Christmas Updates

So I know I said I was going to take a break from posting for Christmas and all, but I had to pop in with these photos of him!

He has got to be the most adorable child I have ever seen, he always has a smile, even if he's sick and he's always making faces!

He loves putting everything he gets his hands on into his mouith and gumming it to death. Well he actually has a few teeth...and by few I mean he has two. He got them last month and has been trying to put them to work as much as possible.

He is still standing and now he's starting to pull himself up from a sitting position as well as trying to crawl up the steps in the living room. I'm quite proud of this accomplishment. And as always, when he sees the flash on my phone he smiles for the camera.


What a camera ham right?!

I nearly had a heart attack when he started to reach out for this ornament...I was just glad he didn't fall back out of the present box! I am now working as a photographer at JC Penny's Portrait Studio and I got to have these pictures for free. I am so happy with how they came out in the end I had to share them with all of you. I am still attending school so that is why I haven't posted in a long while but I am still writing here and there when I get a bit of time between classes. Let's see what adding a job in the mix does for my writing abilities.

Short Break

So, since this is my first set of holidays as a mother, I've decided to take this month off from writing, and last month's NaNoWriMo kinda fell through the cracks with all of my finals coming up and the baby getting sick, which followed through with me getting sick...I'll post my Christmas Pictures if you post of yours/Hanukkah/Quanza/New Years.

NaNoWriMo

Okay...So I just found out all the information for this thing called "NaNoWriMo" or in full, National Novel Writing Month. Addison Moore, a fellow writer, talked about it on her twitter over and over which got me questioning what it was she was talking about. So I looked at google. Apparently, November is a time for people across the globe to start on a brand new project from scratch and write! Just write, no editing, no worries that things won't fit right, just throw things onto the page for your novel and reach 50,000 words by November 30, 2011 so that's what I'm doing right now. People gather into groups and encourage each other to write their books when they seem to be procrastinating and encourage them to get past "writer's block."

Who knows, maybe this will help me finish a manuscript and throw it onto Amazon to self-publish it? So I'll be devoting all the extra time I have to write towards this project for this whole month.

Stabbed in the Gut...

So I thought today was rather progressive. I have been diligently working on one of my series books through some of my classes and have made some good progress with them. Today I see that Melissa Marr and Kelly Armstrong have teamed up (which I was happy to hear since they have written some VERY grand books in my view) to write a series with werewolves...which also made me happy cause I love werewolves. I click the link given by Melissa via Twitter only to feel like I've been shoved off a writer's cliff cause their series has a lot of the same things in it...should I still write it or scrap it for another few years so that its not viewed as a ripoff? So lost and hurt and dazed by this, I'm kinda turned off to the all-nighter I had planned to work on said series. :( for now I'm going to shelf it and work on fixing the blog up again or ... just something-anything else....

Halloween

So baby is totally not feeling well. He has been puking quite a bit, but after a few hours at home and keeping down two meals just fine we have decided to go out trick-or-treating after all. He is so cute as a little bumble bee! And my Vampire husband looks good too. I'm a mixed breed of vampire bumble bee. My stingers are my teeth lol. 

I want to see your pictures! Send them and a story to me and maybe I'll even put you into one of the books!

Real Steal

Anthony and I just went to see it, can I just say AWESOME! He likes movies just as much as I do, and we both agree...this movie has like a zillion stars to it, I haven't seen a real passionate movie with a real story that sucks you in and draws your rawest emotions out in a VERY long time. I was happily crying along with the main characters. Now to just make my books like that!


Anthony is standing and doing the crab walk around the house furniture now. He even plays a bit of peek-a-boo when egged on...he's a real cutie.

Cooking

I can't cook at all....I never realy have and never really could. I've tried...a few times and no sucess... So I'm trying without hubby's prior knowledge or pressures from him. I think he's gonna like it..I've already had a few bites and it was rather good. Chicken casserole is simple enough to make, but I made sure to have a second pair of eyes watching everything I was doing. Oh and its the same friend who wanted to do Zumba...which fell through like I figured it would, but she is riding a bike back and forth to work so she is still exercising.

I'm attempting to write...I need to get better at this balancing thing....

Attack of the Flies!

So, I get up this morning...and as I'm getting ready for school there are like 5 flies zooming around the bathroom...I notice the odditiy but decide I have no time for it and quickly slap them into death with my fly swatter....I come home to a number somewhere near 100 flies that I have to kill one by one...I gave up on the swatter and moved onto raid. I'm already not feeling well as it is from the wedding, (everyone who went to my friend's wedding, including the bride and groom got sick) and now the flies are attacking. I called the office after vaccuming up the dead bodies from everywhere and they were going to send pest control tomorrow. I wish they would come out today, but apparetnly I'm not alone...they
are having the same issue next door so I'm told, at least I know that it isn't something wrong with our trash or anything. Luckily baby is already staying at my parent's house since both hubby and I are sick.


(Blogger must hate how many pictures I post...)

Weddings galore!

So a friend of mine's dad has an awesome digital SLR (single lense reflect) camera...for those of you who don't know that is the kind that have different lenses that are long and you turn them to zoom and focus. He asked me to go with him to do a wedding photoshoot and take pictures of the actual wedding and then after reviewing the photos decided he wants to try and make a buisness out of this! How awesome is that? I am having super amounts of fun with it, and my friend's wedding was also this month so he let me borrow his camera to take pictures of it.

Anthony dressed up in a onesie that had a tux print on it and looked adorable, but right before going out to drop him off so I could do pre-wedding pictures, I was rear-ended.....not so cool. Anthony's first car accident and it freaked me out like SUPER bad. He cried a bit but when the EMTs arrived he was smiling at them and giving a soft bit of a laugh...since he's not fully laughing yet. Here's hoping that this job is a real one! It would be so much easier for me to keep that as a job and get paid nicely for short bursts of work here and there.

First Cold

So Anthony now has had his first cold. We went to the Dr. office today and he weighed 14 pounds 3 ounces. And soon as this cold passes he will be starting rice cereal. He's growing up so fast! Just thought I'd drop you a personal note today. Lemmie know how yall are doing!

(Again with the side ways photos!!! GRRRR)
PS Side note is that i totally got a Kindle for my birthday! :D I'm loving it so much already!

Birthday & Anniversary!

Okay, so this month I not only have my birthday, but my anniversary so I'll be taking a short break from every and anything work style related.  Please know that I do try hard to write as much as possible but it has not been easy lately with baby blues and loads of baby needs. I will keep trying as soon as this month is over though. Promise!


(Again, blogger won't let me turn the picture...)
~TK Knox

Shout out to all the mothers out there!

So, breastfeeding can be very difficult for some mothers, and very easy for others. For me, it was simple and a no-brainer that I knew I was going to breastfeed him. I felt very discouraged though, when I was stuck with Mestitis (a small clog in the milk ducts that causes EXCRUCIATING pain when feeding your child and when coupled with a fever can lead to you drying up and no longer being able to breastfeed at all!) I didn't know if I could feed him while sick so we gave him formula for the first time. Let me be clear, I had it in my mind that I wouldn't ever feed him formula, so this was devistating to me. My mother encouraged me and helped me along the way though, and I was able to fight the issue and continue breastfeeding and didn't dry out. For that I'd like to say, "Thank You Mom." and remind you all that sometimes, we really do need to remember how much our mothers really do help us...even when we don't really notice.

(Does blogger just hate me that it doesn't want my pictures straight?)

Zumba!

So a friend of mine wants to loose weight, and I don't, but I do need to gather more stamina...I can barely handle walking around and holding baby for more than a few minutes at a time. So she bought the DVDs so that we could do Zumba at home. We'll see if it acutally sticks or not, but hey, here's trying right? Who knows, maybe this next school year I'll take some Phys Ed classes....Oh yeah! I'm enrolling in school this next semester so maybe in between classes I can write since I'll be away from Anthony.

(Anthony saying, You're gonna do WHAT mama?)

Harry P. and Baby Picutres

So I totally did a marathon with old high school friends starting on Monday with 1 & 2, Tuesday with 3 & 4 Wednsday with 5 & 6 and Thursday night at midnight we watched the double feature premier of parts one and two of book 7. Anthony tagged along as well, and the only thing that I can really complain about is that when he got hungry I totally set it up just fine to feed him, but he eats so loudly that I felt like all eyes were on me cause he just so happened to be eating while it got VERY quiet on screen....yeah I stepped out for a bit to finish feeding him before going back to my seat with a sleeping baby in my arms for all of the rest of part 1 and then the intermission and even through all of part 2. It was awesome!


On a different note, the picture to my side is of my little guy with a staged background. He's totally asleep but with his mouth open like that and his hand up he looks as though he's waving to a friend while swinging on the swing. We used a bath mat as the hill and grass, a bee that was on his mobile, a blanket for the tree leaves the tree trunk was a piece of material we hadn't sewn yet (my mom and I did this) we used a piece of long white ribbon for the swing and tucked it under the branch piece and used a pants hanger cardboard piece as the seat. Then a towel for the cloud and we were set to photograph. I adore these pictures and look forward to new ideas from you!

Watching the marathon inspired me to write, but I haven't had enough time to breathe let alone clean in my house so sadly I haven't written anything lately.

Fourth of July

So yesterday was Anthony's first fourth of July....and he totally held his bottle for the first time! It was amazing and awesome and a great way to get me off my bad side...I had been having a harsh day and was quite a grumpy pants and when I heard Hubby screaming for me to hurry over to see I just ran and wound up dropping my jaws at the sight of my beautiful baby boy holding his bottle all his own. Hubby then decided to have a beer and make me take a picture so that we could caption it: "Here son, hold your bottle so Daddy can drink his beer." it was priceless. Not to mention that when we got out to his grandfather's house his cousin, Abby (age 1) was there and went straight up to Anthony and gave him a big ol' hug, to which Anthony smiled and tried to figure out how to hug back. I swear, God works in mysterious ways sometimes.

P.S. We now have cable and internet!! So now I come to you live from home!

You know you've been playing a video games too long....

You know you've been playing a video game too long when you see a birds shaddow on the curtain and think its a creature you're supposed to kill in your game....I need that cable and internet BAD at home! Thank goodness I'm getting it early! 4th of July here I come!! Fireworks or no I'll be happy :D

On a writing note, I've been hard at work trying to finish 2 chapters this month... I am afraid the way things are going I'll be way behind in my writing goals. Its been hard with writing and baby and having no internet. I'm currently at my parent's house stealing wifi to post to yall.

One Month Old

Okay, so its not TODAY that he's one month, but he's now one month, had his check up *in which he was now 9 pounds 4 ounces and 21 inches long* and we just found out today that he loves the sound of the rain outside. I had him in his bouncer in the living room while I worked on cleaning house and he was only happy if the patio door was opened to let in the small breeze and so he could hear the sound of the rain outside. I liked it too, it was rather relaxing! I hoped I could get some writing down too but by the time I finally finished cleaning bottles, bringing laundry inside and folding...well let's just say I was pooped!

First Father's Day

So today was Hubby's first real Father's Day. It was pretty awesome. We got a few good pictures and had a blast together. Tomorrow is his one month check up! He's doing so well and I'm so happy to have my little one in my life. He really is a blessing.

 Side note: Still taking things easy and hevily medicated from the c-section so no writing just yet. I know, writing shouldn't be THAT strenuous, but really its not that...its that everything takes ten times as long to do when you're being careful and taking things slow.

Sorry that the pictures are showing up sideways. I don't know why but blogger won't let me change that. : /

Welcome Home Anthony!

So as I said, he was born via C-section. I didn't have any problems with it in the end, though I was so scared I couldn't even speak. Hubby diligently held my hand and ran his hand through my hair to try and soothe me as they did the procedure. My sister was also in the room, that was something that we weren't allowed to do per say, but since she was actually already there for her high school classes and doing a study in that department my doc made an exception for her to only view not participate in the procedure and be there when he was born. I didn't even see her till I was in recovery afterwards.

He was born at 2:35 PM CST and was 6 pounds 12 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. He screamed right away and was just fine. I didn't know what on earth to think cause firstly, I was frozen on my upper half of my body and secondly I couldn't feel the other half, so when they brought around this ball of blankets that was screaming at me I could barely muster a smile for the camera as the anesthesiologist took a quick pic. (above) In my mind I was going, "I thought they screamed louder than that? He kinda looks Chinese....are you SURE that is the baby you just pulled out of my gut? It doesn't look right." I felt the same way when they came in later with the same 

little bundle and handed him to me for the first time. I wasn't too sure what to think at all. Should I accept willingly that they are right and this is my son, or should I demand video footage as proof from them bringing him out all the way to delivering him in that moment?" Now, I realize I may have just been in shock....I was a mother. I did rather well in the three day stay at the hospital. My family and friends all visited me and little Anthony and when it came time for me to go home I was happy to leave, but sad to loose the support of the staff I had been so fully relying on to bring him to me at night and let me get some rest.  

Once we got home JD (Our dog) was all too thrilled to have another person in the house, then again he always loves new people in the house, and quickly took to the baby. Instantly he started guarding the door and barking at anyone who entered our stairwell. (with a broken concrete step and a horrible echo that was everyone! It also didn't help that we are above the mailboxes so it was an all day affair) Anthony took to him just as easily happily sleeping with his puppy right away.

We shall see how things go from here on writing. I can hope that I'll get enough time for this all the time. But I am really tired right now and I barely pushed through this simple blog post. (though this is probably the most complex post I've done so far...)

Welcome Anthony!

At this very minute I should be in an operating room having a group of doctors cut into me to bring out my little bun. There were a few complications but he is just fine, he just can't come out naturally. I am terrified of needles and especially cause I can't see what they are doing and the consequences for even the smallest screw up could mean that I become paralyzed! SO yeah I'm petrified. Though, the next time I talk to you I'll be a mom! It may take me a bit to come back, so please when you do see me on Facebook torment me and poke me and everything so that I will keep writing even though I have a baby. I don't want to forget all about you guys.

Drunk Man

Currently: Getting settled better at my new home

Craving: chocolate covered bananas? 

So while I was stuck at the hospital the other night hubby had a few guy friends over to play video games and drink beer. You know the old adage, "when the cat's away the mice will play" well while they were upstairs having a cigarette on the patio this drunk guy goes to the storage unit below us and starts banging on the door yelling for them to let him in. My husband told him no one lives there but it didn't even register to this guy. After a good 10 minutes of this he called the cops cause the guy looked like he had already gotten into a bar fight earlier in the evening with scratches on his face and his constant slurring. While on the line with dispatch the man walked up the stairs and banged on our across the way neighbor's door and when he wasn't given entrance he went upstairs and did the same. 

After a short stint of banging on the doors in that stairwell he went down and into the second stairwell for our set of four apartments and did the same, only this time he went to our back door and banged on ours and we told him to go away....but he kept yelling that his cousin lived there and his brother wasn't letting him in downstairs so he started kicking the door to get in. My husband and the two other guys got together near the door as the frame broke from the guys constant kicking and my husband grabbed his arisoft handgun  and took the orange tip off of it and pointed it at the door. When the door finally did swing open from getting kicked repeatedly the guy saw the gun and stumbled backwards down the narrow steps to the next landing and asked where his cousin was. My husband told him that his cousin didn't live there and the dispatch officer was still on the phone. That went on for another 10 minutes before the cops finally showed up on scene (40 min after the call was originally placed!) when they took the guy in handcuffs and started asking him questions he told the officers that my husband and his friends had attacked him and he hadn't done anything wrong. (while explaining the marks on his face) and my husband had to yell down to the cops 3 times before they listened that he had those before he got on site and that it was in the description he had given.

Then they were saying "If you don't tell us where you live son, we are going to have to take you to the precinct." again, hubby had to yell three times for them to realize he had kicked down our door and busted the frame before the cop said "Oh, in that case you're going with us." and put him in the car and took him away. So when I came home from the hospital that next day I had a broken door. Thankfully the complex fixed it rather quickly. Talk about scary drama man! I'm just glad I was busy clicking away at my computer in a hospital bed away from it. That could have sent me into labor!