Baby Birds

It's spring here in Upstate NY. The trees are flowing, the grass is growing at an insane rate, the gardens are perking up, and there are tons of nests with eggs or baby birds everywhere. 

Last week I was doing a speech session at a house at their dining room table and looked out the window to the back deck. That was where I discovered a bird's nest with 4 little babies stretching their necks up as high as possible chirping away. 

These birds were so distracting to me and so many thoughts raced through my head as I watched them. The mommy bird came a few times with things to feed them and quickly flew away again. 

The following thoughts entered my mind:

Will my babies be that demanding when they are hungry? 

Is chirping loudly more pleasant than screaming for food?

Was the mama happy she was able to leave or did she just feel like she was out working to feed her babies?

 Will I wish I could leave in a few months just for a little break or will I be glad I don't have to go hunting for food?

Were those babies ever satisfied?

Did they ever just sleep?

Is this what parenting babies is like?

Will feeding babies be as easy as regurgitating some worms?
Man, I'm glad I'm not having quads!

Why was I getting paid to think about baby birds?

Of course so many of these questions are ridiculous, but I couldn't help but picture myself as a mom to multiples while I watched this mama bird. She had it tough and her babies didn't give her a break. 

As it gets closer to meeting our girls I get so excited but I also get overwhelmed as I think about parenting two little infants. I know it will be amazing, but I also know it isn't going to be easy to start. 

Sandy and Bambi

Since we live in NY, the threat for hurricane Sandy existed for us. We didn't go crazy preparing, but we did buy a few easily prepared meals, fill our cars up with gas, and put them in the garage to protect them from the giant tree right next to the driveway. Other than that, we weren't too concerned. I guess it was for good reason. 

We got some high winds and rain yesterday and last night, but nothing too exciting. Our lights flickered for a while, but we never lost power. 

Other areas got hit hard, but we got lucky. 

Things were a bit crazier around here early, early Monday morning. I'm a pretty hard sleeper. I don't hear much and it takes a lot to wake me up. Well, apparently one of our dogs started whining around 4 AM. W got up to let the dogs out (I had no clue), but I do remember him coming back to bed. A few minutes later he said, "That's our dogs barking" and disappeared for over 5 minutes. When he came back he told me, "They had a deer." I was super confused and it definitely woke me up.

W said the dogs were barking in a really unusual way, so he went outside in his boxers to check it out. Down in the front corner of the yard the dogs had a deer cornered. He got them to come inside and they were SO excited. They were panting and checking all the windows. 

I advised W to make sure the deer was gone before letting the dogs out in the morning. He said he did and left for work. 

When I got out of the shower I heard strange barking outside. I went downstairs in my bathrobe and looked out the back door. Nothing. The barking continued so I looked out a front window. There were the dogs and this poor little deer. I'm not sure what happened to it, but its back leg was missing all the skin from hip to ankle, and it just had exposed muscle. I'm pretty sure it happened before it made its way into our yard. The dogs were barking, but not getting close enough to do any damage. 

In a complete panic I called W and told him he needed to come home immediately (he only works about 5 minutes away). I then ran outside in my bathrobe and yelled and yelled until the dogs would finally come in. Once the dogs were inside the little deer then starting checking the perimeter for an escape. 

W came home and checked the entire yard and couldn't find it. The gate was opened wide so hopefully it got out. Seeing that little freaked out and injured deer was not a good start to my Monday morning. I was upset about it for a while. The dogs, on the other hand, may have had the best day of their lives.