Spark's garden and garlic planted!!

Looks like I'll slip in one more blog post before this little gal decides her time has arrived to emerge!  She sure has a good number of people sitting on the edge of their seats, eagerly anticipating meeting her (and learning what they might call her other than "Spark").  I'm trying to not absorb the enthusiasm and excitement around me as pressure to make something happen.  It is quite clear that this baby will come when she is ready and she seems to be working towards readiness (over 3cm dilated at the midwife check today and about 90% effaced, for those that this means something to). All those on the outside of the womb who are chiming in seem to think tomorrow would be perfect, and it is her due date after all!  My goal is to live into each moment as much as possible and so right now that means getting this blog post written while Jason collects eggs and then turning my attention to our last date night/sleepover before we enter the newborn-parenting season again.  The girls just headed off to aunt Emily and uncle Jonas' with as much enthusiasm as always (though Kali confirmed a few times that if I go into labor we will call and then even come get her if calling doesn't wake them). I promised!

Besides feeling rather physically crummy today it was a great day!  I've shifted to working from home and got my main inbox to zero yesterday and then worked through a few final outstanding projects folders today.  So I feel like I've tied things up about as much as I'm going to be able to for work.  I've got all the peppers we harvested "under control" with a few more batches fermenting and a few more bags chopped and in the freezer.  And the biggest success of the day on the home front is that the garlic is in!!  Jason was trying to pass off a lot of the credit for the preparation to rye and the chickens but I assure you he worked hard today!  He transformed the garlic field in a day's time, making beautiful rows for the rest of us to come along and plop garlic cloves into.  I think he would benefit from Spark at least giving him one more decent night's sleep - but I know he is eager enough to meet her that if she ruins his sleep tonight he will not hold it against her for a second!

The other thing we enjoyed doing as a family yesterday was starting Spark's garden.  Each of our girls have a garden area dedicated to them and in line with the theme of their name.  When we visited some relatives in Stuart's Draft a few months back we got some corkscrew willow starts and they are forming the basis for Spark's garden.  So yesterday Jason prepped 6 holes for the little tree starts and we each planted one, leaving two holes for the willows saved to plant with the placenta.  The goal is to train the trees to grow into a little turtle-shaped play area (no, we are not calling her "Turtle").  We'll see if it works, but it was a fun start!

Last evening my folks surprised our girls by coming over early, arriving around bedtime last night.  So the girls enjoyed going back and forth between upstairs and downstairs today.  They enjoyed making cookie owls with Grandma this morning.  I enjoyed getting a walk in with Mom today, before a needed nap.  And then we were all out together at the garlic field for a little this evening. I was sure to include a picture of Dad helping with the garlic, but also couldn't help but get a shot of what I think could be a common scene over the next few years - Jason with garden tool in hand and Dad with binoculars!  We are super eager for Dad to get his Tangly Woods' bird list started.  The birds will be happy to have him around more, as they are already flocking to the feeder he put up today.

Ok, eggs collected so I better get off this machine!