Things I Love About Spring

1. Tulips and Irises. They're so cheerful. I especially love the color of the irises. In fact, I love all spring flowers. I like the daffodils as well, and the hyacinths. I'm kind of using the peonies (you can see them sprouting in the front of this picture) as a timeline for when the baby is coming. They usually bloom around the end of May or beginning of June, and I'm scheduled for my c-section June 9th. So as those peonies pop up, it reminds me of all the things I need to do before the baby is born.





































*Above photo courtesy of Amanda Wiatr.

2. That first pedicure of the year. Sandal season has officially begun! Just in time, too, because my feet have been swelling a bit, and flip-flops always fit, no matter what. I love the way my feet feel after a nice spa pedicure.

3. The first frappucino of the year. I know I could order them in the winter but they just don't feel right until a warm spring day. I always order a tall, light caramel frappucino, but I make them add the whipped cream anyway. It's all about the trade-offs.

4. Little boys with worms. Aww. Enough said.

5. The gorgeous trees in my neighborhood that flower with lovely white flowers this time of year. They look just beautiful--see the one in the background of this picture?

6. The smell of spring. I don't have a picture for that, so here's a hyacinth. Oh, maybe I do have a picture for the smell of spring.

7. The fact that Panera has spinach again. They only have it in the spring and summertime, and it's back! I've been really, really craving spinach salads lately, and the BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad is awesome when you substitute spinach for the lettuce.

It must be my anemia, but I have even been having dreams about this salad. I very suddenly got extremely anemic. Apparently the cute little parasite inside of me has sucked my entire store of available iron, leaving me exhausted and paler than death. I went today for my first IV infusion of iron, and had to stop on the way for this salad. I only ever eat the half-size portion, though. I guess desperately craving salad is far better than those red velvet whoopie pies I was craving last month.

8. Speaking of spinach, I love the way my spinach is actually growing this year. Thanks to the chicken wire, the bunnies haven't been able to touch it. I can't wait to taste my own garden grown spinach.

Just Another Saturday

He looks so innocent, right? Such a nice little boy, he could never do anything. . . . like this:

This is our bathroom door, which, by the way, has to be kept closed so that Nick doesn't flush valuable things down the toilet. Or eat makeup. Or pull the toilet paper off of the roll and drag it all over the house. Or take a q-tip and try to poke it into a place on our cat that the cat didn't like very much. Now we'll have to figure out a way to clean the crayon off. Not sure if they were washable crayons. I could only laugh and grab my camera. He's a toddler, after all.

Nick was driving me just a little bit crazy this morning, and I figured it'd do us both good to get out of the house for awhile. He gets bored if I don't keep him entertained. So I took him to Panera for lunch. It's the only fast food place that doesn't make me sick, and the only place where I'll order Nick a kid's meal. He got an organic roast beef and cheddar on wheat bread.

He actually ended up eating the whole thing. Do you see that empty bowl? That's what they used to give me cheese for my soup. The cheese is piled next to his sandwich. Nick also ate all the cheese that was supposed to be for my soup. Then he found another use for the bowl.

I actually like taking Nick out to eat by myself, but I usually pick sit down places because they'll get everything for you. Today was a challenge, but the food was good and Nick and I had quite a conversation. It went something like this:
"Mmm. Bread. Eat."
"Yes, that is good bread."
"Mama, cheese!" (pointing)
"Yup honey, that's good cheese on your sandwich. Oh,w ait, you want this bowl of cheese?"
"Cheese! Want cheese!"
"Okay, here you go. Oh no, don't dump it! Argh."
"Mmmm." (Eating shredded cheese by the handful)
"No throwing napkins! No!"
"No throw! Ha-ha!"

Pause for chewing.

"Tea! Tea!"
"Nope, you have to drink your milk. The tea is for mommy."
"Hat. I hat."
"Yes, that bowl does look like a hat." (Getting out my camera)
"Bowl hat! Bowl hat!"

After our lunch, we took a little trip to the library. Nick has been wanting lots of stories lately, and I figured we could use some new ones to read. Also, I wanted some new books for myself. I've been feeling really bad since the weather turned cold on Friday. I have nothing against fall, it's just that something went crazy with my sinuses and my head Friday night, and I feel like I'm in a nasty fog. I figured that a weekend of lying around reading would help me adjust to fall.

Anyhow, Nick was up to his usual tricks at the library. He ran around pointing at all the stuffed animals perched on the shelves, shouting out their names. "Tiger! Tiger up there!" then he decided to scream, "Stories!" while furiously yanking stories off of the shelves. When we wandered into adult nonfiction, Nick kept announcing, "Stories!" over and over again. "Yup, Nick, there are lots and lots of stories here."

A helpful four year old stood next to me, saying, "You know, we're not supposed to throw books." Nick went right to her and plopped in her lap, ready for a story. When she got up to leave, Nick grabbed her hand and tried to follow her. How come he'll hold a stranger's hand but not mine? Whenever I picked him up or tried to hold his hand, he screamed and then shouted, "Down! I down!"

At least we got some great books to read. Now, onto my busy weekend of lying around and waiting for my headache to go away. I think I can handle that.  :)

Wordless Wednesday: All Done