6/25/13

Gardening

We've expanded our gardening slightly as we have a small side yard, front yard and sidewalk lawn at our new home. It's been a learning curve - this spring we learned how to de-winterize the sprinklers (thanks to W's coworker), set them on a timer and fertilize the lawn. W also learned how to prune rose bushes by watching videos online. Big steps for us! We also didn't want to get a lawn mower just to mow our little patch of grass, so we cut a deal with our neighbors where they will mow in the summer and we will shovel in the winter.

We don't have a lot of maintenance to do because the spaces are smaller, and I think it's been just enough for us to manage. The previous owners did a great job with the landscaping so it's been nice for us to step into something set up so well.

Here are some of the roses in the front. We had fun watching and waiting to see what color roses the various bushes produced:

These are my favorite
These blossomed first


I cut some roses over the weekend from the different bushes...


We also discovered lilac bushes and lavender in the front. I didn't get any photos of the lilac (they bloom in the spring), but was very happy to find that those bushes belong to us.

Next time I will post some photos of the side yard. We have a little veggie garden growing there.

6/24/13

Preparing for the baby

I've slowly started to get ready for the baby. I bought a few things on Craigslist and my goal is to keep things to a minimum. My cousin in LA has been giving me some tips, and I'm pretty impressed with how simple they have kept things. He lives in a small 2 bedroom in downtown LA and so space is limited.

In terms of diapering, ideally I'd like to do a combo of going diaper free and cloth diapers. But I feel pretty overwhelmed about it. I read Diaper Free Baby last year and it changed my paradigm about diapers. I really like the idea of it, but it seems like a lot of work. Does anyone have experience with this?

Another book I read last year that shaped my view of parenting is Bringing Up Bebe. It's an American journalist's thoughts about parenting in America as compared to France. It's very interesting and paradigm-shifting. I've been thinking a lot about how parenting has developed in the U.S., especially in our generation, compared with prior generations and other countries as I think about how I want to parent.

In terms of the birth plan...I'm going to a midwife practice at a hospital. I'd like to go natural, but I'm not opposed to getting an epidural if I can't bear the pain. But since that's the plan we'll need to take a class and also think about getting a doula to help me manage the pain.

I've been getting lots of questions about whether I will work. As a new grad, it will be nearly impossible for me to find a part-time job, so I will have to work full time. Also, nursing is such a hands-on profession and it takes about a year of full-time work to become proficient at your job. The nice thing is that it will be shift work so I'll work 3x/week. I may work nights and weekends too, so that helps as well. The job market for nurses is pretty tight in Denver, but I feel less stressed about it now that the baby is coming. If it takes me longer to find a job, that will give me more time at home with the baby.

I'm doing my senior practicum rotations at Childrens Hospital in the emergency department, so I think I'll get lots of preparation for the baby there. 7 weeks of school left. I'm ecstatic.

6/7/13

20 weeks

I guess it's time to break the news on the blog: I'm pregnant! I'm currently 20 weeks pregnant, and my belly is really starting to show:

20 weeks
I finally broke down and got maternity clothes this week. I'd looked around at Gap, Target, Old Navy and Pea in a Pod but maternity clothes are expensive. For the last few weeks I trolled Craigslist and most people were selling L and XL. This week someone was getting rid of XS, so I jumped on it. Luckily, her style was similar to mine so I got 15 pieces of maternity clothes for a great deal - mostly shirts, a few pants and dresses as well. I must say maternity clothes are much more comfortable!

I had started another blog for the baby so I could have a place to jot down thoughts, but now that I'm public with it I'm debating whether to keep it going or just update here. At any rate, there are a few posts up there if you'd like to take a look:

www.team-oh.blogspot.com

I'm grateful for the timing as I'll be just done with school when the baby comes.