Monday, July 15, 2013

Melissa's Garden Part 2

OK, so as expected from me I didn't update as soon as I thought. However, I still want to update with the garden I am trying out. These pictures below were taken on July 11, 2013. 

 First we have the early girl tomato plant out front. This baby has grown so well and has become so tall that one night I opened the door to find it bent in half. I quickly tied it to a tall bamboo stick to help keep it up. The problem is that most of the tomatoes sit on the same side of the planter and therefore it is too heavy. Today it was completely toppled over. I have now placed a large rock on the lighter side of the planter in hopes it will balance it out a bit. 
 Unfortunately my cabbage, and brussels sprouts have almost reached the end of their immature life. The slugs and other pests are eating it like crazy. I'm annoyed because it was so nice looking and then all of a sudden it looked like this. 
 Here are my beets in a container doing well. I'm crossing my fingers that they will not get hit by the pests. I don't even like beets but wanted to grow them anyways. Maybe I'll like them more if I grow them myself. 
These are the tomatoes in my topsy turvy planters. Growing and thriving so far. 

 More tomatoes.

 Butternut squash, and patty pan squash.
 See the itsy bitsy butternut squash. I'm crossing my fingers that when they bloom that they will get pollinated. Maybe I'll try pollinating it myself. 
 Carrots are doing well despite being trampled on by Brayden. 
 Roma tomatoes and a pepper plant. 

 Crawling up the fence are the snow peas. They are so yummy and we have picked a ton. Definitely and easy one to grow. 
 Cherry tomatoes that seem to be producing. 
The zucchini plants are doing well. I even have a few flower blossoms, however, they are all female blossoms and the males have not blossomed yet. I am not sure if this means it will not turn into a zucchini or not. 
 Purple long beans that have started to blossom.
This was a mystery plant because when I planted it I thought it was a second patty pan squash plant. However, as it has started to blossom I have decided it is not a squash. Then I was stumped until the blossom got just a tiny bit bigger and I have decided it is a cucumber plant. Doesn't that look like a baby pickle? 

Well so far the experimental gardening is still fun. It is annoying when pests or kids ruin a nicely growing plant, but it is all part of learning. Until next time cross your fingers the slugs don't over take my garden. 

Friday, June 21, 2013

Melissa's Veggie Garden Part 1

I have always wanted a vegetable garden. Well here in BC the rain is fabulous for one I think. OK so I don't really know anything about growing a vegetable garden. Even though our yard is quite small I decided to give it a go as an experimental garden. This will give me the practice I need once I have big garden in the future. So I will be documenting its progress. To start I have pictures that were taken on May 30th, and then again on June 19th. 

First up is a pepper plant. I bought seedlings and hope it works well in this pot. 

 Rosemary, parsley, chives, and oregano. Growing great. 
 In between the grassy bushes I planted butternut squash and peter pan squash. I will be training it to grow up the fencing I put up that is not shown in this picture. 
 More butternut squash but in a container. They were doing so well until I was harvesting some lettuce and Brayden brought me the squash plants from the container as though he were helping me. I replanted them and cross my fingers that they grow. 
 These are carrots that also have survived and thrived quite well after being attacked by Brayden. 
 If you look closely you will see a few small zucchini plants popping up. 
 Snow peas, and sugar peas. I realized that they are very similar. Oh well we will have a lot of stir fry I guess. 
 Red onions which I realized today I was suppose to separate when planting the clumps of seedlings. Oops. I just replanted them today and cross my fingers on these as well.
 In these containers I planted cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli. The broccoli bolted and turned to flower. I cut it and put it in an arrangement with roses. I know its kind of weird but it doesn't look bad. The other broccoli was as big as my fist and I cut it as well because I wanted to eat it before it bolted too. We used it in a salad and it was pretty good. 
 Here is a tomato plant I bought in like march. I got excited early. I thought it was dying from the cool temperatures but then it started producing tomatoes and it looks fine now. 
 In this pot I have planted beet seeds. 
 Near these sticks is a Clematis flower plant. 
 OK, here are the pictures taken Jun 19th. 

Brayden standing next to the onions that I forgot to separate until today. He loves these boots even in the summer time. 
 The tomato plant from earlier. 
 The snow peas. If you look to the bottom left corner you can make out two pea pods. 
 The carrots. 
 In here we have a mix of lettuce. I use some seed tape. It was super easy and has grown very nicely. The only mistake is I should have planted it in a location that gets a bit more shade. Some of it has bolted already. I also have cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, and jalepenos.
 The zucchini plants thriving. 
I didn't take pictures of it all. I will take another set of pictures in a week or two. So far I am proud of my squishy garden. I hope it produces something just so my kids can see it from start to finish. Anyhow, there is the start to my garden. 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Cohen Jack Harvey

Better late than never to post about our new addition. On February 12th, 2013 Cohen Jack Harvey was born and we welcomed him with lots of love. I was actually scheduled for a c-section on February 13th, but he must have been superstitious like his dad because he didn't want to wait until the next day. I began having small contractions at 4:00am and called the hospital to find out what they wanted me to do since I have c-sections. I knew they would not want me to go into labor so I had to make sure. I stayed at home until 11:00 until the hospital called me and asked me to please come in and get checked. 

I am so thankful for friends who are able to help out at the last minute. There was no way I was going to take Brayden with me. I had to be monitored at the hospital for three hours while they gave me fluids through an IV to try and stop the labor until the next day. Well that didn't happen. In the mean time Philip was at work and was thinking he should go to his meetings before making the 1 hour commute back to the hospital. Well need I remind you that he missed Summer's birth. OK so that wasn't his fault but still. Forget the meetings I was in labor!

Philip finally arrived at the hospital around 4:30 I think.  They came and told us that it would be a few hours before going in for the c-section because there were other people ahead of me waiting for surgery. So Philip went home and helped put our kids to bed and had dinner. I called him at 8:00pm telling him to get back to the hospital because I was going in any minute as they bumped me up. So I was all prepped and ready for surgery when he finally showed up. Things are just more crazy when you have more kids and the planned c-section didn't go as planned. 

I don't know why but both Philip and I got emotional just as they were starting. I think we were both nervous and wondered if we were crazy having another baby with a busy toddler running around. Plus this time the gender was a surprise. I thought it might be a girl but of course I had no idea. Obviously I was wrong because Philip said, "It's a boy!" 

So, here he is making his way into our family. Cohen Jack Harvey weighed 7 lbs 6.5 oz and was 20 inches long. 
I insisted on naming him because Philip has named our other children. I like the nam Cohen so that's the first name. Keeping tradition his middle name is after someone in the family. Jack is my Grandpa Evans' first name. I like it a lot and am glad we got to use it. We both had a girl name we agreed on but the boy name was still undecided. Philip liked the name Van. I won though. 
Cohen does resemble his siblings, but he looks very different at the same time. I think he has my dad's nose. 
 Sleeping in the crib at the hospital. 
 Trying to open his eyes. Look and his wrinkly hands. He actually has really long fingers. Neither Philip or I have long fingers. Ours are more short and stubby. I don't know where he got these from. 
 I thought Summer was going to be so sad she didn't get a sister. She insisted it was a girl and that she knew it. Well to my surprise she was just so happy and delighted to have a baby to hold. She loves this little boy so much. Sometimes a little too much as she tries to tell me how to take care of him. She is such a good big sister. Most of all she helps keep Brayden entertained. 
 Brayden didn't know what to think at first. He held Cohen briefly and then just kept nodding his head no. He didn't know if he liked this new baby. Well he has come to like him but does get jealous from time to time. While I'm feeding the baby he will climb up and practically lay right on top of Cohen. I have to scoot him off with my elbow to protect the more fragile Cohen. Brayden likes to sing songs to him, rock him in his car seat, and climb on the swing while I tell him not to. His favorite thing is to tickle Cohen's feet and say in his cute toddler voice, "tickle tickle tickle." Oh, and he thinks poopy diapers and gas are so hilarious. That a boy for you. 
 Checking out the new baby. 

Although life with three is going to get interesting and busy we are so thrilled and excited for our new baby boy. I know we all love him to pieces already. He will fit in perfectly. It really is so amazing how Heavenly Father can give us so much love for others. I love all my children so much and I know that they are each so special and what a wonderful opportunity Philip and I have to be their parents. 









Sunday, February 10, 2013

Its funny how I was thinking I was motivated and ready to keep my blog updated all through December and really it was all in my head. I still haven't even blogged about Christmas. Oh well, I will do that soon enough for my own personal records.

February is here and I am three days away from having our fourth baby. I can't believe how fast it has gone this time around. For some strange reason I am actually nervous this time around both for the c-section as well as having a third baby around the house to care for. Fortunately Philip is off work for two weeks so he will be able to help me chase Brayden around.

Philip has always wanted the gender to be a surprise so this time I went with it. I like knowing but it has also been kind of fun to wonder what it is for sure. Each time I went in for an ultrasound I looked away when they got close to the legs. After having so many ultrasounds with both Scott and Brayden I can make a lot of it out. I didn't want to ruin it. So far so good. So in a few days I will let everyone know what the little babe is a boy or a girl.

Anyhow, here are a bunch of pictures from the past since I have been horrible at putting them on here. Maybe it will motivate me to keep more updated with my blog so I will have better record of them.
 Brayden helping me clean the house or something like that. More like making snow angels but instead of snow the wet floor.
 Summer likes entertaining her brother. Suitcase ride anyone?
 This reminded me of Randy on A Christmas Story because Brayden couldn't get up off of the floor with his puffy coat on.
 Summer showing me her art from school. I love her to pieces.
 Brayden enjoying the skiff of snow we got.
 And a couple more inches makes it a bit more fun.

 Brayden in his office while waiting for a haircut. The haircut never happened because he was too wiggly.
 I taught Summer a fun way to use a sleeping bag. I remember doing it when I was little.
 Summer got 100% on her spelling and so I treated her to hot chocolate and a donut. She had worked really hard for a few weeks to finally get them all right.

 Finally a haircut! Still wiggly but a little more cooperative when given a sucker. The next day he doesn't seem to cheery. Maybe he doesn't like his haircut.
 Brayden loves holding an umbrella, the only thing is he still needs to master holding it with both hands so it doesn't tip over. He will get a lot of practice here as it rains a lot.

 My kids both love playing in the kitchen. I gave them each a piece of dough and they went to town.
 Philip had a birthday on January 10th. He usually requests peach pie so that is what I made him. I even used the peaches I canned.

 Not in love with the car seat. I wouldn't like being strapped down in a five point harness either.
 More skiff. They like playing in it no matter how little we get.
 Reading buddies.

Brayden's new favorite thing to do. He is a typical boy. The problem is it pushes his diaper down so when he pees at night it occasionally gets all over him and his bed while leaving his diaper dry. Very annoying.
 Just a happy boy.
 Brayden getting his hockey on. I guess he is a true Canadian boy.
 Summer had her first piano recital. She played Mr. Moon and A Tea Party. She was so nervous but did great. 
 
A new way of wearing a baby. LOL. Uncle Andrew going to check the mail with Brayden.
Somehow Summer has managed to break her glasses three times in less than a year. Fortunately we had the protection plan which made them inexpensive to replace. However, since her prescription changed we ended up purchasing new glasses all together. I'm crossing my fingers that she will take better care of them this year.  

 Here she is so excited to receive a package in the mail. What is it. Her new glasses of course. She is so happy. 
 Summer likes to draw and write poems. She showed me this one and told me it was the picture hanging on our wall. I was impressed by her drawing. Especially because I am 31 and I still draw stick people. She did a pretty good job. 
 Making a Valentine craft. 
 I like to call Brayden my Curious George. He is into everything and climbing on and inside everything. Completely different than Summer when she was his age. He is a busy boy who likes to run especially when I am trying to catch him. It's not easy being 38 weeks prego and trying to catch this little guy before he runs somewhere he shouldn't. 

I have such an amazing family and couldn't have asked for better kids. I love them so much and they keep life interesting. It will be interesting to see the changes come with another baby added to the mix. Wish us luck.