splendid (splendid) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-10-23 11:29:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, emma swan, splendid angharad |
Who: Splendid and Emma
What: Meeting at the ranch
When: [backdated] Early October
Where: The ranch
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
The ranch had become one of Splendid's favorite places to go. The girls that she worked with were making progress each time she came to talk to them, and she was grateful that she'd been given the opportunity to be able to share her personal experience with them and that they could share with her as well.
She'd finished up with the girls already. It'd been a good day, lots of progress made and she was ready to get out to the barn to spend some time with the horses. Well, Lady specifically. She'd grown attached to the older mare, and each time she came to the barn she opted to spend more time with her than the other horses inside.
Splendid hummed softly as she made her way to the barn, and she slipped into the side door. She heard some of the horses wicker softly, a few others snorted and pawed at the ground of their stalls. Splendid patted one or two that stuck their heads out, but she headed directly toward Lady's stall. The mare stuck her head out, neighing at her and she reached out to smooth a hand over her neck. "Hey girl, how are you doing today?" She kept petting her, feeling the tension that had built up in her body slowly leaving.
Emma’s affinity for horses had started when she was young. Not the usual ‘I want a pony’ sort of childhood young, but still while she was finding herself, after she’d given her son up for adoption, on the risk of slipping back towards dangerous friends, her ranch hand job had kept her afloat. And Emma’s love of horses only grew with time.
Now, having the best of both worlds, Emma was slowly starting to get back towards helping out at the ranch, with Niko being cared for by his father for a short while and Emma sneaking off to tend some of her horses -they didn’t need to belong to her for Emma to really feel that connection to them.
Walking one of the younger females back into the stable after a bath and mane care, Emma was only a little surprised at the blond female doting somewhat on Lady. She’d been on maternity leave for a while now, it only made sense that there were some people she wouldn’t recognise. It did make her stop the conversation she was having with Acer so that she didn’t come across as entirely strange. “Hey, sorry. I didn’t know if anyone was minding the stalls today.” And Emma hadn’t been looking to step on any toes.
Horses had been a part of Splendid's life at one point and time. Her parents had saw fit to sign her up for lessons when she was younger, however, she hadn't taken to it as well as she had playing the piano. It wasn't that she didn't like horses, it was obvious that she did, but she'd been more natural at playing the piano than she had been riding.
Splendid turned toward the sound of the woman's voice, a light smile tugging up the corners of her lips. "Oh, I wasn't. I just came to see this little Lady for a few minutes before I headed home." She kept stroking her hand down the side of Lady's neck.
Splendid knew who the other woman was only because she'd seen photos of her before in hers and Neal's home. It was, however, understandable that Emma didn't know who she was considering they'd never properly met. Taking a step back away from Lady, she turned and walked closer to where Emma was. "I'm Splendid, the one that taught Neal how to make homemade baby wipes and the magic butt cream."
“Oh, magic butt cream lady,” Emma grinned as she let Acer shuffle into her stall, “you’ve been a lifesaver, that stuff is awesome.” Emma figured that anyone who knew magic creams for unhappy babies was someone to know. “Sorry, I promise I don’t call you that. Splendid, it’s great to meet you though.”
Neal had pulled out a few tricks with Niko, things he’d picked up from books or people that offered the help from experience, and Emma was sure it was partly Neal being so very hands on, and part of it was just the number of people offering help. “Please feel free to bestow any other tips or tricks you have.” Hey, it wasn’t like Emma or Neal would turn away advice or tips.
"Isn't it though?" Splendid couldn't count the amount of times it'd saved her little man, and she thought that it was definitely worth sharing with other parents. With a laugh, Splendid lifted a hand and gave a dismissive wave, "I didn't think that you did, personally." She grinned over at Emma, "It's nice to meet you as well."
It had taken a lot of trial and error on Splendid's part to figure out what worked and what didn't from various mommy blogs. She hadn't had anyone there in the OC, or otherwise, that she could call up and ask for pointers. Now, however, she'd found several other moms on the network and being able to share things with them had been lovely "Of course, I don't have anything off the top of my head at the moment, but if I think of something I'll let one of you know." She was certain that she'd think up a few things to share. "How is your little man doing?"
“I’ve been pinning a lot, like on Pinterest?” She probably had gotten a little over the top with it all, if she was painfully honest. The tips and ideas, the things to try out. It wasn’t all about little hacks for making taking care of the baby easier, but things like meal ideas for getting him through the spitting everything out stage of solid foods, games to play to keep him active, little tips on interacting with the baby to keep him engaged -although Niko seemed to feel engaged so long as someone was watching him.
“Niko’s doing great though, it’s so hard for me to believe he’s two months old already. Almost three.” Time was flying in already, it felt like last week she was still nine months pregnant and waiting for him to arrive. “He’s slowly moving onto baby foods and he’s just great.” Emma would squish him all day if she could. “Neal never mentioned how old your little one was, what’s his name?”
"There are some good things on there." Splendid agreed with a nod, "Though some aren't...that great or that easy." She had her own share of Pinterest fails, although admittedly she hadn't done too many from the site. Splendid found she liked other websites for recipes, and again there were a few mommy blogs that she followed fairly close. With Valerian, work, volunteering at the ranch and making sure that she had a little bit of a social life cut into her reading time by a bit.
A bright smile tugged up the corners of Splendid's lips, "It will fly by so quickly, and before you know it you'll be asking yourself where the time went." There were days that Splendid found it hard to believe that Valerian was a year old, and now really getting the hang of walking. "That's good!" The pride was evident on Splendid's face when Emma asked about her son, "His name is Valerian. He's a year old now, just starting to really get the hang of walking." He'd been a bit of a late bloomer, but what can you do? "He's getting there though, and it won't be much longer until I can't keep up with him."
“There’s a lot of stuff that I just wouldn’t attempt though,” it was mostly interesting stuff that looked interesting but she just wasn’t over crafty so it was complicated to work out at times. “I’m all fingers and thumbs at the best of times. I like the easy things.” Or stuff that Henry might enjoy helping her with.
“I’m kinda torn though, like, do I want him to grow up fast? Do I want the time to just zoom by to his first birthday or… I dunno, I wanna keep him all small and snuggly forever.” It wasn’t possible, she knew that but god, he was just the sweetest, snuggliest little chubber ever. “Oh, he must be so much fun.” As much as Emma loved her snuggles, having a little one that was a touch more active or interactive must be really enjoyable. She was so very full of contradictions for how much she enjoyed her baby. “How’re his words coming?”
"I do as well. The easier things are the better in my opinion." Besides, easy was important when one had a toddler that was starting to really explore the world around him. Splendid was fine with anything and everything easy, although things were better now that she had help. The girls were godsend, and living with them made life so much easier.
Splendid didn't have to worry half as much about anything now. "The small and snuggly part is grand. I do miss those days." She smiled fondly as she thought of her son, "I think all mothers face that dilemma though." She gave a nod, "He is a lot of fun. He knows mama, and baba. Otherwise he's just babbling a lot, and I mean a lot." It was strange to her to think that her son would be as talkative as he was since he was a quiet baby but it was fine. "When he went for his yearly they said that was typical, but that his vocabulary should expand by the time he's 15 months."
There was a lot to be said for making things easier on yourself, that much was for sure. Especially when there were jobs and other kids in the mix, just easing the transition through caring for the baby was better. “I think if he out grows snuggling into me to sleep, I might start crying.” Although she knew it would come. And maybe by that point she’d be grateful for it, a little independence back. But so far it was all about wrapping herself and Niko up in little blankets and dozing.
“I can’t wait for that stage either, you know I wasn’t a person that gushed about babies before, but now I can’t stop talking about babies, or cooing at them.” She was pretty sure it was her situation -not just being a new mom, but the engagement, the house, the dogs. They were getting their perfect little end to things really. “I probably bore people to death.” A small beep went off from Emma’s watch, bringing her attention down towards it. “And that’s my cue to relieve Niko’s dad of baby snuggle time.”
Splendid offered a knowing smile. She could understand that all too well. Up until Valerian was in her arms she'd been uncertain about her life, about the future and what she was really going to do. Splendid was grateful, however, for the choices she'd made. Her life would've been incomplete without her little man.
"I probably do the same thing to be honest." Valerian was Splendid's life, so she was fairly certain that she too bored people to death with all of her talk about him. With a laugh, Splendid gave a nod. "Understandable. I hope you enjoy your snuggles with your little man. I think I'll take Lady out for a groom then head home myself."
“You feel free to stop by whenever, okay? And maybe we could meet up another time, with our boys. Have a mommy and babies day.” Since Emma was expanding her social circle just a little, and Splendid seemed like a really lovely person, and if she had little tricks for the babies it was all the more reason to get to know her properly too.