1st day of Spring - really?

So yesterday I planted up the 4x4 garden with:

3 seed potatoes
5 tomato plants
1 eggplant
basil seeds
zinnia seeds
tobacco plant seeds
And Max helped me plant some sprouted Asparagus Long beans (about 15).

I also did a pot with cilantro seeds, basil seeds, and chive seeds.

Today, it won't even get out of the 40's and we are expecting a freeze overnight. Needless to say I have everything covered!

Ella laughing

I was getting ready to give El a bath the other night & she pushed against my stomach & scooted herself across the island in the kitchen. I pulled her back toward me & she giggled. So, I got out the camera & proceeded to do anything I could to elicit another giggle. The video below captures the moment.

Spring is On!

Man, if you are not in Texas this time of year, you are totally missing out on some awesome nature stuff. Seemingly overnight - and that's really not an exaggeration - the trees have started to bud out & wildflowers are starting to come up. In Texas, we do get 4 seasons, but the fall and spring are only a couple weeks long, so we have to try to hoard them while we get them. I remember in college in KY, on the first nice and sunny day of spring everyone would head outside. It might be 50 degrees out, but if was sunny, you somehow managed to incorporate a pair of shorts into your outfit & could talk your professor into having class outside. It's like that here too. The weather is absolutely perfect for such a short time that we drink it up like fine wine on sale. You dive headlong into the sunshine that isn't too hot, gulp up the fresh spring air and try to get as much of it as you can before you wake up the next day and find that it is 100 degrees again.
Our spring activities over the next few weeks will be:

• adding another 4x4 bed for the garden and planting tomatoes, eggplant, beans, potatoes, garlic and some flowers. We might throw in a few peppers too. I've been drooling over the "seed porn" in the Burpee catalog, so who knows what else I might decide to throw in there.
• going to the Wimberley butterfly days at the Emily Ann Theater. We hope to meet up with Gabbi, Mike & "the other" baby Ella
• Going on a wildflower drive and hitting a couple wineries

Of course, we have to cram all of that into 3 days before summer hits (just kidding - we have a couple of weeks yet).

March so far

Here's a couple of pics/videos from early March. Ella is sitting up a lot more. In just the last few weeks she's started to say Mama and Dada, and even an occasional Bubby. She seems to be developing so quickly, quicker than I remember Max developing. Speaking of, he's doing great. Yesterday, to my amazement, on the way home he used the word sometimes correctly twice. I aksed him what colors he painted with and he said "blue, sometimes I paint with red, orange, brown, green and sometimes purple."






1 pic and video here

Mar 1-9

Breather

Wow. It seems like time has sped up exponentially since Ella was born. I thought we were time traveling enough when it was just Max, but now, here nearly 5 MONTHS have passed! Between work and keeping up with the kids, I seriously do not know where the time goes.

I had a friend from college come to stay for the weekend. She didn't have any purpose for being here other than to visit us, meet the kids, and supply an extra set of adult hands. She would periodically ask if she could help with anything & most times I would say, "no, I've got it". We have a pretty tight routine set up with the kids. Even on the weekends there isn't much room for variance & I think that helps us stay sane. We so infrequently have someone to help, we don't know what - or how- to do when we do have it!

I always figured it would be a challenge to work full time & have a family. I'm thankful to have an employer that helps me try to have a work/life balance. But somewhere down the line - I, and other professional women like me, have gotten the idea in our heads that we have to do it all. We wear so many hats that we forget how many we have piled on our heads & when we take some of them off, we feel a bit unbalanced. I know personally, I'm not trying to prove anything - I'm just trying to make it through the day with my sanity and relationships in tact.

I listen to a podcast & read a blog called "Manic Mommies (the podcast for moms trying to do it all)". Kristen & Erin are two very likable women who have 2 kids each, husbands, jobs, households & they talk about everything from clipping coupons to child behavior issues. I really enjoy listening to them & my time in the car on the way to daycare is often the most solitary "me" time I get. Anyway, Kristen is coming to Austin later this month for SXSW, and I have an invite to go to the meet & greet she is doing with other Austin-area mommies. I think it will be a lot of fun, but I will be challenged to not feel guilty about leaving Chris and the kids for 3 hours on a school night. I believe I will be in good company though. They aren't called "Manic Mommies" for nothing.