Sunday, February 12, 2012

Cheep! Cheep!

We've been talking for a couple years about getting some backyard chickens and last night we took the plunge.  We purchased a variety of breeds to see what works best for us.  We got ten chicks, five of them we had sexed to ensure they are hens, the other five are a gamble.  One of them is a Jersey Giant and is already twice the size of the other chicks.  The odds are good that a couple of them are "Easter Eggers" and will lay colored eggs.

This is the Jersey Giant...roosters can grow as big as 15 lbs!

They will be great at helping us keep our extensive tick population off of Kona's back, will provide lots of entertainment for the girls, and, best of all, will (hopefully) lay lots of eggs.  




Dustin says we have to start saying things like "I reckon" and "darn tootin'" now that we are officially chicken farmers.  I say let's not get ahead of ourselves. I hope to share pictures of vast amounts of eggs later in the summer!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

9-months-young

Our little Kaia boo is growing up so fast.  I swear McKenzie's first year didn't fly by like Kaia's has.  She had her nine month checkup last week and we were surprised to learn that she is actually smaller than Kenzie was at this age.  She looks like a little chunker to me.

According to the charts, 93% of babies Kaia's age are heavier than her.  Can you imagine bigger cheeks than these?
While some second-borns are content to sit by and watch their older siblings play, Kaia refuses to be forgotten.  She is a little troublemaker.  I'm constantly stopping her from climbing over the Candy Land board or puzzle or book that Kenzie is playing with.  I'll set up decoys so she'll have her own book or puzzle to climb on, but she's only interested in the one Kenzie is using.  She is always sneaking into the forbidden breezeway (where Kona's food and water are kept), or crawling to the one plant I can't seem to keep her hands out of.  She loves outlets and wires.  She's always on the move.  Whew.  She's busy.
It doesn't matter what room I put her in, the first thing she does is  leave.
She's cute when she's escaping, though, isn't she?

Dustin calls her Hoover because she find every single thing on the floor and sucks it up faster than we can get to her.  We'll see her pinching her tiny thumb and forefinger together and yell "no" or "eh-eh" to try and stop her, but we're never fast enough.  Instead we need to use all our might to pry her jaw open before she swallows said object.

She had her first bath by herself in the big tub.
Splash, splash, splash!
 She's able to stand on her own and does this often.  She has learned how to fall gracefully

She made a canine friend and LOVES to spend time with him. He's pretty indifferent (unless she happens to be holding his tennis ball).