Garden and Backyard

We dug up our backyard.  Yup.  Fortunately the weather has been nice enough that the grass has been growing in pretty fast.  We have been wanting to do this project ever since we moved in and the garage was finished it just kept getting put off.  The yard needed to be raised up to the concrete and we had to fix some drainage.  It was never grass anyways but a big weed patch. 

I also had Lucas dig out the lilac bushes and move them to the side of the house so I could expand my garden.  This area is now home to tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, and grapes. 

Next to that I planted potatoes in a garbage can.

Grapevine budding.  Last year was the first that we had a few grapes.  There are already several bunches of grapes growing this year.  Yay!

The strawberries are already going strong and I've had to cut them back several times. 

In this area I have peppers, garlic, onions, butter crunch lettuce, radishes, carrots, arugula, snow peas, and romaine. 

Here's my trusty rhubarb.  I've already cut it five times this year!

Lucas also made me some pretty cedar planters that live on the patio for all of my herbs.  It's an ambitious garden and I'm hoping I can keep up!

Pool

The baby pool finally made it outside.  Amelia didn't really know what to think about it other than the water was too cold.  I couldn't coax her in for a long time!

Besides her large ball her favorite outdoor toy is this watering can.  She constantly filled it and dumped it out.  She also spent a lot of time trying to pour the water out of it into a bucket she had in the pool.  Hopefully as the weather gets hotter she'll enjoy the cold water better. 

Potty

Amelia loves to sit on her potty. 

I'm not sure why but in the past month she has become obsessed with "potty"  She has a book that she loves to read and she's constantly sitting on it.  As a mommy it's so so so tempting to try and push it but I'm not convinced that she's actually ready.  I don't think she holds it for long periods of time but pees little bits throughout the day.  So I'm trying to be patient and encourage her that it's wonderful to sit on the potty. 

By the way, she loves her potty so much that after we returned home from camping last weekend she yelled "Potty!" and ran to sit on it.  Where does she come up with these things?

Date Night

We've started date nights once a month with our friends the Medranos.  It's so much fun!  Their boys are 2 1/2 and 5 months old so Amelia loves to get together with them. 

This month the boys were dropped off at our house while the other couple went out for a couple of hours.  They came back to watch the kids while Lucas and I went out. 

 We went to Grizzly's to eat which is where we had our first date.  Then we did something else we would always do as a newer couple.  Drive around and look at cars.  It was always fun to look and dream. 

This time we found something we decided would fit well with our family.  So on Monday morning we went in to buy it.  I love it!  It is so nice to have the extra space for carrying things plus Amelia.  Lucas is also excited because he upgraded from his grandpa's old car to my Taurus. 

Schaefer's Easter

One week later we had Easter with the Schaefers.  It was freezing! 

 Here Amelia is wondering why Grandpa is picking up her candy that she dropped. 

After everyone went home Amelia and Daddy used the table as a fort and read books. 

Kleinschmidt's Easter

Easter day was beautiful this year.  I have to say that I've never had a Lent and Easter season quite like this year.  I had been struggling for the past month but God really comforted me.

Our friends joined us at my parents and Caroline brought things for an Easter egg hunt. 

Amelia loved the egg hunt!  I didn't think she was old enough to enjoy it.  Boy she proved me wrong.

 Millie looking for her pink eggs.

 Poor Garrett.  A lot of his eggs seemed to be up pretty high!

 Zach's eggs were all in the ravine. 

 The best picture of my girl and I. sigh.

 Amelia chasing Bien as always. 

Birthday Party

I finally got the pictures off of my Dad's computer and I found these extras.  They're from some other birthday party but I can't remember who's. 

My brother was wanting to get rid of this kitchen set so Grandma took it to her house.  Amelia loves it!  She plays with it so much I'm thinking I'll have to find a kitchen for our basement when it is finished.

On to the birthday party.  The theme was Amelia's Ice Cream Parlor. 

You already saw her outfit with the ice cream cone on it.  Instead of cake I baked cupcakes in ice cream cones and had a sundae bar with tons of toppings.  It was a big hit!

 The first present she opened was this bunny.  Of course she didn't want to open anymore after that. 

 So Daddy had to help keep her focused on the task.

 She got lots of clothes.  Have I mentioned that she loves clothes?  She adores them and loves to carry them around.  She also likes helping me pick out her outfit for the day. 

Then opened a stroller and was in heaven pushing her bunny around.

I don't let her have very many sweets (actually as a family we try to eat as little sugar as possible) so when she gets them she is super excited.  She kept her cupcake smashed to her face until it was almost gone.  I'm sure she was concerned I would try to take it away from her. 

It was a wonderful 1st birthday and I'm not sure we can top it for year 2.