Something's In the Water!

UPDATE:: This post had two errors.  First, my sister is due in March, not April.  Sorry Meggo!  Also, a sweet friend of mine (and Mr. Whimsy) is also due. Stephanie and her hubby just found out they will be having a little boy.  Woohoo!  Stephanie is due in February and we can't wait to meet him.  Sorry Stephanie!  

A couple post ago I linked to my sisters new blog announcing she is pregnant and due in April.  

Since her big news, my cousin Kristin (of the re-booted Blue Jeans and Boots) announced she was pregnant.  Actually, her son (my Godson) Colt did - and not just in the picture on her blog.  Right before my Mallie was dedicated and we were waiting in a quiet room Colt sweetly piped up with a "Lindsey, my mommy has a baby in her belly".  Everyone but Kristin and her husband Jared heard and immediately turned to them awaiting confirmation.  It was a priceless moment that I believe Kristin had hoped would happen a little later.  Nonetheless, congrats Kreneks!!!

I also just found out super cute Heidi of Reese's Pieces is pregnant with her second baby.  Heidi's daughter Reese is adorable (frankly the entire family is good looking!) and I know the new addition will be just as sweet.

Me, Heidi and Reese at my wedding 

Megans Merry Go Round

My baby sister Megan just started a blog... Megans Merry Go Round... 

and she started it with some big news that my Mallie is pretty excited about!  Check it out - I promise you don't want to miss it!

Newborn Photos - Sneak Peek

When our sweet Mallie was a week and a couple days old we had newborn photos taken of her.  I have not gotten the images yet but here are a couple of shots our photographer sent as a sneak pick.  Enjoy!

Today Mallie is 3 weeks, 2 days old and Mr. Whimsy and I are amazed at how much she has grown already.  She is a beautiful baby girl and we feel incredibly blessed to have such a special person as a part of our family.  

I hope to post more photos soon.

Meet Malinda Rose

Our sweet Baby Whimsy arrived Monday July 30 at 8:12PM.  She weighted 7 pounds, 2 ounces and was 20 inches long.  We named her Malinda Rose and call her Mallie.  She is pretty much perfect.

Mallie about 15 minutes after she was born

It was an all day affair on Monday; Mr. Whimsy and I headed to the hospital around 4AM that morning, and the Dr. said we could stay when she made her rounds around 8:30 AM.  We called BeBe (my mom) and MiMi (Mr. Whimsys mom) and asked them to spread the word.  

BeBe, Grandpa Jimbo, MiMi, Grandpa TC, Aunt Megan, Aunt Kristin and Aunt Marilyn were there to welcome sweet Mallie into the world.

Since being home Mallie has been the picture of the perfect newborn.  She rarely cries (only when she is hungry, chilly, getting a washcloth bath or getting her diaper changed) and would sleep throughout the night if she didn't need to be fed - I sometimes have to wake her up to feed her.  We know this won't last forever but are enjoying it while it does!

Thank you everyone for the well wishes, prayers and congratulations.  I promise to post more soon!

Thank you Grandpa Jimbo for all the great pictures!

Favored One

 First I want to thank you, my sweet friends and family, for your encouraging comments.  They have helped propel me into another week of pregnancy and further into that mythical 2nd trimester.  

Quick update: Over the past week the battle of feeling icky vs. feeling like normal has continued to wage.  Thankfully the good feelings win out 2 out of 3 days.  The 2 good days, 1 bad, routine has pretty much become the norm and I happily accept it.  Again, thank you dear friends.

Now onto about the 4th question* people ask when they find out I'm pregnant (*The top 3 are, in order, when are you due (July 30), how have you been feeling (icky but getting better), and do you know if its a boy or girl yet (nope but should soon!)): How did you tell Mr. Whimsy you were pregnant?

To begin, I must say my pregnancy was a surprise to both of us.  Right before Thanksgiving, I told the Mr. that I kind of thought I may be pregnant.  When I told him I was mostly joking... kind of like a empty threat (except it was not a threat but I can not think of a better word for it).  We both just shrugged it off and decided to play the wait and see game.  

A week later, on a Wednesday, I told him I really thought I may be pregnant.  We agreed to wait until Sunday and I would take a at-home pregnancy test.  I was pretty positive Mr. Whimsy completely forgot about it.  Meanwhile, it was on my mind non stop.  I was incredibly nervous, thinking there was no way possible we were ready to bring a Baby Whimsy into this world. My nerves were going non stop and I kept trying to convince myself that I was not pregnant.  

On the way to church Sunday I asked Mr. Whimsy if he was nervous or excited.  He responded with, "about what, church?"  I reminded him that today was the big day we found out.  He had forgotten...

I sat through church really nervous and distracted through the opening worship.  I distinctly remember biting my bottom lip thinking "God we are not ready for this... right?"  When Pastor Alan started talking I felt like he was talking directly to me.  

The service was on how the angel told Mary that she would bring Jesus into the world.  At first Mary was scared but the Bible verse says The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you. (Luke 1:28, NIV).  Pastor Alan* went on to talk about how God finds favor in his children and we can find comfort in that.

As soon as I heard this I felt an incredible peace for the first time in over a week and I knew that pregnant or not, Mr. Whimsy and I would be okay and God had a plan for our family.  (I mean really, how could you not feel at peace knowing that God finds favor in you?!?!?!).

After lunch we picked up lunch and went home to take THE TEST.  Except the test (i.e. its results) was not nearly as intimidating as it was a mere 2 hours earlier.  

Around 1pm on Sunday, December 8 we found out together that I was indeed pregnant.  It was a very happy and surreal moment for us.  I kept reminding myself that we were favored and all would be ok.  

We promised each other we would not tell anyone (including our parents) until we had gone to the Dr to get the pregnancy confirmed/get more information and we could tell each sets of parents in person within a short time of telling the other set of parents.  

Now I must give Mr. Whimsy mad props because unbeknownst to me, he had been calling around to hospitals, doctors, (even a birthing center) etc. to gather all the information so that I would not be stressed in finding a good doctor etc.  I think it was Tuesday night when I found out he had done so much legwork.  I was a happy wife to say the least.

Later that week the doctor confirmed I was about 8 weeks pregnant and I had armloads of information to digest in the coming weeks/days.

Needless to say it was a very exciting time for us and it was hard to keep it a secret until we saw both sets of our parents in person (about a week later we told them).  It was really hard keeping it a secret from everyone but it was also really fun knowing we had that between the two of us.

I still get pretty nervous at times but I try and remind myself that this child is a gift from God and His (God's) timing is all that matters.  

I really want to make/ask a real artist to paint something like this for Baby Whimsy's room once I know if its going to be a boy or girl (this is a really rough sketch):

To wrap things up (finally) I am sorry for another long post, I thank you for your support and prayers, and I will be back with an update soon!  


Pastor Alan is the preacher at The Ark Church in Conroe.  As I have blogged about before, Mr. Whimsy and I LOVE this church and invite all of friends in the area to join us on Sunday for a casual, inspiration service (plus they have GREAT kids programs).

Big News!!!

Joe and I are expecting a new addition to our family July 2012!  We are very excited (and quite nervous) about it and know that God has a great plan for us.

My due date is July 30, 2012 and as of today I am 12 weeks along.  More (frequent) updates to follow, stay tuned!!!

Cat Tales Part 2

Err... Some friends got on the me for my (lack of) blog posting lately so here goes!

My last post was was supposed to be a at least 2 part series about the kitten that got dumped at my house.  This is the second and final part of that post so that I can move on and blog about more fun stuff!

So, if you can recall (and I know it may be hard, its been almost a month), I last left off with the cat disappearing into the night.  I thought the cat was long gone, which frankly was fine with me because neither Joe or I are cat people.  We have never owned cats, interacted in a positive way with cats, or had interest in cats.

Evening, Day 2
Needless to say a day and a half after the cat disappeared, I heard meowing from the truck motor while I took my puppy out to go potty before bed.  I am pretty sure I audibly groaned and rolled my eyes for a few seconds before coming inside to grab a flashlight.  I finally found the kitten by looking in the space between the wheel and the truck.  There was nothing I could do with it so I grabbed a piece of bread, poured some milk in a bowl and went to bed.

Day 3
The next morning, the bread I left the night before was completely covered in ants. Joe needed to take the car so we went to see if the cat was still hanging in the engine.   It was, but this time it was in my cars engine.  After about 30 minutes of poking the bottom of the car, honking the horn, laying on the ground and all sorts of other fun stuff, the cat ran out... right across the street into a culvert where it continuously meowed loudly.  I tried to be nice and call it out but it was having NOTHING to do with me... I am not sure that I wanted anything to do with it either though.

I called animal control they seriously scared me into thinking the cat was going to breed, have thousands of babies and take over my house... but they would not come to get it unless it was captured.   Thanks folks.  I left it alone thinking it may venture to a neighbors house somehow.  That night when I went on my run I made noise to see if the cat was still around (anytime we talked it would meow... so I was a crazy running lady that talked to myself for a few seconds)...  it was still in there but no coming out, so again, I left it alone.

Day 4
In the morning I wanted to go to garage sales so I made noise to see if the cat was around.  It was in my car engine.  In the matter of 30 seconds I shocked both myself and the cat.  I opened the car engine, the cat tried to run but it got tripped up on a cord.  I quickly grabbed it by the hair on its neck and stood there completely unsure of what to do.  Joe was sleeping in so I ran upstairs, and hollered at him that I caught the cat. While this is all going on I am holding the cat far away from my body, it is meowing and I am unsure if it is going to scratch, pee, or something worse on me.

Joe said put it in Mackie's (the dog) crate... which was in a corner in the garage.  I ran in the garage (still holding the cat) got the crate, opened it, and dropped the cat in and closed the door.  As I went inside to wash my hands I started to feel bad because it was hot outside and probably hungry...  I made the mistake of deciding to put a bowl of water and some food in the crate.  I shouldn't have been so sweet to this creature.  As I opened the crate the cat jumped straight up, and out of the crate... straight to the truck.  Apparently vertical jumps are quite common for cats.

UGGH!  4 days of chasing this cat around, I finally caught it (with my bare hands) and then I went and let it go.  Not to mention this entire escaped cost me at least 30 minutes of garage sale time (and I can only imagine the great treasures I missed out on).  I left the house not so happy.  2 hours later, I got a phone call from Joe saying he had bad news... the cat somehow escaped.  I thought about playing a joke on him but decided against it and told him how the whole thing was my fault.  The only good thing about this story so far is when I called to tell my Grandma she laughed... and laughed... and laughed about it.

Day 4, 9PMish
That night when taking Mackie (the puppy) out, I heard the cat again.  This time it was in Joe's truck.  After a few minutes it finally peered out from above the tire.  I ran inside and got some milk and dog food for it.  I tossed it a few pieces of dog food and it eventually came out.  I told Joe to come outside and we spent the night throwing dog food at it, trying to get it to come to us, etc.  It was VERY shy and skiddish all night.

Day 30
The cat has been here ever since.  It loves to play with Mackie, Boomhauer (the Rottweiler) gives it sloppery kisses daily, and Pebbles (the lab) completely ignores it.  I am still a little nervous around it but both Joe and I are getting used to it.  We are on our second bag of cat food and I even got it some treats (they were free with coupons from Target).  We have seen it chasing bugs around so hopefully it is going to be success at keeping down the rodent, snake and bug population around here.  I don't think we will ever be cat people per say but I have to admit, so far it has been a pretty positive addition to the homestead :).

By the way, the cat's name is Radiator - pretty fitting right?

Cat Tales :: Part 1

Last Wednesday night, I took my puppy outside and heard a very distinct "meow" sound... uggh another cat/kitten got dumped. This has happened before. Twice actually. And I am NOT a cat person. I live in the country next to a creek so apparently people think its the perfect spot to drop of their unwanted animals. These people are wrong.
First it was a fully grown cat that apparently used to be a house cat. Whenever I opened the door - garage or house - it would try and sneak inside. SO not okay with me. A "neighbor" several miles tried to take it in. Two days later, it founds it's way back to my front porch. The neighbor was no longer interested in keeping this wandering cat so it went to the shelter. I honestly hope it found a nice home somewhere.
Then this past winter, we were outside playing with the dogs and heard a meow from the creek. A little while later a kitten wandered out. Not having a clue what to do (I have zero experience with cats beyond disliking them immensely), I called my aunt Flora and cousin Jamie (they love cats). They gave me some suggestions most of which I followed (I did not agree to bring the cat into my house though). Unfortunately the kitten got run over by a car the next day and I truly felt bad for the thing.

We have been (dumped) animal free for several months now. That is, until Wednesday night. Anyway, Mackie (the puppy) and I headed outside so she could go potty and I head a LOUD meow. Constantly. In fact, I am pretty sure I heard it inside my house before I went outside. Anyway, not being a cat person and being home alone at the moment, I grabbed a flashlight and golf club (not to hit it, to move the bushes if necessary), and followed the sound to my flower bed. The cat of unknown size, orgin and meanness was completely hidden inside a bush. I could not see it and to be honest, I was too scared to move the bush with my hand to really see it. Thankfully my knight in shining honor (i.e. the husband) pulled into the drive way just in time to save the day.
He was able to spot the cat and confirm that the scary mean cat was in fact a tiny kitten. He tried to grab it and it darted to another bush. I kind of tried to corner it but was still a little scared of touching the feisty and fast creature so it ran past me under the BBQ grill (it has a cabinet on the bottom that is about 3 inches from the ground). We couldn't get it out (and there was NO way that I would stick my hand in there to get scratch or whatever else cats do to people), so the humanitarian in me filled an old bowl with milk and a piece of bread and left it for the kitten. The next morning the bread was missing, the milk was mostly still there and the kitten was no where to be found. My thinking was as least we filled its stomach for its next leg of the journey (assuming that journey led it to a different house).
My assumption was a bit early... tune in tomorrow for cat tales part 2 of this __?__ part series... but in the meantime, what kind of bad experiences have you had with cats, strays or other unknown creatures?  Are you a cat person? 

Only in Conroe

This afternoon while working at the house, I was interrupted by the doorbell. I was met at the door by a lady who promptly said "Howya like livin' here?" My response - "its great... whats going on?" She then introduced herself as my "down the road" neighbor. After telling me where she lived she said she had a baby goat in the back of her truck that she needed to get rid of. FUN!

She went to the truck and pulled out the cutest goat in the world out of a dog carrier - yes a dog carrier.

The little guy was less than 2 feet tall and was on a leash.

He loved my grass. I loved the way his knees wobbled when he walked. It was a match made in heaven.

As much as I wanted to call this adorable four legged guy my own, my sensibilities kicked in and I told the lady no...

The cute guy was loaded up and carted off to the next house. I now want a goat. Maybe next year.

Peep Peep!

About a month ago, I decided I wanted to let one of my broody hens sit on some eggs so I could have a baby chick. Charlie started sitting on them for a couple of days and then I had the bright idea to go to something called Conroe Trade Day. Conroe Trade Day takes place twice a year and it is NOT at all like Canton Trade Days. Instead of cute stuff for the home and yard, you will find all the country people out selling random animals to the other country people that show up.

On the way to church I saw Trade Days were going on and I mentioned to Joe that I really wanted to go look for some Ameraucana chicks. These are the types of hens that lay blue and green eggs. Joe just nodded (and I am sure expected me to forget about it by the time church was over). I left church with visions of green and blue eggs in my future so reminded Joe that I really wanted to "just go look". After some convincing that I just wanted to look and a promise that I would not want to get any other animals except maybe one or two chicks Joe was on board to go with me to the Trade Days.

At Trade Days there were loads of animals, country folk, and more. After winding our way through, I finally found 1 booth that was selling a type of chick that would produce the colorful eggs for the low cost of 4 for $10. How could I resist? We got all 4 (it would have cost more per chick to get only 2) and headed for our traditional after church bbq with peeping chicks in a box on the console.

Once at home, I put the chick in with Charlie (who was sitting on eggs) because Charlie was in a protected cage area. The set up was only supposed to be temporary but it ended up lasting a couple of days. By the time I got around to moving the chicks Charlie had morphed into a mother hen protecting her flock. Instead of separating mother and children, I moved the eggs to my other broody hen named Pomp.

Pomp sat on her eggs diligently in the corner of the coop. She did not leave her precious eggs for a second. Then Friday night I went to examine her eggs and saw that one had started to hatch.



I heard peeping, saw the beak and with all my willpower, put the egg back under Pomp and went inside for the night. I went back out at about 2AM anxious to find a new chick and still nothing... The next morning I woke up and went straight to the coop to find the cutest little chick in the world.

Adorable right?

Now I have never had any animal under my watch have a baby before and so this was a huge moment. I did a song a dance in the coop and ran inside to grab my camera.

Both of the mother hens are bantams (bantams are about 1/2 the size of a normal chicken) and the chicks they are raising a full size chickens. Basically the chicks are quickly going to be bigger than their mommas which is pretty funny to watch.





Now I have 5 chicks in the coop, 0 roosters that I know of (had to get rid of the 2 after they were mean to my chicks), 2 WAY protective momma hens and several other hens that are happy to teach the new arrivals the pecking order.

Bunnies? Check!

Last week I got some new additions - some really cute bunnies. About two months ago, I told Mr. Doug Maurer, my sister in law Jamie's dad and rabbit extraordinaire, that I wanted to get some rabbits to raise at the house. Doug told me he would breed a momma rabbit for me and give me the the little bunnies. Sure enough, a couple weeks ago Doug let me know the rabbit had 7 (yes you read that right, seven) bunnies that would be ready to go to their new home in three weeks.

Mothers Day weekend I showed up at at the Maurers and left with my 7 bunnies and their big - pregnant - momma.
There were a couple escape attempts by these little guys the first day of having them. Somehow some of them squished their little selves through the holes in chicken wire. Thankfully their cages is inside a larger fenced in area that the chickens stay in so they couldn't get too far. After a few frenzied minutes of searching I found 2 that were introducing themselves to the hens, 1 that was hiding in the holes of a cinder block, and still another that I truly believe was a ninja its previous life. This amazing ninja bunny crawled out of its cage (which is off the ground) and into another rabbits cage. This second rabbits cage is both off the ground and about 3-4 inches away from the cage the bunnies stay in. How it managed to sneak its way into the other cage without the gift of opposable thumbs I will never know.

The ninja bunnie.

Needless to say, after rounding up all the escapees, welded wire with smaller holes was installed around the cage. A week after getting the bunnies everyone appears to be in tip top shape and growing everyday.

Many thanks to Doug Maurer for the bunnies. If you are in the market for rabbits - especially for fair- he is definitely the person to contact.