One Positive Thing 2/4

AHH! WE GOT BABY CHICKS! AND THEY'RE SO CUTE!

Today was so good! We had our sweetest little cousin's baptism in the morning, where we were able to visit with lots of family . . . even Grandpa and Grandma Blackwelder! They flew in just for the baptism. They're the best. Sydney is the sweetest girl and we're so lucky we get to spend so much time with her!

After, we went to the Mauldin's house and ate the yummiest homemade cinnamon rolls, juice, hot chocolate, and fruit. We hung out with family and enjoyed our time. But then I had this idea: We need to get chicks today. Our cousins Anna and Ruth were there and were willing to go with me while Jake studied. We went to a couple different stores before deciding which ones we were wanting to get and then we dropped Jake off and went back to get them! Jake told me to get 3, but I got 4. . . and they're the cutest little things!!!!

We brought them home in this little "chicken crate" and as Anna was holding it, they were pecking her fingers wondering who the heck she was, I'm sure. We set up a rubbermaid plastic tub for them with a heat lamp and they all went to the food immediately. We were in heaven. We got them all out and were just snuggling them! Their personalities showed pretty quickly; one kept trying to use her wings even though she's only less than a week old, another kept trying to run away, another was fast asleep in Anna's hands, and the last one just kept eating . . . Chicks are the best. Jake says I'm probably going to spoil them, but spoiled chickens are the best because when they get older, they still recognize you as their mom and will follow you around and possibly even sit in your lap. If we're not going to have a baby or a dog, we'll have chickens that follow us around!

That night, we went to the BYU basketball game and then grabbed some ice cream and when we got home, for the first time all day, it was just me and Jake! We laid down on the floor, got the chicks out, and just let them run around the carpet . . . pooping everywhere. Hahahaha. They're lucky they're cute! He was trying to pretend to be the Mama Hen and was covering all four of them at once with his hand. They were SOOO quiet and I'm sure sleeping just under his hand. Chicks are pretty used to being smooshed under their mom's wings, so he pushed their little bodies down and you can feel their whole tiny body breathing.

Chicks. Are. The. Best.

They're going to grow so fast over these next couple of weeks and get so stinky, but we're so excited to build our flock . . . hahaha! We're weirdos. Well, mainly me.

**I don't know what happened to the picture of my all black chick . . . I'm on the hunt for it.

One Positive Thing 2/3

Oh man... Today was awesome!

Jake and I both took a test together and even though we were both trying to beat each other, we both got 92s! That's pretty good in our book.

When we went home, we tended to the chickens (of course) and then we were getting ready to meet our friends at the ice castles . . . but before I did that, I had to go check on the chickens one more time and move the light into their coop. AND WHAT HAPPENED?!?! I FOUND EGGS!!!!

I came out of the backyard dancing with three eggs in my hands with tears in my eyes . . . SERIOUSLY! I was so excited! My chickens finally laid us some eggs! And after only a few days of supplementing light and only 3 weeks after their big move! We were so excited! Jake pretty much jumped out of the car and was like, "NO WAY!" We took them inside, looked at them, took a picture of them, laughed at how dumb it was to be so excited that a chicken laid an egg . . . you know, what they're supposed to do. . . but it was so exciting! Our first eggs! We're doing something right!!

After we found our eggs (and sent pictures to our families), we drove up to Midway and went to the Ice Castles with our awesome friends Logan and Monica. They just got engaged a little bit ago and they're always fun to be around. We talked about their wedding plans and caught up on Christmas break, our wedding, and their missions over Thai food after the castles! We love them because they're both so down-to-earth, fun to be around, have our sense of humor . . . and best of all, are tired by 9:00 like we are. :) After our date Friday, we went home and watched a couple episodes of The Blacklist. We're still trying to figure out what show we want to dedicate time to.

Anyway, life's good! Even with midterms!

Getting Our Chickens! And all things that come with them . . .

This isn't normal for your chickens!! This will cause them to not be able to eat properly which could lead to their DEATH. Clip their beaks if they, for some reason, look like this!!! 

My sweet friend Nicole told us that she was getting us chickens as a wedding gift! I didn't believe her, but when we got back to school, she set up a time to go to her aunt's house to pick them up! Oh my gosh I was so happy. I told Jake I probably wouldn't be able to sleep that night! 

On Friday, we went to Tractor Supply and picked up all the things we'd need for them. Feed, something to put the feed in, something to put their water in, cracked corn (snacks!), and anything else I came across that they might possibly need (unfortunately we didn't come across chicken sweaters). 

Saturday we went and picked them up, brought them back home in a box, and that's when I started to love on them. . . duh. They seemed to enjoy their new (and much bigger) coop and run. Even though it was pretty cold during the day, they were just hanging out outside the coop. Luckily the figured out where to roost that night, even if they didn't realize that they were pooping in their nesting boxes. Gross. 

I noticed one of my chickens had this weird thing going on with her beak. It looked like there was something in her beak, but when I picked her up, there wasn't anything... just a crazy elongated beak. It looked like she had an under bite! I told Jake about it and his first thought was that she had something in her mouth, but we quickly figured out that wasn't it. So after researching a little bit about what we could do, it seemed like a lot of people clip their birds' beaks. Easy enough. I'd have Jake do it! Hahaha.

I held her while Jake clipped the bottom half with nail clippers. It didn't seem like it hurt her much, but she still didn't like it. Jake had to hold her neck pretty tightly to keep her still and when he gave her a little break, I THOUGHT SHE WAS DEAD!!! It was the worst 8 seconds of my life (drama queen). She had laid her head down on my arm and closed her eyes and wasn't moving. I handed her to Jake... I wasn't about to have my chicken die in my arms!!! She ended up opening her eyes and being fine, she just needed a second to recouperate.

When I told Jake that I thought he had killed her today, he told me he thought he had too!!! Oh my gosh. He said, "I seriously thought I had killed my wife's CHILD." (He gets me). Luckily she's alive and kickin' it, eating mash and snuggling her sister hens. They're not laying yet, but I'm determined to love them enough that they'll start up again, even if it is the dead of winter. . . 

The Chicken Diaries: Part 1

My name is Lynnette, my almost-husband's name is Jake, and we love chickens.

I didn't always love chickens. In fact, they scared for me for quite some time. Actually, they still scare me. But when you get past their little beak and weirdo feet, they're pretty sweet and also a little bit cute. Jake has probably always loved chickens, so that's one of the reasons we're getting married.

When we found out we are living in one of Amanda and Kyle's properties where there is a chicken coop, one of the first things we asked (not about the size of the house, the carpet, the shower or anything) was if we could use the chicken coop. Of course they said yes -- something we are SO thrilled about.

We decided that we'll have chickens instead of children for the first little bit of our marriage, and that'll be about the same. I tell Jake that I'm going to snuggle our chickens, give them each a hug and a kiss good night, and that we are going to be the best chicken-parents in the whole world.

Jake's the more realistic part of this parenting chickens thing. He's like, "Okay, we'll have to open the fence here so we can get in and out easily to feed the chickens and collect the eggs." And I'm like, "I think Piper will be a really cute name for one of the chickens! What do you think?" And he's all, "We'll have to get chickens that are about the same age, but if we want to get three older girls in January and then chicks in April, I know how to make them get accustomed to each other." And again I say, "I can't wait to have toddlers running around!"

Our house may be a little teeny thing, but at least we'll be married... and AT LEAST we'll have beautiful chickens.

Stay tuned for the rest of The Chicken Diaries, you won't want to miss them.