appetizer for a crafty mind

Happy New Year!!!

2012-01-01T10:50:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year everyone :)

Christmas Cards

2011-12-31T13:49:00.007-05:00

I'm a little late posting this. Here is our Christmas card that I designed and made for this year. I designed 4 different cards but this one was my favorite.

I used a sketch from Paper Crafts Nov/Dec 2010 issue for this card.

Evelyn at Three Months

2011-11-11T14:10:00.006-05:00

enjoys watching her big sister
has found her toes
makes lots of cute baby noises
is trying to roll over
smiles and laughs a lot
loves bath time
enjoys getting her feet massaged
sleeps 12 hours at night
IS SUPER LOVED

Charlotte at Three

2011-11-11T13:23:00.009-05:00

is a little chatterbox
adores her little sister
everyone is her best friend
she is so NOT shy
enjoys being outside
likes to play with play-doh
is a little jokester
eats like a horse
IS SUPER LOVED

I finally made Evelyn's birth announcement

2011-10-13T18:45:00.009-04:00

My friend Nikki McAnary took some awesome pics of Evelyn when she was about 2 weeks old. She hasn't had time to edit them all yet, but so far this is my favorite. I made this birth announcement but haven't had time to mail them. I really love how it turned out. For the border I used a brush from green-eyed-butterfly's curly brushes pack. The texture on the bottom was made using this photo. The font used for Evelyn's name is Aubrey from dafont.com and the font for her stats is Arial Bold.

Ways to Stay Cool

2011-09-03T13:57:00.005-04:00

Here is a journal page that I did before having Evelyn. It was for Natty's In The Sun course. The prompt was "Stay Cool". Natty challenged you to use only splatters for the background. The photos I got from the website Shorpy. They have tons of awesome vintage photos there.

Index-Card-A-Day ♥ 27

2011-09-03T13:44:00.003-04:00

Index-Card-A-Day challenge on the daisy yellow blog.

Well this is the only card I made since I had Evelyn and I'm just getting around to posting it...lol. Whenever I had a moment without Evelyn in my arms or doing something for Charlotte, I would either sleep or do a little cleaning. Things are starting to settle down and I'm hoping that I will have more time to play.

Meet Evelyn Ruth

2011-07-31T15:04:00.002-04:00

Evelyn weighed 7lbs 9oz (same as Charlotte), and was born on July 21st. Charlotte is so good with her baby sister. She always wants to hold her, sing her songs, give her kisses, and tell her how cute she is. She is also a big helper (or at least tries to be). Evelyn is a really easy going baby, and loves her eyebrow gently stroked. I'm soaking up the snugly infant stage because I know how fast it goes by.

taking a break

2011-07-16T10:36:00.004-04:00

I have less then a week before baby Evelyn will be here. I'm such a slacker and haven't finished the nursery, packed for the hospital, or caught up on my laundry and cleaning. I also haven't done any art journaling or worked on any index cards. I'm just so tired! I probably won't be blogging much for the next few months but will try to at least post some pictures. I'm not giving up on my art journaling or index cards, but I'm also not pushing myself if I don't feel up to it.

Index-Card-A-Day ♥ 25 & 26

2011-07-09T15:48:00.003-04:00

Index-Card-A-Day challenge on the daisy yellow blog.

I actually made two cards yesterday. The closer I get to my due date the more tired I get. I barely have had enough energy to do any cleaning or cooking. It would be nice if I was able to sleep but I'm having a hard time getting comfortable. I guess I better get used to not sleeping because I'm sure it's going to be about 4 months before I get any...lol.

Index-Card-A-Day ♥ 21-24

2011-07-01T13:48:00.006-04:00

Index-Card-A-Day challenge on the daisy yellow blog.

Summer Date Ideas

2011-06-28T16:29:00.000-04:00

For In The Sun's prompt "Summer Date Ideas". Natty asked you to try cutting out a different shape and use it as your journaling spot. I thought feathers would be fun, and it looks like we are wearing a headdress...lol. I didn't feel like laying down any gesso, so I used a piece of scalloped card stock for a mask, sprayed some Adirondack Color Wash spray in Stream, painted it with some water, and blotted it up with a paper towel. The paper towel had been used before to blot other colors of the spray, and once it got wet it started to leave behind those colors. I love the look! I sprayed the paper towel with a little water, and blotted it over the white to get some colored texture. For the feathers, I sketched them on some paper, lightly misted with Adirondack Color Wash spray (in Butterscotch, Plum, and Lettuce), painted them with some water, colored the shaft with white pen, and cut them out. The wood grain was stamped on a piece of packaging plastic using StazOn ink. Other supplies are BasicGrey scrapbook paper and some washi tape.

Index-Card-A-Day ♥ 20

2011-06-28T16:02:00.004-04:00

I was so tired this past week. Even the thought of making an index card would exhaust me. I decided that I would take a break. It's supposed to fun and not stressful, so I wasn't about to force myself. This was the only card I made and it took me a few days. Maybe I will get back on track this week ;)

Index-Card-A-Day challenge on the daisy yellow blog.

Take A Vacation

2011-06-24T14:43:00.004-04:00

For In The Sun's prompt "Take A Vacation!". You are to use the music video to take a design element from it. The things that caught my eye was a bright striped wall, Polaroids, and the font used on the base drum. Moira from Literary Tease posted a tutorial for DIY Mini Polaroid Prints. I made mine full size and cut a window out of white card stock instead of putting my photo on top. I originally painted bold bright stripes with acrylic paint for the background, but I didn't like it with my photos. I toned it down with white gesso, and then used Natty's scratch paint trick. I had some vinyl letters in the perfect font so I used them for the title.

No Summer Movies

2011-06-19T22:40:00.000-04:00

For In The Sun's prompt "Summer Movie Blockbusters". I loved Natty's Technicolor Thursday colors and had to play along. My journaling is about being due in July and how I'm disappointed that I won't be seeing Harry Potter in the theatre.

Index-Card-A-Day ♥ 18 & 19

2011-06-19T22:38:00.002-04:00

Index-Card-A-Day challenge on the daisy yellow blog.

Index-Card-A-Day ♥ 16 & 17

2011-06-17T13:28:00.003-04:00

Index-Card-A-Day challenge on the daisy yellow blog.

Ideal Vacation Spot

2011-06-17T09:45:00.005-04:00

For In The Sun's prompt "Ideal Vacation Spots". We went to Cape Cod before having Charlotte, and this was one of the photos taken. Richie took it on our best friend Sarah's point and shoot camera. I have been really inspired by Bea Mahan's work on flickr, and that played a roll in this page.

Alter-Ego

2011-06-14T18:01:00.005-04:00

For In The Sun's prompt "Alter-Ego". The girl is from Peruvian Connection catalog. I love her dress and shoes, but always feel super awkward when I dress up. Since it's my alter-ego, I felt it would be perfect. For the background I stamped some circles in wet gesso, painted the base for the background, rubbed some charcoal over the circles and blended, did some splatters, used some heart punchinello for stencil, and used the leftover catalog page for shadow stencil.

Wishes

2011-06-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

I just love this photo of a little girl dressed up in a fairy costume. The photo was found on The Graphics Fairy blog. I started this page last month and just got it finished. It's not my favorite but I'm calling it quits.

Summer Wants

2011-06-13T12:34:00.002-04:00

In The Sun's prompt 3 was "I want my Summer to be full of...". You are also to use a picture of one of the things you list. I had a picture of Charlotte laughing and really wanted to use it. The picture is fuzzy so I thought it would be fun to make it into a fake ttv. I used this ttv layer I found on Flickr to make my photo. For my background, I gessoed my page, added blots of watercolor, and blew on the blots to make them run. For the journaling strips, I wrote on purple tissue paper and glued them down with Modge Podge. I have 6 rolls of washi tape but none of them were the right color for my journaling strips, and I remembered that last week Natty had posted a technique with tissue paper. I've used tissue paper with Modge Podge in the past and always liked the results, so I thought I would give it another go.

Index-Card-A-Day ♥ 14 & 15

2011-06-13T11:13:00.007-04:00

For the one made on the 11th, I used oil pastels with a stencil, then went over it with some yellow acrylic paint, and wrote on washi tape. I really like the texture of the oil pastel, but it was hard to clean off the edges of the stencil.

The one I made yesterday was done on my lunch break. I was scanning the break room magazines in hope of finding something to glue on my card. I was pleased when I saw this in a People magazine.

Index-Card-A-Day challenge on the daisy yellow blog.

Monday ICAD Challenge

2011-06-13T09:24:00.001-04:00

Daisy Yellow added a Monday challenge to the Index-Card-A-Day. You are to post a photo of one of your cards in a wacky environment. Yesterday while at work, I thought it would be funny to take a picture of my "I don't want to be at work today" card on top of the time clock.

Who I Am

2011-06-11T09:25:00.006-04:00

In The Sun's prompt 2 was Self Portrait. I came across a library card-generator on pinterest and had to give it a try. My colors were inspired by Natty's Technicolor Thursday. I had a hard time keeping them soft and muted though...lol.

Index-Card-A-Day ♥ 11-13

2011-06-10T18:41:00.004-04:00

Hello Summer

2011-06-08T16:22:00.001-04:00

Natalie Malik has created a free follow-along art journaling course called In The Sun. Her Awkward & Beautiful blog is one of my favorites! I'm very excited to be following along with her new course. The first prompt was to create an introduction. I made the Hello Summer 2011 paper with this Hawaii Lover font, and this brush pack from solenero73. After printing it, I colored in the center of the flowers with a marker, and then dabbed with some glitter glue. The rest of my supplies were, acrylic paint, butterflies punched out of a catalog, and BasicGrey Urban Prairie papers.

I spent all of my crafting time yesterday creating this journal page, so I wasn't able to make an index card.

Index-Card-A-Day ♥ 8-10

2011-06-07T10:15:00.011-04:00

I got a baby registry catalog from Target in the mail the other day, so I thought it would be fun to make an index card from it. I was happy when I saw the notes to self list on one of the pages.

This pregnancy I get so many nosebleeds. I hate them! I will bend down to pick something up off the floor and I get a nosebleed. Charlotte starts having a tantrum and I get a nosebleed. I blow my nose and I get a nosebleed. I'm trying to do laundry and I get a nosebleed. They are so inconvenient, and I've stained 2 shirts. By the way, it's acrylic paint and not blood on this index card...lol.

Index-Card-A-Day ♥ 6 & 7

2011-06-02T14:14:00.008-04:00

Today I'm super tired and want another lazy day! I'm behind on laundry, and the floors really need to be done, so I probably shouldn't slack too much. This morning Charlotte said "There is dog hair on the floor. Can you vacuum it?". When I told her not right now, she replied "but you need to" (yes my child really does speak that well). Is it bad when your 2 year old is telling you to clean?

Index-Card-A-Day ♥ 4 & 5

2011-05-31T14:50:00.006-04:00

We bought Charlotte a vintage school desk. She loves to sit at it and draw us lots of pictures with her crayons. I cut the hearts out from one of the pictures she gave me on Friday.

Today I have no motivation, so I've declared it to be a lazy day. This morning after breakfast, I gessoed an index card, and got out my Prismacolor pencils. I started to doodle and Charlotte asked to help. I got her sketchbook out and let her draw with some old generic colored pencils. She is very excited to get her own pencils! They aren't washable though, so I'm a little scared to find markings in random places.

Index-Card-A-Day ♥ 1-3

2011-05-29T23:13:00.011-04:00

Tammy over at the daisy yellow blog posted an Index-Card-A-Day challenge. You are to draw, doodle, write, or sketch on an index card each day in the months of June, July, and August. This sounds like a fun challenge and I'm going to do my best to keep up (not sure if I will be able to when Evelyn is born). I had a blank spiral book of index cards and decided I was going to start last night. I think mine will be more collages with an idea or thought written somewhere on them. I hope this qualifies...lol. We will see where it goes :)

some of my favorites

2011-05-28T10:15:00.008-04:00

Yesterday I wanted to paint and play, so while Charlotte was eating breakfast, I started this page. When she was done, she told me that she wanted to paint too. I got out her finger paints and let her go to town. It makes me so happy that she loves to color and paint.

Gesso, acrylic paints, magazine image, masking tape, scotch tape transfer from a Starbucks magazine ad, Making Memories Journaling Book Tara page, Golden gel medium, clear stamps, and StazOn ink.

Play Everyday

2011-05-15T20:00:00.008-04:00

I got a new journal! I love my Moleskine sketchbook but wanted something larger and with a spiral bound. I bought a Canson mix media 7x10 book and so far I'm liking it. I was too lazy to gesso, so I just stuck to stamping, some Adirondack Color Wash sprays, and Uniball metallic pens.

little thumb sucker

2011-04-30T16:38:00.003-04:00

I started this page over a month ago, but never printed the pictures to finish it, until last night. I got two sonograms back in January and in both of them Evelyn was sucking her thumb. It looks like we will be having another little thumb sucker.

Easter

2011-04-30T09:30:00.009-04:00

We had a really nice Easter. It started out with Charlotte getting to eat jelly beans and chocolate before breakfast. Then playing with playdoh and sidewalk chalk before going to Grandma's and Grandpa's for an egg hunt. Charlotte had a good time loading her piggy bank with all the money she got from her eggs. Then it was time for a nap. After dinner we had yummy orange cake before going home. I asked Charlotte if she had a good time and her reply was "Yes, can we do Easter again really soon".

Valentine's Day Layout

2011-03-16T16:17:00.000-04:00

I used sketch 229 from Pencil Lines blog

St. Patty's Day Hair Bow

2011-03-04T15:45:00.004-05:00

This morning I made Charlotte a cute St. Patty's Day bow using this tutorial. I used 7/8" grosgrain ribbon instead of the 1.5" used in the tutorial.

Potty Training Update

2011-03-04T15:33:00.003-05:00

Charlotte is doing great with the potty training. She rarely has an accident! She is having a little bit of a hard time with learning to poop in the potty. It's mainly because the kid won't sit on the potty long enough.

Starting Potty Training

2011-02-21T14:49:00.005-05:00

This is Charlotte's favorite book at the moment. She asks to read it at least 3 times a day. It has helped her get back to being excited about using the potty! Today we went shopping and she picked out Hello Kitty, Disney Princess's, and Dora panties. While at the store I went to change her diaper and she asked to use the potty and went peepee. Luckily they had seat liners! I need find a fold up potty seat for when we are out. I will still use diapers for her nap and bedtime but during the day she will be in big girl panties. On Wednesday we have story time at the library so I will probably put a diaper on her for the drive and while at the library. For the rest of the week we are going to stick around the house so she gets used to not being in a diaper. Fingers crossed that it goes well.

Yummy Squash Muffins

2011-02-17T19:39:00.005-05:00

Today I was thawing a package of pureed butternut squash and decided instead of using it for Charlotte's lunch that I would make muffins. I used this awesome recipe for pumpkin muffins from one of my favorite cooking blogs smitten kitchen. I wasn't sure how they would turn out by using butternut squash instead of pumpkin but I'm really happy with how yummy they are. I also found that I didn't have pumpkin pie spice but googled it and found a great substitute recipe.

Girly Ruffled Camera Strap Slipcover

2011-02-08T11:40:00.005-05:00

I used this wonderful tutorial from kevinandamanda.com to make my girly camera strap slipcover. Richie isn't all that thrilled with it. He told me he was never using our camera again! Oh well, it's not like he really ever used it before...lol

She Said

2011-01-17T20:05:00.003-05:00

Here are some cute things Charlotte has said in the last 24 hours: Sssweeeet (when she gets excited), mmm delicious (when we gave her a cookie), Woa, got to be careful (while climbing the furniture or spinning till she is dizzy), Ni Hao (and waves hi at the same time...she love Kai-Lan), Oh no! I made a mess Momma (after throwing food on the ground), excuse me (after burping), Oh, I’m so sorry

Ouch

2011-01-12T11:09:00.004-05:00

So we got a big surprise when we received our escrow statement. We have a $1344.32 negative. Our mortgage payment went up about $475. This year is going to be really tight. The bank messed up and calculated that our home owners insurance would only be $386 for the year! Really, I don't know anyone who would be able to insure their house for under $400. We live in Florida and are required to carry hurricane coverage. Our mortgage broker is looking over everything and is going to call the bank and see if he can get them to let us pay it over the next few years to bring our monthly payment down. Finger crossed.

On a good note though we are expecting baby #2. I'm 11 weeks and due on July 28th! We had planned this pregnancy to be all on one calendar year for insurance reasons. I'm really glad I got pregnant when I did because the due date is around the time we wanted. This first trimester has been hell. I have been so nauseous and super tired. Poor Charlotte has had to deal with Mommy being to tired to play for long periods of time. She hears me say to her at least once a day "I'm sorry sweetie but Mommy doesn't feel good. Please let me lay here for a few more minutes". It's getting a little better this last week and hopefully soon it will pass. I had it way to easy with Charlotte and knew there was no way I could get lucky twice...lol.

Toddler Milk Jug Wings

2010-11-19T13:32:00.008-05:00

I forgot to take pictures to make the tutorial for Charlotte's Abby Cadabby toddler sized wings but they were pretty simple. Cut wing shape out of frosted gallon milk or water jugs but leave enough of a tail to staple the wings together and add elastic straps. Clean and dry the wings. Using matte Mod Podge put a thin layer on one side of the wing and then lay a sheet of pink colored tissue paper down. Very gentely smooth the tissue paper making sure there are no bubbles. Do this to all the wings. Let them dry completely and then using a toothpick apply more Mod Podge under the tissue paper where the edges aren't glued down good. Let dry and then staple wings together. Staple on elastic straps. Using a glue gun wrap thick ribbon around center to cover staples.

She loves her wings and have been wearing them for dress-up a lot so I might make her some more pairs in different colors. I will take pictures of the process next time :)

what I've made in the last month

2010-10-15T14:33:00.014-04:00

Right now I'm working on Charlotte's Halloween costume. She is going to be Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street. I made her a tutu yesterday and Richie cut out some wings from clear gallon sized plastic jugs. I'm not sure how we are going to tint them pink yet but I'm going to so some experimenting to see what works. If the wings turn out cute then I'm thinking about making a tutorial on how to make them.
I was feeling really down last month and in a creative slump (not an unusual thing for me lately). I stumbled across Gary Reef's foil technique on YouTube and he totally inspired me to get off my butt and make something. I didn't have any bitumen or shoe polish so I used black Jacquard Neopaque paint and wiped it off immediately. I think it would have looked better if I had used what he suggested but I'm still really happy with the finished ATC. I also ended up joining Gary Reef's mixed media social networking site Loving Mixed Media and have found lots of cool techniques and met some really awesome people. I've always wanted to get into doing mixed media paintings but just never went for it. At the end of last month I finished this 4x6 butterfly mixed media painting on canvas board. I'm not so sure how I feel about it yet but I'm happy I finally got up the courage to do it. I'm thinking I will probably mail it to someone as a postcard. Not sure if anyone would want to receive it. If you would like it then let me know and I will send it your way :)
So I've been wanting to play with spray ink and finally broke down and ordered some Tim Holtz Adirondack Color Wash and some Tim Holtz Mini-Masks. Got my package last week in the mail and the other day I got the chance to play with them. I used wild plum for this page. I sprayed a little too heavy and decided to pick up the page to get some drips. I wasn't happy with the bottom of the page but liked the top a lot. I got a little bit of overspray on the counter and while I was cleaning it off with bleach I thought let's see what it will do on my page. I love the result! I used this free Campanile font.
I did this doodle back in 2007 when I first bought this sketchbook that I've only doodled in 6 times. I always wanted to put my name in the cover but never got around to it until yesterday. Using this free Rosebud Antique font I printed out my name on white cardstock. Then cut the letters out with an X-Acto knife and glued them down. Not sure what I'm going to start using this book for but I clearly don't doodle very often...lol.

My Aunt sent me a box full of Stampin' Up stamps so I naturally had to make her a thank you card using one of the sets. This is made using the Best Blossoms set.

pictures from NY

2010-09-27T11:03:00.011-04:00

I'm finally showing some of the pictures I took when I went to NY to visited my family back in June. I took these in Wolcott.

I got to go to Niagra Falls for the first time. We weren't able to go to the Canada side because I don't have a passport but it was still really cool from the NY side.

household topography photo challenge

2010-09-20T15:53:00.009-04:00

So I played along with a household topography photo challenge. Here's my pics.

CPS sketch 179

2010-08-13T12:36:00.009-04:00

Yesterday I came across this tutorial on how to make paper roses. I decided I had to make some and use them on a card. It was the first one I have made in ages. I also wanted to play along with this weeks CPS sketch. Here is my take. I used the butterfly pattern in the paper to represent the lines.

life

2010-07-31T12:42:00.008-04:00

I got a new computer!!! My old one was ancient and I was having a hard time with it uploading pictures. I spent a few hours last night making backup discs and deleting all the crap that HP puts on your computer. So far I love windows 7 and my new computer :)

I went by myself to NY last month to visit my family from my Dad's side. I had a really good time and I'm so glad I went when I did. My Grandma and Grandpa were not doing well and the other day my Grandma passed. I'm really grateful that I got to spend some time with her while she was still herself. A few days after I left my Grandma really got bad and hospice had to come in.

A week after I got back we drove to Raleigh, NC to visit Richie's Grandparents. We had a great time and Charlotte for the most part was really good. She had a few tantrums but that was to be expected.

When I got back from NY I started to crochet again. I ended up having to teach myself all over again. I found some good videos on YouTube that helped me out. I have made a ton of flowers, most of a pot holder, the bottom of a cupcake, and most of a honeybee. I will take some pictures and post them in the next week or so.

bookmark and some ATCs

2010-07-02T13:19:00.006-04:00

Here are a few things I made last month for some swaps but never had the time to post them.

melody of love

2010-05-19T09:31:00.003-04:00

A few nights ago I did the book page with the flower print. I had a rose from Mother's day that the petals were about to fall off so I thought I would try to use it as a stamp. I love the effect and will have to do it again in the future.

On May 1st Richie and I had our eleven year anniversary (from the time we started dating). Time sure does fly.

fun night

2010-05-19T00:54:00.002-04:00

I just finished cleaning up after a night of art journaling. I also made an ATC at the same time. It looks a lot like my journal page and I love it. I'm waiting for the paint to dry in my journal before writing in pen on my page. I will try and post pics tomorrow. Good night :)

more ATCs

2010-05-18T16:31:00.007-04:00

I'm missing my art journal and think tonight I will have to play in it for awhile. Lately I've been doing a lot of swaps on swap-bot.com for ATCs and homemade postcards and I haven't had time for my journal. They are fun to make but I think I will slow down on the swaps so I will have some time for other things.

depth postcard

2010-05-14T11:02:00.004-04:00

I printed a photo that I took awhile back over a 4x6 collage I made. I used a super thin layer of mod podge in matte to make my collage and waited until the next day to run it through my printer. I was worried it would ruin my printer but I just couldn't resist...lol. Printer still works fine :)

Mother's Day

2010-05-11T17:28:00.005-04:00

I had a really good mother's day. Richie's mom flew in for a weekend visit and it was really nice having her here for the last few days. On Sunday we drove to DeLand to visit her best friend who has a few horses. At first Charlotte wasn't to sure about the horses and then one sneezed on her. She decided she didn't like them and wanted to be nowhere near them. We kept teasing her by asking if she wanted to go out to the barn and pet the horses. She would shake her head no, run to me and bury her head in my chest. For the hour and a half drive I brought my pocket moleskine sketchbook and prismacolor pencils. I'm really glad I did since I enjoyed making this page.

ATC's for swap

2010-05-04T13:55:00.009-04:00

So I've been getting back into doing swaps on swap-bot. I thought it would be fun to make some ATC's. I still have 4 more to make but that swap doesn't need to be mailed out until the 22nd. I had so much fun making the postcards that I thought I would use the same idea for a series of ATC's. I used my Martha Stewart butterfly punch to make the masks and stencil. The other 2 are for a swap using only acrylic paints and nothing else. It was a little challenging for me. I never realized how often I go to grab my pens for detailing. For the black I used my neopaque acrylic paint and a super fine detail brush. That stuff rocks and I would love to get it in white as well.

handmade postcards for a swap

2010-04-30T12:32:00.010-04:00

For the butterfly postcard I cut an old shirt gift box to 4x6 and lightly sanded the shiny side to give it some tooth. I then laid down some papers on it with soft gel medium and toned them down with some white gesso. I dabbed on different colors of acrylic paints with a makeup sponge until I got an effect I liked and then toned it down with a little gesso. I dripped on some pearlescent liquid acrylic and ran the empty dropper back and forth and up and down. I laid a piece of paper towel down, lightly pressed, and lifted to give a nice texture in the liquid acrylic. I waited until it was dry so that I wouldn't loose the texture before putting a butterfly cutout down and sponging on some dark blue acrylic paint over and around it. I let it dry overnight and then detailed the butterfly with a Signo silver pen. The autumn postcard is made pretty much the same way just leaving out the pearlescent liquid acrylic. I really need to get some more colors of that stuff because I love the sun-up blue that I have.

happiness

2010-04-26T15:04:00.006-04:00

I had really nice night yesterday. I got home from work to Richie cooking dinner. Had a yummy meal with the family and Richie gave Charlotte a bath so I could glue some wings in my journal. After I put Charlotte in bed around 9pm I spent the rest of the night playing in my journal. I got out the gesso, all my metallic paints, gold signo pen, rubber stamps, brillance stamp pad, and a cute picture of Charlotte at Easter. I love dripping Pearlescent liquid acrylics and then pressing it with a paper towel for some texture. That is what I used for all the blue in the sky. The bottle says to stir but I shake it to get some bubbles that also add some more texture. I stamped the flowers using Lumiere paint. I love that stuff. The page looks so much better in person. You can't really see how metallic everything is.

and dreams are born

2010-04-24T13:00:00.006-04:00

This quote from Van Gogh really inspires me. I'm not all that comfortable with painting but would like to be. I'm also not comfortable with faces but would like to get better at them. I really pushed myself with this picture I painted. The first night I worked on it I was really disappointed with how it looked. The second night I pushed myself to work on it some more and by the end was liking it a little better. The third night I was falling in love with it. This morning I added the "and dreams were born" and did a little more with my black pen. I'm very pleased with the outcome. I almost framed it with the quote instead of gluing it in my journal. I think I will have to push myself some more.

go with the wind

2010-04-13T14:34:00.003-04:00

Yesterday when I took Charlotte for an afternoon walk we collected a few leaves that were on the sidewalk. I had a lot of fun making a mess last night :)

A lot of my supplies are still packed in boxes because I have no where to put them. Next month Richie is supposed to start building my cabinets and desk for our bedroom. It will be nice to be able to find all my supplies and have a place to work. I can't find all my ephemera and old books to tear up. On one hand I can't create exactly what I have in mind but on the other hand it is forcing me to use what I have and to experiment.

need my art

2010-04-11T23:53:00.004-04:00

It's amazing what having my hands covered in paint will do to my mental state. Note to self: screw the housework and play more often :-p

:-(

2010-04-10T14:20:00.004-04:00

I'm mentally exhausted and need a serious break. I love my family but really need some time to myself. I miss my art, making jewelry, blogging, and kayaking. I feel myself slipping into depression and need to snap out of it. I can't and won't let my mental state affect my daughter. I have to pull it together!!! I need my art therapy.

Charlotte took her 1st step

2010-01-11T15:18:00.005-05:00

Well it has been forever and a day. I have sucked at keeping up my blog.

We are finally moved into our new house. Richie and I moved the majority of our furniture, kitchen stuff, linens, and clothes on Thanksgiving by ourselves. That Sunday my friend helped move our couch and hutch since I was having a hard time with it. Charlotte loves the new house. I'm loving having 2 bathrooms! I still have no idea how I'm going to fit all my craft stuff into a coat closet and a few drawers. Richie is going to build me some cabinets to hang above my dresser but that won't be for awhile. Most my craft stuff is still in boxes. I'm itching to make something but I'm so disorganized that it's not going to happen for awhile.

Today Charlotte took her 1st step! She hasn't been interested in walking until the last few weeks and has progressed quickly.

more and what is that

2009-10-22T11:39:00.005-04:00

The other evening Charlotte signed more! At dinner I asked her if she wanted more but didn't do the sign and she started to tap her finger tips together. I guess she has been paying attention. I'm now wishing that I had been doing more signs than just milk, more, and thank you but it's never too late to expand.

She is also talking a lot. She is always pointing at things and asking "what is that, what's that" or pointing at people, animals, or stuffed toys and asking "who is that, who's that". It is amazing how she seems to get the what or who correct. This morning she pointed at a picture of Richie and said perfectly clear "Daddy". She also said Grandma for the first time last night. Everyday she is saying some new word. I can't believe how fast she is changing or that her 1st birthday is next week. Time flies.

new house

2009-10-09T11:06:00.008-04:00

Wow it has been awhile. We bought a new house and Richie has been fixing it up. We were hoping to be moved in by now but there was more work to be done than we first realized. I will be losing my craft room and I'm trying to figure out how to fit my stuff into a coat closet and hutch. We will have an extra bedroom but I don't want to get settled and then have to move my stuff later when we try to have another kid. The new house is so much bigger and we will finally have 2 bathrooms and a 2 car garage. We also will have a family room so that will be super nice since we are so cramped with all of Charlotte's toys. The kitchen is open so no more galley kitchen where you can't have 2 people in it. We also have a screened in pool and enough room in the backyard for a really large swing set. I can't wait to be moved in.

Charlotte learned to clap Wednesday night. We have been working on that for the last few months and finally she did it after putting a ring on her Rock-a-Stack post. She will only do it though if she has just done something that we usually clap and cheer for.

Charlotte Update

2009-07-04T12:09:00.013-04:00

She is 8 months old and now has 4 teeth (2 top and 2 bottom). She love to crawl around the house and climb over things. The poor dogs get chased around all day! She wants to feed herself and gets mad if you don't let her help. She is talking up a storm and willoccasionally repeat a word you say but not consistently...it's mostly baby babble. She waves and says hi. It is so cute.
We have been enjoying the summer by playing in the water a lot. We bought her a sprinkler mat and a kiddie pool. She has also gone swimming in Grandma and Grandpa's pool and gone to the beach.

Happy Birthday Card

2009-07-04T11:03:00.002-04:00

The picture is not the best because I had only a couple of minutes to take it before leaving to give the card away. I also had Charlotte in my arms and it was early in the morning when I don't get the best light.

1st Father's Day Card

2009-06-19T21:21:00.007-04:00

Here is my take on the CPS120 sketch from Card Positioning Systems. It's actually a mini photo album. I cut a few pages out of a cheap 4x6 album and sewed them in the card.

This is How She Rides

2009-05-30T18:52:00.001-04:00

I've been working on this page for way too long. I didn't have the right letters for my title but on Thursday I went to Viera to Michaels craft store and found some I liked.

I found that I haven't been scrapbooking because I was trying too hard to mimic the style I kept seeing on peoples blogs and in the magazines. I love the way all the layering looks but really I'm not that good at it. On Wednesdays Ali Edwards has a giveaway on her blog and she always asks you a question or your advice and you comment your answer for an entry in her giveaway. This week she wanted you to share your best advice for a new scrapbooker. After I submitted my advice I was reading through what some other people shared and came across some great advice for anyone. Someone said to not feel like you need to compete with the pages in the magazines or with others. Is this what I was doing? Well not anymore. I will still admire other peoples work but make my pages my own and remember why I enjoyed scrapbooking in the first place.

standing up

2009-05-30T18:35:00.000-04:00

So on Wednesday night Charlotte, Richie, and I were sitting on the floor with me folding laundry. Charlotte was sitting in Richie's lap and I had the laundry basket right in front of her. She grabbed on to the edge of the basket so I held it down so she wouldn't smack herself in the face. To our surprise she stood right up and held on looking around. Crazyness.

diaper cake

2009-05-30T18:25:00.004-04:00

A couple of weeks ago my friend and I threw a baby shower for our other friend. I made her a diaper cake for the center piece and it turned out really cute. I thought it would be more difficult than it was but really it wasn't that bad as long as you have someone else to help you assemble the tiers.

Update

2009-05-21T12:57:00.009-04:00

We are still waiting to hear if we got the house. I hate short sales.
Charlotte is doing the army man crawl. She is getting better and better at it. She also went through a growth spurt and cut two teeth. I can't believe how fast she is changing. She loves to blow raspberries and squeal. About a week ago she took a dive off the bed. She is o.k. but it was very scary. I was standing right there and just missed catching her. I felt so bad. Luckily the bed doesn't have a box spring and is on a low frame.
She hates pears. The faces she made the 3 times I gave it to her were so funny. I wish I had gotten a picture with my camera. The first time I got it on video but haven't figured out how to get it to my blog. Close to the end of the 1st feeding before I would even get the spoon to her mouth she would make a sour face. I was laughing so hard. I guess we won't be trying pears again for awhile. She loves bananas and eats those everyday but I was wanting to add something new. The sweet potatoes make her throw up and I'm not sure what to give her next. I'm having a hard time finding organic produce to make my own. The only thing I've been able to find so far is the organic bananas.
She loves her exersaucer and to jump in her rainforest jumperoo. She also has started to take 1 to 2 hour naps at least once a day but usually twice. It's been really nice. I have been able to eat, shower, and have a clean house...yay.

busy, busy, busy

2009-05-08T11:59:00.004-04:00

I'm slacking on taking pictures. I know I'm going to regret it later. At least I got some good video of Charlotte though.

Richie's Mom is coming to visit this weekend which will be nice. I've almost got the house ready. So far today Charlotte has barely let me clean. I guess I will have to finish tonight after she goes to bed. I really didn't want to do that though because I'm getting an hour massage at 4pm and was planning on relaxing for the rest of the day. I still have to clean the bathroom, straighten the porch up, do some finishing touches on my craft room, a couple of loads of laundry, and quickly wipe down the floors with a swiffer. I will get Richie to do the porch, floors, and help with laundry. I then have to get the Mother's day gifts together and wrapped (this year without cards since I didn't have time to make them) . I work tomorrow so I can have off for Mother's Day and this all has to be done by tonight. Wow tonight is going to suck...I guess there will be no relaxing.

I love you Mom-Mom

2009-04-28T16:53:00.003-04:00

My Mom-Mom passed away today. She had a heart attack last week and has been in ICU since. She had moved to Oklahoma to stay with my Uncle Jim in January. I have been sick for over a week now so I wasn't able to fly out to see her before she died. This is a photo of the last time I saw her. At least my last memory of her is happy and of her adoring Charlotte. When I was young I spent every day after school with her making wedding cakes or sewing clothes for me or my dolls. Every Christmas her and I would make huge batches of ribbon candy. Blackberries used to grow on her fence and I would go pick them and she would make me little personal pies. I have a lot of really good memories growing up with my Mom-mom.

Time is flying by

2009-04-25T08:49:00.002-04:00

I still haven't made any Mother's Day cards. Haven't scrapbooked any of Charlotte's pictures. My house is so messy and disorganized. Charlotte's halfie birthday is on Tuesday. Crazy...where has the time gone.

I hate house shopping

2009-04-18T14:36:00.003-04:00

So we found the house we want about 2 months ago but it was a short sale with an approved price. Even with an approved price it is a pain in the butt. The seller has accepted our offer but we are waiting on the bank still. We went by with our Realtor the other day and got up on the roof. It needs one immediately. So now we are trying to figure out how we are going to finance it with a bad roof and if we want to spend as much as we will have to. The house is perfect on the inside. New kitchen, new bathrooms, new pool pump, and new AC. It needs to be painted and the porch needs to be re-screened but that isn't a big deal. This is so stressful...I hate it.

Rice Cereal

2009-04-13T12:25:00.002-04:00

Charlotte started rice cereal last week and she loves it. She gets mad when it's gone and if some has got on her tray she tries to lick it off. She also love to help. You have to fight her to keep control of the spoon. I love feeding her...it's so much fun.

Save Chuck

2009-04-10T07:36:00.006-04:00

They are talking about cancelling Chuck. I really hope this doesn't happen. This is my favorite show. It looks like Reaper is being cancelled as well. None of my favorite shows seem to make it. First it was Journeyman and then Life On Mars. At least with Life On Mars they wrapped up the show really well. It seemed like a long movie or a mini series. Journeyman they just left you hanging.

Breakfast Burrito

2009-04-08T08:42:00.004-04:00

There was a morning after Charlotte was born that I was trying to find something to eat for breakfast. I went through the fridge and pantry and came up with this simple breakfast burrito. It was so yummy and since then I have been making them pretty often.

Simple Breakfast Burrito
2 eggs
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
a dash of salt
a dash of pepper
1 tortilla (I like the sundried tomato ones)
3 tbsp canned rinsed black beans
a small handful chopped tomatoes
a small handful fresh baby spinach leaves
3 tbsp salsa

Scramble the eggs with the red pepper flakes, cilantro, salt and pepper. Sometimes I will add some turkey bacon or lunch meat to the eggs. On the tortilla put the scrambled eggs, black beans, tomatoes, spinach leaves, and salsa. Fold the ends up first and then the sides.

This would be really tasty if you added a little milk and some cheese to the eggs but since I'm still on the dairy free diet I can't :(

growing up way too fast

2009-03-26T09:11:00.003-04:00

Charlotte can now roll over from her stomach to her back which is very nice because before she would roll to her stomach and get stuck and mad. She is so close to crawling. She is scooting and rolling all over the place and has become so much fun to play with. I'm loving motherhood :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T18:48:00.002-04:00

Raleigh, NC

2009-03-17T09:36:00.006-04:00

This last weekend we flew to Raleigh, NC to visit with some of Richie's family. Charlotte was surprisingly good on both flights and everything went real smooth. Everyone was so happy to spend time with Charlotte and she had a blast...especially his Grandparents. It was nice to get a little break (everyone was more than willing to hold and entertain her). We are all hoping to meet at his Mom's this summer for another little get together.
Charlotte's Great, Great Grandma crochet this outfit. We were really happy to get her picture wearing it while sitting in her Great Grandpa's lap.

Boots we will miss you

2009-03-05T15:03:00.002-05:00

Boots passed away last night. The last few weeks he has been dropping some weight and I've been meaning to get him to the vet and Monday he started to have some labored breathing. The vet took some xrays and found that he had fluid around his lungs. He said there was a chance his thyroid wasn't working and Boots could be alright for awhile. He would need to take blood to find out but couldn't until he got the fluid out. The vet let me know that Boots could die at any moment and there was a really good chance that it could be heart disease or cancer. Yesterday he had me leave him at the vets so he could try to drain some fluid and get some blood but the two times the vet tried to get Boots out of the kennel Boots would start to freak a little so the vet would have to give him oxygen. Poor guy. The vet called me before they closed preparing me that Boots most likely wouldn't make it through the night. Boots was 14 years old and has been in my life the last 10 years. We are really going to miss him.

Spring Mosaic

2009-03-03T17:46:00.001-05:00

1. Reaching For The Clouds, 2. I Spy, 3. sparklin' drops of spring, 4. Baby bird, 5. Mad at each other :), 6. Spring is coming / Se acerca la primavera, 7. Memory of Rain, 8. Ladybug, 9. Easter eggs, 10. Colorado Butterflies, 11. The Littlest Fawn, 12. pink-ribbon-spring-flower, 13. Purple Rain, 14. everybody loves them bunnies , 15. Spring Crop Field, 16. Spring tree

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

house shopping

2009-02-26T12:02:00.000-05:00

We are in the process of trying to buy a bigger house. We got outbid on one that we really liked. The people went eight thousand above asking price and we were only willing to go as high as asking price. It was a foreclosure that had been on the market since last July so we decided we would put in a low offer and see but the bank denied it. A week later they lowered the asking price $20,000 and a ton of people started putting in offers. I don't understand why no one was putting in offers when the house was listed at $130,000 but once the price got lowered they are willing to buy at the same price they could of gotten it at before. People are stupid sometimes. Oh well, there is one that we are hoping to look at today that is much bigger. It is in a different neighborhood that is really nice but not as nice. It looks like we may be able to get it for the same price we were willing to buy the other one for.

Picnic

2009-02-23T15:53:00.000-05:00

Charlotte had her first picnic today. We meet Richie on his lunch break at the park in Cocoa Village. I brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pretzels. It was a gorgeous day and I'm glad we did something to enjoy it. I forgot the camera or there would be pictures :(
I've never made a postcard and thought I would give it a shot for a swap on swap-bot. I hope she likes it.

I feel like such a bad mom

2009-02-19T18:40:00.000-05:00

We went to the Doctors on Tuesday and Charlotte has only gained a pound in over a month and a half. She weighs 11 lbs and 7 oz and is now 16 weeks old. She had liquid poop for the last two weeks but no fever and seemed to feel fine so I didn't take her to the Doctors thinking that it was an allergic reaction to some chicken curry I ate. It turns out that she isn't getting enough nutrients and was having starvation stool. Wow I feel like shit. I really should have took her to the Doctors sooner. She doesn't look too skinny but apparently she is. I'm having to pump often and then offer her what I pumped in a bottle in addition to our normal feedings. I also have to keep a log of when she eats, for how long or how much, her diapers, and when she throws up or spits up. If I can get her to gain weight in the next two weeks and get her poop back to normal I won't have to supplement with formula.

I feel so bad that she has had such a rough start. First it was the reflux that we fixed with me going dairy free, then the salmonella, and now shes starting to starve. We still don't know what causes her to throw up so much. We had an UGI that showed everything was fine. I'm wondering if we have another food allergy. I'm just taking it one day at a time and trying hard to stay positive.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

I saw a card like this at Target and had to make one for Richie.

I hate being sick

2009-02-13T09:55:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to get over a head cold that I have had for over a week now. So far Charlotte hasn't gotten it and I hope it stays that way. My head has felt as if it will burst.

We are trying to buy a bigger house and I'm anxiously waiting to hear if the bid we put on the one I want is accepted or denied. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage, with a family room. I really hope we get it. Wish us luck.

Charlotte is getting big

2009-01-31T13:57:00.007-05:00

Charlotte rolled over from her back to her stomach last Thursday and then didn't do it again until Wednesday. That day she did it five times while playing on this baby gym. She never does it when I'm with her. She waits until I leave the room and then I will hear her grunting and making unhappy noises so I go to check on her and she is on her stomach. She also has gotten really good at standing with very little help. We will barely hold her around her chest (just for her balance) and she will stand for about 30 seconds and sometimes more before her legs give out. When she is sitting (also with a little help) she will try to push up to get into a standing position. I can't believe how big she is getting. She also always has a thumb in her mouth...it's so cute. I was a thumb sucker until I was fourteen so we knows where she gets it from. She has also become quite the little talker and laughs a lot. I love it :)

I actually got to make some stuff

2009-01-20T08:40:00.010-05:00

I got a good picture of Charlotte yesterday which is not really that easy. I took it without the flash and most of them turned out blurry but this one isn't too bad. I was trying to get a good one to put on the card for her Grandpa's birthday.
I've been having fun doing some swaps on swap-bot. I made these bookmarks for a handmade bookmark swap. The corner one I made using a corner off a junk mail envelope. I hope she likes them.
I made this necklace/earring set for my mother-in-laws birthday. I saw the necklace in a beading magazine last year and loved it. I was really pleased with how good the earrings came out. I'm usually not very good at my wire wrapping but I didn't really have any nicks and the shapes came out good.

Well I'm a slacker and haven't taken down the Christmas tree so I better go get started on that while Charlotte is asleep.

Late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2009-01-19T11:21:00.008-05:00

I was meaning to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year but just couldn't find the time. I even started to write this on the 5th but just finally finished it.

We had a great Christmas. Richie's mom came and spent it with us and we put up our 1st Christmas tree. Charlotte looked cute in her many outfits.

Charlotte somehow got salmonella. We are thinking from the grocery store. Richie and I treat poultry and raw eggs like toxic waste and constantly wash our hands so it's really strange she got it. She is also breastfed. Both of our hands are cracked and bleeding because now we are even more obsessive about washing our hands than we were before. The Friday night after Christmas Charlotte had mucus and blood in her green poop. Saturday morning she hadn't urinated in over 6 hours so I took her to the ER. Poor Charlotte got a lot of blood taken, a catheter for a urine test, and a shot of medicine. She was very good through it all. We were in the ER for the whole day and sent home with a follow up appointment the next day with a doctor from her pediatrician group. That night her fever shot up to 103.6 and I was able to bring it down to 101 with some Tylenol and a sponge bath. The doctor the next day had us admitted to the hospital to get her fluids up and in case her fever shot up again. Poor girl ended up having lots more blood taken and an iv for fluids. We were there for two nights and able to go home on that Tuesday. The medicine we had to give her was really upsetting her stomach. She had to end up taking it for 15 days. She still isn't right and the doctor said she could still have this for another month. I can't wait for this to be over and her feeling great.

This month she is trying to talk, laughing, holding her head up, sitting in her Bumbo seat , following movement with her eyes, splashing in her bath, and grabbing everything she can (including my hair and jewelry).

no time, cookies, and milk free

2008-12-08T15:05:00.013-05:00

This adorable little girl takes up all of my time. I haven't showered since Friday, made any Christmas cards, shaved in well over a week, clipped my toenails, cleaned my craft room, or cleaned my bedroom, and I'm sleep deprived. The only reason I'm able to update this blog is thanks to a boppy pillow (I'm breastfeeding as I type). I have learned I can do lots of things with only one hand. I have been wanting to make some oatmeal cookies for a week. Today I strapped her to my chest using the moby sling and was able to finally bake some cookies. They are oatmeal, cranraisin, hazelnut. They would have been better if I used walnuts but I had some hazelnuts in the freezer already. They are still pretty tasty. I used the recipe off the back of the box from "Mothers Rolled Oats".1 cup honey
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg or 2 egg whites
1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
2-1/2 cups Rolled Oats, uncooked
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins or chopped dates (optional)

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease cookie sheet.
2. Beat honey, butter and vanilla until smooth. Add egg: mix until well blended.
3. In large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter mixture, mixing well. Stir in oats, nuts and raisins; mix well.
4. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 9 to 11 minutes. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack and cool completely.

Charlotte has acid reflux and vomits a lot. She had a upper gi on Wednesday to make sure her stomach valve was closing. Everything looks good (which was great news)...she is just a puker. Richie and I have been calling her Miss Pukahontas. I went on a dairy-free diet the day after Thanksgiving and hopefully it will help. Richie and I both were allergic to milk protein formulas as babies so the doctor thinks it's worth a try. Maybe the dairy in my diet is causing or making the reflux worse. I have noticed a little improvement lately but it can take 2 to 4 weeks to totally get out of my system. Her doctor told me usually you can just cut out the milk, cheese, yogurt and still be fine but I cut out all milk protein just to be safe. I figure if it helps I can then later try adding back in butter and foods with casein or whey and see. It isn't an easy thing to do...milk or milk protein is in everything!!! Plus we are cheese lovers. Lunch meat can have casein or whey but luckily publix brand deli chicken didn't have either of these so I have been able to make some quick sandwiches. I couldn't use the breadcrumb at the store because all of them contained milk in some form. I'm also supposed to limit the soy so I'm trying to only have soy in the butter substitutes. If anyone has some recipes for beef, pork, milk, and soy free dinners please email them to me. I really need some ideas.

miss chubby cheeks scrapbook page

2008-11-21T08:46:00.004-05:00

I haven't scrapbooked in forever. Well if you don't count my art journal...which I guess is kinda like a scrapbook. Yesterday I was really needing to do something for myself and have been wanting to do a page about Charlotte before she was born. I couldn't believe I actually got to finish a whole page. I used this sketch from this website which cut some time out. I had to put Charlotte in my maya sling when she got fussy but was still able to play. I don't have very many letter stickers and had gotten these at the dollar store awhile back but they don't like to stick so I ended up having to glue them. I also didn't have anything to use for my journaling so I found a Christmas sticker in a shape I liked and using my light table I traced the shape on a piece of computer paper. I then tacked the computer paper to a piece of cardstock and cut it out. It worked pretty good and didn't really cost me anything.

last night launch

2008-11-19T16:49:00.016-05:00

This was the launch of the space shuttle Endeavor. It was the last night launch ever. We had to watch it even though we have seen a ton of them. You can't tell much from the photos.

Update: At the time they were saying that this would be the last night launch but since then they had approved more launches.

Cards and Charlotte

2008-11-08T16:17:00.009-05:00

I made these before Charlotte was born but never had time to post them. Also here are some cute photos I took of Charlotte on the 6th.

Last night Richie took the night shift and only woke me up when she was ready to eat. It was nice finally getting close to a full night of sleep. She is getting better the last 2 nights about not being so fussy. Today we both tried to keep her up as much as possible in hopes of her sleeping tonight. Wish us luck :)

Meet Charlotte Amelia

2008-11-06T09:52:00.007-05:00

She is finally here! On Monday the 27th they induced me at 8am, at 4pm the harder contractions started and so did severe back labor. We tried every possible position to get her to turn. It got so bad that the back labor wasn't letting up between contractions. I finally let my doctor talk me into an epidural around 4am because my doula and Richie encouraged it since I had lost of my sense of humor and was really having a hard time not breaking down. I got a few hours of sleep and then woke up and pushed for an hour. She had turned half way out of the bad position and there was a chance I could birth her without a cesarean. I had them back off the epidural and pushed again for another hour but she turned and the back labor came back. They had to do a cesarean after all. I was so disappointed and scared but in the end it all didn't matter when I finally got to hold and feed her. I was in the hospital for 5 days which sucked. Over the last two days I can finally move around without much pain. She is eating good and gaining weight rapidly so at least I'm able to breastfeed. She keeps me up all night. She just wants to be held and screams when you try to put her down. I'm functioning on 3 hours of very broken sleep each night. Even in the hospital I couldn't get any sleep unless I would feed her and send her to the nursery until she was hungry again. I ended up doing that just about every night around 4am or 5am so I could get a 2 hour nap. I'm trying to train myself to sleep during the day but find I get restless. I would trade sleep any day for this little one...we love her so very much.

Miss Chubby Cheeks

2008-10-22T17:55:00.005-04:00

I'm still pregnant. I was really hoping to have her by now. My Doctor is giving her until Monday and then he wants to induce since I will be over a week past my due date. I really hope she comes on her own before then.

catch up and nursery

2008-10-04T12:49:00.018-04:00

For at least the past month two of my fingers on my right hand are numb and my carpal tunnel has come back with a vengeance. I haven't been able to do any beading, play video games, type for very long, or even write. My doctor says it's due to a lot of swelling around my tendons and should go away after my pregnancy. I had a sonogram done on Thursday and still have to scan the pictures. I will try to do it this weekend and post some pics. She has really cute fat cheeks. I only have 2 weeks until my due date but really it could be anytime now.

Here are 2 cards I made for some September birthdays.

We had some sweet dumpling squash for dinner the other night and noticed that the seeds looks just like mini pumpkin seeds. Richie cleaned them, soaked them in salt water for 24 hours in the fridge, dried them on a paper over night on the counter, toasted them in a frying pan, and then roasted them in the toaster oven. Boy were they yummy. He is grilling some more squash for dinner. I'm looking more forward to the seeds.

I made white chocolate truffles with irish cream last weekend. I wasn't able to eat any but heard they were very good. I saw them made on Barefoot Contessa and thought that they would make a nice hostess gift for my baby shower. They turned out really pretty. I rolled them in finely chopped hazelnuts and drizzled the tops with dark chocolate. I forgot to take pictures of them though :( I did however take a picture of the very large tag with recipe slipped in that I made for the package.

The nursery is pretty much done. Richie made the tree thing but needs to hang it. I got a pink rocking chair pad but I have to pick it up from my parents house. I still need to get some things for the walls and have Richie put up some shelves.

Polka Dots

2008-08-27T22:36:00.006-04:00

I made this weeks ago after seeing a prompt on Inspire Me Thursday for polka dots. I finally got around to posting it.

I still haven't cooked anything awful, burned down the kitchen, or ruined any cookware. I made some really yummy parmesan crusted chicken cutlets with parmesan smashed potatoes. I got the recipe for the cutlets in Real Simple Meals Made Easy cookbook which were fabulous and winged it on the potatoes. Tonight I made a pretty tasty creamy cajun chicken pasta. Here is the recipe. I altered it by using double the pasta, leaving out the mushrooms, I used fresh garlic instead of garlic powder, spiced up the cajun seasoning with some cayenne pepper, and cut the heavy cream with some 2% milk.

I cooked again!

2008-07-30T21:46:00.006-04:00

Well dinner was pretty good. I made these yummy ricotta pancakes with fresh blueberries and maple syrup, eggs, turkey bacon, and red potatoes fries. The pancakes turned out great...we scarfed them down. Potatoes and bacon were good but the eggs weren't that great. I forgot to pick up some milk and shredded cheddar so they were kinda flat and dry. Everything was ready at about the same time and I didn't destroy anything. I'm pretty happy with myself :)

Richie has all the painting done so the nursery will be ready for the carpet coming in the morning...yay!