Possibly My New Favorite Season

After a long, cold winter I welcome spring with its colors, life and warmth! The smell of freshly cut grass, the purple blooms of wisteria, the wind whipping through the clothes on the line, yellow butterflies dancing, afternoon walks in the sun, the farm teeming with new life, I am in love.  This being Adah's first spring, I think I am more aware of its beauty.  She is getting to experience this for the first time and I feel I am too.  Yesterday was the first day I got to hang the clothes on the line and it was so sweet having baby clothes mixed in with mine and Kyle's.  Adah joined me in the baby carrier, strapped to me, looking up and smiling while I enjoyed the sun and breeze slowly putting up all our clothes.  My hope is to use the clothesline as much as possible but I am oh so thankful for our dryer on days when hanging clothes on the line seems impossible or even dreadful.  After yesterday I am wondering if it could ever be dreadful, but I know better, those days will come.  Happy Spring y'all!

Snowball is very curious of Adah.  I am no cat person and I do not trust them for a second.  Right after this was snapped I chased her off! Doesn't she look like she is about to pounce in the stroller?!

The greenhouse is overflowing with the hopes of veggies to come! It is so dang exciting! Kyle and Chris have a LOT of planting ahead of them.

Thankfully Adah enjoys walks in the stroller the majority of the time.  I am loving getting to dress her in short sleeve onesies and little dresses! It is so sweet getting to see her arms and legs!

One of Kyle's dreams since he was a boy came true for his 24th birthday, he got a remote control airplane! Thanks to family and friends all going in on the gift we were able to surprise him with this plane (which is huge, and so much bigger than the tiny thing I pictured!).  He has so enjoyed getting to fly it around the farm during warm (non windy) days.  And it is quite entertaining to watch him fly it too!

Sunset Farms has its first crop of blackberries coming this year!  Each plant has had to be pruned and trellised.  I wish I had some before pictures, they look so good now!

This is Harlon, Jamie and Chris' youngest son.  He is awesome.  Adah and my walks usually include a tromp through the farm to the Murray's house for a little visit.  Harlon says Adah's name so well and he gives the best hugs and he loves to just run around or "go, go, go" as he calls it.

Sweet frozen banana face!

Sweet Eston, their eldest son, enjoying the hammock.

The farm guard dogs, Sali and Belle.  I always hope they will see me and come barking and running and walk alongside me for part of the walk home.  Isn't this a great accidental shot of Sali's tongue?!

More Than Milk

Last week Adah had her first experience with the taste of real food.  We mashed up a bit of avocado, added some breastmilk to make it nice and pureed and enjoyed watching her try to figure out what to do with the green mush.  She seemed confused at first like, what is happening right now?? She made some pretty great faces and I think she may have actually swallowed a bit of it! It is crazy how messy it got.  Without careful watch and restraint Adah was able to get one and then two whole fists in her mouth and have them both covered in green in a matter of seconds!  We are having a lot of fun feeding her and I am excited about introducing new foods to her.  Pretty soon she will get to experience the joy and deliciousness of sweet potatoes, bananas, apple sauce and whatever else we can come up with!  It is an excited new world for sweet Adah Lynn.

Weekend at Topsail

We went to Topsail last weekend and we got to walk on the beach, visit with friends and family, enjoy farm food away from home, watch movies and Kyle got to surf, what more could we ask for?! This was Adah's second time to the beach and her first time to Topsail which we were quite excited about.  Traveling the 3 hours in the car has definitely gotten trickier as she has gotten older. It was rough.  Think traffic, stressed out dad, screaming baby, and sad momma acting a fool trying to make baby smile!  But I must say it was worth it.  

Adah's nightly baths were in the kitchen sink which was like a jacuzzi to her!

I am not sure if Adah or Grandma was more happy to hang out together! 

There weren't really any waves but Kyle enjoyed just getting in the water and riding whatever he could.  There were dolphins right nearby but they were a little camera shy!

Adah and Ginger had some good bonding time.  

Bathtime Sweetness

For a while we have had a great bathtime/bedtime routine that has really been working for Adah to sleep well at night and for Kyle and I to have a game plan for putting her to bed.  Adah gets pretty fussy in the evening hours but whenever we put her in the bathtub her whining stops and she gets calm and relaxed.  Sometimes she will start "talking" a ton or kicking her legs crazily and splashing.  One night she was being so sweet with Kyle, having some intense eye contact and just had lots to tell him, that I had to take some pictures!

We are getting pretty excited for spring with its warm weather and new crops.  I have been so thankful for sweet potatoes, kale, collards and carrots this winter but I am getting excited for some new stuff to spice up our meals!  Kyle planted some kiwi seeds a while back and one of them has sprouted! Did you know you could grow kiwis in these parts?! We are pumped about it and hope to have a beautiful kiwi vine in the future.  Happy March everyone!