My attempt to catch up...

First of all, this picture. This may just be the 3-year-old wall portrait because I love it. The fall air arrived and we took off one evening to one of our favorite local spots, Bernheim Arboretum. When I saw this tree with its leaves already turning a gorgeous red, I convinced her to let me take some pics.

Now.. for other updates. When I last posted we were preparing to start me working full-time and putting our sweet girl in daycare/preschool. Here she is on her first day:




She did great! (Me, not so much! I cried the whole way home and then some!) As time passed and my start date got delayed, I began to question whether we had made the right decision. She was enjoying the social interaction and all the fun activities. However, the long days away from home were beginning to bother us all. To add to this, she gave up naps when she was just one and at daycare, naps were required. She was incredibly saddened by this on a daily basis and was waking up crying sometimes at the center. She was also very clingy at home and needing me much much more. And thanks to the napping, she couldn't sleep at night. We were all feeling like stressed-out zombies from the lack of sleep. Her actual sleep regressed too. She had finally started sleeping through the night this summer and now she is back to waking through the night needing her security: me. Sigh...

At the same time as all this was going on, we were having several doctors' appointments. She had a sleep study done to determine if she needed her tonsils and adenoids taken out because she has breathing pauses at night. Thank goodness her tests have come back and showed that yes, she does this, but it's not that bad right now and may get better on its own. And I have been busy with doctors' appointments to try to get to the bottom of why my heart sometimes seems to just jump on a jet and take off, leaving me weak and on the verge of passing out. The monitor picked up on it and I have an appointment next week with an Electrophysiologist (I think?) to discuss the procedure they recommend - catheter ablation.

Through all of this (the gut feelings on daycare not being right for us, the exhaustion from lack of sleep, the health concerns, etc.) I decided to consider other options. Luckily my employers were open to the idea of part-time, though it hasn't taken off as planned. Right now we're not sure if I'll work part-time or full-time, but we have figured out a plan for both that we're feeling pretty good about as far as childcare is concerned.

And lucky for me, the extra time has allowed me to get some knitting done! Her "fall stripes" sweater looks pretty big here and I was kind of disappointed. But then I ran it through a warm wash and a hot dry and it shrunk up just a little and now fits much better! It's not perfect, but I am happy with it. And now I'm working on a sweater for ME!! I can't wait to finish it!




Here is a recent favorite picture. I just love her smile here.


And finally - we got to go on a vacation!!! Thanks to my wonderful parents, we got to drive down to the Great Smoky Mountains. It was a 5-hour drive into Pigeon Forge, TN where my parents had rented a cabin for the whole family. The cabin was in the mountains with beautiful views. There was a hot tub and fireplace and jacuzzi tub. I really enjoyed just hanging out there in the cabin, knitting, playing games, drinking coffee, and talking. On Monday we drove up the mountains. At the bottom, in the town of Gatlinburg, it was about 55 degrees. As we drove to the top it got colder and colder and we saw SNOW on the mountain tops. They had closed the trail we had hoped to take due to icy roads, but we still got to the North Carolina/Tennessee border and got some great pics. But wow it was cold in the mid-30s with icy icy winds.




So I think that's it. Now we're in October and it is my absolute favorite time of year!! Fall weather (well, some days it still feels like summer), leaves changing color (we have some gorgeous fire-red and orange in my neighborhood!), and pumpkins galore. I love bringing out the sweaters and feeling the coolness in the air. The mosquitoes are gone and we can actually enjoy outside time again. I just love this time of year.