Making my house MINE

We have been in our house now for just over a year and I feel like it is actually becoming our home, not just A home, if that makes sense.  We haven't painted any rooms, done any remodeling or anything drastic yet (and we do have plans to) but we have done little things to make it ours.  

The front of the house, last year

 My planting bed now, after my efforts

I have absolutely come to love playing in the dirt!  I am so surprised at how much gardening makes me feel calm and relaxed.  I'm hoping my planting bed next spring will look like the picture above!  Where the front of the house was just covered in bushes, I trimmed up the two main shrubs and let them anchor the planting bed.  There was another bush in between the those two but I yanked it and instead I planted some gladiolas for height and color and then some hostas to hopefully grow in as cover.  I also just planted some tulips so that hopefully next year, from spring through later summer, I'll have lots of colorful flowers!  I am debating pulling the shrubs that anchor the bed and replacing them with hydrangeas; currently I want to but I don't know a thing about hydrangeas except how much I love them and don't know how well they will do in mostly shade, how to take care of them, etc.

  

My garden corner, with my crazy tomatoes! 

 Spinach, Lettuce and Cilantro from earlier this summer

(See Moco in the background, still crying over him)

This spring I planted my first in-ground garden and it is doing wonderfully!  I have container-gardened for about five or so years, starting back when we lived in our apartment in West Valley but have longed for the day when I can get in the dirt and play.  I have had very good luck with my tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, lettuce and spinach.  My green chile plants only produced one chile so far, but I'm holding out hope that I will get more.  I thought I planted a jalapeno plant but it's some kind of small chile and that is doing well, just not what I wanted.  My strawberries have been...eh, but i didn't expect a big crop this year.  My cantaloupe have flowered like crazy but no cantaloupes on the vines yet.  The only plant that hasn't done really well have been my corn and I blame my squash and zucchini plants for blocking out water and sun; also probably the same problem for my chiles as well.  I have re-evaluated what I will buy next spring for my garden and where I will plant my plants as well.  I will probably add raspberry bushes next year and I might try my hand at some asparagus but not sure yet.

  

I have changed out my front porch planters several times this year and think I finally hit on the one I'm going to keep for a while.  I have porch rail planters and instead of trying to keep it all flowers and replacing them as they die, I planted several perrenial plants and then placed a few pansies in there for color.  The good news is that I don't have to replace a whole planter if I kill the flowers (or more correctly, when I kill the flowers).  

Are either of my gardens showcase worthy?  Not even close, but they make me happy and they give me food.  By putting the time and effort into these areas I am feeling immensely proud of my achievements and my house makes me proud!  I still want to paint the front door blue and have to work on Casey to get him to a) agree to such a bright color and b) actually paint it for me (the door is 9 feet tall and he is much closer to that height than I am, ergo, he will have an easier time painting, right?).  I want to add wall baskets under the lights on the sides of the garage next year as well.  Oh, if I paint the door, I want to paint the shutters on the house to match as well...making my house mine is a never ending list of wants but I'll take it!

Breaking my heart daily

Wes is down to one nap a day.  I need that nap time just as much as he does, if not just to shower or sit a minute and relax.  Gone are the days of his 2 two-hour naps; I am lucky now if his naps last more than hour.
Just because he needs a nap doesn't mean that he wants to nap.  He is pretty tired come two every afternoon and that is when I put him in his bed.  But he fights it, oh how he fights!
I used to lay him down with his movies and he would fall asleep watching them.  But now he forced himself to stay awake and then he is a grouchy bear until bedtime. 
Our routine stays with me asking him if he knows what time it is, which he does as he immediately asks for his moo-ie, or iPhone with his movies.  He doesn't get it anymore so I distract him while we walk to his bed.  We grab a couple of toys to take with him, I have him grab his binky (because I only fight one bake at a time) and then tuck him into bed.
This doesn't seem that bad except when he isn't ready to go take a nap (which is about 80% of the time) he flops down, screams and cries, and kicks and hits anything in his path.  Once in bed, he gator rolls out of my arms to avoid getting tucked in.  I give his tours and silkies, kiss him and tell him I love him and leave.
That's when the real show begins.  He is immediately at his door, banging and kicking at it, all the while crying and screaming “MOMMMMY!  MOMMY!" He'll drag all of his blankets out of bed and pile them in from of his door and make a nest where he will continue to freak out for the next 15-20 minutes. 
Sometimes I'll go in there and try to calm him down, by singing to him and holding him but then that leads to more problems.  I can't leave him unless he is completely out and if he feels me shift to get up our hearts the floor creak, he wakes up and it all starts again.
Instead, I sit out in the living room and eat my lunch and feel guilty for insisting on this daily trauma.  I know he needs it and after the storm he's out, but what a heartwrenching storm it is.  The cries, the pounding in the door, the “MOMMY, I'm crying!"- how does anyone with a heart not react to that?