Design Team announcement

I have some exciting news! I have been asked to design for the fabulous NEW kit club Tidbitz in Time! This killer new club is large, embellishment heavy and showcases video tutorials of hot techniques!

The May kit Sunny day is so happy and cheerful. Every single paper is encrusted with GLITTER! There is more sparkle than that! It contains bling, organza, stickles, lace, beads and MORE!

Check out what I did with the May kit.... then go buy one here!

as you can see I created a TON of projects.  The kit is so gorgeous I just couldnt stop creating! If I hadnt gone out of town I would have made even more things. Its perfect for spring and summer pages, easter, girls and more. Sorry the card pics are dark! Its what happens when you create more stuff in a hotel room and try to take pictures with your iphone on the bed while your baby giggles and rolls around. :)

winner winner chicken dinner! (and sneaky sneaky peeky)

Thanks for being patient with me! I know its taken a few days longer to get the winner up than I had hoped. Im in the midst of preparing to go out of town for a week and that is no picnic when I have to pack for the baby. I can pack for myself and my husband (yes I pack his stuff) in my sleep.... but the baby.... who knows what I might need. Ugh!!

anyways.... without further ado.... the winner of the Making Memories whimsy embellishment kit is......

teenabugg38

Please send me an email to: scrapthatbaby@hotmail.com (I dont want to get spammed on my personal email so use the challenge blog account :) )

Also here is a little sneaky peeky of what I have been working on! Ive been asked to design for a NEW kit club. I will be posting all of the details on May 1st.... but trust me when I say you do NOT want to miss this kit.... especially if you LOVE glitter, sparkles and BLING. Its gorrrrrrgeous!!

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday was my 4th wedding anniversary! In honor of that Ive posted one of my favorite wedding layouts. Yes I cut that die cut paper. Im a bit of a rebel sometimes like that... lol. Since I do mainly 8.5x11 I wanted it to fit into my page protectors with the rest of the wedding layouts. I sprayed the whole thing with glimmer mist. Its so pretty and shiny. This is making me want to pull more wedding photos out and scrap them.

My anniversary didnt go as expected. My poor husband is so overworked right now. He has a lot going on. He is leaving for a week on business on sunday for job #1 and is trying to get organized job #2 to be without him since his partner is out sick. That and there is a BIG event for job #2 on Saturday is has to get ready for. 

Flashback to monday (maybe tuesday) 
Me: hey since we dont have the money to go out to eat this week......how about I make Carmela's (my mock macaroni grill recipe) for dinner on thursday ... ohh and we can open up that bottle of wine Ive been saving. I'll pump a bottle for Aubrey.
him: sure you dont want to save the wine for when we are in Columbus? We could drink it sunday?
Me: but you have seminars every morning... you dont wanna be hungover. Wouldnt it be perfect if we drank it thursday?
him: sure honey whatever you want :)

So he comes home for lunch without one mention of our anniversary. We talked for about a 1/2 hour trying to get details ironed out to try to take the baby out of town. (he wants us to go with him on his business trip)

Later he comes home from work and is wandering around ranting about this and that. Its already almost 6pm and he hasnt mentioned our anniversary once. At that point I knew he didnt remember.... but I didnt hold it against him. He never ever forgets anything like this (he always does good with birthdays/anniversaries and such... and we had discussed no presents) and I know his brain is mush from work at the moment. Im actually about to giggle at him ranting and not remembering.

So I looked at him mid rant..... and said HONEY.... he stopped and looked at me. "Happy Anniversary!" He looks at me dumbfounded and blurts out and I got a speeding ticket today in the government car. He went and got in the shower while I laughed my ass off.

When he got out of the shower he decided to whisk me off to one of our favorite steakhouses for dinner. We took the baby with us and had a grand time letting her have her first meal out (of course I had brought her applesauce with me)and the food was awesome. On our way there I did ask him about our convo on Monday about me making a special dinner and having the wine..... and how did he not know what I was talking about and we had a good laugh at his expense. He thought I was just excited to go out of town. LOL

**I will be doing the drawing for the MM prize later today. Sorry Im a day late!**

We be blog hoppin!!

 Hey gang! Have you ever ventured to Scrapbook heaven? Its a cool lil scrap store with several nifty kit options to choose from. Shannon and crew put together both big and small kits every month for your scrapping enjoyment. I had the pleasure of serving on their design team for 6 months back in 2008. It was such a blast!
I hope you enjoy this lil BLOG hop! There will be lots of fun prizes. Some from Scrapbook Heaven and some from the other participants! Make sure you make your way to everyone and happy scrappin!!

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Welcome to Scrapbook Heaven's "Spring in my Step" blog hop!! Thanks so much for joining us! We are excited to be hosting our FIRST ever blog hop!

If you just happened by my blog and didn't realize a blog hop was taking place, please go back to Scrapbook Heaven and start the Hop. Our members have some wonderful inspiration to share with you..... and also, some prizes :-)

Our theme is "Spring in my Step". We'll be sharing a variety of Spring-y projects with you. Check them out and win some prizes!!

Here are a few springy projects created by Sarah Rice  (that would be ME)

A springy layout featuring my baby girl Aubs

Welcome Spring Wall Hanging

 Bird's Nest cupcakes
These are super easy if you use a mix. You basically need chocolate cupcakes, white vanilla icing, shredded coconut, green food coloring and Robin's eggs (malted milk eggs) Make and ice cupcakes, toss coconut with a few drops of food coloring until you get the color you like and then top with a few eggs. They are so cute and mighty tasty!

and as a SPECIAL BONUS.... if you leave me a comment AND FOLLOW this blog you will be entered to win another prize from ME. I will do a random drawing on the 22nd (my wedding anniversary) from the gals who followed me and one LUCKY lady will win this making memories whimsy embellishment kit!!

oh and if you stop by Scrap that baby! and follow it on blogger or facebook i'll give you another entry! (and another still if you link a project for this weeks prompt) Just tell me what and where you followed in the comments here!

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Our blog hop run from today, April 17th until April 20th. Invite your
friends to play along! We'll be drawing for prizes on Wednesday, the 21st.

Your next stop in our Hop is the Scrapbook Heaven blog!

I *heart* the library and STB!

 I posted the NEW Scrap that Baby prompt yesterday! You must stop by and check out what my awesome design team did with it! It's all about the baby's NAME! Here is my design team creation.....

Guttergirlz also posted its super special secret prompt today. I wasnt able to do this prompt but it is SUPER awesome! Stop by and check it out!

Today I stopped by the library. I used to love to go to the library. There was just something about the millions of books and all the things I could learn and discover. As a kid it was a cool place to explore and get new books. In middle school it was a place to go make out with your boyfriend. In high school I would sit with stacks of books for research papers. (that was before you could get unlimited research on the internet) ..... And of course in college I used to go hide among the stacks and study. (I went to Penn State and we had one of the largest depository libraries around)

Lately the only thing Ive done at the library is vote. I didnt even have a library card to the one closest to my house and Ive lived in this area for 5 years.  How sad is that?

So after Aubrey's Dr's appt today (6 month shots) I decided to take her downtown and explore the library. Our local library isnt very large but we still found lots of interesting books to check out. We came home with 8. A couple Amelia Bedelias and Curious Georges for Miss Aubrey, A Jamie Oliver cookbook, a book on organizing and Harry Potter for Mommy. I wanted the first Sookie Stackhouse book (since Im addicted to True Blood) but it was already checked out.

All in all it was a good trip despite the fact that Aubrey decided it was time to talk and babble delightfully at all the cool things to see in the middle of the reading room. A fact that nobody but her mommy found delightful, so we had to excuse ourselves and go hide out in reference (where nobody was studying)

I also got to scrap with my mom this week. Here is 1 of the layouts I managed to finish

Happy Friday all!!

Good Eats

On Monday my baby girl turned 6 months old. To celebrate we had our first adventure with eating solid foods.

 Before you ask me why she didnt eat solid foods til now I will give you my reasonings, We delayed solids til 6 months because Aubrey is breastfed and from my research that is what the AAP and most other health organizations recommend. This research is NEW... so your pedi may still recommend 4 months. My nephew started at 3 months. To my girls from the mommy boards......Im not saying Im right and you're wrong...... just sayin how I chose to do it.

Here is some of my research...... kellymom, Dr Sears

We did rice first,,,, on Friday we are having bananas....and tuesday sweet potatoes! Im making my own baby food... for a good website on making food check out Wholesome baby food.

Birthday Treats for my sweet guy Wy

Today is my nephew Wyatt's birthday party. Since we are on a budget and he has WAY too many toys anyways I decided to make him a little kit to take on car rides or when he flys to FL to see his grandma. I added a personalized sketch book, homemade shaped crayons, goldfish crackers, fruit snacks and animal cookies.

Here is his gift bag. I cut a piece of cardstock to 4x5 and then drew and colored the scalloped border. The big number 2 is a sticker by making memories from the depths of my stash. I secured the label in place with double sided tape.

His altered sketch book came from the target dollar spot. Its basically a spiral board book with blank pages and a 3x3 window.... I drew and colored the stars the added alphabet tape and a strip of patterned paper. I put a card in the window with his name and a label inside telling him how much aunti sarah loves him and to enjoy coloring.

**A close up of his package of homemade swirly crayons**

**A picture of some of his snacks. I used a 2x4 inch piece of paper and drew the label to match the rest of the kit I taped the to the packages with clear magic tape**

Cute shaped crayons tutorial

I saw a tutorial a year or 2 ago (i couldnt tell you where) on making NEW shaped crayons from bits of broken crayons and silicone baking pans. Its completely genius and completely easy.

Here is a picture of my first batch. Batch 2 is in the oven

To make this cool shaped crayons you need...

*silicone baking molds. (I used the Wilton Petite Silicone 12 Cavity Heart Pan )
*a cookie sheet
*broken crayons (with NO paper on them)

1. Preheat oven to 200 F
2. Break crayons and peel off paper. If its a whole crayon break it in 4 pieces.
3. Toss broken crayons in the heart mold. (I used about the equivalent of 2 crayons per mold) I like swirly crayons so I used 4 different colors for each crayon.

4. Place silicone mold on a cookie sheet
5. Bake until wax is melted. It took about 15-20 minutes for mine to melt. Larger pieces of crayon will take longer to melt... as will larger crayons. Dont be afraid to fill the cups up further if you want really chunky crayons. Mine are for my 2 year old nephew so I wanted a crayon that would fit better in a smaller hand. (and yes he knows not to eat them... lol)

I plan on packaging them in a little bag with a topper that says Wyatt's crayons and buying him a few coloring books to go with them. Im making star crayons next!

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