Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

We had our ultrasound yesterday....

and we are having another little girl. I am so excited!! She was so wiggly they couldn't get a good shot of her head or her spine or her little arms and fingers. I have been feeling her move all the time. I feel so blessed to be having another daughter for a couple of reasons. #1 We all ready have all girl stuff, so it'll be easier on our budget. :) With this being a surprise baby, we weren't really financially prepared, but I know that Heavenly Father is watching out for us in numerous ways. #2 The other day I was at church and saw these two little girls sitting on the bench and they just looked like they were the best of friends. I never had a sister or even a consistent best friend (I moved so much it, my friends changed often) so I never knew what it was like to stay up giggling with my sister or to have secrets between just the two of us, but I am excited that Ava will have that. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm grateful (for the most part) that I didn't have a sister. I never had to share anything and I could pretty much do what I wanted. I always had my own room and no one was bugging me to play with my Barbies or to use my nail polish.... but I'm excited to have 2 little girls.

As I watched her move on that screen I just realized how blessed I have been. I want to be the best mother I can possibly be and I hope that someday my children will know just how much I love them. I felt so much love for this little baby, and people are right when they say that your love grows with each child. I didn't know it was possible to have so much love. I felt completely overwhelmed.

I watched Ava sleep for a couple of minutes, and I can't even imagine what my life would be like without her. She has shaped me and taught me so much. At the doctor, she would point to every child (regardless of their age) and yell "Baby!!" And she will sit with her baby doll and kiss it's head over and over.... then chuck it to me afterwards. Hee hee. But she is so loving and compassionate that I know she was meant to be the big sister.

Green Thumb?

I am going to try my hand at gardening this year. My sis in law, Jenn, has offered to let me plant a small garden in her backyard, so I think I'm going to take her up on that offer. I've never really done anything like this. Well, I had to weed our garden when I was a kid but let's face it, weeding is a whole different world than planting and caring for a garden. So, since I am so new, I would like to know if any of you have any tips or advice you would be willing to share. I'm desperate, really. I found this website that gave some good advice, and this is what I found out:

On the north side of the garden, it's best to plant tall things like corn, peas, and beans.
In the center, plane your mid size crops such as squash and tomatoes.
On the south side, plant your low lying crops like carrots, lettuce, and onions.

It is best to have your rows run south to north.

Companion planting: It's best to keep some plants away from others.
Carrots love lettuce, onions, and tomatoes.
Corn loves peas, cucumbers, and potatoes. It hates tomatoes.
Cucumbers love corn, sunflowers, but dislike potatoes.
Lettuce loves onions, strawberries, carrots, and cucumbers.
Onions love lettuce, strawberries, and tomatoes, but hate peas.
Tomatoes love carrots and onions.
Beans and onions need to be kept far apart.

This year I would like to plant: asparagus, carrots, corn, lettuce, peas, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, onions, potatoes, and some herbs (don't know what kind yet).

What about fruit? What kinds can you plant? Can you plant watermelon and canteloupe?

I also heard that you should plant some flowers.... I can't remember why.

So, as you can all clearly see, this will be a challenge for me. But I'm up to it. I would also like to do some canning later on this year. I think I'll start with the garden for now. So bring on the advice and tips!!!!!