A Veggie Lover Already?

So, we had asparagus tonight. All 3 of us! 

Well...sort of...

I let Evie gum on the end of the asparagus spear...because she was looking at me with such a mouth watering stare! And to my surprise, she LOVED it! She did it over and over! She would suck on the end til all the juice & innards came out. So cute! She didn't like rice cereal, but she likes asparagus??? I'm puzzled. 

Now, am I a bad momma for letting her try something like that so soon? I don't know when you're supposed to introduce things like that. She didn't swallow any chunks or anything; she just extracted the asparagus "essence." 

But needless to say, I'm excited that she seems to like her veggies!

Trying New Things

While we did try new things this last week, it wasn't starfish. We found this 18 legged creature on the beach at my sister's house. Amongst a sea of rocks and sea weed, this stuck out!

This one is just for perspective...he was huge!

Here's my sister's neighborhood, Salmon Beach.

And her house. It still looks a little rough around the edges, but the inside is now beautiful, thanks to Jon! :)

So the new thing was rice cereal! I'm not sure Evie likes trying new things yet. I don't know...what do you think?

I think what she's trying to communicate is that she would rather eat her bib than the cereal. We decided to let her try some, because she is absolutely fascinated by eating. She watches the spoon rise to my mouth, then she watches me chew, all with a wide open mouth stare. It's quite funny. But considering she actually swallowed maybe 10% of what we fed her, and she seemed to say, "EWWWW What on earth are you feeding me?!?!" with her face, I think we might wait a few more weeks before we try some more. :) 

Evie's Laugh

This made us belly laugh!

Weekend at the Farm

My Grandpa's farm is one of my favorite spots on this earth. Thanks to my late Grandma, the avid gardener, the place still blooms in the spring, and it is a sight to see! My Grandpa and my mom & dad continue to plant each spring, and this year Jon & I wanted to be a part of it! 

Now, despite all these leisurely shots, we really did join in! In fact, we worked hard. Jon has the sunburn to prove it. We've been wanting to learn how to put in a vegetable garden. Having no more than a postage stamp yard ourselves, we knew we'd have to look elsewhere if we wanted to garden this season. We took our Bakercreek heirloom seeds with us, and asked if we could try our hand at it. This is the flower garden. I helped Mom plant pansies, petunias, snapdragons, and gladiolas. Digging in the dirt, I felt I was helping to carry on Gram's legacy. I can't wait to see what pops up!

Here's my little row of romaine lettuce!

These are the cute little onions that Jon planted. We are going to be up to our ears in onions! (Note: Jon first had to spread tons of compost over the garden, till it 4 times, then rake it out before we could plant. Lots of work!) 

And here's where we planted some of the Bakercreek seeds. It's going to be a little herb garden right outside the kitchen. Yum. We also tried some Stevia. I hear it's a good alternative sweetener. Of course, I will have to read up on how to turn the actual plant into the usual sweeteners... minor detail... ;) (Another note: Evie was very helpful! She napped in the ergo on my back for a while...then she napped in her carseat in the shade...then she napped in the crib mom has for her in the house...gotta love this girl!)

And here are a few of our starts in the sun room/green house. The more I grow up, the more I realize that my grandparents really planned their house well. I always just though the sun room was a nice place to sit and look at the view, but it's rather practical! 

It was such a lovely weekend. It felt like vacation. 

Shedding

Ok ladies, I need your experience...

Should I be concerned that I seemed to be losing more hair every day than I can possibly grow!? Or is it one of those post-pregnancy adjustment things? My hair is everywhere, and I don't know how I have any left on my head!

Easter & Such

Here's Evie in her First "my size" rocking chair experience on Easter. Grandpa just plunked her right in and she seemed to enjoy it! Poor girl needed some non-slip pants, though. (On a side note, I find it funny that you can't see her Easter dress very well, because it's covered by her bib...which I put on her to keep her Easter dress nice for pictures...These are the only pictures we ended up taking!)

And look at this! I set her down so that I could take a shower, and I handed her a book...away she goes! It's as if she said, "Sure Mom, I'd love a good read. Let me at it!" Holding it with both hands, no less! She never ceases to amaze me with her talents new every day.

Our New Adventure...Skoolies!

Meet:

Big Bertha!

or is it...

Buster?

or...

Beaulla?

...in any case, this is our new Bus!

And by new, of course I mean "new to us." She's a '90 Bluebird school bus. And up until just a few weeks ago, she was still being used to haul around poor unsuspecting children. ;)

In a few weeks, however, she will be outfitted as our home-on-wheels! (I can just see the quizzical expressions of everyone's faces.) :) Yes, it will be quite a project. But I am so looking forward to seeing Jon use his creativity! He now has a project of his own, and I can see a sparkle in his eye when he thinks about it. We've been drawing floor plans, picking names, looking at paint colors. When my man gets finished with it, it will be quite the sight to behold, I have no doubt. 

Now for my little confession. Yes, ladies and gentleman, it did take a little getting used to! It's rare that a woman dreams about making her home in a bus. But with a little time and research, I actually got kind of excited! There are some really nice "skoolies" out there. (Skoolie is the name for a school bus converted into an RV.) Check out this one. Or this one. Not bad, eh? And with Jon's talent, I know ours will be just right for our family. We're thinking bunk beds, a wood stove, lots of built in storage...maybe even a washer/dryer! (that last one is, of course, my contribution to the brain storming...)

Well, I'll keep ya'll posted!

Weekend Adventures & Pirate Baby

Sure wish I knew how to upload pictures in the order I want. Anyway, here we go! Look at this lovely view from my sister's cabin! We stayed there this weekend. And WHAT a weekend we picked! Beautiful. 

And this is is a wedding cake tug boat in front of her house. 
And here's two of the gazillion sea gulls that live there. They love food. Love it! The beachers throw all their organic garbage over the side and into the water, where the gulls eat it up willingly. Good system. We also saw some seals and a couple of bald eagles. It was nature weekend!
Ah, and this is what my sister looked like nearly all weekend. :) 
And here's my little pirate baby! She had a make-shift sun bonnet on. 


"Arrr, matey!" 

More pics of Evie exhibiting her cuteness. This is where she eats Dad's nose. 

"Hello everyone!"

This weekend was also a weekend of first! Evie rolled from her belly to her back for the first time! AND she laughed for the first time! I cannot imagine a more adorable little chuckle!

I have it good.

I don't think I knew JUST how much God had blessed me in Jonathan when I married him. This is, perhaps, because I didn't understand as much about the relationship between a husband and a wife. I know more now, though certainly not all. Jon is more than I deserve in a husband (though EVERY good and perfect gift from above is more than we humans deserve...thank Jesus! He has the mercy and grace to sustain us daily and love on us on top of that!). Here are just a few of the things that leave me sober and humble when I think about them.

1.) He asks to rub my shoulders after he's been working a long, hard day.

2.) He changes the first dirty diaper of the morning while I am still groaning from drowsiness in bed!

3.) He spends much of his time researching how he can better provide and protect his wife and daughter.

4.) He doesn't follow the crowd; he leads! He leads in ways that may not be socially normal but are Biblically true.

5.) He loves me when I am rather unlovable. 

6.) He encourages me to be closer to Jesus...in words and actions. 

7.) And all this helps me be a better wife! In this way, he leads in our relationship. I am so THANKFUL! 

So, I guess this post could rightly be called "bragging on my husband." I am simply just proud to be his wife. I only knew the half of it when I walked down the aisle. I am looking forward to learning more as time goes by.