Mitchell's Blog

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Day 6 of the garden

Spinach sprouts

Swiss chard

We are amazed that every single day we see new sprouts and more growth of our little seeds, hopefully turning into actual produce.  Troy wishes he had a garden camera angled at the box, maybe even 3 of them.  Go figure!  We promise that we won't post plant photos every day, but a continuously image-monitored garden would be a novelty.

Day 5 of the garden

We might not have any more green stuff growing, so quick, take a photo!

Lettuce in front of the marker

Kale

Tomatoes shooting up quickly

Latest product survey

Recently, I've started completing product surveys, and a new toilet tissue came up.  When asked if I would be willing to test the product, I clicked the "yes" button.  And a few days later, two packages showed up on our doorstep.  Oh, the fun we enjoy in life!!

Corny

First corn on the cob

Surprise!

We were tickled to actually surprise Grandma with a birthday cake a week early since she's rarely surprised. 

Garden-in'

Saturday's raised bed project

Topsoil plus peat moss

plus black cow

Planting potatos, cantaloupe, spinach, lettuce, kale, swiss chard,

bell peppers, parsley, lettuce

Approval!

New Toy Closet

Favorite sayin's around the house

1) "oh boy, i tay ya."
2) "oh boy, i tay ay.  boo."
3) gorgeous blossom
4) awk.ward.
5) "that's a good start."  (in response to how much cheese should be put on this dish?)
6) big bruiser
7) secret pride

Take Me Out to The Ballgame...

Lucia enjoyed her first ballgame tonight (although technically she went to one when she was 36 weeks in utero).  She stayed wide awake and over-stimulated with the noise, people and excitement.  She happily babbled, screeched, and watched the activity.

Aunt Charlene and Lucia

Grandma and Lucia

Mirror, mirror on the wall (in my parents' closet)...

Hah!  I love moving fast, and that makes it challenging for mommy to snap photos.

Tomato plants in the planter

Planter, Troy-style, filled with top soil and black cow mixture

How much water will it hold?

Tomato plants finally in the soil

Black cherry and Rose

On the move!

Our back yard (about the time of Saturday afternoon's tornado)

Happiness is....

a baby who always wakes up smiling.

Azalea Festival

This morning after story time, we stopped at the Azalea Festival.  It's been beautiful weather these past couple of days and the blooms are gorgeous.

Scary silence

Common wisdom says that when you don't hear any noise from the other room, it should sound off a loud alarm and screaming siren.  This afternoon Lucia sat on the hallway floor between the dining and living rooms right in front of our open front door, playing with a toy.  All of the sudden, I realized there was no noise as I worked at the table.  I turned, and little munchkin was gone!  I raced down the hall toward a soft whimper, but no little body was in the hall bathroom nor any bedrooms.  I pivoted and ran to the living just in the nick of time to rescue the lamp cord from being yanked down by an adventurous, fearless, lightning-fast girl.  Whew!

Crawling, crawling, crawling

Everyday this past week, the crawling improves.  Tonight, she crawled the length of the hallway, trying to reach a stack of plastic cups.  She's also finds this empty coffee can extremely amusing since it rolls away and sometimes even rolls back.

Today's Yogi green tea statement

"Grace brings contentment."

Outside fun = tired girl

We've been playing outside at the park since the weather's turned nice, and also taken lots of walks.  Lucia has been sleeping very well.

Lucia and Riley

Friday morning photo shoot

Mother Goose

Someone noted this past weekend that there seem to be more little girls than boys.  So at Mother Goose story time I looked around and noted that all of the babies there were girls except for one little boy, and the 2 older brothers that came with their little sister.  Hmmm...

I want that camera!

Oh, hair!

Anyone who has traveled through Chicago's O'Hare airport can relate to this new statistic that reveals the airport to rank last for on-time departures and arrivals in February.  Yes, the weather can be blamed but the reality is that you might as well add an hour at least to your plans even on the clearest, brightest day.

Last week's rainy day project

Newly organized pantry

Our kitchen pantry was a mess!  I should have taken a "before" photo, but didn't.  I gave my parents two sacks of food to take with them after this clean out.  There aren't any labels or dividers, but I can see everything and know where to find whatever item I need.   Such a good feeling!

Mile markers

Lucia hit the eight month marker by achieving some sweet milestones.  She's now crawling on her belly with the intent of reaching something, and makes good forward progress with her toes pushing her belly along.  She stands alone leaning against the coffee table, all the while busily rearranging wood coasters with her hands.  She also laughs a "fake laugh" in order to get us to laugh with her.  It's a fun game.  The other fun game is dropping objects on the ground from her high chair, leaning over to look at it, then looking up at us as if to say "are you going to pick that up for me?"  Over and over and over and over....  Eating is another story.  She loves sweet potato, plain yogurt, yogurt mixed with fruit/veggies,  bananas, avocados, watches, cell phones, paper napkins (hah!), etc.  Yes, we watch her extremely closely on those last few contraband items.  She can be picky with the bottle, sometimes polishing off the whole thing or other times stopping after 2 ounces with a firm shut mouth, turned head, yelp and stretched out body.  Sleep is overall good, except when people or activity cause her to stay wide awake lest she should miss anything.  She loves watching other kids, and even almost mauled baby Neil the other day.  She waves "bye bye" with purpose now. 

I was rocking her to sleep last night wishing I could keep her at this size and stage.   We sooo love her!!

New child carrier

Kelty TC 3.0

Kudos to Hyesoo for the excellent idea and suggestion.  Our front carrier is becoming too small and Hyesoo suggested a backpack carrier.  She thoughtfully sent us theirs to try out, but it's too big for Lucia at this stage.  So, Troy found many positive reviews for this Kelty TC 3.0 child carrier.  We like it so far.  It's compact enough to not take up too much space, yet roomy enough to hold diapering items in the back.  Lucia seems to find it comfortable.  She even fell asleep in it once.