Writer's Block

I seem to be having a terrible time coming up with something to write about these days. I start to think of things, and then can only think of a sentence or two OR I plan out an entire thought-provoking (yeah right) post in my head while I lay in bed at night, and then can't think of it in the morning. So I thought I'd brainstorm out all of the little thoughts, in hopes that a deep and powerful post will be around the corner.

• Fischer has his new big boy bedroom furniture and twin bed. SOOO cute! He's been a little anxious to fall asleep in it the past few nights, but it is getting better. He is still worried about monsters... even though we've reassured him that monsters are afraid of dogs, therefor there is no way we could have any monsters in our house.



• The baby's room is coming together beautifully. My mother-in-law painted it pink and green to compliment the bedding. It is so sweet and girlie in there. I am soo NOT girlie, but I'm lovin' this!


• She'll be here in less than 4 weeks! I'm scheduled to have a c-section in less than a month!! I can't wait to see her. Hopefully upon seeing her we may actually come up with a name for her!



• I have something called Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction which is making life a little waddly these days. Basically, my pelvis is moving and separating. It often hurts to move and it is the worst while trying to turn over or change positions in bed... which I feel like doing about every hour. It also makes walking difficult, especially when I overdo it like today (t-ball, farmer's market, Costco, Home Depot). It should slowly go away after the baby is born. I'm worried about having a c-section with this because the drugs could mask the pain and make me hurt it worse and/or being immobile for an extended period of time can exacerbate it also. I've got to talk to my OB next week about it.
  


• I also injured my knee (doing nothing... I just knelt down on the floor) and now have something called Lateral Patella Plica Syndrome which should be remedied with anti-inflammatories. I went to my sports med doc yesterday and he prescribed Celebrex for 9 days, saying that it won't hurt the baby. I couldn't get a hold of my OB to double check that, so I called a doctor friend. He said to definitely NOT take the Celebrex in the third trimester because it could cause premature closure of the fetal ductus arteriosus and renal ADRs in the fetus. Additionally, NSAIDs are linked with premature birth. So I guess, now I need to talk to my OB about that and whether or not a cortisone shot in my knee would be a safer route.


• Andy and Fisch harvested a huge bowl of beautiful juicy strawberries from the garden today. Andy is continually amazed at the difference in flavor between ours and the grocery store's. Yum! We've been chowing them down like crazy.



• Slugs were taking over and completely consuming everything in veggie garden... I went out early in the morning to find at least 30 slugs in my little green bean bed, half of the green bean plants were totally missing! We're not talking about a few holes in the leaves of this plant or that, we are talking about complete - without a trace- consumption of green bean plants, cantaloupe plants, cucumber plants, watermelon, etc. So we had to forgo being completely organic in order to save the crops. I bought Sluggo, which I found in the organic section of the garden store... but still. Of course I put that stuff all over right before we had 2 straight weeks of rain...so who knows. I do think it helped a little, but I may have to reapply.


• I think that I am one of the only people enjoying all of the overcast skies and rain this summer. My big pregnant body is loving the cooler June temps.

Well I hope that dull list sparked something intriguing for later. Happy rest of the weekend to you!

The ants are marching...

all over the sidewalks, in the grass, on the patio, through the vegetable garden, in my living room, in my bathroom... What in the world? Anybody have some fantastic ideas about ridding our home and yard of ants safely (for Fischer and the dogs)?

Attack of the tomatoes

Ahhh, the garden... so delicious, so many wonderful fruits and veggies.. soooo sooo soooo many TOMATOES!!! Why oh why did I once again plant WAY too many tomato plants?? I am the ONLY person in my house that eats them. I have tomatoes coming out the whazoo! I'll tell you why I did it (again), it is because by the time spring planting comes around I'm so desperate for a delicious mouth watering sunny garden tomato, that I think I could eat 50 bushels all by myself! Now what to do?
I've eaten a million, just raw and fresh and dripping down my chin and arm, I've made soup. I've made sauce. I've made salsa... now what? I still have so many... and more and more are ripening as we speak. Do you have any fabulous tomato recipes that you'd like to share? I don't want to can... but I will freeze. So lay those recipes on me! OR get your buns over here and pick a basketful to take home.

The garden did really well this year. This being only our second year as gardeners, we are definitely still learning.

The Goods:
Tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, peas, green beans, spinach, and we actually had grapes this year - woohoo!

The Bads:
carrots - too small and deformed,
broccoli - a giant plant grew without any broccoli on it
eggplant - a plant with no fruit
artichokes - it was experimental, but again... a plant with no fruit
strawberries - they were good at the very beginning of the summer. then slugs drilled holes in them and pill bugs moved in.
raspberries and blackberries - only a handful of berries each
herbs - some did ok, some burned up in the sun

Thoughts:

• I just found this guy and he has an excellent idea for growing big hearty carrots using pots. I'm going to try that next year.
• Now the broccoli, eggplant, and artichokes were all in the same bed. That bed grew corn last year. Could that have anything to do with it?? I think I should have started the eggplant earlier in the house.
• I need to find an organic and safe way to combat the slugs next year. I didn't plant lettuce this year because of them... any ideas?
• Could my blackberry and raspberry plants be less fruitful because they are only 2 years old? Or does it have to do with the pruning that I didn't do?
• I think I'll put my herbs in a shadier spot in the yard.

Gardening is really quite rewarding, but I think I need to take another class. I took one last year, but it seemed to be a graduate level class for a 101 kind of student. Now that I know a little more, I think I'd get more out of the class.

PS - Fischer will eat all sorts of veggies while standing in the garden, but almost NONE once they are in the house. Lesson: i need to set Fisch in the garden 15 minutes a day to let him graze!!

Summer is in full swing

Aaaaahhhh, we are settling into summer quite nicely. Andy is on summer vacation and Fisch and I are following suit. Here is a little update on the summer so far.

Fisch had his last day of Little Gym, Daddy and Grandma came to see him show off his tricks. The pics all turned out a little blurry, but this one is of him finishing a forward roll on the beam. I'm pretty sure that Fisch was his teacher's favorite!!! (jk, Jenny).

Fisch went to his first amusement park and LOVED it! He loved the rides the churros, the Dippin' Dots... everything! His favorite was the helicopter ride, but he was so hight up that I couldn't get a good pic of him in there. These will have to do.

Daddy taught Fischer how to drink from the hose. I know it is bad... but I can't make all the rules! Everything is growing nicely in the garden. I love it! It is so fun to go in there everyday and look at the what is happening!! We've go tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, strawberries, peas, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, green beans, herbs, artichokes, broccoli and spinach all growing and growing! Very cool!

Sophie and Kaia have been shaved for a more aerodynamic summer and to give me a break from dog hair in the house! Unfortunately for Kaia, her new do - has revealed a lot of gray!

And this last one is from a beautiful walk in the park with some of our playgroup buddies. (BFF said that she was unavailable to be photographed at this time- too bad too, because her outfit matched the flowers!).

We're sprouting up veggies!

Our garden has begun to show hundreds of little sprouts popping up all over!!! It is sooo fun! From the seeds we planted, we can see actual seedlings of zucchini, cucumbers, spinach, carrots, peas, green beans, and artichokes. I haven't seen any broccoli poking up yet. Also our fruits are going crazy. Last year we planted strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and grapes. All of the plants are healthy and growing bigger. This is only our second year with our garden, but we are having a great time. We recently bought a few herb and tomato plants and we are ready to watch everything grow! I've said it before, but I plan to be a bit more generous with our garden this year. last year I was way too stingy because i thought that I was going to can or freeze or pickle ALL of it! It turned out that I don't actually know how to do that, so this year I'll be learning about it AND I'll be sharing. Maybe I'll have to have a garden party!

In honor of our budding veggies I'd like to suggest 4 books about the life/plant cycles.

• The Surprise Garden by Zoe Hall and Shari Halpern
• The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
• Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert
• The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall and Shari Halpern