Big Brother, Little Brother

Henrik is already 2 weeks old and Magnus seems to really enjoy him. At least once a day he'll say, "I wanna hold Henrik". He sits and strokes his head, looks at his "teeny tiny fingers" and gives him kisses. Not at all what I expected from my ornery 2 year old! I guess Henrik is just irresistible! Come to think of it, I think both my boys are. =)

Henrik Wade Smith is here!!!

At home. =) July 20, 2009 One day old!

Making faces for mommy.

Behold! His eyes do open!


Bringing Henrik home. What a delight for us all!!

Mommy's heart is going to burst.

Newborn Henrik - July 19, 2009

Proud Daddy!

Henrik Wade Smith

July 19th, 2009 @ 1:24am

20" long - 7lbs, 14oz.

Wow! What a weekend we had. =) Our little Henrik Wade arrived 2 weeks early and gave us quite the nice surprise. Joe and I crawled in bed Saturday night at midnight after a busy day working around the farm, and as I was lying there trying to muster some energy to write in my journal I felt the strangest *pop* inside my stomach, along with a pain that frightened me! Joe asked me what was wrong as I started to cry and I said I didn't know! He helped me out of bed and then I felt the trickle... Keep in mind I was induced with Magnus and didn't know anything about going into labor on my own! I informed him that "I think my water just broke", and we stood there looking at each other asking, "What do we do now?" We couldn't decide whether to rush around to get to the hospital, to take our time and make sure everything (and everybody) was taken care of, or what. Joe even asked if we had enough time to get a good night's sleep in and then just go in the morning (since I wasn't having steady contractions up to that point). That's when it hit me... the pain... I said, "We better go now!" The contractions were hitting me steadily then, and we rushed around grabbing things, calling Melvin and Tamela to come stay the night with our sleeping Magnus, and off we went. My groans made Joe speed a little, but he didn't want to get pulled over (and further delayed) which was good since we did pass one cop on the back road. Our 35 min. drive seemed to take forever, but we made it, they wheeled a desperate me up to labor/delivery and got me in a hospital bed. Joe announced immediately that I needed my epidural, like now. =) The nurses checked my progress & said they'd try to get me one but it would take at least 30 min's & they didn't know if there was enough time. I tried to wait, but ended up pushing (it felt slightly better than trying to breathe & relax through the pain, and before I knew it, Joe was rooting me on saying, "He's coming!" Before I knew it, there was Henrik... but he wasn't screaming his head off like Magnus did, and I kept asking, "Is he okay? He's not crying!" They assured me he was fine, and he ended up crying some just to make me feel better. =) 1 1/2 hours of labor and I had my little man. No epidural, and I'm not sure what pain meds they gave me but Joe said they squeezed a little something in my IV. (We'd only been at the hospital maybe 45 minutes, which is why I didn't have time for my epidural!) Poor Joe was as pale as can be from the scene he'd just witnessed, and I had to remind him to get the video camera rolling on the new baby. But if we thought that was bad, we had no idea what the next 2 hours would hold! The placenta was stubbornly hanging in there and 2 hours is how long it took the Dr. (a decent sized man, with big hands and arms... oh my, the pain!) to get it out. They kept giving me more and more morphine at that point, but all it seemed to do was make things blurry and my eyelids heavy. I'll spare you all the gory, horror-story parts of the story and hurry along here, but you get the picture. All in all, it finally emerged (after I went through "labor" pushing all over again, only worse!) and all was well. I recovered very quickly, and after having Henrik at 1:24am, I was up and taking a shower at 5am. They let us come home a day early (we nearly insisted, and they didn't seem to mind) and we are happily starting a family life as a foursome! Magnus has been so sweet to his new baby brother, but then... it's only been one day! =)

New Kids on the Block

Meeting the new kids - Jake (middle) put on the best show, surprisingly, and he's still upset about their arrival today! We're not going to put them in with him for a while...

We named the little tiger (see his legs?) dun Dusty Doc - he is such a sweety and Joe has claimed him as his own!

This picture makes them look bigger than they actually are, but I like it anyway.

Dusty - 1 year old

The little palomino that I just "had to have"! He's also 1 year old and I'm trying to find a suitable name for him.

So, you only only thought we were crazy before. =) We saw an ad for these colts (well, they were selling their whole herd) and couldn't resist going to take a peek at them. Now look what we've done!! They are just what we wanted though, and Joe and I are both excited about having a couple more little project horses to train and love. They are already warming up to us, and we're giving them lots of TLC. We had only intended to buy one colt, but we just couldn't leave either of these boys behind! Our family is growing... and growing... and overflowing! =)

Powder Room... Westernized

I get western and horsie catalogs much more often than my budget can afford, but Joe and I always enjoy looking through them and getting ideas for our "next house" that will be totally western/rustic in styling. After 4 years of living in our current home though, I decided to continue decorating it as if it were western and we were to live here forever - it's been so fun! Being on a budget requires me to get creative though, so I'm pulling out my paints and going to work! I saw an idea in one of my books for a neat wooden sign, and it inspired me to paint this one that is much like it, but was quite a LOT cheaper! Stay tuned for more home decor pictures to come!

Fun Firsts

First canoe ride! We had so much fun, and Magnus enjoyed trying to paddle "all by himself".

This tree frog jumped on our canoe and stayed with us (in spite of our efforts to ditch him!) until we got home - he even rode in the canoe on top of the car! I thought he was cool until he jumped on my arm with those sticky pads of his. Joe thought it was funny to actually hear me squeal like a girl! Magnus thought the best part was when the frog pooed on the canoe, and he still talks about that, as if it were the highlight of his trip!

Magnus entertained himself by trailing his hand in the water as Daddy paddled us around.

First painting (acrylics)! I gave him a couple of my paint colors to experiment with, and when he got the hang of it, he started asking for specific colors to add to it! ("Please, red!", "I need the blue!" or "Need more white!") He was very careful to stay on the paper (as I told him to be!) and I think it turned out to be one of the most beautiful paintings ever!

He accidentally touched his brush to his face... =) Here he is still deep in concentration.

First kite! Joe introduced Magnus to another great flying phenomenon.

Magnus was so proud of his kite!

Surprise!! It's a shower for... me??

Tamela's decorations were the cutest ever!! (Note the fruit bouquet in the cowboy hat!)

So yummy! Tamela made all the food, and chocolates too. =)

Nasia, Laura and Katie Hinton. Thanks, Katie, for taking all the pics!

Angie, Tamela, Lisa (left) and Krissy and Hannah Hinton (middle).

I'm blessed with friends with good taste, and received the cutest gifts!

Seemed like an ordinary girl's "hang-out" night invitation to me, when Tamela invited me to come keep her company one Friday evening while Melvin was at a meeting somewhere. Then I was under the impression that plans had changed and the guys' quartet from church would be meeting Joe at our house to practice, and I thought, "Oh good, I'll go hang out with Tamela while the fellas "rock" my house with melody and very loud soundtracks!" Joe offered to keep Magnus and I was all for that too! He and Tamela were so smooth about the whole thing. No details, no set time to be at her house, nothing! Joe asked, "So what time were you going to go to Tamela's? and I said, "Oh, I don't know - I'll text her and see..." Tamela's reply: "How about in 1/2 hour?" So I dawdled around, never checked the clock (Joe suggested the sooner I get going, the sooner I could get back - lol!) and left - pulled into Tamela's drive and noticed a couple cars from church and thought, "Oh no! The guys' quartet must be meeting HERE! And we thought they were supposed to meet at our house! I better call Joe and tell him to get over here, but first I'll run in and explain to Tamela why I didn't bring the boys." I got in the house, quickly started explaining to Tamela and then realized that in the other room, I saw girls, not guys... and balloons! And decorations... What was going on?? Then... "Surprise!!" The girls from church had driven near and far to throw me a wonderful baby shower and I had no idea! Some drove 1 1/2 hrs just to be there. We had so much fun, and I went away feeling all special and like somebody important. =) I guess I thought since I already had one boy (and kept all his things) that a baby shower for the 2nd little tyke would be a non-essential, but thankfully, my girlfriends disagreed!

It's hay making season again!

Mt. Dew keeps Joe going - or so he says...

Yes, I helped rake too... for about 5 hrs the first day.

Day 2 - Magnus helped by making sure Jack didn't get cold.

Magnus enjoyed covering Jack up until....

you could barely see him!

Day 2 - help arrives! We must have REALLY good friends!!

Tamela, Magnus and Jack

Well, folks, if you thought we were crazy for hand raking our hay last year, you would've thought we were insane this year! We let the grass grow even taller, and we raked the ENTIRE pasture (5 or 6 acres?). We got about 120 bales' worth of hay this time (quite a lot more than last year) which should be enough to feed the horses all winter! =) They really like this "special" hand-raked/stacked hay too for some reason, and will leave their precious grain to start digging into it. Joe worked hour after hour, raking, loading in the trailer and unloading in the barn. He spent two whole days furiously working on it before the rains came. I was good help for about 1/2 day, with pregnancy as my excuse to pardon myself. Then Melvin, Tamela and Melvin's brother Ben came for an evening and helped us finish. What a blessing they were! I can't believe what good friends we have - they have the blisters to prove it! =)

Memorial Day Feast With Friends

Joe and Magnus holding "Spring", the Boardmans' sweet little Italian Greyhound

The trampoline!

Backyard cookout and playtime.

The food - and oh, was it yummy! Chicken, burgers and shrimp on the 'barbie!

We went to the Boardmans' house for a Memorial Day BBQ with friends. The guys grilled some yummy meat, the kids played non-stop and Jennifer, Lisa and I talked pretty much non-stop too, when I wasn't too busy stuffing my face. =) We had more food than we could hope to eat, but we certainly gave it a valiant effort!! I thought I wouldn't want to eat again for a week, but today, not even 24 hours later, I'm thinking of that grilled shrimp and roasted corn on the cob... Ahh, what a wonderful way to celebrate and remember what our veterans and troops have done and are doing for our country. I definitely think we should do it more often!

You know spring is here when...

Little boys get dressed up for Easter Sunday at church.

The grass needs mowed - frequently!

The Goldfinches are back in town and hungry from their long journey.

One horse sheds this much fur in just one brushing! (Jake was the donor for this lovely pile.)

Slate River Ranch - April 2009

Magnus helping Daddy fly the Learjet 45

Petting one of the pretty strawberry roans at the ranch.

One of the many cute babies!

At the Fort Worth zoo.

Checking out a display at the zoo.

The lions kindly posed for me, per my request. =)

Magnus finally got to see a real live giraffe! His books were as close as he'd ever come.

Daddy and Magnus with some of the pretty SLR cutting horses.

Magnus helped me make friends with the two year old's.

One of Magnus' favorite things on the ranch! The golf cart. He was good at steering it too!

Daddy took Magnus for a trot on one of the ranch's "using horses".

The newborn foals were such sleepy-heads!

We found this poor fellow along the road (beer and all!).
♪ He put the bottle to his head and pulled the trigger. ♫

Checking out the daily cattle drive in cow-town.

Dining on BBQ in Stockyards Station.

At the Stockyards Rodeo - Magnus loved it!

I love this picture of my boys on the ranch pony! Magnus really enjoyed this ride.

Normally Magnus and I don't get to go on trips with Joe, but the owner of the Learjet (also the owner of Slate River Ranch!) generously allowed us to go on a week-long trip to his ranch at Weatherford, TX! They put us up in the large house there, so we had the "comforts of home", plus a golf cart to ride around on. =) We got to enjoy the ranch at the perfect time, since now is when they do their breeding/foaling. We didn't catch any foals being born, but the activities at the breeding barn were interesting to watch! Discovery channel material, to be sure, but really neat. They use "surrogate" broodmares for a lot of the foals so they can save their cutting mares for competition, and they do all the implantation, etc. right there on the farm. We took video for all of our friends to see, so just come on over and be enlightened! We took Magnus to the Fort Worth Zoo one day, as he'd never had the pleasure of such entertainment, and we enjoyed other local events like the cutting horse competition, Stockyard Station (a bit touristy, but hey... that's what we were!), the rodeo and of course some shopping at the western stores! Joe and I both agreed that the "cowboy culture" out there sure leaves Virginia with much to be desired! The people were great and all drove trucks... with horse trailers following close behind. It was a very relaxing visit, lots of fun, and by the time our week was up we were ready to come home to our own little farm. Check out the ranch website sometime: www.slateriverranch.com. It's truly a beautiful place!