Tomorrow! Tomorrow!

We find out TOMORROW!! I am so so so excited!!! Is Baby Grant a boy or girl? Around 10 AM tomorrow, we should know. Yay!!!!

I decided that I definitely just want to find out tomorrow at the appointment. I don't think I can wait any longer. So, here's the plan. I'm making cupcakes tonight. I'm also making a cream filling to go in the middle of the cupcakes. Tomorrow, once we find out if it's a boy or girl, I'll color the cream filling either pink or blue before filling up each cupcake! We're heading to Trussville tomorrow afternoon to see my side of the family, so we'll take some of the cupcakes with us. Then, Sunday night, we'll eat cupcakes with Travis's family. I thought this would be a fun compromise between having a full-blown party and not doing anything at all. Pictures to come, definitely!

Baby Grant is moving around much more noticeably now. I notice some kicks or movement just about every day! It's a pretty neat feeling. He or she is about 5 1/2 inches long and weighs 7 oz. Today marks 18 weeks along. Almost halfway there!

18 weeks

I worked 3 days this week, so I'm glad to have a 3 day weekend coming up! I can definitely tell that my legs hurt more at the end of the work day than they used to.

We've been getting stuff done around the house slowly but surely. Tuesday night, we hung a valence over the window in the guest bedroom. It came from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and the colors match the comforter perfectly. It looks great! :)

We also have a little garden flag in our front flower bed now!! So excited about that :) It just makes the entrance feel so homey! Now, I just need an Alabama flag for football season, right?

Welcome to our house!

Yay! Things are growing...slowly :)

Right side close-up

Left side close-up

We're going to the Alabama game on Saturday...our first of this season. It'll be good to be back in Tuscaloosa! Uncle Bill and Aunt Gale will be in town staying with my parents also, so we're excited to see them. They're all going to Auburn on Saturday for the LSU/Auburn game.

We both signed up for the Liz Hurley Ribbon Run this year. That's the race that I did last year to raise money for breast cancer. It's actually on my birthday this year, so it's about 1 month away. It's a 5K, and I'm planning to walk/jog it. Won't be breaking any world records, but it'll be fun! Now that the weather is so nice, it's not hard to want to get out and exercise :)

Travis is working late tonight, so I guess the kitties and I will have to hold down the fort. As long as they don't break any more lamps this week or knock over vases of flowers, we'll be good :) Crazy kitties!!!!!

Cat vs. Baby?

I am still so excited about the great deal I got on Friday!! Travis went with me to a consignment sale in Huntsville with lots of maternity and baby/kid stuff. I was mainly looking for maternity clothes since we're not quite ready to buy baby clothes yet (sigh..). We got there right after the sale started, and I was the first one to hit the rack of maternity clothes! They had a lot of cute stuff for REALLY cheap prices!! I ended up with 2 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of dress pants, 1 jacket, 1 sweater, and 3 shirts all for $37.50!!!! We were both so excited. Of course, I couldn't try anything on while we were there, but I tried it all on at home, and everything fits! I love a good deal!!

Yay!!

It made me sick that we still don't know if Baby Grant is a boy or girl.....because they had a TON of cute baby clothes. Oh well. They will have another sale in mid-March, and it's already on my calendar! Can't wait for that!!

I'm 17 weeks today and feeling good! I think this baby must really be growing because my bump has really gotten bigger in the past few weeks. Supposedly, he or she is about 5 inches long and weighs about 5 oz. The Lovenox shots are still going well...no issues there. I had my 2nd trimester screening today. It was really quick (just a blood sample), so I was in and out in less than 10 minutes. The test screens for spina bifida, Down syndrome, and trisomy 18. We should find out the results in a few days.

17 weeks

Next Friday (which seems like forever away) is our appointment with my regular doctor. I feel like we've been waiting forever. I am seriously leaning toward just finding out the gender when we go rather than waiting to find out at a party, so we'll see how that goes :)

Apparently, not everyone in the Grant house is as excited about this baby as I am. And, no, I'm not talking about Travis...haha! I came home the other day to find this...

Is this a hint from Miss Gabby that she's not looking forward to this baby??? Who knows!!! She does like to be the center of attention, so it will be an adjustment for her :)

I won my first fantasy football game this year! Usually I start out with a loss, so this is a good sign. I'm still the only girl in the league, and I think it would be hilarious for the pregnant female to beat 11 guys and win the "championship". Of course, I'd get accused of cheating because I had "extra help" on my team :) Oh well...wish me luck!

The weather has been cooling off a little bit, so I took that as a good excuse to get out my fall decorations. I just love decorating! We don't have any outdoor decorations, but at least the inside of the house looks cute.
Now I just need some Halloween candy for the bowl on the foyer table :)

We've got several house projects to take care of in the next few weeks, including fixing a leaky toilet, hanging curtains in the guest bedroom, installing a new ceiling fan in our bedroom, and painting a nightstand. The fun never stops around here!!

Hope you're having a great week too!

Party POSTPONED?!?!

I think I've discovered something very important over the last couple of weeks--with kids, nothing goes according to the plan!!!!

I was getting pretty pumped about having this gender reveal party. I'd gotten ideas for decorations, food, games, etc. We'd even picked out the day we wanted to have the party. Our idea was to have the party on September 15th around lunch time. We'd have a big cookout, cut the cake, and then watch the Alabama-Arkansas game with anyone who wanted to stick around. I'd designed the invites on my computer. They were all ready to be printed and mailed. It was going to be great!

Well, I mentioned last time that we had our two envelopes (one from each doctor), but we weren't sure if they agreed with one another. One was 95% sure, and the other was 90% sure. Pretty good odds, I thought. So, we mailed the envelopes together to Mollie, who'd agreed to make the cake for us. Tuesday night, I get a text...."Um, we may need to postpone the party....".

THE ENVELOPES WERE DIFFERENT!!!! One said "boy", and the other said "girl". I couldn't believe it!!! Especially for them both to claim to be pretty sure they were right.....someone was definitely wrong! I didn't ask Mollie what each one said, but I guess we'll find out soon enough who was right and who was wrong.

So, the party will definitely not be on the 15th, and at this point, I'm seriously debating whether or not to just scratch the idea altogether. We go back to the doctor on September 21st for another visit and ultrasound, and surely by then, they'll be able to get it right 100%. The problem is that the next few weekends after the 21st are already booked up with stuff to do, so the earliest we could have the party would be October 13th. I just don't know if I can wait that long!!! We'll have to talk about it and decide what to do, but I'm leaning toward just finding out on the 21st and not doing a party. When I told Mom what happened, her reply was, "Well, kids definitely teach you patience....you're just getting that lesson a little early!" I think I could stand to develop a lot more patience, so maybe this is a good thing :) Thanks, Baby Grant!!

Since my last post, I've talked to/heard of a lot of ladies that I know who had to do the Lovenox shots during their pregnancies. It made me feel so much better to know that they did it too and got through it just fine! After doing the shots for a week, I can definitely say it's gotten a lot easier. It still hurts but not as much, and I've only got a couple of small bruises that I can see. I've still got a long way to go, but I think I can do it! :)

Yesterday at work, I had my very first comment from a stranger asking if I was pregnant. It took me by surprise because even though my friends and family are noticing my "bump", I don't really think it's necessarily obvious to someone who doesn't know me. I guess it's more obvious than I thought! This person asked if I was pregnant, and I really wanted to respond..."No, I'm just fat"....just to see the look on her face. Isn't that mean of me? I didnt' do that even though it crossed through my mind :) Honestly, I think it's pretty bold to ask someone that question though...especially when it's not blatantly obvious. Sure, ask me when I look like a big balloon, but at this point, I really could just be fat and eat too much ice cream every day! Just my opinion.

15 weeks

So, today marks 15 weeks along, and I'm still feeling pretty good! I'm not sleeping quite as well at night, and I think it's because it's getting uncomfortable to sleep on my stomach, and I don't sleep on my sides very well. I always wake up on my back no matter what I do! Oops! People keep asking if I've felt the baby moving yet, and I'm really not sure. There have been a couple of times when I thought I might have felt it, but I'm not really sure what I'm expecting to feel if that makes any sense. Before long, I guess I'll know for sure!

Speaking of babies, we took our furbabies to the vet last Friday for their checkup and shots. Felix and Gabby did great! It only took 10 or 15 minutes to "capture" Felix (which is doing pretty good), and Gabby was actually the one who meowed all the way there instead of him. Gabby weighed 9.6 lbs, and Felix was 11.4 lbs. Apparently, a normal adult cat weighs 9-13 lbs, so they are considered normal! They were both very cooperative, and Felix didn't scratch or bite anyone, so we left feeling like very proud parents! :) At least, I was a proud mom! Travis loves those kitties too, even if he doesn't want to admit it all the time!!

This weekend is going to be a whirlwind full of activities. We have somewhere to be almost all weekend long starting tonight and going through Monday night. Most of it involves food, so I'm afraid all my weight gain is going to start this weekend :) Alabama plays Michigan Saturday night (Roll Tide!), so of course we're breaking out the grill to celebrate the first game of the season. Travis wants to buy some steaks at EarthFare, so we'll see how they turn out. Can't wait!

Hope you have a fabulous Labor Day weekend too!! :)

News at Our House

Things have been busy around our house! Life definitely doesn't slow down after you get pregnant...

Tomorrow I'll be 12 weeks, and I guess we can finally start taking some "pooch pics" now. I'm starting to feel a little bump maybe! :) I might get Travis to take a picture tonight when he gets home from work. I'm still just feeling tired but no complaints other than that. I feel so lucky not to have been sick at all!! I'm hoping to get some of my energy back in the next few weeks after I'm officially in the 2nd trimester. It would probably help if I was exercising more than once a week, but I either haven't had time or just haven't made myself do it. I've been working more than normal lately, so that's probably another reason for the tiredness! On Tuesday, we go to a new doctor for my first trimester screening. Hopefully they will be able to tell then if it's a boy or girl. If they can, we'll just have them write it down on paper and seal it in an envelope. Then, we'll save it until we go back to my regular doctor on the 27th to make sure they agree...boy or girl! Then, we can start planning the party! :) At least, that's the plan. If I can't control myself, we may end up finding out on Tuesday...haha :)

Last Wednesday, we had some excitement before supper. Travis got home from work and went into his study, flipped the light on, and it made a really loud popping sound, and smoke started pouring out!!!! Pretty scary! He took it down after church, and being a typical engineer, he took it apart and discovered that the wiring in the light was disintegrating! Not good. The good thing is that we both hated that light anyway...it was an ugly fixture with brassy gold trim. Besides just being plain ugly, it put out horrible shadows when the light was on. So, we were planning to replace it eventually anyway...this just sped up our timeline. We decided to look for a ceiling fan instead of just a regular light fixture. So, last weekend we "did our research" and went to Lowe's and Home Depot to check out their selection. We eventually settled on one at Home Depot that we both really liked. We bought two so that the study and guest bedroom would match.

A five minute fan??? Hooray!!!

We got to work hanging it Sunday night after church. Well, somehow our "5 minute" project turned into about 2 hours...haha! But, we eventually got it up (I was mainly the instruction manual reader and the tool hander), and it looks great! The fan is so quiet, and it moves a lot of air even on the lowest speed. The only part we weren't completely happy with was the light. The glass bowl that covers the light bulbs is amber-colored, and it makes the light look too yellow. Not to worry....this fan is also made in a brushed nickel finish, and its glass bowl is more of a white/clear color, so we ordered two of those on Monday. They came today, so we'll test it out tonight to see if we like it better this way. Of course, we have to make things complicated! :)

We're planning to hang the other fan in the guest bedroom this weekend, and I'd also love to get the blinds hung in the guest bedroom and study. We need to get these projects done before football season starts because we definitely won't be very productive on the weekends after that! :)

Last weekend, we also went shopping since it was "tax free weekend". Travis was really needing some new khaki pants for work, so we headed to Belk to check out their selection. He found some that he liked, so we bought 5 pairs (in different shades). He hates to shop for clothes, so these will probably last him for the next 5 years at least :) Plus, he never gains any weight, so they'll fit for a long time I'm sure. Anyway, we got the pants for a really good deal because they were on sale for 40% off, plus an additional 30% off and no tax. We bought the pants, got them home, and we left them in the bag on the floor in our bedroom. That was a big mistake. Travis discovered on Saturday that the bag had been attacked!

CHEWED!

We both knew who the culprits were: our sweet, innocent kitties. They were in big trouble with their daddy! They not only chewed up the bag, but the pair of pants on top got chewed too! There are noticeable bite marks in the pants. Bad kitties! I know they didn't mean to chew up the pants because I've left clothes on the floor plenty of times, and they've never touched them. They just love to chew on stuff like plastic bags and newspaper. Let's just say Travis was not happy with his kitties on Saturday...

I'm too cute to be mad at for long! :)

I guess the kitties are just preparing us for what life will be like with kids breaking and ruining stuff! :) It's just stuff after all!

Our Busy Season!

We had a great Mother's Day celebrating with our moms!

Friday after work, we headed to Trussville for a couple of days. It was a nice change to see my family two weekends in a row! That night, Jenn and I made a pie for Mom as a Mother's Day dessert. We ended up running out to Publix twice because we forgot all of the ingredients the first time...oops! It was worth it though...that pie was yummy. If you're looking for a rich, creamy chocolate pie, you need to try this Rich Chocolate Truffle Pie. Another allrecipes.com winner!

Mom threw a small graduation party for Jenn on Saturday for lunch. It was a lot of fun! We ate hamburgers, several sides, and the best strawberry cake I've ever had from Edgar's Bakery.

That night, after eating pizza and a tiny sliver of pie (because we were so stuffed from all that food), Travis and I headed back home. We are both teaching Bible classes at church right now, so we had to be back in town by Sunday morning.

We ate lunch with Cheryl, Emily, and Melissa on Sunday. Travis is getting to be a pretty good grill master because the steaks were awesome! He's had his eye on a nice grill for a while (because we still haven't bought one), but he's waiting on it to go on sale. Hopefully we'll be able to get it sometime soon though!

Last night, with Alisha and Tyler back in town, we all ate supper at Phil Sandoval's. It was our first time to eat there, and it was really good.

Now after eating all that food this weekend, no wonder I felt like I needed to go running this morning! :)

I guess I'm unofficially a mom to the kitties, so of course they wanted to celebrate. In honor of Mother's Day, they left me a nice present to find when we got back home Saturday night. One of them had thrown up all over the carpet and rug in our living room...yuck! Luckily, we got it all cleaned up pretty easily. I think it must have been a combination of eating too much at one time + a hairball. Gross. They must have felt bad about it, though, because when we got home last night from supper and running a few errands, they'd left me a nice present on the bathmat in the guest bathroom. Yesterday afternoon, I "deadheaded" a few flowers in our flower beds, and I'd brought them inside and thrown them away in the trashcan in the study. Well, someone (probably Miss Gabby) decided to go digging in the trash, and she carried one of the flowers all the way from the study into the bathroom. Ha! What a silly cat. I guess I'd rather find dead flowers than the alternative though... :)

Speaking of our flower beds, flowers are blooming, and shrubs are growing...so I guess we're doing something right! It's really cool to go outside every day and see how all of the plants are growing and changing. Here are a few pictures so you can see for yourself!

Astra Double Blue Balloon Flower

I love the color! These are in our left flower bed...

Our hydrangeas are blooming too!

Lots of daisies popping up now...

Very pretty!

Everything is really growing!

As usual, our summer is starting to get really busy. We don't have a free weekend until mid-June! This weekend, we've got 3 parties/showers to go to between the two of us. Next weekend is Memorial Day weekend, and I'm hoping we can go to the lake for a couple of days with my family. Then the next weekend, we leave for Fripp Island! Can't wait for that! Not sure if I've mentioned this already, but we are going to stop in Savannah for the day before heading to Fripp. Neither of us has ever been, so we're looking forward to it. Any suggestions on things to do/places to eat? I'm thinking we'll definitely have to try Paula Deen's restaurant!

Well, that's about it for this update. We're just staying busy as usual! :)

Life Outside of Landscaping

Just a quick update on our non-working-out-in-the-yard lives...

Us: Friday marked 6 years since our first date at Depalma's in Tuscaloosa. Wow!! Doesn't seem like that long at all. But, then again, it's been almost 2 years since Travis graduated and we moved to Madison. That's pretty crazy too!

House: We've now lived in our house for a year officially. I think we moved in on April 9th, 2011. A lot has changed around here in the last year. New paint colors, pictures on the walls, blinds up on the windows, etc. We're blessed to be living here...we love it!

Cats: Gabby and Felix are as lazy as ever. Right now, they are sleeping in separate chairs at the kitchen table next to me. I wish I could sleep as much as they do! 

It's a hard life!

Running: The half marathon is just over 2 weeks away. I guess if we're not ready by this point, we'll never be. Yesterday, I felt the best I've felt while running in a long time. Travis, on the other hand, has been having a lot of pain in his right hip lately. He went to the chiropractor yesterday and is going back this afternoon, so maybe that will help. We're supposed to run 14 miles on Saturday, so we'll see how that goes! My foot still hurts a little bit when I'm running, but not all the time and not as bad as it did. I just have to make it through the 28th, and then I'm not running for a while after that! :)

Birthdays: This weekend, we're celebrating Emily's and Tyler's birthdays. I'm looking forward to Alisha, Tyler, and Emily all being here at the same time. Pretty soon, Alisha and Tyler will be up here for good! Can't wait for that! :)

 Taxes: We are major slackers this year. We still aren't done with our taxes! Talk about waiting until the last minute. We've literally been outside every weekend for the past several weeks and haven't had time to get them done. That's on the to-do list for tonight! 

Mom: I haven't updated about Mom lately. She's still feeling pretty good after finishing up radiation treatments last month. She had appointments with two of her doctors on Tuesday, and they both said she looked great. She's going to be starting an oral medication soon that she'll have to take for 5 years. Her hair is slowly growing back. I haven't seen it in person yet, but she's going headcover-less now apparently! Yay Mom!

David Hartsell: He preaches at Northwood, where we went to church when we were in college. He recently had surgery to remove a brain tumor and hasn't been doing very well since then. Here is the latest update that I've seen on Facebook (from Tuesday night):

"Good evening. Thank you for your continued prayers on David's and on our family's behalf. I hope you will excuse the fact that this is the second update sent today. This is simply the best method for us to disperse information and answer the many questions we have received.

After hooking David up to the EEG this morning, the doctors believe there is some increase in brain activity from last week. It is unclear at this time what that means as far as his chance at recovery. He is still not awake, and the best doctors in the country in this field continue to be perplexed as to what is going on and what will happen in the days ahead. The plan in to redo the EEG on Friday morning to see if there are further improvements. The steps following that are unclear at this time. Also, David has had a fever for the past couple of days, and a lumbar puncture was performed this afternoon to rule out meningitis. It seems that the doctors do not believe meningitis to be a likely finding, but they must rule it out before proceeding. The results from that, I assume, will be available tomorrow.

While the doctors on this case are perplexed, there is one thing that we know: God has the power to heal David if He chooses to do so. That is what we are praying for, and request that you do as well. Thank you again for your love and, most of all, your prayers."

Please pray for his full recovery! And, pray for his family during this difficult time. Mr. Hartsell is a very special person and has been a great influence on Travis and me just in the few years we've known him. Please pray that he can continue to preach and touch other's lives in the future just like he's already done.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18:

¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, ¹⁸ while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Gabby and Felix

I love my daddy!! 

He's the best!! 

I'm getting so big :)

I like to lie on my back sometimes...

We're the best kitties around!!

The Great Outdoors

We are spending a lot more time outside than usual with our big landscaping project, and I'm really enjoying it. It's nice to enjoy the sunshine and see all of the plants and trees blooming again. God really created a beautiful world!

This past weekend was dedicating to outlining our flower beds, trees, and mailbox with rock. I just have to say....what a big improvement!!! I was pretty nervous about it before we bought the rock at Reseda. I had a hard time picturing how it would look with our red brick house. Plus, the rock was going to cost over $200! So, if it didn't turn out very good, there goes all that money down the drain! Luckily, although we are pretty frugal in most areas, our house projects usually spare no expense as far as Travis is concerned. So, he wasn't worried about it at all. That is, until the guy at Reseda loaded the pallet of rock into the back of the truck. I think Travis was about to panic thinking that Jeff's truck was going to fall apart under the weight of the pallet. Luckily, the truck did just fine, and we made it home with all the rock and the truck in one piece. Whew! :) Thanks again, Jeff and Melissa, for letting us borrow your truck! Hopefully we can get it back to you after this coming weekend! :)

We bought the rock early Friday afternoon and spent the rest of the daylight hours starting our project. Since we obviously couldn't lift the pallet out of the truck ourselves (where was that forklift when we needed it?), we had to take the rocks out of the pallet by hand and load them into a wheelbarrow. It wasn't too hard. Travis commented that this part of the project was the most fun yet "because it was a lot like Tetris". Trying to fit the rocks together was pretty fun and a nice break from digging holes! We got the left flower bed and small semi-circle bed finished on Friday, and we were so happy with the results!

Yay!

Double yay!

What a difference those rocks make!

Saturday, we woke up early and got started a little after 7:30 AM. We got the right flower bed done by about 12:30 PM. Before laying the rock down on that side, we put in a metal liner to keep the grass/weeds from growing into the flower bed. We decided not to worry with that on the left flower bed since it is lined by the sidewalk. Installing the metal liner was pretty easy. You just lay it out and hammer it down with stakes. We put the rock in front of the liner so you can't even see it from the road. It looks great!

Putting in the metal liner

Unloading the rocks

The right side is finished

Yay!

After a break for lunch, we went back outside to start outlining around the trees. We have two maple trees and one magnolia tree in our front yard. Previously, they were outlined with really ugly red brick that didn't even match the color of the brick in our house. It really looked bad. The new rocks are another big improvement! We had to stop several times during the afternoon because quick rain showers would pop up. So, we'd go inside for a few minutes to wait it out. But, finally we got finished!

It all matches!

Our last project of the day was outlining the mailbox with the remaining rock. We were almost out of the rock by this point, but luckily we had enough to finish. Soon, there will hopefully be some pretty flowers planted here!

Yay!

By the end of those two days, I felt like I'd done about 1,000 squats at the gym. So much bending down and standing back up! But, it was worth it!

I have to confess that we're not quite finished with the rock part of the project. Before we lined the left flower bed with rock, we dug a shallow trench for the rocks to sit in. They are stacked two high, but you can really only see the top layer because of the sidewalk. However, on the right side, you can see both layers clearly. We are going to go back and add some dirt back under the rocks on the left side to make both layers visible. We think it will look better overall that way. We are planning to do that tonight, so hopefully it will be pretty quick and simple!

This weekend, we are planning to finish this landscaping project for good! We want to plant a few flowers in between the shrubs and then add a layer of mulch to all of the beds. And that should do it! Next week, hopefully I'll be able to post some good "before and after" pictures!! :)

Although landscaping has taken up a lot of our time lately, we are still somehow getting our normal weekly activities done too. You know, things like working, sleeping, eating, running, etc. Once we get this landscaping finished, I think we'll take a few weeks off from house projects. I have a feeling our schedules are about to get pretty busy anyway with a half-marathon, graduations, teaching Bible classes at church, birthdays, vacations, and Guntersville camp coming up anyway. May and June especially are always pretty hectic!

Speaking of running, I took a week off before running for the first time again last night. Apparently, the week off only served to make me MORE out of breath; it did nothing for my foot. It hurt as bad as ever if not worse. It's been pretty discouraging the past few weeks to be getting slower instead of faster, but oh well. At this point, I'll just be glad to finish the race and "retire" from long distance races. I think my body is better suited for 5Ks anyway! The race is a month from tomorrow, so I'll just have to tough it out until then...

I'll leave you with a few pictures of Gabby and me. In the middle of a rain shower on Saturday, I decided to try to snap our picture...

Doesn't Gabby look excited to be in the picture? :)

Oh my. I can't help laughing when I look at that! Luckily, Travis didn't mind snapping a much better pic for us. I know Gabby was relieved to get both of her eyes in this one!

I love her!!

I love Felix too...he just doesn't cooperate too much when he's held. A.K.A. bloody-battle-with-Travis-on our-anniversary. He'll never live that one down! At least it's somewhat funny now looking back on it :)

There's always something going on around here, that's for sure!!

March "Madness" at the Grants'

I guess since it's feeling like summer outside, it's fitting that I've already gotten my first sunburn of the year. I just don't think about needing to wear sunscreen in mid-March! But, we were outside all day on Saturday, and by the time I put sunscreen on, it was too late. I can't even count the number of comments from people like "Wow, you got a lot of sun this weekend". I even got called a "redneck"...HA! Get it? My neck was literally red. Yes, it was corny.

Friday afternoon, we got the last of the shrubs planted that we'd bought the weekend before. Now, all 12 are in the ground! It took us until it was dark outside to get finished, but at least we got it done. Of course, I didn't contribute much other than measuring the holes, but that's ok. I was moral support at least. I did manage to create MORE work for Travis when I was backing out of the garage to go buy more potting soil at Bennett's. I was trying to hurry to get there before they closed, and I scraped the front left side of my car against the weatherstripping on the side of the garage opening. OOPS. The weatherstripping is now cracked and bent, and it will have to be replaced. Guess we can add that to the other projects on the to-do list. Sorry, Travis. Now he'll have a good reason to claim he's the better driver of the two of us!

Saturday morning was our long run. It was supposed to be 11 miles, but I quit after 9.2. I didn't drink enough water the night before or that morning, so I was getting too dehydrated by the end. Plus it was already hot and sunny by the time we ran. Travis made it the whole 11 miles, but he had to walk a few times. My foot (the one that's been hurting for a couple of weeks) was really bothering me the whole time, and it also hurt pretty bad on Monday when I ran, so I'm taking a week off to let it rest. I'm afraid I've got another stress fracture like I got in high school. Same foot and everything. But, I'm really in a bind because if I go to see a doctor, they'll tell me not to run for 6-8 weeks I'm sure....meaning I would miss the race. Or, I'd be really out of shape if I took several weeks off in a row. But, if I keep running on it, it's not going to get any better. So, I don't know what to do! Maybe taking a week off will help, and I can keep running at least until the race next month.

Saturday afternoon (after we ate lunch and cooled off a bit), Travis cut the grass, and we trimmed the bushes in the backyard. It was an all afternoon affair, and he didn't even get to cut the front yard. Whew! We were exhausted by the end of the day. Being a homeowner is a full time job! No wonder we don't have any free time anymore...

Hydrangeas that we planted on Friday

Look how many leaves our Japanese maple tree has now!

The right flower bed is finished...for now!

As of right now, it's supposed to be rainy on Friday and possibly Saturday too, so I'm not sure how much we'll be able to do outside this weekend. We'd like to go ahead and buy the rock to line the flower beds with and maybe even plant some flowers too, but we'll just have to wait and see if the weather cooperates.

By the way, we must be "regulars" at Lowe's now because one of the employees recognized us there on Monday night and said "Back again?" Haha...we're definitely helping them stay in business.

Well, Mom and Dad went to the lake house for a few days, and you'll never guess what Dad found in the pontoon boat...

KITTENS!!! 5 of them! They were inside one of the seats next to a life jacket. Gabby and Felix were so excited to hear the news. They really want a little brother or sister. Sadly, Mom did some investigating and found out that they belong to a lady up the street who has lots of cats. Apparently, the momma cat likes to go off and have her babies and bring them home after a few weeks. When Mom went to go check on them the next day, the kittens were gone. So, either the lady came and got them, or the momma cat took them away. How sad! Felix and Gabby really wanted another playmate :) Oh well. One day, they'll be getting a boxer puppy to play with...I'm sure they'll love that!

Speaking of cats, Felix did battle with a wasp the other day. A LIVE wasp. He kept picking it up in his mouth and slinging it around. Then, he'd paw at it a few times. I think he would have eventually killed it (or gotten stung on the nose!) if Travis hadn't come and shooed it outside. That crazy cat. He's scared of his own shadow, but wasps and spiders don't bother him a bit.

Well, that's about all that's been happening around here lately. We're just staying crazy busy as usual!

Erin

Green thumb?

So, I'm really getting into this landscaping stuff!

For the last 4 or 5 months, our flower beds have just been plain dirt. Really, plain red clay. Back in October, we pulled up the pitiful little shrubs that were already there. I don't know how long they'd been there, but they definitely weren't very big or healthy looking. So, we decided to just start over and plant what we wanted.

"Before" picture.....empty flower beds!

Well, we've finally got some stuff planted!

Friday was our "planning" day. First, we measured the beds, and Travis drew them on graph paper with labeled dimensions. We also took some pictures of our house and printed them out on paper. Then, with a few shrubs in mind that we liked, we headed to Reseda Nursery. A guy there showed us around, took a look at our pictures and drawing, and gave us some suggestions for what to plant where. It was pretty overwhelming at first...just because we didn't know what we were doing! We spent a couple of hours there, and then we headed to the other side of town to check out Bennett's Nursery. We did basically the same thing; someone showed us around and gave us their ideas for what we should plant. Overall, we spent about 4 hours looking at everything! After a quick supper at Sun Cafe, we looked over all of the different shrubs online one more time and made some final decisions about what we wanted to plant.

Travis's artwork!

Some of the house pictures we took to the nurseries

We were hoping to be able to get everything from either Reseda or Bennett's (to save us some driving), but, of course, we ended up picking stuff that either one or the other place didn't have. So, first thing Saturday morning, we headed back to both nurseries to pick out and buy our shrubs! It ended up taking all morning to do that...just because we wanted to look at everything one more time and get some last-minute opinions on a few things from the people there. We ended up buying 12 things between the two places! We got home a little after 12 PM, ate lunch, and headed outside to get started planting.

I don't think either of us had any idea how long it would take to dig those holes! The instructions say to dig your hole 1.5 times as deep and 2 times as wide as the container, which turned out to be pretty big holes for some of the stuff. Travis did practically all of the digging, and I was the assistant "measurer". Because it took so long to dig the holes, we only got 7 of the 12 shrubs planted. The others are sitting in their containers on the back patio ready to be planted this weekend (hopefully!).

Without further ado, here's what we ended up picking out. These are pictures I found online to give you an idea of what they'll look like in a few years after they grow...

Green tower boxwood

These boxwoods are on the very left and the very right side of our flower beds. They grow to be 8-9 feet tall and not too wide, so we're hoping they'll be a nice "frame" for the house.

Indian hawthorne

We planted two of these in the left flower bed (as you're looking at the house). They don't get very tall, so they're perfect for underneath the windows. They also bloom white flowers in the spring.

Mountain Fire Japanese Pieris

I'm really excited about this one. We planted this in between the windows in the left flower bed. It grows 5-6 feet tall, and it's just really unique looking. We were trying to stay away from reds and pinks because we thought they might not stand out against our red brick house, but I couldn't resist this!

Green velvet boxwood

We bought two of these, and planted one on the very inside of each flower bed. They don't grow to be too wide or tall, and you can shape them however you want to. They will frame the entrance to the house. You can't tell from this picture very well, but the leaves have a golden/yellow tint to them on the edges.

Autumn chiffon azalea

We are going to plant one of these azaleas under each window in the right flower bed. They only get 2.5 to 3 feet tall, so they won't block the windows much. The flowers are white with pink centers...very pretty!

Mikawa yatsubusa Japanese maple

This was our big purchase and Travis's favorite too! This type of Japanese maple only gets 6 feet tall, so it won't be too big. We planted it in between the windows in the right flower bed. We thought the bright green leaves would really pop against the red brick. Right now, ours only has 5 or 6 leaves, but one day it will really be pretty! Bennett's only had one of this type of Japanese maple, so I bet we'll be the only one around with one!

Endless summer hydrangea

We've also got a small semi-circle-shaped flower bed on the side of the house by the driveway. I've always thought hydrangeas were pretty, so we're going to plant two of these in the small bed. I love the blue color!

I think that's everything! Here are some pictures of what we've done so far. You'll have to check back in a few years to see them when they've grown some :)

5 more to plant!

The left side is done!

Our little Japanese maple :)

Yay!

I'd also like to plant some flowers to fill in the gaps between the shrubs. I found a few pictures of flowers that I like, so I'm looking forward to picking some out and planting those too. Hopefully I can even dig those holes myself! :)

Astra white balloon flower

Bavaria Blue Dwarf Bellflower

Color Wheel Stokes Aster

 Yellow Daylilies

Mums

Origami Mix Columbine (LOVE THESE!!!)

Rebecca Viola

Tulip

Variegated Jacob's Ladder

Decisions, decisions. I know I can't plant all of those, so I'll have to narrow it down. Who knew I'd get so excited about flowers!!??

BIG non-planting related news: MOM FINISHES RADIATION TOMORROW!!! Hurrah!!  She's been looking forward to this for several weeks now. So glad her skin will be able to start getting back to normal soon! Mom, you have really been an inspiration to me and a great example of strength and courage. So glad you are my mom!

We are supposed to run 11 miles this weekend...eek. We had an easy run of 4 miles last weekend. I never thought I'd be able to run 8.5, and I did that, so I guess I can do 11 too. We'll see...! The half marathon is only 45 days away!!

I posted this picture on Facebook the other day, but for those who didn't see it, apparently Gabby doesn't appreciate my couponing hobby...

:(

I wish she'd chewed up a coupon that I wasn't planning to use! Oh well. I should have know better than to leave them where she could get to them. The only place to keep anything safe from her is the kitchen counter these days...

I guess that's about all that's going on with us right now. We're just enjoying the warmer weather and being outside on the weekends. Travis is dreaming about getting a grill sometime in the next few months, so we're both looking forward to that. "By the time college football season starts" is his goal for buying one. Of course things have to be measured around football in this house...hah!

Hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday! :)