Spring in Kodiak

Yep, actual spring... bordering on the best of what we saw last summer! Woo-hoo!

As much as we have to do inside to get ready for Green's arrival - and within the confines of Jason's deployment schedule - we had to take full advantage of the gorgeous weather this weekend to get some much-needed outdoor work done instead. So we headed out first thing Saturday morning to see what the garden store had to offer so we could start sprucing the place up a bit.

Last year, Jason built me a small flower box/raised bed in front of the house, which I filled with a few perennials. As the weather has gotten nicer this year, everything exploded in growth, and it needed to be tended to. On top of that, we have this weird second driveway thing in the front yard that the builders used as an access to all the plots around us as they built the neighborhood. We lined it with rocks last year, and Jason built a huge raised bed next to it in an effort to make it look like it belongs, rather than being a building remnant. So between the second driveway and the flower beds, we had more than enough to do!

I put my plants in a little late last summer, so I didn't get much in terms of actual blooms. We've already started off with a bang this year, though, with some flowers bursting out already, and more to follow judging by what I cleaned out this weekend. Here's my handiwork!

And, here's the proof of actual flowers - my thumb might not be really green, but I can at least manage this! This plant has another bloom this morning, and one more getting ready to bloom anytime. It's so nice to see color!!

Finally, on the flower bed front, here's the new bed. We put in 3 rhododendrons and a couple of bleeding hearts. I also planted native Kodiak irises (more purple!), and have a few more plants to put in today. I started seeds inside this winter (which actually turned into plants!!), so I'll be adding English daisies, dahlias and another flower that I'm forgetting right now. Jason also took full advantage of the fact that we're at the end of a cul-de-sac, and all the extra gravel that got put down this winter ended up right in front of our house... he's using it to fill in the driveway!

Those are 8 foot fence sections, so this is a lot of real estate to fill in. Now we just have to figure out how to keep Fred from using it as his own personal outhouse...

Notice the new gravel next to the box there? Yep, that's the stuff from the pile in front of house. Yay!

Speaking of Fred... we joined him outside this morning (taking a day off for Jason's birthday), enjoying some more sun (We're on two weeks almost straight of this. Something tells me it's not going to last much longer...). I don't know, I'm not sure he was enjoying the sun, or the belly rub he was getting from Jason when I snapped this....

He also thoroughly enjoyed the butt/back rub that came next. We're thinking he needs to maybe find himself a new set of owners... I don't think he gets enough love and attention from us.

Yes, Jason's wearing shorts. No, it's not shorts-weather for normal people. I think it's about 55 degrees out there right now, but that wasn't going to stop him. He said it's his birthday so he can wear whatever he wants. Goober.

Finally, because I'm tired of listening to Mom tell me it's been too long since I've posted any pictures of me, we'll finish with that....

BUMP WATCH 2009

So this is 31w6days. I have definitely gotten quite a bit bigger in the last couple of weeks!! I still don't look pregnant from the back (small victory!), but I'm a little scared of how much further OUT I'll be going since she already doesn't seem to have room in there! Recent movements include LOTS of hiccups (which feel like an annoying twitch... I thought it was neat the first time, but not so much when she gets them 5 times a day!), and what seems like stretching as she tries to find more room in there. I'm looking forward to the doctor's appointment this week because I'm hoping the doctor will be able to point body parts out to us! I'm still concerned I've been pushing on her head because I think it's her toosh....

I still owe a baby-furniture building blog... I'll get to it eventually. But I just wanted to share some of our handiwork in the yard instead. Off to enjoy the rest of Jason's birthday!