Garden update in pictures ...

I have to go pick Peter up in a few minutes so I'm going to update this quickly, mostly through pictures :) First, the boxes:

(green beans, cucumbers, empty, squash)
(lettuce, broccoli (an experiment), spinach, tomato)

(cucumbers, empty, squash, empty)
(tomato, green beans, yellow beans, tomato)
(empty, peppers, basil, empty)
(carrots, green onions (still going strong!), garlic, spinach)

(watermelon, empty, empty, pumpkin)
(spinach (on its last legs), carrots, lettuce, empty)

A couple of weeks ago a friend had some extra strawberry and raspberry plants that she didn't have space for. She also let me have a couple cuttings from her rhubarb plant. The strawberry plants looked good until I went out today ... hopefully it's just the heat getting to them.


I think only one of the raspberry plants was alive when I got it, but I'm still tending the rest just in case ...


And the rhubarb cuttings seem to be growing new leaves - yay!

Another friend has a big patch of rhubarb that was there when they bought their house, but they won't eat it. So, for this year, I think I am going to be able to harvest theirs while I wait for mine to be ready :)

I would still like to plant another square of broccoli, perhaps some more carrots and cucumbers, but that will have to wait for another day. The weeds outside of the boxes have been insane!! I just can't keep ahead of them. I took these pictures after spending about 45 minutes with a shovel digging them out. Ugh. By next year the plan is to put landscape fabric down in all the spaces and cover them with mulch. Hopefully that helps.

Popsicles

The weather here has been so nice the past few days. It makes me believe summer is really coming!

It had been raining for so long that as soon as the sun peeked through we spent almost every spare minute outside. After a few days of that I made myself at least do my daily cleaning before we headed out yesterday ... the house was starting to look pretty neglected!

Anyway, after the bathroom was cleaned top to bottom we headed out to the little pool in the backyard. The kids had a blast playing in it until we got worried about sunburns and decided it was time to hop out and re-apply some sunscreen. At that point we gave them each a popsicle (Hannah's first time having one to hold by herself!) and they had a blast dripping all over the place. I'm so glad we were outside.

Peter took the opportunity to do an informal photo shoot. Here are a couple of my favourites ...


There are many, many more pictures on our flickr site.

Weekly Round-up

This week we really settled back into our routine a bit. Peter's work schedule has been absolutely bizarre since we got back and this week was no exception. He's worked a bunch of 'day' shifts, but they started anywhere between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. I really don't like the ones where he leaves before lunch and gets back after the kids go to bed ... very tiring! He is working today but then has most of this week off. We are looking forward to lots of family time.

This week we had company for supper a few times and went out for dinner to celebrate the birthday of one of Peter's coworkers. It was really nice to get back in touch with people I hadn't seen in a while.

The last few days have finally been sunny and warm! Peter took Nathan swimming at the nearby outdoor pool on Thursday. We're contemplating putting Nathan in one of the 2-week swimming lessons this summer. It would probably be good for him to be in a structured setting like that.

We also finally gave Nathan the rest of his birthday presents this week! We gave him this Aquadoodle mural for his wall. So far it has been a big hit. We also gave him a tee ball set and a tool belt.

He's going to have fun helping Peter this week when we get back to work on renovations :)

We had our ultrasound for the baby this week as well. The technician said the baby (singular ;) ) looked good and was the right size for our dates. This was good news as I had been measuring large early in the pregnancy.

Our vegetable garden has taken off this week. Everything I've planted except watermelon and pumpkin (they were just planted last weekend) is up. Here are some pictures I took tonight.

(empty, empty, empty, cucumber)
(lettuce, empty, spinach, tomato)

(cucumber, empty, squash, empty)
(tomato, green beans, yellow beans, tomato)
(empty, pepper, dill, empty)
(carrots, green onions, garlic, empty)

(back row nothing is up yet)
(spinach, carrots, empty, empty)

I'm planning to plant another round of spinach, carrots, lettuce, and beans at some point this week. We also have to get our supports up for the squash, cucumbers, watermelon, and pumpkin.

Other than that it's been a fairly uneventful week. Nathan is doing ok with the potty training. He keeps waking up in the morning, getting out of bed, and then peeing on the floor. A bit frustrating, but the last two mornings he's made it, so hopefully it's a trend in the right direction.

Our plans for this week are to make some headway with the bathroom renovations (post on the progress so far to come later this week). I would like to see us finish grouting the floor, installing the shower, and fixing the electrical this week. Since Peter only works one shift this week I think it's reasonable. It is definitely different trying to get construction work done with two little ones running around!

Well, Nathan is crying for me to come turn on his night light so I'd better run ...

Yet another garden update!!

Several of my seedlings did not survive while I was away. Of the few that did survive, most have passed away since I've been back (eeks!) Looks like I'll be trying again on the herbs. I've had an offer of a cutting of a chive plant, and I'm probably going to buy a small rosemary plant. So far the parsley is still alive ...

Not all the news is bad, though. This is what my outdoor garden looked like when I got back.

(green onions ... garlic)

(spinach)

The only thing that didn't survive the weeks while I was away was the lettuce, but it was pretty much dead before I left. A few days after I got home we harvested a complete bunch of green onions. They are so yummy! Much tastier than the ones we get from the stores. The one we pulled out was a 'thinning' of a sort (two grew in one of the spots), so I still have 9 plants in the ground. I've just been snipping of a few green onions every day to use in our meals.

Last week I also started cutting off spinach leaves. Instead of letting the leaves grow to their full potential I much prefer cutting them when they are around 2" long - more like the baby spinach from the grocery store. One of my biggest hopes for this gardening adventure is that it will help Nathan eat more salad-type vegetables. He's pretty good with cooked veggies, but getting him to eat a salad is pretty much impossible. Well, Nathan ate his first piece of raw spinach from our garden last week ... we're on our way!

On Monday, May 31st, we planted more spinach, lettuce, cucumbers (2 squares), carrots (2 squares), yellow beans, green beans, dill, and squash. As of today everything except the squash is at least up through the ground. Yay!

Last Wednesday I got a call from a friend saying she knew someone who might have some tomato seedlings if I wanted a couple. I jumped at the chance, since all of mine have died. A couple of days later this lovely lady dropped off 3 tomato plants. They were already 6" to 8" high! I planted them that day, bought some tomato cage things and some tomato fertilizer, and they are still looking great. In fact, one of the plants has blossoms on it today! I'm so thankful for this friendly lady who shared her wealth of seedlings with me.

Last Friday we planted watermelon and pumpkin in the garden. So far nothing on them, but it's still early.

I'm still so enthused about the gardening ... it's so much fun! Can't wait to see how things progress over the next few months. I'll try and take some new pictures this week.

Nathan - 3 year summary

I know it's cliché, but I can't believe Nathan is already 3 years old!! Despite this disbelief, it also seems so hard to remember life before he was here. I was just talking to Mom the other day and saying how I do remember it being difficult to adjust to having a baby - Peter and I were married for almost 6 years before he came along and we were very used to being out all the time. Once that period of adjustment was over, though, it seemed like he had always been part of our family and I know neither of us would have it any other way.

Since birth Nathan has been a very laid-back kid. In general, he adapts well to change and that has been a great quality this past year! I always say that he is introverted like me and laid back like Peter. I'm sure that's an oversimplified summary of his personality, but it seems pretty accurate most of the time.

The biggest change in Nathan over the past year has been in his speech. He was slow to start - hardly speaking before his second birthday - but has quickly caught up. He speaks clearly in complete sentences and seems to have an unlimited vocabulary. He picks up new words and phrases all the time - it's amazing! He speaks so that others can understand him most of the time, although a few words, like 'helicopter' and 'umbrella' still give him trouble.

Nathan loves to look at books and to be read to. I think he would sit all day and be read to if someone would read to him for that long.

Nathan is generally very sensitive. Things will stick in his mind and he will get scared. As a result we are very careful what we say and what we let him watch. In January he somehow fixated on pigs and had nightmares about them and was scared to go to sleep for weeks. He still talks about the pigs and how he was scared of them during that time. He is also very affected by the moods of the people around him. I think this is something he gets from me ...

In the past few months Nathan has begun a workbook on tracing. It has really helped his fine motor control and will hopefully prepare him for printing. His absolute favourite 'crafty' thing to do right now is play with stickers. He loves them ... I can't even put into words how much he loves to take stickers off the page and stick them on another page. The funny thing is he sticks them all one on top of the other! No matter how many times we show him differently he still does it that way. Oh well.

Nathan is just about potty trained as far as using the toilet goes. He is not yet able to pull his pants down or up independently, or to get on or off the toilet by himself. He will sometimes tell us if he has to go to the washroom, but often we have to take him at regular intervals. We have just started night training and so far so good (4 for 4 dry nights). Potty training was really much less of an issue than I thought it would be, although perhaps starting late helped it go more smoothly. I am sure there are many accidents in our future, but I hope the majority of them are behind us.

Nathan is obviously eating table foods. This summer he has just started trying salad vegetables such as spinach and lettuce. I hope that by involving him in our vegetable garden he will be more open to eating more vegetables. He is not a bad eater, but he is still more picky than he was at a year. In our household, however, the kids eat what we eat, and since I love to try new recipes, he is constantly exposed to a wide variety of foods.

People talk about the terrible twos, and I didn't really see them until about 2 months before Nathan's 3rd birthday. In fact, I'm thinking we might be dealing with the terrible threes instead. Nathan really seems to be testing his boundaries, especially when it comes to how he relates to other children. He often pushes Hannah or takes toys from her, and tries to do the same when playing with kids from other families. It is so tiring to referee this all the time and very frustrating, since when I ask him what he was doing wrong he can describe it to me perfectly! I keep hoping that if we are consistent with his discipline that he will eventually stop these behaviours.

I never tire of Nathan's hugs or his need to 'cuddle' on the couch. I very much wonder if physical touch isn't his primary love language. He has always been cuddly and when he plays with other kids he always wants to be very close to them ... something we are working on. Something to watch for as he grows ...

Nathan has grown up so much in the last year - I can't imagine what he will be like by the time 4 rolls around!

Hannah - 14 month summary

Proof that she really is my daughter - she already loves Diet Coke! (Disclaimer - she has never actually tasted it, she just likes to pretend :) )

This month has also been an eventful month for Hannah (I feel like I'm constantly saying that!) We had a 1 week trip planned to go east that turned into a 3 week trip for the kids and I, which was a blessing, but didn't help with Hannah's routine. The first week we were there was chaotic. At the time we thought we only had 6 days at home so we were cramming as much as possible into that time, including my brother's wedding. Hannah probably missed 75% of her naps and was up late several nights. By the time Peter headed home I had decided for both kids' sakes (and my sanity), we had to slow down. We took a few days at the beginning of that week to allow the kids to get back on some sort of schedule.

Hannah dealt well with the plane rides. In all we were on 4 planes and her ears didn't seem to bother her. She slept some on the planes, played, ate, and watched a show on the laptop with Nathan. Having to hold her on our lap the whole time was a bit tricky as she is not a cuddle-bug, but we survived (and it was worth saving the price of a plane ticket for her!). She was actually more cuddly while we were back east than normal, but that may have been because she was a bit overwhelmed with all the changes.

Hannah had a few minor, unexplained rashes while we were home. I haven't had much luck identifying the cause, but they looked a bit like hives and were gone within 12 hours each time they showed up. At the same time her eczema on her neck has come back a bit. She dealt with a bout of what we think was eczema right around her neck last fall. At first I didn't think much of the rash, since as a 6 month old she was constantly drooling. However, when she started scratching at it I figured it was something more than just a drool rash. I took her in to the doctor and they gave her some cream to help with the itching. It cleared up before Christmas and this is the first sign of it we've seen since. It is much milder than before (maybe because there is no drool to irritate it?) but I put a bit of the cream on it this morning after her bath since she was scratching a bit.

Hannah's speech has taken off this month. She still doesn't say many words clearly, but she will mimic sounds (like 'baby' - so cute!), and makes sounds (such as 'dee') to mean certain words (in this case, 'drink'). I can see that over the next several months she is going to become quite a talker. She already babbles all day long. I love listening to her!

I didn't make any consistent, organized changes to naps this month since everything was so crazy, but I do think she is ready for longer wake times. She still sleeps a good 12 hours every night, for which I am so thankful!

We did not take any bottles east with us, and since she survived without them for 3 weeks I would say she is weaned from that. She still has her soother quite often, but I am determined that it will be going the way of the dodo bird very soon. Since we've been home she only has it for naps and at night. I think we will try phasing it out of those times within the next week or so.

Hannah still eats everything in sight - yay! I am hoping this will continue, but I fear when she gets closer to 2 the picky factor might show up.

Hannah has 5 teeth now and a 6th is ready to come through. She still only has 2 on bottom and 3 (almost 4) on top. I can't remember the order in which they are 'supposed' to arrive.

The rest of the parts of our schedule (reading time, independent playtime, sibling play time) have been virtually nonexistent this month because of the trip east. We will be working on getting back in to everything this month.

We're back!

Sorry for the lack of posts over the past few weeks, but we were too busy visiting and enjoying the time back east. We flew back here on Saturday, made trips to Costco and Superstore, then headed home. Our flight out left at 5:35 in the morning and we finally walked in the door at home at supper time (which, with the time difference, was more like 8 p.m.). Needless to say we were exhausted! It was still good to be home, though, and after a quick supper the kids headed to straight to bed and I followed shortly after.

I finally finished unpacking yesterday and got the house pretty much back to rights.

Peter's work schedule has been completely weird since we got back, so that's throwing us off a bit. He's worked the last three supper hours (usually he only works one supper hour every three weeks) and I must say I don't enjoy the new hours. Thankfully they are temporary.

Our last couple of weeks at home were much more relaxing. We still had lots of visiting time, saw a few rugby games and some figure skating, and bought some gifts to leave there to save on shipping costs later.

Here is a picture of Hannah obviously disagreeing with a rugby call:


Nathan got a play tent with a tunnel while we were home and he had a blast playing with it for an afternoon there.
I had kind of forgotten about it until I was looking at pictures for this post. I actually paused while writing this to take the kids outside to play with it (which then turned in to supper time, walk, bedtime ... and now I'm back at it). They both had a blast.

We are looking forward to settling back into our routine (I am such a routine person!!) here at home and looking forward to some visitors in the not too distant future!!