Birthday, Beds and Buffets

I haven't really been in a bloggy mood lately. I'm still not entirely, but I have pictures to share. A goal of mine is to take care of all computer business (aside from looking up recipes) when Raegan is sleeping. That means I have three time slots in which to do so:
1) Early morning...not so great at waking up early these days as much as I want to. I'm not sleeping very well at night (hello 3rd trimester! Where you are unable to breath, find a comfy position, ignore the baby tap dancing late into the night, 2 and 4 am pee dates, and those wonderful leg cramps that jolt you out of a deep sleep and have you hopping next to the bed ~ I will miss it all, though! Truly!)
2) During her nap...I'm usually cleaning or catching a nap myself during this time
3) After she goes to bed...I like spending time with my husband and I have been trying to write more, so I don't let myself linger anywhere but my story.
Anyway. I also feel like I don't have much to say. So here are some pictures from our week...we've been busy!

This flower bed has been driving me nuts since we moved in! But thanks to a birthday present for Richard (boy am I glad he was thinking when he made his list to the parents!) we were able to transform the flower beds in our front yard.


I know it doesn't look like much, but these plants all spread and flower and will basically just fill in all that space...eventually. I can't stop staring at this area!

The middle bush has been there since we moved in and this flower bed hasn't bothered me too much. It's bare, but it's not bad. We added two bushes that should fill it out through the next few years.


Awful picture, but we don't really have family ones, so here you go. It was Richard's birthday on Thursday - 29! I made round steaks with a teriyaki-pineapple glaze, garlic knots, veggies and Crazy Cake for dessert. Yum!

Raegan was having a cranky night, but was gracious enough to give Daddy some birthday love. I love watching these two together. They are so in love!

Richard was in training all week so he worked 7 straight days. We thought he would be working until 7 or 8 each night, but thankfully he was home no later than 6 most nights. Raegan was sick this week and I have been unusually tired. Bone tired. But by afternoon I would be in the mood to cook so we had some scrumptious meals this week. I got this recipe for Lasagna Rolls from the Food Network's Giada. They weren't bad. I think I had more fun making them than I did eating them! We had rosemary focaccia along with these rolls and it was nice to know I can deliver restaurant quality Italian...sort of :) I also made pizza dough doughnuts from the same show. They didn't last long!
For Richard's birthday dinner with my family I made my sister-in-law's Horseradish Pork Roast and it was incredible! I made my favorite rolls (Golden Crescents) and Richard requested Brownies and ice cream for dessert. I had to work hard to not be offended! Out of all the things I can (and love to!) bake, the man requests brownies! I have never made brownies that taste better than the $.98 box from the store, so my parents took care of dessert and we all had a great night together.
That's all. Nothing exciting. Not even amazing pictures. It rained most of last week, so we didn't get out the pool until today and I left the camera inside. It was as wonderful as I imagined! Like our own little tropical paradise!
Well, I'm off to write some more. I've been letting some things marinate for a few days and it's time to put it to paper.