Where did the time go?

We've been so busy I've barely noticed that I am still pregnant! Well, okay, I noticed quite a bit but at least this time has flown by. No one is pregnant forever and goodness knows, I will probably cherish these moments as a mother of two when I am a mother of three (!). 

We've had three birthday parties, several play groups, a trip to the Museum Center, a date night for the grown-ups (which translates as a date night at Grandma and Pop's house for Liam and Isla), the farmers' market and many, many bowls of popcorn and family movie evenings when its been too hot to go out and play. Right now, we are listening to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban while in the car and we just finished Ramona the Pest. I highly recommend audio books as a means of entertainment in the car--it feels more relaxing than music and it is so easy to get sucked into a good story that I don't even want to turn it off when we arrive at our destination! I'm not too concerned about the age appropriateness with audio books--I feel like my children have been exposed to adult conversation for the majority of their existence and something like Harry Potter or Beverly Cleary is perfectly harmless. 

The baby will come when he/she is ready. I can hardly contain my excitement, but it is nothing compared to what Liam is going through right now. I've never seen a more attentive, thoughtful and absolutely delighted big brother. He is just amazing. Isla, of course, doesn't actually realize what is going on but I know her loving, sweet nature will come in quite handy with a little brother or sister. Liam wakes up every morning asking if the baby is here yet and lamenting his/her tardiness. Isla wakes up and wants breakfast immediately but I can relate. I'm not much of a morning person either. 

First Harvest

We've been gathering herbs from the garden for months now but now we have our first fruit! A delicious green pepper. Liam was so proud to finally pick it. It's been getting quite large for a while but we wanted to make sure it was really and truly ready. 

We had it for lunch yesterday, just sliced up with fresh cucumbers and homemade garlic breadsticks and marinara sauce. It was so wonderful to finally eat something we grew ourselves (herbs notwithstanding!) Today we ventured out to one of our favorite farmers' markets for the Lavender Festival and managed to come home without any veggies or fruits at all--thanks in part to our garden, but mostly to the generosity of my grandparents' garden. We couldn't pass up a loaf of our favorite brick oven fired bread, however. 

Weeds

Our front yard flower bed is pretty overrun. The extremely rainy spring, coupled with the pregnancy and the general craziness of two little ones has not been good for my gardening karma. However! I have big plans for change, very soon. 

We just planted an heirloom tomato plant out front, named Rose (also the variety) and I just picked up a pineapple mint plant and a lavender bush today from the Northside Farmer's Market so I'm really excited to get those into the ground. Liam planted his sunflower seeds in a special place some weeks ago and they are already almost as tall as Isla! Plus, we have some little yellow flowers blooming and our big bush of...well, I'm not sure. It looks like lavender but smells like honeysuckle. Any rate, it's pretty and I really should weed and mulch to make sure everyone can appreciate it. 

My girl loves playing in the front flower bed, helping her brother water the flowers, digging in the dirt or even just picking a few stray blossoms.