Meet the newest member of the Camp family

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Nearly three months ago we anxiously awaited the arrival of March. Not only would we be welcoming the newest member of our family to the world, but I’d also have 6 weeks of maternity leave and the plans I had to do with my time were endless! One of which was to get back on a regular blog writing schedule.

Well, folks, most of those plans have fallen through BUT the best one, welcoming and nurturing our youngest, has been a total success!

Bladen Ell was born on March 9th and at 10lbs 15oz, 22.75 inches, and the biggest, sweetest, squishiest cheeks ever. He was the talk of the maternity ward!

We were a bit shocked by his size–considering he was projected to top out around 8lbs 12oz–and though we didn’t know the gender, I thought it might be a girl, considering all the morning sickness and headaches I had–a symptom I only had with our girls. We also had a girl’s name all picked out but we’re still up in the air with what we would name a boy.

Choosing a Name

Bladen remained nameless for the first hour or so. We knew a few things we knew–we wanted to honor my Opa, Ell Kramer, with our name choice, given his size and deep almost manly cry, he needed a strong name, and we wanted a name you don’t hear often.

Ell is definitely uncommon but not the best choice for a first name since we have an Ella. Bladen was a name Sr. had discovered and was towards the top of our list. As we considered the meaning of the names in our list, we discovered Bladen means hero and so his name was decided.

Coming Home

Though visitation was yet allowed at the hospital, Sr and I enjoyed the quiet bonding we had during our stay. We brought Bladen home on his third day to a home full of loving siblings, grandparents, and curious pets.

Jack, our labradoodle is most confused when Ell has hiccups (which happens about 5 times a day) because he sounds just like Jack’s orange squeaker toy.

Postpartum Issues

The day I delivered Bladen, my blood pressure was elevated. However, all seemed fine by the time I was discharged. At my one-week check-up, it was still higher than normal and though Ii was concerned, my OB was not worried.

The following week, just over two weeks after having Bladen, I had an in-home visit from a nurse (a wonderful service offered by our local hospital). Bladen was asleep when she arrived so she began by taking my vitals. I shared that I was concerned about my blood pressure since I never had issues before. I had been having headaches but chalked it up to exhaustion and maybe dehydration. Turns out it was significantly higher than it should be so our wonderful called ahead to the hospital, finished Bladen’s check-up, and helped us pack for the hospital. By the time we checked in at the E.R. my pressure was sky high-as in a hypertensive crisis, at risk for seizure or stroke, I was admitted immediately and administered magnesium. Once they got us back up to the maternity floor, I was placed in a padded bed and put on a 24-hour magnesium drip with bed rest. Bladen and Sr. were by my side the whole time.

Turns out preclampsia can happen before delivery as well as up to 6 weeks after! Three days later we returned home again, I was placed on blood pressure medication (since it was still a bit elevated after the magnesium drip) and we have been on the mend since. I only had to stay on the medication for a few weeks and my blood pressure is back to normal. I still have elevated liver enzymes and will be seeing a specialist in the next month.

Settling in

The past several weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind as the baseball and softball season kicked into full swing. Bladen’s such a champ at the field–and probably the quietest fan in the stands.

All the kids take turns feeding and playing with him and Uncle Josh helps out too!

As I get back into the garden, Bladen joins in the stroller or the carrier (babywearing is kind of our thing).

We’re so close to those heavenly baby giggles, I can barely stand it.

Finishing touches!

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Today we worked to put the final touches (for now) on the girls new shared room. Including putting some life back into some favorite oversized animals. Grace learned to do some simple sewing. We’ll be sharing more on the blog tomorrow!

Check out what we’ve been growing!

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Has it really been 3 months since we’ve posted?! Let’s just say life got pretty busy this summer.

June had us going in every direction for baseball. Work was also crazy as we added two new hires and put on our 2nd annual summer conference for educators. I didn’t have much time to get out in the gardens though there wasn’t much happening in the gardens. Surprisingly, my bee balm didn’t return this year. I’ll need to research why this happened though I think it may be overcrowding by lemon balm and the cleome spider flowers.

But as the summer heat began to roll in come July, we got some exciting news about a surprise that has prolonged my absence form the gardens, and almost everything else.

We’re expecting Camp baby #4! Baby Camp is expected to arrive in mid/early March!

Though this pregnancy has been the roughest, with 3 months of queasy nausea–something I never really had with pervious pregnancies–we’re all so excited. Grace is beyond excited, praying for a girl and constantly giving belly kisses. Jr. is praying for a boy and no longer being outnumbered by girls, and Ella is the only one that has said she’ll help change diapers 🤣.

With all the nausea, I really haven’t been outside much as the heat makes me feel awful, so does reading, driving, the smell of just about everything–poor Sr. has about 7 new deodorants he can’t wear because I can’t stand them and he’s running our of options 🤣🤷🏻‍♀️.

I’ve been so thankful to the Norris family for taking care of the big garden and bringing us harvests as they get them. Clint has gotten so into it all, he’s taking over the design and early prep for the garden for next year, more on that in another blog.

My MIL Becky has also been helpful and either pulls weeds or clips blooms for a vase every time she comes over. Check out this bouquet she took home a few weeks ago:

This week, I enter the 2nd trimester and hopefully the nausea subsides and I can get back outside. I’m itching to work on the house gardens and fill the porches with mums–my favorite. I’ve taken a few pictures the few times I’ve been outside this summer of some of the blooms I’ve found. The Cherry-frost climbing roses are about as tall and me and the zinnias are blooming away in the cut flower garden. My gladiolus bulbs must not have been planed deep enough because they shot out leaves but no floral stems and the wildlife has enjoyed my sunflowers (they new got higher than a foot), most of the cosmos… and eventually the dahlias. I did manage to make a few bouquets in early August and have plenty of zinnias to make more. Next year I’ll have to create either a greater barrier or pick more animal resistant varieties.

So excited to continue to share our journey with y’all!

This week on the Half-Ass Homestead: February 28-March 6, 2021

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Things are continuing to warm up on the Camp Farm. I cannot wait to get out to refresh the gardens!

I’ve spent evenings reading more about mini-farming and continuing to contemplate raised beds vs raised row. I finally opened up the book that started it all: Raised Row Gardening: Incredible Organic Produce with No Tilling and Minimal Weeding I’m still deciding but there were some really great reminders here – like the costs of raised beds and the effort in amending a raised bed vs raised row. Until I have to new spot picked out, I can delay my decision. And speaking of placement! I put in my request with 811 to have them come mark the utilities.

It’s still a little cool to clean up the gardens but it’s nearly prime time to start seeds! I ordered another germination kit so I’ve got two 72 cell trays. I had a few seeds for the flower garden from Floret Farms but Grace and I went a little crazy at Lowe’s Saturday 😬

I mean she kept tossing seed packets in the cart and I was too tired to sift through them much. I figured I’d return what we don’t decide to use.

Also, I’ve added two new books to my ever growing library of homesteading. I can’t wait to crack them open tonight!

In other news, Grace and Ella have adopted a stink bug as a pet… his name is Larry and apparently he likes oatmeal.

This week on the Half-Ass Homestead: February 21-27, 2021

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It feels like the 2021 garden planning is officially underway! Well almost.

As the snow has begun to melt and we’re seeing the grass for the first time in weeks, I’m anxious to get an actual layout of the 2021 gardens mapped out so I can make a list of plants and supplies. I’m constantly thinking about it. However, there are a few things getting in my way.

We’ve decided to move the big garden, which is currently situated on the property line between the Camp Farm and the Norris Homestead. We’d like to build a legitimate fence around the garden and this is the only way I can convince Sr. to let me do so – he hasn’t been interested in investing so much into a fence not completely on our property should the Norris’ ever move. Not that the Norris’ are planing to move but they had discussed it a few years ago so Tarin and I discussed relocating the garden this year. Both families will still share the garden.

Having the garden on our property will not only allow me to get a proper fence but it will make it easier – I hope– for us to get in there and maintain it. The garden’s current placement is too far for us to easily reach with a hose which meant either several trips with a watering can or lengths and lengths of hose coiled up in the backyard. We can also consider redesigning the garden; something that’s been spinning in my mind as I read a new book on mini-farming which touts raised beds over row gardening for many valid reasons. Though the book doesn’t present an argument against raised row gardening which is different from traditional row gardening, it has me thinking differently about spacing and such.

Moving the garden, however, grants some challenges. First that’s a LOT of soil to move and we’ll want tot make sure to plant grass seed ASAP before the weeds roll in on the vacant turf. Also, WHERE will I put it? I know there are a few places I don’t want to put it given where and how the kids play in the backyard currently. I’m thinking side yard because the grass is patchier here given it get so much sun. The side yard is also closest to the Norris property which is important since it’s still a shared space. However, I wonder is this is too sunny, especially for crops that need less sun. Also, if I ever get my dream greenhouse/she-shed, I imagined placing it its also closer to the fire pit on the other side of the backyard. Placement also depends on what’s UNDER the space. Since we’ll have to place the fence posts, or raised bed corner posts if we go that route, below the frost line, I need to call 811 to get the entire backyard’s underground utilities marked –I’ve been waiting for the snow to melt to do so.

Once I figure out where the garden is going, I’ll have to land on how I want to redesign the garden: raised row or raised bed… any opinions??? This mini-farming book has me intrigued and I’m only in the “overview” chapter. Once good thing I’ve learned is that we really should be journaling EVERYTHING if we want to be serious about our gardens. With not one but TWO five-year journals I should be set up for success.

I’ll continue to share some of the interesting things I’m learning from this book as I go. This next week my goal is to schedule 811, begin a list of plants (in my journals!)and determine which and when I’ll start any from seed – since I now know how to start seeds! I also plan to get Jr. outside with me and start some grounds clean up for the house gardens… his not-so-favorite thing to do with me (see his January post “I Hate Gardening“. 🤣)