Misty Morning

We had a genuine thunderstorm last night. We think maybe this is the third time it has rained since we moved here - crazy! This morning the world smells like a sauna - maybe that is what happens when Willow Acacia and Eucalyptus trees get steamy?

My Perch

When I lived in IL I liked to talk about moving somewhere warm and dry. In fact, I think I list it on my blog somewhere as one of my top ambitions in life. But when push came to shove, I really didn't want to leave home. It took a fairly desperate situation (15 months unemployed and a baby on the way with no insurance) to make us up-root and move to Nevada. But now that I am here, I am once again amazed by the goodness and wisdom of God.

I will go to my grave believing that the Fox River Valley is one of the prettiest places in the country, but every time I go out my door here I am amazed at what I see. I love the mountains, I love the valley, I love the twinkling of the strip at night, I love the palm trees and the tumbleweeds and the birds that won't shut up, even when the sun goes down. Most of all, I love that I get to call this place home.

Recent Reads

I basically have four things I can do while the baby is napping - cook, clean, surf the web, or read. When I have a really good book, cooking and cleaning slide a little ;) Here are the books that have recently caused the laundry to back up:


Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith. Philosopher Isabel Dalhousie navigates her day to day life in Scotland with charming thoughtfulness and a curious streak that often gets her into trouble.





The second in the 44 Scotland Street series, more of the musings and adventures of an odd selection of neighbors in Edinburgh. It's mostly light hearted but the stuff about Bertie, the gifted little boy with the fearsomely yuppy mother, made me cry.





The third in the 44 Scotland Street series. Focuses a little more on gentle, unassuming Matthew and Angus the portrait artist. The narcissist Bruce has moved on to London and oddly, I kind of missed him!



I read The Hunger Games and the other two books in the series, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, in a week. This series is irresistible. It reminded me of all the paranoid, cautionary fiction hoisted on us in school, but with more romance, more adventure, and more bizarre fashion. It gets progressively grimmer and grimmer but ends with a surprisingly satisfying finish. Loved it.


Currently reading The Demon King because some website said that "if you like Hunger Games you may like this". I was on the fence until I read one review in which the reader gushed that it was the best fantasy novel he'd ever read. I have since realized that this review was probably written by a very young person. I'm about half way through it and am enjoying it but probably won't continue with the series.

Five Months Old Today!

Wonderful Weekend

I am feeling totally spoiled after the weekend we just had. Between the sale of the house on Friday and Ross getting to come home early it felt like a holiday. We went on a date (with the baby), picked out some velvety blue curtains for the bedroom, stocked up on Turpenoid and a brush cleaning jar, visited the neighborhood library and got a library card, went to the pool twice, did a small painting of an egret, bought our tickets for the Thanksgiving trip to IL, and still managed to fit in 6 episodes of Psych. ***happy sigh***

Was jarred back into reality this morning when I had to get up an hour early to go to the doctor and then came home and spilled a full cup of coffee on the carpet.

In case you are curious, here is the egret. Ross (Senior Artist, BFA, Perfectionist) doesn't like it. Well, I'm sorry but it's an exercise from a book on painting in a bold, loose style and it was meant to look like that. Mostly. Sort of.

Recent Sketches

A couple more cuties from Parents magazine. Did these both in pencil. So much for my "INK ONLY" notebook. :)

What's Up

Sorry I haven't been around, I've been fighting off a cold and reading through the Hunger Games trilogy. Here is the latest from our home:

• Remy had his four month appointment last week. (A bit late) He is measuring in the 70th percentile for height and the 30th for weight. The implication of this math is that he is somewhat lanky for a baby, but lanky is not the word that comes to mind when I see his fluffy little thighs.
  
• His doctor persists in calling Remy "she." We might have to switch doctors.
  
• The sale on the Lombard house did not close at the end of the month as planned. New plan is for it to close this week. Keeping fingers and toes crossed!
• The daily highs have finally dropped into the double digits and it's WONDERFUL! If you are thinking about a trip to Vegas, this is a great time of the year for it!
• I am just 5 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight and I can run up the stairs without getting winded. Yay!
  

All Kinds of Cuteness

Night Swimming

We've made a wonderful discovery. Not only do we love going down to the pool at the end of a hot day, after the sun has gone down and all the neighborhood kids have cleared out, but Remy does too. 9 o'clock is his bed time and normally 8-9pm is his roughest hour of the day. He gets fussy and strangely hyper and it's difficult to get him to wind down for sleep. But at the pool side the warm desert breezes and the lapping water instantly calm him and he is content to sit back and soak in the evening while we soak in the hot tub. When we get back I tuck my sleepy baby in and then drape the towels and bathing suits out on the balcony under the stars, and life feels absolutely perfect.

Strongly Considering

Red Rock Casino has a Kids Quest that provides day care for $7/hour on weekdays and $8/hour on weekends. The facilities are supposed to be really nice, and all the workers are trained in CPR and first aid. The baby area is well staffed so that they never have more than 4 babies for every one day care provider. All children are required to be up on their immunizations.

I am feeling very tempted to use this service. Ross and I haven't been on a date since Steph and Mark were in town, and as much as I love family time, I also miss hanging out, just the two of us. It would be so nice to be able to drop Remy off with some "cute and earnest" young women (who I am pretty sure are not as tired as I am) for a couple of hours while we grab dinner and a movie just steps away.

Before Remy was born I thought I might never have the guts to leave him with a babysitter, but this place may make me change my tune. I am thinking maybe next weekend? If we do it I will let you know how it goes!

Halloween Sketch

Facebook is down, so here is another blog post! :P

This is a sketch I did yesterday of a toddler in a fish costume. Because of the complicated pose I blocked in the shapes with a pencil, then drew over it with the pen and erased the pencil marks.