Blooming & Growing

 

This year we decided to try our hand at planting a garden in the large lot next to our house. Brett’s really in to growing things from seeds or bulbs and we’re both excited about (hopefully) having fresh produce to eat!

We started with THIS, an empty lot of grass, tilled it and roped it out. There are 4 sections. The 2 in the back are flowers and the 2 in the front are vegetables. Eventually, we’d like to put a picnic table or seating area in the center.

We put up a fence to keep out critters.

And soon there was life!

Now we have THIS:

 

 

 

 

We haven’t harvested much yet, except for some green onions, but things are really sprouting up and looks like we’ll have some lettuce, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, and maybe a few other things. We tried a wide variety this year to see what would work for future years, and hopefully this will be an annual spring project. The kids love digging and running around in there, and Leah loves smelling the flowers!

We’ve also planted a few things inside: an herb garden, some tomatoes & peppers. We put the kids in charge of watering those although they claim they are NOT going to eat them!

 

Team Kid End-of-Year Program

 

A few weeks ago our church finished up the year for our kids’ program, Team Kid. Leah and Andrew loved going each Wed. night. They’d hear a Bible story, do a craft and/or game, and usually memorize a Bible verse. I don’t know how much they’ve retained but I know it’s given them a love for church and for God’s Word, and I’m glad our church has a program that they can go to. I didn’t get many pictures from our little end-of-year presentation because I forgot my camera, but Brett did get a cute video on his phone.

At the beginning, they are singing a song about hitting the devil and they each got to choose something they wanted to hit him with—hence all the laughter when they sing the part with the item they chose!

Spring Photo Fun

 

Recently Brett cleared out a path in the wooded area beside our house that leads into an open field. Then we discovered the open field has a path that leads through another grassy field to another road that runs nearby our house. There’s not much traffic on this road and there is an old historic home that I think is used like a museum now, but no one is ever there. The other day I realized there were a lot of pretty photo ops at this old house. I planned to go another day and try some out with our camera. Thankfully, Brett was willing to go with us yesterday to make it a fun Mother’s Day photo shoot. We went after dinner so the kids were in a pretty good mood (all except for Abigail, but she didn’t do too bad) and it wasn’t so hot. I’m pleased with how they turned out!

 

     

 

   

         

Abigail @ 6 Months

 

Can’t believe how much fun this little girl is now! We haven’t been to the dr. yet so I don’t know her measurements, but I’m guessing she’s at least 16 lbs. She’s in her 3-6 month clothes & size 3 diapers.

 

She’s still nursing on demand, usually every 4 hours or so during the day, just after she wakes up & just before she goes to bed. She’s slept about 12 hours through the night pretty consistently the past 3 weeks or so, from 7:30pm to 7:30 or 8 in the morning. She loves her sleep! She’s also got a pretty good nap schedule, usually from about 9:30 or 10 in the morning until 11:30 or so, then again in the afternoon from about 1-4 or so. If she wakes up much earlier than 4 she gets really fussy by about 6:30 but as long as someone’s there to entertain her, she can make it to bedtime.

Since she started eating solids, she’s tried a little of everything. She’s still not really too good at keeping it in her mouth & doesn’t eat much, but she’s getting better. While she seems to prefer green vegetables over the sweeter fruits, this is the face I get most of the time:

She first rolled over April 1st and hasn’t stopped moving since! She’s all over the place now—I never know where I’m going to find her. She loves being on the floor more than anywhere else. She doesn’t really like her bouncer much anymore and she likes the Exersaucer but she’s happiest rolling around on the floor with her toys.

Those fingers (or a toy or something!) are constantly in her mouth. I can feel a little tooth popping in on top but I can’t see it yet.

She’s going to be a little princess just like her sister.

She has definitely discovered her feet. She is determined to fit them into her mouth.

 

  

I would describe her as fiesty but easygoing. She definitely stands her own against her brother & sister when they get all up in her face, pulling their hair or whacking them as best as she can. It takes a lot for her to get upset and if she’s crying its usually only because she’s tired and even then she stops crying pretty quickly. She likes to be cuddled, but only held upright—not laying down. When she’s ready for bed, she just wants to be in her bed, not laying down in someone’s arms.