Farmer's Daughter...

Once upon a time on a dairy farm near Amulree, a young farmer and his wife decided it was time to start their family. The farmer, whom we will call John, dreamt of having a son; a baby boy that would grow up and join the family dairy farm just as he himself had recently. A son that would carry on the herd of purebred Holsteins that had become a point of pride for John and his dad. However, in May 1984, baby #1 made HER grand entrance into the world...followed by baby girl #2 one year later...and #3 not quite two years after that. CRAP! Farmer John REALLY wanted his son, so he and his wife, Sheryl, decided the fourth time could be the charm. So, in March 1988...BAM! Baby girl #4 was born. Dang eh?

Figuring that baby #5 would be a girl as well, they decided to cut their losses at four at give up on the dream of a son. Plus, really, four girls and his wife was enough estrogen under one roof for John. He would just have to hope that one of his girls would bring home a farm boy or rework his plans.

For those of you who don't know (or haven't figured it out yet), John is my dad and I was baby girl #1. 

Those who know our family know that we were not the girliest family of girls at home on the farm. Sure, we wore pink and had barbies, but as I recall, my barn boots were pink and our barbies were hardly touched except to either cut their hair off or to use them for some sort of boobie-trap. We liked to play house, but not with the beautiful wooden play kitchen set we received for Christmas one year. House was usually "Farm" and consisted of elaborately constructed hay and straw houses and of course a barn with stalls. Our bikes served as horses and whatever was left over in Grandma's garden was "supper." 

While most kids have house chores that they are responsible for either daily or weekly, much to our mom's dismay we were not much use to her in the house. So we were given barn chores instead...milking, feeding calves, bedding pens, you name it, we did it. All of our friends knew that if we were to go somewhere, the chores had to be done first. So it was not uncommon to have the four of us plus one or two more girls out in the barn choring like crazy so that we would all have time to get dolled up and make it to the dance.

While eventually my two middle sisters decided the cows and the barn really weren't their cup of tea, my youngest sister and I have been cow girls from the word go. It was impossible to keep us out of the barn once we could walk and both of us can tell you the entire family tree of each cow in the barn. Our cows are to us like your dogs and cats are to you...our pets. (Only our pets make us money!)

Dad also passed on his love of showing cattle to us. All of us showed calves at the school fair and we graduated on to the dairy 4-H club from there. Suzie didn't last long with this hobby, but Mandy, Jill and I have all stuck with it. It was always a given that Jill and I would be in 4-H  and would fight over who got to have the best calf. Mandy really didn't care but would join up after we bribed her into it and would take whatever calf we picked out and trained for her...after selecting our own first of course.

So, just like that, Farmer John's dream of having a son seemed not to matter anymore as he had two daughters (and sometimes three) that would gladly stay up until 4 am to calve a cow, skip school to go to a show or sale, argue with him over what bull to breed a cow to and, most of all, had a genuine love of the cows and the business not unlike his own. 

Fast forward...I am married to a dairy farmer and while Carm is currently farming with his dad and brother, we have lofty ambitions of having our own farm one day (You have to dream big right?). 

Farmer John also will not have to rework his plans made way back before baby girl #1 arrived. Jill and her fiancé Kurtis are currently working with dad and mom to join the farm business.

So, the morals of this long-winded story?:

1. Be careful what you wish for. I.e. Wish = 1 son Reality = 4 daughters

2. Girls can join a farm business just as easily as boys.

3. As a good dairy farmer, you spend your life breeding cows for heifer (female) calves...isn't it a given that this strategy may carry over?...just saying...

Carman REALLY wanted our baby #1 to be a boy as well, but out SHE came! I was VERY quick to remind him of where I came from and that farm girls are just as good as farm boys. Will Maddie share the same passion for the cows and the dairy business that my dad passed on to me? 

So far the odds look good, but I guess we will have to wait and see!

Life's a beach...

Today was another scorcher here in Southwestern Ontario! What better way to cap off a hot week than to go for a swim! This swim however, was not a regular everyday swim though...it was Maddie's FIRST swim!! We got her all decked out in her super cute little pink Tankini, baby sunscreen and off we went to the pool (I don't do real beaches)...

I think I may be destined to have the smelly kid in class folks. You sort of need water to get a kid clean, and well, not only does little miss Madelyn HATE her baths at the moment, but she also was NOT impressed with her swim either!! In fact, I think it's fair to say she hated it. Her screaming was a good match for the train that sped past while we were in the pool! After several minutes she seemed to decide it might not be THAT bad and almost seemed to enjoy it...as long as we didn't let the water touch anywhere that wasn't already immersed. The ironic part of the whole thing was that she screamed just as much and maybe more when we took her out...we just couldn't win! I think we will have to go with Aunt Nicole a few more times before we head off to swimming lessons as we may get kicked out of class for being too loud at this point!

As a picture happy mama, naturally I had my camera on hand to capture the moment!

So I have to be honest, I am not a gardener. In fact, my only house plant is sitting on the windowsill beside me in desperate need of a drink...I should remember to do that...Growing up on the farm, Grandma always had a sweet vegetable garden. I have always wanted one, but frankly I really suck when it comes to plants. Two years ago we had a garden...did you know if you don't pick asparagus that it grows into small trees? Last year I decided instead of a whole garden I would just plant a pot full of the herbs I like to cook with...I think the pot is still on my back porch and I have several purchased packages of herbs in my fridge. So, what does a girl with absolutely no green in her thumb and a track record that proves she sucks at gardening do? Plant a garden of course! However, I do have help and a little more motivation to be successful this year...it comes in handy having a sister also on mat. leave looking to cut her grocery bill and a mother-in-law who knows all the tips and tricks to successful vegetable gardening; not to mention we planted the garden in a spot visible from the site of my brother-in-law's upcoming wedding...that means it HAS to be weeded and well-kept if other people will see it! Suzie and I have been hoeing, weeding and watering under the watchful eye of Nancy, and all the hard work is starting to pay off. Tonight Carm and I had a salad made from lettuce right out of our garden! Yum!

Two lettuce tips of the day:

1. When planting your lettuce, stagger it. Plant some started plants and some seeds as this ensures you will continue to have fresh lettuce and not have all of it ready at once. If you don't want to use started plants, you can also achieve this by planting some of your seeds the first week and some the next.

2. When picking your lettuce, pinch the biggest leaves off at the stem while leaving the little immature leaves. The little leaves will continue to grow and again allows you to continually have fresh lettuce.

I may end up being a gardner after all...

What I Wish Someone Had Mentioned...

Ok, in honour of a friend of mine new to breast feeding and the annual Hooter Hoedown happening in Ayr this evening to raise funds for breast cancer research, I am going to talk boobs here for a minute. If this makes you uncomfortable...you may want to skip down to the lower portion of this post...

Before Madelyn was born, I made the decision that I was going to breastfeed her. Since the beginning of time women have nursed their babies, not to mention every other mammal in the animal kingdom, and of course, all of the research says breastfeeding is the way to go. There are SO many good things about it! Besides, as the daughter of a dairy farmer, I felt I knew the inner workings of lactation, so why not right? How hard could it be? Off I went to my pre-natal breastfeeding classes where I was a star pupil...A+ for me...I knew all about oxytocin, milk letdown, colostrum and the dreaded mastitis! I, along with the other mommys-to-be, watched videos, listened to speakers, looked at pictures and diagrams and received copious amounts of literature on the topic. I was PREPARED!!

WRONG!

My sweet little baby was born ready to rock and roll with the whole eating thing, so away we go and HOLY HELL!!! I have a newfound sympathy for first-calf heifers that kick the milkers off.

What my classes, other mommies, midwives, lactation consultants and the cows in the dairy barn failed to mention is that in the beginning breastfeeding really SUCKS and is often painful. I have concluded that people who are real hardcore advocates for breastfeeding leave out these important details about the process in favour of puppies and kittens if you know what I mean. If someone tells you something sucks, but then asks you to do it anyways, would you do it? Probably not. So, instead, they only tell you about how wonderful it is and what a joy it is to nurse your baby. In pictures you only ever see smiling women and roly-poly babies happily nursing away...many of these photos are also taken in a hospital room where the mother has presumably just given birth to her baby. My question is where are the pictures of that first-time mom cringing, with tears running down her face while she tries to nurse her newborn babe as it chomps away like a little barracuda? Or how about the one of the poor mom with boob all the way up to her eyeballs as her milk comes in and poor baby can’t keep up? Nothing is mentioned about the later two scenarios, yet every mother I have talked to has had experiences similar to these. Another annoying omission? All of my books also imply that mastitis is something incredibly rare, or as you other dairy girls out there know, something cows get...well apparently it is far more common than the literature lets on and since my bout with the nasty bug, I have met a number of women who say, “Oooh!! I know how that feels!”.....WTF? So much for rare! Nursing mommies beware!

On top of everything, these same puppy and kitten people also seem to equate formula feeding baby to feeding her bleach. A little intimidating for those mommies who choose to formula feed. I absolutely believe that breastfeeding my baby is the #1 way to go, and I have stuck it out for almost 4 months now. For me the advantages far outweigh the negative, but I can honestly say that I haven’t “enjoyed” it and if it weren’t for people encouraging me to stick with it, I would have given up long ago. My intention with this post is not to persuade anyone one way or the other, but rather to paint a more realistic picture for all the mommies-to-be out there (and there are LOTS of you this year!!).

If you choose to breastfeed: good for you!! While you're sitting there cursing under your breath, just know that it might be tough but it's normal....anyone that tries to convince you otherwise is full of crap! (Cows really do kick the milker off for a reason) Hang in there and just know that you are not alone! One final tip: Purchase the nipple cream before the little one arrives and pack it in your hospital bag...you will need it!

Totally unrelated to the above, this weekend officially marks the start of the summer wedding craziness around here! We have four weddings this year, which really isn't that many, but Carm is in one and I am in two...so we have a summer/fall full of showers, bachelor and bachelorette parties, buck 'n does and rehearsal dinners on top of the actual weddings...so we are busy, busy, busy! Maddie and I went out shopping for shower gifts today for two upcoming showers. In case either of the brides-to-be happen to read this, I won't say what we bought, but I will say that both gifts are pretty sweet and I am pretty impressed with my pretty awesome wrap jobs! Check them out....being a perfectionist pays off sometimes!

One for the History Books

Today was a big day in a lot of respects...this is good as it gives me something to write about in my first official blog post!

On this day, June 25, we mourn the loss of not one but two Hollywood icons. One an angel and the other a king, both have touched millions, if not billions of people across the globe. It is a sad day as the world says goodbye to Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, but both have legacies that will live on most likely forever! 

Farrah, best known for her role as a Charlie's Angel and as a  70's pin up for millions of teenage boys around the world, lost a courageous battle with cancer this morning. In recent weeks, her battle has been made very public through numerous magazine articles and television interviews with her friends and family members; a friend even made a documentary of her struggle through the numerous cancer treatments. Farrah wanted to let people know just what it is like to be diagnosed with and to fight like hell to conquer it. For this, I commend her. She was a brave women who succumbed to her illness in the end, but she is one Angel that went down swinging! She will not be forgotten.

The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, also met his demise this afternoon. I would be willing to put my neck out there and go on the record as saying that there is likely not one person in this world that has not heard of him or his music. While the dude was one of the weirdest people of all time, his music changed the face of pop music and became iconic. Even through all his troubles... molestation charges, weird antics, illness, "botched" surgeries, etc. his music never lost its staying power. Really, who can't sing along to Billy Jean or recognize the sweet dance moves from the Thriller? Heck, his dance moves alone make him an icon! [insert a little moonwalk here]

On a lighter note, my house did not get hit by lightning today during all of the crazy weather! Woot! Apparently tornadoes hit a couple places not far from where we live, but luckily we were left untouched. I am TERRIFIED of bad weather. Oddly enough though, I have also always been fascinated by wicked weather...the wickeder the weather, the more intrigued I become. I love to watch thunderstorms...from the safety of my house and I have always wanted to see a tornado...but obviously from a safe distance!

Well, Madelyn, who has been napping quietly beside me, is starting to wake up which can only mean one thing...it's eating time for the munchkin! I had better get her fed so she doesn't try to eat things she shouldn't...a la the photo below...

I've Joined the "Dark Side"...

I always thought blogs were a dumb waste of time....most of you are probably wondering what the heck I'm doing starting one then. Well, a rainy day, a sleeping baby and an already clean house later....here we are! Boredom and a lack of adult conversation are the two driving forces behind my conversion from anti-blog to pro-blog....funny how that works.

So essentially, this blog could be win-win for everyone; I have a chance to tell tales as a newish wife, first time mommy to miss Madelyn and of course a country girl and, assuming you are reading this out of boredom....hopefully my stories will add a little entertainment to your day!

As I hear the thunder starting to roll....I had better cut this short....farm house + lightning = one fried iMac computer!! Yikes!

Stay tuned...