Warmer Weather Where We Are

Up until this weekend, Maryland had been experiencing April-like weather in January. This is odd, but especially odd since last year we had two snowstorms nicknamed Snowmageddon that dropped 18+ inches of snow in my front yard.

William and I took full advantage of the warm weather by going to the Zoo, the park and playing outside, which was really his first time doing so. He can't walk on his own yet, but loves pushing his fire truck around, so we bring it out with us. Keeps him from crawling or being in the boring stroller. As the weather has gotten -30 degrees again, I find myself sick, sinus congestion and sore throat. So, the rest of this post will be photos of our cute boy!

Natural Autumnal Porch

This year I decided to make our front porch decorations stand out more than last year. I used the same vintage wood box, but did this instead:

Set the box on a large bale of straw and used it as a "pot" for a large chrysanthemum. I need to be better about remembering to water my flowers because the color has changed over a few weeks time since I'm a bit forgetful.

When my friend Emily was in town we added some gords and cut dried hydrangea from our bushes on the side of the house.

We also picked up our three pumpkins, two white and one green, to the steps. But, when I found this antique wash stand on the side of the road, I made the most of it and used it to add height to the other side of the front door. Now it is home to William's monogrammed pumpkin, two other pumpkins and some hydrangea.

I love it!

Summertime Locavore {sort of}

Summertime is here which means one of my favorite things is happening: farmers markets! We have our own garden, but all of the farmers markets are a few weeks ahead of us when it comes to having vegetables ready so I am shopping there for now. I consider myself a summertime locavore. I do realize that all-year "true" locavores would be disappointed in me since I only buy local beef (from a family member's farm) and produce, but you have to start somewhere right?!

Two weeks ago week we ate our first plain tomato. We simply washed it, sliced it and ate it plain and to the delight of my taste buds, it was incredible. The tomato came from an orchard less than one mile away (very lucky for me).

So, reap what you sow (if you have a garden of your own)! We have been eating all homegrown lettuce from our garden for a couple weeks now. The flavor is unlike anything I've ever tasted, but don't come to our house if you don't like lettuce that packs a punch.

We're actually going to plant more in place of our onions, which are very strong and pungent as onions should be, so we can have lettuce longer through the summertime.

I have been picking and shelling peas everyday and sometimes we put them in hot water for a short time to soften them up or we put them raw into our salads.

The cucumbers are ready too!

Tour of the Gardens

Since we moved into our home in November 2009, this is only our second spring/summer growing season. In April 2009, my husband did build and plant a vegetable garden on our property even though our house wasn't built yet.

Our vegetable garden has really grown...extending well beyond the borders of our original vegetable garden area. This year, we actually planted the tomato plants outside of the fenced in area since their scent typically makes them deer resistant (we did lose two so far). Since the tomatoes grow so large, this gave us more fenced in space to try new plants and more of them.

My flower garden has grown since last year. A few months ago I did a brief post about my early spring flowers. Well, those flowers have passed their prime and others have continued to grow into beautiful summer blooms. This is a photo of my flower area (which really needs to be weeded). We have two rose bushes, a red and a light pink. Right now, several groups of gladiolas (purple, orange, and pink) are growing and will probably bloom in a few weeks. Those are the tall plants in front of the roses in the photo below. Last year they were beautiful. Then, the leafy plant in front is a daisy and the really small plant is a lily, next to the other variety of lily on the end.

We also planted berries this year! We have blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. Two plants are growing fruit already so hopefully we'll at least get to taste a few berries this summer. Like many plants, the berries will be more bountiful the second year after planting. Next to the berries on the side of our house, my husband planted 11, yes, eleven, pepper plants. There are at least five varieties of peppers and if you have never tasted a homegrown one, you are missing out. My garden taught me how flavorful green peppers can actually be.

The front of out house is all flowers: lilies, sweet pea, spiky purple flowers, a boxwood and white otto lucan. We also have some basil mixed in. I am all for symmetry in the front, so that is the same on both sides.

Along the other side of our house, next to the driveway, is where my three birthday hydrangeas live along with some sedum, catnip and several herbs including rosemary, tarragon, mint and oregano.

New Pillows!

My home now has some updated summer pillows thanks to this quick tutorial over at A Pretty Cool Life. Cheryl said it takes ten minutes, but it took me about twenty. Why is it that cutting and pressing always takes longer than the actual sewing part?! Let's just say I learned my lesson in the past when I wasn't careful on these steps and had to start over. So I guess that is why I am so careful about it now!

I actually made two sets of pillows: one for the rocking chairs on our porch which originally had this pattern, and a new pair for our couch which I just completed. I even made a pair for my mom's living room while she was in town!

The tutorial I used this time was even easier than the one in my previous post because it is only one piece of fabric and you only sew two short edges (the flap) and two long edges. I'm going to let you visit the original tutorial for more details, but here are some of my photos.

Versatile Blogger Award

I have been given the Versatile Blogger award! Pretty impressive since I have been MIA for 4 weeks. Let's just say it came from a good friend with kids of her own so I thank her for that :) 

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.
Stevie, mother of Moore Babies has been my friend since a few days into college at Clemson. I was her bridesmaid, she was my matron of honor, she became a mom (twice) I became a mom (once), and she now has a blog where she writes about fun activities she does with and for her daughters. Too bad for me she lives all the way in Florida which is not close to Maryland!!

2. Tell seven things about yourself.

 1. I am currently on maternity leave with my son. He is wonderful and amazing and all of those things new moms think about their children. There are select photos of him here and here (he had a little jaundice after birth).

  2. My husband and I donated the home we purchased to the Smithsonian and it is going to be in the new museum of African American History. No, I am not kidding. Our name is going to be on a plaque and everything :).

  3. I like gardening...flowers and vegetables, but this year everything is slightly on the back burner due to the new baby. I know my husband wishes I'd be more into the gardening this year, but it is tough. Last year we had some beautiful flowers and delicious vegetables.

  4. I'm not a big fan of driving at night.

  5. This past winter I hit a deer (at night), but since my driver's door was damaged, I had to climb over the center console of my Pontiac G5 with a long puffer jacket on 6 months pregnant to survey the damage. That was a sight to be seen on the side of the road!

  6. I love my Kindle! It was a Christmas gift from my husband after I was a sore loser in a holiday raffle and didn't win one at a holiday party. It i great, especially with the baby since I can read one handed.
  7. I cherish my friends...there are a few that have been with me through all sorts of times and they mean the world to me. I hope they know who they are!

  3. Pay it forward and award the Versatile Blogger to 15 bloggers. I am selfishly cutting this back to five (awful I know...) because I awarded a handful of bloggers the stylish blogger award before and W is up from his nap and I want to finally finish this post!...

Go check out these fabulous blogs!!
 1. Hanna @ Bouffe e Bambini
2. Emily @ Choose Joy
3. Abbi @ Dear Abbi
4. Lyndsy @ lgriffis
5. Billie @ The Unexpected Mother


4. Contact your everyone and let them know they've been awarded! 

Overdue

Do you know what one of the few things in life you don't get fined for if it is overdue?? A baby!! Our baby as due on March 28th, but I still know exactly where he/she is...in my belly moving all around. I feel very blessed that I was able to carry our first baby to 40 weeks considering some said I might have a hard time since I am 5'5 and a bit under 120 pounds (normally, def. not now), but I did it.

No complications, no bed rest, high blood pressure, edema, etc. I am VERY grateful. How I am VERY ANXIOUS. We haven't seen our baby via ultrasound since week 20 since all has been just fine, but time is up little one, we are ready to meet you!

I am hearing all sorts of suggestions from everyone on how to get things moving. From the traditional: walking, housework, yard work, spicy foods, the activity that put us in this position to begin with, bumpy roads...to the ones that I think have developed more recently: labor cookies, dancing, lifting, stairs, etc. Well my friends, I am proof that baby will come when baby is ready and although these may help encourage the onset of labor, they don't magically cause it to happen, or I wouldn't be writing this post right now.

So for the time being, my husband and I are doing things around the house together and doing some sort of activity everyday to keep us distracted. I am of course looking at the clock everytime I feel a new movement. I have completed some new projects and am working on drafting log posts for them so I can maintain this once the little one arrives (although I know it won't be as regularly for a bit). I will let you know when baby arrives!! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Spring has Sprung

As my family and friends in Connecticut experience a fluke end-of-March snowfall, I can't resist sharing photos of our spring blooms at our home in Maryland. I know it doesn't look like much now, but considering most of the plants were rescued from choking vines in our woods and "split off" from a friend, I am very happy to see everything coming back strong since this is the first year we have seen them come up on their own. Maybe I am better with flowers than I thought :).

I am still waiting on our trees: cherry blossom, peach, apple and walnut, but here's a glimpse of the signs of spring so far.

Daffodils

Hydrangeas

Lilies

Sedum

tree (don't know the kind)

another tree

We planted our vegetable seeds a few weeks ago indoors in a Burpee container that was successful last year. This way, our veggies have already started growing by the time we put them outside in early May (depending on the weather). We start everything from seeds except for our Butter Boy tomatoes. This also makes it practically free. We also planted carrots, onions and lettuce into the vegetable garden already as seeds since they are more hardy.

Crazed Fan Weekend Hop

It's All About the Bump

A few photos courtesy of my husband:

Christmas in Our Home

I realized that although I started to decorate for Christmas right before Thanksgiving, I had not posted any photos nor have we had guests over each weekend to enjoy the holiday decorations like we did last year. My husband has encouraged me to invite friends over, but things are a little out of sorts right now with my decreased energy levels and inability to do everything on my own like I was used to because I liked it that way (Please note: This has nothing to do with the helpfulness and resourcefulness of my husband. He'd do everything for me if I'd let him!).

Here is a holiday tour of our home this year starting with the front door. My mom made this wreath for us in 2007 when we were renting our first home. She bought a plain wreath and added the colored embellishments. There is a holly and sprig of gifts/balls for each color.

When you walk through our front door we have an open foyer where this handmade refinished table sits. This cute little Santa is a new purchase this year (Black Friday deal at Michael's) and so is the candy bowl (Homegoods). I also have a beautiful musical ornament on this table from a dear friend.

Our staircase is an L-shape so on the platform we have a small tree, a 2009 gift from my mom. The tree came with lights and some red berries, but once again, she got creative and purchased white sparkled poinsettias and some gold "berries and leaves" to customize it. Here is what it looks like in the day and at night.

  

In our kitchen I put out a few seasonal items including this cute marshmallow-roasting snowman, a frame, some holiday napkins and candles.

Our dining room table was the first thing that was decorated. I'm going to do another post on that, so here is a wider shot of our dining room. The garland around our double windows was also a Black Friday purchase at Michael's. It is two separate pieces and s really pretty up close with some pine cones and "snow" on the ends of the needles.

Christmas cards - I love them! It seems that people are a little later this year than in the past, but that means we are averaging more than five per day which is always exciting! We always look at the return address first and "split-up" who gets to open them. That way we both get to enjoy it. This year I did something easier and more traditional than last year - trim the doorframe. I am putting all photo cards on the dining room side and all traditional cards on the living room side. That way we can enjoy them from both rooms! Here is a close-up of some of the cards.

Then of course is our beautiful Christmas tree from Gaver Tree Farm in Mt. Airy, Maryland. This year we went with a Canaan Fir and the shape and size is perfect for us! I bought more lights (Black Friday at Lowe's) so there are 400 white lights this year and I also used new 2.5" red sparkly ribbon (Black Friday at Michael's). We bought our knitted tree skirt and angel in 2006 for our first Christmas together.

And of course, under the tree the gifts have been growing! I shared my gift wrap plan for the year last month and am happy with the way everything is looking. Even the cat likes it!

I hope you have had fun decorating and enjoying your home during the holidays!!

Momnivore's Dilemma, House of Hepworth's, Finding Fabulous Frugalicious Friday, Tatertots & Jello