month 5: the bubble
this month on the little dream farm
Dear one…how are you? Here we meet at the very end of May.
Writing this month’s Farm Note to you in bed with one hand while our little one sleeps soundly scrunched up on my chest. I can’t stop smelling his hair!
For me, the newborn bubble has been complete bliss—I’ve been loving and soaking up and trying to savor every single moment. It is absolute pure joy in the most wonderful and even unexpected ways.
Our baby boy is seven weeks old this week and yet it feels like he was just born. Happy to report that we’re doing great—he’s amazing, I’m feeling great, and Chris and I are enjoying being brand new and first time parents and our little family of three.
If you’ve hung around with us a long time you likely know we were happy with our decision not to have kids and I’d really made peace with that choice, even though Chris and I had always kept the conversation on the table and we checked in and talked about it constantly and left our choice open ended between the two of us. To everyone else we kept saying we were not planning on having kids and we found that helped us be left alone about the topic as the years went on.
Being on the other side of our decision and now that our son is in my arms, all I keep saying and thinking is I’m so glad we didn’t miss this. I was wildly happy with my life and I’m so grateful Chris and I had about a decade together just the two of us. Now, I’m wildly happy in a completely different way, and it is far better and deeper and sweeter and more meaningful and impactful than anything I’ve ever felt before.
I’ve got to tell you—the only thing on my mind and the only thing I care about right now is this precious baby and being his mommy. But I imagine you know this. In thinking about this Farm Note earlier in the week I wondered…do I have anything or care to share anything else?!
In May there’s a million things to tell you about because there’s just so much happening and coming to life.
Of course, this year’s farm endeavors are looking a bit different for us as we navigate having a newborn at the start of the growing season and wanting to shift the way we do things around here to prioritize our time and attention on him.
We’ve scaled back as much as we could—anything that we don’t need to be doing, we’re not, and anything that we can offload, make easier or more efficient, outsource or ask for help with, we are.
I’m feeling well and recovered enough these last two weeks to have gotten out to the Dahlia Patch to get all the tubers planted. Thankfully, Chris tagged in for that big task and we got it done in just a few hours. My sister was in town visiting recently and she put in several hours of help with the setup of the patch—laying landscape fabric and getting the patch ready for planting. We were so fortunate to have her extra set of hands and effort.
The only two things we’ve got left to do with the dahlias is lay some drip irrigation and hang some solar festoon lights in the next day or two. Then we wait for them to bloom!
In the Big Garden, this week Chris and I planted our fruits and veggies for the year after taking our baby boy to our favorite farm for fruit and vegetable starts. We managed to get everything planted in between naps and we’re looking forward to watching this year’s garden flourish and spending time with him in the garden out in the sunshine.
I’ve slowly returned to taking on more of my regular farm chores like feeding the donkeys and changing their water buckets and scooping their poop. I’m also back to mowing and weed whacking and weeding and planting. The recovery feels fast and slow all at the same time.
I’ve given my body time to completely rest and heal these last seven weeks and plan to get back to some slow and easy workouts and more deliberate and intentional movement in the week ahead. I’m coming out of this pregnancy feeling really well nourished, and while my body feels soft and different, I feel so much stronger in different ways now. I’ve genuinely enjoyed this time off to rest and recover while enjoying snuggling my sweet little boy, and now I’m also ready to begin moving again.
The donkeys are doing great and they’re eager to get out onto their pasture. This year we got grazing muzzles for both of them so that Molly-Max doesn’t eat too much grass and go lame, and so that Dominic doesn’t eat too much grass in general since he always tends to be on the heavier side.
The donkeys have met the baby and they’re both very curious about him and very sweet and gentle with him! It’s the absolute best!
Our one remaining hen, Rosie, stays close to us and hangs out on the porch and around the house most the day. We find her hanging out with the donkeys, too.
And all seven cats have decided they’re totally cool with a baby in the house. They just don’t much care about him at all and have been keeping on in their normal Furmers fashion.
All in all, we’re doing much of the same things as we have in the past here on the farm, just at a smaller and different and more spread out scale.
Chris delayed his paternity leave so that he could take it once I was fully recovered and able to start doing more day to day. So in a few weeks he’ll have some extended time off and we’re really looking forward to some small and simple adventure days as a family of three. I’m just now sitting down these last few days to dream up some possibilities for us and can’t wait to have uninterrupted time together.
I’ve loved and am cherishing these newborn days filled with so much snuggling and so much sweetness. I so badly wish I could pause time and live in this moment forever. Every day I feel so intensely that this is the happiest I’ve ever been and I’m also sad that this phase and these days are so fleeting. I know, though, that I’ll look back on this time and forever be grateful that I was fully present in this moment and that I’ve been soaking up absolutely every bit of being a new mom with a newborn.
I’m in heaven.
We are living inside of the life of our dreams and these are the good old days.
That about does it from me for now.
Come back next month so I can tell you about all the adventures we get into in these coming weeks!
Until next time…I’m sending you love and hugs from all of us here on the Little Dream Farm and reminding you that one of the coolest things about life is that when you look for the good in your life you tend to find lots more of it.
Happy good hunting!
We’ll catch you back here on Sunday, June 28th.
What do you say we check out a few recent favorites??
I’m finishing reading this book for book club this week and liking it so far.
Just ordered this matching set for summer.
Drinking this decaf mixed with about 25% of this regular coffee. We’ve weaned ourselves away from caffeine the last four years and it was one of the better things I’ve done for my health.
Using this clean ingredient detangler spray out of the shower when I comb through my hair and find I have far less loss as I brush through my long hair.
Ordered this swimsuit top and these swimsuit bottoms as my first mom bathing suit and love how flattering it is and how beautiful my body feels in this!
So nice to read how wonderful you and all at the Little Dream Farm are doing !❤️
I’m so happy for you and Chris! Enjoy this wonderful time with your little one.