After a Cold, Gray, Dreary Winter...

This time of year, I am sick and tired of winter, of rain, of mushy gravel in front of the house, and of brown yucky looking grass. I really, really want spring to arrive! I want long & sunny days, green grass, and the smell of dirt. About this time of year, I start getting those spring flower catalogs in the mail. I thumb though them and think "Oh, this year I'm gonna get some of that, buy some of those, and maybe try a little of this or that in my gardens!" I start dreaming about digging in the dirt and how great my yard & gardens are going to look THIS year.

Then, I remember how much I HATE to garden. Its not so much the gardens that I have a problem with - although I have a massive amount of garden that I inherited when I purchased the house - its the weeding, the mulching, the weeding, the planting, and the weeding that I hate so much! Every year, I vow that I am going to do more because there is a part of me that likes it while I am out there and I like the way the yard & gardens look when they actually look good (ie. no weeds, fresh mulch, and flowers that are happy). Last year, the gardens went all to heck because I just couldn't take Holly outside and get any gardening done at the same time and I practically melted when I tried to go out in the hot sun of midday during her naps. Maybe this year she is old enough to "help" or at least entertain herself a little while I dig around in the dirt.

I don't want to get my hopes up too high or set up unrealistic expectations (ie. Darla's gardens!), but I am hoping to get some of the weeds that are still there from last spring pulled and plant at least some pretty annuals to make it look nicer this year.

Completely unrelated to gardening and spring are some new, cute pictures of Holly! Van braided Holly's hair the other night and when I saw her I was shocked to see that her hair is actually long enough to braid! So, the next day, I put her hair in braids. And they stayed in all day long! Here is one of Holly's semi-posed cheesy smiles. Usually in her super-posed cheesy smiles her eyes are completely smushed together and she looks like Elvis with her lip curled up on one end. This is better than those!

Holly has been spending more time playing with her baby doll that she got from Santa (aka Penny) for Christmas.

She loves to feed her, dance with her, and rock her to sleep. She thinks its hysterical to give the baby her binkie, cover her up with the blanket and make her go night night. Sometimes, the baby must have done something really bad because Holly is telling her "NO! Don't do that!" and then on and on about whatever she's telling poor little baby! Sheesh! I wouldn't want Holly to be my Mama!

Holly had her first dentist appointment last week. The dentist and the assistant were both so, so nice! Its a pediatric dentist's office, so there is nothing but fun, fun stuff in the huge waiting room, tv screens above each of the dental chairs, one common room where all the kids are seen at once, lots of books, fish tanks, toys, etc.

They pretty much just wanted to look at Holly's teeth, see how many she has, and know how often we brush her teeth. They stressed that she could just lie back in my lap and that getting in to the chair was NOT on their agenda at all! However, Holly sat and checked things out for a while, saw that the big kids were all sitting in the other three chairs and wanted to sit in hers too. She even tried to lean the chair back from its upright position, so the assistant put it back and she crawled right up!

Both the assistant and the dentist were shocked! She stayed right there with me sitting next to her when the dentist counted her teeth. Here is Holly showing everyone how to brush teeth properly...or at least chew on the toothbrush until the bristles are all flattened.

Holly got to watch two Little People videos tonight. This is how much she loves to watch videos! She was dancing every time the Little People song came on.
A while ago, I bought one of those "leash" backpacks - ok, I know there's a better, more PC name for them, but I don't know what it is - for Holly. I haven't actually used it yet, but I haul it around in the car so that I have it if I ever need it. Holly loves the pig, and has recently decided that it makes a great toy in the car. She hugs him, talks to him, clicks the clips together, pinches her fingers in the clips, swings the "tail" around, and generally entertains herself for an extended period of time with the pig! You can tell how happy this little critter makes her, even if I never end up using it for its intended purpose.
I'm guessing I will use it at some point. This weekend, I just saw a lady with three kids and their monkey, dog, and rabbit (I think) backpacks on at the mall. It looked more like those pictures you see of one person trying to walk a herd of dogs with their leashes all tangled up and each dog trying to go a different direction, but it was working for her and made me feel like I shouldn't feel like a bad mama when I actually get around to having my own kid on a leash at the mall! Better than the bad mom who loses her kid at the mall, right?