First Harvests

The previous owners of our house were pretty avid gardeners from what I can tell...well, much more avid that I am. There are lots of things coming up this spring that I do not know what they are. One of those things was strawberry plants. Well, once we figured out they were strawberries, we have been watching them grow and grow, only to get eaten by bugs. I recently purchased an organic pesticide (it has sesame oil and fish oil in it...it smells fishy!) and we were able to harvest 3 strawberries! AR and I ate the first 2 before I thought to take a picture. They were delicious. There is something to be said for eating something grown in your backyard. I have to admit though that I'm a little nervous. The following thoughts cross my head...what if some animals pooped in the dirt and we get E.coli or what if the organic pesticide is harmful to us? I know this is silly because only God knows what's on the produce we eat from the supermarket. I can only imagine! But I think the satisfaction of growing something to eat outweighs the possible side effects. :) Here's to springtime, a time of new growth and learning especially for my children!

Strawberry grown in our backyard!

The Lake

Greetings from The W Family. Life has been quite busy lately. P is finishing up the school year. He has about a week and a half left and then it's officially summer! I know we are all going to love having daddy home for a few months, but I think AR is going to love it the most. She looks forward to her time with daddy! :) I am trying to continue my NFP education. I need 11 more clients to be able to sit for the exam to be certified. It's alot of hard work, but it is so rewarding. I am working with a new couple who have been trying to have a baby for a few years now with no luck. They have been diagnosed with "unexplained infertility". After going through the introductory session and the first follow up, she told me that for the first time in a long time that she actually had hope. If that is the only positive thing that ever comes out of this, I will feel like all the hard work has been worth it. The idea that I can help someone have hope in having a baby helps me continue to move forward in this venture.

On the family front, the kids are doing great! I am trying to do more things for AR. We have returned to our mom's group for a few events, and AR seems to really enjoy that. Our most recent activity has been going to the sprinkler park at our local county park. It was a mixture of bravery and stupidity on my part! The first time we went, I put J in the stroller and thought him and I could sit while AR played in the water. What a mistake! There were at least 150-200 kids running around. In the first 5 minutes, AR got plowed down by another little girl and ended up with a skinned up forehead and a pretty bloody knee. She recovered fairly quickly, but then was visible afraid whenever another child ran by her. It was quite a site to see me running after AR pushing a stroller through the water area. :) The next time we went, I put J in the baby bjorn and was able to keep up with her more. There were still 150-200 kids there, all running around like crazy. By the way, the sign says "NO RUNNING!" I can only stand it about 30-45 minutes though. We have also found the Chick-fil-A play area. It is really geared toward toddlers and it is very contained. I feel like she is safe in there to run around and I don't have to be on top of her.

J is fantastic. He is sleeping 5-6 hours at night, and it has made all the difference in my sanity and patience. We spent Memorial Day at Lake Moultrie. This was AR's first trip of the summer. We took her a couple of times last summer, but she was only 1. When we got there, she asked Papa to take her on a boat ride. She went right in the boat and as he pulled around the bend where we could see them, she proceeded to wave at us like she was Miss Lake Moultrie in the homecoming pageant. :) The next day we went to Sandy Beach. AR built sand castles and went into the water several times, even though her lips were shivering after 2-3 minutes. She did not want to leave. Neither did I!! I love it there. It's just a great place to spend time with family and relax.

Well, that's it for now. Enjoy the pictures and let us know how you are doing! Leave a comment for us!

Papa, AR and her cousin JF on the dock

JF, Papa, AR, and daddy playing ball (plus a good view of the lake)

Daddy and J getting ready to go the Sandy Beach (daddy doesn't look too ready!)

J in his beach hat

attempting to post a video...

Well, here goes...I'm going to try to post a video of J. Hope it works!!

Going away...and being home again

Hey everyone! We are back from a week long trip to Greenville. I went to take the second half of my classes to be able to teach natural family planning. Huge thank yous to papa and meme for watching AR for a few days! I couldn't have gone without their help! It was a great week, and really re-energized me for teaching. I was able to take J with me, which was great! He was excellent all week, probably because he was held by myself or someone in the class practically the entire time. He was in heaven! He is really growing, holding his head up now mostly by himself, and he is cooing and smiling like crazy. I'm sorry I don't have new pictures to post right now. I just haven't downloaded them yet. I will though! P and AR came up to Greenville for the last part of the week. I missed them like crazy! There is something to be said for a little time away...makes you appreciate everything a little bit more! I asked P to move J's crib to his room. When we got home and saw it, my stomach knotted up a little. :( It was definitely hard to put him down that night and walk out of the room. But it's time and he is doing well. I don't think it has phased him one bit! :) I will definitely post some pictures this week. I want to try to post a video also. It's hard to capture J smiling and cooing...he seems to know the exact moment the camera turns on or takes the picture, and stops! :)