Little Voices

I've been busy planting and planting and planting. I think I'm getting close to having everything in the ground! Everything that has been shipped and has survived the trip, that is. There are a few disappointments--a couple plants arrived looking more than traumatized and are now in hospice care. I have strong doubts about their future but am giving them the best chance possible, anyway. It's already getting too late in the season to have them replaced, so there will be some empty spots. (If I can keep myself away from the local nurseries!) I also apparently ordered a good number of bare root plants. I had no idea if I was planting them correctly. Now there are lots of spots in the flower bed being marked by sticks that I dearly hope little green shoots start growing out of soon. And I'm worried about my bare root rose...no signs of growth at all yet. But overall, the flower bed has lots of baby green plants growing in it now! I will post a picture when we get the bark mulch laid. But I actually didn't mean to ramble on so much about the garden...

Last week a friend and her daughter visited us. The daughter is about Katya's age and Katya was thrilled to have someone her size around. After they left it was like Katya's communication efforts and skills tripled. She had so much to say. I just have to share this conversation she had with Brent on Sunday:

When he first walked into her room that morning the first thing she said was "Bath?"

Brent: "No, we'll have breakfast first."

Katya: "No bath."

A few minutes later as he was changing her diaper she made a list: "Snack? Bath? Tights? Dress? Church?" After Brent picked his jaw up from the floor over her putting so many words together and in the correct order, he answered in the affirmative. A pause. "Church day! Dress day!"

Our little girl is growing up.

Here are a few pictures we took of her that day: