Me, me, me! And my haircut.

I decided I needed to post pictures of my haircut, since I have been talking about it and people ask. Its short. I haven't had it this short in years...ok, like maybe 3 or 4 years. But I think I like it. What choice do I have now, eh? I was playing with the camera to try and get the most flattering angle of myself....here are the shots that didn't get deleted right away. Brandon took the last one...I was in the process of fixing my hair since the hair and makeup team did not come. Damn them!

I can lift a horse, can you?

When was the last time you said to someone, "Yeah, I picked up my horse and cuddled her." Probably doesn't happen very often, so we decided to get pictures. Our baby weighs about 35-40 lbs we figure....about the same as Logan, our 3 yr old. She is pretty tolerate of us.

Brandon with baby and Dozer.

Me with the baby...isn't she so cute?!?!

HSPPP with the baby and Momma close behind.

Dozer is a very good momma. She is so protective, she doesn't let the baby get more than 4-6 feet away from her without scolding her and getting closer. The baby had a blast running around the pasture today and momma was right on her tail, keeping tabs on her.

We are in negotiations about naming her. We have tossed around a bunch of names like Polly Pocket (pocket horse) or Dolly (Pardon) or Loretta (Lynn) or Patsy (Cline) or Honey Pie or Supercalafragalisticespealadocious (sp?) or Dizzy. I suppose we should settle on something soon.

Horse Poop Bonfire! Redneck?

We spent the day clearing out the Mini's pasture of the downed trees and other miscellaneous stumps. We burned it right on a big pile of horse poop. Brandon got out the marshmallows and roasted a few until he decided they really didn't taste very good. I am not sure if they did not taste good because they were old or because he was roasting them over wood that was burning right on top of horse dung?! He said to me, "Mom, these taste nasty, here try it." Ummm, no thanks!

My first baby is 10!

I remember the day I first saw Brandon....it was December 21st, 1999. The social worker brought him to where I worked and set him on a chair in the reception area. He had a blue and grey/silver coat and had a blue blanket sorta wrapped around his little legs. I remember thinking he was such a cute little baby with round cheeks and dark round eyes. I was doing foster care and was only supposed to have him for a few weeks. I grabbed him up from that chair and talked to the Social worker for a few minutes before I had to leave to drop him off at home with my roommate so I could finish out my day at work. He would start at the daycare in my building the next day. When I got home that night he was getting attached to my roommate and I was a tiny bit jealous. I scooped him up and told him, "I am your mommy!!" Little did I know at that point that I would become his mother. It was a maddening rollar coaster of highs and lows on the way to becoming his "legal" mother, but it was all worth it and could not imagine my life without my bubba. (I rarely call him that anymore since he is getting so old and "grown-up", LOL) The adoption was final on April 12, 2002. That was the happiest day of my life when I could finally relax and not worry about him going anywhere else. We had a great ceremony (1st time in Hennepin County that an adoption was done outside of the courtroom) and feast with lots of family and friends present to witness our special day.

We really did have a rough journey and its still a journey of growth and love and I love him so much my heart aches at times. He is growing up to be a fine looking little man and has great qualities that he will share with the world. He is full of life and loves spending time being active with his brothers and sisters or his friends. He is a very social kid. He is athletic and loves baseball and his martial arts practice. He would also like to play hockey and football or basketball. He will play just about anything. He is comical and tries to crack jokes (sometimes gets himself into a bit of trouble with this) at just about anything or anyone for that matter. I sometimes wonder with amazement at the doctors and others that come in contact with him for short spurts of time and say, "Why is he so quiet?? Is he like this all the time?" That is just crazy talk, cause Brandon is very full of life (and noise!) and constantly looking for his new adventure and companion to go along.

He decided to have his birthday party at H2Oasis, an indoor water park in Anchorage. He had 3 friends come along and of course siblings and a couple cousins. Everyone had a blast! Here are a couple pictures of him and 2 of his friends - Bailey and Atillio.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRANDON!

A New Baby!

Dozer had her baby early this morning and here she is! (I think it is a girl...will have to get a closer look later on.)

She is still learning to nurse. Hasn't quite got it down yet. She tries to nurse from her mom's armpit, her neck, her nose, her butt....all the wrong places. Hopefully she will figure that out soon. She is strong and healthy it appears, she is already trotting and running around. Her mom fast on her tail. Dozer doesn't let her get too far away yet. She let me pet her and touch her so that was good. When I tried to look under her tail, she jumped her rear end up a bit though like she wanted to kick me. It was the cutest thing.

Scary story....

So, our mini-mare is pregnant right...you all know this. Well she is due any day now, but I am not so excited as I once was to meet her little baby. I heard a story today from my friend Abby. She has another friend who has mini-horses and one of them got knocked up and it just recently had its baby. A MULE! Apparently the donkey got to their mini-mare and their love session created a baby mule. (Everyone picturing Donkey from Shrek, right?) I am sure its cute and all, but I would rather NOT have that kind of surprise on D-day.

If you never hear of our pregnant horse again or its spawn, then you know something didn't turn out right. BUT, if she indeed does have a baby horse like we are anticipating, then I will gladly post pics, upon pics to show you how cute it is.

BTW, Dozer is extremely ornery these days. She doesn't want anyone even touching her. I can only imagine how miserable I would be if I had to carry a child (or horse) for 11 months. Yuck!

Checking in...giving updates.

So, Lance Mackey won the Iditarod. 3rd time in a row for him. It was fun watching and keeping track of where all the racers were.

Austin got his cast off on Wednesday, April 1st. He is learning how to use that arm again and gaining strength in it again. He has had a few episodes where he doesn't know how to catch himself when he falls. He used to have a very solid brace against the floor. Bath time is MUCH easier now too.

Dave and I are working on our house plans. Dave is pricing everything and coming up with a plan. We designed our kitchen with Jason at Home Depot. That was ok. I really am not picky, but when you have to make decisions about where to put what and how you want it to look, it is hard to decide. Its hard to picture it in your mind and how you would use it all. Oh well....it is coming together.

I wanted to post a couple pictures of myself and my weight loss progress. I hadn't compared til recently and was shocked to see how different I look. I think I am in desparate need of some tanning sessions though since I look so pasty.

This first picture was taken when I was in MN/ND in July of 2008. I got a decent tan. Bobbie was pregnant in this picture and didn't know it yet, but I did, ha ha!! Her baby was born on our anniversary of March 14th. (Geez, I wish I had her beautiful hair!!)

This picture was taken April 1st when Austin got his cast taken off.

Anyway, I have lost a total of 31 lbs now. Its going very slow but steady. That is all I can hope for I guess. I still got LOTS to go.