Around the Yard in May

Here's some of what I'm enjoying around the yard this month:

Does anyone know what kind of bush/flower this is? I'm stumped. But it sure is beautiful!

Sunflowers were a gift from Talitha. The rest are spring flowers from my yard.

Don't you just love a freshly mowed lawn??

And perhaps my proudest moment was to find apples growing on the tree I tenderly pruned this winter. It was a ton of work because I don't think it had been done for several years--which explains why there were no apples last year. Looking forward to finding out what these will taste like!

20 weeks

Here are some photos-inside and out from 20 weeks (2.5 weeks ago).

Everything looked good at the ultrasound and she even caught him "waving" at me. It was pretty cute. And he is definitely a boy!

And here are some more self bump photos since my photographer is gone. :)

Eleanor is Here!!

I have a new niece!! Eleanor Loretta Harr (Ellie) arrived on May 13, 2013. Now I have 10 nieces and nephews and Ellie evens out the score of 5 nieces and 5 nephews. Karen and Brian waited until her birthday to find out if she was a girl or boy and after two boys, I know they were thrilled to welcome a sweet little girl into their family. I can't wait to meet her! She will be my little guy's closest cousin in age and I hope they will be good friends someday.

T-Town at 19 weeks

This was already almost 2 weeks ago so without further ado, photos from a quick Tacoma stop in.

My dear Paige and I are due one week apart. This is her 4th baby and after 3 boys she is having her girl!! Although Kyle and Paige seem like family to us (she's my sister's sister-in-law), there really is no blood relation so we've already started discussing the amount of goats and camels that will be involved in the arranged marriage between our children. :)

Sammy Sam! Just love this kid.

Tobin and Greta after his (coach pitch!!) baseball game.

Aren't moms the best? My neighbor gave me several boxes of canning jars that were sitting in her barn in storage for several years. They were pretty yucky and complete with mouse droppings. (don't worry, we used gloves!!) But I brought them all to my mom's and between her help and the use of her dishwasher we got them all sparkling clean and usable again so we can fill them will yummy things this summer. I think we got at least 100 jars of various sizes out of the deal. And I found a bonus mouse skeleton among them. (yuckkkkkkk!!)

The May weather was gorgeous and the Olympics were out in all their glory!! It just makes my heart ache for Tacoma when I see them and Mt. Rainier. We saw this view on the way to pick up some baby stuff from my sister's friend who is done having kids. She gave me an infant carseat, breast pump, bumbo, bathtub, bottles, bouncy chair, and a few other things. What a blessing!!

My growing bump at the start of 20 weeks. I'm my own bump photographer these days so you'll have to accept the headless iphone shots.

Lily Pad Give-Away at Hearty Helpings

Sarah at Hearty Helpings is giving away a Silicon Lily-Pad. The give-away ends tomorrow so hurry on over there to learn more about why you want to win this little kitchen gadget. Also be sure to follow her blog for some tasty and healthy dinner ideas for your family!

Mom's Cross Stitch

My mom is amazing and I'm pretty sure she can do anything. Last week she finished up a project she was working on for me. It is a counted cross stitch of one of our wedding photos. So what you see below is made up of hundreds of little x's with many hours of love and work behind them. Pretty amazing isn't it? Just like my mama.

Gardening

Okay, this May weather has been ridiculously glorious. Up in the 80s for several days in a row usually doesn't happen around here until August! So the inside of my house has been a bit neglected the past couple weeks as I've been soaking up every opportunity to be outside enjoying this sunshine and the spring blooms. I've been able to tackle some gardening/landscaping areas that have been bothering me since last summer, plant my vegetable garden, and clean up the place from winter. It's been really satisfying work! Here are some photos from around the yard:

Before and after on the garden. Chris helped me get it started and I worked on finishing the prepping and getting the seeds in the ground. Now we wait and see what comes up!