Our New Neighbors!

A few days ago while my husband was mowing grass, he noticed that we had some new neighbors. When I came home from work on my lunch hour, he and my daughter were eager for me to meet these new neighbors. My daughter begins walking me out our back door. This was odd because we have no houses in back of us. A little closer walk revealed this.....

Do you see her? Right in the middle of the picture? It's a bird. This was the closest I could get without disturbing her because she was laying on these....

Aren't they precious? I don't know a whole lot about birds, but what would possess them to lay eggs in the middle of a yard? We have squirrels, deer and apparently a cat that I've never seen before until today. I was checking on the bird through our kitchen window and noticed a big white cat hunched down harassing the little family. I quickly ran out there to shoo it away and that's how I was able to snap the picture of the eggs. I hope they make it.