Endless Yard Work

So when we originally started out we planned on taking a couple years to finish our yard. We definitely won't get everything done this year, but we are really pushing forward and will be getting more done than we originally planned on. I have found out a lot about myself the past few months. I am really becoming O.C.D about things. When I start something, I am obsessive about finishing it, unfortunately regardless of the consequences sometimes. Our backyard has become one of those projects for me and luckily Mike has been very supportive. It will be nice to have our sprinklers and grass in, and who knows, maybe that will help us in getting a dog sooner.:) So we have planted 5 trees, and transplanted 2. We also received some roses and other shrubs from our neighbors that we are waiting to plant in our flower beds. If you look at the pictures you will see them planted in the middle of our yard. No, we are not having a rose garden in the middle of our grass, we are just waiting for a better place to put them. It will take a little while for everything to grow, but we will hopefully be getting some nectarines, peaches, plums, oranges, clementines, raspberries and blackberries within the next few years. We are currently working on our sprinklers. We were going to rent a trencher, but funny me, I thought we could just do it ourselves. I finally finished connecting the final trench today. Mike helped a lot as well. We have a ways to go, but things are starting to come together. Next up, "Square Foot Gardens".


Our flowering pear tree. (Mike and the neighbors moved the big tree to the back and we planted this one in the front yard.)




So Emma has been sick the last few days. It started out as just a cough, but now she has a little fever to go with it. She has been miserable poor girl. I think she is starting to feel a little bit better, but it comes in waves. I was actually able to get some smiles out of her for these pictures even though she is not feeling very good.

Getting Ready for Summer!

So we finally have a patio. We are going to be working on our backyard for the next couple of months to years, and the first thing to check off is the patio. It will be nice to have somewhere to sit outside now. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the sun is constantly shining on the back of our house and so we will eventually need a cover/umbrella. It was a lot of fun to watch them pump the concrete in and smooth and texture everything. Gracie is very anxious to get outside and see what all of the commotion is about, but there will be NO kitty paws in our patio. Next up are the sprinklers and that will be a big job for Mike in particular. We are realizing that there is a lot more to planning out your backyard than we originally thought. Where we planned on placing our fruit trees there is constant shade and things like that, so we will be changing things up again, but it will be nice when we get some grass, trees and some produce growing. It has been a little overwhelming, but fun as well.

Gotta Love Bath-time!

So we had to take a picture of this. Emma is finally getting some hair, but she has the Pierce "fine and thin" hair and so I can't do ANYTHING with it, but it looks pretty great after she has taken a bath,:) She's so funny. Also, she is finally saying some words. (We think) So her first words are: Dada, and Kitty. Ya, she still refuses to say Mommy or Mama or anything that even has the "M" sound except for Yumm. You can see that she sure loves that Dad and Kitty.:) It's pretty fun to hear her say things and understand what she is saying.

We are also starting the huge project of landscaping our backyard. We just got an estimate on concrete and sprinkler pipe and they should get finished this coming week. Mike is going to be working on the sprinklers and that will be a big job. It will probably take a couple years to get everything done, but I am so anxious to start planting our garden. Fresh fruit and vegetables from our own garden sounds really nice for this summer. I guess we'll have to see how ambitious we get. So stay tuned for further updates on the yard.

Fun with Grandpa!

We finally had our first official visitors last Monday and it was great. My Dad and his wife Dorothy came out and spent a few days with us. Emma sure had a great time with her Grandpa Larry and Grandma Dorothy. We got to go for walks, we went to the Bakersfield zoo, and Emma got a lot of good attention. She loved it! Her are just a couple fun pics. Thanks again for the visit you guys.