Roots and Branches

birth and changes

I'm taking a break from the blog for a while (as you may have noticed).  I enjoy photography and blogging, but life is crazy right now and needs to settle down before I can enjoy this all again!  But I'll drop by here and there and post a little something...

Here's a few shots from a birth I photographed a few weeks ago.  It was a beautiful, easy birth that resulted in a very happy mama and a gorgeous baby girl.  It was pretty sweet.

Cluck, cluck...

Indulge me a few more chicken pictures, please?  I really, really enjoy these feathered friends.  I've always loved chickens, but now that I have my own, I really love them.  They are the funniest things to watch and so hilarious to interact with.

Today is a lovely quiet day without a huge agenda.  Time to get some fun things done!

Out for a Walk

We found ourselves out for a walk one evening this weekend, right before nightfall.  The air was chilly and humid, after a day of blissful rain.  The light was dwindling and the remnants of a magnificent sunset before us.  Wet juniper trees and sagebrush filled the air with their intense and nostalgic aroma.  It reminded me of so many nights camping with my father up in the Big Horn mountains and Yellowstone Park of Wyoming.  That smell.  It just never leaves your memory. 

One child asked to sing a song, and then we found ourselves walking in the twilight singing songs we all love, holding hands, and wandering down a mountain dirt road.

Out in the Woods, Part II

Here are more photos from our adventure to our little green spot from last week.  On our walks, the boy loves to pick up just about any rock he sees (notice his full, hanging pockets!).  There are so, so, so many rocks here, and he loves looking for the "sparkly" ones.  It's his new love and we have baskets of rocks here at home to show for it.  So fun to watch kids' interests grow and change.

Such gorgeous wild flowers have sprung up everywhere.  You wouldn't really imagine to find these beauties here in the desert, but here they are.  Thriving in a climate that is not exactly hospitable to green life.  Amazing.

It's a beautiful, dark, cloudy day with rain in the forecast, so I'm off to snuggle and read with the little ones.  Have an amazing weekend!

One Year

A year ago today, I photographed my first birth, for a good friend (baby was born right in the house I'm living in now).  It was so awesome I did it a few more times after (and plan on doing it a number of times more). 

So today, the sweet little girl turns one year old.  I've really bonded with this cute little person.  I've watched her overnight a couple of times while her mother (who is a midwife-in-training) attended births, and snuggled her many times.  She's a sweet little soul with loads of chubby cuteness to squish and snuggle.  I just love this baby. 

Happy Birthday, sweet girl (and hoorah for one year of birth photography)!

Yesterday

I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a sentimental fool.  I really can't help it, but I think it gives me the ability to look back, appreciate (in hind-sight, oftentimes), and have more insight and love for today.

  Today I pulled out the ol' videos of my babies as actual babies (and toddlers) and watched them with my little loves and a friend (and then with my sweetie tonight).  It's such an interesting process being a mother.  Watching as a tiny human being grows in your belly, then in your arms and at your breast, and then slowly moves farther and farther away.  It's really an unfolding of an adult woman.  Somebody who starts the journey of motherhood as a child herself (no matter the age) and then learns to love so deeply while at the same time learning to let go of that which she loves more than life itself.  I have to say, watching videos of my babies and going through photos of them, is a bit of a remembering process and also a grieving process.  Looking up and seeing a beautiful child in front of me, and looking down and seeing the small person that will never be again (along with their chubby cheeks, babbling, sweet lisps, soft downy hair, and sweet little person smell).  Letting go of that baby is a bit hard.  As a mama we have spent so much time adoring, smelling, watching,  holding, and admiring such a little soul.  It is painful to fall in love with that person, as they are, and then let go...  so we can fall in love with a whole new version of themself (and learn to let go once again). 

Being Mama is such a complex role.  It's beautiful, hard, soft, ugly, sweet, frustrating, loving, adoring, painful, joyful.  We adore our children so completely, sometimes it really does hurt.  In a good way.

There are moments in their childhood where I really wish I could have frozen time.  I've come to the solution of taking life a little slower.  Spend time doing just nothing with them.  Because it is so beautiful to just watch them, as they are, right now.  Try to have a near constant mental mantra of "I see this child, I love this child, and I am here with this child right now."  It is in no way possible for it to be constant, but sometimes we get so caught up in life's little dramas that whole days will pass without those sorts of thoughts.  I want them, every day.  I want to store every little memory of them that I possibly can, so when they are no longer small cherubs I can sit quietly in a corner and adore those memories, and share them again and again.

I am thankful for small reminders to breathe and look around.  So very, very thankful.

Out in the woods, Part I

We've discovered that there is a little oasis near our home.  If we hike on into the juniper trees, sage brush, and occasional pinion, we eventually come to a beautiful green field.  A little farther, down in a gully, is a river surrounded by big non-desert trees, dandelions, grasses, reeds, and cattails.  Water.  Green.  It is indeed a magical place.  We've found ourselves venturing over there every couple days.  The desert is a beautiful place, but a break from the dust and the dry is blissful.

 

The little people feel the relief and magic, too.

 

 

 

How lovely it is to find a special place and indulge in some timeless fun there.

 
We've also been bringing home handfuls of beautiful desert flowers.  It may not be green, but it has such beauty!

scenes from around

I've needed a good long break from blogging.  The goats, chickens, ducks and all the other critters around here have demanded a lot of energy from me.  I love, love it - but it is a lot of work especially for someone just learning about everything.

So here are a few shots I snuck in between chores, housework, and being Mama.  Lots of nature's sweetness abounds around our place.  It's heaven.

 

I know, I know.  More chicks.  I swear I'm done now.  These are Black Australorps.  They are a heritage breed, which is something I am trying to focus on with my animals.  Okay, and they were especially cute... 

 

 

Ready to go in the garden - if it will quit being so cold around here I can get them planted!  Hopefully in the next couple of weeks they will be in and happily growing bigger. 

 

I have so totally fallen in love with these little fluff balls.  They are the sweetest things ever.  Oh, and they have names now - the little girl is Hazel and the little boy is Snowy.  They are so snuggley and I (and the kids) just adore them.

 

These ladies are so big now!  They are still pretty friendly  and really fun to watch.

 

I'm really enjoying the goats.  They are a much steeper learning curve than any other animal I have or have ever had in the past, but they are worth it.  Very cool animals and what an education!

I'll pop in soon with some photos of a sweater I've been working on for my girl.  Excited to share!

goats and a sweater

Last week, we headed up to the big city and while we were there, we bought some milking goats!  We hauled them home in the back of our Subaru wagon (yes, we did look insanely hilarious and got plenty of stares).  They are Nigerian Dwarf goats, so they fit quite well.  We brought home two mama goats who are currently milking, and 3 little goat kids (two girls and a boy).  They are so much fun!  Milking was a bit of a learning curve (that involved a little bit of hair pulling), but I finally got it.  Yesterday, Tyler built me a milk stand and that has made milking SO much easier!  This morning I successfully milked them all by myself without dancing feet being a problem and they were pretty darn patient with me! 

 This is Sheba and her baby Heidi.  Sheba is super, super sweet, great milker and very friendly.  Heidi is the funniest little goat we have.  She loves to hop on things and prance around and is very friendly. 

 This is Luna.  She is gorgeous and has the blue eyes that you find often in Nigerians.  She's not sure about us humans, yet, but she sure is a cutie.

 This is Anna.  She is a good milker and very patient.  She also has wowed me by fostering the two bottle babies.  She is allowing them to nurse!  Such sweetness.  She has the blue eyes, too.

 This little guy doesn't have a name yet, but isn't he gorgeous?  He is the friendliest of the babies (sat on my lap the whole way home) and is so snuggly. 

I'm really enjoying having all of these cuties around.  They are such fascinating creatures and so hilarious.

Also...the sweater is DONE!!  Hooray!  I really love it and am grateful that I stuck to it and got it done. 

Have an awesome Monday, everyone!

furbabies and spring

Is it spring?  Or still winter?  Around here, it's a bit confusing as to what season it is exactly!

 

But when I see blossoms on a friend's tree, I realize that, yes, Spring is here and it will eventually get warm. 

 We brought home this sister and brother kitten pair a few days ago.  They were abandoned by their mama in a kind lady's backyard.  They are the sweetest things!!  So loving and cuddly.  And watching them play is so fun.

 

Our sweet black kitty disappeared over a month ago, which has been very hard.  I love having cats around (now that my allergies have all but disappeared!), so finding these sweet kittens was perfect for us.  They have been a joy to have around.

We are still trying to decide names for the pair.  Suggestions would be more than welcome!

 

 Today is gorgeous and sunny (after a snowy, windy, hailing day yesterday), so I'm off to soak up that sunshine!