Well. Just 2 days ago I was writing about how it seemed like it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r for Nat’s calf to arrive… But today, I get to write about how we were caught completely off-guard with the arrival of Angel’s calf, lol.😳

Yes, we knew it was within a week of its due date. And, yes, we were hoping it would come early…😆 Yet, for some reason, we went unprepared into the field this morning to bring in our dairy girls.🙄🤦🏻‍♀️

Our normal routine is for Mike to head to the milkhouse first thing to get all our supplies to feed Mary Kate and Jake back by our barn. In that process of driving the 4-wheeler next door, he does a quick visual check from a distance to see if there’s a calf. He did that, and “assumed” there wasn’t one since all the cows were laying down and chillin’. [Never taking into consideration it might be possible Angel had her calf after we last checked her yesterday afternoon, so they had all evening/night/early morning to bond, eat, and rest together…😬]

So we did our normal chores at our place, fed Dude in the white barn, and then began our walk to the field to get the milking mamas. We were in a good routine and making good time. AND THEN. As I got closer to where Nat and Angel were, I saw an extra mini-cow laying next to Angel.😲 And of course, we never even thought about grabbing a halter before we headed out.🙈 What are we, rookies??!!🫣 Pretty sure 16 milking seasons disqualifies us from that category, lol, so…👵🏼👴🏼😂

It all happened so fast that Nat was already up before I could even get a picture snapped.📷

No time to go back for a halter now, so Mike & I made the decision to keep walking the crew down to the barn…👍🏼

The good news about it having been born yesterday, is everybody already knew it was there, so the only chaos was between Nat and Angel. Nat is only 2 days out from having her own calf, so this new addition understandably stirred up her mama instincts.😉

It’s a boy! Meet “Colorado.” (Think John Wayne movie: Rio Bravo🤠📽) This is Angel’s first calf for us. [Click here to read about when Angel was born.] We chose to use an Angus bull for Angel because they are known for calving ease…smaller head and body. We figured its coloring would look cool with its mama being all white, and we weren’t disappointed!🐮

Colorado was FULL of energy! He ping ponged between Nat and Angel all the way to the barn.🙂 (You can see Granny and Tilly watching on the other side of the fence.😆)

It was a relief to have everyone in the barn, and that Colorado followed the group so well.☺️

Mike was able to sneak the halter on Colorado without him really realizing what was happening.👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

We put QueenB in charge of watching over Colorado while we went back in the barn.😻 Angel was a trooper for her first milking and we are SO GRATEFUL!❤️

Colorado is NOT a fan of the halter, lol.😂

Adrenaline was still pumping for all of us after our adventure, but Colorado was at a whole different level.😳 He was not about to let me get a good picture of him for this post.😵‍💫

Made it!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Dude didn’t know what to make of all this excitement, but he seemed happy to meet his new and smaller neighbor.🐮

Miss Tilly had fun escorting the mamas back to pasture…😂 She is sooooo cute!🥰

Soooo – just because Colorado is laying down and looking all calm and composed… DO NOT BE DECEIVED. He went C-R-A-Z-Y when Mike got in the pen to feed him his bottle. I mean, we’ve had timid calves before, but this guy??!! YIKES.😬😳

Picture those cartoons of bulls-striking-their-front-feet-in-the-dust-before-charging-type-crazy.🫣 I was in shock watching Mike absorb Colorado’s charges!😱 He had an idea that might happen given that Colorado has Angus in him, so he knew that these first feedings should be something for him to oversee. (Thank You, Jesus!✝️🙌🏼) If I wouldn’t have been so terrified that he would jump over the gates or hurt Mike, I may have tried to get a video. I don’t ever want to see that again, so I’m kinda glad I didn’t get one.😉

We are prayerful that Colorado will calm down for us as we earn his trust. It was encouraging to see that by the end of the feeding, Mike could reach over and pet him from outside the fence. Sometimes success comes in baby steps.❤️🙏🏼

Final tally: 3 boys and 2 girls.🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮

Now on to the next adventure…11 more days until Paul and Annie’s wedding!!❤️ We should be able to have these calves next door with the others by the weekend, and then we can finish transforming this barn into a wedding venue…🙏🏼👰‍♀️🤵🏻‍♂️