A Baby and Birds

First off... just because she's cute:

And now, a story of birds!

We found a nest in the wreath on our door several weeks ago. We tried to use the door very sparingly to avoid bothering the mama and babies. One day I wanted to take pictures of Maya sitting on the chairs on our front porch. I went through the garage, but as I passed by the wreath the mama bird flew out, knocking one of the babies to the ground. I was so sad!! The little thing writhed around for a few minutes and then died. I felt like the worst person on the planet, and it totally ruined my day.

Then a couple of nights later Ryan and I heard something fall while we were in the back living room. I went to go see what it was and the noticed the wreath sitting on the porch. Oh no!! Of course I began to panic. What do we do?! Ryan stepped up to the plate and said he would build them a new home. I told him to hurry, and then called my sister so that I could get the womanly sympathy I needed. (Thanks, Holly!) Ryan came back inside with a little box constructed out of 2x4s. He hung it on the post of our porch, and then we had to figure out how to get the nest inside the box. Ryan got a big piece of cardboard, rubbed it on the grass ("It has to smell like nature!" he said), and then carefully scooped up the nest. One little bird had fallen out and was kind of scuffling on the cardboard. He was so cute and delicate! Ryan slowly "dumped" the nest (every time he said he was going to dump it in I said, "DUMP?!") into the box, which was sort of exciting because the little dude who had been scuffling was now stuck on one of the ledges. We managed to get him in there though. Then we went inside and hoped for the best. By now we were completely invested in this nest and wanted so badly for the baby birds to live! I prayed that night that the mama bird would find them. 

The next morning we woke up at 5:30 (thanks, Maya) and I went down to check on the nest. I could see movement, so at least I knew they had survived the night. Then Ryan had a thought: We had not put the wreath back up. The mama bird was probably so confused! He put the wreath back on the door and before he had a chance to close it, Mama Bird flew in and then turned and saw her new home. Yay!

I am happy to report that the baby birds are still alive and growing!