The Wiebke World

Peer pressure/Inspiration

2009-11-12T14:05:00.003-05:00

So, I think part of my lack of ability to create anything crafty is the constant state of chaos that my house is in. I'm a very Type-A person (ok, anal) so any clutter or mess really bothers me. My friend Virginia started this week long cleaning kick and I think I'm going to jump on the wagon. Maybe if I really concentrate on actually organizing/putting away I'll have enough energy left to sit and be crafty. So, here's my plan

Day 1: Laundry: Not just washed/dried but folded, on hangers and put away. I'd like to actually clean my laundry area too!

Day 2: Master Bedroom/Bathroom: Yikes. Let's just say our room has been the catch all for "quick, company is coming so hide the junk that's out so it looks like the house is clean" Hush, you know you do it too.

Day 3: Boys rooms/bathroom: I think I can do all three in one day, O's room stays pretty clean minus the trashcan full of diapers that always sneaks up on me and the bathroom should be pretty easy. Ari's room is going to be the time consumer.

Day 4: Family room/downstairs bathroom: This is the room we live in, it has Ari's toy area and my scrap area plus the TV, furniture... pretty much everything. This might take more than a day...

Day 5: Living room/Kitchen: They're connected, makes sense to do both in the same day.

I'm really going to hold myself accountable. It's been quite a while since I've actually cleaned my house though so my goals might not be realistic. Before you go thinking I'm gross and that we live in squalor know that I've been hiring cleaning help since about April. Every two weeks the house gets totally clean, just not by me! I will post before and after pictures so you can see my progress, wish me luck!

I found it!

2009-11-11T08:18:00.002-05:00

My mojo, that is!! It's been missing for almost a year *gulp* but it finally returned this week in the form of sweet little birds and butterflies. What can I say, pregnancy absolutely sucked every last bit of craftiness right out of me, then Oscar zapped what little energy I had left. Now, at almost 4 months old, he's easing up on me a bit.

So, back to the craftiness... My good friend Karen is preggers with twins, one of each actually and since the babes are going to be sharing a nursery she wanted to do something really special for them. Actually, her nursery is the same shape as Oscar's room (she lives in my neighborhood, right up the street) so that huge wall with the vaulted ceiling has an adorable 12 foot tree painted on it. Since she's having a boy and a girl we settled on bluebirds for the little man and butterflies for the miss. I've made two butterflies and need to hit up my LSS for some blue paper for the birdies. I'll have them all done this weekend and once we get them up I'm sure she'll let me take pictures and share.

That little bit of creativity (and shopping at the Silhouette online store for designs) really sparked my mojo and I have tons of project ideas swarming in my head. I'm actually getting out my handy dandy notebook (did I just say that?? Ari is watching Blue's Clues in the other room... sheesh) to get my ideas down before I lose them. QuicKutz has some super cool word designs that kind of fold in half like a photo corner, I'm thinking some vinyl applied to the wall around a door frame would look pretty neat.

I just wanted to share, I'm so excited to finally have some ideas. It's totally a step in the right direction. I have to clean my house today, I'm hosting game night for several mommy friends here tonight and that means a clean slate to get all crafty tomorrow with no chores standing in the way. Yay!

Other than that, not much going on. Ari got two flu shots yesterday, his second seasonal booster and his first H1N1 so we're hanging close to home today to let him chill. That and the hurricane outside (Ida, she's really dumping on us) makes it a good day to stay in jammies all warm and cozy. I don't really have any pictures to share... next post I'll make sure to have some!

Little Men

2009-11-03T13:18:00.002-05:00

I'm still trying to get Halloween costume pictures, we got downpoured on while Trick or Treating and neither boy seems to want to cooperate getting pictures taken. So, here are some autumn pictures that we took this week! Enjoy!

Upside down

2009-10-24T20:01:00.003-04:00

That's kind of how life is right about now. Seems I just can't stay on top of things, no idea why. Do you ever feel like you're just digging your way out and about halfway through someone throws all the dirt back in and you're right back where you started? I'm not depressed or anything, just having a hard time managing life with two kids and all the jazz that comes along with them. Actually, I'm not having a hard time managing, I'm having a hard time writing about it. We're so busy all the time, blogging always gets bumped to the bottom of the list. We have preschool and playdates and mom's night out and holiday stuff and, and, and... it's all a blast and we are loving each day. I wish I had time to document it :( I haven't scrapped a single picture since I don't know when. I even went so far as to buy some new crafty supplies and there they sit in the bag on my shelf, pushed aside yet again.

Anyway, I'm really trying to make time. Anyone have any ideas how I might be able to do that? I can't even use Oscar as an excuse because he sleeps through the night 7-7 so my evenings are just as free as they were before he was here. The only thing different is the insane amount of laundry to fold and put away at the end of each day. So, any tips or tricks are greatly appreciated! Send them my way, either through comments here, email or a phone call (actually, texts are better since I rarely answer the phone anymore). Thanks!!!

Whoops

2009-10-13T14:14:00.004-04:00

I know, I know... Let me explain: It's been absolutely CRAZY lately, things are finally getting back to some sort of normal. Oscar, shortly after my last blog post, was "diagnosed" with reflux and colic. That right there should explain but there's more. He also came down with the flu which downright sucked but he's much better. Matt and I got sick too, not the flu but we each had a sinus infection and bronchitis and that totally kicked our butts for right about two whole weeks. Oh, and to top it all off we suspected that Oscar has a dairy allergy/issue so we've been trying to get to the bottom of that. All piled up on top of normal life stuff and I was pretty bogged down.

Anyway, let's just start fresh. I can't believe that Oscar is going to be three months old tomorrow. Time is flying, he's getting so big. I am really enjoying it though, he's a pretty cool kid. He is very snuggly and cuddly which does make it hard but what can you do. They are only babies once and it doesn't last long.

We went pumpkin picking this weekend with several of our friends and had a great time. We have a lot of stuff planned for October too, I love Autumn and all that it brings. Here are some pictures of our outing.

Oscar pretty much sleeps through everything when we're out, at home he has to be in his crib in his room with the door shut. Ari can't seem to leave him alone long enough to let him sleep when he's downstairs. Just as well, it gives Ari some one on one time with me and Matt when he's home.

So, I'm finally starting to find my footing it seems. Oscar is sleeping a full twelve hours through the night, has been for several weeks now. That helps, sleep deprivation is a cruel, cruel thing. My house is all decorated for Autumn and Halloween, I have a few finishing touches to add but that will have to wait. I'm going to Hilton Head with my buddy Maria this weekend and cannot wait for the fresh sea air and girl time. Ari is staying home with Daddy, I'm not quite ready to leave O yet but that's just fine. We're going to have a blast.

I'll do better about updating, I promise ;) Sorry it took so long...

Adjusting

2009-07-26T18:16:00.002-04:00

We've been home with Baby Oscar for just over a week now and are settling in nicely I think. It's definitely an adjustment from one to two, I don't think we realized just how set in our ways we were with Ari. We both forgot what it's like to have a newborn in the house but after a day or two we were on track.

Little Man seemed to have his days and nights a little mixed up for the first two nights home. As soon as we would settle in for the night he would start squirming and crying. I was baffled. Ari came home from the hospital sleeping through the night and went straight to his crib in his own room... Oscar had other ideas. We figured out that he likes to be swaddled super tight and strapped into his baby papasan chair to sleep. I think maybe because he was a few weeks early?? We never swaddled Ari because of his birth defect so that's new too. Oscar loves it though!

It's so fun to get to know a new little person! I am amazed at how Oscar already is his own little person. He knows what he wants and doesn't give up until you figure it out. He loves to be held, loves to snuggle and is generally a really happy baby. He sleeps a lot, of course he's still not quite two weeks old and wasn't due to be here until next week but I love that he's been so easy thus far. He really does fit perfectly into our little family.

I find myself wanting to hold and snuggle him much more than I did with Ari. I think with Ari I was afraid that I would spoil him, that he would get used to being held and that would make things harder for me. Knowing that Oscar is my last I'm soaking it up, I cuddle him for hours every day and love the one on one time. It's usually when Ari is sleeping, our little bit of downtime during the day. We've really tried to stick to our normal routine for Ari's sake, we get out pretty much every day. We've gone to the park and shopping and eaten out a couple times too. Oscar just comes along for the ride, he's so easy! It helps that I'm totally comfortable nursing in public too. I have a Bebe Au Lait cover and I use it a LOT! It's the same one I had with Ari, I'm so glad I found it! I have a Peanut Shell too and have already fallen completely in love with it. I even sold one to a lady shopping at Babies R Us!!

All in all it's been a pretty good week. Not totally perfect but I have no control over the things that aren't so hot. From now on I'm going to focus on MY family, my three guys, and let the chips fall where they may. I apologize if that sounds a little cryptic, I'd rather not get into the details.

Anyway, things are pretty good here! Oscar is the perfect addition to our family and we are all just really happy! I'll leave you with some pictures of our week!

Introducing Oscar

2009-07-18T21:12:00.003-04:00

Our gorgeous little boy is here! Oscar Henrik Wiebke was born Tuesday July 14th at 12:48pm! He is 7lbs 11oz and 20.5 inches of absolute perfection! We are SO happy that he is here and completely healthy, he is the perfect final addition to our little family!

These pictures were taken by my uber talented friend Becca Bond, she came out to the house yesterday for a little photo shoot. I knew the pictures would be good but I had no idea they would bring tears to my eyes! Crazy hormones or not, she is amazing!

So, back to Oscar. His birth story is quite the experience and a bit of a novel, I apologize in advance if this is very long but I want to get it all down so I don't forget!

Last Friday, about two hours after Matt left for work I started feeling some pretty strong contractions. Of course I'm home alone with Ari for 4 days so I called my doctor to ask what to look for. They said I needed to go straight to the hospital since I was still preterm by their dates. I called Matt, luckily he was on his way back to Charlotte from somewhere, and took Ari to my friend Jen's house. We get to the hospital and my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart! I was surprised, I didn't know they were that close. They kept me in bed, hooked up to the monitors FOREVER, I was SO hungry and my back hurt so bad. I was 2cm when I went in and when the Dr. checked me I was progressed to 3-4cm. They had me wait 2 hours and checked me again, there was no change so they sent me home (at 4am mind you, Matt and I were exhausted). I was so upset but too tired to care.

I felt terrible all weekend. Matt's parents came on Saturday since the doctor predicted I would deliver within the next 24-48 hours. We piddled around all weekend and by Sunday I was getting really frustrated. I actually mowed the backyard just to get out of the house. Don't worry, we have a small yard and I was supervised. Monday morning I woke up and told everyone I was going out for a bit. Cabin fever was setting in and I knew if I didn't get out I was not going to be much fun to be around. While I was out shopping, by myself of course, my contractions started up again so I came home and called the Dr. They told me to come in to be checked so Matt and I headed that way at about 3pm. We got to the doctor office and the doctor was SO mean. The practice I go to has 14 doctors and of course the one I really dislike was on duty that day. Anyway, she checked me and said there was no change but sent me to the hospital anyway since my contractions were pretty strong.

We get to the hospital, get settled in and sure enough my contractions were about 3 minutes apart! I walked and walked and walked... the doctor checked me and said I was 4cm but wouldn't break my water because the baby's head was still pretty high. He was worried that the cord would come out and I would need an emergency c-section. I was so upset, the same thing happened with Ari. I got stuck at 4cm because the fluid was keeping the baby from putting pressure on my cervix to change it. I thought for sure they were going to send me home again. I didn't want to take anything for the pain, I'm really anti-narcotic and very sensitive to any medicine but at about 11pm the nurse talked me into it. She said I needed to sleep and that the Demerol would "take the edge off". Yeah, right. I totally melted down. I started crying and couldn't stop, I felt like no one was listening to me and it was making me angry. Then I started getting sick. I was SO miserable. by now it's well after midnight and I was a wreck. After talking to two of my best friends on the phone I fell asleep. At about 4am I woke up with contractions again, 2 minutes apart and I still felt like crap so they gave me phenergan to take the nausea away. I was pretty out of it until 6am when the doctor came in and broke my water. Yeah, he totally came out of nowhere and broke it! Things got pretty crazy after that. I tried to sleep again but was in some pain so I walked a bit. Around 9 I asked for my epidural...

The epidural: Big mistake. Of course I didn't know that then but you'll see... The anesthesiologist came in and set everything up, I got all situated and she began. Oh my gosh I have never felt pain like that in my life. I swear she hit a nerve because I had the most intense sharp pain to the right of my spine that was excruciating. She had to have stuck me at least 6 times and kept adding numbing medicine so I could tolerate it. On about the 5th stick she said "Dad's going"... and all the sudden Matt fell straight back to the floor hitting his head SO hard. I will never get that sound out of my head but he was completely unconcious and having trouble breathing so my nurse had to call for immediate help. Of course I'm sitting with a giant needle in my back and unable to do anything but freak out and cry. Two nurses ran in and my nurse said they needed to bring a stretcher to take him to the ER, his head was bleeding and he was really out of it. It was terrible, they wheeled him away and I just sat there bawling like a baby. My epidural was in by then so I laid down and called Matt's parents to come right away. We were both alone and I was freaking out.

While Matt was in the ER they did a CT scan, and EKG, gave him IV fluids and a tetanus shot and ran blood work. Apparently his blood pressure plummeted while he was standing and he fell. It had nothing to do with the epidural but was probably related to stress and lack of sleep from this whole ordeal. Anyway, he made it back to my room in time for things to start happening.

When he got back I was fairly comfortable but not completely. My legs were completely numb but I could still feel the contractions. They were tolerable though and I was 6cm so I hung out. About an hour later (noon) my contractions came back full force. It was like someone turned off my epidural or something. I paged my nurse to check me, I didn't want to hit the button for more medicine if I was close. By then I was 8cm so I hit it thinking I had about 2 hours left. At 12:15 I pushed it again, the first dose did nothing and I was really hurting. At 12:30 I called my nurse again and she checked me again. I was "about 9.5cm"!!! I had just a little bit of cervix left and she said I should try to push once to see what happened. With the next contraction I pushed once and she told me to stop and called the doctor! Yay!!! The doctor came in and got all set up, I had to breathe through a few contractions but was instructed not to push until the doctor was completely ready. At 12:45 he was ready and with one push his head was out! The next little push delivered the rest of his body and he was officially born at 12:48pm!

It was amazing, he came out alert but not crying (just like his big brother). They let me hold him for several minutes before they took him to the warmer to clean him up. Matt and I were so thrilled, I can't believe he came so fast! His little face was really bruised from coming out so quickly but other than that he was completely perfect! He nursed really well right from the start and is still going strong! We take him to the pediatrician monday for a weight and jaundice check, I'm curious to see how much he's put on! Oh, and it looks like he doesn't have the same hip dysplasia that Ari had! We're probably going to meet with Ari's ortho for a consult and ultrasound to make sure but his hips look perfect right now!

The entire family is doing well. Matt feels fine, I feel the best I've felt in months and Ari is thrilled to be a big brother. He loves "baby Oscar" and constantly wants to hug and kiss him. He's amazing, we are all doing much better than I expected! Anyway, now that I've completely bored everyone to death I am going to bed. Little Man is grunting around, trying to eat his fist, so that's my cue! I will post more pictures later, Becca is going to send me more when she's done editing and I can't wait. If you're still here thank you, I'll talk to you all later!

Busy Bee...

2009-07-01T22:05:00.003-04:00

I've been working like crazy this past week... I have several new layouts, some pictures and a few cute stories to share. But, right now it's time for bed! Tomorrow is Matt's only day off in a stretch of 8 days so we're going to soak up the family time but I promise to be back by the end of the week with lots of eye candy! Enjoy your Thursday!

She did it again!

2009-06-28T17:15:00.002-04:00

I know I totally raved about Becca and the pictures she did for us for Fathers Day but I have to do it again. She and I went out for a maternity photo shoot last week, I really wanted to document this last phase of my last pregnancy. Once again she has totally blown me away. I actually cried when I saw the images! If you would like to see I would love to share!

Becca Bond Photography

Click on Clients and the password is arilove. You'll be able to see both galleries, the Fathers Day family pictures and my maternity shoot! Please come back and leave a comment, I am so proud of these and would love to hear what you have to say! I have to say, looking at the pictures I realize just how enormous the belly is. I see it from the same perspective every day, you really don't know how other people see you. I'm so glad I did this!

I have a doctors appointment a week from tomorrow with my doctor (I go to a practice with 14 doctors and rotate through all of them throughout the pregnancy). I'm hoping my doctor will give me an idea of when Little Man will be here. Honestly, I'm hoping for a scheduled induction. I'm SO nervous that I will go into labor with Matt at work and all of our family at home... 600 miles from here. Not the ideal situation. So, cross your fingers for me and I will keep you posted!

We're having a relaxing family night at home tonight. The next two weeks are rough with Matt's work schedule so we're soaking up all the family time we can!

One Crazy Kid

2009-06-26T12:08:00.004-04:00

Ari really cracks me up sometimes. He's been on a boot kick lately (pardon the pun). I have no idea where it came from, only that he dragged Matt upstairs the other day insisting that he wear "mommy's boots". I didn't even know that he knew I had boots, I can't remember ever wearing them in front of him. Anyway, my Wellies are a tad too big for the Lil' Guy so I've been keeping my eye open for some in his size. I hit the jackpot at Old Navy yesterday and found a pair on clearance! They're a 5 and he is just in a 6 but I thought I'd try anyway.

He LOVES them. Seriously, he can put them on himself and has been trucking all through the house today pulling his string of wooden bead shapes (and a rogue matchbox car that found it's way on to the string).

Too cute! We're hanging out at home today. It's like a million degrees outside so we've been building train tracks, "swimming" in the bathtub and playing car wash (that consists of driving matchbox cars under the train bridge aka car wash). Lots of fun! We're eating lunch now and heading upstairs for naps, yay!

See my new header?

2009-06-23T14:14:00.003-04:00

I think it's officially my favorite family picture of all time! I have been dying to share but had to wait, we had pictures done for Fathers Day so spilling the beans would have ruined it for our dads. My awesome friend Becca (the best photographer ever) did a photo shoot with us and I am in awe at the results! If you want to see the rest (and trust me, you want to) check them out on her website.

Becca Bond Photography

Once you're there click on the "Website" square, then click on "Clients" at the bottom and the password is arilove for our gallery.

We will be buying every print and I've already re-arranged all the frames on our family photo wall to make room for several of these! Oh, and Becca and I are going out today for a one-on-one belly photo shoot before Little Man makes his appearance in the next few weeks! I really wanted to do something special to document this last phase of my last pregnancy ever and this is perfect. I'm so excited!

In other news, Matt's wonderful parents came for a visit this weekend. It was so nice having them here and Ari cannot get enough of his Grammy and PiPaw, they left this morning and he's already asking to fly on a plane to go to their house! They will be back when the baby is born so he won't have to wait too long to see them! I do have pictures to share but they're still on my camera. I'll get around to that sometime tomorrow and share them here. For now I'm off for a nap! Enjoy your day and if you go to our gallery please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Moving right along

2009-06-13T14:30:00.002-04:00

33 weeks down, at the most 7 to go but the doctors don't think I'll last that long! Had a check up Thursday, he is definately head down and already engaging which is awesome. I have a lot of pain and pressure which means things are heading in the right direction. I have the go-ahead to stop taking all of my preterm labor meds in a week and a half, at that point he will be fully cooked and we can let nature take it's course. Wow, crazy to think he could be here in about three weeks! I can't wait...

Memories...

2009-06-12T22:17:00.002-04:00

I wanna look like this again...

I'll be back...

2009-06-09T17:13:00.003-04:00

I haven't forgotten the poor blog... I've been having contractions since Saturday and Ari is sick so that doesn't leave a whole 'lotta computer time. I will be back later tonight or tomorrow though, I have pictures to share!

2009-06-06T08:46:00.003-04:00

I can officially say that I'm back in the scrapbook groove!! I did two layouts and three projects this week and I feel great! My house is a disaster but that's beside the point ;) Having Matt home most of the week gave me the ability to sit in my corner and create, he's awesome with keeping Ari occupied so I can "work".

The first layout I did was of Ari on the swing at our friend Jeannie's house on Memorial Day. She's a friend I met through my mommies website and she had that water playdate I mentioned a while ago, this picture was taken while we were there. I love it, not only is Ari on a "big boy swing" but he's on a swing period! Swings were NOT high on his list of fun things for a while, something to do with his sensory issues but he seems to really have overcome it! He even asked me to push him and loved it as long as he didn't go too high. The little skull accent matches his swim trunks in case you can't see in the picture. I fell in love with the skull swim trunks as soon as I saw them at Gymboree and think I even paid full price (I never pay full price) they were that cute, he has a matching hat too!

The last layout I did was the belly. I love the shots Matt took a few weeks ago and since I have yet to scrap a single page of this pregnancy I thought I should get started before I'm not pregnant anymore. Can you believe I only have about 6-8 weeks left! I can't wait to meet our little guy, I haven't had an ultrasound since the 20 week mark and I am going nuts wondering what he looks like. With Ari I had multiple ultrasounds due to the complications I was having so it's a big adjustment not getting to see our Peanut every week!

It's a blah day here today, seems it might be a little cooler but we'll see. I have to pick up my groceries (thank you online shopping) and am making dinner for a friend that had twins. Ari and I have a barbeque to go to this evening, after we drop dinner off for said friend with new twins. I'm looking forward to Ari burning off some energy tonight, maybe he will sleep in tomorrow!! Did I mention that he slept in until 9am the past two mornings... awesome kid!!!

Our Little Artist

2009-06-03T18:08:00.002-04:00

OK, so that might be a stretch but he had a blast and that's all that matters! On my little trip to Michael's last week I found this sidewalk paint set and thought what the heck, if we're outside we're going to be messy anyway so why not add a little color! It's made by Crayola, the set comes with three colors, chalk, a brush and a roller and a tray to hold it all. The roller works best for little hands, the brush doesn't hold enough paint to really do much with so I used it and let Ari pile it on with the roller. He was very proud of his sidewalk and refused to let me wash it off... oh, that's the cool part, it comes right off with plain water!

We weren't outside long, it's like 90 and VERY humid... I am such a wuss but totally blame the baby belly. Normally I love the heat but I swell up the minute I step outside lately, that's definately not fun. I'm not used to being swollen, it's something I've never dealt with since Ari was a winter baby. Just about 7 weeks left though and that's if he's full term... Ari came early and I'm really, really hoping this lil' guy does the same!

Ari goes back to school tomorrow, he's very excited! Oh, did I mention? He's in Preschool Summer Camp! Tuesday was his first day, he did awesome with the exception of one total meltdown when he was told water table play time was over. Such is life, I'm sure once he realizes that Ms. Shelley is in charge he will shape up for her!

Well, I am off to my scrap corner!!! I just wanted to share these pictures, while Ari was playing I sat outside with a stack of Scrapbook Trends and have two pages of ideas waiting to be scrapped. Man it feels good to have the mojo back!

A Backyard Kind of Day

2009-05-30T20:13:00.005-04:00

Hello! I added the pictures of my creations from yesterday to the post below this one so if you wanted some creative eye candy be sure to scroll down and check them out!

Today was GORGEOUS! Matt let me sleep in this morning which was wonderful! I haven't been sleeping well, I either get kicked in the bladder a few times, my legs go numb from the weight of the belly or I wake up starving... it was so nice to snooze as late as I wanted! I think I finally rolled my lazy bones out of bed around 10:30 when I was too hungry to stall any longer. We all took showers (Ari loves the "stand up shower" now so he actually had a lot of fun getting clean) and headed out for lunch and errands. We got the crib mattress for Little Rascal, the room is now 99% ready for him! I had custom artwork created from a wonderful lady on Etsy and it should be here any day. I'm so excited!

I found the nursery bedding and window treatments on clearance at Pottery Barn Kids several months ago. We actually had an ultrasound done around 12 weeks and the tech said she *thought* she could see outdoor plumbing but he still could turn out to be a girl. Well, I saw this most perfect bedding a couple weeks before the 18 week ultrasound and went with my gut, that he was a boy and this deal was way too good to pass up. Someone was on my side, the outdoor plumbing was confirmed and I bought the entire set for right around $100! We had to buy a new crib, Ari's had been recalled for some sort of mega safety defect and the table and shelf near the glider are new as well. Those were Ikea finds, Sharon (my awesome Mother In Law) and I painted them to match the bedding exactly! The artwork will go in the three frames above the crib and I'm making nautical flags that spell out his name to hang above the changing table.

OK, so back to our day... we went to lunch then headed to Babies'R'Us for the crib mattress and picked up a super fun water table for Ari while we were there. We promised him he could "splash" when we got home and he had a blast! We hooked up the sprinkler too, it was near 90 today and he loved every minute of it. We really hesitated with the sprinkler, his sensory issues really show themselves with water splashing but he could have cared less. We had just as much fun watching him and are so proud that he seems to be outgrowing so many of his issues. Here are a few of the pictures from today...

Even though it was pretty late in the day we still had to keep his shirt on, his sunburn was way worse than I thought. I probably should have taken him to the doctor but it's too late now. He's peeling and doesn't like to be touched still, the lotion I put on tonight really stung and he cried for a while but calmed down and is sound asleep. I think another week totally out of the sun and layers upon layers of sunblock for the rest of the summer should do the trick.

Matt heads back to work tomorrow, we're going to drop him off then head to the mall. I have a little shopping to do (it's a secret so dont' ask) and we're having dinner at a friends house tomorrow night. It should be another fun day, I really love summer!

Whew! Pictures Added

2009-05-29T19:44:00.002-04:00

After a full day of tinkering I think I'm done for now... I still have a little tidying up to do around the ole' blog but it will have to wait.

As far as our week... Let's just say it's a good thing my wonderful husband came home from work with a big fat box of chocolates for his moody, cranky pregnant wife! It was exactly what I needed. I know Ari hasn't been feeling well with his sunburn but he has been an absolute pill this week. I about lost it when he spit an entire mouthful of Motrin straight in my face. Yep, looked right at me and spit it out. Needless to say he went to bed really, really early that night!

On a more positive note, I have resumed my scrapbooking/crafting! I spent three days going through my stash, organizing and putting away. I even treated myself to a little Moms Day Out shopping trip to Michael's to peruse the new releases. There is some gorgeous stuff out there, I picked up a few things and headed home to make a mess! So far I've done one little sign for my foyer, I have this distressed frame that I change out for various holidays but it's been hanging empty in my foyer since Christmas. It's cute, simple but cute!

I also altered a tray that I've had sitting around forever. A friend of mine did one about a year ago and I love how hers turned out. Mine is completely different but that's the beauty of inspiration, you take what you want and make it yours. We actually don't have any wedding pictures up anywhere in the house and that's sad because the pictures are gorgeous. I'll be remedying (is that a word?) that soon!

Hopefully I can knock out another project or two before Matt goes back to work in a couple days. It's way too hard to be creative when I have to watch the kiddo full time. I'm really ready to not be pregnant anymore, it's so draining. I can't sleep, half my body goes numb if I lay any way other than my left side. I can't eat, I get heartburn just from drinking water let alone anything with any kind of taste or flavor. I can't sit, Little Rascal tries to dig his way out because I can only assume it's tight quarters in there. Bottom line, I'm miserable. I hate to say that, I know so many people either can't conceive or love being pregnant but it's just not for me. I'm all about the mom part, I can't wait until he's here I just wish he grew a little faster than the typical 40 weeks. Two more months... I can do it!

BTW, I'll be back with pictures of said creations later. I think I need to go take a nap...

Memorial Day 2009

2009-05-26T18:51:00.003-04:00

It was just me and the Bean yesterday, Matt is at work for the week so we headed over to our friends house for a water playdate/barbeque. The weather was borderline nasty, really overcast and spitting rain all day but we figured the kids were going to be wet anyway so a little rain wouldn't matter. We were right about that, what we didn't think about were the little bursts of 5 minute sunshine here and there and every one of us ended up with lobster babies :( Poor Ari, he is so sunburned and I feel like the worst mommy on earth. He was up and down all night, I know he must be absolutely miserable but all I can do is love on him and keep him dosed up with Tylenol and aloe to ease the pain. I know, bad mommy. It will never happen again that's for sure.

Despite the sunburn he had the best time! There were about 8 kids there, it's sort of our usual play group and everyone got along SO well! No meltdowns or tantrums from anyone, a feat in and of itself with that many kids under age 6! They played in the little pools, on the "jungle gym" (as Ari calls it), in the sprinkler and we had lunch outside on the patio. Here are a few snapshots of Ari:

That last one seriously cracks me up. He would fly down the slide and land on his bum in a big puddle of mud, absolutely hilarious to watch! It took him 3 or 4 tries before he figured out how to land on his feet. I'm so glad I caught the flying through the air, it's a terrible picture but it makes me giggle every time I see it!

After the playdate we came home for naps then went to another friends for dinner. All the kids were totally wiped out from the playdate and a little crispy from the sun so after dinner we came home and went to bed. All in all it was a great day especially given the forecast for thunderstorms all day.

We're hanging out at home the rest of the week, I have a doctors appointment tomorrow and hopefully I can get some scrapbooking done! I ordered the newest Noel Mignon kit and it arrived today... nothing like new supplies to jumpstart the mojo!! Enjoy the rest of your week!

Another trip to the beach

2009-05-23T09:52:00.004-04:00

I realized I never posted the pictures of our trip to visit my little brother. He left for Iraq several weeks ago and we went to hang out at his house before he left. He's an awesome uncle, Ari is crazy about his "Uncle B" and still to this day asks to go see him. It's incredibly sweet and heartbreaking at the same time. Anyway, here are the pictures!

I'll post again in a day or two, we have lots of pictures of our at-home adventures AND thanks to my awesome mother in law the nursery is finished so I can share those adorable pictures too! Enjoy your holiday weekend!

29 weeks, 1 day

2009-05-16T14:59:00.002-04:00

I've been feeling pretty good these last few days, out of bed and everything! I got a manicure and pedicure today with my most awesome friend Maria and am munching on some muddy buddies. It doesn't get much better! Oh, I can eat the muddy buddies because I officially passed my three hour glucose test which means I do NOT have gestational diabetes! Yay!! I've got two new prescriptions: A new preterm labor med to stop contractions that has way less side effects than the previous one and a new Iron prescription that hopefully won't make me feel like I'm smack in the middle of my first trimester again! It's been a nasty week but things are looking up!

Enjoy your weekend, it's pretty crazy weather here so we're hanging out at home. One minute it's bright sunshine and the next it's pouring rain. I'll be back with some more random pictures of our week in a day or two!

Beach pictures!

2009-05-13T16:53:00.003-04:00

Thought I'd try to get back into the whole blogging thing, best place to start is with pictures from Mothers Day weekend! We went to Myrtle Beach with some friends for the weekend, I am still on modified bedrest so the hubs did all the hard work wrangling the kiddo and I sat in my chair and took pictures! Matt feels really bad that I'm not in any of the pictures and promises to take some soon!

Ari is certainly a beach boy, he's not one bit apprehensive when the waves hit him. It's sort of scary actually, Matt said waves would knock him down and pull him out a little and he thought it was hilarious. We had his life jacket with us just in case but the water was pretty cold so after a few knock downs he didn't go so far in.

He kept running up to the other kids and asking them if they were going to "ride the water"... aka body surfing. It was too cute! He's really starting to become his own little person and he is so stinkin' smart it's incredible!

Anyway, that's a little glimpse of our weekend. It was a beautiful Mothers Day!

Under Construction

2009-04-22T09:13:00.003-04:00

It's been a while... again. I will be back, I promise. Just sprucing up a bit (plus it gives me incentive to come back and add pictures from our abundant travels this month).

See you soon!

Snow day!

2009-03-02T09:58:00.004-05:00

Well, I have to admit... when the weather man said we were going to get a snowstorm I balked and was in complete denial. This is the fifth storm prediction this season and none so far have produced any snow worth measuring. This time they had it right though! About 6-7 last night the snow started hard and dumped several inches in about two hours. I waited up to watch it but finally gave up and went to bed hoping there would be some left in the morning for Ari to play in. He's never seen snow and I was excited to take him out in it.

Sure enough, I was woken up this morning by the squeals of laughter outside! My neighbor kids were outside at 7am building a massive snowman. I looked outside and it was beautiful! I bet we have about 4 inches of snow, by far the most we've ever had living here. I went to Ari's room and told him to look outside... he was so excited (and yes, he repeated that fact over and over!). He said "Play snowman outside mommy, play snowman" so we bundled up and headed out.

I think it took us 40 minutes to bundle up and we were outside for all of ten! Ari loved it at first but it was hard for him to walk and it was very wet. It had rained for two days before it turned to snow so the ground was completely saturated. Hit mittens wouldn't stay on and his little fingers were like icicles! We came inside when he was clearly not having fun and had a warm bath before breakfast. He's completely over it now, when he looks outside he says "cold mommy, all done snow". Guess it's really no shock that he is a warm weather beach baby. Speaking of beaches, he's been begging to go to the beach and play in the sand so I guess it's time for a visit to Grandpa J's house!

Yeah, I know.

2009-02-07T18:15:00.004-05:00

I'm terrible at blogging but guess what... it's not just blogging that I'm terrible at lately. Let's just say that as of today, yes today, I am finally caught up on my laundry from Christmas. That's right, Christmas. Seems the baby growing business isn't as easy the second time 'round when you have a toddler to chase all over creation. Not to mention I've been in excrucaiting pain. Remember that car accident I was in a little over a year ago? I spent several weeks in physical therapy healing my lower back injury and was doing wonderful until little man in the tummy started growing. Turns out my injury has been re-aggrivated or whatever the term is and I'm right back where I started the day after I was smashed by two cars going 50 mph each. My only option is to see a chiropractor which has me all kinds of nervous. I do have one other option... narcotics, but that's not going to fly. #1 I don't want a drugged up Peanut and #2 I have to be able to function for my crazy Ari Bean and he and narcotics will not mesh well I'm sure.

Anyway, things are fine here other than what's been mentioned above. Ari is pretty good most of the time. He is two, I need to remember that but 6 days out of 7 he does act it. The good news is he is now sleeping in a "big boy" toddler bed and doing perfect! He goes right to sleep and only a handful of times has tried to sneek toys into bed after I've shut the door. I have eyes in the sky though (a video baby monitor) and he doesn't get away with much. Here he is chillin' in bed talking to Daddy on the phone. Adorable, I know.

I guess I can leave you with a picture of the new Little Man too. Yep, it's a boy. Not sure if I've shared that here yet but we're pretty happy. I'm slowly clearing out my scrap studio to convert it to a new nursery but like I said... very slowly. I ordered nursery bedding today, the set I wanted from Pottery Barn Kids went on sale and if you've ever shopped there you know that once things go on sale you have to act fast. I love it, it's plain and simple but so fun at the same time. I'll share pictures some time down the road but don't expect them any time soon... not being mean just being honest. I know I'm not the most punctual person lately. So, here's little man:

This was several weeks ago, we have another scan coming up and I can't wait! Nope, we don't have any names picked out yet. Picking a second name is really, really hard and we aren't even close to picking one yet. We have a while still though!

Hope you have a good weekend, I'm going to put Kiddo to bed then veg on my heating pad. It's my new nightly routine... Sudoku puzzles in bed with my heating pad on as high as it will go. Fun, huh!

Oh my gosh

2009-01-12T22:09:00.006-05:00

I feel the baby moving!!! I've wondered for about a week if that's what it was and tonight, I'm tellin' ya... this little peanut/peanuts is/are bouncing off the walls!! It's awesome, you really never forget that feeling and to know that there's a tiny baby or babies in there is the best feeling in the world. If you ask me right now, in the next 5 minutes, I'd say the nausea and misery is worth it ;) Check back when I'm feeling icky though, you never remember in the thick of it! Oh, and for those of you not aware... yes, we *may* be having twins. I know, shocker, but apparently I'm measuring a little larger than I should so we have an ultrasound on Wednesday to check things out. I'm about 12 weeks so it should be a fun one either way!

Today was a big day around here. Little Man had an appointment with his orthopedic surgeon, just a recheck of his hips. For those of you that may not know Ari was born with hip dysplasia. Specifically Congenital Subluxatable Hip Dysplasia which means that the soft tissue that holds a normal newborn hip in place did not exist in his little body at birth. It is genentic and more common in firstborn males so Ari had a triple whammy. Luckily we have a phenomonal pediatrician that caught it at birth and we were able to treat it immediately. He spent several weeks in a Pavlik Harness and as of this morning he is perfect and healed! Wearing the harness allows the hips to be stable and held in place allowing that soft tissue to grow and heal his bones into place. Xrays confirmed healthy hip tissue this morning, I was able to see todays scan next to one from his six month appointment and the difference is unbeleiveable. Here's a picture of little man in his harness, now if you ever see one out and about you know what it is and don't have to stare (hint, hint)

Gosh, look how tiny and adorable. Can you believe that he's two now? More on that later. After the all clear from his hip doctor we headed to his occupational therapy evaluation. He is currently seeing a speech therapist to help with is oral texture aversion. He's been diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder (click on it for more info, easier than typing it all out here) and will need therapy for a while to overcome his issues. The main concern that prompted our request for evaluation is his diet, he's only eaten the same handful of foods for almost 14 months now and refuses to try anything new. When, on the sparse occasion he does try something new 99% of the time he gags and/or throws up and that's just not normal. We've made significant progress already and I can only imagine that with both Speech and Occupational therapy that he will be perfect in no time. OK, he's pretty much perfect already but what can I say, I'm biased. Anyway, his OT eval... it went very well. He will need OT weekly as well but it's worth it, we have the means and opportunity to help him so why not?

So, big day! Good thing I feel really good today! Maybe I'm rounding a corner (knock on wood, really hard) or maybe it's just dumb luck.

I know I've been MIA lately, sorry for that. So much has been going on and I've been feeling so icky that I really wanted to reserve my energy for my guys. As you know Ari turned two about a week and a half ago! Two years ago I was cuddling my teeny tiny brand new baby boy. I can't believe how much has changed in two years. We have a little man now, he's so smart I can't get over it. His therapists are amazed with his knowledge base. He really is very smart, Matt and I are amazed each and every day. We are so in love with our little boy and can't wait to welcome another bundle into our amazing world. Here are pictures from the day he was born, his first birthday and his second.

So, that's that! We're caught up in a whirlwind of semi-unstable two year old behavior and semi-unstable crazy pregnant woman hormones. You can imagine what it's like to be here, haha. It is pretty wonderful though, most days at least and I just need to remember that when I'm lying on the bathroom floor too nauseous to move. Wish me luck on Wednesday, I'll let you know how it goes!

Ugh

2009-01-06T21:38:00.002-05:00

Sorry, I'm still miserable so it will be a few more days until I can post some pictures. That and my camera battery is dead and actually digging out the charger seems a little daunting to me right now. I know, I'm pathetic. Anyway, the hubs gets home tomorrow so hopefully I can have a day to rest and be back on my game! Check back Friday! The kid got a haircut that you'll want to see. It's super cute, he looks like a teenager. OK, not really but he does look older. Good night, it's 9 pm and seriously past my bed time.

I'm still here, I promise

2009-01-04T11:19:00.002-05:00

I know, terrible. I'm still here though. With all the holiday hullabaloo, Ari's birthday, sickness abound and the little one growing rapidly in my belly I haven't been one for blogging. I've been sick, every day. All day. It's taking all of me just to function for Ari and I have nothing left at the end of the day. The first trimester will be behind me in another week or so and I'm really hoping that I start to feel better.

I'll be back, it's nap time for me and the bean now but I promise I have Christmas and birthday pictures to share. Plus, my very last design team assignment with Crop Addict. I decided with everything going on that I had to lighten my load and unfortunately as much as I love designing for Debbie I must step down. I'm sad but there are many new and exciting things heading my way that I must prepare and make room for!

See you later, promise!

Call me the Grinch

2008-12-16T18:39:00.004-05:00

Yeah, that's going to be me this year. Just to fill you in a bit without this being a completely depressing post... Ari was sick all weekend with extrememly high fevers and coughing, turns out he has RSV. Yay. Well, being that I've been the one cuddling and wiping noses and all that jazz I'm fairly sure I have it now too. I'm exhausted, very exhausted to the point where I can barely get myself off the sofa. I don't think I've ever been this tired. I'm sure being pregnant isn't helping in the energy department but seriously today all I want to do is curl up in a ball and pass out.

So, to the Grinch part. I've decided that we are not sending out Christmas cards this year. We had the picture for it taken Friday but there's no way on Earth I have the energy to make and send however many cards are on my list. So... I'll be posting what was going to be our card here on the blog and emailing everyone the link. Sorry, it's the best I can do. Something has to give or I'm afraid I'll end up more sick than I need to be and this was it. I hope you all understand that I need to take care of myself and the little baby, the big baby (Ari) and Matt first. Don't hate me or if you do just don't tell me to my face!

I've also cancelled our Ohio Christmas trip. No way I'm taking a kid with a fever of 105 on an airplane... I'm sure you understand that one too! BTW, his fever is down to around 102-103 today so we're making progress but he's basically a bump on a log. I don't think he's played with a single toy yet today and he was asking to go to bed at 5:15 tonight! Poor baby. Cross your fingers that we all get over this ickiness and don't need to go back to the hospital!

Dang.

2008-12-07T18:22:00.004-05:00

It's been a while~ Sorry. It's been a crazy week or so! First of all, I should show you my December Crop Addict creations. The kit was perfect for me this month. Half the papers were Christmas theme and the other half were white/blue/green and of course as soon as I saw them I knew they would be perfect for Ari's birthday pictures. His birthday is just a couple days after Christmas so I make sure to really seperate them. Anyway, here you go...

Oh, uh... yeah. That last one is mine, the test that is. We've been trying for several months now and had a little setback a few months ago. This one seems good though, I've been to the Dr. and everything looks fine. We will welcome a new little one next summer and couldn't be more thrilled. I feel great so far, just completely wiped out lately. I cleaned Ari's room today and we moved some furniture (Matt did the heavy stuff) and I had to take a nap after. Pathetic. I'm already chubby too which is slightly annoying but as my mother in law said, she doesn't really feel bad for me when my fat pants are a size 4. Hehe... whoops. I've heard your belly grows quicker with the second one too!

Other than the baby stuff we've been getting ready for Christmas. We cut our tree down this past week. I have yet to decorate it but plan to at least put the lights on tonight after Bean is in bed. It's next to impossible to do anything with him awake and I've been wanting to sleep while he's asleep lately so nothing is getting done 'round here. Oh well, we're the only ones that notice so it's no biggie. Hopefully I'll have it decorated before Santa arrives!

Well, it's time to put the kid to bed so I'm off. Enjoy your week if I don't make it back and cross your fingers that I don't get any visits from the morning sickness fairy!

I just realized something

2008-11-30T15:44:00.004-05:00

Did anyone else notice that they completely skipped the video tape part of Twilight where James explains why he's there... all that stuff about Alice? Isn't that pretty important? How are they going to continue the story? I know, I'm a nerd but I just realized that and had to get it out. Leave a comment with your thoughts, I'd appreciate it!

A new season, a new look

2008-11-29T20:20:00.003-05:00

Thought I'd spruce up the blog a bit, what do you think? I think Christmas is my most favorite time of year and I love that I can have my blog reflect that! Next I'll change out the music but maybe tomorrow.

We got back from our Thanksgiving in Louisville last night and I'm still beat from the trip. Ari wasn't the smoothest traveller on the way there and it took a lot out of me. A LOT. I now know the cost of my sanity is $338, the price of a new stroller and car seat. I'll spare you the gory details... trust me, it was brutal. Anyway, once we arrived all was good again. I had my fantastic Mother In Law to the rescue, she even met me at the gate in the airport where I literally passed off my kid like a football. Good thing she was there, I needed her! She's always there when I need her though and I am incredibly grateful for that. Mother in laws get a bad rap but she is truly awesome, I am very lucky to have her in my life!

Anyway, we had an awesome holiday. Matt arrived Wednesday evening and we were able to spend Thanksgiving day as a family. Dick, my father in law, is an amazing cook and the turkey he prepared is easily the best I've ever had. I didn't take my camera but when they send me the pictures I'll be sure to post them. That bird was gorgeous and very tasty! We played cards and ate until we couldn't get up from the table, a truly perfect day.

As I mentioned, I didn't take my camera on the trip but I'll post pictures when they send them. It was a great week, we've only been home a day and I miss them already. Good thing Christmas and Ari's birthday are only a short 4 weeks away.

I hate to keep this short (and relatively boring, sorry) but I'm very sleepy and am going to go to bed early. Ari is in bed and Matt won't be home until later tonight so no harm done! Good night everyone, stay warm!

Today is THE day!

2008-11-21T10:55:00.000-05:00

I'll be there tonight, just a few more hours... I cannot wait!

Whew, tagged again.

2008-11-14T15:20:00.002-05:00

My friend Laura tagged me again and since I don't have anything interesting to report from Wiebke World I thought I'd spurt out some more random facts. I'm not going to tag anyone else though since I've run out of people :(

1. I watched ER last night and sobbed like a baby the whole time. Matt called to say goodnight and thought something was really wrong. I tend to get wrapped up in shows I love and this one was gut wrenching. I won't spoil it unless you'd TiVo'd it... just be sure to have a box of tissues near when you watch it.

2. I hate doing the dishes, like really hate it. If there's any way I can eat without using dishes that need to be washed I do it. That generally means I'm eating out of the container it was cooked in because I don't like to use paper or plastic either. I think it's wasteful. I've even skipped lunch once or twice because my kitchen has been cleaned and I don't want to mess it up.

3. I am a Democrat and I voted for Barack Obama. I try to keep politics and religion off my blog because those areas are so controversial but my faith in politics has been renewed recently. For the first time in nearly a decade I can say that I am proud to be an American and since this is my blog and all, why not share it here too. I cannot wait to see what the next four or eight years will bring!

4. I don't like fish. Only when my father in law cooks it (or my mother in law, she's awesome too) will I eat it and actually enjoy it.

5. I miss my family. My brother and my in laws. I haven't seen them enough recently and that makes me sad. I feel like Ari is growing by leaps and bounds and I wish they were closer to see it in person. I need to make time to go visit more often but it's hard, I don't want to bother anyone. *I just saw my dad last weekend, that's why he's not on this list. I usually miss him too, just as much as the others!

6. We got a Wii this week. Matt kicked my butt in boxing and tennis and bowling and every other game we played. How is it that I can practice and practice and he can pick it up once and knock my socks off? Men.

7. I don't believe in "gender roles" for children, or anyone for that matter. This issue was brought up on my moms website and many mommies feel their sons shouldn't be allowed to play with "girl" toys and won't allow it. I think that's a little wrong in my opinion and hope that I am raising a well rounded little boy. Not one that just wants to run around shooting stuff and scratching himself. Ari has a baby doll and a play kitchen as well as his cars and dinosaurs. If he shows interest in something I don't want to let society dictate wether it's appropriate. Does that make sense?

I'm sure I may have offended people with my random facts but I've had a lot of stuff weighing on me lately. I think I need to ponder some more but the other part of me says to just push it all aside and continue on my merry way. I have a lot on my plate right now so I think that's what I'll do. Anyway, sorry for all the randomness and I hope I haven't made anyone mad.

And the winner is:

2008-11-12T22:33:00.002-05:00

Jenn!!! Yay girlie, thanks for being such a loyal blog stalker ;) I'll get your goodies in the mail and promise to sit down and get you that email as soon as I get more than 2 minutes on the computer uninterrupted. Thank you to everyone that checks on me, I really appreciate it. I'll be back with an update and pictures from our Florida trip but I have a raging headache and a massive to do list for tomorrow so I think I need to hit the hay!

Holy Cow, a giveaway!

2008-11-07T09:43:00.004-05:00

Wow, I just noticed that I have had over 10,000 hits on the ole' blog!! Wow, who knew my crazy life would be that interesting or that my scrap stuff would be so popular!! So, to celebrate I'll do a little giveaway. Leave a comment by Monday and I'll randomly pick one and send you some scrappy goodies. I have lots of stuff that I've just cleaned out, most of it is pretty new too. Thanks for reading along with me, I'll see you Monday!

More eye candy!

2008-11-03T09:36:00.007-05:00

As you know I've been doing some work for a new scrapbook store here in town called Southern Scrapbooks. Holly, the owner, used to be a Fiskateer. In fact, she was the #1 Fiskateer and now a Legend and I think that is so totally cool! She and I were meant to be friends and working with her is amazingly fun. I find myself wanting to go to the store way too much but I guess that's not a bad thing. Anyway, I thought I'd share some of my creations for the store.

Have you seen the new My Mind's Eye Laundry Line? Seriously, glitter papers and ribbons and stamps and super fun embellies... I am in love and want to buy the whole thing! Here's two layouts and a card. The first one is obviously Matt skiing in Wisconsin this year. He is such a rockstar, he can slalom and get up on just one ski, not two and have to drop one. It is so fun to watch him, as I was scrapping this last night I found myself wishing we were at the lake right now but it's probably snowing up there right now so not as fun.

This next one I used pictures that Holly gave me. It's the little girl that her mom babysit's I think and she is so adorable, I just want to squish her. I'm severely lacking in the "girl pictures" department so it was fun to glam it up.

And this one is just a little card that I had to make with the houndstooth glitter paper. I'm on a card making kick lately so this was fun to do. The stamp is from MME and I just used VersaMark, not ink. I love that watermark look on cardstock!

The titles for the layouts were cut with my new love, the QuicKutz. Seriously, love it. Getting one for myself ;) I used the Nutmeg font and the Blossom font and I think they are perfect. I love that you can cut out the letters you need, no more running out of 't' or 'e' since you can just cut another one!

I did a couple Christmas layouts too since it's so quickly approaching. Less than two months, sheesh. This first one I did to showcase the new Lil' Davis foil paper. I love this picture of Ari on Santa's lap, he was like "who is this and why am I sitting on his lap???". Too cute!

This next one I did for the QuicKutz class on Tuesday. I love this new border die of the Christmas lights. It's so easy to use, this whole layout took me under 15 minutes! Again, the Nutmeg font too and yes I realize the 'i' is missing... I think it got left at the store so I'll just add it when I go in today. Nothing slows me down though ;)

I also made a turkey tag napkin ring for Thanksgiving but it's not quite done yet. I can't decide if I want it to say "Gobble" or not and am letting Holly make that decision. I'll share it when I figure out what it will look like in the end. Well, I think that's enough for now. I have to go take the kid back to the Dr. in a few minutes. He's not doing any better, still pulling on his ears and just miserable so I think we need to alter his course of treatment. Wish us luck, I hate that my little man isn't feeling well. Although you should see him right now... he's watching a Jack's Big Music Show video and dancing with a tape measure singing "love, love" over and over... too cute.

Eye Candy!

2008-11-02T09:47:00.003-05:00

It's November which means it's time to share my Crop Addict Kit creations! This month the kit was absolutely GORGEOUS! The whole Fancy Pants fall line plus Scrap Within Reach, lots of fun embellies and of course Bazzill cardstock. I had so much fun working with this kit. You can probably tell the layouts that I did before Ari got sick and the layout I did after~ sorry about that Debbie. I just totally fell off the creative wagon and am really not happy with the turnout but what can you do? I still have one more layout to add to this too but it's still sitting upstairs on my table. I'll get it posted after Matt gets home to help me out today.

In other news the kid is still sick. I tried weaning down the Tylenol and he woke up twice last night crying and rubbing his little head :( This morning he was pretty uncomfortable too, really sad and pulling on both ears. So, it looks like we're headed back to the doctor tomorrow. She said if he was still showing signs of discomfort to bring him back in. I feel so bad for him, I hate that he's in pain and it's really sad that when I ask him if he wants "drops" he runs to me yelling "Yeah!!". Poor baby. Thankfully Matt gets to come home today because we both need it. Well, I have a ton of cleaning to do and I think skipping breakfast was not a good idea because my tummy is rumbly. I'll be back later with more eye candy. Oh, I will be putting Ari's costume on at some point so look for those pics too!

Hmm, question:

2008-11-01T16:12:00.001-04:00

Would it be totally stupid and nuts to put Ari in his costume today just so I have some pictures of him in it? We missed out on all the Halloween fun because he's sick but does that mean I have to miss out on all the scrappy goodness that goes along with it? What would you do? Help a scrap-addict out...

Tag, I'm it!

2008-10-31T18:23:00.003-04:00

My friend Kim blog tagged me and since I have nothing better to write, here you go! Oh, even if I did have something better to write I'd still play along because these things are fun and I like my friend ;) So, here's how it goes... I tell you 7 things you may not know about me then I tag 7 people and link you to their blogs. They take it from there.

1. I don't like bananas. I love banana flavored things but actual bananas creep me out.
2. If I could live anywhere in the US it would probably be the New England coastal area. I love beaches and think it's gorgeous up there. I've sort of had enough of the south.
2. I'm really ready for another baby. We've been "trying" for 5 months to no avail and it's wearing on me. Ari came to us so easily which makes it even harder, plus I'm no good at waiting. All about instant gratification over here ;)
3. Like my friend Kim I think I have more online friends than real life friends. It's easier that way, I'm lazy!
4. I will probably have cereal for dinner tonight. I have a sick kid and he's sucking the brain power out of me, all I want to do is curl up and sleep but Mommies don't get sick days!
5. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I will be spending it alone on my couch. Ari is sick and Matt's at work. I don't even get any candy (insert pathetic whining now)...
6. I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year, so much so that I'm done with my shopping! I can't wait to see Ari's reaction to the cool things Santa is bringing. I'm like a big ole' toddler at heart!
7. Man... I need to think of something good. My other "facts" are pretty lame... I'm fresh out though. If I think of something I'll come back, promise!

Now, I tag:

1. Christina
2. Virginia
3. Michelle
4. Jen and Amy (two for the price of one!!)
5. Deanna
6. Amanda
7. Jennifer

Well, the hubs is calling in between flights so I gotta run. Enjoy your halloween and cross your fingers that my little man gets over this double ear infection and cold pronto!

9 more days

2008-10-26T19:15:00.002-04:00

Until this election crap is behind us. I can't wait. I recently saw something that said "If only closed minds came with closed mouths" and that's how I've been feeling lately. I'm irked and I'm tired of the commercials and "campaigning" and can't wait for it all to be over with. Just had to get that off my chest.

Whew, what a week

2008-10-25T18:34:00.003-04:00

Things are temporarily slowed down a bit here. I needed a break so I created one. Ari and I were supposed to go to a school carnival today but I had a massive headache so we stayed home and took a nap. I felt guilty for a few minutes but I really think if we had gone I would have ended up sick. I'm one of those "get a headache and it makes me SO nauseous" kind of people. If I don't get on top of it I can be out of commission for days and since Matt's at work I don't have the luxury of getting sick.

Anyway, yesterday we went to a birthday party for our neighbor boy, Cole. It was at a farm and they had tons of things to do. Cole was turning 6 and the party was obviously geared for 6 year olds so it was a little stressful for me. I've decided that from now on (until the kid is a few years older) that if we have a party to go to for older kids I will not go without Matt. I physically can't keep track of Ari and there were several unsafe situations that made me nervous. They have horses at the farm and they are fenced in but the fence is electric. That would be potential problem #1. They had a "cow train" that I thought would be fun for him too but they drove like maniacs and IF he would have gone near it I don't think I would have let him ride on it. Potential problem #2. Then, the slate stairs. Potentail problem #3. Oh, and the bonfire. I think I'll leave it at that. It was a super cool party though, don't get me wrong. Just way too much for this overprotective mamma. I will definately be keeping that place in mind for next year, maybe a Halloween/fall party with all of our friends and family. I didn't take any pictures because I had my hands full the whole time.

Did I tell you that we had family pictures taken last week? We went to Portrait Innovations because I had an awesome coupon and it's been almost a year since we've had a picture with the three of us in it. Terrible, I know. Anyway, here's a sneek peek...

Ari was a little difficult to work with but that's to be expected. He's almost 2 and the staff there was WONDERFUL. The photographer did a fantastic job. I wish we would have had our video camera or something so you could see how he was truly behaving. He was wiggly and squirmy and screaming and running away but you would never know it by the shots that she was able to get. She didn't mess around either, when she knew she had the shot she moved on and I greatly appreciated that. We were in and out with all of our pictures in less than an hour.

Tomorrow I think we may go to Michelle's to visit for a bit. Ari has been asking for "ewwa" all week and I feel bad that he hasn't been able to spend time with her. We have plans nearly every day during the week so if we don't do it tomorrow I don't know when we will have the chance.

I'll be back tomorrow with some scrappy eye candy too but that means I need to get my rear off the computer and actually create something. Ciao!

No news is good news, right?

2008-10-23T22:41:00.003-04:00

Man, I tell ya. I have every intention of blogging but tell myself, "I'll do it later" and later never seems to come. Things have been absolutely wonderful here and I have been thoroughly enjoying life lately. Ari has been going to a sitter twice a week for some away from Mommy time and I have enjoyed having a few hours to myself. He is back in Gymboree or "buree buree" as he calls it. He also has a new playgroup that meets on Monday mornings. It's more just for us moms to chat but the kids play wonderfully together. It's just him and two other toddlers and he thrives in small group settings so it's a win-win!

Speaking of the little one... He is growing by leaps and bounds! Not physically, he's still the same size he was last year but man is his vocabulary exploding. Every day he says at least a dozen new words and is starting to speak in short sentences! It's so cool, I find myself staring at him with my mouth wide open and more than a few times I've yelled "Did you hear that Daddy?" I am so in awe with him, even not so good days are still amazing. We're still having eating issues but are slowly working through it. I've gotten some great therapist referrals from some mommy friends and we're keeping that door open if we need to go that route in the near future.

I've been involved in some new and exciting ventures lately too. I'm participating in a vendor fair where I will be selling handmade cards and various other holiday items. I have some orders already and couldn't be more excited! Oh, I went out with a friend for coffee this morning and we stopped by a new scrapbook store in our town. While we were there I was chatting with the new owner, she's SO cute and sweet and lo & behold I walked out with a job! I know, shocking! It's not a "real" job, I will be designing for the store and I've already started three projects with three more on the horizon. I will be teaching classes also and I couldn't be more excited. How cool is it to be getting paid for doing something that you love so much. I am just waiting for things to come crashing down around me because no one can be this immensly happy and not have it fall apart. I'm just going to continue crossing my fingers!

I've mentioned a few new mommy friends and that's another good thing that's happened. I joined our local "branch" of The Mommies Network! It's an online community but local at the same time. I've met dozens of mommies and kiddos and made some great new friends. We have Moms Night Out at least once a month and endless playdates. Ari and I are both thriving and I think Matt is enjoying our new almost always happy and cheerful demeanor! Man, again it's a win-win for everyone involved!

Ari and I will be going to Florida to visit my dad in a few weeks. He has relocated to Jacksonville and while it wasn't technically his choice things seem to be going well. With this disaster of an economy you have to do what you have to do and while he gave up his dream location he gained a better paying job. In the end it will all work out I'm sure. Anyway, he called a few days ago and asked if I would be willing to come down and help him with a project. Of course I said yes and asked what was going on. Apparently there is an elementary school near his new workplace and 4 children that go to that school have died tragically this school year. One child was hit by a car speeding through the crosswalk after school. Another was a victim of domestic violence and died of a gunshot wound. Yet another was a victim of gunshot, he and his mom were carjacked. The fourth drowned in a swimming pool. More than once I have cried for these children and their families and as I type this the tears start again. My heart is broken, I don't even know what to say. I can say that I will NEVER take for granted how truly fortunate I am. There aren't words. I will be helping many volunteers build a memorial garden for these poor children, taking photographs of the memorial garden event and creating scrapbooks for each family and the school. It's the absolute least I can do.

Well, talk about ending on a sour note. I just don't know what else to follow that with. I'm heading to bed, I have some very full days ahead of me. We have a birthday party tomorrow for our adorable neighbor boy. It's at a lodge and there will be pony rides, a petting zoo, hayride and tons of other fun things. You can bet I'll be taking my camera!! Saturday we were invited to a local school carnival and I think it sounds fun, if for no other reason that to get some cotton candy. Yes, I am a big giant child at heart!! See you later, hopefully I'll have the energy to share some pictures with you.

Heads up!

2008-10-11T18:14:00.001-04:00

This weekend Crop Addict is hosting a cyber crop! It started yesterday and runs through Sunday night. My challenge and game are about to start so head on over for tons of fun and fantastic prizes!!! Hope to see you there!

Randomness

2008-10-09T22:44:00.002-04:00

*Vacation is over, the hubs is officially back to the grind. While I do miss him I have to say it's nice to have the TV back ;)

*I am so totally enamored with my lil' guy. He's getting WAY too big and amazes me all day long.

*Had a blast showing a new friend all about scrapbooking today, I think I may have created an addict! It's always fun to be an enabler ;)

*Watched CSI and ER tonight, bawled like a freakin' baby and now my head hurts.

*It's very blustery here today, all foggy and moist but still warm. Strange.

*Had little man try on his Halloween costume today, he's totally afraid of it and screams if I try to put him in it.

*Busted out the autumn and Halloween decorations, the house is all yummy with decorations!

Well, I guess that's all for now. I have a list of errands to run tomorrow and I'm beat. I think I hear my bed calling me...

Can you believe

2008-10-07T23:29:00.005-04:00

How absolutely adorable our little boy is? I mean seriously, how cute is this?

I know I'm biased but you have to admit that's a pretty cute face. We went pumpkin picking today and had such a good time! We listened to a little old lady dressed like a pumpkin talk about everything pumpkin related. Of course Ari was more interested in jumping off the little patio we were on than listening to the story. In his defense she was pretty boring but what can you do?

After the story we went on the hayride. She drove all around the farm and played cheesy kids music, there were several older kids on the hayride with us and they were singing along. It was pretty cute! Ari loved it, so did the rest of our group. Our babysitter Kristen and her 2 year old Sage came with us along with my new friend Sandy, her daughter Lilly and little Joel whom she babysits for. Michelle and Ella were supposed to come but since Ari might have a cold they decided to stay away :( Here's all of them, Sage is the 'big' girl in the back, the one that looks like she could be Ari's twin!

After the hayride we played on the playground and picked out our pumpkins. I'm glad we went today because they only had about three dozen pumpkins left. Ari was interested in them for... oh, about two seconds. The rest of the time he wanted to go down the slide with Daddy and Joel!

I learned today, too, that getting 4 kids to sit still long enough for a picture is no easier this year than it was last year. Guess it will be a little while before I can expect that. Everyone had a great time though, there was this sheltered area full of loose straw that the kids had an absolute blast playing in. They were all throwing handfuls in the air and giggling. It was priceless!

All in all it was a pretty great day! There were a couple little meltdowns but that's to be expected! We got some really cute pumpkins which is great since we're having a pumpkin carving party Sunday! I have at least 10 people coming and everyone is super excited. I can't wait either, I absolutely love Fall!!!

Blah.

2008-10-06T14:23:00.003-04:00

I started a post a couple days ago and have not had the energy to finish it. The kiddo is sick, he has a terrible cough :( A few days ago he was splish splashing in the bathtub and poured a whole cup of water right down on his face. He was holding the cup up over his head and trying to look in it, of course to see in the cup while it's over your head you have to tip it over. Thus the water in the face. His mouth was wide open, water was pouring out of his little nose and I'm fairly sure he inhaled a good bit of it. That's where the cough comes in.

We took him to the Dr. just to make sure, he's never coughed like this before. She said there's a fall cold going around and that he probably has a sore throat too. Poor guy. He's been very clingy and not sleeping well. We all know when the kid doesn't sleep neither do the parents.

Anyway, now I'm sick. I have a sore throat and am completely exhausted. It doesn't help that I drove all over creation today looking for a table for my foyer and every store I went to was closed. It's Monday people, Monday. I know I'm just crabby from lack of sleep and not feeling well but it's very frustrating, especially when gas is still very hard to find and pretty darn close to $4 a gallon.

I think I'm going to go take a nap. I have a million and one things to do today and it's making me even more tired to think about it. I'll catch up with you later, we're going pumpkin picking tomorrow so I'll have pictures to share!

Welcome October

2008-10-01T16:01:00.003-04:00

I think October is one of my favorite months. There's so much to do, the weather starts cooling off and it's the jump start to my two favorite seasons. It's pleasant here today, in the high 70's but it started cool which is what I like.

Today was Gymboree day, we're officially back full swing. He is loving it, his class is fairly small and he can just run and have fun. We don't push him to do the structured activities, maybe we should but I think he's got enough time ahead where he'll be required to participate. I just want him to have fun now and go where he pleases. He's learning so much and I really don't want to stifle that. Is that the right word, stifle? You know what I mean though. Anyway, after Gymboree we went to lunch at PeiWei and ran a couple errands before coming home for nap time.

We played outside a bit this afternoon, I took pictures but they're still on my camera. We found two more massive ant hills so we came inside. Matt is boiling water as we speak. I can't believe how many there are, I don't remember them being this bad last year. Oh well, one more thing about the yard I guess. I think we're going to have Orkin come out and treat the yard and house. I don't feel comfortable letting Ari play outside with killer ants taking over. These are the kind that swarm you and bite and bite. It's terrible, I've truly never seen anything like it and it hurts SO bad for days!

Well, tonight I'm going to a show with Michelle at Blumenthal uptown. It's called Mother Lode and looks really funny. I'll tell you all about it when I get home but now I must feed the kid and get ready. I'll leave you with some more scrappy stuff. The manufacturer challenge this month is Scenic Route, LOVE them. Be sure to head over and play along. I can imagine the prize is going to be amazing!!

Windy Hill & some layouts

2008-09-30T17:13:00.005-04:00

We finally found some gas for the car, it took about 4 days! We have enough to last another few days which is good since our area is still pretty much out of gas. The stations in our town, there are about 4, have been out for over a week and hopefully should get some tomorrow but who knows. They've been saying that for days but every pump still has a litle bag over it. Oh well, what can you do.

Anyway, since we had a full tank we decided to go apple picking yesterday. Silly me didn't even think to check the weather channel though and it was blazing hot. I'm talking over 80 at ten in the morning, way too hot for a fall activity. We got there and it turned out the tour we were supposed to take doesn't 'run' on Mondays so we just wandered around on our own. They had chickens and roosters out running around and Ari thought it was so fun to chase them. Matt was afraid he'd get pecked but I made him let Ari loose and it was too cute. Of course the chickens ran from him but he just ran right behind them. It was adorable. We took his wagon and I'm so glad we did because we walked quite a bit and he's not one to follow. He's much happier creating his own path and just takes off. It was fun but we didn't stay long since it was so stinkin' hot. Just as well, Ari fell asleep in the car on the way home. I did get some strawberry butter and pumpkin butter from the little stand that they had and oh boy is it delicious! I had some of the pumpkin butter on my pancakes this morning, yum!

So, all in all I'd go apple picking again but definately on a day when they have the tour and the weather is cooler.

Now, for some scrappy creations. It's the end of the month which means I can share my Crop Addict October layouts. This kit was so fun, crammed with KI Memories and Piggy Tales. I actually have a couple more things to make tonight but I thought I'd share what I already have done.

I have a few more thing to create tonight, like I mentioned before and I was lucky enough to work with a very generous manufacturer this month as well. I'll share those creations as soon as I'm given permission so stay tuned!

smarty pants!

2008-09-27T20:42:00.002-04:00

Lil' guy is getting too smart. He learned this in less than a week and trust me when I say he was completely unpromted in all of what you are about to see!!

I'm no good at this

2008-09-25T23:25:00.003-04:00

Am I? Seems life has just been getting in the way lately.

I've been scrapping like mad, re-arranging my house and garage, playing with the kid (he's getting so stinkin' smart) and enjoying Matt's two week vacation. Are we going anywhere you ask?

No.

We don't have any gas. We were supposed to go apple picking today, no gas. When are we going to get some you ask? According to the gas station lady, "when the truck shows up". Fantastic.

Gives the term "staycation" a whole new meaning. Guess it's a good thing I have about a million and one things to do around here. I still don't like feeling trapped though. I can't go anywhere even if I want to and that makes me feel a little clausterphobic.

I did go to a Mom's Night Out tonight with my local mommies group. I wouldn't have been able to go were it not for a sweet new friend picking me up on her way! I should make her a card. Lord knows I have the time.

I promise I'll be back with pictures tomorrow but it's nearly midnight and I'm exhausted. The Bean is cutting teeth and was up about half a dozen times last night. Ouch.

Betcha think I forgot about you!

2008-09-17T21:31:00.005-04:00

But I didn't! I've been out of town, I went on a fabulous scrapbook cruise with my friend Debbie and have been attempting to settle back into "normal" around here. I think the easiest way to tell you about my adventures this past week would be to break it down each day, so here we go!

Wednesday: Matt and Ari took me to the airport and I flew to Ft. Lauderdale to meet Debbie. We stayed in a hotel to make sure we were both there in time to board the ship. Debbie had a terrible sinus infection and didn't feel well at all so we had a quick dinner and went to bed fairly early. Ari did very well, he didn't cry at all when I left. I'm sure having Daddy and Grandma at his beck and call helped that, he was SO spoiled all week I'm sure!

Thursday: We headed to the pier to board the ship and tie up a few loose ends relating to the scrapbook part of our trip. The ship was incredible, by far the biggest boat I've ever seen. This was my first cruise so I was soaking it all in. There was a casino, night club, something like three pools and half a dozen hot tubs, a spa and a theatre for live shows in the evenings. Of course there was the formal dining room, it was two stories tall! Oh, and the rock climbing wall and bungee jumping too! We left the port around dinner time and it was such a strange feeling to be moving (fast, I might add) but not moving, if that makes sense.

Friday: We docked in Key West early in the morning. Debbie and I had breakfast at the Windjammer Marketplace which was the buffet area. Man, the food was incredible! Even for a buffet, it was so fresh and yummy. I think I gained about ten pounds last week, that's the only not so good part of the trip. Anyway, in Key West I really wanted to go to the Southernmost point in the US so we walked. It was very hot and humid but we survived. On the way to the point we passed the Lighthouse so we popped in. We walked up Duval Street on our way back to the pier and browsed the shops and bars. I like Key West, I'd love to go back someday when I have more time. We had to be back on the boat by 2 to set sail for Cozumel. We had a scrap class that afternoon and our Formal dinner that evening. I love to dress up so it was fun for me. Oh, and I totally ate escargo! Debbie even took pictures to prove it. It was pretty good, covered in a garlic butter sauce which makes pretty much anything good! Oh, while we're at dinner everynight our cabin steward comes by for turndown service. We had mints on our pillow and they made cute little towel animals out of our pool towels every day. So fun! We had another scrap class after dinner and went to bed after class.

Saturday: WooHoo, Cozumel!! We docked around 10 or so but we wanted to eat breakfast first. We had to be back on the ship at 1 to take care of some scrap things so we took a cab Downtown to do some shopping and sight seeing before lunch. It was really hot again but we still had fun. It's really fun for me just to watch people, especially in other countries, and see how they live on a day to day basis. I had a great time! We had lunch on the ship while we were checking on things and after lunch we rented a Jeep to drive to the beaches. Debbie has been to Cozumel before so she knew all the good spots. I'm thinking there was a pretty massive hurricane that hit the island a couple years ago and Debbie said it was AMAZING the amount of damage it left behind. The sand beaches were all but gone! In it's place were rocky cliffs with waves crashing all around. It was gorgeous to see but not swimmer friendly so we drove around until we found a better spot. I love seeing all the little roadside stands and bars and shops. There were a few guys kiteboarding, we watched them for a while then just sat on the beach and enjoyed the view. Back on the boat we had dinner in the dining room again and scrapped some that evening. We were both pretty worn out and didn't have much energy to scrap so we walked around the boat then went to the room and ordered room service. We were so excited because we thought we'd get to go to bed at a decent hour but by the time our room service arrived and we watched a movie and chatted it was after 1 in the morning. Oops! It was great fun though, I very much enjoyed getting to know Debbie even more!

Sunday we were at sea all day so we did a scrap class and walked around the ship a bit. Debbie is like, Goddess of the Sea so we were invited to take a tour of the Bridge (which is where they pilot the boat incase you are like me and didn't know, I thought it was a secret bridge to somewhere. Duh). Anyway, we met the crew and saw all the insturments that they use. It was pretty cool! It was actually a pretty relaxing day, did a little shopping on the boat, ate, ate some more... I can't wait to go back! We packed up our bags that evening since we were leaving pretty early the next morning. All in all it was an incredible week and just what I needed! I'm trying to talk Matt into letting me go in March to Western Mexico! I could use some help if anyone is willing ;)

Monday we disembarked the boat and headed to the airport to catch our flights home. I missed my guys SO much! I was fine while I was on the boat but once I was sitting alone in the boarding area it hit me. I was able to catch an earlier flight to Charlotte, ditch my bags in the car and fly to Louisville to pick up my little Bean! I called Sharon to check on him and she told me the power was out at their house! Apparently Ike did some serious damage while we were gone. I had no idea. As far as I know they still don't have power, going on 5 days now! Yikes! Matt got home last night from work so we're enjoying some nice quiet family time here at home, just the three of us. Ari and I went to a play date this morning then Matt and I took him to Gymboree. We're officially back in Gym classes, after seeing the sheer joy in Ari's face today I cannot take him out. He had SO much fun, clapping and yelling YAY the whole time. He did have a rough day though, he fell twice and has both a ginormous goose egg on his forhead and his first ever scrape under his little chin :( Poor guy. Anyway, I'll leave you with a picture of his adorable little face. I'm exhausted and this post took over an hour so I'm going to bed. I do have some scrappy creations to share with you later this week so stay tuned!

Update and a funny:

2008-09-05T18:09:00.003-04:00

We decided not to go to Florida, Ari is coming down with a cold and I think travelling with him will be more hassle than it's worth.

Anyway, we took Matt to the airport and swung by Target for some odds and ends. I came home and turned on the evening news, they're saying they will have full coverage of Hanna and to stay tuned for updates on power outages. Um, if the power is out how am I going to watch TV?

What's new?

2008-09-05T09:45:00.003-04:00

I realize it's been way too long since I've put "real" pictures on the old blog. I know I put my scrap creations on here but I'm sure some of you don't come for the creative inspiration but to see Ari! Well, we really haven't done a whole lot lately but I'll share what I have!

Ari got a new play kitchen, he loves it. He makes coffee for Matt and pours it in his little cups. He even says "glug glug glug" when he pours, it's way too cute!

He has a major shoe fetish. He only seems interested in my shoes for whatever reason. When Dick and Sharon were here visiting last week we found him trapsing around in Sharon's glittery flip flops. I think "sparkle" is his color!

He is fascinated with the tree in our front yard. He likes to hug it and peek around it. A little tree hugger already ;)

We've also gone to a couple festivals, Matthews Alive and the Greek Festival in Charlotte yesterday. Ari is officially not a fan of carnival rides! I rode the carousel with him at Matthews Alive and he was stiff as a board the whole time. He didn't know what to think and as soon as we stopped he grabbed onto me and wouldn't let go! At the Greek Festival he rode a little spinny ride with Michelle and Ella and cried the whole time, he looked so scared. We put him and Ella on the baby ferris wheel and he didn't like that either. We're not going to torture him any more, he's just like his dad. Matt hates roller coasters too!

Today we are headed down to Florida to have dinner with Dad and Brian. It's been a couple months since Dad has seen Ari and Matt will be there for work tonight so it's a win win! We will be back tomorrow and hopefully Hanna will have passed us completely by the time we get home tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Right now...

2008-09-04T13:17:00.002-04:00

I am printing pictures for my SCRAPBOOK CRUISE!! Yeah, that's right! This time next week I will be setting sail for the Florida Keys and Cozumel on a scrapbook cruise!! My friend Debbie from Crop Addict called a couple weeks ago and invited me to help her on her cruise, she's teaching all of the classes as well as coordinating the entire trip so I get to be her assistant. I think she figured since we fly for free and I don't have a "real" job (my words, not hers!) that it would be easy for me to come and she was right. Sharon is going to help with Ari for two days while Matt's at work and I am incredibly grateful for her to be able to help on such short notice. I couldn't have hand picked a better Mother In Law, she makes a lot of things possible for me and I love her! This will be a much needed break from reality and any time there's sun and sand I can't pass it up!

I will be sure to post tons and tons of pictures when I get back. This will be my first cruise, my first time to the Keys and my first time to Cozumel! I can't wait, did I mention how excited I am? Matt bought me a super cute new dress for my birthday (which was Monday, I think I forgot to mention that) to wear on the ship. He's so sweet, he said right away that we would find a way for me to go. I wish he could come too but I don't think he would have much fun scrapping with a bunch of girls for six days!

We are headed out to the Yiasou Greek Festival with Michelle and Ella today. Ari is STILL sleeping, we put him down for an early nap at 10:15 (it's now 1:30). I guess the waking up every two hours for three nights in a row is finally catching up with him. I don't know what's going on with him, teething or nightmares or what. I do know it's exhausting though. Matt got to come home early from work due to Gustav, thank goodness. Now we just have to wait and see what Hanna is going to do to his trip on Saturday! Good thing he still gets paid when the flights cancel!

Well, enough blabbering. I need to get back to picture printing. I'll post some pics of the festival later today!

Scrappy goodness!

2008-09-03T20:34:00.005-04:00

It's the beginning of the month which means lots of new scrappy projects to share! The kit over at Crop Addict was incredible this month. I always say that but Debbie really never lets me down. I had a blast with this kit and you will too if you hurry over and snatch one before they're sold out!

I even made a little accordian album out of a piece of cardstock! I filled it with pictures of Ari and his cousin Landon. They are buds for sure and I wanted to remember how much they enjoy each other!

The manufacturer sponser this month is Dream Street! You can create anything using 70% Dream Street products and be entered to win a yummy prize pack from them! I was able to use the Birdie Bits line by Audrey Neal, so cute!

Ooh, I made this super cute sign for my downstairs bathroom door! People are always asking which door the bathroom is so I thought I'd clear things up. I love it, it's so cute that I pretty much leave it up wether we have company or not!

I know I still owe some "real" pictures of things we've been up to lately. I'm way far behind and I apologize. It's been a little crazy around here lately and I've had a lot on my plate this past week but things are starting to calm down. I still have some very exciting news to share with everyone. Not the news I thought I'd have to share but still pretty awesome. Hang in there, I'll spill the beans in a day or so!

Where do I start...

2008-08-27T22:22:00.002-04:00

Do you ever find that you have nothing to blog about so you wait a day or two only to realize that you had a TON of stuff you could have blogged about but now you're so far behind it's not even worth it? That's me... if you understood any of that. I'm very tired which is strange considering I took a two hour nap yesterday and today. Bear with me if some of this is long winded or typo'd.

This past weekend Dick and Sharon came for a visit! We were just in Louisville about two weeks ago to see them but it's always nice when they get to see Ari in his "element". He's something else, that's for sure. Every morning I wake up and he looks SO much bigger and every day he's doing something new and amazing us in every way. Do you know that he now knows three colors and a dozen body parts! Not to mention all the animals he knows and various sounds that go along with them. It's crazy, he's not even two!

We enjoyed a nice relaxing weekend, a little early birthday celebration for me (it's Monday!!!), and a nice date night for Matt and I. We went to see Tropic Thunder and can I say it was HILARIOUS!!! Seriously, I was laughing out loud more than a few times. In preparation for the visit I painted the guest bedroom and bathroom and Matt and Dick installed a new light fixture! I took pictures but they came out all wonky. It's been raining for two days straight and the lighting is all funny so I think I'll wait to take better ones before I share.

Speaking of weather, we sure have had some! Our yard is part pond/part river! It's crazy how much it's rained the past two days! I'm not the slightest bit bothered though, we needed it. I just wish it weren't so stinkin' humid.

Ari had his first day at the baby sitters on Tuesday and he was a champ. As soon as we walked in he ran right to the room with the toys like he'd been there every day. Matt and I enjoyed a nice brunch and some birthday shopping before we picked him up. He did great and was sound asleep in the car before we were even out of the neighborhood!

I think we're up to today, it was half price Wednesday at Monkey Joe's and some of the moms from my moms group were going so we decided to venture out. Big Mistake! Apparently every mom in Charlotte thought it was a good day to go and it was PACKED. Ari hated it so we left and met Michelle and Ella at Chuck E. Cheese. Ari had a great time playing with his best friend and we had pizza for lunch. Well, everyone but Ari had pizza, he threw his on the table and refused to touch it. When we left he fell asleep in the car again and continued to sleep for two hours once we were home!

I've been scrapping away for days, I have quite a few new creations to share with you very soon! I am really happy with my recent creations and think you'll like them too! I also have some super fun exciting news to share but again it will have to wait. I have to make sure I'm allowed to spill the beans, I don't want to get in trouble ;) Enjoy the rest of your week, Matt is off work until Saturday or Sunday and we are very much enjoying our family time this week. Ari goes back to the sitter tomorrow and I think we have a little more shopping to do! I know I'm way overdue for photos and I promise I'll share soon but right now my pillow is calling my name. I'm exhausted! See you later.

Ok, can I just say

2008-08-22T20:20:00.002-04:00

Actually, I have two things:

1. It's a gorgeous day, cool and breezy. Perfect for open windows. Except for the fact that my neighbor smokes like a freakin' chimney and I CANNOT stand the smell. Seriously, I can hardly breathe. It's making me nauseous and now I have a headache. It's really rediculous that I can't even enjoy my own home without feeling ill from second hand smoke blown throughout my very non-smoking house.

2. It's really stupid to plant fake flowers in your yard. I don't say many things are stupid but this definately qualifies. I'd rather look at the trash that they picked up in order to plant said fake flowers. It's not the same neighbor.

One more thing, yet another neighbor has decided that their dog belongs outside... indefinately. Now I get to listen to the never ending barking (all night long) and whining on top of the smoke and fake flowers. Remind me again why we moved here??

I really am in a good mood today, I'm sure you can't tell. I'm just sick of the insanity that I have to deal with on a daily basis. It's absurd.

Question:

2008-08-21T16:34:00.002-04:00

Is cat food harmful to toddlers?

Seriously, this kid knows how to push the limits... you know you're in for it when it's so quiet you have to search! He was sitting under the kitchen table with two fistfulls of cat food. Sheesh...

*I know it's probably not harmful*

Things that make my smile

2008-08-21T10:41:00.002-04:00

1. Ari watching morning cartoons while I clean my scrap area, quietly!

2. No dirty dishes in the sink, Matt did them before he left for work yesterday!

3. A freshly painted bathroom, new towels and a new shower curtain. I like the end result, not the painting part :(

4. Laundry that's already folded and just needs to be put away.

5. Pay day, need I say more :)

6. My neighbors cleaning their yard and garage, now I can actually open the curtains! It looks like they're getting ready to put the house for sale, that makes me even happier :)

I may be back with pictures later, we'll see if I have the energy. I'm exhausted, it's still stinkin' hot around here. I have a few errands to run today after Ari's nap so I don't expect to have too much computer time until late tonight. Darkness doesn't make for great pictures...

Hehe...

2008-08-15T09:01:00.003-04:00

I failed to mention in my last post the slew of new toys Ari came home with last weekend. See, when I fall off the deep end the only thing that really seems to bring me back to the surface is shopping. Yeah, I know. Anyway, as I was cleaning out the family room (yet again, seriously this kid can make a mess faster than anyone I know) I realized that he doesn't really have any "big boy" toys. With his birthday being three days after Christmas he gets everything at once and it's all geared for that age. Well, 19 months is WAY different than 12 months and his old toys are just not interesting anymore. So we went to Toys'R'Us last Saturday and came home with a brand spankin' new kitchen play set and a shopping cart to haul his new "groceries" in.

Long story short: As we "speak" Ari is in the kitchen with his shopping cart unloading my cabinets. He has nearly every baking pan I own crammed in that little cart and he's counting as he takes them out, "on, too, fee..."

Melt my heart...

Back and better than ever!

2008-08-14T21:44:00.003-04:00

Whew, I needed that~

It felt so good to just be with my family, focusing entirely on them and our home! Ari hit the terrible, terrible twos full force this week. It seriously caught me off guard, I felt like I was hit with a mack truck! We transitioned from two naps a day to one and that has helped immensly. He now goes to bed at 7 pm and sleeps until around 9 (sometimes 10!!) in the morning and stays up until after lunch! We moved lunch time from noon to 11:30 and he goes straight to bed after lunch. He knows what to expect now and today asked to go "night night" while he was still in his chair! I'm so proud of him, he's doing a great job. No more head banging, at least not hard enough to leave bruises~

His vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. He can now repeat just about every word we say! His pronunciation is a bit off but goodness, he's only 19 months! He has his own wacky words for things, it's adorable. He used to be able to say "water" pretty clearly when it was bath time... now he says "baadie" which we think is "bath" and "water" combined into one word. Who knows, only Ari! He knows several animals, he thinks monkeys are the funniest things he's ever seen! He is still terrified of mice and we found out this week that giraffe's freak him out even more than mice! He cries big fat tears when they come on his movie and we have to fast forward past them. Too funny. Nemo is still his all time favorite and when Nemo swims out to touch the boat he, very passionately, yells "Not Nice Nemo, No Nemo!!!". LOL!!!

I've been searching for a preschool but that search is quickly coming to an end. We simply cannot afford (nor would we want to) $140 for two days a week. That's absurd, it's preschool for goodness sake, not University. We settled for a babysitter down the road, she is looking forward to watching him two days a week for three hours! I am thrilled but terrified at the same time. The thrilled part wins out over the terrified-ness though and he starts in a couple weeks! He's going to go to her house so I'll have some much needed alone time at home to do whatever I need around here!

I have several tasks on my to-do list for the house that I would like to have completed by the end of the year. I'm trying to be realistic and give myself ample time to actually complete everything! They include but are not limited to:

1. Finish Ari's room completely (that should be done this week, there's not much more to do)
2. Paint the guest room (should be done before the parent's come in a week or so)
3. Finish the paint in the foyer and kitchen (also should be done very soon)
4. Finish both bathroom floors upstairs (that's on Matt's list...)
5. Reorganize garage (I want to be able to move Ari's outside toys in there for the winter so he can still use everything even if it's cold out)
6. Tile the backsplash in the kitchen (I picked out tile yesterday!!)
7. Install french doors to the family room (may have to hire someone to do this, we would need to do framing and drywall work and I don't know if I want to tackle that one by myself. I can, just don't know if I want to)

That's the bulk of my list, pretty hefty huh. Of course we still need to paint ALL of the trim and doors but that's going to take the rest of my life so I'm not even putting it on the list. We'll have to do it before we decide to sell but I am not looking forward to that at all.

I have been scrapping this week, mostly design team stuff so you can't see it yet. I made a list of scrappy things I want to do and it's massive so I have a lot to do but I'm excited about all of it. There are some fun home decor projects on my list that involve some browsing at the local antique stores so be sure to check in with me every now and then. I'll be posting the final results and *maybe* some instructions but we'll just have to see how it all turns out. Right now it's just an idea in my jumbled up head but I'm fairly confident that I can create what I see.

Well, I'm sure I've rambled enough... I missed you all! I feel so refreshed and on top of things now, thank you for all of your support. I know I have some truly fantastic friends out there and I love you all! Hugs and Kisses!!!

I'm falling in.

2008-08-07T17:58:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone, I just wanted to leave a little note that says I'm going to be taking a break from the blogger world. I feel a bit overwhelmed in general lately and I'm trying to cut anything out that could make things a little easier for me. It's only temporary but I feel this is something I need to do for my sanity. I'm no good to anyone when I feel like this, especially Ari, and he is very needy lately. I'm struggling to keep my patience with him and I feel guilty for that. I don't know how long I will need to be away from things before I feel like I have the energy to jump back in. Please know that I love you all and really appreciate all your kind words and comments, have patience for me while I figure things out. Thank you!

I didn't fall in...

2008-08-03T14:36:00.002-04:00

Did anyone ever say that to you? If you went somewhere and took too long, when you got back they'd ask, "did you fall in?" I don't know where it came from but it's one of those sayings that's always been around.

Anyway, I didn't fall in. I went out of town at the last minute! Matt's parents were babysitting Landon, Ari's little cousin, so we went for a visit. Landon lives in Indianapolis with his mom so we don't get to see him very often. It was great to watch the boys play together and visit with Dick and Sharon. Matt was working so he wasn't able to make it this trip but they're coming to see us in a couple weeks so it's all good.

We were gone for 4 days, we did a lot of playing, some shopping and swimming. It was a great trip but I'm glad to be home at the same time. I think the summer heat is getting to me, I'm so tired and sluggish lately. I have a ton of chores to do around the house but I think they can wait. I'm going to spend the next couple days with my two favorite guys and I may squeeze in a day just for myself too. Apparently I need to do that more often...

I'll be back later with pictures and something more interesting to say, I just didn't want anyone to worry about me! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Oops, forgot one...

2008-07-27T14:57:00.001-04:00

Somehow this layout didn't make it into my last post. It's another one that I created with my August kit from Crop Addict. I still need to do the journaling but it's about Ari's love for his blankie, teddy and paci!

A Few Creations...

2008-07-26T14:33:00.005-04:00

The August kit at Crop Addict is now up, here's a look at what I was able to create with it.

and this super cute little mini album!

Can you beleive I made all that with just the one kit plus the kit add-on. I highly recommend the kit add-on this month... it's full of fun stickers and rub-on's and it's some of the cutest stuff I've seen! Be sure you head over and grab them both, they sell out every month so you don't want to wait!

There's not that much going on around here. Matt and Ari both came down with colds this week and I think I may be catching it too. This is the first cold Ari has ever had and he's not handling it too well. He's very cranky and clingy which is great for the cuddle meter but not so great for accomplishing anything else. The house is in shambles, sadly, and I have no hope of fixing any of it until Matt gets home from work late tonight.

Speaking of Ari, he just woke up from his nap so I must go. He's asking to watch Nemo yet again... **oh, real quick... he was watching Nemo this morning while I was cleaning up our breakfast. You know the part where Nemo swims out to touch the boat and gets captured? Well, Ari was very passionately yelling at Nemo, he said "Nemo, Nemo Not Nice Nemo Nemo, Nemo"... too cute!

Ari~ism's for today.

2008-07-23T20:07:00.003-04:00

This little guy, let me tell you. He cracks me UP! Every day it's something new, here are a few from today:

1. As we sit down for breakfast I pour some Yogurt Burst Cheerios on his tray to hold him over until the rest is done; the little stinker picked out every single yougurt one, when they were gone he said "all done". Even though there were tons of plain ones still on his tray.

2. I put him in the crib for his nap this morning, he sang the whole "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" song, said "night night Ari" and fell asleep. *I need to point out that when he sings Twinkle Twinkle he basically repeats the phrase "abbi dabbi" over and over like this "abbi dabbi abbi da, abbi dabbi abbi da" to the tune. It's hilarious!

3. I ask him to blow me a kiss, he makes me kiss HIS hand and says "mwah" waving it around!

4. I ask him if he wants to watch a movie? His response: "Moodie mommy", he walks straight to the DVD player, turns it on and pushes play! He then does a 180 and marches to the sofa, climbs up and scootches all the way back so he can sit up and watch. When the frogs come on he hops down, does the dance then (no joke) hits rewind on the DVD player to watch the scene over again. Too MUCH!!!

5. All day any time he wanted something he marched straight to me and said "thank you" as if saying those words gurantee he gets what he wants! *in his defense, it normally does get him what he wants, who can resist?*

6. I asked him if he wanted to go bye-bye? His response: grab his shoes, throw them at me and run to the door saying "up mommy, bye bye now". Then he kicks his foot up in the air and says "shoe mommy" *sounds something like "sue mommy". Ha!

This is seriously all from today! There are a few more but nothing as crazy as these. He's getting way too big way too fast. My little guy is definately not a baby anymore. :(

Tag, I'm it!

2008-07-21T23:02:00.003-04:00

I've been tagged by my friend Deb... so, here we go!

1. Link to the person who tagged me. That would be Deb!
2. Mention the rules.
3. Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself.
4. Tag 6 other bloggers linking to them.
5. Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that lets them know they've been tagged.

1. I weigh less than I did when I got pregnant but hardly any of my clothes fit??
2. I could eat chocolate all day if Matt would let me.
3. All of my friends are older than me, by several years.
4. I love to sing but only when I'm alone (or with Ari, he doesn't care!).
5. I could shop at Target every day if my bank account would let me!!
6. I love to eat breakfast food any time of day, especially for dinner.

Now, I think I'm going to break the rules a bit and not actually tag anyone! However, if you feel like playing along I would totally love to know more about you... just leave me a comment so I can check out your quirks!!

We're Home!!!

2008-07-20T21:07:00.011-04:00

What an awesome week we had! I cannot believe how fast the time flew by, it feels like we weren't even gone! That's how it usually is though and to make it worse the weather is always, always perfect for water sports the morning we leave. I kind of kept track of our daily activities so I thought I'd blog the whole week! We'll see if blogger lets you have posts that long...

Saturday: We left Charlotte and flew to Chicago where we then rented a car for the drive to the cabin. It's in Northern Wisconsin, I'd tell you the town but the closest one is 45 minutes away. We're in the middle of nowhere where it's completely legal to ride ATV's to the grocery and completely necessary to have a snowmobile to drive in the winter! It took over an hour and a half to get our bags from baggage claim when we landed which of course set us back several hours for our drive. Matt was feeling pretty icky so I drove most of the way, until around 1 am then he took over for the last two hours. We almost hit a deer, but we always almost hit a deer up there. They are more common than people I think. We got to the cabin around 3 am and went straight to bed. Ari was SUPER good, he slept nearly the entire drive and minus the short game of peek a boo he wanted to play at 4 am slept the rest of the night in the cabin.

Sunday: We got up and had breakfast with Brad, Emily, the boys and Bea and Dave. That's the family we stay with every year. Brad and Matt have known each other since second grade and have been going to the lake together since 1989!!! Emily is Brad's wife, they have two boys: Tyler is 3 and Ethan is 9 months. Bea and Dave are Brad's parents, they own the cabin that has been passed down through the family since the 1920's. Anyway, we visit with Dave since he has to leave for home/work later that day and meet Tim and Katie. They are friends of Brad and Em and rented a cabin at the Resort down the road. Dave wanted to play a round of golf before he left so everyone headed for the course (literally down the road, walking distance) and played 9 holes. We stayed at the cabin and took a nap since we got in so late! When everyone got back from golfing we decided to make a run to town for groceries and other things we may need throughout the week. We had lunch at Angler's, a cute little sidewalk restaurant in downtown Hayward. After lunch we needed to go to the grocery and Wal-Mart (yep, that's right... my first time in a Wal-Mart. I didn't like it.). We had pork chops on the grill for dinner that night and played a CRAZY game called Strut. Yeah, did you read that??? Needless to say I quit after the second round because my head was spinning! We went to bed shortly after...

Monday: We woke to perfect water sport weather so after breakfast we head down to the lake. The cabin is right on the lake, you literally walk down the hill and bam, you're at the dock. They have a speed boat for water sports, a fishing boat (no need to say what that one's for) and a pontoon for pretty much anything else. It's totally kid friendly so we hung out on it pretty much every day. Oh, and a canoe for er, canoing... and the infamous "canoe test" that nearly every couple has failed. Matt and I have yet to take said test, maybe next year. Anyway, we hung out on the water, Ari went right in! We were surprised since the water is much colder than the pools around here but that kid, let me tell you! I think he was a fish in a past life or something. Matt skied while Em and I made lunch and apparently got right up on one ski! WooHoo, he's the only one up there that has ever been able to get up on one ski!!! (**I stand corrected, Brad can do it too he just doesn't like to, sorry Brad) We had lunch on the boat and Ari went down for a nap right after lunch. While he was sleeping Matt and I rode the torpedo (or hotdog as it's called up there), we didn't get pictures but man I wish we would have. We hit a wake and went about 4 feet in the air and landed! Right side up!! It was so much fun, I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time. We made calzones and mini pizzas for dinner then played Rummikub and Chess until bed!

Ari had so much fun turning the boat lift wheel!

We wear wetsuits, the water is pretty cold. The lake freezes solid (all 20+ feet deep) and doesn't thaw until April or May. This year it was pretty warm, you could go in without if the sun was out!

Ari and Daddy in the water!

Ari spish splashing off the dock.

This little guy wanted nothing but to drive the boat and flip the switches. Wonder where he got that from...

Tuesday: It was fairly overcast when we woke up so after breakfast we headed to town to pick up some more groceries. 7 adults and 3 kids eat more than you think!! We got there around lunch time so we ate at Angler's again. Just as we were sitting down Tim and Katie see us and decide to join us for lunch! It was fun to hear stories about Brad and Em since we don't get to see them that often (they all live in DC). After lunch we went to Tremblay's for the required candy fix and swing by the grocery. We wanted to get home in time for outdoor fun since the sun was out. Everyone wanted to go golfing when we got back to the cabin so we loaded Ari in the jogger stroller and headed down the street. It was so funny, some random guy hit into us (nearly hitting us, his ball landed like 4 feet from Ari) so we let him play through. He felt really bad, he couldn't see us through the trees. As he was swinging, completely flustered and embarrassed, Ari lets out this deep belly laugh! It was hilarious, we all cracked up! The poor guy, he just put his club away and drove off. Hehe... that's my crazy kid! From then on Ari laughed at every swing. We let him out to run around and he wanted Daddy's club. He dragged that thing around and looked like a little Arnold Palmer, it was adorable. It got pretty hot so Ari and I went home at the 5th hole after scoping out turtles and frogs in the water trap. He napped the rest of the afternoon and Katie made a yummy casserole for dinner. After dinner we took the pontoon and cruised over to Enchanted Inn. It's a little Italian restaurant that you can boat to, very pretty! Tim and Katie were thinking about going there for their anniversary on Thursday but it's only open on the weekends. Ari was super cranky on the way home (it was way past his bed time) but he cheered right up when Matt took him for a ride in the tree swing! Overnight we got a massive thunder storm, the thunder was shaking the whole cabin and the power went out twice. It was freaky but none of the kids woke up!

Lil' golfer for sure!

Daddy took Ari for a dip after dinner

Looking over the edge as we cruise across the lake

Someone was cranky!

Not cranky at all in the swing!

Wednesday: Bea checked the weather and we had a 60% chance of rain :( It looked decent after breakfast though so we headed down for some water sports. I spotted for Tim in the speed boat while he skied and when he was done I thought I'd give it a try. I was so shocked when I got right up the first time! I'm not comfortable doing anything other than getting up though and when I went out of the wake I freaked a little bit and let go of the rope. I got right up again though and went for a pretty long run across the lake. After a while my back started hurting and I knew I was going to fall, when I did I put my hands out to keep from face planting and literally dove right out of the skis! It was crazy fun. Brad skied after me and then took Tyler on the Tube for a slow ride. I tubed after them and boy were my arms total jello for the rest of the day. I could barely get my wetsuit off! We came in for lunch and kid naps, Emily and Katie went to town and Brad and Tim took the ATV's for a ride through the woods. When Ari woke up Matt and I took him down for a swim. Bea brought Ty and Ethan down when they woke up and all three boys went on a cruise across the lake! Matt decided to stay and swim while we were out and ended up swimming across the lake to Dutchman's Point! We picked him up on the way back to the dock, by then Emily and Katie were back so we all swam. For some reason there were a ton of flies out and they bite! Ari kept swiping them off his leg and would cry when they bit him so we all came up for dinner. Matt and I made chicken tacos for dinner and after dinner we played Rummikub with Brad and Em.

Look at me go!!!

Three boys behind the wheel

Two friends and their boys

Daddy and Ari, believe it or not but Ari walked out this deep! No fear, that's for sure!

Thursday: Happy birthday Matt!! The only thing Matt said he really wanted to do was make a big breakfast for everyone. We had a nice relaxing morning and let Matt pick the day's activities. It was supposed to rain again but we attempted the lake anyway. We just kind of hung around the dock and swam around until lunch. We packed a picnic and drove the pontoon to Dutchman's Point hoping to swim. Tim and Brad dove off the boat first then Tyler went in to "paddle paddle" and I dove in after him. The water was great, just as I was coming back to let Matt go the sky got really stormy so we headed back to the cabin. We made it just in time, as soon as we got inside it started pouring! It rained through lunch and stopped pretty soon after so the guys decided to go fishing. We agreed thinking they were only going to be gone for an hour or two... three hours later Emily and I were totally stressing! We had all three kids and she had a sore back from earlier in the week. We had made beef au jus for dinner too! Matt came up around 6 but Brad and Tim stayed on the boat, they caught 7 keepers and cleaned them before they came in. We ate dinner and had a lazy evening in the family room and played a round of "Gardner Canasta". It was a long day, three kids is a lot when there isn't much to do inside!

This deer ran up the street during lunch!

Tyler heard this woodpecker during breakfast and when Brad went out to run he saw it in the tree!

Tyler "paddle paddles" all by himself for the first time! The water was 18 feet deep!!

Friday: We have mega plans to take full advantage of our last full day on the water. Thankfully the weather was perfect, we stayed out nearly all day! After breakfast we went right down to ski. Matt and I both ski'd, he got up on one ski and I got right up again too. Thankfully we remembered the camera today so I have lots of scrap material. We also hooked up the tubes and did "battle tubes". Matt and I did it one other day earlier in the week, I can't remember when though. Basically you hook up two tubes and bash each other back and forth while the boat is towing you. It's a blast, I fell off once and oh boy... you know how you can skip rocks across the surface of water? Yeah, I did that on my stomach! It was crazy, all I knew was just to keep my head up or I was going to be in serious pain! It was ok though, I got right back on. Somehow when I fell off it sent my tube over Matt and our ropes got tangled. He got stuck outside the wake and our ropes were under water spraying us in the face. Bea took us right back to the dock so it was ok! I really wanted to ride the torpedo with Matt again but he was tired from skiing and tubing so Emily went with me. We kept it slow and easy since her back was still messed up but it was fun. The torpedo kept doing this weird fishtail thing and we thought we were going to wipe out several times. Neither of us wanted to fall so it was a lot of screaming and laughing! It was pretty close to lunchtime after that so we got out of the water. Brad and Em had to take the speed boat out for the season, it was sad to see it on the trailer in the garage. We had planned to take the pontoon and fishing boat to the Dam to swim but we ran out of time. We had burgers and pasta salad for dinner. Matt and Ari swam with Emily and the boys all evening and after dinner we packed everyting up to head home in the morning.

My crazy mohawk baby! *I had extra sunblock on my hands*

Matt slalom's like a pro!

Mommy and Ari get some cuddle time!

I CAN ski!! It's not very pretty but it works!

Brad looks like he should be on the cover of a ski magazine or something! He's a rock star!

Emily and I on the hotdog/torpedo. We had a great time!

I dropped Emily at the dock and went by myself!

Oh, everyone (Brad, Matt and Emily) have this totally cool way of just letting go of the rope when skiing and coasting into the dock on their ski's... yeah, I tried it. Not so pretty! They make it look so easy and fun but when I let go of the rope I totally wipe out! Guess I'm just not that cool... Ha!

Saturday: We pretty much just pack up the car and say our goodbye's :( We headed to town for some candy for the road and doughnuts from the bakery. Yum! It's a 6-7 hour drive to Chicago, we planned to spend the night and fly home Sunday. Debbie from Crop Addict just happened to be in Chicago for CHA so we met her for dinner Saturday night. It was great to see her again (I saw her at Winter CHA in Anaheim) and talk scrappy things after a week away! After dinner we went straight to the hotel and went to bed. Ari was really good especially given the fact that he was in his car seat for about 10 hours total!

Sunday: We headed to the airport after breakfast for a 12:30 flight. It really didn't look good for us to get home, every flight was oversold until 5 pm but we thought we'd give it a shot. It payed off because two people didn't show up at the last minute and we got their seats! We landed in Charlotte around 3:20 and after stopping for dinner were home by 6. Ari went straight to his toys, he was a happy camper. He took a good nap on the plane but was ready for bed by 7. All in all it was a great travel day.

We are pretty sad and happy at the same time. It was sad to say goodbye to the cabin and our friends but it's good to be home too. We never did make it to the Dam to swim and we didn't get to take the ATV's out either. That's alright though, there's always next year! It looks like there may be a dog in our near future too, Brad's dog Sonny and Bea's dog Gracie were there this week and Ari was IN LOVE with them. He pointed and giggled and said "doddy" all week long! I just can't say no to that kid... I'm in trouble I know... well, that's all for now. You're brave if you're still here! See you later!

There I go again

2008-07-12T11:26:00.002-04:00

With the bad blogging, sorry about that. It's been crazy busy around here getting ready for vacation while still doing regular fun summer things. We decided to postpone our Gymboree classes until September, our good teacher quit and Ari doesn't participate in group activity anyway. I felt like I was sort of wasting money, he can play at a playground for free, right. With the money we're saving from Gymboree we decided to join the Y. They have a water park outside, one for toddlers and one for everyone else! We've been going every day and it's super fun. I'll share pics soon!

Today we are leaving for vacation, we won't be back until the 21st. I won't have internet access at the cabin so no blogging but be sure to check back after the 21st for tons of pictures and fun vacation stories! Enjoy your week, I'll leave you with one pic, how's that...

Ari's New Digs!

2008-07-08T23:19:00.003-04:00

So sorry it's taken this long, man time sure is flying over here. Here are the pictures of Ari's new paint. We switched him to the bigger room, formerly the guest room. I still have some work to do but it's liveable and he loves it, that's all that matters!!

The little "pond" will have ducks eventually and I plan to add a cat and a cow somewhere... The darker blue needs another coat too but only if you look really close. It's so fun for him and all of his toys fit so mamma is happy too. Now all I need to do is organize the closet, that's totally waiting until after vacation.

Long Time, No Blog...

2008-07-06T23:28:00.003-04:00

I've been so busy lately thoroughly enjoying my family! Matt is right in the middle of a set of six days off and we are truly taking advantage of the family time. We had some friends over for a bar-b-que on the 4th and it was great fun. The kids had a blast and the adults enjoyed each other's company, we must do it more often! We've been having picnics and park trips and we toured the YMCA in Baxter Village today to consider becoming a member. I could care less about the gym part but the water park is super fun and they have raquetball which Matt and I could do together. They have Childwatch for free too, so mommy time!!! The downside is that it's $71/month and we already pay monthly for Gymboree... decisions, decisions...

We've also been in high Wisconsin prep mode, making lists and whatnot. We both tried on our wetsuits, surprisingly they still fit! I was shocked I could squeeze into mine, it's a Juniors size 12 and I bought it 5 years ago, pre Ari and happy marriage wieght gain. It's fairly comfortable, as comfortable as a wetsuit can be. We dug out the swim fins and snorkel gear and bought extra luggage since this is the first trip both flying and with Ari. Every other year we've driven since we had Matt's dirtbike, we took the truck. This year, no dirtbike and it's an 18 hour drive from here, no thank you. I'm super excited, just 6 more days and we'll be on our way!

I have tons of pictures to share, Crop Addict layouts, 4th photos and various cute and silly pics of the kid but I think I'm going to call it a night. We're going to the pool in the morning and then heading to the park for a picnic and some fun. We have lots to do this week but I'll try to be regular with my blog updates until we leave. Once we're in Wisconsin I will be 100% out of touch, no cell phone signals and no TV which means no cable and no internet! It sounds rough but it's quite nice, just a stack of books and games for the evenings if we're still awake from the fun days of boating, swimming, atv-ing and golf! Yay...

you HAVE to see this...

2008-07-01T18:40:00.003-04:00

Really quick, Ari is eating (er, throwing) his dinner and I need to get back to the kitchen but I couldn't resist sharing this little snippet of our day!

Every time the frogs come on his Baby Einstein video he does this little dance. No idea where it came from but irresistably cute nonetheless!!!

Change of plans.

2008-06-29T14:00:00.002-04:00

Matt and I have been discussing in great detail the current room configuration upstairs. Right now we have our bedroom, Ari's bedroom and a dedicated guest room. Ari has toys in his room and downstairs in the family room so he has a place to play no matter where we are. His room is the smallest of the three and now that he's getting bigger we figured we could just swap his room with the guest room. Lately though he has been extremely difficult come bed time, so much so that Matt and I are the not-so-proud new owners of a video baby monitor. Yeah, I swore they were unneccesary, at least I'm able to admit when I'm dead wrong. We hooked it up and tried it out last night.

Worst idea ever. Seriously, it was bad. Up 'til now we've been speculating on the causes of the various bumps and crashes we hear, the general consensus was he's jumping and the bangs we hear are the crib hitting the wall. Wrong. It's his face hitting the crib. Think about that for a minute, it was loud enough that we thought it was the wooden crib hitting the wall. I didn't know whether to be mad or sad. For over an hour we watched him literally bloody his face in utter disbelief and shock. Every time we'd try to go in and soothe him it would only get worse. After the third or fourth bloody cleanup we duct-taped beach towels all the way around the crib. It's pathetic, really.

We came downstairs completely defeated with migraine headaches and tried to figure out what to do about this. We cannot let this keep happeneing, you should see him today. He looks like he's been punched in the face. Two black eyes and several bruises on his nose and forehead. Not to mention both fat lips. The only thing we can think is that he is at the age where all he wants to do is play, bed time is for babies and he's certainly not a baby anymore. We think for now the best solution is removing all the distraction from his bedroom so it's for sleeping only. The logical solution is turning the guest room into a play room and keeping his bedroom where it is. But now, what do we do with the guest room?

I give up. We just need a new house. Add to all this the fact that we're 99% sure we are ready for baby #2 in the near future and we really have a conundrum. I think my biggest problem is the guest room, I need to realize that a guest room just isn't possible anymore. We lived without one for 4 years before this house and our guests were fine, we can store the furniture in the garage (it's not like we park in there anyway) until we actually do buy another house. Sheesh, all these decisions....

Well, sorry this turned into such a ramble. It's getting pretty stormy outside so hanging in the baby pool is out. Guess I should tackle the mountain of laundry upstairs and ponder my room situation... I promise to be back later with fun pictures of Ari's half birthday festivities and hopefully some scrappy things.

Oh, I almost forgot... I am proud to be able to tell you that I am a returning member of the Crop Addict Design Team. My last term was up this month and I had such a good time I decided to throw my hat in the ring for the next term and I made it!! It's a huge deal for me, I feel very honored to remain a part of such an amazing team. YAY!!!

Eventfull Days!

2008-06-28T14:05:00.002-04:00

It has been a fun week around here! We've had activities planned nearly every day and I am truly loving the chance to spend some quality time with my guys. Yesterday we headed to the pool with Michelle and Ella. It was actually the first time Matt has been in the water with Ari since last summer! Every time we've either been swimming or at the beach Matt's been at work. We had such a good time, Ella was twirling in her floatie trying to "teach" Ari how to kick and spin. We were all laughing and splashing around and just enjoying the water. I conciously decided to leave the camera behind and just enjoy the day, I got to swim and relax and catch some rays with no worries of getting the perfect picture. It was completely stress free and relaxing!

After swimming we had planned on going to this "carnival type thing" that a friend told me about. She said there was live music and vendors and a playground that Ari would love. We got there and a. the music didn't start until 7 which is Ari's bedtime, b. the only vendor was selling beer and c. the playground was designed for kids at least 8-10 years old. Nothing even remotely toddler friendly anywhere to be seen. And it started to storm so we grabbed dinner at Brixx and headed home. I felt SO bad, Michelle and Ella were going to go with us and it was a total bomb. I learned my lesson though, research does pay off! I tried to look up this event and couldn't find it anywhere... guess that's because it really didn't exist the way I thought!

Ari had a rough night last night, he woke up several times with stomach pain. I felt so bad, we had to just let him cry it out. He finally went down around midnight and stayed asleep until 7:30 this morning. We had breakfast and played for a bit then I put him in his crib for morning nap. He talked and talked for about an hour until we had to leave, not once closing his eyes for a nap.

We went to Monkey Joe's this morning. Michelle is doing some freelance work for a local moms website and they were having a party today so we all went. It was a blast! The entire room was full of different inflatable play areas, Ari and Ella were both pretty terrified at first but sort of warmed up to it once Matt and I went in with them. Ella is comfortable pretty much anywhere and had fun bouncing and climbing but Ari didn't want to let go of our hands the whole time. We took him on some big slides but it was tiring climbing to the top. After cake and punch we headed home, no nap meant total meltdown and didn't have the energy to fight with him. Again, no pictures. This time it wasn't on purpose though, my camera battery died on the first shot!

We had a little half birthday thing planned for him this afternoon, I was going to make half a cake for him but I'm having second thoughts. We tried to give him some of the Monkey Joe's cake and he hit me... not sure if I want to go to all the trouble just to have him throw a fit. We'll see, I feel bad not doing anything for him. I just put him down for a nap and am going to clean out the baby pool so he can splash when he wakes up.

Happy Day!

2008-06-26T18:57:00.005-04:00

Those of you that know me personally know that I am not the most patient person, especially when it comes to gift giving. I get so excited knowing I've chosen a great gift and half the fun for me is the reaction, the act of giving and knowing that I'm making someone I love very happy. Well, Matt's birthday is July 17th and we will be in Wisconsin so I decided we would celebrate early. There's no sense in packing his gift when we have so much to bring already, right? So, the early part... today was just as good a day as any! I know, I'm horrible but look at that face?

I honestly cannot remember the last time he was SO excited about something, maybe the day Ari was born. Matt is the proud new owner of an RC Car, it has some sort of name but even if I could remember I doubt those of you that read my blog would have any clue what I was talking about. The thing is pretty cool, it goes like 50 miles per hour and does all sorts of other cool guy things. My hubs is in heaven, he's been tinkering with it all day and is out racing up the street as we "speak".

Ari and I were out there with him for a little while but it is HOT! Like, really hot! I had Ari in his wagon, one: he loves it and two: I didn't feel like baby wrangling in 100 degree heat! He kept standing up in it and I'd say "sit down!". He'd look at me, point and say "dit dow!" It cracks me up how he can be so cute and so troublesome at the same time! Matt and I were talking about the car and he was standing in the wagon saying "dit dow, dit dow, dit dow" over and over! Adorable! He started to get restless and I was about to die of heat stroke so we came inside for a "moodie" (Baby Einstien movie) with "duts" (ducks).

It's now bed time for Bean, he's saying "Ari nigh nigh" which means if we don't listen full on meltdown is very near! Later gators!

Home, Jeans!

2008-06-25T18:51:00.002-04:00

Kids say the funniest things, this was one of Matt's sayings when he was a wee one. He told me once and it stuck. That, and heckipockers (helicopters). I now have a hard time saying it correctly and I'm sure I've gotten more than one strange look from people wodering what the heck I'm babbling about. Of course, now I can just blame Ari (ah, the wonderful benefit of having a babbler)!!

Anyway, home is where we'll be for the next few days. We went to Gymboree this morning, Ari had a blast as usual. He is most definately a climber and I cannot be more than arms reach away from him or he'll likely end up back in the ER. He's now climbing ladders like he's a professional painter and running down steep ramps like he's racing to the finish line. Still not one for group activity but I'm not bothered, that's just less cheezy kids songs I have to sing repeatedly anyway! We had our usual lunch at PeiWei after class and came home for naps.

No plans tonight or tomorrow. I did rent a couple movies and we stopped at the store for some munchies, now there is truly no excuse to get out of jammies until at least Friday morning. Yay!! Friday we are headed to the pool and most likely a carnival type thing that evening. Saturday is Ari's 18 month "birthday" which we are going to celebrate every year. I don't want him to feel gipped having a birthday 3 days after Christmas, this way he can truly have a day just about him! I plan on making a cake, cutting it in half and letting him go crazy! The bonus is we can do it in the backyard and just hose him off when he's through!

Oh, be sure to check back for some scrappy projects in the next day or so. I am also waiting not so patiently for a big announcement, hopefully I'll have some good news to share in the next week or so!! Enjoy the rest of your week!!

Splash!

2008-06-24T17:53:00.004-04:00

Ari and I had planned to stay home today and straighten up the house but Michelle called; she had a photo shoot of a swim team this morning and thought it would be a good idea to take the kids to the pool. Today is the first day in a week that it's not supposed to storm so we headed to her side of town. They had a blast, those two are definately water babies! Ella was in her little floatie saying "kick, kick" trying to teach Ari what to do. She cracks me up, you'd never know that she's the younger of the two! Ari had hold of a toy that she wanted and she said, "LET GO"!! Too cute!

We came home and Ari took a late nap, I'm hoping he can stay awake until Matt gets home at 8! He's pretty cranky though and I don't know if I can take two hours of whining. I think he's cutting his eye teeth... all of them. I sure wish he'd just get them all and be done with it. Mostly I just feel bad because there's nothing I can do to make him feel better.

Tomorrow is Gymboree and *maybe* another trip to the pool?? I'm looking forward to Matt being home for 4 days, I have a huge to-do list that I would like to tackle. I think my flower beds have more weeds than flowers, I can't do anything about it when Matt's at work though because Ari runs into the street. I spend all my time chasing him and accomplish nothing! I have a list of scrap projects that I need to get moving on too. Sorry for the lack of crafty pictures lately, it's just so nice out most days that we're on the go enjoying our summer!

Anyway, I'm rambling. It's time for dinner, I'll leave you with this video of Ari singing to me this morning over breakfast! **Be sure to pause my music player to the right so you can hear Ari**

*It's eieio with some extra little babbles and a Nemo thrown in for good measure*

Sheesh, storms!

2008-06-23T17:08:00.002-04:00

We have had non stop storms for three days! The funny part (or not so funny for my flower beds) is that all we really get is the lightning and thunder. It rains everywhere but here, my poor flowers. I don't water thinking it's going to pour and every morning I wake up to dry ground. Ari isn't too fond of the thunder, he's been waking up two and three times a night. I wish Matt were here, it's day three of his four day trip and usually the hardest one for me. Argh.

I thought some of you may be interested in a day in the life of an airline pilot. There is such a misconception about the lifestyle we live, it's generally comical but sometimes annoying. Anyway, here's a typical day for Matt at work:

Day 1: Be at the airport at 5 am
Fly Charlotte to Washington DC 6 am to 7:13
Fly Washington DC to Philadelphia 8:13 to 9:01
Fly Philadelphia to Richmond, VA 10:25 to 11:38
Fly Richmond, VA to Charlotte 12:25 to 1:33
Fly Charlotte to Lexington, KY 2:25 to 3:35

Once he's in Lexington he goes to the hotel overnight and starts bright and early again the next morning. He rarely flies the same flight twice in one trip, the next day will be completely different than this one. You'll notice he has no more than an hour and a half in between flights (that's break time, btw) for the whole day, almost 12 hours! Oh, and that break time includes the time it takes to get the passengers off and a new set back on, reset all the flight plans, yadda yadda...

So, that's my wonderful husbands work schedule one day last week! He normally flies 4 days at a time (that's three nights in three different cities) with 2-3 days off in between trips! Of course there are always exceptions, shorter trips or more days off but it's just that, an exception.

We're actually in between storms right now. I think I'll take advantage of the lack of lightening and give the Bean his bath. He's all sweaty from the intense amount of screaming he did this afternoon. If anyone knows a good book on how to deal with toddlers tantrums and outbursts I'd love to hear about it!!

How about a picture of the little terror, er, toddler to end the post. Enjoy your evening!

*never mind the crumbs, at least I was eating -Ari*

I'm making some changes around here.

2008-06-22T13:55:00.002-04:00

I'm working on editing my blog, it's a little boring as is and I think it needs a bit of freshening up. Is that even a word? You get the idea though. Also, you may notice that I made some changes to the comments section. Seems a certain family member of mine was leaving inflammatory comments well after a post had been written making it virtuously impossible for me to respond in a timely manner. Thus the comment moderation. This way I'll know right away if someone has not nice things to say! Please don't shy away from leaving me a comment, I really do love to hear what you all have to say. I truly appreciate the little following I have here, it brightens my day!

Anyway, I hope to make a few more visual changes around here. The problem is that I'm not very literate when it comes to html codes and all that jazz so it may take a while. While I'm at it I will be updating my blogger friends list so if you'd like to be added please leave a link to your blog in my comments section and I'll be happy to!

We're enjoying a lazy Sunday around here. We were considering the Symphony in the Park tonight but the weather is a bit shaky and knowing my luck the sky would open up as soon as we arrive. We'll wait until a Sunday when Matt's home, two heads are better than one when it comes to having Ari out past his bed time! Speaking of bed time I do believe it's time for the Bean's afternoon nap, I shall return!

I was in a bar... with my baby!

2008-06-21T15:14:00.000-04:00

Michelle was searching for things to do with the kiddos and came across this, so we went! It was awesome! Ari was given a "bracelet" with a long number on it and I was given the matching ticket, when you leave they check to make sure you have the right ticket so no wacko can just prance out with your kid. Pretty smart! They had a dance floor upstairs with bubble machines, hula hoops and shaker toys. The DJ played mostly 80's disco dance music and the kids really got into it. Oh, we also spray painted hair, Ari's was blue and Ella's was pink and got little tatoos. Ari had an astronaut! I wanted to put his hair in a little mohawk but we ran out of time, then he truly would have been my lil' punk rock baby!

Downstairs they had food for parents and kids and a "chill out zone" full of books and toys. It was much quieter downstairs, we spent some time down there when the music started to get to Ari. He's not that great with loud noise anyway and with his little head injury I'm sure he was just a tad more sensitive than normal. After a while he either wanted to be held or just wanted to get out of there so we left early. Michelle and Ella were still having fun so they stayed. On the way out, while they check our bracelet, we were given a goodie bag and a "boon" as Ari says (balloon in case you don't speak toddler). He held it the whole way home saying "Ari happy! Boon! Ari happy!" Absolutely adorable! He's snoozing now, I'm sure he'll be out until dinner time. That means quiet time for mommy, hehe! I think I'm going to lay like brocolli on the sofa, I'm exhausted. I didn't sleep well last night and my morning nap was cut severely short by the new neighbor working on his car stereo and tuning up his boat at the same time. Fanatastic. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, we may head to the Symphony tomorrow if the weather holds out! Happy Summer!!

A New Look

2008-06-20T20:37:00.000-04:00

I got a little tired of the family room layout so while Matt was at work the other night I got creative! The sofa used to be on the long wall, under the amaryllis picture and the chair used to be where the sofa is now. That big shelf thing was standing in the corner, sort of taking up space. I like this much better, I feel like Ari's abundance of toys now have a place. It's still very obvious that we have a kiddo here but guess what?? We do, so that's not such a bad thing. He loves his things, they keep him occupied which makes for a much more sane mommy and daddy!

In other news, he's doing better today. He has a little bruising on his face from his fall yesterday and he's a little wobbly on his feet. He's going to be fine though, I hope we don't ever have to go through that again. I'm sure we will but a girl can hope, right?!

Man I'm tired...

2008-06-19T16:42:00.001-04:00

I can't seem to get caught up on my sleep, I wonder if it's the heat. Or the fact that we are constantly on the go. Either way, I'm beat! It's been fun though, we're getting to do a lot of stuff and make a lot of memories. Yesterday was Gymboree, fun as usual. Ari did a little better, he was super clingy when we got there but really loosened up as class began. We left a little early to meet Matt for lunch. He had to be at the airport at 1:40 so we grabbed a bite and saw him off. He was supposed to be flying until 1 am but most of his flights ended up cancelled so he got to come home early. If you're a traveller I'd avoid LaGuardia in the summer, if you're a crew member it's nice. You get to come home early when your flights cancel for weather!

Anyway, today we met Michelle and Ella at Latta Park for a picnic and some fun. The babies loved the playground (especially the swings). The splash park was uber crowded when we got there but a lot of the bigger kids went home so we gave it a go. Ari was a little timid at first but he would walk a little closer to the fountains each time. It was so cute! Until he slipped and landed on the back of his head. Michelle and I heard his head hit the ground and we weren't even inside the splash area. I thought I was going to throw up, it was horrible. He screamed and screamed and several other moms gasped when he fell. I took him to get Teddy Eddy and he was a little better after that. Ella decided she was done with the water too and walked straight into a mud puddle, falling right down in the middle. I laughed out loud, it was SO cute and funny. Of course that would only happen to Michelle because she hates getting dirty. I felt bad for laughing but she was giggling too (through clenched teeth at first). There was an outdoor shower so it was a pretty easy clean up job. Hehe...

Here are the pictures. We're hanging out at home the rest of the day. Ari is really cranky, he has a massive bruise on the back of his head and I'm sure it's fairly painful. Enjoy the rest of your day!!

Whew

2008-06-17T22:54:00.000-04:00

I apologize for the snarky post the other day, I just get really irked when people are unreasonable. After I posted that she must have come to her senses because I get an email that says they'll refund me $5 and appreciate my business. Too little too late but that's ok.

I'm super exhausted, today was sort of a fun but strange day. Matt called last night from Indianapolis and said he was on his way home! He was supposed to be on a 4 day trip until Wednesday night but apparently there were some massive weather issues in New York (which is where he was flying) so they cancelled his flights and he got to spend the day at home today! With pay!!! He has to go back tomorrow to finish his trip but he should be able to go to Gymboree with us so that's a plus! We did a little shopping, had lunch at McAlisters... yadda yadda.

I went to Michelle's this evening for a little "me" time, took some scrappy supplies and made a mini album. It still needs a little tweaking but I'm proud of my progress! We're going to try to make that a regular thing, time to ourselves, we'll see how it pans out.

I have pictures and a video to post but tonight is not the night. I have got to get some sleep, I can barely type. I think I've hit the backspace button about every other letter. Sorry for any typos, I'll be more interesting tomorrow!

BOYCOTT ALERT

2008-06-16T15:34:00.000-04:00

I'm so fuming mad, I just had to put this out there. DO NOT shop at Scrapbook.com if you have any intention of your order arriving on time. I paid extra for quick shipping, according to the calculations THEY gave me it should have been delivered Thursday, Friday at the latest. Yeah, my stuff got here after noon today. 5 business days later. I emailed them asking for a refund of the difference in shipping costs from quick to regular and they said no. The lady that emailed me was SO mean, I'm vowing never to shop there again. Who's with me?? Seriously, there are WAY too many scrap sites out there to have such a low level of customer service. I refuse to give my money to a site that treats it's customers like they are completely expendable. That's fine, I am expendable, and you better believe that I'll spend the obscene amount of money that I do on scrap supplies somewhere else!

Safari!!

2008-06-13T20:07:00.000-04:00

We've been trying to get up to Lazy 5 Ranch forever, today finally worked for us. We met Alice & Charlie and Michelle & Ella at Panera where we ordered lunch to go. We thought a picnic once we got up there would be fun. It was SO hot, today was supposed to be cooler but it didn't turn out that way. The babies really weren't interested in eating so we headed out for our Safari. Originally we had planned on a horse drawn wagon ride but after careful consideration (Michelle and myself not wanting to get eaten by an ostrich) we chose to drive my car. Ari sat in his seat and Ella and Charlie rode on laps. I was immediately glad to have my window when no sooner than we get through the gate a massive ostrich RUNS up to my window and pecks the crap out of it. As terrifying as it was we were all laughing. We drove on through and had the greatest time. Michelle and Alice bought feed buckets, you basically just roll down your window and the animals literally stick their heads in your car and grab a mouthfull! One of the animals came up and stuck it's head in Michelle's window (a cow or something like it, sorry I'm not up on my safari terminology) and Ella freaked out and dove head first into my lap. SO cute!! She was screaming, "daddy, daddy" (that's what she's decided my name should be, by the way).

Anyway, we had an amazing time. It was so oppresively hot but still fun. We're definately going again! OH, I almost forgot... they give you this little pamphlet when you go in that says Don't Feed the Cows with the big horns... it said some other stuff but that's not relevant. We're driving along and see these really cute little pigs so we roll the window down and toss some feed out. Well, the herd of Really BIG Cows see the feed and decide they want some too. I'm mashing my hand on the window button and putting the car in gear and Michelle says "wait, I wanna get a picture". Um, hello... massive bull with horns that can kill us headed right this way. I seriously thought he was going to ram the car, I almost screamed. He just wanted the food but still, NOT FUN!

Enough of my babbling... if you're ever in the Charlotte area I highly recommend Lazy 5 Ranch. It's only 8 bucks and SO worth every penny!

{Ari}zilla

2008-06-12T22:34:00.001-04:00

The conversation after Ari's bath tonight:

Me: Matt, go get the camera, I have an idea
Matt: Ok, now? It's his bed time...
Me: Yeah, just go
Matt (returning with the camera): Here, why??
Me: I'm going to do a layout called {Ari}zilla because he looks like a giant crushing the airport. Can't you see it?

I've been there!!

2008-06-12T20:04:00.000-04:00

I found this cool map on Alexis' blog and thought I'd see where I've been. Not bad, not bad at all!

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

I wanna see where you've been too, link me to your blog in the comments!!

Colors of Summer Challenge

2008-06-11T17:02:00.000-04:00

I am honored to be the Designer of Month over at Crop Addict for the whole month of June! This means I get to come up with the weekly and monthly challenges. I put a lot of thought into what I love about the month of June, and summer as a whole, and this week's challenge is to scrap the Colors of Summer. Head over to the forum to see what it's all about, I'd love to see you participate! Anyone can play, all you have to do is follow the rules and upload your creation to the gallery by the end of the week!! You have until the 13th, plenty of time!!!

Here's mine:

On another note: It seems Ari was a little more traumatized than we thought about the whole playground incident yesterday. At Gymboree this morning he was fine until about halfway through, then all of the sudden he just clung to me and wouldn't let go. I had to hold him the entire time, he just put his head on my shoulder and whimpered. He wouldn't even go to Matt, it broke my heart. Next time not only am I going to say something to the mom, I'm getting security to monitor the playground. Rules are posted for a reason, he could have really been hurt!

Anyway, enough of that. Be sure to check out my challenge, I'd love for you to play along. The prizes are super fun ;)

Playground Violence

2008-06-10T19:51:00.000-04:00

I had to wear my "mean mom" hat today. It's SO hot here, over 100 again today, that Matt and I decided to take Ari to Northlake Mall. They have a little indoor play area for toddlers that's fairly new and clean. When I say toddlers I mean that you're supposed to be under 42 inches tall to play. Well, apparently either no one can read or they just don't care because it was overrun with older kids today. Most of the time Ari just stood along the benches watching, afraid of getting plowed over by the bigger kids running around like crazy people. Some of the bigger kids left so he felt brave enough to play, he had SO much fun! There were two or three other kiddos his size that he was running around and climbing with, it was so cute to watch! A few minutes later I look over when Matt says Ari's on his hands and knees not moving. Of course I freak and run over to see what's wrong. He's just kneeling, staring at the floor. I ask him what's wrong and he looks at me with the most sad face I've ever seen. I'm not exaggerating, his whole bottom lip and chin was quivering and his eyes were about to spill over with tears. I scooped him up and he squeezed his arms so tight around me. I asked what happened (we couldn't see him, he was behind one of the climber toys) and one of the moms said the bigger girls hit him in the head. Seriously, who does that?? I marched straight up to their mom and totally ratted them out. I said "one of your girls just punched him in the head" and she looked at me like I'd gone nuts. She said "not my girls". Um, yeah. How would you know sitting all the way over here completely oblivious to where they are?? Oh, and they aren't even supposed to be in here. We left after that, poor Ari. I could see him thinking why would someone do that? He's definately a lover not a fighter. He was so hurt and sad. Not physically, but that's worse. Argh. Why is it that you have to have training and pass a test to drive a car but any yahoo can pop out as many kids as they wish???

it's hot.

2008-06-07T20:39:00.000-04:00

Seriously, it was 105 today. For the third day in a row. Enough is enough. I was dead set against paying $250 to join the pool this summer but if this is any indication how our summer is going to be I'm doin' it. I'll sell stuff on eBay if I have to, we can't even be in the back yard. Ari's toys are so hot it melts your skin. The low this weekend is 88, the LOW...

Anyway, we've been hanging out in the house for the past few days. Poor Ari is going stir crazy I think but we built a few tunnels and a fort in the living room the other day, he had fun. Oh, big news. The little man can eat off a fork! We were at PeiWei for an early dinner after PlayGym the other day, I gave him a fork to keep him occupied and he went to town. So cute!

In other news: he's movin' up! To the guest room. It's bigger, more room for all his junk. I'm getting excited about it, this room has a huge vaulted ceiling and neat lines, we're going to paint some murals and such on his wall. I'll take plenty of pictures when I get started but I think I need to finish some other projects before I start anything else. I'm good at that, the starting. It's the finishing that I seem to have issues with. Our bathroom floor still isn't done. Oh well.

No plans for the rest of the weekend. We may head up to Northlake tomorrow to go to the inside playground and fountains. I don't know though, Ari was terrified of the fountains this Florida trip, I'm not sure I want to drive up there only to chase him through the parking lot. If we go you'll definately see pictures.

I think I'm going to start a few scrappy projects tonight. I started re-reading New Moon, I see myself finishing it in the bubble bath tonight with a bowl of muddy buddies. Good thing I bought a one-piece bathing suit with spandex for the summer!!

Don't you just love it

2008-06-05T22:41:00.001-04:00

When things turn out the way you intended?? It's so rare for me, I never count on it and tend to ready myself for the impending disappointment. This is not the case with my Twilight ATC cards for the swap I'm in at Scrap, Etc.

I had an idea in my head from the beginning and was so unsure of how I was going to make it work that I waited until the complete last minute to start. With the help of my dear husband (he was the final editor) all 12 of these bad boys are nearly done! I love them, it's going to be the "cover" for the other 11 cards that I will be getting in the mail from my scrappy Twilight lovin' friends. I'm so excited right now, I think the only thing that can top this is the fact that while I was busy crankin' these babies out my dear husband (did I mention that he is totally awesome??) made chocolate chip cookies for me to enjoy in my bubble bath while I re-read Twilight for the 4th time!

Beach Babes!

2008-06-04T13:49:00.001-04:00

Would it be bad??

2008-05-28T14:59:00.000-04:00

I'm thinking I need to make a sign for my door that says "Just Go Away". I'm really not a mean person, really, but I am really sick and tired of people thinking they can just come here when things go wrong. Remember the neighbors that we helped when their house burned down... you know, the ones we opened our home for and didn't even get a "thanks". The ones we haven't heard peep from since they took their donations and put new rims on their car... well. The boys got locked out of the house today so they came to our house. They said their mom told them to come here, that it was ok becuase I don't work. Um, hello, just because I don't need to work doesn't mean I sit around on my butt waiting to help anyone that might need it. I had things to do today that now have to wait until tomorrow which means the list of crap I had to do tomorrow isn't going to get done before I leave for Florida. That means I get to do it when I come home. So much for a relaxing trip, now I'm going to be worried about the mess I get to come home to.

I think one of the shirts I'm going to make for myself is going to say "I'm not your doormat".

I'm gettin' crafty

2008-05-27T22:22:00.001-04:00

Really, I am! Not in my usual make stuff with paper way though. I'm making t-shirts. I've wanted to for ages, I figure why not now?? I'm going to start a few for Ari and Ella and see how it goes. If they turn out I may sell them through the blog. Cheap, of course. Well, not cheap, but inexpensive. I may even make one or two for moi!!

Ari is officially on soy milk. I have no idea what's been causing ten straight days of massive poo but I'm going to try everything I can think of to make the lil guy feel a bit better. We gave him the soy milk at dinner and he guzzled the entire cup. He's also back on the BRAT diet (bananas, applesauce, rice, toast for those of you not in the know). We don't do the rice and substitute waffles for toast, but you get the idea. Although tonight Ari thought it would be better that I wear the apples instead of him eat them. Fantastic. Good thing I had on shorts, I wiped right up! I just hope the Bean gets his bowels in order before we leave for Florida Friday. It could make for an interesting plane ride.

I've been scrapping every day and loving it. I've done several layouts just for me, no design team work. That does remind me though, I have two more layouts to do this week. Guess I better get off here and get movin...

10 Days

2008-05-27T12:21:00.000-04:00

Wake up. Put Ari straight in bathtub. Peel jammies off. Add to washing machine. Rinse poo off. Take him out. Clean tub. Put him back in. Strip linens, blankies and animals from crib. Add to washing machine. Start washing machine. Wash Ari head to toe. Take him out again. Scrub crib rails with Clorox wipes. Put laundry in dryer. Run washer empty to make sure no poo residue is left. Dress Ari and head downstairs.

Repeat at nap time. Both of them.

Eye Candy!!

2008-05-26T17:52:00.000-04:00

I've also been making some of the things I brought home from Nashville last month. All the supplies have been sitting in their little canvas tote just wanting to be created. So, I'm under way... pictures to come!

my face hurts...

2008-05-25T22:24:00.001-04:00

Seriously, I've been crying like a baby for two hours. Stupid P.S. I Love You. You know it's bad when the movie starts off sad, I should have known better. Now I can't breathe through my nose and my shirt is wet.

27 Dresses however was awesome. Love it, am going to buy it so I can torture Matt with it over and over! *wink* Really though, great movie. It's a chick flick but funny at the same time. I caught Matt turned around in his chair more than once watching along with me.

Oh, Dan in Real Life was pretty funny too. Not what I thought it would be but still pretty good. I'd watch it again for sure.

Can you tell it was movie rental week around here?? It's been ages since I've even felt there was anything worth paying for (rentals, let alone theater tickets) so I figured I'd go all out and get my top three.

Michelle and Ella came over to play today. I shamefully wore my bathing suit all day in an attempt to get some sun before our Florida trip Friday. Yeah, I am SO fried... oops. Guess when it's been two years since you last wore a bikini you get pretty pasty. Noted! Anyway, we went to Five Guys Burgers & Fries for dinner and I wanted to swing by Old Navy. Ari needs another swimsuit, since he's lost a little weight his other pair fall off when they get wet. $60 later we both have new suits and a few shirts too. Someone PLEASE take away my debit card!!!

I'll be back tomorrow with pictures, my eyes are KILLING me and the computer screen isn't helping matters. Good Night!!!

Well, it's been a few...

2008-05-24T20:36:00.000-04:00

Seems this week just sort of disappeared on me! Ari was a bit under the weather all week, we had a couple doctors appointments and I spent most of my free time just hanging out with him. He seems better, the gastrointestinal issues have resolved for the most part, he just has less energy. I think the lack of eating for a week has finally caught up to him. Either way he's definately feeling better which is nice!

We went to story time at Joseph Beth Friday, Michelle and Ella were there with another mom friend and her little girl. Matt actually took Ari and I went to my salon to get a hair cut! It was nice to kill two birds with one stone, now I don't have to drive back and pay a sitter to watch Ari. My hair looks awesome, it's my favorite cut so far! It's pretty much the same as last time, just shorter.

Last night we had some friends from the airlines over for dinner. We've known them since Ohio so it's nice that they're here now too! They have two boys, Ari was SO excited to play with the big kids. He had SUCH a good time, that could be part of his fatigue today! He took two 3-hour naps today, gasp!! Dinner was great, we are going to make it a regular thing. Yay!

Matt had his check ride for work today. He has to fly the simulator with an instructor once every six months in order to maintain his position as Captain, if you fail you get fired basically. He passed with flying colors, obviously, so we went out to dinner to celebrate. We weren't celebrating the passing part since that's pretty much a given but more so the "put the stress behind us and not have to worry about studying again" celebration! While we were out I popped in the Gap for some new clothes. I got these and this and another really cute top that has crotcheted flowers across the back of the shoulders... super cute and perfect for summer!

Tonight is going to be lazy, I plan to watch 27 Dresses and do some scrapbook stuff. Matt is on his computer playing chess so he'll be occupied for at least a few hours!! Enjoy the rest of your Saturday!!

Pool Day!!

2008-05-19T20:41:00.001-04:00

It was WAY too gorgeous not to go for a swim. Well, more like a splash!!

Of course, now I'm super crispy (I didn't realize just how cloudless the sky actually was until we came inside, oops). Good thing I tan easily, it should be brown tomorrow instead of lobster red!!

I suppose that's enough for today. Until tomorrow...

The Wiebke World

Peer pressure/Inspiration

I found it!

Little Men

Upside down

Whoops

Adjusting

Introducing Oscar

Busy Bee...

She did it again!

One Crazy Kid

See my new header?

Moving right along

Memories...

I'll be back...

Our Little Artist

A Backyard Kind of Day

Whew! **Pictures Added**

Memorial Day 2009

Another trip to the beach

29 weeks, 1 day

Beach pictures!

Under Construction

Snow day!

Yeah, I know.

Oh my gosh

Ugh

I'm still here, I promise

Call me the Grinch

Dang.

I just realized something

A new season, a new look

Today is THE day!

Whew, tagged again.

And the winner is:

Holy Cow, a giveaway!

More eye candy!

Eye Candy!

Hmm, question:

Tag, I'm it!

9 more days

Whew, what a week

No news is good news, right?

Heads up!

Randomness

Can you believe

Blah.

Welcome October

Windy Hill & some layouts

smarty pants!

I'm no good at this

Betcha think I forgot about you!

Update and a funny:

What's new?

Right now...

Scrappy goodness!

Where do I start...

Ok, can I just say

Question:

Things that make my smile

Hehe...

Back and better than ever!

I'm falling in.

I didn't fall in...

Oops, forgot one...

A Few Creations...

Ari~ism's for today.

Tag, I'm it!

We're Home!!!

There I go again

Ari's New Digs!

Long Time, No Blog...

you HAVE to see this...

Change of plans.

Eventfull Days!

Happy Day!

Home, Jeans!

Splash!

Sheesh, storms!

I'm making some changes around here.

Whew! Pictures Added

BOYCOTT ALERT