Well...

I was going to post my latest layout today, but I noticed that pictures aren't showing up on Blogger right now, not on my blog or some of my friends either....weird.

So I guess I will just say that today will be crazy, it seems Jackson has an ear infection, so I'm just trying to keep him comfortable until his doctors appt. on Tuesday.

Please pray that we can both make it until then. :-) TIA!

Happy Weekend!

I've said it before

but seriously, I am just head over heal for my sweet baby boy! Except lately, Ive realized it won't be very fitting to call him "Baby" J much longer.....he will be one in August! I'm just baffled at this fact.

When he was tiny and I first started taking him out in public, I was ambushed by the number of people who told to relish every second because it just goes by too fast. At those moments though, tired and rarely showered it felt like one day took forever to end.

Now, they blow by with the ease as my fabulous child tries to learn to stand on his own. He sleeps all night, takes two naps a day, and I miss him when he is doing so.

Suddenly now I realize that one day I will miss his little babbling (ba babba baaaa) when he is speaking in full sentences.

This made me realize....I need to take more photos! :-)

Happy Friday!

Garden

I did this layout today in about 30 minutes! Sometimes things just fly together for me, other times it takes hours...crazy! Anyway, I love the floral background paper I used here. It's from Basic Grey's "Perhaps" line. I also love that bird stamp from October Afternoon! This photo also came out of the old photo pile...I'm really glad I'm scrapping some of them!

Sorry I didn't post earlier, the day just got away from me.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Cat Nap

This is another photo that I found in my stack of "scrap later" pile! There are so many photos in there right now, great shots like this one kinda get lost. Anyway, I'm glad I've been going through them.

I did this layout in a hurry and it's obvious because alot of the edges don't line up, and I punched the scallops crooked, but I decided that small imperfections like that are ok because it shows that someone actually made the page as opposed to a completely perfect one, you might question whether it was handmade or not. At least, that's what I'm telling my perfectionist self so I don't get all nit picky with it! ;-)

Happy Wednesday!

10 random facts for today

1. I would really like for our check from the government to come already, I mean, really. :-)
2. I'm going to a Bachelorette party on Saturday for my friend Abby.
3. I am finally moving forward with my plans to go to nursing school.
4. The thought of that (#3) kind of scares me.
5. It is already too hot, me and the pool will be good friends this summer, I just know it!
6. Scrapbooking makes everything better.
7. So does the smell of clean baby hair while cuddling.
8. I really need to water my plants more.
9. I also need to clean, and sweep and mop the kitchen (joy!)
10. You are a good bloggy friend to have read my boring daily activities! :-)

Splish Splashin'

I am proud to say that my baby is a water baby through and through! This kid lives for the pool (well any water really)! We spent yesterday and today at our towns gorgeous new pool!

Seriously it is so nice! It has a HUGE shallow area for Mom's and little kiddos and a water slide and Olympic lap pool for bigger folks. Jackson just has a blast there! I do not have any pictures though, the thought of my Canon that close to large bodies of water...is well....scary!

I am working up to being brave enough to take it with us. Here's a couple of nice pics of Jackson in his surfer suit though, donning his new surfer guy hairdo! LOL!

Jackson is doing great! He is crawling like a crazy baby, has two teeth, and has been working on pulling up on furniture to stand! :-)



Please ignore my messy living room, I mean, it is a holiday after all! Hehe!

Happy Memorial Day! My hope on this day is that ALL our troops can come home as soon as possible, to be safe and sound with their families where they belong!

100% Pure Love

Well having the break yesterday was very nice! Dave and I got to go swimming for a little while and I got 2 layouts finished!

Here is one of them! I used a sketch by Chris Geiser off her blog Sketch Me if you Can! The pictures aren't the best because they were taken with a disposable camera. I went into labor 5 weeks early so we weren't really expecting Jackson yet!

I love, love, love those swirl stamps by Autumn Leaves, I've been using them alot lately. Hope you're having a great weekend!

Hoping for a scrappy day

In a little bit I'm taking Jackson to my MIL's.

She's a professor, and school is on break right now, so she's just been begging to keep him! What an awesome Grandma! Anyway...she's going to keep him for me for awhile so I'm hoping to get at least two lo's done, although I'd really prefer to finish more than that.

I guess we will just have to see!

Funny how I wrote yesterday about needing to clean...well last night I tidied up most everything, knowing that I wanted to scrap today! :-) So, I'm pretty happy about that!

Hope you have an awesome weekend!

Just a hodge podge

Last night I watched the Aviator. How I missed this movie when it came out I don't know, I guess I just never got around to seeing it. Anyway, I really liked it! Leonardo DiCaprio can really act! I mean wow!

My house really, REALLY needs to be deep cleaned. I will probably contemplate this fact for a few more days before I actually do something about it. :-)

Jacksons two bottom teeth are all the way through now and he is in much better spirits! Coincidentally, so am I! ;-)

Summer has arrived here in Texas, and we have already spent the last week in the pool.

So, what's going on in your world?

Perfect

This last week I have been going through my stack of older photos and seeing if I feel like scrapping any of them now. When I realized I hadn't scrapped the photo above I was shocked, so I got right to it!

Jackson is two days old in that photo. Wow! He is Nine months old today!!!! I know I say this all the time, but he is growing too fast! Happy Nine month birthday kiddo! :-)

I'm feeling better today. It turns out that the reason I may have been feeling funny for awhile now is my birth control. I will be going to the doctor this week to hopefully get all that straightened out.

Hope you are having a great day!

The Mommy is out

This Blogging mama isn't feeling so hot today....tune in tomorrow for an update.

Play

I am just loving this layout I made last night! I used a sketch done by one of the Crop Addict girls, Jana. I modified it somewhat and I am just totally pleased with the overall look.

I am really trying hard to push myself outside my comfort limits lately in order to grow as a scrapper. Hopefully things will only get better from here!

So, let's have some straight talk here

As a mom of a baby who has been teething for about a month now... I can honestly say I'm officially nuts! I can also say that since becoming nuts I have been fantasizing about a Mommy only getaway that involves waking up at two in the afternoon, eating slowly and enjoying my food at every meal, and shopping for something other than Similac and Pampers.

Don't get me wrong, Jackson is the love of my life. And 99% of the time he is better tempered than any of the babies we know. But this teething thing....gosh! I hate it mostly because I feel out of control. I mean he is hurting and really, there is little I can do.

We have teething tablets and motrin, and the occasional "medicinal" ice cream (which he loves) but I still feel terrible when he is crying his eyes out and I've done all I can do.

This kind of stress has led to me eating like a crazy woman. You know, because Iced coffee and a cinnamon roll really help stress......right? ;-/

So if your reading this, please send some comment love my way. I know this won't last forever, but being reminded of that fact wouldn't hurt! :-)

I just love this kid!

Have a fabulous Friday! :-)

Baby Blue

Recently I got a Becky Higgins sketch book. The whole point of her books is that she shows you how to make 2 page layouts based on the number of photos you want to use.

Well I struggle with making anything with more than 2 photos and I really never cared for 2 page layouts, but I'm trying to break out of my box, so here is my first attempt. I like it ok.

I love the pics of Baby J at least! :-)

Happy Thursday to you!

Rainy Wednesday

It's really coming down here this morning, and since I have no plans for the day, I'm gonna curl up on the couch and watch movies. :-)

Last night was exhausting. Jackson wasn't really being too fussy, but he just wouldn't go to sleep. Apparently his 7:30 bed time was too early. So, since I didn't feel right about leaving him alone in his bed (he already had laid there fussing for 25 minutes) I brought him downstairs and he sat in my lap while I watched The Devil Wears Prada (which I LOVED btw).

I figured 20 or thirty minutes into the movie he would doze off and that would be that, but no. He stayed awake for the whole thing, and then about 45 minutes more before my husband and I got in the car with him....that of course did the trick.

This is the first time I've been desperate enough to do the car thing, I mean Jackson has just never given me trouble, that was until his teeth started to come in.

I'm mostly sad at this because I know his teeth must hurt him terribly because it just has him so wired. He is confused about it himself, I can tell, so I'm giving him extra love and cuddles to hopefully make up for all this.

Maybe later I'll get in some scrappy time so I can post new layouts! We will see!

Hope you have a great Wednesday!

Who's that girl? It's me!

I did this layout for the Scrapdragon challenge this month. It looked totally different when I first did it, and I hated it, so I took it apart....it looks much better now. :-)

The challenge was that we had to use 4 or more things off this list:

1. Put your title sideways

2. Stamped Images

3. 20 Brads or more

4. at least 8 buttons

5. Clear element(s)

6. Photo of yourself

7. metal accent/embellishment

8. no photos at all

9. more than 5 photos

10. B & W photo

So yeah, I did a photo of myself, a side ways title, stamped images, 8 buttons, and a metal element. This was a SUPER fun challenge and I'm really happy with the finished product!

The "moo" blew my cover

Often, my friends without children have asked me how I can stand all of Jackson's toys that are musical or that make sounds. My answer (as is the answer of most parents, I'm certain) is that they don't bother me because I have just learned to tune them out. Just one of those things parents learn to do to maintain a tiny bit of sanity I guess.

So, the fact that Jackson has a small toy cow that "moos" is really no issue for me either. Well at least not until yesterday....

So, as I was discussing in an earlier post, my baby boy is cutting teeth and to say that has made him fussy would be a gross understatement. So we have been getting through the past couple of weeks one day and one dose of Motrin at a time.

The discomfort really has Jackson high-strung and so the baby that is normally so easy to put to sleep is suddenly not excited about the idea of his crib AT ALL! So last night I'm rocking him, and singing and trying anything I can think of to soothe my exhausted little man.

He FINALLY dozed off and I sat in the rocker with him an extra 10 minutes just to be sure he would be in a deeper sleep when I laid him in the crib. All was successful, I got him laid down and covered him up.

Then I decided (neat freak ALERT!!!) I should gather the few stuffed toys that were laying in his bed from earlier. I picked them all up at once and then deposited them into his toy basket next to the bed.

That's when IT HAPPENED! The cow, triggered by being squeezed, let out a HUGE SCREECHING "MOOOOOOO" (which, at this exact moment, seemed as loud as a bullet train coming through the room) ! I panicked, frozen in my spot, only to find that Jackson has rolled over, is smiling and wants to play with his COW!!!!

AhhHHHHH AHHhhhhh AAAAhhhhH..... (only in my brain is this heard of course)

But it was only a false alarm.

He rolled back over and closed his eyes about two seconds later. PHEW!!!!

Lesson here: Leave the mess for later, a sleeping baby is fragile thing, especially while teething!

Have a great day!

Ladies and Gentleman....We have 2 teeth!!!

Yes, you read that right, Jackson now has his two bottom teeth poking through his gums! Here I will just say that the last few days were very interesting....

Oddly enough, I genuinely feel his pain because my wisdom teeth (I never had them out) are killing me! I may have to have them out soon if this pain persists.

My mother's day was awesome! My mom got me a gorgeous powder blue Coach bag and the matching wallet, coin purse, and a key chain! Yay for that!

My hubby got my 27 Dresses on DVD! So sweet, he also let me sleep in a little which is of course, always appreciated!

I don't have too much going on today, maybe just some laundry and other household stuff.

I'm also about to begin work on a scrapbook I was hired to make. One of my husbands best friends has three siblings, and their mom made each one of them a scrapbook to give them on their 21st birthday. Well, she is on the last child and she doesn't want to make this book (she hates scrapbooking, it stresses her out!) but she wants him to have one, so she hired me! Woohoo! She also was telling one of her neighbors about me, and now I'm going to be making them a SB as well! Needless to say, my business is booming!

Hope you have a great day!

Happy Mother's Day!

So, this is my first Mother's Day and I have to say it feels pretty natural to me. That's probably because I was given the best example possible of what it means to be good mom.

My Mom couldn't have done any better. Honestly, she is probably the most tolerant person ever.

I remember when she would take me and pick me up (at midnight, I mean wow that's love!) from the dance club I went to every weekend in H.S. just so she would know that I wasn't in the car with any of my crazy driving highschool friends. She also made friends with the security guards and gave them her cell number so that they could call her if anything happened (of course, nothing ever did...why would I get in trouble when I had such an awesome mom?)

She would do anything to ensure my health and safety really. I remember the fact that she spent weeks upon weeks (months and months, really) in the hospital with me while I was practically dead from a collapsed lung and severe asthma. She never once let on how sick I really was (when she told me later that I had been on the lung transplant list I was shocked) and was always happy and trying her best to make me happy in spite of the fact that I was stuck inside the Children's hospital.

She put up with my teenage attitude, me dressing like a fool, and was always totally accepting of it (or at least if it bothered her, I never knew it). As long as I wasn't putting myself in danger, she was willing to accept the weirdness. :-)

Somehow, my mom kept me in line and taught me how important it is to be a strong, confident woman....a woman who can do anything she wants and can always take care of herself.

That is the thing I am most thankful for. Because of her, I have my own voice. One that no one else can squelch. I have my own profound opinions, thoughts, and ideas.....which is something that I feel will take me through life successfully.

Mommy, you are amazing! How you have managed to care for our family while battling things like brain tumors, 3 crazy grandkids, high blood pressure, 12 hour shifts at the hospital, temporary poverty, and more...I'll never know.

You are the most incredible woman in the world and I will spend the rest of my life trying to be just as awesome as you!

I love you so so much Mommy! Happy Mother's Day!

Yay for a trip!

So this morning we are off to the Austin/San Antonio area for some Mother/Daughter/Grandson fun for this Mother's day weekend!

Wow, that was a mouthful! I'll be sure to take lots of photos to bring back and show off. In the mean time here is a layout.

The patterned paper is Gin-X by Imagination Project. I had never used paper by them until, but I really like the patterns they offer. Some are so unique and different looking!

I love this layout and the photo of Jackson, he is just hilarious in that picture!


Enjoy your weekend!

There's just something about.....

smelling like baby barf that makes me smile now! LOL! I know, that sounds gross, but in some weird way it makes me happy.

I guess with Mother's Day right around the corner I have been thinking alot about how lucky I am to have such a sweet wonderful baby like Jackson. I swear I fall more in love with him everyday.

He is learning so much lately, and I have to say that it is a little bittersweet for me that he will be a year old in less than 4 months (Gosh! that is just so crazy!)

Of all the jobs I have ever had, I like being a mom best. It is also one of the hardest jobs I've ever had, but that's what makes the rewards from it so sweet.....like when Jackson hugs me and giggles and slobbers all over my face. Honestly, in my world right now, there is nothing better. :D

Away for the day

Sorry for my absence...I was dog sitting for my mom and super busy running errands, so I just never got around to posting yesterday.

Anyway, today is another busy day, I'm back at home and my house needs some serious cleaning, so I'm going to get on that right now!

Hope you're having an awesome day!

Sleepy Monday Morning

This morning it's dark and rainy outside and all I wanted to was stay under the covers, but Baby J had other "plans". :-) So we are now downstairs and he is playing with his toys.

You would think by now I would know how important it is to go to bed early, but every night after Jackson goes to sleep all I can think about is all the things that I can do while he's sleeping. Typically this means I scrapbook, which means I don't go to bed until midnight (only to get up @ 6:30 the next morning).

Needless to say I'm exhausted. My scrapbooks are bursting with pages.... but I am flat out tired. I have been surviving my day to day grind with McDonald's Iced coffee and Cinnamon Melts. That is a WHOLE other conversation for another day, let me tell you. :-)

I'm looking forward to Jackson's morning nap, this morning, it'll will be my nap too!

Layouts, layouts everywhere

I don't know what it is but I have been on a scrappy roll lately! I make a page or two almost every night. I'm glad too, because I'm finally starting to make a dent in my stack of photos! So here are a couple of my latest creations. Enjoy!

The cool PP in the background is by Dream Street Papers LLC! I think that pattern is amazing!

I "scraplifted" the idea for this layout from this month's Scrapbooks Etc. mag.

You may have noticed the new ad block in my sidebar. Yeah, it's for Blogher...so I am now one of the lucky ladies associated with them. You know, I'm kind of a big deal. LOL :-) j/k

Me and Am went to the Folk Festival in our town today. She had her 4 year old cousin with her and I had Baby J of course. We had a good time, ate lots of yummy food, and were plain worn out when we left. I didn't realize it until later, but I got super sunburned. Oh well, it was fun regardless. I didn't take any photos because Baby J slept most of the time.

Finally, please keep my BFF Rachel in your thoughts and prayers. Her Grandma died today and it was rather unexpected, so I know she needs some comforting right now. TIA! It means alot to me.

Hope your weekend is going well.

True Friendship=Honesty

A recent conversation between me and my best friend Amberleigh:

Me: Hello

Am: Hey what are you doing?

Me: Not much. Why?

Am: Well, I went off my diet, and I was sitting here thinking....who would want to go stuff their face with me? .......So I called you.

_________________________________

Here's a layout for today also.


Have a great weekend!

Today in my world.....

I got this off Annie's Blog and thought it was cool, so I did it too. :-)

Outside my Window… it’s overcast and cool.

I am thinking…about lunch and what I should have.

I am thankful for…my gorgeous little boy and wonderful husband.

From the kitchen…nothing as of yet.

I am going…to do the dishes in a few minutes.

I am reading…the latest issue of Scrapbooks Etc.

I am hoping…for a fabulous, productive day!

I am hearing…Jackson watching a Baby Einstein about Shapes.

Around the house…I need to vacuum, sweep, and dust.

One of my favorite things…the way Jackson's head smells after his bath when I'm rocking him to sleep.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week…relax on the weekend, scrap a little, and dinner with Dave's parents on Sunday..

A picture thought to share for the day…


Have a great Thursday!