Hard Work Pays Off

We have worked HARD for the last month on our yard - front and back. Of course, I don't have "before" pictures, but just trust that it looks much much better! We ripped up so many weeds it was unbelievable! There's still some more to go in the back, but I spent a good hour today on it and it's almost there. Getting so close! Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

THE BACK:

Roses - 6 so far, but two more blooming.

Don't they look lovely?

Blueberry buds!

Strawberries

Green Pepper (with tomatoes in the back)

If you look closely, you'll see two little cherry tomatoes starting to grow.

Lettuce corner

Onions

Herbs - rosemary, cilantro, oregano. There used to be basil, but that's Sadie's first casualty.

THE FRONT:

Our Tangelo tree. I actually wanted the pink lemon tree, but it had some nasty thorns, so we went with this one. 

My main disappointment - the snapdragons. I'm hoping they'll pull through, but they didn't like the move to the mailbox too much.

Our rock path that's no longer hidden by weeds. Preston deserves credit for this one.

a section of our front. This is where we kept our pumpkins last Halloween and never threw them out until after Christmas break (gross, I know). But, look at what now grows there?

PUMPKINS! Maybe we won't have to buy any this year.

Calla Lilies

Aloe Plant

The green bushy things are actually nice lilies, but they're in-between flowering at the moment.

Our trimmed bushes with solar lights in between.

The walk to the door

21 Week Update

Everything's going great with the pregnancy so far. This pregnancy has been very different than Brayden's in several ways. First of all, I'm carrying this guy much lower than Brayden, which means that I've been able to sleep on my stomach for a little longer, but I have to go to the bathroom all the time! I've been waking up every night for weeks just to go to the bathroom! That didn't happen for a couple more months with Brayden. But, the biggest visible difference is that this little guy is growing out instead of in like Brayden. I've also started getting foot cramps the last couple of days, which can be rather uncomfortable. But, I have been spared the difficulty with breathing and the painful ribs so far. It's just interesting to me how different these pregnancies are! I don't even really have any cravings this time around. Occasionally something will sound really good, but it's always a very specific thing that I see or smell. Maybe I'll develop some cravings along the way. We'll see. For now, here's a visual of how different I look. I'm wearing the same shirt at the same time of pregnancy in both pictures. They're not the best and are both self taken, but you can get the idea at any rate.

21 Weeks with Brayden

21 Weeks with Baby Boy #2

Brayden's new look

Notice anything "new?"

 If you noticed his bright green cast, then you guessed what I was meaning. But, if you noticed his hair got trimmed around his ears for another handsome new look then I'll be very impressed!

So, why does the Brayden have a bright green cast? I DON'T KNOW!! Well, I don't know how he got hurt anyway. Isn't that awful? But, he has a "green stick fracture" on his fibula. Aka - shin.  It's not major and probably just happened from tripping, but it's still really sad. Even more sad is that he's been walking around on it for a week now with a limp. But, even his Mommy couldn't tell he was in any kind of pain until the weekend. He's the bravest little trooper!! We never know when he's not feeling well because he's so resilient! Good news is that he gets the cast off April 28th, so he won't have it for long. Just long enough to make sure the bone can heal with out risking any damage.

Here's more details if you're interested. First of all, guess where the limping all started? The doctor's office! I find that ironic. We went in for his regular checkup last Tuesday and while I was filling out paperwork Brayden was playing at a little table they have there. I saw him on the floor when I glanced up once, but he falls sometimes . . .so what? Ever since that waiting room though he started limping. He never cried (except when he got poked twice by shots) so I figured that he was just walking funny because he was so dang tired! His appointment was scheduled before he was on a one nap routine and the appointment was just after naptime should have been. And Brayden walks like he's drunk when he's tired, so it wasn't totally implausible. Anyway, we went back in on Thursday when it hadn't gone away and the doctor couldn't see any major issues and told us to wait a week unless things got worse. Of course, once I could tell there was pain in his leg I decided that we didn't need to wait any longer.

So, let's talk about today, shall we? It was long, tired, full of paperwork and waiting rooms, 3 difference doctor's offices, X-rays, and this great new addition to Brayden for the next two weeks-his green cast.  I have to confess that with all the running around I didn't feed us lunch (although Brayden ate lots of snacks throughout the day). I didn't use the bathroom and I seriously wondered how long I could last before my bladder exploded! But who wants to risk missing their name being called to go find the bathroom while carting around a 1 year old and all our stuff? Didn't really sound worth it. Similarly, I didn't change Brayden's diaper at all. . . oops. But, I lucked out and there were no messes or leaks all day! Some highlight:

• I was so proud of Brayden for doing so well! He wanted attention and got upset at times, but for the most part was a total angel through it all! Especially considering that this is the first time in the history of Brayden that he went a whole day with no nap. He didn't fall asleep once (until we were finally on our way home) because we were so busy! 
• I couldn't be in the X-ray room because of Baby brother and Brayden cried and cried. But, he kinda liked the X-ray machine and the nurse was really cute with him. I could hear her tell him to listen and as soon as the machine would make noise he'd stop crying :) Apparently he wasn't fighting them at all, just crying. So, they said he did great. And he got a sticker :) Of course he graciously shared his sticker with the nurse, but she sent it with me for later. Maybe he'll find it in his little backpack one day.
• The Radiology center had a play kitchen for kids and Brayden went up to it, found a bowl on the stove and a spoon on the ground, picked up the spoon, held the bowl with one hand and stirred inside the empty bowl with the spoon in the other. Hehe. it's amazing what he learns.
• I found out that Brayden knows his animals better than I thought! He has his "soft blanky" that he adores and it has jungle animals on one side of it. So, during some of our downtime I started asking him to point to a specific animal when I'd say the name and make it's sound and he got them all with no help! I was impressed. He may not say their names or repeat their sounds, but he obviously knows what they are!
• Apparently Brenden Fraser was in the Radiology Center while we were there, but I only know because the receptionists were talking about it when I signed in. I'll opt out of sharing why he was there for the sake of not spreading rumors. But, he was somewhere in the same building we were :D

That's all for our busy day! How was your Monday?