Hmm, I wonder.....

I've been bad. That's all I'm going to say....but along those lines wondering if I can shove my piercings back in after a year and a half. I miss them. I'll post updates if I can shove those puppies back in.

Love Letter

Dear Autumn,
Today was no special anniversary. It wasn't your birthday or the first time you said a new word. Today was a normal day, we went to breakfast and then to the pumpkin patch. And today I want to tell you how much you mean to me. My life is infinitely better than I ever would have imagined because of you. I would not trade one hair on your head for anything in this world. I love how you so easily took to sleeping through the night. I love how you think it's hilarious when you feed me. I love how you can eat a whole slice of pizza from Dion's. I love how you stop and dance whenever you hear any music, even the news theme. I love how you repeat after me and try to say so many things. I love the way you quack like a duck. I love the feel of your little hands pulling up my shirt to poke my still mushy belly. I can't live without your head leaning on me when I read you stories at night. I am amazed that your favorite toys are books. You are a ham and a flirt and the best thing I could ever imagine. There is no one in the world like you and I am so proud you are my daughter. I can't say it enough, I love you Autumn Nicole!

We have a winner!

Autumn won first place in her age group for Beauty! Yay! She's also second most photogenic for her age group. She gets a trophy and gets to vie for Little Miss NM Baby Pageant! Pretty girl!

A weekend to myself (sorta)

Jimmie left town Friday before I got home from work and has yet to return. He went to haul dead animals off the mountain for his dad. So I went S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G!!! I bought fabric to make nursing covers, a Halloween Tshirt for me and Christmas lights for the house (yes, I'm that far ahead of myself....truth is, last year I wanted LED icicle lights but couldn't find them so I snatched them up when I found them) I also bought two books, Twilight and New Moon. I literally devoured Twilight, I lay down to read it Saturday night and was up until 2AM. I finished it yesterday evening and started New Moon. Sunday was also the Beauty Pageant, Autumn was very cute and we even saw one of her friends from our old nursing support group. Autumn gave her a kiss, it was very cute. I don't think the mom remembered me though. That seems to be a common occurance, though, apparently I'm very forgettable. Pictures of Autumn in her pageant dress. (Look familiar Nicole?)

At home before the pageant:

She wanted me to wear her hat, so here it is!

On stage trying to make a run for it!

Beauty Contest Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the beauty portion of the New Mexico Baby Pageant. Wish Autumn luck! If she wins she gets a trophy! How fun!

I love when people have babies!

Aside from the diaper cakes I decided it was time to start making nursing covers. These are similar to the Bebe Au Lait/Hooter Hiders that cost $60. My first one took a little while but now that I've figured out exactly what to do I think they will go faster. Here's the first one I made, for my co-worker having a boy due in less than a month.
Also comes with a carrying bag that matches. I'm selling these too! A few of the fabric swatches I have are below. Let me know if you want one!

Not napping

Autumn is usually a great sleeper. Napping has never really been a problem until she started sleeping in her own crib. She will sleep from 9:30PM to 9:30AM. She used to nap after lunch for a couple of hours. The last week or so she hasn't been napping after lunch. She'll nap from 3-5 or so. I suppose it's because of her nighttime sleeping hours but if I want to get something done it's very hard to wait that long. Like for instance today I was planning on cleaning up the table and my desk and as soon as I got her to sleep in comes my mom and the dog. Dang it! She's been in her crib for an hour now not sleeping but not complaining either. And I haven't gotten anything cleaned at all.

Today she also did her first art, some fingrepainting. She wasn't sure about it at first and then took it literally and painted my finger! Here are some pics:

Hmm, what is this stuff?

Good thing this is non-toxic mom!

Fingerpainting taken literally

Serious artiste at work, do not disturb!

Finished masterpiece

Not mommy related

I got my teaching license on Friday. I'm excited and scared because now I know somewhat what to expect with teaching. I know it will be hard and lots of work but it's nothing like what I do now. Every day now just wears on me and I get physically sick to my stomach before going to work. That's terrible and no one should have to do that. My father is upset and says "You wasted a whole year of your life" whereas this time last year he was pushing and pushing me to get my license and teach. He's as fickle as I am. I've put in my application with APS and I'm answering the essay RRPS asks in their application. Probably will also apply with LLPS. I'm not decided on if I will sub or try for a regular classroom, I'll probably have better luck with the subbing department for now.

On a mommy-related note, today was the first contest for the New Mexico Baby Pageant. It was a photo contest and I entered this picture:

We'll get the results after the next two contests. Next week is the beauty contest and the week after is the costume contest. I think she was the cutest baby there, and by far the blondest.

Balloon Glow

Last night we went to the Special Shapes Glowdeo. For those not familiar with that it's when the special shapes balloons inflate at night and light their burners to make them glow. Pretty neat stuff. Autumn was thoroughly fascinated and kept pointing at the balloons saying "up" which is her newest word. She loved the fireworks aftershow too, saying "Oooh" for the first time and then over and over. It was darned cute. Here are some pictures of the balloons:



And one of Autumn sitting in front of the pig, you just can't see the pig:

A job hunt

You may know that I am NOT a fan of my newest job, dispatching for the police. It's frantic and the hours are awful. I don't expect to have a holiday off for several years and it will probably take about 15 before I can get one weekend day off. It's not as much fun as I thought it would be. So I'm looking for a new job. I've applied as a teacher with the city, I've sent in my paperwork for licensure for teaching with APS or RRPS, I've applied at tutor.com and Sylvan learning center, and also at the Bell Group. I'm desperately hoping I get interviews somewhere this week. I don't know how much longer I can do this, it's really wearing on me.

What quacks like a duck?

Autumn does. It's one of the first noises she makes in the morning and she's quite good at it. She doesn't say "quack" but makes a throaty noise that sounds just like a duck. She also knows where airplanes are and points to them anytime we go outside.
The big news of the week is that she's been sleeping in her own bed for five nights now. I didn't openly share that we were bed-sharing because I know a lot of people frown on it but she's been sleeping with us since she was born with some nights in her co-sleeper. She's definitely outgrown that and I'd had enough hair-pulling and groin kicking so I reluctantly put her in her crib. She did wonderfully, she puts herself to sleep and sleeps for almost 12 hours! She's such a big girl now.

A potty disaster

This is from September 25.....Autumn usually squats and poops when I'm on the toilet AND she's started bringing me diapers when she's dirty. I figured it was time to at least start the idea of sitting on the potty. So out I went to buy a potty today, got home, fed Autumn lunch and afterward put her on the potty, all the while modeling what she should do on the big potty. I even turned the water on to help her pee. Well, she had enough after about 10 seconds but I still wasn't finished. She ran out of the bathroom, peed all over the floor in the hallway and then stepped in it. I grabbed her and cleaned up her shoe and the floor and while she was watching me throw the toilet paper from cleaning the pee up in the toilet she peed on the floor in the bathroom. ARGH! But wait, I'm not finished yet! As she's walking in to the bedroom to get her diaper changed she squats and poops all over her shoes! Not a bit on the floor, just her shoes. This required a change of clothes for both of us, changing the changing pad cover, and cleaning the shoes with disinfecting wipes.
I think I'll put the potty in the closet for a while. She's obviously not ready for peeing on the potty.