Planting our Garden

I don't think that planting our garden is all that exciting, especially since we haven't yet figured out how to grow things in Arizona and most everything dies before the end of the summer, but I just had to share since everyone else seems to be buried in snow and cold weather!

Yesterday we planted the flowers in the front yard and today we planted some vegetables in the back yard. (I start small, and once those are in the ground I can go back and get more. I've had too many plants die before I can even get them in the ground because I bit off more than I can chew!) Tanner loved his "vo-vel" and he liked to scoop dirt out of the flower bed and onto the sidewalk. Once he missed the sidewalk, and poured a shovelfull of dirt right down my pants! Kiersten quickly lost interest in digging and planting, but she loved to water the plants once they were in.

My hope with planting earlier this year than we have in years past is that they'll survive longer - they may only make it until June this year, like they usually do, but that gives us 4 moths to enjoy them instead of the usual 2 1/2!

Tanner speaks . . . a little!

About a week and a half ago we had a speech therapist come out and evaluate Tanner to see if he had a true speech delay. I was warned ahead of time that he had to have at least a 50% delay to qualify for speech therapy, and I didn't expect him to do that poorly. Turns out he did! According to this speech therapist, an 18-24 month-old child should have 50-100 words, and Tanner has about 15.

However, in the days since the speech therapist came Tanner has added several words to his vocabulary . . . several of which are pretty cute!

-"ba-lee" is "please"
-"nut-nut" is "night-night"
-"lee" is "lid" (like for pots and pans)
-"dee" or "dee-dee"is "CD," "DVD" or "movie"
-"hovel" or "vo-vel" is "shovel" and "watering can" (but sometimes watering can is "bubble")
-"bow" is "ball," "bowl" or "computer" (Nate's laptop, and I have no idea where that came from, except that's what Tanner says as he points to the laptop!)
-"hoos" is "shoes"
-"yeah" is "yes", but it's never just said, it is usually yelled as loud as he can with all the excitement and enthusiasm he can muster, even if I'm asking if he wants green beans for dinner
"-lella" is "Cinderella" - yes, my little boy doesn't say car or truck, but he recognizes Cinderella and calls her by name!
-"hoo-ey" means that he has a stinky diaper (I said "whoo-ey" once when changing a stinky diaper, and that's stuck ever since)
-"wah" is what he says when he sees a dog; I think he's trying to bark

I'm sure there are more, but that's all I can think of right now.

Daddy Daughter Dinner and Dance

Every year Rancho Sahuarita (the community where we live) has a Daddy Daughter Dance around Valentine's Day. Usually it is on Sunday, so Nate can't take Kiersten. This year, however, it was on a Saturday, so he signed them up. Kiersten was so excited that she picked out her dress and accessories weeks in advance (including a veil, all the jewelry she owns, and an old black purse of mine). She got quite upset with me when I tried to hang her dress in the closet, because she was afraid that if I put it away she wouldn't be able to get ready! She also told me that she was going to be very brave when it was her and daddy's turn to dance. I tried to explain to her that everyone got to dance at the same time and that it wouldn't be like dancing on the stage. I don't thing she really understood until she got to the actual dance.

Here they are, ready to leave for their Daddy-Daughter-Dinner-Dance-Date (say that one ten times fast!)
A self-portrait while they waited in line. Nate commented on how many dads were wearing pink ties. I think he was impressed, or scared, I'm not completely sure which!
The clubhouse went all out for dinner - macaroni and cheese, pigs in a blanket, chicken, fruit, Capri Suns and cupcakes for dessert, and served on the finest china with the nicest silverware they could find! :)
One of the highlights of the evening for Kiersten was getting to choose a corsage (they had several colors and styles to choose from). She was so excited that they had flowers for her. So excited, in fact, that she wore it to church the next day. When Kiersten came home that night she told me that she'd been a "crazy dancer, but Daddy didn't dance crazy." Come on, Dad! What were you thinking! :) Kiersten and Nate had so much fun. It would be so nice if we could make this a tradition . . . if only the clubhouse will continue to hold it on Saturday nights!