1 Week Old Labradoodles!

Whew! What a week!
We had some lows, we had some highs, and we learned a few things along the way. 
Jinx has proven to be a very good Mama. She is attentive and protective. She still wants to be with us during the day, but as soon as she hears the pups making noise, she is back downstairs with them.
The puppies are all doing really well. They are growing fast and wriggling all around their puppy pool. No one has their eyes opened yet, but that is normal. However, their little peepers could open up any day now.

The puppies spend most of their time sleeping.

The rest of their time is spent eating. They are very vigorous nursers. No wonder mom starts the weaning process when their teeth start coming in.

They are pretty strong little babies. They can wriggle around their pool to get to Mom or to climb under and over their siblings in the puppy pile. They use their front legs more than their back legs right now. 

They are all super soft. It's still too early to tell what their coat will be like when they are grown. We will have to give them a little more time.

This is a close-up of our two big boys. They weren't the first born, but they are the chunkiest. 

Our smallest pup is our little black girl puppy.

She is also the most snuggly. 

Stay tuned this week for more pictures and to learn what we have chosen for their temporary names! 

The Labradoodles are Here!!

The anticipated arrival of Jinx's first litter is finally over!
The babies have arrived safely.  
Momma Jinx did a great job for her first time.

In hind sight, she probably would have done better without us in the room. Her labor was relatively long and I really thought she was done after four pups. But a few hours later, she wanted to go outside and she birthed a stillborn. I tried a few methods to see if I could revive it, but I couldn't.  It looked perfectly fine, so I don't know if she was overly stressed and waited too long to birth it or what? Sometimes, it just happens. 
Shortly after that pup was born she birthed the last little cream boy. 

That brings our total to 5.

4 boys and 1 little girl.

It's easy to find her because she is the black one. 

Wyat has already dubbed our little chocolate boy 'Brownie'.
We will probably give all of them temporary names soon.
           

They all wiggle and squirm and are amazingly strong.

And vocal!

You wouldn't expect newborns to be so loud!

Jinx is settling into her role as Mom.

She gets a little stressed out, but with the lights out and the door closed, she settles down.

It's hard for her to be separated from the rest of her family though.

She keeps coming up to check on us.

We will be looking for homes for all of the puppies.

Jinx, the dam,  is a purebred Labrador, without papers.

She is a sweet girl with a heart to please her family.

She has been absolutely wonderful with our boys. Although she is very active outside, in the house she calms right down. As long as she can't see a ball! She is a great retriever and could play for hours. 

The sire is a purebred Standard Poodle.

You can find his information and pedigree here.

Yes, this is the same dog! When he got his spring haircut, they discovered that he changed from a chocolate, to a cafe au lait!

It is not unusual for poodles or labradoodles to change colors around this age. His name is Sidney and he is a tall nicely built boy. He had a calm personality when we visited him.

We are hoping that our pups will be good hunters and that someone who takes one home will train their pup for upland game birds.

Jinx did very well on pheasant this past fall. 

Send me a message if you are interested in adopting one of our precious pups!

We are asking $600.00 per puppy and we will begin taking deposits when they reach 2 weeks old. 

For All The Moms

                                    "Parenting is traumatic"

This is what I heard from a Focus on The Family parenting message Hunky Hubby and I listened to this week. I had never heard a better definition of being a parent before.

This is a hard job.
No doubt about it. 
I'm pretty sure that anyone who ever thought or said that stay at home moms have it easy, never tried it. 
No parent has it easy.

I have never been more frustrated, exhausted, stressed out, or felt like more of a failure at anything I've ever done than being a mom. 

I've also never been so happy.
I absolutely love being a mom.
It was the perfect job that I had been waiting for.
I have never felt more important, fulfilled, satisfied or loved as I do being a mom.

I look at the three boys that God has blessed me with and my heart swells, it gets a little hard to breathe, and tears pool in the corner of my eyes because it is just so amazing that I get to be their mom.
I love them so much.

It feels like "your heart walking around outside of your body"

It's that kind of amazing.

I am so thankful to have this hard, amazing, difficult, awesome, exhausting, wouldn't-trade-it-for-the-world, job.

Moms, in the midst of your traumatic experience of mothering, remember this: you are the perfect mom for your child. God gave that specific child to you and you to that child. You may not be perfect, but you are exactly the Momma that your baby needs.

So carry on Mom! 

And when the going gets tough, well, take a break. 
That's what Grandma is for! 

I hope you enjoyed this day in honor of you.