It's Been Awhile...

Whoa! Courtney is blogging again! Okay okay, lets not get ahead of ourselves. Let's take this slow and call it a blog update. I love the idea of actively posting, but finding the time to sit down, write things out, and post pictures without interruption is not easy. Baby steps. Baby steps to the blog. Baby steps to the creative writing. Baby steps to the announcement that I'm blogging again... Baby steps. **Also I can't get this to separate my paragraphs.. if anyone knows how, please tell me!!** So where to start? It's really been close to three years since I've actually written anything on here so I wont bore you with the details of our brief separation, our house burning down, or my current pregnancy.. But I will tell you that the last two aren't true, (gotcha!) haha.. And I will tell you that Coke and Butter are currently living in Boise Idaho and very in love! And let me reiterate that I am NOT pregnant. If you received our Christmas card you already know that Jordan is finishing his last semester of college (cue the singing angels) at Boise State University, and works as an Ophthalmic Technician at Hollingshead Eye Center. I work right across the street from him at Gem State Dermatology. I have been there just over a year, starting as a medical assistant which has been a huge learning opportunity, but very stressful with long hours. Luckily, I was recently able to transition back into esthetics and am doing that almost full time. I have a lot time with my family and more time to get things done around the house so I am super happy! Axel is 4 1/2 and we just registered him for kindergarten! We've been debating whether or not to send him this fall because his birthday is right before the cut off, but this kid is so smart and really thrives with a structured routine so we're going for it. It was fun to see his future school and watch him do his little evaluation with one of the teachers, but it also made me a little sad. Now that he's starting school this is it.. he's officially growing up.

Axel has grown into a goofy, sensitive, and thoughtful little boy. He loves crunching numbers (like his Dad).. I remember a few months ago he completely blew me away when, during a negotiation over finishing his dinner I said, "Okay Ax.. you need to eat 3 more green beans and 2 more bites of potatoes and you can be done". Without any hesitation he said, "but Mom! That's 5 bites!". Maybe I'm just a typical proud mother, but I thought that was pretty cool. So now, he regularly quizzes me saying, "okay mom if you have 4 and you add 2, how many do you have?" I always say "I don't know", and he always gives me the answer. He is so much fun! Bentley just turned 3! THREE! How did he just turn three?! Bentley is our little brute, but so cuddly and sweet. He loves to snuggle, and he loves to run full force into us.. and furniture, and pillows. The other night in fact, he gave me a black eye when he jumped on me out of nowhere yelling, "to infinity and beyond"! It hurt. Bentley is also OBSESSED with Thomas & Friends. He can fit Thomas, James, Percy, or Gordon into just about any subject and when it's time to pick a movie or a show to watch, Thomas is his only request.

If we're friends on facebook you've probably seen pictures of our new chicks! We love the idea of eventually having a little hobby farm. People who knew me growing up are probably shaking their heads in shock and awe reading that. I've never been a huge lover of animals (not a hater either, just didn't really care either way), and farming was NOT in my mental picture of my future life. There's something gratifying though about the idea of being self sufficient and knowing what is in the food that you eat. Don't worry, no one here is going gluten-free or vegan.. we just really like the idea of living off the land a little bit. I'm still going to shave my legs and eat junk food. But yeah, anyway.. we're starting with chicks and a little vegetable garden. We rent our place so we can't go crazy, but our landlord is fantastic and we have a nice backyard with enough room for a garden, and a chicken coop with a run. We have 5 hens and 1 rooster. Bentley wanted to name our 4 original chicks Thomas, Percy, James and Gordon.. but we picked other names (two of them are actually female Thomas & Friends trains though so he still got his way..). Our girls are Millie (my pick), Sweetie (Axels pick), Rosie (Bentley's pick), Matilda (Axel's pick), Alice (my pick), and Buster - our boy.. (Axel's pick). I've come to learn that having backyard chickens is really common in Idaho and now I completely understand why... they are so fascinating! You know how when you hold a newborn baby and you just stare at it? And then you stop and realize that you've just been sitting there staring at it for like 10 minutes? That's what I do with these silly little chicks! They're just chicks.. but I walk by and take a peek and before I know it I've been staring into their little brooder for 10+ minutes. This was the night we got our first four babies. They had all hatched either earlier that day or the night before..

Because we're raising our chicks for eggs (except for Buster.. obviously) we wanted a few more hens so we went back to our friends house and got 3 more girls. In our original four, two of them were boys, so we brought one of them back and came home with three new girls. This is the bunch at about 1 week old. They grow so incredibly fast, and let me tell you.. 6 chicks poop A LOT more than 4 chicks. For now, we keep them in a big box in our kitchen. They need to stay warm under a heat lamp and although it has been really nice here, we're going to wait another week or so to put them in the garage. At 6 weeks old they'll be able to go into the coop so we'll start acclimating them to the outside in another week (in 15 minute increments or until they get too cold). Buster and Millie are already starting to flap and jump up to the side of the box when they get excited so if any of them get to the point jumping OUT.. they'll be expedited to garage living a little sooner.

Jordan has taken control of the (future) garden. For some reason I'm a little intimidated with the idea of successfully planting all the seeds and getting them to grow so we'll let him handle all of them (with the help from Axel and Bentley, see below..) and I'll handle the weeds and consumption of the bounty.