The ride down was a little rough. When Vince was younger I could put him in his carseat at bedtime and he'd sleep the whole way there. It must be his age, but he slept for about an hour and then woke up and was pretty sad most of the way there. I pulled over for a few minutes and took him out of his seat for a little cuddle time and after that he was able to get some rest after we got moving a bit more. Dan was still out of town doing some chemical training for work Friday night, so when we got to the other house I put Vince in his pack-n-play to sleep and I never heard another peep the whole night.
Saturday morning Vince and I both slept in a little bit and then we had to go get some breakfast at the grocery store because Daddy had ketchup, flat Mountain Dew, and frozen brats at his house. Even Toni Peck (Valerie Hartman's mom is a culinary genius) couldn't make that into a meal. I certainly looked the part of the Southern Illinois housewife as I walked into Tom's Mad Pricer at 7:30 am:
Ponytail: check
sweatshirt: check
sweatpants: check
flipflops: check
pajama-clad baby: check
Yup, I was really lookin good. Somehow I just couldn't bring myself to get us dressed that early on a Saturday. I'm pretty sure the 82 year-old customer and the 19 year-old hungover cashier didn't notice our apparel though. They had more important things on their mind. Plus, as I was checking out, a very pregnant young lady walked in wearing pajama pants, fuzzy slippers, and a handkerchief wrapped around her head.
After Vincent's breakfast and morning nap we went over to the park across the street from our house. It was a gorgeous day out and Vince loved sliding and swinging in his very own park. Daddy pulled up right as we were finishing up and we all had lunch together and got caught up. After Vince's afternoon nap we met Artie and Cathy and Finlay and went to Herrin (a nearby town) for their town carnival. Vince loved watching the rides zip the children around and we actually found some good food from one of the local vendors.
Mommy and Vince after our trip to the carnival.
Sunday we visited a church that Dan has been to one other time. The people were all very welcoming and we really liked that it was so small. It is definitely a different atmosphere from our current church in Normal, but we really liked the intimate atmosphere. We're looking forward to visiting again soon and getting to know more about the staff and the church in general.
After church and lunch Vince and Dan slept for quite a while and I made use of the beautiful day and got some sun in our driveway. Then we met up with the Kunz family again and went to a strawberry patch nearby. We had a great time (see below). Vince helped Daddy with his row and I had my own row. Every time Dan handed Vince a strawberry to give to me, Vince would squish it in his little paw. Here are some cute pics from the strawberry patch, courtesy of Cathy Kunz.
Severe weather moved in shortly after our excursion, forcing us to eat inside instead of out on Art and Cathy's lovely screened porch. It rained the rest of the evening and most of the next day. Monday the 3 of us had lunch at Lone Star and then explored the Carbondale mall just to be out of the house for a while.
It was a lovely visit and we just wished we could have stayed there longer (like for good), but somebody had to go home and take care of Bosley. My mom stayed at the house with him all weekend. She's so great!!! I'm pretty sure he got plenty of cuddle time with Grandma. I think he was missing her Tuesday night when I got back and chaos was restored to the primary Ripley residence.
Vincent has really started to become a miniature person and not just a baby anymore. Just in the last 2 weeks he seems to have grown up so much. He now claps for himself; he said, "Mama" (by accident of course); he has discovered the thrill of standing for several seconds on his own; he lets go of whatever he is standing closest to and purposely falls backward over and over because he loves it when someone catches him (see video illustration below). He gives hugs (see post on visiting the Hartmans), and he just generally loves being a big, independent boy. I can't believe how old he seems when I just brought him home from the hospital a few weeks ago...wait. That was almost a year ago. It's not that I didn't believe it when everyone said "it goes so fast!" I wasn't naive enough to believe that my parenting experience would linger, but this first year really seems to have flown by; now I'm just bracing myself for the toddler stage. At least we won't be long without a baby in the house.
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