New Year's Day

On December 26th Tyler shot his 4th deer of the season! It was a really big doe! We decided that we were going to keep her and butcher her ourselves. Once we got her hanging up in the tool shed Tyler came to me and said "It be really cool to butcher a pig when we butchered our doe." Yeah it would be cool but that is a lot of work for 2 people to do!! So we decided to just butcher the doe and keep the pig option open for another year. :)  Tyler and I really like to butcher his deer and make different meat out of them. Last year we made our own patties and each year we thought it would be cool to make a little more. Butchering a pig at the same time would make a lot more options of meat because deer is really lean and adding pig meat/fat to it would make it a lot better. But next year we would try it! :)

Blake gets SO excited when daddy brings home a deer! :)

        

Daddy and his deer loving buddy :)

He loves to pet the deer. When Tyler gutted the doe Blake wanted to stick his hands right in and help...we told him to wait until next year :)

So fast forward to New Years Eve....the doe was still hanging in our tool shed and we were going to butcher her the next day.

Tyler calls me to say he is off of work but going to drive by the woods so see if there is any deer out :) This was an almost every day occurrence :) While we were on the phone I get a phone call from my dad. So I told Tyler I would see him when he got home and answered the call from dad. It went something like this:
Dad: "Hi, how are you doing?"
Me: "Good, how are you?"
Dad: "I'm doing good. Um, what would you and Tyler think about butchering a pig tomorrow when you butcher the doe?"
Me:" Uh, yeah that would be cool!"
Dad: "I figured it would be fun and it would be better to mix the deer and pig meat together."
Me:"Yeah Tyler mentioned that last week but we thought it would be too much work for the 2 of us."
Dad:"We would all come over and help you guys and we could just get the pig out of the barn in the morning and do everything at the same time."
Me:"Yeah that sounds good to us!"
Dad:"Do you want to talk to Tyler when he gets home and get back with me?"
Me:"No, he will want to do it, he has been wanting to."
Dad:"Ok sounds good! Thanks!"
Me:"Yep!"
 
So Tyler gets home and asked what dad wanted. So I tell him and his reaction "Are you serious?!"  He was really excited! :) So we start looking around for supplies and getting out all our big bowls, meat grinder and slicer, sausage stuffer, knifes, seasoning...oh wait, we don't have any! :( Or any meat casings :( Thankfully mom was heading to Lafayette in the morning! She stopped at Gander Mtn and got a bunch of supplies! :)
So New Year's Day rolls around and the hired hand in the barn had the day off so Dad, Josh and Tyler were all going in to do his work in the morning and the plan was to butcher in the afternoon. So while we were eating lunch grandpa pulled in but we just figured he was getting stuff around to haul out corn the next day. Which he was, but what we didn't know was that grandma had came too and that they were planning on helping us butcher :) So when Tyler went out to start butchering the deer grandpa came and helped then everyone else started showing up around 2.

We decided to quarter the deer then take the quarters to the shop (where it was warmer) to take the meat off. So here Tyler and I are holding the deer apart while dad cuts it in half.

Holding part of the deer so dad can cut the leg off.

 And here is our pig :) I didn't get too many pictures of this part because for most of it I was in the tool shed cutting the deer up :) But they did it the same way and quartered it to bring it to the shop.

 Blakey was in the shop walking around and playing most of the time. He did take a couple naps during the day which was really nice! :) He liked being involved and trying to help :)

Here is everyone cutting up the meat. Once the guys were done with the pig they came in to help us cutting up the meat :)

 Once we had enough meat cut up we started grinding it. Tyler and I got a grinder for Christmas so it was already being put to good use! Angie is grinding the meat while Tyler and Blake give her the meat chunks to grind.

 The grinder that Tyler and I got was not keeping up very good at all with how much meat we had. It was going to take us forever to get everything ground then we had to season all the meat and get it made into brats and patties! We were in for a long night! Then dad called a family friend (who happened to be in a tree stand at the time) who had a grinder and he said we could barrow it for the night if we gave him some meat! :) His was much bigger and a lot faster! It really sped up the process :) Once we had enough ground to make a batch of meat we would measure it out and season it then start making patties or brats.

Since no body really planned anything since we didn't have much time to plan :) For supper I said something to Tyler about ordering pizza. Silly me!! We are butchering 2 animals.... we are going to have fresh pork chops on the grill!! :) So I went in the house got some seasoning, cleaned out the fridge and pantry and took stuff out for supper :) They were some of the best chops I have ever had! :)

Grandpa and Grandma brought some of their meat processing supplies with them from when they used to butcher animals. It came in really handy! After I took Blake to bed I came back out to the shop to find this.....a really long strand of brat! :)

This picture was taken about 10:00 pm!

 

Here is just some of the meat we got :) We made about 6 different kinds of patties and maybe 3 different kinds of brats. We also got a bunch of ground pork! And there is still some in the freezer that we still have to make into snack sticks! We had a ton of fun doing everything and are already planning for next year! :) When walmart was having their after Christmas sales they had their plastic bowls for $.24!! So we got about 20 of them for next year to put meat in! :) We are also going to get a bigger meat grinder and be more prepared with everything :) But overall we did pretty good for getting a deer and a pig butchered and made into meat in 8 hours with hardly any preparation! :) A big thank you to Mom, Dad (also for donating the pig:)), Laura, Angie, Josh, Jenn, Grandpa and Grandma for helping and making the day so fun!!   We are looking forward to next year already! :)

Oh....stay tuned for a blog update on Blake's first haircut!!

A day in the barn with Daddy

I wrote this post a couple weeks ago but for some reason it wouldn't let me upload any pictures...... so, tonight I tried it again and it let me!! :)

On December 10th Blake and I went into the barn with Tyler. He was in there learning how to do all the work the hired hand does for the week. I didn't think Blake would like it because every time he saw a little pig before this day he didn't like it when it made noise. So I thought we would get in there and need to go back out in a little bit. But Blake surprised me and loved being in the barn! He wasn't so sure about the sows but he loved all the little pigs! While we were in there we moved pigs from the grower to the finisher and Blakey had fun making noise to get the pigs moving. He liked to run around the pen and make all the pigs go crazy :) After we got all the pigs moved we went and sat in a nursery pen (which is little pigs) for a while. He would chase one pig around until he "caught" it so he pet it. We stayed in the barn for several hours before we went home. After we got out I told Tyler I have a feeling we will be going in the barn more often :) We haven't went in again yet but we probably will in a few weeks when Tyler does weekend chores.

Trying to figure out which pig to chase after.

I got him.....for a second before he runs off again :)

Let try a different barn to see if these pigs will come to me :) Nope.....they still run from me mommy :(

He stopped trying to catch the pigs so I could take a picture of him and daddy together, then it was all about the pigs again :)

Oh, and if you were wonder no Blake was not wearing shoes in the barn :) He was just wearing his socks because I didn't think to get the boots that mom and dad have for him :) But I didn't have to do the laundry so it was ok :)

We will have to go in the barn again sometime soon :) I went in yesterday and helped Tyler but my mom watched Blakey for me.

Have a good week! :)

Blake's First Year

There is a lot of different things I could blog about today. I told Tyler my new years resolution is to update the blog more :) But I thought since Blake is now 13 months I would do a picture review of his first year. I should have done this a month ago but at least I'm doing it :).The picture above and below the words go with each month.

Blake Gerald came into our lives on November 24, 2011 at 4:23pm weighing 7 pounds 5 ounces and 20 inches long. 

 

 

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 1 month- He was 9 lbs. 6 oz. and 22 inches long. He rolled from his tummy to his back at just two and a half weeks! He also started smiling at us :)

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2 months-He weighed 13 lbs 8 oz and was 24 inches long. He rolled from his back to his tummy on January 31st! He started holding his head up on his own and he liked to stand up when we held him. 

 

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 3 months-Weighed about 15 pounds. He started laughing a little bit. He was wearing mainly 6 month clothes. He loved being in his jumperoo.  He started to really enjoy playing with daddy.

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 4 months- He weighed 16 lbs 6 oz and was 25 inches long. He started playing with his tractor and loves Harry the octopus. He liked to go outside and play with our cats. He still really liked being in his jumperoo.

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5 months- He was 17 lbs 5.5 oz and 26 1/2 inches long. He was sitting up on his own, he crawled for the first time and he started pulling himself up. We started finding him everywhere throughout the house. As you can see he was developing his goofy personality :) He was blowing bubbles a lot! He really liked to play with our cell phones.

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 6 months-He went into the woods for the first time and loved it! He also really liked Diesel and just being outside. He still loved being with his daddy. He started getting into everything!

 

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  7 months-He was 19 lbs 10 oz. and 29 inches. He started standing up on his own and would push things around the house. He also liked being pushed around the house :) He loved eating anything but sweet corn and cucumbers were some of his favorite. He got his first tooth on July 3rd! And he liked pulling things out of the boxes I was packing as we were preparing to move.

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8 months- He took his first steps on August 10th. Loved helping daddy work on the farm and getting tractor rides! He started playing with his farm toys all the time. Went squirrel hunting for the first time, and loved it!!

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9 months- He started walking on Sept. 7th!! Had 2 bottom teeth. He liked to help with harvest any chance he could. He was walking all over the place! Still loved to be outside and play in the yard or with the dog.

 

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10 months- He loved being with daddy working on the farm still. He liked to pet the deer daddy brought home. When I was not watching him when we were at the field he liked to eat dirt. It only happened a couple times though :)

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11 months- He had 4 teeth. He starting getting a much goofier personality. This picture shows it perfectly :) And the other picture shows his love for deer, along with his daddy's :)

  

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12 months- He weighs 22.6 lbs and is 30 1/2 inches tall. He has 9 teeth: 4 on top, 3 on bottom and 2 molars. He went into the hog barn for the first time and he loved it! He is crazier than ever and runs around the house non stop. He gives kisses and hugs a lot and likes showing people his teeth.

 Without him our lives would be boring! He has brought so much joy and laughter into our lives. He can be onry at times but he can also be really sweet when he wants to be. Our lives wouldn't be the same without him! 

A little side by side comparison :)

Long overdue update!

A lot has happened since I last posted. Blake is now 1 year old, we are moved into our house, harvest is officially over, soil testing is done and Tyler just got his 3rd deer of the year tonight!!

We moved into our house on November 8th. Josh and Jenn moved out of it the same day :) Jenn had some of her family out helping so while they were unloading the trailer at their new place Tyler and I were unloading the truck at our place. Nothing like moving in the front door as they move out the back :) It didn't take us long to get unpacked because Blake liked to unpack any boxes I hadn't gotten done already. It didn't take him long to figure out how to untape all the boxes and pull things out of them. So I tried to hurry and get things done before he did them for me. We haven't gotten the decorating done but other than that everything is where it belongs. Tyler has been working on getting his shop all organized so he can start mounting the buck he got this year. He has spent several hours getting everything just right so he can work. I am looking forward to having 2 deer heads in our outdoors room! Back to deer...Tyler got a doe (that was on the last blog post) at the beginning of bow season, then he got a buck out of the same tree a few weeks later and he just got a doe tonight with his new muzzeloader. I have not gotten anything this year yet...but that's not because I haven't seen any. I had a doe 2 feet from me and a buck about 4 feet from me on the last weekend of shotgun season. I was sitting on the ground so I could have about tripped the doe. But silly me, I moved (because I wasn't ready to shoot), they took off, and I didn't shoot when I should have. So that's my fault! At least Tyler has gotten 3 to make up for me :)

Blake turned 1 on the 24th of November!! Tyler's family was out for the weekend to see our house that weekend so it worked good to have a birthday party with my parents on the 25th. We all went hunting then came back and had pizza. He loves to run around the house making messes as he goes! He can get around pretty fast now. He now has 4 teeth on top and 2 on bottom. He can be quite the sweet little guy when he wants to be. He has his moments when he still likes to snuggle with me :) He is doing a good job of listening to us most of the time :) He still likes tractors and deer. He is already a lot like his daddy! He sleeps upstairs and he really likes his bedroom. He never used to be a sleeper but lately he likes going to bed at night! After he drinks his nightly bottle I tell him its time for bed, he gives daddy his night night kiss, walks to the stairs, crawls up and then stands at his crib until I lift him in! It is so nice! He is starting to stand at the stairs when he wants a nap too. He can go up and down stairs on his own now! His great grandma's both have stairs so they worked with him on that until he got it. Thanks!! On a not so happy note...I took him to the doctor 2 weeks ago and found out he had 2 really bad ear infections and bronchitis. So he was fussy for a few days but is over that now and is doing great! He loves to eat all the time and will eat about anything we give him. He can also climb on about all of our furniture now as well as being able to reach on top of the table and the kitchen counter. So he keeps us on our toes! :)

Now on to pictures:

Daddy and his little huntin' buddy! Blake was all smiles when he was with daddy and the big buck. 

 As you can see....Blake likes deer as much as his daddy! This is the doe he got tonight!

 

Blake and I went to help Josh and Jenn paint for a day at their new house. Turns out...you can't leave 5 gallon of ceiling paint on the floor with the lid off with a 1 year old running around. :) 

                                     While helping me unpack he found a new seat.

                  Yep....it is still there the next day...mommy didn't get it put away :)
                  (he is wearing my slip, he is a silly little guy some days...and he put it on himself :))

                                One of his birthday gifts from mommy and daddy.

                                     Our handsome little guy after church today!

 

He loves looking at the Christmas tree.  He got a reindeer decoration that plays music from Great Grandma Ponto and if I don't have it turned on he will walk up to it and point at it until I turn it on.

 

Enjoy the Christmas season that is coming up!