Matt's Landscaping One Month In

We are about a month into landscaping projects and I can update you on some changes and I also need some suggestions. The front of the house has not changed much as of yet. The big change will be a brick paver walkway, but I will hold off on that until later in the year. What has changed is the lights and mailbox. You can see them a little closer in the second picture below.

I have also mulched almost the entire yard. I say almost cause I didn't have enough mulch. I ordered four yards and thought it would do the trick, but I was at least a yard short. Five yards next year. Some of the trees in the back did not get mulch this year. Too bad for them.

We also planted a small lavender bush just to the right of the rocks. I am not sure why, but Ali assures me it was needed.



As you can see from the next picture, the grass has almost fully come back. There are a few thin spots, but overall, its thick. I ripped up some of the thin spots and replanted and that grass is now growing. The craziest thing about my grass - it needs to be cut - all the frickin time. Its a hay field after a week. If I had the time, I would cut it every four days or so, but its just not possible. So I shoot for every week - plus I kind of like the look of newly mown grass after it being long.

I cut the cedar tree up a little bit so that I could get underneath to mulch. Anyone have any ideas for something to plant in the mulched bed under the tree? Wouldn't mind something full so it hides the a/c unit. It gets plenty of sun, even though its under the tree.


In the back, I ripped up the timbers in the far back and planted grass that is now growing. I split a couple of hostas from the bed you see in the picture below (the one at the end of the deck) and planted them under the walnut tree in the back. There was nothing around the tree previously.

The biggest change is that I ripped out the four large bushes along the garage. It really opens up the space as you can see below. We have grand visions for a flower garden at some point, but I need help in figuring out what to put there. It is very shady, so I need something that will grow. We already have a lot of green, so anything with color would be helpful. Let me know what you think.

Picture hostas around that big tree in the back, below.

So what else has been done...I ripped out the rose bushes near the back door. I am thinking a bed of impatiens, but need to get on that pretty quick. It is also very shady. I scrubbed the deck. The amount of crud/mildew I got off the deck was gross - turned the deck from a greyish tint back to brown. We put up matching lights on the garage - as you can see above. I bought a new hose as the hand me downs from my parents leaked when I hooked them up. I trimmed up the lilac trees on the side of the house - they were sticking out into the yard so I cut some limbs off to free up the space.

I guess that is it. There is plenty more to do - we definitely need to get some flowers at some point - soon. Let me know your thoughts on flowering plants/bushes to put in the shady spot next to the garage as well as the sunny spot under the cedar tree.

Picture Perfect

Carley took some amazingly beautiful pictures of little Ellie yesterday. There is small sampling of the photos on her website, here. I think the one of my sister, Ben and Ellie is my favorite....it is just so sweet and really shows how in love they are with their little girl.

Sweet Niece

My mom and I headed downtown on the train yesterday to visit my sister, Ben and Ellie after their first night as a family of 3. Both my sister and Ben are adjusting to parenthood beautifully and Ellie just loves being around her mom and dad. My sister is doing great and was up moving around quite well after quite a bit of stress on her body the following day. Ben is quite enamored with his little girl and my sister is already an amazing mom. While Ellie spent most of the early parts of our visit sleeping, she was wide awake and eating like a champ after a good early afternoon rest!

Here are some more pictures from our visit:
Snoozing!
Auntie Ali
Mommy and her sweet baby girl!
Ellie, sporting her cute Tweetlebug hat!
Dad, taking a snooze after a long day!

The Livermore's are heading home this afternoon and we can't wait to see them! Ethan has been practicing saying "Baby Ellie" for the past 2 days. I am so excited for him to meet his new cousin!

Ellie

After a long afternoon and evening, my sister and Ben welcomed with much joy Elizabeth "Ellie" Ann Livermore at 7:57 p.m. She is 20.5 inches long and weighs 7 lbs. 1 oz. Everyone is doing great and Ellie is just as sweet as can be.

The new family of 3!

Stay tuned for more pictures of the Livermore family as my mom and I are heading back to the hospital tomorrow and I will have my camera. Until then, enjoy...she is a doll and I couldn't be more thrilled about my new niece! Love her to pieces already!

Bump It

My sister and I had to capture what could be our first and only "bump" picture before heading out to dinner last Thursday (5/6). We are exactly 20 weeks apart and both sporting pretty good bumps! She is 40 weeks here, which would make me 20!

I can't believe her due date has come and gone now and still no baby! I am getting impatient!!! We will keep everyone posted on Baby Livermore's arrival once the action starts!!! Hopefully you will have an update in the next couple of days!

Muscle Man

One of the many funny things my dad and uncles did when we were younger was pose like a muscle man and show off their "big" guns. Well, when we were in Crystal Lake on Friday, my dad was teaching Ethan how to do his best muscle man pose. I caught this last night after Ethan's bath! He looks ready for the ring with his robe and big muscles!

A Whole Lotta Nothin'

That is what we have been up to!!! I am sorry the blog has been neglected over the past couple of weeks, but we really haven't been doing a whole heck of a lot so, there is not much to report.

The weather has been beautiful so we have been spending a lot of our time outside....walks, the park, working in the yard, hanging out on the drive way, you name it! Ethan absolutely loves being outside and we have definitely taken advantage of a very nice spring so far. The flowers are in bloom and everything is so pretty right now. So glad was escaped April without snow!

Although we haven't had lots of plans on the weekends, we have kept ourselves plenty busy doing things around the house. Matt will give you an update on the yard at some point, but the biggest change is that we moved the double bed out of what will soon be Ethan's big boy room and moved in a twin. I am still in search of the perfect bedding for out big boy, but thanks to my dad and Matt, the bed is all set up! We have been talking to Ethan about his new bed, but have not taken the plunge and actually had him sleep there. I think we are still a month or 2 away from that day. The room just needs some new paint and a few accessories and Ethan will be all set in his new room!

Things are progressing with Baby Hunt #2! I am a little over 19 weeks so our big level 2 ultrasound is coming up on the 14th. We are still planning on not finding out, although I still have this little bit of me way down deep that would love to know. The bump is definitely growing, which is always a good thing and quite fun too! Ethan loves to touch mommy's belly and give the baby a kiss...quite cute, if I do say so myself.

May is going to be a very busy, but fun month....visits from our parents, birthdays, Mother's Day, Baby Livermore's arrival, parties, the lake..the list goes on and on! I am most excited about our little niece or nephew arriving I can hardly stand it! He or she should be here any day now...hurry up, will ya, we are all ready!

I promise to be better about blogging...I was just going through a little lull there, as not much was happening. I still owe you all a post on Easter...we captured some cute pictures of Ethan and Bobby! Oh, and March of Dimes!