Template 51 and Super Scrappin' 7 Scrap-A-Thon LOs

Phew, did we have a busy weekend! Friday night, John and I went to an amazing oratorio on campus entitled "God's Everlasting Love." Wow. It was gorgeous and inspiring. Saturday started out with a stake primary (more like nursery in our stake) activity where the kids got to learn about various prophets. And, as per the norm for Saturdays around here, John had to work, and then do homework when he got home - thus limiting my scrapping time. So I honestly didn't think I'd be able to participate in very many Digital Scrapbooking Day festivities. BUT, miraculously, I was able to scrap 5 of the 7 GDS challenges on Saturday! I was able to finish up the last 2 LATE Sunday night (well, more like early Monday morning...). Sundays are super busy around here, what with church, meetings, choir, etc. We also had dinner over at Nathan and Jessica's. Day of rest? Rarely. Especially since church is from 1-4 PM - right smack dab in the middle of naptime. This is insanely uncharacteristic of me (I am SOOOO not a morning person), but I'm actually looking forward to church moving to 9:30 AM next year. At least then we'll get naptime in and have some time left to enjoy our day.

But I digress. Or ramble. Actually both;) I somehow managed, despite the madness of the weekend, to scrap ALL 7 of the GDS Super Scrappin' 7 Scrap-A-Thon challenges!! Yay!! It was SO fun. This was the first time I've actually had a chance to participate in Digital Scrapbooking Day and it was a total blast. Last November, I JUST started digiscrapping at the tail end of that weekend (but I did manage to grab some of the DSD freebies that were still up). In May, I didn't realize until AFTER I made travel plans for that weekend that DSD (in some form or another) occurred biannually. I planned to participate this time, but with the way things looked with scheduling, I didn't think I'd be able to do much. Adrenaline kicked in, however, and I was on a roll! I even got to do some DSD freebie hunting!

My house, on the other hand...well...let's not go there:D It's a serious disaster - and I can't blame it all on the almost-2-year-old. She's not the one who left clothes all over the floor...that'd be me. Horrible habit I've had for YEARS. Aaaanyway.

Now for my Super Scrappin' 7 Scrap-A-Thon layouts!!

Challenge #1 - Sketch Challenge with Andrea (using provided template):

Credits:
Template: template 660, Andrea Gold
Kit: DSD Grab Bag, geniaBeana Scraps

Challenge #2 - Scraplift Challenge with Kimi:

Credits:
LO Scraplifted from: eastoneman
Kit: Gratidude, GDS Nov collab - portion by Kimi's Kreations
Also used MLAS Sept Pixel Edition

Challenge #3 - Self-Portrait Challenge with Christy:

Credits:
Template: DSD Grab Bag, geniaBeana Scraps
Kit: Gratitude (Nov collab), geniaBeana Scraps
Stitches: Sweet Memories, geniaBeana Scraps
Glitter: DSD Grab Bag, Kimi's Kreations

Challenge #4 - Make Mine A Mini Challenge with Jenn (using all pieces of provided mini kit):

Credits:
Template: DSD Grab Bag, Kimi's Kreations
Kit: Sugar 'N Spice, Dancing Princess Designs
(This is my parents' house, by the way - I don't actually live there now, but it's still "home.")

Challenge #5 - No Photo Challenge with Debra:

Credits:
Kit: DSD Grab Bag, Kimi's Kreations

Challenge #6 - Wordart Challenge with Holly (using provided "I Scrap to..." wordart):

Credits:
LO Scraplifted from: Kimi
Kit: DSD Grab Bag, Kimi's Kreations

Challenge #7 - Font Challenge with Val:

Credits:
Kit: Lil Dude, geniaBeana Scraps

Ooo, look what I just got in my inbox:

:D

Now for today's template, which is of the LO above. Template 51 is a 12x12" 300 DPI template in PSD format, pre-adjusted for print bleeding. Here's the preview:


You can download it here.

As always, I love hearing back from you and seeing your LOs with my templates:) I hope everyone had a great Digital Scrapbooking Day!!

Hm, now to scrap those Halloween pictures or to take a nice warm vanilla sugar bath...hm...hard choice! Most likely, both;) I stay up entirely too late...I blame 3rd trimester insomnia. 32 weeks today, by the way. Oh, and I got 3 awesome packages from my mom today:D Yay! Baby stuff and birthday/Christmas presents for Emma. Woohoo!

Template 50!! And Another Grab Bag

I've got another grab bag to show off, and another free template to share. Woohoo, I've made 50 templates! And I have tons of LOs to convert to templates, too.

But first, geniaBeana has an awesome grab bag that you can pick up at her Elemental Scraps store or her GoDigitalScrapbooking.com store. Lots of awesome stuff, on sale now for only $3!! Check it out:



Grab bag includes 6 BRAND NEW products, such as a template pack, photomasks, a kit, and more! Check out what I did with it:



And now for template 50! Template 50 is a 12x12" 300 DPI template in PSD format. It coordinates nicely with template 49 below (also new - don't forget to grab it, too!), or you can use it separately. Template 50 is based on the second page of Emma's 1 Month spread from her baby book. Here's the preview of template 50:



You can download it here.

And now to get some sleep. Hopefully I'll get the chance to play during the day! Have a great Digital Scrapbooking Day!

Template 49, Digital Scrapbooking Day, and 100th Post!

Woohoo, this is my 100th post here!! How cool is that? What a perfect way to ring in Digital Scrapbooking Day this weekend! Be sure to check out all the fun events - there are lots of freebies and amazing sales to be found! And I've got a free template to share, too. I hope I'll get the chance to play, but weekends are pretty busy around here, so we'll see. But check out what's going on over at GDS this weekend:



Kimi's Kreations already has her grab bag up in the store, a $15 value, for only $4!! (Pssst, the GDS preview was made using her grab bag, too:D) Check it out (image is linked):



This pack is bursting with $15 worth of product! But shhh...it's all a surprise! Inside you'll find:
-A full kit
-A coordinating alpha
-A glitter pack
-A template pack
-A pack of clustered frames
-A pack of photomasks
...over 230 MB total!

And so you can get an idea of what's in the kit, here's a page I made using one of the templates, the kit, and the coordinating alpha:



As for me, life is good. I can't believe Emma will be 2 in just 3 weeks (on Black Friday, in fact)!! And I'm due in less than 2 months. I still hope this little guy decides to come sometime between mid and late December (just not on Christmas or Christmas Eve) - we could sure use the additional child tax credit right now!! Money is super tight, but that's to be expected. We have MOST of the things we'll need for the baby and I'm almost all done with Christmas and birthday shopping. Ah the joys of having John and Emma's birthdays and our anniversary during the holiday season. And we'll have another birthday this time of year, too! Oh, and I pre-ordered our joint anniversary present: Harry Potter 6!!! Walmart is having an awesome deal right now where you can buy the Top Ten New Releases for $10 each - with FREE shipping!! Check it out here if you're interested. We have lots of packages coming soon: 3 from my mom with birthday, Christmas, and baby items; 1 from an awesome friend who made me a Mei Tai; Emma's baby book; John's birthday present; and now our anniversary present. Yay, I love packages! Another awesome friend recently sent her brother (who goes to school here and went home last weekend) up with a bag full of baby clothes for us! Yay! Just a few more things and we'll be all set.

And now for the new template! Template 49 is a 12x12" 300 DPI template in PSD format. And, starting with this template, all new templates will come pre-adjusted for print bleed issues. So when you go to print, you won't have to worry about anything being cut off the page (unless, of course, you add something to the bleed zone). Template 49 was made from Emma's 1 Month - 1 page from her baby book. The second half will (hopefully) be coming soon! Ideally this weekend, since I'll have another grab bag to brag about, but we'll see how things go. Anyway. Here's the preview:



You can download it here.

Thanks for stopping by! And have a great Digital Scrapbooking Day!!

Template 48, Update, and Some Pages

Happy Halloween, everyone!! I hope everyone has a great, fun, and SAFE Halloween. I LOVE Halloween. It's so fun! I love the pumpkins, the costumes, the candy...yeah. It's awesome. This year, we get to go to a super fun Halloween carnival at church. It should be great! We're on the activities committee, so we get to help put it together and such. I'm excited. So far, our family festivities have been a trip to a really cool pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, and making haunted gingerbread houses. And, of course, eating candy that none of us really needs...

In any case, I have been SUCH a blog slacker lately! I really should post more often. Life's been a bit crazy here and there, though. But I DO have some pages and a template to share after my rambling, so bear with me.

In less than a month, I will have a 2 year old. And in approximately 2 months, I'll have 2 kids. Wow. It's kind of weird to think about, but I think I'm ready for both. I still need some more baby items, but I can't really afford to go out and buy anything right now. Money is super tight - especially since John's last paycheck was only for 1 day instead of 2 because Emma got sick and he stayed home to help. Thankfully, I know I have some baby stuff coming soon from friends and family members, so that will help tremendously. If we absolutely needed to, I'm sure we could manage with what we currently have.

Speaking of Emma getting sick, 2 weeks ago she threw up a couple of times. Thankfully, she only threw up twice, but we had no idea if she'd continue throwing up or not so John called in. I'm grateful he did. Even though she didn't throw up again after that point, I needed his help to take care of her that day. We stayed home from church the next day, too. I was bummed because it meant Emma couldn't participate in her first primary program:( Oh well. There'll be plenty more of those in the future. She ended up having a couple of blow out diarrhea diapers over the next few days, so I'm glad we kept her home. Thankfully, this was a very tame illness. We've definitely dealt with worse.

I had my 30 week OB appointment on Monday and it went well. Everything looks great: I'm measuring right on schedule, blood pressure is fabulous, heartbeat is great. I've gained a little more since last month, but that still only puts me to 9 lbs total weight gain. Not bad for 30 weeks!! I ran out of zofran last Wednesday and I'm doing ok without it. I get a bit queasy now and then, but laying down really helps. I think it's usually when I need to eat something, too. It's definitely manageable. Thank goodness; I really don't want to shell out another $45 to avoid vomiting. It's worth it, yes, but I'd rather not have to spend the money. And it looks like now I won't have to. Yay!

Sleep, on the other hand...well, let's just say 3rd trimester insomnia is not so fun and leave it at that. This little boy kicks like CRAZY, too. Especially as soon as I try to lay down and sleep for the night. Emma liked to squirm around when I wanted to sleep, too. It's pretty typical, from what I hear.

I'm trying to eat healthier, too. My sugar was a bit higher than it should be when I took my glucose test last month (though not high enough to need to take the 3 hour test or be diagnosed with GD or anything). My OB isn't worried, but I still think I need to cut back on the junk. Besides, I need to eat healthier regardless. We've found making meal plans to be invaluable in this endeavor. Really, the only times we consistently have healthy meals are when we plan in advance. We don't say "ok, this day we're eating THIS meal, and this day we're eating THAT one." No, what works best for us is to pick out some meals we want, add the ingredients to our grocery list, buy what we need, and then say, "ok, these are our options tonight; what do we feel like making/eating?" So far, since we reintroduced meal plans, we've had chicken souvlaki and Thai style chicken and veggie stir fry. Yum. One of the main things I've been working on food-wise is cutting back on sugar and white flour products. I've been eating more whole wheat and fresh fruits lately. It feels good:)

October has been dentist appointment month for our little family. Seriously, all of us had at least one dental appointment this month. Well ok, John's the only one who had 2, but his was by far the least pleasant - root canal, anyone? They did half of it at the first visit this month and the other half on Wednesday. He'll need another core build up and crown on this one, too. This is the 2nd root canal he's had in the last 2 months. Our finances are less than pleased. Thankfully, Emma and I did not share in John's luck. Emma's little teeth are perfect and the dentist confirmed our suspicions that she is in fact cutting her eye teeth. Fun. As for me, this was my first dental appointment in over 6 years...and I had 2 cavities. That's it. Not bad for 6 years and 3/4 through my 2nd pregnancy!! I've always had really healthy teeth:) I've only had one other cavity ever, and it was when I was 16. I hope all our children take after me in that sense. I don't want them to have to experience all the root canals and such that John's needed - and neither does my bank account!!

Emma is just learning more and more all the time! She picks up on everything! She's been pointing out babies for ages, but now she says, "baby crying" or "shhh, baby sleeping." She's so sweet and caring. Every time someone gets hurt - physically or emotionally - she says "ouch" with a concerned expression. She's going to be such a great big sister. We're always telling her about the baby and how she'll be able to help us with him. She randomly comes up and kisses my belly, too. She's known for awhile that there's a baby in there.

Emma recently started saying "I don't know." The first time, she had just woken up from a nap. She pointed at one of her baby dolls and said, "baby hat." I asked her where the baby's hat was and she said, "I don't know." We then looked for it and found it in her covers.

She also says "thank you" more and more, but has now added "thanks Mommy" and "thanks Daddy" into her repertoire. She puts more and more words together all the time. I can't even list everything she's said. I really need to write things down as she says them lest I forget this precious time. She also says "you're welcome" and "excuse me." And, of course, she's been saying "please" forever - though she usually says it twice:D

Emma remembers more and more, too. She always points at the vacuum and says, "vacuum." Not only that, but she then will say, "Tori vacuum" because Aunt Victoria comes over to help us vacuum, now that it's become a 2 person job due to Emma's fear of the vacuum. She's getting better with it, though. She just needs to get used to it again. It was broken for so long (that and I'm a lot lazier about vacuuming than I should be) that she wasn't used to it. We're building up her tolerance, bit by bit:)

She also knows colors VERY well. She knows: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, gray, white, and we're pretty sure she knows black. She can identify various shades of each color, too. Today, I asked her what color my eyes were and she said green!! Yay! I know, it's a silly thing to get excited about, but SO many people have thought my eyes are blue or brown. Um, no. They're GREEN. And not just sort of green like most people who claim to have green eyes, but actually, truly, and indisputably green. I think green might be her favorite color, too, since it's always been the one she points out the most and when I asked her the other day what her favorite color was, she said green. I'm not sure if she understands the concept of favorites yet, though. *shrug*

Emma also knows a TON of names and says them very clearly. She always gets excited when we mention people she knows really well:)

Anyway, I'm sure there's way more to write (isn't there always?), but it's nearly 4 AM and I still have scrapping stuff to post. Besides, I'm sure this is plenty long for most of you. I don't even know how many people actually READ through the whole thing.

So, onto scrapping news. First of all, geniaBeana opened up a new store at Elemental Scraps! She made this gorgeous new kit, Sweet Memories, for her debut (image is linked):



I made this page with it:



Over at GDS, both Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana participated in the voluntary collab this month, entitled Best Buddies. Here's what I did their portions:



I made an invitation for Emma's upcoming birthday party. Naturally, I blurred out the personal information;) We wanted to invite WAY more people than we can feasibly fit in our living room. Anyway, here's the invitation:


Credits:
Kit - Happy Birthday collab, digitalscrapbooking.ch (various designers)
Brown glitter - Kimi's Kreations
Gold glitter - geniaBeana Scraps

I ordered Emma's baby book!! Yay! I love that I'm getting 3 copies of it for free (+ shipping). One copy for me, and one for each set of grandparents for Christmas (shhhhh, they aren't supposed to know that...though some of them read this...uh, grandparents, pretend you don't know anything). The shipping cost a bit more than I anticipated, but thankfully I had some money in my PayPal account that I didn't even know was there, so my out of pocket expense ended up being lower than I'd planned. Of course, before I printed, I had to retrofit all the pages to account for print bleeding (basically, all the edges would get trimmed, so I had to adjust everything accordingly). But thanks to an awesome Photoshop action, it didn't take too long (I'm not sure if the action maker plans to sell it or not, but I think she should;)). I also revamped some of the pages. I wasn't quite satisfied with them before. Now I am:) Here are the new versions:




Credits:
Sweet Memories - geniaBeana Scraps




Credits:
Spooktacular - geniaBeana Scraps and Snowflake Beach Designs
Spookyville's Night (GDS Oct collab) - Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana Scraps




Credits:
Hoo's My Girl - Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana Scraps

Much to my annoyance, ArtsCow wouldn't let me add just 2 pages to complete my book. No, they wanted me to add another 20 pages!! Um, sorry, but I'm not paying for 20 blank pages here...so I had to leave off the birthday pages. Oh well. I'll just put them at the front of her 2nd year book instead. Technically, that's the start of her 2nd year anyway.

And we're up to date on my pages:) I have a lot more I need to scrap soon, too.

And now we come to today's free template! Template 48 is a 12x12, 300 DPI template in PSD format. It matches perfectly as a 2nd page to template 47 (as seen on the Welcome Home pages in Emma's baby book). Or, you can use it all by itself. Here's the preview:



You can download it here.

Hmm, this is my 99th post here. I think I'll do something special for my 100th...stay tuned!

Template 47, Emma's Baby Book, Sewing Projects, and More!

I am SO totally nesting. But not in the "must clean my house" way. Oh no. Not me. At least, not yet. Hopefully soon, because let me tell you, my house could use it LOL. No, my nesting has taken the form of projects. Scrapping Emma's 40 page (plus covers and table of contents) baby book in 2.5 weeks, for instance. Or planning out Christmas and birthday gifts at the beginning of October - and then going on to MAKE some of those gifts with my meager sewing skills. But, in my defense, we DO have several birthdays and such to plan for near Christmas, and I AM due about a week and a half after that...so I'm totally justified, right? Right?

Anyway, first of all, Emma had an appointment yesterday and she weighed in at 23 lbs!!! YAY! She's in the 10th percentile! Finally! I know that sounds really tiny to most of you, but considering her history, it's fabulous. The only other time in her entire life she was that high on the charts was at birth - and she was in the 10th percentile. Then she dropped down to 5th...then completely off the charts, where she stayed until at 9 months she got up to 2nd percentile. She maintained that for awhile, until she had nasty diarrhea for a week...which knocked her off the charts again. After that, she went up to the 3rd percentile and that's what she was last we checked. So to go from 3rd to 10th is phenomenal for her! LOL, but she's still in the 5th percentile for height - it's totally to be expected, though. John and I are both very short and so is pretty much everyone in our family.

And now for some scrapping news!! Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana Scraps have once again concocted a fabulous collab kit, Hoo's My Girl (image is linked to store):



Isn't it gorgeous?! If you drop by their announcement on GDS, you could win it for FREE!! It's also on sale this week for 30% off.

I could NOT wait for this kit to be released. I finished Emma's baby book last week, but I couldn't post the finished product until this kit was in store since I used it for several pages. You will see them further down in this post. I want to keep her baby book in order, after all ;) You can click on the "view layouts" button at GDS and see them there as well:)

And now, without further adieu, is Emma's completed baby book! I still have to go through and fine-tune edit everything and make necessary adjustments for bleed during the printing process, but that will be for another day. Credits are posted every 2 pages.




Credits:
Hoo's My Girl, KgB Scrap Kreations (Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana Scraps)





Credits:
Country Caramel - Kimi's Kreations
(BTW, the family tree LO is still available as a free quick page a few posts down;))




Credits:
Hoo's My Girl, KgB Scrap Kreations (Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana Scraps)
Alpha - Hoo's My Boy, KgB Scrap Kreations (Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana Scraps)




Credits:
My Darling - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
My Darling - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
Doodlebug - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
My Darling - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
My Darling - Kimi's Kreations
GDS Birthday Bash alpha - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
Happy Go Lucky - geniaBeana Scraps




Credits:
My Darling - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
Peaches and Cream - Kimi's Kreations (her very first kit! It was a freebie; not sure if it's still available)
My Darling glitter - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
My Darling - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
Queen for a Day - geniaBeana Scraps (her very first kit! It was a freebie; not sure if it's still available)
BCC2 glitter - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
My Darling - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
Star Spangled - geniaBeana Scraps




Credits:
Doodlebug - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
Hoo's My Girl, KgB Scrap Kreations (Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana Scraps)




Credits:
Doodlebug - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
GDS October collab - parts by Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana Scraps




Credits:
Queen for a Day - geniaBeana Scraps (her very first kit! It was a freebie; not sure if it's still available)




Credits:
Hoo's My Girl, KgB Scrap Kreations (Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana Scraps)


Credits:
Hoo's My Girl, KgB Scrap Kreations (Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana Scraps)

Phew! And that's Emma's baby book! LOL, everything I used was by Kimi's Kreations or geniaBeana scraps! Man, it's a good thing I'm on their joint CT!

Oh lovely. I just discovered toilet water on my bathroom floor...by stepping in it barefoot. And it's 1 AM, so I can't call the landlord. I wouldn't consider a leaky toilet to be a major emergency - besides, I stopped it from running and it's still usable. All the same, it's mildly irritating.

Anyway, moving on. I have been majorly bitten by the sewing bug lately - and I'll be the first to admit I am a TOTAL novice when it comes to sewing. Sure, I can do simple things like curtains, baby blankets, hemming, and I made my own nursing cover (all I did was buy a yard of fabric, cut a hole in the middle for my head, round off the corners, and sew around the edges). Until a few days ago, I had never EVER made anything from a pattern. I had to enlist assistance from my sister-in-law to do it. At the beginning of the summer, I bought some lightweight fabric and such to make John a pair of PJ bottoms. The lightest he had that weren't totally destroyed were flannel...well, now THOSE have a huuuuge gaping hole in the knee. It was time to finally make those PJ bottoms I promised him months ago.

Part of the problem was that I didn't really know my sewing machine. My mom gave me her old one - which she bought when I was a baby - when she got her new one. I don't have a manual for it. And the only person I know who KNOWS that machine is 800 miles away. Everyone I know who lives nearby is used to newer machines, as far as I know. Whereas my machine is as old as I am. It's a good sturdy little machine, though. It has a metal frame, unlike the plastic ones of today. But now, after working through a few projects over the last few days, I know my machine MUCH better and can troubleshoot some of the simpler problems that inevitably come up.

So, John's PJ bottoms:



I'd post a pic of him modeling them, but he fell asleep on the couch and the photo looked weird. The pants look a lot shorter in the pic than they actually are because of how they're positioned on the couch. They turned out really well! The only issue is the waist is a bit loose on him, but that's not my fault;) I handed John the elastic and had him mark with his highlighter (he was doing some reading) where he wanted it. I figure he's the one who'll be wearing them, so they might as well be comfy for him, right? ;) And really, it's better that they're a tiny bit too loose than too tight. I could take them in if I needed to, but he's satisfied:)

I had fabric leftover from John's PJ bottoms, so I used some of it to make little tossable bean bags for Emma. Actually, I only used the part of the pants that were too long from the pattern to make them. There are definite advantages to being short:D The bean bags turned out really cute (though they aren't all the same exact size):



Technically, they're lentil bags, since that's what I filled them with. We get a ton of free beans and lentils and never really use them. Why not put some to good use as a kid's toy? I used lentils rather than beans because I liked the texture better. Oh, and please ignore the old worn-out look of my couch. We got it for $50 at a local thrift store. For a leather couch, regardless of how old, that's a STEAL! It's a bit worn, sure, but it's VERY comfy!

And now for my favorite of the projects! I mentioned on BAM (a mommy forum I frequent) that I wanted to get Emma a play kitchen, but that I have absolutely NOWHERE to put one. Space is an issue as it is. Not to mention the financial aspect of buying one. Several of the girls posted links or pics of less space-invasive kitchen sets, but one of my friends there pointed me to an awesome tutorial to make your OWN roll-up kitchen play mat from fabric!! You can find the tutorial here if you're interested. I added most of the suggested additions to mine:



And rolled up:


My stitching is far from perfect, but overall, I like mine much better than the one in the tutorial. Her stitching is infinitely superior, to be sure, but I like the colors and overall look of mine better:) It helps that I added fun elements to make it more kitchen-like. I ended up making mine a bit bigger, too. I printed the PDF pattern as instructed, but for some reason, I think my pieces turned out bigger - and therefore necessitated a bigger background. But I like my sizing better anyway, since 17.5" x 9.5" is pretty dang small. I ended up using a thick flannel for the background. I didn't like any of the felt options at Walmart (yes, I'm cheap - I buy fabric at Walmart more often than not). They had squares of felt, which I used for all the fun elements, but the other felts had a nasty texture and I didn't like any of the colors enough to even consider them. But I LOVE the exterior fabric I used! And the ribbon. Love that ribbon. I have more on the spool, too:) I'm thinking of buying more of that fabric to make curtains for the kids' room. I currently have pink curtains in Emma's room, but since she'll be sharing the room with her baby brother...I think I need something a little more boy-friendly. Both their bedspreads have green and yellow in them, so I was thinking something with those colors. Hm, what do you think of that green starbursty fabric for curtains? Is it too busy?

I had a small amount of that pretty green fabric (and the sage flannel, too) leftover, so today I made a cute little drawstring bag with it and some of that gorgeous ribbon.





The kitchen play mat AND the bean bags all fit in it, too! But it's primary purpose will be for Emma's Halloween candy. She doesn't need a big bag, after all. I could buy one of those 94 cent pumpkins at Walmart, but I'd either have to store it somewhere for next year or throw it away...LOL, we always used pillowcases for our Halloween candy. Although, I just remembered that Mom made us some drawstring bags for it one year, too - but they were MUCH bigger and out of Halloween fabric. This little baggy matches her costume to some degree and will be usable for other non-Halloween things:)

And now for the template!! Template 47 is a 12x12 PSD template. It's from the first half of Emma's Welcome Home page above. I'll make the other half for next time:) Here's the preview:



You can download it here.

As always, I love hearing back from you and seeing what you do with my templates. Enjoy!

Bittersweet, Gratitude, and An Update

I've noticed recently that Emma is ready to move up a size in clothing. So today, I went through her dresser and pulled out all the too small 12 month clothing, moved the 18 month clothing up a drawer, and put 24 month clothing in the newly vacated drawer. Yes, my almost 2 year old is just starting to wear 18 month clothes. She's very petite and always has been. It's actually really nice that she's so small because she can wear her clothes for much longer this way.

All the same, it's always bittersweet to switch out her clothing. I look back on outfits that she has outgrown and think, "oh I loved this outfit" or "we did some fun things when she wore this" and such. It's also a reminder that my little girl is growing up. Before I know it, she'll be all grown up and writing posts about her own children.

There were also some things she never got the chance to wear but are now too small. She had some adorable 12 month sweaters, but it was clearly too hot to wear them over the summer. Now that it's cold enough to need them, they no longer fit. She also had a cute long sleeve red velveteen dress that is now too short. I'm very particular about dress lengths. Emma typically wears a size bigger in dresses than she does in anything else because baby/toddler dresses just run too short for my high standards of modesty. You'd think finding modest clothing for a toddler would be easy...but no, not always. Even baby boys' clothing can be difficult! But, again, I have VERY high standards when it comes to coverage - most people would probably call me a prude. And I'm ok with that.

Moving the clothing up made me realize just how little 24 month/2T stuff I have. I'll have to hit the consignment store for more soon, I think. I also need more baby boy clothing. I'll have to figure out a way to budget that in; money is pretty tight these days. I try not to buy TOO much stuff ahead with Emma, since she's so small and doesn't grow at the same rate as many other toddlers. When I DO buy ahead, I try to get things that will work regardless of the time of year - you know, like jeans, medium weight PJs, t-shirts, etc. I've had to store too many outfits that Emma never got to wear because they were for the wrong season. Thankfully, most of them were gifts. And since I plan to reuse her clothing when we have another girl someday, I still have at least another chance to use them.

But there are a few 18 month items that I don't have much of that I know I'll need. She only has 3 fleece sleepers in this size. She has several sets of cotton long sleeve PJs, and that helps, but the weather is just going to get colder and colder. Winters here are brutal. And for some inexplicable reason, Emma's room happens to be the coldest in our apartment - especially near the window, which is the only place we could logistically put her big girl bed. We had the window recaulked this summer, but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I think there's something wrong with the window itself. WAY more cold air gets in that window than in any of the other rooms. I plan to put some plastic up on her window to help with that. Also, the vent doesn't seem to push much warm air into her room, either. I'm not sure how well she actually stays under her blanket at night, too.

Another thing I want that she doesn't have yet is a pair of denim (but with some sort of girly-ness) overalls in 18 months. I saw a pair last year that I really wanted, but John talked me out of buying them. I've regretted it ever since. We tried to find them again later, but no luck. No one seems to carry something like that right now, either. Hopefully I'll have some luck at the consignment store. I know it's not a huge NEED, but...I love overalls on little kids. If I can find some at a decent price, I'm going to get them.

We also need to get her a winter coat soon. Since winter is so long here, we're going for 24 months/2T size. She'll likely be wearing that size by the time the weather warms up anyway.

There are so many things I want for my little family. Many of which are simply not attainable at this point. Like, for instance, a house. Or a second car (minivan, really). I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting those things - it's all about the motivation behind the desire and keeping things within reason. For instance, we want a house that meets the needs of our family, but we don't need something ridiculously huge or expensive. I don't want to spend my entire life paying off an excessively high mortgage, thanks. We're trying to live as frugally as we can and excessive debt does NOT fit into our equation. The only debt we have is John's student loan - and we plan to keep it that way until we are in a decent position to buy a house or a second (but modest) car. Oh, and we need to pay off the root canal John needed a couple of weeks ago. He was absolutely miserable until he got it done. Thankfully, it will only cost us $300. But he has a ton more dental work that needs doing and we figure it's best to take care of the fillings before they necessitate root canals in the future. Ah, it never ends. But it's all for our learning and benefit, so the challenges are definitely worth it. I just need to remember that when life gets difficult.

John's been gone a lot lately with school and work, so that has been challenging. And Emma hasn't napped in 2 days. We think she's getting ready to cut either her 2nd set of molars or her eye teeth - she keeps pointing at her mouth and saying "ouch," insisting on teething meds before bed and naptime (though she didn't actually nap today or yesterday), not eating or sleeping well...sounds like teething to me. Only 8 more teeth and she'll be done. I kind of hope she's cutting all 8 at once so we can just get it over and done with.

Emma has also developed an extreme fear of the vacuum. Our vacuum was broken for a long time, so we couldn't really do much. Plus, it scared her then too. Now that it's fixed, she completely freaks out when we try to use it. Vacuuming has become a 2 person job - one to vacuum, one to soothe the scared toddler. I had to take her to her room and close the door so John could vacuum the living room last week. I really really want to vacuum the whole apartment, but I can't do it alone. Emma wants me to hold her, and I can't carry a 22 lb toddler around while pregnant and vacuum at the same time. But John has been gone so much lately or too busy with homework for it to be possible. I'll have to figure something out. Maybe have a neighbor watch her or something. But I want to help her overcome this fear, so she has to be around the vacuum enough for that to happen. I keep trying to tell her the vacuum is our friend and that it helps us clean our house, but I'm not sure how much that will appease her. Sure, she's fine with the vacuum when it's turned off...in fact, she now points to it and says "vacuum" and I then proceed to explain the above again. We'll see what happens the next time we turn it on...

Emma is speaking more and more these days. She can say several sentences now and is always amazing us with new words/phrases/sentences everyday. Of course, she rarely says things around other people, but that's to be expected. She is learning so much! It's really fun to watch her. She now knows several colors, shapes, and is learning to count (she can get up to 5 now). She remembers so much. I just bought her a new pair of church shoes and she got so excited when she saw the shoebox. She opened it and pulled out her new shoes. In the one day she's had them, she figured out how to put them on all by herself. She also keeps pointing at the shoebox and saying "shoes" - she totally remembers the shoes came in that box!

She is SUCH a girly girl, too. A couple of months back, we had an RS activity where we got free manicures at a local beauty college. Now, I NEVER wear nail polish. My nails have a natural French manicured look, so I don't really NEED to do anything with them. Plus, the polish comes off so quickly for me that it really isn't worth it. So, for the very first time ever, Emma saw Mommy with pink nail polish on after that activity. And the polish only lasted for 2 days. She kept pointing at my fingernails. Well, 2 months or more later, she started taking a pen and coloring her OWN fingernails! She's done it with a black pen and a purple marker so far. I'm considering getting a cheap nail polish for her (we're talking dollar store cheap), but I'm not sure she'll actually hold her hands still long enough for it to dry without smearing it on everything.

She has become little miss independent lately. She wants to do everything herself; get dressed, wash her hands, brush her teeth, change her diaper, etc. She gets mad when we try to help. But obviously, she can't change her diaper by herself;) Though actually, she only wanted to do that one once so far, and it was simply putting on a clean diaper after a bath. So we're trying to be patient with her newfound independence and teach her to be patient with letting us help.

Every night, after we sing songs and say a prayer, Emma gives us hugs and kisses - and she kisses my belly, too! It's so sweet. I love that she gives her little brother a "kiss" every night - and he isn't even out yet! I hope it continues after he's born. She's also started saying the prayer at night. We have to talk her through it, but she repeats after us as best she can and it's SO adorable. Lately, when I go in to get her in the morning (at least for the last 3 days), Emma is standing next to the crib (which now has boy bedding in it), points at it and says "baby." Yep, that's where the baby's going to sleep when he gets here. So she's understanding the baby thing to some extent at least. We'll see how she reacts when he's actually here...but I think she'll do really well with it. She loves babies, and she's done really well with every transition so far. Which reminds me, she's been sleeping in a twin bed for almost a month now. The transition from crib to twin was absolutely seamless. She does fabulously in her big girl bed!

Emma has also requested to watch church movies recently (specifically, The Lamb of God and The Testaments)- and she'll actually watch them. It makes my heart smile when she does this. It's so sweet. I guess we're doing something right with her:) We try to take these opportunities to teach her. We'll sit and watch the movies with her and explain what's going on in toddler-friendly terms.

I need to spend more quality time with her. Sure, as a stay at home mom, I spend all day everyday with my little girl. But too much of that time is spent with me vegging on the couch with some sort of kids' movie on for Emma. I should be doing much more. We should be reading together or doing fun activities. It's been difficult, being pregnant and all. Especially since even at nearly 27 weeks I still need zofran to keep the nausea and vomiting at bay. But I am very grateful I have access to medication that works for me. I wish it were cheaper, though.

I've been thinking a lot about the simple things I have to be grateful for. I need to remember to think of them when life gets challenging. It's amazing how such simple, everyday things we now consider to be necessities were not available 100 or so years ago. Things like indoor plumbing, electricity, modern appliances, and high speed internet - all things I consider "necessities" in my life. It's so easy to take these simple things for granted and to think we can't live without them. I am so grateful for them. I love how convenient they are. Could I survive without them? If I had to, sure. But I certainly wouldn't choose to! There are still many places in the world where our "necessities" are inconceivable luxuries. How grateful I am to live in a place and time where these things are readily available. I am so blessed to have what I have: a roof over my head, food to eat, clothing to wear (though I wish I had more things that actually fit right now - but at least I have some things), modern conveniences, and the freedom to make choices and live my life the way I want.

Even with these modern conveniences and rights prevalent in the US and other countries, I have so many other simple - but no less powerful - things to be grateful for. I have a husband who loves me and is 100% devoted to me - and I to him. He treats me far better than I think I deserve. And for that, I am extremely grateful. He sees me better than I see myself. I'm sure he's right - I just need to learn to see it. I am blessed to have him. I hear of so many unhappy relationships. It makes me sad. Sure, we have our disagreements and challenges, but that's part of life. We always work through whatever issues come up.

As much as I complain about pregnancy, I am blessed to be able to BE a mother, to carry a child. There are so many women who struggle with infertility. Or who have complicated pregnancies, miscarriages, still births, etc. I am grateful that I have never had to experience that pain - and I hope I never do. Getting or staying pregnant hasn't been an issue for me. Both come pretty easily. I haven't had any extreme complications. Sure, I still have to take medication to keep from throwing up, but at least I have something available that works. Yeah, I get heartburn on an almost nightly basis, but I can pop a Tums and it goes away. I haven't had to worry about anything serious like bleeding, early contractions, baby not growing, excessive weight gain, high blood pressure, etc. My pregnancy complaints are relatively minor. The vomiting would be an issue if I didn't have medication available that prevents it, but I do.

I am grateful to be a mother. I have a beautiful, sweet, loving little girl. I adore her. Being a mother is one of the greatest joys of my life. It can also be one of the greatest frustrations at times, but every parent will tell you that. The frustration is definitely worth it. Being a mother takes sacrifice, but I don't really see it as sacrificing much. I would much rather be a stay at home mom than have any other profession out there. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to stay home with my daughter. Sure, I would love to have a higher income, but it isn't worth it for me (besides, most of it would go to daycare anyway). I'm grateful that my sweet husband supports and agrees with me staying home. We both know it is the best thing for our family.

And most importantly, I am grateful for the truths I know and understand. I have a lot to learn, I'm sure, but I know I'll get there. I have much to improve on. But even the best men and women express their own need for improvement. There are some things I need to work on and apply better in my life, but at least I know what they are and have some idea - however vague - of how to achieve my goals. I've heard some wonderful guidance today that will help me, and anticipate hearing even more tomorrow:)

Template 46 and Lots of LOs

Wow, I said last post I'd probably be back the next day and it's been a week. Ha. I'm a blogging slacker these days. But I've been scrapping like crazy! I started on Emma's baby book about what, 2 weeks ago maybe? Yeah...I'm halfway done. And it's going to be 40 pages long. If I keep going at this rate, I'll be done in a couple of weeks! My goal was to have it done before our little boy arrives - think I'll make it? I've got till January;) And I've got a template for you today:)

I was going to post an update tonight, but it's already nearly 1 AM as I'm starting this post...so no update tonight. I wanted to start on this earlier, but Photobucket was refusing to recognize newer versions of files I wanted to upload. No idea why. But it kept loading images I'd saved over! Gyah. I finally got it working just now. I left it alone for awhile. Maybe the old images got cached somehow? Who knows. But it's all fixed now.

But before we get on to scrapping stuff, Emma is now 22 months old!! O.o Wow. How did that happen? My little girl will be 2 in just 2 months!! I'm making plans for her birthday party in my mind already. I don't know what day I'll have her party yet, though, as her birthday falls on Black Friday this year and a lot of her little friends will be out of town. I'm planning for sometime the week before, but no set date or anything yet. I've got some time;)

Kimi's Kreations has a super-cute new kit out! It's called Doodlebug and it is simply adorable. It's also 20% off right now! Image is linked to Kimi's store:) Her glitters are all 50%, so if you want some of Kimi's yummy glitters, now is the time to run over and grab them!



And here's what I did with Doodlebug:





That second one is now a magnet on my fridge:D My house really does need a major cleaning again. The problem is, however, I've had no physical energy. Sure, I can sit at the computer and scrap...but that's not exactly physically exerting. This pregnancy is seriously kicking my butt - at least in terms of energy to DO things. And the fact that even at nearly 26 weeks I need medication to keep me from vomiting...oh, and the heartburn. Speaking of, I need a Tums again. John would help with the cleaning more if he had time, but he's super busy with schoolwork. He does take care of the dishes and garbage, thankfully:) Those are 2 of my least favorite chores, so I really appreciate him doing them. The garbage gets pretty nasty...especially in Emma's room;)

Aaaaanyway. Back to scrapping. Kimi also has a cute freebie sampler of Doodlebug available to anyone who completes her progressive layout challenge at GDS. Check it out! Here's the page I did for it:


Credits:
It's a Party - geniaBeana Scraps
Girl's Night Out - Kimi's Kreations
Lemonberry Fizz - Kimi's Kreations
Hoo's My Boy - KgB Scrap Kreations (Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana Scraps collab)
MLAS September Pixel Edition - Kimi's Kreations

Ironically, as I was working on the steps per day of the challenge, John accidentally stepped on Emma's sunglasses and they broke. Oh well. At least they were hand-me-downs;) We'll get her some dollar store ones next summer.

Speaking of seasons, here's a page I made of a fun art project Emma and I did together. Ok ok, so Emma mostly sat there and watched...but she did a little of the painting. She's not really interested in finger paints. She loves to color and such, but the paints are too messy for her to enjoy them.


Credits:
MLAS September Pixel Edition - Kimi's Kreations
Before Meets After Template 4 (modified)

And now onto Emma's baby book! This is the part my family wants to see LOL! Hopefully they'll actually read this...;) Man, it's a good thing I'm already pregnant while scrapping Emma's baby pictures. Otherwise, I'd have some serious baby fever. Going through Emma's old pictures and reading my journal entries is making me nostalgic. My little girl has grown up SO much. She's become little miss independent. I adore my sweet toddler, but it'll be nice to hold a tiny newborn again:)

I've already posted some pages, but I'm going to repost them here anyway so you can get the full effect. It's only 2 extra pages anyway;) I did a bit of reworking on the birth pages, so they need updated copies up. I skipped a few pages here and there, since the kits I want to use for them are either in progress, need finding, or don't exist yet;) Anyway. I'm doing 2 pages per month, plus 2 pages for special events and holidays (Christmas, baby blessing, etc). Now you know why it will be 40 pages long! Credits are posted every 2 pages. I've been using a TON of Kimi's My Darling kit. It's SO perfect for a girl's baby book! I've been using pretty much all CT stuff for it. Anyway, here is Emma's baby book so far:




Credits:
Country Caramel - Kimi's Kreations

(BTW, the family tree LO is still available as a free quick page a few posts down;))

(Insert ultrasound and belly pic pages here - waiting for a certain kit-in-progress to come out)




Credits:
My Darling - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
My Darling - Kimi's Kreations

(Insert 1st Christmas pages here - need to find a kit for them still)




Credits:
My Darling - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
My Darling - Kimi's Kreations
GDS Birthday Bash alpha - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
Happy Go Lucky - geniaBeana Scraps




Credits:
My Darling - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
Peaches and Cream - Kimi's Kreations (her very first kit! It was a freebie; not sure if it's still available)
My Darling glitter - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
My Darling - Kimi's Kreations




Credits:
Queen for a Day - geniaBeana Scraps (her very first kit! It was a freebie; not sure if it's still available)
BCC2 glitter - Kimi's Kreations

And that's what I've got so far! Phew! Thanks for looking! 20 pages done; 20 to go. Most of which will become templates in the semi-near future;)

Now that you've waded through my plethora of pages, I have a free template for you. It's of my Shades LO, from Kimi's progressive challenge. Template 46 is a single page LO in PSD format. As always, I'd love to hear back from you and see what you do with any of my templates:) Here's the preview:



You can download it here.

And that's all for tonight! I hope to get some more templates up soon ish, now that I have a tooooon of LOs that need to be templatified, so keep checking back! And of course, I'll be posting more baby book pages in the process;) Night all!