The 6 month growth spurt

My child has been an eating machine for the last 2 days. After she eats she passes out cold... only to wake up ravenously looking for the boob. If I put her down when sleeping she cries for me so Ive pretty much been on the couch holding a baby since Easter evening. I think we are starting the 6 month growth spurt. She is currently trying to eat my left arm while I type with the right. On the bright side staying stationary is helping my back but the house really needs a quick tidy and that makes me cranky. Too bad tonight is the night Matt gets home late.... then all we do is eat dinner and watch LOST. The tidying up will have to wait til tomorrow.

On Easter Aubrey was such a good girl even though her teeth hurt. Teeth 2,3 and 4 are about to bust through at any minute so we lived on orajel and teething tablets all weekend. She did have fun on her egg hunt.....

....eggs are especially delicious when your gummies hurt. My mom got some great shots of her picking up the eggs. I cant wait to scrap them.

Im doing good on my promise to allow myself scrap time again. Ive managed to get an hour or 2 in every other day or so. I think I may be ready to start designing again. (I finished up my terms and then stopped applying when I got pregnant and my mojo tanked) Ive started looking at calls again. I love the challenge of designing with a certain set of supplies and trying to create different looks from one "kit". Ive even been getting out old kits and playing with those. Here are a few I finished up last Friday.....

The Christmas one is covered in lots of sparkly stickles. I used Heidi Swapp ghost shapes and covered them in sparkles.

Holy Peeps!

 Holy peeps Easter is almost here! I cant believe how quickly time is going. My baby girl with be 6 months old in about a week. It's hard to fathom that she has been here that long already. It's also hard to fathom my life without her.

I threw my back out this morning. Dont ask me how. I think it happened when I was sleeping. All I know if I cant stand up straight without dying. I havent had back problems like this in over a year.... and the pain pills Im actually allowed to take while breastfeeding just arent cutting it. Plus its hard to lug around a 19lb baby when you cant walk without looking like a caveman.

I spent most of the evening on my couch with the baby next to me playing. Since I was bored I started looking at Easter crafts and fun things I can create..... and then I found the PEEP crafts!! Check out these seriously COOL peepie sites!

 Peep Show contests----- seriously cool!
How to make Peepshi = sushi peeps
Kick ass Peep Dioramas
Peep science experiments
Peep pie recipe
Peep tours
Peep hut's peep recipes
Kid'scraft: peep neaklaces

I swear I found everything from peep crafts to peep surgery. It really made me want some peeps. I know I will probably get some Sunday. My mommy still makes me an Easter basket...... YES I said it Im 31 yrs old and I get an Easter basket!!

I only ever eat STALE peeps so it will be several days before I can dig in to the marshmellowy goodness.  mmmmmmmmm.

and now...... a few layouts

April Fools!

Happy Birthday to my rambunctious nephew Wyatt! He turns 2 today.

Today is also my late grandmothers birthday. I find it hard to believe she died 20 years ago this year. I still miss her. I was 12 when she died and feel blessed I really got to know her. My younger siblings and cousins were not so lucky. She always celebrated the Fools part of her birthday.

In honor if April Fools.... here are Some fun family friendly pranks I found to excite both young and old. I cant wait til Aubrey is older and can appreciate the FUN... Im half tempted to play a few of these on daddy. :)
**15 funny april fools pranks by parenting magazine
**April fools jokes for dinner

Prompt 2 at Scrap that Baby went up today!! For this prompt we have a PRIZE for the winner! Here are my layouts both brand new and older for the prompt. I posted the 2nd older one of Wyatt so we could get another one from the Auntie perspective.

Happy Scrappin!

I *heart* deals

Aubrey went to the Dr on Monday to check out her gooey eyeballs. Turns our she caught Daddy's sinus infection and her tear ducts are clogged. I have to give her drops 4 times a day. Have you ever tried to give drops to an infant? Its quite an adventure trying to aim for the whites of her eyes so she doesnt close them. Then we have to play the blinkie blinkie game which makes her laugh but serves to get her eye coated with medicine.

After the Dr we went to lunch and then drove Daddy back to work. While I was waiting for her prescription I stopped by a local thrift store. I got all this for less than $7

I just love books. I want Aubrey to love them too. We read a story almost everyday. She gets very excited and happily smacks the pictures in the books. Its very cute. The VHS tapes were only 50 cents each. I still have a working VCR down in my rec room so I figured why not. She isnt watching tv yet, but i figure they'd come in handy during the toddler years when mommy needs some scrap time.

Of course I wiped EVERYTHING out with Clorox wipes before they went anywhere near my baby. The books look brand new but you never know. I wish I could buy her brand new but that you require me to go back to work. Plus she is an infant.... she doesnt know what NEW is. I figure she'd rather have mommy home to play with her anyways. :)

Are you ready for the CUTEness??

You havent seen CUTE until you've seen this.... although I will admit Im a bit biased. My mom took this picture. They were looking at my sista from another mista Mindy (aka my sister in law) so hopefully she has a pic they are looking at. Get ready for BABIES!!

Didnt I tell you they were cute? Left to right we have my nephew Wyatt who will be 2 on April 1st, my darling daughter Aubrey at 5.5 months and my nephew AJ at 10 months. We went to Breakfast with the Easter Bunny on Saturday morning. They also had an egg hunt for the older kids. Our babies were too little to play so we had a photo shoot. My grandfathers wife bought they the adorable matching outfits they are wearing from the Wooden Soldier. I could honestly faint at how cute Aubrey was!

The bad news is I think she is getting sick. She woke up that morning with a little cough and her eye is seeping goo on a regular basis. I have to keep giving her a warm compress to help the blood flow and get the goo out. We are going to the Dr tomorrow. You can see in this picture how puffy her right eye was. It's worse now.

I got to work a little more on my mini album tonight! I posted the cover over at Scrap that Baby because well... that's all I managed to get done before the prompt went live. I hunted through the pics I stole from my mom's computer and realized I didnt have the baby shower pics!! Ohhhh noooo! So I just did the cover.

More pics will come soon! I cant wait to finish it! I didnt think a layout could do my kick ass baby shower justice so I did the mini.

Oh and if you have any baby shower projects (both new and old) to share get your rear over to Scrap that Baby and submit it!! Layouts, minis, cards and all kinds of crafts are accepted. Monday is the last day for the call. You could be our guest designer in June!!

March Madness

Its insane how much more Im enjoying the March Madness games now that I quit working at the sports bar. Its only taken 8 months, but I think I can actually stomach SportsCenter again. Hooray for quitting the annoying job I got stuck in when I got laid off  years ago. I know the money was good (so good I couldnt make myself leave)... but I was miserable there.... and it showed. Im thankful I have an awesome husband who works his butt off so I can be a stay at home mom for the time being. I do have to sacrifice my shopping (scrap and clothes addictions!) cut back of my love of going to movies and restaurants and work a wicked budget for groceries, but I wouldnt have it any other way. Heck Im even making my own bagels. And yes I own an apron. :)

Im so looking forward to taking the baby down to my rec/scrap room and craft while watching basketball (after the cleaning etc is done of course) I plan on getting everything done tomorrow so Im ready for games come Thursday! Hopefully Aubrey will cooperate and play in her exersaucer. My meal plan for the week is done so I dont have to obsess about dinner. I can just be free to play.

Here is my latest layout of Miss Aubrey.  Sorry for the wonky scan. The homemade flower is made of patterned paper so its a little bulky and cause it not to scan straight. Had it been a design team project I would have photographed it when I did the closeup, but I was just too tired and it was too dark outside.

I love making these flowers! I made several the other day and they are cuuute! So so easy too! I'll get a tutorial up soon!

If you are into tutorials you can check out the one I posted yesterday at Scrap That Baby! about making your own Epoxy embellishments using scraps and stamps. They cost only a few pennies each!

Happy St Patricks Day!

Ahhh St Patrick's Day.

Truthfully its a day I used to DREAD.

I have nothing against green or St Patrick for that matter..... and I am part Irish and enjoy being kissed. Its the fact that I used to be a bartender than made me dread it. St Patty's is amateur night. It brings everyone out to drink. (a fact that I used to really enjoy before my bartending days) St Patty's usually also meant 12-14 hour shifts ending with green stained hands and a backache from lugging kegs of green beer. It also meant having to cut off the amateurs who always feel like they can keep up with their seasoned drinking buddies andme getting sworn out about 500 times for refusing to contribute to their alcohol poisoning.

I am thankful I am no longer bartending today... despite the fact that I know I could be raking in the money.... and that money could be spent on scrapbook supplies (which I havent had the money to buy in months.....scrapbook supplies that I dont actually NEED just WANT) Actually it has been quite fun using up my old stash. This layout of Aubrey in her bumbo (which I am sharing because of its greeniess) uses several things that have been hiding in el-stasho for at least 2 years. The Urban Lily rubons are probably some of the first rub ons I ever bought.

In other news: Aubrey cut her first tooth on Sunday. Also Friday was the last decent night of sleep I got. Saturday night was awful as she woke up about every hour.... so it didnt surprise me when I felt that the little bump in her gummies was now a sharp little tooth. The lack of sleep has thrown her sleep schedule all to hell and then daylight fraking savings time made me lose an hour. I was finally making progress in her bedtime (which is so late anyways) and now its ridiculous. She is now 3 hours off the schedule I want her to be on.

Le sigh.

Oh and have I mentioned Scrap that Baby?? Its a new inspiration blog about babies! Check it out! Design Team call is going on for a few more days... and the first EVER prompt was posted a few days ago. See if you have something that meets our current call. We will be publishing the 10 best projects!

Spring is almost here.

I cant believe March is here already. Time is flying by. Aubrey is almost 5 months old and getting more curious by the minute. She is rolling around and trying to crawl.... and of course mommy gets big belly laughs out of her in the evenings. Its kinda selfish but I really enjoy the fact that she only laughs like that for me. :) She really is a pleasant baby and only fusses a little.

She is growing like a weed. At her 4 month appointment she was in the 98% for weight at 17.5lbs and the 92% for height at 26"... She is such a big girl. Hopefully she will be tall like me and her daddy. Her hair has thinned a bit since birth, but its still pretty and red.

Spring is coming and I couldnt be more excited! Im looking forward to getting out of this house and into the sunshine. Im ready for walks to the park daily and playing in our yard. (I havent had a yard in 10+ years!) I cant wait to plant flowers out front and hopefully a little vegetable/herb garden out back. I cant wait to have lunch on the patio. By then Aubrey will be on solid foods (we are waiting til 6 months since she is breastfed) and I can pull her high chair outside with me and we can eat. Im sick of the dull gray Ohio winters. I feel trapped inside.

Im scrapping again. It feels really good to be creative. I feel like Im me again. The chaos of the last year is settling into a blur and I feel like the craziness is behind us. I can only scrap when Aubrey naps and I have everything around the house done but Im making sure I make time for it weekly now. Im insisting even if I have to leave the baby upstairs with Matt and crawl downstairs into my scrap cave for an hour. Its good for my sanity.

Here are a few semi-current pictures of Aubrey

 

 

Introducing Aubrey Elaine

My life has been chaotic the last few months. We moved into the house mid-renovations when I was 37 weeks pregnant.We had no kitchen, no living room and basically lived upstairs. The first day Matt took a shower the ceiling fell into the unfinished living room below. There were boxes everywhere. Then we discovered a mold problem right before Aubrey was born. We (and I mean my husband) decided to give up the house

Then Miss Aubrey came into the world October 12, 2009. The day after her due date. She was 7lbs 5oz and almost 21" long.

I woke up bleeding that morning at 7am. I freaked out and called the Dr who send me to the hospital. I had my first contraction at about 8:30am in the elevator. The nurse was pushing me upstairs to the maternity ward. I got my epidural at 9:45am because I was already 5cm. After awhile I couldnt feel the contractions. I actually took a nap off an on between 1pm and 3pm. My mom was jealous :p

At 3:30 they turned down the epidural because it was so strong I couldnt feel a thing and couldnt push. Finally my water broke. I started pushing around 4:30ish. I cant remember the exact time. I wasnt really looking at the clock at that point as I was starting to feel the contractions. Aubrey arrived shortly before 6pm. She was the most beautiful thing Id ever seen... even with her big coney head! She has big blue eyes and a full head of red hair!

We came home a few days later. I had a small tear (only 1st degree) but still could barely sit down. I was sore and sleep deprived and still living in the upstairs of the house. What made matters worse I couldnt go cook anything and my big freezer stash of meals couldnt be cooked because we didnt have a working kitchen.

A week later I was still having problems sitting and walking. The pain was awful and I was so swollen. This was my first baby so I wasnt sure how much I should have healed at that point. I started passing massive clots.I called the nurse and she told me to stay home unless it got worse (swine flu was all over the ER) About 2 hours later I passed a huge piece of tissue (i know gross!) I called my mom to come stay with Aubrey and went to the ER. I cried leaving. I wore a mask the entire time I was there. They checked me out and sent me home.

The next day I was MUCH less sore. As the days progressed I felt great. That tissue had been sitting on my stitches and causing all the problems. I had no idea it wasnt normal because it was my first baby. Im just glad it was by my stitches and not still in my ute

Then we moved AGAIN right before Aubrey turned 3 weeks old. We couldnt let the baby stay in a house with mold. Thankfully there wasnt any upstairs so she was safe for the small time she spent there.

So here I was with a new baby... and a big move... having to pack up what I had unpacked and then unpack the entire house. I'll admit now after almost 3 months I still have boxes in my garage. I do have most things unpacked and even got to scrap a little a few weeks ago. The scrap stuff had been packed for almost 5 months. It was torture. Im not done unpacking it, but at least I have enough done I can work.

I'll share those layouts with you in a few days. The scans are on my other computer. I'll also post a few pics of my sweet little girl! She is 16 weeks old today and gorgeous!! :)

The Recipe blog is up!

http://recipechick.blogspot.com

Its still pretty rough as its only a few days old. It has no bells and whistles yet. No pretty graphics, no banners.... but what it does have is several recipes that are mighty tasty. I'll be adding to it every day as I keep trying new things. Not everything will be a OAMC or freezer recipe.(but alot will be) Some will be geared to entertaining. Some will be stuff you can make on the cheap. Some will be super easy and some for my friend the crockpot. There are labels on the side to guide you to what you are looking for.

Check it out and let me know what you think :)

Its almost moving day!! Yippee! Matt took Friday off to help finish packing. I will be working all week trying to finally get everything in boxes. I cant wait to unpack and reorganize my scrap stash. I really want to play with it soon. I cant wait to get the babies room all set up so I quit freaking stressing about it.

Hopefully the move in party goes as planned. I plan on bribing every guy I know with homemade lasagna and a keg of beer if they help for an hour or 2. The more people we get... the less work for everyone. Matt needs to get his butt on the phone and start calling people before I kick it.

So here I am 36 weeks pregnant. Im tired, Im swollen, but overall Im feeling good. I have these super sexy Shrek feet going on every night and a very sexy stretch marked covered belly. Good news is I havent gained much weight (go ahead and hate me... but I wasnt exactly thin to begin with. I wore a 12) I have actually weighed this much before sad as that sounds. At least it should be easy to get it off since Im assuming any child I have is going to weigh at LEAST 8 pounds.

Im done with work (whoo hoo) and Im busy nesting and filling my freezer with food so I dont have to cook once she gets here. Im thinking of starting a blog of my freezer recipes because I have made SO many things in the last 2 weeks. Im finding its just as easy to make 4 of something as it is 1 so once a week Im making a few things.

Im also packing up my apartment. We still havent moved. The house is behind schedule, but it's looking great. I have been promised I will have the keys on September 25th. I pray that they are in my hand that night. So much to do before lil Aubrey gets here.

I need to take a recent belly shot. I havent in a bit. Here is a picture of me and my mom about 3 weeks ago (at 33 weeks) and a picture of the darling wreath the had on the front door at the shower.


I wish I could give pregnancy the credit for the gigantic boobs, but sadly they havent grown at ALL. I wish I knew what size to buy once the milk comes in, but I havent a clue. Im thinking Im gonna need an F or something scary like that... and unfortunately all the stores only seem to carry nursing bras to size DD. What the hell is a girl supposed to do that wears a DD BEFORE she is pregnant?? Im thinking I'll just get a sports bra type for now til she gets here. If I have to spend $60 on a titsling Im only gonna wear a few months Im gonna be mad.

A very important date!

Check out this teaser trailer for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland! Its only a minute and a half long but has me so excited at what is to come. I cant believe I have to wait until March 5th, 2010 to see it. Oh well. At least the baby will be old enough at that point I should feel okay leaving her with a babysitter (i.e. my mom probably) for 2 hours so I can go.

come out come out wherever you are.....

oh mojo? where for art thou mojo? I cant seem to do anything creative. I dont know if its because I have been feeling like ass or if its because Im constantly tired, but frankly its starting to piss me off.

I WANT to create. I sit down to create... then NOTHING HAPPENS. Its so unbelievably frustrating. I started making some ATCs for a swap a week or so ago. I covered all my cards, painted some, glimmer misted others... got the backgrounds looking mighty fierce.... and now they sit, unfinished fierce backgrounds.

Ive been trying to create in other ways. Ive been looking at decorating books and trying to decide on colors for the house and which IKEA cabinets I like best. So far I have the kitchen planned out. I wish I could go to the house and look around. It would really help me decide. My husband wont let me inside until all the black mold is removed and the lead paint is encapsulated. (which is smart) Im told that will be done by next Wednesday. I almost have to be in the room with paint samples to choose things. I need to check out the light.

I begin 3rd trimester in just a few short days. *fingers crossed* I can get everything done (packing, renovating, planting, decorating, moving, unpacking etc) finished before she decides to show up. Just 3 short months from now.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! I had a great day today just hanging out with the family. We had a cookout over at my brothers and just enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and played with the babies. This photo is only missing my brother Joshua, who lives in west virginia. Pictured... Matthew holding his son Wyatt, Me, Ede, Jessica and Dad holding Jessica's new baby AJ. I didnt take a ton of pictures because I was snuggling AJ and scarfing down the food. :)

Its been a crazy June! I cant believe July is almost here. I cant believe Im already 24 weeks pregnant. Aubrey is currently auditioning to be a radio city rockette and is kicking me like crazy every night while Im trying to get some sleep. My husband is now going to get paid for the 2nd job he's been working for 2 years. (it isnt alot, but it should help cover the bills while Im on my unpaid maternity leave)

Camp went really well this year. It always amazes me how the little kids are so grown up telling me about their end of chemo parties or asking me to hold their projects for a few so they can go get their meds. It makes me happy that they are able to have camp every year to just get away from it. As usual I was running back and forth thru all the craft stations making sure everyone was being helped. This year we had scrapbooking, foamie door hangers, keychains, beaded bracelets, airplanes, tie dye and suncatchers. Luckily my niece Megan (in the pic), who just graduated high school, was able to come and help me with the scrapbooking so I could keep and eye on the other stations.

I have a busy week coming up! Another ultrasound, a dr's appt, Im hostessing at my stepdad's fundraiser (he's running for council), more packing, helping Matt at the theater, and then there is my actual JOB. Hopefully I get to scrap this week.... Im really missing it. Oh and I have to start few ATCs for a swap! Here's hoping I can stay up long enough to play. I miss my scraproom.

I brake for yard sales

I seriously made out the other day. My mother lives in a rather nice development about 20 minutes away from me and last weekend they were having their annual allotment sale. There are alot of new parents there so my mom encouraged me to get my butt up there early friday and check out what they had.

When I say I bought a ginormous amount of clothing Im not exaggerating. My entire dining room table is filled with amazing clothes for Miss Aubrie. Pretty lacy girly girl clothing! Im talking gymboree, baby gap, children's place and ralph lauren baby clothing priced from 10 cents to 50 cents depending on the house. One lady had 6 tables of clothing priced at only a quarter so she could move everything. Everything I bought looks brand new. I spent $16.00 for my massive haul of clothing. I could have spent that on 1 outfit.


My mom also found me a boppy pillow with a brand new looking velvet cover for $5 and I found some hard cover disney books for 50 cents each. I never planned on shopping yard sales for the wee ones clothing.... but holy crap im glad I did. Im looking at it as another way to recycle. Hell I bought some of my maternity clothing on ebay and at the consignment shop... so why not?

Speaking of trash to treasure..... Its time for the May 30th guttergirlz challenge and one part of the challenge is to add a little trash to your layout. I really loved this one. Check out the blog to see the other 2 parts of this rockin challenge. You still have a chance to win the very cool Scrap Easel donated by Magistical Memories Its such a cool concept... I wish I could win it.

Here is my take on the current challenge. I didnt add any trash.... but I did use up some scraps of hambly I had lying around my scrap desk. I also stapled my vinyl thickers on so the suckers didnt fall off! Thickers are one of my favoritest products ever but the vinyl ones never seem to want to stay on and my tacky glue was in my scraproom and I didnt feel like pulling my pregnant butt off the couch to go get it... so the staples worked

For your information

My mom went with me to the ultrasound yesterday and they saw a little vajayjay! Looks like I have a tiny princess in my future. Im very excited!!

Meet AJ

My sweet sweet nephew AJ Michael H***** was born on May 27th 2009 at 4:17 am to my baby sister Jessica. She was in labor for around 15 hours. They induced her the afternoon before because the baby was so large. He was born 8lbs 9ounces with a full head of hair.

I spent most of yesterday at the hospital yesterday snuggling him, helping Jess out and hanging out with my family. My dad was there all night long and was able to stand outside and listen to everything that was going on. It makes me wish I would have driven up there at 11pm the night before when I got the call. I didnt because the hospital she delivered at was over an hour drive and I wasnt exactly sure how to get there. I didnt think it was smart for my tired pregnant butt to make that drive so I waited til the next morning. It was good I waited. I was actually awake and able to converse and function while I was there.

Im hoping to go over next week sometime and take her dinner and snuggle him some more.

**Nerd Alert**

The Star Trek movie is AWESOME! I mean seriously!

My husband is a huge Star Trek fan.... as in he's watched every different series....even the stupid ones. (thankfully most of them on SCI FI while Im at work or in my scrap room hiding as I only tolerate the campy original or TNG) I knew I was going to have to go to this movie... and since the previews look kinda cool I really was eager to go. I in no way thought it was going to be a cool as it was. Awesome action, awesome suspense, awesome acting.... not to mention the eye candy (hello Chris Pine).

Of course the first 15 minutes made my pregnant self cry in my popcorn, but it was still awesome.

5 MILLION times better than Wolverine (even with the nekked Hugh Jackman)! Check it out

May shower and holy crap I actually scrapped.

Wheeeee! I cant believe its May already. I cant believe Im almost halfway thru the pregnancy. Time is going so so fast. Im currently a wee bit over 19 weeks.

My baby sister Jessica is also pregnant. This past Sunday my sil in law Mindy and I threw her a little baby shower. I took this picture of Mindy and Jess bellying up to the buffet line. We made her all the food she wanted. Mindy made a lasagna and I made her a mini salad bar. I even made a cheesecake from scratch for her (finally used the springform pan I have had for 3 years and never used)

She is so big right now. She is due June 2nd. I think its so exciting that our babies will be so close in age. Less than 6 months apart. She is having a boy and naming him AJ. She and her boyfriend are moving into their own place this weekend. I pray everything works out for them. She is so young... just turned 18. I just hope she finishes high school. (She has only 1 year left) I know she will be a good Mommy... but watching her try so hard makes me feel grateful that I waited to get pregnant til I was 30.

In other news... I actually scrapped! I mean seriously scrapped several times this week. Maybe my mojo is coming back. I made this cute little tag instead of a card to hang on Jessica's baby gift. It was fun digging thru my bag of scraps. It really makes me want to make more tags. I have been planning on making some to sell on etsy (to make some baby money I so desperately need)... I just never seem to get around to it. I think Im going to make this one my desktop in the hopes of inspiring me to do SOMETHING.


I also managed to do May #2 for category stories. The theme is "What's Cookin?" Check out the site to see what our storytellers cooked up this time. The prize is lots of HAMBLY!! Sweet, transparent vanilla scented HAMBLY! yum!

To win all you have to do is submit your NEW layout based (however loosely) on our current category. I chose to do mine on my adorable nephew Tyler (if you even knew the orneriness behind that sweet smile) who just loves to help my mom bake.

I also got my next guttergirlz layout done... but I cant show it to you. Its a secret until May 30th.... but I can tell you I really LOVE the song and my layout is really PINK!!

Have you ever played in the gutter with us?? If not you should. Its quite theraputic and very fun. If you already like to get dirty... maybe you should check THIS out!

Take me out to the ball game

Our 3rd anniversary was last Wednesday but it was such a busy day for both of us. Matt had meetings and I had to work a big fundraiser at work for the Easter fire victims. We knew we wouldnt be able to properly celebrate that day so we decided to do something Thursday evening instead.

We had an ultrasound Thursday morning with the fetal development (high risk)doctor to check out the lil peanut and then Matt was supposed to go back to work. He however surprised me by taking the rest of the day off and got us tickets for the Cleveland Indians game that afternoon.

It was a noon game against the Royals early season so it really wasnt packed. There was nobody really there. It so so awesome to be able to sit in the sunshine and have a big hot dog with stadium mustard and some nachos.(quality nutrition for the babe... lol... but I have been being SO good) If only I could have had a beer.... but let me tell you the lemonade I had was mighty tasty.

The tribe ended up winning thanks to Grady's home run in the 8th inning that brought 3 runners home. It was so fun. Our seats here very high up but directly behind home plate. We had a spectacular view of everything. This is my view without the camera zoom! We usually sit behind the dugout on 3rd base, but I think I liked this view better (plus they were cheaper and we are on a budget)

Afterwards we went wandering around Cleveland. We were going to go to the Rock & Roll hall of fame but by the time we got there we would have had less than 2 hours to view everything. We decided to wait and go back when we had 3-4 hours to truely see all of it. (They had alot of Pink Floyd stuff I want to see) So we checked out the free portions of the museum and then wandered around the gift shop for a bit. It was a beautiful fun filled day.

Pregnant brain is a biatch

So let me tell you what happened to me on Sunday. I swear I am not a total ditz.... a blonde yes, but not a ditz.

A few months ago I bought my husband tickets to go see Flight of the Conchords for our anniversary. They were playing at one of the local colleges and I was able to get pretty good seats on ticketmaster. We both were anxiously awaiting the concert and talking about it constantly.

Flash forward to Sunday. My dad calls me to say that the entire family is going to dinner that night. My aunt and uncle were in from Maine and I feel like I havent seen them in forever. Of course I wanted to go. We drive 45 minutes north to go have dinner at 6:30. We are sitting there bsing with everyone and laughing about silly stuff when all of the sudden my brain clicks. OH FRAK we are supposed to be AT THE CONCERT!

Yes my pregnant brain had completely forgotten to go. (dont ask me what my husbands excuse was)

The concert started in 45 minutes. The only problem being our tickets were at home on the fridge.

So my husband jumps in the car and speeds home to get the tickets. Halfway there he calls me and tells me to call the box office to see if they can do anything. Luckily I purchased my tickets thru ticketmaster with my credit card so they were able to reprint my tickets. He quickly sped back to get me.

We made it to the concert 15 minutes late.... but all we missed was about 5 minutes of Mel who was opening while we tried to find our seats (which people were in and it was chaos in the arena... so our tickets were upgraded to even better seats so it worked out for the best)

and the concert was AWESOME! So much fun. I could have taken my shoe off and hit Jermaine he was so close shakin his sugarlumps. It kicked ass.

Baby pictures

Here is the most current picture of my little bean. I love how it looks like he's curled up sleeping. Realistically I know that's just how babies look at 9.5 weeks.... but it still makes me happy. I also do not know the sex but I like to refer to the babe as a him. Wishful thinking on my part as I always wanted a boy first. I will be just as happy if he turns out to be a she.

Baby is doing good.... growing normally and the heart beat is really strong (183) Whatever is in the uterus is getting smaller... but its still there. They are starting to think it isnt a blood clot afterall.... but since they arent sure what it is and they are worrying it will dislodge the placenta Im couch bound again. Two more weeks of bed rest. They think its possible it was twins and I miscarried the other. (which is exactly what my SIL told me when the saw an empty sac at the ER)If you look left of the baby's head you will see the "thing" that they are worried about.

I was able to get a little scrapping done. The Dr said I could sit and work at my coffee table as long as I didnt do it alot and I stayed on the couch. I got to create with the super springy tallyscrapper kit TANGO BEAUTY that goes on sale tomorrow afternoon. I'll post my layouts made with it tomorrow..... but for now... check out that kit! Its only $22!

The story.....

I cant even being to tell you how crazy this whole frickin (and I censored that) week has been. I have been on quite the emotional roller coaster. I tried to blog several times this week and couldnt bring myself to even type things. Turns out I never needed to. I dont even know if I can tell the whole story.... but I will try. It does end up good... so keep reading

We'll start with last Wednesday the 18th. I started bleeding. After talking to my ob's answering service I decide to go to the emergency room and get it checked out.(after all what use is great insurance if you dont use it) So scared out of my mind I go to the hospital. The stick me for an IV, do a pap and have me wait for an ultrasound. They give be both an external and an internal. Then it was time to wait. I guess there is only one guy there who can read the ultrasound and it could take an hour. Sometime later the ER Dr comes back and tells me Ive had a miscarriage. He told me that the sac was empty and it was only at 6 weeks.(I was suposedly almost 8) He was very sympathetic.

At that point I had the choice of a d&c or just waiting for it to naturally happen. Since I had already started bleeding and Ive never been one to want to go thru anything that invasive.... I chose to simply wait. They gave me a prescription for Vicoden (for the cramping) and phenergan (because I was so sick)

The next few days were a blur. I called my mom and asked her to tell everyone so I wouldnt have to. I took no phone calls. My husband took a few days off work so he could take care of me. I was either completely numb or crying most of the time.

and then there was the scrapbook rally. I still had to go. I figured it would be good for me to spend time with my mom and grandma anyway. I threw up every morning I was there and I had no energy. I started having this fantasy that I was still pregnant... afterall I still hadnt started bleeding and it had been like 5 days. I squished it back knowing how bad it would hurt when I did start bleeding. but it kept nagging me.

So fast forward to Thursday the 26th. This is the day I have to go get my checkup from the OB/gyn. After waiting almost an hour (still fantasizing by the way) the Dr comes in. He starts his routine questions.

Dr: I heard you didnt want the d&c have you started bleeding.... .
Me: No, just light cramping
Dr: Well sometimes it takes a few weeks....
Me: do the rest of the symptoms stay that long? Im still so queasy and my boobs still hurt
Dr: looking confused... Your boobs still hurt?
Me: Yes
Dr: Your symptoms should have tapered off. You shouldnt have any after 8 days. Im going to have her scan you... hold on. I'll have her fit you in.

So I sit in the waiting room for another 1/2 hour.

The ultrasound tech was very sweet. A minute later she looked very confused.... they told you that you had a miscarriage?.... well... here is your baby looks like 7 weeks 2 days

YEP....STILL PREGNANT!

I would be lying if I said I was completely shocked. I just starred at the screen looking at the little heart beating strongly and then I started to cry. She printed me out a picture and sent me back to the Dr.... who was LIVID! I think he was going to drive to the ER and beat up whomever read my ultrasound last week. He told me never to go to that hospital again and he will be bringing it to their attention.

My dates were off.... I am now due October 13th... not the 2nd. The reason the sac was at 6 weeks was I was only 6 weeks.

The only bad news is I do have a clot (a Subchronic hematoma....hence the bleeding earlier) I was put on bedrest for 2 weeks until I get a another ultrasound.... but at the moment things are good.

but seriously.... WHAT THE f*ck. Thank God I declined the d&c and was going to let things happen naturally. And they put me on vicodin!! (which is a no-no when preggo) Thank God I only took like 5 of them. Im trying not to obsess but its hard when I cant get off the couch!

I just pray everything is okay

The News

I couldnt be more excited.... I have been trying to to wait til my Dr's appointment on Wednesday but I just couldnt stand it anymore. I had to tell people. I was worried I wasnt... (guess its the pessimistic side of me that worried it was a chemical pregnancy.) I took another test last night and the sucker turned positive the moment I peed on it. Plus my boobs have been aching for 2 weeks and this weekend I started gagging at everything. Someone ordered teriyaki wings at work and the sent me running for the nearest bathroom.... and today I cried watching a movie about football.

I did tell my mom on her birthday... and she is way excited. I wonder if I have to actually buy her a present now.. LOL j/k

I feel a little better today. Im trying to make myself eat velveeta shells and cheese to get something in my stomach. I went to BJs yesterday and bought all kinds of healthy food... but NO I want the cheesy mac! Its better than what I really want... which is a crunchy taco supreme from Taco Bell. Damn are cravings supposed to happen already? I cant go get some because my car is still screwy! Matt fixed the starter (which was the problem) and now it wont start again. Stupid remanufactured part from AAP! He took it back and is making them order the factory part. Hopefully its here soon. Its soooooo frustrating not having a car. Im trying not to let it stress it out. I know its bad for the bambino.

I dont know when Im due yet... but Im thinking October. Right smack in the middle of football season. Its going to be crazy

Piece of shit car..... I got a piece of shit car!

Greetings! I have pulled myself out of facebook rpg game HAZE Ive been in to actually blog! Wow what a concept. lol.

Its time for Category Stories again! Check out my prompt... "what I love about ______" for a chance to win the prize. Also check out how our new design team girls rocked it!! Here is my layout ------>

Its been super frosty outside and I seem to be having the worse luck with my darned car! I just spent $500 bucks to fix the alternator/brakes/new tires and some other little pieces parts that I have no idea what they are.....but thank goodness my husband does. Car was fixed and running fine.... only to not start Saturday night when I was leaving work at 3:00 in the morning after my 12 hour shift. LOVELY!!

Im thinking its the starter. The &$#@#$@ing starter.

Of course I called my husband and started bawling. He now thinks Im crazy for crying over a car. He doesnt understand that pms + 12 hour work night exhaustion + 1 month a car frustration = tears at 3am sitting alone in a parking lot in subzero weather. He's a man. I dont expect him to.

Of course he did do what I expected him to do. Bundled up and walked down to try a start the car (I only live a few blocks away from work) It didnt work.

So today Im home. I have errands to run that I cant do because yet again I have no wheels. I figure I might as well scrap the day away instead. That will help the car frustration... and maybe even the pms.

Here are a few more layouts I made this week. I drew the lil corney on the Shucks layout and added googley eyes to him. The other uses my playbill and ticket stubs from when we went to see Phantom in Vegas.

caardvarks time

I so love making cards. I havent been doing it as often lately for whatever reason. My card mojo had left the building. Forcing myself to do my design team cards for caardvarks is helping to bring it back. Of course the fact that the NEW prompt is POLKA DOTS helped alot too. Ive always had a thing for all things polka dotted.... ever since I was itty bitty. I swear I will buy any scrapbook supply that is polka dotted so I had alot laying around.

I also got to use my Angie Delarie stamp. Isnt skullie the cutest? I won him on her blog about a year ago. He made his was to Ohio all the way from Australia just to get lost in my scraproom. I was so happy to find him last week. I have several skullies sitting here stamped ready to use. :) He is SO fun.

I purposely left the tomorrow square blank so I could fill it in when I send it.

Games Games Games

Today was just peachy keen. I love having my husband home from work with me. We usually dont get many total days off together and today was one of them. We slept in, had breakfest and watched a movie. Then we walked downtown for lunch. (yes walked in the huge snow drifts! thank goodness for my toasty warm Uggs) On the way back we stopped at the discount store and found a few board games on mega sale. Ive had a thing for board games ever since I was a kid so we bought a few just to try them out. The Apprentice and Battle of the Sexes IQ edition. I figured even they suck... they were only $5 (which is cheaper than a movie) and we will be entertained all evening. And we were. They were actually pretty fun. I really wanted to play Scene It Seinfeld and Clue tonight too... but we ran outta on time.

Now Matt is going to bed and I have to do something to entertain myself. Tally is down so Ive been a refreshing fool. I need my fix darnit! Hanging out on facebook is so not the same. I may have to actually clean something

It is guttergirlz time again. This is my first official layout as a design team member. The challenge is awesome. I just love this song by Jewel and the lyrics fit my new mantra for 2009. I used chicken wire for the wire part of the challenge. No I dont have chickens... but I did have a little piece laying around my craftroom. Go Go check out prompt 15 and get in the gutter! You wont be sorry.

My frosty tally reveal

Its seriously freezing outside! The subzero temperatures the last week have frozen me solid. I have been huddled around my fireplace trying to stay toasty. Its pretty much done nothing but dump snow on us nonstop for a week. The roads are a mess! It was a good excuse to stay in and scrap a bit on my days off. Lucky for me I got my design team kit from tallyscrapper. Its called "Playtime" and boy i it fun. Can I tell you Id never seen (or heard of) Graphic 45 before I got this kit.... but let me tell you. Im in EL-OH-VEE-EEE with its vintage goodness. So far Im at 5 layouts with the kit and I dont want to stop creating. (and if it wasnt 3am I would still be) Check it out! Its a bargain at $20.99 Check it out

Happy New Year!!

Happy NEW year! I cant believe its 2009. I was always told the older you get, the faster time goes. Im starting to believe they were right. Time flies when you are having fun I guess.

I started out 2009 with a bang. Sick as a dog. I stayed out til 7am NYE singing bad kareoke and dancing myself silly. I didnt drink a ton, but I did drink. Definately not enough to be a hangover like that. I think it was some mutant flu that turned into a bad cold. Im just now starting to feel human thanks to ClearGuard and the fact that I have been sleeping ALOT. Because of this my house is a WRECK and I cant stand it. Im one of those chicks who HATES to clean, but HATES mess even more so I need to clean something

So today I have decided to be PRODUCTIVE! I will make a LIST and do at LEAST half of it today. (everytime I make a list it reminds me of my grandma) Im stuck at the house so I might as well feel good about today. (I always feel better when I get things done) If I start feeling crappy Im going to work Fly Lady style... 15 minutes at a time.... til Im done. Im off to a good start. My sheets are in the washer, my caardvarks card is done, dinner is defrosting and the tree is NAKED! I just need to get vacuuming so I can reward myself with some scrapping. *fingers crossed* my tally design team kit gets here today so I can play.

Yesterday during the cybercrop at Tally I managed to finish up my Guttergirlz layout. Here is a sneaky peeky at the awesome challenge that will go up January 15th. If you havent finished Prompt 14 yet you still have time to get your ART in the GUTTER and win the prize. Need some inspiration?? Check out the amazing layouts, atcs and other projects in the Guttergirlz Flickr pool

IF you LOVE challenge blogs amd telling your story..... remember there are only a FEW days left to apply as a storyteller for Category Stories. The info the design team call can be found HERE We are looking for a few new girls to help us jumpstart 2009! Its a one layout a month commitment. Check it OUT!

Now Im off to clean :) Have a happy Monday!