The arrival of Bunny Rabbit.

We went in to be induced on Monday, May 18. We labored all day on Monday and didn't progress at all... well, maybe 1/2 cm. They stopped the pitocin and let me eat dinner and sleep Monday night, then bright and early Tuesday morning took us into surgery.

I didn't know Hunter had given the camera to the anesthesiologist... who took some interesting pictures... I have more, but I'll just share this one... I'm sure we had a look of surprise on our faces when Dr. Self said... "come here buddy..." and then "it's a BOY!" Oh BOY!!!

A nurse whisks him away to the examining table.

He came out hollerin and healthy.

Zookeepers first good look at Bunny.

Post Partum -3 days

Everyone has to have one lovely hospital shot... I was so puffy from all the IV fluids!

Bunny says hi to Martin.

Bee was disappointed Bunny wasn't a girl, but fell in love with her 6th little brother right away.

Monkey was happy he has another brother!

Trying to find a name...

Cow Elk brought the critters to see us Tuesday afternoon. The flowers and balloons were great.

Hangin' out in the bassinet...which he hated. Bunny slept on my chest most of the time we were in the hospital.

The Fox family stopped to say hi and to meet Bunny on their way to the ranch for the weekend.

Dressed and waiting to go home... if Mom and Dad can only decide on a name!

We finally chose a name around 8:15 p.m. and we left at 8:16 p.m.

First Full day home

Our first day home was wonderful. Gramma Linda (an adopted gramma) came for the day to help me out. Remember all the pink blankets she made us? Well, she made a bunch of boy ones for Bunny while she was here.

Lemur was so happy to have mama home!! He hardly left my side all day long.

He did let gramma Linda cuddle him while I was nursing Bunny.

The K. Critters came Friday evening. They were excited to meet Bunny, although I think Penguin was the only one that held him -- too many other exciting things to do, I guess.

Baby Astle

Zookeeper and Hunter are the proud new parents of a baby boy! Their baby boy (we'll call him Rabbit because he doesn't have a name yet) was born by C-section at 7:49am. He is a healthy
7 lbs 4 oz and is 21 inches long. He has a 14 cm head which explains why he was born by c-section. yeow! Congratulations Zookeeper and Hunter and Welcome baby Rabbit

Montessori Moment

Lemur came up with his own Montessori work this week. It was all set up for him - left to right... dry cat food into the water bowl... perfect!

All the kitties watched him with interest. Of course he the proceeded to put all the wet, soggy food back into the dry food bowl. Highly trained Montessori Kid!

Anything that children can sort small objects into. Everyone has a mancala game, right? Egg cartons also work great.

For a great resource and more ideas, go to www.montessoriservices.com

Post-doctor Appointment Up-date and some other stuff...

Just another up-date so you don't have to call and ask and have your head bit off by me, the Zookeeper because I'M STILL PREGNANT... and apparently will be for a while. NOTHING is happening down there. still nothing. I started crying on the exam table. Have you ever done that before? I'm sure it wasn't the first time it happened to my doctor. Dr. thinks that I just might not go into labor on my own like with Lemur. Since I am a probable C-section delivery, she couldn't just send me up to the hospital to get induced, we have to have an appointment so they have enough staff on hand to do the c-section if I need one. SO: Monday morning at 8:00 we'll go in to be induced. If the Pitocin does not work within 5 or 6 hours (meaning if I don't dilate at all like what happened with Lemur) then we'll have a baby via c-section. SO... hip, hip, hooray, we'll have a baby by at least Monday. I'm really praying I'll just go into labor on my own this weekend. We planted a bunch more of the garden on Friday night... and realized our rototiller has been stolen!

We were both so ticked off. We just bought it last year after saving up for it, researching which one to get and having so much fun using it. Man, I'm so mad about that. I hate stupid people who steal stuff. I would have let them BORROW IT!!! We called the police and filed a report. Our neighbor is a detective for the sheriff's department. I talked to him and he said there have been several robberies in the area. He asked if we had anything else we could put up front as a decoy and he will put a tracking device on it and see if we can catch someone. I do have all the info on the rototiller - serial number etc so that will help - IF the stupid robbers are not too lazy to keep it and use it and actually plant a garden with it instead of selling it to a Pawn Shop. If they do that, we'll get 'em because all the Pawn Shops in the area are linked to the Sheriff's department data base of stolen stuff. Ya, so were were totally ticked last night. We have also been looking on Craigs List and some other online classified places. Grrrr!! So as you can tell, I'm in a great mood. I got up at 5:00 this morning and had to work for 4 hours. I could barely walk when I got done. I took a hot bath and that helped my pelvic bone and hips felt better. Not sure what we're going to do the rest of the day: Horseback riding, 4-wheeling, boggin', finish planting the garden, run a marathon. Who knows. Have a great day!

Still no baby update

I feel like a beached whale. Yes, it's 4:30 in the morning. I have been up since 2:00. No, I am NOT in labor... wishful thinking. I am due on Sunday. No contractions. None. Zip. I wish... Still swollen, puffy and gross looking, but at least this isn't forever, right? I have no idea why I can't sleep. My legs started itching at 2:00 so I got up and went potty (for the second time since I went to bed at 10:00) and scratched my legs and then I couldn't go back to sleep. I hate it when you lay there and just think. Lots of times when I think in the middle of the night I get all kinds of answers to problems, I figure things out, I plan, I sort, I organize. The frustrating thing with having a baby is the not knowing WHEN for me!!! AAArrgh! It drives me crazy, and I think Heavenly Father knows it and is trying to teach me a lesson. He has tried to teach me this 5 times now, and obviously I haven't figured it out yet... the thing called patience. I'm trying. Really.

Lemur and I totally cleaned his and the baby's bedroom on Wednesday. We scrubbed and wiped down everything. I opened a package if teeny tiny diapers and he handed them to me one by one to put in the diaper holder thing on the wall. We hung up little dresses and folded tiny onesies and jammies. We folded blankies and teeny tiny socks and put them away. I don't know if he has any idea of how his world is going to change here real soon. He pats my tummy when I ask him where the baby is. We have seen a few new born baby girls in the past couple of weeks and I tell him "that's a baby sister!" He seems enamored by the babies... but I'm sure he has no idea that one of THOSE is going to come and live with US! I hope he ends up being as good of friends with his little sister as my big brother (and my little brothers) are, and as good of friends as Hunter and Rainbow Trout are.

I go to the doctor in about 4 hours (maybe I should try and get some more sleep before then). We'll see what she says. I don't know if she will want me to go another week before trying to start me because 3 of the critters were almost 9 pounds, or if she will want to try and start me this weekend. Hunter is going to go ahead and go to work today (Friday) and I'm going to pick up some of the Elk Family kids to hang out with me today. We are going to go to the dump and unload a bunch of garbage. Then I think I'll take the lawn mowers to a repair man to get them fixed so we can mow the lawn... the jungle I mean. Hunter cannot figure out what is wrong with the darn things. Tomorrow night I think Hunter and I will finish planting the garden. We planted 6 rows of corn with Lemur's "help" last night before both of our knees and backs gave out.

okay, I'm done thinking out loud. I'll keep you posted!

Family Pets

Building a house for our new pets...

Our ward had a really fun ward activity on Saturday. It was the "Ward Round Up" at a ranch nearby. They had a branding that you could watch/participate in, and then there were tons of things for the critters to do: a petting zoo, make/ride stick horses, skeet shooting, horse back riding, and of course, food. One lady brought 40 (yes, FORTY) bunnies for people to take home. My critters have known this was coming for a few weeks and Martin has been working on building a rabbit hutch every day after school.

We ended up getting 4 bunnies (the lady said they were all male... I guess we'll find out in a few months eh?). Their names are (and I have no idea which one is which) Chester, Jack (rabbit) Peter (rabbit) and Shadow.

After having the bunnies for a few days, Martin decided his rabbit hutch wasn't good enough, so he remodeled it. We moved it next to the shed where it wouldn't get sprinkled on and let the bunnies move in.

The bunnies lovin' their new mansion.

Mother's Day Weekend

I had the best mother's day I've ever had. I woke up to a huge bouquet of lilacs and tulips from Hunter, and breakfast made by my critters (2 days in one week... wow!). On Friday Hunter gave me a massage at Massage Envy for Mothers Day... can I just say... aaaaaaaaahhhh! After church we had sandwiches (my choice... no pots and pans or dishes) then went to a dam about 45 minutes away. It was a beautiful day. We hung out by the river, threw rocks and sticks into it and went for a hike.

Hunter does not believe in staying on the path like the officials in the State Parks would like us too... he took the critters along the side of the river towards the dam. I'm sure we would have been arrested if they had seen us down there. I watched and did not think about how deep the water was there, how cold and fast the river is running, how deep the river is... how much it would cost to get the 5 of them out of jail...

Love this picture!

After the Temple, we met Hunter and Lemur who were loading a walnut log so Hunter could go and mill it. As you can guess, Lemur did NOT want to go with me. He would MUCH rather be riding on the fork lift with Hunter!!!

Saturday morning we went to the Temple to be with the critters Grandpa and Grandma W. while they were sealed. Earlier in the week, Martin was able to do the baptism for his Great Grandpa W. and he said that was very, very cool. First Great G and Great G W. were sealed, then their son (Grandpa W.) was sealed to them, and then Grandpa and Grandma W. were sealed. It was really cool. The flowers at the Temple (as always) were fabulous! Afterwards we went to their house for dinner (Can't beat Goodwood BBQ!!!) and the critters hung out with cousins and played.