Fieldtrip to the Chicken House - 2010 Edition

Last year, Carrie & I started what we hoped would be an Easter-time tradition for our girls....pictures with baby chicks! We've got the perfect set-up, thanks to Carrie's in-laws, who happen to own a chicken farm. This year, Allie Claire's cousin, Gus got in on the action, too! Gus was still kicking his momma in the rib cage and if her pregnancy was anything like mine, giving her heartburn, this time last year. We were so glad Lyndsay (Carrie's sis-in-law, and my oldest friend---we've been friends since I was a week old---she's exactly one week younger than me and we grew up together in church) and Gus were able to go up with us.


We'd talked about a date that we could get together to do this year's pictures, and it had to be a week that there were chicks hatching! We picked the perfect day, as far as the chicks go, because they couldn't have been any fluffier and cuter! Now, the weather on the other hand was terrible. Not to fear though... those Mizell's have many barns to choose from on their farm, so we picked the one closest to the "hatching house" (I don't know what they call it? But it was where all the babies were, and if we had one, I'd call it the "hatching house" because I have a weakness for alliteration. Ha...)


For last year's pictures, Allie Claire was just sitting up and AB wasn't even close! I had to go back last night and look at the pictures to see just how little they were... awwww....
At least last year, AB was too small to really know what was going on....she wasn't mobile yet either, so she just had to lay there and pose with the chicks! But, she obviously was keeping her hands close to her and off those chickies! Ha...


Look at AB's face in this one, she was like, "ALLIE CLAIRE MIZELL, WHAT are you thinking?!?!? I'm not touching that thing!!!"
Seems this year, AB's distaste for holding chicks hasn't improved. She wanted nothing to do with them and had the big meltdown when we sat her down with them. And my hopes of getting the sweetest picture of her holding a baby chick went up in flames....
Maybe she felt like she wasn't being loyal to her family, who's in the beef cattle industry... I could have told her to remember how much we love chickens, too, and reminded her how much we love Chick-fil-A, but I didn't think that was a good idea either... Ha... And I don't even want to know the trouble I'm going to be in when DW, my Momma & Daddy & Mr. Pug & Kellee see this picture. They're going to want to beat me for letting their daughter/granddaughter cry like this AND take a picture of it! But, before yall call me, I was thinking that maybe if I snapped the picture fast enough it would look like a smile. After uploading the pictures, I see that there's NO WAY it could be mistaken for a smile! ha....

Allie, on the other hand, was a pro back then and still is now! She was squeezing chicks at 5 months old, and yesterday was no different! 17 months old and she was loving those chicks, she'd rub them on her cheek and say, "awwwwww"!

We put AB in a tub that I'd brought and scattered the chicks out in front of it, so we were able to get a few decent pictures of that! I wont exactly say, "good" since in this first one she looks pretty cautious and the second one is really a "fuss" that "looks like a smile"---kind of...

Here's some smiles, though! Everything's always less scary and way better with a friend!

AB's face in this next picture is so my Granny! (who AB got her middle name, Peg, after). Granny has always been bad about getting "tickled" at the worst times and when she tries to hold it in, she makes a face like little miss is making here! Annabelle is so silly and I know it comes straight from her genes!

After we'd gotten some pics; we put the chicks away, thanked Mr. Clyde for letting us come again this year, and headed to get some lunch and pray that the babies all fell asleep in the car on the way! They were all in desperate need of a nap...

After a stop at a kids store and the Target, we called it a day. The rain had settled in, our feet were soaked and our teeth were sore from holding onto our umbrellas with our mouths while we got babies strapped in and out of their carseats. We also all agreed that we were pretty certain we'd be a mess if we ever had triplets! Ha...

What a fun day, rain & all!

I am hoping by next year's chick-picture-day, AB will be over her chick-phobia and get in on the squeezing! That is, if we're allowed to go back next year after her daddy & grandparents see that pic of her crying... ha...

(more pics over on Carrie's blog)

~amw~