Stuff I needed, that maybe you need too

People make it sound so easy.  "Oh, it must be nice to be able to work from home, so that you can take care of your baby!"  I mean, it is, and even I thought it would be easy before I actually had to do it.  But as it turns out, babies need a lot of attention.  Duh.  Gigantic understatement. :P

You know what's saved my life on numerous occasions?

Ack, I just realized in this picture it's on the precipice of the futon.  It's not usually that precarious, I swear!

Among other things, this Fisher Price rocker. (They're not even paying me for this, either!  Although that is an Amazon affiliate link, for full disclosure.) Stephen pretty much lived in this for a while...he would only ever sleep in this, and couldn't stand sleeping in the Pack and Play we had for him (he didn't like lying flat, because he had reflux, and the rocking chair elevated him a bit).  Then I would just move the rocker into the studio for the day, park it next to my computer, and let him nap in there in between feedings and playtime.

What other baby gear do you need as a work-at-home mom?  Well, let me tell you:

El Cuarto de Bebe

So I have a babysitter today, and it feels really weird to not have to worry about the baby while I'm writing this...normally he'd be in a carrier attached to me, or napping off to the side while I work on the computer, and I'd always have one eye on him.  But now, no worries!  Weird.  And yet, awesome.  And yet...still a little stressful, because I feel like I have to make the most of this time that I have.  Ah, the life of a WAHM (work-at-home mom).

The only ones in the studio now are me and the 12th Doctor.

But I'm afraid this will still be a baby-related post, since now I have to show you...The Baby Room.

I'm still here!

Yes, don't worry guys, I AM still here!  And so is this guy...

I haven't decided how much I'm going to share of him (who am I kidding, I'll probably post his face eventually, because it's so darn cute), but for now, here, some baby feet!

I did, in fact, have my son.  But things did not go as planned, as he arrived in August.  "But wait, Whitney," you say, "weren't you due in October?"  Well, yes, I was.  Baby had other plans, apparently! (won't be my WHOLE birth story after the jump, there will be art news, too, I promise...)

Whoa, passage of time...

Hi guys.  Well, I'm still pregnant (over halfway through now!), it's still hot as Satan's you-know-what here, so I'm taking lots of naps and I'm not being very productive.  But, on the upside, monsoons will be starting soon...

It's just teasing us now.

Oh, and this weekend, I actually picked up some paints for the first time in way too long! (the progress picture goes under the cut, because, well, it's in progress and as such it's kind of unsightly...)

Trying to re-green my thumb...

You know what's the best thing about March/April?  Well, besides palo verde trees being in bloom.  And all the other flowers.  And besides slightly warmer weather but not too hot yet.  And besides Cadbury eggs.  Okay, so...it's one on a very long list of good things about this time of year.

You get to PLANT STUFF!

I got some mini pots of herbs at Lowe's a couple weeks ago while picking up some other things for around the house...about $3 each, but they've already grown a lot, so I predict I'll get a great return on that investment.

More pics and some other plants...

Big news, baby...

Okay, I think that it is now safe to talk about the other, er, "project" I've had in the works for a couple months now...the news is out, so I might as well release it on this blog too.

So.  Guess what this is.

This, my friends, is my, well...new creation!  Due to arrive in October.  Yep.  I'm pregnant.  (It's for real!  I had to post this today and not yesterday because the timing would have been...bad.)

More boring stuff about that under the cut...

Hey, I'm still here!

Hi!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I hope everyone is wearing o'the green today, and not drinking o'the green (beer), or...turning o'the green from drinking too much.  Perhaps later on today we will be mowing o'the green (lawn).

Scotty helps us mow the lawn.  He does!  He eats the grass that comes up.

I feel bad for not writing in here more often, but I do have a couple good reasons for it.  There are some projects taking up tons of time right now, some of which I am at liberty to talk about now, and some of which I'm not....plus the usual ongoing process of making the house look nicer and function better, maintenance of dogs, and making sure my family is eating properly (and one of them is a 16-year-old boy, so that is a hard job, my friends).

Tiny spaces of no mess

In the process of moving, everything kinda gets turned upside down...and yes, we are still in "the process" even after almost three months.  I finally got us another bookshelf so we can contain our book collection that somehow multiplied, like they're Gremlins or something, but there are still boxes of books, boxes of things to hang on the wall, boxes of things I'll need for taxes all too soon...there are still a lot of boxes, let's just say that.

This one is Scotty's watchtower for some reason.

 But I've found a way to sort of carve out little oases in the chaos...

Starting off strong...

Well, art fans, it's shaping up to be an exciting 2015 already, and we've barely even started!  I don't know what I did, but for some reason the universe has decided, "here, have some sprinkles on your 2015 cake!"  If, y'know, sprinkles were jobs and dollars.  I don't want to jinx it, but there's a project I'm in the running for that would really be a great opportunity...challenging, but that can be fun sometimes.

For another thing, we got our old house rented!

Scotty will miss the Art Shack.  As will I.

And we didn't even have to use a management company, so no management fees!  Of course, this means that I have to add "property management" to my long list of part-time jobs that I do, but I don't mind.  I'm just happy to have the house taken care of and not have to pay two mortgages anymore, let me tell you...

I also got my first Etsy custom order!  This is exciting.

Snow time like the present? (I know, booooo...)

Happy New Year's, guys!  Guess what we had last night, right here in Tucson, Arizona...

Snoooowwwww!  It fell for quite a long time last night, actually, and it stuck!  Wow, did that take me back...I hadn't seen that much snow fall and stick since I lived in Idaho.  It was still around this morning, too!

This kind of thing is exciting to us Arizonans...I know it might not look like much, but it was enough for my husband and I to throw snowballs at each other and the dog, and that made us very happy. (Maybe not the dog, though...)

More snow pictures and New Year's ramblings under the cut...

Painting outside the box. Literally.

Hello!  How's everyone enjoying this winter so far?  Arizonans, how are you liking all this rain we're having?  I love rain...even when I lived in rainier places, I still loved it, even if it was almost every day.  It was raining Wednesday morning when I woke up, and I just wanted to lie in bed all day, listen to the rain, drink tea and cocoa, and read...darn responsibilities preventing me from doing that.

Everyone ready for the holidays?  We have our tree up, some lights in the window, I've been wrapping presents, and I'm sending out holiday cards which, of course, I drew...after the holidays and once everyone's gotten theirs, I'll post it.

Also have one last holiday craft show tomorrow, and a couple new pieces for it...you'll want to see these.

Still photographically challenged...

As promised, here's the second half of my November photo-a-day challenge...plus a few extras.

Not part of the November challenge, but...

 I've started to take more photos in general after doing the challenge...especially since winter is actually very picturesque in Arizona.  We're only now having some fall foliage, as can be seen above...our pomegranate tree at our house turned bright orange, and some of the neighbor's trees have too.  Fun to see, and lovely to take pictures of.

Attitude of gratitude

First off, as an online business I am compelled to plug a Cyber Monday deal: $5 off everything and free worldwide shipping in my Society6 store today!  You know you want this tote bag.

Secondly, Thanksgiving Weekend just ended for us United Statesians, which means a few different things: you're probably figuring out where to put all the stuff you bought on various Black Friday sales (I didn't go to any...I try not to, and especially not since I'm moving and have enough stuff to tidy up already!), you're probably still eating turkey and various turkey-related leftovers, and hopefully, it also means that you thought about things you're thankful for, i.e. the real meaning of the holiday, not just eating lots of food and buying cheap electronics.

Pre-Thanksgiving table setup at my mom's house this year.  Invisible chairs!

So here's a shortlist of things I'm thankful for...

Instagrammically challenged

Sometimes you'll come across these "[blank]-a-day for a month" challenges on blogs or social media...I've tried to do a couple of them in the past, but when you're not posting the results you're not really accountable to anyone, you know?  So I never finished the couple I'd tried before.

But then I saw this on Twitter...

...and it linked to this, and I thought, why not?  I'll play it this month!

"Events are in the saddle, and they ride mankind."

That quote (supposedly Ralph Waldo Emerson, but the Googles weren't sure) is pretty much my life for the past month or two.  I don't think events have even put a saddle on me, actually.  I think they just have spurs and a bullwhip and are running me ragged.  Sheesh.

But...I have returned from my honeymoon!

A statue I saw in Cannes.  I didn't know they had cactus in France!

It was lovely.  Due to wireless internet on the cruise ship being expensive (over $1 a minute? What?!), I didn't check ANY email for the whole trip, from the time we were in the Chicago airport about to leave the country, until we got to the hotel where we were staying the night before leaving Italy.  It was kind of a relief, actually.  I was FORCED to unplug!  And since getting back, I haven't been fiddling with my phone as much either, which is good.  You can actually accomplish things that way!  Or just notice your surroundings, how about that!

Anyway, highlights of the trip include...

The curse of too many opportunities...

Y'all, I am abjectly apologetic about the lack of...stuff I've been putting out.  I know, it's only been a week or so, but it has been CRAY-ZEE.  Here, have a cow:

Cow watercolor in its unfinished state...I finished it last week but haven't had time to snap pics because I've been busy, well, having cows.

In case you care for the story, read on...

Inspired COUGH HACK SNEEZE

Hi.  If you've noticed the lack of posts on here lately, and noticed that there wasn't really an Inspired Monday this morning, well...you're right.  I haven't felt inspired AT ALL this past week, because I've had one of those annoying late-summer colds, and only today am I beginning to feel like myself again.

I can't say I was "sick as a dog" because my dogs are actually really healthy!

I brought that upon myself, too...even though I was sick, I kept running around and pushing myself to get stuff done, which probably made it worse.  But I had to!  It was a big week!

Gettin' pinky with it...

As you may have seen on Twitter this week...my hair now looks like this:

This is the first time I've done this, too!  Yes, I managed to go to four years of art school (and a few years of nontraditional jobs that were pretty lenient about, er, alternative personal appearances), and I had never dyed my hair an unknown-to-nature color.  Why now?  And how now?  Well...

Inspired Monday: a change of scenery

Today, I am writing this not from my studio at home, but from a coffee shop.  In the world of a work-from-homer, this is a very exciting thing, getting to work outside of your usual home office.  I call these my coffeeshop-as-office days.

This is inspiring me today, even though I'm not actually doing art here, just getting administrative tasks done...even so, being in different settings makes this a heck of a lot more fun.

Inspired Monday: walk it off

I've been taking lots of walks lately...this should come as no surprise since I've mentioned on here that (one of) my day job(s) is as a petsitter/dog-walker.

Here's one of my charges.  She enjoys grass.

If you're feeling stressed, creatively stuck, or just need to take an energizing break, then my advice to you would be to go take a hike!  Literally.