We Have A Yard!!

We finally have our yard in, and we are very happy with it! Here are a few before and after pictures:

Front yard Before

Front yard After

Under Porch Before

Under Porch After

Side Yard Before

Side Yard After

Park Strip Before

Park Strip After

Side Yard Back Before

Side Yard Back After

Peaches, Peaches and More Peaches

We have been enjoying boxes of peaches lately. We have been buying them from a local farmer, Mr. Pyne. Mike grew up around his orchard, and has fond memories playing in the orchards with his grand kids, and eating the peaches. Mr. Pyne is a sweet old man, and even though he doesn't remember me after going there every week or so for the past couple months, he sure has delicious peaches. They are picked vine ripe, or a few days from being ripe, and that makes for a juicy wonderful peach.

One of our favorite ways we have enjoyed our peaches is cutting them up and putting them over some Breyers vanilla ice cream. We have also made some blended baby food for Liam. We would like to dry some before the season is over too! It's just so hard to dry them though, when they are just so good to snack on fresh!

No Pain No Gain

I have been a bit lax in trying to loose my 'baby fat', but I do have a good excuse in that I rarely have time to work out. I get up between 6 and 6:30am, I get ready for work, drop Liam off at one of his grandma's house, and then work from 8am to 4pm. I get home around 5 or 6 pm, and then take turns playing with Liam till he's ready for bed around 8pm. Then we eat dinner around 8:30 or 9 pm, and then it's time to shower and/or go to bed. However, somehow I am just going to have to carve out some time somewhere because I don't have many winter clothes that fit me right. I have tried buying new clothes a few times, but for some reason I am having a difficult time finding stuff that fits me well.

Anyway, 2 days ago while Liam was napping, I was able to squeeze in 50 minutes to do a workout called 'Buns of Steel'. It was produced in the 80's, and it's so old you can only find it on VHS. The video is pretty dated, with cheesy music and florescent outfits. The instructor Greg Smithey has some pretty silly lines too, but I LOVE this work out. The workout works muscles in your body that you didn't even know were there, and it can get pretty intense at times that I felt like I wanted to cry, but I felt really good after. And 2 days later, I can still feel it. I think if I can keep it up for a month or 2, I can get to where I need to be to fit into my old clothes comfortably....crossing my fingers that I will have the time and motivation!

HAPPY B-DAY SEQUOIA!

Sequoia turned 12 years old today, which is pretty remarkable considering her size. We are so happy to have her with us still. She has been really sweet with Liam, although now that he's mobile she is not too sure what to make of him. We are glad she has been so healthy this far. Although we know she is getting slow in her step, we know she is still young at heart when she runs across the house to greet us when we get home. We love you Sequoia!

Update on Life

I wish I had more time to update my blog, however Liam is now at the age that he needs to be watched every second. In 2 weeks he has learned to sit up on his own and crawl, and now he wants to explore and get into everything!!

Over the Labor day holiday we went to the Davis Family reunion. I haven't seen most of that side of the family for about 10 years. All my cousins now have families of their own, and it was good to see everyone. We learned a couple things about the Davis side, and that is Liam fits in with his blond hair and fair skin, and I get my taste for salt and green apples from that side of the family. The family planned activities with the kids where they celebrated the different holidays. We were there on Saturday when they had an easter egg hunt, and later in the afternoon we decorated cookies for valentines day. We thought that was a creative idea.

Here is a cute picture of Liam with his cousins sharing an egg with him from the easter egg hunt.


Liam with his Grandpa Davis.

More pictures can be found here:

End of Summer Concert

Last Summer Mike and I went to see Bela Fleck at Red Butte Garden in SLC. We saw lots of kids there and thought it was great to see people taking their kids to enjoy music. At the end of this summer, we decided to take Liam to see John Hiatt at the same venue. We are kinda home bodies, so we were unsure how well he would do in that kind of a setting, but he was really good, and seemed to really like it.

Joan Osborne opened for John....we decided it was a bit loud for his ears, so we moved further back.



After the sun went down, it got a bit chilly. Liam fell asleep in my arms, and then we decided to take off a little early, so we didn't get stuck in the crowd leaving.

We all had a great time!

Making Baby Food

A couple of weeks ago, my good friend lent me this book 'Blender Baby Food' by Nicole Young. I got a bit carried away the first time making LT food by making him the 'Lentils, Carrots and Celery' meal. He ate it OK, but I think it was a bit much for his first home made meal. So, I decided to make him some apple sauce today. I wasn't sure what to expect with just apples and water, but it turned out really good! It looked and tasted just like apple sauce you buy in the store...but the best part is I know exactly what was put into it. AND it was soooo easy.

APPLES

4 cups chopped peeled apples (about 4)-I used Gala
1/2 cup water

1. In a medium saucepan, over medium-low heat bring apples and water to a simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until apples are very tender, about 20 minutes.

2. Transfer apples to blender, and puree on high speed until smooth. (I used my handy new immersion blender that I got from my mother-in-law for my B-day (thanks!!)...it made making this meal so easy).

*Makes about 2 cups (4-6 jars worth) Can freeze safely upto 3 months, and most fresh food is OK for about 3 days in the fridge.

I LOVE that I can make Liam fresh and healthy food, so he can stay strong and healthy though out his life. I am hoping by doing this he can learn to appreciate all sorts of tastes and textures, and continue good eating habits when he's older.