Garden Time

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you may recall my talent and ability for gardening.  Every year people beg to receive shipments of my produce but I have to turn them away by the dozens.  "I just don't have the time to sustain such high demand."  I politely tell them.  Uhhh, not really.

By the second month or so my garden is usually taken over by weeds.  The produce, if I can find it, is mediocre at best.  The squash I planted on year one spontaneously combusted and my tomato plants from year 2 produced mutant dwarf tomatoes.  I like trying to grow things, but I lack the perseverance to get out there and pull weeds, water the plants, and research natural pesticides.   However, I usually have good luck with growing basil, which happens to be my favorite herb, mint (who can't grow that??), and I have a strawberry plant that has been clinging to life from year one, that little miracle.  Everything else usually proves to be a toss up.  For example, one year I had bell pepper and jalapeno pepper plants that produced well into fall with no care whatsoever and last year my cucumbers went nuts producing fruit like crazy.  Pure luck. No skill.

With that being said, I am giving it another go.  This year we are planting tomatoes (heirloom and roma), bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, basil, rosemary, mint, and thyme (and the strawberry plant that keeps coming back).  I figured I'd go with that works and try tomatoes again because, after all, what is a garden with no tomatoes (dead or alive)?

So, this past Monday my dad came over innocently bringing us pancakes and unknowingly walking into a trap of plant shopping and garden preparation.  He helped me pick out new cushions for the patio furniture, plants for the patio, and garden supplies.  Then he hoed the weeds out of the whole garden and some of the other beds. I just watched.  Thanks Dad.  Just kidding.  Dad did do all the work, but I had to make another trip to exchange patio cushions and while I was working on that Dad did everything else.  So, the garden is ready for planting but I am waiting on these cold nights to go away before I put them in the ground.  Right now, they are all living in the wagon and being carted in and outside as needed per the weather.  I might have jumped the gun a bit, but Monday was so pretty it just seemed like the right thing to do.

 As you can tell by the pictures, particularly the one below,  Mason has inherited my green thumb and my fashion sense (cowboy boots with gym shorts, of course).  He LOVED pulling the plants around in the wagon, stopping periodically to unload and reload them about twenty times.  You better not even think about touching HIS plants either because he is quite particular about where they go.  If I tried to move one from the wagon to the garden he would say "stop!!" or "no  no no!" He was also a huge help with the weeding as you will see in the video at the end of this post.

This is his weeding stance.

This is his midmorning snack recovered from the sandbox.  It used to be an apple.

On Tuesday of last week Mason came down with a rash which turned out to be Hand Foot and Mouth Disease.  This is the second time that he has had it and I have no clue where he picked it up.  Thankfully, no one else has caught it (yet) that I know of.  Other than the sores in the obvious locations,  you really wouldn't know he has been sick other than being a bit more fussy than normal.  He has been a trooper and thankfully it all seems to be going away but unfortunately, it looks like it may be closely followed by a cold. Sickness go away!!!

On Thursday of this week I started having contractions while I was at work and ended up having to have a shot to stop them.  They were just braxton hicks but they were coming so frequently I called to make sure that everything was ok.  To my surprise the nurse said "How soon can you be here?" when I was expecting her to say "Oh, that's normal." So, I had to leave work and leave the other pharmacist by herself and I hated that, but better safe than sorry.  Thankfully, everything is fine! Baby looked great!  The doctor sent me to the hospital for the shot and monitoring and said he might have to put me on some medication if these contractions keep up.  We'll see.  On the up side, it turns out I am 29 weeks pregnant when I thought I was only 28.  It is amazing how fast the time flies with the second baby as compared to the first.

All of that to say that Mason was sick, I was having to take it easy and the icing on the cake was that Ben had come down with cold and flu symptoms the day before and was feeling really bad.  So, we were a pretty puny bunch all weekend.  My parents came over on Saturday and mom helped me get groceries and cleaning supplies I needed and then single handedly over-hauled the new baby's room and Mason's room in only 2 hours while I went in to work for a bit. I came home to find the daunting task I had been dreading was already done.  What a relief!  I can't tell you how much better I feel now that that is done.  If I can just find a place to put the junk lining my hallway then I will be good to go!  I should probably get on that....

Since Mason was sick, he did not get to participate in our Lifegroup Easter Egg hunt for the kiddos yesterday.  I was so sad he had to miss out but he had a big time playing at Mom and Dad's.  He had been asking to go to "Nana's house" and Cara was passing through so she got to spend some time with him too!  (She texted me the photo above.)  After Ben and I left Lifegroup (we were in charge of cooking dinner and had already bought everything for it) we took some eggs over to mom and dad's and let Mason hunt for them.  He loved it and kept saying "more" after every one that he found.  Then after he found all the eggs, he hoarded them and refused to let anyone else touch them unless they were helping get the candy out of them.  We couldn't even re-hide them.  My dad kept asking Mason if he could have an egg and Mason would say no.  So we told him that he should share with BopBop. Mason's response, "No share BopBop!"

Speaking of candy in the eggs.... Mason's daddy filled them up good.  We bought some Jelly Beans at Costco and I had purchased some little Reese's eggs to go in them thinking one Reese's egg or a few Jelly Beans per egg would be plenty.  However, upon opening them (after taking the tape off) I discovered them packed full of Peanut M and M's, multiple Reese's eggs, or Reese's eggs and Jelly Beans combined.  We all got a good laugh about that because Ben is famous for his love of sweets.  Our friends from Lifegroup are always sending him home with their leftover desserts or candy.  Just last night he got half a bag of Snickers and half a bag Reese Cups without even asking.  Everyone is like, "Here Ben, I know you will eat this." He never complains.

This is a picture I took of our friend's baby, Eli.  They had me take some newborn photos of him and I was honored but quite hesitant to do so because that is sort of important and I was afraid I would mess them up or something due to lack of experience.  For some reason they trusted me with the task and I worked on finishing them up over the weekend when I was trying to just take it easy.  I really love taking pictures and I learn a lot with every new shoot, but I am basically winging it and teaching myself as I go.  I tried to take some newborn shots of Mason but after the c-section, trying to pose a newborn and take photos in the first week of his life with me recovering from surgery and having a new baby was kind of crazy (who knew?).   That being said, I have no idea what I will do this time around.  I may be crazy enough to attempt it again now that I have a tiny bit more experience.  

And here is the video of Mason helping in the garden....

I am hoping to post our egg dying experience soon!

Spring is Springing

Well, I wouldn't say that Spring has sprung, but it is definitely getting here!!  I am loving this weather.  You know I already made my seasonal trip to Bath and Body Works to stock up on the new Spring candle scents.  Those candles are the best and I am constantly burning one or four.  Ben says he doesn't know what scent is what because he is smelling them all at the same time.  I can't help it.  There is nothing like a burning candle that makes the house feel clean(er) and cozy. 

Mason and I have been spending a lot of time outside these last few days.  Mason especially loves relaxing in the hammock and blowing bubbles. I made the mistake of telling him we would blow bubbles without realizing our bubble wand was MIA.  I searched hi and low and after Mason asked for "boobles" about 50 times I borrowed a wand from Kellie who conveniently lives down the street.  Day saved.  The last time I remember seeing our wand, it was being used as a spoon to stir leaves and flower petals or riding in the back of Mason's truck.

Mason recently had a growth spurt and I one day realized that most of his pants and sleeves were too short.  So, after the B and B-works candle spree, my mom and I thought we'd drop by The Gap to see what their 40% off sale was all about.  Jack. Pot.  They actually had some cute boy stuff that didn't have skulls and crossbones and pictures of glittery guitars on it!!! Mom loaded the boy (and baby #2) up! Mason was carried away with his new stuff and would go to the bag and pull out the clothes and ask me to take the tags off.  The bright orange shoes, pictured below, are his favorite.

Oh, and we have progressed (or regressed, depending on how you look at it) to wanting to carry not one, but two bunnies now.  They are supposed to take turns going places and being washed etc, but Mason now asks for them both.  I am just glad that he hasn't realized there are three of them.

I keep having weird dreams about the baby coming.  Twice I have dreamed that the baby was born but I forgot about it and realized like a day later that I hadn't even fed him.   Last night I dreamed that I was playing roller hockey (hockey on roller skates) right after the c-section.  I remember thinking, "Maybe I should be recovering and not playing hockey.  If I keep playing hockey, no one will believe that I had a c-section.  Then, when I got home where my parents had been keeping the new baby all day while I played hockey, I realized I hadn't fed him at all and I couldn't even remember being in the hospital.  I asked my mom when the baby ate last and she couldn't remember.  Then I got mad at her for not keeping up with it and started feeling guilty for playing so much hockey.  What in the world?? At least if I am dreaming, that means I am sleeping - which I don't feel like I've been doing much of lately.

My body and my eyes keep telling me to sleep during the day when Mason naps, but my brain keeps telling me to keep going.  Sleep is a waste of time when there is so much to be done.  And speaking of things to be done, I found another great iPhone app to help keep our family organized and on top of tasks. It is called Cozi.  Ben and I can sync our accounts together and we can both see shopping lists, To Do Lists, calendars, etc.  It is awesome and free!!  So, between EEBA and Cozi, we are on a roll with the budget and organization.  Thank you, iPhone.

I am about to have to work the weekend and I wish I could be home cleaning out and getting ready for the baby.  The last weekend I worked (I think)  I was serenaded by a crazy man who wanted to sing me one of "his songs" since I loaned him $1.33 to purchase items to make a t-shirt.  He said he was going to make me a t-shirt that he designed but he didn't want to wait in the line (too long) to buy the stuff (I guess he was just going to walk out with the items like everyone else does) so he wanted to sing me one of "his songs" (which was a rap) instead.  Even though I insisted that it was unnecessary, he stood right there at the pharmacy counter in front of all the customers and rapped to me.  Not at all awkward or weird.  We'll see how this weekend goes....

Baby #2

I realized that in all the craziness I haven't written much about baby #2.  I could kick myself for not writing more about my pregnancy and first few weeks after Mason was born and I don't want to miss out this time around.  So, the following post is more for my memory and future reference.

It is hard for me to believe that I am already 26 weeks into this pregnancy.  It is flying by so much faster than with Mason.  When we we found out that we were expecting on October 4th, June seemed so far away!  I originally thought that my due date was going to be June 2nd, but when I went for my first ultrasound they informed me that the due date was actually June 17th.  That would have been slightly disappointing seeing as I thought I was close to the end of the first trimester but the fact that June 17th is my mom's birthday made it better.

Since I was having bladder issues, that eventually landed me in the ER on Christmas Eve morning, I had to have a couple of extra ultrasounds.  The 13 week ultrasound pictured below is when I first thought, "this is probably a boy."  Reason being that he, at only 13 weeks, was kicking up against the side of the sac and stretching his legs out.  I thought that was so funny and also amazing.  We had to quit looking at him to check on the bladder and when we came back to see what he was doing, like 1 minute later, he had turned upside down and gone to sleep.  This cracked me up and I just thought that was a very "boy" thing to do, playing hard one minute and sound asleep the next.  I remember thinking, "Yep, this is probably a boy."

Coming up with a name has been much more difficult this time around.  I have multiple friends sending me name suggestions, which I welcome and appreciate.  I do believe that we have narrowed it down but I am not quite ready to say we have made a definite decision.  

As far as pregnancy symptoms go, this one has been very similar to the previous one.  My nausea was a bit more pronounced and frequent but I was rarely sick.  I also had more food aversions this time. (This increased nausea and food aversions is what made me think this could possibly be a girl.) I actually still like coffee this time around (with Mason I could not stand it) and I drink less milk shakes and mochas and eat less french fries (score!).  I love watermelon like I did with Mason and have definitely bought it more this time around.  I have been all about some deli places and cheese dip/nachos.  

I feel like the heartburn started earlier this time around, but it is hard to remember.  I am back to sleeping on four (or more) pillows at night but have not yet resulted to eating tums like candy.  I felt like I have been more tired this time but I credit that to living with a toddler (and probably lack of sleep).  I get short of breath so easily and feel worn out after the smallest thing (like bending down to pick something up).  That has been really frustrating.  I feel like over all I have enjoyed being pregnant more since I know what to expect. I am also much more excited about the baby coming... not that I wasn't excited about Mason getting here, I couldn't wait, but I don't have the apprehension of not knowing what to expect when it comes to the birth, breast feeding, taking care of a newborn etc.  I do wonder what it will be like balancing my time between two.  

I know that Mason is going to be a great big brother.  He loves babies and when he sees the ultrasound pictures he says "baby!" He also prays for baby brother every night before bedtime.  It is so sweet.  I feel like he will be at a great age to have a sibling because he is so busy and plays well by himself.  I am looking forward to the two of them getting to play together one day.  Of course, I am not wishing it to come quickly.  I want for them to both be little as long as possible!  I try to savor every minute because they just go so fast and you can never get them back.  

Speaking of having two, we have decided to leave Mason in his crib as long as possible and let #2 use my old crib from when I was a baby (until Mason is ready for his big boy bed).  That was quite the dilemma in my mind so I feel relieved to have it all resolved.  I knew that surely as I purchased a new crib that Mason would start crawling out of his, but I didn't want to force him out of the crib when he sleeps so good in it and hasn't tried to get out yet! I want to make the transition for Mason as smooth as possible and keep as much of his stuff as I can the same.  So, using an old crib solves that problem and all I have to do is get new baby bedding!  Mason is still using his, obviously.

Here are some swatches that are my favorite so far... I really like muted and softer colors but I also like some of the browns in the second choice. 

I doubt I will use a, but love the other  4. C and D remind me of Mason's.

Not so much a fan of j, h, and d on this one but really like the others.

I have to tread lightly with Ben when it comes to spending money.  I showed him some Pottery Barn Baby bedding that I liked and it was around $350.  This custom bedding (which I prefer) is significantly less, so Ben is on board.  My friend, Kellie, generously made Mason's bedding for me and did an amazing job!  The only problem was that I had a few emotional breakdowns while trying to pick out what fabric I wanted to use.  So, in order to eliminate any future breakdowns over decor, I am going to avoid stores with mass quantities of fabric selections and just pick out something already put together.

Baby #2 will be born sometime around the 10th of June.  He will be here by c-section about one week prior to the due date, but we haven't set the date in stone yet.  Cara has requested that I not have him on the 11th because she has a huge event at work scheduled with houzz.com (which is truly awesome).  I received a text from her that said, "I think I've just booked an event with houzz.com at the showroom on June 11. Hold that baby in!!!!!"  Literally, five exclamation points.  I'll see what I can do. Her text message two days later reads, "Update your blog. I said good day!"  Ha Ha!

I am having a repeat c-section because, you may recall, Mason was born by emergency c-section just a few hours after I checked into the hospital, expecting to be induced the following morning.  God clearly had his hand in that situation because I had no idea I was having contractions or that Mason's heart rate was dropping extremely low with each contraction.

My doctor told me that he would let me try a natural birth this time around if I wanted, but that he didn't recommend it due to risk of the uterus rupturing due to the previous incision.  I was like, um, bring on the c-section.  And while I am not looking forward to the surgery part and the recovery, I am glad that I will know what day baby is coming and exactly what to expect!  Hopefully there will be no emergencies this time around.  I don't know if my nerves can handle a "part two" of that experience.

Only 13 more weeks to go!! (And so much to do.....)

Girls Weekend and More Dirt

Well, after almost a year of planning, the 30th Birthday Celebratory Girls Weekend Trip finally arrived!  My 5 best friends from high school and I were all set to go to Blue Ridge, GA for a nice long weekend of catching up, eating, talking about food, and doing nothing.  As you can tell by the picture, two of the girls couldn't make it due to last minute unforeseen events, but Ashley, Haley, Leslie, and I carried on.  The weekend could not have been more relaxing.

Haley brought sweet little Emma Kate along, who was a perfect angel as long as she was touching her momma.  I believe she thought Ashley, Leslie, and I may steal her at any moment.

 Coincidentally, Ashley and I are both pregnant.  (Hence, all the talk about food.) Ashley was 31 weeks here (girl - no name yet) and I was 25 weeks (boy - no name yet).  (In case you are wondering, Ashley is 5'10'' and wearing 3 inch heeled boots.  I am 5'3'' and wearing flats!)  Between the 6 best friends we will soon have ten children, 7 girls and 3 boys.

We stayed in this amazing lake house up in the mountains that Ashley's in-laws so generously opened up to us.  Of course, Ashley (who writes for MyRecipes.com and is awesome at all things food, planning, and organization) came with all the groceries and a plan for every meal.  Technically, we did not have to leave the house for anything. In fact, we only left the house once for about an hour to go into town and browse.  We ate ice cream (while it was snowing, because 2 of us are pregnant and we can) and bought olive oils and balsamic vinegars (which are amazing!!!) at Blue Ridge Olive Oil Company and then went back to the house, never to leave again until it was time to go home. 

                 

I mean, why would anyone want to leave this place?  (The cell phone pictures start here because I was too lazy left my real camera back in my room with my luggage.) Ashley, Haley, and I arrived on Thursday night and Leslie joined us Friday evening just in time for dinner and right before it began to snow.  

On Friday morning I woke up early (not on purpose) and expended the most energy of the whole weekend by walking up those stairs to eat breakfast...

Right here.  Ashley joined me a little while later and we sat and talked and didn't stop talking until we left the house over 48 hours later (except to sleep). 

We all sat by the fire, watched the snow fall, cooked, ate, and talked for the rest of the weekend.  It could not have been more perfect (unless the other girls could have joined us). As I have mentioned before, we have all been friends for 20 years or longer, so we have PLENTY to talk about and laugh about and always have a lot of catching up to do.  I have been so blessed by their friendship and everyone tells me how amazing it is that I still have friends from high school (even though we go back much further than that).  We definitely want to make this trip a yearly tradition.

When I arrived home, several friends were at my house visiting with Ben and Mason.  Our friend Daniel was there who had just returned from a month long trip to the other side of the world and Josh and Shelley were passing through with baby Gracie. I was so glad I got to see them all and hold Gracie!  She is not quite 3 months old here.  Daniel brought me a scarf from Singapore and he brought Ben some chocolates with a name that is not appropriate to write on this blog.  When I tried to eat one of the chocolates Ben said I couldn't because they were for special occasions only.

Flash back photo: Here we all are celebrating Gracie's birthday in December.  This picture belongs in a catch up post I hope to do, but since I might not get to it I wanted to put it here.  I received this picture in an email from Josh that had the subject line "Wedding Stuff" and the e-mail said "Save this for their wedding slide show."  Josh says Mason can "earn" Gracie by cutting his grass since Mason likes mowing so much. Ha Ha! 

                         

And here are the two handsome fellas I left behind for the weekend.  While I was away, Ben went pheasant hunting and Mason got to spend some time with Mimi and Pop.  We now have 9 surprisingly large pheasant to cook that I haven't a clue what to do with.  I have looked up a few recipes, but none of them really appeal to me that much, probably because wild game and pregnancy don't really mesh.  I think I will just pretend it is chicken and maybe that will help.  Ben also won a super nice Yeti cooler by placing second in a skeet shooting contest at the hunt.  I thought that was pretty awesome!  And if you have never heard of a Yeti cooler, don't feel out of the loop because I hadn't heard of them until recently.  Apparently they are big with hunters and fishermen and they cost upwards of 200-300 dollars for a not-very-big one.  Who knew coolers could cost that much?  So, basically I am bragging that my husband won us a kickin cooler that keeps things super cold.  Score.

In the mean time, Little Man has been up to the usual.... riding around on dump trucks and drinking "nook" (milk).

And getting dirty.

And making big messes. 

He literally filled these buckets up with potting soil from my plant-less planter and then dumped it all over himself.  Multiple times.  On purpose.  (Yes, I cut his hair. Super short. Not on purpose.)

I stand amazed at the ideas that pop into that little mind of his.

He insists on wearing boots with everything.  Even pajamas. Sometimes it is a battle to get him to remove them for sleeping.

Dirt in the hair.

At this point, he was carrying buckets of dirt from the planter to the doorstep, sitting down, and throwing handfuls of dirt out of the bucket onto the patio, then refilling the bucket and doing it over again.

The patio looks amazing.  Ready for a garden party.  We will have really cold drinks available in our cooler.  Happy Spring!