Ranch Mama Learns: Bugs, Sun, and Wheels

When I first discovered I was pregnant, I thought that the timing was just about perfect. I would be pregnant over the winter and give birth in the early spring, so we could back in full force for the summer. It turns out, that was kind of true, but having a newborn into the summer presented us with a few specific challenges. As silly as this might sound, figuring out how to protect Huxton from bugs and the sun was a problem from the start. Not only is our boy fair-haired (he gets that from me), but he's little, too little for traditional bug sprays and sunscreens, plus he's prone to getting hot as well. Of course, he'll be the recommended six months old in October, just in time for bug spray and sunscreen to be put away in the cupboard for the winter (sigh...). So we started some brainstorming and research, and we came up with a few solutions that worked for us.

Ranch Mama Learns: Starting the Curve

Ten Weeks Old

We celebrated Hubster's first Father's Day yesterday (Black Rifle Coffee Co. Merch abounded in our house--more on that later), and had a gorgeous, cool stormy day outside. Huxton turned TEN weeks old as well, and today I put him in a 12 month romper that's a little big, but not that big!

Over the past ten weeks, I've come to realize that the learning curve on becoming

Huxton and I at an Eventing Clinic in
Gillette, Wyoming, learning all about cross
country and how to keep baby from getting
sunburned.

a mama can be pretty steep, but there are some peculiarities to being a ranch mama. When you live on the high plains with animals and crops and bugs and in the hot sun, it turns out that there are some challenges to toting around a wee one.

So I'm embarking on a new series here on the Ranch Librarian: Ranch Mama Learns. 

The Ranch Librarian Reads: Favorite Pregnancy Books

So I've been working on this post for what feels like FOREVER, but it took me a while to really curate my pregnancy book list to just the right ones to share with you all.

When I first learned that I was pregnant, I assumed that I would read ALL the books I could get my hands on about being pregnant and delivering my own little bundle of joy. After all, I'm an avid reader and a librarian--it makes sense that I would be all about reading all the books.

But I quickly discovered that, like Dr. Google, books can be an unwitting and powerful source of confusion and anxiety for a pregnant woman. And let's face it, I need no extra sources of anxiety. My brain is is great at that already. So instead of devouring all the books, I found myself eyeballing them critically.

Finally a Ranch Mama

So...something major happened on April 7th and 8th. 

Huxton John Miller
April 8th, 2018, 2:01am
8 lbs, 13 oz, 22 inches

Things have been a little crazy around the ranch since then. 

After all the heartache and infertility struggles and prayers...

After all the growing pains and faith building and wondering...

Jon and I welcomed our son, Huxton John, into the world in the wee hours of Sunday, April 8th. 

That's right! 

My boy arrived in a flurry of activity (it's quite a birth story, and I'll tell it sometime), healthy and happy. His dad and I couldn't be happier--we are thrilled with our new life as a family of three and so thankful that the Lord blessed us with such a sweet little boy. 

The past six weeks have been full of love and snuggles and dirty diapers and working out how to be parents. It's exhausting and exhilarating and wonderful and scary all at the same time. And while the past six weeks have been something of a blur, it also feels like Hux has always been a part of our family. As Jon says, it's been the longest and shortest six weeks of our life. 

But now that Hux is *nearly* sleeping through the night, our company has gone, and we are really setting to the task of how to do this thing called parenthood, we are settling into a new normal. 

Jon's catching up on sleep and working on ranch chores (our alfalfa field looks amazing), and I am getting back to writing and hoping to be cleared to start riding my horse again soon (keep your fingers crossed for me, because I can't wait to ride again!). I'm trying to get the hang of this mama thing, and getting the feel for life as a stay-at-home-mom. 

I KNOW! 

In February, Hubs and I decided that I wouldn't be returning to my full time job in the fall as a teacher-librarian. So that's a pretty major change for us, not only financially but logistically as well. I'll still be working in the fall, though: I'm still an adjunct at our local community college, and I'll be doing some administrative work for our church as well. And you never know what other odd jobs might come up. PLUS: I have some serious plans for getting some writing and blogging done, which I am pretty stoked about. 

So here's some of what's to come this summer from The Ranch Librarian: 

• some favorite recipes from the ranch
• another snippet to read from My Summer with Gatsby
• a teaser from My Summer with Gatsby's sequel, Boats Against the Current
• an array of ranch-related projects 
• book reviews for some of my favorites I've been reading (Kindle on my phone is my friend during 2am feedings)

I can't wait to get back to posting and writing! 

Talk to you soon <3