Garden

We decided to do a garden this year.  Last summer we moved in mid June and it really was to late to get a garden in, so all year we looked forward to planting one!  Well, like every project Alec does, it is huge.  The garden is 40ft x 25ft, with a 5ft fence around the entire thing.  Go big or go home right?  We started some of our seeds indoors, and others of them we started right in the ground. 

Our garden includes:

• Broccoli
• Tomatoes (cherry & beefsteak)
• Potatoes 
• Zucchini
• Cucumbers
• Green beans
• Yellow beans
• Spinach
• Basil
• Cilantro 
• Snap peas 
• Corn 
• Sunflowers 

We just recently have started to be able to enjoy the first fruits!  I was able to pick tons of basil and made some delicious pesto that I have frozen in small containers to use over the next couple months.  We used some snap peas in our stir-fry tonight.  And also picked the first of our spinach and cilantro (which I cannot WAIT to use in some guacamole!)

 Putting the seeds/transplants in the garden late May (5/27):

Starting to get some action (6/16)!

 And here are the most recent pictures from today (7/7):

 Almost everything is doing really well!  Only about 3/4 of the peas germinated, not sure what happened there and they had a slow start but seem to be climbing now.  Some of the corn was too shaded, so Mike and Alec went chainsaw happy and fixed that problem, they are doing much better now. 

We are going to have tomatoes coming out our EARS.  I have no idea what possessed Alec to start and transplant this many, they are fun to grow though because they get big so fast and produce tons.  I think I may have to borrow my mother-in-law's kitchen, canning equipment, and canning knowledge for tomatoes!  I would love to get into canning, but don't feel confident enough yet to take that on and get all the equipment needed for it.  

The corn is knee high by the 4th of July, right on track!

Green beans should be starting any day, they all have tons of flowers on them.  We are going to plant more seed here in the next day or so for a second crop.  I will blanch and then freeze them to have throughout the winter. 

And of course we have yet another project going on.  Alec is installing a deck behind the other sliding door.  It will connect to our current deck.  He has all the lumber already, now he just needs the time to get it done!

 

It's a.....

I am now 16 weeks pregnant! When I was pregnant with Brie I was able to find out she was a girl at 17 weeks, I had a friend who is an ultrasound tech scan me. So it seemed like such a long wait to my 20 week ultrasound (scheduled July 18) to find out with this baby!

On the unit I work on we take care of patients that have hysterectomies (their uterus, and sometimes ovaries removed). So we have OBGYN residents that rotate on our floor to care for these patients. The other day I asked one of these residents if they had time to scan me to check gender. She said she did! So I finished up my shift and after I clocked out met her down on the labor and delivery unit. She grabbed an ultrasound machine, and I laid on a couch in the physician lounge. It was very comical!

When she first started looking she saw the umbilical cord was between the legs, so we weren't sure this was going to work. Baby was moving around tons though (I could feel it, I've been feeling it since 12.5 weeks!!). We just waited until baby moved around enough and we could get a better view. I had originally told her not to say the gender out loud, I wanted her to write it down then Alec and I could open it together. I did call Alec before I went down and made sure he was ok with this.  Well after looking around and waiting for the baby to move into position she was able to see, and got too excited that she said it out loud!  During this time 2 other OBGYN residents walked in as well and she had them take a look as well.  All said the same gender upon looking.

I then had to come up with a fun way to tell Alec!  I ended up just wrapping a box up, inside the box I put the appropriate color confetti with a sign that said the gender.  It was fun watching him open it :)

(I apologize, I have spent so much time trying to flip this picture over and no luck.....you get the idea though)

SURPRISE!!!

Alec and I are the only ones that know what I am having, and we are keeping it that way!  Thought we would try something different with this pregnancy and keep it a secret until the baby is born!  Fun for us and suspenseful for the rest of you!
 

Sleeping troubles

We are going through a new phase right now with the toddler, she absolutely refuses to sleep by herself. She has never slept with us before, always been COMPLETELY fine alone in her bed.....until about a week ago.

For both naps and bedtime she wants someone to stay in the room with her until she falls asleep. Completely asleep, if you try and sneak out when you think she's sleeping the entire cycle starts over. She has also now started waking in the night, screaming bloody murder and wants someone to sit with her. And not just for 5 minutes, like an hour! We have tried just letting her scream and not 'cater' to it......well, she got out of the crib (yes, it's on the lowest setting) numerous times.

Her naps are worse. She wakes after about 30min and will not go back down, so has been surviving off short naps (which makes her a disaster during the day.....and me!). Today, I was so tired so I just put her in the pack n play in our room, and I napped too with her. We both slept for 1.5hrs!  The poor house though looks like a BOMB went off since I have been too exhausted to clean and when she's awake she has been such a crab with the irregular sleep schedule. 

So now we search for options. I've looked online a bit and gotten a few ideas. I just have no idea what brought this on or how long a phase like this lasts! But there is noooooo way we can handle it much longer. It is so hard to know what to do; is this just a phase she will get through and just needs us to help her through it?  Or is this a weird new thing that needs to be corrected? 

I think we are going to first try and rig the crib so she can't get out, that way no matter what we at least know she's safe. I've heard of people taking out the bottom and just putting the mattress in the floor or elevated on boards. I think we have some long tough nights coming our way though.  For her, I really think the option is going to be tough love and letting her cry.  When I have tried to go in and out and comfort her she immediately lies down and is quiet the second I walk in the room, and then pops right back up when you walk out.  I really hope and pray this is something that she gets over fast because I am about at my wits end with it all.  I am not getting enough sleep, neither is she, and I am getting ZERO break from her.  It isn't exactly fostering a great mother/daughter relationship.....we are both grouchy during the day and I am so upset when she wakes up during the night I can barely see straight.  Poor kid and poor mama :(

Pray for us as we try and figure out this weird thing she is going through!! 

 This picture was post nap today for both of us, I do love when she wants to cuddle with me after naps :) 

Summer Time Fun!

We have been loving summer time! Brie loves being outside (although it is a pain to always have to think about sunscreen or bug spray or both for her!). We've been spending time in the pool, coloring with chalk, blowing bubbles, garage saling, and lots of other summer fun-tivites! 

My sister and I tried to give Brie a ride on Sandy, the 1 cent horse at Meijer. She flipped out. Which is funny, because when I am at meijer I see tons of kids crying because they can't go on the horse...she cries because she is on the horse. 

For Alec's mom's birthday we got all the sisters together for a fun day in Rockford.  We had a great time, and Alec was awesome and took the day off so he could watch Brie and Kate's younger girls! He did great with them!

Alec and I snuck out for a date night one night! It was nice to spend time with just the two of us, it seems like it is a rare occurrence! 

Brie is getting better and better at playing by herself. It comes and goes, but some days it is great! She always likes to know where I am and that I am close-ish. I do get concerned when it gets real quiet and I haven't heard from her in a while. I have caught her coloring on things she isn't supposed to, getting into my desk, emptying drawers.....nothing major. 

She LOVES to 'coy' (color)! It's sooooo cute. 

And here we are with baby #2 at 13 weeks and a few days. Way different/bigger than when I was pregnant with Brie! 

Re-roofing Project

We are becoming expert re-roofers.  This is now our second house we have had to re-roof shortly after moving in.  

Before:

During the tear off stage (which was a few days):


I am so so so glad this project is now behind us.  It was a huge undertaking and took almost an entire week.  Alec started working on it the week before all the family was scheduled to come and help. With the help of Mike Schutt and Alec's dad they got the section over our bedroom complete. Over the course of a couple days before the roofing project he worked with Mike to get the majority of the roof torn off. 


Roofing day was May 31, and everyone showed up by 9am.  They got started right away and started making some great progress.  We had about 6 guys working full time on the roof, and a couple other people stopped by to pitch in when they were able.  Everything went fairly well, the biggest issue was how hot it was.  They had to hose off their new shingles that were laid to keep them cool enough to work on.  It was SO stinkin' hot; we went through 48 bottles of Gatorade and 40 bottles of water over the course of the day.  That is a TON of fluids, and I don't think those guys hardly peed at all. 

Lauren hosing off the roof since it was too hot for the roofers to even walk on!

Just to prove how many people came out to help:

 

 Brie was just enjoying the chaos, she loved waving to the people on the roof!

I was not much help, being pregnant and on Brie duty. I pulled Brie around in the wagon ($20 garage sale purchase....boo ya!), threw up bottles of water to the roofers, and was on food patrol. 

I had sooooo much food for these guys, and let me tell you they didn't eat NEAR what I thought they would.  I kind of forgot though you aren't really all that hungry when you are so hot.  But during the course of the day I would bring out food again and they would eat again, so we did pretty well in moving the food!

Mid day cool off:

They all did great.  They got the house done (minus a couple details Alec finished up the next day) just in time for dark!  They were on the roof on and off from 9am to almost 10pm!  They did take a lunch break and a quick pool break to cool down.  The next morning Alec, Mike DeBoer, and Mike Schutt met up at 6:30am to get the detached garage done before it heated up.  They had that thing torn off, and re shingled by noon!  They all commented on how much faster they could work in the cool morning temps.  It worked out great that Brie wanted to go down for a morning nap (we still have no schedule for that kid...), while she napped Lauren, Allyson, and I picked up all the shingles they threw off the roof.  We had some great team work going, that is for sure!

We are SO thankful for our family that gave up their weekend and time to come and help us with this insane huge project.  We saved so much money by doing it ourselves rather than hiring it out, which is awesome!  I am so over the project, I am ready to have my husband back and Brie is ready to have her dad back.  Alec told me a roof lasts about 25yrs, I told him we are either moving in 24yrs or hiring it out next time.  No more roofing.  In the last 5 years we have roofed two houses, I'm over it.  That is more than you are supposed to do in a lifetime I think! 

After:

Brie is going to be a BIG SISTER!

 We are excited to announce that Brie is going to be a big sister!  

Baby #2 is due December 10! 

Allyson's Bridal Shower

I threw a bridal shower for my sister, Allyson.  It was really fun to plan and I had so much fun doing the decorations and planning the menu.  I really enjoy throwing showers, I don't always enjoy the clean up though or the not being able just to relax and enjoy the party all the way, but it is so fun to me to plan and come up with it all!

I have to make a small disclaimer, I am soooo bummed that I did not take any before pictures of all the tables set up cute and all that.  But my Mother-in-Law was there and did take pictures during the shower!

We did a lunch shower.  The menu included: chicken salad on crescents, ham/turkey/veggie roll ups, chips/dip, ramen noodle salad, and fruit salad.  I also made a fruity punch and flavored water. 

Ahead of time I had asked Mike his answers to a number of questions.  At the party I asked Allyson all the same questions and she had to answer how Mike would answer.  For every question she got wrong she had to put a stick of gum in her mouth.....she did pretty good, but did end up with quit the wad in her mouth!

 

I had asked guests to submit recipes ahead of time, then printed them all out and started a recipe book for Allyson.  She's got all the equipment and recipes, now she made to need acquire a little more kitchen skills and she will be good to go :)  I remember when Alec and I first got married, we ate spaghetti for almost every meal because it was about the only thing I could make!  Well, that and frozen pizza and mac and cheese :)  It takes some time and practice that is for sure.....something I am still working on!