Patience.

Patience has never been my strong suit. In fact, my husband just had to sing the Patience Song to me last night while I was waiting for the fire to warm up.

I remember being pregnant with Littlest One. I was so sure I'd have her at least a little bit early. My due date came and went, with no signs of labor. And then impatience took over. I cried constantly, so tired of feeling like a whale, tired of being kicked in the groin every time I sat down, tired of not meeting my baby. I mean, it was really miserable.

And now here we are, not waiting on a little human baby, but on little goat babies. Wondering if they are doing okay, wondering how labor will go, or whether we will have girls or boys, anxiously awaiting the day when we can finally meet them.

And the wait is making me crazy!!

Poor Justice is showing no signs yet, really. Her belly is so enormous I can't figure out how she manages to walk. I can tell she can't get comfortable when she settles down to chew her cud. But no babies, no labor.

Everyone jokes that she'll do it in the middle of the night, and I'll walk out to find babies in the morning. I had a serious talk with her yesterday and let her know that that is definitely not allowed. I want to be there. I want to experience the miracle of birth on our farm, and I want my girls to experience it too! That, and it's so darn cold out at night that I want to be around to dry off the kids so they don't freeze to death before morning. Having kids in January, up in the mountains, is no joke.

Getting dressed for the barn is no small feat - hats, scarves, gloves, wool socks, muck books... and I'm doing it six times a day when I go out and check on her. I think she's tired of me constantly touching her rump, feeling for the telltale softness of impending labor. If I was wise, I'd just leave her alone. And if I was patient. Which, you know, I'm not.

Patience! Today I will sing the Patience song to myself over and over, and remember that, just like with human babies, these kids will come when they are good and ready. I just hope they are ready soon, because we sure are ready to meet them.