CSA

We have been looking forward to joining a CSA for well over one year now. We missed out last Summer because of the timing of our move from California. Yesterday was our first pick-up day:

We opted for a half share so our pick-ups will be every other week. Our share consisted of:

red leaf lettuce- 1 

green leaf lettuce- 2

scallions- 1

pint of strawberries- 2

broccoli rabe- 1

spinach- 2

swiss chard- 1

cucumbers- 2

basil- 1

tomato plant- 1

 

I thought the long drive and visit to the farm would be a fun activity for me and the little flower. Unfortunately, lately she and I have had little time together, just the two of us. Turns out, trip to the farm? Not such a fun thing. It was HOT, bright, and not the idyllic farm setting I had pictured in my mind. Our visit consisted of pulling up to a nondescript shed, walking inside, and transferring all of our goodies into our bags for the ride home. I'm going to see if I can start picking up our shares at a closer location. We'll save the farm visits for you-pick days.

I had to snap at least one picture while we were there:

 

We came home and had a huge salad for dinner. I've had fun today looking for recipes in which to use all of these new-to-us foods. I made strawberry lemonade today. I would love to make some sort of strawberry muffins/scones but I hate to use my oven when it's so hot out. Looks like I'm going to have to learn how to make jam and quick.

In other news...as part of our long drawn out potty training process, I bought the little flower some cotton training pants. She wanted to wear them as soon as she saw the package:  

One of these days I'm going to put these on instead of diapers, have myself a stiff drink, and hope for the best!

Hello Summer!

It has been a very mild Spring in our neck of the woods. Just last week the little flower asked for a sweater while she was outside playing. I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to play in our little frog pool in the yard, let alone have enough hot days to make a pool pass worth our while. Well, no need to worry I suppose. It was 88 degrees today, perfect for a trip to the splash park (or as the little flower would say 'plash park'):

 We've been expecting you Summer...please stay awhile...

Bird Action

We have baby birds!

We checked the nest just as the first egg was hatching last weekend:

It took a few days for all of the eggs to hatch:

They are the most pathetic looking things:

The chicks stay in the nest for two weeks so it should be fun to watch them grow. I put some books about birds and nests on hold at the library. Chris and I are learning right along with the little flower. I'm almost ashamed to admit that before reading up on them, I couldn't point out a Robin. Now I know all sorts of things about them and the little flower will, too. I'm not ready to buy a pair of binoculars just yet, but I now can understand why birdwatching could be interesting.

 You can't beat nature for learning opportunities! 

First Day of Preschool

The little flower started preschool today. We decided to start this Summer instead of waiting until the Fall. She'll be going three days a week from 8:30am-12:30pm. She is more than ready! I think she was disappointed that I was taking her to school instead of the school bus.

Here she is putting her lunch away, annoyed with me because I keep asking her to "smile for Mommy" (very bad pictures I know, an excited toddler and indoor lighting on a cloudy day don't make for great pictures):

She let go of my hand and ran off to play as soon as we entered her classroom. I knew she would. I had to ask her to come back and give me a kiss.

I used to think that her first day of school would be traumatic for me. I would sit and hold her as a baby and think of how I was going to sedate myself when the time came to leave her with someone else. My how things change. Don't get me wrong it is bittersweet, but I know she's happy. So I'm happy. I make no promises about Kindergarten... 

 

Go get some Kleenex and watch this.

This is pretty much how I feel when Chris comes home from work after a long day with the kiddos: 

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Okay, maybe not that happy, but close. 

Glad to know I'm not the only one.

I particularly feel this way about the little flower after she falls asleep at night. It is a nightly challenge to get her to go to sleep. She wants fresh juice. Then she wants to say good night to Superbaby. Then to Mommy. Then to Daddy. Then she wants to sleep in our bed. Then she wants her other baby (whichever one she doesn't have at the time, requiring us to search downstairs). Then she wants to read. Then rock. Then she wants me to sing. Then she wants to take her pajamas off. Then she wants to say good night to the ladybug that she saw on the porch earlier in the evening, but not from her bed, she wants to walk down to the porch and look for her. If we say "no" because we want to stop the madness she wails. Then, of course, she asks us for a kleenex.
Once I know it is safe to check in on her I quietly slip in to her room. I adjust her covers so she won't get too cold (since remember now she's only in a diaper). I put her juice cup on her nightstand and lower the lights. Then I watch her sleep peacefully and hope she had a happy day. I hope I didn't raise my voice too much or speak in anger. I wonder if she learned anything. I wonder if I gave her enough attention, hugs, and kisses. Just in case, I give her a soft peck on the forehead and whisper "Mommy loves you". And then...I run like the wind out of there before she wakes up...
 

Waiting

We discovered this nest last weekend while planting flowers in our front yard:

I walked a little too close to one of our Crab Apple trees and scared mama bird off. She nervously flew out of the tree and stood nearby in our driveway. It reminded me of this sign we recently saw at a botanical garden:

It says:

Don't be alarmed. Be aware. Nesting birds may swoop close to your head (they are protecting new babies).

The little flower and I stopped to read the sign and as I slid my finger under each word I read aloud:

Stay with your mommy and hold her hand. No running please (it will scare the birdies).

She looked at me as if to say 'you're silly Mama' and chuckled. She totally knew I was pulling her leg.

I read online that the eggs hatch after fourteen days. We quickly check the nest every day, trying not to stress mama or get dive-bombed by her. I'll keep you posted!

  

And I'm a Nurse!

Yesterday we met some friends downtown for a walk around the Capitol building. It was a gorgeous day. I've never appreciated nice weather as much as I do these days. I totally took the weather for granted the entire five years we lived in Los Angeles. I'm happier here so I'm sure that has something to do with it. That and the Winter we just endured.

The little flower insisted I take a picture of her and "orange baby" (we're working on calling her a more mainstream name like Lucy):

We stopped at some really neat shops that I wouldn't normally make a special trip to visit. Even though Madison is relatively small I get flustered at the thought of going downtown. It's the parking I think. We had lunch overlooking Lake Monona:






The little flower had so much fun with her buddies...right up until she tripped over her sandals while running and skinned her knees. I immediately felt guilty for choosing sandals instead of tennis shoes for her to wear. And for not having band-aids or Neosporin in my purse. 



We passed some Lilacs and just had to stop and admire. The little flower thinks smelling flowers, or anything for that matter, is the coolest thing:



We stopped on the way home to get some band-aids and a first aid kit for my purse (all good Moms have one you know).  I let her choose which kind she wanted and she chose Curious George. She couldn't wait to get home to "fix my knees". Here she is all fixed up, as you can tell by her face this was serious business: 



That t-shirt was a gift from friends along with a matching "Little Sister" t-shirt for Superbaby. She was so excited to wear it. Thanks Conrad, Vivian, and Logan!

Smiles for Mama

So you saw some almost smiles in yesterday's post.

Here are some real smiles from today:

And one of my favorite pictures of Superbaby, even though she's not technically smiling:



I just love the expression on her face. It's so her, two days shy of four months old (but really only about a month old).
I hope you are smiling today:)

Smiley McSmilerson

Big news...Superbaby is starting to smile! 

So, so much better than a who the heck are you and where did you come from gaze (although that's pretty darn cute, too). I'm so glad I had my camera nearby for these shots. The little flower loves to play with Superbaby when she's in her swing. I have to intervene often because she tends to get a little overzealous, but as you can see Superbaby didn't seem to mind (this time). It's not a big toothless grin yet but you can see she's thinking about it:



The little flower is adjusting very well to life as a big sister. She patiently waits a little longer for some things (more like a lot longer). She doesn't put up too much of a fuss if I ask her to walk instead of be carried. She eagerly shares my attention. She's very caring and concerned about her little sister. If I could just get her to stop stealing Superbaby's diapers to put on her own baby life would be perfect. 




And our other big news...
Superbaby weighs over NINE pounds! Heck, even the little flower gained a few pounds. She's been holding steady at twenty-five pounds for almost a year and she's now over twenty-seven.Thank you breast milk and cheese:)

May 8th?

Has it really been that long since I wrote a blog entry? Holy cow time flies. I will fully admit that I'm a "why do today what I can put off until tomorrow?" person much of the time. But I really have been quite busy lately.

 My Dad came to visit*:

then my Mom came to visit:

I edited these photos to look seventies-ish but looking at them now I think everyone appears to have gone a little heavy on the self tanning lotion. I'll have to work on that.

We've also been busy with landscaping stuff (and by we I mean Chris- although I did pick out the annuals he planted). We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into with such a large yard. This is our first Spring in Wisconsin (and in our new house) so it's been fun to watch everything bloom and to learn the names of the plants/trees/bushes/flowers in our yard. To my delight I discovered we have a Lilac shrub/tree in our backyard. I literally followed the scent and found it. I love little surprises like that.

Probably the biggest reason for my absence as of late is...sleep. I take it where I can get it these days. If my two little ones are sleeping, I'm not far behind. I used to blog during naptime. I'll get there again. I hope! 

 

*The thought of editing/posting multiple pictures was a bit overwhelming to me today. Instead of not posting at all I picked two of my favorite photos from their visits to share. Not posting at all is for losers.