randomness & (raw) goat milk

since we forgot to take the camera to oregon, i feel as though i have gone a bit overboard with taking picture since we got back.

not a bad thing, i suppose. 

i'm just going to post a few...

 i have stopped nursing leica. i just wasnt making enough milk any more for his growing little body and we were all suffering. after long hours of very extensive research and a will fueled only by what i'd call stubbornness, i am now feeding him raw goat milk.

i worked really, really hard to get this child solely on the boob in the beginning. it was a rough start, to say the least. 

i will never forget the lloonngg,  s  l  o  w  road that we conquered together. 

leica and i are a great, albeit stubborn, team.

both of us. stubborn as bulls. i could tell that about him the minute i met him. he is a fighter. as well as having that spark, he is so easy going and confident in me and dustin to provide just what he deserves.

the best.

i figured, based on how important it is to us to provide the healthiest for this child and how hard we have worked to do so, i'm going to find another mother to provide milk for this growing boy.

that mother just happened to be some goats.

this is fran sharp. 

she raises said goats and she does it with the utmost care.

through my research, i found her dairy goat farm, in elgin, tx, only a quick 30 minute trip east out of austin.

visit her website HERE

 

 

 milking stand

 milking machine and wash sink

 the floppy-eared ones are called Nubian goats.

she has another breed whose ears stick straight up. they are called Boers.

 those are some full utters.

a mover and a shaker

leica is up to a lot of things these days.

as of yesterday, he officially has 8 teeth.

4 up top, 4 down below. too cute.

leica has started to "cruise" and his crawling is getting better,

but i have a strong inkling that this little fella has too much to do to mess with crawling. i would really like for him to crawl. i feel like at his age there is a lot to be learned about the world at the crawling level, plus i've read that babies develop better problem solving skills while crawling. it has something to do with figuring out all the coordination involved in crawling. 

where ever and however his specific route takes him, 

we're here cheering him on! 

leica has always loved bath time. actually, he's just always loved water, in general. he has started to explore the whole bathtub. the drain is his favorite thing about bath time right now. well, the drain and dancing. 

leica's a dancing fool. 

he gets it from his mama.

 before i had leica, i managed a hair salon. we still visit regularly and they are basically our family here in austin. it has been suggested on several different occasions, by several different people that i put styling product in leica's glorious mane. i have always declined to do this only because what happens if i like it more than his original 'do and therefore i'm styling my 10 months old hair (please, no) or what if leica's sensitive little baby skin reacts poorly to whatever it is i put on his head.

thankfully, neither happened, but the results of proper product placement was successfully cute!

take a quick gander at this little gentleman.

 posing with those big ole blue eyes and chunky legs.

this past sunday or what we like to call "sunday funday" at our friend lauren's house. we ate a delicious scratch gumbo and got to visit lauren and her boyfriend brian and mike and hollie. 

leica was cruising all around the house.

 he pulled to stand all by himself on this table leg.

neither one of us feel very well, but the sun is shining and we both love being outside, so we forgot about our green feelings and sat outside and played all morning. 

we can't wait to get back out there.

don't worry! we put on sunscreen.

 

trip to oregon

ten days ago, we got back from our wonderful two week vacation to oregon. it was leica's first trip on an airplane and he was ideal.

leica loved watching out the plane window as we landed and we kept him occupied with snacks and necklaces and books. 

really, i stressed about the trip and wondered how it would all go with the time change and packing everything. i'd have to say we did pretty well......

then i realized as we arrived at the airport bright and early, on our way out of austin, we forgot our camera!

oh well.

we took some pictures with our phones, but really the trip was just so fantastic and dreamy that pictures wouldn't have even done it justice anyway.

that's what i'm telling myself anyway. 

i love trips up to oregon. lots of great family time and uncharacteristically sunny weather. i guess the texas sun travels with us. we always do lots of things outside. hiking up mt. tabor, taking walks to eat or to the park, and we always have an incredible time catching up with our oregon friends. our friends are getting married this summer, so we get to take another trip up there in august to celebrate with them!

to road trips!(some of them by plane)


also, leica is 10 months old today!
can you believe it? 

krause springs

we have friends in town from oregon this week and we ended up at krause springs. on our way home we stopped at matt's boss' ranch.

we roamed some of the hill country on saturday

and we were all beat.

it was a beautifully long and wonderfully fun day.

krause springs

boss ranch

an interesting side note about the above picture:

this property backs up to the pedernales river. yes, this is usually a deep and powerful flowing river. the levels are usually all the way up to just where little pete and allie's feet would hit whilst sitting upon that rock. i had to document how unbelievable and scary this years drought has been. we are officially on another strict burn ban. the lack of rains in the summer and the few freezes we have already experienced this winter have put us in the driest state we have seen in a while. i could write a whole article on this subject and the importance of fire safety, following burn bans  and water conservation restrictions,

which are always important topics, but especially in extremely dry, drought conditions.

a bit late...happy new year!!!

i got lost there in reality for a bit and forgot all about blogging.

this is probably not the last time an unintentional absence will happen and my apology is, of course, accompanied by an update!

leica's first christmas.

so fun. so many presents for the sweet boy.

 g-ma popken really wanted leica to open one special present on christmas eve. we obliged and were so glad that we did.

cheryl got the book the night before christmas which had a recordable playback option that read the story to leica and it was g-ma's voice! such a cool present and leica loved listening to g-ma read him this book. he actually looked around for her a couple of times.

so cute.

 our friend matt came over on christmas and, low and behold!!, there was football watching. i guess every once in a while we can veg out in front of the tv. that's just what you do after stuffing yourself with a yummy holiday meal.

my parents came to visit us over the new year weekend and i put my mom to work.

 i found a used baby bjorn for our upcoming trip to oregon. 

dustin and leica had to model it for me.

 i finally took my camera to the salon on one of our visits and took some photos of the people we like to visit.

 ailing and leica.

 leica and debra.

 debra showing leica all of their new art that is part of their rotating shows of local artists. also, if you need your hair coifed, cut, or colored or you are in need of some lovely aveda, give 'em a visit here or just stop in.

 

 leica is the official 4001 salon mascot.

that's right. official.