Friday, April 30, 2010

Visit to Grandparents

As promised, here is a post with photos of actual people and not just plants! :o)

(but seriously, get used to the plant pictures people because there are a whole lot more coming your way!)


We had such a nice time on our visit to grandma and grandpa's house. It was very low key and we had time to visit with everyone and watch Michael play.


Grandma even told me, "Thanks for bringing the entertainment!". Babies are so fun to watch at this age. Always exploring and trying to figure things out.






I like going to my grandparent's house because it always looks the same as I remembered it as a kid. I think that is a rare thing these days. It is a nice feeling! :o)

They built their house themselves (30 years ago?) and it makes me wonder how our house will look in 30 + years. Will everything be the same? Will it be a little time capsule of 2006? I'm sure only time will tell!




Michael was such a good boy while we were there and on the car ride. Mom (my mom...not me!) in the back seat to keep him entertained, but he slept for a good chunk of the trip. It was the first time in a long time that I've actually driven somewhere- probably since before Michael was born!




We had a great time and we can't wait to do it again! Thanks, grandma and grandpa!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

A visit to grandma's garden




This past weekend my mom, aunt, Michael and I went to visit my grandparents for an overnight. It was a nice little trip and as a bonus I got to dig up some of my grandma's plants for my own yard! (actually though, it was grandma who did most of the digging!)

I am so excited to the new plants in my garden, but right now they are waiting in the garage because it was raining yesterday when I got home and today I have to go to school!! Hopefully this evening or tomorrow-I'm sure I will keep you posted.




It was so nice and cool yesterday morning after a rain so I took some photos in my grandma's yard. I think some of them turned out pretty neat!






Of course, I did take photos of actual people too but that will have to wait for another day! Stay tuned!

Friday, April 23, 2010

New Grasses

I totally scored on some new feather reed grass at Menards. It was a great price, so we loaded up our cart with 14 of those bad boys.



I put a row of them in front of our patio to hopefully create some privacy and then filled in the hole where all my other grasses died around the fire pit. I have had zero success trying to get other grasses to grow there so I hope these guys do the trick!




They will probably stay pretty small this season, but next season they will shoot up nice and tall. I also split and planted rudbekia in front of the grasses so in time hopefully it will look like this:



I can't wait!

I am loving this weather!!



Our new trees are doing so well. I love the way they make our yard look and feel- so much cozier and private!



I had a grand total of 7 tulips pop up this year which is frankly 7 more than I expected! I have some new locations scoped out to plant some more this fall so next year I will have lots of spring color in the yard!



Michael looks so cute when he is playing outside on his little blanket. He just plays and plays the whole time I am out working. His newest thing is falling forward into the -eek!- crawling position and rocking back and forth on his arms. I have a feeling it won't be long now!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Mom's Little Helper

It is a rare day when Michael is playing nicely enough for me to get some laundry done. I try and do at least one load a day as part of my house routine, but some days are better than others. On this day, Michael was playing so well and really enjoying chewing on some fresh laundry!





Yummy, I love the taste of clean jammies!

Michael, it won't be long until you can really help me with the laundry! (wishful thinking, right?)

Monday, April 19, 2010

Weekend Gardening

It was a beautiful weekend here and we got tons of stuff done in the yard. We have so much work ahead of us after my incredible laziness last summer, but I think we will get there.

The great news is that all my perennials are coming up nice and strong and I think I might even divide some of them to place around the yard. We totally scored yesterday at Menards and picked up 14 feather reed grasses for a great price. I have been looking for three years and have NEVER seen those plants in a store for a reasonable price. I was beyond excited! We got them in the ground, but I think we are going to need some more. Hopefully there will still be some left!


Here are some photos I took of the early stuff coming up:



A little creeping jenny close up. (love it-one of my favorite plants!)



My big hosta coming up nice and tall.



I love how the hosta leaves are all curled up and wavy when it first appears. So cool!

Friday, April 16, 2010

6 Month Stats

The month of April is really getting away from me. I'm not quite sure what it is-I think it is some combination of the nice weather and my concert at school next week (eek!). It seems like everything just sneaks up on me and time is moving too fast! I feel like we are in a good routine on my days home, which is both a blessing and a curse!

At any rate, here are Micheal's stats from his 6 month well baby visit:

Weight: 18 lbs 2 oz
Height: 27 1/2 inches
Head: 17 3/4 inches

He grew an inch and gained a pound since his last visit at four months!



Michael, you are such a busy boy. I love to watch you discover new things every day. You love watching new people and checking out new situations. Even today when we were out eating lunch a lady said "you really had your eye on her"! You are not only good at seeing things, but you also have very good hearing. If a loud truck drives by you have to turn your head fast to see if you can see it! If I call your name from across the room, you always know where to find me. Everyone always comments on how good of a baby you are when we are out in public and you are so happy now that you can sit up in grocery carts and high chairs in restaurants.




You love to watch Scampy to see what he is up to. If he jumps up on my lap while we are playing you are so excited to see him. You love to pet him and always like to be near him (and I also think he likes you too!). You are trying hard to learn how to say his name!




Michael, you are such a sweet boy and we can't wait to see what the future holds for you!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Pea Love

So we've started a new leg of this journey called parenthood:

solid foods.





So far, Michael seems pretty into the veggies. We've been mostly doing green veggies, but have also done some orange ones. I'm not sure when to start fruits. What if he likes those better and chooses not to ever eat veggies again?

Our pediatrician recommended doing two meals a day of real food and then working towards three. Exciting! :o)

Let them eat cake!

On Sunday we attended a baby shower for a friend who is having twin boys. I am so excited to meet the new baby boys and I know they are going to be such a great family! :o)

I had a ton of leftover diapers from opened packages that I wanted to pass on, but I wanted a creative way to gift them. I had always wanted to make a diaper cake so....I made one!




I had looked up some tutorials online about how to make them (some you even had to pay to watch a video of how to make a diaper cake...what's up with that?), but I still had a couple tips that helped me so I thought I would share them with you.




First things first.

You need a big plate or serving tray for a base which will help your cake stay secure. I actually found this huge deli tray in my pantry which worked well. It was huge! You could also use a circle of cardboard covered in paper or an actual serving tray.

The second thing is securing some sort of middle piece to your base to wrap diapers around. I've seen lots of things used-big bottles of lotion, a wine bottle or even a basket. I chose a paper towel tube because it was free and I had it! Although by using such a small inner piece, I really used a lot more diapers than I would have if I used something larger. Just an FYI.




I started out trying to secure the diapers together with tape, but I was using a lot of tape and it wasn't really working so I switched to a rubber band instead. This worked so well because the diapers stayed secure and you could add more to the cake while the others still stay in place. Notice that I also used the "fan"method of diapers instead of the rolling method. No way was I going to roll up all those little diapers!




After I had all my layers wrapped around the tube, I covered up the rubber band with some big ribbon from WalMart. It was the perfect size and it also helped the diapers stay together and secure. Notice I secured it with some pearl pins, which I thought looked really pretty. I also used them to secure the various stuff on the cake.





I wanted to put stuff on the cake that they would actually use so I put baby washcloths, baby toy rings, and a Burt's Bee's baby bee care set on the cake.

I hope they liked it because I certainly had lots of fun making it! And I also unloaded two BIG bags of leftover diapers from Michael's closet so yay! :o)




Monday, April 12, 2010

What a weekend!

What a busy weekend it has been here at our house. I feel like I have been going, going, going nonstop for days!

Whew!

Here are some highlights of this week that I found on my iphone!




Michael and I watched Scott play in his adult hockey league on Wednesday night. It was the last of his 7:00 games so I figured we'd better go because 7:00 is a lot easier to attend than 10:00! (and yes, that is PM!)

Michael had a great time and I even had a beer. Yes. We are cutting loose!




On Wednesday, I took Michael to school with me. We had an inservice and it mostly included working alone and some collaboration. Man...it was a lot of work, but luckily Michael was a great baby and even slept for a little bit on the floor of my office. He was soo sleepy!



We've been having some great spring weather here. The sun has been warm, but the breeze has been a little cool...a perfect combination!

I have recess duty on Thursdays and I snapped a couple photos just because it was so beautiful out. In the wintertime I totally dreaded heading outside for those twenty minutes of recess but now I love the chance to get out of my office and catch some rays!


Why is it that spring always seems to make everything a little better?

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Sleepy head



It is dark and dreary here this morning. The weather is quite a change from our normal sunshine days and as a result, we are both a little sleepy this morning.
I couldn't resist this cute photo.

p.s., that is what Michael's hair looks like when I forget to brush it after a bath! Major bedhead!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Happy Half Birthday Michael!

Today Michael is six months old.

Where did half a year go? What have I been doing this whole time?

Michael is growing up fast and is doing really well. His sleeping has taken a huge turn for the better and as a result everyone in the house is much less crabby. He loves to explore everything and likes to chew on everything. We are still waiting for some little teeth to pop up, but so far he doesn't seem too fussy about it.

Nursing is still going strong, and last night we had our first taste of peas. He loved them! His diaper this morning...I did not love. Wow, who knew that happens?

Babies are full of surprises, I guess. :o)



Our six month appointment isn't for another week, so I will post his stats then. However, doesn't this photo amaze you? Was he really ever that tiny?

(note: we have purchased his new convertible car seat because he is obviously getting too big for his infant one!)

Monday, April 5, 2010

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday!

We had a great time. Sunrise church service, delicious (and healthy) brunch, and ham dinner made for a nice day.


A little time spent outside in the gorgeous weather didn't hurt either!

(I even squeezed some yard work in while Michael was napping!)

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Saturday Happiness

It is a beautiful morning here, Michael slept for two big stretches last night (7 hours and 5 hours) and we are all in a great mood!

Here is a video of Michael playing in his jumper. It is just too cute not too share! (beware, it might make you motion sick due to the awesome quality of my video camera-I was using my digital camera, not my HD camcorder)


Thursday, April 1, 2010

Saylorville Panorama

I did this panoramic on our walk yesterday. It was really nice out, but this photo looks kind of funny! I thought it was cool anyway! (click to see larger)

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