Happy Day-After-St. Patrick's-Day! Hope you all felt very lucky. We celebrated our Irish roots by going down to Gettysburg and meeting up with my mom for dinner. We ate at the coolest place! It's called the Dobbin House, and where we ate was the tavern part--below levels, lit by candles (and only by candles--it was really dark!), furnished with old wooden tables and chairs . . . we were even served by waitresses in 18th century colonial garb! Here is a picture of the outside; I wish I had a picture of the tavern!
It was built before the Revolutionary War and was also a site of the underground railroad, which is pretty cool too.
And now for the exciting news of the day . . .
I finished digging out my garden!!
There she is, all 143 square feet of her.
It was a strenuous, three-day job. I have to admit that I feel rather satisfied knowing I dug up all that sod by myself. Well, no, I guess that isn't exactly true. I did have help!
Annie found that the laundry basket was very useful in transporting her dirt.
And here, ladies and gentlemen, is all the sod that was once in that spot . . . it now fills up some flower beds and most of our sidewalk, while I wait for my dad to come pick it up.
This is really cute. Annie loves to stand up on cement blocks that are next to the grill, poke her head above them (she barely reaches) and say "aah-oooh" (hello). Do you see her little head??
Look what GramE (Grandma Ellsworth) sent us in a Springtime package!
a handmade farm animals bag and baby blanket
a set of beads and string
. . . and a whole bunch of other wonders that I didn't take pictures of, namely, a fantastic dress for Annie, new swimsuit, and green springtime-y plates!
Our little Annie girl had her half-birthday last week! She is now one and a half years old and as grown up as can be! :)
Here are her 18-month doctor appointment stats . . .
weight: 20 lbs 11 oz (5th percentile)
height: 31 1/2 in (50th percentile)
Yay! Way to GROW, Annie! :) This also meant we could finally put her in a front-facing carseat! And we went and bought one right away! Oh, she's loving looking at the world as we drive!
Here are some pictures of our not-so-baby-anymore baby . . .
Annie loves to play with her best friend, Anne
I love how she's looking at Anne in this next picture, like she really is helping her understand the toy . . .
Today was so pretty that I got to do something I haven't done in months: hang laundry outside! Annie was busy truckin around with her bucket, baby doll, pen, piece of paper . . . she had work to do, too!
We love you, Annie!! :) You're such an awesome, spunky girl!
Just for fun, here's a video of this time last year . . . 6-month-old Annie playing with the same toy she now helps Baby Anne to play with!
This morning as I was busy with Sunday stuff, I walked by our kitchen window, and a little speck of orange caught my eye. Orange? We don't have anything orange in our backyard, I thought. I went out to inspect, thinking it must be a piece of blown trash from the road, but instead I was greeted by a most pleasant surprise!!
Our first sign of SPRING! Way to go, little crocus! Way to be beautiful!
I don't have much of an idea what the lady who lived here before planted. :) I can't wait to see what other delights will pop up in our yard!
