Monday, October 7, 2013

Fair, Friends. and Fun

This past weekend we went to the Topsfield Fair. We got there just as it opened and there was still a mile back up to get in, but it moved pretty quick and there was only minimal whining (from me....). Nothing is as good as the Addison County Field Days, but as I was unable to attend this year the Topsfield Fair was a nice stand in. Much like last year one of Henri's favorites was the chicken barn, and I loved watching the ducks. We ate lots of fried food and looked at all the rides and games. They had a wonderful nursing moms station set up that we took advantage of a few times, and they even had these great handmade teddy bears the moms could take for their baby's and siblings (so Henri got a purple paisley one). Hudson did really well, slept most of it in the front carrier, slept all the way home, slept on me...and then slept 10 hours (yes, a full uninterrupted 10 hours) that night. Yay!

Today we had Henri's friend M over. The girls get along great and require minimal intervention in their play (they actually share really well and both love to boss the other around) and today I broke out the Mr. Potato Head I had gotten at a garage sale. M wasn't too in to it, but it's the perfect age toy for Henri, and in fact she's still playing with them 8 hours later. Anyway, it rained all morning so we didn't get to go to the park but we might not have anyway because I left the carrier in the car and Steve took it to work. Now, I have 4 other carriers (Mei Tei, Mobies, K'Tan...) but Hud loves his Lillebaby and, well, today was rough. Kid slept maybe 30 minutes total and has bags under his eyes. Guess this past weekend of being almost exclusively on Mom's chest spoiled him thoroughly. He did his best to be pleasant at times (he's started to laugh at us which is beyond hysterical when he does it) but mostly it was a high high stress day. But Steve's home now and giving me a break from the kiddos, I made a fairly delicious dinner (chicken breast stuffed with feta and black olives with bacon and onion pasta if you're curious) and I just had my evening treat (Reese's Puffs...Shaws have them on sale for $1.88 and I might have to stock up on a few hundred more boxes) and bedtime is only an hour away!

(And my apologies for the quality of these; a few are from my phone)
Excited to be here

Protecting Hudson from sunburn. So elegant, lol

My sunshine and my rooster (very appropriate as she's usually up with the dawn)

Chickens!


Sand sculptures.

She had a great time waving her flag

This year's pumpkin. Not a world record holder

Can you imagine a whole herd of these???


Miss M. The flash was a bit much for her

A potato explosion!

A true mamma's boy

Singing his (daylong) sad song. Screaming, actually

OK, these were straight before...




A quick break to make some soup


Out of order, but on the way home from the fair with her teddy

See? He does smile!

Siblings

He's a morning baby also. They totally get that from their dad

Since he's been sleeping so much at night I've been having to pump in the morning. Henri's fascinated and has taken to instructing me step by step how to do it as well as providing a running commentary on the volume collected. Thanks, kid.
Nothing planned for the week except our usual grocery trip and lots of studying. Maybe some walks. The weather is screaming for knitting projects to get cast on but I need to get my exams out of the wa first. I have lots of sewing ideas planned for the coming holidays as well.....

5 comments:

JG said...

Oh I love this post! And, Meredith, you are looking GOOD! Glad your little man was so good for you at the fair... you knew there would be payback, right? ;)
He actually looks pretty cute in his screaming pic... I just want to snuggle him! It's so funny how I impulsively want to cuddle and spoil other people's screaming babies... but if it's my own... different reaction!!! We are so lucky to have such wonderful instructors in the art of patience, right? :) Nice pics. Henri is sparkly as usual!

Anonymous said...

I am always so happy for your updates. You do look great and both your children are beautiful!!! I think your fair looks like a lot of fun. We did not go to the fair this year. It would have cost us $70 just to walk through their gates. :( They used to have a nice nursing station (camper) at our fair with air conditioning etc. but they got rid of that this year. How nice that they give homemade teddies to the little ones. :) Looks like you guys are doing great as a family of four! I had picked up a little something for Hudson and planned to send a little homemade item too but it is taking me awhile and I think I may need to find Hudson a bigger size. :) He is so cute snuggling with his mama. Our Joshua LOVES to nurse but he is not snuggly.

Unknown said...

I bought mom Some of the Cereal as well!It is a great deal!

Ruth said...

I think there were some cute pictures and lots of lovely thoughts... but all I remember is 10 HOURS OF SLEEP!!!!!!!!!! Wow! Between that and losing all your baby weight I am getting a bit jealous ;-)

Meredith said...

Jen, that's so true. Give me a crying baby anywhere and I have to work so hard not to snatch him up and cuddle. My own? Eh, I long for a soundproof room ;) Nikki, Hud is in 3mo stuff at this point. He has an appointment next week and I can't wait to see how much he weighs. I'm keeping him off the scale because I want to be surprised. He's certainly bigger than Hen was at this age!
Pooh, that cereal is a.m.a.z.i.n.g. Horrible for you and very addicting!
And Ruth, no jealousy needed. For one, he was up from Sunday morning until 2am Monday so he more than made up for his sleep. And the weight has not budged for the past 3 weeks except to creep up a few. And I've seen pictures of you! You're looking fabulous! There's no way I'd attempt jeans at this point. It's all about yoga pants :)