A Few More Disney Pics

Here's a few more pictures from our trip. Check out this crowd at Cinderella's castle!

Gabriel and I waited in line to meet "the real Mickey at his home". Nathan was concerned that Mickey did not actually live there then, because "he didn't have a kitchen."

A quick stroller nap - 

Nathan and James and the bargain Disney balloon -

The boys got in some pull-ups on the monorail.

Italy at Epcot -

Here's a few more picture of Africa at Animal Kingdom. They let the kids play instruments with them.

Heading home - 

Back in Virginia - it's always good to be home!

 Jenny

The Babies

The babies were two weeks old on Saturday night; most of their eyes are opening and they are starting to put their weight on their little legs. They attack Montana for milk anytime she comes near them, so she tends to sleep across the room and just show up when she feels it is time to feed them. 

We have two little girls that are still under 2.5 pounds, but the others are over 3 pounds. The little girls are marked pink so I can make sure they are gaining weight and everyone has blue on their paw that got de-wormed and nails trimmed. 

It seems like every week is going to be bringing large changes!

Jenny

Disney

 We left last Sunday morning at 4 a.m. (after my all night puppy delivery) and drove 13 hours to Orlando. We met Gabriel, Alayna and Nathan at Cracker Barrel before checking into our three condos.

Monday morning we went Disney Hollywood Studios. It was a bit crowded since it was MLK day, but still fun.

 

  
Tuesday we got a late start because JD and Gabriel had to pick up Alyssa at the airport while Alei and Alayna booked our fast passes for the rest of the week. 

Magic Kingdom was pretty packed on Tuesday -
 

Wednesday we hit Epcot and I didn't haul the nice camera, so need some pictures from my phone and others phones. It was my favorite park though, so many awesome things to see and ride and the crowd was probably the lowest of the week. 

Thursday we did Animal Kingdom; we also loved it and had a great experience. This was our only attempt at a complete family picture - not our best ever!

Alyssa and I took the younger crowd back to "Africa" in the evening while JD, Alei and James waited on a long line ride and Gabriel and Alayna left with Nathan. We really enjoyed all the entertainers from different parts of Africa!

 
We were a bit cold and hungry by the end, but it was super fun. 

On Friday, we went back to Magic Kingdom after another airport run to return Alyssa. The crowd was much less and we got to see a lot more. We didn't stay too late as we had to pack for our drive home the next day.

The big kids stayed for an extra day and kept Tori with her for her birthday. I didn't even see Tori on her actual birthday but they treated her well. They took her to Ihop for breakfast and then out to birthday dinner and birthday dessert. They also each bought her an Orlando gift. She's an official teenager now! 

Next blog may contain some missing pictures...

Jenny 

Montana and her Puppies

So, Alei and I made the road trip to bring Montana home on December 23rd; she was only 10 months old and had already been guarding alpacas. I transitioned her in with the goats, which she was fond of, but after 10 days, she jumped the fence and went missing in the night. We spent three days looking and posting about her, when she emerged from the woods behind the neighbor's house. After that, JD heightened a portion of the fence from 4 foot to 8 to make sure we didn't lose her again while we were on vacation. We also began planning a large electric fence to allow her access to all the farm and house, but keep her home.

One day while a friend was visiting, Montana did a roll onto her back to have her belly rubbed and I was astounded to see what I perceived as the beginning of milk to feed puppies. I talked to the lady I got her from and while at first she admitted that she had not been separated from their male Pyrenees, she later told me that they hadn't been together. The evidence I was seeing led me to believe the first report!

While I was sure she was pregnant, I thought we had a few weeks to prepare and literally was just praying it would be after our Florida trip. The night before we were leaving at 4 a.m. for Disney, I went to the barn to feed and close down the animals and there was the first born puppy crying next to Montana.

We delivered puppies 2-6 in the cold barn between 8 p.m. and midnight. It was absolutely too cold for the puppies so we made the decision that we had to move them all inside. That was much more difficult than it sounds when it involved a 100 pound dog that was scared of stairs, the backyard and the house itself. We packed up the puppies and started leading her towards the house. Twice she laid down and wouldn't budge and poor James would pick her up and carry her. (JD went to be about 10:30 when a friend and her son came to support James and I for the long night!) 

We had to carry her through the backyard and down the retaining wall and into the house she was scared of. We positioned her and the babies on a blanket in a pool in front of the wood stove. She was so exhausted that I don't think she minded. She ended up delivering #7-9 in the basement, but little #9 was still- born. 

At 1:30, I collapsed into bed and my alarm went off at 3:00 to shower and finish packing for a 4:00 departure. I left my sister and pet sitter a text that Montana and the puppies were in the house. I left a dirty and tired new momma dog with 8 hungry puppies that appeared to be nursing well.

 I had a sister and two friends that all tended to Montana and the puppies several times a day. We have some Montana challenges, like she will still wander off, yet doesn't want to go to the bathroom too well on a leash. It is very time consuming to tend to her each day. 

I had the house call vet come and check out Montana; she even cleaned her nicely. I came home for a slimmer, cleaner momma dog and fatter, rounder puppies.

Here's pictures of the babies taken just yesterday by Alei - they were 10 days old.

I'm planning on weekly pictures - they are going to grow so quickly! They are also getting different colored yard tonight to start charting who is who - we have four boys and four girls.

Tomorrow I'll try to blog a bit about our Disney adventure -

Jenny

And Four More

 My first goat, Leia, and I had a heart to heart talk that she either needed to have her babies before my trip to FL or wait until after. She took me seriously and delivered FOUR babies last night. The first two were born before we got out there and James delivered number three butt-first. We thought all was done and cleaned the babies until she laid down and partially delivered number four. I ended up gently pulling it out as she just got too tired to push anymore. Thankfully number four was a girl; the first three were boys. 

We cleaned them and tucked them into our coats to warm.   

 Today was so beautiful that I opened the doors for even the newest babies. Bailey is the girl in the front and her brothers are Buster, Bruno and Bruce.

 

Cute little guys but they all look like Leia. The only baby that is different is the girl of Lady's twins.

Montana got a much needed bath today! Here she is wet and recovering. Have a mentioned that I'm quite sure she was pregnant? Well, I am! So, there is that on top of the rescued cat and delivering goats.

I'm actually pretty excited about it and as long as they are pure bred puppies, I am going to finance her eye surgery with the sales money. Of course, she may not actually be pregnant and it's a false pregnancy.... but I still think so. 

Jenny