Getting through spring

Whew we've been so busy the last two weeks! We finished building the raised beds and put out cardboard on the new beds to start killing the grass and get the worms to move in. Saving all those boxes from buying baby stuff paid off. We also saved all our egg cartons and toilet paper tubes for the last several months. They made great little seed starting containers! I spent last Saturday planting seeds for squash, tomatoes, parsnips, black beans, sugar snap peas, and beets. We set our seed potatoes out to start chitting and they are taking off like crazy. Mom came up with Sarah on Sunday and it was very helpful so we could get some things done outside while Maegwin was visiting with Grammy. Our leeks and onions are now filling up one bed and Josh turned over the perennials bed so we can put in our strawberry and asparagus plants hopefully this weekend. We also put in some more phlox around the pond and a really pretty lungwort plant. I'm amazed at all the perennials we planted last year. They are coming up so wonderfully and fuller than last year. Hopefully we can plant our lettuce, spinach, corn, and cabbage this weekend.

Maegwin is also getting so fun. She is pushing up and creeping.

She also figured out how to pull her little frog toy and make him sing. She is so funny...she will sit there with her little hand on it and wait for the song to end before pulling it again. We were dancing when she activated it so now she looks at us each time she pulls it as though saying "Dance, monkey! Dance!"

She's really grown into some of the stuff her Grammy knit for her which is great, but at the same time sad. I told her she has to stay small a bit longer. :p She wore this sweater last week and looked so big:

She also wears her little flower hat a lot and it is perfect for spring since it is made from cotton so not as hot as the wool ones she has.

Friday is her four month well baby check-up so she'll get her next set of vaccinations and we'll find out how much longer she is and how much she weighs. I'm excited!

Our wild yard

Last weekend we worked on getting the raised beds done. I spent a lot of time pacifying Maegwin but I did lift a few boards. I can really tell whenever I do manual labor how much strength I lost not being able to work out more strenuously while pregnant. Lifting 40-50 pounds used to be no big deal but now it is a struggle. Oh well, small steps I guess. We took a few pictures throughout the day as things progressed. We opted to just do the first two layers since we didn't really have the funds to build them all the way up. It will still be nice though and we love how the beds are more delineated. We're losing about a square foot on each but we are also adding three new beds this year for a total of 11.3 (a smaller perennial bed).
Here's a shot with two of them completed:

Maegwin and I chilled on the picnic table for a bit. We moved it closer to the house. Actually we found this picnic table back in the trees behind our house. I'm guessing at some point someone didn't want it but it is in really great shape and we love it.

Then we went for a walk around the yard to see all the spring flowers coming up. One of the things I love best about our yard is that we don't do much at all with the lawn part. We let whatever grows come up. No planting grass seed and fertilizing and agonizing over how green it is. This results in some wonderful surprises and lots of forage for local wildlife. One whole section of our yard looks like a meadow full of beautiful tiny pink and white blossoms.

The bees were already hard at work in this section. We have a bunch of honeybees that live in our backyard and some bumblebees that live in our shed. According to wiki, they should find a new spot every year but apparently they really like our shed. Josh was pondering killing them off because they do kind of swoop around when we are out gardening but they are endangered and great pollinators. They are also not aggressive so we are going to let them be. Who wouldn't want pollinators living right next to their plants? This photo also gives a good idea of how many different kinds of little plants make up our yard.

There are also grape hyacinths everywhere! I love these little flowers and each one I see makes me smile. We put out lots of tulip bulbs last year too that are just starting to bud so hopefully in another week we'll have a beautiful show of color.

Our forsythia bushes are putting on quite a show this year. The one in the back is covered in flowers. The ones by the driveway aren't as bloom covered but we also didn't really trim them last year. We will this year as soon as they start leafing out. That way they will set their buds on the newer growth.

We also have this mystery plant that comes up every year. I have no idea what it is but it lives by our creek near the daffodils. I'm guessing it must be something native to Ohio. Clues anyone?

By the end of our meanderings, Josh had quite a few more beds done. He also hacked down all our wild blackberries and mowed over the patch. We want to put in some other berry bushes there or a small garden area for Maegwin once she gets a little older. I used to really love planning out my little garden and growing flowers from seeds when I was a child so I want her to have the same experience.


This week was pretty hectic with work. It was my first quarter end back and I ended up pulling a few long nights to get things done. Some of the things I had passed off needed to be fixed so that took extra time as well. Maegwin went home with Daddy every day and she did great. One little victory this week was that I fit into one of my size 4 pre-pregnancy skirts! It was a little snug by the end of the day but I didn't care. I was really happy about it. I can't do the pants yet but I'm definitely getting closer. Maegwin and I are starting a Mommy & baby yoga class on May 8th that goes for six weeks on Saturday mornings. I'm looking forward to doing yoga again and it will be a nice thing to share with her. My friend in Columbus is also enrolled so I'll know someone starting out. Maybe I'll be able to meet some other moms and socialize. I'm super excited about it.

This weekend will be all about cleaning out the weeds from our bed with the pond, finishing up the raised beds, and getting our leeks and onions planted out. We got stuff to start our indoor seedlings that need a full month's germination so we'll start those and probably set our seed potatoes out to start sprouting. We may also put up the critter fencing depending on how much time we have. So much to do!

Thanks to all the family for the little Easter presents. Maegwin really LOVES the Hug and Miss Spider's Tea Party books. I'm working on sending out thank you notes, but as you can see things have been a bit crazy here. We're having a good time with it though. Maegwin is now rolling over from her back to her tummy and she pushes herself up to 90 degrees and is doing a bit of creeping. Her four month well baby check up is on April 23rd so then we can find out how much more she has grown. I know I've definitely put some of her clothes away that no longer fit her and we're into the six month stuff I bought at Once Upon a Child before she was born.

We bought our tickets for Josie's wedding so Josie, you can't change the date now!  hehe  We're excited to see the Bay Area again and honestly we've been talking a lot about all the food we'll eat again.  Ohio leaves something to be desired in terms of ethnic foods.