First Roses of the Year

I've tried so hard to be original. Some ladies claim daises as their favorite flower, others peonies or daffodils. But for me, it's roses. It's always been roses. :) One of the best parts about our house (and worst in the heat of the summer) is the full sun that most of our yard enjoys. That means tons and tons of roses! I so enjoy scanning the Jackson and Perkins catalogs looking for new and interesting roses. For those of you who didn't know, roses come in four major varieties - climbers, floribundas, grandifloras, and the favorite - hybrid teas. I believe all are derived from antique roses, some of which are still in cultivation and available. I would love to have Teddy Roosevelt's favorite rose one day, but I need to have Chris dig out more flower beds. :) And, yes, this is a bouquet of my first blooms!

Right now, I have a yellow-red hybrid tea, one white and one purple floribunda, and a pink climber. I've also killed a white hybrid tea - oops. Learned an important lesson about the root bud with that one. I think I'll stick with those for this year and plan for next summer. This fall, I'll focus on my new favorite flower - the iris! :)

New little one

Now that I'm six months pregnant, I suppose that I should post an update that we are pregnant! :) We found out on December 14, 2009, meaning that many of our big events as a married couple have occurred on the 14th - married October 14, found out we were pregnant with Luke October 14, now again on a 14! Isn't our sovereign God amazing?

I do wish we had a scanner so that I could scan in some ultrasound photos of our beautiful baby, but alas...perhaps I will remember to take some to my parents' and use their scanner. This pregnancy has flown by, filled with general illness during the winter (flu, stomach virus, ugh, ugh) and work and church activity. Now that work is coming to a close, I hope to be a better blog poster. I do have some ideas for posts (which is usually a problem for me) and I'd like to keep a better record of Luke and little one's growth. What a gift that will be for them when they're older.

When we ask "where's your baby brother or sister?", Luke used to lift my shirt up and point to my tummy. Now he points to his tummy. Don't know where the confusion occurred. :) Today marks the second night that he's fallen asleep in his big boy bed, in his new room! He has done so very well! I'll post some pictures of the new room soon, since I need some ideas as to whether to paint or not. I think I'd like to - it would add more character. He really has not looked back to the nursery, though. "Whither Ernie goest, so I will go" seems to be his modus opperandi. Posts including Ernie the elephant are forthcoming as well. Turning over a new page... Ha!