Here are some pictures of Gun that I took about a month ago....yes I know I have been neglectful...but I can't really help it. Gun is cruising around the entire place, falling every other five seconds, and getting in to everything. Plus he has also started throwing true fits when he doesn't get what he wants. Like throwing himself on the floor, kicking his legs, and screaming fits. Right now it is hilarious but it is going to be a whole different story when he gets a bit older. I can only imagine it and I place complete blame on Adam because everyone knows I was an angel as a child.

Look at those cute little lips. Awweee! He has his first two bottom teeth now...just barely poking through. They are so adorable but are also a constant reminder of how old he is getting. He turned 8 months on Friday. I can't believe we have only had him for eight months. It seems like he has been with us always but was just born yesterday. Weird hun? Well anyway, like I was saying he is eight months old now and getting so big. We are trying to decide what to dress him up as for Halloween. It is a tie between the lead singer of ACDC or Lord Helmet. LMAO! I am leaning toward Lord Helmet. I would be Princess Vespa and Adam would be Lone Star. It would be hilarious. Now we just need to find a really big Darth Vadar Helmet!

Today I cooked and froze 4 dozen ears of corn. After a removed it from the cob I mixed it with butter, salt and pepper and then vacuum packed it. It was so good. I got nine pounds of corn from it. NICE. I think I will do some more on labor day weekend when Adam is gone goose hunting. I am also going to pickle some green beans and can some salsa that weekend. It is going to be great. I can't wait till next year when I have my garden and I can can and freeze all sorts of things. I am also going to buy an apple-peeler-corer-slicer and dehydrate A LOT of apples this year. It will be a great snack for Gun in the next year. I am hoping that this will all save me a bunch of money in the long run. I guess that we will find out. I have this really LONG list of stuff I want to grown in my garden next year so I hope that we can get it in. I also saw this garden in Italy that grew it's tomatoes tied to really tall posts. They were six feet tall and they just tied them up like you would a bean plant or something. They were really cool and the tomatoes were HUGE. I think I might try it that way. I figure they have been growing tomatoes for hundreds of years so they must know the best way to do things. I need to find a website that has templates for planning out your garden. If anyone knows of a good one let me know hun?

I also have been working on some new paper and stuff and have gotten a new sketch for you. It is supposed to be for September but I will post it early since I haven't posted one in so long. Here it is.

Again it is supposed to have an outside line all the way around it not just on two sides but you get the point. I am not sure why it does that? Oh well. It is a simple layout meant to emphasize your photos. Use a nice funky handwriting font or better yet your own handwriting for the journaling and bright little bits of bright bold colors to really make the simplicity of this design snap.

On a different note we finished our City League Softball season with our usual tournament and I guess we did okay. I think we placed fifth but I am not sure. I was really pissed by the end of our last game so I didn't really care all that much. I wasn't mad because we lost...there are a lot of good teams in our league so it I knew it would be difficult. What I was mad about was that our outfield kept playing rover positions on guys that could easily hit the fence and the balls kept going over their heads letting the hitter get to third or even make it home. It was ridiculous. Our coach, who plays in the outfield, kept telling everyone exactly where to stand and he would change it with every swing of the bat, and the balls kept being hit over their heads. One game our outfield gave up 9 runs for that reason. It was so stupid and I kept my mouth shut all season but when it came to the tournament I had had it. So when the first one went over their heads after out coach told everyone to play basically the rover position I turned around and shouted to everyone "come on guys any one of them can easily hit the fence." and our coach turned to me and said "Whitney I need you to be quiet!" so then I said "I need you to learn to play the game!" Needless to say I was pissed. Anyway the inning ended and when he came in out of the outfield I was sitting in my chair waiting for my turn to bat and he said "I am sorry, I just got pissed off!" and said "yeah, that its okay." but I was done for the rest of the day. Every single person on our team has played softball competitively at some point in our lives long enough to know what we are doing. There is no reason for our coach to keep telling everyone where to stand when they can figure it out themselves and when he is always wrong. It is basic ball that it is better for the ball to land in front of you and give a single then to go over your heads and give a triple or home run. I have never in my 26 years of life played a game "just for fun." It has always been to win and it will always be to win, that is just my personality and so when stupid crap like that is going on I can't help but say something about it. It is just the way I am. The guys that I usually play with and the reason I played on this team even had a problem with it but never really said anything about it. They like to win as much as I do I just think that they didn't think it was their place to say anything because they were not to coach. I didn't care, if I am part of the team I have a right to an opinion and I will always voice it when I think I need to. Maybe it is a bad point of mine but that is the truth of it. Needless to say next year I won't play for them if our coach this year is still the coach. I can't stand it. Maybe I will start my own team. We will have to see how it goes. I have had one before and we did really well but we will see.

It is now 10:30 and I have to get up at 4:00 so I better get to bed. Crap...I still have clothes to fold.

Wow...it has been so long since I posted...over a month...I can't believe it. Well, with Adam always gone to Portland to work I have been a bit busy. Gunnar is practically crawling now and he keeps me running most of the time. If it is this bad already when he is not even really crawling I can't imagine how crazy it is going to be when he starts walking.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Salem visiting my sister with Gunnar and we took some of the cutest pictures. Terrance didn't know what to think of Gunnar at all. She asks for him and says "baby" or "Gunnar" but when you ask her if she loves her baby cousin Gunnar she says "no". It is pretty funny. I think she wants him to play with her but not take any of her toys and he is just too small to play the way she wants to. It was also cold, windy, and rainy...not any of the things the weather man said would happen...the entire time we were there and did I bring any jackets, sweaters, or pants. No. So Gunnar borrowed Terrance's pink and flowery jackets all the time and her sweat pants. The ones she wears right now fit him almost perfectly. It is pretty funny how big he actually is now. And not chubby at all...I keep wondering where that came from...but I guess I will never know. Anyway, we took these really cute pictures of him out in Alycia's backyard in Terrance's green and flowery sweater...I thought he could pass for a girl with the eyelashes but he was cute anyway. He also got his first real fever while we were there and of course me being me and being away from my pediatrician I freaked out. He had a 102.2 fever and I rushed him to the ER in Salem. While standing in line they have a nurse there asking questions to get a general idea of what is wrong and to assess the need for immediate action. I told her he was six months old and had a 102.2 fever. At that point everyone in line starts talking about how scary and bad that is when they are so young and wouldn't shut up. I about burst into tears and started screaming at everyone in there to shut the hell up you are not helping. Somehow I was able to restrain myself long enough to get into see the doctor without a complete meltdown.

Note to self: if ever in the line at the ER and a first time mom brings in her baby with any sort of problems say reassuring things like it is going to be okay...they are young and bounce back easy...I am sure it is nothing and he will be fine...NOT...Oh my god that is sooo scary when they are that young and you have to be really careful because fevers can be really dangerous in baby's so young.

Back to the point...it turned out that Gunnar had a mild ear infection probably set off by the damp and windy weather. The doctor...who was okay, but not my doctor...went off on this rant about how some parents don't want to medicate or treat their children because the infection will clear up on it's own in a couple of days anyway so what is the point. The entire time he is talking to me I am thinking...parents will actually sit there and let there children suffer for two days when they can treat the problem and see significant improvement over night. Now I can see why you wouldn't want to give babies Tylenol every five hours every day for a month but not to give them azithromyacin when they have an ear infection?...that is like not treating a yeast infection because it will eventually go away on its own. What? So then he says that he is going to prescribe the medication anyway and then I can either choose to treat or not treat, it was up to me. I looked at him and said..."well, I want the medication...I am going to treat him."

All this happened in the morning on Wednesday of that week and I was supposed to drive home that afternoon but there was an overturned asphalt tar tanker on I-84 right after Troutdale and they shut down both the east and west bound lanes and were diverting traffic to hwy 30 or something like that, that takes you out behind mt. hood and then you would have to cut back in to get to I-84. It was like a 4 hour detour. So there I am driving Adam's big white Chevy down Powell and Division (aka the Ghetto...not even kidding) with Gunnar in the back who is feeling like crap and Preston sitting in the back with him asking me how long it is going to take to get home. Now when I say the Ghetto I am not even exaggerating a little. I couldn't use the bathroom at the gas station I stopped at because someone kept steeling their toilet paper. See, the GHETTO! I finally get back on the road get stuck in even more traffic, start crying, call my boss and cry to him on the phone about how I can't get back for work the next day because Gunnar is sick, they closed the freeway, and I am stuck in traffic. As you can see it was a rough day. So I drove back to my aunts house and stayed another night and left the next morning when Gunnar was feeling much better and made it home without incident. What a trip that was. It only took Gunnar a week to get back into his schedule once we got home. He had a bit of a time adjusting. He travels in the car well, he just doesn't adjust to strange places all that well. But he finally started feeling better and things were back to normal. Here are some pictures from the more sane moments of that trip. Check out this Hi-Larry-Us (inside joke) one of Terrance!

Since then he has turned seven months and is eating like a pig. Is that a boy thing or just a kid thing in general. He used to eat about 5-6 bottles a day (around 38 ounces) and only one thing of baby food. He now eats around 6-7 bottles a day (about 44 ounces) 2-3 things of Gerber 2 foods in the big tubs and some snacks. Holly cap kid...you are already eating me out of house and home. I am still on wic and thank god for that because I know I could not afford the NINE cans of formula they give me...I can barely afford the THREE now FIVE extra cans I have to buy as it is. To me it seems like Gunnar should be eating more baby food on a regular basis. You know three meals a day or something like that but he is still really irregular with it. It is just whenever he is in a good mood and I offer it to him. He never really wants it...you know what I mean? Anyway, it seems like he should be wanting it more if he is eating that much formula but maybe I am wrong. What do you all think? I will ask my ped. next time I am in there but he will probably give me the stock answer..."it's normal". I think we have talked about that one before so I will just let that one lie, but I will talk to him about it and see what he says.

I am so glad that tomorrow is payday! Did this month seem especially long to anyone but me? I swear it lasted forever. Anyway, I have to go grocery shopping tomorrow and really the only place to go is Wal-mart so I am going to get up early and try to beat all the 1st of the monthers, but I doubt I will. I am sure it will be packed anyway. This month I swear I am only going to buy the basics. It is so sad how you get in there and before you know it you have spent $300.00 in one go. Sick I tell you. We also have to start thinking about buying Gunnar a bigger car seat. I am confused though whether it is 20lbs AND a year or 20lbs OR a year before you can turn them around. I don't really want to buy a transition car seat the he is going to use for another three months and then have to buy ANOTHER one to last him the rest of the time plus the booster for after that. I would rather buy a three-in-one but they face forward in the car. I have to decide soon though because his feet are hanging farther and farther out of the one we have now. I think I am going to buy the Alpha Omega Three-in-one from Safety-first.

Looks pretty nice right? It has the three point harness and goes from 20lbs to 70lbs or something like that. Plus it still tilts back for the smaller ones. There is another brand that starts with an B...Bitax, I think that are supposed to be the best ones on the market but they are also $300.00 and who can afford that right now. We will probably have to make our decision by next month...Gunnar is just getting to big for his other...it looks kind of sad with his legs hanging out the end of the car seat we have now. They also have a green one just like this but the orange is cooler...I think.

On to scrapbooking news. I am working on a few things to get put up on the Internet for you. I am really excited about some of them and can't wait to hear what you all think. Hopefully I will get something up in the next month. They could be potentially BIG! Also as you may have noticed I have decided to take the summer off from the monthly sketches...mostly because of time but also I am waiting for inspiration...so I will start those back up in September just in time for school. Here are some recent random pictures of Gunnar that I absolutely love. The first one is a bit blurry bit I love it anyway.

Holy crap....Gun just ate two tubs of baby food and a bunch of those little melt in your mouth star things from Gerber. He was totally starving I guess. He is so cute because he actually tries to chew those start things even though he still doesn't have any teeth. Does that mean he is ready to start the Gerber 2 foods? He has been eating Gerber 1 foods for almost two months now. This whole baby thing is hard...the doctors never give you any practical information and everyone else tells you something different. Oh well, I guess the second time around I will have a much better idea about all of this. LOL :)

Ok so I have a question for everyone. I am looking to get family portraits taken but am not sure where to go. I have heard both good and bad about JC Penny and I know nothing about Sears or Walmart. Are there any other places? and Where would you go? What are you experiences?

I am also reading this book called the The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield. It is really interesting and really makes you think about your life, present, past, and future. I am about 2/3 of the way done so I will fill you in on what I think when I am finished.