Swinging

Gabe used to love to swing in his baby swing, but one day it started to "buck" back and forth as he tried to lean forward in it and we decided it was becoming a bit dangerous so it was time to retire the swing. I know how much he loved to swing, so Dan mounted a "big boy" swing on the deck for him and as expected, he is once again entertained for hours! Maybe we'll move it out into the yard when the weather gets nice....

Check out the "Swinging" video!

8 Months Old and A Tooth!

Just a few days shy of 8 months old, Gabe is finally getting his first tooth. We were beginning to wonder! Dan remembered the ice cube in the mesh food bag trick (thanks Aunt Erin!) and it was a big hit.

Justin and Ilya Visit

Our friend Justin from Southern Oregon and his daughter, Ilya, came for a weekend visit. She was so excited to help with baby Gabe and he was just in awe of her. He accomplished his longest crawl to date when she was playing with him on the ground. I think he really wanted to copy her.

Ilya...You're hired!

And as is the tradition of every kid under age 5 that visits us, Ilya tried to round-up the Chickens back into their yard.

Spring Fever

Finally, the days are getting longer and the sun is starting to appear alittle more often around here. I always get anxious this time of year to get outside and get started on some of the projects we conceived over the course of a long winter. Although we have big dreams for our property in the "some day" category, we know it will be practical to start out small and add alittle each year. Since we were pretty busy last year with baby Gabe, I sort of feel a bit behind already.

To start out a small orchard, we planted two apple trees, a pink lady and a liberty, and a Bartlett pear tree. I decided to error on the side of caution and go with all self-fruitful, meaning they do not need a pollinator tree, since we do not have any close neighbors and therefore, no fruit trees in the near vicinity. Since they are bare root, we are looking at about 7 years until they are at full production, but they should start giving us some fruit at about year 3. Since we have quite a few deer that enjoy spending time on our property, we took the necessary precautions of 8-foot tall fences around each little tree. Did not get any plum trees for Dan, sorry honey, but we will have to add some next year since that is his favorite.

Put in three garden boxes and a few loads of extra compost for our vegis and side plantings. We haven't got anything planted in them yet because it decided to monsoon for the following 10 days....Gotta love spring!

Dan even put together a little make shift green house for my vegi and flower starts!

Two Grandma's Visit!

Dan's Mom and Grandma came for a quick weekend visit last weekend. To say that Gabe was pretty happy about that would be an understatement. Not just one Grandma to play with him and hold him for an entire weekend, but two!