Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Some changes are happening at our house, starting with a new backyard!  Sodding a yard sounds easy enough, but there was A LOT of work that needed to be done.  Bryon did most of this himself (willingly).  As soon as we got back from our trip, he dedicated each night after work to prepping the backyard for new grass.  Here is what we started with.  Looks nice enough, but it's mostly dirt and completely floods every time it rains.

First he removed the grass with a kick-type cutter, followed by tilling and leveling what was pre-existing...

Then he brought in 8 cubic yards of dirt and re-leveled it all so that we won't have a swamp in our backyard when it rains...

Then came the sod.  You know, Zoysia, the best sod you can buy in Louisiana.  THIS sod:

Since when does sod arrive looking like it's already dead?  Must be a regional thing (in addition to not rolling the sod).  We seriously placed the sod piece by piece like we had pallets full of carpet remnants.

On to watering, watering and more watering! Bryon has me on a strick schedule when it comes to keeping the backyard moist.  We've now completed 10 consecutive days of watering.  Things are just finally starting to green up (doubt we'll ever have the soft, plush grass of the Midwest though)!  We're moving on to watering every other day for the next 10 days - followed by 10 days of watering every 3rd day.  Mulch, etc. is at a standstill for right now, but that doesn't bother me one bit!  I simply can't wait to finally be able to walk back there and have a place for Kira and Maks to play!

(Finished product picture to come when the watering is complete, the grass has taken root and everything is nice and GREEN.)

4th of July came and went.  We visited the Farmer's Market in the morning and spent the afternoon at the pool.  We didn't do any fireworks, but nearly everybody on our street did!  Luckily, our little boy slept like a rock.  In bed at 6:15pm and didn't wake up until 6am (just like usual).  Happy 4th of July to us!

Red, white and blue!

Is anything else new around here?  Sure!  Grandpa Ralph has arrived (sold his business, is officially on retirement and is staying with us for now) and is keeping the conversations going each and every night.  3 boys in my house...3 boys who are carbon copies of one another.  HELP!  This is WAY more than I thought I was signing up for when I got married!  Kira and I have our fingers crossed that Baby #2 shares our XX chromosomes to even things out!

Final change in store for us?  We'll be moving to Tampa, FL in November.  We can't wait to get to the Sunshine State; Maks is ready and already has his tan!  Warm weather, beaches, amusement parks, aquariums (Disney and Sea World are only an hour away, too!)...need I say more?  Book your flights and pack your bags!  We're already taking reservations for visitors!