Chartreuse

The weather was just beautiful this week and we really enjoyed being outside. Things were relatively mundane for the most part. At 6 weeks, Arlo has started to smile, which just brings so much joy to my soul, to see him emotionally connect with us. It certainly makes getting up in the middle of the night more tolerable.

I made a cake for a friend this week that was a lot of fun to work on, and boy what a mess it made! I'm looking forward to making another cake for Arlo's baby blessing next weekend.

So the endless updates about my garden are going to start early this year. On Saturday we worked out in the back yard and had a really enjoyable time prepping the east bed for planting, clearing out the dead leaves and such from the other flower beds, hanging pots, and porch plants. We also re-seeded the lawn which is something we do every year. It's really early, but it has been in the 70s here for weeks now and I don't anticipate that changing so we decided to get started ahead of schedule and give the more delicate veggies a head start on the heat. We've set aside a budget again this year to finish raised beds on the north and west ends of yard. I hope to have the planting plan ready to get seeds in the ground this week. We were pleased that the beds on either side of the porch are still filled with lovely plants from last spring and won't need to be re-planted. I may put in some colorful annuals, but for the most part all of the plants survived the winter. I came across a wonderful surprise in the garden as well, that I am very excited about. Last year after I had told Jeff we would be having another baby, he brought me a beautiful pot of daffodils. They died when it got too hot, but I saved the bulbs and put them in a shady part of the garden. Yesterday, when I was out working in the garden, I noticed a dozen or more shoots coming up from the bulbs; I'll have new daffodils in a few short weeks and year after year when they bloom I will remember that wonderful day. Give potted flowers instead of cut flowers! There are so many things in my yard that I am emotionally attached to. That may sound strange, but it's true. I have a flowering cactus that was my Nana's that sits by my front door that I love and I think of her every time I see it, a rose bush in the back that was a Valentine's gift, amaryllis flowers that remind me of my dad because I dug them out of my parent's back yard before they sold their house. OK, I'm a little sentimental and I'll admit that when you're emotionally attached it's harder when a plant dies! We spent so much time in the yard last year and I'm looking forward to the garden again this year...with some improvements planned.

It was a pretty normal, non exciting week, and I'm going to really try to enjoy my last week home!

Sunshine Yellow

I had such a great week...I think the rest of the family did too. I've gotten used to my new sleep "schedule" and all the doctor's appointments and other distractions have died down. This week I felt like my old stay-at-home mom self. Everyday the house was clean and a healthy, delicious (in my opinion) meal was ready when Jeff got home from school. I did homework with Felicity and made sure she practiced piano. I even had time to play with the girls, we spent about an hour in their room on the floor playing with Polly Pockets.

Arlo graciously continues to group his sleeping in six-eight hour blocks making life a little more easy. Even when he does wake up at night he eats and goes right back to sleep so I really couldn't ask for much more than that. He has trouble being put down when he's awake, but as he is becoming more aware of his surroundings he's enjoying tummy time and looking at his toys a little more. He loves bath time and is very good when it's time to ride in the car.

I started going to Weight Watchers last week to help me and lost a little over five pounds (from here on out it'll be a more healthy 1-2 pounds a week). With eating much more healthy I'm also enjoying the added activity. I met my lovely friend Megan this week at Sahuarita lake and we walked around the lake, I'm not even sure how many times. I really enjoyed chatting although after I got in the truck to head home I felt bad because I realized I did all the talking; and probably said a lot more than she wanted to hear!

Friday I met my mom and grandma for breakfast and shopping. We had a great time as usual, I'm so lucky to have them. Jeff worked on a group project for school on Saturday and wasn't home so I didn't accomplish a whole lot this weekend, we're planning on getting our garden in early this year since it has been so warm, it seems a waste not to enjoy a longer growing season. We need to decide how much of a budget we're going to have for it this year, that will determine how much improvement we make. Ideally I would like to extend our back wall to enclose our side yard, continue the flower beds around the entire perimeter of the yard, reseed the lawn, and replace our two trees out front that died last winter. If we do finish the flower beds around the rest of the yard, I'll probably plant several new rose bushes along the east wall.

I have two weeks until I have to go back to work, so I'm going to try to make the best of them. I need to finish sewing the outfit that I'm making for Arlo for his baby blessing, I am making a cake this week as well. It's going to be a great week!

Baby Blue

I can't believe how quickly time has gone by, but here we are half way through January! Baby Arlo had his one month check up this week and is doing well. He's gotten back up to his birth weight and the goo left behind when his umbilical chord stump fell off has dried up and he has a proper belly button now. He's also grown two inches in length and is out of the newborn size and is wearing 0-3 month PJs and onesies. He's started grouping his sleeping a little more and is awake and alert a lot more during the day and is sleeping in six hour blocks at night. The only bad part about that is he falls asleep at about seven, so I'm still getting up with him for about an hour at around 1 or 2 in the morning. He's such a good baby and we love him so much.

Jeff went back to school this week. His classes are in the afternoon this semester so it's been nice to have his help getting the kids ready for school in the morning. I had some one on one time with the baby while everyone else was at school which was nice. I am loving being at home so much, it'll be hard to go back to work in about three weeks. Tuesday, Jeff watched Arlo and Helen and I went out with my mom. We went shopping and had lunch then as a belated birthday gift we had a manicure and pedicure. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed ourselves. We had friends over for dinner on Friday night which was nice and then we had a great game night...there were seven kids upstairs having all kinds of fun. Felicity also lost her second tooth this week. It had been loose for some time and it fell out at dinner, she was so proud.

In an effort to be a healthier happier Davidson family this year, Jeff and I got bikes and a bike trailer so that we could ride as a family. The girls went out in the bike trailer with Jeff on Saturday. They were only out for 15 minutes or so before Jeff got tired. We have some great places to ride around our neighborhood, but its pretty uneven terrain so it can be quite a workout especially since it's been a long time since either one of us has ridden a bike. In the afternoon the kids were antsy and we wanted to head out on an adventure, so without knowing where we were going to go we got in the truck and started driving. We went south on I-19 and got off on Arivaca road and took a trip to Arivaca. It was a nice drive, one I haven't taken in several years. We drove through town and then headed toward Arivaca lake (I didn't know there was a lake there). We ended up on this very narrow dirt road winding back into the mountains (I was afraid maybe we wouldn't be able to get out) but ended up coming upon a pretty good sized lake. The kids got out and threw rocks in the water and enjoyed some exploring. We drove back up and through town past the old cemetery and past my great aunt's property. Felicity asked why the people were living in weird "house cars" (there are a lot of trailers in that area), but it made Jeff and I giggle the way she described them. Then we headed toward home just as it started to sprinkle. It was a very nice drive and we had a good time. We stopped for kids eat free at Denny's when we got back to Sahuarita which the kids love. We watched a movie together as a family when we got home before the kids got off to bed.

So eight o'clock church has not been easy so far. With Arlo getting up in the middle of the night, I've been enjoying sleeping in, this morning was no exception. I woke up at 7:35 and rushed everyone else to get ready in record time. The baby went straight from the crib to the car seat and had to go to church in his PJs. The girls had their breakfast on the way to church, but we made it in time! We'll have to try harder next week to get up on time. Once at church, Jeff had an experience that I think most people have nightmares about. As it turned out the speakers for Sacrament meeting fell through and there was no one to speak. The bishop, from the pulpit, called on Jeff and another brother to speak. Jeff's not exactly crazy about public speaking when prepared, so I was proud he didn't bolt for the door! It took him literally a minute or two to get going, but once he did he had some heartfelt, sincere things to say.

We had dinner with my parents in the evening and Felicity stayed the night since it was her turn and she doesn't have school on Monday. She was so funny, on Friday she told me that she didn't have school Monday and I asked her if she knew why. She said, "well the brown kids had a broken drinking fountain and this one guy had a dream, but I don't remember what the dream was about. Someone killed that man and that's why I don't have school on Monday". Kids say the darnedest things!

Desert Green

This week... this week... what happened this past week? Monday was the last day of the kid's holiday break, so we took them to lunch with Nana and Papa and then to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. I love the museum and its right up my alley in expertise...in fact working at the museum doing public education would be pretty amazing (except all their docents are unpaid volunteers). I bore my children to death with facts, questions, and "did you know..."; in fact one time, much to the chagrin of my husband, I had a group of tourists follow us thinking they lucked out with a free guided tour. We had a great time and the girls were really well behaved as was Arlo. We really enjoyed the beautiful weather and the exercise.

Felicity went back to school on Tuesday morning and was very excited to start again. Helen went back on Wednesday and Jeff and I spent the day putting Christmas away and cleaning the house. It feels wonderful to have the house in order and be back on a schedule again. Little Arlo is pretty inconsistent with his sleeping patterns so far, sleeping in four hour blocks some nights and not wanting to sleep at all other nights. We've been able to be pretty flexible since Jeff is still on break from school, I imagine that will change next week when he goes back.

Felicity brought home her second quarter report card this week and we were very please to see that she did very well. She received the highest mark, Meets Expectations, in all the academic areas which she was tested; she also received the highest mark, Consistently, in the personal development areas. We are very proud of her and her eagerness to learn. I have a suspicion that she will excel in mathematics as she is already adding and subtracting in the after school work we give her and more than that really seems to grasp the principles and reasoning behind math. We are working on being a peacemaker at home; many of the arguments she and Helen get into would be quickly dissolved if one of them would just walk away!

Thursday Helen, Arlo, and I went into Tucson with my mom to do some shopping and give Jeff a break. We had a nice time and the kids were great. Helen even got a new pair of shoes. Jeff and I took an opportunity to get out and about on Friday morning with only one child. We did our shopping, grocery shopping, and went out for lunch. We've been out with all three a few times now and they are a handful! I guess that's really all we've been up to this week.

I'm grateful to be back on a schedule and am really enjoying my time away from work. I would be a liar if I said I hadn't fantasized about not going back, but alas. I have four more weeks and intend on enjoying them. I can't believe the baby is already four weeks old, time flies! Hopefully Jeff will be graduating next spring as planned and will be able to find a job quickly so I can come back home. I hope everyone else had a great week and is happy, healthy, and safe in the week to come.