Great news and not so great news

I have some great news first...my new nephew is here!! My sister was scheduled to have a c-section this coming Friday, but apparently Grady (his name--isn't it cute!) wanted an earlier birthday. Her water broke at 4am on Monday morning and they did the c-section at 11am. Here's a pic of super cute Grady:

Ok, so the picture is sideways...work with me for a minute. My hands aren't cooperating and I thought it was best to just get the pic up. lol

Baby and Mom are doing well and the whole family is thrilled to have another boy around. Poor Will (my brother's son) was getting outnumbered fast. For a few months, the numbers will be even. Of course, then our 2nd little girl will be born and the girls will have the lead again. As it should be, right? lol

now...not so great news.

I went to the rheumatologist today to see what the plan is. Basically, he told me to start taking 10 mg of Prednisone in the morning and then 1 Extra Strength Tylenol every few hours. What that amounts to is that I'm not going to have much of anything to help me through the next 2 or so months. Tylenol is useless for me--it's no different than swallowing a Tic Tac--and 1 every few hours. uh, yeah, ok. Prednisone. Oh, Prednisone and I have a history, which is what sent me off the deep end today. Prednisone was the first thing they gave me when they finally realized (years ago) that I had arthritis. Because of Prednisone (not Prednisone alone, mind you--I know that I have a lot of responsibility there), I began the upward climb that led me to the weight that I am now. Not great. I had been feeling fairly good about myself--I've lost 13 lbs since getting pregnant...not because I'm trying but just because my body is freaky. I knew that it would reverse itself at some point (hello, I'm growing a person), but I was hoping that I'd at least be heading in the right direction after the baby comes. Enter Prednisone. I could easily gain 30-50 lbs in the few months that are left of my pregnancy, and watching what I eat while on Prednisone doesn't seem to make a bit of a difference. Not so thrilling. Yeah, I cried for at least 2 hrs of the 2.5 hr drive home from the doctor today. lovely.

Here's the honest to God truth (thank God for blogs...where else can I pour my heart out without feeling selfish or whiney or needy of attention? For all I know, nobody even reads my blog!)... Even though we had the ultrasound last month and I've been feeling the baby move lots, I've been worried sick. At around 24 weeks, NSAIDS (like the prescription Motrin I've been on and other anti-inflammatories) can close the hole in the baby's heart where blood goes in and out. Eventually, that hole will close on its own--when it's supposed to. That's not now. Even though both my rheumy and ob have told me that I'll be ok to take the prescription Motrin until 24 weeks (this coming Friday), I have been terrified that I'm doing something that will hurt my baby. All because I'm being selfish because I don't want to live in pain. Let me be clear--the Motrin definitely isn't taking away all of the pain...my left hand is barely functional. But it (the Motrin) lets me function, at least for now. So now I'm feeling like I've been selfish and horrible to risk something happening to my baby. Add to it now that I don't want to take Prednisone because I don't want to get any fatter than I already am and you've got a migrane and 2+ hours of crying in the making. I'm sure that some of this is being fueled by pregnancy hormones, the fact that I haven't slept much in the last month, the fact that Maggie has been difficult (to put it nicely) for the last month or so, and the fact that with my new nephew I'm much more aware of this little person growing inside me...it feels more real somehow. The reality is, though, that this has been building and coming and I'm just not sure what to do with it.

I know. What I have to do with it is accept it for what it is--yet another challenge...another way for me to reach for help where I can find it...and to prove that I am stronger than this. Look at all I've already beaten. Hell, it's not cancer--it's just pain. And potentially only 8-12 weeks of pain. Once the baby is here I can make different decisions about my medical care. All of those are logical things, though. Right now, there's an elephant in the room and it's making me want to just curl up in a ball and cry and sleep for a few hours.

Maybe I'll go do that. Maggie will be up early (as she always is lol), and I want to be myself for her. She's too important and too special for me to spend too much time wallowing in myself.

Thanks if you've read this far. Don't feel the need to do or say anything. I just had to get it out. Chris worries and nobody else really knows what to do or say if I ever share this stuff, so there it sits in my head. There's not enough room in there for it right now, though, so I'm glad that it's out, at least temporarily.

Have a good night. Hug your little ones. Be thankful for the blessings that you have been given--even though I'm struggling at the moment, my life is VERY VERY blessed. I'd be a fool not to recognize the bazillion blessings that I've been given. Perhaps the biggest one is the knowledge that I have someone bigger and better than me to help me through this--once I get over myself and get past the pity party. Tomorrow. It'll be a better day, right? Right. Most definitely. Good night.

Friendship Day stuff at TDC this weekend!

Make sure to check out The DigiChick this weekend!

We're going to have LOTS of fun, so clear out some time to work on some layouts this coming weekend!

I've been busy with Maggie and with planning for the Friendship Weekend at TDC, but we took some time out on Thursday to find out some good news:

It's a GIRL! All is well with Baby, and Maggie is right--she's going to have a little sister! Now we just have to think about names.

In other baby-type news, my sister's baby will be born on August 18 by c-section. We're excited to welcome a new little boy to the family...how much fun will that be?! For a couple of months, the numbers will be even--two girls (Maggie and Mary Maddox) and two boys (Will and the new baby...Grady). Of course, then we'll throw things off with the new baby. :)

A little more random stuff from me...this will be the last week that I can take meds for my arthritis. The docs (OB and Rheumatologist) have had me on an NSAID (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory...prescription forms of things like Advil, Motrin, and Aleve), but from 24-32 weeks, those things can close the hole in the baby's heart where the blood goes in for now. That's an important thing, and we want to avoid risking that, so I'm off my meds on Sunday (2 weeks early just to be safe). I'm not sure what that means for me since I don't meet with the rheumatologist again until the 15th (about a week and a half). It could be an UGLY week and a half, though, so I might not be around much. I'll have to spend some time on the computer because of work (online writing tutoring), but my hands and wrists will probably not be very kind to me without any meds. We'll see, I guess. I'm hoping that the rheumy will have a plan for me (other than just doping me up on pain pills...who needs me more dopey than I already am?! lol), but it might be an ugly 8 weeks. We'll see what happens, anyway.

Ok, enough babbling from me! Off to work on another layout! Have a good night, everyone!

Grrr...blogger

I can't tell you how long I messed with that last post. I edited and edited and edited, but for some reason it won't let me center the pics or move the credits for that first layout down. Oh well--I give up.

:) Happy night again!

Black and white kick

I'm on a serious black and white kick these days. I'm not sure what has prompted this, but why fight it, right?

Here are just a couple of my latest...

Credits are Amber Clegg's Mismatched Alpha and Christine Smith's Rectangle Overlays and Freestyle Flowers kits. Font is SP Toby Unleashed. Peta's Color Pop and Lisa Neal's B&W conversion (both from iLP.com) on photo.

Credits: Sanded overlays by Christine Smith in Rectangular Overlays. Font is TK Doodle. Dave Jaseck's Duotone Dream v2 conversion on photo.Quote from Lewis Carroll.

Credits: Inked overlay from Christine Smith's Inked Overlays. Doodle from Leah Rioran's Gina's Doodles. Fonts are SBC Curly Outline and Journaling Hand. Used Peta's Color Pop action (from ILP) and Dave Jaseck's Dream Duotone Conversion on the photo. Based on mamakimberly's Leap of Faith layout (http://www.thedigichick.com/gallery/...p/photo/23026).

Credits: Overlay from Christine Smith's Inked Overlays. Doodle from Karen Hunt's Funky Doodles DIY Star (slightly recolored). Fonts are Taguettes Plus and Taguettes. Dave Jaseck's Duotone Dream conversion and Chip Springer's Paint with Light II action on photo.

Tomorrow will be a day of cleaning for me. We have friends coming over on Saturday night, and my house needs some serious attention! Thankfully, Chris is taking the day off (YAY!) and he's going to hang with Maggie while I work on the house.

Happy day, everyone!

4 am

Why oh why is Maggie trying to kill me? Her early wake-up time of 5 or 5:30 for the last month or so apparently wasn't good enough this morning. What time did she wake up, you ask? 4am. Yes, that would be 4 o'clock in the morning. 4 hours after midnight--which is the time my screwed up body FINALLY fell asleep, despite much effort on my behalf. 4 freaking am. And was she content to just chill on the couch and watch Dora or something (thank GOD for Tivo!!)? Of course not! She wanted to play and sing and dance. DH came out of the room at 6:10 and took her upstairs with him for a while while he ate breakfast, but other than that, she's been with me since 4am.

What the heck am I going to do about this?! I seem to be physically incapable of going to sleep before 11:30 or 12, and her wake up time gets earlier and earlier. and have I mentioned that she has napped maybe two times in the last 3 weeks? yeah. fun. She goes to bed at 7. We have tried for the last two night to push it back to 8 to see if that would make a difference. Obviously not. She's only 2.5...surely she needs more than 10 hours of sleep.

ugh. Somebody mentioned giving her melatonin, but I don't know if it's safe or how much or whatever. Oh and I've tried the taking her back to bed thing over and over and over. Screaming. She's just awake early. WIDE freaking awake.

off to try to salvage my morning. have a good one, folks!

Long day...

Gosh, it's been a long day. I love my child--she's exuberant, hilarious, imaginative, and energetic. Man oh man, though, when she's having a bad day or even a bad moment, it's UGLY. We had one of those today. She gets ideas in her head and wants to do things (like climb into her car seat) on her own schedule. Well, I'm sorry, but it was almost 100 degrees outside today and I'm hot and pregnant, and dang, i just want to get into the car and GO! ugh. I know how to handle it so that there isn't a battle, but she woke me up at 5:40am today (yes, 5:40!!) and I just got frustrated with her before I could run the normal plan. It was as much my fault as it was hers...she was just being a kid who wants to be independent and do things in her own time and I'm the grown-up who should know better, but anyway...

It all resulted in some time in the naughty chair, a bunch of screaming (from her), some pretty frustrating and tearful moments from me (while she was screaming in her room), and just an all-around ugly time. She eventually took a nap, which she desperately needed, and we had a better afternoon. Of course, just now we had a long drawn-out bedtime ordeal. Oh well. Tomorrow's another day, right?

Enough about that. It's icky.

Sooo...scrap stuff.

I did a little challenge at The DigiChick this week. I've got this picture of my niece Mary Maddox from Christmas last year:

It just stumped me and I wasn't really sure what to do with it. Several ladies have taken my challenge on so far. Here are their layouts:

From Karlana (hawaiianbrat96):

From Julie (lovesher2boys):

From Chris (Nonnie917):

From Charlene (berekah):

From Victoria (mizamigo):

From Jen (jenflo):

Great layouts, huh? :)

I think we're all going to try to do a layout with one of Charlene's (berekah) pics, now, so check out that thread and get busy! Here's the link: http://www.thedigichick.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6626 The new pic is on the fourth page.

Enough from me for now. Have a good night! I'm going to work on a scrap and then go to bed early. Hopefully Maggie will sleep a little later tomorrow. PLEASE!!

Night, all! Don't forget to say hi!

MMM frustrations

I thought I'd do a couple of posts tonight to make Hilary happy. hehehe Now you guys had better make sure to leave me some comments!

Anyway, I've been working on my layouts for the MMM contest (Making Memories Masters). I've got 3 layouts that I'm pretty happy with, 2 more that I'm not sure about or that need "something", and one that I like but I'm not sure about because it uses a pic from the same day as one of the other layouts. I'm in a small group for constructive criticism for these, but I think most everybody else is finished up and they haven't really been around for the last week or week and a half. So now I'm feeling stuck and not sure what to do.

Here's the deal. One of the layouts has to be on the theme of Celebrate Life. I used a pic from our trip to the water fountains at Centennial Olympic Park last week because Maggie was having such a great time. The other four layouts just have to have a picture, a title, and journaling. I put together a layout that I like, but it uses a pic from that same day (same swimsuit, setting, etc.). The papers are totally different and the feel is different, but I don't know if I'd be shooting myself in the foot by submitting two layouts with photos from the same day. Any thoughts?

I'm just stumped on the other one. I like the feel of it, but it's missing something in the upper right corner. That doesn't mean much to you, I'm sure, since I can't show the layout to you.

I don't know. Maybe I should just forget about it and not enter this year. We'll see. If I do enter, though, I'd better get over my block and get moving so that I can get them printed and sent out in time.

Enough babbling from me. Leave me a note to say hi! :) Thanks for reading if you've stuck with me this far!

So a real post

Baby Stuff
All is well with the baby so far. We're at 18.5 weeks, and I'm starting to feel some real movement--not just little flutters. Though I'm definitely showing, I've lost 12 pounds. Hey--I've got it to lose. Soon enough, I'm sure, it'll all start to go the opposite direction. Anyway, we go back on the 27th for the big ultrasound. Maggie is convinced that she's going to get a baby sister. Not sure how I'm going to explain it to her if that is not the case. We'll just take it as it comes, I suppose.

Other Stuff
I cut my hair! FINALLY! lol When I went in, the girl who cuts my hair said, "Sinead, have you not had your hair cut since the last time I saw you?" (Which was about a year ago...she is in my parents' home town and I'm a freak about letting just anybody cut my hair thanks to being scalped too many times by people who had no clue about cutting curly hair.) I'd had one trim in the time between, but still...

She cut 10 inches off. Yep--1o!! I've got it in a ponytail and I'm going to send it to Locks of Love. I figured that I might as well go all the way, right? Now my hair is right at my shoulders...yeah, my hair was THAT long (wet and pulled out straight, at least). hehehe I feel more like myself now, so yay!

Maggie also got her first professional haircut. It was really more like a trim, but I wanted her to have the experience without being too freaked out about all of her hair falling to the floor. As it was, she was really freaked out that my hair was "broken" and we couldn't fix it. Poor little kiddo. She was as good as gold in that chair, though, and she kept looking at herself in the mirror and smiling. Pictures soon, I promise!

Just for Hilary

LOL, Hilary called me out on TDC for being such a bad blogger. hehehe

So here's a little challenge:

I've got a challenge for you girls. I've got this photo of my niece Mary Maddox on Christmas morning staring at the tree that my sister put in the nursery (yeah, my sister's a nut about Christmas!). Anyway, I've loved the pic from the moment I saw it even though it's not the best picture, photographically (is that even a word?!). The problem is that I'm completely stumped with how to scrap it.


















So...the challenge.

I don't know if any of you are bored or want to try your hand with it, but here's a Yousendit link to the photo:
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=39A420E772982347

If anybody wants to give it a whirl, I'd love to see what you come up with. Oh, and if there are more than one of you, I might come up with something fun to give ya just for humoring me.

So what do you say? Anybody interested?


I will try to come back later and do a real blog post. :) love you guys!

Life in the Oven

Ah, when I said "oven" I bet some of you were thinking about the baby, huh? Well, I meant the oven of Alabama. Man oh man is it hot!!! (Baby is fine--more on that in a minute.) It's been over 90 for a good two weeks now and it's been probably 3 weeks since we had any rain at all. To make matters worse, the humidity is really high, too. It was hot last summer, but I was able to deal with it. Man, I've got 2.5 more months (3.5, really, since it won't cool down til October) of heat and getting bigger and bigger and more pregnant. I predict that we will be spending lots of time at the pool at the Y this summer. Yick.

So, baby is fine. I'm just past 14 weeks, so we're out of that 1st trimester, too. I've had two ultrasounds so far. The first was because I was hazy on the dating, and when I went back in for my last appointment, the date was wrong in the file so the nurse tried to hear the heartbeat with the doppler and couldn't. I kept telling her that I was only 13 weeks. They did an ultrasound again just to be safe, and all was well. Baby was waving away at us through the ultrasound. :)

Maggie is still convinced that she's going to get a baby brother and a baby sister. Maybe she watches too much Dora the Explorer (since Dora has twin siblings--a boy and girl--she thinks she's getting that, too). Anyway, she even tells people that she's getting two babies. I'm quick to set the record straight--ONE baby. :)

Off to work on a couple of layouts. I've got one for Kathy Moore that is almost finished and I need to work on one for Valerie Fowler. My hands haven't been working well lately, so I haven't been getting much done. Oh well--there's always Advil (until I hit 20 weeks, anyway!). :)

Happy day, all!

Seriously--a slacker!

Ok, I've got an excuse for this weekend, but not for the week or so that has come in between my last post and this one. :) We had friends come to visit from North Carolina, so my spare moments have been consumed so that I could make the house livable. Then this weekend things were just busy. They have a 3 year old (5 months older than Maggie) and a 14 month old, so between them and their kids and us and Maggie, we had a busy house! lol The girls all played so well together, though, and it was terrific to see them again. We MISS our NC friends!!

So not much scrapping done lately, though I did throw together an ABC book for my niece's birthday last Thursday (and then promptly forgot to bring it along to her birthday party this weekend! Wouldn't you know it?!). I did it really fast and basically added titles to photos. Simple, I know, but those little ABC picture albums that I did for Maggie with her pictures are still among her favorite books. Maybe my kid has a vanity issue, though...hmmm, something to think about.

Speaking of my niece and really her mommy (my sister), I am SO jealous! OK, so I'm excited for her but jealous for me. Her husband is a CPA and just finished up tax season. He came home the other week with an end of tax season/Mother's Day/birthday/Christmas surprise present for her--a new digi Rebel! Ooooooh, I'm so jealous! I've been eyeing digi SLRs since I started digiscrapping, but they are so out of our price range (which is zilch at the moment) that it's not worth the hope. Oh well. One day maybe. I'm going to see if I can get folks to give me $$ for birthday (in November) and Christmas and see if that's enough for one. We'll see...

Work has started back up, too. I worked my first 2 hour shift yesterday. This summer I'll be working 2 hour flex shifts on Tues and Wed (which means I can review the essays whenever it is convenient for me), and I'll work from 1-3pm on Thursdays and Fridays. I should be working right now, though, since I picked up 2 extra hours today. Ahh, the joy of work. :)

Anyway, I'm off now. Maggie is sleeping and I should try to get a few things done before settling in to work. We'll see if I do or not--the couch is beckoning and my eyes are getting heavy. lol Happy Wednesday!

I'm a slacker!

Oh man, all my bragging about not being as tired with this pregnancy is catching up to me! I'm EXHAUSTED these days. It doesn't help that I'm not sleeping well, either, and that it's already super hot (whose bright idea was it to move to Alabama where it's already 90?! Wait, I think it was mine. Oh well). We're also having friends come visit this coming weekend, so we've been busy trying to get things sorted out for their visit.

I've also been busy doing layouts. My most complete gallery is here at The DigiChick. We're getting ready to put out the next issue of De-Zine (due out in mid-June), so be sure to check that out when it is released.

My month as a Guest CT member for Gina Miller is nearly up. I've done some neat layouts for her (I think). Here they are:
What Next, Mom? with her Get Creative kit, Flowers with her Get Creative (background paper) and Cherry Blossom (from Garden Treasures 2), Smell the Flowers 2 with Watermelon Smoothie (from Garden Treasures 2), Best Friends Hug with Teal Explosion, A Walk with Grandad with Citrus Brights, Those Eyes with Delicate Petals (from Garden Treasures), and Lace Cookies with Tomato Basil (from Garden Treasures). Wow! That's a lot--I didn't realize how many I had done. :)

My latest favorite layout, though, is one I did really quick Saturday night. I had already worked on another layout (Dancing Queen) with this same kit (Symphony by Laura Alpuche at The DigiChick), but then I got the idea for "Stop" and I couldn't help myself. It was really late, but I didn't want to lose the journaling that was already in my head. Check out STOP if you get a second. I'm really really proud of it. Every time I think of the journaling, I just get teary. :)

In non-scrapping news, things are going well with the pregnancy other than the tiredness factor. Maggie is still really cute about it. She asks me just about every other day if the baby is coming soon, and she's really excited about it. I don't purposely talk about it with her because it's still really far away, but she keeps bringing it up. I think she's going to enjoy being a big sister. :)

Hmmm...it's after 5 and I haven't started dinner. I'd better get a move on since I haven't figured out yet how to make dinner cook itself. Have a good day! If you get a second, give me a shout and say hi. :)

take 2

note the beer on the table. lol

  

This is what happens when you spend too much time scrapping

DH was bored with watching me chat on the computer for the DigiChick's NSD/Mother's Day celebration, so he had some beer and turned on the music channels.

 

LOL 

So...my news

I'm pregnant! :)

Some of you may have guessed this already, but I finally got in to see the doctor today and it's official. I'm 9 weeks--the baby has a good strong heartbeat and is developing right according to plan. The due date that they gave me today is December 8, but this will be a c-section baby, so it'll probably be about 2 weeks before that (right around Miss Maggie's birthday lol).

It was a total shock for us. It took over 2 years and several miscarriages to get Maggie, so we just counted our blessings and left it up to God. I just realized last week that it had been a while and I was feeling out of whack, so I did a test and what do ya know, it popped up right away. I still can't really believe it. :)

We told DH's parents today, and we're going to tell my family tomorrow evening. If any of you know my family--mum's the word until tomorrow night! We want it to be a surprise. I'm working on a really cute little shirt for Maggie ("big sister to be" with a little bumble bee instead of the word "be"), so hopefully they'll pick up on it right away. Here's the image:

That cool alpha is Gina Miller's Funky Basic Black and the font is MA Sexy. I downloaded the bee image from the web. I printed out the image on a photo transfer paper and I'm going to iron it on to Maggie's t-shirt, so hopefully it'll look good!

Usually they come to Maggie's side of the car first, so that should be good, too, since I'm already showing a bit--boy does it happen faster with the 2nd one! The doc thought I was 10-14 weeks, but the ultrasound said otherwise. We'll see if things change as the baby grows.

Anyway, I just wanted to share. :)

Dora show and other excitement

Ok, I had a whole post written and Blogger ate it. Oh well.

So the Dora Show rocked! Maggie was over the moon and fascinated by it. She was entranced by the stage from the moment the show started until it was over and has been singing some of the songs over and over since then. "Isa turn the wheel, turn the wheel, Isa!" lol It was totally worth the drive up to Atlanta. She had such a great time!

In other news, I can't spill my secret for another while yet. I was hoping to be able to spill this week, but because of scheduling, I have to wait until next week. Oh well. Soon enough. :)

So today tell me about your favorite month. I love October. I love how crisp and clean the air feels in October, plus it's the month that Chris and I got married. :) October in the South is a pretty nice time...you should check it out! So what's your favorite month? I can't wait to hear!

Have a good Monday!

Dora Show and other excitement!

Oh my. We went to the Dora the Explorer Live show at Atlanta's Fox Theater yesterday. Maggie was ENTRANCED! For the first half of the show, her eyes didn't leave the stage once. Well, maybe once--she looked at Tony (Grandad) to get her Dora flag. lol Every now and then she'd exclaim, "There's Swiper!" or "There's Tico!" LOL I thought the show was pretty good, too, though I was admittedly staring at Maggie the whole time. Instead of spending the night, we just drove up yesterday and met Chris' parents for lunch. We went on to the show from there and then drove home afterwards. The car trip there and back was long (about 2.5-3 hrs), but Maggie was terrific. She spent about an hour on the drive up playing with the ring tones on Chris' phone. Oh, the wonder of technology!

In other news, my secret is going to have to remain under wraps for a little longer. I thought I might be able to spill this week, but scheduling means that I can't until next week. :)

So...today tell me your favorite month. Do you have one? Mine is October. I love how the air is crisp and feels so clean in October. I love that you can wear jeans and a t-shirt or shorts and a sweatshirt and be totally comfortable. October is a good football month. Plus, Chris and I were married in October (the 7th), so that's always good for making it a good month. So what's your favorite month?

Happy Monday!

Secrets and changes

Boy, don't you just love having a big huge secret? One part of you wants to scream it from the mountain top, but the other part relishes the juicy feeling of having this idea all to yourself (or mostly to yourself, at least). Mmmmm, secrets are fun. :)

So I'm fairly certain that I've figured out my weirdo feelings of late (exhaustion, feeling overwhelmed, etc.). Let's just say that things will be changing, but I've got some work to do on it. It's a good thing, but I'm not quite ready to spill yet. :) Soon. Not yet, though. ;)

Anyway, I feel as if I've turned a HUGE corner. Life is good, and I plan to dive right in and splash around some. :)

So...if you are still reading, how about clicking on the comment button. Tell me the name of your favorite book or author. :) I'm looking for new authors to read!

Yoooohoooooooo

Howdy out there great big world! You know, I added one of those stat counter things just out of curiosity. I wanted to see if anyone actually ever looked at my blog. lol. So it turns out that around 20 people do, though most of them (most of you!) never post anything. Would you say hi today? :) Just say hi and tell me your current favorite digital kit. How about that? :) Fun, huh? lol

So Maggie was hanging out in her crib this morning having a blast with "Tico" and "Benny" and "Swiper"--all from Dora--and the Easter Bunny. That child has the best imagination! I went in to her and turned on the light, but she was happy enough playing with her dolls and her imaginary buddies that she wasn't ready to get out yet. She's got a big girl bed all set up in her room, and she asks to sleep on it lots, but she just doesn't sleep well or stay asleep when she's on it. Those nights tend to be Mommy's up 10 times a night kind of nights. We still try it for naps sometimes and for overnight sleep every now and then to see if she's ready yet. One of these days...

For now, though, I like that she's happy and confined in her crib for sleep--at least I don't have to worry about her messing with stuff when we're all asleep. Yesterday she thought that her drink was on the counter so she went and got one of the kitchen chairs and pushed it over to the counter to get the drink. The other day, she did the same thing and hung out on the other side of our kitchen island while I was finishing up an essay I was reviewing. It was fine until she decided to start rearranging our knife block! :O The knives have now been moved elsewhere, but really, no where is safe right now. Everything from counter level down is totally safe, but there are still some dangers counter-level and up. She's not quite old enough, either, to understand the logic of complicated explanations, and sometimes a stern "No" will make her MORE interested in whatever the thing was. Oh well--we'll solve it, I'm sure. Right now she's watching Dora (Of course!) and doing the "Come on, vamonos" dance. She was going to the store with my mom the other weekend and she said, "Come on, Gran, Let's vamos!" My mom didn't know what to think! lol

Ok, I'm off to try to tidy my house up a little. Today's my day off from the Y, so I need to get busy getting this house into some sort of order. :-)

Don't forget--say hi and tell me what your favorite digital kit is! (If you aren't a digi person and have just wandered across this blog from somewhere else, tell me something else neat! :) ) Happy Friday!!

Blahs lately

Blah blah blah, I've had the blahs lately. I've felt like I'm not doing anything well and that I'm falling short on everything. I'm sure it all goes back to a lack of sleep...hopefully I can catch up on that soon. My semester is over on May 7, so at least I won't have any essays to read and review for a couple of weeks. I can make it a month, right? :) lol So I've been a little quiet lately--not much scrapping done either. I need to do some lifts to get the juices flowing...maybe this weekend.

Oh, I've been working out! Only on the 2nd week this week (how lame!), but so far so good. Last week we did two days of aerobics and one day of pilates. This week it'll switch--two pilates days, one aerobics day. Pilates is hilarious because it doesn't look like much work but I am always SO sore afterwards! Wish me luck--maybe I'm finally going to get things going to make some changes.

Maggie had a great Easter weekend. She's such a crack up these days. She spends most of the day acting out Dora scenes. :) She woke up this morning talking about Swiper and the King and Queen. lol What a funny kid!

Ok, just a quickie post from me. I'm going to try to head to bed early tonight. :) I'm going to try to scrap some more tomorrow. :) Happy Tuesday night!

Oh man, I should be asleep...

It's 4am and here I sit, typing away on the computer

. Finished what I think is a pretty cool layout, though:

Seriously, how cute is this kiddo?!! :) I used Mindy Terasawa's Pocket Full of Posies kit and several fonts (SP Inspired, Waterfalls, Susie's Hand, if you're interested).

For some reason I felt compelled to finish it tonight instead of just going to sleep. I was tired hours and hours ago. Oh well. I'm sure Maggie will be awake in another couple of hours (2 if I'm lucky--30 minutes if I'm not). I'm heading to Pilates at 8:30am to try to start to make some changes in the way I look. That should be interesting on a few hours' sleep.

Off to bed. Just wanted to share the layout. Happy day/night, all! :)

5am and other ramblings

Oh boy, can I just say that I am NOT an early morning person? Maggie has been fascintated by her big girl bed lately and has been wanting to sleep in it for naps. That's fine--she doesn't sleep as long, but she is sleeping in it at naptime. Last night, though, she asked Chris if she could sleep in her big girl bed all night...

She did well--she got up a few times, but they were spaced out about every 3 or 4 hours. Still, though, guess who didn't sleep because of her nocturnal wakings? Yep, me. Oh, and at 5am she was up. UP UP UP. So NOT my favorite time of the day! She was funny, though. O'Neill (the cat) was messing with the blinds on the backdoor asking to go out and she said, "O'Neill, it's really really dark outside. It's sweepy sweepy time." When I reminded her that it was sleepy time for her, too, she said, "No, just for O'Neill. I'm AWAKE!" lol Silly kid.

I have fallen behind on the 21 day challenges, but I keep checking the quotes. I'll get them all finished--just maybe not in the 21 days. :) I'm also doing the recipe swap thing that's listed on several different boards. So far I've gotten about 50 appetizer layouts and 50-something soups--this is going to be an awesome recipe book...really pretty, too! :)

I'm working on the next issue of De-Zine, too. That should be out at The DigiChick this weekend, so be sure to get it. There's some great stuff in there, especially the really awesome kit from the DigiChick designers. Here's a layout that I did with Spring Fever, the kit that you get for free when you buy the $3 April De-Zine:

I used the Spring Fever kit from the DigiChick designers and Fee Jardine's awesome Appleberry Pie alpha (also available at DigiChick). The font for "Chick" is A Yummy Apology. I used a sketch from Angela Spangler, who is a rockin' chick. :) Thanks, Ang!

Off to buy Maggie an Easter dress and shoes today. Nothing like waiting until almost the last minute, is there? I wouldn't be Sinead if I didn't at least try. lol Maybe we'll stop by the Zoo, too, if we make good time at the stores. Happy Tuesday!

A bit of this and a bit of that and a whole lot of nothing...

Not much going on today. Miss Maggie did NOT sleep well last night, which meant that Maggie's Mommy did NOT sleep well, either. After about 4 hours of going in to her every 30 minutes, I gave up and got into the twin bed with her. I haven't slept on a twin bed since I was in college...I NEED my King-sized bed! lol

So a quiet day for us today. I've got to work later, so I'm hoping I can get her to take a good nap. 3 hours of work is just going to crawl past today, I'm sure.

We're staying here this weekend. THere's a birthday party for Maggie's best friend tomorrow, and we're thinking about going to the folksy artsy-craftsy fair at Calico Fort on Sunday. Exciting, right? lol

There's yard work to be done, too. I was looking at our "grass" yesterday and I think that almost every greenish bit is actually a WEED! The Tru-Green chemical guy came by to try to get me to buy his services, but it's $48 a month...surely I can do it for less than that. I'm going to try anyway. We'll see...

Once I get my work done today, I need to catch up on my 21 Day challenges (only 5 days behind--lol!) and do some formatting/layout work for the April De-Zine. That's going to be another rockin' issue, too...can't wait to see how everything comes together.

I think I'm in a bit of a rut lately, scrap-wise. I like what I've been putting together, but they don't seem to get the comments from others like some of my other stuff has done. It's odd, too, because so much of my recent stuff hasn't been posted in the galleries yet because I'm waiting for the De-Zine publication. Ah well...maybe I have pissed off the praise Gods. lol I might do a few scraplifts this weekend to see if I can get the juices flowing again. We'll see...

Happy Friday!

Day 6 of Rhonna's 21 Day challenge

I'm finally getting around to posting my layout for Day 6 of Rhonna's 21 Day challenge. I'm a little slow, but I'll get caught up over the weekend.

I used AmyJo Smith's Grunge Overlay kit and her Touchy Feely 2 kit to create the pink and green papers. What rockin' kits!! You can get them here at her blog or at the DigiChick Boutique. The font is CK Kolette.

I'm heading to bed now...yet another late night for me! Night everyone!

21 day challenge and new layout

Whew--I finally got day 4 of Rhonna's 21 day challenge finished. A sick kiddo this morning interfered with my plans. When I did get to start working on it, it took on a life of its own. It's something different than what I've done so far, but I think I like it. Check out the kit, too--that's Valerie Fowler's new kit Metabolize, available at the DigiChick Boutique. It's an awesome kit to work with!

Kit: Metabolize by Valerie Fowler, Flourish brush by Ashley Olson. Fonts: Waterfalls, SP Inspired, SP Toby Unleashed.

The other layout that I worked on last night is with Mari Koegelenberg's new kit Forget-Me-Not (also available in the DigiChick Boutique!) It was so easy to work with, too!

Kit: Forget-Me-Not by Mari Koegelenberg. Fonts: Roddy, Waterfalls

Big news--my sister found out today that she's having a BOY! Yay for her! She's already got a little girl, so a boy will balance things for them and will give my nephew Will someone cool to play with. We're super excited!

I'm supposed to be at my parents' house right now, but Maggie puked in her bed this morning and then had a NASTY diaper (ENOUGH said there, let me tell you!). She's been fine ever since, so I'm debating heading out after her nap. We'll see how things look then, I guess.

off to get some work done so that I don't have to work all night! :-)

Tired tonight...

Boy, I'm tired tonight. I'm going to turn in early tonight. I'll get up in the morning and, if Maggie lets me, work on my Day 4 layout for Rhonna's 21 day challenge, as well as a couple of other things. We're heading to my parents' house tomorrow morning for the weekend because my godmother and her family are coming into town for a visit. She calls herself my YFG--Your Fairy Godmother--and she's Maggie's GGE--Grand Godmother Extraordinaire. She's SUCH a riot and I can't wait! :)

Happy sleeping, all!

Check this out for a good cause!

Please consider checking out this auction on ebay:

http://tinyurl.com/zkgr3

A friend of mine is raising money for a mission trip to Bangladesh. Her son lost his two front teeth and after wondering, "What good are two front teeth, anyway?" his parents decided to auction his two front teeth off to show him just how valuable some things can be.

Day 3 of Rhonna's 21 Day challenge

Here's my layout for Day 3 of Rhonna's challenge:


Credits: **papers from Valerie Fowler's Trying 2B Girly and Rhonna Farrar's April Free Pea kit. Font is Waterfalls.

I've been tagged

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Online Writing Tutor
2. College Writing Instructor
3. Teacher
4. Restaurant Manager
Four movies you would watch over and over: (in no particular order)
1. Princess Bride
2. Heathers
3. Can't Buy Me Love
4. Beaches
Four places you have lived:
1. Elmore, AL (just outside Montgomery, AL)
2. Willow Spring, NC
3. Carrollton, GA
4. LaGrange, GA (and Navan, Ireland, just for good measure :) )
Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. Charmed
2. Bones
3. America's Next Top Model
4. Everwood
Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Ireland
2. Florida
3. Grand Canyon/Grand Tetons/Yellowstone
4. Outer Banks
Four websites I visit regularly:
1. http://www.thedigichick.com/
2. http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/
3. http://www.ginamiller.typepad.com/
4. Earthlink Webmail
Four of my favorite foods:
1. Chicken Nuggets
2. Chicken Tacos
3. Roasted Chicken (gosh, do I eat a lot of chicken or what?!)
4. Roasted Potatoes
Four places I would rather be right now:
1. at the beach
2. in Ireland
3. at the Grand Tetons
4. in North Carolina
Four people I am tagging that I think will respond:
1. Gina
2. Angela
3. Val
4. AmyJo (she's got to have something to blog about! lol)
Four things I always carry with me:
1. keys
2. credit cards
3. cell phone
4. Maggie (seems like it, anyway!)

American Idol...

Woo---what were some of those American Idol contestants thinking this week?! Boy, I wasn't impressed by song choices tonight. I liked Chris (just cause I always do, not so much because he was that good), but his last note was just off. WAY off. Mandisa I usually love but not so much tonight. The song just didn't seem to work for her. I liked Taylor--it was an interesting change for him. Paris did a great job, and so did what's her name--the one who did the Christina Aguilera song (I can't ever remember her name!). I wasn't impressed by Ace or Lisa or Bucky or Kelly or really by Elliot. I don't mind his voice--it's his face that I can't look at. He looks like such a dork when he's singing!

Anyway, I wonder who's going to get the boot. My guess is that it'll be Lisa, Bucky, or Ace. We'll see who it is. :)

Day 2 of Rhonna's 21 Day challenge

Hey...if nothing else, maybe Rhonna's challenge will get me to blog more! lol Anyway, here's Day 2:

Quote by Rhonna Farrar. Papers from Mari Koegelenberg's Country Charm. Fonts are SP Inspired, SP Toby Unleashed, SP Pretty Purkage.

I'll try to get back here later to post some regular posty stuff...gotta get some work done now while Maggie sleeps, though!

Day 1 of Rhonna's 21 Day challenge

So I've been intrigued by Rhonna's 21 Day Challenge. I thought I'd give it a shot. Here's my Day one:

I used Valerie Fowler's Trying 2 B Girly kit and Kim Christensen's stitching from Mellow. The font is Roddy.

Family dinners

Today's blog challenge at DigiChick is to write about a favorite family dinner...

My dad has always taken over the duty of cooking Sunday dinner. This is especially true of the last ten years since he has traveled all week. He's so happy to be back at home with my mom and able to putter around the house and the yard that he really relishes Sunday dinners. Sometimes when the weather is nice he grills steaks outside. Yummm...he also does a big tray of mushrooms and onions, too. :)

During the cold months, though, or if someone special is coming, he usually roasts a chicken or two inside. He makes the chicken drunk by dousing it with a bottle of wine during the course of the cook-time. YUM!! Throw in some super yummy roasted potates, and that's plenty for me to eat! There are usually other veggies, too, like carrots or peas. Dad's specialty with the roasted chicken is his stuffing. It is stuffed inside the bird--a no-no these days, but not something he's going to change. It's not the traditional Southern stuffing (of course--we might live in the South, but most of what we do is VERY Irish, even after 30+ years in Georgia!). He uses fresh bread crumbs, onions, parsley, sage, and butter to put together a bread stuffing that is DE-LISH! :)

I've had some terrific meals over the years, but nothing will ever surpass one of my dad's roasted stuffed drunk chickens with yummy crusty roasted potatoes! :)

Who Invited the Sickies back??

Ack!! Poor Maggie was so sick on Thursday--throwing up every 30 minutes. She just hung out on the couch all day long. She seemed better yesterday, but today she was wiped out for at least half the day. Poor little munchkin. Then she was joined on the couch by Chris, who also seems to have caught this lovely stomach virus. No puking from him, at least, but definite nausea. I thought I was dodging the bullet, but the nausea has hit me tonight. We'll see what tomorrow holds. ICK--i hate the sickies!

On another note, I got the craziest spam comment tonight from some anonymous poster who was telling me about some mystery shopped opportunity. What the heck?

On CT commentary, I'm happily working away on stuff for the next De-Zine. The kit for April is GORGEOUS (just wait--you'll love it!), and we're working with some other neat things, too. I'm also working on stuff for Mari K, Val, and Marsha. I'm so happy when I'm busy! :)

I'd also like to thank everyone who so nicely commented on my HOF layouts. You guys are too sweet! It was nice to share them finally and to get some positive feedback on them. This has been a great experience for me, even though I didn't win. There's always next year, right? :)

Ok, off to get a little sleep just in case I'm up overnight with sickie #1 (Maggie) or sickie #2 (Chris).

Getting back into the swing of things

Whew--it's been a whirlwind of a week! Paula and the boys were here and we all had a blast. Let's just say that this house isn't big enough for 4 kids, though. Everyone got on really well, though, and we spent lots of time at the zoo. I'm going to upload some pictures later. :)

I thought I'd share my rejected HOF layouts here so that they're all in one place. Yep, I got rejected. I don't feel bad, though, because there were only like 5 digi gals who got it and probably another 5 or so honorable mentions. Those are pretty slim odds, really. Besides, I did this for the challenge, and I really think that it brought my scrapping to a new level.

Babbling aside, here are my HOF layouts:

Paper is from Nancie Rowe Janitz's Lime Tea kit. Overlay is from Nancie Rowe Janitz. Photo prongs by Jen Wilson in SBB's Fiesta kit. Stitching from Kathy Moore's New Year's Eve stitches.
Fonts are MA Simple Pleasure and CK Fashion.
Journaling reads: There’s a line in a Steve Martin movie that compares life to a roller coaster’s ups and downs. Steve Martin’s character says that he wishes there weren’t so many downs, but his wife reminds him that without the downs the ups wouldn’t be half as sweet. That’s how I try to think about life. There are, of course, many down moments, and when I’m in the midst of those moments, I might stop and wish that they weren’t happening. Then I see Maggie’s face, and I remember the years of downs that we had while waiting for her to join our lives. Without those downs I wouldn’t have my beautiful child and I might not realize the precious gift that life has given me. So bring on the downs! I can handle the bumps that life throws my way as long as some of the upsare even half as sweet as my beautiful Maggie.

papers from Dani Mogstad--Spring Bouquet, doodles from Angie Briggs, Brad and flower from Taran Conyers' Delight kit, tabs from Gina Miller's Deck the Halls kit, font is 2Peas International.

Papers from Nancie Rowe Janitz's Pink Chocolate kit (ScrapArtist), Chipboard letter from Shabby Princess' Sweet Serenity Kit, Fonts Pharmacy and CK Letter Home

Papers from Gina Miller's Fruit Parfait kit. Soft edges overlay from Michelle Coleman's Free Spirit kit (ScrapArtist), Flowers and brad are from Taran Conyers' Delight kit., Fonts are SP Purkage, Scriptina, and 2Peas International.

The journaling reads: I will never forget the day that this photo was taken, Maggie. You were four days old, and it was just your 2nd day at home. We put you down for a nap in the pram and then spent your whole nap time staring at you in awe and wonder. We couldn’ t believe that you were here--our little girl. We waited so long for you, Maggie. There were many many times along our journey where we thought that we might never be so lucky as to have a little girl--and certainly not a little girl as wonderful as you are ! We prayed so hard to be blessed with a child . We cried many tears and dreamed so many dreams . Little did we know the wonder that reality would bring . You are more than we ever hoped for, Maggie. You are certainly more than we ever dreamed of. Even from the very start, you were not shy about expressing your own personality and letting your preferences be known--no camera flash in your face, please! You are the happiest little girl, and you approach life with an energy that is unmatched. These were some of the things that I wondered about on Day Four of your life. I can’ t wait to see what the years ahead bring! Love, Mommy

Layout based on a magazine ad for the new magazine Wonder Time. Font is Effloresce Antique

overlay and brad are from Nancie Rowe Janitz's Pink Chocolate kit (recolored). Tag and pink paper are from Sara Carling's Sweet Rubbish kit. Stitched flowers are from Sarah Batdorf's Arboretum Guide kit (recolored). Font is SP Purkage.

papers from Michelle Coleman's Free Spirit paper collection (ScrapArtist.com) (green paper is recolored), ribbon created with paper from Michelle Coleman's Free Spirit , eyelet and ring from Shabby Princess' Urban Kiwi kit (ShabbyPrincess.com), alpha from Shabby Princess' Sweet Serenity alpha, quote from Michelle Coleman's Free Spirit kit, green ribbon from Jen Wilson's All Tied Up bundle (recolored), staples from Silly Bird Nut's Taken kit

papers from Gina Miller's Miss Shabby Pants (recolored)., Chipboard letter by me using paper from Gina Miller's Miss Shabby Pants and Atomic Cupcake's Chipboard Action., Fonts are Scriptina and A Yummy Apology.

doodles from Angie Briggs' Chocolate Covered Elements, Fonts are Scriptina and 2Peas International.

Paper by me. The overlay is from Nancie Rowe Janitz's Pink Chocolate kit (recolored). Flower from Kim Christensen's Flowers, Flowers, Flowers set (SBB).
Fonts are 2Peas Goofball, 2Peas International, and 2Peas Peanut Butter.

So there they are, all 10. I know that they didn't win, but I'm pretty proud of them. :) I hope that you (whoever "you" might be) like them. :) Thanks for looking.

Paula's coming!

Ok, YIPPEE! My best friend Paula is in the car right now on her way down here! She's going to drive halfway today and spend the night in Columbia, South Carolina, but tomorrow she'll be down here. And the boys--the cutest three boys (other than my nephew Will) on the planet! Maggie is so excited that she'll get to take Jackson, Collin, and Ryan to her zoo this week. :) WHooohoooo!!! Can you tell I'm a little excited, too? :)

Gina had these questions on her blog this morning and I thought they were fun, so I'm going to answer them too:

1. Legal First name? Sinead
2. Were you named after anyone? Nope
3. Do you wish on stars? sometimes, when I'm feeling sappy. :)
4. When did you last cry? Saturday. I felt sappy. :)
5. What is your favorite lunch meat? maple honey turkey
6. What is your birth date? November 16
7. What is your most embarrassing CD/tape? I've got a cd of cheer/dance music that is left over from my coaching days!
8. If you were another person, would YOU be friendswith you? Is DUH an appropriate answer? I rock! lol
9. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Not really. DH hates it and I've tried to improve.
10. What are your nicknames? My dad calls me Shin and Paula's boys call me Aunt 'Nead (my favorite of the two)
11. Would you bungee jump? maybe if I weighed less.
12. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off ? sometimes
14. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? depends...Chocolate Chip from Baskin Robbins (or from most places). If there's a Coldstone Creamery, though, it's Birthday Cake with a little hot fudge, a little caramel, and some heath bar bits thrown in. YUM!
15. Shoe Size? 10
16. Red or pink? Red, just don't make me wear it--clashes with the hair
17. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? my weight
18. Who do you miss most? my friend Paula, but not for long! :) She'll be here tomorrow!
19. Favorite past-time? scrapbooking, of course!
20. What color pants/skirt & shoes are you wearing? no shoes, grey pajama pants
21. What are you listening to right now? sweet silence. Dora or Diego or the Wiggles will be on in a few minutes, though!
22. What did you eat for breakfast? nothing yet
23. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? chartreuse
24. What is the weather like right now? it's going to be in the 70s today
25. Last person you talked to on the phone? Paula--she called to tell me that she's tired of driving and she's not even in SC yet!
26. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? eyes. I'm all about the darky smouldering eyes
27. coffee or tea? coffee smell but tea to drink
28. Favorite Drink? a drink drink? That would have to be a Mai Tai. YUM!
29. Hair Color? Red with lots of random natural highlights (seriously--my hair ranges from blonde to purple). Lately there has been more and more grey/white.
30. Do you wear contacts? no
31. Favorite Food? my mom's roasted chicken or turkey with roasted potatoes
32. Last Movie You Watched? How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
33. Favorite Day of the Year? Thanksgiving
34. Scary Movies or Happy Endings? Happy endings. I'm a sap.
35. Summer or winter? Summer
36. Hugs OR Kisses? how about both?
37. What Is Your Favorite Dessert? cheesecake
38. Have you ever won any awards? Yep. In high school I won Young Businesswoman of the Year in Junior Achievement. I also won trips to National Convention four years in a row. Don't think I won anything in college (was having too much fun then!). The students at my school picked me as Teacher of the Month a few years ago (before I got married and quit teaching high school, that is). :)
39. Do you have any tattoos or piercings? I have my ears pierced but I never wear earrings--what's the point? I've got so much hair that no one ever sees earrings anyway.
40. Living Arrangements? my lovely house with the great backyard with DH and Maggie and our two kitties (Meg and O'Neill, who is also called Fat Boy)
41. What Books Are You Reading? it's a Linda Fairstein book--can't remember the name at the moment.
42. What's On Your Mouse Pad? no mousepad
43. What did you watch last night on TV: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
44. Favorite Smell? I can still smell my Grandma's apple tarts baking in the oven, though it has been at least 10 years. The other favorite is Maggie when she snuggles close (on rare occasions!).
45. Favorite Junk Food? chocolate chocolate chocolate
46. Rolling Stones or Beatles? The Beatles
47. What's the farthest you've been from home? I'm not sure about comparative distances, but I have been to Ireland (obviously) to see family and I have also been out west. I think Vegas is the most west I've been.

Ok..questions over! Happy Monday!

Such a slacker and lookee at my surprise!

I'm such a slacker. I'm online every day--you'd think I'd find a few minutes here or there to write a blog post. Oh well. I pretty much feel like I'm talking to myself anyway, and I can do that here in my head without having to type it out. Makes it less like I'm crazy that way... lol

So I've been super busy with doing layouts and page designs for the March De-Zine from The DigiChick. Things are looking good, though, so make sure to check it out. It should be available on the 15th in the DigiChick Boutique.

Maggie has been cracking me up lately (so what else is new, right?). First, we went to the zoo. We're members, so we go all the time, but this time she HAD to bring Mary (her favorite doll). Poor Mary has been all over creation with us, so that wasn't too shocking. The funny thing, though, is that she made me help her put Mary on her shoulders because she was "too heavy" to carry. lol--wonder where Maggie has heard that! She here she is looking out one of the viewing windows at the elephants, and poor Mary is hanging off her shoulders:

The next funny thing was her little conversation with Dora and Swiper the other morning. She has all these beads (they're cheap and she loves dressing up with them), and she's been carrying several sets around for days now. The other morning she had each set of beads set out on the floor separate from the others. Then she starts talking to Dora and Swiper as if they are in the room with her. "This one Swiper's and THIS one Dora's! NO swiping, Swiper!" lol This kid cracks me up!

The gold ones are Swiper's, by the way. lol She woke up from her "nap" (which lasted a mere 40 minutes, I might add) and came out to tell me that Swiper was in her room trying to swipe Mary and her Berry juice. I told her Swiper wasn't allowed in her room anymore. lol

Yesterday, we were outside and Meg (the cat) decided to try to take Maggie's Barbie Jeep for a ride. Apparently Barbie appeals to girls of all ages and species...

Finally, my dear husband surprised me the other day. I had such a rocky day on Monday that he told me that there was a surprise coming my way the next day (apparently it was all arranged and everything--he had just planned to let it be a total surprise). On Tuesday afternoon, the FedEx guy dropped off a package at my door. Guess what it was?

Yep! Roses! Ok, this was really sweet normally, but it's even more sweet if you consider that this is the 3rd time since I've known him (almost 10 years) that he's given me flowers. One of those times was when we got engaged! He's just not a flower giver, you know? But something struck him and he decided to send me a "just because" little pick-me-up present. :) How sweet is he?!

Ok. My mom is coming this morning to help me plant a bunch of bushes--azaleas, mostly. She said she bought a few more things, so God only knows what she's going to come up with. I'd better spend a few minutes in this house first, though, or she's going to think I'm a total failure of a housekeeper. I'm really much worse at it than she is--you could eat off this woman's FLOOR any time any where. I am just too tired to be all that worried about it after chasing Maggie around all day and working my few hours a day at Smarthinking (online, but still). Besides, any spare time that I have is obviously going to go towards scrapping. LOL Ok, I'm off! Have a great Thursday!

Such a slacker and lookee at my surprise!

I'm such a slacker. I'm online every day--you'd think I'd find a few minutes here or there to write a blog post. Oh well. I pretty much feel like I'm talking to myself anyway, and I can do that here in my head without having to type it out. Makes it less like I'm crazy that way... lol

So I've been super busy with doing layouts and page designs for the March De-Zine from The DigiChick. Things are looking good, though, so make sure to check it out. It should be available on the 15th in the DigiChick Boutique.

Maggie has been cracking me up lately (so what else is new, right?). First, we went to the zoo. We're members, so we go all the time, but this time she HAD to bring Mary (her favorite doll). Poor Mary has been all over creation with us, so that wasn't too shocking. The funny thing, though, is that she made me help her put Mary on her shoulders because she was "too heavy" to carry. lol--wonder where Maggie has heard that! She here she is looking out one of the viewing windows at the elephants, and poor Mary is hanging off her shoulders:

The next funny thing was her little conversation with Dora and Swiper the other morning. She has all these beads (they're cheap and she loves dressing up with them), and she's been carrying several sets around for days now. The other morning she had each set of beads set out on the floor separate from the others. Then she starts talking to Dora and Swiper as if they are in the room with her. "This one Swiper's and THIS one Dora's! NO swiping, Swiper!" lol This kid cracks me up!

The gold ones are Swiper's, by the way. lol She woke up from her "nap" (which lasted a mere 40 minutes, I might add) and came out to tell me that Swiper was in her room trying to swipe Mary and her Berry juice. I told her Swiper wasn't allowed in her room anymore. lol

Yesterday, we were outside and Meg (the cat) decided to try to take Maggie's Barbie Jeep for a ride. Apparently Barbie appeals to girls of all ages and species...

Finally, my dear husband surprised me the other day. I had such a rocky day on Monday that he told me that there was a surprise coming my way the next day (apparently it was all arranged and everything--he had just planned to let it be a total surprise). On Tuesday afternoon, the FedEx guy dropped off a package at my door. Guess what it was?

Yep! Roses! Ok, this was really sweet normally, but it's even more sweet if you consider that this is the 3rd time since I've known him (almost 10 years) that he's given me flowers. One of those times was when we got engaged! He's just not a flower giver, you know? But something struck him and he decided to send me a "just because" little pick-me-up present. :) How sweet is he?!

Ok. My mom is coming this morning to help me plant a bunch of bushes--azaleas, mostly. She said she bought a few more things, so God only knows what she's going to come up with. I'd better spend a few minutes in this house first, though, or she's going to think I'm a total failure of a housekeeper. I'm really much worse at it than she is--you could eat off this woman's FLOOR any time any where. I am just too tired to be all that worried about it after chasing Maggie around all day and working my few hours a day at Smarthinking (online, but still). Besides, any spare time that I have is obviously going to go towards scrapping. LOL Ok, I'm off! Have a great Thursday!

Another beautiful day!

Gosh, it's going to be beautiful here again today. We went to the park in Prattville yesterday and it was almost 70 degrees! That's one good thing about Alabama--Spring comes early! Remnd me of this over the summer, though, when my blood is boiling!

So I was was talking to AmyJo last night and she showed me some layouts she did with Michelle Coleman's Snap Scraps at ScrapArtist. Michelle has a freebie up in the gallery, so I went to try it out. OMG, what a terrific idea! It was so easy to put a page together! Here's what I did:

Credits: Snap Scraps template from Michelle Coleman at ScrapArtist,
Girly Girl papers from Taran Conyers at Shabby Princess.
Fonts: Susie's Hand, SP Purkage, 2Peas International

I love the way it looks. It's different than what I normally do, but it was fun to work with the template. I'm slowly but surely learning how to use PSCS2. I play a little here and there. One day I'll get it all figured out! :)

I think we're off to the park again today. I should go to mass for ashes since it's Ash Wednesday, but the service at our church starts after Maggie should be down for her nap. She's only been napping for an hour and then sleeping crappy at night, too, but last night she had a great sleep and finally woke up after 6am! Today she woke up at 7 and is MUCH happier. Maybe she'll sleep better today and I'll actually get to do more than an hour's work during nap. We'll see. Happy Wednesday, all!

Busy and Missing DigiChick!

Boy oh boy, you don't realize how much you frequent a website until it's closed! Whew! The DigiChick is closed for revamping until Wednesday, and I have felt so lost! I guess I checked in there more than I thought--and I knew I was there a lot! hehehe I guess you could say I'm a true digi-dict!

I've been busy in my "free" time, though! I've been working on layouts galore--5 since Saturday, though I can only share 2 of them as the other three are for The DigiChick's March De-Zine (check here) in another week or two for the March issue--it's going to be great!

This first layout is for the DigiChick photo swap challenge. I drew Stacie's (bosco9700) name, so I got the opportunity to work with great pictures of her DD Madison Anne. I was also lucky to be able to use Marsha Zepeda's new kit Burst o'Charm, which will be available on The DigiChick when it reopens. It's an awesome kit, and the layout came together really easily.

Credits: papers and elements from Burst o'Charm by Marsha Zepeda
Inked overlay from Aged Overlay set by Nancie Rowe Janitz.
Fonts: SP Purkage and A Yummy Apology.

I just think that the picture of Madison Anne is so stinkin' cute! :) It was great to work with Stacie's photo--she had three other great ones. If I get a few minutes, I might try to do another layout with them, too.

I guess I've been in a circles mood. Here's my version of the DigiChick's February Week 3 Chick's Life challenge:
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Credits: I used the DigiChick Designers' Heart's Desire kit.
Chipboard "Love" is by me using Heart's Desire paper and chipboard action from Atomic Cupcake.
Fonts are Susie's Hand, Pharmacy, and akaFrivolity.
Inked overlay from Aged Overlay set by Nancie Rowe Janitz.
Fonts: SP Purkage and A Yummy Apology.

It's late--I know. I just couldn't get my head around it. Here's the journaling--full-on sappy, so prepare yourselves! Journaling reads: Love is...The nervous tone in your voice when you asked me to marry you ~ The way that you held me close when we danced our first dance as husband and wife ~ The pride in your eyes when we bought our first house ~ The way that you held me close when it took so long to get pregnant ~ The joy in your face when I told you were going to have a baby ~ the way you looked at Maggie for the first time ~ The way you make me laugh by acting silly with Maggie ~ The way you work so hard to make us secure ~ The way you giggle at silly jokes ~ The way you get the car when it’s raining ~You!

I'm working on some other things, too, but I need some cooperation from Maggie to get them done. She decided not to nap today, though she did spend a good hour and a half in her crib talking and "reading" out loud. She knows probably 5 or 6 books so well that she can "read" them and be fairly true to the type on the page. For other books she just makes stuff up based on the pictures. She has this funny voice that she uses when she reads, too. It cracks me up.

I got some great pictures of her at the park today. I need to download them tomorrow and maybe do a layout or two with them. Right now, though, it's 2:30 am and WAY past my bedtime (though I seem to always be up this late. Oh well!). Night, all!

Sickies BE GONE!

I think (I hope!) that we might finally be over the sickies! YAY! Maggie got hit first with strep and possibly some stomach bug (we're not sure if the secondary stuff was part of the strep or not). My poor little munchkin was so zonked that she didn't even say 20 words in one day--one WHOLE day!! Usually she says 20 words a minute, so that was quite a difference for her. Let's just say that Valentine's Day was some kind of ugly this year. When Maggie was recovering, Chris got a cold, so he was feeling puny, too. He was pretty much over it by Sunday, though, so we had a nice relaxing chilled out weekend of just hanging out around the house. On Monday, though, I got slammed. I'm not sure what it was, but I was nauseous and barely conscious for two days. I could hardly even keep my eyes open! Thank God for Dora and Diego and DVRs--Maggie watched several episodes over and over again and did a good job of basically entertaining herself. My little darling came to check on me and bring me "tea" several times, too. Sweet one.

So all seems to be well now. Now it's just catch-up time. I started working on some layouts for this month's De-Zine (check out DigiChick's Boutique for the February issue!) last night and things just weren't gelling for me. Maybe I'll do better tonight. We'll see. First I have to get some tutoring hours logged. I have four to do today, and Maggie is asleep, so I'd better take advantage of the quiet while I can! Happy Thursday!

The Usual Ramblings

As usual, I've got a whole bunch of rambling thoughts in my head. What else is new, right? :)

Maggie has been a bundle of cute lately. She's just so funny about the things that she thinks. We were on the way to the library to get a new book for me today and she started talking about a story hour we went to three months ago. It's not the most recent one we went to--we go every week--but for some reason that particular event was on her brain today. We stopped off at the library and when we got back into the car, she said, "I need my stuff!" When asked which stuff she meant, she said, "My Princess stuff!"--the Princess camera. Ok, that's a funny thing all by itself. This summer I got one of those waterproof disposable cameras for our trip to the beach. It was on the counter waiting for me to take it in for developing and she latched onto it. Six months later, she's still lugging the thing around and "taking pictures." I caved and bought a Disney Princess camera for her this weekend, so she gladly traded the old blue camera for the pink jeweled one. Little does she know that it's a real working camera that I have just neglected to load with film so far. lol

Oh, and tonight when she was going to bed, she gave me a huge hug. As she walks towards her room, she turned around and said, "Bye!" Then she made her doll wave bye. Then she wouldn't move until I said Bye to her doll. Then she walked a little more and we had to do the whole thing again. Finally she decided that enough was enough and she was off to bed. She's a funny little goose. :)

Lots of scrapping going on these days. I've still got an hour and a half of work tonight, and then I'm going to get scrapping again. :) I've felt quite productive lately.

ok--gotta run! Happy Monday!

Holy Schnikes what a super busy chat at TDC tonigh!

Man oh man, I knew that the new designer chat at DigiChick would be big tonight, but that place was ROCKING! It took me a good 15 minutes just to get in, and then I was bumped off several times, too. I tried to check out the Boutique afterwards, but no dice. There are too many people shopping. Hey--that's good for the designers. I hope that they are seeing a huge increase in sales tonight. We've got some terrific designers over at DigiChick--new and old. It's great to see them getting the recognition they deserve!!

Some of this and more of that

I just feel a little rambly today. Somehow I've managed to get hit with the same cold/respiratory infection that I've had three times already this year. Yick. Now I feel all croaky and gross...so not fun.

I've gotten lots of scrapping done lately. I finished my nephew's ABC book today. It's cute all together--I hope he likes it. I know that Maggie loved looking at pictures of herself when she was 1. Look here, here, and here for samples of the pages that I did for his book.

Speaking of Will, I can't believe he's a year old already. How crazy! It just seems like yesterday when we were all waiting at the hospital for him to be born.

Maggie has been cracking me up lately. She's full of questions--it's why this or what that. We had to go to Birmingham yesterday for my rheumatologist appointment and when we got off the interstate back here in Prattville, she says, "We almost home!" The next thing out of her mouth was, "I no take nap. Mary take nap but no Maggie take nap." (Mary is her doll.)

Today she was playing with her little tea set. She brought it over to me (carefully so that she didn't spill her "tea") and said, "You want tea?" Then she gave me pretend milk and pretend sugar and warned me that it was hot. lol She's so funny!

I've got a little more work to do tonight and then I'm going to try to get some scrapping done. I've been in a pretty productive zone lately--bad for the sleep, pretty good for my galleries. :) I've done 55 layouts so far this year--yay for me!

Ok, off to do some work, fold some laundry, and hopefully scrap a page or two. Happy Wednesday night!

This and That

Happy Friday!! I can't tell you how happy I am that it's Friday again! Even better, we're not going anywhere this weekend--yep, that's right--NOWHERE! This is the first time since the weekend before Thanksgiving that Maggie and I haven't gone somewhere, and I'm looking forward to some down time. So what am I going to do with my time at home this weekend? Clean and...SCRAP! I feel like I haven't done much scrapping lately (though I really have, it's just been for stuff I can't post yet like De-Zine layouts or CK's Hall of Fame entry). I need to put together a little ABC book for Will (my nephew) this weekend, too, since his birthday is next weekend. I feel sure I've got more than enough stuff planned to fill my weekend!

We're having friends over for dinner on Sunday, so that'll be fun, too. They're going to come over before the Super Bowl starts, so DH can concentrate on the game when it's on. lol! He's going to smoke some ribs, so dinner should be lower maintainence for me. We'll see about that, though.

Oh, Maggie has been doing the funniest thing for the last couple of days. She'll look at me and say, "Money in my pocket?" If I say yes or smile or anything, she'll put her hand in her pocket (or her fake pocket if there's no pocket in her outfit) and take out her "money." Then she'll put the pretend money in the palm of my hand. If I ask her how much money it is, she always says, "Two dodders!" (Remind you of a movie? "I want my two dollars!!") She's cracking me up. I don't know where she got this little game, but she tells me she's going to buy groceries and a shirt with her monies. hehehe This kid cracks me up! Oh, life with a two year old is fun!

I was Tagged by Mari K! so here goes:

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was working as a substitute teacher during the day and going back to school for my Masters in Education at night.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Unpacking! We had just moved into this house and there were boxes EVERYWHERE! Even though Maggie was just a little over 1, she wanted to "help," so I had to work when she was asleep.

Five snacks you enjoy:
Baked Lays, M&Ms (bad bad bad, I know!), chips and cheese dip from the Mexican place, Milky Way, anything chocolate

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:
Anything by the Wiggles or from the Signing Time dvds, "It's the Rescue Pack!" from Diego, Lullaby and Goodnight, Any nursery rhyme

Five bad habits:
Eating too much, working out too little, getting too little sleep, spending too much time on the computer, driving too fast

Five things you like doing:
Scrapping, reading, writing, playing with Maggie, singing

Five things you would never wear, buy or get again:
People buy things for themselves? lol Ok, an exercise ball (those things are freaking HUGE!), anything with a horizontal stripe, half of the "non-leaking" sippy cups we own (they ALL leak!), birth control pills, short shirts/sweaters/jackets (Mari is right--they are SO not flattering).

Five favorite toys:
my laptop, my digital camera, DD's Barbie Jeep, LeapPad's Learning Table, my guitar (even though I don't play it enough)

Five people I want tagged:
Laura
Jan
Andrea
Marsha
Michelle

Have a happy day, everyone!