Raised Gardens

We have lived in South Carolina for almost three years now.  For two summers, we have tried to have a backyard garden.  For two summers, whatever we planted has been overrun by weeds or killed by a combination of nutrient-less soil and the HOT SC summer sun.  Seriously, we have YET to eat anything that we've tried to grow in our yard.  So this year, we are doing a lot more planning and preparing for the gardening season. 

I will still be working full time and we will have a newborn baby in the house, so I don't expect to have hours to spend on ANYthing, much less gardening.  With the time constraint in mind, we decided to build raised garden beds to cut down on the weeding we'll inevitably have to do.  We first drew out what we wanted on a piece of paper and then made the decision to go with half cinder blocks for the walls.  The half blocks are only 4" wide versus 8" wide for a regular cinder block.  We went with the half blocks because it would still give us enough strength, especially after filling them with wooden stakes and sand, but also give us more planting room inside the beds than a full cinder block would give. 

The area in the yard was already cleared out from last year's feeble garden attempt, so we just covered the section of ground with clear plastic to keep the weeds out of our beds and started the first row of blocks.  Marcus build three beds so that we would have room to walk in between them to make weeding and harvesting easier.  We also used left over fencing stakes and fence wire to fashion homemade trellises next to the fence. 

After making sure everything was secure and stable, we filled the three beds with organic topsoil that will (hopefully!) be much more suited to growing vegetables than the sandy soil that we are blessed with here on the beautiful coast. 

To make everything more visually appealing, we painted the blocks a light green.  We wanted to add the lattice to cover up the cinder blocks, but it is turning out to be more of a pain than we originally anticipated, so we may just leave them alone.  We filled the pathways between the beds with river rocks and trimmed everything out with metal edging to keep the lawnmower from shooting rocks everywhere. :)

The three small planter boxes on top of each bed are the kids' gardens (we even have one for Mason!).  We think it's important that they know where food comes from, so they (especially Taylor) will have a hand in everything that grows in those planters, from picking out what to plant, to weeding, watering, and harvesting. 

We are still in the process of deciding what to plant where, so my OCD/nerd self created a diagram on Excel that we can fill in and change around depending on what we want to grow.  The goal is to get the seeds in the ground before Mason arrives, so we'll probably be planting around the end of February. 

I can't wait to see what we are able to harvest this year!  I'm looking forward to (hopefully!) making homemade baby food for Mason and exploring how to can and freeze what we are able to harvest!

37 Weeks and Girls' Day Out

Mason is officially full term!  He made it to 37 weeks this Sunday, so now we are just getting a few final things taken care of, like making sure the car seat cover gets washed and then installed before he arrives!  We made a trip to Savannah on Saturday to stock up on diapers, wipes, laundry detergent, and other necessities.  I had a couple of gift cards to Target, so I got to pick up a few new nursing tanks and other odds and ends.  Of course, while we were at the mall, we had to stop by Bass Pro shops so Marcus could get a few things for the upcoming cobia season. :)
We ended up doing a LOT of walking and I was tired that evening, but it was a very productive day and the kiddos slept all the way home.


On Monday, we had President's Day off work, so Taylor and I had our last girls' day before Mason arrives and we are outnumbered by boys! We went to IHOP for breakfast and she got the Create-a-Face pancake that comes with strawberry eyes, a banana slice smile, and a tube of yogurt.

 She definitely enjoyed the WHOLE thing, lol!  Plus some of my bacon!  Hungry girl!

After breakfast, we both got our hair cut.  Mine was just a trim, but Tay went from this:

(Yes, that's a toy train stuck in her hair. Don't ask!)

 to this:

  I absolutely love it shorter!  I think it looks adorable on her, especially as blonde as she is!
After haircuts, we got pedicures and she got a manicure.

 She chose purple glittery polish for her toes and HOT pink for her nails!  She and I both had a great time and I'm looking forward to when we can do it again!

35 1/2 weeks!

As of today, I am 35 1/2 weeks pregnant! 



Mason was measuring right where he should be as of my last appointment, so it looks like his crazy-fast growth has slowed down some.  According to babycenter.com, all of his organs are fully formed and from here on out, he will just be gaining weight!  This is not necessarily good news for Mom, LOL! Look how tired I already look in the belly picture!! :)  He is getting heavy to carry around all day! 

Honestly though, this has been the best pregnancy so far.  I have had only minor issues with heartburn and my hips hurting, but that's too be expected, especially this far along.  I did have the WORST sinus headaches that I've ever had a few weeks ago, but I'm not entirely convinced that was pregnancy related.  It seems like the sinus crud is going around here lately.  I'm just thankful it wasn't the flu!

I've already got Mason's hospital essentials packed and ready to go, now I just have to get my stuff ready.  I don't plan on taking much because Marcus will have to go home at some point to be with our other two kiddos, so he can bring me whatever I decide I need/want then. 

I finished the birth plan worksheet that I printed out, so we'll see how close to it I can get this time. :)  The goal is to go au natural(!), but since this is another VBAC, the docs feel way more comfortable at least inserting the catheter for the epidural just in case there's an emergency and they have to get me into surgery quickly.  We are praying that nothing like that will happen, obviously, but there's always a small risk because of the prior C-section.

Mason continues to be the most active baby yet-it is rare for him to not be moving around in there! It's definitely going to be strange not to feel those kicks and rolls once he's born!  He makes me laugh because I can sit on the couch and watch him roll from one side to the other or stick his elbow out like he's stretching!  I'm pretty sure if Mommy was skinnier, we would be able to see the sharp outline of a hand or a foot pressing out of my tummy!

The countdown to Mason has begun and we are eagerly anticipating his arrival!!

Goals for 2013

Now that it's 2013, everyone is making resolutions.  Why do so many people putter out after a couple of months and not follow through with their resolutions?  I am guilty of this myself, but luckily, back at the end of 2011, I found several goal planning worksheets from www.moneysavingmom.com.  (They're no longer there in the same format, boo! But she has TONS of other goal-setting resources and printables.) 

Instead of setting resolutions, this was setting up a list of goals for the upcoming year.  They were even broken down by category and had focus areas within each goal to break them down even further.  The nerd in me rejoiced!  Along with a clear list of what each goal entailed, there was a check box at the bottom for each month so that you could do a self-check at the end of each month and see how you were progressing. 

The difference between making resolutions and setting goals is subtle, but has been monumental in my life.   I can definitely see how setting attainable goals, writing them down, and holding myself accountable has allowed me to succeed in many of the goals that I set for 2012.  One of my main goals was to read the Bible all the way through and I did it!  There were definitely times that I had to go back and catch up on a few days (or weeks!) of reading, but I completed the goal and I know God has used that in my life quite plainly.  I have found myself in a situation and a verse or a passage that I had read recently would come back to me and be appropriate for that exact circumstance.  This year, I'm reading the Bible again-chronologically and I look forward to being able to dig deeper into the Word this year.

Many of our goals for 2012 were financial and one of those was to finish paying off my vehicle and to become debt free except the house.  We did it!  We piled money into savings until we had enough to completely pay off the truck!  We were also able to save our 6 month emergency fund AND sell our house in North Carolina that we had been renting out for the past 2 years.  So now our only debt is the home we live in!

This year, I have 7 main priorities:  Relationships, Financial, Reading, Fitness, Managing my Home, School, and Crafts/Projects.  I think this is a huge list and would be really overwhelming if it wasn't broken down into smaller (bite-sized) pieces.  Taking a large goal and making it doable is only possible by breaking it down into baby steps!  I am a list person, so being able to check something off a task list is HUGE for me.  I feel so accomplished when I can visually see progress.

For example:  Under the Reading priority, one of my Focus Areas is Classic books.  A few months ago, inspired by the fact that I was starting back to school and might need to CLEP out of a Literature class, I decided I wanted to go back and re-read some of the classic books I read throughout my academic career and finally read the ones I never got around to.  So I made a list.  Over 110 books later, I figured I'd better get started.  So I set a goal to read 2 books per month for 2013.  I am really into the fact that I can get MOST of the classics free for my Kindle and then read them while I'm on the treadmill during my lunch hour!  Gotta love killing two birds with one stone! :)

I have my goal planning worksheets in my Household Binder so they go with me wherever I go and whenever I have a few minutes, I'll sit down and review my calendar and take a look at my goal list just to see where I'm going strong and where I need to tweak things to make it work.  Small changes throughout the month are much easier to implement than trying to totally overhaul your life once a year.  It's also easier to get back on track if you fall off the wagon if you continually review your goals.  If I slip up and have one soda, it's much easier to give myself a little grace and start over than if I started drinking soda every day for 6 months straight. 

Maybe I should add a new category for keeping the blog updated! It seems like I have yet to come up with a workable schedule of how and when to get everything done and blogging has definitely fallen to the back burner.  With Mason scheduled to make his appearance here fairly soon, I really need to figure out a time when I can blog consistently (that's not 1am!)...  I'm adding that to my goal worksheet right now! :)