A Runt On Our Hands

Being that Lily has 7 kitties this time around and only 6 feeding spots, it would appear that we have a runt. I noticed from the day they were born that she would take this little guy aside and feed him separately (remember the two that were fighting in the video? I'm pretty sure this was one of them.) Anyhow, tonight she brought him up from the garage. We sent him back down, and she brought him up again- only him. He was kind of wandering around the house crying, and then Ashlee walked in the kitchen to find him like this:
Poor little guy was trying to get some food. Apparently he's going to have to be a fighter.

Kittens Round Two

This past week the new kitties have begun to come out and play. And I thought I was a busy mama!
Is this face not too precious?
We love to find them in different places around the house like this.
Kaitlyn takes care of them just like a little mama. She's so good with them.
And this girl can't contain her excitement. Whenever one comes near her she kicks her feet and waves her arms like she's trying to propel herself towards it. Can't say she's as gentle, but I can't blame her either...
Lily has chosen to raise her babies in the garage this time, which I am happy about. No litter box in the house! We haven't taken her in to get "fixed" yet, which I am in such distress over. The last thing I want is for her to get pregnant again (I don't think she nor I could handle it) but it's impossible to keep her from going outside to use the bathroom, and with her kittens being only 4 weeks old and nursing exclusively, I'm afraid it's too soon to take her to the clinic. Any advice? I'm so paranoid about seeing that tummy start to grow again, but cats get pregnant really easily and the gestation period is only two months. I wouldn't put it past her. What to do?

Sibling Rivalry

Do your kids ever make you feel like this?


Poor Lily, she's so patient and exasperated all at the same time. These two have been going at it since birth. Six weeks Lily, I promise. Six weeks.

New Life

We welcomed new life into our home this morning... very early this morning, 3:45 a.m. to be exact. I awoke to Jacob informing me that Lily had come into his bedroom and had "wet stuff" coming out of her. I knew it was time. Lily politely stood in my bedroom and meowed me out of bed. As soon as I arose, she crept into the closet and I followed. Fifteen minutes later, the first kitten arrived, orange and wet. I was amazed at how the little guy meowed the moment he landed on the carpet.
The second one came about five minutes later, and was black and still. She licked him awake, but it had me concerned. The next one was orange, followed by another black, and about this time I realized it was 6:00 a.m. and I needed to start getting ready for my run. Between the time I left her and the time I got everyone up, she had birthed three more, for a total of seven!
Lily did so good this time. She knew what was coming and handled it with grace. As for us, we now have a grip of kittens to enjoy for the next six weeks. I will definitely be finding homes for them much sooner this time around (which shouldn't be a problem- there seems to be a high demand for orange tabbies,) and bringing Lily in to get "fixed" (there's that funny word again) as soon as she is able. Good job Mama.

Kittens and Kiddies

This is what Forrest walked into today. It is not uncommon for the cats to sleep in Rachel's crib, which makes for the most precious scene. I love to peek in on this and am glad he was able to capture it.
(Can you believe this is one of the kittens? They are getting so big.)

Round 2

Look closely. Do you see the round belly on this mama? Yes, she's expecting again. I feel partly to blame. I knew she had started going out at night shortly after she had her kittens, but I hesitated to take her in and get her "fixed" (funny word for something that really means broken, but we'll save that for another time) due to the fact that she was still nursing her babies. I wondered why she had started pushing the kittens away, and then the belly began to grow. We can feel them moving around quite a bit, so they should be coming any day. What I can't get over is the look she gives me that says, "This is all your fault."

Checking In

So apparently my summer break from blogging has caused undue concern for some. Suddenly I'm "laying low," "flying under the radar, "... a little quiet." Hmmm, let me think for a minute. Nope! Still here, living life to it's fullest, just not from behind the screen. I do, however, regret not having the camera on our day trip to SF, or last weekend on the beach in Tahoe. Nevertheless, those memories are imprinted in my mind, which is perhaps a better place for them anyways. Here goes...

I let Kaitlyn "borrow" the camera one afternoon so she could snap some shots of the kitty. All I could hear as she followed him around the house was a repeated "click-flash, click-flash." Later in the day I reviewed the memory card, and this is what I found. I was surprised at how entertained I was to get a glimpse of daily life from Kaitlyn's POV (she even caught me nursing Rachel.) I especially love the shots that captured her little foot.
Speaking of kitties, we have 3 left, 2 of which still need homes. Any takers? I am seriously trying to avoid taking them to a grocery store in a cardboard box and sending them off into the unknown. We were fortunate enough to adopt the first two out to good, loving homes of well-known friends, and are wishing the same for these last two. It is hard to see them go at all. Lily is such a good mama and it just feels unnatural to separate them from her, being that they are still nursing and all. At the same time, Forrest is running out of patience for them.
A milestone this week: Rachel started rice cereal. She just hasn't been satisfied after nursing, and my instincts told me she needed more. Boy was I right. She laps it off the spoon without making a face or gagging like babies usually do. She not only accepted it, she had been waiting for it and loves it.
And, with the end of summer rapidly approaching, we are gearing up for another homeschooling year. My latest task was labeling all of the bins that hold our school supplies. This way, the kids have no excuse not to be organized.
Looks like a real classroom, doesn't it?

A Two-Year-Old Moment?

I awoke at 7:00 this morning to Kaitlyn standing at my bedside asking me for a popsicle (this is what you get when you buy the Costco-sized box of Otter Pops.) I told her no and went back to sleep. I awoke an hour later wondering why the house was so quiet. Where had Kaitlyn gone? It's never a good thing when the two-year-old is the only one awake. I came downstairs to find her covering the kittens in yogurt; a bite for Kaitlyn, a spoonful on the kitties. They didn't seem to mind, for they were happily licking it off of each others' backs. As for Mom, wish I could say the same. A two year old moment? I think so.

Dance Recital 2010 and Other Happenings

This past week marked the end of another season of dance for Ashlee. Of the three dances she performed, my favorite was the lyrical.

The kitties have reached their 6 week mark, which means they are about ready for new homes. However, when we had a family come over yesterday to pick one out, we all decided that it would be best to wait another week or so before we separate them from their mama. Maybe it was the way she gathered them all in and nursed them right in the middle of the living room floor that did us in, I don't know. It just didn't feel right to take one from her yet.

With a little effort we were able to get our spa up and running. We use a mineral sanitizer and natural pH balancers in lieu of harsh chlorine chemicals. It makes for a much nicer spa experience.


And, being that it was a busy week with 2 dress rehearsals and 2 recitals, the crockpot played a big part in my menu planning. Here is my favorite recipe from the week:

Slow cooker jambalaya
I reduced the cayenne pepper by half and served it over Jasmine rice... mmm!

(This is not my photo. Ours was so yummy that we didn't think to take a picture!)

Rachel is four months old today and sleeps 11 hours through the night. She is working on grabbing things and bringing them to her mouth, using her voice, and strengthening her core muscles for sitting. We are enjoying every ounce of her!

Our Week at a Glance

Rachel, now 3 1/2 months, is growing faster than we can keep up with. However, this isn't such a bad thing because she now sleeps through the night. Thank you Rachel!
We had a sick day. I suppose this is what happens when you open up your home to 25 moms and kids for a play date when the flu is going around. Can you guess which two were sick in this picture? Today we are on round two (hence the reason for my being home blogging and not at church.)
I found this picture on the camera. One of the kids must have snapped it. The kittens are now 4 weeks and very adorable.
We have been spending a lot of time in the backyard working, gardening, doing anything that gives us a reason to be outside.
Ashlee was given a book on crocheting care bears, and here she is working on her first one.
This is the desired end result.
We attended a birthday party for a one-year-old yesterday, and Forrest decided to hand craft a memory box as a gift. It turned out quite amazing.
He used a wood burner to etch the tree.
The family has a Roman theme going in their home, so Forrest decided to add some Latin writing along with the boy's birthday in Roman numerals along the side. A very crafty touch, I think.
Can anyone tell me the meaning of the words inscribed on the inside?

3 Week Old Kittens

Since they've been born, Lily has done a good job at keeping her kittens in hiding. They started out in the master bedroom closet, then she moved them first under Ashlee's bed, then under Kaitlyn's. About a week ago we spotted her bringing them downstairs behind the shelter of the entertainment center. Needless to say, up until this point we have been enjoying the kitties in small doses. However, last night for the first time, they all came out to play, and it was so much fun.

(Here's Noah checking to see if their umbilical cords fell off.)

I love the face of the little guy (or girl) in the lefthand side of the photo. We are debating between it and the orange one for which one we will keep.

We will probably keep them around until they are between 6 and 8 weeks of age before we part with them. In the meantime, the kids are thoroughly enjoying them.

We Have Kittens!

The kids were outside on the back patio this afternoon when one of them said, "Mom, Lily is peeing on herself." I went outside to examine, and she was lying on her side with a small puddle between her legs.

"That's not pee," I said, "Lily is about to have her kittens."

She got up and came in the house, and I followed, ready to play midwife. I tried coaxing her into the box we had set up for her, but to no avail. No sooner had I turned around to grab some towels than she had disappeared into a dark corner in our closet. I could see that she was contracting and her little body was bearing down. She began to pant, then she leaped over us and into the doorway in what I categorize as the "fight or flight" response. Just a moment later her first kitten was delivered. Here she is cleaning it off.
She's a good mama, very instinctual.
This scrawny little guy was walking around looking for some milk already, I couldn't believe it!
Very protective.
I can't believe this was just inside of her.
After a good cleaning, she took the first one back into the closet, and I sent the kids outside to play. About 20 minutes later, she came out of the closet, meowing and a little panicked. I sat calmly on the bedroom floor, waiting for the process to repeat itself. She came up to me and sprawled out on the floor, looking for reprieve. I gently petted her head, and one long "meeeooooow" followed by a gush brought about kitty #2. This guy was a brilliant orange.
We think this one is the cutest.
He was looking for milk right away, too.
All in all, she had 5 (I think.) After the second one she retreated to the closet to deliver the rest (with much less of a production.)
I am so glad we were home to partake in this neat experience.

Coming Soon...

This pretty little kitty of ours is going to have some babies of her own!
Lily is just over one year old, and as of recently it has become apparent that she is pregnant! We are so excited. It was always my plan to let her have one liter of kitties. I think it will be a good experience for the kids to witness.

We have all had the opportunity to place our hands on her tummy and feel the little kittens moving around, even being able to distinguish little paws from heads and other kitty parts. It is quite amazing.

We will be giving her kittens away, so if you think you would like one for your family please let me know.