The Fruits of Our Labors...

I have been spending so much time outside working on the yard. Here are some pictures of what I have been planting...
I thought I would post yet another picture of the tulips in full bloom in the front yard. Pretty soon I will have to decide what to plant here for summer when the tulips are done...

I couldn't take a picture of the entire back wall. I had to break it up into two pictures. This first picture is the right side and the one below is the left side. Sorry you can't see much detail...


I have planted primroses, day lilies, daisies, poppies, verbenas, hibiscus, columbines, clematis, bleeding hearts, butterfly bushes, peach tree, lilac bushes, cherry bushes, etc... It has been a blast!

Here are some of my columbines...

This is one of my favorite things in the garden...my bleeding heart. I am just hoping I have enough shade for it!

My hibiscus...

I have two bird houses on the fence posts in the back. This is one that Ben put up for me. Maybe it will attact some birds.

This is a project we did in the front yard...I planted four knock out rose bushes by the walk way. Ben put the finishing touches on it by framing them with these grey bricks. Thanks Benny! Now, we are just waiting for them to bloom!

Next project...planting my flower pots with annuals!

If I Had It MY Way...

XBox would not exist...
Salt should be in a healthy food group...
Always believe in the tooth fairy, Easter Bunny, and Santa...
Gas should still cost less than $1 per gallon...
Husbands should kiss thier wife at least once a day...
Pets would be mandatory...
It's only a vacation when the words "beach" and "tropical" are included...
Sometimes ice cream should be eaten first...
Families would all get along...
Dogs know more than people...
Never eat more than you can lift...
Snobby girls would become extinct...
Children would sleep through the night from the moment they are born...
Winter should only last 2 months~ December and January...
Laundry would fold itself...
Each friend would come with an instruction book/resume (exposing how long they will be your friend)...
Dust should clean itself...
Dishes would never be left in the sink to soak...
Flowers would bloom all year...
Getting a pedicure wouldn't hurt your feet the next time you go for a run...
Stay at home mom's should get paid...
Tan lines should be attractive...
Getting your hair done shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg...
You should be able to grow palm trees anywhere...
Airline tickets should cost less...
A birth or a death shouldn't be the only thing that brings your family together...
A wife would never go to bed alone...
Scrapbooks would complete themselves...
Weekends should be extended...
You should be able to pick who your siblings marry...

The Music Of The Night...

Kai is all about toys now. His newest favorite is this aquarium that is attached to his crib. Camille gave this to him and he never tires of it.




We love the fact that he can entertain himself sometimes for over an hour...but it does have some drawbacks...We wake up in the middle of the night to music from this aquarium playing. The good news is when he does wake up, instead of crying he entertains himself. He also plays until he falls asleep at night too.
It is amazing to watch him learn.

Double Diaper Duty...

THIS IS NOT A JOKE...I wish it were...
I know this seems a bit crazy...trust me...

We have not spayed Harley...so it is either this, or she is in her dog kennel until her period is over.
Between her and Kai, I am on double diaper duty at the moment.

My Other Babies...

I have been spending so much time outside lately working on the yard. We all know those crazy "cat ladies"...well, Ben now calls me the crazy plant lady.
Here are some more pictures from our yard. Things are really starting to bloom!
My mini roses are starting to bloom up...


Some of the tulips my mom and I planted are opening...

The flower bed in the front yard keeps getting bigger!

My flowering plum trees are blooming!

My New Ohio Shirt

Thanks for my Ohio State shirt Grandma Michaelson...I love it!!!

Not Crawling Yet...

Makai is just barely starting to put some weight on his knees...

Tubbin'

It was such a miserable day outside today, so I let Kai take an extra long bath. He just loved it! I bet he was in there for over a half hour. When I took him out he was so pruney.
What a happy boy!

You can kinda see in this picture his new favorite toys... Camille gave Kai some light up duckies and he is obsessed with them. He wants to play with them 24/7...in and out of the tub. And yes, he still puts every bath toy in his mouth.





So even though the weather was miserable...we had a great day!

Our New Toy

For Christmas my Mom gave me some money to put toward a fountain for our backyard. We finally bought the fountain today and couldn't be happier with it. It is so nice to sit outside and listen to the water...although we have had to make a few extra trips to the bathroom... :)
We can't wait for summer BBQ's and just hangin' out on the patio now!
Thanks for the idea Mom!!!

OhiO

We just returned from our trip to Ohio. It was a blast. We have probably gained a good 7 pounds each from the trip. Kai was wonderful, I don't think was ever really put down. He loved all the attention and I loved that he was such a good flyer. There were so many babies crying on the plane, but not Kai. He just sat there and played the entire ride. Here are a few pictures from our trip...

This is Ben's Mom and Dad and his sister Andrea with her Mr. Wonderful (Joe).

We went to Amish country (my favorite part of the trip) and saw the beautiful country side. There was so much to see...I wanted to take a picture with an Amish person, but resisted b/c I thought it might be rude. They are so cool though...truly unique.

This is my Mr. Wonderful

Our little family.

Grandma Michaelson and Kai-Man.

This isn't a very good picture of the Kirkland Temple, but we are standing outside the green door to the temple. It was so beautiful.

Kai-Man and his handsome Dad.

Me and Ben with his Dad outside the Whitney store.

We tried so hard to get Kai to lift his head in this picture...

Ben can always get Kai to smile.
As fun as it is to visit with family...it is always so nice to be home. Kai has been the happiest I have ever seen him today. He is just content to be in familiar surroundings. We went on a run again today and he smiled the entire trip. I kept checking on him to see if he was sleeping, he just sat there and smiled the entire time.
HoMe SWeeT HoMe!

BuY Me SoMe PeaNuTS aND CRaCKeR JaCKS...

We went to the Rockies game last night with the Cole's and had a blast!
Rockies won by 1. We love living so close to so many professional teams.

Kai loves to sit in the sling that Carly gave me. I never thought I would use a sling when I had a baby, but I love it. It has been a lifesaver! It is so nice to use when I am shopping and don't want to take the car seat/stroller or in this case had to walk a far distance to park the car. Thanks Carly!

Kai loves Christian. He is always so content when Christian holds him.
We are lucky to have such fun friends!

Proof of Spring!

Well, it's official...the bulbs that my mom and I planted when Kai was 1 month old have started to bloom. I am so excited for Spring...to be honest I am a bit pathetic. I check on my bulbs once a day to see what progress they have made.

This is the tree in our front yard. I bet my mom and I planted about 50-60 bulbs around this tree. The Hyacinths have started to bloom, but the tulips are still just coming up.


These are some of the daffodils that are going to bloom maybe later today. My mom planted these around the rose trees in my front yard.

The daffodils in my back yard have already bloomed.
Thanks for all your help mom. If it weren't for you I wouldn't be enjoying these flowers this year!

My Favorite Running Buddy

This year for my birthday Ben got me the BOB Ironman running stroller. I LOVE it!!!
I have been so exited to go running with Kai. This winter was hard b/c I had to wait for Ben to get home from work to go to the gym or go running. Now, with my new stroller I can take Kai and go whenever I want.
The weather was so nice today that I couldn't resist...We went for a 5 mile run together. I probably had a stupid grin on my face the entire run. I was just so happy to be out and enjoying the day.
Kai is my favorite running partner. Who knew that a baby could be such a great runner? He runs at the speed I want, but isn't very good at keeping a conversation going. Good thing my ipod keeps me entertained...
Here are some pictures of Kai after our run.



Kai loves this little monkey. If you look close enough you can see where he has been sucking on the monkeys arm during the run.