College Student, Amanda Martin.

Ready, stressed, excited... I am ready for school to start. Never in my life have I wanted school to be in session. I have also never been excited for school to start.

The classes I am taking are:
bio 245 - Anatomy                                  Fri. 6-850PM, Sat. 9-1050AM
aty 101 - Astronomy(repeat) :(                Online
ecn 103 - Microeconomics(repeat) : (      Online
phc 130 - Beginning Fitness Walking     Fri. 9-1040AM
phr 115 - Healthy Eating for Life            Online
phr 102 - First Aid and Safety                 Weds. 7-945PM

 Classes start Monday, August 20.

Evie Gene is going to DAYCARE!!! AHH!! She will be attending ECC's daycare Tues. and Fri. mornings from 8-11AM. The department requires the child attend a minimum of two days a week so they have a set schedule they can get/be used to. Tuesday mornings will be spent in the library working on my internet courses while Evie is in daycare.

Turning 25** What!!!

Yes, July 8th I will be 25!!

I didn't exactly see myself where I am at 25. I have done things a little backwards. I thought I would be done with school, have a nice paying job, and be living on my own. One of those is half accurate. I live with my husband, our 9 month old daughter, and our black lab. I am still in school, and get paid sh*t at my job. I am going back to school full time in the fall so I will soon be able to have a nice paying job and be able to help support my family and have more children. In the meantime, I am enjoying my daughter and just loving the 'ups', living with the 'downs', and throwing my hands up for the 'U turns'.

*25 things I am thankful for
1.I have a beautiful, healthy, vibrant 9 month old daughter
2.My loving supportive husband
3.The BEST sister in the world
4.My loving supportive parents
5.Great In-Laws
6.Family/Friends
7.running water and sanitation
8.A nice house with a roof over my head
9.I am healthy
10.My family is healthy
11.A job
12.The opportunity to go back to school full time
13.A safe vehicle
14.Health Insurance
15.Air Conditioning
16.Living in America
17.Living in a safe area
18.Immediate access to healthcare
19.Birth Control
20.Freedom
21.A full fridge/pantry
22.safe water
23.TV
24.Iphone
25.Internet


*25 things I want -(so I can look back and giggle)
1.A better attitude 
2.To enjoy going to work
3.Zac Brown Bands new CD
4.Evie off expensive formula
5.Good Grades
6.Travel more
7.Spend more time with my husband
8.Spend more time with friends
9.Finish garden on the side of the house 
10.Have more fun
11.Make new friends
12.Finish School
13.Lose baby weight
14.Quilt more
15.Scrapbook more
16.Trim in my house finished
17.A bathroom in my basement
18.An extra bedroom in my house
19.A dishwasher
20.Finished Kitchen
21.New kitchen garbage can
22.Nora Roberts new book trilogy
23.Evie to eat for food and not have it hurt her
24.Evie to sleep through the night
25.See a movie in the theater

Snuggling at 0630 * May 11th

Evie Gene woke up at 630 and was ready to play. So we layed in bed and snuggle for a little while. She was very cute and sweet. Giving me kisses and lovin on me. Hammin it up for the pictures. 

I didn't rotate the picture before I uploaded it and couldn't figure out how to do it in the blog so its staying side ways. 

Crabby Evie * June 12th

I had a VERY crabby Evie Gene on my hands this night. This was June 12th it was a little warm out but the air was off. I tried everything, she was fed, changed, Yo Gabba Gabba was on. She just was crabby and kept yelling and clinging to my leg. I would pick her up and she would want back down. I noticed she was pulling on her onesie like she wanted it off. I took it off and she started laughing!!!! What!!! lol She was happy for an hour+!! I changed her for bed, gave her a bottle and she went right to sleep... 

Naked BABY!!!!!

Yes, she has a bag of bite size nutter butters....(I said I tried everything!!) She liked the noise it made, but only helped for 20 seconds.

Helping Daddy!! - June 4th

Evie Gene helping Daddy with chores. Gene sent me these cute pictures when I was at work. They are from June 4. I asked why he let her play with the broom and how she got it and he said "she thought it was fun"... right. She does seem to be quite entertained by it.

Gene bought her this adorable dress and TJ Maxx that day. I came home and she had it on. I said this is adorable who got it for her. He picked it up and when he had to get sox, said he couldn't not get it lol

Hehe she looks like she has something important to say.

Helping??? Question mark. Lol Anytime I do laundry she quick crawls her way over to the basket and drags one piece out at a time. Screams and laughs, I am not sure whats so funny but its very cute : )

North Carolina Visit * May 22-May30

Evie and I visiting my sister-in-law(Aunt Liz) from May 22-May 30.

We had a blast!!! Plus, Evie Gene(much to Eugene's sadness(and Aunt Tess's)) learned how to crawl while we were there!!!! Just shy of 8 months and she is crawling like a pro!! We had been seeing all the signs for a couple weeks prior to the visit, and Eugene and Tess had been trying very hard to motivate her to crawl but nothing worked. We enjoyed and relaxed the whole week. Shopping, driving, beach, food, crossfit(only once ;)), chatting!!! The trip gave me a chance to get to know my sister in law better and to miss her more. I hope that her and Tom eventually come back to the area so we can she them more. Evie LOVED her Aunt Liz, immediately upon meeting each other, Evie smiled and went to her with open arms.

Aunt Liz bought Evie her pail and shovel. She mostly just chewed on the shovel and hit things with it. I would fill the bucket with toys and she would IMMEDIATELY dump it out.

We went to Wrightsville Beach. It was very nice and clean. We picked a beautiful day to go, all sun, not a cloud in the sky. The took about 3 hrs. We had a very hard time finding a place to park and stopped for lunch after looking for a parking spot for 45 mins. We ended up paying a homeowner to park in there drive way. The guy was amused when I asked if he was going to have us towed and if it was really his house.

Evie loved playing in her tent and was haming it up to the cute girl sitting by us. She was not to fond of the water but it was very cold. Liz and I were a site walking in, all the crap you have to bring with for a baby is exhausting. The little stroller would not 'stroll' threw the sand, so I lifted one end and liz lifted the other(while carrying all the crap) with Evie still in the stroller. We were panicked when we got to the beach because there were not really any spots to sit, but realized that if we walked farther down the beach it wasn't as busy. We took a walk down the beach and all the old people commented how cute a baby I have : ) and waved at Evie, and she responded with her cute little smile.

Evie loved this coffed table, she spent hours pulling her self up, playing with her toys, getting back down, and throwing her toys off. I was making lunch and left her to play like pictured, came back a few mins later and she was all the way by her carseat!! There was a few instances that happened that I knew she crawled but I didn't see it. So I got the camera out and tried to catch her crawling. No success. I put the video camera down and went back over to the kitchen(open floor plan, I can she her from the stove.) When I looked back she was all the way over by the fire place. So.... I decided to bait her by putting her new, much loved, seseme street stacking cups across the room nicely stacked just waiting for her to knock over. SUCCESSS!!! She took the bait, and crawled right to the cups.

This is a picture of Evie and I waiting at the airport in Raleigh to go home. Flying with an 8 month old was exhausting. Not bad, just tiring. Thankfully she was a very good baby, and flew like a pro. My baby who never naps took a 45 min nap for both flights. Evie smiled for everyone and never cried. On the flight home I over heard a lady say to her adult daugher, " Cute kid, I hope she stays that way"...lol right... that was encouraging. Both flights nobody was next to me so I was able to sit her in the seat for a while and lay her down when she was napping.