From an artistic perspective

this is just part of my current life...

coffee...unpainted toes...frumpy clothes

wine....bills....

library books for research stacked everywhere!

Making an effort to STOP!

This is the second thing in 24 hours to remind me to stop using my cell phone in the car -period. End of story. It has to stop. What's sad is that the truth is that we ALL know it's bad. It's a distraction. Last night I was watching Dateline that had a whole thing on cell phones. Made me sad on so many levels. And then, this morning, I read this blog and it's awfully sad to see what can happen when you're just looking for your phone, which I know I do sometimes, too:o( I hardly travel very far, so the phone calls, the texts, the wondering if I just left my phone at home...it can all WAIT! And if it can't? I better put my ass on the side of the road or pull into a parking lot. Also, I will learn to put it away when I should be spending more quality time with my family.

Honestly, I will quote a little boy last night from the television that said "I wish cell phones were never invented."

7 months!

Autumn is 7 months old! 7 going-on-17! Not really, but one of the greatest things about her lately is her attitude and personality. She's always had these wonderful faces like "What are you talking about?!" or "Who the heck are YOU?!" or even "You're crazy. I don't care if I came our of your vagina. I don't know you!" Lately though, her babble really lets you know how she's feeling. When she wants your attention she lets you know - by babbling REALLY LOUD. If you don't pay attention to her, she will babble louder and get progressively louder to the point where it's obnoxious and you feel like you're talking to a 5 years year old when you say, "My goodness! What is it child?!" Sometimes, especially when feeding, she's just "Wah! More! Now!" Daddy feeds her a lot these days while I clean up the kitchen from dinner or do some other chore. It's great listening to them spend this time together because she is so vocal and so is he! He talks to her and she just babbles right back! Melts my heart everytime. And occasionally makes me burst out laughing!

Physically, my child is strong. My hair will testify to that! The child can pull hair like there's no tomorrow. And when she's in my arms she has a tendency to grab the underside of the arm, the fatty part, and then squeeze and it hurt likes hell! My 7 month old can make me say, "Ow! That hurts!" Future bully in our midst?! Her legs are super strong as well. She's not crawling or walking, but she can stand against the couch and hold herself up while reaching for items on the couch. She has tried to pull herself up in her crib from the belly position. No success yet, but I think we'll be dropping the crib mattress soon.

In regards to her mobility, I LOVE this stage she's at. She is just the right amount of mobile. She loves independent play and being on the floor with her toys. She by NO means stays on the "play blanket" anymore, which means I'm vacuuming much more often to keep dog hair out of her digestive system. She rolls and scoots backwards and somehow just manages to get around her her toys. Occasionally she'll go back enough to get her feet underneath the couch. I just love the fact that she can get around and enjoys getting her toys by herself, but she's not mobile enough to the point where I'm blocking off sections of the house and afraid to leave the room for half a second lest she disappear. I know when she does learn to crawl, she will be fast and furious and I might lose her a time or two;o)

On her checkup on Friday she weighed 16 lbs! This is awesome news. She's not quite back up to 50%, but she's definitely above 25%. 16lbs is where she "should" have been last month. By 9 months she should just around 19 lbs. I think we're fully capable of doing this. She loves food, but with the schedule we're on and going by what she gained in the past month I feel confident that we're doing a great job at feeding her what she needs without over-feeding her. Percentiles are important to show that she is eating a balanced diet and growing properly, but I definitely do not want to stuff her full of food and start a bad habit of overfeeding.

What else has been going on? Autumn is doing an awesome job spending her Tuesday mornings
with Aunt Tara and her Thursday mornings with Aunt Becky. My time away from her has gotten easier and I know I'm always leaving her in good hands, but it's always nice to get her back. And yes, I still check in on her between classes!!!

The beginning of next month we'll be getting ready to go to the mountains for our annual NC Mtn. trip. Shawn and I are very excited to be making this trip with Autumn. We're excited to hike with her and take her to the aquarium in Gatlinburg. We are in dire need of a vacation!

That's about it. I see that I haven't actually missed too many posts....I guess you have all been busy, too!

It's thursday...

And I'm not being thankful. Awful I know. Not because I don't have anything to be thankful for, but my brain just isn't up to. Nope. I'm exhausted. Tomorrow's Friday, which means NO class:o) Work @1230! BUT...baby checkup @ 9am. Seriously. Who made THAT appointment? Me? ME?! WTF was I thinking.

Anywho...tonight I'm stripping diapers. As Autumn's Aunt Becky put it so lovely, "her diapers stink and are leaking" which means...time to strip! And man, I must be using too much detergent b/c I'm stripping her "clean" diapers and there's only about 4 of them right now. And I'm on my THIRD cycle of hot wash and there's still so many suds. Crap. And then I still have to wash the rest of her diapers and then strip those. What a long night I have ahead. ^*#^O#&%^#&$^*^(*&%(&^%

Yea.

In other news...my baby girl is 7 months today! I have an update to do, I know. She's getting so big and I love her smiles and her playfulness and her attitude (oh yea, she has one!) and just everything about her. Where does the time go?

PLEASE HELP!

I just recently found this "Stats" tab on my blog. And it's SOOOOO cool! The most fascinating part of it? See how far my blog has reached. I'm not a "big" blogger and I'm not out to become one - it's just not my thing and I really don't have the time, BUT, it's really cool seeing people from other countries have found this blog. I've reached...US (duh!), Canada, Japan, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, UK, Latvia & Taiwan!

And with this revelation of reaching so far across the world, I'd like to reach out for help! My good friend, Heidi, is trying to do the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, but she needs to raise $1800 before she's even allowed to walk! That's a LOT of money!!! She's already raised half...$900!!!!...with the help and generosity of some awesome people, but she still has $900 more to go. And time is running out! The walk is in...OCTOBER! AH! So, even if it's just $5 of $10, that money goes a long way to help those fighting breast cancer. She would REALLY appreciate your help! Thanks!

Here is her site to donate: http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR?px=5431976&fr_id=1980&pg=personal