Garden & Cooking Revival

Finley prefers to be held and moving or fed at all times for the most part. A large portion of our day is spent walking around with her in the Ergo Carrier. I get a lot done this way! I am easily able to clean and cook and walk the dogs (yes 3 dogs on leash).

After gaining an excessive amount of weight during my pregnancy, I am now officially on a diet. The first diet I've ever been on! I started cooking again, focusing on healthy meats/beans, salads and whole grains. A sort of whole foods/low carb diet. I've been loving and trying out some of Ina Gartens recipes.... chicken salad with mustard, stuffed cabbage and oven fried chicken. Her recipes all come out amazing!

some of our garden harvest. The broccoli on the left is from our garden and on the right is from the grocery store.

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Our decision to keep the garden going way partially because we didnt have a a choice. We have no lawn, only flower, herb and vegetable beds. If we dont keep up with them, they will be beyond out of control (right now its just mildly out of control). Also we did a lot of the work before Finley was born and just needed to get a few starts to finish our planting. We took a trip to the nursery with Finley and bought zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and basil. We have already been able to harvest lots of peas, lettuce and some broccoli!

the mint is of course going crazy!

we think this is elephant garlic. the scapes are really good! they taste like asparagus

the cute little herb box that Ben made. Chive seeds planted in the middle are taking FOREVER to grow!

Our raspberries need serious help!

Japanese wineberry

Nasturtiums

garlic, broccoli and peas

lettuce growing with the crocosmia

my italian parsley FINALLY came up!

peppers in the driveway
On the left is an Anaheim Pepper and the other two are Sweet Banana Peppers

tomatoes and basil in the driveway
On the left is a Window Box Roma Tomato, the center is Italian Basil and on the right is Supersweet 100 Cherry Tomato

We planted another Anaheim Pepper in the Southern Bed

We also planted 3 Aristocrat Zucchini in our Southern Bed

And finally we planted some Italian Basil in the Southern Bed

In the Middle Bed we planted 3 Early Girl Improved Tomato

More Baby FInley! 2-4 weeks

Here are some more photos of Finley! We are having a blast watching her grow and experience the world. Its hard to believe she is now 4 weeks old. We are slowly adjusting to our new life, which now consists of taking care of Finley, making sure the dogs get some exercise and attention and keeping our house functioning at a minimal level. That is about it.

Its funny that we actually thought we would have a garden or continue with most of our previous activities. I always thought it was crazy when people said that they barely have time to shower with a newborn. I thought that must just be people that arent good at managing time. Not true. It really is hard to take a shower or eat or do anything. It gets easier everyday though.

If I can eat, take a shower, care for Finley (which involves feeding her most of the day) and get the dogs out for a run in a day, we are doing well. Sleeping is going better than we expected, but 5 hrs is still not enough. We start getting her ready for bed at around 7 pm and get up for the day at around 7 am. In that time if we get 5 hrs of sleep, we are happy. sort of.

Life is way more complicated and more simple at the same time. Since we dont have time or energy to do much, we are learning to enjoy simplicity (not something I previously excelled at).

I am making progress with my recovery from surgery and am starting to get some exercise and get out of the house at least once a day. My parents are visiting now and are going to watch Finley, while Ben and I go out for dinner! We are very excited!

The best way to get her to stop crying!

Finley is learning to enjoy kisses from Daddy

Gran and Finley enjoying time together

Hanging out with Daddy

The "I have a question" pose

Laying in the grass for the first time at Greenlake with Grandma

First Bath and Other Adventures in The 1st Weeks

Finley's first bath! She still has her little stump so it was just a sponge bath.

Finley likes to ride in the Ergo Carrier with daddy

We took a trip to downtown Edmonds to celebrate Mother's Day.
What a cute little town.

Indy decided that Finley is a suitable toy thrower. She put her toy on Finley and stared at her. I hope she likes to throw things when she is older!

Daddy hanging out with Finley and Indy

Gran enjoying her time with Finley

Finley Dahlia - born April 27th 4:31 am - 6 lbs 5 oz

We are so excited that our little girl is finally here! After spending the last 3 weeks of my pregnancy on bed rest, I was excited to finally go to the hospital knowing that I would come home with a baby. I was admitted on Sunday afternoon for an unsuccessful induction that lasted until early Tuesday morning. I have to admit I was relieved when a C-section became the safest option to deliver the baby, even though I was hoping to not go that route.

We got home on Thursday night and have been enjoying being a family of 3 and adjusting to a serious lack of sleep!

held by daddy for the first time

going home from the hospital