water Fountain

It has been a little hectic, so just a quick video post this week. Winter started walking a few days ago (still wobbly, but rapidly improving) and also learned to use the water fountain (after some trial and error).