Landscaping...finally

     It has been quite some time since I posted my ideas and visions for some landscaping in our yard. Well, since I know the suspense has been killing you people, I now have something to report. I have two new flower beds, one in front and one in back, new Saint Augustine grass,  lots of cleanup around house and to the existing landscapes, and a big smile that it is all done! My dad and Alvaro are excellent landscapers, whether they knew it or not, and I am so thankful that they helped me out. My dad had some great ideas and he made it happen. Yay!

The front bed, the Azalea bush was the really only viable plant to work with, so it stayed and everything else went. Lots of clean out and a new border was made before planting new plants. 

Before the planting took place. We now have 4 more Azaleas, 5 Hawthorn shrubs, Periwinkles, 2 new Knockout Rose bushes, Monkey grass, and 4 Cleyera shrubs. Its alot, but it was needed and its looking good! 

After planting. Here you can also see the new 'blanket' of Saint Augustine grass in front of the bed. It makes a big difference, a good one. 

This is my backyard herb garden box. Jeffery made this for me for Mother's day. I have Rosemary, Cilantro, Parsley, Basil, and Mint planted. They are growing well. The Rosemary looks a little dinky, but only because I have already used it several times for cooking purposes, so it keeps getting snipped!

The new back flower bed. There was an existing landscape but I did a poor job of maintaining it after we moved to the new house. So, it got a big cleaning and what remained was the two bushes seen and the little Crepe Myrtle that you can see in the far right of the picture. Everything else is new, including the new border and new grass in front. I wanted more flowers in the back so this bed is a little more colorful than in the front. It is also a bit of an experiment to see if the old plants are going to hang on and make it. The roots were weak after all the cleaning, so we shall see. Lots of water for now. There were some Lilies in the existing bed that we hope can be salvaged. They have a lot of growing to do. That is what is right in the middle (barely seen in this pic), but its the tall stems sticking up. Other new plants in the back flower bed are Geraniums, Caladiums, Zinnias, and Gerber Daisies. 

     

     Most of this work took place last week when Jeffery was out of town in North Dakota seeing some customers. He was pleasantly surprised and happy to see the changes around here. And I am pleasantly hopeful that I will keep it looking good! 

Emily gets a haircut!

     Once again, I know I am a little behind on blogging. So here comes a little catch-up. A couple weeks ago, I decided it was in fact time for Emily to have her first haircut. As I look back over pictures from the last several months, it really has grown a lot. She is not too much a fan of clips, bows, or rubber bands. They always end up out and in the car seat or floor board before we get to where we are going. So, she needed a little trim, shape up, to help with all the stray hair that she won't let me clip back! Lea did a good job to give her a nice little cut, not too much off, but enough to make a difference and keep it out of her eyes. Emily was such a big girl during her hair cut. She sat still for the most part. She started out on her own, but ended up in my lap which seemed to work better. She was interested in what Lea was doing and curious to watch her closely. 

     Later that day, sporting her new haircut and her two-piece, Emily went for a little swim. She loves being outside, and she loves water, so she was having a grand time enjoying the sunshine!

Her daddy calls this her body-builder picture. I mean...look at that belly! Cuteness. 

So fun!

What we've been up to.

I guess my blogging just takes temporary hiatuses from time to time. Yes, thats what I have been on. But we are still here, still plugging along. Emily is doing great, she is a busy body and becoming such a big girl. So is mommy, now in my 26th week of pregnancy number 2 and doing great. I feel a lot of movement from little girl which is always exciting. I am becoming increasingly excited about meeting her in just a few very short months. I keep telling myself it will be very short because I know it will be VERY hot! I guess I can announce to whoever is reading this blog that her name will be 'Annie'. We have not decided on a middle name, but we are working on that. So, our girls will be Emily Beth and Annie _______ here pretty soon. How exciting. Jeffery is staying busy and making strides at work. I am always thankful for his hard work and dedication to all he does. He is a good man, really good man. :)

We had a wonderful Easter day celebration with our family and friends. We hosted Easter supper here with Jeffery's family and some of mine too. It was a great day. Emily tried the Easter Egg hunting thing, but I think one more year and she will really have it down. It was fun to help her 'hunt' the 5 or 6 eggs she filled her basket with. The week after Easter, Emily and I went with my dad to Fort Worth for a couple of days to the Pate Swap Meet which takes place at Texas Motor Speedway. We got to stay with Aunt Sissy (Lindsey) and Uncle B, and of course Campbell! Lindsey and I took the girls out to the swap meet for a little bit to walk around and see the sights. It was a hot day and a little difficult for Emily to enjoy since she much rather would have been running around, and mean mommy was keeping her confined to her stroller. While we weren't at the swap meet, my sister and I got to just hang out. It was a nice getaway and great to let the girls play together.

This past weekend was my brother, Allen's, graduation from Baylor University! Yeah! Congratulations Allen! Although, I would have liked to take Emily with us to celebrate, it would have been no fun to chase her around the Ferrell Center during the ceremony, so she stayed home with Gran (Jeffery's mom). I am certain she had a much better time playing and not having to ride in the car for several hours! Allen was excited (of course) to be the graduate and we are so proud of him. I tried my baking skills at making him a 'decorative' cake for his graduation. And with the extreme help of my sister in law, Kristen, who did the BU logo topper, it turned out pretty good! I enjoyed making it for him.

 
May and June are busy busy busy months already for us. Jeffery has a 3 day business trip coming up, we have Diamond C Events, wedding events and weddings, birthdays, and more filling up our calendar for the next several weeks. We are excited to enjoy these last couple months together as a family of 3 before we become 4! As I get ready for Annie to be here, I have been looking back and remembering Emily's first few days and weeks. What a blessing and a wonderful feeling I remember having the first moment I saw Emily and held her in my arms. She was beautiful and perfect, such immediate love flooded me and Jeffery. I know it won't be any different when we see Annie for the first time. God's creation of life is beautiful and perfect. He is the giver of all good things and we praise Him alone for how he is blessing and keeping us. To God be the glory, for the things He has done.

Peace, have a good week.