what's back there? part 3

Near the purple little "happy wanderer" flowers is a bush called a "flowering maple." Its leaves look like a maple tree's! Since we've lived here, the flowering maple has been in bloom with golfball-size papery red flowers. It doesn't seem to be growing all that much right now, just flowering a lot.

In addition to the red variety, there's another white-flowered plant under the deck that just started to bloom.

-M

what's back there? part 2

We've got two Angel's Trumpet plants in the back yard. In terms of size, these things are about 10 feet tall, and right now they are loaded full of flowers. In fact, they haven't stopped flowering since we moved in.

We've been at the house long enough to see the pollination/fertilization cycle of these flowers. The pollinated flowers will drop their flower petals and leave a miniature cucumber-like pod behind. This thing turns dark green, then dries up and wilts to a brown, then eventually drops to the ground and splits open to reveal a bunch of oddly-shaped seeds.

Along with everything else, these Angel's Trumpet plants are shooting out new stalks and limbs. When Dad P was around in February, we chopped a significant limb off and I bet the gap it left will be filled in the next couple months.

-M

Here's my new workshop desk. Still standing! I'm home sick (and yet still finding myself working), so I'll post a backyard update, too.

-M

Another completed project

I'm happy to say that I had a very productive weekend. Besides the shopping and cleaning and yard work, I believe I successfully installed a two tier workbench in the garage. In the stacks of extra wood left behind by the previous homeowners, I found a large plywood counter top complete with laminate and a slightly less wide, but twice as old, wood plank. Using a bunch of 2x4's and 2x3's that were up in the rafters, I created the support structure and the boards layed down pretty well. The fit was very tight - I did have to use my coping saw to create a couple notches to avoid the already installed wine rack. Pic to come, assuming it doesn't come crashing down prior.

-M

Baby's first onesie

Hey! What's not to like? Baby girl is destined to teach (and show) future Mom just how amazing the original trilogy is. And, no, before you ask, Leia didn't make the cut for names. Boba, however, did.

-M

Star Wars

What's small, grey, and undeniably masculine? The first purchase we made for our baby girl. Sounds crazy, I know, but Matt couldn't resist the tiny Star Wars onesie we found while out shopping today. I didn't try to talk him out of it--just stated that I'll be embroidering some flowers on the front to make it a bit more girly. Picture to come...

-a

Grateful

5 things I am grateful for this week:

1. After hearing all day long how enormous my stomach is, each night Matt wisely reminds me that it's ok because I'm growing a baby in there
2. The woman from swim class who thought Becky was my twin :)
   
3. Homemade chex-mix, courtesy of Matt
   
4. Evening strolls around Bernal
   
5. Hearing baby's heartbeat, loud and strong

new installment: what's back there?

While we patiently wait for baby girl to show up, I'll start posting what she can expect to encounter in a back yard.

This first plant is a Purple Coral Pea "Happy Wanderer." The flowers are the size of my pinky nail and I can't tell if they smell like anything. The plant is currently growing up the right side of our fence with a little help from a wire that's screwed down.

It does make me start to think what toys we can fit back there. Growing up with a sandbox (custom built, no less) and jungle gym may be a luxury our little back yard can't handle! I guess the hot tub will have to do.

-M

Everything in its right place in time?

Another week flies by! This week we learned that our next door neighbors had a baby boy a few weeks ago and that he was 4 weeks early. That's something that I don't think Amy and I ever contemplated happening. I'm now even more driven to double our efforts and get that nursery room ready. Well that, and my Playstation 3 died on Thursday night, so I've got more time than I know what to do with now.

Monica is in town this week, and among the cool things she bought for baby is a lullaby CD of various Radiohead songs. How cool to hear both of our Radiohead wedding songs remade into glockenspiel and vibraphone lullabies!

Time to feed the birds. The Western Scrub Jays are building a nest in the neighbors shrubs!

-M

Baby Girl?

So last night in my water aerobics class, the other ladies decided that I am, in fact, not having a girl, but rather a baby boy. One woman in particular insisted that my belly is definitely the size/shape one has when carrying a boy. I politely chuckled and swam on by, but started to wonder if they might be right... There's a less than 1% chance the ultrasound was misinterpreted, but I think we'll have 2 names picked out, just in case :)

-a

Hot Tub Time Machine

Another photo from when Mom & Dad P were here. There we are spending the day cleaning out the hot tub. That's where baby is going to learn how to swim.

The Stars Align

What a nice feeling to have family at our house in February. Such a rare occurrence (outside the Xmas holidays) when Mom & Dad P are in the same room with Chris & Erica.

Amy's first post...

Matt's insisted I become an active participant, so here I am :)

Still working on finalizing our registries. Yesterday we settled on a stroller/car seat combo, which just leaves the crib. Found some adorable bedding at Pottery Barn (http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/penelope-nursery-bedding/?pkey=bgirls-nursery-bedding or http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/brooke-nursery-bedding/?pkey=bgirls-nursery-bedding), and we're thinking of just picking that up for ourselves rather than create a third registry. Moved my sewing station into the basement--the nursery's slowly coming together!

Next up: enrolling in childbirth classes!

a

Baby's First Concert

I'm happy to say that we successfully navigated through the ticketmaster gauntlet and purchased reserved seats for the upcoming Atoms for Peace concert at the Fox Theatre in Oakland. Aisle seats, no less! For those unfamiliar with Atoms for Peace, it's Thom Yorke's (Radiohead) side project. They're playing a total of 8 shows in the US, so naturally, the shows sell out in a matter of minutes.

Effect on baby: our doctor says that concerts aren't bad for the baby as there are a lot of layers to protect her from the loud noises. You can't introduce Radiohead to someone too soon.

-M

Our saviour, the hyphen

The first post. Why am I not surprised that there's a petersonchronicles, petersonfamilychronicles, thepetersonchronicles, thepetersonfamilychronicles all taken already. It looks like we just missed getting thepetersonfamilychronicles by a month. Sure glad that hyphens are overlooked.

Baby news: she kicks on a regular basis, mostly when she's hungry. We registered at babysrus and amazon this past week. We were tired of all the pink and blue with the respective flowers and trucks. Where can I get a pink shirt with a backloader on it?

-M