Spring

Spring has sprung around here. Last fall, days before I broke my arm, I planted tulips, daffodils, and ranunculus bulbs on the top tier of our backyard. The daffodils bloomed first - and the tulips and ranunculus are on their way, too.I also planted some blackberry bushes last weekend. One of them already has a bud!In other projects, we've been cooking some, too. We've had this delicious roasted butternut squash soup twice now. Those are home-made pesto croutons and roasted squash seeds on top!I've also been doing a little baking. I made these chocolate chip bars (omitting the ginger, and adding some spicy hot chocolate). I also made these peanut butter cookies for Mike for Valentine's Day.And we've been having lots of no-knead bread. It starts out like this:
And ends up like this:For those concerned about my waistline, I want you to know that I've also started running again. I had been running in early November, but the broken arm forced me to take a little break. Then we needed a little time to figure out our schedule once Mike went back to work (and for me to build up the confidence to take Natalie out on my own). On days that aren't too sunny or windy or hot or cold, Natalie and I head out around the neighborhood. I walk/run, since pushing her in the stroller is quite the workout. (I've also had a few independent gym workouts to confirm that I am making progress!)The girl remains cute as ever.Her sitting is getting better, and she's started to be able to balance while standing. Here's a little video of her doing just that (make sure you have the volume up if you want to hear her squeal!):