Our yard and Strawberry Picking

We have been loving the outdoors! Our new yard, though lots of work, has also been fun, beautiful, and educating! I thought I'd share some pictures with you... (I wrote underneath the pictures after realizing I usually write above the pics--there goes consistency, oops!)

These are my favorite lilies. They're smaller than the very tall ones that are all over Chesterton, including in front of our house (see pic below).

These tall lilies are also very pretty.

We planted our garden in the middle of May and soon started to see some sprouts...that's the broccoli peaking out

Now it's late June and check it out! It worked! Veggies are actually growing. We might get a couple carrots (that's what was planted to the left in the picture), but the rest is going great! From left to right we have Romaine lettuce, broccoli, baby flat leaf spinach and zucchini. Those were all started from seed. In the back we planted some green, red, orange and serrano peppers, plus grape tomatoes all from starter plants. The two rows on the right in the back are sweet corn that Chris planted from seed. We've already enjoyed a bunch of spinach and some Romaine :)

We have some apples coming on our apple tree.

We had a few dozen sour cherries-which were yummy! I have since eaten them all!

We have two peach trees and they are loaded with fruit. I really hope they ripen up well! Peach pie and cobbler are in the forecast and maybe even some canning (then I'll really be a farm girl!)

We had a wild turkey roaming around one day. The next day she returned with 8 little turkeys...so cute!

Chris put up drywall on the east wall of the garage where he is going to be building his work bench. This is a before shot...stay tuned for the after shot. The drywall is currently up, and the work bench is started.

Chris also installed motion sensor lights in two places. He had to mess with the hardwiring to get the lights where we wanted. It really is amazing all that Chris can do. He's done so much at this house and all that he did in our condo downtown. He's not "handy", he really is like a true professional. I'm so lucky! We're so lucky. He enjoys it, does it well, and works for free! (well, for beer and food and an occasional smooch)

He also planted the new bushes on the west side of the house. We got rid of a bunch of overgrown plants that were hiding the house's beautiful facade. These bushes should grow up and together and look great! We're so excited to be adding our own touches.

Becca and I went strawberry picking. It was great fun. The strawberries were delicious and abundant. At first, Becca wasn't too sure about the berries, they were a bit tart, but she came around and ate a bunch!

Notice her hands--red! She kept eating and squishing them...a good day. I'm planning on going back soon and bringing Chris. I think he'd get a kick out of doing this with Becca.

I'm back...camera still broken...but lots to report

I'm sorry, again, for not keeping up with the blog. I've gone back to work, part-time, but have just had a long stent (working 7 of the last 9 days); I've got lots more excuses as to why I haven't made the time to update the blog, but there's no point in sharing that. As usual, we're busy doing a little of this and a little of that and a little of nothing! :)

So let's see, where to begin...Becca had her first ear infection. She had a cold and then after about a week developed a fever. We fought the fever but it stuck around and even went up to 104.3 degrees. We went to the doctor and discovered the ear infection and then started the antibiotics. A few days after taking the medicine, Becca developed a rash. It spread and got worse before it got better, but we did end up switching antibiotics. She must have had a virus, beccause she also the poops (I'm sure she appreciates me sharing). She didn't sleep much at night for a few days, and we ended up snuggling and spooning on the guest bed--it was kind of sweet :)

I also have taken Becca to the beach. She LOVES it! She loves the sand and the water. It's so fun!

And yes, Becca has turned a year old! I cannot believe that a full year has gone by....wow....We had a BBQ for her party and had friends and family over to celebrate. Our theme was Ladybugs, but I didn't go too crazy with it. For those of you who supported me in my cake making adventure, thank you for your patience and kind words when that was all I could talk about. I had my ups and downs and periods of doubt, but in the end, it turned out perfectly and I'm very proud of myself! What do you think? The smash cake was fun, but Becca didn't get too crazy with it.

Becca had a good time at her party and seemed to love all the attention! She played, ate, played, smashed her cake, slept and then opened gifts. She got great gifts. We are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends who are generous and kind--Thank you to all!

Becca wasn't walking for her birthday, more than a few steps anyway, but is now officially a toddler! The conversion happened on June 18th. It really is amazing. That day she just preferred to be upright and walking, and that was that! It's so neat to see her walking around. She has her own ideas and preferences and is understanding language more. Chris taught her to give us kisses (minus the puckering up); it's so precious. She has the first half of blowing kisses down, and just yesterday I taught her how to find her belly button-she's a bit challenged to actually see it due to her round protruding tummy, but she'll catch a glimpse now and again :) Just this last week she's finally signing all done, when prompted. She really is continually changing and growing!