Don't Ya Just LOVE It When...

...you place an order for something online and get it right away? You wanna talk about super fast shipping- I placed an order at Scrap-Diner.com on the 26th, I received an email on the 27th that it had been shipped and when I came home today it was on my door step!!!! This is coming from Arizona all the way to New Jersey, you'd think it was right around the corner! I love that Sher is so quick with shipping because I always want to play with my new goodies immediately!

Here are a couple of projects I completed recently:

This one has a pic of Donovan at 3 weeks old. I used a lot of Prima products including paintables which I sprayed with glimmer mist, paper, crystals, and a felt flower.

I created this LO for scraplovers.com's Scrap Around The World Contest. I had to use deep rich colors, at least 3 hearts and a foreign word on my LO. Love the simplicity of this!

To My Child

My sister e-mailed this to me today and I just thought I'd share it with you!

Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh when I feel like crying. Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is. Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play. Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together. Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.. Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by. Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned. Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them. Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.. Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you. Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry. Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars. Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows. Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given. I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore. And when I kiss you goodnight I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one more day...

Snow Day

This is the view from my living room window...it's snowing! I was off today because I have to work tomorrow and I plan to scrap and chat all day! Schools were closed, so Troy is home and we kept Donovan home from preschool. I must admit, I'm a little sad. My friends from work had planned a littleafter work get-together for me (a small scale baby shower) and we had to cancel because of the weather! I was really looking forward to it, too! Oh well!

It's starting to rain now which means, icy roads!! I hope it stops soon!

Here are 2 Zsiage DT projects I completed recently featuring the Ti Piace Italy Line, chipboard and film. I used a lot of Prima gems on both layouts and lots of stickles (can a girl really have too much stickles?...Nah!)

This is my sister on her wedding day! I love this photo of her!

Donovan with his paternal Grandparents on the day of my sister's wedding! They love some Donovan and he soaks it right up...notice the look on his face!

I'm going to teach this squash album at my LSS. It features BG Infuse- can't wait for the new stuff to come in!

Full view:

close-up of page 1:

close-up of page 2:

close-up of page 3:

TFL!

I'M HUNGRY!!!

I am now 32 weeks along in this pregnancy and my appetite has seriously kicked up BIG time. I know I'm in the home stretch and this is the time that the baby puts on most of his weight, but WOW! I've had this craving for fried chicken, homemade baked macaroni and cheese, and cabbage- I made it last night and it was soooo good! I don't think I've ever been that satisfied by a meal, even the Pepsi that I drank with it really hit the spot!! Now today I want BBQ beef ribs and potato salad. I never make ribs and DH doesn't eat potato salad, so I'm going to see if I can go to this soul food or Portuguese BBQ place near my house and get the items a la carte. I have been a pretty light eater during my entire pregnancy and now it's totally different all of a sudden. I can see that this is where most of my weight gain is going to come from. I'm not too worried since I lost 10 lbs in the first 4 months and have only gained 16 back. This morning I woke up with a craving for Belgium waffles, so I pulled out the waffle maker and made some along with grits, eggs and cheese, and turkey bacon! Boy, I hope these cravings are short lived!

In other news- let me tell you about my big boy. We came downstairs yesterday morning and I told him to use the potty as I always do when he first wakes up. Well I heard the water running a little longer than was necessary. I went into the bathroom to give him the "you know you're not supposed to play in the water" lecture when I noticed he had a cup in his hands. He turned to me with this big toothpaste smeared smile on his face and all I could do was smile proudly. My big boy had brushed his teeth without having to be told. Here I was about to scold him and he was making his mommy proud! He's really taking leaps and bounds into independence.

Valentine's Day Cards

Tomorrow is the big day...are you doing anything special with your sweetie? We're staying pretty low key and just having a family dinner out, which works for me because I don't have to cook! In honor of the holiday, I created a few cards, check 'em out:

60 DAYS TO GO

...and seriously counting down!! My little bundle of pain, I mean joy is due April 11th, 60 days from today and boy I can't wait for him to come out!! Don't get me wrong, I want him to stay in as long as possible so he is as healthy as can be, but he is tearing me up!! OMG, today my back hurt so bad that I was in tears!!! I could barely walk and what made it worse is I had to work!! There's a burning sensation under my belly and at the tops of my legs from all the pressure and stretching, I am severely sleep deprived since I can't sleep on my stomach, my most comfortable position. I'm reduced to sleeping on my right side only, which attributes to a lot of the back pain! I'm looking forward to that moment when I push him out and get that "uh" feeling- you know that moment when all the pressure is released and you are overcome with relief!

My eating habits are crazy! One day I'm craving fruit and salads and today it was chocolate....I couldn't get enough, I had to make myself stop!!

I'm starting to have some crazy dreams, too! The other night I dreamed I went into labor during my lunch hour on my last day at work. In my dream, I was eating nacho supreme from this Mexican Cantina in town, something I have been craving IRL, and suddenly felt that pain that let me know I was in labor. I looked down and said "you have got to be freakin' kiddin' me". I called Troy to tell him I was in labor and my friend and asked her to pick-up Donovan and then asked my co-workers to help me get my stuff so I could go to the hospital. As I passed the restroom, I told them that I wasn't going to make it, that I had to throw up and my water was about to break. I went into the bathroom and that was exactly what happened. I remembered trying to remain calm in the dream and ordering someone to call 911 and block the bathroom door so no one else could get in. I ended up having the baby on the floor in the bathroom at work after only 20 minutes of labor. How odd is that? I pray that this doesn't happen in real life. The dream was so vivid, I hope it's not a premonition!!!

New DT Projects Etc...

Imagine my surprise...I received an email from the DT coordinator at myacrylicalbums.com stating that our projects were on the way. In no way did I ever imagine something this freakin' fabulous...personalized albums!!! Each member of the DT received acrylic albums with our names on them to decorate any way our hearts desired. This excited me very much; you see I have one of those names that you NEVER EVER find on personalized items! The fact that you can purchase personalized albums is one of the best features of myacrylicalbum.com!

Anyway, I pulled out my favorite photos, my favorite embellishments and Luxe patterned paper for my album and this is what I came up with! In order to make my name stand out, I coated the edges with acrylic paint and stardust stickles.

Here's another project I worked on over the past few days. A friend of mine asked me to make her a book to put wedding ideas in. She wanted an 8 1/2 x 11 with inserts to make it easy to add and remove stuff. I found this book in AC Moore and altered it; originally it was a recipe book and the outside was covered with every fall color you could imagine. little Mod Podge and K&Co's pretty new Love line and voila...can't forget the stickles!!

This is what the inside looks like. I created 6 dividers, each labeled for different aspects of wedding planning!

I also received an email from Creating Keepsakes Magazine requesting one of my layouts for publication!!!! Another highlight of my week, especially since this will be my first time pubbed in CK! Woohoo!