We started networking in the local farm community today. It is starting to feel real and we are excited. My number one piece of advice for anyone starting something new would be to surround yourself with people who are on a similar path or have a similar mindset. Being around a group of other local farmers who were all excited about all the same things we are working towards and actually doing what we hope to do was encouraging, motivating and down right enjoyable.
As I watched Ayden explore the dirt and toddle around the various gardens that we visited on our "field day" I became so excited that he was going to grow up on the same farm that I did. For a family that puts so much pride into how we fuel out bodies, I am excited that we will be able to include Ayden in every step of the process for where his food comes from.
We ended the evening with a cousin play date! My sister and her husband went out to dinner with some friends and we watched their two kids, our 3 year old nephew and our niece who is just 4 months older than Ayden. She and Ayden really love each other and played really well together while they were here. They spent a lot of time hunting for Polly, both saying "Ki ki ki ki" over and over in high pitched voices while they searched. So funny!
"Is she in the window? No..."
Sleepy nephew
They are used to staying up later than Ayden so we tried to let him stay up to play for as long as he wanted but he didn't make it. David played with my sister's kids upstairs while I put Ayden to bed. We had no bedtime playing tonight, he was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as he started nursing. So sweet. Tomorrow will be a work day for us and we hope to make a lot of progress with getting the rest of our stuff sorted and situated. We will be glad when it is all taken care of!
Ayden is the sixth grandchild on my side of the family and the first on David's side... Until today!!! David's brother and his wife welcomed their baby boy into the world this afternoon! We can't wait to go meet him in a little over a week. They live up North and we plan to drive up as soon as they are settled at home and ready for company. Babies, babies all around and our baby isn't the baby anymore.
When I was changing into my PJs in the closet tonight, I came out to find Ayden lying on our bed, playing with David. The way Ayden was positioned gave me a flashback of when he was tiny. He really has become such a big boy recently.
I so wish someone could do this to me, it looked so fun! Ayden is a thrill seeker, just like his mama :)
My dad has gotten a huge kick out of a lot of things since he has spent more time with Ayden but how he turns around backwards to not only go down stairs but also to cross over any bulky threshold is probably my dad's favorite. We have such a funny little boy! I suppose he got tripped by the threshold into the garage at our old house one too many times for his liking and has chosen to err on the side of caution when dealing with any such obstacles.
Putting Ayden to bed has become my favorite part of my role as mommy. I can vividly remember dreading the nights early on, before I had grown accustomed to being tired and before I followed my gut about co-sleeping and was working hard to sleep train. Now I look forward to it! Every moment of our routine is so special. Getting him ready for bed is a task and a half because he just wants to play and won't lay still but once he's changed it is just the best. It starts out with the three of us playing and chatting.
Then David leaves us to go take care of our dinner dishes or some other household task while I get Ayden to sleep. He actually doesn't nurse all the way to sleep now. He nurses until he's had his fill and then we play. It is different than any playing we do during the day, though. Bed time play has a different feel; it is more sweet and snuggly. He has started giving me "kisses" which usually consists of him smoothing his face against mine and making a "mmmmm" sound, because we say, "Mmmmuah" a lot when we kiss him. He climbs and wallers all over me and thinks it is hilarious. He points out my eyes and nose or finds my belly button and I do the same to him. We take turns shaking our heads at each other, which somehow he also finds hilarious. He giggles and giggles and sometimes I second guess whether or not he was ready for bed at all. And then it happens. He calms down all of the sudden and lays next to me while we watch the animals from his soother projector go around and around on the ceiling. We make the noises for the animals that pass and his current favorite are the birds. Then the most amazing thing of all, he snuggles his head into my neck and just falls asleep without my having to do a thing. Every single time that it happens I become acutely aware of what I would be missing if I had been successful in my sleep training and am so ever grateful that route did not work out for us. These moments are ever so sweet, and even more fleeting, and my life will have been more fulfilled having as many of them as possible in it. Ayden is always sweet and had always enjoyed being held, but during the day he is a busy toddler who loves to play. Bed time is when i get my fuzziest snuggles and I am so happy that I am with him during the sweetness of his sleepiness.
With Ayden consistently sleeping longer stretches during the night it is amazing how far we have come sleep-wise in a year. There was a time when I thought I would never feel rested again but that time has passed and every night seems to get better and better (knock on wood!!).
Anything awesome happen in your life today? Please share!!
I enjoyed our day out and about very much today! Ayden has been sleeping like a rockstar. I suppose that is just one more development that went with the 1 year mark. He slept in until 9:00 but I was up around 8:30 getting ready for the day. We were out of the house by 10 am so we could take our time getting to story time. The day was filled with the usual type of errands including a Good Will run, picking up some photo prints as well as a few organizational items for our new temporary home, getting a wireless card for our desktop computer and going to the grocery.
EVERYWHERE we went, Ayden was all smiles, waves and giggles and brightened the day of so many people. As a parent, hearing people say, "What a little ray of sunshine!" Or, "He has such a great disposition," or "Such a happy baby!" (All of which I heard today) makes me swell with pride.
It is hard to describe it but I have to say that more than anything in the world, I wanted to raise a human being who would bring good into the world and at only 1 year old our son is already doing it. I couldn't be more proud of Ayden and am overwhelmingly happy that he is ours to keep and that he gets to brighten every moment of my days.
Loving our new farm life already!
Guess what? David has started a blog too!! He is going to use it to document his journey from desk to garden. We'd love it if you followed us over there as well! I'm sure Ayden and I will make the occasional appearance just like David does over here ;).
It has been fun to see Ayden recognize pieces of home now that we are getting more things set up around here. You know the moment he recognizes something because he'll rush towards it excitedly and use whatever it is in the exact same way he did before. Take our night stands for instance. One of his favorite things to do at our house was open the drawers and find whatever treasures he could, his most prized being a tube of Chapstick. He has had fun checking out the drawers periodically though they are still mostly empty. He is also enjoying exploring new things and is helping us find what needs child proofing. Something I am missing is having a relatively child proofed home. We never did any "official" child proofing, other than gates for the stairs, but we did move sharp or harmful objects to higher places, etc. It sort of happened gradually as he discovered new places. At the first sign of new interest in a place that housed a potential hazard we would move it and it looks like we will be going through a similar process here.
Tippy toes!
Something else that has been pretty awesome since we have come here is Ayden's naps. They have been once a day for 2-3 hours long and that is a record for our little man. I'm not sure if it is how dark our room is, the white noise from the air purifier, the temperature, or what but I am loving it for sure!
You know it's a good nap when you have sheet marks on your face.
Tomorrow is story time and errand day and I am looking forward to being out and about with my own agenda. I wonder if it will feel weird to be driving around our old neighborhood but not going home...
The reality and stress of such a quick and drastic change hit me this morning. I woke up feeling overwhelmingly frustrated about not knowing where to find some of the things I needed. After a quiet morning with just Ayden and myself, though, I was already feeling better. My mom was away at a Pilates class and my dad was out to breakfast with some friends. I got to putter around the kitchen, making us breakfast and cleaning up in peace with Ayden playing with various kitchen utensils at my feet just like I did every morning at home and it was just the amount normalcy that I needed.
After breakfast, I made a lot of progress on emptying boxes, taking inventory as I went which felt really good too. After lunch we ventured out to the bank to deposit the check we received at our closing and I have to say that our account balance is now pretty awesome! No more mortgage payments, woohoo!! So liberating!
In his "Happy Baby" yoga pose.
Ayden seems to be just as happy here as he is anywhere and the pets are adjusting nicely too. I got Polly when I was 13 so she lived here until I was in college and brought her with me when I moved off campus to our townhouse. Needless to say, she feels right at home and loves getting to go outside. On the other hand, Maverick takes a little longer to adjust. He used to live here with me too but he gets super excited when he is around new smells and doesn't settle in until he has smelled them all. He had a few moments today where he relaxed so I think he is well on his way! I got Ayden's fish settled in too so everyone is happy.
Relaxing while I unpack
I had dinner ready when David got home so that we could eat right away then knock out a bunch of stuff. We got the rest of the furniture assembled on our room and and consolidated everything that is left to go through and unpack into one area. As we go to bed tonight I feel like our little adventure has officially begun. There is still work to be done but our progress today made a huge difference in my stress and comfort levels.
Perhaps we will be completely settled in just in time to move into our new house ;).
He has been battling another little cold so that, combined with our moving frenzy, must have really tuckered him out. He also gave us a couple of glorious 5 hour stretches of sleep the past couple of nights which is great for our little man. I had to wake him up to feed him last night because the girls were uncomfortably full.
Today was filled with our closing, becoming oriented with where certain boxes and items ended up, making our bed and filling our closet. Each time I tossed an empty suit case or bag out of our new room I felt a sense of accomplishment. We just have to remember to take it one day at a time and and one project at a time and slowly but surely things will fall into place. Perhaps we will be settled in by the time we get our new home built ;).
"Helping" me transfer clothes to our new closet
I have not forgotten that I need to assess my January goals and set new for February. I suppose all of February will be consumed with moving in and getting settled. Perhaps by March I will be ready to set some more real goals (and carry over a few from January that were never met due to Ayden's party and moving).
We did it! There were a few moments where we thought we wouldn't but our friends and family rallied around us and together we pulled it off. It was a whirlwind and we don't exactly know where half of our things are but what is important is that we are out and we are together! I will fill you in on more details tomorrow but for now, this tired mama is going to bed.
