Sorry my dear followers, things have been a little crazy around here and I haven't been faithfully writing as much as I would have liked. Here is a brief about what has been going on...

Project Pete is doing very well... he and his "girlfriend" Lucy get to go outside together every day and come in at night for grain and also get grained in the morning before they go out. He is looking a TON better and I hope to get new photos of him this coming week.

Did I mention that I LOVE my Lil' Outlaws Rump Rub? It is awesome!

Oh the stories I could tell about our dear mustangs... we had to castrate two of them this weekend... they aren't really domesticated but they aren't really wild. They don't really want you to touch them but at the same time, want the treats you have. I was REALLY nervous about their castrations, I just KNEW someone, usually me, would get hurt. Luckily all went well and both were castrated with out any issues and no one got hurt in the process, which is ALWAYS good!

My baby girl has cut 6 teeth, its crazy! She is starting to pull herself up and stand... she is trying to let go of things while standing and it is just too cool! I can't believe that she is almost 11 months already, it doesn't seem possible. At each stage she gets to I think that it is my favorite stage and then she reaches another milestone and I love that stage as well. Its just crazy! We went to Babies R Us and bought some foam stuff to put around the edge and the corners of our coffee table because that is where she likes to play the most and that is where she hits her head the most. Once we got it home and placed it around the top edges we realized we should have bought another set for the underside edges of the table... We also bought those thingies that go on your cabnets, which I HATE, erg, yeah they are baby proof, but I spend about five minutes trying to get them off every time I want to get into my cabnets. We also had to buy a new carseat because she is getting so big. I had thought our infant carseat would hold her until 25 pounds but as we were taking it out of the van I looked on the side and read it only supported up to 22 pounds, which Katelynn was at, so it was good that we got the new one when we did. We bought the Graco MyRide 65 Convertable Carseat. I toyed with the idea of getting the cute pink girly one but thought again when I realized we may have a second baby in the future and IF it happens to be a boy, he would be stuck with a pink hand me down carseat in the future, SO I opted to go with one that matched the decor/colors inside my van. I believe the fabric style is called Spirals. It is very nice and I like it realy well. She was too big for the infant insert, so we packed it away with her infant carseat. She looks so tiny in her new carseat, so I'm hoping it lasts us for a while. It seems comfortable, she didn't cry or fuss when we secured her in the seat for her first trip in it. I like how it has cup holders on the sides for future use! I was slightly concerned about the fact that the croch buckle doesn't adjust, but it is so far forward that I don't think she will have any problems with it as she grows.

Well, I think I'm going to call it, my dear sweet baby keeps trying to launch herself off the couch as I type... she wants to sit with me and then sees something interesting.

Good night dear followers!
Kelsey

My baby girl is turning One VERY soon and I need to start planning her Birthday party! I know I want to do a Mickey Mouse Theme since she just LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on PlayhouseDisney. Her Grandma even bought her a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal that she loves, well she loves his tail cause it hangs out the back of him and is interesting to her, hehe. Other than the whole Mickey Mouse Theme idea, I've got nothing... What do you do for a One Year old? Will she remember her birthday? Will she enjoy a party? I don't think I really care because we will have the memories and I think that is whats important.

As I type, I am looking over and I see the sweetest thing. My dear husband holding our daughter while she falls asleep. And on his face, sheer bliss...she make a bad day GREAT, she gives purpose to each day, she is his world. She falls alseep so much easier on him than in my arms. His arms are strong and comforting, its no wonder she crashes when he hold her.  It also helps that we have her Disney Lullaby movie on, it helps for those nights when she is fighting sleep really bad.

Project Pete has been doing so well that I decided to take him up to the big barn. He goes outside in the pasture for most of the day and comes in before dark. It seesms to be working out really good for him plus he has a Best Friend, her name is Lucy. They are like two peas in a pod and are usually no more than a foot away from eachother.

I'm sure there is more to type, but it is getting late and I am ready for some downtime then bed!
Goodnight dear followers!
Kelsey

Happy Mother's Day, I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday with their family and kids. I look forward to the day when my baby girl is old enough to make me Mother's Day presents like drawings or paintings. At church Sunday the Moms were given flowers to take home to plant, I have 3 and I hope that I don't kill them, I do NOT have a green thumb at all.... one is a Daisy of some sort and the other two are Begonias... so we will see if they make it!

Project Pete never ceases to crack me up. Again the other day I had him loose in the yard, well I went inside for a moment and when I did our little dogs wanted to go out to potty so I let them out. All of a sudden I hear our farm dog Joey barking, his, "Um people you need to pay attention" bark. I went outside and Pete was following the dogs along the front of the property, they like to potty across the street in the tall grass sometimes, don't ask me why. So, I yelled "Hey, what are you doing? You don't belong over there" and both Pete and the dogs came walking back to me... silly pony. He's starting to get more curious as he puts on more weight. Oh, almost forgot, he got his hooves trimmed about two days ago... but he was a little bit of a pain cause he didn't want to stand still... SO we will continue to work on that. I think the main problem was that they were outside with him and he thinks if he is outside he doesn't have to do anything. I always pick his feet up in the barn in his stall and he does ok there.... but I wasn't able to be out with him when he got done or I would have suggested it. I tried to add some Corn Oil to his grain to help him pick up more weight as well as help his skin but is gave him some loose stool so I stopped... bummer... trying to figure out what to do cause his skin is SO dry.

Ok Momma's out there! Stop by The Cloth Diaper Report and enter to win an organic Mommy & Me T-shirt (or onesie) set of their choice from CafePress. Giveaway ends 5/12/2010



Well that is all I have today dear followers!
Kelsey

Okay, so yesterday I was at the house most of the day and I let Project Pete out to graze while I was working. He stays pretty close to the back of the house so  I figured he'd be okay if I took the mower and went up over the hill. I had been there for over an hour when I see Pete running down the hill. RUNNING! This was the first day that he wanted to run, it was amazing. He ran down the hill and stopped. I turned off the mower and sat there, in disbelief that A) he was running B) that he ran over the hill to find me and C) because I wasn't sure if he was going to keep running or not. I looked at him, smiled, and asked him, "What are you doing over here, you don't belong here?" Then I raised my arm and pointed towards the house and told him to "Go Home" at that he paused a second, turned, and ran off. I thought for a minute and was like Ok, Cool, but then I thought maybe I should ride the mower back to the house to see where he went. When I got there, I didn't see him anywhere, I was dreading that he passed the house and kept going. I looked around the yard, looked at the grass along the front of the property to see if there were hoof marks, nothing. I went towards the barn to get a lead rope, in case I needed to take off in the car to find him... and there he was standing in the barn, waiting for me. He just looked at me like "What, I did what you said. Now, feed me!" It was SO funny, he knew what time it was, came to look for me to "remind" me he was still there, and was ready for dinner. I was honestly in shock that he actually went home when I told him and that he was at "his" home, in the barn!

On another note, here are a couple photos of the new baby!

Sometimes we stay after church for lunch. Our church does a carry in after services to help save money on going out to eat after church. Its a great idea, we always have great food and it is so much fun to talk to all the church members. Sometimes we are able to stay and sometimes we are not, this past Sunday we were able to stay. I was just getting in line and had grabbed my plate when a young girl came up to me, maybe 8 years old. I didn't recognize her so I asked if she was a visitor and she said yes, she came with some friends. I nodded and told her that was great and then she said the sweetest thing I think I have heard an 8 year old say. She looked at me with so much caring and compassion and said "Blessed to be with you". If it is possible, I believe that at that moment my heart smiled. Can you imagine if everyone treated each other like that and as we passed each other on the streets or in stores and everyone said "Blessed to be with you"? WOW! Now that is the kind of world that I would LOVE for my baby girl to grow up in!

Yesterday we had a baby horse, a foal, born. It was a little girl, filly. She is such a cutie and her Mama, Libby, is a great mom. She is much bigger than any of the babies we've had in the past. She doesn't look like she was just born, she looks about 1 week old already. I will post pictures as soon as I can. She is just  doll. We are lucky that she made it. Her Mama came in with a group of neglected horses, many of the mares that were pregnant delivered prematurely and the babies didn't make it because they were so underdeveloped. She was the only one that was born full term and healthy. We will be thinking of names for the new little one in the next couple days... I want to see what type of personality she has.

Project Pete is loosing his hair on his face, I think it is from the lice he used to have. They are all dead now but the hair is just rubbing off. Right now he sort of looks like a freak of nature with a half bald face... but it will grow back ;o) He got to go outside for a long time yesterday, which he loved, of course. I gave him a bath two days ago with an Oatmeal shampoo to help his dry skin. If anyone has any REALLY good horse shampoos for dry skin, please tell me or if you sell some, maybe we can use that as a Review and Giveaway?!? That would be fun! Well, anyways, Pete wasn't too fond of being sprayed with the hose, but after a while he got used to it. We just had to do a couple circles until he got used to it, nothing too bad though. He is such a sweet little guy. I swear I'm going to have him bomb proof by the time I get his weight on... he didn't get too upset when I sprayed his backside off with the hose, which I thought would have invoked a bigger reaction but didn't. He had just an awesome personality, and there really isn't another word to describe him.

Great news, I had my first comment on my blog, YES! Thank you Veronica from the Mom Bloggers Club!

Well, that is all I have for right now!
I'll write again soon dear followers!

Uhg, not sure what is going on today but my allergies have been acting up really bad. I took a Zyrtec and it seems to be helping but now I'm fuzzy like my head is congested, I hope I'm not getting sick. I can't get sick, I've got way too much to do. I had allergies a lot when I was younger and took Zyrtec before it was over the counter, but instead of every once and a while, I took it EVERY day. I never had any side affects or anything and it always worked like a charm. I was allergic to pollen, dust, mold, all animals, grass clippings, hay, stuff like that. Shortly after I turned 19 my allergies, along with my asthma seemed to disappear and I no longer had to take the Zyrtec or my asthma medication. I was SO happy, it was really hard growing up having these medical conditions, wanting to be like the other kids and do things the other kids could do, but being unable. I used to have to walk the mile in gym, not because I was lazy, but because if I ran my asthma would kick in and I couldn't breath. It STUNK big time! I am so thankful everyday that I no longer have these problems. I praying that Baby K doesn't inherit these traits... but at least I will know how she feels and be able to help her to the best of my abilities because I was in those shoes before!

On a brighter note, I've figured out what I want to do! I just have to figure out where to start and to convince my dear sweet husband that its a good idea! Keep an eye on the blog for my idea coming to life! You'll know it when you see it, plus I will promote it like crazy!

Ok, I know I'm new at this whole blogging thing, but I think I have figured it out pretty good so far. I was thinking today about how much I love other blogger's reviews and giveaways. I thought that it would be something I would like to do. There are so many different products I use on a daily basis and now becoming a Mommy has added even more to the list of products I use. I'm going to be contacting some places about doing reviews, hopefully I will be able to get thing rolling and get some good giveaways going on! I've always loved writing and this will help be tone my writing skills once again.

This past week has been gloomy and rainy. Where has the sun gone? Its like someone switched the sun's "Hide" button and forgot to turn it back on... will it ever end? Project Pete didn't get to go outside today and boy was he upset, but not too upset because his grain was still his #1 priority. I started him on some a product called Fiberpsyll made by Select the Best, last night. We live in an area where there is a LOT of sand, I figure that he may have picked up some sand out in the pastures. My hope is that if I get rid of some of the sand in his belly, it will work a bit better and he'll gain weight just a little better. Shortly after he finishes his round of Fibersyll we will try some plain yogurt to get some good bacteria back into his belly.

My baby girl is REALLY starting to say Mama now. Today we were in the office and she said Mama to get my attention because she wanted picked up, it blew my mind. It was just too cool! It is so amazing how quickly babies grow and how quickly they learn things. Its amazing!

Well, I off to research more review websites ;o)
Good night and God Bless!

Well today I really did not want to get out of bed... its been a  LONG weeks and today is supposed to be my day off. My baby girl on the other hand, I just can't get to understand that its ok to sleep in on our days off at the office. Well, since she was so insistent of being up at 8:00AM I was up and about. I started a load of her laundry and a load of her cloth diapers this morning and watched her play on the floor in the living room while I checked my e-mail and played Farmville. Yes, I play Farmville, such an addicting little game, ERG! Well, she was on the other side of the coffee table and started to get really quiet. I got curious as to what she was doing or rather what she was into. I walked over to find her face down, knees pulled up under her with her face resting on her hands. She was ASLEEP! The little booger had played so hard she laied down to take a nap. The sight made me laugh and I proceed to take a photo with my camera and send it to my family, it was just too cute. I picked her up and took her to her crib so she could finish her nap in a more comfortable setting.

While the baby was asleep I went out to visit Project Pete and to feed him and the Crew. As I was getting grain ready I kept hearing thundering hooves back and forth behind the barn. When I went out of the barn, Dottie, one of the young horses was running from the dry lot to the pasture and back. It was SO funny, it was like she was racing an imaginary friend. The other horses in the lot with her just watched her. You know when you where little and you pointed your finger at your head and moved it in a circle to say someone crazy... if those horses know how to do that, THAT is what they would have been saying about Dottie at that moment. I think she wants to be a barrel racer or something, she can turn on her haunches and go, plus she is a fast little booger. Well, Pete was outside grazing in the yard while I was getting things ready, I had to mix a couple bags of grain together in a rubber tub that I keep it in and he HEARD me mixing and came walking in the barn. The little nosy man would NOT leave me alone, lol, I had to put the wheelbarrow in the doorway to keep him out of the barn. I guess I am trusting him a bit more because today I let him out to graze with just a halter on, before I would leave a lead rope on him in case he didn't want to be caught, but he has been so easy and good I decided today that he really didn't need it anymore. So, when I had everyone fed and watered I went to go get Pete. He followed me in the barn and into his stall. I proceeded to grab the curry and brush his coat out a bit. His coat is FINALLY deciding to shed out and when I was done it looked like I had murdered a small bunny underneath him. I decided to try picking up his feet again today. He did better than last time, but still didn't want to pick them up for very long. He picks his back feet up much better than the fronts, which I found odd, but greatly appreciated. I picked out his feet the best I could then left him to finish his lunch. ....Didn't see Sheba today, but perhaps she will be there tonight. I did however remove her kitten from the hay and took care of its tiny body.

My day is just starting, not sure I will get back on and write more tonight, but I want to! Have a wonderful day my dear followers and God Bless!

Well, today was somewhat busy even though it really wasn't supposed to. I went out to feed Project Pete this morning before church to find a black cat sitting on the hay. When she spotted me she jumped down and ran about 10 feet away then looked at me. I looked at her while I walked towards the hay, when I brought my head around in view of the hay I thought I saw the remains of a mouse she had caught. In the back of my mind I was thinking "Good Girl, you get 'em". Then I took a closer look, it was a kitten, tiny little body still wrapped in its sac with the placenta attached. She had given birth but didn't break the sac to free the kitten, perhaps from inexperience or perhaps it was still born and she knew that. She ran off once I got close to it and watched me from the other side of the road. I opened the sac and left the kitten there for her to see and to mourn. I got a bowl of water and some soft cat food that we had in the house, left over cans from when we used to have barn cats and put some in a bowl and set it on the hay with the water. Hopefully she will come back and decided to take up permanent residence in the barn. I need a good mouser around to keep the population down. I came back to feed Pete lunch but there were no signs of my new little friend. Pete was a bit antsy and wanted to graze, but it was raining and I had to get up to the office to take care of some things. About an hour ago I fed Pete his dinner and what do I see, a small black body moving away from the hay, the cat had come back! I think I'm going to call her Sheba, when I was younger I knew a dark colored cat named Sheba and this new little gal just looks like a Sheba to me ;o) I'm guessing that she is feral from the way she runs from me and the fact that she isn't in that great of shape. Hopefully, if she keeps coming back I can feed her a little and get her looking good. I've been wondering all day if she would come back and if she did, how many kittens did she have, and where are they? Cats normally don't just have one kitten, but all I've found thus far is the one dead kitten. In the morning, hopefully I will see her again and I will be able to inspect the barn for signs of kittens!

Well, once again a long day and I'm a bit tired... so good night my dear followers!

On another note, Project Pete is doing great. Every day he seems to have more and more personality. He went from just existing to living with purpose. Tonight he was even pawing the ground while I was putting his hay in the hay net (I had to start using one because he was spreading it all over his stall and pooping on it). The hay net is working out great and he isn't wasting the hay anymore.

Went to the office at the big barn today and bathed some horses, what an adventure. Ponies are not my thing normally. Miniatures, I love, Mustangs, I love, Regular Horses, I love, Ponies, not so much. They just seem to want to give you a hard time on purpose. The all seem to have bred to be mischievous! Anyways there were ten to bathed and move and ten were bathed and moved.

Well, last night I was really bummed. I had REALLY wanted to join the Twitter Party #GetRealDiapers hosted by @EcoMomMedia and several others. I was hoping to win some cool prizes or at least learn something new about cloth diapers. Well, I get everything set up and and ready. I figured out the Twitter Grid and everything was great. THEN the internet decided to hate me. For whatever reason it started bouncing from connection to no connection. I tried for over an hour to get connected to the Twitter Grid. Finally I gave up and went to bed... but it was SO disappointing! So, I'm hoping to be able to at least do the next Twitter Party... we'll see...

Today is my Wedding Anniversary. So far its been, well, pretty good... I can't complain. I feel good, I feel right where I'm supposed to be with the man I love and our perfect little baby girl! Life is Good! Life is Great! Thanks be to God! ;o)

On that note, I'm going to head to bed, its been a    l    o    n   g    day dear followers!

I am so tired tonight. I feel like I worked hard today, but all I did was talk a lot... Trying to make some changes and get the horses evaluated this spring. Within the next couple weeks I think I'll have everything sorted out pretty good, but trying to find somewhere to start is hard. I just gotta take one project at a time and work the projects.

Project Pete had a rough day today. It started out well, I went out to feed him in the morning, again he was waiting for me and nickered. At lunch I let him out to graze for a bit while I fed the crew, nothing much happened. Well between lunch and dinner he got himself cast in his stall.... for those that don't know what cast means, it just means that he laied down, rolled and got his legs stuck against the wall and couldn't get up. Well luckily I had asked our farmhand to take some sawdust down to the barn for him and he saw Pete stuck in his stall and got him up. He was a little weak but ok. When he came back to the office and told me I went to the barn to check him over. He was ok no sign of injuries, but I gave him some Banamine just in case he was having some colic issues or if he was sore from trying to get up. Its a good thing he was down at the barn because somehow all the miniatures got out and were running around the barn too, little boogers, they figured out how to undo the chain on their gate. So, now I have to figure out what to do with that... Tonight at dinner Pete was waiting for me again, ears perked and awaiting his dinner. He was acting fine and didn't seem to be phased by being cast earlier today. I think I'm going to start adding oats to his grain to help with any gas so that he doesn't get colicy and try to roll in his stall again.

Okay, so I record American Idol... not sure why but I like the show... Well tonight they were doing their "Idol Gives Back" Episode and I was slightly disappointed in the Black Eyed Pease and Alicia Keys. Not sure if they were having technical difficulties or not but their performances kind of, well, weren't good at all. Carry Underwood was good, she seemed to sing well, but the others, they were really disappointing.

Erg, I think that I have poison oak or poison ivy or something, icky. My right arm itches and I have some red raised bumps. That's what I get for working out in the woods picking up landscape timbers. Oh well, its for my birds, hopefully I can get a new area built for my peacocks. Oh that reminds me, I lost one of my Pekin Ducks today, not sure where she is... yesterday she was in te pen and today she was gone. I have a feeling she got out and something got he because when I let our farm dog out this morning he went right over to the woods by the duck pen and starting sniffing around and howling... so I think maybe the coyotes got her, bummer... guess I'll just have to find me a couple more female ducks... I'm totally bummed, she was such a pretty white girl and gave me nice Extra Large eggs, bummer.

On a good note, my baby girl seems to be doing better, thank goodness. Her cough is finally starting to go away, YES! And the congestion is almost gone too! God works wonders, its amazing what a little prayer will do! God is Great! .... "Honey, God don't care which church you go to as long as you show up." Dolly Parton from Steel Magnolias. Isn't that ironic (or maybe its "A God thing"), just as I was writing this paragraph I turned to Steel Magnolias and started watching it, well that line just came on the screen and I was driven to add it to this blog! You know what gets me... I don't know, I guess it is obvious to me since I believe in God, but sometimes I wonder why it is people don't believe in God. I mean seriously, there is nothing bad that can come from believing in God, there are no drawbacks, nothing bad that can happen. Can you imagine a world where everyone believed in God and lived by the Bible? Everyone would be nice to each other, there would be no crime, no greed, and we would all have everything we need in life to live healthy and happy. The greatest lessons in the Bible talk about LOVE. If you love someone and care about them you try to help them and are concerned as to what goes on in their lives. How can believing in God be a bad thing and why would people want to be against God, I just don't understand it. I will be the first one to tell you that I don't always live by the Bible, even though I know I should, I'm a work in progress, but at least I'm trying and making an effort towards becoming a better Christian, Wife, Mother, Friend, ect. by strengthening my relationship with God. I want my daughter to grow up always knowing God, why wouldn't that be every parent's hope? I know our society isn't doing so well, but why not change that? It got the way it is by change, why not change it back?

Oh well, I'm getting tired, I hope my "Midnight Messages" about God make sense... they make sense in my head hopefully they make sense to you or at least make you curious about God if you haven't had a relationship with God before. He's there, listening, waiting, all you have to do it talk to Him! Oh, Small note, if you are going to read the Bible for the first time, don't start at the beginning, skip to John, he makes everything make better sense. The Old Testament is more of a History Lesson and the New Testament is what you live by today ;o)

Have a wonderful evening and good night dear followers!

Ok, if you can see the images to the left, then I did good and uploaded the photos correctly, if not, leave me a comment and please tell me how to fix it ;o)

Okay, so the other day I broke down, caved in, and decided to see what this whole revolution/movement/whatever, they call Twitter actually is about. I signed up and starting "Tweeting" and it absolutely confused me. I didn't get it. I still really don't get it. But I'm trying too. The only "good" thing I have found is that I can use Twitter to get more entries for the giveaways that some of the blogs I follow have on occasion. So, this is why I will continue to "Tweet" If you'd like to follow me, please do @RuralMama! Still don't have any comment or followers of my blog, bummer, my life as I know it really is as boring as I thought it was...

On a new note...
My family takes in abused/neglected horses and rehabs them then adopts them out to new homes. I have a pony at the house, he hasn't been doing good up at the big barn, we will call him "Pete", I'm trying to put weight on him...he is a larger pony, not sure of the breed about 400-500 pounds but should be closer to 600-750 pounds. I will try to get pictures and try to figure out how to get them on the blog so that I can update my "followers" on his progress. He is about 2 years old and is just a doll to be around. No bad habits that I've found so far. He came down to the house about four days ago. I started him on 1 1/2 pounds of grain and one flake of hay 3 times daily. I'll be increasing it as time goes, but so far that seems to suit him well. He has also been dewormed with ivermectin and panacur. The day I started caring for him I also had to give him a permethrine bath for his lice, YUCK, luckily horse lice are species specific and they don't like me ;) I have several other horses at the house, 14 more to be exact, along with my poultry that I raise. So, while I feed the rest of the crew I've been letting him out on in the yard to get some grazing time. I have him in a stall to monitor his water intake and make sure he is eating all the grain I give him, right now he is too fragile to put out with the other horses, but he doesn't seem to mind at all. Not sure if he is gelded or not, so as the days pass and he puts on more weight I'm going to make a point to check him. Not that it would do any good, he needs to be a LOT healthier before he can be gelded if he is still a stud colt. Well, so far even though his weight hasn't changed much in 4 days his attitude has. When he came in he was sort of blah, like he just existed, like he just was... there was nothing going on upstairs. Today he nickered at me when I came in the barn, his ears were up, and he was waiting for me. It made me smile, he knew I was coming to take care of him and showed some emotion. I let him out of his stall to graze and after I was done feeding the crew I put his grain in his stall, which he heard immediately and started walking in the barn himself. I really wasn't ready for him because I hadn't picked his stall yet, but the grain just did him in, so I had to pick it with him in the stall, no biggie. I tried to curry his coat a little to try to get some of the long winter hairs out, its kind of hard to do right now because he is so skinny that if I press to hard on his bones he cringes. So, I also took a soft brush over him, which he loved, especially on his neck.

So, now I have two babies to take care of... my human baby and my fur baby "Pete".

Also, wanted to note that one of my favorite Cloth diapering sites, BabyEcoMart is having a sale on Happy Heiny's OS Pockets and Fitted diapers. http://www.babyecomart.com and use code HH30 at the check out for 30% OFF any of the Happy Heiny's!

Have a wonderful evening dear followers,