They Start Them Young!

Today I had the opportunity to be part of a wonderful baby shower for a precious little rancher.  Tinley Mary Harvie was showered with love, gifts, and more love at her baby shower.  As proud mama Jill opened her many gifts, I noted just how many of these gifts were farm related.  And I loved it!

I don't know why it seems necessary to do this, but I feel like every time a farm family has a baby it only seems right to buy them tiny wranglers, barn toys, and John Deere t-shirts (even though on my farm we use Case IH).  It just feels like we should start them young by surrounding them with things that reflect their family and their home.

Tinley got bibs with cows on them, tiny pink John Deere t-shirts, small jean overall dresses, clothes that all reflected a farm life!  As if baby Tinley isn't already adorable enough, she now has the cutest farm girl clothes to dress in.  That baby is the best!

I didn't get an actual picture of the clothes, since I was without a camera, but this was one  of my favorites!

Growing up, the toys that we had at Grandma and Grandpa's house were red Case IH tractors.  Being on the farm, we used to spend hours outside, riding in the real tractors with Grandpa which was all the better.  I can remember grandpa pulling me on a sled behind our large loader tractor, can't do that down the city streets!  We also had outside toys, dump trucks and trackhoes, which we used to dig holes and work in the garden with.  These tractors were purchased as a yellow color, but soon after touching farm soil Grandpa gave them a nice red paint job.

When we were younger, my parents bought us many farm sets, starting at a really young age.  We had fences and barns, silos and tractors, trucks and stock trailers, and all the different types of animals.  When we got a bit older our parents treated us to a really fancy farm set, with smaller animals, one that had calf shelters and the works!

This farm set entertained us for hours.  Although it was a dairy farm, we were able to set up our own farms, and do "just what dad does" all on our own.  

When I was only two, my parents got me my very own ride on tractor.  It had a little trailer that you could hitch up to it, a trailer that my kittens soon stopped appreciating.  It had small pedals on it with which I could motor myself around.  Now they make little electric ones, children are really getting off easy. 

Me on my fancy little ride!

When I was only a few weeks old my mother would wake up in the morning, feed me and then send me in my carseat with my dad or my grandpa.  They would set the carseat on the floor of the tractor and I would sleep while they did the chores.  This was great for my mom, giving her an hour or so of peaceful sleep.  

What a great way to introduce me to the farming life, to spark a passion in me from a young age.  That's how we attract youth in the industry, we start them young! 

My aunt has a video of me from when I was a year and a half old.  We were at my older cousin's birthday party and he had received some new work gloves as a gift.  I somehow managed to slide the over-sized gloves onto my little hands and started leaving the room.  My auntie asked me where I was going, everyone laughed as I responded "feed cows".  At only a year and a half old I knew what the cows were, I knew that when dad had his gloves on he was feeding the cows.  I already had an interest in the farm, and that is because I was introduced at such a young age! 

After the shower I had the opportunity to check out Tinley's fabulous nursery!  Jill's creativity is unreal, I want her to decorate my entire house!  Crystal Cattle did an excellent job photographing Tinley's cute room here and I am sure after seeing it, you will want to live in it too!  

On the wall in her room, Jill has individual photographs of all three of the farms dogs, as well, she has individual photographs of a baby calf of each breed that Harvie Ranching raises; Charolais, Simmental and Hereford.  I loved this idea.  Jill said "I thought it would be nice to have Tinley grow up seeing and learning about all the things in her life".  That's exactly it.  They are starting Tinley out young.  Her life is going to be full of love, family, friends, and farming.  Cows, cow shows, and more cows.  Not to be biased or anything, but is there any better way to grow up?

I love little Tinley, and I can`t wait to see her grow and see all the awesome things that she will do in her life.  It is so exciting to know that another young rancher is setting foot in the industry, and that her family is starting her out so young!  Jill and Cole are great parents, and great ranchers, and little Tinley couldn't have a better spark to light her passion for agriculture!

All the best!

Sam