The Snots

Ethan has had a stuffy nose for probably two weeks now.  In the mornings it is really bad especially when he can't breathe to nurse.  I know kids are germ magnets and all but when does it go away?  I have to suck his nose out daily, I would do it twice a day if he didn't scream and thrash as if I was beating him.  I first use a nasal saline to loosen things up.  The stuff that comes out is sometimes cloudy white and thick and at times there are chunks of a yellowy-green snot.  I understand what they say about green snot and its sign of an infection.  However, the last time he actually had a cold and had this greenish colored snot I thought for sure it was an infection only to find out after a doctor's visit it was nothing but a cold.  Hence my hesitation to run back to the doctor.  By the way, I am also running a cool-mist humidifier every night.  He appears to be acting normal, so much so I caught him getting his groove on earlier.

Move It, Move It from Christine Levesque on Vimeo.

Hahah, I love this clip.  He is such a funny guy.  Anyways, another reason I think this muck should pass is that I too have to blow my nose in the mornings which is giving me the same production he has and I feel fine.  Is it winter allergies? Is there such a thing?  Are we inside too much because of the cold weather?  I need to get to the bottom of this.

As promised, here are the pics of the new backdrop flooring.  I LOVE IT!  That's it, I WILL order the backdrop tomorrow no matter what otherwise I'm going to end up waiting until it is too late.  I wish this house we are renting had this beautiful stuff throughout.  But I did some figuring and just to cover say 800 sq ft in the laminate flooring alone you are spending $8,500.   Man oh man, but does it make a difference though.

I will note that the planks are on a rug so they are not really lying flush at the moment

Here is another direct mail piece I have been working on.   Our management/marketing meeting is tomorrow and I need to get our next mailing artwork together to present.  I drained a chunk of ink on printing this one.  I feel bad saying this but I am looking forward to some adult time as strange as that sounds.   Lil man will have to go to daycare for the day.  Not that that is a bad thing, he needs to socialize, it just feels weird without him with me.

I haven't mentioned this yet, but I signed up for Ipsy back in December and I wanted to quickly say how much fun it is and how I love finding new products.

If you aren't familiar with it, Ipsy is a subscription box that you sign up for monthly or yearly.  This one is only $10/month.  You answer a questionnaire in the beginning and based on your answers they will hand select sample size and full size beauty products.  January is the first month I received my bag and this is what I received.

My favorite is the Mojito Lip Balm.  It has the sheen of a lip gloss and feels wonderful on my lips.  I am using the eye cream too since the lack of sleep is wearing on me.  Can't wait to see February's goodies.  If you love make-up like I do, I really recommend this subscription.  Seriously, you would pay $10 just for the brush alone at Sephora.

On to the end of the day drawing.  Ethan has a book his daddy got him called "Trout, Trout, Trout - A Fish Chant" by April Pulley Sayre and the illustrations by Trip Park are amazing.  I may do several more from this book over the next couple of days.  They are fun to do.

Image from Trout, Trout, Trout - A Fish Chant by April Pulley Sayre

Its 9:15 and I'm starving and exhausted.  The last few nights I just have not slept well.  Maybe if I hit the sack now, I won't think of my grumbling belly and I'll get some better zzzzz's.

My TO-DO List is Out of Control

I'm really starting to think I need an assistant and a nanny with all of the things I need and want to get completed in the next two weeks.  I'm not complaining though, I love, love, love my job and being a stay-at-home mom.   Plus, I can do all of this from the comfort of my sofa while little man chucks his toys over the stairwell gate.

Yes, you read the first line correctly, we will be moving in June.  Since this is the wonderful world wide web with a few off kilter individuals surfing through it, I will reference said location as "Moss City".   One second, I need to scream this.  I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE CHANGE!!  We have lived the last 3 years in what I would consider isolation.  And by that I mean, only a Wal-Mart and 15 Chinese and Mexican Restaurant options.  I'm sure people in Siberia are laughing at me and I'm okay with that.  On to more important issues, I need to see if the new locale has any Ethiopian restaurants.  If so, I might just change its pseudonym from Moss City to Paradise.  HA!  

Seriously though, let's get some of these To-Do's marked off.  I have purchased a bundle of laminate flooring for the backdrop.  It is gorgeous.  I have no idea why I haven't done some test shots with it already.  I need to do this tomorrow if it is sunny out.  I like the natural light coming in the windows.

Pergo Manor Hickory

I also purchased a baseboard so all I need now is the backdrop.  Here is the look at what I am going for.   As I mentioned in my last post, I am hesitant on paying $50 bucks for it even though I think it will be perfect and can be used multiple times as he gets older.   Maybe I should just do some more research on more affordable options.

I almost forgot, I did purchase the IKEA white children's table with plans to shorten the legs.  Looking forward to it arriving.  I sure hope it really is solid pine like the website said.

The birthday decor needs to get started ASAP before we travel to Moss City for a look about.    My hubs thinks I'm silly about all of this birthday hubbub since only my parents will be here for it.  I think his exact words were "When I turned one it was just a highchair and a cake, done".  That's great and all back then, but now a days you have to make a production out of it, at least for the photos.  Memories on print I told him.  He still thinks Ethan is going to care less and he may be right but I want my gold star for parenting.  Ah, the things that drive us.

We did get out of the house for a change and went to the park for the Martin Luther King Holiday.  It was a sunny day here and I think it actually got up in the 60's or at least it sure felt like it.   This was Ethan's first time at the playground.  

Sacked out after a long day of exploring.

Unfortunately, I have skipped quite a few days of drawing lately, but I am happy that I have continued to get some doodles in every week.  My goal is to do a drawing daily but with an 11 month old, I will gladly accept only getting in one or two a week.

Images from Dahlov Ipcar's Maine Alphabet Children's Book

Now back to researching the move.  Good night all!

When Work is Fun

I am a little bummed that I didn't take the time to draw over the weekend.   However, the new year means working on some new material for work but since I get to be just as creative with work as I do my hobbies, its a win, win.  I began my whole work-from-home situation probably a month or so before lil man arrived which has been a year this past December.   Wow, seriously, WOW!  I haven't even begun to put things together for Ethan's 1st birthday which is next month.  Not that we have met a slew of friends since we have lived here.  That's okay, Nana & Papaw will come down and for pictures I do plan on doing some decorations.  Not to mention, I need to test some healthy smash cake alternatives.   I need a TO-DO list.

Here are a couple thoughts on his 1st Birthday look and feel.  Remember, its mainly for photos since its just the fam.  I think I can get it to all come together.  I hope.

Okay, put Ethan's birthday decor on the back burner for a minute.  We are doing some new advertising for our new branch office and this is the most recent piece I have done.  I still have several other things to get started but this is what I worked on, on and off, this past weekend.  Saturday was a bust since the Patriots were playing and hubs had a work event to go to.

These guys have the sweet life.  They kept an eye on lil man's movements for me.  

A quiet moment when he stops and gets absorbed in something on TV.  Strange but I think it was football.  Uh oh, it starts this early?  Geez.  He must make his daddy so proud.

Alright before I pass out from lack of sleep, here is my drawing for the day. Oh and I want to add, I use the Honest Company for Ethan's diapers since Day 1.  I have slowly progressed to the laundry detergent, then shampoo and now onto the Mult-Purpose Cleaner and Stain Remover.  I am not paid or supplemented by The Honest Company in any way, shape or fashion.   I LOVE the smell of this cleaner.  It is a light grapefruit aroma that is devine.  I mean, I can't remember the last time I used a cleaner and was like...ahhh that smells great.  Made without all of the bad stuff is the cherry on top.  I can see my product purchases broadening with them in the near future.

Picture from an article in HEALTH Magazine

Little man is stirring, so goodnight.

Picnic in the Park

Hubby's unit picnic was this afternoon.  While I still dripped sweat the entire time, it really was a perfect summer day.  The high was 79 and again there was a nice steady breeze.  Since pregnancy though I have become a puddle of sweat on a regular basis.  I have read that most women suffer mainly night sweats during pregnancy and postpartum while breastfeeding.  Well my internal thermostat must be broken, because I sweat the entire day.

I was a little bummed about this year's picnic.  Last year one of the officers brought THE BEST brisket I have ever eaten.  Oh so mouthwatering.   This year there just wasn't anything that stood out, correction, the banana pudding someone brought was pretty awesome.

See the blue twin camp chair?  Yes, that is ours and for whatever reason the group doesn't mind hanging out in the sun.  As you can see I'm standing under the tree taking the pic and enjoying the shade.   Yes, I felt a little unsocial.  That's okay, I can now use Ethan as an excuse.  Ha!

Ethan got to inspect Noelle's wrist rattle.   This is his first interaction with another baby and seemed pretty intrigued.  She, on the other hand, is not that impressed.

Just another shot of pretty wildflowers from our walk this evening.  When we got home Chris didn't tell me my Warby Parker glasses came in the mail.  I just heard about them a couple of days ago from another blog I came across.  They have a great program where you can select up to 5 frames and try them on in the comfort of your own home and return them with the enclosed shipping label.   For $95 you get anti-reflective prescription lenses, free shipping and 30 day return.   For that price, I was sucked in.

This is the "Welty" frame.  I think I'm diggin' them.  I feel smarter already.  :-p

Since I haven't had any personal time to doodle, here is a filler for my creative outlet.  This is an ad I am working on for my company to go into a local Homes Magazine.  

Goodnight All!

Doodle Day

I'm not sure what pregnancy did to me but I have been a hot mess since little man came along.  And when I mean [Hot Mess] I mean shirt wet, legs damp and fanning myself with gusto kind of hot mess.  After church this morning I had to come home and take another bath.  Ick.  What is the deal?

Well, now that I'm back home in the comfort of my A/C I did a little surfing on Etsy.   I came across a cute print that I thought I could recreate but with my own look.  Not to sell or anything, just to give me little projects in Photoshop to help build my skills.   So I thought today would be a creative day.   I am a self-taught Photoshop user so it takes me a while to review YouTube tutorials before I get to the final product.   Maybe one day I'll blow this up to a larger print and frame it for Ethan's room.  By then I'm sure I will have tweaked it to death.  

Break time, my show "Believe" is coming on.  Off to the sofa for some boob tube time.