On Saturday, we took a family outing to a pumpkin patch about 15 minutes from our house. This was not only Mason's first trip to a pumpkin patch, but it was also the first time that Byron and I had gone to a pumpkin patch together. I find that now that I have gone back to work and our weekdays fly by, I am torn between wanting to relax the whole weekend at home and charging out to give Mason all the adventures that I can. This past weekend, the adventures won out.
Despite the fact that Mason is only three months old and was groggy for pretty much the whole outing, we did have a great time. We went to this pumpkin patch, which was only about 15 minutes from our house. There are a ton of attractions and all the kids there looked like they were having so much fun, but since Mason isn't big enough to enjoy them quite yet, we just wandered around at our leisure, observing all the sites.
Byron wasn't thrilled about the added challenge of taking the stroller off-roading, but he handled it like a champ. Thank goodness for a strong daddy!
We checked out the pumpkins first. Well, technically I think we only checked out various types of squash which were on display in various wagons. You actually take a hay ride to the pumpkin patch for the real pumpkins. Either way, we saw these gorgeous gray-green pumpkins that were my favorite anyway. I heard them referred to as Cinderella pumpkins. Whether that is the official name or not, it's cute, right? I tried to show Mason the pumpkins and put his little hands on them so he could feel them, but he was hardly interested.
There was also a nursery, and just about every family had one of these amazing plants in their wagons. So bright and happy!
There was a sign that we found that said "How tall this fall?" So, of course, we had to stand mason in front of it.
Another thing we did while Mason slept was to feed some goats. They were super cute, and that's coming from me, who is scared of just about every animal other than Minnie. They were selling goat feed, but there had been enough spilled on the ground that Byron and I just picked up a couple of handfuls and let them eat out of our hands (cheapskates). And yes, although I don't have photographic proof, I did let them eat out of my hand, too.
There were a few more sights that we checked out, but mostly we just observed. It definitely makes me excited for more adventures with Mason as he gets older and more interactive!
Believe it or not, this was actually a Christmas present. As in, a 2010 Christmas present. What? You believe that? Oh, okay.
I saw these cute little knobs that said 'His' and 'Hers' at Pottery Barn last year, and my mom surprised me with them. I loved them and I thought they were absolutely perfect for our bathroom. And so I took them home, and they sat on the top of my dresser for oh, the past 10 months. The problem was that I was intimidated with how to install them. They didn't come in a package, and so I didn't know what size drill bit to use, and instead of asking my husband, they just sat.
If I knew then what I know now, they would have been in use ages ago. Turns out my husband isn't intimidated by this stuff, but rather very smart. In fact, I was out running an errand recently, and when I came home, THE WHOLE PROJECT WAS DONE! It happened so fast, that once again I felt totally lame for not asking him to do it earlier. Oh well.
Check out our little bathroom spruce up.
I believe my life has changed more in this past week than it has in the past three months. I am now a working mother, and I can only best compare it to getting thrown to the wolves. Okay, okay, it's not quite like that. And if my son wasn't such a good sleeper and my husband wasn't such a good support, I could have it much worse. Let me give you a snapshot of an average weekday.
5:00 - get up. I spend the next 30 minutes getting dressed and ready for work. Byron gets Mason up, changes his diaper, and gets him ready to eat.
5:30 - feed the baby. While I do this, Byron gets himself ready, takes care of Minnie, packs our lunches if it didn't get done the night before, and starts to load the car.
6:15/6:30 - leave for work. In case you were wondering, I have been up for an hour and a half and it is still dark out.
7:00 - drop Mason off at his grandma's.
7:30 - arrive at work. I got a little sympathy on my first day back and my workload wasn't too crazy, but after the first day, I got dropped into a new (crazy) project, I was asked to complete a small project by the end of the week, I was asked to give a presentation to my department, and I was asked to help bring a new employee up to speed while my boss is away. Needless to say, my days are pretty much a blur.
4:00 - head home. This can not come fast enough. I can't wait to see my baby!
4:30 - pick up Mason. Kiss his face one million times.
5:00 - arrive home. We unload the car (I think between the three of us we have seven bags everyday, plus a car seat) and I change my clothes as fast as possible. I feed Mason, and I like to avoid getting spit up on my work clothes. Byron starts making dinner for us.
6:00 - we finally have a little "free" time. Free time no longer consists of doing craft projects or watching TV. Instead, we take Mason for a walk, wash dishes and bottles, do laundry, sort mail, read books to Mason, and give him his bath.
8:00 - feed Mason.
9:00 - Mason goes down for the night, and I jump in the shower like a crazy person, then frantically run around the house to help getting lunches made for the next day, pick out clothes, etc.
9:30 - crash.
I can't wait for the weekend, when I might be able to sleep in until 5:30. You can't begin to understand how incredibly lucky I feel that Mason is able to sleep through the night for the most part. I already feel like I'm running on empty, and I can't imagine if an hour or so was taken away from my sleep time each night. But...it's all worth it. I think about Mason all the time, and although I'm surviving being a working mom, if I had the chance to stay home, I would jump at it in a heartbeat. Mason is so precious, and as crazy as things are right now, he has changed our lives for the better in more ways than I can express. We just love him so much!
That said, can you understand why I'm 6 10 (internet was out ALL weekend) days late posting about my goals? Here is the September recap.
1. Read 50 pages. Done! Woo hoo! I read 99. I am so close to finishing this book, I hope I can by the end of October. You know, reading on Saturdays I guess.
2. Lose 5 pounds of baby weight. Um...I would say I lost three, which is better than none. I also bought some bigger clothes. Whatever works.
3. Cross three items off my 30 before 30 list. We all know that this list is in jeopardy, right? I still have the best of intentions, and honestly, a few projects are even in flight, they just aren't finished yet so I have nothing to share. Maybe this will become a 30 by 31 list, or a 30 by 32 list.
4. Create meal plans for at least 4 meals each week. That went really well. I already shared about the first part of the month, and although the second part of the month didn't contain any brilliant new dishes, it still helped to have something planed in advance for each day. October didn't start out quite so well, though, so many of my intentions were lost. I can tell you that our eating habits so far feel a bit elementary - frozen pizza, hot dogs, etc. I repeat to myself - it will get easier, it will get easier.
5. Piece the top of Mason's quilt. I'm about halfway done with
the top. I really enjoy working on it though, so on the weekends, if I'm
not napping in my free time, I look forward to working on it some more.
And I can't wait for Mason to have something made just for him from his
mama.
And
here we are in October, and I'm about to throw you for a large loop. I
have NO goals for October. I thought about making a few for me this
month, but I knew that it would be hard enough to get anything extra
accomplished this month, and it would be even harder to find the time to write
about and photograph them. I would definitely like to continue writing
about my monthly goals, but this will just be my "bye" month.
