Antsy

I am so proud of our little garden. Everything I planted has now sprouted!

I am not sure if the bell pepper plant is going to survive- it was pretty decimated by the two hail storms we had last week, but everything else seems to be doing well. There is even a tiny jalapeno pepper growing! Can you see it?


I am worried about the garden though. This morning when I went out to water I noticed some ants. There aren't a TON, but there were a few crawling on the squash plant. And I noticed a few holes in some of the leaves...is this from the ants? I looked up a couple of solutions to getting rid of the ants- orange oil, sugar water, etc. I might try cinnamon. I know this works well inside the house. Last summer we got some ants through the vent in the laundry room. I put a bowl of cinnamon out and the ants were gone the next day. So maybe if I sprinkle cinnamon on the soil it will work? Has anyone tried anything that worked well for them?

Let Her Eat Cake!

Today we had Joey's 1st birthday party. After the chaos that was Shelby's 1st birthday, I vowed I would not do another 1st birthday party again. But then I felt like since I DID have a party for Shelby, that I had to have one for Joey too. So, I decided if I was going to have one, I would at least try to keep it smaller.

Since Easter is only a week away we went with an Easter theme. We decorated foam Easter eggs, played pin the tail on the bunny, had an Easter egg hunt, ate some yummy snacks, and of course, had cake and ice cream. It was a great little party- thank you to those who came! Joey had a great time and took an awesome nap this afternoon!

















*Quick note about the Easter Bunny cake pops. They were supposed to look like this:



And instead they ended up looking like Binky from Arthur.



Oh well. I also attempted to make Joey's cake. I spent two hours on it, then threw it in the garbage and had Jeremy go on a cake run this morning. I'm just not artistic.

One is Fun!

Little Miss Joey turned one today! I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by. Jeremy looked at me strangely when I said it feels like I was just in the hospital pushing her out...it must be a mom thing...but really, wasn't I just in the hospital yesterday?

Joey brings so much joy to our house. She is always so smiley. She loves to play with baby dolls or anything Shelby is playing with at the moment. She is getting more and more mischievous, and loves to try and sneak into the office to play on the computer or throw things in the garbage can. She loves adult food. She has surprised me by loving flavors you wouldn't think a baby would like- such as curry chicken salad. We thought she would be walking by now, since she crawled so much earlier than Shelby, but she still prefers to walk holding on to the tips of our fingers- she just needs that reassurance that we are there. Joey loves to laugh, which is good, because she has the cutest laugh ever. Right now she really loves to play patty cake, "This Little Piggy", and sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider". We cannot imagine how boring our lives would be without her. We love her so much.

We started off the morning waking up early so we could have breakfast with Daddy before work, and Joey got to open her present from us so that she could play with it all day. She LOVES her baby dolls and was thrilled to get a new stroller to push them around in.







We had a fun day of doing somersaults, playing in forts, and just being cute.






When Daddy got home from work we went to dinner at BJ's where Joey got to eat a special baked beignet with ice cream and whipped cream. Yummmm. After dinner we went to Going Bonkers. Wow. Joey could not have been more excited. As soon as walked through the door she nearly jumped out of my arms. It was nice because that place is always super packed on weekends, but since it was a weeknight there were only a few people there. Joey LOVED the slide. In fact, her poor knees are probably going to be so bruised from going down the slide and trying to climb back up over and over. She really had a great time and was exhausted by the time we got home. All in all, I think it was a great 1st birthday!

Sprouts

Oak Point Easter Egg Hunt 2011

This morning we took the girls to the annual Oak Point Easter Egg Hunt. One thing I love about living in the "boonies" (suburb of a suburb) is the limited attendance at these kinds of functions. There is always just the right amount of people there. The kids got to play on the playground, jump in the bounce house, see the Easter Bunny, and of course, hunt for eggs. Shelby was in the top of her age group this year, so she really had an unfair advantage. She quickly filled up her basket and we had to tell her to stop so she could let some of the smaller kids get eggs. She didn't mind, she was happy with her full basket. I didn't really feel too bad about her getting all those eggs though, since Joey only got three. She obviously was still too young for it and didn't really get it. All in all it was a good time. Jeremy played photographer today since I was helping Joey and a little girl we were babysitting.









Oh!!! I also wanted to report that after planting exactly ONE week ago, we have tomatoes, green beans, squash, cilantro, and basil sprouting! I am so excited!

It's about time!

A certain almost 4 yr old has had a hard time sleeping in her own bed...since birth! We have tried different things throughout the years, but we were never really super strict about making her go back to her own bed. Anytime we would ask Shelby when she was finally going to sleep in her bed she would say, "When I'm 4." Well, I guess she decided she was close enough to 4, because last night she finally slept in her bed all night! We have a prize basket and we told her that she would finally get to choose one of the Barbie's that had been in the basket for months. She came running down the stairs this morning saying, "I did it! I slept in my bed! I get a prize!" I got up and got the basket out for her and she excitedly grabbed the Ariel ballerina doll. She then called Jeremy at work and grandma in Utah and told them about what a big girl she is.

I am sure most moms who read this are probably horrified to hear that she is almost 4 and is just now sleeping in her bed, but I don't care. I believe that no child is perfect- each one has something they are not great at. It could be eating, learning to spell, talking, potty training...for Shelby it was sleeping. I knew that she would get it when she was ready and it wasn't something I wanted to force or cause drama over. We just tried different things to get her excited about her room- new bed, new blanket, new night light, etc., and when they didn't work, I just moved on.

Anyway, here she is...so excited that she is a big girl.

J-E-L-L-O

Joey discovered a new treat tonight. And she's pretty good at spoon feeding herself! I guess when you like something that much you become a pro at getting it to your mouth pretty quickly.



Coincidentally, Jello is also what my arms feel like right now. I weeded the whole backyard, which means lifting the weed eater to get on top of the retaining wall. Weed eaters are like babies. Not heavy if you hold them for a minute, but hold them for 45 minutes...

Anyway, I did that and mowed the lawn. I had to restart the dumb mower every minute or so. Then I struggled to push it through the muddy back corner of the lot where the neighbor's lot drains on to ours. I made it through the backyard and then made the executive decision that we are paying someone to mow the lawn from now on. Our yard is too big and it takes up too much of our time to mow.

The weed eating and mowing in the back was in preparation for our new garden. We planted jalapenos, bell peppers, tomatoes, green beans, parsnips, carrots, basil, thyme, cilantro, and oregano. I feel like I am leaving something out...I'm sure I'll think of it at 3 am. I am known for having a BLACK thumb. I kill plants on contact. But, I was successful at growing basil last year, so I'm hoping we'll get to enjoy so homegrown veggies and herbs this year.