Back to Work as Fall Marches On

Some pics from Aiden's friend Molly's bday party at Beech Hill Farm

So I am back to work part time now, trying to ease back into the life of a full-time job. I had planned to work 10 hours/wk for all of September, but am realizing it's a little like sticking your toe into Niagara Falls... once you open that door even a little the torrents come rushing out at you and before you know it you're at 30 hrs/wk. So it goes.

View from Morse Preserve (one of the work sites I've been spending a lot of time at lately). I know, I don't have any right to complain about my work. Especially on gorgeous New England fall days.

Poverty Lane Orchards in Lebanon, NH. This place grows all sorts of strange heirloom apples (pippin, pomme gris, lady, stanley...were some we sampled this weekend while U-picking the regular fall favorites: Macs, Macouns, and Cortlands.)

Sometimes working and juggling all the other family and domestic duties makes me feel like a supermom (when things are getting done and everything is running smoothly) and sometimes it makes me want to collapse on the floor in a heap of useless goo (generally when everything's falling apart, the house is a wreck, and the kids are screaming). On the whole it's going OK though, I think a little easier than last time actually. Haley has adjusted to daycare and is doing well there, and Aiden is loving all of the fall activities at Windy Hill. I'm having flashbacks of when Aiden started daycare at 3 months, and how quickly he got into that endless string of viruses and ear infections that come when you're in a place with dozens of little sticky hands and you have almost no immunity to anything. In a panic attack last week I bought a vaporizer, nasal aspirator, infant saline spray, acetamenophin drops, and a digital thermometer. So at least I'm ready when the s**t hits Haley's fan. I'm hoping it'll hold off another month or so but I realize that isn't likely.

Haley-Doo

Both kids had well-child checkups last week, along with 4 immunizations apiece. NOT a fun time. The appointment(s) took so long and involved so many different doctors and nurses (DHMC is a teaching hospital) that Andy was convinced the whole thing was a psychological experiment in which we were the subjects. Either that or some type of candid camera reality show. Haley is growing like a weed- 12lbs 8oz already which is 89th percentile. Her head has got to be half the size that Aiden's was at this point though! It's somewhere in the 4oth percentile while Aiden's was well off the charts.

On a trip to the bog lately- there's something to see here in every season. The cotton grass was blooming (or "pufferbellies" if you prefer - Aiden does) and Aiden snacked on tart bog cranberries. Tamaracks will turn yellow next!