It's back to feeling like spring around here. We had beautiful weather back in the mid 50's today, which meant that it was perfect weather for Balian and I to spend some time together outside. He's so cute- he absolutely LOVES to be outside. Well, he mostly loves to be outside. We went for two walks today- one much longer than the other, but that's okay. B's big enough to be in his umbrella stroller now, so that's something new. It's harder to me to walk with, though, because I can't adjust the height of the handles and I feel like I'm hunched over while pushing it... just have to get used to it, I guess. I got my hand back into the dirt today, and it felt great! If you don't already know this about me, I love to garden and landscape. I'm actually in the process of designing a butterfly garden for some friends of ours. Wish I could have a butterfly garden at my house! I get to do pretty much anything I want to as far as planting goes around here. My neighbor gave us tons of irises to transplant, so I spent a little bit of time digging a new bed out for them this afternoon, and getting them back into the ground. I still have mulching and edging to do (have to do that for all of the beds, really), but everything has to be done in spare time... or when someone else is actually at home with me to keep an eye on Balian. Here are a few pics to show you what we've been up to outside:

Moving on to more important news, Balian received his first big boy high chair yesterday! It's a gift from his G.G. (my Gram). It's adorable, very practical, and so far, so good... he's enjoyed three big boy meals sitting in it today. It's nice that we can all sit at the table together, now. :) Here are some pics (you know you want to see them!):

 'On second thought, can't make me!'

All in all, we had a great day. On another note- We've been having a lot of trouble getting Balian to sleep in his crib. He refuses to nap in there during the day, and night time is becoming rough, too. Some nights, he does really well and sleeps 4-6 hours in his crib, and then sometimes, we have nights like tonight, where I've been trying to put him down since 7:30! He's asleep now, though... thank goodness! With him not napping and fighting me to go to sleep, I have just about zero time to get anything done these days. Frustrating, but what can I do? I haven't tried the 'cry it out' method with him yet. I don't want to... it seems so mean. May have to resort to it soon, though... I want my bed back! Yeah, did I mention that when he's really asleep, it's because he's sleeping with us? It's my own fault, and I know that. I nursed him to sleep in my bed from the beginning, and when he had trouble going to sleep, I would put him down beside me, and nurse him in the side-lying position. We both enjoyed the cuddling. And then, of course, when he got too big for his bassinet, instead of just trying him out in his crib, we let him sleep in his PNP in our room. We've been trying the crib for over a month and as soon as his head hits the mattress, he wakes up! It's like he knows it's not mommy and daddy's bed, or sheets and he just doesn't belong in there. I honestly don't have a big problem with him sleeping with us- we all usually get really good sleep. I just don't want him to be a year old, and not sleeping in his own room! And yes, eventually, we'd love to have our bed back to ourselves! We know that co-sleeping is really controversial in the United States, but we make it as safe as possible, when he is in bed with us. Ah... had to take a quick break there for a minute as I put Balian back into his crib for the fifth time tonight! Ugh! To make matters worse, he is such a light sleeper that any little noise he hears wakes him up... we have extremely loud neighbors, on all sides, and the floor boards in our house are so creaky that they are constantly waking him up. I'm not a heavy person, and I can't believe how much noise they make when I walk in and out of his room! Oh well- he's asleep in his crib for now. We'll see how long that lasts.

Well, I'm off to try to catch a few Zzzz's before Balian wakes up again. Sweet dreams to you all! Oh- and check back soon- there's going to be a new giveaway announced in a week or two, and you're going to want to enter to win it! Also, don't forget about the AVON Giveaway happening now! Okay, for real this time... goodnight!