Updates

First of all, in my last post, I mentioned my grandma had a stroke. Well, as it turns out, she did NOT have a stroke. But it totally looked like she did. No, what happened was she took a fistful of pills in a suicide attempt...to be honest, we're all kind of mad at her, to varying degrees. Our family has ENOUGH stress going on right now, what with my uncle's (her SON'S) cancer treatments and surgeries. She's clearly not in her right mind to pull a stunt like that - especially at a time like this. It's like she has to make HIS illness all about HER. She is currently in the psych ward for a 5-day evaluation, which will likely be followed by some time in a rest home where she can be monitored further. Personally, I think she (and Grandpa) should permanently be placed in a rest home...especially with all their hospital stays. But that's just my opinion.

I'm mostly mad at her for my mom's sake. Mom's been bending over backwards to help my grandparents and uncle for YEARS. LONG before we found out her brother has cancer (we found out in August). It's a 45-60 min drive to their house and she drives up there ALL the time. She cleans for them, she buys groceries for them, she does their laundry, etc. And she runs up there all the time in a panic whenever any sort of emergency occurs - often to find out there isn't any recourse for the wolf-cry. I can't tell you HOW many times Grandma has called Mom and said, "Grandpa is dying, Grandpa is dying!" and Mom has dropped everything, jumped in the car, drove all the way up there bawling her eyes out...only to find out he's FINE. Or at least, as fine as a 91 year old man can be. And for the last several weeks, my uncle has stayed at my parents' house post-surgery since he'd obviously get better care there than at home with his 91 and 85 year old parents. He wanted to go home on Friday, and despite Mom's protests that all they'd do is fight when he got there, he went home. And of course, she was right. Friday night is when Grandma had her little OD suicide attempt. Lovely, huh?

Aaaaanyway. I could rant for hours on this subject and it really wouldn't do anyone any good. So on to more positive things!

First of all, I am now at 37 weeks!! Woohoo!! Only 3 weeks till my due date! And, as I've said about a million times, hopefully he'll decide to come before then. Preferably in 2009 so we can get the child tax credit sooner. I honestly have no idea how we'll be able to pay John's dental bills without it. So really, we NEED him to come this year. Just not until Friday at the earliest, since this week is finals week for John! And not on Christmas or Christmas Eve. But any other time would be awesome!

I'm definitely ready to be done being pregnant. At least on several levels. I'm not sure how ready I am to have 2 kids to care for, but I think it'll be easier to take care of them when this little guy is OUT of me rather than still in! My patience has worn thin lately. The fact that I haven't been able to sleep at night is definitely not helping. That, plus pregnancy discomforts and hormones, a teething 2 year old, and the stress of John finishing up the semester.

We've all been sleep deprived around here lately. Emma, too. Bedtime and naptime have been so screwed up lately. She totally fights both. She's also taken to screaming when she doesn't get her way...we're working on nipping that in the bud, but it's SO hard to be patient with her when she's screaming at us! Especially when it's over something stupid like wanting water in a real cup and not a sippy. I guess I deserve that, since I had a super high pitch blood curdling scream as a child. But hey, it makes me a good soprano;) So needless to say, life's been stressful for our little family! But we're surviving - hopefully to the best of our ability. Trying to stay positive. Trying being the operative word here.

But yeah, the issues we've been having with Emma lately are making me question how we'll survive the transition from 1 kid to 2. And whether I even want to consider having more later. At this point, I don't even want to think about it. I keep hoping these issues are just teething related, but I don't know. I think they mostly are, but there's also the fact that she's a 2 year old and she probably also senses the impending change to our family dynamics. Once we have the baby, we can all adjust accordingly. Yet another reason I want him to come out sooner rather than later!

I also want my face back. I know I won't fully get my body all to myself until he's at least a year, since I plan to nurse him for at least that long. But I'm sick of having a puffy swollen face. I don't even look like myself anymore. My face was chubbier than I wanted it to be BEFORE I got pregnant - now it's even worse with all this swelling! I want my wrist to go back to normal, too. This whole carpal tunnel thing is getting old fast. I can't even wash dishes without being in extreme pain. Or change a diaper or give Emma a bath. Thankfully, I have a sweet husband who takes care of that for me:)

I want to be able to zip my coat up again. It's COLD here! We've had "feels like -20" days recently. And I can't even zip up my coat. Thankfully, I stayed home on the worst days! I also want to be able to wear my nice gloves again. I can't fit them over my wrist brace and the other only barely fits my other swollen hand. I CAN wear stretchy gloves, at least, but they itch so I only wear them when necessary. I can't tell you HOW grateful I am that I can still wear my cute flat boots, though!! A definite must-have with all the snow we get each year.

I want my wardrobe choices to expand. I'm realistic and experienced enough to know I won't get back to my ideal size right away (if ever). But as my belly gets bigger, my wearable wardrobe gets smaller. Since I'm due in 3 weeks, there's no point (or money) to bother with getting larger maternity clothes. I just have to make due with what I've got. But it makes getting dressed a frustrating experience. Thankfully, I don't have to go out all that often and I live in PJs when I'm home. Unfortunately, my PJ options are decreasing all the time. Just 3 more weeks, just 3 more weeks...or less, if I have my way!

Anyway, this was supposed to turn more positive LOL! I DO have some sweet things to share, so let's move on to those now.

Gotta give a little history on the first story. Back in October, Emma decided that she can't stand to be in her room with the door shut. It's not a fear of the dark thing because she does it for naps as well. So we'll leave the door open a crack while she falls asleep and then close it once we know she's totally out. Lately, however, since she's been teething and not sleeping as well in general, she wakes up when we try to close it. So most of the time, I just don't bother trying and leave it open. Fast forward to last night. As you probably know (if you read my posts often enough, that is), I haven't been able to sleep until some crazy hour every night since I hit 3rd tri. I frequently take relaxing baths during my late nights, which then evolve into showers for the hair washing portion. Well last night, I had just gotten out of one of these bath/showers and was drying off when I heard a soft tapping/knocking sound at the door. At 4:30 in the morning. I knew what it was before I opened the door. Sure enough, there was a wide-awake little Emma right outside the bathroom door. With a couple of bath toys in tow. It was cute, but it took us a good hour and a half or more to get her back to sleep...we missed most of church as a result.

*sigh* and it's around that same time now and I think she might be waking up. Oh please no. I already JUST found out about something that absolutely infuriates me. Like, while I was in the middle of this entry found out. I got auto-charged for webhosting that I am CANCELING before I could even get in the system to cancel it (long explanation, don't want to get into it)...and we set it up so that payment was supposed to be MANUAL, not auto. Auto-pay = EVIL. Called customer service (at 4 AM), getting refund, but I didn't have the money (one of the reasons I was canceling in the first place - that and I haven't used it in over a year anyway) so now I'm overdrawn...grrrrrrr. And have nothing to cover it with in the meantime. Refund is being expedited and they'll TRY to do so within 24 hours. But who knows how long it will REALLY take. Yeah, I'm MAD. I can't handle a cranky 2 year old in the middle of the night right now. But it's not like I can sleep right now, either. Too worked up over this mess.

LOL, and I WAS going to write about some positive things in this post. Don't think that's gonna happen now! I'm too upset about everything mentioned above. I need a vacation - and I'm a stay at home mom!!! Thankfully, John only has 5 more days of classes/finals before the semester ends. But then he'll pick up hours at work (which is a GOOD thing!) and we'll have baby and Christmas and and and...yeah.

On the plus side, it sounds like Emma is going to stay down after all. I certainly hope so! I need LESS stress right now, not more.

Next post will be POSITIVE, I promise! But I can't just sugar-coat my life and pretend everything is perfect when it clearly isn't. I DO have happy things to write; I'm just currently bogged down with some of the stressful things and needed to get them out before I can write about the happy things. Otherwise, any happy posts would sound fake. If that makes sense. It's 5 AM, so I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't!!

Now to find some food, de-stress, and hopefully get some sleep soon! OB appt in the afternoon, so hopefully I'll post something again very soon. Night, er morning, everyone!

Pregnancy and Sadness

It's been a crazy week. I meant to post for Scrap it to me Tuesday, but it didn't seem appropriate as John's grandfather passed away Tuesday night. I never got the chance to meet him, but I know he was a wonderful man.

And now, on Friday night, my grandmother had a stroke. She's stabilized as far as I know, but her speech is incoherent. Who knows if she'll recover it. I'm tempted to call my mom for an update, but it's 2 AM there...she's probably still at the hospital with her mom, though.

2009 has been a bizarre year for our family health-wise: grandparents in and out of the hospital throughout the entire year (on my side and John's), serious mental health issues with my cousin, and my uncle has cancer. And I complain about the discomforts of pregnancy...what an ungrateful snot I can be. My suffering is temporary and has the best end result possible.

Speaking of pregnancy, I now have weekly appointments! Which means I'll be done soon! I had an appointment on Monday and everything looks great as usual. I gained 3 lbs between that and my previous appointment, for a grand total of 14 lbs. Not bad for 36 weeks! I gained 3 lbs in 2 weeks, but you have to keep in mind what those 2 weeks covered: Thanksgiving, Emma's birthday, John's birthday, a Christmas dinner party, and dinner at Outback Steakhouse (thanks again for the gift card Marie!). When seen in that light, it's not at all surprising!

I have some pages to post, but I'm too tired now. Will do so later. Time for bed. LOL, this is probably the shortest post I've ever had on this blog! Night!

Template 54, Christmas Card 2009, and Scrap it to me Tuesday

*sigh* Do you ever have one of those days where you just want to scream, run away, and hide? Especially from your small child(ren)? For me, today was one of those days. Emma fought me on EVERYTHING. I did a few productive things, but of course needed to rest, so I laid down on the couch...and Emma FLIPPED OUT. Like, serious tantrum and Mommy-hitting. Naturally, she got a time out. Heh, I think she spent like half the DAY in time out. And oooooh how she fought me at naptime!! She didn't nap AT ALL. But I'm a mean mom and made her stay in her room for "quiet" time anyway. Ha. It was anything but quiet...

Add to that nightmare the following "joys" of being 35 weeks pregnant: carpal tunnel, sciatica, lack of sleep due to insomnia, and, of course, the wonderful hormonal mood swings. Fun stuff. I had several crying break downs throughout the day...

What happened to my sweet little girl?! Is this because she's 2 now? Well...in her defense, she IS cutting 2 eye teeth right now. She's been working on them for oh, 2 months now? The dentist said they were coming in back in mid October (though, ironically, he said the bottom ones were a lot closer to coming in than the top ones, but she's cutting the top ones and NOT the bottom ones). But NOW they're actually visible just below the gums. I really hope all these issues, or at least most of them, are teething related and not age related. PLEASE let these teeth pop through tonight in her sleep! I don't think I could handle another day like today...

Oh, and I DO give her Motrin, Orajel, and teething tablets, but they only do so much. Especially since now little miss independent insists on putting the Orajel in herself - and of course, she doesn't actually put it on the places where it HURTS...but if I try to help, she freaks out even more. So I just let her do it herself. And she's NEVER been one for teething rings. Maybe I'll give her an Otter Pop tomorrow. Good thing I still have some in the freezer!

*sigh* Today is a chocolate needing day. Speaking of, have you tried those Hershey's mint truffle kisses yet? OH my gosh, SOOOO good!! Of course, mint + chocolate = perfection. In fact, I'm uh, finishing off the bag now...and I bought them yesterday:D No, I didn't eat all of them myself. We had friends and family over to make gingerbread houses last night and shared the yumminess with them.

There WERE some good things about today, though. Most of them are thanks to the sweet generosity of friends and family:) Thank you! First, Mom sent us money for diapers since the credit we had at Sam's Club wasn't going to work the way we thought it would (they're sending Mom a check for it, since she's the primary account holder and I'm just the secondary person on it). Then, John totally took over toddler care so I could get a much needed bubble bath - and he rubbed lotion on my feet afterwards for me, too. But he does that all the time; especially since I can barely reach them these days!

Of course, Emma behaved MUCH better for Daddy...but, to be fair, I got her calmed down before he got home. Until it was time to start the bedtime routine, that is! I could tell John was getting a bit flustered with her (so was I...) and I said, "THIS is what I've had to deal with ALL DAY." I'm desperately praying that tomorrow will be better - and that those teeth will pop through tonight! But she's a slow teether...so probably not:(

Also, John got his sister to babysit for us Thursday night so we can FINALLY use our Outback Steakhouse gift card. Sweeeeet! Again, thanks to the friends who gave it to us in the first place:) We SO desperately need a REAL date like that - especially before the baby comes, or we'd have a little need-to-nurse-24/7 tag along. Sure, we have a "date night" every week, but it's usually a stay-at-home-and-watch-a-movie-or-play-a-game-after-Emma-goes-to-bed kind of thing. And it's been slipping the last few weeks or so because he's just been SO busy with school and homework. It's impractical to find a babysitter each week, and we certainly can't afford to go out much (more like at all) anyway. Here's hoping Emma behaves for her aunt - and is fast asleep with no fuss by the time we get home!

And I got a PM today that I get something for free that I thought I'd have to "pay" for with a gift certificate:D Yay!! Thanks, Chanin!! You're awesome!

Which reminds me, I have a couple of other non-today raves to share. First, I mentioned that we were looking for boots for Emma. Well, the boots I liked at Payless are apparently only for kids with narrow feet - and Emma has wide feet, just like John and I. She freaked out when we even TRIED to get them on her (she was being difficult anyway, though). Well, geniaBeana's little girl is just a month or so shy of being a year older than Emma, and she still has a bunch of her too-small shoes - and she's going to send me some!! Thanks, Val!! We REALLY appreciate it! You're amazing!

Aaaand, last but not least, my parents got me something AWESOME for Christmas! It's what I asked for:D I'd heard from another CT friend that Target had an amazing Black Friday deal on a 1 TB external hard drive. The sale lasted 2 days. So I emailed my dad and told him about it (since Mom said I had to ask HIM instead), hoping for the best, but knowing that Dad is harder to convince than Mom, I didn't expect much. Plus, I knew that with the great sale price, the likelihood of actually getting it (even if I DID land Dad's approval) was slim to none. But my dad amazed me. Not only did he say yes, but he went to Target himself when it opened at 8 AM. MY dad. He's not exactly a shopper - unless it involves computers! For him to go shopping on Thanksgiving weekend when a store opens...yeah, MIRACULOUS. And it was NOT the Target closest to him, since we already knew they were sold out (thank you internet). Not surprisingly, this Target was out, too (the website said "limited availability"). BUT there's an AWESOME computer/electronics warehouse store next door to that particular Target and THEY had a 1 TB external hard drive for the same price!!! It's a different brand, but that doesn't matter much as long as it's not a dud. Dad's a programmer, so he did research on the brand when he got home and it's good:) So YAY, I'm getting a 1 TB external hard drive for Christmas!! I will soon have a GREAT place to back up all my digiscrap files! Definitely better than trying to burn over 100 gigs onto DVDs...;)

And on that note, let's talk about scrapping! Chanin just started this new fun thing called "Scrap it to me Tuesday." Click on this banner to check it out on her blog:



I made our Christmas card this week, so that's my contribution for it:) I know, it's technically Wednesday now. I didn't even turn ON my computer until 11 PM! Anyway, here's our Christmas card:



I haven't actually sent it out yet, though. I'm (supposedly) working on a letter to go with it to email to friends and family (haven't started yet...). We're just doing the digital card thing this year. We're too poor/cheap to print and mail it! Plus, this way, more people can get it:) Friends and family who read this: please make sure I have your email address if you want a copy! Anyway, I used Holly Jolly by geniaBeana Scraps and Dylabel Designs to make it:



Aaand it's currently 45% off, too! How cool is that? I used a few pieces of it to make my new festive blog background. I mostly used geniaBeana's and Kimi's Kreations' portions of the GDS December collab. You can get the whole thing if you spend $10 (excluding coupons and gift certificates) at GDS.

I have a freebie for you, too. I made a template of my Christmas card LO:) Template 54 is a 12x12 PSD template. Here's the preview:



You can download it here.

Well, now that I've ranted about how horrible my day was and then raved about lots of awesome stuff, I'm feeling MUCH better! Now hopefully I'll be able to fall asleep! And PRAY that tomorrow (ok, today) goes MUCH better!

Thanksgiving, Emma's Birthday, Template 53, and More!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We sure did:) We had a great meal (cooked almost entirely by me) and just enjoyed having a quiet Thanksgiving with our little family of 3.75 (counting the baby). I don't like turkey, so I made a ham instead. I see no point in putting forth all the effort necessary for a turkey when I don't even like it, or in having tons of turkey leftovers that I won't touch. Don't worry; I warned my husband that I wouldn't make a turkey for Thanksgiving before we got married. He had no problem with it at all:) He actually prefers ham, too. And I make a fabulous honey glaze, if I do say so myself:) Our menu consisted of ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, jello salad, rolls, homemade cranberry sauce (SO much better than canned), pumpkin pie, and chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Ooooh was it good! And now we have tons of yummy leftovers to enjoy! I was VERY happy with how the cheesecake turned out. I got the recipe here and exchanged the white chocolate chips for milk chocolate chips. Yum. SOOOO good. I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving with tons of yummy food, too! I digiscrapped some of the things I'm grateful for, which you'll see further down in this post:)

For those of you crazy enough to get up super early for Black Friday shopping, good luck and I hope you get the deals you're looking for! I went once and most of what I wanted was gone before I could get to it. It was too crowded and crazy for me. Definitely not my thing. But to each their own! I'll be browsing GDS with my $7 gift certificate, though! Hopefully I'll be able to figure out what I want to get with it before the day is through;) I had every intention of staying as far from the stores as possible today, but we may end up going to Payless Shoes later in the day (after John gets off work - he works retail and has to be there at 4:45 AM) to get Emma a desperately needed pair of boots for the winter. The hand-me-downs she got from her cousins are too small and she currently only has one pair of shoes that fit - and they are SO not winter-proof...as we discovered the other day when we played in the snow...

But THE most important thing about today is that it is Emma's birthday!! Happy birthday, Emma! I have a 2 YEAR OLD. Wow. How did that happen? Two years ago from this moment, I was in the hospital with my brand new baby girl. And now she's running around and talking like crazy (well, technically, right NOW now she's asleep for the night - but you get the idea). How did that happen? I've been thinking about her upcoming birthday for a couple of months now and mentally preparing myself for it. I accept the fact that she is now 2, but it is still hard to believe that 2 years have already flown by. She has grown and changed so much from that first moment I held her in my arms. It's a good thing I'm pregnant or I'd have some serious baby fever right now! Her growth and development was so gradual that it feels completely natural. All the same, it's strange to look back on those early moments and think, "was she really ever that little?" In many ways, it seems like she's always been as she is now. THIS is why I scrap. So I can remember all these precious moments of our family's life before they fly away forever.

Speaking of scrapping, geniaBeana has some awesome brand new Black Friday releases! Be sure to check out both her Elemental Scraps and GDS shops as everything is 50% off!!

First, we have Autumnal, which is perfect for scrapping all those Thanksgiving dinner photos. We were all drooling over Thanksgiving food in the CT forum when she posted the preview!



Mmm, doesn't it make you want to pull your leftovers out of the fridge and start munching?

And here's the page I did with it:


Wordart from Elegant Wordart

LOL, modern conveniences encompass such "necessities" as electricity, heat, indoor plumbing, refrigeration, dishwashers, washers and dryers, computers, cell phones, internet...and of course, Photoshop CS4;):D But in all seriousness, these are some of the many many things I am thankful for.

Next, is an adorable Christmas collab with Dylabel Designs called Holly Jolly:



Isn't it just super adorable? I haven't had a chance to play with this one yet (we've had a crazy week), but I can't wait to! I think our Christmas card will be done using this kit:) There are also some gorgeous glitters and adorable flair to match the kit at geniaBeana's stores, so be sure to check them out!

As to our crazy week, first I had an OB appointment on Monday. Everything looks great! I gained 2 lbs since my last checkup, so now I'm up to an 11 lb gain total - at 34 weeks!! Sweetness. Less to lose later:D Baby is measuring perfectly, blood pressure is awesome, etc. But I officially have been too swollen to wear my wedding ring for about 3 weeks now. It's funny; I LOOK much bigger this pregnancy, but I've only gained 11 lbs...go figure. I didn't have any swelling issues with Emma (totally lucked out there!) and was able to wear my wedding ring right up to the very end. Not this time! I was wearing sandals in the cold until it started snowing. Thankfully, my boots miraculously fit comfortably on my swollen feet.

The worst part about the swelling, however, is that it gave me carpal tunnel in my left wrist/hand. I'm right-handed, so I totally didn't expect to have those problems with my left side. But the way my OB explained it to me makes total sense. Carpal tunnel is caused by excess fluid on the joints. Pregnancy swelling can easily do that - in fact, it's the number one cause of carpal tunnel. The fact that it runs in my family doesn't help, either (Mom, Grandma, aunt, and uncle all have carpal tunnel). The less dominant side is more likely to have problems because it isn't as active - and therefore doesn't dispel the excess fluid as well. Interesting, huh? Too bad the knowledge alone can't make my wrist stop hurting:( I have a brace on it, which helps, but it can only do so much. Just a few more weeks...

The rest of our crazy week involved a sick little Emma:( She threw up 3 times on Tuesday and once on Wednesday. She also had one of those nasty blow out diarrhea diapers that necessitated an immediate bath. Thankfully, she's feeling much better now:) Though, she seems to be sniffling a little now. If she ends up having a cold, I'll know exactly why...it'd be yet another case of parents bringing their sick kids to church and getting MY kid sick! Ugh. If your kids are sick, KEEP THEM HOME!! ARG. *steps off soapbox* I really hope she doesn't have a cold. It's bad enough she was sick on her birthday LAST year (which, coincidentally, landed on Thanksgiving)...ironically, with a cold. And an ear infection. Thankfully, it didn't seem to bother her in the slightest.

Oh, and I haven't written about Emma's birthday party yet! We had her party on the 17th because we knew most of her little friends would be going out of town for Thanksgiving. It was really fun! We had some yummy appetizers (cheese and crackers, apple slices, grapes, carrots and ranch), a couple of fun games for the kids with prizes (raisins and fruit snacks), presents, and of course, cake! They party turned out really well:) I'll have to scrap the pics soon. We all had fun hanging out and watching the kids play. Thanks to all who came! I couldn't get Emma to wear the cute little crown I made her, though:( Hopefully I can get her to wear it today for her ACTUAL birthday!

Aaaand now that you've scrolled past all my ramblings, I've got a free template to share! Template 53 is a 12x12" template in PSD format. Here's the preview:



You can download it here.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!

Aaaand my 2 year old just woke up screaming...and sounding all stuffed up. Something tells me it's gonna be a loooong night...

Template 52, Scrapping News, and Some Projects

Life's been crazy busy as always! Until tonight, I hadn't scrapped at all this week. I've been busy trying to get things ready for Emma's birthday party - which includes a much-needed hosing down of the apartment. Well ok, I didn't actually use a hose...but I've been cleaning like crazy. And taking frequent breaks to rest because I physically can't handle as much as I normally could. 3rd tri will do that. And it seems like as soon as I clean something, it magically gets dirty again! Frustrating! I just cleaned the sink again (for the 2nd time in as many days) and it already needs cleaning again. Gyah. At least I like the smell of my cleaner!

But first, remember the Super Scrappin' 7 challenge from my previous post? (If not, scroll down.) Well, those who completed the challenge got entered into a drawing to win a $7 gift certificate at godigitalscrapbooking.com - and I WON!!!!! I'm SO excited!! I NEVER win these things!! There are so many for-purchase kits I'm drooling over but could never justify with my budget. To be honest, I've paid for ONE kit in the year I've been digiscrapping and I had a very specific need for it. But now I get to pick $7 worth of goodies to buy! Yay! Of course now the problem is, what do I get? I have to be VERY selective. Ah, decisions decisions. Good thing I have till the end of the year to make my choice!

Speaking of GDS, it is with a heavy heart that Kimi's Kreations is closing her store and retiring from designing - at least for now. See her blog for further explanation. I completely understand and support her reasons 100%, but I don't feel it is my place to explain them:)

The good news, however, is that her entire store is 50% off until November 30th. Her DSD grab bag is open and individual pieces are now for sale. Check out these awesome goodies over at her store.

Speaking of open grab bags, geniaBeana's is open now, too. Check it out over at her GDS and Elemental Scraps stores. Lots of cute stuff, so be sure to check it out!

So what have I been up to this week? Other than cleaning, that is? I've had a few projects to do. In order to clean, I had to put my sewing machine away - but I still had things I needed to use it for. So I finished up those little projects and put my sewing machine back in its little cabinet. None of the sewing projects are photo-worthy; just hemming John's jeans, sewing a button back on his suit (well, that didn't require the machine, but it still needed doing), mending some holes...you know, boring stuff. Like I said, not really photo-worthy. But now it's all done:)

I also got to do a couple of craft projects. We made some cute letter blocks at Relief Society this week using paints, scrapbook paper, and modge podge. Mine turned out really cute (please ignore the ugly flash-on-TV-screen):


Then, I made a birthday crown for Emma. I totally stole the idea from a couple of my BAM friends:) They sewed theirs - I cheated and used my neighbor's hot glue gun instead:D It was way easier and more in my skill range. Had I tried to sew it, the 2 would have been horribly crooked, and I'd have been insanely frustrated with the whole thing. No, glue was a better choice for me:) Didn't it turn out super cute?


And as you can see from that pic, I wrapped some birthday presents as well. I love wrapping presents! It's so fun. I'm excited to start wrapping the Christmas gifts. One of those is John's birthday present, since his birthday is only 8 days after Emma's. The rest of Emma's gifts are still in the mail (aren't grandmas the best?).

On Friday night, John and I rearranged our living room. As it was, there was no way we could comfortably fit everyone we'd invited to Emma's birthday party. Heck, we're still not sure just how comfortable it will be with that many guests anyway! We wanted to invite way more people, but it just wasn't feasible in our tiny 600 square foot apartment. But anyway, we LOVE the new arrangement. It really opened up the space! Of course, I didn't think to take a before pic (I never do until AFTER the fact), but basically the table and couch were switched. Here's how it looks now:


Oh, if you're wondering about the piano on the table...we're borrowing it from John's sister Jessica since he's in a piano class this semester. I'll be honest; I can't wait for the semester to end so we can give it back! We just don't have the space for something like that. We move it to eat, of course, but it ends up on our bed...or the kitchen counter...yeah, I want to give it back now! I think I'm going to put a blanket over that ugly treadmill in the corner, too.

And now for a couple of scrapping projects I did tonight. I made a new FHE chart! Yes, I already had one, but I was really getting sick of it. My scrapping has improved SO much since then. Plus, I wanted to add a couple more categories. I also redid the little magnets. Instead of random papers with our names written on them, we now have pictures! But I'll spare you those;) After all, they're pics I've already scrapped with anyway. Here's the new chart:

Credits:
Doodlebug, Kimi's Kreations (full kit and add on)

I also made a new clean or dirty sign for the dishwasher. The original magically disappeared one day. Methinks a little fairy named Emma threw it away...she kept pulling it off the dishwasher to play with it. She loves to throw away "garbage," after all. (99% of the time she only throws away actual garbage, but every now and then we catch her throwing away something that is NOT garbage.) I'm going to have John get it laminated at school tomorrow. That way, when Emma plays with it, she won't be able to bend it as easily. Hopefully she'll leave this one alone...but I doubt it. In any case, I wanted to make a new one regardless, so it's no big deal. Here's the new one:

Credits:
Hoo's My Boy, Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana Scraps
Bark alpha, geniaBeana Scraps
Best First Date Ever, Kimi's Kreations
Gratitude, Kimi's Kreations
Rainy Days, MeganB Designs
Down by the Lily Pad, A Work in Progress

I have a new template to share today, too! Template 52 is a single page, 12x12" 300 DPI template in PSD format. It's based off the first of Emma's 2 Month pages. Here's the preview:


You can download it here.

Aaaand I should go to bed. I've got a busy day ahead of me: visiting teaching, grocery shopping (last minute items for Emma's party on Tuesday), more cleaning, and family home evening. It's gonna be busy!!

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!