Fun Things From Our Backyard: Spring is here!!!!!!

Spring is here and is hands down one of my favorite seasons. It's quite a different experience here in Texas than it is in Pennsylvania, but it is still enjoyable. I have to admit that one of the things I'm looking forward to about having BabyBear around is that we'll get to spend some time exploring the backyard and all the fun things it has to offer :) Here's just a sampling of what's there now!

Even Orbit wants to get out and explore:


Our pecan trees are blossoming!! Hopefully that means we'll have a good crop this fall!!
The irises in the herb garden are starting to come out too:

We have these white lantana bushes along the back fence that attract butterflies in the summer, and they're blooming now...

Even the weeds are pretty!!

One of the best parts about living in Central Texas...bluebonnets!!!! (this is our neighbor's yard across the street):

Here's another view:

Click Here to see what they look like close up. Thanks to all the rain we've had the last couple weeks, they're everywhere!!

We also saw the first hummingbird of the season, but as usual he was too quick for me to take a picture. He had a bright red head and a small grey and white body and was very cute!!

Bethany and BabyBear: Week 26

Bethany reached week 26 on Tuesday; she's wrapping up the second trimester already! BabyBear has become a very feisty little guy, moving around quite a bit. We saw the doctor today, and she laughed that he seemed to be pushing back against the instrument when she went to check his heartbeat. I (Jeff) have been able to feel him a few times, and on rare occasions you can even see his movements through Bethany's stomach. Here's the mom-to-be, two-thirds of the way through!

Something different?

Bethany has had lots of projects and such to share on the blog lately. Me? All I've got is this: the Star Wars Cantina Band music played on harp. Enjoy.

Newest Project...Next, on to BabyBear's room...

Here is my latest project, in continuing my efforts to get the house organized before BabyBear arrives.


It's an island for our kitchen! We've got bins underneath for storing recyclables and our trash can, and cabinets on the side for extra pantry space. We topped it off with an old butcher block table sans legs and so far it's been working great! Special thanks to Jeff for putting together the cabinets!!

Ready for Baseball Season, Football Season, Basketball Season...

I finally finished a project I've been wanting to do for a while...a tag blanket for BabyBear!


It's about 14" by 14" square, for reference. The "front" material is this satiny green fabric and the "back" is this super soft yellow dimpled type fabric. I tried to find ribbons in various sizes and textures to go around the sides and here it is! Hopefully BabyBear will like it!!!

Girls Weekend in Miami!!!!!

I wanted to share about the incredibly fun weekend I just had!! A few of my closest friends and I got together in Miami and had a really fun girls weekend celebrating turning 30.

The whole weekend was so fun and honestly the weather could not have been nicer (sorry folks up north)!!!! Here's a quick rundown...(to view a photo album of the weekend, click here or view the slideshow at the bottom of this post. On a side note, I forgot my camera, so pardon the disposable camera not-so-high-quality pictures...)

Thursday I got there around 11am and my mom picked me up from the airport, it was so good to see her!! We went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch, which used to be a tradition for us, but we hadn't done in ages. Then we went to Marshall's for a little baby shopping together and headed home. My friends Rocio and Allison arrived a bit later that afternoon and we spent the evening hanging out with them and my parents catching up on things.

Friday, we had breakfast and then the ladies all went to get pedicures together, which was not only fun, but super relaxing and a great way to kickoff the weekend. We then grabbed Pollo Tropical (my favorite fast food restaurant) for lunch and shared some yummy local cuban food (we SO need one of these in Central Texas!). Then we met up with Amy, Caitlyn and my dad and played mini golf, which was also fun! Dad then did a terrific job being tour guide and drove Rocio and Allison and I around our stomping grounds while Amy went back to her house to get ready for that evening.

We then went home, got ready for the shower and went to Amy's...it was so cute!! She had her whole place decorated and had some really yummy pasta salad, strawberries, veggies with ranch dressing, chicken salad, and the cake. The cake was the exact same cake that we had at our wedding, even from the same bakery, just decorated differently. It was so thoughtful of her to remember that!!! The shower started at 7pm on a Friday night, so we opened gifts and chatted while the ladies wrote these little notes for Jeff and I and BabyBear. I felt so blessed!!! It was really great to see the ladies who came to the shower also, I had not seen many of them in a while. We then went home and went to bed.

Saturday, we had a small breakfast, then met up with Amy and Caitlyn and went to the Miami Seaquarium, which is kind of like SeaWorld without the rides. My favorite was the killer whale and dolphin show, starring Lolita the Killer Whale and friends. We had lunch there and then came back to the house for a quick dinner with my parents. Then we went to church for Christ Fellowship's Live 2 Night of Worship, which everyone enjoyed. There was a sermon and everything as well, so we didn't go to church Sunday morning, but slept in a little bit.

Sunday afternoon we met Amy and Caitlyn and went to Bayside Marketplace for lunch plus a little bit of shopping. Of course, I went straight to Baby Gap and bought clothes for Ben (on sale even!), and had a lot of fun! Then we drove through Downtown Miami, past where the cruise ships were docked and on to Ocean Drive which goes by South Beach. That was interesting, but fun for everyone to see! Then we went back home and Allison, Rocio and I drove down to Key Largo with my parents for dinner at a small seaside grill (Bayside Grille) on the water. We were hoping to catch a good sunset, but the sun set behind a cloud, so it wasn't really visible (but it was extremely windy!). Still, it was a really fun time and everyone from the girls to my parents really enjoyed themselves.

So HUGE thank yous go out to Rocio, Allison, Amy and my parents for everything they did to make this not only a special weekend for me, but a completely fun and carefree weekend for all of us. I REALLY enjoyed seeing you all and spending that time together with you!!! Thanks for helping me kick off my 30's in a totally fun way!

MIA Girls Weekend