May Garden 2013

We started off May with snow.  So much different than last years warm temperatures.

When the weather got better Ryan built a new gate for the back of the garden so that we can get to our compost pile behind the garage easier.  

This weekend Ryan moved some finished compost from darth vader and behind the garage to the garden and stirred it in.  I will plant cucumbers where he is working to climb up our three legged flying saucer.

We had a hothouse here 18 months ago. The horse manure has composted into nice soil now, last summer it still looked like road apples.  Now it is soft black soil down 36 inches.

To his right we have mint, and planted some lettuce and a currant tomato.  To his left is the garlic, we did not eat much of it this winter because, well I don't really know, maybe because it is a lot of effort taking care of a baby, a 3 year old and a recovering husband.  We had planted about a third of the garlic last fall, a third in April and the last of it last week when he worked on the gate.  It will be interesting to see if it dies off in stages or if it all goes dormant at the same time.

Now we water and wait.  In a few weeks we will be seeing more green than the garlic, basil and chives. 

In the front yard we planted 8 currant tomatoes in this bed.  Ryan also planted a surprise on the other side of the front door.  We will take pictures later and have you guess what he planted.  To be honest I left the weeds in this bed because with so many different things planted here I don't really know if they are weeds or stuff from last year.  Also this way the animals don't know the tomatoes are there.

A new addition to our yard this spring is raspberries, I love raspberries and am so happy to see one of them poking out green leaves.

A good rain has the beans sprouting.  I guess this one did not get buried deep enough.

Sad news is something is eating the basil already... it has only been in the ground a day.

Strollers - Double the Trouble

I thought Lilly was out of the stroller phase of life until I wanted to walk somewhere like two blocks in less than an hour.  I started to search out the double stroller for our family.  I thought about a side by side but they looked cumbersome when I saw mom's use them.

I thought lets go with a Graco since our car seats, pack n play and other stroller are Graco's.  It seems natural until you see how huge it is.  Ryan thought it was too wide to get through store doorways.

This isn't mine but it just looks huge.

Then a friend gave me a Sit n Stand.  Thank you so much for the experience   Lilly is still little and I wanted her to be able to sleep so it really doesn't work well.  Also I have tendinitis and it was hard to steer.  I even tried out new ones and had the same problem.  I wanted to do a lot of walking in the neighborhood and there was no sun shade for Lilly either.  It didn't have the ability to put Jonathan's car seat in it - I would need to buy an attachment.   I really didn't love it so I passed it on to a foster mom with two little bigger kids who needed it more than me.. 

I imagined Anna would want to be in it too.  Isn't this every mom's fear?

I had another mom friend who was cleaning out her garage.  She had a double for me to try.  I saw it and gave her a puzzled look.  She put it together and I got to tinker.  I washed it down the one nice day we had in April.  I started to use my husbands air compressor to blow up the tires.  Oops it was set at 120 psi and the tires take 20 psi, I thought I adjusted it right.  The tire went boom and I went to Target to get a new tube.  

Then I read the instructions on this Phil & Ted Sport.  I never heard of the company and would not have found it in Iowa.  The back part has Lilly in it and is removable.  It isn't much bigger than just Jonathan in my Graco 1 person stroller.  The beauty is Jonathan can be in the back if he isn't in his car seat.  People are surprised to see the other kid in there.  I just make sure the heaviest kid is in the front or the stroller tips.  Lilly can hop out of either part.

I am enjoying it.  It works well for my work out class doing squats up hill.  I helped a friend recycle and didn't have to pay full price. Thank you ladies for the advice.  Now I can walk the world with my kids or at least the mall.

Weird Ideas that have Worked - Plexiglass

Ryan and I used to play Settlers of Catan with some friends in India.  We enjoyed it so we bought it, some add on packs and a sheet of plexiglass.

Why?

When you are playing you use little circles on top of the cards to signify their worth.  The only problem is we would roll and knock them off.  The solution was going to Home Depot or maybe it was Lowes and bought a scrap of plexiglass big enough to go over the board.  Now we roll and don't mess up the game which can take hours.

One day I saw Anna was decorating something with paint and I put the plexiglass sheet under her so she wouldn't mess up our wooden table.  I can use a plastic scrapper to get the glue off and the paint.  I can also soak it in hot water in the bath tub to clean it - like I did today.

The girls use the plexiglass on our table when they paint or play with playdough.  Even the neighbors know to grab it if they are playing with something messy. Our table may hold up if we keep doing this with the kids.

Wordless Wednesday - Magazines, Cookies and Repairs

Wordless Wednesday - Awe Nuts!

So how do you feed a baby?

I have had three babies.  All have been breastfed to a certain extent.

Anna was my first.  We were in Detroit and I thought that my breasts would just work and it would be fine.  After a few days she was loosing weight and I supplemented.  The doctor told me to pump and only feed her by bottle.  If you do any research on breastfeeding you will find out this is a bad thing.  I didn't know any better and after a month Ryan told me to stop because I wasn't sleeping, kind of losing my mind.

 I think I looked at her as a manual, just do what the book says and it should work.  Once I quit trying and realized that I didn't fail, my body didn't work right in this case.  Then I could look at her and love her.  I saw her cues of when she wanted to eat and what she needed.  I took the time to look in her eyes and to see that she was a beautiful daughter and gift from God.

We moved to Iowa  and with Lilly I took a class on breastfeeding and made sure I had the teacher on speed dial.  I rented a pump, came in for weighing, worked on technique, entered a support group, got a cute cover so I could nurse in public, took herbs and used the evil supplementer. The supplementer is a contraption you load with formula and tape it to yourself to feed the baby.  It is supposed to stimulate your own milk production too.  I used that about 2 months and then the hassle was too much.  I nursed Lilly for 6 months total.  I still was supplementing with more formula than my own milk that entire time.  I know I tried my hardest and that I did what I could.

With Jonathan it has been different.  Ryan broke his leg when I was 7 months pregnant.  The thought of helping him with his recovery and taking care of my other two kids was overwhelming.  Ryan and I talked for a while and decided that I do what I can and that is fine.  No pumping, no herbs and no jumping though hoops.  Just attach and detach.  In this case he was fed for 2 months this way.  When he kept refusing me I knew it was the end of breastfeeding.

All my kids are breastfed.  All my kids at bottle fed.  All my kids are loved.

Wordless Wednesday - Snow happens

Why Quilts Matter

This was a questions posted by Ami Simms - Why Quilts Matter?

Ryan and Lilly under a jewel box quilt I made for Ryan

My gut reaction is even though a person is gone they can still give you warmth and its like a hug from them to be in that quilt.  I have 2 very important quilts on my bed almost year round.  One is made by my mom.  It isn't that pretty but her hands made it.  It is a huge embroidered peacock. Also a sunbonnet sue quilt is the other one from the woman who took care of my mom as a kid, the lady I am named after.  Its like having a visible piece of love from someone who is gone but not.

Our picnic quilt made by Grandma Nancy in the 70's

O hope my own kids value the quilts I have given them.

Anna under a batik pinwheel quilt I started when Ryan and I got married

Lilly in a blue and green lucky 10 quilt

I bet there are at least 20 quilts I have made that people have.  I hope they know I cared for them and their babies.

Spending Time with Three Kids

Now we have three kids.  I am trying to figure out how to spend quality time with all of them.

I got some time in with Lilly earlier tonight.  We just played with flashlights in the dark living room while Jonathan was sleeping in his room and Anna was off playing.

I need to get it in my head that even if the two younger ones are napping that doesn't mean plow though the chores but that I need to relax and spend time with Anna.  I know this because I have a sense of guilt.  Anna prayed tonight "God, help mom to get more sleep so she doesn't yell at me tomorrow."

Tomorrow is another day and I need to mentally make sure I spend time with all my kids, give them all respect, give them eye contact, give them hugs and kisses.

Nancy

Wordless Wednesday - I love my family