This is why we can't have nice things

Today Hans took little OC out for a couple hours so mommy can have some much needed lazy time. She is still waking up every couple hours at night and even though Hans takes over one of the feedings in the middle of the night I have this annoying habit of not being able to sleep if I can hear her at all so I lay awake in bed waiting for her to fall back asleep. This also can be said about taking naps during the day. I swear I can hear that girl breathing in the other room. Anyhoot, the months of 5 hours of broken up sleep per night were finally starting to catch up with me so Hans said "he wanted to take her up to the mountains to do some elk scouting so I could get in a good long nap."  Um...ok!  Let me tell you, it felt AMAZING!!! 

Now that I am awake and they are still out on their adventure I have some time to mindlessly watch trashy tv while I scroll through Pinterest. On the screen I see that Hans' cousin Morgan, pinned the perfect pair of Nikes. I love that girl by the way. She is such a beautiful young lady. The perfect mix of beauty queen and tom boy. We secretly hope Olive grows up a lot like her. We see pictures on facebook where she is out hunting deer with her dad, all decked out in camo, and the next one will be her looking cute as can be in her cheer leading outfit. Of course we want our daughter to be her own person and we will love and support her no matter what. Even if she is a band nerd we will be there at every concert cheering on her tuba solo.  Ok, ok, back on subject... I instantly got all excited and clicked the link to find them.  I mean look at these beauties!

This is where my dreams come crashing down. I was hit in the face by a big ole' slap of reality and realized I will never in a million years own these shoes. Why you ask? I live on a farm. I live somewhere where there is not a stitch of pavement or sidewalk for a good 15 miles.  That means dirt and gravel surrounds me and these poor shoes would look horrible the day I took them out of the box. For example, yesterday I went for a run up the hill in our front yard and by the time I was done my shoes were soaking wet and covered in not only mud but sheep poop. Gross! This harsh reality also goes toward high heels, any shoes made of suede or any other material that water will discolor, and pretty much any shoe not doused in some sort of shoe protector. More or less that limits me to my cowboy boots, romeos, and rain boots.  I have no idea what I'm complaining about though because to be 100% honest, I can't walk in heels to save my life. I'm that girl you see walking and say to yourself  "yikes, that poor thing is really struggling walking in those shoes!"  

So, this is why I can't have nice things but ya know, I am A-ok with that. I'm a country girl at heart and will gladly take a little mud on my kicks over a concrete jungle any day. 

The Bumbo

I'd like to give a great big high 5 to whoever it was that invented this magic little baby seat called The Bumbo. Heck, forget the high 5, I'd like to lay a big fat wet one on 'em!  You may be thinking I'm crazy but seriously, today my life was drastically changed by it. Before today I have either been taking the worlds fastest showers, or waiting for Hans to get home so I could shower and actually take the time to shave my legs and wash my hair, or just skipping them all together which is pretty gross if you ask me considering the amount of spit up, milk, and who knows what other bodily fluids are spilled on me daily. 

I have had The Bumbo stored in the closet since my baby shower because I knew it would be awhile before we would be able to use it and actually I kind of forgot about it until earlier this week when it caught my eye and I pulled it out. Olive can now totally support her neck and head and loves sitting up or standing more than laying down so I figured it was a good time to try it out. Other than her chunky monkey legs almost not fitting in the leg holes, she sits in it perfectly. 

After the pretty sweaty workout that Olive and I had today (me working out and using Olive for my weights during most of it)  I was DYING for a long hot shower where I could not only wash my stank off, but shave my legs, and wash my hair. Problem being it takes longer than her hour long nap to do both of those and dry my hair afterwards so I was either going to have to go with the slicked back top knot for yet another day or have legs that would for sure feel like 60 grit sandpaper by tomorrow morning. Then it dawned on me...Baby + Bumbo + big huge step in the back of my shower ='s  a half hour of entertainment for my child that LOVES the water and an extra long shower for mommy.  So in we went and a half hour later I came out squeaky clean with a little girl who was grinning from ear to ear.  Plus all the steam and being splashed with warm water made putting her down for a nap afterwards a piece of cake.  Aaaawwwwhhhhh is all I have to say about that.  Thank you Bumbo creators...thank you!

You know, I think I'm getting the hang of this parenting thing after all.

What creative ways have you other Mom's put your Bumbos to good use?

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Spicy Butternut Squash Meatloaf

This past weekend my bestie Laura (aka Lala) FINALLY came down to visit us and I could not have been more excited! However once she booked her train ticket down I started panicking...Oh crap, what on earth am I going to cook all weekend???  Sounds like a silly thing to worry about but you don't know Laura. This girl is a major foodie. No, not even just a foodie but a full on food snob! You know the kind who spends hundreds upon hundreds of dollars on just her dinner and won't eat leftovers. I knew our boring dinners of venison and broccoli just wasn't going to cut it.  Being a new mom was going to limit my time I had to prepare and living in a town that has a VERY small selection of gourmet foods was going to also be a major set back. We also like to eat somewhat seasonal so I started looking around my kitchen to see what we had picked from the farm recently and honed in on the gorgeous butternut squash I had. Ding, Ding, Ding....I came to me the second I saw it. I was going to plan a Spicy Butternut Squash Turkey Meatloaf. I know, you just turned your nose up when you heard meatloaf but let me assure you this is no run of the mill boring meatloaf, it's a pretty fancy one. Fancy enough and obviously yummy enough because Lala had seconds the next day. I'd call that a total success!

SPICY BUTTERNUT SQUASH MEATLOAF

 INGREDIENTS:

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small yellow onion, diced (3/4 cup)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 small butternut squash, peeled and diced in medium chunks (1 1/2 cups)

3 oz. bacon, diced medium (1/2 cup)

1 3/4 teaspoon chopped fresh sage leaves

1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey

1 cup grated Parmesan

1 to 2 slices of sandwich bread, diced medium

1 large egg

While you are preheating your oven to 350 degrees, you can prep all your ingredients so they are ready to go. Please be careful when working with the butternut squash. You need to put some muscle in it but the skin is pretty tough so don't chop a finger off!

 In a medium skillet,  heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion,  garlic,  butternut squash,  and bacon, and cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables begin to brown and soften, about 5-7 minutes.  Add sage, red pepper flake, and salt and pepper and cook about 1 more minute.

 In a large bowl combine turkey,  cheese,  bread, and egg.  Using your hands, mix together the vegetable and bacon mixture to the turkey mixture.

Transfer the mix to a greased loaf pan and bake until cooked through. About 40 minutes. Let rest about 15 minutes before slicing.

We served the meatloaf with an equally delish side dish of spiced butternut squash and some cheesy sourdough bread from a local bakery. As a bonus the next day, the leftover sourdough and meatloaf was the perfect combination  for meatloaf sandwiches!