A Farm Wife & Her Baby

I've held a baby in many unique situations.

Once I discovered slings and wraps, I had many more opportunities to hold/wear my baby

in both mundane and unique situations.

Today (the day before our big show day)

I broadened my own horizons.

What could that be?

Wearing the baby while mowing lawn?  Nope.  Done that.

Wear the baby while in the lake with the other kids?  Nope.  That I've done many times, too.

Hmmmmm.  

Wear the baby in the store, at the library, at church, at the park, at home, doing dishes, cooking meals, while hanging out the laundry, going for walks, to the zoo, around the grounds at the county and state fair--all those  I've done.

But this---this was new even for me.

Elizabeth hung out on my back while I washed up some of our cattle at the fair.

While this is from an angle that is clearly not my best side,

you can see that she was quite content--she was sleeping (I think) when Dennis took this picture.

(Some of you might ask "Wait a minute--aren't these your kids' projects?  Why are YOU washing them?"

The answer to that would be that we have 13 calves up there and 5 kids that are showing.  We all need to pitch in together to get it all done in time!)

I know I've heard at least ten times,

"Look--there's a baby in there!"

as someone passes by.

It makes me smile.

Elizabeth babbles and coos behind me and "talks" to people who approach us

and that makes me smile, too!

I'm glad that people are able to see that babies don't always need to be carted around in strollers--they can stay pretty close to Mom and she can do pretty much anything!

(disclaimer:  I'm not knocking strollers. They serve a purpose, to be sure.  In situations like this, however, they just plain get in the way of what needs to be done.)