Garden Growth

I think our garden has done well this year considering we're rookies at it. The hot weather has taken its toll on it recently, and it probably doesn't look as healthy now as in this picture. Nonetheless, it's been a learning experience. We have gotten a good bit of produce off of it, usually a little more than we can use. The cucumber plants decided to die without much warning. However, we're still waiting to harvest green beans, butternut squash, and most of the tomatoes. We're also still getting some squash, zucchini (I think), lettuce, peppers, and hopefully broccoli. We want to dry/freeze the herbs before they go to waste, too. Kristin's already been working on doing that for her family. I better get busy!

The garden at the end of June

Two kinds of lettuce!

Green tomatoes

Almost-ready-to-pick green pepper...isn't it such a pretty shade of green?!

Small crown of broccoli

Cilantro and Parsley

A harvest of plenty, all picked in one day (this was atypical, though)

June Re-Cap

So, June was a busy month for us, but it was busy with seeing people we love! We were able to travel down to Franklin, TN, again to see Dan and Julie one more time before they head out of the country this month. Elliana is definitely more mobile than she was a year ago, and she was just getting over a urinary tract infection (her first, and hopefully her last). So, she was a little disheveled by the trip. We had fun lounging in the pool, eating great food and drinking coffee, catching up and engaging in good conversations, and window-shopping in downtown Franklin. We found out that they'll actually be back in the States next summer, so maybe we'll get to see them sooner than we thought.


At the end of June, my mom was able to come up for a whole week! Our days were filled with our church picnic, traveling to see my brother (who had never met Elliana), playing at the little water park, hanging out at home, checking out Second Street Market (made up of a variety of vendors selling stuff like bulk dry goods, locally raised beef/chicken/produce, homemade breads, and food you can buy there to eat), and enjoying King's Island while Mom got Elliana all to herself! We were sad to see her leave, and she was sad to have to travel too many miles away from her granddaughter!

Us before spending a good part of the day enjoying the water park at King's Island!

We were able to take advantage of Max's military career...he got in free, and I got a discount!

The fam at Second St. Market
Gran and Elliana sporting their shades

Elliana helping Uncle Jimmy muck the horse stalls

Saying "goodbye" to Uncle Jimmy

Elliana found a friend just her size at Uncle Jimmy's!

Daddy's Girl

An attempt by Elliana to dress herself with a polk-a-dot skirt...she received some help, but apparently not enough. :)

Mimicking Mommy and Daddy

It's funny to see what interests Elliana these days as she grows into a little girl. Hopefully her desire to sweep and mop will stick around long enough to be useful to Mommy! A calculator has turned into a cell phone, which is nice because we don't have to deal with her accidentally calling people on it! Her poor baby gets fed in her eye when she gets fed at all. To Elliana's credit, though, she does know how to get the bottle in the mouth. We've had suitcases out due to our recent trip, and they have provided another form of entertainment for her.

The Gardening Saga

Here are more recent pictures of our gardening adventures. Elliana loves helping me water the plants. Several weeks ago while I was at work, Max said that she took the watering can from the porch and made several trips back and forth between the sink and the back porch to fill up the watering can. It was all pretend except for the one time when Max put some water in it for her. Speaking of mimicking Mommy, stay tuned for more on pictures of Elliana copying Mommy...

Gardening Endeavors

My newest venture this year is to try to grow edible stuff. You can save quite a bit of money by growing your own produce, and you have more control of what goes into the produce to make it all grow. Living in an apartment has its limitations, though, as you can imagine. I did invest in some pots, though, and started some herbs and tomatoes from seeds back in March and April. It has been a lot of fun watching the little plants appear above the surface of the soil! We have already been able to eat some of the lettuce and should be using some of the herbs soon. Another great blessing and adventure is having the opportunity to share a garden with some friends of ours, Kristin and Charlie. They recently moved to a place with a back yard. Even though I couldn't convince Kristin to break the law and raise chickens for eggs in city limits, they were considering planting a garden. So, we joined forces with them in hopes of saving some money and learning a lot about gardening along the way! They've done more of the work so far with tilling the soil and watering, but Elliana and I were able to get in on some of the planting. They bought some plants and some seeds, and once again, it has been fun to watch it all grow. Apparently, the garden resembles a jungle right now thanks to all the weeds that need removed. Hopefully we can get over and help weed this week. If we get the produce we're hoping for, we'll have yellow squash, bell peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, onions (ugh!), more herbs, green beans, butternut squash, cucumbers, and beets (just for them).
These pics show my porch garden and their garden at its beginning stages. I'll follow up with a post of more recent pics.

Two years....

Two years ago we got married on a beautiful spring day! We had the opportunity this year to get away for an evening while a friend, Brooke, watched Elliana. Happy Anniversary, Max!

So Sleepy

Poor Teddy puts up with a lot these days. When Elliana's not tossing him out of the crib, she's using him like a pillow or standing him on his head (probably by accident). I went to check on her during her Sun. afternoon nap and found her in a new position. Apparently she fell asleep in the midst of playing with Teddy and the pajamas she's managed to pull out of the drawer tower next to her bed. She was lying on Teddy, had one sleeper draped more or less over her shoulders, and was still clutching another sleeper while doubled over fast asleep.

Cupboards and Carrots

Elliana learned recently that it's just as fun to crawl in the cupboard as it is to play with the toys in the cupboard. Elliana likes gnawing on raw carrots for a short time, but chewing and digesting them is still a work in progress.

Friends and Their Toys

Elliana and I took a little road trip to see my friends, Lindsey and Molly. She got to play with her friends (whom she's still getting to know). Scott and Natalie graciously shared their toys. Max was out of town for a conference, so it was great to be able to spend a couple of nights with friends instead of alone.

Another Milestone

Elliana ate dirt for the first time (as far as I know) while I was planting herb seeds on our back porch. After she watered herself with the watering can, I decided the herbs might have more of a chance to grow if I delayed the task till she was asleep. Here's just a little evidence of the not-so-tasty treat. We'll save making mud pies for later. :)

Pictures in the Park

Yesterday I took Elliana to Cox Arboretum to get some pictures of her with the tulips before the multiple rain showers take their toll on the beautiful flowers. I knew we would be risking it...toddlers, white shoes, mud, and puddles don't usually result in cleanliness. Sure enough, Elliana lost her balance right around the 3rd picture and fell down. I've got some cleaning to do, but it could have been worse. One picture gives away her true feelings at one point, but peek-a-boo persuaded her pretty quickly that this was fun after all.