hot

It's hot.

Very shortly after I learned I was pregnant I looked at the Farmer's Almanac to see what the summer was going to be like.  It told me that it wasn't supposed to be as hot as it was last summer, which was a lot of consolation at the time, but now that it's hot outside it's just not enough.

And I'm not even that pregnant yet.  Currently 16 weeks.  All is going well on that front.  Some ligament spasms, but those are easy to ignore now that I can feel the runt wiggling around from time to time.  We won't know the gender until July.

My first trimester I was going to bed around 7:30, very shortly after we got Baby down for the night.  I"m able to stay up for a little longer, but not by much.

Baby has been bringing me such wonderful treasures.  Lately it's been dead leaves, weeds and sprigs of grass to put in water and display with many oohs and aahhs.

We're loving the little plastic wading pool in the back yard and officially broke it in this past weekend.  Lots of footprints to be had this summer, so long as it's not too crazy hot outside.

quick, hurry

If the storms tonight and tomorrow are anything like last year's spring storms I can expect all of my roses to lose their blossoms and look pitiful the rest of the summer. It's typical timing because all three plants are full of blooms that look magnificent.

These are double knock-out roses and they're great in this area because they're hardy and relatively pest-free, two major requirements for my flower beds. These particular roses are a stunning deep pink, but the color never comes across in pictures the same as it looks in real life. So you'll just have to trust me that saying they're beautiful is an understatement.

I ran home from work a little early this afternoon to take a shower and throw a bag together in case we needed to seek shelter from potential tornadoes. Before I threw my camera in my bag I took some pictures of my roses - just in case.

There are other plants that are looking nice now, too, but this week none hold a candle to the blooming roses. Hopefully they'll still be around to enjoy next week.

No Foolin'

Discovered a new park close to our house this weekend. I heard stories about a new fancy playground. It was still under construction - so we watched turtles and squirrels instead.

Newest summer adventure: (from left to right)

1. Tumble Composter. Ta-da.

2-4. Veggies and herbs. Trying out patio container tomatoes with basil, lemon, rosemary and cilantro. With the wind we get in the backyard it'll be interesting to see what of it survives the summer.

We waited until tonight when baby was asleep to mess with the dirt. She's going to have fun helping me water. It's great she's such a good helper...

Because she's going to have a lot of helping to do come November...

say it ain't so

Oh, Peyton. Denver? Really? Say it ain't so.

Please? This was just a tease, right? An early April Fools joke?

busy hands

She may not have the whole world in her hands, but it's definitely a start.

Taintsy, Chompsy, and (baby #3)

It's amazing to me how as Baby gets more independent and fun - and able to entertain herself - being a parent is more fun.

We went to Pet Smart on Friday for cat food. While there Baby decided we should also get the cat a toy - and picked out a pack of three catnip-filled mice. Since we've been home the three mice haven't gone very far from her side. They even went to church with us this morning.

Zoloft only played with one briefly.

Our days have been filled with tea parties, acting out scenes from The Jungle Book or Toy Story, and pretending to fix each other's hair. We love that her imagination has exploded.

We think a lot of this is due to the change in day care we made. Since moving Baby is using the potty exclusively, we've not had any major tantrums, she doesn't ask to watch tv as much, and pretty much she's more social. We had a lot of anxiety about moving her, but at this point it's one of the best parenting decisions we've made.

One last story...

I won four free tickets and a parking pass to go downtown to see a Barons hockey game. We'd never seen a hockey game before and for the price of free we were were sold. We were excited.

Yesterday afternoon we drove downtown, found the parking garage, hiked to the gate. Baby was so excited. We were excited. And then the lady at the gate nicely told us that our tickets were for Sunday night.

Today we went back downtown, parked about six places away from where we were last night, hiked to the gate... and saw parts of the game. She was really into it for the first period, but then she was not so much for the second period. That's when we found the fun things around the arena to do; she got a big kick out of taking turns to hit a puck with a hockey stick. We ended up leaving in the beginning of the third period because she was done. We got home in time for her to eat a couple of ham roll-ups and go to bed.

We've not heard a peep out of her since she went down.

It's been a fabulous weekend.