Weekends go too fast

   
 Sometimes I feel sooo lame on the weekends. I mean, I am 28 years old, and on Friday night we went to bed at like…9:30. A few weeks ago Nick wanted to go out with me and Red to watch the Patriots game and when he told me it started at 8 I was like…will I be awake at 8? I can’t be sure. We didn’t go. Because 8 was just too late.  

    
 It’s embarrassing. But Nick works a lot, and being a mom (along with my other out of home activities) is exhausting, even when your baby is generally easy and generally sleeps all night. You mommies out there with the bad sleepers and long criers? You are all super women. Seriously. 

  
    
 Anyway. This past Friday we made margaritas and sipped them after Red went down while watching a movie about J.K. Rowling (wild, I know.) I wore that ultra cozy look above all day and felt like I was in my pajamas BUT WASNT so that’s a success. 

Sunday I edged it up a little with a leather jacket and we went to The Thirsty Moose to watch football. They have my favorite cider on tap there (Down East cider) along with about a million beers, and we split a calzone and the Patriots won and Redmond enjoyed himself immensely so yeah, it was a great day. And yes, we were in bed by 8.  

  
One more of Nick teaching Redmond some football tactics.

Grey cardigan c/o Bae the Label

Black dress c/o Bae the Label

Both maternity and post baby suitable (the best)

  

Redmond John

 Eleven weeks old. My infant is eleven weeks old. Eleven weeks ago I was just a giant belly and now my whole heart and being are wrapped up in this precious child. 

Redmond is such a joy. He is a joy to us, to his grandparents, to his auntie and cousin (as they are to us). He is full of smiles, and when I pick him up from his crib in the morning and he grins and coos at me, I want to cry it makes me so happy. He is generous with those smiles and will give them to the old women at the gym that come to say hello to him, to the children next door that run to greet us when we get home. He is so talkative and discovers new sounds every day that he experiments with. Little gurgles and squeals and pops and I am thrilled by each one. 

    
  He sleeps in his crib in his bedroom, and is amazing at falling asleep and staying asleep. We put him down between 8:30 and 9:00 and he sleeps typically for 7-8 hours. When he wakes up, he nurses for 15 minutes and then goes right back to sleep. It is an amazing thing to sleep well again, and we are lucky and I hope it lasts.

He is already 14.5 pounds, and over 2 feet long. He’s growing out of all his 3-6 month clothing and shows no sign of slowing down even though I desperately want him to. I want him to stay little, for him to never lose that look of love when he stares up at me, for his little hands to always grip mine, for him to always nuzzle his head into my neck. 

  
 He started laughing this week. It is magical. When nick comes home from work, we have play time together and Redmond laughs hysterically when his daddy zooms him around and tickles his cheeks. I laugh hysterically too because there is nothing better than watching your baby discover joy.  

 He is strong, and easy going and generally only fussy when he bypasses his long naps and opts for cat naps. He’s easy to take places, and likes to people watch at restaurants and stores. He loves his cousin and wants to watch her everywhere she toddles. He thinks everything she does is hilarious, and I’m so glad he’s already building a bond with her, since they are only one year and two days apart (to be precise). 

When he is upset he sticks his bottom lip out in the most perfect and exaggerated pout and it is adorable. He does it in his sleep sometimes.

He loves to have books read to him (Hippos go Berserk is his current favorite) and to listen to songs sung to him. He likes sucking on his fingers and his clothes and anything else he can manage.

We love him. That is all. 

Adorable legging c/o Vanilla Bean Handmade

Hey mama shirt c/o Teddy and Bear Prints

Denim top Old Navy 

Hey Bae Bae

   
 So, it’s freezing today. Like frost on the car, dead tomato plants, see your breath cold. Because, oh yeah, we live in Maine. And Maine  is freezing. 

Last week it was a lot warmer and my sister and I took our babies to the pumpkin patch to choose our jack-o-lanterns. I always want to carve one, and my skills never improve but it’s worth it because crunching through the patch was wonderful, and smelling the wafting scent of apple cider donuts amped it to the NEXT level. Obvi if I had been clutching a pumpkin spice latte (omg omg) then THAT would have been the epitome. But some of us are on a coffee budget.  

   
   
 I got a hair cut last week after helming and hawing over it for like five months…but I figured that eventually my hair will start shedding due to being post baby so I just took the plunge. And I’m loving it. I have been rapid fire pinning hairstyle to do with short hair on Pinterest. 

    

I know Red looks mad here but it’s just because he is exploring the world of fake crying, and this mama ignores those shenanigans. 

 I bought almost no maternity clothing while pregnant because I didn’t want to have a bunch of clothing I couldn’t use anymore post baby. So, I really loved finding pieces that could work post pregnant as well. This dress and cardigan from the new maternity company Bae the label are still super cute without a baby bump and the fabric is so soft it’s insane. Perfect for a mild fall day. 

Dress and Cardigan c/o Bae the label

Columbus Day in New England

  
Last year, Nick and I had a romantic weekend hiking and eating our way through winter island and bar harbor in Maine. This year, Columbus Day weekend was a bit more low key (and low budget) with a relaxing trip to visit family. It was perfect. I was able to take super long showers while my mother in law watched Redmond, and we ate high on the hog for every meal at nicks parents and my aunts. We also maintained our (now) tradition of a foliage filled hike at Mount Watatic. We went with the family and a crew of dogs, and it was amazing. The air was perfectly crisp but not too cold. The trail was not overcrowded, and the view from the top was pristine.  

 New England is almost achingly pretty during the autumn and I feel lucky to be inundated with the brilliant colors as the trees turn. The mornings are darker, the days are shorter, but my baby boy is a snuggle bug and I have been baking like crazy so it’s all right by me. 

    
 It was Reds first real hike (we walk a woods trail regularly but it doesn’t count) and he loved it. He slept some and watched some and was an all around darling baby. 

    

  

   

I have been back to the gym the past few weeks, and it can be discouraging some days because my abs are weaker, and I still have to be careful about impact due to my troubles with mastitis. And my tummy isn’t like it used to be yet, and most days I don’t care but sometimes I do. It’s all a process, and I remind myself often that my body created this precious child of mine and that is in itself miraculous. It’s hard to believe it’s been ten whole weeks since our family became one of three. The most beautiful, fascinating, overwhelming, magical ten weeks of my life. I wouldn’t trade it to go back to my flat stomach. Not in a million years.  

  

Apple and Apple Cake and the Apple of my Eye

   
First off, oh my goodness this weekend was like a fresh breath of air down my air starved lungs. Having Nick home, having coffee dates and lunch dates with friends, having slow mornings with my baby and husband…fan-flipping-tastic. Also the ridiculously beautiful autumn weather helped.

   
 
  But I will say I loved spending so much time with my sister over our long, mostly solo week. She and I fought a lot growing up. I’m five and a half years older than her, and since my mom was sick for most her life (my sisters life that is) and passed away when she was only twelve, I was super bossy and smothering towards my baby sister. But now we are both moms and live within a half hour of each other and we get along great. It’s amazing to have someone to talk to about the weirdness of being a mom and , should my baby have green poo right at this moment? And will he ever stop nursing every second? (I jest? But somedays it feels like all he does is eat off his mama-moo-cow.) Its a blessing to have a sister. And a niece that I could not love more if I tried. 

Anyway, we hit the apple orchard together, my sister made this deliriously tasty applesauce (recipe to come maybe if I have all the energy to make my own batch and photograph   it. Because I may just end up eating all the apples with peanut butter while nursing my huge baby and watching Ms. Fishers murder mysteries LIKE YOU DO. No? Just me?) and with the applesauce I made a Better For You applesauce cake.  

    
 Simply Applesauce Cake

 2 1/2 cups flour (I mixed cake flour and all purpose)

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 ts. Baking soda

1/4 ts. Baking powder

Healthy pinch of sea salt

1 ts. Cinnamon

1/2 ts. Nutmeg

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

2 tbs molasses 

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup water

1 3/4 cups applesauce 

2 eggs.

Combine wet ingredients and then stir in the dry. Pour into a 9/9 baking dish and bake at 350 for about 50 minutes. Top with additional applesauce if you want it like I did. 

And to end this: the apple of my eye. 

 

Sling carrier c/o Joho baby

Reds outfit: sweater/hat, old navy

Leggings: target

Days with Baby

 

This past Saturday was my first (half) day away from Red. My first time  pumping in the car, and his first time solo with daddy for more than an hour or two. Luckily he loves his dad and they were happy as clams. I came home to a clean house, washed laundry, and a cheerful baby. I’m a lucky woman. 
But I was thrilled to bundle him onto me when I got home and go for a cool, early autumn stroll. He falls asleep upon contact with this wrap right now. Personally, I love that it looks great with a fall outfit…

 


 I’ve been on my own this week, with my husband away of a field trip with school. He’s been missing us so much, and I’ve  been counting down to his return. I’ve also been attempting to establish some sort of nap routine with Red…not easy. He is a PRO (right now) at his bedtime routine and falls asleep on his own and sleeps about 6.5 hours straight with just one night nurse before I wake up. But naps he struggles with. He rarely takes one longer than an hour. Any tips? 

 Anyway, Nick comes home in a half hour and we are going on a family date to our favorite pizza place. Granted I’m in my gym clothes with a baby sleeping on me right now but I’ll pull it together. 

Outfit: all old 

Ring sling c/o Joho baby