Happy Halloween!

Winterbloom Makeover

For those of you have been to our house in the past year or so, you know that landscaping is not considered to be our strong point. But in full disclosure, it was never completely our fault as our contractors built our front yard on a pile of gravel and construction debris.

This fall, we decided that it was time to make our front yard pretty again. So we hired Phil Thornburg and his company Winterbloom, Inc. to redo our front yard. Check out Winterbloom's website at www.winterbloominc.com. We think he did a beautful job! The pictures don't do it justice.



Day One: Take out sod that remained and all the weeds. Also took out the majority of our existing plants. The two front trees were also trimmed (probably long over due). Brought big pile of rocks to the front yard.




Day Two: Cut rock path towards gate to back yard. Distribute big pile of rocks around the front yard. Finish rock path toward back yard.

Day Three: Finish job by planting lots and lots of plants. Also planted lots of bulbs that will make for a beautiful spring. Spread bark mulch around plants.

Business and Pleasure

This last weekend we got to enjoy some fun and family time in Sunriver since Adam needed to be there for a business conference on Monday. My parents joined us for a while, and Michaela, Kenji and I stuck around to enjoy some low-key recreating.

Below: Michaela kicking back and (not) watching football.

Tummy time!

Settling in Catan

Last Friday Adam and I had the chance to have our first "date-night" since Michaela was born. We dropped her off with her loving and anxious-to-babysit grandparents and enjoyed a dinner out, our conversation uninterrupted by the crying of our newborn. Then, after a short feeding stop for Michaela, we continued on to Travis and Kalina's home for a rousing game of "Settlers of Catan."

Now the thing about Settlers is that it's always a fun game in theory, but very frustrating when you actually play. This night was no different. Since dice are involved, when things aren't rolling your way, attitudes can go bad very quickly. "This game stinks!" or "This is a stupid game..." (muttered under one's breath) is frequently heard. In spite of it all, we enjoyed the company and Adam pulled out a victory. Travis had to mourn the loss of "Longest Road" title to me. For photos of our exploits, you'll have to check out Travis and Kalina's blog. We forgot our camera.

Happy 2-month-birthday to you...

Michaela turned two months old yesterday, so to celebrate, today we took her to see her pediatrician. For those of you interested in specifics, Michaela now weighs 10 pounds, 12 ounces and is 22.75 inches long. She was having great fun, not being encumbered by clothes and staring at the cute baby in the mirror next to her. She even seemed to enjoy socializing with her doctor, showing her smiles and amazing head control.


Then we had to go and ruin it all by letting her get poked in the legs for her vaccinations! She was not pleased. Though I will admit her cries sounded more pathetic than ragingly angry. In spite of that, the rest of our day has gone pretty well. She is more sleepy than normal, interrupted by periods of intense crying that burst out of nowhere. But hey - no one said it was easy growing older.


And of course - pictures:
Left: Proud Nana demonstrates burping techniques


Right: Big sister Kenji helps out during dinner by 'rocking' Michaela's car seat







Some folks call this a "nursing blister" but here in the Puckett household we have some pet names when the blister starts to peel: "redneck" (preferred by Adam) and "sabertooth" (preferred by Brook). All terms of endearment, of course.