week in review

Well, it's been an interesting and monotonous week all at the same time. Here goes:

1. Starting my week at 2:00am Sunday morning with pain so bad, I had to call the doctor. Went straight to the hospital and found out I was having contractions, and after some medicine and a stern warning to take it easy, the contractions eased and I was sent home. The whole time I was there, I was terrified. I was in Labor & Delivery and unlike when I was there for Claire, I was not excited. Such a surreal feeling since most people arrive with such anticipation. For me, when I rang the bell to be let in, I was all alone, not in a wheelchair (Greg was parking the car that was literally on dead empty we were worried it wouldn't make it to restart if he didn't park it right then.), and I was scared to death. Fortunately, we caught the preterm labor early enough to reverse it for the most part and I'm so thankful for that. Funny thing, it was my OB on call that night and I looked so terrible, hair slicked back, no make-up, glasses, that he actually introduced himself when he walked in the room. ha!
   
2. On bedrest planning the July and August Studio Calico kits. Big belly, a book (not telling you which supplier) and my computer.
3. Claire wanting to be like Grammy eating a protein bar, took the wrapper and put her cinnamon roll in it. Then held it and took bites.
   
4. Kangaroo. Oh, the kangaroo. Claire's latest toy obsession. Forbid what happens if we lose that one!
5. Watching "Under the Sea" on my computer. She says "eee eee" and sways back and forth. Gets me every time. By the way, what did parents do before YouTube?
6. Together for snuggle time before leaving for the doctor. I feel like an 80-year-old since going to the doctor is my "outing." I got to fix my hair, wear make-up and put on real clothes. Even though I looked good, and the doctor actually recognized me, I'm still on bedrest. (contractions....still....) He's positive about the likelihood of making it to 34 weeks. I'm 23 weeks now, so I'm down for the long haul.
   
7. Going home from the doctor, Claire having a snack. She loves those cracker sandwiches with the pepperjack cheese, well, it's cheese substitute. There is a method to eating them, that involves splitting the crackers apart, scraping the cheese off with her thumb and eating that first before eating the crackers plain. Appetizing, huh?
8. On her scooter, which is actually the carrier of the bell. She loves ringing the bell and has finally gotten enough strength in her fingers to do it by herself. Look how proud she is!
9. Now Claire's a pro at bedrest. Computer, "under the sea", yep, that's all she needs.
   

rise and shine

Recently, I snuck in Claire's room with camera in hand and raised the shade so I could snap some photos of how cute she is waking up in her crib. She's such a great sleeper and wakes up in a fantastic mood, but definitely loves time to wallow in the bed before getting up.

Our plan is to move her to a twin bed (with rail) before the babies arrive. I'm so worried she won't transition well because this girl LOVES.HER.CRIB. Loves it.

Any advice for me to make it as smooth as possible for an 18month old...hopefully the babies will give me until that time?

sunday afternoon

Just something simple and sweet that makes me happy.

Wonder how he'll balance 3 kids on that lap in a few months?

week in review

This past week, Greg was in Florida for a meeting, so I took way more instagrams than I normally do, just to keep him in the loop of the local happenings. Documenting the everyday of this week really makes me wish I was on the Project Life bandwagon, but I need to accept my limitations, and I truly do NOT have time for it. Will I make time in the future? Yes. But, for now, I'm telling myself to be content with this type of documentation.

From the top and left to right:

1. After bathtime, a particularly sweet moment with Claire on top of my belly. This was right after she stepped about 6 inches into the mud and fell into it while I was unloading groceries. I really needed this snuggle!
2. Claire with a Mickey sticker left over from Disney. We got 8 stickers for free the first day and wow, have we made them last!
3. Me, particularly happy I actually fit into this normal (non-maternity) shirt. I probably won't fit it next week, but it made me happy nonetheless.
4. Reading time, which is practically 50% of the time. I'm so happy Claire loves books.
5. While shopping for Claire some pants that actually fit, I snapped this photo of these Fossil pouches. I meant to send to Greg as a hint since my birthday is this coming week, but I forgot. Silly me....and why must I love Fossil so much?
6. My 21 week belly and someone tugging at my side.
7. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo! Claire is obsessed. She's waving her imaginary wand.
8. Sunday bathtime.
9. Me. I combined turquoise with red. Gasp...I think it worked okay.
   

stinky face

Claire has a new trick.

We started practicing in the car. She can see me in the rearview mirror and on our daily excursions, we tried several different faces and settled on "stinky face." It probably came about when we passed a dead skunk, and I probably had a comment about it, which enabled the fun of it all.

Whatever the case, we moved our practice sessions to the high chair, and then out in public.

So, now, when we're in the grocery store, people passing by see this face:

And at church, before and after worship, she'll turn around and the 15 pews behind us see this face.

And when we kiss goodnight, we see this face:

And of course, when we wake up.

Basically everywhere. She's not shy about it. She knows it gets a good laugh and she loves the response.
And I have to admit, it is quite cute.

and it's every bit as precious as this look to me.

Hope you're having a great week!

no time like the present

I'm here to share some sneaks as well as some belly photos.


This layout was made using a Pinterest pin as my inspiration, just something fun all the designers are doing this month. I pin so much and so do the SC members, that we felt it was time to put some of that awesome inspiration to use! I used the Atlas add-on only on this layout.

This layout was made using the Narrative and Atlas add-ons. I was really at a loss on this one and stepped back several times before finally settling on this design. So glad I took breaks along the way because I do like the end result.

And, finally my favorite layout this month made with the main kit only - STORY HOUR. The pinwheel was a decoration I made for our gender-reveal party.

Kits go on sale at noon EST on the 27th for subscribers and midnight for everyone else. Happy shopping!

This was my 20-week belly with Claire and some of my thoughts at the time.

A couple things to note...

• There is no way i could fit into that hexagon shirt today.
• I already had a name picked out....and right now we got nuttin' for these boys.

Below, my current pics of my 20-week belly.

I think I'm at a 14lb weight gain. I didn't document it at this point in Claire's pregnancy, but I'm definitely bigger in the belly area this time around.

I have come to terms with the fact we're adding boys to our family. I have some ideas brewing for their room, but first on the list is moving Claire to the smaller room since the boys will share.

We had another appointment and ultrasound today. Everything looks great and the boys are progressing well. Thanks for all the well-wishes on my last post.

reveal night at my house

I had been pondering for weeks throwing ourselves a little gender-reveal party, but didn't know how I'd swing it between all the CHA hub-bub, Disney trip, and life in general. Then, when Claire and I both got sick this week, I definitely thought my chances were slim to pull this off.

So, instead of doing a major party (like mine tend to be), we decided to just invite a couple friends over for taco salad and desserts.

Here's the spread before everyone arrived:


The cakes were supposed to be yellow, but somehow the baker didn't see that in the photo I gave her, so they ended up white. (sigh)

A photo of Baby A. So cute, huh?

Pinwheels created on my silhouette and stuck on dowel rods.


Baby B. Another cute one, huh?








The pre-reveal ruckus


Claire showing off her snapping skillzzzzzzzz.



Cutting into the "Baby A" cake. Greg had already seen this one on the ultrasound...the little cheater, so I cut into this one.

The suspense.....


Finally....blue icing! A BOY!
To which Greg said, "You didn't see me, but when I got out of the ultrasound room, I did a fist-pump."

uhh.....Why did you tell me that?
(embarrassing)

Baby B cake.
The crowd awaits.

The crowd of 6...ha!

waiting....


More blue icing. Another BOY!


I'm in shock. See my face? And honestly, my emotions have stayed exactly like that since last night. I keep saying, "Two boys?"

We're excited for the adventure. Now who needs some headbands and baby girl clothes?

february kit sneaks!

I think I shouldn't even comment about how bad a blogger I've been. I could blame it on the 1st-trimester nausea and fatigue....or the week-long trip to Disney that was accompanied by a trip to the hospital for food poisoning.....or last week, Claire's hospital stay to run all kinds of tests only to find out we don't know what was wrong, but that she's better now. But, I should at least take a photo of my (HUMONGOUS) belly and post it here at some point, right?

Instead, I'll post some sneak images. I've been VERY busy scrapping over the past week with lots of project samples that needed to be made for the SC booth at the Craft & Hobby convention next week. So, most of my time was allocated there, which is why I only have 3 sneaks to show you for the February kit. There are so many new CHA releases here as well. Not from SC, but from American Crafts, Pebbles, Dear Lizzy, and several more Etsy shops with just-for-us items. Yay!



I saved my favorite layout and sneak for last. I tend to save my favorite for last, just like I eat my green beans first and save my potatoes for last. Always have, always will. I realized after photographing the layout that it's not a pretty on the screen as it is on my desk, but I will cherish it anyway.

Oh my....can I tell you how much I love the alpha stamp set in the STEPPING STONE add-on? It's my new favorite by a mile. I never thought Noah could be topped....but he has. It has both the negative and positive images in the set and I've already used it on several projects and having to hold back using it on more for fear I will over-use. We ordered more of this add-on than any other, but I still suggest you have quick fingers and head straight there on reveal day if you want it. And, do you see a peek at that awesome handmade butterfly from a favorite Etsy shop of mine? LOVE IT!

Okay, that's it until I show some more CHA sneaks next week!

sneaks!

I've been feeling so uninspired this month (AKA nauseous). I've fallen behind on putting my December Daily together, although I'm still taking photos and keeping mental notes that I'll try to remember when I look back at my calendar. Usually, I have all my layouts for the next month's kit completed by the 14th, but this month, I procrastinated BIG TIME. So, here are sneaks of 3 layouts. 3 VERY SIMPLE EASY layouts.

Oh, and I wanted to try my silhouette Cameo this month, but well, it just wasn't going to happen. Must take it out of the box as soon as I feel better.

December Daily - Day 3

For today, I decided to download my first ever digi product. I can't believe I just typed that....wow!

Until today, my Photoshop Skills pretty much started and ended at novice-level editing of photos.

Anyway, I downloaded these flags by Ali Edwards and I really like them. After downloading, I had to google how to do a text-block and how to change the color of the flag. That was super easy and now I'm so proud of myself. This bedrest is helping me yet.

I took this photo this morning from my spot on the bed. You can see my fuzzy purple socks.

And, I couldn't stand that I hadn't edited that outlet out of the photo above, so I covered it with a doily flower from the December Daily kit. Actually, all the items on this layout are from the December Daily kit. I only added some alpha-stamps to stamp the word "three" on a tiny scrap of cardstock, which I slid inside the envelope.

Already thinking of tomorrow...