Garden 2011: part 1

The past few days we have been given a little weather gift here in Springfield. Three straight days of 50+ degree, sunny days and more in the forecast. I have been staring out the window at my overgrown, leaf-strewn yard for three months feeling depressed that I would never again have the energy to rake or trim or plan a space for a garden. But fortunately, the gardening bug bit me thanks to this weather gift, and I have been inspired in all sorts of ways.

The best news is that I figured out a place in the new yard I think will be sunny enough to put raised beds for growing my vegetables. Originally I thought it was going to take some major excavation and taking out trees to do this, but I think this spot which is right outside the kitchen window should work. It probably won't be sunny or hot enough for tomatoes, so I'll have to figure out something else for those if I actually want them to yield any fruit. But since I have a goal to plant peas in February like I did last year, there is still much work to be done, as you can see by these pictures:

So far I have excavated the weeds out of the bottom layer, and moved over these raised bed frames that were left behind from the previous owners. Next up is to do the same thing with the second layer, build two more raised beds, fill them with all sorts of good soil and additives, lay down pea gravel all around the outsides (thanks for the tip, Shannan!) and install drip irrigation.

With more sunny weather in store, I'm hoping to have a good update next Tuesday to share.

Linking up:

Thoughts on becoming a MOB

***MOB=mother of boys. I just learned this acronym, and quite like it.

Most of you probably already read the news on Facebook, that come June, the Fullers will officially be that family, you know the one that when out in public all together, strangers feel the need to comment, "wow--four boys? are you going to try for one more, just to see if you can get a girl?" No. The answer to that is no. We are done, we will be a family of all boys, I will be a MOB and lead the mob of boys and I will enjoy it.

Just so you know, there is only a 1/16 chance of having your children be all the same sex, born four in a row like this. That figures out to be about 6ish percent. We seem to be on a lucky streak of beating the odds--we're heading to Vegas.

No, but honestly, I am feeling lucky and actually thrilled. I did have that moment, a similar disappointed moment to this one, and I took some time to mourn the buying of dolls, baby strollers, the sewing of cute dresses and meeting of a son-in-law. But the moment was less disappointing than I expected it to be. And the joy and excitement I've felt since that moment passed is actually quite amazing to me. This is a special baby boy--the child that completes our family, the child that almost wasn't, the child that helped effect amazing, big changes in our life so we could welcome him with peace of mind.

I am more thrilled than ever to know that being past the awful sickie , now I can just experience those fun milestones--the kicks that make your stomach look like aliens have invaded, thinking of a name (well, actually only medium fun), and those last weeks when you just can't wait to see the little babe in person and hold him in your arms.

Halfway there!

Coming back to life

Now that I have passed the blessed 17-week milestone in this pregnancy, I am trying to catch up on life in general. I finally just unloaded my camera with pictures from Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. On that note, maybe I'll share a few.

This is a boy who is happy to play with any ball, even a dirty old one left behind by the previous owners discovered under a mess of ivy.

We did have some costumes this year for Halloween--none of them made by me, but cute nonetheless.

This year our family of 5 traveled to the Oregon coast for Thanksgiving and ate our meal at a funny little restaurant in Reedsport surrounded by old people. It was the only restaurant open for miles around, so we were lucky to even find it, but it was some really delicious turkey.

And finally, my three boys in their Sunday Christmas outfits provided by Grandma.