(THIS IS A WEEK BEHIND… SORRY)

HOW FAR ALONG?  16 weeks…. only 23-ish left.

SIZE OF OUR SWEET BABY? The size of an avocado! (4.5 inches, 3.5 oz.)

MATERNITY CLOTHES? I got a couple maternity dresses at Old Navy, which are perfect and summery. Much more comfy than my normal dresses.

GENDER: TBD… we find out in 4 weeks!

SLEEP?  Still getting up a couple times at night to pee. I haven’t taken a nap all week, which is a change. I would of course, like one, but they’re not as essential as a couple weeks prior.

FOOD CRAVINGS? (Still) pickles, salty foods, red meat, grits, cold grapefruit, really cold 2% milk, etc…

WHAT I MISS? Sushi. I took a few minutes to gaze upon the sushi bar at Central Market the other day.

SYMPTOMS? Forgetfulness, short of breath sometimes (I’m not just out of shape, people!), hungry , vivid dreams at night.

BELLY BUTTON?  It’s still an “inny” but it’s stretching and getting bigger.

BEST MOMENT(S) OF THE PAST WEEK?  Sharing my growing belly with my family this past weekend  in Katy/Houston. It’s exciting sharing/talking about it with family. Daria (step mom) took some casual “maternity” photos of me while we were hanging out at their house Saturday (she also shot the one above). It’s still surreal to me at times that I’m going to have a baby (or that there’s a growing baby inside me!)

Click here to read Part 2.

At this point, Brian and I went back into the infertility specialist’s office to have our second consult with him regarding Brian’s second bad semen analysis. We thought we’d go in and he’d tell us, “Ok, based on your test results, let’s proceed with IVF.” Well, that wasn’t the case. The specialist wanted to do more tests on Brian and me.  Drawing from Brian’s second bad semen analysis, he thought maybe Brian had a chromosomal disorder, which would (A) Cause him to have a .01% chance of reproducing (even with IVF) or (B) likely to pass on a disorder if we conceived a son.  So, we proceeded with a (mucho) expensive caryotype blood test for Brian which would hopefully rule both of these possibilities out. The kicker is, the test results don’t come back for several weeks. Talk about a weighty couple of weeks! In the meantime, I proceeded with a sonohysterogram. They tell you that many women who have this procedure tend to get pregnant during their next cycle. Well, I just brushed it off because the nurses didn’t know most of our infertility was male factor at this point.

Turns out my sonohysterogram went really well and couldn’t have looked better, thank the Lord. It was also way less worse than I imagined. With the specialist’s suggestion, Brian and I also talked about proceeding with Clomid during my next cycle. We even scheduled an appointment for an ultrasound a couple days before starting the meds to make sure I didn’t have any cysts that may become dangerous if I were to be on Clomid.  A couple days after I scheduled the appointment Brian asked me to cancel it. He didn’t feel right about it and thought let’s just wait to get his blood results back before making me do anything else.  So another week goes by….

I woke up the morning of Thursday, February 16 (4 days late) and thought that I should take a pregnancy test, just for my sanity. This was the latest I’d ever been, so why not? I took 3. Two different brands. (Yes, I had that many on hand.) I was shaking so badly because I couldn’t believe it (it was also 6 am and I was sorta half asleep). I busted open the bathroom door (nearly tripped on George) and ran down the hall to our bedroom and in a panic announced to Brian “Oh my gosh… I”m Pregnant!?!”  How could this be? Doctors have been telling us that we would need medical assistance to conceive… and I had a previous miscarriage. Brian may only have a .01% chance of conceiving. What in the world?! So as if I needed to prove it to Brian I showed him all 3 tests. They were very bold in color, which I guess made me feel better?  His first response as he sat up in our dark bedroom and threw the covers off “Is it the water heater?!” (He has some innate fear that our water heater is going to bust and ruin our hardwood floors.) At the time it wasn’t as funny because I was in a state of shock, but it’s pretty funny now. We curled up on the bed and began praying to God. Praying for a healthy pregnancy, thanking him for his amazing grace, his sovereignty, His power, His ability to bless us with a pregnancy. We can only do so much to make it happen, the rest is up to the Lord.

So a couple days into discovering I was pregnant, we still hadn’t received Brian’s chromosomal blood test results. It was hard for us (mostly Brian) to be purely at peace with the pregnancy without knowing the results. We were somewhat discouraged that maybe the pregnancy wouldn’t last.  I called the infertility specialist’s office to see if they could rush the lab (no can do apparently). So, a week into knowing we’re pregnant I got a call saying that his blood test came back normal. YES!  Praise God (again!)

Talk about answered prayer!  We had all of our family praying for us (we have 4 sets of parents combined, so that’s a lot), our close friends, our church home group, my mom’s Bible study group, our own prayers, friends who don’t even live near us, people who don’t even know us well, etc… I’ve never felt so blessed before. What an amazing gift. God truly is in control. The power of prayer really does work.

Wanna know what else is weird? This was the same week exactly 1 year ago that we found out I was pregnant and then soon miscarried. I guess January is a good month for us? Not that we’re out of the forest yet, but it’s difficult to see that God is sovereign and merciful during tough trials. He surely is. The ONLY thing that really got us through this past year of infertility was leaning on the Lord. He is the God of comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7:  ³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. ⁶ If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷ And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

Jeremiah 31:13 “I will comfort them and turn their mourning into joy, their sorrow into gladness.”

Since I had a miscarriage in February, we learned that God placed a strong desire in our hearts to become parents. We imagined waiting longer, but this desire was stronger than ever. Per doctor’s orders, we waited a couple months before trying again. So let’s just say I become sort of obsessive about monitoring my body and learning all about stuff related to conception and pregnancy, etc… (basal body temperature charting- checked it daily, OPK – Ovulation Prediction Kits – went through a ton of these and never once got a positive, removed stuff from my diet, etc…)

So, after a summer of no success and actively trying, we were stumped and a little concerned. We had also gotten hit by an 18-wheeler on Memorial Day, so that just added to the mix. I was probably not the most fun person to be around, because I was so concentrated on achieving pregnancy. I’m a pretty determined when I want something, so this was difficult for me. I would have days where I was totally at peace with God’s timing, then others I would panic.  We were doing everything “right” and again this caused me to ask more questions and doubt God. Most of our family knew what we had been through and what we were going through, which was nice to have the support. However, many people who know you’re trying to conceive will freely give out their advice and opinions, which isn’t always wanted.  In September of 2011, I made the dreaded infertility consultation appointment with my OBGYN. No joke, I walked in there with a printed out sheet of probably 20 questions to ask him. I think it caught him a bit off guard. Brian even asked a few questions, which impressed me. I’m so grateful for my doctor (Dr. Joseph at Baylor in Dallas). He’s a sweet grandfatherly man with a strong moustache, very empathetic and kind, but also very straightforward and honest. He doesn’t sugar coat things, but has the best bedside manner.

After our consultation with Dr. Joseph, he wanted to have Brian checked out before they proceeded with testing me, since as my doctor he was already pretty familiar with my history/health, etc… So, we went on a little adventure to have a semen analysis at a referred reproductive specialist’s office. Let me just say, what a hilarious experience that was! I’m not sure how many giggly, red-faced couples they have go through their office, but we were definitely one of them.  It was probably one of the funniest things we had done together up until that point in our marriage.

The fun part (sarcasm) about this whole journey is the juggling of doctors, specialists, transferring of health records and releasing of health records between doctors, etc… Oh, and insurance doesn’t cover any of it.  So, now that we’ve gotten that aside.  It took several days for us to track down Brian’s results from the reproductive specialist since they couldn’t release them directly to me, but had to go through Dr. Joseph or some red tape mess.  Low and behold, the results come back with bad news.  Apparently, they measure for 3 different things in a semen analysis and 2 of the 3 things in Brian’s sample were extremely low.  Because of this,  Brian went to a urologist (doctor #3) to get a physical exam, and then we were referred to an infertility specialist by Dr. Joseph here in Dallas to proceed with options/treatments. Great… doctor #4.

At this point, it’s around October or November, 2011. Brian wanted us to wait another month or two before visiting with the infertility specialist, in hopes that maybe we could get pregnant in the mean time on our own. So, we waited until January, 2012 before our consult with the infertility specialist.  Also, I was knee deep is worries about our future of potentially not being able to conceive. How do you go on acting “normal” when something that big that you desire so much is weighing on your shoulders? With that said, I began to let things slip at work and I wasn’t as detailed oriented as I should have been.  We still weren’t pregnant, so we proceeded with the consult.

It was a very tense consultation. Brian was sorta skeptical going into the appointment, which I can completely understand. What guy is comfortable in those kinds of doctor offices? We are Christians and weren’t 100% sure where we stood with assisted pregnancy, but I wanted to at least meet with the doctor to look at our health records and give us some advice/options or suggest some other paths we could take. I was just looking for someone to help us. To give us an answer. This doctor was a nice guy and incredible intelligent in his field, but didn’t have as great of bedside manners as Dr. Joseph. He was extremely straight forward and he was from another country, so his accent made it difficult to understand some things he was explaining to us (in addition to us trying to understand medical jargon and comprehending costs simultaneously.)  I joked about wanting to record the consultation on my iPhone, but I wish I would have so I could better understand what we discussed.

After our consult, the doctor requested Brian get a second semen analysis before proceeding with anything else. So… back to doctor #2 (Reproductive Specialist) we went. That visit wasn’t quite as funny as the first, but still not a “normal” experience. The Reproductive Specialist was able to immediately review the sample with us under an incredibly magnified microscope. He wasn’t able to diagnose anything officially, but just to give us a general education at first glance before the lab could process it, which would take another day or two. Right off the bat he told us 1 of the 3 things had improved, but the 2 most important factors still looked incredibly low. He flat out told us that we would need medical assistance if we ever wanted to conceive. *Deep breathe* Ok, so that was a big blow to the heart (and pocket book).

This was about the time that our roles/perspectives kinda flipped. Brian entered a season of darkness, doubt, and depression, while I was trying to claw my way out of the same thing. I had no choice but to see the light in our dark circumstances so that we both didn’t go under. Of course, I had my bad days, but for the most part I spent my time trying to communicate and talk it out with Brian. I wanted to know what he was thinking. How he was feeling. What he wanted to do about it. However, Brian’s not much of a “talker”, so this was terribly difficult to accomplish. I felt like I was being pushed away and had no choice but to further press into God for comfort. This was hard, because I wanted us to comfort each other (and there were some day where this was evident), but just felt like we were treading in the same dark waters.  Thankfully, we were surrounded by people in our church home group who loved us and prayed with us and constantly asked us how things were progressing. I’m not sure what it would have been like to go through this journey without them. We are so blessed. I’m so grateful that God used this as a time to draw us nearer. Had we not chosen to pressed into Him, we would have had so many outlets for the devil to get a foothold on our lives, our marriage, etc…

In the meant time, this specialists’ office tried to tell me that my insurance covered everything (consults, doctors visits, exams, a few procedures, etc..) until I was technically “diagnosed” and proceeded with treatment (IVF, IUI, Clomid, etc..). At this point, I had just been examined several times, had a big blood work up, and had been to several doctors visits at their facility and had only been paying a co-pay, even though I told them this wasn’t right.  Their insurance department had contacted my insurance company 3 different times and even spoken with a higher-up and gotten it in writing that certain treatments were covered. (Wrong). So, I proceeded to call my insurance company (probably the 4th time this year) to confirm. I spoke with the sweetest guy and he felt so badly (after making me wait on hold for over 30 minutes) to confirm that I was definitely not covered for anything relating to assisted pregnancy (which I already knew).  I did the ever dreaded slow cry, which I’m pretty sure made him feel even more awkward. He even mailed me my entire (big) benefit explanation book to confirm in black in white.  This means the awesome infertility specialist’s office would probably be back-billing us (even though they promised they wouldn’t and would work out a payment plan with us if anything like that happened.)

I remember calling Brian crying outside of my office after getting off the phone with the insurance guy. I felt like we’d hit a dead end. How could we afford a $12k procedure to TRY to get pregnant. We weren’t even guaranteed it would be successful. When would be the right time? How would we know when the “right” time was to go through with this? I felt like we were manipulating it too much. I was also scared of going through  all the medical stuff (hormone shots, exams, egg retrieval, etc…) and it especially not working.  I knew a few women that this happened to and I so feared it would also be my story. I didn’t know if I wanted to go through with it and take on all that pressure, but at the same time if it was our only shot at a pregnancy I was willing to do it.  At this point, we hadn’t even been diagnosed with IVF as our treatment option, but it was definitely leaning towards that direction.

Stay tuned for PART 3.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4:  ³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Let’s go back to February 2011. Brian and I had been married for almost a year. It had already been a very tough year, mostly with family illnesses, family drama, death, and adjusting to the first year of marriage (and it was only 2 months into the year). Little did we know what was to come.

Just before Valentines Day in 2011, I found out I was pregnant. We hadn’t been “trying” per se, but it happened and we were thrilled. It was such a rush of emotions. A couple months prior Brian and I had discussed waiting maybe 3-5 years of marriage before we introduced a baby into our lives. Hah. The Lord works in mysterious ways. The next morning I called my OBGYN to schedule our first appointment and was taken back when the nurse said “Ok, we’ll see you at your 8 week appointment…” What? I have to wait that long?! There was a nervousness inside of me that wanted to go in that day so they could tell me everything looked healthy. Well, turns out that’s pretty standard procedure to wait.  A couple days later on Friday morning I woke up to a lot of bright red blood.  My heart has never increased in speed in so little time.  I felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. I thought I might pass out and throw up at the same time. Not because of the blood, but because I knew what it meant. I woke Brian up and told him what was going on. I think I was shaking a little bit and probably looked really confused. He was so sweet to console me and pray with me. I called the doctor’s emergency line and he returned my call promptly. We went in 2 hours later (since it was 6 am at the time). He couldn’t confirm that I was having a miscarriage at the time of the appointment, but they drew some blood and did a standard exam. The rushed blood tests would later confirm that afternoon that I was indeed having a miscarriage.  How could this be? Could my biggest fear becoming true? It was the longest weekend of my life just waiting it out. Thankfully I was so early on there wasn’t much pain and there was no need for a D&C.  Brian was so wonderful and helped balance my sad meltdowns where I couldn’t say anything but only cry.  This happened for weeks to follow. All I could think was “Oh my gosh, we’re going to have problems conceiving….what if I can’t carry out a full pregnancy?” And of course about 1,000 other horrible thoughts. I was also sorta grateful that my boss had experienced something similar, so she was very empathetic to me missing work for 2 days.

Thankfully, Brian was able to help me see the light in the dark circumstances. He was so hopeful for the future. I was too, but it was just clouded for a bit.  During this time we pressed into our church Home Group (what a God send!) and I also went through a program called Recovery: Steps Study (sorta like the 12 step AA program). It couldn’t have been better timing. I was already a couple weeks in once I had my miscarriage. I’ve never cried like that in front of a room of “acquaintances” before. It was so freeing.  I learned a lot about myself and about sin in general and the power of the Lord’s grace and love for me. (Of course this is a journey and I’m still learning/growing.)

You never think it will actually be you that it happens to. I was surprised to discover how many other women I knew that had miscarriages. Learning this I wanted to share with some of my close girlfriends so that if in fact it does happen to any of them, they know I am available if they need me. Just knowing someone else went through something similar is comforting.

The next couple of months would probably be best described as closet depression for me. Many of my friends were announcing their (often second) pregnancy or posting cute photos of their children and made getting pregnant look effortless. Of course they had every right to share these things with their family/friends/community, it was just hard for me to truly enjoy it with them. I was totally failing at the “rejoice with others” suggestion from Paul in Romans.  I would smile and congratulate them, but inside I was envious and jealous. A lot of “why?” questions would snow-ball inside of me. It wasn’t healthy, but I’m sure it was natural.  So, I chose to run towards God instead of away from. It could only help for me to press into him, since he is the Creator of all things, right?  He’s always provided for me and His timing is completely sovereign, but this particular year things got really hard as if hitting a cement wall. Why now?

I soon began trying to stop asking all the “why me… why us… why now?” questions and instead look a all the blessings in our life. We were blessed with a wonderful home that we loved, a (nearly) perfect dog, a supportive church community, family, a job I loved, good health, etc… I needed to learn to better trust the Lord.  There has been no evidence or reason for me not to Trust God. He is the author and perfector of my faith, and circumstances should not change my level of trust and faith in Him. If anything, this journey has taught me to trust Him in spite of my circumstances. God used this very dark and difficult season to draw me nearer to him, not to suck the joy from my life. I’ve gained more joy by pressing into him and learning that His timing and blessings are completely sovereign.

TUNE IN FOR PART 2….

HOW FAR ALONG?  15 weeks…. only 24-ish left.

SIZE OF OUR SWEET BABY? The size of a navel orange! 4-4.5 inches, 3-5 oz.

MATERNITY CLOTHES? Still rockin’ most of my flowy, high-waisted, a-line dresses. Although, some of them are just beginning to look awkward, like I don’t know how to buy clothes that fit right. hah.  I’ve tried the belly band over my jeans and it’s a big fail. every time I move or bend over, I have to readjust. How do so many women use this this thing? Am I doing it wrong??

GENDER: TBD… we find out in 5 weeks!

SLEEP? If I lie down for a cat nap, I’m out like a light and can sleep for 2 hours straight with no problem. But sleeping at night is no longer smooth sailing. I had no idea it would happen so early in pregnancy. There are at least 3 occasions per night I get up to pee, in addition to the 27 times I re-adjust. I’m trying to get all the tummy and back sleeping time I can until I’m too big.

FOOD CRAVINGS? Oh man… don’t get me started. Pickles (so cliche, I know- but I had an intense love for pickles pre-pregnancy so it’s way stronger now), anything salty, Asian food (just tried Pho for the 1st time this weekend), and sausage+cheese KOLACHES. We made a special stop at the Czech stop bakery in West, TX on the way back from Austin this wknd and it was so worth it.

WHAT I MISS? Drinking my daily cup of hot earl grey tea. I can totally have a cup if I wanted, but I feel like if I haven’t had any up until this point why should I? Also, summer fruity drinks (margaritas & such).

SYMPTOMS? I just feel like I’m kinda “growing”. My belly feels tight at certain points of the day. I’ve been super exhausted since week 6 of pregnancy, and I feel like maybe this week it’s sorta tapering off? (That might also be due to the fact we had a super relaxing weekend, with lots of rest, naps, and down time.)

BELLY BUTTON?  It’s still an “inny” but it’s stretching and getting bigger. (That sounds gross.)

BEST MOMENT(S) OF THE PAST COUPLE WEEKS?  (1) Gather Retreat. I co-hosted a creative Christian women’s retreat with 2 friends out of town two weekends ago. It was a huge success and so much fun. (2) Austin Heaven (weekend get away at a cabin near Austin with Brian) for some much needed R&R. (3) Brian and I talking about hypotheticals with our future child this week. I truly appreciate and am so grateful for his funny personality and creativity/resourcefulness. For instance: we were talking about what it’d be like if I left him to his own devices to dress and raise our child and he started talking about rigging up some of his own white t-shirts and knotting them at the bottom to be a “onesie” and then making some baby socks out of his own socks by cutting them down in size and zip-tying them very loosely around the baby’s feet.  I mean, seriously who thinks of these things?!

INGREDIENTS:
SHRIMP & GRITS
- 1 bag of fresh or frozen jumbo shrimp (peeled, devained, mine had the tail on)
- Metal or wooden skewers
- Salt & Pepper
- Tony Chachere (seasoning)
- Garlic Powder
- Lemon Pepper
- Chopped fresh cilantro or dried cilantro
- Olive Oil
- 6 C of instant Grits
- Butter
- Shredded sharp cheddar

SALAD: (Throw any produce you have together to make a pretty salad!)
- Mixed Greens
- Carrot (shredded)
- Colored Bell Pepper
- Cherry tomatoes (sliced)
- Banana peppers
- Light Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Salt & Pepper
- Tony Chachere (seasoning)
- Lemon Pepper
- Mozzarella (diced)
- Green onions (chopped) – save some for grits topper/garnish

DIRECTIONS:
1. Thaw shrimp (run room temp water over shrimp in collander & set aside until thawed).
2. Skewer shrimp (I used three metal skewers) and set on a foil lined baking sheet.
3. Drizzle olive oil over all the shrimp so they’re coated.
4. Sprinkle all the different seasonings onto the shrimp (to your liking- I used a lot). Flip & repeat so both sides are coated with olive oil & seasoning.
5. Let sit while you warm up the grill (we use a gas grill so it was only a few minutes).
6. While your waiting on the grill, make your grits (follow instructions on box/packets). I boiled 2.5 C of water and added 1/2 C of milk in once it was boiling. Then, I added the grits and whisked until smooth-ish.
7. Add butter and shredded cheese (to your liking) to the grits, as well as, Salt & Pepper and Garlic powder.
8. Grill shrimp for 2.5 min on one side, flip and grill about 3 min on other side. (Total of about 5 minutes- until they’re pink & not opaque.)
9. While shrimp is grilling and grits are simmering (stir often until smooth and thick) make your salad.
10. Fill a large bowl with grits and top with  chopped green onions. ENJOY!

I sliced some lemons and limes and plopped them into a large pitcher of ice water. Mmm… so refreshing. That was my “fancy” drink for the evening, seeing that I can’t indulge in a nice glass of wine or sangria for a while. I lit all the mason jar candles around the house and on the dining room table and made sure all the place settings were good to go before the girls arrived. Bethany and Ashaun arrived first with Sangria, 2 types of wine, and mini cupcakes. Michele arrived with Mi Cocina salsa (yum!) and warm chips. Kelsey arrived with ingredients to make a delicious salad that included a sliced green apple and dried cranberries. Christina showed up wearing oven mits holding a dish of sopapilla cheescake fresh out of the oven (oh my gosh it was so good). Then, Kimi arrived with her magical guacamole dip, which was chunky with tomatoes, corn, and other goodies!  All in all, it was a great gathering with terrific home made food and great conversation.

You may be asking, “What is the Southern Pickwick Society”? Well, that’s soon to be unveiled… for now I will just say it’s a group of ladies all gifted in various creative ways that work at Switch Creative who appreciate Southern Hospitality and hope to share our gifts with the world.

Here are some photos from the lovely evening.

George modeling Kelsey’s lovely necklace.

Maybe we went a little far with staging George, but we had to. He’s so sweet.

I asked Brian to stand in for me as I tested the tripod/lighting. This is what he did….

Here’s the recipe I threw together for dinner:

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon (or lime)  juice

1 small garlic clove, pressed

Sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

5 cups arugula, washed and dried

A handful of cherry tomatoes sliced

2 tablespoons crumbled Cotija cheese (or more if you like)

2 Grilled chicken breast (marinaded in mexican spices and achiote paste)

Instructions:

Grill the chicken breasts (let cool a bit before tossing with salad). In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, and garlic. Add a generous pinch of salt and ground pepper to taste. Add the arugula to the bowl and toss until the leaves are well coated. Scatter the tomatoes and the cheese over the greens, top with sliced chicken breasts. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and more cracked pepper. Serve immediately.

After he picked weeds, uprooted a small bush/tree, and spread soil in all the beds, we went to Calloway’s Nursery and selected some new flowers, plants, bulbs, and shrubs for various sections of our yard.  Our main concern was our front right flower bed. It previously housed about 6 rose bushes and only 2 were performing well. They were bare and didn’t hide the base of the front of our house, which is preferred.  He transplanted the 2 good rose bushes to the left front bed and added  6 new shrubs to the right front bed that should grow to about 3 feet max height.

My responsibility was to plant the small flowers in the back yard and the blue hanging pots on the front left of the house. I love getting my hands dirty every now and then. There’s just something about working with the earth that calms and soothes me. I’m so grateful for beautiful flowers and small things we tend to easily over look.  We picked out a variety of small “wild” flowers to go in the bed at the end of the car port in the back yard. I also chose a hot pink azalea and a beautiful succulent for the two yellow pots out back.

After everything was planted and Brian mowed our yard (and the neighbors!), he picked up some mulch and spread it in the front two beds, which was the perfect finishing touch! I’m so grateful for all his hard work. Let’s pray for a mild summer and not another crazy hot  summer that reverses all of our hard work (like last year)! The very next day we had a huge storm roll through that washed some of the new dirt out, but gave the yard a nice big drink, thankfully.