The Sky is Falling...no wait...it's just poop.

...and the award for the dumbest animals on the face of the earth goes toooooooo....CHICKENS!

Seriously. SO stupid. And Foul. (or should I say FOWL...HAH! Get it?)

So anyway...we got chickens a few weeks ago. Eight cute little fluffy baby chicks that we brought home and put in a cozy bed of saw dust warmed by the orange glow of their heat lamp. Fast forward three weeks and we have these awkward half fuzz-half feathers, medium sized, not-quite baby-not quite adult chickens. Gross. That isn't the part that makes them so annoying though...

These chickens poop...A LOT. I know, I know...you're thinking "Everyone poops, Linds...it's a fact of life." Well let me ask you THIS...does everyone poop in their food and water??! No. I swear...I go in to check on these chickens about once every 2 hours and their water and food dish is completely full...of crap. So I clean it out, put it back all nice and pretty and BAM! Before I even leave the room...POOP. Ugh. I have come to the conclusion that there is one little chicken that seems to be a little trouble maker. I have no real way of proving this (unless I mark the chickens somehow...but lets be honest...who wants to get their hands on the dumb things long enough to fashion some sort of an ankle bracelet when I just shared that they do nothing but poop on themselves all day?? Not me.) but I swear this same little chickie is the culprit that without fail, I find perched on top of the food jar EVERY time...just dumping away. I mean...REALLY? On TOP of the food jar? You jump up there on purpose and take a poo on TOP of your food jar. Why? I'll tell you why...just to make me want to consider building a rotisserie pit instead of a chicken house.

Needless to say...they stink and they aren't even cute anymore. SO...I am anxiously counting the days until these filthy beasts are able to live outside and provide eggs for my family.

**Just a little side note...it's not THAT bad for us since we have a little "sun room" on our house that has a door so we have been able to seclude the chickens in that area and not have "chicken stink" throughout our living space. Thank goodness. We will be thoroughly disinfecting the sun room when they move outside.
PS...the picture is not of OUR chickens, but the ones we have are Rhode Island Red's and look just like the brownish colored chicks above.

New Things

Hello there! A lot has happened since my last post...which explains my lack of blog. Terribly sorry.

I got a new job! This is exciting because it is really doing great things for the whole "becoming-financially-fit" business. It is a full time position which means that I miss Brennan a lot, but the good news is...Derek is usually home for at least 3 days a week so he hangs out with Daddy a lot (it definitely melts a Mom's heart to come home and see her guys playing and having fun together) and on the days when Derek and I are both working, Brennan gets to hang out with Grandma and "Graaaaaaa" (which is his adorable way of saying Grandpa) Everyone wins in this situation, really. I do miss him...tons...but I know that what I am doing now is going to really mean a different (and better) life for him in the future. SO BE IT. Plus, the fact that his days that are not spent completely with me are spent with family and not in daycare...which makes the whole scenario tolerable for this Mommy.

In other news...Brennan is HUGE. And so smart. I mean, I know that it is something that every parents thinks and says about their child but really...MY child is a genius. He is chatting up a storm and now knows all kinds of animal noises, body parts, and songs. It's truly incredible to watch your little baby develop into a mini-person who can figure things out and explore and learn...crazy. Some of his new little tricks have proven to be *slightly* embarrassing when in mixed company though. Example: when he not only wants to show other people HIS belly button by lifting his shirt and pointing, but he wants to lift THEIR shirt and examine THEIR belly button as well. Haven't quite figured out how to get across the whole "not taking off other people's shirts" lesson yet...oops. Luckily, most people who my son tries to undress think it is pretty darn adorable. In addition to the animal noises (We ask him: "what does the _____ say?" and he replies with the appropriate noise-and we're not just talking your run of the mill "cow", "pig", and "dog"...this kid does "elephant"-complete with arm-trunk in the air, "tiger", "lion", "rooster", "chicken"...you name it...he makes the sound.) he has started to call the animals by name. He has a Baby Einstein DVD that is all about animals and when the Koala comes up on the screen he sweetly chirps "KOLA" (sounds like Call-uh, but I'd say that is pretty darn good for 16 months old) or he will say "WOMBAT!"...wombat...really? I didn't even know what a Wombat was until I watched his Baby Einstein! He also calls Big Bird and Elmo by name (although Elmo sounds more like "Bobo") and he sings the "I love yooooou" part of "Skidamarinkeedinkeedoo" (is that how you spell that?) and he sings "Ya ya ya ya YO!" for the chorus of "Old MacDonald"...LOVE THIS KID!!

Just this last week we had visitors here in our little old town! LindsAy Johnson and Betsy Johnson...two of my most favorite people!! Brennan has a blast hanging out with Auntie Linds and No'ma and I won't lie...It did this little girl's heart good to have my precious friends under the same roof as me! Love those ladies. A lot. A LOT, A LOT.

While they were here we took Brennan for his first trip to the zoo and it was a lot of fun. He loves animals and once we got him to keep his little hat on he enjoyed riding around in his stroller and seeing the sights. By the time it was over though, we were all SO ready to sit in front an air conditioner for the rest of our lives. Seriously...it was stinking hot outside!! Sad thing is...it is MARCH. Meaning...I don't even want to imagine what sorts of bad words will be playing in my mind in July or August...ugh. Anyway, aside from the fact that we were all dehydrated and a little "pink" when we left the zoo...a fun time was had by all!

I think I'll be done with this post for now. I hope you are all doing well and have enjoyed listening to me brag about my amazingly handsome and bright baby boy!