Getting Ready!

Just wanted to post a few pictures of what we've been up to in the last couple of weeks concerning baby Demarest.

Here are the colors that I am using in the nursery:

A pale pink, a pale green, and brown. The walls are blue, so I think this will go along pretty well.

Here is what we have done on the crib so far. It's barely going to fit!






Here are the windows that I need valences or curtains for. How dark should the nursery be during the day so the baby can sleep? I would prefer valences, but if the room should be darker, then I will need to get a full curtain I think. I'm thinking about making my own, but I'm not sure yet.



Here are some pictures of us at the zoo this last weekend. We had a great time in Omaha celebrating 5 years!

P.S. My old neighbor told me it was good that I was going to help my grandparents-in-law at the nursing home with a slide show presentation from our trip to Europe because apparently I need to "get out and get some exercise". uhhhh... thanks for that. Give me some time and I won't be so concerned about over exerting myself. Oh, Ken. haha.

Happy fifth, Luke!

Luke and I will be celebrating five years tomorrow. I'm so pumped about it! It feels so special and exciting! Maybe b/c so many things are changing. Our time together will look so different when we celebrate six years, so to me, that makes this celebration all the more special. I'll write more later on what the weekend will hold, but I want to post a few pictures of his surprise for me today.

A while back a bunch of us discussed what the five year gift is according to Hallmark, or whoever made up the list of gifts for anniversaries. We all made guesses, and eventually found out that the five year gift is wood. I told Luke later that night that he didn't have to get me something with wood. It was the last thing I said before I went to sleep. He patted my head as if to say, "That's sweet. Go to sleep."
Today he called telling me he had to work late in the city (which was true) and that I should meet him for dinner at 7. So I did. Neither one of us were real hungry so we ate for under $5 at McDonalds. Then we took care of some errands Luke needed to run. I was informed from the beginning that the last thing we would do was to remain a surprise. I didn't push it to find out more. I never do b/c I love surprises. He directed me to HOM furniture where I was to pick out my own jewelry armoire. I've been wanting one for so long, it's made of wood (appropriate for year five), and it's the perfect gift---so thoughtful! He was such a smart shopper about it too! Regularly priced at about $200, it was on sale for $77. Way to go Luke!
Here's a picture or two.

Happy anniversary, Luke! I love you more and more! (He doesn't read this blog. Oh well.)

All that hard work...

OK, well it wasn't that hard, but I was emotionally invested! You wouldn't believe how often I've had dreams lately about my tomato plants dying, being sabotaged, generally being no more. It's plagued my dreams! By the way, the dreams of a pregnant woman are CRAZY!!! I've never had more vivid dreams than when I've been pregnant. I've dreamed new song lyrics, poems, prayers, and lots of oddities! I thought it was particularly absurd when I dreamed that my neighbor came and uprooted all the tomatoes and planted them in a different spot. I cried and cried in my dream. I also dreamed that my cat Pumpkin was watering my tomatoes WAY too much with a little red bucket she carried in her mouth. She filled it up in the sea that was in our backyard. She didn't like the tomatoes.



Well, today I knew something had to be done about my tomato plants. They've been getting worse and worse. Last night I looked up "brown spots on tomato vines" and I then knew that my plants had been infected with "late blight". From what I can tell it's due to the crazy amounts of rain we've received. I also think it spread so quickly b/c last Saturday I cut away some of the infected branches, not really knowing what was wrong with them, and the more I cut, the more I spread the disease. I've learned to disinfect the shears between each cut. Experience is the best teacher! I also think it has something to do with the lilac bush that is close by. I noticed today that my lilac bush's leaves are curling, and it looks like they have a white powder on the leaves. Uh oh! Not good! Apparently this is considered awful for a lilac bush, so I'll be trying to combat this fungal disease too this weekend. I hope the lilac bush doesn't die. I love that bush, and I want it to thrive and bloom next spring. We'll see what happens. My theory is that the lilac bush didn't like all the water this season (they don't need that much water at all!), there wasn't proper drainage for it, it didn't like sharing the soil with other plants. So maybe the bush got the fungus first, and then spread it to the tomato plants? Or maybe the tomatoes got it first and passed it to the lilacs? It's hard to tell, but next year I will either not be planting, or I will plant in a totally different spot. I hope I don't have to uproot the lilac bush by the end of this season.

Here are some pictures of what I found when I entered my little garden plot this morning. The blight spreads soooo quickly!