Summer Days and Big Ideas

I think we're safe to say that the cold weather is gone for good. Looking forward to the summer and all the stuff we have planned. Fort Wayne hosts a lot of free events, family events, as well as festivals galore. This June I'm looking forward to Germanfest and Ribfest. Delicious food is the way to a pregnant girl's heart.

At home we've been doing some big changes too. Last summer we took out the fence and installed a kennel for the dogs. This year we've finally got the ground reseeded and grass is filling in where it desperately needs it. Also, we're planning on moving the dog kennel further from the house because it gets kinda stinky and I don't care for it RIGHT next to the house or where we would grill or entertain. We also bought the kids a swing-set this year. Tim did a lot of work with Uncle Ryan putting it together in less than a day. The kids love it! Levi picked up pretty quick on how to swing, and Lila's face is priceless when she gets to swing. We really like the placement of the swing-set in our yard because 1. it makes the yard look bigger and 2. it creates a good amount of shade (and we have NO shade in our backyard)

Also, we built a semi-raised garden this year as well. We planted tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, strawberries, cantaloupe, zucchini, and yellow squash. I'm really excited for everything. I love fresh fruits and veggies from the garden. This is our first year with a garden, so we're not expecting much but when I saw this little guy I started to really hope we'd have a great turnout. Our little tomato!

Other projects this summer include, extending our concrete patio and buying a gazebo-type covering for more shade. Also, we're converting our loft upstairs into a 4th bedroom and installing ceiling fans to help with our energy bills. We know we will be here for a few more years so we've decided to pull all the stops and just get most of these things done so we can be happy in our home and increase it's value when it is time to sell.

Catch up (again)

We had a nice Easter weekend with friends and family. We attended a local Easter egg hunt on Saturday which was probably an idea we won't do again (too many people) Lila ended up getting 10-12 eggs and I think Levi got 6. Levi didn't understand and since he's a people watcher like me, he just stood there and looked at all the kids like "why are you all running?"
Sunday we had family over. My parents and my grandma came in the afternoon, and my sister in law and her family actually came saturday and spent the night. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to church. (strange, I know) It was our stake conference and since it was also Easter Sunday is was even extra packed. (our ward building IS the stake center and there isn't enough parking between 2 wards already, let alone the whole stake)
We had a nice meal though, I prepared a pork shoulder roast in the crockpot with assorted vegetables. I made 2 pans of rolls, mashed potatoes, corn pudding, fresh fruit salad, and of course my popular chocolate chip peanut butter cookies (by demand from my father). It was the perfect meal, enough for everyone, and it didn't take a lot of prep and standing in the kitchen.

After we ate, we did our own family egg hunt in the backyard. Tim and I bought enough candy and eggs to do 80 eggs! (We also thought our nephews were going to be looking for eggs too but they ended up hiding them instead) So we had LOTS of candy but it was all melted so I had to put their baskets in the freezer for a bit to make sure it solidified.

Later in the month, I attended Time Out For Women with my sister in Law, Melissa. It was a great  first time experience that I got to share with a family member and we really bonded even more than we already were. We've decided to make it an annual thing that we do together.
Not only were the talks inspirational but the music was absolutely beautiful. We also had AMAZING weather and got to eat some fantastic food at a local diner just down the street from the convention center.
Next year's TOFW will be in Indianapolis which is a 2 hour drive for me as opposed to the 3.5+ hour drive (with construction traffic!)  that I had down to Cincinnati this year.
That was really the only downside for me was the lonely drive. I was pretty uncomfortable and my feet started to slightly swell by the time I made it home. Good thing next year I won't be pregnant.

Speaking of pregnancy. Today I am 26 weeks +2 days. I have my glucose test next week (never my favorite dr's appointment) I'm having a hard time with this pregnancy, even in my 2nd trimester. It's going to be very similar to my first. I've already noticed some swelling in my hands and I am extremely uncomfortable if I sit for too long. Sleeping at night is becoming difficult and my heartburn is through the roof! Not to mention baby's legs are already up in my ribs. I also have  a lot of hip and sciatic nerve pain (way more than either of my other pregnancies). Tim keeps saying we're not having another one if this is how its going to be. I have to gently remind him that Lila was an EXTREMELY EASY pregnancy and now I'm experiencing a "little above normal difficult" pregnancy.
We've also opted for a repeat c-section, so although I'm due August 14th, we'll schedule to have baby earlier.
Below is a picture I took at 23 weeks.