So much to catch up on

Okay, this is why I try and post every week. I'm sitting here thinking that there is way to much that I need to cover that happened over the last 2 weeks! I guess I'll just have to hit the highlights...

On Monday, Jun 15 I heard Tenley scream for me while I was in the shower... She felt Autumn's very first tooth! She and I had been watching out for one for what seems like the longest time, and we finally caught a glimpse of it! The little sucker broke through the gums with no screaming or crying on Autumn's part, which made me so proud! As of today, there are 2 visible teeth in Autumn's mouth and she's learning to bite, which seems to amuse her. She will bite anything you put in her mouth... spoons, toys, fingers (ouch!) and it looks like she's practicing chewing when I feed her. It's absolutely amazing to me to watch her figure things like that out. She's brilliant!

From Jun 16-19, I had my first extended time away from Autumn. I went to New York City for a work trip, and Jeremy's mom, sister, and neices came to watch Autumn. Sharon went with me and we had a blast. We shopped, ate great food, saw the sights, and even met Ken Seely. It was a very short trip, but I know now that I'm very lucky to have a wonderful team of people to keep Autumn safe and entertained while mommy goes off to make a living!

Autumn is doing great eating solid foods. She loves fruit, and scarfs down any kind that I put in front of her. Vegetables aren't so easy, but she tolerates most. We had a horrible experience with peas the other day, though. I really believed that after the pea posting a couple of weeks ago, that we wouldn't have problems with them, but after a week straight of various fruit, she would have nothing to do with them! It was quite a funny sight to witness, even at the expense of being called a child abuser for what I put Autumn through in that feeding session!

Kate took some new adorable pictures of Autumn last Sunday. While there are way too many to post here, I've created a link to my Picasa album where the best are saved. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am so incredibly lucky to have such a talented photographer as a sister! Thanks Aunt Kate for taking the new pictures of Autumn!

This last week, I began seriously working out and watching what I eat for the first time since before my pregnancy. While my body is protesting, I really feel great. My goal is to not feel like a huge whale when Jeremy and I go to South Padre in 3 weeks. Remembering that trip has been my motivation and it seems to be working! Thanks to Kate, I have a copy of the P90X program which is totally been kicking my butt! It's amazing though that after a workout, while I can barely lift my arms, I feel really great. I worked out 5 times this last week and even though it's a very strenuous program, I know that I can do it. It's time to put a little "me" time back in my daily routine, as it's been lacking since Autumn's arrival!

Finally, I signed Autumn up for swim lessons! It's a 4 week program which meets twice a week. We start on July 6 and I am so excited! While we don't readily have access to a pool, I want Autumn to be comfortable when we do get to go swimming. After our time in Leakey, I have a feeling that she's going to love it.

ANTM Cycle 29

Today's lunchtime reminded me of an episode of America's Next Top Model. Smile with your eyes, Autumn! Watch out, Tyra. Here we come.

The Great Pea Experiment '09 (In Autumn's words)

Hmmm, what was this stuff that you just put in my mouth?

I'm not sure how I feel about these. You mean I'm supposed to eat this yucky stuff?

I'm not sure I trust you on this. I'll just do this myself. I've seen you do this before. Let's see, you just take a hold of this plastic thingy...

And then I think I'm supposed to move it towards my mouth... Wait, why isn't this working?

Oh, I get it. Turn it around! OK, let's try this thing again!

OK, move the plastic thingy towards my mouth and...

OK I'm new at this, so give me a break. A little to the left and... SUCCESS!

I've got this eating thing down, guys! You see, I'm a big girl now!

Now, who is going to clean these peas off of my forehead?

Autumn at 6 Months

Today was Autumn's 6 month appointment! I have been looking forward to this one since we were told that she would officially begin real foods afterwards!

The appointment started out like every other with her measurements. As anyone who has seen any picture of Autumn can attest to, it's obvious that she has gained some weight! She is now 18lbs 3oz (88th percentile). She is 26 inches long (55th percentile) and has a head circumference of 44 1/2cm (90th percentile). Basically all this means is that she's chubby, not tall, and has a big ol' noggin, all of which we already knew! The good news that came out of all of this is that her head shape has finally normalized, which means we do not have to see the cranial specialist to get a baby helmet (which was suggested at the 4 month appointment)!

Autumn is a very healthy baby and is developmentally perfect! The doctor loved getting a couple of Autumn's famous smiles and was very proud of her sitting up skills! She took great time describing how to introduce new foods into our little one's routines and I am really excited about the whole thing!

The first stop on the way home from the doctor's was to Barnes & Noble where I bought a couple of baby cookbooks! While I know the convenience of prepared baby foods is really enticing, I'd really like to make the majority of Autumn's food. While I may rethink this in the future, for now, I don't see any problem with steaming, pureeing, and freezing fresh fruits and veggies! We also stopped at HEB to buy my first round of baby food and headed home to get started.

Autumn's first vegetable experience was peas, much to Jeremy's dismay. Autumn started out not seeming to care about her new food, but a couple of bites in, we saw the first funny face. She looked like she just wasn't sure of her new food. We kept trying bites and after a couple more, she started getting shivers immediately after she swollowed! After making sure she was ok, I decided it was like she was getting the heebie jeebies when swollowing peas. I have to try peas one more day, but I'm not quite sure that she's a fan.

Saturday Fun

Today, the guys headed to Gruene early to celebrate a friend's birthday, so Autumn and I had some fun time to burn! We all know how she absolutley loves being outside, which has been great until we've started hitting 95 degrees during the day! We had a nice breeze early this afternoon, so I decided to put Autumn's new sitting up skills to the test. We walked down to one of the three playgrounds in my neighborhood and I put her in a toddler swing and she absolutely loved it!

Right after we took this video, she started trying to eat the handles on the side. It was at that point that I decided that it was time to go home. I don't know that dirty kid germs and rust are supposed to be included in her diet right now. It reminds me of the time Jenn Monty took her daughter Ryleigh to Wal-Mart and she found her licking the cart handle... These things will happen and I know that is what will build immunities in that precious little body. It's still just a little gross to witness it, though.

Later in the day, Jessica brought Autumn's boyfriend Graham over to for our very first official play date (well, the kids kinda layed there while the mommies drank a couple of mimosas - I could get used to these play dates!). Aren't they cute together?

I can't decide if Graham, who is about 3 months younger than Autumn, is super long or if Autumn is super short. They're the same length! I swear that my little one may appear extra chubby in this photo, but it's like taking a photo of me standing next to Kate Moss... I learned a long time ago not to stand next to skinny people in photos. During the visit, Autumn showed me that she is her mommy's girl. I swear, she decided that this was going to be her new toy all on her own.

Today my little girl turns 6 months old. She has been such a blessing and I love her more than words could ever describe. I don't remember what my life was like before her, and quite honestly, I don't need to. She is exhausting, but it is the best type of exhaustion imaginable. I melt when I see her face every morning and I ache when I have to put her to bed at night knowing that I don't get to see it for the next few hours. Thank you, my Autumn Leigh, for bringing such joy to our lives. Your daddy and I can't wait to see what amazing things you will accomplish in your lifetime!

In her own words

Tenley asked Autumn to tell her about her vacation and here was her response!

Back to Reality

Autumn and I just returned from 10 days in my self-proclaimed "Happy Place". My friend, Elizabeth, has a house just north of Leakey, TX, which is about a 3 hour drive from our house. This house is by no means luxurious, but it is one of my favorite places in the world. There are no TVs, no computers, no cell phones among other things. While I could sit here and make a long list of things that I had to do without, I'd much rather focus on the wonderful aspects of this wonderful vacation.

The majority of the time at this house is spent sitting on a screened-in porch doing a whole lot of nothing. There's a beat-up old boom box that gets one radio station (thank goodness it's a good one!). We have board games (Trivial Pursuit, Yahtzee, Monopoly). We have books. But most of all, we have nature, pure and simple. This past week, I stared at the most majestic axis deer I've ever seen just hanging out across the lawn from us. I fed the hummingbirds. We watched the other birds and squirrels playing in the yard. We watched a gazillion jack rabbits. Elizabeth even saw a real live fox!

There is one small downside to all of this nature... bugs! Anyone who knows me knows that I have a flip out reaction when I encounter bugs. I don't know what it is, but I can't handle it. It's funny, though, when you're faced with a scorpion near a baby, how the protection gene kicks in. We ran in to 4 scorpions this last week, and while Jeremy took care of the first, Elizabeth and I had no problem at all eliminating the other three. Autumn and I both have bug bites galore, but it's a small price to pay for a relaxing week in the middle of nowhere.

One of the best things about this house is that it is located on 7 acres of the most beautiful land in Texas that you've ever seen. Runing right through the back yard is their very own private part of the Frio River. We've been going to this house for much of my adult life and this year was very different concerning my time at the river. Usually we get up, pack a cooler and walk down to the river and lay out on rafts all darned day. So you can imagine, this year was a little different! It rained the first couple of days that we were there, but once it cleared up, we took Felicia (Elizabeth's 18 month old daughter who I've talked a lot about on this blog) and Autumn down to play in the water. I was surprised to find that our little ones are bonafide river rats in the making! Autumn wasn't sure what to think of it at first, but once she got used to the water (because it's COLD!), she loved it. She smiled and laughed, and kicked her feet in the water. Most of all, she just loved sitting in the river and taking in the new scenery.

When you want a change of scenery, you can drive to Kerrville or to Fredericksburg, which we did twice. In Kerrville, we went to the James Avery store to load up on charms for the girls' bracelets. We decided to get charms that were meaningful for each trip to Leakey. This year, Autumn got a jackrabbit, some sunglasses, and half of a best friends heart which we engraved with the other one's initials and date on the back. We also took Autumn to her first Kerrville Folk Festival and saw Bruce Robison. We all had a wonderful time!

I even got a hippie henna tattoo.

In Fredericksburg, we ate at our favorite restaurant, Auslanders, and shopped till we dropped! I'm glad that Autumn seemed to love Fredericksburg as much as I do!

Here are some things that I learned this last week:
-I have got to buy a video camera. Period.
-Watch out for nature and children and always have benadryl on hand just in case.
-Sunscreen and babies who rub their eyes is not the best idea.
-It's always better to over-pack than under-pack with a baby.
-It's absolutely necessary to get away from it all for your sanity once in a while.

There are a couple things that changed with my baby while we were gone. She can sit up by herself (if only for a couple of seconds, but she can do it!).

She began eating solids.

She laughed A LOT. She smiled A LOT.

She slept A LOT.

I think she grew about a foot. And finally, her personality has grown by leaps and bounds in the last week and I am so glad that she is turning in to the happiest baby that I know!

I decided to come back a day early from our trip. While that may sound nuts, I need a day to unpack, do laundry, and generally just bring myself back in to the real world. I had such a wonderful time, but I am glad to be back home.