It even has its own domain:

www.theprothros.com

He died.

It’s about the worst thing that can happen to a plant I guess. Winter had come and dried him out and we decided watering was a lost cause. After all, he was an annual and wouldn’t be coming back for another season. In honor of his memory, we left his dead carcass in its pot on our porch for several weeks. (Truth be told it was months and more because we were lazy–but that’s too embarrassing to write in the story.) Then one day it was time to say goodbye to Frank because people were coming over and we wanted the front porch to look nice. We moved his pot to the side of the house next to the trash can and the AC unit.

We forgot about Frank. His poor lifeless body was left neglected and alone on the side of our house. We passed him by and barely noticed him. That was until the day he commanded our attention.

Evan was out mowing the lawn  when he noticed tiny basil plants growing along the border of the AC unit. Frank had brought life after his death. It was a delicious thing. We dug up the seedlings and planted them on our front porch, but they haven’t been doing great. Dang Austin heat!! Then Evan noticed that more basil was growing by the AC unit. Tons of it in fact. I’m talking make-pesto-even-though-you-need-to-use-a-whole-bunch-of-basil tons! Frank was winning! Since its growth, we’ve given away two plants and we have about four still thriving on the side of our house.

I use fresh basil almost everyday now. And its all thanks to Frank’s dead limbs flowering around our AC unit. We’re thinking of planting a garden there now.

I guess the moral of the story is: being lazy with plants can get you lots of basil.

*Some names have been changed to protect the identities of those involved. 

poor dead Frank.

Frank's basil babies.

YUM. Recipe coming soon.

Also, I got a new lens. Fun.

I could spend time going into all the emotions of the weekend, but I’ll just leave it at this: she’s perfect and we’re blessed!

Here is a pic Evan snagged of her lounging in bed.

The whole thing has been surreal. We have never felt the blessing of the Lord more clearly in our lives and the truth of 1 Corinthians 2:9 has been abundantly evident in every arena of our lives for the past week. As Evan and I reflected over our stay at the hospital, we wouldn’t change anything. It was all perfect. I’m convinced the only thing you need for a perfect delivery are a healthy baby and an amazing husband. Evan was absolutely wonderful at the hospital. I fell so much more in love with him that day and haven’t stopped since Hadley arrived.  We were so loved and supported by our nurses, friends and family. It really has been dreamy.

Here are some pictures from the hospital. I never got out of bed to take pictures so I’m thankful someone was capturing the moments. (On a side note I think Hadley may throw me back into blogging the way pregnancy seemed to through me out of it. I’m excited about that.) I’ve already got pictures ready for the next blog so that’s fun.

Right after getting admitted. When I called that morning, the nurse insisted I come immediately I told her I was doing great and would come by later. We went back and forth with that three times. Then she told me I NEEDED to come in so she won.

The admit baby button made everything seem so simple.

Meeting her for the first time.

Getting all her tests done.

Her anklet says my name.

My favorite. Love those inky toes.

Getting her weighed.

Meeting her Gigi.

Meeting her aunt Jess.

She loves being in Rebecca's arms. Good thing because Rebecca loves babies.

Oh Wes. Oh Wes.

Meeting Uncle Wes and Aunt Sheridan.

Getting to watch Sawyer meet her was maybe my favorite.

I'm excited for them to grow up together.

Wrapped around my finger.

Me and my girl.

Packing up to head home, we got our first real cries. She warmed up to the carseat pretty quickly though. Is it bad that I thought this was funny?