• i saw my first child turn 1
• i gave birth to my 2nd child
• i read between 50 and 75 books
• i read harry potter books. again.
  
• i was invited to join the Scrap Etc Inspiration Team
• i moved into our first home
• i took walks in the cool fall evenings
• i kept my toenails painted
• i met Heidi Swapp, Elsie Flannigan, Cathy Zielske, and Heather Preckel
• I maintained a blog. Kinda.
• i prayed.
• i played.
• i tried to be a friend. i feel like i failed a lot.
• i was happy.
• i celebrated my 6th anniversary.
• i got a bed frame for the first time since we've been married.
• i grew my hair out.
  
• i cut my hair.
• i discovered that my favorite sounds are my babies' first cry and my children's laughter.
• i hoped.
• i cried.
• i emailed adrienne thousands of times.
  
• i obsessed over LOST.
• i loved my husband.
• i saw myself. i saw my selfishness.
• i listened to Over the Rhine, Jump Little Children, and Damien Rice.
• i cried over mother/daughter relationships while i watched Gilmore Girls.
• i missed people.
• i regretted.
  
• i celebrated holidays with people i loved.
  
• i visited my grams.
• i cried for a friend.
  
• i gained a sister-in-law.
• i went over my cell phone minutes.
  
• i wore flip flops. black ones.
  

what will happen this year? this #27?

Just a couple of pics... I'll be posting more info about this class soon! :)

P.S. The quote on the board says:

"For a long time, there were only your footprints and laughter in our dreams and even from such small things, we knew that we could not wait to love you forever." - brian andreas

it also has the verse "children are a gift of the Lord."

oh, and I'm making one tonight for Atticus' room as well. :)

I soooo wish Em could be Boo from Monster's Inc for Halloween... any ideas on how to replicate this costume? LOL

a dark sky, with ominous clouds quickly rolling in.

two innocent babes, their big blue eyes staring in wonder at the deluge of water pouring from the sky, their serious faces taking it all in.

one harried mother, her hair sticking out in all directions, struggling with an umbrella that continually tried to blow away, as she tries desperately to get the shopping cart to the car.


nope. not the trailer for a new movie called,
"hard rain: part two- the Target incident."


just me. trying to run a "quick errand" today.


.....it was one of those days, the kind that nothing ever seems to go right in, and yet, because i love gloomy days and thunderstorms, my mood never seemed to be totally squashed by it.

but yeah, there were some frustrating moments,

...like my increasingly baggy pants (yay for the baggy because that means i'm losing the pregnancy weight!) falling off of my butt because they are so soaked in water that they are too heavy to stay up...

...like my little girl, sitting in a shopping cart, dripping with water, while Lambie was covering up her little brother like a soldier diving to cover his buddy in a bunker, in order to keep him from getting wet like the rest of us...

...the lady in the target dressing room not letting me take in the kids with the shopping cart to try on some new pants so that i could get into something dry (fortunately, even though i bought them without trying them on, they fit. yay!)...

...not being able to find one of those cool carts with the special area in the front for em to ride in so that atticus could ride in the seat area- thus meaning everything i bought needed to go underneath the cart, where it all fell off about a bazillion times...

i could go on.

but i won't.

a few good things, though:

-found the cutting boards i have been looking for to use in my altered cutting board class at scrap etc.
-got a new razor (i just love having super smooth skin!) and the refills are a lot cheaper than the one i used to have- yay!
-bought some new sunsilk antiPOOF shampoo and conditioner on the recommendation from a friend... hope it works. this hermione hair is just not working for me. lol
-got the kids registered for mom's day out (!!!!!wooooohoooooo!!!!!)


ended the day by taking a shower, cleaning around the house, and lighting my new favorite pumpkin spice candle from ac moore. mmmmmm....

gonna finish listening to this book tonight. and it TOTALLY rocks. i just found out that the author has several more out in this series, and i cannot wait to check 'em out from the library.

nothing like a good vampire romance story in the autumn.

i figured i'd grace y'all with two posts today since i've been such a bad blogger lately. hee hee

oh and i forgot to mention that my class on friday night rocked the casbah! the ladies that took it were so creative and made some very cool pieces of ART to put in their lives. :)

some random shots from my life this week...

mom, grams, and mallory came up to watch the kiddos while i went to a dental appt.... i made them lunch:
an appropriate shirt:
halloween goodness:

a silly little girl:

wee man:

snuggling with his Dog:

don't you love it when you stumble across something or someone you feel an instant connection to?

i found some charming treasures today online with which i had that feeling.

but first, a little history lesson...

back when the freestyle book came out, i was really excited...

and then (*gasp*) a little wee bit disappointed when i got the book.

(yes, there are cracks and fissions occuring all over the magical kingdom of Scrapbookland as i type this)

it had NOTHING to do with the incredible artists inside... more with what my understand of freestyle.

i've discovered although i love the concept of freestyle, i myself cannot do it. i need more structure... i need to see design. and that's ok- that's freestyle coming full circle, isn't it? doing what is comfortable for me?

anyways, my weird scrapbook philosophies aside, while i admired all the ladies in the freestyle book, i felt a c o n n e c t i o n with Brenda Mae Teo.

yes, her layouts were freestyle, but i feel like she sneaked a little structure in there as well. ;)

but what i mainly loved about her was the spiritual significance of a lot of her layouts.

and today, i stumbled across her blog and her twopeas gallery. i am soooo incredibly inspired.

it's started some sparking in my wee brain cells that has inspired something for my October classes at Scrap Etc.

Sneak Peeks To Appear Soon!

***

Back to the original intent of this post, so yeah... felt a connection with her immediately. Am LOVIN' her blog and her work.

and some of this links i discovered on her blog.

you should really check them out.

Kiddley- fun & hip everyday ideas for you and your kids (and come on- it's a prettily designed website too! lol)

Loobylu- the original blog that Kiddley spun off of. You MUST read this entry. It made me laugh 'til I cried.


***

Ok, now I feel like a strange stalker lady. I promise I'm not. Well, other than blog stalking. LOL

and no place to go...

at least, not tonight. :) tomorrow night these kits will be delved into at Scrap Etc by the lovely ladies taking my altered canvas class. should be much fun!

(and i'm totally digging these colors! i think adrienne has influenced me with the touches of orange.)

Did this little album as a project for Scrap Etc...

here's a sneaky peeky... follow the linky to see the rest! :)

Motherhood came as shock to me.

After trying unsuccessfully for a couple of years to conceive, I was elated when I found out I was pregnant with Em. When we discovered that we were having a little girl, my excitement- and number of daydreams- rose. I fantasized about pigtails and giggles and little pink clothes. We couldn't wait to meet this tiny little girl.

I had loads of problems breastfeeding (something I had always been determined to do). Unbeknownst to me, Emerson had a painful case of acid reflux that made eating and laying down really uncomfortable for her, which equalled a screaming baby all the time. To top it all off, I ended up getting a severe infection. This left both Em and I in a soggy, crying mess most days.

My idealized fantasies of strolling around the mall as a cute new mom with her adorble pink, be-ribboned doll child went right out the window.

Things slowly got better over time. My infection healed, Em was prescribed medication for her acid reflux, and I began to get showers every day. (LOL)

Four months into being a mommy, I found out I was going to be one again.

I learned how to juggle morning sickness and early morning bottles; my naps and her naps; OB check-ups and play dates; a little one on my lap, sharing space with the new one in my ever-expanding tummy.

Atticus, you weren't "planned" by your daddy & I... but God knew we were ready for you. I was scared I wouldn't be able to give you and your sister the best mothering, but somehow we make it through every day with lots of hugs, kisses, and snuggles.

You nap easily, coo all the time, give huge "face-breaking" grins, and have no problems breastfeeding. You are generally one easy going little boy.

And one year after finding out I was pregnant with you, I couldn't imagine our home without you in it.