In the meantime we have been trying to do things to have fun and to keep busy while we are waiting for Tater to do her last bits of growth and development. Things like putting the house together the way we’ll need it when Tater comes home, unpacking, organizing and even vegetable gardening have been a few of our pastimes these days (other than my excessive napping).

It has sure been quite a critter filled weekend for us though! Late last week we were out in the front yard planting some of the free iris’ we were given. I was working under the tree planting them and N was working under the mailbox.

All of the sudden this frog comes hopping out of the grass at me. I was pretty surprised by it but was also excited because I have never really played with a frog. We didn’t have many water sources in Arizona so in turn we didn’t have many frogs to encounter. Here with the water pond behind our house the frogs are everywhere so I got to play with one for a bit while gardening. Is this a frog or toad though?

Then on Saturday we were out on the deck enjoying the warm morning and planting some seeds when we noticed our outdoor cat, Haley, acting a bit odd. Dixie, our dog, was also quite interested in what Haley had going on. It turns out the cat caught a garden snake and was playing it to death.

N rescued it with a rake and we were sad that it’s head and body were bleeding. We grabbed it away from the cat mainly because we wanted to see if we could get some photos of it and figure out what kind of snake it was. The reason we were so curious about the type of snake is because we are pretty sure a much larger snake got Dixie a few weeks ago.

We noticed she was trying to get at something that went under the deck, she dug a huge hole that went under the deck. We also suspect she got bit while digging that hole. She’s been limping and babying her one paw for about 2 weeks. It is getting better now and she is doing fine but we are sure it was a bite of some sort. Hopefully not from a bigger snake!

Anyway, after taking some photos to reference and compare to what we’ve found online we let the poor garden snake slither off to safety. We still have no idea what kind of snake it is.

Haley was a bit bummed to have her torture subject freed but she got over it pretty quick.

We’ve got frogs frolicking in the back yard, snakes slithering in the brush and we even have huge scary spiders crawling through our grass (with egg sacks on their backs) as I discovered while putting a bunny out to run the yard. The critter fun never seemed to end!

The rabbits seem to be loving the supervised play time in the yard and Dixie is getting very good at not going crazy over the rabbits running free. I recorded a few videos of N, Dixie and Maybelle out in the yard.

Here N has a moment with Dixie, he is telling her how she’ll need to watch over Tater soon…

I also recorded a video of some crazy kicking of the belly while we were watching American Idol last week. The lightening is poor but you can still see the jabs and kicks (and you get to hear the song recaps too. LOL).

The post Critters in my back yard: Rabbits, snakes, spiders, frogs and more. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I’ve got a prenatal appointment with the OBGYN next week and I am sure she’ll make a comment about the lack of weight gain this month but N and I aren’t worried. According to all our reading Tater is just starting another growth spurt so I’ll probably pack on several more pounds shortly.

It seems my weight gain is not really a gradual thing, I pack on a good amount one month which puts me over what is deemed normal then the next month I stall out and don’t gain much… It is hit or miss really. Good news is I am still eating like a mad woman and I’ve put on 20 pounds since becoming pregnant, I think gaining another 20-30 pounds in 3 months is not going to be a problem.

This morning I was happy to see it was again a warmer day and we were able to open up all the windows and enjoy the fresh breeze. We are fresh air and sunlight people. We love our windows to be open so winter is sometimes a downer for us, especially when we don’t get enough pretty snow.

The morning email checking was nice with the cool breeze blowing through the house. Andrew one of our cats climbed in to my lap and took a nap as soon as I got up. These days all the pets have been less interested in hanging out with me, probably because they sense Tater is coming. So it was nice that Andrew came to see me today.

N snapped a photo of the love fest on my lap so everyone could see how the belly is looking…

It is kind of funny how Tater responds to the cats purring. She can totally hear them and she will kick when ever they are purring near my belly.

I told N she is either going to be super soothed by the purring when she’s born or she’ll go crazy wanting to play with them when they purr. What do you think?

The post Purring Cats on Pregnant Bellies… 24 week pregnancy thoughts appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I thought it would be cool to try recording some of Tater’s movements so I can show her once she is older. I captured a few short/ good videos of her. You can see them here and here.

Last night we had thunderstorms, which N and I both love very much. We had windows open enjoying the fresh cool breeze and we loved hearing the rain/ thunder. Unfortunately the pets decided the weather was their cue to act completely insane all night.

Once N and I finished watching our recorded episode of American Idol at around 2am we went to bed (by the way tune in to American Idol next week to see my old choir buddy Scott MacIntyre’s performance).

Anyway, The cats stayed up all night bouncing off the walls. There were several times when they jumped on our faces/ pillows as a means to “springboard” up to the headboard where they like to perch. Also, there was all sorts of fighting between them for access to the fresh air coming through the open window in the bedroom. Basically they kept us from really falling fully asleep which means we awoke unrested and grumpy today.

N went to pick up a vacuum that was offered up on freecycle this morning (since ours has melted and the manufacturer wont replace it) but the person giving the vacuum forgot to leave it out for him to pick up. So we still have dirty carpets… I was hopefull vacuuming was going to be possible soon, oh well. One less chore right?

By the way all the cats are laying on or near me right now in bed snoozing as I write this. Hang on I am going to yell and jump on the bed a bit to wake them all up…

Okay, I am back now!

I was gifted Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth(among other things that I’ll share about soon) and am already hooked on reading it. Also my newest Mothering magazine just came in the mail so I am reading like crazy today, I was missing having good stuff to read so now I am excited to read again. Yay!

Our letter goes off to the landlords tomorrow so keep your fingers crossed that they let us out of here early! We are also looking at several other possible rental homes tomorrow. Hopefully we find something!

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