Cooper Miles Moore joined our brood of little farm boys on April 28. Eight days later, I was more than ready to get back in the barn and get back to normal life. Here we are, nearly three months later, and Mr. Cooper still isn’t the farming type. I swear, no matter what we try, that little guy is one step ahead of us.

Lately, my social media pages have been flooded with pool pics, airport check-ins and requests for hotel recommendations – it’s summer time! Vacation season! But we’re dairy farmers, and with the current state of milk prices, we’ll be lucky to get away for 24 hours.

Every farming family knows that the farm is hands-down the best place to raise children. The list of benefits is endless – from learning compassion, empathy and responsibility at a tender age to the health benefits of an active lifestyle and a stronger immune system.

“Give it to me straight, Heather,” the post read. “Lucy is still breastfeeding, but we’re starting to think about transitioning her to whole milk in a few months. I’m worried about extra hormones. Should I be looking for hormone-free milk? Or should I just be buying it for her when she’s old enough?”

“Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” I heard those words long ago, but they have taken on a new meaning recently as I have made the choice to slow down and remember what life is really all about. For me, that has meant stepping away from my off-farm job.

You can usually tell what a farmer raises just by driving down a farm lane, whether it’s dairy cows, corn, beef, hogs or children. A tree house in the old oak tree, a swing set in the yard, a tricycle next to the garage and a whole slew of miniature farming implements in the barn are all surefire signs that there is a miniature farmer on the payroll.

When my husband, Brandon, and I became full-fledged dairy farmers in the fall of 2014, we knew there was a tough road ahead. We anticipated frozen water cups (so many frozen water cups!), flooded barns, sick cows and everything else that goes wrong on a farm in sub-zero weather. The one challenge that we didn’t see coming was in the form of our 18-month-old son, Cassidy.