Progress.

Well folks, I'm happy to report that in a mere 5 weeks, we've progressed from this:

(a corn kernel)
 
To this:

(a prune, not a piece of poop :)

To this:

For the un-sharp tools in the shed, I am referring to the size of baby.
Here, for comparison:

Yup, 5 short weeks. That's some incredible progress if you ask me.
Today on ultrasound (11.5 weeks) we saw our little guy kicking around, squirming, bending, jumping, moving arms and legs. So, now my hubby knows I am not lying when I get up to pee three times during the night and I say it's because baby is doing jumping-jacks and cartwheels on my bladder.
Here is today's picture:

I almost died when I saw him moving around so much and looking like a little baby. Most awesome thing ever. And still feeling too good to be true.
Now that is progress folks!
And speaking of progress....
Check out the huge changes in my little niece is making....
Here she is at 1.5 weeks (two of my favorite shots from our photo shoot)

And here she is at 8 weeks - so much more alert, and she's almost smiling in this pic!

And talk about progress...my sis-in-law is already back into her pre-pregnancy jeans! Way to go!!
I will leave you with two more pics of my niece...and yes, she does love her grandmas :)

Work??

Last weekend it was over 70 degrees in Chicago-land. 
After we got back from church, I ran outside to my garden, excited to say hello to an old friend after months without communication (3 feet of snow will do that to a relationship).

As I walked around, I began to become more and more overwhelmed, noticing fences in disrepair; piles of leaves, sticks, and various garbage accumulated over a winter; bed after bed after bed needing tidying, edging and weeding (seriously, already??!); three of my four beautiful clematis' completely chewed through by those damn rabbits (anybody have a shot-gun I could borrow?)...so I finished my garden walk-through, which had evolved from a nice little catch-up conversation to the equivalent of a conversation in which my best friend tells me she has lost her job, her mother has died, and she has discovered she has colon cancer. Needless to say, I trudged back to my house, dejected and depressed, and already ready to give up, and call it quits. 


The beautiful weather, chirping birds and blue skies were calling my name though, so later on I changed out of my Sunday-best and went to tackle the front beds, wielding my trustiest garden tools.

It was then, after a few minutes of kneeling over the long-neglected beds, raking through piles of decaying leaves, searching for each new treasured discovery of fresh green life, with the sun on my neck, birds chirping overhead, earthworms and centipedes frantically scattering out of my way...it was then that I remembered, it all came back to me: there is no need to get overwhelmed. This is not work for me...this is therapy.

Happy Spring everyone! May you attack your neglected gardens with exuberance and vigor!