The Egg - It's Happening!!

The second egg is hatching right now!!

When I noticed the second bird was hatching, I ran in to show Mike the pictures. He said, "Gross, that's hideous. Why do you like seeing this??" I was shocked. Aren't they adorable?? Well maybe not adorable, but fascinating - YES!

Yum - a mouthful of worms for the babies.

The daddy bird is super skittish so I've had a hard time getting a picture of them together... I was finally sneaky enough to catch the love birds together. Aw, what a happy little family!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DADDY BIRD!!

The eggs - or shoud I say EGG - singular

So yesterday morning I went outside to check on the eggs. I thought for sure we'd have a baby, but nope -still two eggs. As I looked closer I could see that the egg on the left had a crack. You can see where the little beak was trying to crack through...

I really wanted to watch the baby hatch, so I went out every couple hours and checked for updates... No change all day... I went out around 9 pm for my final check and still no progress. So this morning I went out first thing, and sure enough, the little thing hatched over night.

I had a hard time getting a good picture of it with its beak open because the mommy and daddy birds were FREAKING OUT while I was taking pictures. They were diving at me and making all kinds of noises. It got my heart pumping a little, I was worried they were going to dive at me and peck me with their beaks... I got this picture fast and got the heck outta there - that's why it's a little blurry.

Here is a picture of the mommy looking lovingly at her new baby. And next to it she's giving her new baby a kiss. She's such a good little mommy! (At least in my head that's what's going on... and I'm sure she sings it lullabies and tells it stories while they are waiting for the other one to hatch)

We should have another one later today or tomorrow!!

the eggs - day 13

From what I've read online, Robbin eggs hatch 12-14 days after being laid. So really it should be any day now!! I'm getting really excited. I take my kitchen bar stool outside every morning when I wake up to climb up and see how they did during the night. Of course I wait until the mommy leaves the nest before I go out, but mommy bird doesn't like me doing this one bit - she squawks at me and flies circles above me while I'm peeking in her nest.
It's been really hot here lately and I've noticed she's been sitting on her nest with her mouth open all day... I wonder if she pants like a dog when she's hot... Her little beak stays open for hours and I can see her breathing heavily. It looks just like she's panting. It's hot and she has no shade - poor thing!

Two nights ago we had really strong winds come through our area. I was so worried the wind was going to blow the eggs out of the nest - it made me sick thinking about it. It was dark outside and hard to see the nest from the window, so I just paced around hoping the wind would pass soon (which it did). I caught Mike shining the flashlight out the window to check on the little robbin family. He has a heart after all!! The next morning, there was still two eggs... Phew.

Now we just wait...

Morgan's six... I almost forgot...

If you were to ask Morgan what the best part of her turning 6 was, she'd say, "that I finally got a woopsie doo". Morgan has wanted a woopsie doo for over a year now, and she finally got one thanks to Aunt Katie and Uncle Chad. She really wanted one for Christmas, but I was so mean and didn't get her one. Since we had a little baby, I just couldn't buy her a baby that really poops and pees in a diaper. I just couldn't. So thank you Katie and Chad for making a year-long wish finally come true!

Morgan's Six

Yesterday Morgan turned 6!! Big day, big day. She planned her party and did a fabulous job. She picked out some little white boxes to hold her party favors and she wanted everyone to decorate their own.

After decorating their boxes they came up to the counter and picked out a pair of flip-flops to decorate. I love seeing little kids in flip flops!

Here's the group... Starting on the left - Cousin Kelsey, Alyssa from school, Katie from school, Morgan, Miles, bottom row: Oakley, Grant & Ellis.

Grandpa came by to check things out.

And thanks to Grandpa and Grandma for letting us borrow their big water slide. This was the best part of the party.

The eggs - day 9

We've had quite a bit of thunderstorms this past week and with all the damage to our little tree from last weeks storm, poor mommy bird is sitting directly in the line of fire. During this storm I caught her looking towards the heavens a lot - it seemed like she was pleading with it to please stop raining.

Over the couple weeks that I've been watching this bird, I've never seen it stand on the side of the nest and just look in for so long... It just stood there staring - and to me it looked really sad. I didn't know it yet, but it had a good reason to be so sad...

I went out today to check on the little eggs, and now there are only 2. Argh - I wanted to cry. I don't know what happened to the other 2, but I'm sure the big crows that fly around our neighborhood had something to do with it. So sad! According to my observations, the eggs are on day 9 - so they should be hatching this week (around days 12-14)... I hope these two make it until then. I have to admit I'm a little bummed about the two missing eggs, but I can't wait to see these two little baby birds!! I'm on high alert - (all by myself though - Mike refuses to take a shift as watch guard - he thinks he has better things to do than stare out the window at a nest of eggs... He's so cold hearted!)

My 4 year old is ripped!

We only feed him protein and raw eggs.

The Eggs - Day 4

This morning mama bird stayed in her nest all morning. I just wanted her to leave and eat so I could peek in at those eggs. I think they were onto me because the daddy bird brought her a worm and fed her. It was so sweet! It's like he brought her breakfast in bed! I am so mad I missed catching it on camera, but I learned a valuable lesson- keep the camera out in an easy to access place and leave the lens attached so it's all ready for these kinds of moments. This was her all morning...


Then this afternoon, she left for a minute. I was able to get a quick peek and sure enough, this morning she layed another egg. Day 4 - 4 eggs! I think she's done, but I'll check again tomorrow.

I feel like such an intruder, but that won't stop me.

Two weeks ago as I was standing at the kitchen sink looking out the window, I noticed a bunch of rustling in the tree right below me. As I looked closer I saw a cute little mommy robin starting to build a little nest perfectly tucked away down in the tree. After only a few days the nest was complete.

Here she is creating a little home for her babies.

In the evening on Wednesday, June 2nd, we had a pretty severe thunderstorm. Our family gathered around the kitchen window watching the little nest hoping that it wouldn't be destroyed.

Here you can see what a pounding that tiny tree took in the storm. All the limbs are drooping downward and the poor little nest is exposed up top. Now it sits directly in the sun instead of being tucked away down in the leaves. I was surprised at how well the nest held up in the storm, with the severity of it and all. We watched out the window over the next 2 days for her to come back, but there was no mommy bird. We were pretty bummed to say the least. We were so excited to watch for eggs.

Then on Saturday, the third day after the storm, this is what we saw out the window...

Mommy bird was back! She stayed in the nest most of the day and didn't seem to mind the photo shoot too much.

Later that day when our family came home from running errands, the kids ran right inside and jumped up on the counter to peek out the window. A second later, we heard Morgan yell, "there's a baby egg in the nest!". We came running over and sure enough we could see the top of a little blue egg. We call this - DAY 1.

The next day, I got a picture of the mommy laying her second egg. At first I felt like I was invading her privacy or something... I mean, really, who doesn't like a little privacy when birthing. But I just can't help but watch. It's so fascinating!

This is the daddy standing guard. He usually shows up when the mom leaves the nest to keep an eye on things.

They make a cute little team. I can't help but be proud of them.

After doing a little research, I learned that Robbin's usually lay 1 egg a day and there is between 2-6 eggs in each clutch. Here is day 2 and sure enough, 2 eggs.

And today is day 3. Three little eggs!! I wonder if she's done or if there will be another one tomorrow. I'll keep you posted. I can't wait to see!!

Just think, in about 11 days these little Robbins will hatch!! And trust me, the kids and I will have our noses pressed up against the window watching the entire thing!

Will's One

Will turned 1 yesterday.... big sad sigh coupled with a loud shout for joy!

Miles blew out the candle for Will since Will just wanted to touch the flame.

I wasn't in the mood this weekend to spend time decorating a cake, so Mike took the lead. (Hey - at least I made the cake instead of using a boxed cake mix). We spread out all the little bottles of food coloring on the floor and let Will pick the color of the frosting. Blue it is.

Morgan has been struggling with accepting Will's birthday. Apparently she really wants him to be zero forever and the idea of him turning 1 broke her heart. She cried for a while last week when she realized his birthday was coming up. I thought only moms got that way, but apparently big sisters get emotional over these things too. She's always been our sensitive little soul.

The group...

I had to post this picture because it made me smile. When I uploaded pictures this was on my camera - Mike must have taken it. This is Uncle Scott whom I affectionately call Squat Dog. He is home from college for the summer and the kids adore him! We love having Scott home.

Opening presents!

Grandpa reading Will his new book - I think Mike is enjoying it more than Will.

Here are Will's one year stats:

Height: 29" 25%

Weight: 20 pounds 4 oz 15%