Don't hate me because I photoshop

Could i be any worse at blogging lately? Ummm...probably not.

So let me keep this short and sweet:

Christmas was wonderful! Reese had a great time opening gifts and endlessly plays with all her new goods. We enjoyed wonderful company and I had 10 days off! It really was great.

Reese turned 9 months on New Years Eve! And even started crawling just two days before that. She is on the move, and stands up at any chance she gets now. She will hold onto just about anything to get a better view from the top. It's so fun!

She also got pretty sick the week i went back to work (of course) and is finally on the road to recovery.

Next up: It feels like a first tooth! I just put my finger on her bottom gums tonight and feel a little bump just the size of a baby tooth ;) I'm sure we have some rough nights ahead thanks to that tooth, but it's all fun to watch.

As for Photoshop...well...i can't stop. It doesn't help that my wonderful husband bought me a new 23" computer monitor so I can see better as i "create." Here are a couple of things i've done lately:

I'm contemplating posting them on a site where you can sell handmade items. Not sure yet. I'm a bit gun shy. We'll see.

More to come...i swear (errrr....i know)

xoxoxo

I have nothing

I totally suck at this blogging thing lately. Totally, totally suck.

Let's see...

I've literally been spending most all of my nights on Photoshop. Pitiful, i know. BUT, i was so in need of a hobby so I'm glad it seems to be filling that empty space these days.

Work has been pretty busy now that I'm in full planning and designing mode for 2010. We also hired someone new to our team so I'm trying to keep his plate full while getting him accustomed to the group and how we do things. The whole idea of hiring Justin is to give me more time back at the office...instead of pulling 12 hour days at the hotel when we do have a program on the calendar. As much as i love meeting new people and spending time out of the office, it's just getting to be too much with a baby at home. Leaving at 6 a.m. and getting home at 9 p.m. is exhausting. Unless i wanted to stay overnight for three days, which i don't, then leaving at the arse crack of dawn and getting home way past bedtime is the only option. Now with Justin on our team, I'm hoping i won't be pulling those kind of weeks throughout the year. Time will tell.

I just can't believe for one minute that Christmas is a week from this Friday. When did that happen?!?! I'm not totally done shopping, but pretty darn close. I also sealed all of our Xmas card envelopes today and stamped half of them. Now the hardest part...getting to the post office to buy more stamps. Ugh. I hate the post office. Kerri knows this all too well, as I've had clothes for TJ for weeks now, that at this point he'll be using to dress some sort of boyish doll one day. Although, knowing Tim, TJ will never own any kind of doll. Ever ;)

Since i hardly took any vacation days prior to my maternity leave i came back to about 22 of them!!! I've been able to knock it down to about 13 with the holidays and shopping days. So tomorrow is one of my days off, but it's also my office holiday party. The girl coordinating it asked if i would come and bring Reese with me, to which i thought "Sure, what the heck!" It won't be the most fun since the drive is sooooooo loooooooooong. Hopefully i can time it somewhat right and it will allow Reese to nap a bit. We'll see how it goes.

Reese had her 8 month appointment yesterday, even though she's just about 8 1/2 months old! She weighed in at a whopping 18 pounds 12 ounces and she's 28 inches long. She got two more shots, which she was so not happy about. In fact, she cried before the doctor even put the needle in her chubby thigh. She just knows now. It's pretty amazing how intuitive they can be at such a young age.

She's also pulling herself onto everything she can. Standing like crazy! Yesterday i was getting dressed in our bedroom. I sat Reese in front of the laundry basket as she usually likes to unfold all the clean laundry as a form of entertainment. I turned my head for one second, and when i looked at her again there she was standing tall and so proud of her little self! Tonight she even stood up and let go of me, holding a book! The kid is fearless. She has scratches on her face to prove it! Her newest daredevil move is standing herself out of the bath seat she has. Not cool. The tub is just a whole other level of danger. It scares the crap out of me.

So, i guess that's all for now. Hoping for a fun and easy day at the holiday party. Back to work Tuesday through Thursday and off again on Friday to use up some more vacation!

Kerri - if i could pass them along to you i would!

My Name is Kim, and I'm a Photoshopaholic

To my very small, small population of readers:

Please do not be fooled. Although i have neglected to update my blog in quite some time i can't lie - i've been on the computer every single night, up to wee hours, addicted to my new hobby.

Here's what i've been working on:

That's right...i'm ADDICTED to Photoshop. I've always had the urge to learn how to use it to create logos, holiday cards, birth announcements, save-the-dates...you get the picture. I finally bit the bullet and started teaching myself how to use it! I've spent hours upon hours doing it and in the meantime have been given the chance to design a couple of cards for other people, including the first one shown above. Hillary did a photo shoot a couple of weeks back for a family who wanted a card made. I made the card and sent it over to Hillary having no expectations of them using it at all. Turns out they love it!

The one i made with Reese in it was something i actually saw on Shutterfly. I thought the design was so cute, so i tried copying it as best i could.

I Also made Hillary a logo (or MANY i should say) that she's actually now using!

SO, as i said, i'm on the computer these days, but it's spent trying to put my creative juices to work :)

More interesting updates soon!

Regrets

So as i type this Nathan is on his way to California for Thanksgiving.

Since i had been SO confident in our decision to not take Reese i hadn't really thought about being upset that Nathan was still going. I figured it would be like any other time that we were apart for one reason or another.

I was wrong.

I'm SO stinkin' sad about the whole thing - especially now that he is in route and we're not. Don't get me wrong, i'm not second guessing our decision, because i really do think we made the right one, but the whole thing just SUCKS arse.

A part of me was really looking forward to traveling together (and a big part of me was dreading the first plane ride with an 8 month old) as a family. The bigger part of me was just looking forward to being back in California since we seem to miss it a lot lately. Nathan called from the airport and said it was really empty which just irked me since i kept assuming it was going to be ridiculously crowded which would make bringing the baby even more dreadful. So i was wrong there.

I'm already thinking of when we'll re-use our tickets and fly out (hopefully in the spring). I want Reese to be a traveler most definitely, but the older they get the harder it is for some time at least, since they become more and more mobile. I guess we'll just have to get creative when we do fly with her on how to keep her busy.

I never wanted to be one of those parents who seemed "too careful" (although i'm not sure that really is ever possible when you're responsible for another life), and i know that some people think i was totally ridiculous for making the decision that i (we) made. What i have to remind myself is this: Making the decision to not fly with Reese during one of the worst flu seasons in history was solely based on that fact and that fact alone. It's bad right now. Was it guaranteed that she would get the flu? I don't know. Was it guaranteed she wouldn't? I don't know. What i do know is I stand by my decision to protect her in the best way i could. It has NOTHING to do with not wanting to go to California (quite the contrary, in fact), and it has nothing to do with being over protective. I do think kids should travel and be brought up in an environment where they can learn to "go with the flow" (although i've learned quickly that children don't understand that motto). But if traveling across the country and going with the flow means risking her health right now - then i won't live that way.

So while i don't regret not going, i regret assuming that this week would be easy for me. I regret convincing myself that i wouldn't be sad, or cry a little, when my husband left without us to take a trip that, as a family, we were supposed to take.

Now i'm trying to focus on enjoying the next 5 days off with my baby girl and fit in some much needed quality time.

So, until spring, California - here's to my husband flying with angels and returning home safely to his two girls who miss him tons already!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Be thankful for everything you have as there is always someone who has it worse then you.

Bad Blogger

That's what i am lately.

Life has taken on...well...a life of it's own. It seems more and more lately that i'm fighting to "beat the clock" so to speak on the weekends and at night. I just can't get it all done, and unfortunately the stuff i enjoy doing, and want to do, just gets put at the bottom of the list.

Sheesh. I have SO many random thoughts right now it's ridiculous, but i'll spare you all too much randomness this time.

I think Reese may be getting a tooth or two very soon. She just seems to be doing some odd things with her mouth lately, and she's constantly rubbing her bottom gums with her fingers now. She's also waking up at random times in the middle of night. I watch her through the monitor (baby registry tip: the video baby monitor is a MUST), and she just seems to be uncomfortable. I usually let her figure it out on her own, but obviously i'll go in there if she starts screaming and seems to be in discomfort. Any chance i get to spend time with her, even if it's rocking her at 2 a.m., is a chance i'll take these days.

She's also figured out how to tuck her knees underneath her when she's on her belly, so i think we may be on our way to crawling. Right now she doesn't get up on all fours quite yet. She actually scoots herself onto her toes, butt in the air, and pushes her body forward to get to something now. It's so funny. And she's insistent upon pulling herself into a standing position on everything she can. She also seems to get the whole walking concept lately. When she seems antsy i'll stand up with her and hold her hands and she "walks" in front of me - and she actually puts one foot in front of the other now. Granted she looks like she got into Daddy's mini fridge downstairs...but she's getting it nonetheless.

Work is work. Enough said.

Nate leaves for California on Wednesday. Although we were all supposed to stay for 10 days, he changed his ticket and will be coming home on Tuesday instead, so i'll only be home alone with Reese for a week. I took off Wednesday and Friday of next week so i get to spend 5 days off with her. I'm so excited, but i know from the last time Nate went out of town that doing it all by yourself for multiple days in a row is exhausting. I've said it before and i'll say it again - i honestly don't know how single mothers and fathers do it. My respect for them grows more and more every day.

And a little follow up from last week's chaos: I stopped taking the Flomax. It wasn't allowing me to nurse anymore and as ok as i would be with Reese not doing it anymore at all, i just remember how hard i worked to do it and figure why not keep at it a little longer. Nate feels pretty strongly that i should stop soon. Something tells me once she does break a tooth i'll feel the same way. Until then, she's nursing once in the morning and once before bed. She gets two bottles of formula at Kathi's (by the way - formula is a fortune...and even the largest container goes fast).

I think i passed my stone. It must have broken up since i didn't really feel it make it's exit and for that i'm grateful. RIP pet rock.

I'm off to bed.

I promise to catch up on some recipe posting this weekend too!

Papa was a rollin' stone...

And, as it turns out, so are my kidneys.

On Monday morning i was minding my own business, playing with Reese on the floor when i was struck by the wrath of what turned out to be kidney stones.

It came on SO quickly i didn't even know what was happening. First my back hurt, then it started shooting into the lower right portion of my stomach. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. The pain was ridunkulous. Seriously.

I said to Nate "Ugh - my back really, really hurts." He just kinda looked at me like "Yeah - what do you want me to do?!?" In his defense, i didn't want to make a big deal out of it, since i didn't know what was going on. Then, while he ran to the restroom to brush his teeth, Reese started whining and reaching for me so i went to pick her up. I literally was hunched over carrying her down the hall to Nate - and once i handed her off I feel right to my knees. At that point i said "call an ambulance!' which is crazy to me because never, have i ever, taken a ride in an ambulance or (thankfully) felt that i was in enough pain/danger to need to. But this, oh yes, this was different.

In the meantime Nate called John who drove right over and ended up taking me to the ER. It's right around the corner from our house so he got me there way faster then the ambulance would have. Of course this also had to be the morning where Reese had another doctors appointment since she had yet another ear infection.

Fast forward to the first round of pain meds that didn't do a damn thing, then the morphine (ahhh), then the cat scan, xray and blood work. 8 hours later, and convincing them to not make me stay overnight, and i was on my way home.

And that's where I've been ever since, straining my urine, waiting to catch my pet rock.

Reese is nursing her second ear infection in two weeks, but thankfully the meds seem to be helping so far.

So, in a nutshell, it's been a great week at the Albano household...and it's only Wednesday. Ahhh...how i only hope the rest of the week can be just as exciting.

And have i mentioned that I'm over this whole work gig? Shame on me - since the unemployment rate is currently at it's highest in years. But it's not about that - it's about wanting to be home with my daughter. The daughter who now claps her hands after she does anything at all. And guess who taught her that? Kathi. Not me. Kathi.

Sucks.

SCORE!

I'm home alone tonight....well Reese is here too, but she's sleeping already. Nate is off to the St. Peter's Prep football game to watch Ralf play in the "big game." I was supposed to go too, but ended up not having a babysitter so here i am, sitting on the couch.

The good news? There's a marathon of "Say Yes to the Dress" on TLC. Woot woot! I LOVE this show. I guess it just goes to show that i do really have an obsession with weddings.

I know. Loser.

In other news, i seem to have this major issue that won't go away. I think i might suffer from adult ADD. Seriously.

Ever since returning to work all I do is find myself not being able to focus on anything work related. I'll be on a conference call for an hour and the only thing that goes through my head over and over is "What the hell are we talking about?" or "SHIT! What did they just say?"

It totally sucks. I just can't concentrate. All I can think about is all the stuff that needs to get done in the house, or how i would rather be with Reese....or better yet spending money at the mall with Reese in tow all while someone cleans my house for me.

Huh.