Ace's Arrival

     The happy, tired family!

    He is here! Ace Garrett Pitcock, previously known as baby boy #2, made his arrival Friday night, March 23rd at 10:17 pm. We are so excited to have our little boy here with us, and he is already a joy. Cooper is an awesome big brother so far, and really likes his little brother. God is good!
     One great thing about Ace's arrival is that I didn't have to be induced, and I got to experience real, 'natural' labor. And boy was it real! This was a story to remember so I'm sharing it here so I don't forget (not that I would anyway).
     After going to the Dr. Tuesday and being told I'd induce the following Tuesday if no baby, I was a little nervous and really hoping that the little guy would make his appearance on his own before then. Wednesday (my due date) came and went without any changes, and Thursday was the same. It was about then that I decided I'd probably have to wait until Tuesday, so I made plans for the weekend. Our church was having a bake sale, so I planned to make items for that on Friday and told Dalton that I'd like to go out to eat and to the movies that night..I'd read the Hunger Games books and wanted to see the movie.
     When I woke up Friday morning I felt a little different and weird. I couldn't really explain it, but I thought something might be happening. Not wanting to get overexcited, I didn't change my plans, and proceeded as normal. I dropped Cooper off at Mere Mere's and headed to Bible study. Everyone asked about my 'condition' and I told them I was feeling some twinges and pains but not sure what they were. After Bible study I went to the park and walked for about 30 minutes. Mere Mere met me there with Cooper and we played at the park a little.
     Then we went to feed the ducks. We've only done this once before and it was stressful...the geese come at you and are scary! I drove around the park to find a spot with only ducks and thought I'd done just that until we were out of the car throwing bread to the nearby ducks. Then I saw the goose come out from behind a truck and head our way, honking. I tried to not get nervous, and we moved a little farther away. The goose kept heading our way so I threw some bread at him and he stopped..whew. We kept feeding the ducks, even though Cooper was more interested in some turtles on a nearby rock. They were in the goose's direction, so I didn't want to go over there. Speaking of the goose; by this time he was heading our way again...very aggresively. I tried to shoo him away but he kept at us, by this time hissing and wagging his tongue, so I threw some bread at him and hit him with my bread sack...yes he was that close. Finally he moved away. We quickly fed the rest of the bread and left. (I did let Cooper check out the turtles on our way out).
     That's the story of the duck feeding...oh yeah this post is about the birth of our baby!! Back to the real subject. That afternoon I baked some things for the bake sale and put Cooper down for a nap. By this time I was thinking that it maybe was the start of labor, but still wasn't sure. I talked to Mom that afternoon too and we determined that she would come up the next morning for sure, so that she'd have time to hang out with us before the baby came. When Dalton got home at 4 I was sure I was in labor, but had no idea how long it would take to get serious. I was having contractions...pain in my lower back and abdomen...and they were fairly regular. We were planning to go to the movies and dinner, but needed to pick up a little lumber beforehand, so we took the truck into town. Knowing something was up I suggested that we take the bags in with us, just in case. Boy am I glad I did!
     I told Dalton that I was having contractions and on the way into town I started to time them. They were about 10 min apart and very uncomfortable. Using labor stories and shows as an example, I was expecting them to be unbearable by the time it was hospital time, so I didn't get too excited. We got the lumber, dropped off Cooper at Dalton's aunt's house and then went by my friend's to drop by the baked goods. She is a nurse so I quizzed her on labor. She said to wait until my contractions were 5-6 minutes apart and strong before going to the hospital, and not to eat anything greasy or real heavy beforehand (which meant no popcorn at the movies...darn). We left there and headed to dinner. I was still timing the contractions and they were now 7 minutes apart and getting stronger. We bought our movie tickets ahead of time and wen t to eat at Neri's, right down the block. By this time I knew I should probably take this labor thing seriously, but I really wanted to see the movie so I kept my cool.
     While at dinner (6 pm) I called my parents to let them know it was time to come. Mom asked if I was having regular contractions and I told her yes, about 7 minutes apart....to which she replied "Oh my, I need to get in the car!" So at that point her and Dad headed our way. During dinner (I had a tasty grilled chicken salad) the contractions went to 6 minutes apart and Dalton began to doubt that we should go to the movies. I really wanted to see Hunger Games though, and refused to be swayed. He was really nervous by this time..even got a drink with dinner. It was really cute to see the nervous daddy. : )
     By 7 we were at the movies and my contractions were strong and close together (about 5 min). I could still handle the pain though, so with that, my desire for the movie, and the fear of getting to the hospital too early I watched the movie as long as Dr. Dalton let me. As the contractions got closer and more painful, they were starting to show. Dalton said that he would see me 'crawl up the chair' when one came, and then relax as it passed. He was really wanting me to leave and kept timing the contractions. By midway through the movie they were 3-4 minutes apart and even I couldn't deny that it was time to leave. We left the movie and headed to the hospital; while on the way I realized that it was really time and that we probably should have left earlier.
     We went in through the emergency room  at 8:30 and then walked back to labor and delivery. It was such an odd experience. I expected to be writing in pain and to be wheeled back (like the movies) but it was very calm and surreal. The contractions were pretty painful and I was ready to get moving so that I could get that epidural. We got to the back and checked in with the nurses. They gave me a gown and put the monitors on to monitor the baby's heartbeat and my contractions. When she saw the printout she said that they were pretty strong, so she'd go ahead and check me. I was hoping for a 3 or 4 (I was a close to 1 on Tuesday), but I was a 5 or 6!! Woo hoo! I'd waited long enough to see real progress before coming in. Then I asked for my epidural. I was REALLY ready for it. About 2 minutes later my water broke, and the nurse said it was meconium. I was very tempted to panic, but said a prayer that everything was ok and focused on the next contraction.
     The nurse put in my IV ( I really hate IVs) and we waited for the anesthesiologist to arrive. He took a long time to arrive (a strike against going into labor on a Friday night). We waited and waited (seemed like longer to me) and I was getting very impatient to have my epidural. The pain was pretty bad.
     Finally he got there! He took a long time setting up (or so it seemed), and even longer getting the epidural put in. If you've ever seen NCIS, this guy reminded me of Duckey, the ME. He was kind of chatty about odd things and the nurse and I were not that interested in hearing information; rather we wanted to get the epidural finished! I had some big contractions during the epidural procedure..the poor nurse was holding my hand, hope I didn't hurt her. Finally he finished, and I immediately felt some pain and pressure, not relief..meaning progress toward labor and not numbness was happening.
     I laid back down, counting the minutes until the epidural would kick in...they said it would take about 15 minutes. I was checked again and I was an 8! Uh oh...moving quickly! Dr. Cawley came in and checked things out. He told me that a couple of extra doctors would be on hand to check out our little man because of the meconium...another temptation to panic...but that was cut off by another contraction.
     A few minutes later I began to feel a little tingly in the leg and bottom. Woo hoo, I thought, the epidural is coming! Then I felt some real pain and pressure and realized that it might not make it in time. I think at this point I started to embarrass myself by letting out major groans and complaints, but I couldn't help myself. Dalton was by my side and tried to help me cope, but I wound up just grabbing his shirt and hands. It's kind of a blur now, those next minutes.
     With all of that pain and pressure...or maybe it was my groans..the nurse came over to me. I felt another contraction and couldn't help but push. She was there in an instant telling me not to push...yeah right! I did my best, but don't know that it helped. Dalton was at my side saying "Good job, Gabby, you're doing it. You were made to do this, you can do it." He had a slightly alarmed, but impressed look on his face, so I guess things were going well. At the same time that the nurse was telling me not to push, she was saying "Relax, it's ok" all the while pressing the nurse call button. I knew she was just being calm for me at that point.
     Then Dr. Cawley was there.  He had his gown partially on and the next thing I knew there was a baby.. 10:17 pm. It was so crazy and fast that I still can't believe how it happened; not one time did they tell me to push, instead it was 'don't push!' They immediately whisked the little baby away to check him out, and then they took care of me. It was the strangest thing because I went from horrible pain and craziness, to a calm and very happy awareness that it was over. The pain was gone and I was so thrilled that the baby was here and safe. They removed my epidural because I didn't need it anymore...if I'd only known I wouldn't have gotten it in the first place!

 Checking him out

 My first good look at Ace

 Proud Daddy!

     Then they asked about the baby's name. Dalton and I looked at each other, still in shock, and both agreed that Ace Garrett would be the name. With an arrival like his, it seemed the only option. A little while later, we were visited by Cooper, Mere Mere, Popsey, Ellen Allen and Bob and Sherry. Cooper was interested in the crying baby a little, but then he was ready to run around and check out the room and hospital. We were the only patients so I didn't feel too bad having a wild child up there.

"Who does he look like?"

     Finally I was able to hold Ace and immediately realized that he looks nothing like Cooper! It was very weird because I'd assumed they'd look at least a bit alike. Ace is more 'petite' in his features, with sharper features compared to Cooper's round ones. He weighed 7 lb 2 oz (Cooper was 7lb 5 oz) and was 21 in long. We took some pictures, visited and tried to get used to the idea that the baby was here already.

     Mom and Dad arrived about 11:30. They were able to visit a little while and then they took Cooper home to get some rest. The Pitcocks left about the same time too. We were moved to a regular room with little Ace, and tried to get some sleep. I felt great...better than after having Cooper, and was a little disappointed when they told us we were having to stay until Sunday before going home.
     The next couple of days we were blessed with many visitors and received lots of congratulations. Cooper was a little stand offish at first when he came to visit, but then he started to like his little brother. He really likes holding him. Ace did wonderful nursing in the hospital...night and day difference from how Cooper did. I was so relieved at this.

 Sweet little guy!

The brothers

     Handling and getting used to the second child really was so much easier than the first. If for no other reason than we weren't scared to death of him and what to do with him. Things seemed to flow better. The hospital staff was so great too. They were very helpful but not overwhelming. It was a great experience!

 Nana and Paw meeting Ace

 The happy grandmothers! They share well. : )

 Auntie M has the magic touch

 He's starting to get used to the little fella

Popsey visited and brought breakfast

Papa John gets acquainted

     Sunday morning came and we were ready to go home. Unfortunately we had to wait for Dr. Cawley to release me, which didn't happen until about 2 pm. But once that was finished we loaded up our newest family member and headed home to Mom, Dad and Cooper. It was so nice to go home! When we arrived, Cooper came running out, ran past me straight to Ace. He was ready to have his little brother home too.

 Welcome home baby Ace!

He's mine!

     God is so good! He has really blessed us again with the safe arrival of Ace Garrett. I'm already praying that I can be a good momma to these boys...I know they are going to be a handful. : )

"Every good and perfect gift is from above." James 1:17
   

Cooper Time

    Feeding the chickens some scraps

     It's D-Day, due date that is, and no baby on the scene yet. I keep joking that I hope he's not waiting for us to give him a name before he makes his appearance. That could mean trouble!
     As I've been preparing for baby number two, my biggest anxiety has been for Cooper. I've been worrying about how he'll adjust and feeling a little guilty for kicking him out of the baby position. It's such a weird thing, preparing to welcome another person that you'll love as much as the one that you already have...I have to admit it's hard for me to believe that I could love another little boy as much as I love Cooper, but I haven't met a momma yet who has told me that it isn't true.
     So as we're waiting on the little guy to arrive, I've been trying to soak up some Cooper time and enjoy the last few days with an only child. He's such a 'hoot' that it's easy to enjoy hanging out with him. This post is just going to be some little Cooper tidbits and stories.
     He's recently gotten interested in trying to get the horses to follow him; mainly Dandy. He'll pet him on he nose, walk a little ways, stop, look back and...cluck, cluck. It's so cute the way he clucks to the horse and then moves on. Some days he's more successful at getting the horse to follow than others, but he's working on it. He also likes to lead the horses around when we have them out grazing in the yard. He has to pull pretty hard, but usually gets them to follow. Pretty soon he'll be riding them around the yard instead of leading them.

     Now that it's gardening season, I have to watch Cooper the Terror around the plants. He is all boy..as many have told me..and so he likes to grab stems and tromp on rows. He hasn't permanently hurt any plants yet, but there have been lots of "No Cooper!"s and threats of spankings. We'll see how it goes when we have our full garden planted and lots of seedlings coming up!

"Cooper!!!"

     The other day when I was coming back from a walk, Cooper spotted me from inside the yard and came running to the fence. Then he started climbing the fence. He climbed high enough that he could put his arms over the top of the fence...uh oh! And I thought we were safe letting him play in the yard with the gates locked. If he starts climbing the fences, we are in trouble.
     Daddy's boy...Mama's boy. I think Cooper knows that something is about to change because he's been a little clingier lately. He wants to cuddle and be loved on more...which I'm not complaining about. Now it seems that he's getting clingy with Daddy. He loves working with Dalton and riding around in the truck with him. The other day Dalton took him to feed, while I got ready at the house. Dalton said that when he turned on the road to head back to the house Cooper started complaining and didn't want to come back. This is good news for me because when baby comes he'll hopefully have more opportunities to go with Daddy! Dalton has started to let Cooper pull the feed button in the truck, so that cubes dump into the troughs. He really likes this and immediately reaches for the button when he sees a cow. He's been showing some self-restraint though and only pulling it when told.

Riding with Daddy on the lawnmower...it was so cute!

     Speaking of Cooper complaining, he's really demanding lately. He will point and shake his arm vigorously when he wants us to go somewhere or sit with him. He does this in the car too when he wants to go a certain way. He's still not using many words, but he will say Papa and Baby now, when prompted. He's trying to say more, but we have to really make him focus to get him to make the sounds. He does know some of his letters though, which is exciting. He knows what sounds they make and can point to the letters that I ask him to. Pretty soon he'll be singing his ABC's!
     Papa John and Popsey...this is because of you. Cooper has started to pretend like he's spitting a lot. The weird part is that he does it when he has a cup (not a sippy cup), and sometimes takes a sip and then spits it back into the cup. We couldn't figure out where he was getting this until I remembered that he's been around both Popsey and Papa John...who often spit into cups. So I'm thinking he's learned from then. What a copycat!
     Sleeping update: he's been sleeping in his big bed on his own. Most of the nights he still wakes up at least once, but we're able to go in and put him back to sleep easily. He did sleep two full nights in a row recently though, so there is hope! We moved the crib into the baby's room and adjusted it to the infant height too. Well, the other day I heard Cooper calling me, went to find him and found him in the crib! He' d climbed in there on his own. I'm going to have to keep a close eye on him so that he doesn't climb in with little brother!
     The other day I was outside working in the yard and looked around but didn't see Cooper anywhere. I called his name, heard some rattling, and tada......he popped out! I think he learned this trick from his pal Little Girl.

 Where's Cooper?

 "Mama!?"

     Speaking of Little Girl, the other day she disappeared for a whole day and night. I was so worried! I kept thinking Cooper is about to have his whole world turned upside down and now his best friend is missing...oh no! Thanks to God, she showed back up the next morning. She must have been doing a night hunt.
     I could go on and on about all of Cooper's stories, quirks and things, but I'd better wrap it up. It probably seems like I've gone on and on anyway! I'm really excited for him to be a big brother. I think he'll be a great one...once he gets used to sharing the attention.
     Hopefully the next post will be about the new baby. I'm scheduled to induce next Tuesday if he doesn't come by then, so we're praying that he comes on his own before then.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13

Gardening Part 1

     With the birth of baby boy number two looming in the near future, we decided to plant our garden this past weekend. It was looking to be a pretty weekend and planting would give us a good excuse to be outside all day for some family time.
     Because we started many plants from seeds this year, we didn't have too many to buy to have our complete plant collection. Friday morning I went to the feed store and picked up a couple of tomato plants (in case our seedlings aren't strong enough to survive), bell pepper plants and one tomatillo plant (something new to try). They didn't have much else. Then after Bible study I headed to the plant nursery and bought a couple of okra plants, one each of zucchini and squash, and a couple of strawberry plants. Neither place had cantalope or cucumber, so we'll just add those later. On to Walmart where I stocked up on potting soil for my raised bed herb garden and bought a couple more herbs and flowers. Nana and Paw brought us a couple of herb plants when they came out a few weeks ago, and thanks to them I was able to convince Dalton to go ahead and build an herb garden for me.

Dalton building the raised bed 

     That evening Dalton looked over my purchases and approved (whew). The next morning, after the boys fed the bulls and I watched Pioneer Woman on Food Network we headed outside to start our planting. Dalton and Cooper got the tractor and used it to scoop up dirt from the horse pen, while I monitored our lawnmowers in the yard. For the record, they did great until about 2 hours later when Blondie found the lettuce. He nibbled most of it and grabbed a broccoli plant on his way out of the garden, so we may not have any lettuce this spring. The good news is that he didn't eat or step on any of the newly sprouted potato plants. We've found 11 and I'm so excited to see them growing!

     Back to the tractor. Cooper loved riding in the tractor with Dalton. He said that Cooper would sit quietly and take it all in until they dumped a load of dirt. Then he would make the sign for more and point to the place where they were getting dirt. We may have a farmer on our hands.

The lawnmowers in action

     After pouring dirt into my newly built herb bed, the guys began to shovel dirt into various pots and containers. Cooper really liked helping with this too, and he was pretty handy with his little shovel. It was so cute to watch them working together.

He got some in the bucket this time!

     About this time I decided to grab the video camera and get them in action. Sometimes a picture just doesn't do a situation justice. I went inside, got the camera and was in the process of putting it on my hand when I headed down the back steps and wam, bam, thump....I fell to the ground. Don't worry, I didn't hit my belly or any of my upper body...somehow. I did scrape the top of my foot pretty good, and bruised my knee. Dalton was at my side in a hurry and helped me up. I limped to a chair and perched there for a while, feeling very clumsy, silly and irritated that my ability to help was going to be limited. Not to mention that I wouldn't be going for a nice long walk later (in hopes that it would help me get one step closer to baby time). At least I was able to still video the action.

Ouch!

     The guys finished shoveling dirt around the herb garden and them moved on to some that they'd dumped by the yard fence. That's when Dalton started finding lots of HUGE grub worms. He piled them up and then he and Cooper fed them to the ravenous chickens. It was very funny...they'd throw one out and then the whole flock was on it. The winner grabbed it and ran as fast as she could away from the others to enjoy. Dalton even pretended he was feeding the chickens like cows, using the grub worms to get them to follow. They herded pretty well. Side note: even without grub worms the chickens really do flock to you when they know you have some scraps. Cooper and I will head out to the pasture and they'll see us and start heading our way...I've never had such tame chickens.

Me: "Cooper show me the worm."

Cooper: Too busy looking at the chickens to look at me

Chickens: "Hey man, we want more worms."

     I was restless and my foot had stopped throbbing by this point, so Dalton and I planted the herb garden together. It looks so good! I hope that they all survive and thrive. I also planted a couple of pots of flowers to add some color around the house. Now when we have visitors to see the baby I'll know they have something pretty to greet them.

 The Herb Garden, plus peppers!

This is NOT the most flattering shot, but at least my gardening is documented.

(P.S. I'm only wearing slimming black from now until I deliver..white is not for hefty ladies.) 

     Then we sorted all of our plants for the big garden. But before we started plowing, we decided to consult the almanac calendar (which looks at the moon phases...don't ask me how it all works, but I know that my PaPaw - gardener extrordinare - uses it). After looking at that calendar and the weather..which showed some really windy days coming up...we decided to wait and plant the 30/31st of this month. So hopefully when garden part 2 comes out there will be pictures of baby in it too!
     After all of our morning planting and work we had lunch, took a nap (yes all 3 of us) and watched Cooper play outside that afternoon. I also finished a couple of things in baby's room, so it is officially ready for a baby.
     It was a really nice day; we are so blessed to live where we can do this sort of thing together and enjoy the magic of God's creation in plant and animal life. He is an amazing creator!

"You are the only Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, with all the stars. You made the earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them; you give life to everything. The heavenly army worships you." Nehemiah 9:6

Wet, Busy Weekend

     This past weekend we had visitors, a wedding, a baby shower and lots of rain. Mom and Dad decided to come visit... one last relaxing visit before #2 comes along. I was pretty excited because I still hadn't put up any frames or anything on the walls of the boys' rooms, and help was much appreciated. It started looking like rain Thursday, rained a little Friday and then really started raining on Saturday, when Mom and Dad came.
     They got here around 11:00 (a record for them) and we enjoyed a good visit all afternoon. They even brought gifts..a dog lovey for the baby, matching shrits for baby and Cooper that said Little Brother and Big Brother, and a cute little sign to hang in the baby's room. All things that we needed!

Blanket and Pillow made with love by my Grandma, so cute!! Puppy lovey from Mom and Dad

     Cooper showed off his toys and bed and acted super-macho at first. He was so funny. Then he settled in and started acting somewhat normal. GG put him down for his nap, and while he napped we painted a couple of canvases for his room to decorate. I also tried out a new recipe ... frozen hot chocolate ... and it was delicious. It was comical watching us all drink it b/c nothing was said and the only straws I had were a little too narrow, so we did a lot of sucking without much return. In the end we managed to get it all down; chocolate fix obtained.
     When Cooper woke up we heard him in his room saying "GG, GG," which made Mom's day. : ) After a little more visiting Dalton and I got ready and headed to a wedding in the rain. I was a little hesitant to leave my warm house and head out into the rain, but it turned out great. The wedding was nice and the reception was fun...decorated so cute too! Dalton got to visit with a lot of guys that he hadn't seen in a while, which is nice for him. They had a band and Dalton and I even danced to one song before we left. I had to be the one to ask him to dance...I think he was a little embarrassed to be seen on the dance floor with such a pregnant dance partner. I was glad we danced though. When we got home I saw that Mom had hung pictures on the walls for me in baby's room...she's my decoration fairy! We were just hanging out and then it hit me...time changes tonight! So we moved all the clocks ahead and scrambled off to bed.

 Finished product..well except for gluing a little train on the middle canvas. 

I did this all by myself...it's nice to know I can be a little crafty when needed

     The next morning we all went to church together and had lunch at Clayton's BBQ with Dalton's mom. We were inside the restaurant about to be seated when Cooper started pointing and getting all excited. I was a little confused at first but then realized he'd seen Mere Mere pull up in the parking lot. He may not be able to say Mere Mere yet but he sure is excited to see her. : )
     After lunch, the boys headed to the house and the girls headed to my church baby shower. It was really sweet and I got a few new outfits for the baby, a couple of cool gadgets and lots of diapers. Now we're ready (right?) for the little guy to arrive! It was so nice having Mom and Mere Mere there too to share in the fun.
     Mom and Dad headed home about 5...I really appreciate them staying so long to visit; it meant a lot. Then I rested while Coop and Dalt did some bonding and we enjoyed our first evening of more daylight together.
     Baby Update: Waiting patiently for him to arrive, though it's beginning to look like he'll be late. I'm going to start walking daily to help things along, but we'll see what happens. It's all in God's hands and His timing, so I know it will all work out just as it should. At least the nursery is finished now, so we have a place to put the little guy! And as far as a name goes, we have some ideas but no decision. We'll just wait and see what pops in our heads when we see him.

** If you are wondering why there are no people pictures it's because we had so much fun visiting that we didn't even have time to say cheese.

"Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him." Psalm 2:12

Picking up a Bull

     Last week Cooper and I tagged along with Dalton while he picked up a bull from a pasture of cows. I realized last week that after the baby is born (less than two weeks now) Cooper and I won't be able to get out with Daddy very much, so we should take all the opportunities we can now. Of course, I had to explain this to Dalton so that we'd get an invite to tag along. : )
     They leave the bulls in with the cows for about 3 months to get their business done, then pick them up and put them all back in one big pasture until the next time they're needed. Dalt had picked up all but one bull and Cooper and I got ready in time to ride with him for that one. He was also using Dandy that day, another reason we wanted to tag along. It's always more fun with a horse.

     It was SO windy that day, and chilly, so Cooper and I stayed in the truck for the most part. (After the work was done we got out and petted Dandy, then blew back into the pickup.) As we drove up to the big green field in Caddo we spotted the bull all alone in the middle of the field...such a snob. We parked at the pen, Dalton hopped on Dandy and we watched him gallop away to herd the bull to us. It was all going great until the bull got cantankerous and started to try and escape. He wound up jumping into a nearby tank and swimming across to get away from Dalton and to the cows. Dalton said that he looked like a big hippo swimming across. Wish I could have seen it.

     Then Dalt came back and ran the siren for a while trying to get them to come back (once they see a horse they are mighty weary of the old feed truck). After no luck, he got back on Dandy and headed out of sight to bring the cows to us. Cooper and I waited patiently...for the most part. We found some raisins so Cooper had a good snack, and we kept watching for Daddy. Finally all the cows came out of the trees , followed by Dalton. The bull was close, but not close enough. I thought maybe Coop and I could help out by pouring some cubes in the pen, but when I got out I was instructed to get back in the truck...and promptly did so.
     Then all the cows went back out of sight and I thought hope was lost. Until...dun duna...out comes the bull and Dalton. he herded him through some trees and into the pen. Yeah!!

 He wasn't the friendliest bull

Luckily we have a brave cowboy to load the bull

     After that we got out and rewarded Dandy with a couple of cubes. Then Cooper rode Dandy back to the trailer he had to share with a very unhappy bull.

 "Don't eat my hand Dandy, just the cube!"

"Let's Ride!"

    It was a pretty fun outing, and I think Cooper and Dalton can't wait until Coop's old enough to ride along horseback to help with the work.

"Do everything without grumbling or arguing." Philippians 2:14

Pepe and Dom

   
     The chickens are doing great. We haven't had any more intruders since the ringtail, and they are really laying now. The other day we got 8 eggs! We were having trouble with them scratching out all of their nest bedding, which resulted in broken eggs, but after nailing carpet pieces on the bottom of each nest, we solved that problem. Our chickens like comfy conditions.
     Cooper really enjoys the chickens and likes to herd them around. He's gotten into trouble multiple times because he won't leave them alone. He also likes gathering the eggs and gets really excited when he looks in the next and sees eggs to collect. He hasn't really learned how to safely carry the eggs, but at least most of the time he'll give the eggs to me without a fight.

 Looking for eggs

 "Mom, please let me carry it to the house!"

Dandy is always checking for a possible treat

     On to Pepe and Dom.

 Dom

Pepe

     If you haven't guessed, these are the names of our two roosters. After we learned that they aren't mean, we've started to like them and observe them...Cooper and I do a lot of chicken observing these days. We named Pepe because he seems to have a spanish flair about him, with the pretty feathers and more agile movements. Dom is of the Dominiker breed, so we just shortened it. He also just looks like a Dom.  As we've watched we've noticed some competition between the two guys, and found  out who the dominant rooster is.
Guess which one?

Dom hanging out with the ladies

     That's right, Dom (no pun intended) is the dominant rooster. By observing them, we've found a few reasons for this.
     Shortly after we got them we started listening for rooster crows. It didn't take long for them to start crowing, and there is a definite difference between the two. Dom has a loud, deep crow; very rooster-like. When he's finished we usually hear another crow...softer, higher and less impressive. This would be Pepe's crow. Poor guy, he just doesn't have the lungs that Dom does.
     As you can probably tell from the pictures, Dom is also the bigger rooster of the two. He is more meaty and taller than Pepe, much to Pepe's disadvantage. Though we haven't seen them fight, I'm sure Dom's size would be a factor if they chose to squabble.
     It also seems like the chickens prefer Dom to Pepe. This may just be because Dom herds them around better and keeps them separated from Pepe, we're not quite sure yet. But he definitely keeps them in line, and does more 'courting' than Pepe. One other factor that may make the ladies swoon is this funny little trot that Dom does. He kind of trots, does a little jig, then trots some more on his way to the hens. At first we thought he was limping, but soon realized it was just him showing off his moves.

     If you're like me, you are probably thinking "Poor Pepe" by now. He is a handsome rooster, and has some good qualities of his own, but sometimes it just doesn't work out. It is still fun to watch the flock dynamics though, with the power struggle still going on.

Pepe is on the outside of the 'cool' circle

     A lot of times Pepe is treated like the 'misfit' and gets left out of activities. I was watching the flock devour some scraps one day and they wouldn't let Pepe in to eat. He would go to one side and try to get in..no luck..then he'd go to the other side...no luck. Finally I got some scraps and set them out for him. Come to think of it, I guess if I was a hen I wouldn't want a rooster leader who couldn't get the hens to let him eat. ; )
     Pepe did have a small victory the other day though. Cooper and I were walking behind the horse pen, and the chickens headed our way. They came through holes in the back fence and started scratching around. Soon the two roosters noticed that the flock had moved off, so they started running to them. If you haven't seen a chicken run, you must. It is very entertaining, especially when they really get moving. They do their waddle/run while flapping their wings to get extra propulsion (big word, hope I used it correctly). Back to the boys...Pepe got to the fence first and squeezed through. Remember, he's smaller than Dom. He immediately started strutting around the hens and scratching with them. Dom got to the fence but couldn't fit through the hole right away. He had to pace back and forth for a little while before he found a big hole. Pepe noticed this, I'm just certain of it, because he held his head a little higher and herded the flock. Dom was visibly upset, and even though it was only for a minute or two, I was happy to see Pepe in control.

     So that is the lowdown on our two roosters. In other chicken news, we got to watch a chicken actually lay an egg the other day. I know... how bored do we have to be to watch a chicken lay an egg. When I post about watching grass grow, you'll know we need a new hobby. Back to the egg...we were working on putting carpet pieces into the nests when one of the white chickens came in and started complaining because we were messing with the nests. It was obvious that she had some business to do and we were preventing her from getting it done. We hurried to finish and then exited the pen, and stood to watch what she was up to.
    She hopped up in a nest, circled and then kept looking at her body. She would look around at her side, then make some noise, then stand, then sit, etc. This went on for a few minutes. Then she stood up. fluffed all of her feathers out, made some movements and then out came an egg! I had no idea that chickens were standing when they laid their eggs. When she finished she hopped out of the nest and headed out to graze with the others. Dalton promptly went in and collected the egg...still warm. Pretty neat.

 "Little Girl, what are you looking at?"

Uh oh! Better keep an eye on our lioness.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Matthew 5:9