Baby Update

I haven't really dedicated a whole lot of posts to Baby H yet, and I know some people do weekly postings while they're pregnant. I wanted to give you guys an update on how baby is doing...

Here is a picture from our 4D ultrasound in week 32. He wasn't in a great position, so it was hard to get a good picture. This was my favorite from the pictures we got, because you can see his little hand in front of his face while he sleeps :)

Tomorrow I will be 33 weeks...7 weeks to go! Due date is December 19th.

Size of baby: 4.5 lbs as of 10/24/13. 

Weight gain: 8 lbs (I've packed on about 1 lb per week the last 8 weeks). Obviously over half of that is baby, and the other half is just normal fluid and the increase in my blood. You'll hate me for saying this, but I can still wear all of my normal pants, and even get them buttoned. I don't have any stretch marks either at this point...I rub lotion on my belly and hips twice a day, and have since about week 12. I don't have any cravings at all. If I crave something, I'll eat it and then it goes away. I am wanting more sweets than normal, but nothing in particular. I eat like I regularly do and nothing overboard.

Emotions: I have good and bad days. One day I started crying when Payton Manning came back to play in Indianapolis for the first time since he left their team. Some days I just start crying over nothing really, and then I usually laugh and cry at the same time. Those days are few and far between though. Other than that, it has been pretty normal. I've found that my mouth has no filter when it comes to saying things that maybe I shouldn't say...it all just come out and I don't seem to care. 

Health: I am definitely waddling. For those who haven't been pregnant, let's just say that it feels better when you waddle! I started changing the way I walked way back around week 20, because I could feel my hips shifting. They were really sore for a couple of days, and still get sore if I lay on one side too long at night. My left hip still pops every time I take a step. It doesn't hurt and I don't really notice it anymore. I had my gestational diabetes test and was negative for that, so that's a good sign. They were afraid I would get it because as the doctor stated, "I started my pregnancy overweight" and when I look at my ultrasound paperwork, it still says high risk pregnancy due to obesity. Lame.

My body: WOW....some things that have changed, I have never heard people talk about. I had a random mole show up near my collarbone. There was nothing there before, and now it's there. Doctor says it should go away when I'm not pregnant, but if it doesn't we'll get it removed. My nails grow super fast, and unfortunately I have sprouted some black hairs on my neck. Weird, I know. I wake up maybe 1-2 times a night to use the bathroom. I sleep just ok, but the last 2 weeks or so I'll wake up and be awake for about a half an hour at night a couple nights a week and just lay there and think about stuff. Since I started my 3rd trimester, I've been more tired lately than in the 2nd trimester, which is normal. My feet and hands aren't swollen at all, but if I'm walking around a lot, at the end of the day my ankles will get a little swollen.

Pampering: Patrick has been great about giving me foot rubs. I've  had 2 massages since being pregnant. Unfortunately, my masseuse says she can't put as much pressure on my knots because I'm pregnant. It still feels great, just doesn't get rid of the knots as well as it usually does. Last week Patrick treated me to a mani/pedi, so that was amazing. I plan on having my hair done once more before baby comes.

Our House: A lot of people have asked about our nursery and baby's room...we're going a little unconventional for this one. I've talked in the past about how much company we have during the spring and summer months, whether it be family or people we hire to come and help us out on the farm. We made the decision to keep our guest room, and the baby is going to share the office. So it's a bedroom that's half office, half crib and changing table. The closet is full of Patrick's clothes, and the baby's clothes for now are in a dresser in our guest room. All of our closets are teeny tiny, so we fit stuff in where we can. I'm not too worried about the arrangement we have now, and we'll just see how things go once he's here. He'll never know the difference if he has a room or not while he's a baby. And we really don't use the office a whole lot either. I'm not worried. 

Are we ready? YES! I am so happy that I am blessed with the ability to be pregnant, I really am. I had a miscarriage over a year ago, and it was devastating. More on that another day. But pregnancy is a whole beast in itself. I don't hate it, but I wouldn't say I love every second of it either. But I know the longer baby is in there, the better off he'll be. So cook away in my belly little one...just don't take too much longer after your due date! Patrick is beyond ready...he wanted kids right after we got married, but it was me who wanted to hold off longer. As for everything we need...we don't have all of it yet, but if he were to be born tomorrow, we'd be just fine. 

Ok, I know that was SUPER long, so thanks for hanging in there until the end! 

Do you have any questions about my pregnancy?

Birthday Weekend Road Trip

So the last time I posted, I told you all it was Patrick's birthday...and what you probably don't remember is that my birthday is 2 days after his! I turned the big 2-9 on Friday the 25th! We didn't really do anything big on our actual birthdays-I cooked Patrick, my brother and his mom and dad dinner on his birthday, and we all went out to eat on my birthday. 

But what we did to celebrate our birthdays didn't happen until last weekend...we drove to Minneapolis for the Packers/Vikings NFL football game!! It was my first NFL game, but Patrick has been to several others. I've been to baseball, basketball and NASCAR races before, but never a football game!

We got to stay in downtown Minneapolis at The Marquette, which is a Hilton hotel. It was pretty fancy and we enjoyed it. Except for the beds...the rooms said 2 queens, and what we ended up with was 2 beds that seemed smaller than a full-size bed. And I'm gonna let you in on a little secret I find humorous...when Patrick and I travel together, about half the time we get 2 beds in the room and sleep separately! We're not the "cuddle all night" people. We're all about the "I need my space to sleep". We just sleep better that way!

We got into Minneapolis late Saturday night, and boy we were in for a surprise. We thought we had lucked out by getting in late so there was no traffic. Little did we realize that most bars and clubs downtown were having their Halloween parties that night, so it was a giant freak show downtown! But quite entertaining.

The next morning we got up, enjoyed breakfast at the hotel, then went back and napped before heading out for the day. Below is my Aaron Rodgers impression...when he scores a touchdown he acts like he has a championship belt on.I thought it was comical to do it with my giant belly.

We just decided to wander around until we found somewhere good to eat. We stumbled upon this gem...

We ordered some amazing appetizers...chicken shots (boneless chicken bites with whiskey honey glaze), and soft pretzels with beer cheese sauce. I'm telling you...I will dream about these chicken bites they were so good!

I ordered the Berry and Brie salad with creamy poppyseed dressing...also good!

After eating out delish meal, we walked the 8 blocks to the stadium to hang out for a bit before the good. We found some people with a hilarious sign...

We headed into the stadium as soon as it opened, because we wanted to see every minute that we could...and I have to say our seats were fantastic!! 7th row behind the Packers bench, on the 40 yard line!

One this is for sure...football butts are as great in person as they are on TV.

The Packers ended up winning the game! It was such a cool experience and we had a great time!

































We got up EARLY on Monday morning and headed back to Montana for another week of work! I'm happy to say that this was my last bit of traveling before baby comes...I'm ready to stay close to home and relax!

Just Call Me Sunshine

First and foremost, I want you all to wish my handsome hubby a Happy Birthday today! He's the big 2-9! 

 

On to other business for the day...

I got nominated for a Sunshine Award from Jen @ It's My Life a couple weeks ago, and I am just getting around to answering the questions she asked about me! So here goes...

My 11 questions are:
 
1. What is your favorite movie?
     -I have too many to choose from! My favorite is probably Fried Green Tomatoes. I've loved it since I was a kid, and still love it to this day. Other top movies include My Best Friend's Wedding and Grease.

2. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
     -I remember playing "teacher" a lot with my cousins and siblings, so I think probably a teacher.

3. Who would play you in the movie of your life?
     -I would probably choose somebody like Julia Roberts or Catherine Zeta-Jones. 

4. What is your favorite dessert?
    -That chocolate cake from Costco...which we had as our wedding cake (after our cake baker had a family tragedy about a week before the wedding), and I'll be having more of it on Friday for my birthday!

5. Do you like to read? If yes, what?
    -I like to read trashy romance novels, mystery books, thriller books, and memoirs (as long as they're not super boring). Anything but fantasy or science fiction.

6. What is your dream vacation?
    -I have LOTS of dream vacations! I would love to spend a week at a resort somewhere tropical. I'd love to tour around Ireland, and love to take a Mediterranean Cruise.

7. What is your favorite restaurant?
    -Probably the Sandpiper in Idaho Falls, Idaho. We used to live there, and would go there about once a month. To this day, I could tell you exactly what Patrick and I would both order. He would have the fried calamari, baseball sirloin cooked medium well with a caesar salad and loaded baked potato, with a Coors Light draft beer. I would have the spinach artichoke dip, baseball sirloin cooked medium with caesar salad and loaded baked potato, with a glass of Pinot. And for dessert we would share the strawberry cheesecake. Yeah, we went there a couple times :)

8. What are your hobbies?
    -It seems I have more hobbies in the summer time-gardening, my flowers, baking, taking pictures. In the winter my hobbies include...um, TV watching? Does that count?

9. Do you use social media? If so, what platforms?
   -Facebook, blogger (duh), Instagram, Pinterest...tried to get into twitter but there's so much random crap on there and I hate when people re-tweet something from someone else. I don't care what someone else wrote, I want to read what YOU wrote. That's why I followed you. It just took up too much time. 

10. What cheers you up when you're feeling down?
     -My dogs, always. I mean, look at those faces :)

11. What have you never done but would like to?
    -Be a mom, which will happen here shortly :) What else...vacation at a resort for a whole week with just my husband (which will hopefully be happening next June!!!),  run in any sort of race (let's just go with a 5K...that's really all I want to do to say I did it), get a NICE camera and take some professional looking photos (getting one early next year-hellooooo tax return!). These are all goals of mine, which should hopefully happen within the next year or so...well, about that race. We'll see about that one :)

Tomorrow I'm going to the doctor for my 32 week ultrasound! I'm super excited! I'll hopefully have a pregnancy post and update for you shortly after that :)

Baby Shower #2

How lucky am I that the people in my life love me enough to throw me 2 baby showers? One in Western Montana with my sisters, mom and some college friends, the other in Eastern Montana where I live with my coworkers, in-laws, family and other friends. I am so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.

Last Sunday my boss and co-worker threw me a baby shower, and just like my first one, it did NOT disappoint! First and foremost...the food. I mean, it's not a shower/party without a picture of the food spread. Am I right?!

We had 2 different kinds of homemade cheese balls with crackers, 2 different kinds of quiche-one with a pie crust and sausage, the other with croissant crust and bacon. There was also fruit kabobs with 2 different kinds of dip, chocolate covered strawberries, and red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. It was all SO good and I got to take a lot of the leftovers home :)

All of the gifts for Baby H! You see the little monkey with the hat? One of my MIL's friends' daughters made that. The wheels are made out of diapers, the mud flaps are bibs, the seat and handle bars are wash cloths, and the headlight is a bottle. How creative is that?!

My friend Chay (in the pink) and her little boy Lyndon came over for the weekend to hang out too since Patrick was gone, and Lyndon helped me open the gifts. He was pretty excited about them too! To the right of me is my MIL, and the lady on the far right is our Aunt Carol. 

Here was a monkey blanket from my MIL's best friend, who will be another adoptive grandma for baby.

My coworkers-Kayla (on the left) is one of the shower hosts, and Melissa also works with us. She has 4 boys :)

You can't tell by my face, but it was hilarious watching Lyndon dance! You put on any country song and he starts jamming out. He even moves his mouth like he's singing the words. It is SO funny!

 And just another cute little outfit for baby :)

Overall it was a great time!

This weekend, Chay, my brother and I also got a lot of stuff done around our house. I couldn't have done everything without them! I bought 2 area rugs a couple weeks ago and they moved all of my furniture out of the rooms, cleaned the floors, put the rugs down and moved all the furniture back. They both helped me clean out my flower beds and put the flower pots away for the winter, then my brother put the changing table together, and Chay helped me put the stroller and carseat all together. It was a really productive weekend!

I am so grateful to have such wonderful people in my life that care about me so much. I don't generally like being the center of attention, so this kind of stuff is hard for me. I'd much rather be in the background taking care of the food or hosting the party. I appreciate every person that came to the shower to help us celebrate Baby H. Less than 2 months until he gets here! I go on Thursday for another ultrasound, so you guys will get to see him again SOON :)

Book Review: Collide and Pulse

I recently read a two-book series called Collide and Pulse by Gail McHugh.

On the heels of graduating college and trying to cope with her mother’s death, Emily Cooper moves to New York City for a fresh start.
While harboring secrets of his own, Dillon Parker takes care of Emily through her grief. Knowing he can’t live without her by his side, he’s sweet, thoughtful, and everything Emily has ever wanted in a man.
Until she meets Gavin Blake—a rich and notorious playboy who is dangerously sexy and charming as hell. Emily tries to deny the instant connection she feels, but Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome is not inclined to let go so easily. Recovering from his own painful past, Gavin will stop at nothing to win Emily over.
This unexpected encounter compels Emily to question her decisions, forcing her to make a choice that will destroy friendships, shatter hearts, and forever change her life.

 

 Now that Emily Cooper has walked away from her first love, she finds herself running toward her only love. Unraveling fast, but clinging to hope, Emily risks all she has left on the man that has consumed her every thought and dream since the day they met. Will Gavin take her back? And if so, will their reunion be a collision of two hearts destined to complete one another and rekindle a love that knew no boundaries? Or will scars from their past rip open, tearing slowly at what each of them was meant to be? Can fate, the ultimate game changer, mend the shattered road it laid out from the start?
Only time will tell…

My thoughts:
Collide was alright. The story kept me somewhat captivated, but there was nothing special about it that made it stand out. It definitely had a lot more action than the second book though. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars.

Pulse was super boring. I mostly read it and finished it, because I can't just read one book in a series without finishing the others. There's only so many times and so many ways you can say that they are destined to be together, part of each other's souls, etc. It seemed like there was a LOT of that in this book, and that's what the book ended up being. There was one good storyline in it, but towards the end I just kept skimming over the whole "destined to be together" crap and trying to finish the good storyline. I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. 

Neither were anything special, so I don't know if I'd recommend them or not. The author could have put both books into one and made it more dynamic, which would have been better for the story altogether.

Up next on my list...

 

Friday Letters

Dear Baby H,

I love you SO much. However, I do not love it when you kick my ribs. I know it's crowded in there, but please punch away on anything else besides my ribs.

-Your mom with sore ribs

Dear Government,

You all are acting like a bunch of idiots. I'm pretty sure what the American people want LESS than a higher debt ceiling is for America to declare bankruptcy. 

Congratulations on acting like a bunchof 5 year olds and throwing tantrums 

because you aren't getting your way.

-Pissed off voter

Dear Wheat Market,

I like where you're headed. If you could just keep on going up, I'd appreciate it.

-An anxious farmer

Dear Husband,

I hope you guys are having a blast in Vegas! Wish I was there, but I'm pretty sure I

couldn't waddle my way down the Strip with the rest of you. And I might get weird looks

if I was trying to shake my tailfeather in the clubs. And all of the smoking in the casinos?

Probably not a great idea for me.

-Your super jealous wifey

Dear Coworkers,

THANK YOU for throwing my baby shower this coming weekend! However,

please do not embarrass me by making me do something ridiculous!

-Your coworker who loves karma

Dear Green Bay Packers,

If you could quit getting injured that would be great. See,

my husband and I are coming to see you play in about a week,

and we'd appreciate it if you were healthy enough to win the game.

-Packers fan 

Dear Fall Weather,

I am LOVING you right now! Cool days, scarves, heated seats, soup...love it all!

-Your cool-weather friend

Dear Readers,

Hope you all have a great weekend!

The Farmer Wanted Beef: Swedish Meatballs

Every once in awhile I start cooking a lot of chicken. And my farmer husband gently reminds me by usually saying, "Can we just have BEEF sometime soon?" For the most part, he doesn't complain at all about my cooking and is very appreciative. Every time I ask him what he wants for dinner he usually says "You could heat up a turd and throw some gravy on it and I'd eat it." He usually doesn't care, as long as there's a hot meal when he comes in at night from the field. Except for when I cook too much chicken.

So the other day I went perusing on Pinterest to find a recipe for something that was just beef, and decided on Swedish Meatballs. They just sounded good, and Monday was a chilly day so I thought it would be perfect. I have made them before, but wasn't fond of the recipe, so I found another that I had most of the ingredients for. You can find the original recipe on the link below, but I had to adjust mine because I didn't have some of the ingredients.

Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients:
-3/4 Cup seasoned bread crumbs
-2 eggs, lightly beaten
-3 Tbsp parsley
-1 tsp ground pepper
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp season salt
-1.5 lbs of ground beef
Gravy
-4 Tbsp butter
-1/2 cup flour
-2 1/2 cups milk
-1-14 oz can of beef broth
-1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
-1 tsp ground pepper
-1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
1) In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Add beef, mix together with hands. Shape into 1 1/2 inch meatballs. In a large skillet, brown meatballs in batches until done. (If there is grease left over from the meatballs you can use this for the gravy. If not, use the 4 Tbsp of butter).
2) For gravy, melt butter over medium heat in the same pan you used for the meatballs. Gradually whisk in flour, continuing to stir until mixture is light brown. Do not burn. Gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Whisk in beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
3) Return meatballs to pan, cook uncovered for 15-20 minutes longer, or until meatballs are cooked through, stirring occasionally.
4) Serve over egg noodles.

One thing that was great about this recipe, was that it made a lot of meatballs for just the two of us. A couple weeks ago I bought a couple of those Reynold's disposable aluminum pans with lids so I could prepare a couple freezer meals to have on hand when I have the baby. I took the leftovers of the meatballs and gravy and put them in the tray you see in the picture above, and placed them in the freezer.

Oh, and at the end of the meal, the farmer was pleased with the beef, and really liked the recipe so I'll definitely be making this again. Moral of the story: if you're married to a farmer/rancher who raises beef, you should probably feed them more beef than chicken :)

You've Been Lied to About Your Marriage

One of my friends posted this link on Facebook yesterday, and once I read it I knew I had to share it here. 

I've been pretty honest on here about sharing that marriage takes work, our marriage isn't perfect, and we've gone to counseling in the past. You don't get to be married for 5 years without some struggles.

So when I read this yesterday, it really rang true for me. This is some of the stuff that I learned in counseling. Society tells us one thing about how marriage and relationships are supposed to be, yet the Bible tells us something completely different. I promise, promise, promise, if you BOTH start following some of the things on the right, you will see an improvement in your relationship.

Source: Rick Thomas

I agree with all of these, but the ones that really stuck out to me were about giving 100% instead of 50/50.

If you always look at marriage with the mindset of "what am I getting out of it" you'll probably be disappointed most of the time. I do things for my husband because that's what God has called me to do-to be a good wife. I do things for the glory of God, not for my husband. And by doing this for God, I am pleasing my husband.

I know this may not be everyone's cup of tea, but for others I hope it helps, or maybe opens your eyes up a little bit. Either way, I think anybody can take at least one piece of advice out of the chart above.

Hope you all have a fabulous Wednesday!

 

Weekend Getaway

This weekend Patrick and I took yet another road trip across Montana to Fairmont Hot Springs Resort for the annual Young Ag Leaders Conference. 

It started off really well when we checked into our room, when we found out that since Patrick was on the planning committee as the Farm Bureau Representative, our room was paid for the two nights we would be staying there! As soon as the clerk said that, I asked for a brochure from the spa...and made an appointment for a massage that afternoon. Talk about a happy pregnant lady!

Our room was pretty nice too, complete with a balcony that looked out into the golf course and mountains.

Friday night we had social hour and dinner, then just visited with other young people involved in agriculture. Saturday Patrick got up to start breakfast and his sessions for the day...I didn't roll out of bed until about 9:45. I put on some comfy clothes, grabbed my Kindle and headed down to the Cafe for breakfast. After that I decided to go sit outside in the crisp weather and read by the pool.

Unfortunately all of the pools were too warm for me to go in, so I just sat by the side and hung out. I headed to lunch with Patrick, learned a little about Ag contract law, and headed back to the room for a nap and more reading. Dinner that night we learned about the Beef Checkoff Program, who has the slogan "beef, it's what's for dinner." Patrick won a hat for me from a drawing: 

We didn't get a good picture of the both of us at all this weekend, but I did snap a pic of my outfit for the night:

I know you can't see my belly very well, but I'm at 30 weeks now.

Sunday morning we got up for breakfast and listened to a great speaker from Beef Magazine, Amanda Radke. She promotes beef and talked about how to be a better Agvocate on social media. Patrick was the host for the morning so he had to get up and say a few words and give away some door prizes.

It was a great relaxing weekend with some fun in there, and thank goodness for Columbus Day today because I have the day off!

Hope you all had a great weekend as well!

Friday Funnies

With such a wordy and serious post yesterday, I thought I'd lighten it up a bit for Friday! Here are some recent funnies I've found on Pinterest.

FYI, there's some naughty language below, but the e-card just wouldn't be the same without it!

Happy weekend friends!

What It Means For Me

The government shutdown. It's what everyone is talking about these days. On one hand, I'm enjoying the fact that the price of wheat has gone up every day for the past week and a half. On the other hand, that's only cool for so long, because it's a short term solution to a long-term problem.

The shutdown is affecting everyone. If you haven't felt it yet, you eventually will. Being a farmer, it directly affects us as well

My blogger friend Jenn at Almost Gypsy Soul works for the USDA-Farm Service Agency. She wrote a great blog about it yesterday, so I thought I'd take bits and pieces from hers, and add in our beginning farmer experience to the mix. She told about the 15 different parts of the Farm Bill, which some of you may or may not have heard about.

1. Commodity - provides income support to growers of select commodities
2. Conservation - provides funding for farm environmental stewardship thought programs that improve management practices, retire less productive land and protect natural resources
3. Agricultural Trade & Food Aid - funds US agriculture export and international food assistance programs and various WTO obligations
4. Nutrition - covers domestic food, nutrition and commodity distribution programs such as food stamps and supplemental nutrition assistance as well as purchases of fresh fruit and vegetables in schools and expanded programs for farmers markets and urban gardens.
5. Farm Credit - offers direct and guaranteed loan program to farmers via 2 government related farm lenders the USDA Farm Service Agency and the Farm Credit System.
6. Rural Development - funds rural development loan and grant programs, the expansion of rural broadband, water infrastructure and promotes locally produced ag food products
7. Research - supports agricultural research and extension programs, including bio security and response, biotechnology and organic production
8. Forestry - fund USDA Forest Service programs that protects forests from threats, restore forests damaged by natural disasters and enhance public benefits from private forests.
9. Energy - supports the development of bio fuels refineries and research; helps farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses purchase renewable energy systems
10. Horticulture & Organic Agriculture - encourages the production and consumption of organic agriculture commodities
11. Livestock - addresses livestock disease prevention and food safety concerns and enhances electronic mandatory livestock reporting
12. Crop Insurance & Disaster Assistance - protects farmers from risks associated with adverse weather, weather related plant disease and insect infestation
13. Commodity Futures - covers re-authorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, an independent agency that regulates commodity futures trading in the US
14. Miscellaneous - expands programs to assist limited resource and socially disadvantaged farmers and addresses rural development, agricultural labor supply and animal welfare.
15. Trade & Taxes - introduces numerous tax provisions affection conservation and commodity program payments, timber investment, bio fuel production and agricultural income.

Officially called 2008 Food, Conservation and Energy Act and dubbed the Farm Bill, although a very small percentage of the total bill actually goes to farmers and ranchers. See the graph shows that a majority, nearly 80% of the $ goes to food/nutrition for the food stamp program. There are several of these representations floating around, all varying slightly in specific numbers, however the disproportionate amounts are generally the same.

 

 

The items above I listed in bold are the ones that I have the knowledge to speak of that have directly affected us. I know some of the others have as well, but I'll stick to the ones I know for sure. 

 

#2: We deal directly with Conservation Reserve Project lands, which is where we get some of the hay that we feed our cows. The point is for these lands to sit and rest for awhile, so not all land is used for farming. It helps cut down on erosion, and keeps more nutrients in the soil. They also help supplement farmers with some money if they want to plant trees, shrubs or plants that help prevent soil erosion by building wind breaks.

 

#5: This is the most important one I'll talk about. Bottom line: If Patrick and I did not have the Farm Service Agency, we would not be farmers. FSA and the government is used as a last resort when it comes to funding. When we started out 3 years ago, we had to go to several banks with our farming business proposal, only to be rejected. FSA would not even touch us until we had been rejected by other financial institutions. You know how embarrassing that is? Going in and asking for an astronomical amount of money for a business, when you have no business history? And KNOWING that they're going to reject you? I mean, there are worse things, but it definitely wasn't my favorite thing to do.

So after we got the loan from FSA-and mind you, they don't GIVE us anything. What they do give is a very low-interest rate on our loan to help cut costs. Our first year we got bad weather and due to a glitch with our insurance that eliminated us from being covered under our plan, couldn't repay the loan, so they termed it out over several years. Anything we sell, the check comes back with our names and FSA's name on it. So basically we don't make any money until all of the money is paid back every year-which is how it should be.

 

They also have a limit of 7 years that we can borrow from them. We're in our 3rd year and have started working with a local bank, but FSA still had to basically co-sign our bank loan with us. The reason they try to help out with beginning farmers so much, is because our farmers are aging. There are a lot of old farmers and fewer young farmers. The world needs more food, and with less farmers that's going to be hard. They are trying to do what they can to help people get into farming. And if you think for one second it's easy...please, I invite you to come visit :)

 

#6: This will be brief: Last year the farm got a grant that helped pay for the installation of water lines and tanks in our pastures. Trenches were dug, line was laid, and now our cows get water all the time without us having to haul water to them every day, to multiple fields. This cuts down on gas, vehicle maintenance, electricity, and less dust in the air when driving down the county roads and fields.

#12: Remember when I told you our insurance had a glitch our first year of farming and we couldn't repay our loan? Because the USDA offers the NAP program, we had signed up for it and 2 years later were able to get a bunch of money from the NAP insurance that helped pay back our FSA loan. This was all weather-related and we had no control over it. Our crop insurance (that we are required to carry) had a clause for first year farmers that our insurance agent messed up, therefore we were not covered. So when the insurance companies deny us because we missed one deadline we didn't even know about, the government stepped in and was able to help us repay the loan. And for the record, we are still repaying our first year's loan.

 

And because we're such good farmers we like to listen to Rural Radio on SiriusXM...yes, there is such a thing. If you think the expiring Farm Bill won't affect you, think again. The laws will go back to what they were in the 1940's. We'll be getting paid about $14 per bushel of wheat (which is twice as much as it is now), you'll be paying $8 for a loaf of plain bread, and about $10 for a gallon of milk. And that's just the beginning of it.

 

Farming just doesn't happen.  Do we have nice things? Yes, but remember, I work a full time job, and so does Patrick, outside of our farm income. And both of these incomes make it so our farm can be successful.

 

And my final thought I'll leave you with is a question Jenn asked...

 

And my final question to you...Would you rather your tax dollar go to subsidize a hardworking farmer or rancher, working to provide a safe, affordable food supply who has fallen on hard times through weather related disaster or would you rather your tax dollar go to a growing food stamp program?

 

Baby Shower #1

I told you guys I'd eventually get the baby shower pics up!

My sister finally put the pics on FB, so I was able to steal a couple for you to look at. 

Two weeks ago when Patrick and I traveled to see my family, my mom and sisters threw me a baby shower...what these tricksters also failed to mention was that my best friend from Texas flew up for the occasion too! So that was a fun surprise.

We'll start out with the most important thing...the food :)

Here is my gorgeous Noah's Ark-themed cake. One of my sister's friends taught herself how to

make fancy cakes, so they ordered this one for me. The inside was chocolate with a peanut

butter fillings. It was REALLY good! And the little animals were made of fondant too!

 The little bags in the back were cups filled with popcorn. On the outside it had a little sticker that said "About the pop!" Such a cute idea. The rest of the menu included a cream cheese block with raspberry chipotle sauce on top with crackers, cheese tray with crackers, ham/pickled asparagus/cream cheese rolls, candies, peanuts, and jalapeno popper dip. Soooo, basically a lot of cheese :)

Next we played the obligatory silly baby shower games. This one was where you had to put a paper plate on your head, and draw a baby without looking at the picture. There were some pretty good ones, and pretty interesting ones! The two girls on the left are girls I went to high school and some college with, and the two on the left are my best friends Stef (from TX) and Chay. The prizes my sisters handed out for the games were little gift bags that had Bath and Body Works fall-scented candles and lotion.

Needless to say, Baby H was spoiled! He got a lot of clothes, blankets, diapers, toys and bathroom stuff. I appreciate all of these gifts so much, knowing that a lot of them were hand-made, or a mom's favorite products for their kids, and such time, love and thought were put into these gifts. 

My sweet Kendall helping auntie open the gifts.

I'm not gonna lie, this was the one gift I was really excited to open. It is from my Aunt Lisa, who can knit/crochet ANYTHING, so  I knew it was gonna be gorgeous! She actually made 2 baby blankets-this one and one that's plain blue. I love both of them and they're absolutely beautiful. And the best part is, we have 2 sets of bedding, and each blanket matches one set of bedding!

For any of my friends and family who read this blog, THANK YOU from both Patrick and I for all of your love, support, and gifts for Baby H. We truly do appreciate it!

My next shower, which is being thrown by my boss and coworker will be in about a week and a half on October 20th. So we'll do baby shower round 2 after that!

Happy Hump Day!