Big ol’ picture post.

Lots going on, although the pace seems slower. It’s as it should be. It’s that strange first month with a new baby, where you’re tired but you’ve just been sitting and nursing all day (which I know, it IS doing something and using energy, but it’s just a different activity and I don’t process it the same way). Or I’m overstimulated and bored at the same time… it’s just weird. Today has been lovely though- snuggling with both my babies (actually, all three if you count Maya!), out to breakfast with just Asa and a dear friend, jamming to The Who at loud volumes on the drive (very therapeutic), home for a bit then out to a garage sale, then I actually got a bunch of stuff done around the house and did a big harvest in the garden. Tonight my only goals are to do something with all the vegetables and make dinner with Jeff, take a long bath, and watch a chick-flicky movie after babies are sleeping. I might have to pop in PS, I Love You for the second time in a couple of days, it just makes my hormonal girly side swoon. Oh yes.

I’ve realized that the trick to keeping myself from becoming too stir-crazy in these early days is to make lists. My brain gets jumbled with kid noise, lack of energy, whatever, but if I make a quick list at the beginning of the day I’ll be that much more focused. Today it’s worked really well. When both kids were asleep, I just went for the list and knew exactly what I wanted to do. It was extremely satisfying, especially because those moments are brief and soon enough I’m nursing and flipping around on the internet again… 

We took Vera to the zoo this week. It was her first time there, and I thought it would be fun. It was fun, but it was also 90 degrees and impossibly humid, and I had Asa plastered to my chest in the sling. I also was surprisingly not inclined to take any pictures. I’m not happy about the existence of zoos… while it was fun to see Vera experience it all and love the animals, it was just really sad to me that all of them are in captivity, so many endangered, all because of our destructive ways… not to mention that it just perpetuates the myth that we’re the most important creatures on the earth. I think in the future it’ll be a good opportunity to talk to the kids about that stuff and admire beautiful animals, but I wasn’t feeling any photo-ops. BUT, Jeff did get this one on his phone, which I thought was nice.

Yesterday we went to a local fair. Vera was timid about getting into this balloon castle, but once she did… Jeff had to crawl in after her when her time was up. Now I know why parents are standing there with cameras cheering on their toddlers on over the littlest things. It’s because they know those little people, and they know how much fun they are having, and it just makes your heart soar as a parent… 

The petting zoo.

"Don’t squeeze the bunny’s ear!!!"

My garage sale finds…

This little piece of art is from Greece, and will be going in my bathroom. 🙂

I got these two great big bags of fabric. It’s great. I really hit the jackpot here.

Vera’s picks.

This friend of ours is lending us his nice record player indefinitely. We don’t have a lot to play on it, though, so we try to find records when we can. This one stood out- it’s a collection of kids music. Everything from Davey Crockett to Do-Re-Mi, the Teddy Bear’s Picnic, Peter and the Wolf, even the Nutcracker Suite. It’s perfect, and I’m so excited to listen to it all with Vera.

All of the above for a whopping $1. Score. Jeff also found this belt sander, which he was really excited about. 🙂

Then… the "Hen-itat". Jeff’s been out working to expand the chicken run each day. He had to partially finish one wall of the greenhouse in order to do it. This was it before:

Expansion in progress:

Start to the little roofed area for more shade.

From inside- you can see how we’re going to build the greenhouse out of old storm windows.

Finished. I’m not tall enough to get a great picture of it, but you can see the little roof there, and we put a big branch in there for them to hop around on. We’re happy about being able to give them a little more space, and I think they’re happy about it too. 

Of course some sweet sleepy baby. He’s awake more and more lately, so I’ll have to get some pictures of him soon with his big beautiful eyes open soon. I just love him. He’s plumping up, too. We got him weighed last Wednesday and he was already 9# 1oz.! He was 7# 15oz when he was born, so that’s over a pound of weight gain in just a week and a half! Healthy boy. 🙂

The harvest today. This is a huge basket. See that zucchini? Massive. That’s what happens when you don’t see one for a few days. BLAM! I’m thinking I’ll scoop out the seeds and stuff it- maybe have some people over for dinner that night to help us eat it. Also, on the subject of baskets- Jeff used to roll his eyes every time I’d come home with a new basket. He complained about them, telling me that I couldn’t possibly use so many. HA! Just the other day Jeff said, "You know, I’m really glad we have all of these- they’ve come in really handy!" Love it. 

Oh yeah, and this was yesterday. Tonight we’ll be chopping up peppers. One of the things I love about gardening is all the color. So much rich color, mixed with the fresh smell of sunned vegetables and leaves… it’s just intoxicating.

Gracie
Gracie

Latest posts by Gracie (see all)

13 Comments

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *