Mother's Day

I'm lucky.  Brian is fabulous about birthdays/Mother's Day/all holidays, really.  I slept in, we enjoyed a lovely family brunch, I went out for a pedicure while Brian tended to Bryce and was given a gift certificate for a much needed massage.  He planned on making me dinner, but my lovely mom invited us over to their place.  So, we celebrated the rest of the evening with her.  It was a great day!

We captured the moment at the park just before brunch.  I can't believe how big our little man is getting.  As challenging as motherhood is, I wouldn't trade it for anything.  For all the stress and frustration we experience, Bryce gives us three times as much love, laughs and memorable moments.  I can't wait for baby girl to arrive, completing our little family.  How blessed are we!

Our Backyard

There are many perks to buying a new home.  New toilet seats for instance.  Showers free of soap scum build up (they were, anway).  New carpet so you don't have to wonder if someone puked/peed/pooped on it.  Then there are the drawbacks...dirt for the backyard and only dirt, is perhaps the biggest. 

The dirt didn't bother Bryce one bit.  In fact, he loved it.  I didn't really enjoy him coming inside a filthy mess, though.  Landscaping is no cheap endeavor, so it took a couple of months to get things done.  We, and by we I mean Brian, had to do things in stages.  He started with the garden so the plants would be set before the intense heat arrived.  Next were the citrus trees, ash and olive tree.  We had some help with the grass, pavers, and irrigation system.  Once the irrigation was worked out Brian was able to plant various ground covers and shrubs around the yard. The final step happened last weekend when my amazing husband hauled 10 tons of rock, by himself.  Wow.  We still have a small space we want to create an uncovered patio in so there is a bit of dirt left, but the overall transformation is amazing.  We were as economically minded as possible and started with small plants, but you get the idea.  Next year, things will look even better when things have filled out a bit.

I am so thankful for Brian's interest in gardening.  I don't lift a finger and yet I get to enjoy the fruits of his labor.  I'm one lucky gal (I did not pick up a green thumb from my mom)!  I am also so thankful to have a yard that Bryce loves to explore.  He uses his dumptrucks to haul rocks around and loves to help Brian with whatever he is working on.  I love watching him follow his dad around the yard.  It's pretty stinking cute.  I love the men in my life!

Here are some pictures showing the transformation.  The only shot I don't have is of the backyard from day one, just dirt.  But, I'm sure you can use your imagination :)

I'm a Sucker

It's funny.  I am really good at talking myself out of buying things for myself.  I'll look at a shirt in the store and then reason my way out of the purchase- we don't have the money right now, I already have a shirt that color, it's 5 dollars more than I want to spend, etc.  But when it comes Bryce, I like it, I buy it (ok, to a certain extent- I definitely don't behave like we're made of money).

We were in Costco the other day and they had a dumptruck and excavator set cleverly placed near the front door so every little boy would see it and have to have it.  Bryce saw it.  He had to have it.  I walked by it, made it about 30 steps and then spun around to pick it up.  I'm a goober.  Just for fun and because I think he's adorable, here's a few pictures of him enjoying it in the park across the street from our house.  I actually labeled our house (what you can see of it) in one of the pics...

Peach Pickin'

Bryce loved going berry picking last summer.  Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, it didn't matter.  The kid loves berries.  Honestly, Brian and I loved it as well and it is one of the things that we really, truly miss about Oregon.  Since there are no berry farms around here (I'm guessing the sun would fry them to pieces) we settled for peach picking at Schnepf's.

The farm is actually quite cool.  They've built a mini amusement park in one area, there's a petting zoo, a train, carousel, hayrides, u-pick veggies and a farm store.  They're known for their peaches and this weekend and next there is a huge peach festival.  I think we'll have to go back for that :)



Here's a few belly pictures taken at the farm.  I didn't let Brian take nearly enough during my first pregnancy.  I felt like such a whale!  This time I'm sucking it up.  I want this pregnancy better documented, especially since it will be my last.  I can't guarantee you'll see anymore of those pics, though :)  I'm just over 22 weeks in these.

He's giving her a tiny flower that he picked in this last one.  I hope he stays this sweet after she arrives :)

Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium

We've been wanting to visit the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium since we got here.  Two weekends ago we decided we better get to it before it got too hot to enjoy.  If it were closer to our house and less expensive, we'd go all the time.  Bryce really enjoyed himself.  So did Brian!  Actually, I'm not sure which one had more fun :)  I couldn't believe how close you could get to the animals.  We of course took a million pictures (ok, just over 100) and I managed to get it down to just over 30 for your viewing pleasure.  There are a couple of pictures at the end of Bryce enjoying the Hanchett's new trampoline.  We ended up at their house after the zoo...

A Few Weeks Ago...

we were lucky enough to have Donna's family come and stay the weekend with us.  Our houses are just over an hour away and with little ones it's sometimes easier to make a weekend out of the drive.  So, we did just that.  We also celebrated mom's birthday that weekend (celebrating her actual birthday in the hospital alone was not going to fly) and the Pearson's were able to join us as well.  It turned out to be a great weekend.  Bryce's face just lights up when he gets to see his cousins.  He loves to chase the older boys around and make Sarah play trains.  After everyone left, he kept asking where they were.  It took three or four days before I stopped hearing "Where'd Zachary go?  Where's Jake?  Where's Sarah?  Where's baby Luke?  Where's Tristan?  Where's Britton?  Where's Camden?"  As much as we miss Oregon, this move was worth it for Bryce.  Just look at his face in the pictures.  He loves his cousins so, so much :)




While the Hanchett's were here, Brian took some pictures of them around our neighborhood.  I thought I'd post some of them (Donna and Mike made some cute kids!).