Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

This weekend I planted my first garden! Brad set up the drip system and a friend from church tilled it for me and I planted the seeds (Ok, so I didn't really do that much). I planted radishes, beets (for Ella), potatoes (I think that's a requirement for Idaho residency), green beans, carrots, zucchini, squash and watermelon. It's kind of a lot considering how small the garden is. My strategy was plant as much as possible and hopefully something will grow.



The last couple weeks have been perfect weather although the amount of pollen in the air is amazing! Everything is coated with yellow dust and the mountains are kind of hazy. It's not a pleasant environment for allergies.
Here's a random picture of Ella I snapped while we were hanging out outside last night.

The Invention

OK, so I've wanted to invent something my whole life. The first problem is thinking of something and the second is actually designing it and the third is building it. So, needless to say I've never invented anything. Well, I thought it would be nice to have a baby mobile that you could plug your mp3 player into so you don't have to listen to the same 3 songs over and over again. Plus, all the mobiles out there are so cheesy looking. It turns out it's even harder than I thought to turn an idea into reality. But, with Brad's help I finally finished it. Unfortunately I didn't accomplish the one thing I set out to do because I couldn't find speakers small enough to incorporate into the mobile. Ohh well, I just set them on the table next to her crib and they work just fine.

Here's how we did it:
Step 1 - Bought a motor

Step 2 - Power supply. I bought a 2 "C" battery holder but it only supplied 3V of power which was the minimum for this motor and only worked sporadically. Brad ended up buying a smoke detector and taking the 9V terminal out of it and wiring it to the motor. It works great, but I'm a little concerned with how long it will last. So far so good...

Step 3 - Switch. Went to Home Depot and bought a simple toggle switch that we wired in line with the motor and power.

Step 4 - Took the stuffing out of a bunny and put all the workings inside.

Step 5 - Attached a picture holder to the motor and hung a bunch of stuff from it.

Step 6 - Hung the whole thing from the ceiling.

OK, so here's the finished product


I'm sure you're dying to know what is on Ella's playlist. I purchased several songs from Amazon:
1. Several selections from the Rockabye Baby Collection such as Angie by the Rolling Stones
2. 60 kid songs - this was a good deal for $6
3. Praise Baby Gift Set

Spring Pictures

On May 2nd, Ella and I went to a Bed and Breakfast to have our picture taken. She had baby chicks and a bunny rabbit to play with. I think Ella would have been a little more interested if she were a little older.


I especially like the one of her crying

Grocery Shopping

I have a new found love for grocery shopping. First, it's 1 hour all to myself because Brad would rather watch Ella than go and second I've turned it in to a game to see how much money I can save and how efficient I can make it. I'm starting with the easy stuff first. I used to go to Safeway and buy whatever I saw that looked good and spend about $200. I had to do this about once every 2 weeks plus some trips in between for stuff I didn't have. This seemed ridiculous for a family of 2. So a couple months ago I started writing down 10 meals to cook for the next 2 weeks (Brad even helps choose so he can't complain about what we're having :). Then I make my list and head to the store. So far I haven't spent more than $100 for a 2 week trip. So I figure just planning ahead of time is saving about $200/month. Then, yesterday I decided to price match at Wal-Mart. I picked up a Yolks and Safeway ad and wrote out everything I wanted from each. When I got to the checkout I had a pile for each store and told the cahier the advertised prices and that's what she charged me. It took an extra 10 minutes and saved about $10 on my $100 bill. Not earth shattering, but better than nothing. Of course then I went and rented 2 BluRay discs for $12. One thing at a time...

Back from the Heat

Ella and I went to Phoenix for work last week. We left on the 13th and went to Claire's graduation from ASU on the 14th. I think it was over 100 deg almost every day we were there. It was the first time Ella ever sweated! Is that even a word?

Go Claire!!


Then we went out to celebrate with her family at a restraunt in Scottsdale.


Here's a picture of Claire with Ella and Claire's neice Marley who is 3 weeks older than Ella.


Here are my friends Molly and Ryan


and their cute little girl, Maddie


Brad's mom and sisters watched Ella at Brad's grandparent's house while I went to work. One thing I'm starting to learn with this whole having a kid thing is that you can't do it on your own. I don't know what I would have done without Claire, Molly and Brad's family's help.

Brad's mom took his grandma and sisters and I out for tea


Here's Ella with Brad's sister Elizabeth who made this dress for her


Ella finally met Brad's cousin Andy and his wife Meltem

Life is Good

Things have been going well lately. I'm back into work, I get to spend a lot of time with Ella and I don't have to clean my house or do laundry. I had a great weekend hanging out with Brad and Ella. Brad watched Ella for me on Saturday night while I went to a concert with a friend (The Gourds). And we went to church on Sunday and out to eat aferwards. I have a tendancy to get a little worried when I am so happy that something bad is going to happen (yes, I'm a little bit of a pessimist), but my mom sent me a Mother's Day card and in it she wrote, "Keep in God's Word to help in the hard times and sing songs of praise in the other times". So this is my song of praise to God for giving me more than I deserve to be thankful for (I think He accepts blog posts?). Plus, I'll have this post to look back on and remember His mercies during hard times. I was also reminded of how good I have it when I read this description of what mothers in other countries deal with on a regular basis. This is a pediatrician and his wife from Sandpoint who spend most of their time in Africa running medical clinics and sharing the gospel.

I have pictures coming soon from our spring photo shoot a couple weeks ago. Not much interesting has happened recently to take a picture of.

I do have a question for all you mothers out there. It seems like I am doing a load of poopy clothes every day from all her blowouts. I can't decide what the problem is:

1) I bought a pack of Huggies instead of Pampers to save money.
2) She's older and therefore has more projectile power.
3) She's outgrown her current size and needs to move on the the next size.
or
4) This is just what babies do.

Any help would be appreciated.

She Likes Me

Well we made it through my first week of work. The plan was to wake up at 5:45, pump and put a bottle on the nightstand for Brad to feed her when she woke up. Well, when she woke up she freaked out and wouldn't drink the bottle so Brad brought her up to me where she proceeded to poop everywhere. After I cleaned her up Brad gave her a shower and headed to work. I had no idea that she would miss me waking up with her in the morning. I guess she likes me more than I knew :)

The rest of the week went better, she got used to Johanna and the new morning routine. The only bad part was how much work I had to do. I think it will settle down in the next few weeks though.

I thought this picture was funny because her legs don't even reach the counter.