...how does your garden grow?

As I posted in the past, Daniel and I have started a vegetable garden this year and it is growing so big. We can hardly wait until we get to taste the 'veggies' of our labors. We did plant some strawberries, and we have already got to taste a few of those. In our garden, we have tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, watermelon, strawberries, carrots, cilantro, basil, oregano, pumpkins and corn. The corn has been growing so fast, which is fun to see. I am not getting my hopes up for eatting any of our corn, though, I hear it is hard to get the ears to germinate. We have lots of green tomatoes, cucumbers, some squash and zucchini already on the vines. The carrots are getting big as well. It has been fun to watch everything.

To get the yard ready to plant, Daniel (with help from his parents) did a lot of work. They pulled out bushes, weeds, trees, and dirt. While pulling everything out, we found a few 'treasures'. There were lots of old bricks, a tire full of concrete, stones, a concrete bowl of some sort and other things. Here are some of the small 'treasures' that we found as we dug and racked and tilled the yard.

Lucy is 3 months old!

I can't believe that it has been over 3 months since Lucy was born. I'm not sure how big she is, but I am guessing that she is around 12 lbs. She is so much fun. She is sleeping great at night and smiling and laughing all the time. Here are some of the things that she has been up to.

Here she is getting a little "work out" with Dad.

Playing in the yard...

What?!?

Getting a taste of red vines!! Yum!

I was transfering our pictures to the camera, and I found this one. I guess Lucy and Daniel are rocking out while I working hard at work.

Practicing talking on the phone :)

And this is what Daniel and I have been up to. We got our garden in and Daniel is going to seed tomorrow. It has come so far, and I can't wait to eat the "fruits of our labors"!

Happy Mother's Day

First of all, I want to say Happy Mother's Day to our moms! Thanks for all you have done for us...for your examples, selflessness and love! Thanks and we hope you have a great day!

Now, here is a little update on what we have been up to.

Lucy, Grandma Lu and I had so much fun visiting Ben, Laura, Ally, James and Grace in Indiana. Lucy went on her first plane ride, and she did really well. She didn't really cry, and mostly slept the whole time. She had fun spending time with her cousins in Indiana. We mostly hung out at home, but we also did a little shopping and went to a park one night. Lucy even got to ride in a Hummer :)

Lucy is getting so big, we can't believe it! She is talking (ok, cooing) and laughing and smiling and we have so much fun with her. Here are some of the things that she has been doing....

She likes to suck on her hands. She hasn't ever been very good at keeping a pacifier in her mouth, but she has gotten pretty good at eating her hand...she can almost fit her whole hand in her mouth.

Sometimes when Daniel gives her a bottle, she will hold it herself and eat. She wasn't very good at nursing at first, but she has gotten the hang of it now and hasn't had a problem going back and forth between me and the bottle, which has been good now that I am back at work. It is hard to leave her, but she has been able to spend lots of time with her Dad, which I think they both like. Daniel is so great with her and loves her so much. I love to see him take care of her.

Lucy got her first hair cut last week. She was born with a lot of hair, and it been growing fast. I thought it looked okay when I put a head band in it, but sometimes she would get some pretty crazy bed/car seat hair, so we decided to trim it. She did a pretty good job holding still, but she didn't like it.

Daniel has beed working on our yard a ton and this weekend we got both planter boxes built, the grass area a little more level, and dirt in one of the boxes. I am excited to get some vegetables planted in there this week. Thank honey for all your hard work! It looks great. (Stay tuned for more pictures as the yard progresses) Thanks Jon for your help yesterday!

Yesterday, Daniel and Jonathan worked on getting the basketball standard out of my mom's yard. After much digging and pulling, the pole is gone, but there is still a big concrete block stuck in the ground. I'm not sure how or if they will ever be able to get it out. They still haven't found the bottom of the concrete.

We are staying at my mom's house this week, watching the pets, while my mom and Sam are in England (I'm so jealous that I am not there with them). I was a little afraid of Lucy's sleeping habits, but I thought that I would take this opportunity to break Lucy of sleeping in the swing. She has done SO good so far! She has been sleeping in Grandma's closet. I have been able to put her in there tired, but not asleep. Then I turn the fan on (her closet is off of her bathroom) and leave her there. Sometimes it has taken her awhile to fall asleep, but she hasn't really cried. She just stares. I not sure if it the enclosed space, the bassinet, all the stuff to look at in the closet, the fan, or a combination of all these things, but it has been working great.

This is a picture of Lucy today before church. I asked her to smile and she started giving me the cutest little faces. I love her so much and how can you not love her with this cute smile? :)

Our Back Yard

Thanks Mom and Dad for all your help we couldnt have done it without you.

Gardening

I was not blessed with my mother's green thumb. I have a few house plants that I have managed to keep alive over the years, but when it comes to a garden, I have no idea what to do. Last fall, I bought a bunch of bulbs and my mom was so nice to come over a plant them. Now we have a lovely garden full of color. We also planted some rose bushes (thanks mom!) that will help fill in the rest of the rose bushes. I have a planter that has just been sitting empty on my porch, and yesterday I decided to fill it up. It looks so nice now! Maybe I will catch the gardening bug, and with a little (or a lot) of help from my mom, I can have some nice flower beds someday. We also had an ant problem yesterday. Daniel pulled up a weed and along with it came an entire ant colony. The last picture shows Daniel's solution for getting rid of the ants.