Hummingbirds!

Daniel made a new 4 sided shepard's hook to hang our hummingbird feeders from this year. That welding class really paid off! Our feeder used to be in the back of the yard by the seed feeders which meant i had to squat in the grass to wait for the hummingbirds to feed. Now, I can watch from the comfort of my kitchen while having my morning coffee! Yay! So far, I've seen two different couples of hummingbirds feeding. They seem to be getting used to my constant presence in the kitchen window in the mornings, so getting pictures is getting easier! So far, they definitely prefer the feeder on the left with the rail for them to stand on the most. They really are amazing to watch though!








(she's totally checking me out in the last one)

On the baby front...I went in for my 3 hour glucose tolerance test this morning. YUCK! I had to fast from 7 pm last night and didn't get through with the test til almost noon today! That's a long time with nothing to eat or drink for a pregnant woman! For those of you who don't know, here's the process: they draw a vile of blood from your arm, you drink a super sweet orange drink, you wait 30 minutes, they draw another vile of blood, you wait 30 minutes, they draw another vile of blood, you wait an hour, they draw ANOTHER vile of blood, you wait ANOTHER hour, and the draw YET ANOTHER vile of blood. That's right, you get stuck 5 different times in the arm for blood on an already super empty stomach. My test was done at the Oxford Diagnostic Center which is new and really nice, so I spent all that time stretched out on a couch reading. It definitely helped keep my mind off how bad I felt. Fingers crossed that I passed! Not sure when I'll get the results, but hopefully by Monday at the latest.

Daniel and I are headed to Memphis tomorrow morning for Merry Claire's wedding. After the wedding, we'll all be going to the cabin for the night! Anna is in town from Seattle to be a bridesmaid, and I can't wait to see her tomorrow! I'll take lots of pics!

Memorial Day Weekend

I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend. It was wonderful to have an extra day at home, but the weekend still flew by! We had friends over Sunday evening for a cookout and, thankfully, the weather held off so we could spend some time outside! Daniel bought me a new camera for Mother's Day, so this is going to be a jumble of photos- some decidedly better than others.





Can you tell how obsessed I am with my blooming hydrangeas?! I just love them and wish they would bloom all year!


We've got tiny tomatoes and squash and zucchini! Can't wait for the first harvest!


Doesn't this spread look like it belongs in Sur La Table! Sunday's festivities were potluck and Corinne brought this lovely selection!


Some of the beautiful ladies that were in attendance! Audrey, Nina, Lulu, and Corinne.


Chris (making a funny face) and Charles.



Jennifer and Andrew Parker!


Much like a junior high dance, the men stick to their area and the women to another. This seems to naturally occur as soon as women begin discussing wedding details and childbirth.


Lulu, Charles and Grace hanging out by the fire!

On the baby front, I have made it to the second trimester! WooHoo! And magically, the morning sickness and other icky symptoms are gone or leaving! I've actually made it to the gym several times! it's a miracle! As for belly pics, I still just kinda look like I've had too much beer, so I'm gonna hold off on sharing that loveliness with you all! When it gets a little more preggars looking, I'll post!

this is for my mom

I really don't have anything interesting to say, but my Mom is tired of looking at the snake post. So....how about we talk about the responses I receive to the snake post. All in all, my friends are heartless killers of innocent snakes in distress. Let's hope none of you come back as a snake in your next life...you know what they say about karma! Snakes are one of the few generally considered icky things that don't really bother me. Considering how vividly I remember my Mom screaming when a snake slithered into her bedroom through the open screened porch door about 20+ years ago, you would think I would have inherited this fear. But, alas, I escaped one phobia! In fact, I kept that intruding snake as a pet for a few days and named him Sherbert. He was an eastern gardener snake and was green like lime sherbert. I planned to take him for show and tell at PDS, but that sneaky sucker escaped the day before. It always made me happy to find snake skins in the yard after that; reassuring me that Sherbert was out there somewhere living the life. Now let me end by saying, had that been a water moccasin (or other poisonous snake) trapped in that veggie fence, he's be one headless s.o.b. I do have my limits.

For those of you wanting a baby Martin update. I'm in my 13th week which means this is the last week of my 1st trimester! Crazy to think I'm a third of the way through! The morning sickness seems to have left thankfully, so I'm only left with occasional headaches, slight fatigue, and skin broken out worse than I ever remember. I'm still waiting on this supposed 'glow' to show up. Baby is the size of a peach this week! Daniel is still taking care of majority of the cleaning and laundry (score!) and pampers me constantly. I could definitely get used to that!

Snake in the grass

Actually, snake in the 'fence' around the garden. We've got a net fence around the veggies to keep the deer out, but this poor black racer snack got himself terribly stuck in it. Daniel to the rescue!


Daniel used a board to hold the snakes head down and away from us while he carefully cut him free.


I did not get a picture of him once he was free cause he was GONE! Not that I blame him. Instead, here is a pic of how our veggies are coming along.

This weekend I have got to get some cucumbers, a few more herbs, and my flower seeds in the ground! Hoping for at least a little sun this weekend!

In other news, I had a baby check up yesterday! I failed my first glucose test, so I'll have to go take the 3 hour test one morning next week (fingers crossed I pass the second one). Daniel and I did get to hear the heart beat for the first time though! It's amazing how emotional such a simple sound can make you! The heart rate was 161 and everything looked good!

I also wanted to give a quick follow up to my last post about my biggest fear. My idiot husband (along with a friend's idiot husband) actually want to do the King's Walkway featured in that video. Someone please knock some sense into these two!

My biggest fear

Most of you probably know this, but I have a fear of edges. I say edges, cause it really has nothing to do with the height (well maybe it does), it has to do with the 'i'm gonna slip off the edge or go nuts and drive off the edge, or get pushed off the edge, etc, etc'. I do several things that involve heights: I used to go repelling, I used to do ropes courses, I've been para sailing, I ride ski lifts, I love the mountains. What I do not love, getting to the top of mountains. If I'm walking I'm usually ok, but being in a car is torture (whether i'm driving or not). See this post if you need a recap of my last riding in a car up the side of a mountain experience. I feel out of control and my whole body tenses up and i just wait for my stomach to drop as we go over. I need help, I know this. :)

Back to this post...Feel free to watch this video to experience one of my greatest fears. I literally wanted to get on my belly and crawl while watching this (or roll into a ball and sob :)) and my tummy can be currently found on the first floor or below. The whole video made my stomach drop. These people are idiots. Daniel says he could do it with a parachute. Who knows. Maybe if I had a parachute and I was clipped in I could do it too....but I have my serious doubts. I hate that something defeats me before I've even done it. I can pretty much bet that once I got to the top, I wouldn't ever go back down. No way I could do that twice. Who's with me on this one?