Growth

I've been noticing a lot of growth happening around me. Its a beautiful (sometimes stretching) thing to be surrounded with. The most tangible growth that is before me are my little babies. My seedlings. This is the first time that I have attempted to start my vegetable seeds indoors. Usually I just plant them directly into the garden after the last frost (hello beginning of June...).

This year I wanted to be able to plant some veggies that I don't normally plant, veggies that require being started early as our summer season is so dang short. Its been a lot of fun watching the little sprouts grow, grow, grow... soon becoming too big for their little britches and requiring new homes (pots).

I am sure you are all so impressed with my gardening skills. "Wow, what a green thumb!" you must be thinking. Before you start to feel all guilty about the lack of anything growing in your garden, (or maybe your garden kicks my gardens ass) please know... I have no CLUE what I am doing. I'm sure you've heard the saying "Fly by the seat of your pants".

That's my gardening motto.

All that being said, even though I have very limited knowledge on gardening (it can be very overwhelming!), it is so VERY rewarding to see the fruits (and veggies!) of my labor.

I've noticed another little sprout becoming a bit big for his britches. That would be my wonderful son. Very soon, the not so little guy will be 4.

4 years old.

A dear friend and fellow blogger has told me that it is not the "Terrible Twos" rather its the "F#cking Fours".

Fabulous.

If the "F#cking Fours" comes with a whole pile of defiance, excuses, "But, Mom, I just...", an unnatural obsession with Hide 'n Seek, and flailing temper tantrums... I think we've hit it. Not that I want to speak such an awful phrase over my child, and I really hope he proves it wrong, but I guess, I'm just being honest. His next year of growth is going to be a stretching one, for me and him. Grace. I choose to focus on that word this coming year.

The last but definitely not least area of growth that I am witnessing in my life would be myself. My belly to be exact. No, I didn't over indulge in an extra large dinner. We are welcoming a new little sprout to the family! Well, we've been welcoming it for the last 19wks to be exact! This is my first official world wide web announcement of the little sprout. I've actually really enjoyed the anonymity of not announcing it to the entire world of the internet. Sometimes I feel like our lives are so easily on display, I really enjoyed keeping this special secret to myself. Don't get me wrong.. lots of people know! But its been much more fun telling them in person and letting the preverbal grapevine do its work then announcing it on Facebook. Part of me toyed with the idea of never making a world wide web announcement, but its getting harder and harder to not talk about the lil'sprout the more it grows. This pregnancy has been very easy for me, so easy that I would easily forget. Now that the belly is growing, its harder to forget, and there is a joy that comes while talking about it. I also realized that in my need to keep this journey close to my heart, I have no pictures or documentation of the journey. What a difference from the first time!!

So here, with out further ado, is the very first belly picture of Sprout:

Yes, I am definitely surrounded by growth. In and around me. I am constantly amazed at how life works, bends and shifts, curves and moves. Beautiful, really.