Yard Work

We are in the middle of some major yard renovations right now. We still have a long way to go, as all of the grass in the front and back will be pulled up and replaced by new sod, a new drainage system will be put into place, and a rock wall will be added to help with the erosion, but we're making progress. So far, the deck has undergone a bit of a redesign and we've taken down several trees that were causing problems.

I'll post some before and after pictures when we get this all finished, but in the meantime...

...anybody needing any firewood?

In my defense...

(Steve has had a sore neck for about a week now, and despite my requests that he go see a doctor, he doesn't seem all that concerned about it. He says he's taking care of it, in his own way. But that's neither here nor there...that's just the background.)

Me (after listening to Steve complain about his neck again one evening this week): Why don't you go see a doctor already?

Steve: Well, I've already consulted a doctor, actually.

Me: You sent a text to [former college roommate who is now a doctor], didn't you?

Steve: Yes, he says I'm probably fine. I must have pulled something, and I just need to treat it with heat.

Me: I'd appreciate it if you'd physically go see a doctor, instead of seeking treatment from South Carolina.

Steve: He lives in North Carolina, actually.

Me: Really? I thought he lived in Greensboro?

Steve (after a brief pause): It's moments like this that I wish I had a blog to record these conversations...

Me: Wait, Greensboro's in North Carolina?

Steve (shaking his head and silently judging me...): Yes.

(See, honey, I can admit when I'm wrong. In my defense, and in that general moment, I may have confused Greenville and Greensboro...but I'm a Yankee, so it's to be expected, I think...)

Poolside Picnic

While I was at work on Monday, Steve and Brigid were at the pool...

Obviously, I am going to have to step up my game on Mommy-Brigid Fridays if I want to stay the favorite parent around here...

PS: I forgot to mention that I posted at Style Lush on Tuesday...so stop by and say hi!

Watering the Grass

Summer is just so much more fun when you can blame your desire to run through the sprinkler on the resident toddler...

Our Garden

A couple of months ago, Steve came home with this tomato growing kit that included some sort of cardboard greenhouse contraption that you start the tomato seeds in before the weather is ready for planting. And I mocked him to no end, because I told him there was no way these stupid seeds, in this stupid cardboard greenhouse were ever going to grow into tomato plants worthy of a garden.

I was wrong...

Now, if we could just fast forward through these next few weeks, until the drainage on our backyard is corrected, so we could get these off of our porch and out of the sight of our Homeowners' Association Board, I'd be even happier with the situation...

Full Body Armor, Take 2

At church on Sunday, Brigid reversed her recent trend of wanting nothing to do with her mother, deciding that she would instead be held by me the entire time we were there. And that was fine with me, up until the end of the Mass.

Because at the end of the Mass, Miss Brigid, getting a little tired of being in one place for so long, started getting a little punchy.

Literally.

After taking about four shots to the face, I sternly told her that we do not hit, that she was hurting mommy, and that it wasn't nice. I told her that she was being a bad girl and that I wasn't happy about it. And Brigid responded with an enormous hug and multiple kisses.

Because she may be rotten, but she is learning fast, that one...

Vampire Baby

Brigid bit me the other day. I have no idea where she got the idea, while we were reading, to lean down and bite my finger, but she did it. And it completely took me by surprise.

And it kind of hurt like hell, too.

(And no, Steve, I did not ‘have my finger too close to her mouth’ when it happened. Besides, this is our child we’re talking about here, not some creepy bird in a cage at the zoo. I don’t care how close my fingers are to her mouth, I’d rather not have to worry about getting bitten around her.)

I stopped reading and took her into the other room for a time-out, which lasted all of about 15 seconds, while telling her that biting was bad and it wasn’t nice to hurt people like that. I’m assuming this is just the next step in toddler aggression, as we’ve seemed to move past the slapping stage already, but I’m not really sure how many more steps I can take. In fact, I think I’m going to start wearing knee-pads and a helmet around her, just in case the next stage involves her throwing herself under your feet while you’re walking down the stairs. That kid…she’s sneaky, and I don’t think I’d put it past her at all.

I’m not sure anybody warned me that this parenting thing was a full contact sport.