I always get upset when I see commercials on television around the holidays...they are always for really really expensive gifts. Like a new car, or super duper lingerie (who wants to see a commercial for that?). All I can think of is for goodness sake, who can afford these things as gifts! 

This Christmas was particularly odd, some people gave Robbie a hard time for not getting me a gift! We tried to explain that he was getting me a gift, just that it wasn't built yet and it couldn't fit under the tree...and we wouldn't want to put it under the tree just to move it outside anyways.

I'm all about practical, and sincere...and thoughtful.

For Christmas Robbie got me a gift that keeps on giving.

 Raised garden beds. 

Last year the only thing that grew in our awful Fresno clay soil was zucchini. Each box cost $25 to make, and $80 for really good potting soil from the Riverside Nursery on Golden State between Shaw and Herndon (if the 10 commandments hadn't told us not to swear, I would swear by this nursery. It's fabulous!) 

Needless to say, I love my gift. Sure, I didn't get them at Christmas, but that didn't matter. It was thoughtful, sincere, and showed that he really loved and listened to me. He knew what I wanted, and he went and got it. Yes, a nice piece of jewelry would be wonderful, but that's the great thing about gifts. Sometimes you just want something a little more practical, and showing each other that we're responsible not to go out and spend our money foolishly is one of the ways we show each other that we love one another. 

I always think of that story of the man and the woman, it always makes me cry. They were very poor so she sold the only thing she had, her beautiful hair, to buy her husband a nice chain for his pocket watch. He sold the only thing he had, his pocket watch, to buy his wife beautiful combs for her hair. Now their gifts were useless. 

Sad that they weren't a little more practical.

Sometimes surprises aren't good at all.

For Valentines day and my birthday I got $100 to go and spend at the Nursery to decorate the front yard with.

I ended up spending $99.78

He was so proud of me that I had stayed in my budget, and the fact that he was happy with me made me ecstatic.

 It doesn't look like much...some lithidora, african iris, dwarf starbursts, daffodils, and dahlias. $100 doesn't really go very far...which is why I got plants that would keep giving. I really don't know what it is about annuals but I don't like them, I don't like that after all of that hard work they wouldn't come back next year. Perennials on the other hand are much more...to my liking. 

Again, they didn't come on the actual day, but should that really matter?

Here's some of the finished products.

My garden so far

 Broccoli, cantaloupe 

 Lettuce, strawberries, carrots, green beans

 Broccoli and cantaloupe today

Lettuce, strawberries, carrots and green beans today

My front yard a couple of weeks ago

The dahlias hadn't sprouted, but they are planted in between the daffodils. The dwarf starbursts will grow outward like a small bush. 

 The african iris behind the japanese maple will grow out, the blue lithidora will also grow out like a small bush, about 1ft high and 4 ft wide on all sides. Eventually, there will be more flowers (different bulbs, I'd like to add tulips to my daffodils and dahlias, and some others. I love bulbs) there in the front of the maple.

The rose bushes have really grown in the last couple of weeks, so this picture doesn't do them justice. The lithidora should connect together, so it should be a 1ft tall lithidora hedge with roses coming up to the window so when you look out the window you see a wall of roses :)

It will take time...years probably. But I'm excited. I love my presents. Every time I walk outside into either the front or the back yard my heart just smiles with joy. 

So I guess what I'm trying to say, is it doesn't matter how much money you've spent, or if the gift comes on the exact day it's supposed to. What matters is that the gift was thoughful, and somehow shows how much you love the receiver. And that it's practical. Sure a new car might be nice, or a pearl necklace, new phone, etc...but spending money you don't have or could be better spent elsewhere? Creating any kind of financial stress on you or your marriage? It isn't smart, and it isn't wise. So next time the holidays come around, be more thoughtful and practical. 

I hope you like my gifts too!

*I don't know if the words I've chosen have adequately expressed what I've been trying to say. I wasn't thinking of anyone in particular, mainly the commercials that try and get you to buy really really expensive gifts that aren't practical...

20 Weeks Down, 20 to Go

I hit 20 weeks somewhere in the past couple of days.

Half way!!! Woohoo! 

My last doctors appointment was a week ago, and again, it took me longer to drive there than I was actually talking to the doctor. 

They listened to the baby's heart. Still beating strong.

They weighed me. I had gained 4 pounds since the last time they saw me (5 weeks ago). 

Yes!

I've never been this excited about gaining weight.

They checked my urine....still looking good! No extra proteins or sugars.

The doctor poked around my abdomen a bit, said that he was the right size for how far along I was. 

He asked if I had any questions. And I only had one...

Have you seen the moving "What to Expect When You're Expecting"? I have. One of the characters says that she felt like she got kicked in the vag. Crude, yes. But what do you know, the other night there was this crazy feeling down there and I asked if that was normal. He laughed and said yes. Thank goodness, because it sure as heck didn't feel normal.

And then the hormones. I've been so emotional over every little thing, and every big thing too. I haven't stopped crying since Saturday night! Today, Tuesday, is the first day I haven't woken up crying. I had/have the biggest headache. It's not fun, but I'd rather have a headache than more tears. 

The doctor said he wasn't worried about me at all. 

Good.

I'm not worried about me either. 

And we might have picked a name for our little boy...Robbie changes his mind every week, so maybe not. But I'm hopeful. I like it. 

And the butterflies. I'm just starting to feel him. Last night it felt like he was flexing and extending his toes into me, and then trying to kick his way out. Robbie couldn't feel a thing. But it was crazy! It was the most movement I've felt, and I've felt a little almost every day. 

It's kind of wondrous.  I'm growing a human being inside of me, that is half me and half Robbie. 

Pretty neat. 

Gender Reveal

We are having a

................

BOY!

Say what? 

Really?

No way...

So my dad reminded me about the Veater Curse. Or Blessing. Whatever you want to call it. 

Everyone has had a girl first. My grandma, and then all of my aunts and uncles, and now my cousin! 

I thought for sure that we were going to have a girl. I mean, there are pros and cons to having a boy or a girl first...But since I've never had a big brother,  I wanted a boy. But a girl would have been so much fun! Dresses, bows, crochet dolls.....but a boy might be more sturdy. And considering it's my first, a sturdy baby was looking more and more desirable. 

We even had a girl name picked out. We couldn't (and still can't) agree on a name for a boy. 

And what do you know.

It's a boy.

And he was very cooperative for the "camera" for Suzie, the very funny nice woman doing our ultra sound.

 She showed us the things they look for when they're looking for birth defects...and she didn't see anything wrong! Everything looks healthy.

 This is probably the most of the inside of my son I'll ever see. Itty bitty little legs!

Look at that bone structure! 

 And those feet! Only like 22 more weeks till I get to kiss them!!!

His heart and heart beat.

Because I have studied the body, she went into details about what she was seeing, showing us the ventricles of the heart and how you could see them opening and closing correctly, and she showed us the brain, and of course showed me my ovaries and my colon. She was so funny, saying "As you can see, you're full of crap. That would be due to the constipation every pregnant woman gets.".....Why yes. Thank you :) She also showed us that I had a bleed that healed over at one point. I almost had a panic attack. 

And of course....

The only way to know it's a boy is by looking for this.

I have been obsessed with these penis shots since we got them on Monday. It was hilarious, when the doctor came in, our baby closed his legs, and covered his face with his hands...he was like I don't like you, so you get nothing. She confirmed through these pictures Suzie took that it is a boy. That mass above his penis is his umbilical cord. 

It was hilarious trying to get him to move around. She was poking my abdomen, and you could see what happened when you poke my abdomen on the monitor! I laughed, and was surprised at how squished he got. When the doctor came in and he wasn't cooperating, it looked like she was hitting him! Oh my goodness, it was hilarious. He was covering his face and trying to kick out like he was trying to stop the blows of the ultra sound thingy. Of course, I couldn't feel any kicking, or moving, even though I could see it. 

The ultra sound was taken at 18 weeks and 1 day. She said because of how big he is, she was saying he could be as far along as 18 weeks and 4 days. I guess 3 days isn't really a big deal, but that possibly pushes the due date to August 1st and not the 4th, a little bit closer to July...I guess 3 days is really only important to me :)

He measured just about 8 inches

and 9 ounces.

And just think, it started from this little bean at 6 weeks and 1 day

And of course, this. 

I knew that he wanted a boy. He tried to hide it, and make me believe that if we had a girl he would be just as excited....

When he saw it was a boy, he let it show. He was ecstatic. And of course, as he went through the day, he got more and more excited about all the things he's going to get to do with his little boy, like scouting. It made it all the more real for him...

We're having a healthy baby boy! 

(it's weird to think that a boy is inside of me...........just saying)

Now if only we could agree on a name :)