Our One Week B-Day is Sunday!!

Peek-a-poo I see you said the baby LaManchas

and

tomorrow we will be one week old......yippee!!!!

The last baby post I did not have a picture of the little boy so today I got 2 nice photos.......

........handsome little guy isn't he?

He might just make someone a nice LaMancha buck........time will tell.

Today I have been a vegetable waiting to sprout......I cooked some, ate some, washed clothes, ate some, read some, watched a lot of the movies on the Hallmark channel, played with the babies, barn chores, ate some more because I made chocolate chip cookies again,.....I love those things. Okay, tomorrow I have to grade papers!!!

But maybe Sassy will have her babies.........

Introducing Miss.Verna

So, the baby LaManchas were born on February 22nd, George Washington's birthday. It just so happens that Washington is one of my favorite Presidents and Mount Vernon is one of my most favorite historical places to visit, as a matter of fact, I was just there last May with my 8th graders.

The garden's at Mount Vernon are absolutely beautiful also.

So, since I am a history teacher, BA & MA in history, I decided to official name the little LaMancha doe, "Verna", in honor of Mount Vernon and my Grandmother's name was Verna too.

So, this is Harvest Thyme's Miss Verna:)

And those would be my pink coverall legs that she is checking out .

This is the teat line. The babies have decided that they are only going to use one teat to nurse off of, perhaps they wanted me to share in the milk also. Either way, I get to milk the side they are not using. Patty and I are working things out in the milking department as my technique is not as good as the babies.....I told her I never had kids so I am doing the best that I can given my college education:)

It has been a busy week and I am looking forward to the weekend!

One quick baby photo

Patty: "What do you mean only one photo of us tonight?

You have been taking pictures all week of us and all we get is one stinkin' cute photo?"

Sorry, Patty but Blogger was not letting me load photos and it took almost 2 hours to finally get this one. I promise to get more loaded this week if Blogger will let me.

The babies are doing very well and are starting to do the jumping thing which is just too funny to watch. I'd show you a photo but no can do right now due to Blogger not liking me, maybe better luck tomorrow:)

The Twins First 24 Hrs.

The first 24 hours of having babies always stresses me out.....and of course when its only in the high teens for overnight temps that just adds to everything. But Patty is being so good with them so the twins were fine this morning and of course I rushed home from school today and they were fine too:)

There are still nosey animals in the barn just wanting to check out the big do'ings in the stall. The little girl was attempting to check things out too.

So I am thinking of a name for her. I can't do the George & Martha theme (they were born on Washington's B-Day) because my Cotswold ewe is "Martha" and my first Black Cotswold was named "George". I was thinking of calling her "Verna".....an olde-fashion name but it goes with Mount Vernon, Washington's home and it was my Grandmother's name. I still am thinking however. Now the little boy..........

.......he is such a little cutie. He will need to find a perfect home with someone who will love him because I do not need another little boy. Its hard to get a good pic. of his coloring, he is creme with darker taupe colored legs. It will be fun to see how he colors up. I noticed today that the one side of Patty's udder was getting very full as the babies were nursing on the right side as the left nipple was much larger. I decided to strip out some milk to avoid any mastitis from developing. Now of course, her and I had to get organized but she did really, really good for me and I am sure it relieved a lot of pressure. She only stepped in the bowl in the beginning and I lost some milk but I was able to get a full cup and half of milk, probably two cups if she had not stepped down and if I was more organized.

I swear the cats knew I was coming when I got back to the house and nearly grabbed the milk from my hands. Linus was the first to sample the fresh warm milk.........

.......and then Moo cat had to get his licks in. I am so glad I can provide something from the farm for them. Perhaps I should have scrambled them some eggs too.

I noticed that Sassy, my Nigerian Dwarf goat who I thought was going to have babies first, is finally starting to show a nice size udder. Maybe this week she will have her babies.......maybe this week I will have to take a sick day.....cough, cough ;)

Somebody had babies today..........

Have babies on a cold, snowy February day? Are you kidding me?

"Not even sheep would do something like that," Miss. Abigail says. "However, if your a goat....."

Yes, my Patty decided that today would be a good day to have her babies!!! So born on George Washington's birthday, are her twin LaMancha babies, a little boy (on left) and a little girl (on right). Last night I thought her udder looked a tad larger but by this morning it was huge and she had definitely dropped.

Of course, there were plenty of nosey animals in the barn especially Speedy, she always has to be in everyone else's business.

The twins first attempt at nipple finding.....of course the little boy just was having the worst time with teat finding....a typical male:)

Patty is off to a good start being a new mommy. She did so good having them, though she has decided that she likes the taste of her own milk.........just because she has a sense of humor I am sure.

And finding how to use those long legs in their first steps........I always get nervous with them, and hoping mom won't step on them or paw at them too hard. Don't worry, I took the bucket out when I left so there are no accidents.

A lot of naps to be taken under the heat lamp. I actually put 2 heat lamps in the stall because it is so cold outside. There is a lot of straw so they can bed down too. Definitely made for a long morning and afternoon. I pray that all goes well the next 48 hours, that they are nursing well, and stay warm. I am so pleased with Patty and hope her good mothering continues through the night and in the days to come.

How exciting, the first babies born at Harvest Thyme in 2009!!

PS......Patty wanted to let you all know that they are true LaMancha babies

......no Nigerian crosses:)