Guess what. I'm still a blogger.

Yep. I'm still here.  As usual, let's start with the list of excuses reasons why I haven't tended to my very public online journal.  You see, what had happened was, I got knocked up.  And I already have a toddler.  And then, I started this new job.  And while the job is fabulous, I work from home.  That is fabulous as well.  But when I sit down at the computer (actually my new Netbook) at night to internet, blog, etc... I end up opening up work windows and surfing the net while researching for work.  The commitment that writing a blog brings is far too much for me at 9 p.m. when I still have meetings to schedule, lives of people I haven't seen in 20 years to stalk catch up on, online shopping/ browsing to do, yada, yada, yada.  And now, it's summer so there's lots of outdoor things to do, work is picking up, vacation is in a few short days,  and the nesting is taking over.  My husband is especially thrilled with that last one.  Oh, and teacher, my dog ate my homework. : /


With all that said, there are many exciting things happening that I think about blogging about every day.  So you'll get them now, in an unfairly condensed version.


Remember, how I posted about thrifting and refurbishing old pieces of furniture and then showing you the results? Yeah. I bought an awesome piece for Sofia's new room.  Before and after pictures to follow, but that ball is rolling and I'm SO excited! Woo!  Oh, I forgot to add that to the paragraph above.  The redecorating bug has bitten me yet again, and I'm infected! I've already drawn plans, made lists, and gotten approvals from my mate and design confidants.  So, by October, all three bedrooms in our house will be newly decorated! ALL of the furniture from Sofia's room is going into the new nursery, which is currently our catch all office. Sof is getting all new (to us) furniture (I already have two pieces, both used and both AWESOME finds). I'm adding some minor upgrades to our bedroom because I've never loved that room and if I don't do it before this baby comes, I never will. And since the nursery will be going into the office, and there is an increasing demand for a more functional home office in Casa de Gill, we'll be making that happen in the basement. My goal is to do it all for under $500.  It's in writing now, so I have to do it.  I think I'll do it a la HGTV, and save all my receipts and do a reveal, and it will be glorious.  I can't wait to share it with all of you!

In other news, I want to keep this short because I'm priding myself on not advertising per se right now, but I'm in the process of starting my photography business.  It was one of those things that I've thought about FOREVER, I have a passion for, and a few things really fell into place at the right time, so I'm giving it a go.  Now that that is in writing too I just got all jittery about it.  We shall see! I'm nervously excited about it.  It is in the EXTREME beginning stages right now, and I'm sure there will be several kinks to work out over the next few months, but I'm thrilled with the way it is unfolding.  And, I'm already booking gigs, so, ahem, there's my non advertising descriptive way of saying that you should give me a call if you want to check it out.


I'm thinking that this post is making me sound super motivated and organized.  And really, I do pride myself on those things.  But one thing I've slacked on is keeping up with Sofia's baby book and milestones.  They're all stored in my brain, and while that's great, my pregnancy brain is making me seriously question my memory's capabilities.  So, I want to start noting some of her milestones here.  In other words, stop reading now if you don't enjoy listening to a proud mother gloat about how ridiculously intelligent and breathtakingly beautiful her daughter is. 


Sofia turned 19 months on May 28 and I'm surprised and delighted every single day with her development.  Her vocabulary is WAY ahead of where it should be, so it makes for some hilarious and challenging conversations.  I love, though, that we can have REAL conversations, and she can tell me what she wants, etc... She repeats EVERYTHING.  That's a hard lesson to learn when I'm tailgating a slow driver in the left lane of 75.  That's all I'll say about that.  She can say and identify all body parts and colors. In fact, she tells me what color EVERYTHING is.  It's always cute though. She can count to ten, but refuses to say 3,4, 5, 6, and 7 unless I say them with her.  But she knows them. I'm sure this makes sense to other parents.  She also knows the ABC's but can't say all of them alone.  She also knows the words to lots and lots of songs, which is painfully adorable. At her last well visit, the doc said that she will be one of the smartest kids in her class, and this is due to her exceptional memory.  While this is wonderful, and I'm truly a proud, proud mommy, it has it's pitfalls as well.  She also remembers things that hurt, things that I say are gross, and things that may be bad in general.  She's a very emotional child.  So visits to the doctor, boo boos, bugs, dirt, etc... tend to really stress her out, even if nothing bad will come of the particular thing that time.  She truly enjoys being the star of the party, telling jokes (she has a couple knee slappers), doing somersaults and the splits, and dancing and singing up a storm.  She's a real lover of animals, and in fact, I worry that she trusts them all too much and will make herself vulnerable to the wrong one someday.  She went from not sleeping with any stuffed animals or blankies to having an army of characters surrounding her at bedtime.  It's so funny, and kind of difficult to get them all arranged, but too cute to stop.  Her favorite things to do right now are swing and slide, swim and play at her water table, blow bubbles, and put "coins" and "money" in her piggy bank.  I've actually been paying her to let me change her diaper peacefully.  Did I just admit that to all of you? Ahem.  Oh, and if we're talking diapers, the potty is just a toy at this point and frankly, I'm just not worried about it yet.  


Obviously, I could go on and on with this, but I'm going to stop here because even I am starting to get a little bored.  Thanks for reading, if you still are.  Keep paying attention, as things are only getting more exciting around here!